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☆ Russian volcano erupts, spewing out a vast cloud of ash
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Shiveluch erupts in Russian far eastAsh shoots up 20 km into the skyVast ash cloud in Russian far eastAviation warning issuedResidents trudge through ash driftsVLADIVOSTOK, Russia, April 11 (Reuters) - One of Russia's most active volcanoes erupted on Tuesday shooting a vast cloud of ash far up into the sky and smothering villages in drifts of grey volcanic dust, triggering an aviation warning around Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. The Shiveluch volcano erupted just after midnight reaching a crescendo about six hours later, spewing out a ash cloud over an area of 108,000 square kilometres, according to the Kamchatka Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Geophysical Survey. "The ash reached 20 kilometres high, the ash cloud moved westwards and there was a very strong fall of ash on nearby villages," said Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Survey. He said the volcano would probably calm now, but that further major ash clouds could not be excluded. Scientists posted pictures of the ash cloud billowing swiftly over the forests and rivers of the far east and of villages covered in ash.

☆ Russia is offering North Korea food for a bunch of weapons it needs to wage war in Ukraine, White House says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia is once again seeking weapons from pariah states like North Korea to fuel its war in Ukraine. North Korea has battled food shortages in recent years while Moscow faces weapons shortages. The US has previously accused North Korea — and other isolated countries like Iran — of backing Russia's campaign by providing it with military assistance. "We also understand that Russia is seeking to send a delegation to North Korea and that Russia is offering North Korea food in exchange for munitions," Kirby said, according to multiple reports. Earlier this year, the White House revealed intelligence that it said showed North Korea providing rockets and missiles to the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group, a notorious paramilitary organization.

Stepan, 28, who has increasingly driven Chinese cars when using carsharing services, is among those that need convincing. If you want my honest opinion, the difference (with Chinese cars) is massive," he told Reuters at Moscow's Favorit Motors dealership. When buying his new Chinese car, Alexander, 74, looked for one which encompassed Swedish technology. While Chinese cars are increasingly filling the gap, the lack of reputation remains an issue, said auto industry expert Sergey Aslanyan. Chinese brands' market share reached 37.15% in January-February, up from 9.48% a year earlier, Autostat and PPK data showed.

☆ Analysis: China's Xi takes 'diplomatic dance' to isolated Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( John Geddie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"There's been kind of an increasingly pronounced diplomatic dance on China's part as the war has played out," said Andrew Small, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund. The U.S. and European leaders have said intelligence showed China was considering sending arms to Russia, which Beijing has denied. Xi called Putin his "best friend" during a 2019 visit where they admired pandas in a Moscow zoo. It is not clear if there will be any such photo ops this time amid more serious business and the bloody Ukraine war. "Whatever support Xi gives to Russia will be on China’s terms," another European diplomat said.

☆ Analysis: China's Xi takes 'diplomatic dance' to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( John Geddie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

☆ I asked ChatGPT to help me plan a vacation. Here’s what happened next
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | Chris Dwyer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

So the idea that artificial intelligence chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Bing, can research travel destinations and create itineraries is intriguing. I went to the developer's website, clicked on the word "ChatGPT," registered for an account — and started chatting. "All of the places I recommended have great online reviews," ChatGPT replied, providing ratings from Tripadvisor, Booking.com and Google for each hotel. But ChatGPT couldn't show photographs of the hotels or help book them — although it did provide ample instructions on how to do both. Every city I asked ChatGPT about resulted in the bot praising the local food scene.

☆ Top brands pull out of Russia, but their goods remain easy to find
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Alexander Marrow | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Brands' continued availability shows the challenge companies face in controlling supply chains when exiting a market. Market leader Wildberries sells old stock from Inditex brands and has almost 17,000 goods in its Zara catalogue. Informal supply routes could lead to more poor-quality goods entering Russia, however, as regulators lose oversight, Ben Tzion said. IKEA brand owner Inter IKEA Group said it sold remaining stock for an undisclosed amount to Yandex as it down-scaled IKEA Retail Russia. IKEA said it was looking into goods being advertised as similar to IKEA online.

☆ Iranian chess referee spars with governing body over women's solidarity
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] Iranian chess referee Shohreh Bayat looks on during the Women's World Chess Championship in Vladivostok, Russia January 16, 2020. "I don't think it's normal to stay quiet about this," Bayat, 35, told Reuters in a video interview. The Iranian said Dvorkovich asked her to change her attire in Iceland, after another chess official had raised the issue. According to a message seen by Reuters, a senior FIDE official told Bayat she had been removed from the commission because Dvorkovich was "furious" with her. Bayat was awarded the International Women of Courage Award by the United States in 2021 and has since used her platform to advocate for Iranian women.

CNN —Russian sausage magnate-turned-lawmaker Pavel Antov died in India on Saturday after falling from the third floor of his hotel, according to the Indian police. Police believe Antov died by suicide after falling from the third floor of his hotel in the Rayagada district, although the postmortem report has not been released yet, Sharma said. He was a member of the Russian parliament’s United Russia party, which was formerly headed by Vladimir Putin and is still staunchly supportive of the Russian President. Russian Consul General in Calcutta Alexey Idamkin told Russian state media RIA Novosti on Monday that the Odisha State Police and the Consulate General in Calcutta didn’t see anything suspicious in the death of two Russians in India. In mid-September, Russian businessman Ivan Pechorin, who was the top manager for the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, was found dead in Vladivostok, according to Russian state media.

