Section: US & Canada
Winter Olympics 2018: 5 Jewish storylines to watch
(JTA collage) (JTA) — The world is about to revolve around Pyeongchang, a mountainous county in the northern half of South Korea, for the upcoming Winter Olympics. Jewish fans won’t have quite as many standout athletes to cheer for this year as they did in 2016, when multiple American members of the tribe won medals at the Summer Games in...
Russia’s Donbas bait and switch
The Russian Foreign Ministry yesterday [January 18] accused Ukraine of preparing for a new war in the Donbas. It’s a pretty strange accusation because, well, there’s been an old war going on in the Donbas for nearly four years now. It’s killed more than 10,000 people. And the only reason it is going on is […] …read more...
Russia’s Elite Denounces US ‘Putin’ List
Russian officials from President Vladimir Putin on down have denounced the United States’ publication of the so-called “Putin list” – a U.S. Treasury-issued registry of 210 Russians identified as close to the Russian leader – under a new sanctions law tied to allegations of Kremlin interference in the 2016 U.S....
Russia’s Donbas bait and switch
The Russian Foreign Ministry yesterday [January 18] accused Ukraine of preparing for a new war in the Donbas. It’s a pretty strange accusation because, well, there’s been an old war going on in the Donbas for nearly four years now. It’s killed more than 10,000 people. And the only reason it is going on is […] …read more...
Russia’s Elite Denounces US ‘Putin’ List
Russian officials from President Vladimir Putin on down have denounced the United States’ publication of the so-called “Putin list” – a U.S. Treasury-issued registry of 210 Russians identified as close to the Russian leader – under a new sanctions law tied to allegations of Kremlin interference in the 2016 U.S....
In Ukraine, Ultranationalist Militia Strikes Fear In Some Quarters
They swore to protect Ukraine from criminals, but rights groups warn that 600 right-wingers on patrol could fuel intimidation and violence in Kyiv. …read more Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio...
Netanyahu is trying hard to court Putin. Is his rhetoric working?
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow, Jan. 29, 2018. (Alexey Nikolsky/AFP/Getty Images) MOSCOW (JTA) — The story behind the huge Victory Monument that was unveiled in 2012 in the Israeli city of Netanya is not exactly common knowledge even...
The 5 Most Wanted Geopolitical Fugitives of 2018
It’s not always nice to be wanted. In a time of heightened geopolitical drama, here’s a look at a handful of the “most wanted” characters that have captivated the world’s attention, and what their specific stories tell us about the state of the globe in 2018: Carles Puigdemont When Spain emerged from the Franco years, it held a...
Ukraine Is Building Its Own Tank-Killer Missiles to Fight Russia
Sebastien Roblin Security, But will they work? In June 2015, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko famously requested exactly 1,240 Javelin missiles—one for every former Soviet nuclear warhead that Ukraine voluntarily decommissioned in the 1990s. The former Soviet state was ruing its lack of deterrence after Russian tanks and artillery intervened...
Russia High Court Upholds Election Ban for Opposition Leader
Russia’s Supreme Court has upheld a ruling barring opposition leader Alexei Navalny from running in the March presidential election. The high court upheld the Central Election Commission’s decision banning Navalny from running because of his conviction on criminal charges. Navalny and his followers say those charges were politically...
