USA

US Domestic

Civil unrest rages in Minneapolis over racially charged killing by police, 28 May 2020

Peaceful rallies gave way to a third night of arson, looting and vandalism in Minneapolis on Thursday as protesters vented their rage over the death of a black man seen on video gasping for breath while a white police officer knelt on his neck.

The latest spasm of unrest in Minnesota’s largest city went largely unchecked, despite Governor Tim Walz ordering the National Guard activated to help restore order following the first two days of disturbances sparked by Monday night’s fatal arrest of George Floyd, 46.
In contrast with Wednesday night, when rock-throwing demonstrators clashed repeatedly with police in riot gear, law enforcement kept a low profile around the epicenter of the unrest, outside the city’s Third Precinct police station. Click here to read....

Washington, DC, issues Sunday night curfew as protests resume, 31 May 2020

Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) on Sunday evening announced she was imposing a citywide curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday as the city braced for a third consecutive night of protests over the death of George Floyd.

The mayor in her tweet also said she was activating the D.C. National Guard.

The announcement came as demonstrations resumed in the capital after a night that saw sometimes violent clashes between protesters and police outside the White House.

Video shared by Washington Post reporter Samantha Schmidt earlier in the day showed demonstrators, many of whom were reportedly university students and teenagers, marching down Georgia Avenue toward Lafayette Square near the White House.

Nationwide protests, ignited by video showing a white police officer in Minneapolis kneeling on the neck of Floyd, an unarmed black man who later died in police custody, swept the country over the weekend. From Los Angeles to Minneapolis to Washington, D.C., and New York, activists raging against police brutality clashed with law enforcement officers. Meanwhile, business owners still grappling with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic saw their shops looted or vandalized.
In D.C., protesters on Saturday pushed down multiple barricades near the White House, with some getting into physical altercations with police officers.Click here to read....

In Minneapolis, Protesters Confront the Police—and One Another, 31 May 2020

On Thursday, in Minneapolis, crowds protesting the killing of George Floyd overran the Third Precinct police station, where Derek Chauvin, the officer now charged with murdering him, had been assigned. By midnight, the building was ablaze and hundreds of looters were emptying out the surrounding stores, restaurants, and businesses. People in a celebratory mood gathered around two burning vehicles in the intersection outside the station. Nearly all of them looked to be in their early twenties, and at least half of them were white. Alcohol circulated from a liquor store that had been broken into.

Jay Carter, a twenty-six-year-old African-American studying copywriting at Augsburg University, a mile and a half to the north, gazed at the scene with an air of saddened disbelief. Before I could pose any questions of my own, he asked me, “Do you think it’s worth it?” As Carter watched flames pour out of the precinct-house windows, and a car filled with teen-agers spinning donuts nearby, he said that he was disturbed by the turn the protests had taken. “It doesn’t feel right,” he told me. “I’m not judging anybody here, but I don’t agree with all this.”Click here to read....

Pain and anger: 19 powerful photos show the fury of US protests over the death of George Floyd, 31 May 2020

Thousands of protesters in more than a dozen US cities are calling for justice and an end to police brutality following the death of unarmed black man George Floyd. He died during an arrest by a white police officer who knelt on his neck, on Monday.

A graphic video showing the white police officer kneeling on Floyd's neck was shared widely on social media and triggered the protests. Floyd died shortly after the incident.

The police officer in the video, Derek Chauvin was arrested on Friday and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Three other officers involved in the incident have not been charged.

Over the last few days, the country has witnessed a rage-filled escalation of the initially peaceful protests, with some demonstrators turning to violence, looting, and arson. Click here to read....

Purge stifles anti-Trump resistance at White House, ODNI, 26 May 2020

Cuts of hundreds of staff members at the White House and at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have curbed leaks and stifled anti-Trump activists within both agencies, according to senior administration officials.

Acting DNIRichard Grenell, who stepped down Tuesday, streamlined ODNI in his four months in office by reducing staff and contractor positions by as much as 400.
Mr. Grenell said other positive reforms during his brief stint included declassifying congressional testimony showing no collusion between Trump officials and Russia in 2016, and imposing rules to protect the identities of U.S. officials inadvertently captured in overseas intelligence intercepts.

