Russia

During Thursday's final presidential debate, moderated by Kristen Welker of NBC News, Democratic nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump were asked questions regarding the current state of the US economy, the effect of Covid-19 on New York, foreign interference in US elections and health care. The candidates’ microphones were muted at times while the other was speaking.

Biden insisted that "people deserve to have affordable health care" which would be provided by Bidencare. Trump has said again he would replace Obamacare but didn't give any further information.-

Trump stated he knew all about foreign interference in US elections but alleged it was a ploy to undermine his candidacy. Biden promised that "they will pay a price if I’m elected" as they were interfering with American sovereignty, referring to China, Russia and Iran.

At a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, the foreign ministers agreed to begin the necessary preparations, as the German Press Agency learned from several diplomats.

Austria's foreign minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) confirmed on Monday that there was a "fundamental consensus" among EU countries to impose "sanctions against individuals directly connected with these chemical weapons" in the Navalny case. No details on possible concrete measures have been given so far. According to Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, the preparation of a sanctions list could take several more weeks.

Gazprom pledges to appeal the case against the Nord Stream 2 project, which is also backed by five Western companies and headed by former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

Valtteri Botas won the Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix in Sochi. The Finish driver has now nine victories in the category.

Botas finished ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, with Lewis Hamilton in third.

In the post-race interview, Botas said: "Once I was in clean air I felt that the pace was pretty awesome and that I could control everything.

Lewis Hamilton is on pole position for the Russian Grand Prix, in Sochi. Hamilton, the current leader of the Formula 1 championship, finished ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas took the third place, Sergio Perez the fourth position, and Daniel Ricciardo will start in the fifth position.

After the session, Hamilton said, "Firstly, I have say a big hi to all the fans that are here, we've missed the fans all year! I hope everyone's staying safe."

The Russian Grand Prix will happen Sunday, September 27, at 11:10 (UTC).

The Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been discharged from the Berlin Charité hospital. He had been treated for 32 days at the hospital after being poisoned in Russia.

The hospital has stated that "the patient's state of health has improved to such an extent that the acute medical treatment could be terminated".

Following the announcement that phosphine had been detected in the atmosphere of Venus, Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin stated Tuesday that "Venus is a Russian planet." Russia plans to send its own mission to Venus in addition to "Venera-D," the planned joint mission with the US.

During an interview, Rogozin said: "We think that Venus is a Russian planet, so we shouldn't lag behind," and "Projects of Venus missions are included in the united government program of Russia's space exploration for 2021-2030."

Studies carried out in Russia between 1967-1984 were at the forefront of international research into Venus.

Novichok, the nerve agent used to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detected on an empty water bottle from his hotel room in the Tomsk. His team now believes that he was poisoned in that hotel room, not at the airport as they had initially suspected.

In a video posted on Navalny's Instagram, his aides are seen collecting items from the hotel room an hour after they learned he had fallen sick in suspicious circumstances.

Navalny fell violently ill on a domestic flight in Russia last month and was transferred to Berlin for treatment. Germany says he was poisoned by a Novichok nerve agent, while Russia says it has seen no evidence he was poisoned.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Wednesday he had asked the Russian president to supply Belarus with new weapons.

During a visit of the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to Minsk, Lukashenko stated: "I also asked the Russian president to provide certain types of weapons to us. I told him: when you come, we will see what things we need to strengthen in terms of the Union State."

The Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny has awakened from a medically induced coma and seemed mentally sharp according to a senior German security official.

The official stated that "he’s fully aware of his condition, he’s fully aware of what happened and he’s fully aware of where he is" and added that Navalny "wants to go home to Russia and he wants to continue his mission".

During a visit of Alexandar Lukashenko to Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would grant a loan worth €1.26 billion to Belarus. Putin also supported Lukashenko's initiative to reform Belarus's constitution.

Putin told Lukashenko, at the joint press conference: "I am sure that, considering your political experience, the work in this direction would be organised on the highest possible level."

