Cold War

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>

Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Dead at 96

Was a major figure in Cold War politics

(Newser) - Helmut Schmidt, the chancellor who guided West Germany through economic turbulence and Cold War tensions, stood firm against a wave of homegrown terrorism, and became a respected elder statesman, died Tuesday at age 96. Schmidt, a center-left Social Democrat, led West Germany from 1974 to 1982. He was elected chancellor...

Ship at Heart of 'Strangest' CIA Mission to Meet Its End

Ship was part of 'biggest and strangest' Cold War covert operation

(Newser) - More than 40 years after it was the centerpiece of what PRI calls "possibly the biggest and strangest covert operation" of the Cold War, a piece of CIA history is headed for the scrap heap. After the Soviet Union failed to find one of its nuclear submarines that sank...

'Soviet Spy' Ethel Rosenberg May Have Been Innocent

Ethel Rosenberg's brother defended her a year before her conviction

(Newser) - The newly released 1950 grand jury testimony of David Greenglass , who helped cement the executions of his brother-in-law and sister Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, offers new evidence that Ethel was innocent in the most intense spying case of the Cold War. Both Rosenbergs were convicted of conspiring to steal atomic...

Scientist Behind 'Feats of Espionage' Dead at 90

Navy's John Craven 'turned submarines into spy machines'

(Newser) - The name might not be of the household variety, but John Craven made his mark in Cold War espionage for the US military. In his obituary, the New York Times explains that the Navy scientist "turned submarines into spy machines" and was responsible for "some of the nation'...

Russian Bombers Will Patrol Near US Shores

Kremlin resuming Cold War-era flights due to 'anti-Russia inclinations'

(Newser) - A "dangerous game of brinkmanship" just got a little closer to home: Russia is sending long-range bombers to do rounds "in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico," with Russia's defense minister blaming NATO's "anti-Russia...

'Dangerous Game of Brinkmanship Being Played'

Report finds 40 incidents between Russia, West recorded in past 8 months

(Newser) - Russian and NATO armed forces have been testing each other's air might since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. But in the past eight months alone, as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine mounted, 40 dangerous or sensitive incidents have been reported—a jump that puts engagement at Cold...

Gorbachev: We're Facing 'New Cold War'

Former Soviet leader warns of Western 'triumphalism'

(Newser) - Tensions between the major powers have pushed the world closer to a new Cold War, former Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev said today. The 83-year-old accused the West, particularly the United States, of giving in to "triumphalism" after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of the...

US Hired 1K Nazis After WWII
 US Hired 1K Nazis After WWII 
new book
Oct 27, 2014 2:09 PM CDT

US Hired 1K Nazis After WWII

Eric Lichtblau reveals scope of spy agency Cold War effort

(Newser) - "At least a thousand." That's the number of Nazis the US government hired on as anti-Soviet spies in the wake of World War II, reports the New York Times' Eric Lichtblau, whose book, The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler’s Men,...

Lying Brother in Rosenberg Spy Case Dead at 92

David Greenglass testified, falsely, he saw sister Ethel transcribing research data

(Newser) - David Greenglass, who served 10 years in prison for his role in the most explosive atomic spying case of the Cold War and gave testimony that sent his brother-in-law and sister, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, to the electric chair in 1953, has died at 92. Greenglass—who admitted decades later...

Alaskans Were Trained as Secret Agents Against Soviets

Fisherman, trappers called on in operation 'Washtub'

(Newser) - In the 1950s, the US feared a Russian invasion via Alaska—so the government trained regular folks, from fishermen to trappers, as secret agents. The plan involved coordination by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, the CIA, and the military, the AP reports based on hundreds of partially-redacted documents obtained via...

US: Russia Violated Key Nuke Treaty

Tests violated 1987 pact, administration says

(Newser) - US-Russian relations just slid a lot further downhill: The US says Russia has violated a 1987 arms control treaty that helped end the Cold War, the New York Times reports. The formal accusation of violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty—also known as the INF Treaty—comes after years of...

