Britain: MI-6
The British foreign intelligence agency (MI stands for Military Intelligence). The official name of MI6 is the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS).
Website: www.sis.gov.uk.
Cuba: Wet Foot, Dry Foot Policy
1995 agreement with Cuba that allowed Cuban refugees who reached the United States to become permanent residents. Cubans caught in U.S. territorial waters before reaching the U.S. shore were returned to Cuba or to a third country. President Barack Obama ended the policy in 2017.
Referenced by...Trump reinstates Cuba travel restrictions (2017-Jun-25)
Obama ends Cuban immigration amnesty (2017-Jan-12)
Russia: FSB
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) is Russia's primary security agency.
It is the agency that succeeded the KGB.
Russia: KGB
The main internal security and intelligence agency (as well as secret police) of the former Soviet Union.
It operated from 1954 - 1991.
Russia: Magnitsky Act
2012 law enacted to punish Russian officials believed responsible for the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow prison. Magnitsky had uncovered a scheme involving the laundering of millions of dollars into New York luxury properties by Russian mobsters.
The law prohibits these officials from entering the United States or making use of the nation's banking system.
For more, read the Washington Post story.
Click here for more information about the bill.
Russia: Ministry of Internal Affairs
Russian national police force that maintains the country's labor camps.
For more, read the U.S. Marines report.
Russia: Oligarchs
A group of well-connected businessmen who made their fortunes largely through the privatization of natural resources and other state-owned assets after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Some oligarchs lost their influence in a power-struggle with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the early 2000s, others reached bargains with the president, and a new group of oligarchs allied to Putin emerged.