WASHINGTON, September 27 (Sputnik) -
* The EU member states are struggling to agree on imposing a price cap on Russian oil, with Cyprus and Hungary opposing the proposal, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
* An incident occurred on one of the Nord Stream 2 twin gas pipeline strings, as gas pressure rapidly dropped, the pipeline's operator Nord Stream AG told Sputnik.
SCHOOL SHOOTING IN RUSSIA'S IZHEVSK
* The death toll in the school shooting in Izhevsk, Russia, has increased to 13, including seven schoolchildren, and more than 20 others have been injured, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Monday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin is mourning the death of the people killed in the recent terrorist attack in Izhevsk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
* Commenting on a deadly shooting incident in a Russian school on Monday, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said that the Biden administration condemns any violence and President Joe Biden always calls such cases out.
* Negotiators in the US Congress have agreed to include a $12 billion package of assistance for Ukraine in a stop-gap spending bill, following a request from the Biden administration, Reuters reported on Monday citing a source in the know.
* The United States is announcing $457.5 million in new civilian security assistance for Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
* Four powerful explosions were heard in the center of Kherson, air defense may have snapped into action, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
* International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General� Rafael Grossi said he discussed creating a possible security protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) with Russian state atomic agency Rosatom head Alexey Likhachev.
RUSSIA DETAINS JAPANESE CONSUL FOR ESPIONAGE
* Japanese Consul Motoki Tatsunori, caught red-handed in espionage and detained by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in Vladivostok, pleaded guilty to violating Russian law, according to a confession video released by the FSB on Monday.
* Moscow protests to Japan in connection with the activities of Motoka Tatsunori, an employee of the Consulate General in Vladivostok, who was declared persona non grata, he must leave Russia within two days, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
* FSB said the consul was caught red-handed while collecting information about the impact of Western sanctions on the economic situation in Russia's Primorsky region.
RUSSIA GRANTS CITIZENSHIP TO EDWARD SNOWDEN
* Former US intelligence contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked classified information on digital surveillance programs, received Russian citizenship, according to a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
* The Russian citizenship was granted to Snowden at his request, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik.
* Snowden did not serve in the Russian army so he will not be called up amid the partial mobilization, Snowden's lawyer in Russia, Anatoly Kucherena, told Sputnik.
