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☆ What’s it like to dine at Asia’s ‘best’ restaurant?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Chris Dwyer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But his career and trajectory have always been defined by global experience, exposure and a passion for embracing other cultures and cuisines. Back in 2006, Australian Chef Shane Osborn of Hong Kong’s acclaimed Arcane hired Calvert to work at his two Michelin-starred Pied à Terre restaurant in London. The culinary Holy Grail of Paris followed, with a stint at Epicure, which like Per Se is also a three Michelin-starred restaurant. His global culinary journey continued with a move to Hong Kong and the contemporary Parisian bistro Belon, where he earned the restaurant a Michelin star and reached fourth place on the list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. Calvert is happy to modestly take the considerable accolade of the best restaurant in Asia with a pinch of salt, as it were.

Persons: Daniel Calvert, “, ”, It’s, Shane Osborn, Hong Kong’s, Arcane, Calvert, who’ve, ” Osborn, Daniel Calvert's, Chef Thomas Keller’s, Paris, “ I’ve, ” Calvert, Hong, André Fu, morel, SÉZANNE Calvert, Ashley Caley, shima, botan ebi, there’s, sommelier Nobuhide Otsuka, “ I’m, ” Chris Dwyer Organizations: CNN, Champions League, Michelin, Sézanne Locations: Sézanne, “ Tokyo, Marunouchi, Tokyo, London, British, London , New York, Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Epicure, France’s Champagne, Hokkaido, France’s Jura, Yamaguchi Prefecture, morel, bouillon, Asia, @chrismdwyer, Instagram

☆ Russia Warns Japan of 'Serious Consequences' if Patriot Missiles Made There End up in Ukraine - RIA
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( March | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's newly appointed ambassador to Japan has warned Tokyo of serious consequences and retaliatory steps if Patriot missile systems manufactured under U.S. licence in Japan end up in Ukraine, the RIA news agency reported on Friday. RIA cited the new envoy, Nikolai Nozdrev, as saying that Moscow would be watching closely to see where Japanese arms exports ended up after Tokyo softened its export rules at the end of last year. In particular, he said, Russia would be watching to see if and when any Patriot missile complexes and missiles made in Japan under U.S. licence are exported to the United States and then to Ukraine. "Accordingly, we will be watching carefully to make sure that the Patriots delivered do not end up in Ukraine, because if that happens, there will be the most severe consequences for bilateral (Russia-Japan) relations, including our retaliatory steps," RIA cited him as saying. The Latest Photos From Ukraine View All 96 Images(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)Photos You Should See View All 60 Images

Persons: RIA, Nikolai Nozdrev, Andrew Osborn, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Patriot, U.S, Patriots, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, Japan, Tokyo, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, United States

☆ Wait, is America actually banning TikTok now?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Washington CNN —House lawmakers are moving with dizzying speed with a plan that could ban TikTok from the United States. But could a TikTok ban really happen? A man walks past the headquarters of ByteDance, the parent company of video sharing app TikTok, in Beijing. They allege TikTok poses a national security threat because the Chinese government could use its intelligence laws against ByteDance, forcing it to hand over the data of US TikTok users. By that precedent, it would be unconstitutional for the government to ban TikTok even if it were blatantly a direct mouthpiece for the Chinese government, Jaffer said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Greg Baker, Biden, —, “, ” TikTok, Donald Trump, Trump, ByteDance, Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok, Mike Gallagher, Gallagher, ” Biden, Joint Base Andrews, it’s, Washington Sen, Maria Cantwell, ” Cantwell, ”, Jenna Leventoff, Ken White, Brown White, Osborn, White, It’s, Jameel Jaffer, Jaffer Organizations: Washington CNN —, White, Biden —, Apple, Google, House Energy, Commerce, Trump, Facebook, Republican, Biden, Wisconsin Republican, Joint Base, Senate, CNN, American Civil Liberties Union, Columbia University Locations: United States, China, ByteDance, Beijing, AFP, Iran, Russia, North Korea, Washington

☆ Russia Says It Is Considering Putting a Nuclear Power Plant on the Moon With China
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( March | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia and China are considering putting a nuclear power plant on the moon from 2033-35, Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos said on Tuesday, something he said could one day allow lunar settlements to be built. Borisov, a former deputy defence minister, said that Russia and China had been jointly working on a lunar programme and that Moscow was able to contribute with its expertise on "nuclear space energy". Solar panels would not be able to provide enough electricity to power future lunar settlements, he said, while nuclear power could. Its first moon mission in 47 years failed last year after Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and crashed. China said last month it aimed to put the first Chinese astronaut on the moon before 2030.

