Critics say measures would be expensive and give vast censorship powers to the government
Russian politicians have approved a controversial bill that would allow Moscow to cut off the country’s internet traffic from foreign servers, in a key second reading that paves the way for the bill to become law on 1 November.
Lawmakers in the State Duma, parliament’s lower house, voted 320 to 15 to pass the proposed bill.
Continue reading...Committee chairman seeks six years of personal returns and some business returns, calling for ‘accountability’
That’s it for me tonight! Here’s what happened Wednesday evening in politics:
Related: Trump’s Federal Reserve pick owes $75,000 in taxes, US government alleges
The President’s son-in-law has been identified as the “Senior White House Official” who appeared in reports to the House Oversight Committee, the Washington Post reports. The documents were released this week after whistleblower Tricia Newbold shared concerns with the committee, over Trump overriding career intelligence officers to grant clearances despite “significant disqualifying factors”.
Kushner was flagged for significant issues raised during his background investigation, including his potential to be swayed by foreign influence, his personal conduct, and business conflicts of interest.
The new details about the internal debate over Kushner’s clearance revives questions about the severity of the issues flagged in his background investigation and Kushner’s access to government secrets.
Last year, President Trump directed his then-chief of staff, John F. Kelly, to give Kushner a top-secret security clearance, despite concerns expressed by career intelligence officers”.
Related: Trump ordered officials to give Kushner top-secret security clearance – report
Continue reading...National Archives’ cold war exhibition shows planned scenarios such as arrest of Michael Foot
In the apocalyptic event of a nuclear strike on Britain, the government offered householders make-do-and-mend advice on how to create refuge shelters under stairs and tables, and knock up temporary toilets from a chair and bucket.
Few were reassured by the DIY defences advocated in the widely lampooned public information “Protect and Survive” pamphlet, published in 1980, and a new cold war exhibition at the National Archives in Kew, featuring such a shelter, will do little to augment faith in this as a robust strategy for civilian survival.
Continue reading...Natalia Fileva, a co-owner of private Russian airline S7, died when her plane went down in a field south of Frankfurt
One of Russia’s richest women has died in a plane crash in south-western Germany along with two other people.
Natalia Fileva, a co-owner of private Russian airline S7, also known as Siberia Airlines, was confirmed as one of the victims of Sunday’s crash in statement issued by her company.
Continue reading...Lawmakers will receive findings from the Trump-Russia investigation, with no plans for Trump to add his own edits
Congress will be given a redacted version of Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia report by mid-April and there are no plans for Donald Trump to add his own edits, the US attorney general, William Barr, said on Friday.
Related: Mueller report release: Barr says Congress will get redacted version by mid-April – live
Continue reading...We wanted Robert Mueller to rescue us. The death of that fantasy means the real work for Democrats can now begin
We should have known better. We should have known better! We should have learned from the time that we believed we were on the verge of the first female president – the derivative T-shirts, the chilling champagne – only to find that our hopes had been dashed by a racist misogynist demagogue. Yet here we are again, a mass of deflated blue balloons, as the Monday morning headlines confirming our worst fears. Robert Mueller has issued his report. And Donald J Trump is still the president, happily golfing our taxes away.
Related: No collusion, plenty of corruption: Trump is not in the clear | Richard Wolffe
Continue reading...Donald Trump has complained of a 'false narrative' promoted by people who have done 'evil ... treasonous things' after the completion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into allegations of collusion with Russia. US attorney general William Barr's summary, released on Sunday, said the report had not established that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government. 'We can never let this happen to another president again,' the US president said, promising to 'look into' those people
Russia-flagged cargo plane and airliner spotted at Caracas airport as Moscow boosts under-pressure Maduro regime
Russian military officials have arrived in Venezuela to discuss equipment maintenance and training, and strategy, an official in Caracas has said.
The statement came after a Russian-flagged cargo plane and an airliner were spotted at Maiquetia airport outside Caracas guarded by a contingent of Venezuelan national guardsmen.
