The U.S. has removed equipment and technologies related to Internet communication from sanctions, and the EU has agreed on a fifth package of sanctions against Russia – these and other important news for Friday morning, April 8, in our daily review.

The United States has authorized the supply and sale in Russia of software, equipment and technologies related to information exchange and communication on the Internet. This is reported in a document published on the website of the Ministry of Finance.

The United States expanded sanctions against diamond mining company Alrosa (MCX:ALRS) and included United Shipbuilding Corporation and its subsidiaries in the sanctions list. The sanctions were also imposed against executives of OSK and other state-owned companies.

At least three major Russian companies are bidding to create a replacement for the App Store and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Play, Kommersant reported. The newspaper named Sber (MCX:SBER) (developing the corporate SberStore), Yandex (MCX:YNDX) (may relaunch Yandex.Store) and VK (MCX:VKCODR) among the contenders.

Congress approved a bill to ban Russian energy imports into the United States. First it was unanimously approved by the Senate, then – by 413 votes to nine – by the House of Representatives, writes CNBC.

EU countries have approved the fifth package of sanctions against Russia, including an embargo on coal imports, the Associated Press reports citing the French presidency of the EU.