Persons: Yuri Borisov, Roscosmos, Borisov, Russia's Luna, Vladimir Putin, ReutersEditing, Andrew Osborn Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, China, Moscow, Russian, United States

☆ Missing American couple: Search for continues after alleged yacht hijacking in Grenada, but a violent scene suggests the worst, family says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Polo Sandoval | Elizabeth Wolfe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Police in the Caribbean are investigating the disappearance of an American couple after escaped inmates in Grenada allegedly hijacked their yacht. The Virginia couple, identified by their sailing club as Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry, were living out a long-held dream of cruising the Caribbean in their sailing yacht, Simplicity. “The boat itself was ransacked and everything was strewn about in the entire cabin, so clearly there was an altercation of some type that took place on the boat,” Buro told CNN Sunday. The person also contacted the coast guard, who notified St. Vincent police, the association said. Grenada police said the escapees were recaptured the same day by the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force.

Persons: they’ll, Kathy Brandel, Ralph Hendry, Vincent, George, Brandel’s, Nick Buro, ” Buro, “, ”, Buro, Bryan Hendry, “ Kathy, Ralph, Ron Mitchell, Trevon Robertson, Abita Stanislaus, O, Simmons, Mitchell, Vincent police, Ben Osborn, Kathy, ” Osborn, CNN’s Sharif Paget, Chris Boyette Organizations: CNN — Police, Sailing Association . Police, Royal Grenada Police Force, CNN, Grenadines Police Force, US State Department, Sailing Association, Grenada police Locations: Caribbean, Grenada, Virginia, St, Grenadines, Royal St, Royal

☆ American couple missing: Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry believed dead after yacht hijacked in Grenada
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Sharif Paget | Chris Boyette | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The pair have been identified by their sailing club as Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry, a couple from Virginia who were spending the winter cruising the Eastern Caribbean after sailing their yacht, Simplicity, from Hampton, Virginia, to Antigua. “Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry are veteran cruisers and long-time members of the Salty Dawg Sailing Association from its earliest days. According to the Salty Dawg Sailing Association, the club’s executive director was contacted after a passing “good Samaritan” came across an abandoned yacht and found the club’s contact information. “The good Samaritan had boarded the boat and noted that the owners, Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel, were not onboard and found evidence of apparent violence. Contact information for the SDSA was posted and the skipper contacted the Association.” The sailing association said the skipper also contacted the coast guard, who notified St. Vincent police.

Persons: Kathy Brandel, Ralph Hendry, “ Kathy Brandel, Kathy, Ralph, Nick Buro, Bryan Hendry, St, Vincent, “, Tatja Hopman, ”, Bob Osborn, ” Osborn, O, Simmons Organizations: CNN, Authorities, Sailing Association, Grenadines Police Force, Coast Guards, Association, US State Department, U.S Locations: Grenada, Virginia, Hampton , Virginia, Antigua, Brandel’s, Caribbean, St, Royal St

☆ Step inside Quartzsite, Arizona, where snowbirds flock for warmer weather and a cheap place to park their RVs
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Monica Humphries | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

AdvertisementOne of those places is Quartzsite's La Posa long-term visitor area . Monica Humphries/Business InsiderIf off-grid living won't fit a visitor's needs, Quartzsite is home to more than 50 RV resorts . As I meandered around La Posa, I debated how close was too close to park next to a stranger. Monica Humphries/Business InsiderIn 2020, Quartzsite became a Hollywood backdropMost people recognize the name Quartzsite from the Oscar-winning movie "Nomadland," which was released in 2020. There was a sense of freedom living on La Posa, and almost everyone I met was friendly and eager to chat.