Continue reading...Bill Barr released a summary of the long-awaited report into allegations the Trump campaign colluded with Russia
The US Attorney general Bill Barr released a summary on Sunday of special counsel Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report into allegations that Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential election.
Here are the main findings of the two-year investigation that the president regularly denounced as a witch hunt, before claiming vindication upon its completion:
Continue reading...Washington and America waited with bated breath on Saturday for the next stage in the Trump-Russia drama: the communication to Congress of the “principal conclusions” of special counsel Robert Mueller.
Related: Mueller report: Trump camp celebrates but danger is not past yet
Continue reading...Police at Indonesian airport also found two live geckos and five lizards in suitcase
A Russian tourist attempting to smuggle a drugged orangutan out of Indonesia in his suitcase to bring home and keep as a pet has been arrested in Bali, police said on Saturday.
Andrei Zhestkov was detained in Denpasar airport late on Friday while passing through a security screening before a planned flight back to Russia.
Continue reading...Robert Mueller has completed his Trump-Russia investigation without prosecuting additional associates of the president, and has reported his findings to William Barr, the US attorney general.
Related: What does the Mueller report say and what does it mean for Trump?
Continue reading...It’s not clear whether or how the full report will be made public, but here’s what we know so far
We don’t know yet. We know that Mueller has filed his report to William Barr, the attorney general, and that Barr has informed Congress that he received it.
Continue reading...Russia, Iran and Turkey condemn US president while Syria vows to recapture territory lost in 1967 war
Syria has vowed to retake the Golan Heights as Donald Trump’s call for the US to recognise the occupied territory as part of Israel elicited strong responses from Russia, Turkey and Iran.
The president ended half a century of US foreign policy and broke from post-second world war international consensus that forbids territorial conquest during war with a tweet on Thursday that said it was time “to fully recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights”.
Continue reading...Special counsel of Russia investigation granted access to Michael Cohen’s emails on basis he may have broken several laws
Robert Mueller persuaded a judge within weeks of being made special counsel in 2017 that Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s legal fixer, may have been secretly working for a foreign government.
Related: Michael Cohen FBI raid documents released – live updates
Continue reading...Elena Anosova, a Russia-based photographer, travelled to Siberia to document isolated communities for her project Out of the Way. The village of Taiga has a population of 100 adults, the closest town is 185 miles away, and a helicopter shuttle visits twice a month at the most
Continue reading...Oyub Titiev sentenced to four years in penal colony after widely condemned trial
A court in Chechnya has sentenced a prominent human rights activist to four years in a penal colony after a widely condemned trial that culminated in the judge reading out the verdict for more than nine hours.
Oyub Titiev, the local head of the human rights group Memorial, was charged last year with possession of more than 200g of marijuana. Titiev said the drugs were planted in his car, and colleagues said he was being punished for revealing details of abductions and torture by Chechnya’s security services.
Continue reading...Russian interference in elections and corruption scandals prompt rethink
The Baltic states can no longer cast themselves in the role of a bridge between Russia and the west, the Latvian foreign minister, Edgars Rinkēvičs, has said in an interview with the Guardian.
Successive crises have shown Russian determination to interfere in western democracy or use Baltic banks to launder corrupt money, Rinkēvičs said after a visit to London during which he met Dominic Grieve, the chairman of the UK intelligence and security committee.
Continue reading...Lawyers and colleagues say case against Oyub Titiev was fabricated to punish him for his work
A court in Chechnya will deliver a verdict in the trial of a prominent human rights worker on Monday that could mark a new purge of activists from the Russian republic.
Oyub Titiev, the local head of the human rights organisation Memorial, has been accused of marijuana possession, as part of a case that his lawyers say was fabricated to punish him for his work documenting human rights abuses. The prosecution has asked for a sentence of four years in prison.
Continue reading...New report raises questions about Mikhail Lesin, whose death was ruled an accident but has been shrouded in suspicion
Newly released documents show that a former adviser to Vladimir Putin sustained a complete fracture of his neck “at or near the time of his death” in a Washington hotel room in 2015.
The documents from the city’s medical examiner were released to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE) in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed nearly two years ago.
Continue reading...