FIONA HILL

Western officials say sanctions against Russia’s billionaires are meant to isolate President Vladimir Putin, choke off support for his war and turn powerful business allies against him.

One year after President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine both countries are preparing for offensives that could set the stage for a potentially even more disastrous phase of the war.

Western leaders feared for the life of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a year ago and the U.S. offered him an escape route as Russian forces bore down on Ukraine’s capital.

The Jan. 6 congressional hearings have paused, at least for now, and Washington is taking stock of what was learned about the actions of Donald Trump and associates surrounding the Capitol attack.

For much of his political career, Joe Biden has watched democracy expand in Europe.

Fiona Hill, a Russia scholar who has served in the past three U.S. administrations, is offering a sober assessment of the Ukraine crisis.

The Kremlin has become a top destination for European leaders spooked at the prospect of war in Ukraine.

Russia’s decision to send paratroopers into Kazakhstan, where a crackdown on violent anti-government protests has left dozens dead, injects additional uncertainty into upcoming talks over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A year after the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol, the United States is split in nearly every way.

In her new book, Fiona Hill lays out her experiences as the Russia adviser in Donald Trump’s White House and the circumstances behind her riveting congressional testimony in Trump's first impeachment.

The fall book season will be packed with new works by such high-profile authors as Jonathan Franzen, Sally Rooney and Colson Whitehead.

But Trump’s imprint on America’s place in the world — viewed as good or bad — will not be easily erased. U.S. allies aren’t blind to the large constituency of American voters who continue to support Trump’s nationalist tendencies and his belief that the United States should stay out of world conflicts. The national security and foreign policy staff that he has named so far are champions of multilateralism. The United States has pledged to pull all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by May 1, just months after Biden takes office, but it's unclear if he will. IRANIn 2018, Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, in which world powers agreed to lift sanctions on Tehran if it curbed its nuclear program.

Then it became an assault, a riot, an insurrection, domestic terrorism or even a coup attempt. The language used by the American media to describe last week's Capitol siege proves one thing whatever your perspective: Words matter. Phrases like “mob,” “riot” and “insurrection” were appropriate, noted John Daniszewski, vice president and editor at large for standards. There was no riot, insurrection or storming” at the Capitol. The New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, NBC, ABC and CNN have all used riot to describe the day.

Experts say its going to take months to kick elite hackers widely believed to be Russian out of U.S. government networks. The hackers have been quietly rifling through those networks for months in Washingtons worst cyberespionage failure on record. Experts say there simply are not enough skilled threat-hunting teams to duly identify all the government and private-sector systems that may have been hacked. Many federal workers — and others in the private sector — must presume that unclassified networks are teeming with spies. The Pentagon has said it has so far not detected any intrusions from the SolarWinds campaign in any of its networks — classified or unclassified.

WASHINGTON Fiona Hill, a key witness in President Donald Trump's impeachment inquiry, is going to be sharing her views about the future of a polarized America. The New York-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media announced on Wednesday that it has acquired a book by Hill, former deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council at the White House. Senior editor Alex Littlefield acquired North American rights to the book from Andrew Nurnberg Associates, based in London. Hill's book, titled There Is Nothing for You Here: Opportunity in an Age of Decline," is to be released in the fall of 2021. She said she joined the Trump White House because she shared the Republican presidents belief that relations with Russia needed to improve.

Former White House national security aide Fiona Hill, and David Holmes, a U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, right, testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019, during a public impeachment hearing of President Donald Trump's efforts to tie U.S. aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Hill was the senior director for Russia and Europe on the White House National Security Council. She is testifying in the House impeachment hearings that Vindman, who testified earlier in the week, could handle Ukraine policy. Hill is testifying Thursday before lawmakers in the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. ___11:15 a.m.An impeachment witness is describing in detail a phone call that he overheard between President Donald Trump and Ambassador Gordon Sondland. ___9:30 a.m.House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff says Democrats will decide “in the coming days” what response is appropriate after hearing from a dozen witnesses in seven House impeachment hearings.