Cold-War Photos Give Up New Secrets: Lost Cities
Cold-War Photos Give Up
New Secrets: Lost Cities
in case you missed it
May 3, 2014 7:28 AM CDT

Cold-War Photos Give Up New Secrets: Lost Cities

Spy satellites captured ruins throughout the Middle East in the '60s

(Newser) - The Middle East is home to 4,500 archaeological sites, or so we thought. An in-depth review of Cold War-era photos taken by spy satellites has pulled back the veil on as many as 10,000 more lost cities, roads, and other ruins in the region. As Gizmodo reports, CORONA...

Doctor Zhivago&#39;s Onetime Secret Publisher: The CIA
Doctor Zhivago's
Secret Publisher: the CIA
in case you missed it
Apr 12, 2014 11:38 AM CDT

Doctor Zhivago's Secret Publisher: the CIA

Agency used book as Cold War propaganda tool

(Newser) - Before Doctor Zhivago became an acclaimed film in 1965, it was a novel—one the CIA secretly printed. The Washington Post delves into the book's fascinating back story by way of 130 freshly declassified CIA documents (released at the request of the authors of The Zhivago Affair, out June...

Obama Defends Iraq War in Criticizing Russia

US didn't annex land, tried to 'work within the international system'

(Newser) - President Obama gave the big speech of his four-day overseas trip while in Belgium today, and it focused as expected on condemnation of Russia's moves in Crimea, reports Politico . At one point, Obama rejected the idea that US is hypocritical for criticizing Vladimir Putin given the invasion of Iraq....

US Troops Carried 'Backpack Nukes' for 25 Years

Elite units were trained to use these weapons on battlefields

(Newser) - The US kept quite an arsenal of nuclear bombs and missiles during the Cold War, but not everyone knows about its plans to use "backpack nukes," reports the Smithsonian via Foreign Policy . Elite troops learned to use the bombs—called B54 Special Atomic Demolition Munitions (SADMs)—in case...

US Suspects Russia Violated Landmark Treaty

US alleges medium-range missile tests, but doesn't 'formally' declare violation

(Newser) - The US is alleging that Russia has tested a new medium-range cruise missile, in violation of a landmark 1987 arms control deal, the New York Times reported today. While the Obama administration hasn't "formally declared" Russia in violation of the pact, which helped end the Cold War, this...

Queen Wrote This Speech in Case of Nuclear War

The enemy is 'the deadly power of abused technology'

(Newser) - Just how close did the world come to the brink of nuclear annihilation during the Cold War? So close that civil servants in the UK wrote a speech for Queen Elizabeth to deliver in the event of nuclear war. The speech has now been released thanks to the UK's...

Famed Pianist Van Cliburn Dead at 78


 Famed Pianist 
 Van Cliburn 
 Dead at 78 
OBITUARY
Feb 27, 2013 11:45 AM CST

Famed Pianist Van Cliburn Dead at 78

Texan's 1958 performance helped thaw Cold War

(Newser) - The renowned American classical pianist Van Cliburn has died at age 78. His publicist and longtime friend Mary Lou Falcone said that Cliburn died this morning after a battle with bone cancer. She'd announced in late August that Cliburn had been diagnosed with advanced cancer and was being cared...

Family Sues Over Scientist's Cold War LSD Death

Sons claim CIA killed their father in 1950s

(Newser) - The sons of a Cold War scientist who plunged to his death in 1953 several days after unwittingly taking LSD in a CIA mind-control experiment sued the government today. They claim the CIA murdered their father, Frank Olson, by pushing him from a 13th-story window of a hotel and that...

Time for US to Let the World Grow Up

Ian Buruma criticizes hawks for over-relying on military, hurting US interests

(Newser) - Sure, the United States has the world's most powerful military. But President Obama's reluctance to use it is hardly a sign of pessimism or weakness, it's "realistic wisdom," writes Ian Buruma at al-Jazeera . "Old-fashioned military dominance is no longer adequate to promote US interests....

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser