Isis Releases First Video Showing Stoning of Woman Accused of Committing Adultery as Her Father Shouts 'Don't Call Me Dad'

THE INDEPENDENT: Amnesty International says apparent murder is 'yet another example of the disgusting depravity of Isis'

Isis have released a video appearing to show a young woman being stoned to death in the presence of her father, who refuses to forgive her alleged crimes.

The execution, which was released in the early hours of Tuesday night by Isis, who also call themselves the Islamic State, took place in Hama, Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, but the date of the stoning cannot be confirmed.

In the video the militants press the father to forgive his daughter, accused of committing adultery, before she is stoned to death - in order to set an example.

“This punishment right now, is a result of your action you chose. No one forced you, therefore you need to accept God’s law, and to accept and submit to God. Islam is submitting to the will God,” one of the militants says to the girl. » | Rose Buchanan | Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Mormons Say 'Our Underwear Is Not Magic'

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints releases video showing the sacred undergarments worn by its members, asking for "respect and sensitivity" for their holy clothing

Read the Telegraph article here | Nick Allen, Los Angeles | Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Austria Passes New Law on Islam Over Fears of Extremism

ARUTZ SHEVA: Austria calls for standardized German-language translations of the Koran, prohibits foreign funding of Muslim organizations.

Austria on Thursday called for standardized German-language translations of the Koran and moved to prohibit foreign funding of Muslim organizations on its soil in a draft law aimed in part at tackling Islamic extremism, Reuters reports.

The bill will overhaul a 1912 law governing the status of Austrian Muslims, prompting concern from a major local Islamic body, which saw it mirroring widespread mistrust of Muslims.

"The clear message should be that there is no contradiction between being a faithful Muslim and a proud Austrian," said Foreign Affairs and Integration Minister Sebastian Kurz, a member of the conservative People's Party, according to Reuters.

"If you don't have orderly legal regulation ... this can always bring dangers (of extremism). In this sense, if you like this is maybe a part of prevention," he told reporters.

He added that Sharia, or Islamic law, had "no place here". » | Arutz Sheva Staff | Friday, October 03, 2014

Austria: Civil Law vs. Sharia Law

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: Austria has emerged as a major base for radical Islam and as a central hub for European jihadists to fight in Syria.

The proposed revisions would, among other changes, regulate the training and hiring of Muslim clerics, prohibit the foreign funding of mosques, and establish an official German-language version of the Koran to prevent its "misinterpretation" by Islamic extremists.

Muslims would be prohibited from citing Islamic sharia law as legal justification for ignoring or disobeying Austrian civil laws.

Leaders of Austria's Muslim community counter that the contemplated new law amounts to "institutionalized Islamophobia."

Official statistics show that nearly 60% of the inhabitants of Vienna are immigrants or foreigners. The massive demographic and religious shift underway in Austria, traditionally a Roman Catholic country, appears irreversible.

The Austrian government has unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the country's century-old "Islam Law" that governs the legal status of Austria's Muslim community.

The proposed revisions—which are aimed at cracking down on Islamic extremism in Austria—would regulate the training and hiring of Muslim clerics, prohibit the foreign funding of mosques, and establish an official German-language version of the Koran, among other changes.

The government says the modifications would give Muslims legal parity with other religious groups in Austria. But the leaders of Austria's Muslim community counter that the contemplated new law amounts to "institutionalized Islamophobia."

The updated Islam Law (Islamgesetz) was presented as a draft bill to parliament on October 2 and overhauls the current law, which dates back to 1912. » | Soeren Kern | Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Pakistani Court Upholds Death Sentence for Christian Woman Accused of Insulting Islam

FOX NEWS: Asia Bibi was harvesting berries in Pakistan five years ago when she took the drink of water that could cost her her life.

A Christian in the Muslim-dominated and increasingly intolerant nation, the mother of five was quickly assailed by the other women working the field in a tiny village in the Punjab province. First they said they would not drink from the same water bucket as a Christian. Later, they told police Bibi had insulted the Muslim Prophet Mohammad. The crime, blasphemy, is punishable by death.