Persons: It's, —, snowbirds, Monica Humphries, you'll, Quartzsite, Casey Osborn, he's, Osborn, He's, Osborn doesn't, Bob, La Posa, La, Fern —, Frances McDormand, Fern, Paul Winer, Winer Organizations: Service, of Commerce, Tourism, Land Management, Vehicles, La, Social Security, Reader's Oasis, Oasis, Quartzsite Yacht Locations: Quartzsite, Arizona, Quartzsite , Arizona, Mexico, La Posa, La

☆ Kremlin, Commenting on Purported Mariupol Death Toll, Accuses Ukraine of Many Civilians Deaths
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday it had not yet reviewed an assessment by Human Rights Watch on how many people had been killed in the city of Mariupol, but accused Ukrainian forces of being responsible for many civilian deaths there. At least 8,000 people were killed by fighting or war-related causes in Russia's months-long conquest of Mariupol, one of the biggest battles of the nearly two-year war between Russia and Ukraine, according to Human Rights Watch. Commenting on the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Ukrainian forces of using civilians in Mariupol as human shields and of shooting them in the back. "But we do know that a great many civilians died at the hands of the neo-Nazis who were trying to defend Mariupol at that time. They used civilians as human shields, shot them in the back.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Human Rights Watch, Human Rights, Mariupol, Kyiv, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, Mariupol, Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Russian Anti-War Putin Rival Nadezhdin Says He Has Been Barred From Election
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian anti-war presidential candidate Boris Nadezhdin said on Thursday that the Central Election Commission (CEC) had refused to register him as a candidate for a March election in which he wanted to challenge incumbent Vladimir Putin. The CEC had previously said that it had found flaws in signatures he and his allies had collected in support of his candidacy. Nadezhdin said on his official Telegram channel that he did not agree with the CEC's decision and would challenge it in Russia's Supreme Court. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

Persons: Boris Nadezhdin, Vladimir Putin, Nadezhdin, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Commission, CEC, Telegram, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, Russian

☆ Kremlin Says Goals of Russia's 'Special Military Operation' in Ukraine Remain Unchanged
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the goals of what Russia calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine remain unchanged nearly two years after President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops to fight there. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia's objectives in Ukraine were still relevant, before describing what they were. "Demilitarisation, denazification, (and) ensuring the safety of people living in those regions that have already become Russian, protecting them from direct attacks and actually saving their lives," Peskov told reporters on a conference call. Ukraine and the West have repeatedly accused Russia of using what they say are false pretexts to wage an unjustified war of colonial conquest which Kyiv has pledged to resist until the last Russian soldier leaves its territory. The Latest Photos From Ukraine View All 91 Images(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Russian Federation, NATO, Kyiv, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Ukraine, Russian

☆ Explainer-Why Does Russia Want to Capture Ukraine's Avdiivka?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

By Dan Peleschuk and Andrew OsbornKYIV/LONDON (Reuters) - Russian forces are intensifying efforts to seize the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka as Moscow's war in Ukraine grinds on. Russian war bloggers, whom the Kremlin has brought under tight control, have acknowledged heavy Russian losses but alleged significant Ukrainian losses too. They say Kyiv's forces can be encircled if Russian forces can cut their last main supply line to the west. Avdiivka is seen as a gateway to Donetsk city, whose residential areas Russian officials say have been shelled by Ukrainian forces, sometimes from Avdiivka. Seizing it could boost Russian morale and demoralise Ukrainian forces, which have made only incremental gains in a broad counteroffensive since June.

Persons: Dan Peleschuk, Andrew Osborn, Avdiivka, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Sergei Markov, Mykola Bielieskov, Bielieskov, Mike Collett, White, Timothy Heritage Organizations: LONDON, Mechanized Brigade, Radio Liberty, Kremlin, National Institute for Strategic Studies, Kyiv Locations: Ukrainian, Avdiivka, Ukraine, Bakhmut, Russia, Moscow, Russian, Donetsk, Luhansk, Avdeyevka, Kyiv, Kremlin

☆ Armenia Can No Longer Rely on Russia for Military and Defence Needs - PM Pashinyan Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Armenia can no longer rely on Russia as its main defence and military partner because Moscow has repeatedly let it down so Yerevan must think about forging closer ties with the United States and France, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. Armenia, a tiny former Soviet republic bordered by Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey, has long relied on Russia as a big power ally, though Pashinyan has angered the Kremlin by questioning the foundations of the alliance. Pashinyan said Armenia should think about what security ties it should build with the United States, France, India and Georgia. Pashinyan says Russia failed Armenia when Azerbaijan launched a lightning-fast military operation that took back control over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, triggering an outflow of ethnic Armenians living there. Azerbaijan has accused France of sowing the seeds of a new war by supplying arms to Armenia, which is also being courted by the United States.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Armenian Public, Russian Federation Locations: MOSCOW, Armenia, Russia, Moscow, Yerevan, United States, France, Soviet, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, India, Israel, Gaza, Soviet Union, Karabakh, South Caucasus

