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International Olympic Committee suspends two Russian skiers for life over doping
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned Russian skiers Alexander Legkov and Evgeniy Belov from participating in the Olympic Games for life, Radio Liberty reported.
The Russian citizens were found guilty of using dope, and the athletes' performance results at the 2014 Sochi Olympics have been annulled. Legkov and Belov intend to appeal against the IOC’s decision.
Earlier, the national anti-doping agencies of 17 countries demanded the removal of Russia from the 2018 Olympics in …
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Subsidiary of Russian Gazprom spends nearly $1 million on lobbyists in the US
Between July and September, the Swiss company Nord Stream 2, which is planning the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from the Russian coast to Germany, spent at least $880 000 on lobbying their own interests in Washington with respect to the implementation of the project under the new US sanctions, RBC reports. Nord Stream 2, which is 100% owned by Gazprom, approached three lobbying firms, making contracts with them in July, before US President Donald Trump signed CAATSA, the new …
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Russia's law banning anonymizers goes into effect
On November 1, Russia’s law that prohibits the use of anonymizers and VPN services went into effect.
Under this law Roskomnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) must create and maintain a Federal State Information System (FGIS) which contains a list of prohibited resources.
The press service told TASS news agency that the FGIS is now established and is being tested. Kaspersky Lab, Opera Software AS, Mail.RU and Yandex are …
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Russia grants asylum to participant in attempted coup in Montenegro
Montenegrin citizen Ananije Nikić, accused in his home country of involvement in an attempted coup d'état in October 2016, has been granted political asylum in Russia, reported the Montenegrin news outlet Pobjeda with reference to the Montenegrin Ministry of Justice. The article also notes that Montenegro was notified of the decision by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO).
Nikić was placed on the wanted list following an unsuccessful attempted coup in Montenegro. The investigation …
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister suggests introducing biometric visas with Russia
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin, spoke in favor of introducing additional control over the movement of Russian citizens in Ukraine, including the biometric visa program with Russia, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
"At the same time, we must understand that we need additional control over the movement of Russian citizens and over everything that the Russian Special Services are doing here, and this is what the changes that will be introduced on January 1st are aimed at," he …