Latest news with #Yakovlev
CBS News
15-04-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Meet Duke, the Minnesota K-9 who sniffs out stress
We know dogs can sense our emotions, but did you know they can actually smell it, too? Duke, a 2-year-old lab, is a critical incident response dog with the Burnsville Police Department, specially trained to detect cortisol — a stress hormone — in people. "He will basically walk into a room and he'll sniff everybody who's in the room, and then he will zero in on that person who is the most stressed," said Sgt. Max Yakovlev. "Then the goal is for that person to sit so what they call is a grounding technique, and he tries to get somebody to sit down and pet him." Duke arrived the day after the tragic deaths of two officers and a firefighter-paramedic in Burnsville last year . "He came at the right time, but at the kind of the wrong time, if that makes even sense, right?" Yakovlev said. He was there to bring calm when it was needed most. "I honestly think it was a God thing, because I was already planning on being there," he said. Duke came from K9s for Freedom & Independence, a Texas nonprofit. Like a narcotics dog, he's trained to sniff out stress, using sweat and saliva. "It is so much different than the therapy dogs, because these dogs go out in the field. They can go on mental health calls," said Janeen Baggette, founder of K9s for Freedom & Independence. Duke responds with Burnsville's Behavioral Health Unit about 12 times a month and spends the rest of his time visiting schools or attending community events. "Sometimes the uniform, sometimes just our presence there, it can be a lot, and having him around kind of diminishes, that breaks down the barriers, or be able to work with somebody who is in crisis," Baggette said. He's also helping the officers. "Hopefully we can start to slow down and prevent the higher levels of suicide, individuals walking away from the job and resigning," she said. Off-duty, Duke's just another member of the Yakovlev family. "He's on a little bit of a diet because of the treats," Lakovlev said. "You know, the question comes up, the why? Why do we need it? And the answer is, look at him. Like, it's fun, and people love it." The Savage Fire Department also has a Critical Incident Response Team K-9 from the same organization — a chocolate lab named Marshall.
Reuters
10-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Russia plans to soften capital controls on new investments
MOSCOW, April 10 (Reuters) - Russia is planning to soften capital controls on new foreign investments, a senior finance ministry official said on Thursday, opening the door for companies - including Western ones - looking to return to the Russian market. Russia banned foreign companies from withdrawing their assets from the country, requiring them to keep assets in special accounts. This move was aimed at preventing capital flight following Russia's military operation in Ukraine and the introduction of Western sanctions. The country is now seeking to attract investors back and bring in new ones. However, with the ban on capital withdrawal still in place, there have been few practical steps in this direction. "The framework for regulating new money inflow and ensuring the possibility that this money and the income generated from it can be withdrawn has already been resolved," said Alexei Yakovlev, head of the ministry's financial policy department. He mentioned that a new presidential decree on softening capital controls on new investments might be issued around mid-year. The current rules for existing foreign investors will remain in place. Capital controls were imposed only on investors from "unfriendly countries" that condemned Russia's military actions and supported Ukraine. Investors from countries deemed friendly, such as China and India, were exempt from these measures. Yakovlev stated that the new rules should apply to all investors, regardless of their nationality.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Leonardo refutes Russian bones in M-346 trainer aircraft design
ROME — Italy's Leonardo is talking up the European pedigree of its M-346 jet trainer after British newspapers claimed it was based on a Russian design. British tabloids made the allegations after reports that the M-346 was being considered as a replacement for aging BAE Hawk T1 jets flown by the U.K.'s Red Arrows display team. Leonardo worked jointly on the design of a jet trainer with Russian firm Yakovlev from 1993 to 2000 before the team-up was dissolved and each firm went on to produce their own trainers. That did not stop the UK Sun newspaper reporting the M-346 was 'Russian designed' in an article titled 'Air Farce' on Monday. The daily quoted James Cartlidge, the defense spokesman for the UK's Conservative opposition party saying, 'When the Red Arrows perform their brilliant air displays, their red, white and blue vapor trails represent the Union Jack — not the Russian tricolor.' As other tabloids picked up the story, British prime minister Keir Starmer was asked on Monday to guarantee that the Red Arrows' next jet would not be designed by Russia. 