Some peripheral but pertinent saber-rattling (there's been a lot of these incidents lately):
Moscow Says French Warplane In "Dangerous" Incident With Russian Aircraft
Russia's Foreign Ministry says a French military jet came close to an aircraft carrying the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament as it flew through French air space.
The ministry said that it had summoned the French ambassador in Moscow to protest over the incident, which occurred earlier on October 19.
It said the French jet had come within "dangerous proximity" of the aircraft carrying State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin and other Russian lawmakers.
The ministry said the delegation was on its way to Geneva, in Switzerland, to attend an international meeting of parliamentarians.
"The ambassador was informed of Russia's deep concern over what happened," the ministry said.
There's been no comment so far from Paris.
There has been an increase in the number of near-miss type incidents involving NATO and Russian military aircraft since the Ukraine conflict caused a rise in tensions.
(TASS, Interfax, Reuters)
Darth Vader is angling for the job of Ukrainian Prime Minister, according to Newsweek:
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko will be forced to discuss whether to appoint Darth Vader as Prime Minister of Ukraine after a petition to install the Dark Lord as head of the cabinet earned more than 25,000 signatures on the Presidential administration's website.
The petition, put forward by a person under the name Master Vladimirovich Yoda in support of the fictional Star Wars villain, gathered 25,256 signatures by Monday morning, surpassing the threshold required for the President to give it his attention. Its status is now listed as "under review."
Vader is a frequent participant in Ukrainian politics and ran in the parliamentary elections last October. In a much publicized campaign, he toured constituencies with his running mate Stepan Chewbacca, a group of Stormtroopers and other characters from the Star Warsuniverse in a similarly-themed van.
Read the entire story here:
Backed by Ukrainian combo Boombox, legendary Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour sang a version of Wish You Were Here last night, dedicated to the so-called Heavenly Hundred who died in violence surrounding the Maidan antigovernment protests in 2014. You can read more and see the video here (poignant stuff).
Interesting story fresh of the wires:
Ousted president Yanukovych sues Ukraine in European court
MOSCOW (AP) — A law firm representing former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych says he is suing Ukraine for violating his human rights.
Yanukovych fled to Russia in February 2014 following months of anti-government protests. He later insisted he was threatened and forced to leave the country.
London-based Joseph Hage Aaronson said in a statement on Monday that Yanukovych has lodged a lawsuit against Ukraine's government with the European Court of Human Rights for "repeatedly" violating his human rights.
A district court in Kiev in August began trying Yanukovych in absentia for his alleged role in the massacre on Kiev's main square at the end of the protest.
His lawyers said Yanukovych has suffered "discriminatory treatment due to his political status and opinions" and that he cannot return to Ukraine because of security risks.