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Once again a hole discovered in the booster block of a Russian rocket
On February 19th, a Russian rocket was supposed to bring a batch of internet satellites into orbit under a Roscosmos contract with the British company OneWeb. However, a hole was discovered in the booster block that was not expected to be there, TASS reports with reference to their sources in the space industry.
“In one of the pipelines in a block, a micro hole was found, which developed, apparently due to the long transportation of the upper stage of the rocket to the spaceport in French …
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Russia accuses US of escalating risk of nuclear conflict
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that there will be a greater risk of nuclear conflict if the US begins to produce W76-2 warheads.
“This topic was already included in last year’s review of Washington’s policy in the nuclear sphere. Then, already, we expressed serious concern about the fact that developing such low-capacity munitions lowers the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, and, of course, increases the risk of a nuclear conflict. As we understand, this provision has been …
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Maduro prepares to send 20 tons of Venezuela’s gold to Russia
The Venezuelan government under Maduro is preparing to transfer 20 tons of gold – roughly 20% of the Central Bank’s reserves – to Russia, said José Guerra, a member of the country’s National Assembly and a retired economist for the Central Bank.
Guerra claims to have received the information from a Central Bank official with whom he still has contact. An aircraft from Moscow has supposedly arrived to collect the gold.
“We demand that the Central Bank give us information about what is going on, …
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US Intelligence dismisses possibility of large-scale Russian attack against Ukraine
American Intelligence believes that a large-scale attack by Russia against Ukraine in 2019 is "operationally possible but not likely,” stated Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats during a hearing at the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Voice of America reported.
"We assess that a major offensive by either Ukraine or Russian proxy forces is operationally feasible but unlikely in 2019,” Coats stated. US intelligence services foresee increased tensions in the Black Sea and …
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Tokyo: establishing US military bases in the Kuril Islands is only possible with Japan’s consent
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that if the South Kuril Islands are handed over to Japan, the creation of US military bases on those islands will be possible only after Tokyo gives its consent, RIA Novosti reported, citing Kyodo News Agency.
The United States has the right to establish military bases in Japan. However, in the case of the Kuril Islands, the deployment location must be coordinated with the Japanese government, Abe stated.
Meanwhile, Abe gave no answer to journalists’ …