Section: VICE News (USA)
These are the new faces of Trudeau’s refreshed cabinet
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced new changes to his cabinet this afternoon, with an eye to preparing his government for the incoming Trump administration. Between the foreign affairs minister who’s banned from Russia to the new ambassador to the European Union who hasn’t even accepted the job yet, here’s what you need to...
Rex Tillerson’s relationship with Putin was key to his success as Exxon CEO
As nominee for U.S. Secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson is set to face questions about his unusually close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin at confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday. But given that his nomination is based in part on him being a successful CEO of a major...
Trudeau shuffles team to fit with Trump and make a deal with China
In the first major shake-up of his year-old government, Justin Trudeau is retiring his foreign affairs minister and bringing in new blood to deal with the incoming Trump administration, if reports are accurate. Chrystia Freeland, former managing director of Thompson-Reuters and noted author on the subject of income inequality, will become...
Top U.S. intelligence officials detail Putin’s U.S. election “influence campaign” in declassified report
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified report on Russia’s interference in the U.S. presidential election Friday afternoon, hours after briefing President-elect Donald Trump on its contents. The report states that the the CIA, FBI, and NSA all believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin “ordered an...
Putin won’t expel American diplomats after Obama ousts Russian officials in the U.S.
In a surprise move, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he won’t act on a recommendation from his foreign minister to expel 35 American diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to sanctions by Washington, and would instead seek to rebuild relations with the U.S. under President-elect Donald Trump. “We will not create problems for...
Obama sanctions Russian intelligence agencies over election hacking
President Obama on Thursday announced sanctions against Russian intelligence services in response to their alleged interference in the U.S. presidential election. The combination of offensive and defensive steps, Obama said in a statement, was a “necessary and appropriate response” to Russian attempts to harm American interests. Obama signed an...
Inside the Donetsk People’s Republic, the area of Ukraine ruled by rebels
This segment originally aired Dec. 19, 2016, on VICE News Tonight on HBO. The simmering war in east Ukraine saw a large-scale escalation last weekend, with five Ukrainian soldiers killed and more than 20 wounded, after separatist militants tried to take over army positions. Separatist forces backed by Russia have been clashing with Ukrainian...
Putin talks Trump, nukes, and Syria in marathon press conference
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his marathon end-of-year press conference in Moscow on Friday, a typically super-sized affair in which the leader held the floor for nearly four hours, taking questions from among some 1,400 reporters in attendance. Here were some of his key comments at the end of a year, and at a time when major foreign...
The Russian government almost certainly hacked the DNC, security company says
A new report appears to confirm that the hackers behind the attack on the Democratic National Committee servers are deeply embedded within the Russian government and work closely with the Russian military. The report from U.S. security company CrowdStrike details how the group — known as Fancy Bear — used malware to strike the DNC. They linked...
California Secessionist movement opens first “embassy” — and it’s in Moscow
MOSCOW, Russia — The first foreign outpost of California’s slapdash secessionist movement, Yes California, opened in Moscow on Sunday. Housed in a research institute in northwestern Moscow, the offices are described as an “embassy” by the group’s founder and president, Louis Marinelli, a stocky, unassuming 30-year-old with...