The changes were aimed at shifting the focus of ODNI away from being a separate intelligence agency and toward its original mission as a coordinating body for 17 U.S. spy services.

“My philosophy going in to ODNI was that it was designed to be a coordinating body of the intelligence agencies, not a competing agency,” Mr. Grenell, who is also leaving his concurrent post as ambassador to Germany, told The Washington Times in an interview.Click here to read....

Trump move could scrap or weaken law that protects social media companies, 28 May 2020

President Donald Trump said he will introduce legislation that may scrap or weaken a law that has protected internet companies, including Twitter and Facebook, in an extraordinary attempt to regulate social media platforms where he has been criticized.

The proposed legislation is part of an executive order Trump signed on Thursday afternoon. Trump had attacked Twitter for tagging his tweets about unsubstantiated claims of fraud about mail-in voting with a warning prompting readers to fact-check the posts.

Trump wants to “remove or change” a provision of a law known as Section 230 that shields social media companies from liability for content posted by their users.
Trump said U.S. Attorney General William Barr will begin drafting legislation “immediately” to regulate social media companies.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported the White House’s plan to modify Section 230 based on a copy of a draft executive order that experts said was unlikely to survive legal scrutiny. The final version of the order released on Thursday had no major changes except the proposal for a federal legislation. Click here to read....

US Political

Trump gives N.C. governor deadline to decide GOP convention fate, 26 May 2020

President Trump on Tuesday gave North Carolina’s Democratic governor one week to decide if the state will allow the Republican National Convention to go forward with a capacity crowd in late August, as several GOP governors lobbied for the massive four-day event to move to their states.

“We need a fast decision from the governor,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House. “He’s been acting very, very slowly and very suspiciously.”

Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday that public health and safety, not politics, will be the “guiding star” as he decides whether to allow the GOP convention to be held in Charlotte starting on Aug. 24.

“It’s OK for political conventions to be political, but pandemic response cannot be,” Mr. Cooper said. “We’d like to reach a resolution that everybody can be reasonable about.”

He said state health officials have asked convention organizers to submit written plans about how they would ensure the health of delegates and other attendees during the coronavirus outbreak.Click here to read....

Obama says coronavirus has exposed lack of leadership in US, 16 May 2020

During a virtual commencement speech for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) Saturday, former President Barack Obama said the coronavirus pandemic has exposed a lack of leadership in the U.S. government.

“More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” Obama said, without naming specific officials.

“A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge,” he added.

The criticism comes as Democrats have routinely slammed the administration's response to the pandemic over lack of medical supplies and conflicting messages to the public coming from key public health officials and members of the president's staff, including Trump himself.

Obama has stayed relatively silent since leaving office in 2017 and has rarely directly criticized the Trump administration.

However, Obama reportedly called Trump’s response to the pandemic “anaemic and spotty” and an “absolute chaotic disaster” in a private call last week with former staffers.Click here to read....

FBI Discovers al Qaeda Ties in Pensacola Shooter’s iPhones ,19 May 2020

A Saudi aviation student who killed three people last year at a Florida Navy base had extensive ties to al Qaeda, top U.S. law-enforcement officials said Monday as they accused Apple Inc. of stalling the probe by refusing to help unlock the shooter’s phones.

The gunman, Second Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, a member of the Saudi air force, had been communicating with a number of operatives of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for years, even before he began training with the U.S. military, officials said, a discovery that was made based on information recovered from his two locked I Phones.

“ We received effectively no help from Apple” to access the phones, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray said during a news conference. The struggle to unlock the encrypted phones delayed the probe for months and potentially jeopardized public safety, he said.Click here to read....

Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine shows encouraging early results, 19 May 2020

Moderna, the Massachusetts biotechnology company behind a leading effort to create a coronavirus vaccine, announced promising early results Monday from its first human safety tests.

The eagerly-awaited data provide a first look at one of the eight vaccines worldwide that have begun human testing. The data have not been published in a scientific journal and are only a preliminary step toward showing the experimental vaccine is safe and effective.

