Section: Voice of America (USA)
Governments Vow to Find Tax Evaders Hiding Offshore Assets
The full extent and implications from a leak of records about offshore bank accounts from a Panamanian firm are not yet clear, and more stories about them are expected in the coming days, but already governments across the world are pledging investigations or denouncing the reports as unfounded attacks. Panama’s President Juan Carlos Varela...
Kremlin Slams ‘Putinophobia’ of Panama Papers
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman on Monday dismissed a report that alleges close friends of the president hid some $2 billion dollars in offshore accounts. The report, dubbed the “Panama Papers,” links hundreds of political leaders and celebrities to offshore companies set up through a Panama-based law firm called...
Pope Announces Special Collection for Ukraine in European Churches
Pope Francis on Sunday announced that a special collection would be taken up in all of Europe’s Roman Catholic churches on April 24 to raise funds to help the people of Ukraine. Speaking to tens of thousands of people at the end of a Mass in St. Peter’s Square, he said he wanted the collection to be a “gesture of charity that,...
US to Provide Ukraine With Additional $335M in Security Aid
The White House says the United States will provide Ukraine with an additional $335 million in security assistance. The new aid was announced Thursday after a meeting between U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Washington. The White House also said that Biden told Poroshenko that efforts to form a stable,...
Russia Nabs Ukrainian Spy, Says He Will Be Sent Home
Russia’s domestic security agency said Thursday it has captured a Ukrainian security officer who volunteered to spy for Moscow and will send him back because they believe he is a double agent. The Federal Security Service, or FSB, the main KGB successor agency, said in a statement that the man, Yuri Ivanchenko, was detained on Saturday. The...
US Plans to Boost Military Presence in Eastern Europe
The United States plans to increase its military presence in Eastern Europe to deter Russian aggression, officials said Wednesday. The Pentagon intends to deploy an armored brigade combat team on a rotational basis next February along with a full set of equipment to NATO’s eastern borders, as part of the ongoing effort to reassure allies in...
Ukraine’s Independent MPs Boost Chances of Ending Deadlock
Several non-aligned Ukrainian lawmakers have agreed to join Ukraine’s biggest faction to help end a political crisis that is stalling Western-backed reforms and vital international financial aid, deputies said on Wednesday. Lawmakers are under pressure to end a deadlock that threatens snap parliamentary elections and has delayed...
Top US General: ‘No Doubt’ Russia Stabilized Syrian Regime
The top U.S. general says he has “no doubt” that Russian intervention in Syria propped up the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. “With respect to Russian activity in Syria, there’s absolutely no doubt that they stabilized the regime, and they have put themselves in a position to influence the political...
New Ukraine Coalition Uncertain After Fatherland Party Demurs
Ukraine’s prospects of forming a new coalition — vital to get IMF loan talks back on track — were thrown into fresh doubt on Tuesday after Yulia Tymoshenko pressed demands as the price of taking her Fatherland Party into an alliance. Her remarks dampened expectations of an imminent deal to end months of political infighting that have...
Ukraine Parliament Accepts Prosecutor’s Resignation
Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday accepted the resignation of General Prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who had been criticized for not doing enough to tackle corruption. The move comes a day after hundreds of protesters rallied outside the president’s office calling for Shokin to step down. Last month, deputy prosecutor-general Vitaly Kasko...
