• 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 …

  • German Environmentalists try to ban Nord Stream 2 construction through the courts

    Deutsche Welle (DW) reports that the German environmental association Nabu is seeking a decision through the courts to prevent planned work on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on May 10 at a site in the Greifswald Bodden.

    "Nabu has requested an interim decree from the Greifswald Supreme Administrative Court in order to enable the court to take a decision on action against the construction of the gas pipeline before May 15," the publication quoted a statement from the …

  • Israel calls on Assad to expel Iranians from Syria

    Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "throw out" Iranian soldiers supporting Damascus, reports The Times of Israel.

    “Throw the Iranians, Qassem Soleimani and the Quds forces [General Commanding the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps] out of your country! They are not acting in your interest, they are only hurting you," Liberman addressed the Syrian leader.

    On the night of May 10th, the Iranian military, operating in Syria, fired …