'I can give you that guarantee – it's very, very important that we don't have Russian influence in Red Arrows or anything else for that matter,' said. A spokesman for Starmer said there was no procurement plan in place to replace the Hawks. Leonardo fought back, claiming, 'The M-346 was designed, developed and produced in Europe to the most stringent NATO standards.' The Italian firm pointed out that pilots from around Europe, as well as the U.K., have already trained on the jet in Italy. Aermacchi, the Italian jet trainer builder later purchased by Leonardo, racked up 300 flights while working on a prototype jet trainer with Russia's Yakovlev. But in 2000 the firms ended their collaboration when Yakovlev refused to consider using a U.S. Honeywell engine. 'There was a total disagreement – the Russians would not accept an American engine on a Russian military plane,' said Paolo Mezzanotte, who worked at Aermacchi at the time. When the firms went their separate ways, Italy built the M-346 while Yakovlev built the Yak-130. 'The Russians went on to copy the Honeywell engine after the split, ironically producing it in Ukraine,' Mezzanotte said. He said that the outside form of the two aircraft was similar, but the similarities stopped there. 'The manufacturing technology, the general systems, the mission systems, the propulsion and the flight control system on the M-346 is totally different. Italy did acquire the Yakovlev documentation about the plane but then redesigned it completely,' he said. 'Yakovlev had great engineers but their manufacturing at the time was at the level of Italian manufacturing in the 1950s,' he added.
Forbes
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Another World War I Style Dogfighter Is Hunting Drones Over Ukraine
A Yak-52 drone-hunter. Via Eye of Horus Another World War I style dogfighter is back in action over Ukraine. A screengrab from the video feed of a Russian surveillance drone that circulated online on Monday depicts a dramatically painted Yakovlev Yak-52—a two-seat, piston-engine training plane designed in the 1970s—maneuvering into position so its backseat gunner can take a shot at the drone with a rifle. It's at least the second Yak-52 to hunt drones over Ukraine. In a heady three months starting last May, a Yak-52 shot down a large number of Russian drones over Kherson Oblast, likely at least a few miles from the front line. While the front-seat pilot steered the slow, nimble plane, the gunner in the back seat opened fire with a shotgun. Fans of the barnstormer posted videos and photos of the Yak-52 in action and on the ground. A growing number of kill markings on the side of the old trainer spoke to its effectiveness as a drone-killer. It worked so well that the Ukrainian intelligence directorate began training gunners to hunt Russian unmanned aerial vehicles from locally-made Aeroprakt A-22 sport planes. But the Yak-52's fame and effectiveness made it a top target for the Russians. The Russian military's frustration with the Yak-52 and its shotgun-wielding gunner rested in July, as the trainer's kills likely exceeded a dozen unmanned aerial vehicles. 'Isn't it time to shoot him down?' one Russian blogger wrote. A Yak-52 drone-hunter. Via Eye of Horus But that was easier said than done. Russian surface-to-air missiles might struggle to hit such a small target that far from Russian-occupied territory. So Russian forces did the next best thing—they went after the Yak-52 on the ground at its base: Hydroport airfield in Odesa. On July 15, a Russian drone surveyed the airfield, pinpointing several parked Ukrainian UAVs and hangars where the Yak-52 may have sheltered. An Iskander ballistic missile streaked in, exploding between the drones and the hangars and sparking several fires. One analyst scrutinized video and satellite imagery and concluded that the Iskander damaged three drones and several hangars. The same attack, or a separate one, apparently also hit a nearby Ukrainian air defense battery. It's unclear whether the Yak-52 was in one of the damaged hangars. But it's telling that, for four months, there were no new sightings of the famous piston plane. A rumored Yakovlev mission in November may have involved that first Yak-52 or a second copy of the ubiquitous plane, dozens of which belong to Ukrainian citizens and flying clubs. The colorful Yak-52 that broke cover on Monday may be that second plane—or another in a growing fleet of piston fighter planes that have revived World War I tactics for the drone era.