☆ Russian Commission Finds Problems in Anti-War Election Candidate's Supporter List - TASS
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's election commission has found irregularities in the list of signatures that anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin submitted to back his bid to run against Vladimir Putin in an upcoming election, the TASS news agency said on Friday. Nobody expects Nadezhdin, 60, to win if he is allowed to run given Putin's long dominance and control of the state. But Nadezhdin had become the preferred candidate of some Russians who oppose Moscow's war in Ukraine, something it calls a special military operation. Nadezhdin needs the Central Election Commission to approve signatures he submitted on Wednesday from more than 100,000 supporters across Russia in order to get his name on the ballot for the March 15-17 election. The electoral commission met on Friday and its deputy chairman, Nikolai Bulayev, said some voter lists submitted by candidates contained the names of dead people.

Persons: Boris Nadezhdin, Vladimir Putin, Nadezhdin, Nikolai Bulayev, Sergei Malinkovich, Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Osborn Organizations: TASS, Commission, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, Ukraine, Russia, Nadezhdin

☆ Russia and Ukraine Say They Have Completed a Prisoner Exchange
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW/KYIV (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine said on Wednesday they had completed a prisoner exchange, the first since the crash last week of a Russian military transport plane that Moscow says was carrying 65 Ukrainian soldiers ahead of a similar swap. The Russian Defence Ministry said each side had got 195 soldiers back and that its own soldiers would be flown to Moscow to receive medical and psychological treatment. In return, exactly 195 prisoners from the armed forces of Ukraine were handed over," the defence ministry said in a statement. Russia says Ukraine shot down the plane carrying prisoners for last week's swap with a ground-to-air missile and that all 74 people on board were killed. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied that it downed the plane, and has demanded proof of who was on board.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Andrew Osborn, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Russian Defence Ministry, United Arab Emirates, United, Reuters Moscow Locations: MOSCOW, KYIV, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Moscow, Kyiv, Mariupol, Kherson, Snake, United Arab Emirates

☆ Russian Anti-War Candidate Nadezhdin Says He Has Enough Signatures to Run for President
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin said on Wednesday he had submitted 105,000 signatures in his support to the Central Election Commission (CEC) to underpin his bid to challenge Vladimir Putin in an upcoming presidential election. The CEC will check the authenticity and quality of the signatures submitted by Nadezhdin and other would-be candidates and announce next month who will join Putin on the ballot paper. Putin's victory is widely seen as a foregone conclusion, but Nadezhdin has surprised some observers with trenchant criticism of what the Kremlin calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine. As a candidate nominated by a political party, he needed to gather 100,000 signatures across at least 40 regions in order to stand in the March 15-17 election. Putin, who has chosen to run as an independent rather than as the candidate of the ruling United Russia party, needs 300,000 signatures but has already collected over 3.5 million, according to his supporters.

Persons: Boris Nadezhdin, Vladimir Putin, Nadezhdin, Putin, Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Commission, CEC, Kremlin, United, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, Russian, Ukraine, Russia, United Russia

☆ Plane Crash in Western Russia - What We Know and Don't Know
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

(Reuters) - Russia accused Ukraine on Wednesday of shooting down a military transport plane carrying 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers to a prisoner exchange. The crash took place just northeast of Belgorod in western Russia, close to the border with Ukraine. The aircraft was an Ilyushin Il-76, a large military transport plane designed to carry troops, cargo or weapons. He said a second Il-76 transport plane carrying around 80 more Ukrainian soldiers to the exchange had managed to turn around. Ukraine's defence ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Persons: Here's, Andrei Kartapolov, Kartapolov, Ukraine's, Andriy Yusov, Margarita Simonyan, Mykhailo Podolyak, Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Osborn, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Reuters, Ukraine, WHO, U.S . Patriots, IRIS, Radio Svoboda Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Belgorod, Russian, Ukraine's Kharkiv, Chkalovsky, Moscow, UKRAINE, Ukrainian

