In an RT global exclusive premiere, President Putin gives his first post-inauguration interview, speaking in depth with RT’s Kevin Owen ahead of the APEC summit in Vladivostok. Touching upon a range of issues, he discusses topics from the Pussy Riot trial to the Julian Assange case, from the upcoming US elections to the situation in Syria.

RT: What I want to talk about first of all is the ongoing at the moment APEC summit. You'll be going there very shortly – in Vladivostok because it's the first time that Russia has held it, a prestigious event. But it always begs the question – what's actually achieved at these events, events like that, like the G8, G20? Now, though APEC is primarily an economic vessel, there's a lot of politics involved as well. And of course a lot of the key players including you, including America, a lot of key players disagree on some very key issues. I'm thinking about Syria, I'm thinking about missile defense, I'm thinking about Iran. Is there a danger that the politics may stifle, get in the way of the big economic deals that the very same key players are hoping to sign at this summit or at least talk about signing?

President Putin: That is true. But in fact – and you’ve just said it yourself – APEC was originally conceived as a forum for discussing economic issues. And as this year’s host country, we also intend to focus on economic and socio-economic challenges. APEC was originally established with the overall objective of liberalizing the global economy. And we intend to make this a key issue on the agenda in Vladivostok. When I invited our counterparts, five years ago, to meet for this forum particularly in the Russian Federation, my rationale was to acknowledge the importance of this area for Russia, given that two-thirds of Russia’s territory are located in Asia, and yet the bulk of our foreign trade – more than 50 percent – is with Europe, whereas Asia only accounts for 24 percent. Meanwhile, Asia is developing rapidly and intensively. You and I know it, and everybody knows it. Therefore, we are planning to focus primarily on economic challenges, transport, global food security and the task of liberalizing the global economy. It’s a well-known fact that the past year has seen a dramatic increase in the number of people affected by starvation, which has grown by 200 million. This means that 1 billion people worldwide are currently suffering from food shortages or famine. I believe this is the kind of issue that will be the focus of attention, along with a number of other challenges that are highly sensitive and significant for millions of people. As far as Syria and other hot spots are concerned – issues that are currently in the limelight – we will certainly address them in our deliberations at the forum, in bilateral discussions or otherwise. They won’t be overlooked.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a major new report detailing how the Bush Administration and other allied governments tortured and imprisoned opponents of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The prisoners were then rendered to Gaddafi’s own prisons where many of them were tortured. - According to a HRW press release, the 154-page report, “Delivered into Enemy Hands: US-Led Abuse and Rendition of Opponents to Gaddafi’s Libya,” is based on documents discovered by Human Rights Watch on September 3, 2011 in the offices of Libya’s former intelligence chief, Musa Kusa, after Tripoli fell to rebel forces last year. The report also references 14 interviews with victims of both U.S. rendition and U.S. and Libyan torture. In addition, HRW provides new information on the mysterious last days of Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, who reportedly committed suicide in a Libyan prison in 2009, two weeks after HRW representatives briefly spoke with him. According to HRW, other governments involved in torture and/or unlawful renditions to Libya included “Afghanistan, Chad, China and Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Sudan, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.”

If you thought the Republican national convention was the worst display of narrow-minded chauvinism, belligerent nationalism, and fanatical Israel First-ism, then you didn’t imagine what the Democrats were going to be like. The attacks on Romney for his lack of “economic patriotism” limn the Bush years, albeit in blue. The requisite anti-Chinese rhetoric was on full display: Beijing is the new Soviet Union for both the unions and the neocons. Speaking of neocons: if anyone doubted the stranglehold the Israel lobby has on American politics, then the shenanigans in Charlotte should settle that once and for all. It’s almost a joke — I say almost because the most vital issues of war and peace are at stake.

Stephen Lendman: Democrats Throw Palestinians Under the Bus
Patrick Martin: The Democratic convention: A scripted and empty spectacle

Video has surfaced of TSA agents conducting security tests on beverages bought inside of US airports, two months after RT first reported that passengers were being subjected to added drink screenings at a Colorado airport. - RT was quick to report in July that agents with the Transportation Security Administration were routinely testing store-bought beverages purchased inside of the airport for explosive chemicals, according to an investigation first carried out by Grand Junction, Colorado’s KJCT-8 News. Only a few weeks later, an irritated airline passenger preparing to board witnessed a similar screening first-hand was able to document it. In a video uploaded to YouTube over the weekend, user Dan Holland writes, “While waiting in the Columbus, OH airport for our flight to Oakland, I couldn’t help but notice the two TSA women that were ‘testing’ any and all liquids that people had in their hands.”

