WASHINGTON - U.S. Congress has passed a defense policy bill that authorizes up to $50 million in lethal military aid for Ukraine and mandates a White House response if Russia is deemed to be violating a key arms control treaty.

The White House said hours after the $607 billion bill was passed by the Senate on November 10 that President Barack Obama was likely to sign the legislation.

The House of Representatives passed a similar version of the bill last week.

Among other things, the package …

Russia will supply S-300 air missile systems to Iran.

S-300 will strengthen Iran’s defense and make attacks on their military targets challenging."Agreement to supply S-300 missile systems to Iran came into effect" – stated the Head of the “Russian Technologies” State Corporation, Sergey Chemezov.The signing of the agreement means that S-300 will become the first shipment of Russian weapons to be supplied to Iran after the international sanctions were lifted. Supply of these missile systems …

As reported by Reuters, Putin's daughter Katerina uses the last name of Tikhonova.Katerina's identity was revealed by Andrey Akimov, deputy chairman of Russia's Gazprombank.Reuters has also learned that earlier this year Katerina, 29, described herself as the “spouse” of Kirill Shamalov, son of Nikolai Shamalov, a longtime friend of Putin. Shamalov senior is a shareholder in Bank Rossiya, which U.S. officials have described as the personal bank of the Russian elite. Katerina and Kirill, 33,   …