The company’s stock, along with the Dow Jones industrial average, soared on the report that eight participants who received low and medium doses of Moderna’s vaccine had blood levels of virus-fighting antibodies that were similar or greater than those in recovered covid-19 patients. That suggests, but doesn’t prove, that it triggers some level of immunity.Click here to read....

US International

Trump Postpones G7 Summit and Calls for Russia to Attend, 30 May 2020

President Trump said on Saturday that he planned to postpone the annual Group of 7 summit of world leaders until September and that he wanted to invite Russia to rejoin as part of an alliance to discuss the future of China.

Mr. Trump told reporters traveling with him aboard Air Force One on his way back from Florida, where he attended the launch of the SpaceX rocket, that he also planned to invite South Korea, Australia and India to the meeting to discuss China’s future.

“I don’t feel that as a G7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world,” Mr. Trump said, according to a pool report of his remarks. “It’s a very outdated group of countries.”

The United States currently holds the presidency of the Group of 7 industrialized nations, which also includes Germany, Japan, France, Britain, Canada and Italy.Click here to read....

US ends waivers for Iran's civil nuclear programs in latest maximum pressure campaign move, 27 May 2020

The United States announced the end of waivers that allowed countries to cooperate with Iranon civil nuclear projects under the 2015 nuclear deal.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Wednesday that the waivers will end following a 60-day wind-down period that is meant to allow businesses to cease operations.

"I am announcing the end of the sanctions waiver covering all remaining JCPOA-originating nuclear projects in Iran -- the Arak reactor conversion, the provision of enriched uranium for the Tehran Research Reactor, and the export of Iran's spent and scrap research reactor fuel," Pompeo said in a statement.

The top US diplomat said that an exception would be made to provide a 90-day extension for the waiver that covers ongoing international support to Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 to ensure safety of operations. "We will continue to closely monitor all developments in Iran's nuclear program and can modify this waiver at any time," Pompeo said.Click here to read....

U.S. State Department clears $1.4 billion sale of Patriot air and missile system to Kuwait, 29 May 2020

The U.S. State Department has approved a possible $1.425 billion sale of Patriot air and missile defense system components and upgrades to Kuwait, the Pentagon said on Thursday after notifying Congress of the certification.
The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the State Department had approved the sale of 84 interceptor missiles called the Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancements (MSEs) and related equipment for an estimated cost of $800 million.
In addition to the new interceptors, the State Department also approved repairs and upgrades to Kuwait’s existing Patriot system.

Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies are the main contractors for the radars, launchers and interceptors that comprise the Patriot system. Click here to read....

Pentagon confirms its ‘long-term’ commitment with Saudi Arabia, 28 May 2020

The United States remains committed to long-term defense contracts with Saudi Arabia, Pentagon spokesman Sean Robertson told Arab News sister newspaper Asharq al-Awsat in a statement.
US forces maintain “strong capabilities” in various regional operations, including air defense, to deal with any emergencies related to Iran, Robertson was cited by the paper on Thursday.
Earlier in May the US removed two of its Patriot missile systems from Saudi Arabia.
But Robertson said this was about relocating, rather than removing.
“The Department of Defense is doing routine work in managing its power around the world,” he explained
“In light of the current global crisis, some of its equipment and forces are being rotated to address emerging threats and maintain preparedness.”Click here to read....

Trump administration considering new weapons sale to Saudi Arabia, top Democrat says ,27 May 2020

The Trump administration is considering yet another weapons sale to Saudi Arabia despite the fact that it is facing scrutiny from congressional Democrats who believe Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may have recommended the firing of an independent watchdog because he was investigating the top US diplomat's controversial decision to fast-track a previous arms deal to the Kingdom.
In a CNN op-ed Wednesday, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez, said he discovered that the administration is pursuing a previously undisclosed arms sale to Saudi Arabia, which includes "thousands more precision-guided bombs to the President's 'friend,' Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman."

"Before we went into pandemic lockdown, I received draft State Department documentation that it is now pursuing this previously undisclosed sale -- details of which have not yet been made public -- even though the Saudis seemingly want out of their failed and brutal war in Yemen, and despite the fact that a bipartisan majority in Congress rejected previous sales of these weapons," the New Jersey Democrat wrote.Click here to read....

