Section: Voice of America (USA)
US to Boost Weapons Research in Response to Russia
The United States will step up research in hypersonic offense and defense weapons, in response to a Russian test of a nuclear-capable hypersonic glider. “While the United States has been the world leader in hypersonic system research for many decades, we did not choose to weaponize it,” Defense Department spokeswoman Lt. Col. Michelle...
Poroshenko Announces End to Martial Law in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday announced the end of a martial law in the country’s border regions, which was introduced last month after Russia’s seizure of three of Kyiv’s navy vessels in the Sea of Azov. “Today, right now, at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) the martial law ends. This is my principal...
Remarks by Belarusian Leader Upstage Sensitive Kremlin Talks
Less than a day before arriving in Moscow to salvage frayed ties with his Russian counterpart, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he no longer considers Russia a “brotherly nation.” According to a television broadcast by Belsat, a Belarus-focused satellite channel headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, Lukashenko told a Monday...
Russia Expands Economic Sanctions on Ukraine
Russia on Tuesday expanded its economic sanctions on Ukraine, adding more than 250 people and businesses to a blacklist first announced at the start of November. According to a decree by Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, 245 individuals and seven companies, mostly in the energy and defense sectors, were sanctioned by Moscow. Relations between...
UN: Human Rights Violations Victimize Ukrainian Civilians
As Ukraine enters its fifth winter of conflict, the United Nations says civilians continue to be victimized by widespread human rights violations and abuse perpetrated by both the government and Russian-backed rebels in Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. The report issued by the U.N. Human Rights Office covers the three-month period between...
UK Media Watchdog Says Russian Broadcaster RT Broke Impartiality Rules
Britain’s media regulator Ofcom said on Thursday Russian broadcaster RT had broken impartiality rules in news and current affairs programs aired in March and April, including coverage of the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. “Taken together, the seven breaches represent a serious failure of compliance with our...
Putin Issues Chilling Warning on Rising Nuclear War Threat
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a chilling warning Thursday about the rising threat of a nuclear war, saying “it could lead to the destruction of civilization as a whole and maybe even our planet” — and putting the blame squarely on the U.S. Speaking at his annual news conference, Putin scoffed at Western claims he wants to...
Putin Condemns Creation of Independent Ukraine Church
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the creation of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church independent of Moscow at his annual press conference on Thursday, saying it violated religious freedoms and drove a wedge between the nations. Orthodox bishops created the new Ukrainian church at a historic synod in Kyiv on Saturday, ending more than 300 years...
London’s Gatwick Airport Shut After Drones Seen
Thousands of passengers were delayed, diverted or stuck on planes Thursday as the only runway at Britain’s Gatwick Airport remained closed into a second day after drones were spotted over the airfield. The airport south of London, Britain’s second-busiest by passenger numbers, closed its runway Wednesday evening after two drones were...
Poland Signs 20-Year Deal to Buy Natural Gas From the US
Poland has signed a long-term deal with a U.S. company for supplies of liquefied natural gas as part of an effort to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, the two sides announced on Wednesday. Port Arthur LNG, a subsidiary of San Diego-based Sempra Energy, and Poland’s state gas company PGNiG jointly announced the agreement for the sale...
