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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov watch a display during the MAKS 2017 air show in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, Russia, July 18, 2017. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via     The United States will be forced to cut hundreds of its embassy staff in Russia, the Interfax news agency quoted a source as saying, after Moscow retaliated on Friday for what it said were proposed illegal U.S. sanctions against it. "We are talking not about dozens, but hundreds of diplomatic and technical staff who work for U.S. diplomatic missions in Russia," the agency quoted the source as saying. Russia told the United States on Friday that some of its diplomats had to leave the country in just over a month and said it was seizing some U.S. diplomatic property. Russia's response, announced by the Foreign Ministry, came a day after the U.S. Senate voted to slap new sanctions on Russia, putting President Donald Trump in a tough position by forcing hi...

Iraqi Vice President Nouri al-Maliki (Photo by Reurters) Iraqi Vice President Nouri al-Maliki has called for “substantial” Russian military and political presence in the terror-ravaged country, saying this would bring “balance” to the entire region. “It’s well known that Russia has historically strong relations with Iraq, therefore we would like Russia to have a substantial presence in our country, both politically and militarily,” said the senior Iraqi official during a Monday meeting with speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, in Moscow, RT reported. “This way, a balance would be established that would benefit the region, its peoples and its countries” added Maliki, saying his country believes “in Russia’s role in solving most of the key international issues as well as improving stability and balance in our region and worldwide.” Matviyenko, in turn, welcomed Baghdad’s desire to boost ties with Moscow and said, “Russia is also determined to expand...

Zhukovskiy (Sputnik) Jul 21, 2017 Russia will supply the largest ever number of space rocket engines to the United States in 2017 within the framework of the previous agreements, head of the Russia's NPO Energomash corporation Igor Arbuzov said on Wednesday. In 2014, the US Congress strictly limited future purchases of Russian RD-180 engines used in Atlas launch vehicles since 2000 at a time when it imposed economic sanctions on Russia over Moscow's alleged interference in Ukraine's domestic affairs. In June 2016, US Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, who was the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, attempted to cut off any further purchase of the Russian engines, proposing US companies compete to provide the United States with a reliable, domestic space launch platform. "The largest volume of supplies is intended for this year: 11 RD-180 engines for the US Atlas V rockets and four RD-181 engines for the US Antares rockets," Arbuzov told reporters...

Russian President Vladimir Putin.Adam Berry/Getty Images A  New York Times investigation  found that Russia renewed 6 Trump trademarks in 2016 The trademarks were approved for renewal while Russia was actively meddling in the US election Trump has repeatedly said he has no more business dealings with Russia, but intellectual property law experts told The Times that unused trademarks can hold significant value The report comes as the Trump campaign is under multiple active investigations for possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 election Last year, the Russian government approved the renewals of six trademarks for President Donald Trump that were about to expire,  according to a New York Times investigation  on Sunday. Four of those renewals were officially registered by Russia on Election Day. The Times found that the Kremlin approved applications for the trademarks' renewal beginning in April 2016 and ending in December of that year, according to record...

Washington (AFP) April 24, 2017 Russian warplanes last week flew a series of missions near Alaska, prompting the North American air defense agency to scramble US and Canadian jets, officials said Monday. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the Pentagon said Tu-95 Bear bombers were spotted in international air space on three occasions -- twice near the Aleutian Islands and once near mainland Alaska and Canada. The bomber missions occurred April 17, 18 and 20, and on two occasions NORAD launched fighters to conduct "safe and professional" intercepts. Mid-air interceptions are routine in international air space, and Russian jets frequently scramble to fly alongside US spy planes in and around the Baltic Sea and near Russia. But Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said there had been a lengthy pause in such operations off Alaska, possibly caused by the enormous, propeller-powered Tu-95s having been grounded due to maintenance issues. "This...

RUSSIA-UK RELATIONS British actor and writer Stephen Fry joked about Russian hacking at the opening ceremony of the 70th British Academy Film Awards. Source: imago stock&people/Global Look Press British actor and writer Stephen Fry joked about Russian hacking at the opening ceremony of the 70 th  British Academy Film Awards. “Let’s crack on with the awards themselves and find out who the Russians have decided has won,” Fry said, Metro news UK  reported on Feb. 12.  In suggesting that the Russians might have messed with the results of the BAFTA vote, Fry humorously referred to allegations that Russian hackers influenced the result of the 2016 presidential elections in the United States, which resulted in the election of Donald Trump as president. It was one of many remarks about the American president, who is despised by left-leaning groups. The comedian also called Meryl Streep, “One of the greatest actresses of all time,” adding that, “only a blithering idiot w...