U.S. and China fight at United Nations over Hong Kong, 28 May 2020

he United States and China clashed over Hong Kong at the United Nations on Wednesday after Beijing opposed a request by Washington for the Security Council to meet over China’s plan to impose new national security legislation on the territory.
The U.S. mission to the United Nations said in a statement that the issue was “a matter of urgent global concern that implicates international peace and security” and therefore warranted the immediate attention of the 15-member council.
China “categorically rejects the baseless request” because the national security legislation for Hong Kong was an internal matter and “has nothing to do with the mandate of the Security Council,” China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun posted on Twitter.
The U.S. request coincides with rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over the coronavirus pandemic. Washington has questioned China’s transparency about the outbreak, which first emerged in Wuhan, China late last year. China has said it was transparent about the virus. Click here to read....

In broadside against China, Trump moves toward ending Hong Kong privileges, 29 May 2020

President Donald Trump on Friday ordered his administration to begin the process of eliminating special U.S. treatment for Hong Kong to punish China, but stopped short of calling an immediate end to privileges that have helped the territory remain a global financial center.

In making the announcement, Trump used some of his toughest rhetoric yet against China, saying Beijing had broken its word over Hong Kong’s autonomy by moving to impose new national security legislation and the territory no longer warranted U.S. economic privileges.
At a White House news conference, Trump called this a tragedy for the people of Hong Kong, China and the world, having already attacked Beijing over the coronavirus pandemic, which began in China. Trump said China’s “malfeasance” was responsible for massive suffering and economic damage worldwide. Click here to read....

Europe

Politics and Society

EU chief warns against 'mini-Schengens' after COVID-19 crisis eases, 19 May 2020.

The EU Commission has warned against continuing mini-Schengen areas after Europe's COVID-19 pandemic has eased. This statement came after Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania opened their internal borders to each other last in a bid to give their economies a timely boost.Click here to read....

Europe’s Franco-German ‘motor’ sputters back to life, 20 May 2020.

President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel have jump-started the Franco-German “motor” at the heart of Europe by jointly pitching a hugely ambitious economic recovery plan, even if it faces a bumpy road ahead.The plan marked a major move for both sides, with Germany seen to have moved round to the French view that more flexibility is needed to ensure all of Europe-and not just the richer north-can recover from the crisis.Click here to read....

Rule of Law in Poland: Concerns continue to grow among MEPs, 25 May 2020.

In a committee debate on 25 May, MEPs called for a 'decisive action' over rule of law in Poland"as a matter of urgency". They say the bloc's core values are under threat from actions by the ruling conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS). The report draws attention to ‘continuing and systematic attacks against judicial independence’, ‘democratic institutions and minority rights’ and calls for the expansion of ongoing Article 7 proceedings to address additionalconcerns.Click here to read....

COVID-19 has 'weakened' the case for the EU, say Germans, French and Italians, 27 May 2020.

A survey commissioned by Euronews has revealed that Italians are the harshest critic of the EU with 61 percent of respondents from the country saying the pandemic has weakened the case for the bloc, compared to 40 percent in Germany and 47 percent in France. The poll, carried out by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Euronews, involved 1,500 participants from each of the three EU countries. Most German, Italian and French people believe the COVID-19 pandemic has weakened the arguments in favour of the European Union and think the bloc has not done nearly enough to support their country during the crisis.Click here to read....

Declaration of the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on Hong Kong, 29 May 2020

The EU has expressed “grave concern at the steps taken by China on 28 May, which are not in conformity with its international commitments (Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984) and the Hong Kong Basic Law”. According to the declaration, China’s actions “seriously undermine the 'One Country Two Systems' principle and the high degree of autonomy of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong”.Click here to read....

EU urges U.S. to reconsider decision to cut ties with WHO, 30 May 2020

The EU urged the United States to reconsider its decision to cut ties with the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. “In the face of this global threat, now is the time for enhanced cooperation and common solutions. Actions that weaken international results must be avoided,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and JosepBorrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said in a statement.Click here to read....

