Category Archives: Russia

Russian MPs consider lifetime immunity for former presidents

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Second bill in a week sparks talk of whether Vladimir Putin could be preparing for retirement

Russian lawmakers have introduced a bill into parliament that would give Vladimir Putin lifetime immunity from prosecution if and when he decides to leave office.

The draft bill would give a former president immunity from criminal prosecution for any offences committed during his lifetime. A supermajority of lawmakers would be required to revoke the protections. Currently, ex-presidents are protected for actions taken only while they were in office.

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Russia’s ‘Sausage King’ killed in Moscow in crossbow attack

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Businessman Vladimir Marugov found dead after intruders broke into his home

Several intruders broke into a sauna at the home of a Russian meat tycoon known as the “Sausage King” outside Moscow early on Monday, tied him and a woman up and demanded money before killing him with a crossbow.

The woman managed to escape the attack in the Moscow region and alert the police but the businessman was dead when officers arrived at the scene, said the Investigative Committee, which positions itself as a Russian version of the FBI.

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Russia rules out cutting fossil fuel production in next few decades

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Energy minister says Moscow will also focus on clean-burning hydrogen and carbon capture

Russia has no plans to rein in its production of fossil fuels in the coming decades despite the global efforts to shift towards low-carbon energy, according to its energy minister.

Alexander Novak told the Guardian that Russia did “not see that we will achieve a peak in [gas] production anytime soon” because the world’s appetite for gas would continue to grow in the decades ahead despite its growing number of climate targets.

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How plot linked to Kremlin fooled UK peers into fake ‘murder’ probe

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Son-in-law of Russian oligarch seeks apology from parliamentarians

It was a murder straight from the McMafia playbook, a killing that connected Moscow to London and high finance to a criminal underworld.

In its aftermath, a group of Siberian miners launched a campaign to get justice for the murdered man – Evgeny Lazarevich, a coal mine manager who had apparently fallen foul of a magnate whose profits flowed into London via Cyprus.

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Russia loses UN vote over women’s rights in conflict zones

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Security council resolution that many feared would weaken human rights is rejected by UK, US and other states

Attempts by Russia to introduce a UN security council resolution, which activists said would have unravelled the rights of women in conflict have failed as 10 countries abstained on a crucial vote on Friday.

The UK, US, Germany and France were among the abstaining member states, which meant the resolution did not gain the nine votes required to pass.

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Legal action taken against PM over refusal to investigate Kremlin meddling

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Cross-party group files claim to force inquiry into Russian interference in UK elections

A cross-party group of MPs and peers including a former national security adviser are taking legal action against Boris Johnson over his government’s refusal to order an inquiry into Russian interference in UK elections.

The group filed a claim in the high court in an attempt to force the prime minister to carry out an independent investigation or public inquiry. It is the first legal action of its kind over alleged national security failures.

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‘Sleeping giant’ Arctic methane deposits starting to release, scientists find

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Exclusive: expedition discovers new source of greenhouse gas off East Siberian coast has been triggered

Scientists have found evidence that frozen methane deposits in the Arctic Ocean – known as the “sleeping giants of the carbon cycle” – have started to be released over a large area of the continental slope off the East Siberian coast, the Guardian can reveal.

High levels of the potent greenhouse gas have been detected down to a depth of 350 metres in the Laptev Sea near Russia, prompting concern among researchers that a new climate feedback loop may have been triggered that could accelerate the pace of global heating.

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Global report: Merkel says Germany faces ‘difficult months ahead’ in Covid fight

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Chancellor says country is on verge of losing control as Europe death toll passes 250k

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said her country is on the verge of losing control of its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, telling colleagues from her Christian Democratic Union party “the situation is threatening” and “every day counts”.

In leaked comments to an internal party meeting, she told those attending of “very, very difficult months ahead” and added that “every day [would] count” in tackling the virus’s spread.

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Belarus police fire stun grenades at peaceful protesters – video

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Belarusian police have used stun grenades against protesters as tens of thousands of people headed towards Independence Palace in the capital, Minsk, demanding that President Alexander Lukashenko resign. They were marching to give what they called a 'people’s ultimatum' to Lukashenko: step down, or face a nationwide strike that could cripple the economy. Protesters were met with a violent crackdown from riot police as explosions and white smoke filled residential areas. It is the 11th straight weekend of mass protests since a disputed election plunged the country into turmoil

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UK has mounted covert attacks against Russian leadership, says ex-mandarin

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Former cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill says UK used offensive cyber-capability to exploit Moscow’s ‘vulnerabilities’

Britain has carried a series of covert attacks on Russia’s leaders and their allies, the former cabinet secretary has disclosed.

Mark Sedwill said the UK had sought to exploit Moscow’s “vulnerabilities”, including through the deployment of its recently declared offensive cyber-capability.

