Ukraine as a new nation has to create a useable past, Arch Getty, Professor of Russian and Soviet history at UCLA told RT's In the Now show. War criminals like Bandera, who killed a lot of civilians, are being praised by Kiev government now, he added. Mikhail Gorbachev said that snubbing the Victory parade is disrespect for the people who suffered enormous losses fighting Nazism. [...]

Japanese government officials hope to win support for a plan to move an American airfield in Okinawa by holding direct talks with residents after negotiations with the island's governor yielded to no result. As the government prepares to relocate the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City to the coastal Henoko district of Nago City it must first win over the hearts and minds of the [...]

Cuban President Raul Castro has promised to attend all Pope Francis's masses when the pontiff visits Cuba. Castro said he may even go back to praying and church if "the pope continues to talk as he does." The talks between the Cuban leader and the pontiff in Vatican were strictly private and lasted for about an hour. [...]

The NSA has reportedly sought the help of Germany's intelligence agency in spying on Munich-based Siemens over the company's suspected business with Russian intelligence, Bild am Sonntag newspaper revealed. Siemens has denied any connection with Russia. The revelation came from an unknown US intelligence source speaking to Germany’s Bild am Sonntag, and is the latest report in a spy scandal i [...]

Vladimir Putin placed the onus on Petro Poroshenko's government to follow through on the Minsk agreements to resolve the Ukrainian conflict in comments made at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Moscow. “The success of the peace initiative depends on those who hold the reins of power.   [...]

Washington is losing its weight in the international arena and this makes it target Russia and Venezuela, as well as attempt to curtail China’s growth, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told RT's Spanish-language channel in an exclusive interview. In March, the US declared Venezuela a threat to its national security which is usually the first step in starting a US sanctions program. [...]

Two Chinese missile frigates will enter the Russian Black Sea naval base of Novorossiysk for the first time in history. They will then conduct joint exercises with Russia in the Mediterranean. The Linyi and the Weifang will enter the port of Novorossiysk on May 8 to take part in Victory Day celebrations, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. [...]

Russia and China have signed a number of energy, trade and finance deals on Friday aimed at strengthening economic ties. The two countries have multiple mutual projects which "achieved a unity of views on a wide range of issues." Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have signed a decree on cooperation in tying the development of the Eurasian Economic Union with the "Si [...]

A human rights group speaking in the name of indigenous populations of Alaska and Hawaii seek UN intervention to organize self-determination referenda in the US states, saying Washington has illegally occupied it since 1959. The group is to raise the issue during next week’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, reports TASS. [...]

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden accused Australia of undertaking mass surveillance of its citizens and passing laws on the collection of metadata that he says do not protect society from acts of terrorism. Snowden, addressing the Progress 2015 conference in Melbourne via satellite link, criticized Australia's new metadata laws, which allow the government and intelligence agencies to keep a con [...]

Part of China's rapidly developing space program consists of testing new anti-space technologies, even though the country publicly pledges not to militarize space, the Pentagon said in a report to Congress. “By the end of October 2014, China had launched 16 spacecraft, either domestically or via a commercial space launch provider. [...]

A record number of Americans gave up their US citizenship in the first quarter of 2015, according to IRS data. This is blamed on the taxation of income earned outside the US, along with laws expanding offshore bank account and asset reporting. A total of 1,335 people renounced US citizenship during the first three months of the year, topping the previous record by 18 percent, according to data [...]

Russia and China suffered the worst casualties during World War II and thus have the greatest reasons to oppose attempts to rehabilitate Nazism and militarism, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after meeting China's President Xi Jinping. [...]

A top commander warned that Iran is ready for an all-out war with US, alleging that aggression against Tehran "will mobilize the Muslim world" against it. The remarks follow Secretary of State John Kerry's claims that military force was still an option. [...]

The Parade Relay is the latest in RT's series of special projects dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War, as its theater of WWII is known. RT will air a live broadcast of Victory Day parades from all around Russia as part of an extensive project to mark the occasion. [...]

A 72-year-old Dutch citizen has written a letter to Vladimir Putin asking for a Russian passport. He explained his intentions by saying he loves Russia, admires Peter the Great and is tired of anti-Russian propaganda in Europe. "When I served in the army of the Netherlands, I was brainwashed with the words ‘the Russians are coming!’” Gerhard Reyndsen wrote in a letter to Putin, as cited b [...]

Barack Obama's decision to play political games with the 70th anniversary of Victory Day was probably intended as a snub to Vladimir Putin. However, it's actually an outrageous insult to the Russian people. I remember my first Russian May 9th very well. For the simple reason that following a rather raucous Saturday night, I plain forgot about it. [...]

The Turkish Stream pipeline will become operational in December 2016, said head of Gazprom Aleksey Miller. "An agreement [between Russia and Turkey] has been reached on operational commissioning and the start of gas deliveries via Turkish Stream in December 2016,” said Miller, according to a statement released by Gazprom. [...]

Mikhail Gorbachev has said that western government officials who refused to attend the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow were showing disrespect to nations that had defeated Nazism and to all the people who perished in this fight. Ignoring the opportunity to demonstrate one’s attitude towards the war against Nazism is also disrespectful to the boundless courage shown by all people who fought [...]

As little as 13 percent of Europeans think the Soviet Army played the leading role in liberating Europe from Nazism during WW2, a recent poll targeting over 3,000 people in France, Germany and the UK reveals. The majority of respondents – 43 percent – said the US Army played the main role in liberating Europe. The survey, carried out from March 20 to April 9, 2015, was conducted by the Brit [...]

Today marks 15 years since Russian President Vladimir Putin's first inauguration. RT looks back at his years as president and all the important benchmarks on the way. After former Russian leader Boris Yeltsin resigned back on December 31, 1999, his Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took over the reins, inheriting a country in a dire economic situation and struggling with lawlessness. [...]

The cost of flying a MiG fighter in Russia, buying kidneys in Iran, prostitutes in Ukraine and rhinoplasty in S. Korea are just a few of the most popular Google requests worldwide, a new map shows. It does give some weird insights into the countries. [...]