EU urges post-Brexit trade deal amid coronavirus crisis, 31 May 2020

Ahead of the fourth round of Brexit talks, the EU's chief negotiator says the economic fallout from COVID-19 makes a trade deal all the more vital. Michel Barnier also accused the UK of falling behind on its commitments. Click here to read....

Anti-racism protests spread to Berlin and London, 31 May 2020

Outcry over the killing of George Floyd has gone international, with people taking to the streets Berlin and London to show solidarity with US protesters.Click here to read....

India: Video conference call between High Representative/Vice-President Borrell and Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar, 28 May 2020

On 28 May, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, JosepBorrell, had a videoconference with the Indian Minister of External Relations, SubrahmanyamJaishankar. The main topics of their conversation were the response to the coronavirus pandemic and preparations for the 15th EU-India Summit, which had been postponed in March due to the outbreak of the virus. High Representative/Vice-President Borrell and Minister Jaishankar confirmed the commitment of both the EU and India to work together to overcome the global pandemic and stressed the importance of an effective global socio-economic recovery.Click here to read....

Economy

Germany, France lobby hard for EU recovery plan, 19 May 2020

Lawmakers in France and Germany are pushing for the rest of the bloc to adopt their €500 billion rescue fund. Under the proposal, the funds would be given as grants to hardest-hit sectors and regions in the EU. The 27 EU countries would also borrow together on financial markets to raise the funds. The proposed €500 billion in grants would be in addition to the 2021-2027 EU budget that is close to €1 trillion for this period. Merkel stressed that this "unusual path" was a "short-term" response to the crisis and that a long-term solution, including EU reforms, would be discussed later "because Europe must develop further.Click here to read....

EU car sales sink to record-low levels, 19 May 2020

Car sales in Europe have taken a historically steep nosedive, according to numbers published by the Brussels based European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). The first full month with COVID-19 restrictions in place resulted in the strongest monthly drop in car demand since records began.Click here to read....

EU’s ‘Frugal Four’ present theirown recovery plan to overcome the crisis, 23 May 2020

The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden – known as the “frugal” four – suggest emergency aid for severely affected countries in the form of one-time loans on favourable terms, according to a proposal published by the office of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. According to the proposal, the money loaned must then be “directed towards activities that contribute most to recovery, such as research and innovation, strengthening the health sector and a green transition.”Click here to read....

Europe's moment: Repair and prepare for the next generation, 27 May 2020

The European Commission has put forward its proposal for a major recovery plan. To ensure the recovery is sustainable, even, inclusive and fair for all Member States, the European Commission is proposing to create a new recovery instrument, Next Generation EU, embedded within a powerful, modern and revamped long-term EU budget. The Commission has also unveiled its adjusted Work Programme for 2020, which will prioritise the actions needed to propel Europe's recovery and resilience.Click here to read....

Health, Cybersecurity and Environment

EIB reaffirms commitment to a European battery industry to boost green recovery, 19 May 2020

At a meeting of the European Battery Alliance on Tuesday 19 May, European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice-President Andrew McDowell, confirmed the Bank’s commitment to supporting a strong, independent European battery industry. The Bank expects to increase its backing of battery-related projects to more than EUR 1 billion of financing in 2020.Click here to read....

More European adolescents reporting mental health issues: WHO, 19 May 2020

More European adolescents are reporting poor mental health, a major new survey has found, warning that how authorities respond to this growing problem will "echo for generations". More than 227,000 schoolchildren aged 11, 13 and 15 from 44 countries across Europe took part in the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. It found that adolescent mental well-being declined in many countries across Europe between 2014 and 2018.Click here to read....

Europe should prepare for second wave, warns EU coronavirus chief, 21 May 2020

Europe should prepare for a second wave of coronavirus as it is likely inevitable since so few people have immunity, Dr Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the agency responsible for advising governments on disease control noted. Click here to read....

Europol and Capgemini Netherlands Seek Pioneering Solutions to tackle Cyber Threats, 26 May 2020

Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Capgemini, a global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation. Joint exercises, capacity building and prevention campaigns will be at the heart of this collaboration. This includes the development of cyber simulation exercises, capacity building, and collaborating on prevention and awareness campaigns. As a first step in the roadmap, earlier this month Capgemini joined the No More Ransom Project as a supporting partner.Click here to read....

