In Vienna, 2 portraits of Alexei Navalny are painted near a monument to Soviet soldiers
Two large portraits of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have been spray-prainted on a property owned by the family of a former Czech foreign minister behind a monument to Soviet soldiers in Vienna.
US says Armenia and Azerbaijan have made 'further progress' toward a peace deal
Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Armenia and Azerbaijan have made โfurther progressโ toward a peace agreement in three days of U.S.-hosted talks between the two former Soviet republics that have repeatedly clashed over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ukraine says it has retaken territory near embattled eastern city of Bakhmut
Ukrainian military commanders say their troops had recaptured more territory from Russian forces at the scene of the warโs longest and bloodiest battle, for the eastern city of Bakhmut, but it wasnโt clear if this marked the start of Kyivโs long-expected counteroffensive.
US ambassador to Russia leaving post as Ukraine war drags on
The U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, ended his tenure as Americaโs top diplomat in Moscow on Sunday after nearly three years, spanning the Trump and Biden administrations, and will retire from a lengthy career in government service.
Flashpoint Interview: Counterterrorism expert addresses Ukraine invasionโs impact in Michigan
Weโre joined by the former senior director of counterterrorism at the National Security Council Javed Ali to to discuss Russiaโs recent invasion of Ukraine, and the impact that attack will have in Michigan.
Flashpoint Interview: Ukrainian-American Crisis Response Committee of Michigan members discuss impact of Russian invasion
Two members of the Ukrainian-American Crisis Response Committee of Michigan join us this week to discuss Russiaโs recent invasion of former Soviet nation Ukraine, and the impact that invasion will have.
Plane operated by Kazakhstan security agency crashes; 4 dead
Emergency employees work at the side of the crashed Soviet-built An-26 two-engine turboprop at the airport of Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, Kazakhstan, Saturday, March 13, 2021. Officials in Kazakhstan say a plane operated by the country's state security agency has crashed, killing four crew members and injuring the other two. The Emergencies Ministry said the Soviet-built An-26 two-engine turboprop crashed while trying to land Saturday at the airport of Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty. (AP Photo/Vladimir Tretyakov)MOSCOW โ A plane operated by Kazakhstan's state security agency crashed in the Central Asian country on Saturday, killing four crew members and injuring two others, officials said. The ministry said the Soviet-built An-26 two-engine turboprop crashed while trying to land at the airport of Kazakhstanโs largest city, Almaty.
US Air Force deploys airmen, drones to base in Romania
The U.S. Air Force has deployed on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, about 90 airmen and an unspecified number of drone aircraft to a base in central Romania, boosting its military presence in the region where there are allied concerns that Russia is trying to display its military strength. The Romanian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the U.S. deployment in its Campia Turzii Air Base will be for โa few monthsโ to conduct information gathering, surveillance and research missions in support of NATO operations. NATO-member Romania shares the Black Sea border with Russia, and Moscow has lately been arming its neighbor Serbia with military aircraft, tanks and other armored vehicles. The Pentagon has spent millions of dollars in recent years to upgrade the Cold War communist-era base in central Romania where its air force hosts two squadrons of modernized version MiG-21 aircraft and two Puma helicopter squadrons. The United States and Romania enjoy a close military-to-military relationship as NATO allies and cooperate on numerous regional security issues, the U.S. statement said.
EU imposes sanctions on 6 Russians over Navalny poisoning
The move comes a day after Russia's foreign minister threatened the 27-nation EU with retaliatory action. The sanctions had been agreed on by EU foreign ministers on Monday, without names given. The U.K. said it would also apply the EU sanctions and will continue them once it leaves a post-Brexit transition period at the end of the year. EU foreign ministers agreed Monday to impose the sanctions under sanctions to combat the use and spread of chemical weapons, following a push by France and Germany. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has suggested that Moscow might retaliate and even sever ties over the Navalny dispute.
Kremlin chafes at Navalny team taking suspected evidence
Navalny's colleagues revealed Thursday that they removed the bottle and other items from the hotel room in Siberia and brought them to Germany as potential evidence. โRegrettably, what could have been evidence of poisoning was taken away,โ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Members of the Navalny team said they searched his hotel room in the city of Tomsk upon learning that he collapsed on the flight home. The German government had no comment Friday on the Navalny teamโs statement that Novichok was found on the water bottle taken from Russia. The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons also is having samples from Navalny tested.
Zero G: Some German mobile users still waiting for a signal
To connect to the mobile network, Raeder has to drive 5 kilometers (3 miles) to a nearby village with a cell tower. While mobile carriers claim they cover close to the entire country, users often report little or no signal inside buildings or outside large towns. A recent review by Opensignal, an independent analytics company, ranked Germany 50th out of 100 countries for availability of the current 4G mobile broadband standard - behind India, Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan. What we have is the real experience in real users at all the locations that smartphone users are spending time, he said. Asked whether he sees any chance the rollout of 5G might boost village life, Raeder was skeptical.
Strike at Belarus' state TV erodes government control
(AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)MINSK In a new challenge to Belarus' authoritarian ruler, hundreds of employees of state television have gone on strike amid a rising tide of protests, calling for his resignation after a vote the opposition saw as rigged. Since Monday, factory workers, medical workers, actors, musicians and other workers have gone on strike to demand Lukashenko's resignation. The state television workers were joined by journalists from the leading daily Zvyazda, who put out a statement demanding an end to censorship. Boris Goretsky, vice-president of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, said 72 journalists were detained while covering the protests. Goretsky pointed at the allegations that the government turned to Russia for help to keep the state television running, and some of the striking TV employees have been reportedly replaced with Russian personnel.
AP WAS THERE: 1956 Melbourne Olympics "Blood in the Water"
(AP Photo)MELBOURNE EDITORS With the Tokyo Olympics postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press is looking back at the history of Summer Games. This story was published in The Charleston News and Courier on Dec. 6, 1956, during the Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Until now the athletes had kept their smouldering hate tightly capped but it finally erupted in the water polo match today between the great Hungarian team and Russia. The Russian team was escorted to the dressing room by police as the crowd continued to boo in protest of the Russian tactics. Also water polo is one of the most rugged sports, resulting often in rough tactics and many penalties.
Sunken Soviet nuclear submarine leaks high levels of radiation
A sunken Soviet nuclear submarine that's been on the sea floor for three decades is leaking an abnormally high amount of radiation, according to the Institute for Marine Research. NORWEGIAN SEA - A sunken Soviet nuclear submarine that's been on the sea floor for three decades is leaking an abnormally high amount of radiation, according to the Institute for Marine Research. Researchers have been monitoring the submarine since the 1990s, and have seen these types of radiation leaks from the sub's ventilation duct before. They noticed a white-ish cloud rising up from the duct where they saw the high radiation levels. "We need good documentation of pollution levels in seawater, seabed sediments and, of course, fish and seafood," Heldal said.