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President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree putting St Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport under the temporary management of a Russian company, wresting control from investors from Germany, Qatar and other Gulf states. The decree, signed late on Thursday, stated that a Russian holding company had been set up to manage the asset, with the rights of German airport operator Fraport (FRAG.DE) and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority among those to be transferred to Russian hands. "We must first verify the information and examine what this means in future for our involvement in St Petersburg, which we have put on...

A new study by a prominent Russian astrophysicist claims the “new Little Ice Age” started at the end of 2015 due to low solar activity, kicking off decades of “deep cooling” in the latter half of the 21st Century. “As a result, the Earth has, and will continue to have, a negative average annual energy balance and a long-term adverse thermal condition,” Dr. Habibullo Abdussamatov, who is the head of space research for the Pulkovo Observatory at the Russian Academy of Sciences, wrote in a recent study. “The quasi-centennial epoch of the new Little Ice Age has started at the...

KIEV, Ukraine - A Russian passenger jet carrying at least 170 people — including 45 children — crashed Tuesday in eastern Ukraine after sending a distress signal, killing all aboard, authorities said. Russian authorities said they had ruled out terrorism, and Ukrainian officials said there was bad weather in the area at the time of the crash.

KIEV, Ukraine - An airliner flying from southern Russia to St. Petersburg crashed on Tuesday in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry said. The ministry said helicopters circling the site about 30 miles north of the regional town of Donetsk saw the aircraft, a Russian-made Tupolev 154, in flames. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said 160 passengers and 10 crew were aboard the aircraft belonging to Pulkovo Airlines. The Interfax news agency, citing the ministry, said 30 bodies had been found. There was no word on whether anyone survived.

wreckage found in the Ukraine