Section: Cyprus
Interpol says Ukraine’s Yanukovich now wanted person
Interpol has put ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich on the international wanted list on Ukrainian charges of embezzlement and financial wrong-doing, according to a notice on the international police organisation’s website on Monday. Ukrainian authorities said Interpol’s publication of a so-called red notice against the...
Facing shrinking budgets, Pentagon moves to cut European bases
By David Alexander Facing tight budgets and a shrinking military, the Pentagon said on Thursday it was ending operations at an air base in Britain and handing it and 14 other sites in Europe back to their home governments in a move projected to save $500 million annually. The Pentagon said it would divest RAF Mildenhall northeast of London, home...
Belarus devalues currency again to protect against Russian economic fallout
By Andrei Makhovsky Belarus took further emergency steps on Thursday to defend itself from economic turmoil in Russia, devaluing its currency by around 7 percent for the second time this week, raising its main refinancing rate and imposing a new export tax on potash. Former Soviet countries are feeling the pain as Russia, often the main trading...
Ukraine says Russia behind cyber attack on German government
By Erik Kirschbaum Ukraine’s prime minister blamed Russian intelligence on Thursday for a hacker attack against German government websites, for which a pro-Russian group claimed responsibility. The attack on Wednesday took place before Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk was due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Russian group...
Pro-Russian group claims cyber attack on German government websites
German government websites including Chancellor Angela Merkel’s page were hacked on Wednesday in a cyber attack claimed by a group demanding that Berlin sever official ties with the Ukrainian government. The attack, against which counter-measures were taken, had left the sites periodically inaccessible since 10 a.m. (0900 GMT), her...
Conflicts of the past year connected by corruption
Mary Beth Goodman A retrospective look at the conflicts dominating the headlines in 2014 presents a grim picture of escalating conflict and human suffering. Underneath the headlines is a common thread connecting the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Ukrainian protesters in the Maidan, and the Nigerian families still...
Indonesia finds two “large objects” in search for AirAsia jet
By Chris Nusatya and Fergus Jensen Ships searching for the wreck of an AirAsia passenger jet that crashed with 162 people on board have pinpointed two “big objects” on the sea floor, the head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said on Saturday. The Airbus A320-200 plunged into the Java Sea on Sunday while en route from...
The ‘oil war’
By Gwynne Dyer “DID you know there’s an oil war? And the war has an objective: to destroy Russia,” said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a live television speech last week. “It’s a strategically planned war … also aimed at Venezuela, to try and destroy our revolution and cause an economic collapse.” It’s the United States...
Search teams battle rough weather in hunt for AirAsia wreck
By Fergus Jensen and Gayatri Suroyo Ships and aircraft criss-crossed the seas off Borneo on Friday hunting for the wreck of an Indonesia AirAsia passenger jet, but bad weather again hindered the search for the plane and the black box flight recorders that should reveal why it crashed. An official said 30 bodies had been recovered, along with...
Indonesia believes it has found AirAsia plane on sea bed
By Gayatri Suroyo and Wilda Asmarini Indonesian rescuers believe they have found the wreck of a crashed AirAsia plane on the ocean floor off Borneo, after sonar detected a large, dark object beneath waters where debris and bodies were found floating. Ships and planes had been scouring the Java Sea for Flight QZ8501 since Sunday, when it lost...