Bibi, who denies insulting Mohammad and maintains her co-workers falsely accused her, was convicted in 2010. Last week, despite an international outcry, a court in Lahore upheld the verdict and affirmed the sentence that Bibi be hanged. The 50-year-old has 30 days to appeal to the nation's highest court.

“This is a grave injustice,” said David Griffiths, Amnesty International’s deputy Asia Pacific director. “Asia Bibi should never have been convicted in the first place – still less sentenced to death – and the fact that she could pay with her life for an argument is sickening.” » | Lisa Daftari | Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Some Revere Parents Upset over Islam in Curriculum

7News Boston WHDH-TV
Read the article here | Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Latinos Converting to Islam for Identity, Structure

VOICE OF AMERICA: MIAMI— Latinos are one of the fastest growing groups in the Muslim religion.

According to the organization whyIslam.org, about 6 percent of American Muslims are Latino.

And according to Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO), a group that promotes Latino conversions, a little more than half of new converts are female.

Greisa Torres arrived in Miami four years ago from Cuba.

While she felt at home in the Florida city, where two out of the three residents are Hispanic, Torres says she lost her identity in the move and found it in the Prophet Muhammad. » | Carolyn Presutti | Saturday, October 18, 2014

Paris Opera Cast Refuse to Perform for Veiled Woman

La Traviate at the Opéra Bastille

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A woman wearing a full-face veil is told to leave a performance of La Traviata at the Opéra Bastille after the production refuse to go on stage

A woman wearing an full-face Islamic veil was told to leave a Paris opera house after members of the cast refused to perform if she remained in the audience, officials said.

The woman, described as “a tourist from a Gulf state”, was sitting on the front row during a performance of La Traviata at the Opéra Bastille, the deputy director, Jean-Philippe Thiellay, said.

France banned the wearing of the full-face veil, or niqab, in public in 2011. The ban was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights earlier this year.

Mr Thiellay said performers told him during the second act that they would only continue if the woman left. During the interval, an attendant told her that she could stay if she removed her veil.

"He told her that in France there is a ban of this nature, asked her to either uncover her face or leave the room,” Mr Thiellay said. “The man asked the woman to get up, they left." » | David Chazan, Paris | Monday, October 20, 2014

A Look at the Rise of ISIS

Burka-Verbot in Frankreich: Verschleierte Touristin aus Pariser Oper geworfen

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Weil eine Frau in der ersten Reihe einen Nikab anhatte, wollten die Sänger der Pariser Oper nicht singen. In Frankreich ist das Tragen eines Ganzkörperschleiers gesetzlich verboten. Die Touristin aus der Golfregion wurde des Theaters verwiesen.

Paris - Eine vollverschleierte Zuschauerin ist während einer Vorführung von "La Traviata" aus der Pariser Oper geschickt worden. Die Frau habe in der ersten Reihe direkt hinter dem Dirigenten gesessen und sei bis auf die Augen verschleiert gewesen, sagte der stellvertretende Direktor der Oper an der Bastille, Jean-Philippe Thiellay, der Nachrichtenagentur AFP. Einige Chorsänger hätten erklärt, sie würden nicht singen, solange die Frau mit dem Nikab dort sitze. » | Montag, 20. Oktober 2014

Robert Spencer and Michael Coren on Jihad and the War on Free Speech

If You Smoke or Play Music, I'll Have You Whipped, Says 'Supermarket Jihadi' Who Left Britain to Join ISIS in Syria

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Omar Hussain worked as a security guard for Morrisons in High Wycombe / The 27-year-old fanatic left Britain to join Islamic State militants in Syria / Previously appeared in a video calling David Cameron a 'despicable swine' / Now revealed he is working for ISIS' police force in de facto capital Raqqa

The 'Supermarket Jihadi' who left Britain to become a fighter in Syria is now a policeman for Islamic State, cracking down on such 'crimes' as smoking or listening to music.

Omar Hussain, 27, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, who was a former security guard for Morrisons, said on social media that he is now a member of the hisbah, the IS all-male police force.

The fanatic, who this month appeared in an IS video online in which he calls David Cameron a 'despicable swine', lives in Raqqa, where he arrests residents on the street or in their houses. Those found guilty of offences are lashed in public.