Perspective(s)

The Time for Rapid Redevelopment of Coal Regions Is Now, 20 May 2020

The economic slow-down caused by the pandemic will aggravate the existing stress in some regions, especially those relying on lignite, coal and peat as their main economic activity. But efficient and effective use of Covid-19 recovery funds can give real meaning to the ‘just transition’ concept if they focus on tangible progress to the benefit of the regional, national and EU economy while improving the environment and implementing the European Green Deal.Click here to read....

Council Presidency as a chance? Germany’s new role for the EU Council Presidency, 25 May 2020

On July 1st, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, Germany will take over the EU Council Presidency for half a year. There are voices that say that this is a stroke of luck for the EU because it is Germany of all countries that will take over the Council Presidency during this global crisis. The assumption is that as the EU’s largest country it has enough resources and extensive experience to master the extreme challenges that the Presidency will now entail. The Presidency could also be a godsend for Germany itself. The responsibility of the Council Presidency forces the German government to again take on the role of trendsetter and mediator.Click here to read....

Russia

Politics and Society

Russia Doubles Naturalisations Amid Relaxed Migration Rules, 19 May 2020

Russia has granted citizenship to more than twice as many foreigners in early 2020 than it did in the same period last year as the country moves to ease citizenship laws and boost its flagging population numbers. Authorities issued 161,170 Russian passports to foreigners between January and March compared with 63,249 in January-March 2019. Two-thirds of the new recipients, 108,500 people, were Ukrainian nationals.Click here to read....

President Putin signs Law on remote vote, 24 May 2020

President Putin has signed the Federal Law “On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation”. The Federal Law provides for the possibility of collecting signatures in elections to state authorities of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation using the federal state information system “Unified Portal of State and Municipal Services (Functions)”. Click here to read....

Russia to organise Victory day parade on 24 June 2020

The Victory Parade on Moscow’s Red Square that was to be held on May 9 and was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic would now be organised on 24 June- the day when the first Victory Parade took place in Moscow 75 years ago. President Putin signed the Decree "On holding military parades and artillery salutes to mark the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945." The Immortal Regiment march is planned to be held on Russia’s Navy Day, July 26, if the epidemiological situation allows, the president ruled.Click here to read....

Russia Postpones BRICS, SCO Summits, 27 May 2020

In view of the coronavirus pandemic and the related restrictions, the Organising Committee to Prepare and Support Russia’s SCO Presidency in 2019–2020 and BRICS Chairmanship in 2020 decided to postpone the BRICS leaders’ meeting and the meetings of the SCO Heads of State Council, initially scheduled to take place on July 21–23, 2020, in St Petersburg.Click here to read....

Russia expands war presence in Libya, 29 May 2020

US Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced earlier this week that Russia had deployed at least 14 warplanes to Libya in support of private military contractors known as the Wagner Group. This marks Moscow's first direct venture into the North African country. Experts say it is part of a larger Russian plan to expand its influence in the region.Click here to read....

Defence and Economy

Russia launches production of Su-35 fighter jets for Egypt, 16 May 2020

Russia has launched the production of its advanced Su-35 fighter jets under a contract with Egypt. The Su-35S is a heavily upgraded generation 4++ supermanoeuvrable multipurpose fighter jet developed on the basis of fifth-generation technologies. The Su-35S is distinguished by its new avionics suite based on the information control system, the new radar, plasma ignition engines of the increased capacity and thrust vectoring.Click here to read....

Putin: Current integration level in EAEU does not allow for common gas transit tariff, 19 May 2020

A common gas transit tariff in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) cannot be introduced with the current integration level, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in a video conference format on Tuesday. "As for the common tariff on transportation and transit of gas proposed by our Armenian and Belarusian friends, we suggest that a common tariff may only be introduced on a common market with a common budget and a common taxation system. Such a deep integration level has not been reached in the EAEU so far," he said. Click here to read....

