The head of an independent Russian election watchdog was detained for 12 hours at a Moscow airport Saturday as part of attempts to stop it monitoring Sunday's vote for a new parliament, the group's lawyer said. Golos leader Liliya Shibanova was held by customs officers at Sheremetyevo airport after returning from a trip abroad on the eve of the election, in which Vladimir Putin's United Russia is likely to have its huge parliamentary majority reduced. The Western-funded group's lawyer, Ramid Akhmetgaliyev, told Reuters the customs officers copied contents of her laptop computer and Golos deputy head Grigory Melkonyants said her laptop had been confiscated. Hours earlier, the United States had expressed concern about "what appears to be a pattern of harassment" of Golos, which has aired reports of alleged violations in Russian elections. A Moscow court ruled late Friday that Golos had violated a ban on the publication of opinion poll results within five days of the election to the … [Read more...] about Russia vote watchdog head detained before election
Russia
Two-way trade with Russia to double within four years
Viet Nam and Russia have agreed to double two-way trade to US$5 billion by 2015 thanks to significant steps in development of bilateral relations, which was lifted to a strategic partnership 10 years ago. The target was set at the first meeting between the co-chairmen of the Viet Nam-Russia Inter-Governmental Committee on economic trade and scientific and technological co-operation since the mechanism was upgraded to deputy prime minister level. At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and Russian First Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov worked on measures to promote bilateral trade towards the target, including starting early negotiations, establishment of a free trade area between Viet Nam and the Customs Union, including Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, and implementation of the policy to promote import and export of their products. They discussed and agreed on important measures to boost the traditional friendship, strategic partnership and … [Read more...] about Two-way trade with Russia to double within four years
US says China, Russia active in cyber espionage
China and Russia are using cyber espionage to steal US trade and technology secrets to bolster their own economic development and that poses a threat to US prosperity and security, a US intelligence report said on Thursday. So much sensitive information and research is on computer networks that foreign intruders can collect massive amounts of data quickly and with little risk because they are difficult to detect, according to the report to Congress titled "Foreign Spies Stealing US Economic Secrets in Cyberspace." The Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive report for 2009-2011 included input from intelligence agencies, the private sector, think tanks and academia. Foreign intelligence services, corporations and individuals increased their efforts to steal US technologies which cost millions of dollars to develop, the report said. Methods included extracting information remotely from their home base, downloading data to a portable device, and transmitting information … [Read more...] about US says China, Russia active in cyber espionage
Syria’s rebels attack Russia’s military facilities
A broken drone after the attack on the Hmeimim air base (Photo: AFP/VNA) The Russian Defense Ministry said that there were no casualties or damage as a result of the attacks on both the Hmeimim air base and Tartus naval facility. 2 Russian soldiers were reported dead last week in a gun attack on Hmeimim. Russia’s air strikes in Syria began in 2015. … [Read more...] about Syria’s rebels attack Russia’s military facilities
Russia warns of withdrawal from WTO
This was stated on Sunday by the first deputy head of the economic committee of the Russian Council of Federation, Sergei Kalashnikov. Kalashnikov stressed that the EU's introduction of sanctions against Russia and the reciprocal embargo on the supply of food from the EU are "absolutely out of the logic of legislation related to the WTO." The European Union intends to claw back from Russia 1.39 billion Euros per year and the WTO has already sent to the arbitration court the demand of Brussels. The required compensation equals the total value of exports of pork from the EU to Russia in 2013. The amount of penalties is planned to increase by 15% each year. … [Read more...] about Russia warns of withdrawal from WTO