Ben Swann Reality Check talks one on one with President Obama and asks about the so called Presidential Kill List

29 dead in a little over a week. Nearly 200 gone this year. The White House is stepping up its campaign of drone attacks in Yemen, with four strikes in eight days. And not even the slaying of 10 civilians over the weekend seems to have slowed the pace in the United States’ secretive, undeclared war. - At this week’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, you’ll hear lots of talk about the Obama administration’s pursuit of al-Qaida and its allies — including, of course, the raid that ultimately took out Osama bin Laden. But the hottest battlefield in this worldwide conflict isn’t likely to receive much attention. It’s a shame, because the fight in Yemen is one that demands discussion. Not only does the White House consider al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula to be the extremist group most likely to strike in the United States. But the American response to that threat was been widely questioned by regional experts, who wonder whether U.S. drones and commandos aren’t being duped into fighting on one side of a civil war.

As many as 66 countries would be eligible to buy U.S. drones under new Defense Department guidelines but Congress and the State Department, which have a final say, have not yet opened the spigots for exports, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday. The 66 countries were listed in a Defense Department policy worked out last year to clear the way for wider overseas sales of unmanned aerial systems, as the Pentagon calls such drones, said Richard Genaille, deputy director of the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency. He did not name them. "We don't really have a comprehensive U.S. government policy" on such exports, he told an industry conference called ComDef 2012. "It hasn't moved quite as fast as we would like, but we're not giving up."

For us, it is difficult not to consider some hypotheses: before these antecedents, there being only 40 days until the presidential elections, will an accident of this proportion have been, in fact, mere coincidence? The question hangs in the air: accident or sabotage?

In the first place, the incident highlights the risks the oil workers are exposed to. Those who work in the oil sector, through their labor unions, are always collecting security policies to ensure the health and physical integrity of both workers and the residents who live around the refineries and factories. In Venezuela, like Brazil our guidelines go beyond the remuneration issue. In Brazil, Petrobras oil workers, who are currently in a wage campaign, settled their claims with the company since August 16, and there are whole chapters about the lack of job security. However, even with all the precautions, the job is risky and accidents happen. In the case of the fire at the refinery in Venezuela, some aspects cannot be ignored.

PressTV: Sabotage more probable than mishap in Venezuela refinery blast
James Petras: Venezuela’s Oil Refinery Blaze: Seven Good Reasons to Suspect Sabotage

Stephen Lendman: Destabilizing Venezuela Pre-Election - Venezuelans get the real thing. They're not about to accept pre-Chavez harshness. They want no part of corporatism at their expense. The Venezuela Solidarity Campaign published a report saying a leaked internal right wing document revealed plans to roll back public services if elected. It calls for reducing state funding. Health care, education, food subsidies, housing assistance, communal council projects, and other programs Venezuelans rely on will be affected. The document titled "First Ideas for Economic Actions of the National Unity Government" calls for "concrete steps to decrease, in the medium and long term, the heavy load of goods and services" by slashing overall social spending. Privatizations and neoliberal harshness are planned. What Venezuelans rejected years ago they want reinstated.

A US congressman has confirmed reports that the Israeli prime minister and the US envoy to Tel Aviv engaged in a row over Iran’s nuclear energy program during a meeting in August. - In a recent interview with Michigan Radio, Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, confirmed reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro quarreled over Iran during the meeting in al-Quds (Jerusalem). Rogers also attended the controversial meeting. The reports said Netanyahu started the session by censuring Washington’s preference for diplomatic channels between the US and Iran.

“Instead of pressuring Iran effectively, Obama and his officials are pressuring us not to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities,” Netanyahu stated, adding, “Time has run out.”

In response, Shapiro accused the Israeli premier of distorting Obama’s stance.

PressTV: US, Israel divided on possible attack on Iran N-energy facilities: Barak