Last week, Hussain posted a picture on Facebook of cartons of cigarettes, which he boasted he had seized from a house.

Smoking or playing music is punishable with up to 30 lashes in IS-controlled areas of Iraq and Syria. Read on and comment » | Abul Taher for the Mail On Sunday | Sunday, October 19, 2014

Terrorist Paymaster Targeted by Britain

Abd al-Rahman bin Umayr al-Nuaymi

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: One of the world’s most prolific terrorist financiers Abd al-Rahman bin Umayr al-Nuaymi has finally been banned from doing business in Britain — 10 months after he was hit with sanctions by the United States.

One of the world’s most prolific terrorist financiers has finally been banned from doing business in Britain — 10 months after he was hit with sanctions by the United States.

Abd al-Rahman bin Umayr al-Nuaymi, a Qatari who is accused of sending more than £1 million a month to al-Qaeda jihadists in Iraq, has been added to a list of terrorist suspects and groups targeted with financial sanctions in Britain.

The move by the Treasury will freeze any assets he has in the UK and prevent any banks with British offices from dealing with him.

It follows The Sunday Telegraph’s Stop the Funding of Terror campaign, which has highlighted how Gulf states — including Qatar — have turned a blind eye to terror financiers operating within their midst.

The decision to subject al-Nuaymi to sanctions will inevitably intensify pressure on ministers to tighten restrictions against Qatar and other Gulf states accused of harbouring terrorist financiers. » | Tim Ross, Robert Mendick and Edward Malnick | Saturday, October 18, 2014

Saudisches Todesurteil löst Proteste aus

NEUE LUZERNER ZEITUNG: SAUDI-ARABIEN ⋅ Unbekannte haben sich im Osten Saudi-Arabiens ein Feuergefecht mit der Polizei geliefert und dabei eine Ölleitung in Brand gesetzt. Über mögliche Verletzte machte die Polizei keine Angaben. Schreiben Sie einen Kommentar » | sda/dpa | Samstag, 18. Oktober 2014

Ausweis-Entzug für Islamisten

Deutschland will die Ausreise von gewaltbereiten Islamisten in den Dschihad nach Syrien oder den Irak verhindern. Darum soll ihnen neben dem Pass nun auch der Personalausweis entzogen werden. Dies entschieden die Innenminister von Bund und Ländern.

Phyllis Chesler: Life Inside the Muslim World

Oct. 14, 2014 - 6:27 - Author Phyllis Chesler recounts her experience

An American Bride in Kabul: A Memoir »

Buy the book here

The Phyllis Chesler Organization »

Former ISIS Hostage: French Journalist Nicolas Henin

Read the Mail Online article here | Friday, October 17, 2014

Living Next Door to ISIS

Deutschland kämpft mit radikalen Islamisten im eigenen Land

Vor allem in einem Bundesland werben salafistische Gruppen Jugendliche an – auch ganz gezielt für den IS. Rund 400 Deutsche sind bereits nach Syrien und in andere Länder gezogen, um mit IS-Milizen in den Kampf zu ziehen. SRF-Korrespondent Adrian Arnold hat sich umgesehen.

Hier kann man kommentieren.

Ray Cole: My Time in a Moroccan Jail for Being Gay Was 'Hell on Earth'

69-year-old Ray Cole was four weeks into a holiday in Morocco when he was charged with breaking the country's strict anti-gay laws. A local man, Jamal, with whom he'd struck up a relationship, was also arrested and both men were thrown in jail. Having spent 19 days in an overcrowded cell, Cole was eventually released following a high-profile campaign by his family, but he remains haunted by his ordeal. Now he has begun a campaign to be reunited with Jamal, who may be eligible to claim asylum in the UK
Watch the video here | Thursday, October 16, 2014

Queen Rania: Extremism Is Everyone’s Battle

Read the Telegraph article here | Thursday, October 16, 2014

John Cantlie: Lend Me Your Ears

Read the Telegraph article here | Thursday, October 16, 2014

New Dark Age Alert! British Jihadi Taunts The West: 'We Will Kill Every Soldier You Send'

Sam Harris Defends Assertion That ‘Islam Is the Motherlode of Bad Ideas’

Watch the video here
Read the article here

Now ISIS Boasts About Invading the Vatican: Propaganda Magazine Says Terrorists Will 'Conquer' Rome and 'Break Your Crosses'

MAIL ONLINE: ISIS publishes picture in Dabiq of their black flag flying above the Vatican / Militants' flag superimposed in magazine on obelisk in St Peter’s Square / Its article also urges Muslims to attack and kill 'every Crusader possible'

Islamic State jihadis today issued a clear threat to the heart of Christianity, as they published an image of their black flag flying above the Vatican.

