World Family deny American arrested in Moscow is spy The brother of a US citizen arrested on Friday for spying in Russia has told BBC News he is innocent and was in Moscow to attend a wedding. The family of ex-Marine Paul Whelan, 48, learnt of his arrest on Monday from news reports after wondering why they had not heard from him for days. His twin brother David Whelan … Read More
World Russian security agency arrests ‘US spy’ in Moscow Russia’s FSB state security agency says it has arrested a US citizen “caught spying” in Moscow. It named him as Paul Whelan, saying he was arrested in Moscow on 28 December and charged with “espionage”. The FSB gave no further details. The US state department says it has requested consular access for the man held in Moscow, Reuters news agency … Read More
World Trump ‘could pardon himself over Russia but won’t’, says Giuliani Donald Trump probably has the power to pardon himself in the Russia collusion affair but does not intend to do so, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani says. A special counsel is investigating Russia’s role in the 2016 election, and whether Mr Trump obstructed justice. The question of self-pardon arose after the New York Times published a letter to the counsel from … Read More
World Syria chemical attack: Investigators allowed to visit site after delay Five days after their arrival, chemical weapons inspectors in Syria will be given access to an alleged attack site on Wednesday, Russia says. The team has been in the country since Saturday but has been prohibited from entering the town of Douma. US officials have raised concerns that Russia may have tampered with the site while inspectors were denied access. … Read More
World Spy poisoning: Russia says UK is ‘playing with fire’ Russia has accused the UK of inventing a “fake story” and “playing with fire” over the Salisbury spy poisoning. At a UN Security Council meeting, Moscow’s UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzia said Britain’s main goal had been “to discredit and even delegitimise” Russia with “unsubstantiated accusations”. The UK says Russia is behind the attack but Moscow denies responsibility. Britain’s UN representative … Read More
More News Russia declares nine US media outlets ‘foreign agents’ Russia has declared nine US media outlets, including Voice of America and Radio Liberty, to be foreign agents. The new law that makes it possible for foreign media to be declared foreign agents was rushed through the Russian parliament last month. It means the media outlets have to declare their source of funding. The move is in retaliation for … Read More
