Absent from parliament, Italy’s deputy PM says his party did not ask for or take money
Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini has avoided an interrogation in parliament over claims his far-right League party sought money from Russia.
In Salvini’s absence, the allegations were addressed by the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, who said no evidence had emerged to diminish the trust he had “in all members of the government”.
Continue reading...Moscow says it carried out its first long-range operation with Beijing, prompting warning shots from South Korean jets
Russia has said it carried out its first long-range joint air patrol with China in the Asia-Pacific region, a mission that triggered hundreds of warning shots from South Korean jets and a strong protest from Japan.
The flight by two Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers and two Chinese H-6 bombers, backed up by a Russian A-50 early warning plane and its Chinese counterpart, a KJ-2000, marks a notable ramping-up of military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.
Continue reading...Yelena Grigoryeva received threats before she was stabbed to death, say campaigners
Russian campaigners have said that a woman found murdered with multiple stab wounds in the city of Saint Petersburg was a well-known activist who had received threats over her protests for LGBT rights and opposition causes.
Authorities said they had found the body of a 41-year-old woman with multiple knife wounds in St Petersburg on Sunday, but did not identify her.
Continue reading...The Apollo 11 mission inspired the world. What has happened in the ensuing half-century?
When Neil Armstrong stepped on to the moon 50 years ago, it was down to a giant leap of political and scientific imagination. His footprints on the powdery lunar surface changed the way we saw ourselves, confirming that humanity could escape its earthly coils. The mission unleashed a dream of what we as a species might do. Yet only a dozen people have walked on the moon, all between the summer of 1969 and the end of 1972.
Did we lose our primordial urge to explore? Almost certainly not – though Buzz Aldrin this week decried “50 years of non-progress”, probes have travelled to Pluto and beyond. But times have changed. The cold war rivalry that catalysed the space race vanished. The Soviet Union was first with a satellite, dog and astronaut in space. Today Washington and Moscow play the great game in the Middle East, not the heavens, although both are now contemplating a return to the moon: Donald Trump wants to make America great again by putting astronauts there by 2024, though some think China may get there first; Russia talks of landing cosmonauts by 2030.
Continue reading...Staff say decision is ‘blowback’ as a result of worsening relations with US
Russia has denied visas to teachers of the Anglo-American school in Moscow, in a move described by one teacher as “blowback” over worsening US-Russian relations.
The US ambassador, Jon Huntsman, called the decision to deny visas to 30 teachers at the Anglo-American school “unfortunate” and said it would “affect over 1,100 students and their families, who represent over 60 countries, including Russia”. The day school is popular among the children of western diplomats and businessmen.
Continue reading...First S-400 parts delivered to military base outside Ankara as Washington considers sanctions
The first batch of a Russian S-400 missile defence system has arrived in Turkey, a development likely to anger the US and put the struggling Turkish economy at risk of new sanctions.
Three planes carrying equipment for the reported £1.6bn system arrived in Ankara from Russia on Friday, the Turkish defence ministry said.
Continue reading...Inquiry to examine corruption claims over alleged plan to channel Russian oil funds to Salvini party
Italian prosecutors have begun an investigation after claims saying Matteo Salvini’s far-right party, the League, sought funds via a Russian oil deal.
Prosecutors in Milan have opened an inquiry into possible charges of international corruption in the case. The inquiry follows an investigation by L’Espresso magazine (reported by the Guardian in February) which alleged there was an arrangement by Russian representatives, close to Vladmir Putin’s government, to sell 3m tons of diesel fuel to an Italian oil company.
Continue reading...Russian lake that has sparked social media frenzy is full of metal oxides from coal ash
A Russian energy company has warned Instagram users not to swim in a mesmerising turquoise lake nicknamed the “Siberian Maldives” because it is actually an ash dump filled with harmful metal oxides.
But despite warnings that the artificial pond contains dangerous calcium salts and other metal oxides, it has remained a popular site for selfies, wedding parties and scantily clad photoshoots.
Continue reading...An archive of artefacts from Stalin’s brutal reign should stand as evidence against Putin’s vision of a ‘heroic’ Soviet past
• Irina Sherbakova was a founding member of the human rights organisation Memorial
Great expectations characterised 1989. In Russia, the rock band Kino sang “We are waiting for changes!” In huge public rallies on the streets of Moscow, millions demanded freedom and democracy. The Gorbachev era brought about a frenzy of change, and people witnessed incredible events on a weekly basis: they snatched up newspapers, hung on every word broadcast on TV, and with every passing day they felt more alive and free.