In a picture on the cover of their official magazine showing a mock-up of Caliphate-controlled Rome, the militants’ flag is superimposed on the obelisk in St Peter’s Square.

It is the front cover of the fourth edition of the ISIS online propaganda magazine Dabiq, which calls in its latest issue for a war against the Catholic Church.

While the headline reads The Failed Crusade, the article threatens to ‘conquer’ Rome and ‘break your crosses’.

The article in Dabiq - named after a town in northern Syria where in 1516 the Ottomans defeated the Mamluks, establishing the last Islamic caliphate - also urged faithful Muslims to attack and kill ‘every Crusader possible’.

It added that ‘it is lawful to kidnap the women of the infidels and use them as sex slaves’. » | Hannah Roberts for MailOnline in Rome | Monday, October 13, 2014

John Cantlie's Sister Appeals to Isil to Communicate with His Family

Jessica Cantlie, the sister of British journalist John Cantlie who is being held hostage by the Islamic State (IS), has urged the terror group to "restart dialogue" with his family

Read the Telegraph article here | Telegraph Video, and PA, video source APTN | Monday, October 13, 2014

Inside an Isil Training Camp in 60 Seconds

With up to 500 British jihadis feared to have joined the ranks of the Islamic State in Syria, this video shows the brutal initiation many will have undergone

Read more here | Sunday, October 12, 2014

In Britain, Islamist Extremist Anjem Choudary Proves Elusive

THE WASHINGTON POST: LONDON — As British war planes arc through Middle Eastern skies and security services race to unravel terrorist plots at home, the nation’s most prominent propagandist for the Islamic State sits in a London sweets shop, laying out his radical vision in between bites of dessert.

Iraq and Syria, Anjem Choudary says confidently, are only the beginning. The Islamic State’s signature black flag will fly over 10 Downing Street, not to mention the White House. And it won’t happen peacefully, but only after a great battle that is now underway.

“We believe there will be complete domination of the world by Islam,” says the 47-year-old, calmly sipping tea and looking none the worse for having been swept up in a police raid just days earlier. “That may sound like some kind of James Bond movie — you know, Dr. No and world domination and all that. But we believe it.”

With such grandiose proclamations, it is tempting to dismiss Choudary as a cartoonish hate preacher straight out of central casting. Many do. But harder to ignore is his record of inspiring impressionable young men to carry out violence in the name of Islam — both in Britain and overseas. » | Griff Witte | Saturday, October 11, 2014

Iraq Asks for US Ground Troops as Isil Threaten Baghdad

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Islamic State jihadists move within eight miles of the Iraqi capital, sparking calls for America to return to the country

Iraqi officials have issued a desperate plea for America to bring US ground troops back to the embattled country, as heavily armed Islamic State militants came within striking distance of Baghdad.

Amid reports that Isil forces have advanced as far as Abu Ghraib, a town that is effectively a suburb of Baghdad, a senior governor claimed up to 10,000 fighters from the movement were now poised to assault the capital. » | Alastair Beach | Saturday, October 11, 2014

Army Chiefs Tell Government: Stop Gulf States Funding Terrorism

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Government urged to put pressure on Gulf leaders into tackling extremism by strangling the funding of terrorist networks and the religious ideology that fuels them

Pressure is mounting on the Government to take action against wealthy Gulf states accused of funding Islamist terrorism after the beheading of Alan Henning, the British aid worker kidnapped in Syria.

Two retired generals and a former defence secretary claimed that nations such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia were helping the rise of violent extremism by channelling cash to terrorist groups such as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil), which carried out Mr Henning’s murder.

