Section: Voice of America (USA)
US Senate Confirms John Tefft as Envoy to Russia
The U.S. Senate has approved President Barack Obama’s nomination for ambassador to Russia. John Tefft, a career diplomat specializing in Eastern Europe, was unanimously approved Thursday, filling a post that had been vacant since February. Tefft has served as Obama’s ambassador to Ukraine and former President George W. Bush’s...
Snowden Asks to Stay in Russia
Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has applied to renew his political asylum status in Russia. The temporary political asylum Snowden received last July was good only through midnight Thursday. A lawyer in Russia representing Snowden said he can stay in the country at least until there is a decision on his application, and...
EU Slaps Sanctions on Five Russian Banks
The European Union has sanctioned five Russian banks to protest Moscow’s intervention in restive eastern Ukraine. The EU said it is limiting the banks’ access to European capital markets, which could further impede the already weak Russian economy that some analysts say is sliding toward a recession. The 28-nation EU bloc called for...
Information War Rages Alongside Real One in Ukraine
The downing of the Malaysian airliner two weeks ago, and allegations that Russians are shelling Ukrainian troops across the border, have moved the information war swirling around the Ukrainian conflict to a new level. VOA’s Al Pessin reports from Kyiv. …read more Source: Voice of...
Russia Bans Ukraine’s Soy, Mulls Greek Fruit, US Poultry Ban
Russia has banned soy imports from Ukraine and may impose restrictions on Greek fruits and U.S. poultry next week, Russian news agencies reported on Thursday, in what could be responses to new Western sanctions. Russia has already announced several bans on food imports following Western sanctions over Moscow’s support of rebels in Ukraine....
Ukraine’s Parliament Refuses PM Resignation
Ukraine’s parliament has rejected the resignation of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who announced last week his intention to step down after the two parties supporting him left the ruling coalition. The legislature voted Thursday not to accept Yatsenyuk’s resignation, despite his loss of political backing. The lawmakers also...
European Court: Russia Must Pay Yukos Shareholders 1.9 Billion Euros
Europe’s top human rights court awarded shareholders in Yukos 1.9 billion euros [$2.6 billion] in damages on Thursday, a new blow to Russia days after some of the former oil company’s shareholders won $50 billion in The Hague. The Strasbourg-based court found that Russia had failed to “strike a fair balance” in its...
‘Russian Involvement’ Is Central to UK Inquiry Into Ex-KGB Agent’s Death
Evidence that shows Russia was behind the 2006 murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London will mostly be given in secret, the chairman of a public inquiry into his death said on Thursday. Kremlin critic Litvinenko, 43, died after being poisoned with a radioactive isotope in November 2006, a crime which from his death bed he blamed...
International Experts Reach MH17 Crash Site in Ukraine
An international team of experts has reached the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine for the first time, after days of attempts foiled by violence in the separatist-controlled area. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe announced the development Thursday, saying a small team of its monitors, accompanied...
Dutch, Australians Again Attempt to Reach MH17 Crash Site
Experts from the Netherlands and Australia tried on Thursday to reach the crash site in eastern Ukraine of downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 after several failed attempts this week. Members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were also part of a team that was trying to navigate a safe route to the area where the...
