Section: South China Morning Post (China)
A giant dome taller than New York’s Statue of Liberty ready to be placed over Chernobyl’s doomed reactor
The world’s largest metal moveable structure will be unveiled Tuesday over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant’s doomed fourth reactor in Ukraine to ensure the safety of future generations across Europe. The giant arch – nearly as long as two football pitches and taller than New York’s Statue of Liberty – will edge...
French conservative favourite Francois Fillon says Russia poses no security threat
Former prime minister Francois Fillon, favourite to become the French centre-right’s candidate for president in an election next year, said that Russia did not constitute a security threat and it was “completely stupid” to push it away. French officials have been pressing for an extension of European Union sanctions against Moscow over its...
Washington bemoans Russia quitting International Criminal Court, 14 years after US did the same
The United States expressed regret Wednesday that Russia had withdrawn from the International Criminal Court – 14 years after Washington made exactly the same decision. While Washington accuses Russian forces of brutal crimes in Syria and Ukraine, it does not accept the jurisdiction of the court over its own personnel. Like Russia, the...
Russia pulls out from International Criminal Court
Russian President Vladimir Putin withdrew his nation from the International Criminal Court on Wednesday, a day after a United Nations committee condemned Russia for human rights abuses in Crimea. The court, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, tries people on charges such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The United States is...
Putin grants Russian citizenship to ‘Under Siege’ film actor Steven Seagal
Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded Russian citizenship to action film actor Steven Seagal. The 64-year-old Seagal has been a regular visitor to Russia in recent years and has accompanied Putin to several martial arts events, as well as vocally defending the Russian leader’s policies. US film star and pal of Vladimir Putin Steven...
Picasso paintings, Rolex watches, antiques and fine wines: Ukraine lawmakers come clean over assets
A luxury watch collection, millions of dollars in cash and a Picasso painting are just several items listed on Ukraine officials’ income and asset declarations, shocking a country vowing to curb corruption. They do not trust banks, euro or hryvnia, nor rubles Anders Aslund of the US-based Atlantic Council Officials are required under a new...
Could Moldova’s first presidential poll in 20 years push it back into Russia’s orbit?
Ex-Soviet Moldova went to the polls Sunday in its first popular presidential election since the 1990s, seen as a tug-of-war between supporters of closer relations with Russia and those seeking EU integration. The crisis-hit country of 3.5 million wedged between Ukraine and Romania is the poorest in Europe and has struggled with a string of...
Germany’s Angela Merkel ready to confront Russia over Syrian war
Angela Merkel wants to get other European Union member countries to agree to step up sanctions against Russia because of its role in the war in Syria, a German newspaper cited sources close to the German chancellor as saying. The issue of sanctions is due to be discussed at an EU summit on Thursday and Friday. Both the EU and the US have already...
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev says world at ‘dangerous’ point as US-Russia tensions soar
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has warned that the world had reached a “dangerous point” as tensions between Russia and the United States have spiked over the Syria conflict. Relations between Moscow and Washington – already at their lowest since the cold war over the Ukraine conflict – have soured further in recent days as the United...
Stolen in 2002, two ‘priceless’ Van Gogh paintings recovered by Italian anti-mafia cops
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam says anti-mafia police in Naples have recovered two Vincent Van Gogh paintings stolen in 2002. The museum in a statement on its website on Friday said the paintings are in “relatively good condition”. It said the two paintings are the 1882 work Seascape at Scheveningen and a later work, Congregation leaving the...