The trio of senior military figures said air strikes against Isil were insufficient to defeat the terrorist threat. Instead, they called on the Government to pressure Gulf leaders into tackling extremism by strangling the funding of terrorist networks and the religious ideology that fuels them.

Investigations by The Telegraph suggest that tens of millions of pounds have been raised for Isil — and al-Qaeda — by wealthy individuals in the Gulf region while its leaders have “turned a blind eye” to the problem or been complicit in funding certain groups. » | Robert Mendick, Tim Ross and Patrick Sawer | Saturday, October 04, 2014 [?]

Inside ISIS' Threat to Baghdad

Oct. 10, 2014 - 3:33 - ISIS has shoulder-fired missiles and has shot down Iraqi helicopters. Why Baghdad is in potential peril

Austria Teenage Girl Jihadis 'Want to Come Home’ from Isil

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Two Austrian teenagers who moved to Syria to form relationships with Islamic State jihadists are pregnant and have told their families they want to return home

Samra Kesinovic, 17, and Sabina Selimovic, 15, had been dubbed poster girls for the jihadist groups after fleeing to Raqqa in central Syria. They have since married foreign fighters in the city and become pregnant.

But the city’s strict Islamic lifestyle has turned sour for the girls, who want to return to Europe.

They have contacted their loved ones and told them they are sick of living with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) jihadis.

But they also said they don’t feel they can flee from their unwanted new life because too many people now associate them with Isil.

Austrian officials have said the girls have discussed going back home but that the country’s current laws were blocking their return. » | Damien McElroy | Friday, October 10, 2014

Salman Rushdie Condemns 'Hate-filled Rhetoric' of Islamic Fanaticism

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Salman Rushdie says all religions have their extremists but "the overwhelming weight of the problem lies in the world of Islam"

Accusations of 'Islamophobia' are being levelled at anyone who dares to speak out against the "hate-filled rhetoric" of Islamic fanaticism, Salman Rushdie has claimed in a speech condemning Isil and "this new age of religious mayhem".

Rushdie voiced his fears that the language of "jihadi-cool" is seducing young British Muslims, many via Twitter and YouTube, into joining the "decapitating barbarianism" of Isil, the group also referred to as Islamic State or Isis.

In his PEN/Pinter Prize Lecture, the author said all religions have their extremists but "the overwhelming weight of the problem lies in the world of Islam". » | Anita Singh, Arts and Entertainment Editor | Thursday, October 09, 2014

Isil Hostage Peter Kassig 'Is Now Devout Muslim Who Prays Five Times a Day', Says Ex-captive

Nicolas Henin, a former cellmate of Peter Kassig and John Cantlie, reveals intimate details of their lives as hostages of Islamic State

Read the Telegraph article here | Ruth Sherlock, Paris | Wednesday, October 08, 2014

Moazzam Begg: Government Rejected My Help to Free Alan Henning

Israeli Woman Discriminated against by Kuwait Airways

Sep. 29, 2014 - 1:48 - David Lee Miller reports

Ben Affleck in Passionate Defence of Islam on Bill Maher Show

Ben Affleck appeared on HBO's television show Real Time
with Bill Maher to promote his latest film, Gone Girl

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Ben Affleck became embroiled in a furious debate about Islam on an American television show, accusing the host of being racist and the guests of being ignorant

Ben Affleck, the Oscar-winning actor and director, has launched a ferocious defence of Islam, after becoming involved in a heated argument when he appeared on an American chat show.

Affleck, the star of Good Will Hunting and director of Argo, appeared on HBO’s television show Real Time with Bill Maher to promote his latest film, Gone Girl.

But instead of talking about the film, the 42-year-old found himself in a furious discussion with both Maher and Sam Harris, the author of a series of books on religion.

Maher, an outspoken atheist and critic of Islam, said last week in his show that “vast numbers of Muslims around the world believe that humans deserve to die for merely holding a different idea, or drawing a cartoon, or writing a book, or eloping with the wrong person.”