Russia starts work on conceptual design of next-generation satellite communications system, 19 May 2020

Russia’s Gonets Satellite System Company has launched work on the conceptual designing of the Gonets next-generation communications system, Company CEO Pavel Cherenkov noted. The Gonets next-generation satellite system will offer communications, including telephone services, in hard-to-access places, including the Arctic, and provide infrastructure for the Internet of things. In a perspective, it will allow transmitting data online from any objects, including mobile. The orbital grouping is expected to comprise 28 satellites in low near-Earth orbit.Click here to read....

Russia faces biggest military security threat from western direction, says defence chief, 20 May 2020

The western direction poses the biggest threat to Russia’s military security, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu noted at the ministry’s board meeting. Russia’s Defence Ministry is implementing a set of measures in accordance with the plan of its activity in 2019-2025 to neutralize threats that emerge, Shoigu pointed out. In 2020, 28 organisational measures are planned in Russia’s Western Military District for improving the troops’ combat structure. These measures are synchronized with the delivery of advanced weapons, the defence chief said.Click here to read....

Russian troops receive 1st batch of latest Koalitsiya-SV artillery systems, 22 May 2020

The first batch of the latest Koalitsiya-SV artillery systems has arrived for the Russian troops, the press office of the state hi-tech corporation Rostec announced. "This is the first delivery of the Koalitsiya-SV multiservice artillery system to the troops. Its firepower is based on the 152mm gun with a rate of fire of over 10 rounds per minute, which is higher than the speed of fire of other artillery systems," Rostec said.Click here to read....

Health and Environment

Over 5,000 forest fires recorded in Russia since the start of 2020, 19 May 2020

Over 5,000 forest fires have been recorded in Russia since the beginning of the year, Federal Forestry Agency Chief Sergei Anopriyenko said during an online hearing of the State Duma (the lower house of parliament), which was dedicated to the forest fire situation.According to him, a spike in forest fires was seen in late March and early April. "There are two reasons: an unusual heat wave in some of the Siberian regions and self-isolation," the official explained.Click here to read....

Putin orders Health Ministry to brace for second coronavirus wave, 22 may 2020

Russia’s Health Ministry needs to brace for a second coronavirus wave in October and November, President Vladimir Putin said during an online meeting on the coronavirus situation in the country. "I would like to draw the attention of our colleagues, first and foremost, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, to the need to be prepared that while easing the restrictions we have been living under we should think about a second wave, which, according to experts, may come in the fall, in October and November," the president pointed out. Click here to read....

GamaleiCenter expects to begin clinical testing of its COVID-19 vaccine in early June, 23 may 2020

Clinical testing of the coronavirus vaccine, developed by the Gamalei National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology may begin in early June, the Centre’s director Alexander Ginzburg noted.Click here to read....

Siberia in Midst of Freak Heat Wave, 29 May 2020

Western Siberia is experiencing abnormally high May temperatures, with some areas above the Arctic Circle breaking record highs. Russia’s third most populous city of Novosibirsk, another Siberian city, Krasnoyarsk, as well as the nearby regions of Omsk, Tomsk, Kemerovo and the Altai mountains saw record-breaking temperatures of between 30 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees Celsius in May.Click here to read....

Russia confirms more than 400,000 COVID-19 cases, 31 May 2020

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Russia exceeded 400,000 on Sunday, doubling over the past three weeks. In the past seven days, fewer cases were recorded in country compared with the previous week.The number of recoveries has started growing rapidly. In the past seven day, another 58,584 patients recovered, compared with 45,926 a week ago. Some 42.4 percent of those infected have recovered, while last Sunday this number was 32.9 percent.However, the mortality rate has been growing. On May 24, the death rate was at the level of 1.03 percent, while on May 31 it rose to 1.16 percent.Click here to read....

Perspective(s)

COVID-19 Presents Both Opportunities and Threats to Russia’s Foreign Policy, 25 May 2020

The balance of opportunities and threats for Russia depends on many variables but primarily on how the country ultimately copes with COVID-19 compared to other states, particularly its international opponents. Any comparative advantage that Moscow has in fighting the virus, be it the numbers infected and lost to COVID-19 or the relative scale of economic losses will somehow expand Moscow’s range of opportunities in the post-virus world. Any failure will increase foreign policy threats and curtail opportunities. Let us compile a preliminary list of these opportunities and threats.Click here to read....