VOA常速英语:美国警察和国民警卫队涌向华盛顿和州议会大厦

This is VOA news. Via remote, I'm Liz Parker. Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was detained Sunday in Moscow. The opposition leader was taken into custody during his first time back in Russia since he was poisoned last August. Navalny was traveling from Germany where he had been in rehab. He was detained at passport control at a Moscow airport. His lawyer who was traveling with him was not allowed to accompany him. Last month, Russia's prison service ordered Navalny to attend a parole hearing or (ri...) risk jail for failing to return before the terms of his suspended sentence expired. He could face a jail sentence of much as three and a half years, according to court documents. Navalny fell ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow last year. Lab tests in three European countries established Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent of the Novichok class. The findings led the European Union to imposed sanctions on six Russian officials and a state research institute.

Across the United States, law enforcement officers and National Guard troops are standing guard at state capitol buildings Sunday. The extra protection is in preparation of protests leading up to President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday. So far, protests have only drawn a small number of Trump supporters who believe the president's false claim that the 2020 election was rigged. More than a dozen states have activated National Guard troops to help their state capitols following an FBI warning of armed demonstrations, with right-wing extremists emboldened by the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington on January 6. Security officials had eyed Sunday as the first major flashpoint. This is VOA news.