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Turkey’s state-run news agency says police have detained 62 former employees of the Istanbul stock exchange over their alleged links to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric blamed for last year’s coup attempt. Anadolu Agency said the suspects were detained Friday in simultaneous police raids in Istanbul and five other cities. Detention warrants were issued for 40 other people, the agency reported. The detained are suspected of being followers of Fethullah Gulen who the government says is behind the July 15 coup attempt. Anadolu said the suspects were removed from positions at Borsa Istanbul stock exchange following the attempt. Gulen denies involvement …

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Authorities in Moscow have arrested five activists for gay and lesbian rights as they tried to deliver a petition calling on the government to investigate the alleged detention and torture of about 100 of gay men in Russia’s southern region of Chechnya. The activists were arrested Thursday on the way to the offices of Russia’s prosecutor general and are expected to be charged with staging a protest without official permission. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more. …

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The lingering threat from Russia following its attempts to meddle with the U.S. presidential election is unlikely to recede anytime soon, with the nation’s top intelligence officials warning that Moscow is likely to get both more aggressive and more unpredictable. VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin. …

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Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the French presidential elections brought a sigh of relief in many Western capitals, worried that the National Front’s Marie Le Pen if elected would pull France away from the European Union. But many analysts warn that the future of the European bloc remains uncertain. Britain, a key member of the EU, is on its way out, and the populist, anti-establishment, anti-EU wave is still on the rise across the continent. VOA’s Jela de Franceschi reports. …

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As the seven other Arctic Council member nations called on the U.S. to remain a steady partner in efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told his counterparts the Trump administration has not yet made a decision on its policies on the issue. Tillerson, a former ExxonMobile CEO, spoke to the plenary session about U.S. policy on climate change going forward. “We’re not going to rush to make a decision. We’re going to work to make the right decision for the United States,” he said. “The Arctic Council will continue to be an …

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Television journalist Julia Kirienko was sheltering with Ukrainian soldiers and medics two miles (three kilometers) from the front when their cellphones began buzzing over the noise of the shelling. Everyone got the same text message at the same time. “Ukrainian soldiers,” it warned, “they’ll find your bodies when the snow melts.” Text messages like the one Kirienko received have been sent periodically to Ukrainian forces fighting pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country. The threats and disinformation represent a new form of information warfare, the 21st-century equivalent of dropping leaflets on the battlefield. “This is pinpoint propaganda,” said …

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The U.S. informed French officials that Russia had hacked France’s computer networks during the country’s presidential election before the cyber attacks became public, a U.S. national security official told Congress Thursday. “We had become aware of Russian activity,” National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. “We had talked to our French counterparts and gave them a heads up,” Rodgers said. He added the U.S. offered to help French officials. France’s Macron targeted France’s election campaign commission said Saturday “a significant amount of data,” some of it likely fake, was leaked on social networks …

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Sprinkle the sequins, spark up the disco lights and get ready for battle — it’s time for the Eurovision Song Contest , a celebration of kitsch and cheesy pop with an undercurrent of politics and patriotism. More than a singing contest, it’s diplomacy in dancing shoes. This week musical acts from more than 40 countries are taking the stage in Kyiv to vie for the Eurovision crown, watched by some 200 million television viewers. The 62nd annual contest has clean-cut crooners, electro beats, yodeling Romanians and even a dancing gorilla. But there is also a big absence: Russia, whose participation …

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U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis has reiterated its pledge to protect Turkey, as the country opposes a recent U.S. decision to arm Syrian Kurdish fighters in an attempt to oust Islamic State militants from their stronghold in Raqqa. Mattis reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to its NATO ally after meeting Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the highest level talks between the two countries since Washington announced on Tuesday plans to provide arms to the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds, also known as the YPG. Turkey is strongly opposed to the arms deal and has called for its reversal. Turkey believes the …

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Russia’s annual World War II Victory Day parade was held today in Red Square. VOA’s Daniel Schearf filed this web video. …

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