Section: Voice of America (USA)
Ukraine Talks in Germany Make Progress on Security Issues
The foreign ministers of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine reached several agreements Wednesday to improve security in the war-torn Donbas region, but failed to agree on holding elections in that part of eastern Ukraine, which is controlled by Russia-backed separatists. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who hosted the talks with...
Report: Nearly 41 Million People Internally Displaced Globally
A new report says the number of people throughout the world who were uprooted from their homes due to conflicts and natural disasters stood at a record 40.8 million last year, the highest figure ever recorded. The Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) reported Wednesday that 27.8 million people were...
Russia Showcases Syria Hardware in Red Square Military Parade
Russia rolled out an air defense missile system of the kind used to protect its base in Syria and some of the Russian jets flying missions there screamed overhead as it showcased its military war machine on Moscow’s Red Square on Monday. The grand parade, an annual fixture commemorating the Soviet Union’s victory over the Nazis in...
Kerry Heads to Europe for Anti-corruption Summit
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry begins a four-day diplomatic mission to Europe Monday where he will meet with officials from several countries and participate in an anti-corruption summit. The anti-corruption gathering Thursday is being hosted by British Prime Minister David Cameron, and will be attended by heads of state from Afghanistan,...
Guide to the Panama Papers
What happens Monday? The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) will release to the public a searchable database of documents that reveal the details of more than 200,000 offshore entities and the people in more than 200 countries and territories connected to those accounts. The ICIJ will make the database available at 2...
Russia-Japan Leaders Meet as Tensions Loom
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Russia Friday hoping to ease strained relations between Tokyo and Moscow before President Vladmir Putin heads to China for a bilateral summit next month. At the top of the agenda was a long-running dispute over the group of islands Russia calls the southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories....
Will New Russian Force Be ‘Putin’s Personal Army’?
While Russian lawmakers are busy changing the country’s election laws in preparation for parliamentary elections this year, the lower house of parliament is due this month to consider whether President Vladimir Putin’s new National Guard should be allowed to shoot Russian citizens without warning. According to a draft law that Putin...
Analysts: Russia Cynical on Syria, Goal is International Prestige
As the United States and Russia struggle to cement a cease-fire in Syria that includes the embattled city of Aleppo, the Syrian military under President Bashar al-Assad indicated it would be a temporary extension. Syrian rebels accuse Russia of using artillery to support the two-week assault. But while Assad clearly wants to conquer Aleppo, the...
Russia to Deploy Troops to Counter Growing NATO Presence
Russia says it will deploy three divisions of troops along its borders to counter NATO’s increasing military presence in Eastern Europe. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday after a meeting in Moscow that the new divisions will be stationed along Russia’s western and southern borders. “The Defense Ministry is taking a...
NATO Alliance Gets New Supreme Commander
NATO’s new supreme allied commander, U.S. Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, said Wednesday the alliance should consider what weaponry it could provide so Ukraine can better combat a pro-Moscow insurgency. “I do believe that we should support the Ukrainians with what they need to successfully defend their territory and their...
