-
Israel explains why Russian-made anti-aircraft system was destroyed during an attack on Syria
The decision to strike the Syrian Pantsir-S1 anti-air missile system was made after it opened fire on Israeli aircraft, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) told TASS in a press conference.
“The installation attacked by Israel’s Air Force fired missiles at Israeli aircraft to shoot them down. The IDF will continue to act against anyone who tries to harm the State of Israel and its inhabitants,” the IDF said in its statement.
As reported by Haaretz on May 10, Israel decided to carry out an …
-
Russia considers introducing criminal liability for companies observing Western sanctions
The Russian State Duma has drafted a bill denoting criminal liability, punishable by up to four years of imprisonment, for the implementation of sanctions by foreign states, as well as for assistance in establishing anti-Russian sanctions, in the territory of the Russian Federation, Interfax reports.
"This draft law, which proposes changes to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, will be officially introduced to the State Duma on Monday morning; its authors - the speakers for both …
-
Sweden withdraws from Russian lunar mission and joins Chinese one
The Swedish XSAN device for measurement of neutrals and ions, which was developed for the Russian Luna-25 program, will instead travel to the Earth’s satellite on the Chinese station Chang'e-4, RIA Novosti reports, referencing a letter from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF).
“In 2017, our Chinese colleagues suggested sending the manufactured XSAN flight module on the Chinese Chang'e-4 rover in 2018, an opportunity that we could not miss,” letter reads.
On May 11, IRF reported that …
-
Russia to exclude American drugs from the sanctions list
Interfax reports that the State Duma of Russia is amending the draft bill on counter sanctions to avoid prohibiting the import of drugs from the U.S. that are similar to those which exist in Russia, Ivan Melnikov, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma, stated.
“It is planned to exclude from the draft bill the mention of specific industries and specific goods and services and leave only the measures that can be applied,” Melnikov said.
In the first reading of the draft bill, it was …
-
German journalist who reported on doping in Russia denied visa to FIFA 2018 World Cup
Hajo Seppelt, a journalist of the German television company ARD, was denied the Russian visa needed to travel to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Deutsche Welle reports.
On Friday, May 11, ARD’s press service reported that Seppelt was included in Russia’s list of “undesirable persons.” Details of the decision made by Russia have not been reported yet.
The German media company called Seppelt’s visa refusal “a unique event in the history of ARD sports journalism, and from the point of view of coverage …