Israel and Greece have signed their biggest ever defence procurement deal, which Israel said on Sunday would strengthen political and economic ties between the countries. The agreement includes a $1.65 billion contract for the establishment and operation of a training centre for the Hellenic Air Force by Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems over a 22-year… Read More Israel, Greece sign record defence agreement
Two Russian warships transited the Bosphorus en route to the Black Sea on Saturday and 15 smaller vessels completed a transfer to the sea as Moscow beefs up its naval presence at a time of tense relations with the West and Ukraine. The reinforcement coincides with a huge build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine, something… Read More Russia increases warship presence in Black Sea as tensions with Ukraine heighten
The Czech Republic is expelling 18 Russian diplomats over suspicions that Russian intelligence services were involved in an ammunition depot explosion in 2014, Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Foreign Minister Jan Hamacek said on Saturday. A diplomatic source cited by Interfax suggested the expulsions could prompt Russia to shut the Czech Republic’s embassy in Moscow.… Read More Czech expels Russian diplomats over alleged Russian link to 2014 ammunition depot explosion
Russia’s FSB security service briefly detained a Ukrainian diplomat in St Petersburg, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Saturday, in the latest flare-up of tensions between the neighbouring countries. Interfax news agency earlier reported the FSB as saying Oleksandr Sosoniuk was taken into custody when he tried to obtain classified information from Russian law enforcement databases… Read More Russia briefly detains Ukrainian diplomat for alleged attempted espionage
Three members of the International Space Station’s crew returned safely to Earth on Saturday on a Russian Soyuz craft, Russia’s Roscosmos space agency reported. The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, a microbiologist who in 2016 became the first person to sequence DNA in space, and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov… Read More Three astronauts return from International Space Station
Russia on Friday asked 10 U.S. diplomats to leave the country in retaliation for Washington’s expulsion of the same number of Russian diplomats over alleged malign activity and suggested the U.S. ambassador return home for consultations. The measures, part of a broader retaliatory package, were approved by President Vladimir Putin, as a response to an… Read More Russia expels ten U.S. diplomats in retaliatory act over recent sanctions
The United States on Thursday imposed a broad array of sanctions on Russia, including curbs to its sovereign debt market, to punish it for interfering in last year’s U.S. election, cyber hacking, bullying Ukraine and other alleged malign actions. The U.S. government blacklisted Russian companies, expelled Russian diplomats and barred U.S. banks from buying sovereign… Read More U.S. imposes sanctions on Russia over election meddling
France’s highest court for civil cases, the Cour de Cassation, on Wednesday rejected an appeal against an earlier court ruling that had found Roman Catholic cardinal Philippe Barbarin not guilty of failing to report clerical sexual abuse. Last year, an appeals court overturned a 2019 ruling against Barbarin, who was convicted of failing to report… Read More French top court upholds not-guilty ruling for Cardinal Philippe Barbarin in sexual abuse case