He said: “Not only does the Muslim world have something in common with ISIS, it has too much in common with ISIS.” » | Harriet Alexander | Sunday, October 05, 2014

Peter Kassig: Idealistic Aid Worker Who Converted to Islam in Captivity

Mr Kassig had founded his own relief group, delivering
medical aid in conflict zones

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Parents of former US Army Ranger, the latest Western hostage to be threatened with murder by Isil extremists, says "Our hearts ache for you to be granted your freedom"

Peter Kassig, the latest hostage to be threatened with murder by Islamist extremists, is an American veteran who served in Iraq and whose decision to convert to Islam in captivity has so far failed to save his life.

Mr Kassig, 26, is shown kneeling on the ground in an orange jumpsuit at the end of footage showing the murder of Alan Henning, a British aid worker.

A masked member of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) says he will become the fifth Westerner to be killed if the US-led coalition does not halt its bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria.

Yet like Mr Henning, who was kidnapped delivering aid to Syrians, Mr Kassig's path to the Middle East suggests Isil's propaganda machine will have to to gloss over his humanitarian work in the region. And it will also have to contend with his desire to learn more about the Middle East and conversion to Islam. » | Rob Crilly, New York, and Josie Ensor | Saturday, October 04, 2014

British Jihadist Calls for Terror Attacks in UK

A British-accented jihadist has released a video urging Muslim
men in the UK to rise up and "cause terror in the hearts" of the
British people

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: New Isil video shows an unidentified man challenging David Cameron to send ground troops into Syria and Iraq

A British-accented jihadist has released a video urging Muslim men in UK to rise up and "cause terror in the hearts" of the British people.

The unidentified fighter calls David Cameron "a despicable swine" and challenges him to send British ground troops against the Islamic State so the jihadists can "send them back one-by-one in coffins".

"You're fighting people who love death more than you love life," the jihadist says.

Unlike the masked British man featured in the beheading videos of two American journalists and a British aid worker, the man in the most-recent video leaves his face defiantly uncovered. » | Raf Sanchez, Washington | Friday, October 03, 2014

If you recognise this man, email raf.sanchez[at]telegraph.co.uk

Video emerges of ISIS Beheading British Hostage Alan Henning

Oct. 03, 2014 - 0:39 - Islamic militants release reported video of killing

British Isis Fighter Calls David Cameron a ‘Despicable Swine’ in Online Video

A still from the Isis propaganda video in which an apparent
British Islamic State fighter calls the prime minister a
'despicable swine'.

THE GUARDIAN: Western governments challenged to send ground troops after UK air strikes on Islamic State

An apparent British Islamic State (Isis) fighter has appeared unmasked in a video posted online in which he calls the prime minister, David Cameron, a “despicable swine”.

Dressed in camouflage fatigues and with a bandaged right arm, the bespectacled man challenges western governments to “send all your forces on the ground” in the high-quality footage.

Sitting in front of a wall with an AK-47 rifle propped up beside him, he said: “This is a message to that despicable swine David Cameron. You along with all the other western governments have decided to bomb the Islamic State.

“If you were real men, you would send all your forces down on the ground. You would not bomb us from the sky – you would send them all on the ground fighting us one by one. But you know in the hearts of your men, they’re cowards.” » | Jamie Orme | Saturday, October 04, 2014

The Gathering Storm Radio Show, October 3, 2014

Special guest: Mark Alexander

Check Out Politics Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with WC Always On Watch on BlogTalkRadio

Is Baghdad At Risk of Falling to ISIS?

Oct. 01, 2014 - 8:52 - Terror group advances, Christians in peril

Is ISIS Beginning to Outsmart US Airstrike Strategy?

Oct. 02, 2014 - 4:49 - Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby responds to reports of ISIS beginning to adjust and outmaneuver coalition airstrikes

Is Islam a Religion of Peace?

Oct. 01, 2014 - 3:27 - Former documentary filmmaker Eric Allen Bell weighs in

The Gathering Storm Radio Show

I will be the special guest on Always and WC’s radio show this evening at 8pm London time. Please join us if you can.

Mark Alexander

President Obama: What Makes Us America

In a wide-ranging interview, the president discusses the battle against Islamic extremists, U.S.-Russia relations and the upcoming midterm elections