WASHINGTON: US-based Russian news outlet RIA Global LLC has registered as a foreign agent with the US Justice Department, the fourth Russian-linked media company to do so since November under pressure from the US government.
RIA Global, which produces content for Russian state-owned news outlet Sputnik, registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) on Friday, according to filings on the Justice Department’s website.
FARA, an 80-year old law aimed at making the public aware of the source of foreign propoganda, has taken on new importance in recent months amid probes by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and multiple congressional committees into Russian attempts to disrupt the 2016 US presidential election.
On Friday, Mueller disclosed charges against 13 Russians and three Russian companies with a conspiracy to tamper in the election. Those charged included St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency known for its trolling on social media.
Sputnik had flagged in January that the Justice Department would require RIA Global to register under FARA.
RIA Global said in its registration that it retains “independent editorial control” over the shows, newswires and web articles it produces and that it “respectfully disagrees that FARA should apply.”
The registration revealed an intention to promote to some extent the Kremlin’s view. A contract accompanying RIA’s registration includes a provision that essays focused on or involving Russia “must reflect Russia’s stance on the subject and present opinions of Russian experts.”
RIA Global’s customer of record is Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, the Russian state entity that owns Sputnik and was created by a decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2013.
Reston Translator LLC, a Virgina-based radio broadcaster of Sputnik programming, registered as a foreign agent in November, as did T&R Productions, LLC (T&R), a Washington, D.C.-based firm that produces English-language programming for the RT Network, a TV broadcaster funded by the Russian government.
RTTV America, Inc, which previously produced content for RT, registered under FARA in December.
A January 2017 US intelligence report concluded that Russia conducted an influence campaign of hacking and other measures aimed at swinging the 2016 presidential vote to Donald Trump. The report said Sputnik and RT are part of “Russia’s state-run propaganda machine” that contributed to that campaign.
Putin, upset by the pressure on Russian media companies to register under FARA, has retaliated by signing a law that allows the Russian authorities to designate international media outlets as “foreign agents”.
US-based Russian news outlet registers as foreign agent
US-based Russian news outlet registers as foreign agent
Bondi Beach attack hero says wanted to protect ‘innocent people’
DUBAI: Bondi Beach shooting hero Ahmed Al Ahmed recalled the moment he ran toward one of the attackers and wrenched his shotgun away, saying the only thing he had in mind was to stop the assailant from “killing more innocent people.”
Al-Ahmad’s heroism was widely acclaimed in Australia when he tackled and disarmed gunman Sajid Akram who fired at Jewish people attending a Hanukkah event on December 14, killing 15 people and wounding dozens.
“My target was just to take the gun from him, and to stop him from killing a human being’s life and not killing innocent people,” he told CBS News in an interview on Monday.
“I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry for the lost.”
In footage viewed by millions of people, Al Ahmed was seen ducking between parked cars as the shooting unfolded, then wresting a gun from one of the assailants.
He was shot several times in the shoulder as a result and underwent several rounds of surgery.
“I jumped in his back, hit him and … hold him with my right hand and start to say a word like, you know, to warn him, ‘Drop your gun, stop doing what you’re doing’,” Al Ahmed said.
“I don’t want to see people killed in front of me, I don’t want to see blood, I don’t want to hear his gun, I don’t want to see people screaming and begging, asking for help,” Al Ahmed told the television network.
“That’s my soul asked me to do that, and everything in my heart, and my brain, everything just worked, you know, to manage and to save the people’s life,” he said.
EXCLUSIVE: Ahmed al Ahmed, the man hailed as a hero for tackling one of the gunmen behind an antisemitic attack on Australia's Bondi Beach earlier this month, is speaking out in the aftermath of the massacre.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 28, 2025
"I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry still for the lost." pic.twitter.com/gFUfJvv7c6
Al Ahmed was at the beach getting a cup of coffee when the shooting occurred.
He is a father of two who emigrated to Australia from Syria in 2007, and works as a fruit seller.
Local media reported that the Australian government has fast-tracked and granted a number of visas for Al Ahmed’s family following his act of bravery.
“Ahmed has shown the courage and values we want in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
One of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, remains in custody on charges including terrorism and 15 murders, as well as committing a “terrorist act” and planting a bomb with intent to harm.
(with AFP)
