Page 109 - Russia

Russian court extends detention of WSJ reporter Gershkovich until Jan end

A court in Moscow has extended the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, until Jan. 30, Russian news agencies reported. The hearing took place on Tuesday behind closed doors because authorities say details of the criminal case against the American journalist are classified. Gershkovich was detained in March while on a reporting trip to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow. Russia's Federal Security Service alleged that the reporter, acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex. Gershkovich and the Journal deny the allegations, and the U.S. government has declared him to be wrongfully detained. Russian authorities haven't detailed any evidence to support the espionage charges.

World much more than Europe: Lavrov echoes Jaishankar on global order

He quoted Jaishankar's remarks that the "world is much more than Europe" and the "world is much more than the West"

Putin signs Russia's largest national budget, bolstering military spending

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a national budget for the next three years that increases spending by around 25 per cent and reportedly devotes a record amount to defense as the the country's military operation in Ukraine drags on. The budget foresees spending in 2024 of 36.6 trillion rubles ( USD 415 billion) with an expected deficit of 1.595 trillion rubles (USD 9.5 billion). After the budget was passed by the lower house of the parliament, Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said it was developed specifically to fund the military and to mitigate the impact of international sanctions imposed after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Record low unemployment, higher wages and targeted social spending should help the Kremlin ride out the domestic impact of pivoting the economy toward the military, but could pose a problem in the long term, analysts say. Part of the Russian budget is secret as the Kremlin tries to conceal its military plans and sidestep scrutin

Ukraine shipping more grain through Black Sea despite threat from Russia

Grain thunders into rail cars and trucks zip around a storage facility in central Ukraine, a place that growing numbers of companies turned to as they struggled to export their food to people facing hunger around the world. Now, more of the grain is getting unloaded from overcrammed silos and heading to ports on the Black Sea, set to traverse a fledgling shipping corridor launched after Russia pulled out of a UN-brokered agreement this summer that allowed food to flow safely from Ukraine during the war. It was tight, but we kept working we sought how to accept every ton of products needed for our partners, facility general director Roman Andreikiv said about the end of the grain deal in July. Ukraine's new corridor, protected by the military, has now allowed him to free up warehouse space and increase activity. Growing numbers of ships are streaming toward Ukraine's Black Sea ports and heading out loaded with grain, metals and other cargo despite the threat of attack and floating .

Russia puts Facebook owner Meta's spokesman Andy Stone on a wanted list

Russia has added the spokesman of US technology company Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, to a wanted list, according to an online database maintained by the country's interior ministry. Russian state agency Tass and independent news outlet Mediazona first reported that Meta communications director Andy Stone was included on the list Sunday, weeks after Russian authorities in October classified Meta as a "terrorist and extremist" organisation, opening the way for possible criminal proceedings against Russian residents using its platforms. The interior ministry's database doesn't give details of the case against Stone, stating only that he is wanted on criminal charges. Meta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. According to Mediazona, an independent news website that covers Russia's opposition and prison system, Stone was put on the wanted list in February 2022, but authorities made no related statements at the time and no news media reported on the matter unti

Attackers seize Israel-linked tanker off Yemen in 3rd such assault

Attackers seized a tanker linked to Israel off the coast of Yemen on Sunday, authorities said. While no group immediately claimed responsibility, it comes as at least two other maritime attacks in recent days have been linked to the Israel-Hamas war. The Turkish-captained vessel has a multinational crew consisting of a crew of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino nationals. The vessel is carrying a full cargo of phosphoric acid, the ship operator, Zodiac Maritime, said. The attackers seized the Liberian-flagged Central Park, managed by Zodiac Maritime, in the Gulf of Aden, the company and private intelligence firm Ambrey said. An American defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, also confirmed to The Associated Press that the attack took place. Zodiac called the seizure a suspected piracy incident. Our priority is the safety of our 22 crew onboard, Zodiac said in a statement. Zodiac described the vessel as being