Russia announced they would also continue the pre-planned joint military drills. At the same time, Putin emphasised that Russian soldiers would "return to their permanent deployment locations" after the routine ends.

For the fifth weekend in a row, protesters took the streets in Belarus against President Alexander Lukashenko under the slogan "We won’t let him sell the country." According to news agencies, at least 100,000 people joined the rally in Minsk, with Police claiming they had detained over 400 people in the city.

The Russian Government has stepped up support, offering to potentially restructure Belarusian debt, and providing banking liquidity. It has also said Russian riot police could be made available if needed.

Lukashenko will meet Vladimir Putin Monday in the Russian resort of Sochi. It will be their first face-to-face encounter since Belarus’s presidential election on August 9.

Hackers from China, Russia and Iran are targeting the 2020 presidential elections, Microsoft found. In a blog post, Microsoft stated that the three hacker groups Strontium (Russia), Zirconium (China) and Phosphorus (Iran) have launched attacks aimed at both the Democratic and Republican party. The groups have attacked "more than 200 organizations including political campaigns, advocacy groups, parties and political consultants", "high-profile individuals associated with the election" including associates of Biden's campaign and "personal accounts of people associated" with the Trump campaign.

"The majority of these attacks were detected and stopped by security tools built into our products. We have directly notified those who were targeted or compromised so they can take action to protect themselves," so Microsoft

The Berlin university hospital Charité has announced that the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny "has been removed from his medically induced coma and is being weaned off mechanical ventilation".

Navalny is able to respond to verbal stimulation, but "it remains too early to gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning".

Michael Cohen's tell-all book "Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump" paints President Donald Trump as a "master manipulator" and someone who has "low opinions on Black folks" but an admiration for "President Vladimir V. Putin’s willingness to treat Russia like a personal business."

The White House has since called the book "fan fiction" and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement that "Michael Cohen is a disgraced felon and disbarred lawyer who lied to Congress [...] and it’s unsurprising to see his latest attempt to profit off of lies."

Cohen's book will be released on September 8.

"He shows Trump’s relentless willingness to lie, exaggerate, mislead, or manipulate. Trump emerges as a man without a soul—a man who courts evangelicals and then trashes them, panders to the common man, but then rips off small business owners, a con man who will do or say absolutely anything to win, regardless of the cost to his family, his associates, or his country," so the book's summary.

During a news conference, United States president Donald Trump has stated in regards to the assassination attack on the Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny that he doesn't "know exactly what happened. I think it's tragic. It's terrible; it shouldn't happen. We haven't had any proof yet, but I will take a look". He added that "I do get along with President Putin" who is the main political opponent of Navalny. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has stated that "the use of such a weapon is horrific. All allies today were united in condemning this attack" as Navalny is recovering in a German hospital from the assassination attack.

He added that "this is not just an attack on an individual but on fundamental democratic rights. And it is a serious breach of international law which demands an international response".

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said Tehran continues to violate the limitations set in the 2015 nuclear deal with the US, Germany, France, the UK, China and Russia. The limit was set at 300kg of enriched uranium, while the country now has 2,105kg.

The watchdog noted, however, that Iran's stockpile remains far below the many tons of enriched uranium Iran had amassed before the 2015 deal and that its stockpile of heavy water had decreased and is now back within the JCPOA limits.

The "Sputnik-V" Covid-19 vaccine produced a neutralising antibody response in all 76 participants, according to data published Friday in the medical journal The Lancet. The vaccine often caused mild side effects such as fever.

Experts have claimed the sample size of the Russian study was small and urged for more research on the elderly.

The Brazilian institute Tecpar announced plans to conduct the phase III trials on 10,000 volunteers at the start of next year.

A special laboratory of the German Federal Armed Forces has carried out a toxicological investigation on samples of Alexei Navalny. This revealed the unequivocal proof of a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group.

The German government states that "it is a shocking event that Alexei Navalny has become the victim of an attack with a chemical nerve agent in Russia" and "condemns this attack in the strongest terms".