
Russia arrests man accused of passing satellite secrets to US
The court, in a statement on Telegram, identified the suspect only as 'O' and said he was a former employee of a company producing electronic engines for space satellites.
It said he was suspected of collecting and storing information about the firm's technology on behalf of US intelligence services between July 2021 and December 2023.
The man was placed in detention until September 30, the court said. The charge of high treason carries a potential sentence of life imprisonment.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Al Arabiya
9 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Germany to extend border controls on migration crackdown
Germany will push on with temporary border controls beyond a September deadline as it cracks down on irregular immigration, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Thursday. Berlin also plans to deport more rejected asylum seekers with criminal records to Taliban-run Afghanistan and to war-scarred Syria, Dobrindt said in a podcast with media outlet Table Today. Germany's conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed a tough crackdown on irregular immigration, saying this is the only way to stem rising support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. A spate of deadly attacks blamed on asylum seekers and other foreign nationals fueled public fears during the campaign for the February election, in which the AfD scored a record 20 percent. 'We will continue to maintain the border controls' beyond the September 15 deadline, Dobrindt said about the measures first launched last year under the previous government of Olaf Scholz and extended by six months in March. 'We are in agreement with our European partners that this is a necessary measure until the (EU) external border protection system is fully operational,' he said. Members of Europe's Schengen area are allowed to temporarily reintroduce border controls for up to two years in response to serious threats such as terrorism or large-scale unauthorized migration. Merz's government further tightened the border checks when it took power in early May, moving to also reject most asylum seekers – a step that sparked an outcry from human rights groups. Federal police numbers deployed daily at the borders were stepped up to 14,000 from 11,000. According to ministry data, 9,254 people were turned back at German land borders between May 8 and July 31 – with most recorded cases from Afghanistan followed by Algeria, Eritrea and Somalia. Germany's border with France saw the most rejections, at more than 2,000 in that period, followed by Poland, Switzerland and Austria. Germany has also twice deported migrants convicted of offences to Afghanistan, most recently last month when 81 were sent back – a move Dobrindt said 'cannot remain a one-off measure.' Amnesty International criticized the deportations, saying the situation in Afghanistan was 'catastrophic' and that 'extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and torture are commonplace.'

Al Arabiya
9 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Paris office of Israeli airline El Al vandalized
Suspected vandals daubed the front of the Paris office of Israeli national airline El Al in red paint, drawing condemnation from French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot on Thursday. 'Free Palestine' and other slogans were scrawled in red on the El Al entrance. 'Acts of hatred and anti-Semitism have no place in our Republic,' Tabarot wrote on X. Joshua Zarka, Israel's ambassador to Paris, also condemned the incident. 'It's quite simply an attack, nothing more, nothing less, against an Israeli company, and against the state of Israel,' he told reporters. France has seen a rise in hate crimes following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas, and Israel's subsequent military campaign in Gaza. Last year, police recorded an 11 percent rise in racist, xenophobic or antireligious crimes, according to official data published in March. The figures did not include a breakdown by attacks on different religions. The Paris prosecutor's office did not respond to a request for details on the investigation.


Arab News
21 hours ago
- Arab News
US Army soldier accused of attempting to share tank infomation with Russia
A U.S. Army soldier was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly seeking to pass sensitive information about American battle tanks to the Russian government, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Taylor Adam Lee, 22, an active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas, is facing two federal charges accusing him of attempting to transmit national defense information and export controlled technical data without a license, according to court documents. 'Today's arrest is a message to anyone thinking about betraying the U.S. – especially service members who have sworn to protect our homeland. The FBI and our partners will do everything in our power to protect Americans and safeguard classified information,' Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division said in a statement. Lee has not yet entered a plea on the charges, which were filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Attorney information for Lee was not immediately available. Prosecutors accused Lee, who holds a top-secret security clearance, of attempting to share information on the operation and vulnerabilities of the M1A2 Abrams, the main U.S. battle tank, with the Russian government in exchange for Russian citizenship. Last month, Lee shared an SD card that contained documents and information about the tank and other U.S. military operations with someone he believed to be a Russian intelligence officer. The documents contained technical data Lee was not authorized to provide and some were marked 'Controlled Unclassified Information,' according to prosecutors. 'Soldiers who violate their oath and become insider threats will absolutely be caught and brought to justice, and we will continue to protect Army personnel and safeguard equipment,' said Brigadier General Sean Stinchon, the commanding general of Army Counterintelligence Command.