Russia has eased its weapons resale rules to alleviate secondary buyers' fears of U.S. sanctions, according to an unpublished government decree cited by the Vedomosti business daily Wednesday. Reports found that Russia sold the second-most weapons in 2018 despite five years of declining sales. Countries trading with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors currently face secondary sanctions under U.S. measures imposed in August 2017 over Moscow’s actions that include alleged election interference. The new decree relaxes export control rules that required secondary arms buyers to inform Russia in writing that it was the final buyer, Vedomosti reported. These countries can now avoid direct contact with Russia by making the primary arms buyer responsible for informing Moscow that the secondary buyer vows not to resell the weapons. “Foreign states voice interest in buying Russian military products but, fearing sanctions, refuse to purchase … [Read more...] about Russia Eases Arms Resale Rules to Avoid Sanctions – Reports
Reports
US Imposes Visa Curbs on Pakistan Government Officials: Report
New Delhi (Sputnik): Pakistan has confirmed that the US has imposed visa curbs on three senior interior ministry officials in light of a disagreement between the two countries over repatriating deportees. READ MORE: Pakistan Urges US to Refrain From Attacking Iran Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has told the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that curbs have been applied on an Additional Secretary, a Joint Secretary and the Director General (Passports), the Pakistan daily Dawn reported. © AP Photo / Jon ElswickUS Bans Chinese, Pakistani Firms From Exporting Sensitive Tech Amid Iran TensionThe sanctions were imposed after the Pakistani government insisted that the US needed to fulfil all legal requirements before deporting over 70 Pakistanis. The US put the restrictions on the three officials who are overseeing Pakistan's policy on accepting nationals deported … [Read more...] about US Imposes Visa Curbs on Pakistan Government Officials: Report
U.S. Ambassador Yovanovitch’s Ukraine reports biased: Lutsenko
The prosecutor general claims the ambassador was "too subjective in dividing people into friends and foes." Photo from UNIAN Yuriy Lutsenko, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General, believes that U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, during her term in office, was biased in assessing the work of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies. "Unfortunately, it so happened that the U.S. ambassador, now ex-ambassador [media reports say Yovanovitch will be recalled in May] did not always report objective information about the situation in our country, in particular, regarding law enforcement," Lutsenko told a Kyiv briefing Tuesday, Ukrayiniska Pravda reports. He said, "the ambassador was too subjective in dividing people into friends and foes." In particular, she allegedly had the embassy's "favorites," who were always right, and also "bad" people. According to the PGO chief, among the embassy's favorites were MP Serhiy Leshchenko and National Anti-corruption Bureau Director Artem … [Read more...] about U.S. Ambassador Yovanovitch’s Ukraine reports biased: Lutsenko
Reykjavik up 30 places on the ICCA Statistics Report
2018 ICCA Statistics Report was published yesterday. According to the report, Reykjavík moves up 30 places on the worldwide ranking from the previous year. Reykjavík now shares the 50th place with Vilnius and Zurich, but in 2017 the capital of Iceland was number 80 on the list. “We are in very high spirits here at Meet in Reykjavík – Reykjavík Convention Bureau after seeing the 2018 report,” says Hildur Björg Baeringsdóttir, Director of Lead Generation at Meet in Reykavík. “We knew we were moving up the list and we have been for the past seven years since Meet in Reykjavík was founded, but we did not anticipate this. This confirms the increasing interest we have been feeling from MICE buyers over the last couple of years. So you can just imagine how pumped we are at the moment.” The annual ICCA country and city rankings are one of the most eagerly anticipated statistics reports in the international meetings industry … [Read more...] about Reykjavik up 30 places on the ICCA Statistics Report
Pilots pushed Boeing to act after Lion Air crash: reports
After a deadly crash in Indonesia, American Airlines pilots called a meeting to press Boeing executives for safety changes to the 737 MAX aircraft, US media reported Tuesday. The call for changes, which could have required the best-selling aircraft model to be temporarily grounded, were reported by The New York Times and CBS News after they obtained an audio recording of the November 27 meeting between the American Airlines pilots union and officials from the aircraft manufacturer. The 737 MAX 8 is currently grounded worldwide after the March crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 that killed all 157 people onboard and drew scrutiny to the new Boeing model's anti-stall system, which investigators believe may have brought the jet down. But the meeting shows that pilots were already worried about the safety of the model following the October 2018 crash in Indonesia of a Lion Air 737 MAX 8 that left no survivors of the 189 people onboard. According to the reports, the pilots were … [Read more...] about Pilots pushed Boeing to act after Lion Air crash: reports