France extends Durov detention - media
The Telegram founder and CEO was arrested upon arriving in Paris at the weekend

The judicial authorities in France confirmed on Sunday the arrest of Pavel Durov, the CEO and founder of the Telegram messaging app, and extended the Russian tech entrepreneur's detention, AFP has reported, citing a source close to the investigation.

The detention of the 39-year-old Russian citizen, who also holds citizenship of France, the UAE and Saint Kitts and Nevis, was reportedly extended beyond Sunday night by the investigating magistrate.

The detention period for initial interrogation is limited to 96 hours in France; however, it can be extended to 144 hours for serious offences such as drug trafficking and terrorism. During the detention phase, the judge must either press charges and remand in further custody, or release the detainee.

Officials speaking on condition of anonymity told the French news agency that the arrest warrant was issued by France's OFMIN, the agency tasked with combating violence against minors, to conduct a preliminary probe into alleged fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime, and promotion of terrorism.

Reuters also reported, citing unnamed sources, that a cybersecurity gendarmerie unit and the national anti-fraud police are leading the investigation.

The Paris prosecutor's office told RT that a press release concerning the case will be issued later on Monday.

French media had previously reported that Durov's detention at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday was related to alleged offenses regarding Telegram. The reports indicated that the authorities believe he is complicit in a range of crimes allegedly committed via the social media app due to insufficient moderation.

Telegram, which has approximately 1 billion active monthly users, was created by Durov and his brother in 2013 in Russia. The entrepreneur left Russia in the mid-2010s and settled in Dubai. He was granted French citizenship in 2021.

Commenting on Durov's arrest, Telegram said the platform "abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act - its moderation is within industry standards," adding that claims that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse committed by users are "absurd."

After being stranded on the International Space Station since June, two astronaut castaways may still be months away from returning to Earth — in part because of incompatible space suits.

[...]

NASA has yet to make a decision, but one of those alternatives includes sending the astronauts home on a Dragon spacecraft, manufactured by Elon Musk's SpaceX, that is already docked at the station, a representative from the space agency said during a press conference last week, Ars Technica reported.

Yet, that approach comes with complications, as explained by Swapna Krishna, the journalist behind the space-themed YouTube channel Ad Astra. If NASA chose that option, Wilmore and Williams would be the fifth and sixth astronauts on a spacecraft that's limited to four passengers. And because their Starliner suits aren't compatible with the Dragon spacecraft, they would have to return to Earth without suits on, which isn't inherently dangerous, but offers them less protection in case something goes wrong with the capsule.

The differing suit designs and plugs for the Starliner and Dragon spacecraft comes down to a new process for commercial crewed space missions that NASA has implemented. Previously, NASA was extremely involved in the manufacture and testing of spacecraft and space suits.

Yet since the 2010s when NASA developed the commercial crew program, it has given private companies more freedom in how they develop and manufacture equipment for the agency, including space suits, as long as it meets broad safety requirements. For instance, NASA didn't specify that space suits for each commercial spacecraft need to be cross-compatible with one another. In fact, having two different suit designs for each spacecraft could also be beneficial, according to Krishna.

"If the suits used the same type of plug, and some sort of flaw was found within that plug or some other sort of standardized connector, it would ground both spacecraft," she said in a Sunday video.

[...]

Another alternative is sending the astronauts home on a different Dragon spacecraft that's set to reach the ISS in September. This ship could reach the space station with only two of its usual four crew members and could send up extra (Dragon-compatible) space suits, which would allow Wilmore and Williams to return to Earth fully suited in the two unfilled seats.

But if NASA chose this alternative, the Starliner ship that the astronauts originally flew in would have to undock and return to Earth autonomously to make room for the Dragon spacecraft arriving in September, and Boeing has said it might not be able to do that. Because of the way Boeing's contract with NASA is structured, the company has had to absorb the extra costs associated with the technical failures of its Starliner. The company has already taken about $1.6 billion in charges on its Starliner program.

If the Starliner left the space station without a crew, the astronauts on the ISS would also have to install two extra seats on the remaining Dragon spacecraft until the next Dragon arrives, because the remaining docked ship must provide enough seats to accommodate all of the NASA astronauts in case of an emergency.

The marooned astronauts would need to take the place of the two astronauts pulled from the Dragon mission to accommodate them, which would keep them aboard the ISS until the regular rotation ends in February 2025. That would mean turning what was supposed to be just over a weeklong mission into eight months. Although both astronauts have completed longer missions on the ISS before, those were filled with less uncertainty. Wilmore's wife told a CBS station in Knoxville that she is preparing for her husband to miss Christmas and the couple's 30th wedding anniversary.

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