Related: 'Homage to evil': Russian activists detained over Stalin protest
Continue reading...Syrian Network for Human Rights says two-month offensive has left 130 children dead
At least 544 civilians have been killed and over 2,000 people injured since a Russian-led assault on the last rebel bastion in north-western Syria began two months ago, according to rights groups and rescuers.
Russian jets joined the Syrian army on 26 April in the biggest offensive against parts of rebel-held Idlib province and adjoining northern Hama provinces in the biggest escalation in the war between the Syrian president, Bashar al Assad, and his enemies since last summer.
Continue reading...Nuclear unit aboard top-secret vessel ‘sealed off’ says minister after blaze that left 14 dead
Vladimir Putin has confirmed for the first time that the top-secret submersible that suffered a deadly fire this week was nuclear-powered, but Russia’s defence minister said the nuclear unit had been sealed off and was in “working order”.
The disclosure came during a meeting between the Russian president and defence minister Sergei Shoigu about the incident, which left 14 Russian sailors dead, including seven high-ranking officers and two bearing the title Hero of Russia.
Continue reading...Russia refuses to release details about vessel or its mission ‘to protect national security’
The Kremlin has said it will not reveal the vessel type or mission of the 14 sailors who died onboard a top-secret submersible on Monday because the information is a closely guarded state secret.
The remarks came as information has trickled out about the vessel, reported to be an advanced “spy submersible”, and its highly decorated crew, which served in a secretive unit under Russia’s main directorate of deep-sea research and represented some of the navy’s best and brightest.
Continue reading...Losharik deep-sea vessel was carrying out military survey in Russian waters, say officials
Russia has revealed a fire onboard a top-secret navy submersible has left 14 sailors dead in a rare public incident involving one of the country’s most shadowy military projects.
The Russian defence ministry did not identify the submersible by name, simply calling it a “deep-sea research vessel”. Several independent Russian media outlets, including RBC and Novaya Gazeta, identified the vessel as the Losharik, citing sources.
Continue reading...Vladimir Putin says deal due to expire on Sunday will be extended by six to nine months
Russia has agreed with Saudi Arabia to extend by six to nine months a deal with Opec on reducing oil output, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said, as oil prices come under renewed pressure from rising US supplies and a slowing global economy.
The Saudi energy minister, Khalid al-Falih, said on Sunday that the deal would most likely be extended by nine months and no deeper reductions were needed.
Continue reading...Vladimir Putin may relish his place at the table in Vienna but he will be tempted to cash in on rising prices
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will meet this week in Vienna under a familiar pretext: to act as stewards of oil market stability. In practice, oil ministers from the world’s most powerful oil-producing nations will thrash out a deal to limit the amount of oil flowing into the global market and avoid an oil price collapse.
The latest pact is expected to extend a milestone deal first struck between Opec and a Russian-led alliance of nations outside the cartel in the wake of the oil price crash.
Continue reading...Jimmy Carter has called Donald Trump an “illegitimate president” who was helped into office by Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Related: Jimmy Carter calls Donald Trump an 'illegitimate president' – live
Continue reading...US president appears to make light of 2016 scandal before meeting at G20 summit
Donald Trump has sardonically asked Vladimir Putin not to meddle in the 2020 US election, smirking and pointing his finger as he did so and appearing to make light of a scandal that led to an investigation of his campaign’s contact with the Kremlin during the 2016 election.
The US president and his Russian counterpart were heading into talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan’s western city of Osaka, their first formal face-to-face meeting since a high-profile summit in Helsinki last July.
Continue reading...Asked by a reporter at the G20 summit in Japan whether he would raise the issue of electoral interference during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, the US president says: 'Yes, of course I will.' He then points his finger at Putin and gives the directive twice while pointing at him and smiling, appearing to make light of
a scandal that led to a two-year investigation into his campaign's
contact with the Kremlin in 2016. Putin smiles without comment throughout
Country may be waiting on outcome of talks setting out plans to kickstart trade with EU
Iran has held back on its threat to make its first breach of the nuclear deal and may be waiting for the outcome of talks with EU powers, China and Russia in Vienna.
At the talks on Friday the EU countries will set out plans to kickstart trade between Tehran and the bloc, one of the Iranian preconditions for sticking with the deal.
Continue reading...Delegation leaves Council of Europe assembly in protest at readmission of Russian MPs
The Ukrainian delegation at the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe has walked out in protest after Russian MPs were allowed to return to the human rights body five years after the annexation of Crimea.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he was disappointed by the decision of the assembly (Pace) to readmit Russian members, while the head of the delegation said Ukraine would halt its work at the assembly.
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