Section: Voice of America (USA)
US to Announce Its Exit From Cold War Nuclear Arms Treaty
The Trump administration is poised to announce Friday that it is withdrawing from a treaty that has been a centerpiece of superpower arms control since the Cold War and whose demise some analysts worry could fuel a new arms race. An American withdrawal, which has been expected for months, would follow years of unresolved dispute over Russian...
Patriotic War Film Draws 8 Million Russians as Ties With West Fray
A state-funded Russian film that lionizes a Soviet World War II tank and its crew has become the second highest grossing home-grown production since the collapse of the Soviet Union, part of a Kremlin-backed drive to instill patriotism in young people. The Kremlin has long put the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany at the heart of a patriotic push...
Israel Leader Scorned for Wooing Holocaust-distorting Allies
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warm welcome to Lithuania’s prime minister marks his latest embrace of an eastern European leader who has offered strong political support while promoting a distorted image of the Holocaust. Lithuania is among a slew of former communist nations swept up in a wave of World War II-era...
Maria Butina: Naive Idealist or Dangerous Conspirator?
Even in the densely packed Soviet-era apartment blocks at the edge of this faded Siberian industrial hub, little redheaded Masha always seemed to stand out. “She was quite an unusual kid to some extent — physically quite tall in comparison with her peers, and she was in fact much more physically developed,” says her father, Valeriy...
Ukraine’s Incumbent President Announces Re-Election Bid
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has launched his campaign for re-election in March’s vote, which promises to be a bitter contest between him and a former prime minister. Addressing supporters in the capital Kiev, Poroshenko laid out his hopes that Ukraine pushes on with efforts to join the European Union and NATO if he were to win...
Facebook Tightens Paid Ads Rules Ahead of EU Elections
Facebook said on Monday it will beef up its rules and safeguards around political ads to prevent foreign interference in elections, including those in Europe this year. The world’s largest social network has faced pressure from regulators and the public after last year’s revelation that British consultancy Cambridge Analytica had...
US Lifts Sanctions on Rusal, Other Firms Linked to Russia’s Deripaska
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday lifted sanctions on aluminum giant Rusal and other Russian firms linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska, despite a Democratic-led push in the U.S. Congress to maintain the restrictions. Earlier this month, 11 of Trump’s fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate joined Democrats in a failed...
Russia to Help Cubana Get Fleet Back in Air This Year
Russia will help Cuba repair state-run airline Cubana’s mostly grounded fleet, likely by year’s end, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov was quoted as saying by Cuban news agency Prensa Latina on Friday. Cubana had to cancel most domestic flights last year due to a lack of flightworthy planes and lease aircraft from other...
Venezuela Crisis: Familiar Geopolitical Sides Take Shape
Russia, China, Iran, Syria and Cuba have come down on one side. The United States, Canada, and countries in Western Europe are on the other. As the crisis in Venezuela reaches a new boiling point — with embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro facing a challenge from opposition leader Juan Guaido — the geopolitical fault lines look familiar....
Britain, France Back Protests Against Venezuela’s Maduro
France and Britain are the latest countries Thursday to throw their weight behind the popular street protests seeking to force Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro to step aside, dubbing the embattled Latin American ruler “illegitimate.” As hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans protested in their bid to oust Maduro — in scenes...