☆ Russia's Navalny Says He Is Forced to Listen to Pro-Putin Singer Every Morning
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Andrew Osborn(Reuters) - Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has complained of being poisoned, assaulted and deprived of proper medical care, but on Monday he disclosed he faced a new challenge: being forced to listen to a pro-Putin pop singer at 0500 every morning. In a message on X facilitated by his allies, Navalny described a surreal morning routine. "The singer Shaman came to prominence when I was already in prison so I could neither see him nor listen to his music. "Of course I was curious to hear it, but where could I listen to it in prison. followed by the Russian national anthem and then immediately afterwards, the country's second most important song is played - 'I am Russian' by Shaman."

Persons: Andrew Osborn, Alexei Navalny, Putin, Vladimir Putin's, Navalny, Yaroslav Dronov, Shaman, I'm, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Russian Locations: Russian

☆ Russia Is Acting to Thwart Ukrainian Attacks on Civilians, Infrastructure -Kremlin
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

They are striking people, civilians," he said, branding Sunday's attack on the city of Donetsk a "heinous act of terrorism". Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed or injured by Russian air strikes and shelling since President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of soldiers into Ukraine nearly two years ago. Moscow said Sunday's incident was the second serious Ukrainian attack on civilians in less than a month. In December, Russia said 25 people, including five children, were killed during a Ukrainian missile and drone attack on the western Russian city of Belgorod. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of waging an unprovoked war of aggression aimed at seizing land.

Persons: Kyiv's, Novatek, Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones Organizations: Kremlin, Sunday, Ministry of Defence, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, Moscow, Russian, Ukraine, Baltic, Donetsk, Ukrainian, Belgorod, Kyiv

☆ West Stands to Lose at Least $288 Billion in Assets if Russian Assets Seized -RIA
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - Russia's state RIA news agency said on Sunday it had calculated that the West stood to lose assets and investments worth at least $288 billion if it confiscated frozen Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine and Moscow then retaliated. After President Vladimir Putin sent forces into Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. and its allies prohibited transactions with Russia's central bank and finance ministry, blocking around $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets in the West. It said EU nations held $223.3 billion of the assets, of which $98.3 billion was formally held by Cyprus, $50.1 billion by the Netherlands and $17.3 billion by Germany. It said the top five European investors in the Russian economy also included France with assets and investments worth $16.6 billion and Italy with $12.9 billion. It said the United States had $9.6 billion worth of Russian assets at the end of 2022, Japan $4.6 billion and Canada $2.9 billion.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, RIA, Andrew Osborn, Mark Heinrich Organizations: Reuters, Seven, Kremlin, European Union, RIA Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, U.S, West ., Belgium, Russia, Europe, Australia, Switzerland, Russian, Cyprus, Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Britain, United States, Japan, Canada, Norway

☆ Two Russian Nationals Were Passengers on Jet Which Went Missing Over Afghanistan - TASS
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - Two Russian citizens were passengers on a charter flight bound for Moscow that disappeared over Afghanistan, Russia's state-run TASS news agency said on Sunday, citing a source "in the operational services". A manifest list for the plane which named everyone on board and which was published by the SHOT news outlet appeared to show that the crew were Russian nationals too. Russian aviation authorities said on Sunday a Russian-registered plane with six people thought to be on board had disappeared from radar screens over Afghanistan the previous night, after local Afghan police said they had received reports of a crash. Russia's RIA news agency said the flight was a medical evacuation from Thailand to Moscow. Russian investigators said on Sunday they had opened a criminal investigation to determine whether there was any violation of safety rules.

Persons: Maxim Rodionov, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Reuters Locations: Moscow, Afghanistan, Russian, Thailand

☆ Russian Parliament to Ask French Counterpart if It Knew of 'French Mercenaries' in Ukraine - Official
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, plans to formally ask France's National Assembly if it is aware that French mercenaries have been fighting on Ukraine's side, Vyacheslav Volodin, the Duma's chairman, said on Friday. France rejected the allegations, saying it was helping Ukraine defend its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity but had no mercenaries in Ukraine "unlike certain others". "In France, the mercenary trade is forbidden by law," Volodin wrote on the Telegram messaging app. The Duma would consider its address to the French parliament at the next meeting of the lower chamber of parliament which is scheduled for Jan. 23, he said. Russia announced on Thursday it had summoned the French ambassador to the Foreign Ministry over the mercenary allegations.