☆ Russia and China to Hold Joint Naval Drills
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Ann M. Simmons | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The warship the Aldar Tsydenzhapov, right, will take part in the joint Russian-Chinese military exercise. MOSCOW—Russia said it would hold joint naval drills with China, highlighting the close partnership between the two nations as the Kremlin seeks to bolster support among partners to offset Western isolation for its war in Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defense said Monday that a detachment of warships of the Pacific Fleet from Vladivostok has been put to sea to participate in naval exercises with their Chinese counterparts, starting Wednesday and running through Dec. 27.

☆ Russia, China to Hold Joint Naval Drills as Moscow and Belarus Vow to Cement Ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Ann M. Simmons | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

MOSCOW—Russia said it would hold joint naval drills with China, highlighting the close partnership between the two nations as the Kremlin seeks to bolster support among partners to offset Western isolation for its war in Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that a detachment of warships of the Pacific Fleet from Vladivostok has been put to sea to participate in naval exercises with their Chinese counterparts, starting Wednesday and running through Dec. 27.

☆ Russia and China to hold joint naval drills this week
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 19 (Reuters) - Russia and China will hold joint naval drills between December 21-27, Russia's defence ministry said on Monday. The joint naval exercises, which have taken place annually since 2012, will involve missile and artillery firing in the East China Sea, Russia's defence ministry said. "The main purpose of the exercises is to strengthen naval cooperation between Russia and China, and maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region." Russia said four of its vessels would take part in the drills - including the Varyag missile cruiser - while six Chinese vessels would take part, along with aircraft and helicopters from both sides. Russian ships set sail on Monday from the Far Eastern port of Vladivostok to take part in the week-long exercises, which start on Wednesday.

☆ Thailand still wants Russian tourists – and direct flights are making it easy to get to Phuket
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Direct flights between Russia and Thailand's largest island, Phuket, resumed on October 30. On the same day, the Russian state-owned airline Aeroflot restarted direct flights to Thailand, India, and the Maldives. In January, 24,000 Russian tourists arrived in Phuket. Now that direct flights have returned, Russian airlines are fast expanding their routes to Thailand, according to The Thaiger. The country aims to welcome 1 million Russian tourists in 2022, per DW, with numbers forecast to peak in the coming winter as Russians trade cold for tropical beaches.

☆ ‘’Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen’ Review: Duh, Humbug
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Heartwarming in the worst way, CNN’s “’Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen” is based on the very reasonable proposition that movies and TV are to the holidays what nutmeg (and bourbon) are to the eggnog. But its two-hour tour of the yuletide movie catalog is a bit like a two-hour tour of one’s own living room. Is anyone not aware that “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie? “’Tis the Season” will be a terrific special, if your sleigh just pulled in from Vladivostok. Everything is addressed, from the classics to the new and forgettable, and everything addressed is wonderful.

☆ North Korea's flurry of missile tests has South Korea talking about the nuclear option
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Robert Kelly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

North Korea has done dozens of missile tests this year, including an ICBM test last week. We should always keep talking to North Korea — it is too dangerous to ignore — but there is little realistic hope that North Korea will deal profoundly with its nukes or missiles at this point. South Koreans watch a news report on North Korean missile tests. The current South Korean president, Yoon Seok-yeol, suggested, as a candidate, that South Korea might preemptively air-strike North Korean missile sites in a crisis. The South Korean conservative party has suggested that South Korea should withdraw from the NPT if the North conducts a seventh nuclear test.

☆ Russian colonel involved in Putin's mobilization campaign found dead in office, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Russian colonel was found dead in his office on Thursday, according to multiple reports. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyA Russian colonel involved in President Vladimir Putin's mobilization campaign was found dead in his office, multiple reports say. The independent Russian media outlet Baza challenged the reports of suicide, reporting instead that Boyko was found with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. Boyko was responsible for working with Russian soldiers who were drafted under Putin's partial mobilization order in September, Baza reported. Last month, a military commissar for the eastern Primorysky region was found dead, with local authorities saying that his "heart stopped."

☆ Putin's 'desperation' in Ukraine is making Russia more dependent on other pariah states, top Pentagon official says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Kremlin maintains close ties with China, continues to sell oil to major countries, including India, and is acquiring military hardware from Iran and North Korea. Those weapons would not necessarily be "a game changer," as Russia has already used its own missiles in Ukraine, Kahl said. Their relations have warmed amid the Ukraine war, with a record number of meetings between senior officials this year. Russia and North Korea also have longstanding ties, though Moscow has in the past kept its distance. North Korea has denied the allegations, calling it a "rumor" and saying it had no "arms dealings" with Moscow.