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Edward Snowden granted permanent residency in Russia

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Former national security contractor fled US in 2013 after leaking documents on American government surveillance operations

The former US security contractor Edward Snowden has been granted permanent residency in Russia, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Snowden, a former contractor with the National Security Agency, has been living in Russia since 2013 to escape prosecution in the US after leaking classified documents detailing government surveillance programs.

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Alarm as Arctic sea ice not yet freezing at latest date on record

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Delayed freeze in Laptev Sea could have knock-on effects across polar region, scientists say

For the first time since records began, the main nursery of Arctic sea ice in Siberia has yet to start freezing in late October.

The delayed annual freeze in the Laptev Sea has been caused by freakishly protracted warmth in northern Russia and the intrusion of Atlantic waters, say climate scientists who warn of possible knock-on effects across the polar region.

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Russia and Iran obtained US voter data in bid to sow unrest before election, FBI warns

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In rare news conference, the director of national security says Iran has sent spoofed emails to intimidate voters

Russia and Iran have obtained some US voting registration information and are attempting to sow unrest in the upcoming election, the government’s national intelligence director said in a rare news conference Wednesday night.

“We have already seen Iran sending spoofed emails, designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and damage President Trump,” said John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence.

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Russia’s cyber-attack plan for Olympics part of a familiar pattern

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The reach of the GRU spy unit behind attacks on Japan and South Korea is remarkable

In the aftermath of Moscow’s hacking of the 2016 US election, many analysts expected the GRU to be punished. After all, Russia’s powerful military spy agency had been caught red-handed. The FBI indicted several GRU hackers in humiliating fashion. The spies who stole Democratic party emails – tens and thousands of them – were named and shamed.

In fact, the GRU avoided any repressions. In recent years Vladimir Putin has carried out a sweeping and brutal reorganisation at the top of government, sending a shiver down the spine of nervous bureaucrats. He has sacked or had arrested regional governors and ministers. Even the FSB, Putin’s old spy agency and a rival to the GRU, has seen generals fired.

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Russia planned cyber-attack on Tokyo Olympics, says UK

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Foreign secretary condemns ‘cynical and reckless’ bid to disrupt Games, before they were postponed

Russian military intelligence services were planning a cyber-attack on the Japanese-hosted Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo this summer in an attempt to disrupt the world’s premier sporting event, the UK National Cyber Security Centre has revealed, disclosing a joint operation with the US intelligence agencies.

The Russian cyber-reconnaissance work covered the Games organisers, logistics services and sponsors and was under way before the Olympics was postponed due to coronavirus.

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Iran hails lifting of 13-year UN arms embargo as ‘momentous day’

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Immediate shopping spree is unlikely after end to military sanctions despite US protests

Iranian officials have hailed the lifting of a 13-year UN arms embargo on their military as a momentous day, claiming they were once again free to buy and sell conventional weapons in an effort to strengthen their country’s security.

The embargo was lifted on Sunday morning despite US protests and was in line with the five-year timetable set out in the Iran nuclear deal, which was signed in 2015.

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Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia and Azerbaijan announce new truce plan

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Warring parties say ceasefire over disputed territory to take effect from midnight local time

Armenia and Azerbaijan have announced a new attempt to establish a ceasefire in their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh starting from midnight local time (8pm GMT).

It comes a week after a Russia-brokered truce frayed immediately after it took force. The two sides trade blame for breaching that deal. On Saturday, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of striking its second-largest city with a ballistic missile that killed at least 13 civilians and wounded 50 others.

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Western spies privately blame Russia’s FSB for Alexei Navalny poisoning

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Exclusive: stark conclusion shared between London, Berlin and Paris in effect points finger at Kremlin

Western security agencies have privately concluded that the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by the country’s FSB domestic spy agency, in effect pointing the finger at the Kremlin for ordering the attack.

The stark conclusion has been shared between London, Berlin and Paris, among others, and underpins the decision this week by the UK and the EU to target the FSB chief, Alexander Bortnikov, with sanctions.

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Single fathers with children via surrogates flee Russia amid crackdown

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Authorities’ attack on LGBT community turns on men who use surrogacy who are assumed to be gay

Several gay men have fled Russia after officials said that they would arrest people “of non-traditional sexual orientation” who had had children through surrogacy. The announcement formed the authorities’ latest attack on the LGBT community.

Surrogacy is legal in Russia but has increasingly been attacked by conservative lawmakers and the Orthodox church. Police arrested a number of top fertility doctors this year and have accused them of “child trafficking” in an ongoing case.

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Sweden to increase military spending by 40% as tension with Russia grows

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Military run down after cold war but Russian activity in Baltic Sea forces hasty rearmament

Sweden will increase military spending by about 40% in the next five years and double the number of people conscripted into its armed forces as it aims to strengthen its defence amid growing tensions with Russia, the government has said.

The country, which is not a member of Nato but enjoys close ties with the alliance, ran down its military forces after the cold war to save money.

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