Russia

MOSCOW (AP) — Two Russian crew members on the International Space Station ventured into open space Wednesday to conduct scientific research and help maintain the orbiting outpost.

Oleg Kononenko and Alexey Ovchinin worked to retrieve several scientific experiments intended to study the impact of space flight that were mounted on the space station’s exterior. They also cleaned some of the space station’s windows, mounted handrails to facilitate future spacewalks and performed other maintenance.

MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/: The first flight of Russia's heavy unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Okhotnik is planned for July or August, a source in the aircraft manufacturing industry told TASS on Wednesday.

"As part of factory testing, the Okhotnik UAV will make its first flight at the aerodrome of the Novosibirsk Aircraft Plant in the summer, preliminarily in July or August. The flight will not last for long — several dozens of minutes at the maximum," the source said.

BARNAUL, May 28. /TASS/: The family of Russian national Maria Butina jailed in the US is unable to transfer money to a special account she can use to pay for telephone calls home, so they have no chance to make video calls with her, Maria’s father Valery Butin told TASS on Tuesday.

He explained that only US nationals had the right to top up such accounts and the Butina family had earlier used the assistance of their acquaintances in the country. This is how Maria managed to film a video address from prison in mid-May.

IRKUTSK, May 28. /TASS/: A Boeing aircraft of Nordwind Airlines en route from Blagoveshchensk to Moscow made an emergency landing in Irkutsk, East Siberia, on Tuesday, the airport’s press service told TASS.

"The plane of Nordwind Airlines made an emergency landing in Irkutsk while performing a flight from Blagoveshchensk to Moscow," the spokesperson said.

There are 149 passengers onboard the plane. The preliminary cause of the incident is an altitude indicator failure.

SARATOV, May 28. /TASS/: A teenager who attacked a schoolgirl with an axe in Russia’s town of Volsk, Saratov region, also threw petrol bombs inside the school building, a regional law enforcement source TASS on Tuesday.

"The teenager went to the second floor, threw a petrol bomb into presumably his classroom and the second one in the corridor. However, the petrol bombs failed to explode. After that, he saw a girl and hit her on the forehead with an axe," the source said.

MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/: The US growing pressure on Cuba under the Helms-Burton Act contradicts international law, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference after talks with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla.

"The decision, which was endorsed in Washington, drastically contradicts both international law and demands of the overwhelming majority of members of the international community," Lavrov said.

In his turn, the Cuban foreign minister noted that the Helms-Burton Act was part and parcel of the US policy of pressuring third states.

MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/: The average exchange rate of Bitcoin over the past day increased by almost 9.4% and reached 8,750.24 dollars per unit of cryptocurrency. Thus, the price returned to the levels of mid-May 2018, according to Coinmarketcap.

The capitalization of the bitcoin market, according to the website, reached $155.1 bln.

The price of cryptocurrency began to grow significantly in early May of this year.

Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency system of the same name based on blockchain technology, which can be mined by any user.

MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/: Russia’s Proton-M carrier rocket with Yamal-601 communications satellite will be rolled out on a launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on May 27, a source in the Russian space industry told TASS on Monday.

"A commission at the Baikonur space center made a decision to roll out the Proton-M carrier rocket with Yamal-601 satellite to the launch pad on May 27," the source said.

MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/: Syrian government forces have regained control over the city of Kafr Nabuda in the north of the Hama governorate located some 15 kilometers off the Hama-Aleppo highway, SANA news agency reported on Sunday.

According to SANA, battered illegal armed groups are retreating eastwards, to the settlement of al-Hobeit.

ULYANOVSK, May 24. /TASS/: Development of renewable energy in Russia’s Arctic regions is possible if local authorities are motivated to cut expenses on diesel fuel, the Russian Association of Wind Power Industry’s President Igor Bryzgunov said.