Persons: Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Vladimir Putin, Andrew Osborn Organizations: State Duma, Russian Defence Ministry, Duma, Foreign Ministry, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, Kharkiv, France, Ukraine, Russia

☆ Russia Says It Won't Discuss Nuclear Arms Control With US While It Backs Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday it was impossible to discuss nuclear arms control with the United States without taking into account the situation in Ukraine, accusing Washington of seeking military dominance. But Lavrov said the proposal was unacceptable to Russia because of the West's backing for Ukraine in the war now approaching the end of its second year. Its lapse would leave the two countries with no remaining nuclear arms agreement at a time when tensions between them are at the highest point since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. He accused the West of pushing Ukraine to use increasingly long-range weapons for strikes deep inside Russia. There were no grounds to discuss arms control while the West was conducting what he described as "hybrid war" against Moscow, he said.

Persons: Sergei Lavrov, Lavrov, Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Osborn Organizations: Washington, Ukraine, Cuban, NATO, Moscow, West, Reuters Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, United States, Ukraine, Belgorod

☆ Investigators Find Train in Russian Tunnel Was Blown up in 'Terrorist Act' - Newspaper
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Dec. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - Investigators have concluded that a train that caught fire in Russia's longest tunnel on Wednesday was blown up in a "terrorist act" by unidentified individuals, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Friday. At 9.5 miles (15.3 km) long, the tunnel on the Baikal-Amur Mainline railway is Russia's longest, excluding urban underground railway tunnels. Preliminary findings suggested that explosives had been placed beneath the train, Kommersant cited a source as saying. Reuters could not independently verify whether the rail route is used for military supplies. Russian Railways had said the train was stopped when smoke was spotted coming from a tank containing diesel fuel.

Persons: Andrew Osborn, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Reuters, Kommersant, Security Service of Ukraine, Russian Railways Locations: Russia's, Ukrainian, Siberia, Russia, Buryatia, Mongolia, Amur, Ukraine, Moscow

☆ Investigators find train in Russian tunnel was blown up in 'terrorist act' - newspaper
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 1 (Reuters) - Investigators have concluded that a train that caught fire in Russia's longest tunnel on Wednesday was blown up in a "terrorist act" by unidentified individuals, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Friday. At 9.5 miles (15.3 km) long, the tunnel on the Baikal-Amur Mainline railway is Russia's longest, excluding urban underground railway tunnels. Preliminary findings suggested that explosives had been placed beneath the train, Kommersant cited a source as saying. Reuters could not independently verify whether the rail route is used for military supplies. Russian Railways had said the train was stopped when smoke was spotted coming from a tank containing diesel fuel.

Persons: Andrew Osborn, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Kommersant, Security Service of Ukraine, Reuters, Russian Railways, Thomson Locations: Russia's, Ukrainian, Siberia, Russia, Buryatia, Mongolia, Amur, Ukraine, Moscow

The fighting is reminiscent of a battle for another eastern city, Bakhmut, which fell to Russian forces last May after months of brutal urban combat. Since Moscow launched its renewed offensive around Avdiivka in October, Ukraine's top general and Western military experts have made downbeat assessments of Ukraine's ability to break Russian lines. Located just north of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in the industrial Donbas region, Avdiivka hosts deeply entrenched Ukrainian defences. Pushing Ukrainian forces out of Avdiivka would be seen as enlarging the amount of territory Russia controls and making Donetsk city safer. Seizing Avdiivka could boost Russian morale and deal a psychological blow to Ukrainian forces, which have made only incremental gains in a counteroffensive launched in June.

Persons: Nuzhnenko, Ukraine's, Russia's, Andrei Gurulyov, Semyon Pegov, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Mykola Bielieskov, Bielieskov, Dan Peleschuk, Andrew Osborn, Mike Collett, White Organizations: Ukraine's National Guard Omega, Radio Free, Radio Liberty, REUTERS Acquire, Mechanized Brigade, Avdiivka, National Institute for Strategic Studies, Kyiv, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Avdiivka, Ukraine, Donetsk region, Radio Free Europe, Ukrainian, Bakhmut, Russian, Moscow, Kyiv, Soviet, Donetsk, Luhansk, Russia

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