Section: Cyprus
Russia announces war games after accusing Ukraine of terrorist plot
Vladimir Putin summoned his security council and the Russian Navy announced war games in the Black Sea a day after the Russian president accused Ukraine of trying to provoke a conflict over Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed in 2014. The belligerent posture heightened worries in Ukraine that Russia may plan to ramp up fighting in a war...
Aim of alleged Ukrainian Crimea incursion was to destroy tourism – Russian newspaper
Russia’s Kommersant newspaper cited unnamed security sources on Thursday as saying a group of men Russia has arrested for planning attacks in Crimea had confessed and said their aim was to destroy the tourist industry there. Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine on Wednesday of using terrorist tactics to try to provoke a new conflict and...
Russia accuses Ukraine of armed Crimea incursion, says two killed
Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Wednesday it had thwarted two armed Ukrainian attempts to get saboteurs into Crimea and dismantled a Ukrainian spy network inside the annexed peninsula. The FSB accused Ukrainian special forces of planning to carry out terrorist attacks inside Crimea targeting critical infrastructure and said an FSB...
Turkey, Russia pursue gas pipe dream as EU frets
Declarations by Russia and Turkey last week reviving plans for the TurkStream natural gas pipeline linking the two have worried EU diplomats who see it strengthening Moscow’s hand – but analysts say the project is more rhetoric than reality. EU officials fear that TurkStream will be expanded to bypass Ukraine as a transit route for supplies...
Britain’s May wants bespoke terms for EU exit
Britain wants a bespoke model for its future ties with the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday, during a tour of Eastern European allies aimed at securing support in negotiations on leaving the bloc. In the five weeks since Britons voted to quit the EU, politicians have tried to solve the riddle of how to restrict EU...
Russia to US, Trump: Sort out your own pre-election hacking scandal
Russia told the United States on Thursday to get to the bottom of a hacking scandal involving Democratic Party emails itself and rejected what Donald Trump said was a sarcastic suggestion that Moscow should dig up Hillary Clinton’s “missing” emails. Trump, the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, angered Democratic circles on...
100-year global study finds world’s tallest are Dutch, Latvians
Dutch men and Latvian women are the planet’s tallest people but Iranian men and South Korean women have grown the fastest in the last century, according to the largest ever study of height around the world. Americans, once among the world’s tallest people, have dropped from having men and women at 3rd and 4th in the global height...
Ukraine shocked by “cynical” car bomb murder of investigative journalist
By Natalia Zinets and Sergei Karazy An award-winning journalist working for the online investigative website Ukrayinska Pravda was killed by a car bomb in central Kiev early on Wednesday morning, in what a senior Ukrainian official called a “cynical murder”. Pavel Sheremet, a Belarussian known for his outspoken criticism of his home...
Malaysia Airlines ‘settles damages with MH17 victims’
Malaysia Airlines has struck a deal to settle damages claims for most victims of its MH17 flight that was shot down over eastern Ukraine two years ago on Sunday, Dutch national broadcaster NOS reported. NOS cited Veeru Mewa, a lawyer representing Dutch victims. Under the Montreal Convention, airlines must pay damages of up to about €130,000 to...
EU ministers meet on Turkey, facing perfect storm
European foreign ministers will urge Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to respect the law and human rights in dealing with defeated coup plotters but have limited leverage over their strategic neighbour. Diplomats said an EU line on Turkey would be agreed after ministers breakfast in Brussels with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. He...