Russia accuses US of meddling in domestic affairs of poll-bound Bangladesh

Bangladesh politics became the focus of a war of words between the US and Russia on Saturday as Washington accused Moscow of making "deliberate mischaracterisation" of its foreign policy relating to the upcoming elections in the South Asian nation. Bangladesh is going to the polls on January 7 next year. During a regular weekly briefing in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that US ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas and a high-ranking representative of the local opposition discussed plans to organise mass anti-government protests in the country during the meeting. Reacting to her statement, a US State Department spokesperson in Washington said, We are aware of Zakharova's deliberate mischaracterisation of US foreign policy and Ambassador Haas's meetings. Washington's response, issued by the US embassy, came hours after the Russian embassy in Dhaka updated its website detailing Zakharova's November 22 comments in Moscow. The US offic

Putin to boost AI work to fight 'unacceptable, dangerous' Western monopoly

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday announced a plan to endorse a national strategy for the development of artificial intelligence, emphasising that it's essential to prevent a Western monopoly. Speaking at an AI conference in Moscow, Putin noted that it's imperative to use Russian solutions in the field of creating reliable and transparent artificial intelligence systems that are also safe for humans. Monopolistic dominance of such foreign technology in Russia is unacceptable, dangerous and inadmissible, Putin said. He noted that many modern systems, trained on Western data are intended for the Western market and reflect that part of Western ethics, norms of behaviour, public policy to which we object. During his more than two decades in power, Putin has overseen a multi-pronged crackdown on the opposition and civil society groups, and promoted traditional values to counter purported Western influence - policies that have become even more oppressive after he sent troops int

Russian consumers find themselves in a bind as high inflation persists

The shelves at Moscow supermarkets are full of fruit and vegetables, cheese and meat. But many of the shoppers look at the selection with dismay as inflation makes their wallets feel empty. Russia's Central Bank has raised its key lending rate four times this year to try to get inflation under control and stabilize the ruble's exchange rate as the economy weathers the effects of Russia's military operation in Ukraine and the Western sanctions imposed as a consequence. The last time it raised the rate to 15 per cent, doubled that from the beginning of the year the bank said it was concerned about prices that were increasing at an annualized pace of about 12 per cent. The bank now forecasts inflation for the full year, as well as next year, to be about 7.5 per cent. Although that rate is high, it may be an understatement. If we talk in percentage terms, then, probably, (prices) increased by 25 per cent. This is meat, staple products dairy produce, fruits, vegetables, sausages. My

Traders offer sanctioned Iranian crude to India as Chinese purchases peak

India turning into a magnet for sanctioned oil after its refiners started buying Russian oil last year at deep discounts

Pakistan applies for Brics membership; seeks Russia's support: Envoy

Pakistan has applied for membership in the BRICS grouping and sought Russia's support, the country's envoy to Moscow Muhammad Khalid Jamali has said. Pakistan has filed an application to join the BRICS group of nations in 2024 and is counting on Russia's assistance during the membership process, Russia's official TASS news agency reported on Wednesday quoted Jamali as saying. Jamali said Pakistan has already applied for membership in the BRICS-Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa and is set to expand next year with the admission of six new members under the Russian Presidency. Pakistan's application to join the BRICS came as the grouping of emerging economies was set for its biggest expansion with six new members under Russia's rotating Presidency in 2024. This year's BRICS summit held in South Africa formally admitted Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as new members. They will formally join during the 2024 summit in ...

Islamabad applies for Brics membership: Pakistan's ambassador to Russia

Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been invited to become members of BRICS. Their membership will take effect January 1, 2024

Russia, IOC clash at UN before states pass Olympic Truce for Paris Games

Russia clashed with the International Olympic Committee on the floor of the United Nations before 118 member states voted to adopt a traditional truce around the 2024 Paris Summer Games. Two years ago, Russia voted for the previous Olympic Truce resolution then flagrantly breached it by invading Ukraine four days after the 2022 Winter Games closed in Beijing. Relations between Russia and IOC President Thomas Bach have not recovered since though the Olympic body eased its initially tough stance of exclusion by urging sports bodies to let some athletes compete as neutral individuals with no symbols of national identity. Such conditions are completely unacceptable, Russian diplomat Maria Zabolotskaya said Tuesday speaking immediately before Bach in the Olympic Truce debate at the UN in New York. The height of hypocrisy and cynicism the likes of which we have not seen in recent history has been the illegal barring of Russian athletes from international sporting competitions, said ...

