Eric Schmidt, the Executive Chairman of Google’s parent company Alphabet, says the company will “engineer” specific algorithms for RT and Sputnik to make their articles less prominent on the search engine’s news delivery services.

“We are working on detecting and de-ranking those kinds of sites – it’s basically RT and Sputnik,” Schmidt said during a Q & A session at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada on Saturday, when asked about whether Google facilitates “Russian propaganda.”

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/410444-google-alphabet-derank-rt/

Meanwhile:

The 2017 edition of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women according to Forbes, released on Wednesday, features two Russians: the head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, and Margarita Simonyan. While for Nabiullina it will be the fourth year in a row on the list, for Simonyan, who landed at No. 52, she is one of 23 newcomers.

Clinton suffered a remarkable fall from grace in comparison to her strong showing last year, tumbling 63 spots after her stunning defeat in the 2016 US presidential election. The former Democratic presidential candidate, whose victory was practically guaranteed by the US mainstream media in the run-up to the election, repeatedly accused Russia of robbing her of the win and swinging the vote in Donald Trump’s favor.

With Forbes may have now given her another reason to bash Russia, it is Hillary Clinton and her allies’ focus on making Russia the scapegoat that has given a boost to RT’s editor-in-chief, according to Forbes. 

“A year ago, most people had no idea who Margarita Simonyan was. Now, she's being discussed in tech, media and political circles as the outsized influence of her Russian TV network, RT, comes into focus,” Forbes wrote.

READ MORE: Meddling for Trump? The most expensive Twitter ad was about Bernie Sanders – RT Editor-in-Chief

The publication noted that Simonyan has succeeded in raising the network’s profile by turning RT into “an important media voice” while “verging between straight news and conspiracy theories.” 

read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/408517-clinton-symonyan-rt-forbes-list/

Google’s announcement that it is working to reduce the presence of Russian media in its news feeds has been slammed by lawmakers and political commentators as an act of aggression which will have a global impact on the freedom of speech and thought.

“This is an open form of information warfare waged right now – a bombardment, a direct aggression” against the Russian news outlets, Andrey Svintsov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee for Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications, told RT. The lawmaker explained that tweaking search results for the news category would cut off the global readership that remains interested in the Russian position on global events, calling it a “powerful blow” to the freedom of speech.

“We as MPs should think about... limiting [the use of] the Google search engine, as well as certain social networks belonging to this holding in Russia,” Svintsov said. Meanwhile, the head of the Russian Upper House Commission for Information Policy, Senator Aleksey Pushkov, also wondered whether Google should be “de-ranked” in Russia in a tit-for-tat response.

read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/410463-google-rt-sputnik-information-war/

At this stage, Gus has moved to the "Bing" search engine. I have demoted Google to second rate... Actually, Google has been annoying for the last few years, as its search results have been of very very poor quality — not based on importance but on "Googal MacGoogleface" number of hits... Let's hope that Bing will fit the bill or that someone else comes up with a better search engine called "gofish" or "NewB" or "Clipp" or "Inffo" or "Quute" or whatever cute...

The Russian military planes will not be exhibited at the week-long airshow that will be held in Hampshire, the United Kingdom.

Britain's regulator Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) has imposed restrictions on the Russian participants of the international air show, one of the organizers of the eventy said in a comment to RIA Novosti.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

Read more;

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201711211059290279-uk-regulator-russia-fa...

The air show is international-ish... designed for aircraft manufacturers to show off... Britain's regulator Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) could be thinking that the Russian planes might show them off...

"Consider your verdict," the King of Hearts, who is acting as the judge, says straightaway to the jury.

The White Rabbit reminds him that witnesses have to be called and the 'trial' continues. It becomes increasingly farcical. Alice notes: "They haven't got much evidence yet."After she testifies, the Queen cries: "Sentence first, verdict afterwards."

"Stuff and nonsense!" Alice replies. "The idea of having the sentence first!"

"Hold your tongue," says the Queen, who is now turning purple. When Alice says she won't, the Queen shouts "Off with her head!" at the top of her voice.

We all laughed at this scene when reading it or watching film versions as children. Who would have thought that, in the second decade of the 21st century, this is how things would be operating in 'modern' Britain.

Britain was a country, we were always told, where there was 'due process,' where the principle of 'innocent until proven guilty' always applied. The idea of sentencing before the verdict, or giving the verdict before hearing any evidence – why it'd be totally absurd! But that is exactly what's been happening.

In the 1972 film version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the King and Queen were played by Dennis Price and Flora Robson. In the 2018 Conservative Party remake, the roles have been taken by Boris Johnson and Theresa May. The 'Knave' is Vladimir Putin. Guilty as charged! Let's pass the sentence and kick out Russian diplomats – and urge others to do likewise – before we hear the evidence.

Alice, meanwhile, has been played by anyone who dares to question the absurdity. Like her, we've all been told to hold our tongues. Just remember the opprobrium heaped on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for daring to ask the 'Queen of Hearts' if she had responded to Russian requests to examine samples of the nerve agent allegedly used against the Skripals.

Corbyn was branded a "traitor" and a "Kremlin stooge" just for wanting to follow proper procedure.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/423734-uk-politics-may-johnson/

In the picture at top, next to the Russian "defrost" thingy, there is an article about a car that plunged 300 feet down a cliff... Just a friendly warning that the Russians had nothing to do with it...