Section: Egypt
Hounded and out of work, gay Ukrainians flee rebel east
Oleksandr had already lost his job for being gay in the rebel Ukrainian bastion of Donetsk when he was approached by two Russian speakers with rifles dangling on their hips. “So what are you, a fag?” one of them asked as the 28-year-old was grabbing a pack of cigarettes at the local kiosk. Lanky but athletic Oleksandr — an avid...
Obama sheds cool style for ‘fearless’ final lap in office
Barack Obama has reached the stage of his presidency where if he wants to break out in song publicly, as he did with “Amazing Grace” in a eulogy on Friday, then he’s going to do it. With a year-and-a-half left in office, Obama is shedding some of his trademark “no drama” style for a looser approach, admitting that he feels more fearless and...
China says changing position on sea dispute would shame ancestors
Changing position on China’s claims over the South China Sea would shame its ancestors, while not facing up to infringements of Chinese sovereignty there would shame its children, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday. China has become increasingly assertive in the South China Sea, building artificial islands in areas over which the...
US to pre-position tanks, artillery in Baltics, eastern Europe
The United States will pre-position tanks, artillery and other military equipment in eastern and central Europe, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced on Tuesday, moving to reassure NATO allies unnerved by Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. Carter, during a trip to Tallinn, said the Baltic states – Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia...
EU extends Russia sanctions to 2016
EU foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday to extend sanctions against Russia until Jan. 31, 2016, in an attempt to make Moscow abide by the cease-fire agreement signed in February. On February12, Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany signed a cease-fire, also called the Minsk agreement, over the crisis in Ukraine. Meanwhile,...
Pentagon chief: US won’t let Russia ‘drag us back to the past’
The United States and its allies won’t let Russia “drag us back to the past”, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in an address in Berlin on Monday, as he accused Moscow of trying to re-create a Soviet-era sphere of influence. Russia’s intervention in Ukraine has put NATO allies in eastern Europe on edge and triggered a...
Ukraine military: Two Ukrainian servicemen killed in past 24 hours
Two Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and six wounded in the past 24 hours in separatist eastern territories, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday, describing an increase in fighting near the strategic port city of Mariupol. Both sides accuse the other of regularly violating a ceasefire deal signed in Minsk, Belarus, in February, but an...
NATO Russia defence Europe NATO to implement ‘biggest’ defence boost since Cold War
NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday the alliance was implementing its biggest defence reinforcement since the Cold War, as the region grapples with terrorism and an increasingly assertive Russia. He spoke a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would add more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles to its nuclear...
Cost of violence hits $14 trillion in increasingly divided world
The cost of violence around the world reached a record $14.3 trillion in 2014, equivalent to the combined economies of Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, a global security report said on Wednesday.The divide between the most and least peaceful regions deepened with many Middle Eastern and African countries sinking...
Putin says Russia is beefing up its nuclear arsenal
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday Russia would add more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles to its nuclear arsenal this year and a defense official accused NATO of provoking a new arms race. Putin made his announcement a day after Russian officials denounced a US plan to station tanks and heavy weapons in NATO states on...