US seeks over $4 billion from crypto exchange Binance to end criminal case

The US Justice Department has been investigating Binance for allegedly aiding in the evasion of US sanctions against Iran and Russia

Nato committed to Bosnia's territorial integrity condemns Russian influence

NATO supports Bosnia's territorial integrity and is concerned by malign foreign interference, including by Russia, in the volatile Balkans region that went through a devastating war in the 1990s, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday. Sarajevo is the first stop on Stoltenberg's tour of Western Balkan countries that will also include Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia. The Allies strongly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Stoltenberg told reporters. We are concerned by the secessionist and divisive rhetoric as well as malign foreign interference, including Russia." There are widespread fears that Russia is trying to destabilise Bosnia and the rest of the region and thus shift at least some world attention from its aggression on Ukraine. Moscow is openly supporting the secessionist, pro-Russian Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik who has repeatedly called for the breakup of the country and joining the Serb-controlled half of ..

Russian authorities ask SC to declare the LGBTQ 'movement' extremist

The Russian Justice Ministry on Friday said it has filed a lawsuit with the nation's Supreme Court to outlaw the LGBTQ+ international public movement as extremist, the latest crippling blow against the already beleaguered LGBTQ+ community in the increasingly conservative country. The ministry said in an online statement announcing the lawsuit that authorities have identified signs and manifestations of extremist nature in the activities of the LGBT movement active" in Russia, including incitement of social and religious discord. Russia's Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing to consider the lawsuit for November 30, the ministry said. It wasn't immediately clear what exactly the label would entail for LGBTQ+ people in Russia if the Supreme Court sides with the Justice Ministry. But the move in itself represents the latest, and by far the most drastic, step in the decade-long crackdown on gay rights in Russia unleashed under President Vladimir Putin, who has put traditional family ...

Washington sanctioned tankers previously shipped Russian crude to India

The Liberian-flagged ships hit with sanctions are the Kazan, Ligovsky Prospect and NS Century, according to the Treasury Department

Finland to close 4 border points after accusing Russia of migrant flow

Finland will close four crossing points on its long border with Russia to stop the flow of Middle Eastern and African migrants that it accuses Moscow of ushering to the border in recent months, the government said Thursday. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said the southeastern crossing points -- Imatra, Niirala, Nuijamaa and Vaalimaa -- will be closed at midnight Friday on the Finland-Russia land border that serves as the European Union's external border. It runs a total of 1,340 kilometers (832 miles), mostly in thick forests in the south, all the way to the rugged landscape in the Arctic north. There are currently nine crossing points with one dedicated to rail travel only. Operations of the Russian border authorities have changed, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters. He referred to dozens of migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, who have arrived in recent days at the Nordic nation without proper documentation and

'Days of Russian Language in India' to be celebrated in New Delhi, Chennai

The event has been commissioned by the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation

Record Russian budget to boost defence spending, shoring up Putin's support

Russia's State Duma took a step forward Wednesday towards approving its biggest-ever federal budget which will increase spending by around 25 per cent in 2024, with record amounts going on defence. Defence spending is expected to overtake social spending next year for the first time in modern Russian history, at a time when the Kremlin is keen to shore up support for President Vladimir Putin as Russia prepares for a presidential election in March. Record low unemployment, higher wages and targeted social spending should help the Kremlin ride out the domestic impact of pivoting the economy to a war footing, but could pose a problem in the long term, analysts say. The draft budget "is about getting the war sorted in Ukraine and about being ready for a military confrontation with the West in perpetuity, said Richard Connolly, an expert on Russia's military and economy at the Royal United Services Institute in London. This amounts to the wholesale remilitarisation of Russian society, h