☆ Explainer: Russia and North Korea forge closer ties amid shared isolation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Josh Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

As Russia's isolation over its war in Ukraine has grown, it has seen increasing value in North Korea. North Korea was heavily reliant on Soviet aid for decades, and when the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, it helped spark a deadly famine in the North. UKRAINE WAR SUPPORTNorth Korea has reciprocated with public support for Moscow after Russia invaded Ukraine. Both Russia and North Korea have denied claims by the United States that Russia has sought to buy millions of rounds of ammunition and other weapons from North Korea. ECONOMIC TIESRussia and North Korea recently restarted train travel for the first time since railway journeys were cut during the COVID pandemic with an unusually opulent cargo - 30 grey thoroughbred horses.

☆ Russia turns to Japan for used car imports as domestic production slumps
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Gleb Stolyarov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

New car imports were well below February levels in August, data from Russian analytical agency Autostat showed, but those of used cars more than doubled to 23,117 from 11,055. The vast majority, 76%, of used cars were imported from Japan, with Belarus distant second with a 5.3% share, the data showed. Almost 70% of the 10,257 new cars imported in August came from China, the data showed. "One dealership, due to a lack of deliveries of new cars, has pivoted to selling and leasing used cars," the central bank said. In January-September, new car sales were down almost 60% to 506,661 units.

☆ South Africa will allow a Russian oligarch to moor his superyacht in Cape Town as it continues on epic global cruise avoiding Western sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The yacht, owned by sanctioned billionaire Alexei Mordashov, is now headed to Cape Town, South Africa. Nord has now left the city state, and is sailing towards South Africa where it is expected to moor on November 9, Marine Traffic data shows. When it arrives in South Africa, it will be allowed to dock, despite outcry from some in the country. "South Africa has no legal obligation to abide by sanctions imposed by the US and EU," Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, per the BBC. South Africa was among the 35 countries which abstained from a UN resolution in March which demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

South Africa will allow sanctioned Russian steel magnate Alexey Mordashov to pull his superyacht into Cape Town, making it the latest port stop on a controversy-laden voyage that shows the limits of Western sanctions. The journey of the 465-foot Nord—from the Seychelles to Vladivostok in Russia, Hong Kong and now en route to Cape Town—has become a closely watched barometer for the effectiveness of U.S. and European sanctions on its owner, Mr. Mordashov, one of Russia’s richest men and the largest shareholder of Severstal PAO, among the world’s biggest steelmakers.

☆ Yacht linked to sanctioned Russian tycoon leaves Hong Kong
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG — A superyacht linked to sanctioned Russian tycoon Alexey Mordashov left Hong Kong for South Africa on Thursday, nearly two weeks after the U.S. accused the city of operating as a safe haven for sanctioned individuals. The marine department confirmed that the $500 million superyacht Nord left Hong Kong on Thursday afternoon but did not elaborate. The Nord arrived in Hong Kong on Oct. 5 from Vladivostok, Russia, putting the Chinese territory in the crosshairs of U.S.-China tensions. The U.S. State Department said the presence in Hong Kong of assets belonging to sanctioned individuals called into question the “transparency of the business environment” in the city. Hong Kong leader John Lee later said that while Hong Kong complies with United Nations sanctions, authorities “cannot do anything that has no legal basis” when it comes to sanctions unilaterally imposed by other jurisdictions.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Exxon exits Russia empty-handed with oil project 'unilaterally terminated'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Sabrina Valle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BP, TotalEnergies, Equinor, and Shell have all transferred properties to Russian partners or left operations behind. The company said it "safely exited" Russia after the government earlier this month "unilaterally terminated" its interests in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project, its largest in the country. On Oct. 7 Putin seized Exxon shares in the oil production joint venture and transferred them to a government-controlled company. By July, output at the Sakhalin-1 project fell 10,000 barrels per day (bpd), from 220,000 bpd before Russia invaded Ukraine. About 700 Russia-based employees that kept operations running will be transferred to the new Russia company taking over the asset, Exxon said.

☆ South Korea is turning away Russians trying to escape Putin's military draft by sea
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russians fleeing Putin's military draft have left via car, train, plane, and less frequently, by boat. All but two Russians known to have sailed into South Korea to avoid the draft have been denied entry. A South Korean lawmaker told NBC News the country must create "dedicated procedures" for those fleeing the conflict. Russia and South Korea have an agreement allowing citizens to enter for up to 90 days visa-free, according to the Korea Herald. "South Korea is already a country that accepts very few refugees," he said.

☆ Russians flee to South Korea to avoid being drafted to fight in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Stella Kim | Stella Kim Is An Nbc News Freelance Producer Based In Seoul. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

SEOUL — Groups of Russians have sailed to South Korea in an attempt to avoid being conscripted for the war in Ukraine — only for most of them to be refused entry at the border. Alexandr Kryazhev / Sputnik via APBut he said 21 were denied approval on the basis of “insufficient documentation and unclear objective" for entering South Korea. The two successful applicants had documents showing records of having previously been in South Korea. A 6-ton yacht also arrived in South Korea on Oct. 1, according to the Coast Guard. All four individuals aboard were denied entry.

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