Soviet Union

Disasters 09/17/22, 14:08

On September 14, a proposal by the deputies of the National People's Congress of China turned users on the Weibo social network, one of the largest in China, to make all kinds of sarcastic and indignant comments, reaching more than 64 million entries in a few hours. The deputies presented At ...

Politics 12/30/21, 08:53

On Tuesday, Dec. 28, Russia has shut down its oldest human rights group which documente crimes from the Soviet era. Russia's Supreme Court forced Memorial International to dissolve for breaching the rule on 'foreign agents.' Moscow claims it is simply upholding the law to combat extremism and defend the country from foreign ...

China 08/26/20, 16:50

This month, two commemorative dates lead "Americans and all freedom-loving people to remind ourselves about the mortal danger of the ideology of Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao," noted author Marion Smith on The Hill. The executive director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C., speaks out about two ...

Entertainment 05/28/19, 13:11

Robert L. Bernstein, a publishing executive and human rights activist who presided over a generation of dynamic growth at Random House and advocated for dissidents around the world, from the Soviet Union to Argentina, died Monday at age 96.Bernstein died in a Manhattan hospital after a brief illness, according to ...

Entertainment 05/04/19, 14:47

Werner Herzog says there's a "subversive message" to his new documentary "Meeting Gorbachev": Talk to your geopolitical enemies.Herzog interviewed former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev three times in a six-month span to make the new film. He highlights Gorbachev's leadership during the reunification of Herzog's native Germany as well as ...

World 04/24/19, 21:39

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin gives an intriguing twist to the global diplomatic push to resolve the nuclear standoff with North Korea, which appeared to hit a wall after a summit between Kim and President Donald Trump collapsed in February. It also adds a ...

Europe 03/27/19, 22:25

Russia's space agency says pioneering Soviet-era cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky, who made the first of his three flights to space in 1963, has died at age 84.Roscosmos said Bykovsky died Wednesday, but it didn't state a cause of death.Bykovsky was one of 20 Soviet military pilots in the first group picked ...

Europe 02/15/19, 02:33

Sitting in her living room, 65-year-old Tatyana Rybalchenko goes through a stack of black-and-white photos from more than 30 years ago. In one of them, she is dressed in a nurse's coat and smiles sheepishly at the camera; in another, she shares a laugh with soldiers on a road with ...

World 02/12/19, 02:06

Afghanistan's first president following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country and the collapse in 1992 of Kabul's pro-communist government, Sibghatullah Mujadidi, has died. He was 93.The white-turbaned and soft-spoken Mujadidi was a mentor to former President Hamid Karzai, who had belonged to his anti-communist resistance group during the ...

Europe 02/07/19, 01:25

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to take a "step-by-step" approach in resolving a territorial dispute with Russia left over from World War II.Abe told a rally of former residents of the islands and their supporters Thursday that settling the conflict over four islands north of Hokkaido that are ...

Europe 02/01/19, 08:36

The European Union's foreign policy chief says would-be member states from the former Soviet Union must hold free and fair elections to be eligible for future membership.Federica Mogherini was referring to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia who signed association agreements with the EU in 2014, amid sharp criticism from Russia.She said ...

Europe 01/22/19, 07:17

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sat down for talks Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin focusing on a decades-long territorial dispute between the two nations.The Soviet Union took the four southernmost Kuril Islands during the final days of World War II. Japan asserts territorial rights to the islands, which it ...

World 01/19/19, 05:03

Revolutionaries in the streets give way to black-and-white images of blindfolded American hostages. Two enemies sign a peace deal after years of hostilities. And one of the world's two superpowers invades its southern neighbor, launching a bloody, decade-long conflict.These moments and others in 1979, which dominated television sets and newspaper ...

World 01/16/19, 01:09

EDITOR'S NOTE: On Jan. 16, 1979, Iran's powerful Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi abandoned his Peacock Throne and left his nation, never to return home, setting the stage for the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution a month later.His departure and the ensuing chaos blindsided the United States, which for decades relied on ...

World 01/14/19, 05:33

The foreign Ministers of Russia and Japan are holding talks about disputed Pacific islands.The Soviet Union took the four southernmost Kuril Islands during the final days of World War II. Japan asserts territorial rights to the islands, which it calls the Northern Territories, and the dispute has kept both countries ...

Europe 01/09/19, 14:54

Anatoly Lukyanov, a Communist politician who as parliament speaker was imprisoned for his role in a coup attempt that precipitated the Soviet Union's collapse, has died. He was 88.Russia's Channel One state television said Lukyanov died Wednesday. It didn't specify the cause.During the 1980s, Lukyanov, a senior Communist Party official, ...

Europe 01/09/19, 12:24

Russia's Foreign Ministry says it has summoned the Japanese ambassador over recent statements from Tokyo about disputed Pacific islands.The Soviet Union took the four southernmost Kuril Islands during the final days of World War II. Japan asserts territorial rights to the islands, which it calls the Northern Territories.The decades-long dispute ...

California 01/05/19, 18:37

Harold Brown, who as defense secretary in the Carter administration championed cutting-edge fighting technology during a tenure that included the failed rescue of hostages in Iran, has died at age 91. Brown died Friday, said the Rand Corp., the California-based think tank which Brown served as a trustee for more than ...

U.S. 12/09/18, 18:10

Former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Bob Bergland, a farmer from northern Minnesota who was tasked with selling President Jimmy Carter's unpopular Soviet Union grain embargo to other farmers, died Sunday. He was 90.Bergland died at a nursing home in his hometown of Roseau, near the U.S.-Canadian border, his daughter Linda Vatnsdal ...

World 12/08/18, 15:15

Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a human rights pioneer and dissident who challenged the Soviet and Russian regimes for decades, demanding that they free political prisoners and establish democratic rights, died Saturday in a Moscow hospital, a Russian official said. She was 91."She remained a human rights activist to the very end," said ...