Section: Voice of America (USA)
Montenegro Parliament Strips Opposition Leader of Immunity
Montenegro’s parliament voted on Wednesday to strip an opposition leader of immunity, paving the way for the public prosecutor to question him as part of an investigation into an alleged Russian-backed plot to overthrow the government. On election day last October, authorities arrested 20 people accused of planning armed attacks against...
French President Calls for More Cybersecurity for Election
French President Francois Hollande is calling for new security measures around the country’s presidential race, notably to protect against hacking. Hollande’s order came after the campaign of centrist Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of trying to sway the April 23-May 7 election. Hollande asked top security officials Wednesday to...
Russia Dismisses Reports of Contacts With Trump Campaign Before Election
Russia on Wednesday dismissed a New York Times report that members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign and other associates were in contact with senior Russian intelligence officials ahead of the November U.S. election. The Times cited four current and former U.S. officials saying law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted...
UN Official Fears Shaky Ukraine Cease-fire Will Not Hold
A senior U.N. official said Tuesday that he feared the fragile cease-fire between the Ukrainian government and Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine would not hold. Neal Walker, the U.N. resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, said that although calm had returned, the situation in eastern Ukraine remained very serious. The...
Kremlin Denies Campaign to Discredit French Election Contender Macron
The Kremlin denied on Tuesday that it was behind media and internet attacks on the campaign of French presidential frontrunner Emmanuel Macron though his camp renewed the charges against Russian media and a hackers’ group operating in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, replying to a question on a daily conference call, said charges...
500 US Troops Arrive in Romania to Bolster Defense
Five hundred U.S. troops began to arrive in a Romanian Black Sea port with tanks and hardware to bolster defense in this East European NATO nation. The U.S. Embassy said the “Fighting Eagles,” 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, will be stationed in the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base in eastern Romania, on a rotational basis. U.S....
Italy Seeks Russia’s Help to Stabilize Libya, End Migrant Crisis
From a flimsy rubber dinghy drifting 16 kilometers off Tripoli, the Libyan coast guard rescued more than 100 migrants this week, including a baby just a few weeks old. Close to 9,500 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean already this year — putting 2017 on course to be a record year. The European Union agreed this month to give the Tripoli...
Baltic States Seek More NATO Help Ahead of Russian Exercise
The Baltic states will press the United States and NATO to take additional security measures in the region ahead of a large Russian military exercise planned for September, Lithuania’s president said on Thursday. NATO has already started to deploy four battle groups of about 1,000 soldiers each to the Baltic states and Poland, part of...
Some Republican Senators Want Trump to Take Tough Stance on Russia
Nine Republican senators have signed a letter calling on President Donald Trump to take a tough stance when dealing with Russia, though they did encourage the president to “seek common ground.” The letter, spearheaded by Senator Corey Gardner and signed by several other high-profile Republicans, including John Cornyn and Lindsey Graham, said it...
UK, France Scramble Jets to Monitor Russian Bombers Near Their Airspace
Britain said Thursday that it had scrambled an unspecified number of Typhoon aircraft to monitor two Russian Blackjack bombers that flew near British airspace. The incident was the latest example of Russian jets flying near to Britain, often as a way of testing the response time of their British counterparts. “We can confirm that quick...