NIKOLAI LITOVKIN ,   RBTH The missile defense forces guarding Moscow were put on high alert in a snap drill. RBTH reports on how the Russian capital’s skies are kept safe at all times. The Pantsir-S1 has an effective range of between six and nine miles. Source: Vitaly Nevar/TASS Russian air defense troops guarding Moscow  scrambled  in accordance with the presidential decree on a snap inspection of the Air Force. This also involves anti-missile defenses such as the S-300, S-400, and Pantsir-S surface-to-air (SAM) batteries stationed just outside Moscow. The drill called for troops deploying to their assigned railroad loading positions and defending against saboteurs. The units involved in the exercise are just a tiny part of the shield protecting Moscow against all sorts of attack from the sky. Radar far from Moscow The Moscow anti-air and anti-missile system starts well beyond the city limits, with radars for the ballistic missile earl...

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley (R) and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at UN headquarters in New York City on January 27, 2017 (Photo by Reuters) The United Nations Security Council has announced an emergency meeting to discuss North Korea’s recent launch of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile. The United States, Japan, and South Korea on Sunday requested the meeting on an “urgent basis.” North Korea launched the missile near the western city of Kusong on Sunday. It flew east about 500 kilometers before falling into the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) later on Monday confirmed that Pyongyang had “successfully” tested a “surface-to-surface medium long-range ballistic missile.” The North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, “expressed great satisfaction over the possession of another powerful nuclear attack means, which adds t...

Handout/Getty Images Russia could return Edward Snowden to the US as a "gift" to President Donald Trump, according to two US intelligence sources  cited by NBC News on Friday. One unnamed official, who NBC said gleaned information from "a series of highly sensitive intelligence reports," said such a move could be an attempt to "curry favor" with the Trump administration. Snowden is a former US National Security Agency contractor who stole top-secret documents in 2013 that revealed mass surveillance efforts by the US government. He shared those documents with journalists. Russia has been sheltering Snowden since 2013, and recently granted him permission to stay through 2020. Trump has in the past called Snowden a  traitor  and  a spy , and suggested Snowden may have given US secrets to other countries. Snowden  denied those allegations on Friday , saying on Twitter, "I never cooperated with Russian intel. No country trades away spies, as the rest ...

All 28 NATO allies fully support Ukraine as it faces the worst upsurge in fighting against pro-Russian rebels in two years, alliance deputy head Rose Gottemoeller said Thursday. US President Donald Trump has stoked concerns in NATO and Europe by dubbing the alliance "obsolete" and taking a softer stance on Russia, in marked contrast to his predecessor. "There was unanimity around the NATO-Ukraine Council table, strong support from all allies for Ukraine," she told reporters after talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The US-led alliance had stood by Ukraine since "Russian aggressive actions" began in 2014 and it would not recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea early that year, she said. The recent fighting was the worst in two years, with OSCE monitors reporting more than 10,000 violations of the Minsk ceasefire accords on one day, she said. "We are deeply concerned by the recent spike in vi...

Three Turkish soldiers were "accidentally" killed and 11 wounded on Thursday when a Russian air strike targeting jihadists in Syria hit a building where the troops were deployed, the Turkish army said. With Moscow and Ankara cooperating ever more closely on Syria, President Vladimir Putin quickly reached out to Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to express condolences and promise better future coordination. The Russian plane had been seeking to hit targets of Islamic State (IS) jihadists but "by accident three of our heroic soldiers were martyred when a building was bombed where our units were," the Turkish army said in a statement. It said that of the 11 injured, one was badly wounded. Putin contacted Erdogan to express his "sadness and condolences," it added. "Russian officials have said that the incident was an accident," the army said, adding an investigation is being carried out by both sides. In Moscow, the Kremlin said Putin...

It’s widely known that a smoke detector is a good ionizing radiation source, as they contain a small amount of americium-241, a side product of nuclear reactors. But what about other sources? [Carl Willis] got hold of an old Soviet era smoke detector and decided to  tear it down and see what was inside . This, as he found out, isn’t something you should do lightly, as the one he used ended up containing an interesting mix of radioactive materials, including small amounts of plutonium-239, uranium-237, neptunium-237 and a selection of others. In true hacker fashion, he detected these with a gamma ray spectroscope he has in his spare bedroom, shielded from other sources with lead bricks and copper and tin sheets. The high-energy gamma ray detector that Carl Willis used to analyze the soviet smoke detector, located in his spare bedroom. He digs further into this analysis, using the ratio of plutonium to americium to determine the age of the source, concluding that the ra...