Section: Daily News & Analysis (India)
MH17 inquiry to unveil final report into doomed flight
Dutch-led air crash investigators on Tuesday release their final report into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over war-torn Ukraine, in a move likely to worsen already-strained ties between Russia and the West. As Dutch Safety Board officials prepared to unveil the highly anticipated findings of a 15-month inquiry, Moscow was gearing...
Belarus re-elects ‘last dictator in Europe’ for fifth term
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko won a fifth term in office by a landslide on Sunday in an election that could see an easing of relations with the West and raise questions about his ties to Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Lukashenko’s re-election five years ago led to mass protests and the imprisonment of leading opposition...
Viswanathan Anand eyes world title in rapid and blitz chess championship
Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand starts as one of the favourites but faces a tough field in the world rapid and blitz chess championship that gets underway in Berlin. World champion in all formats, Magnus Carlsen of Norway starts as the top seed and hot favourite to retain his titles won last year at Dubai. However, it will be a...
Euro 2016 Qualifiers: Spanish and Swiss flavours added to French party
European champions Spain beat minnows Luxembourg 4-0 on Friday to reach the Euro 2016 finals in France where they will aim to complete an unprecedented hat-trick of continental titles. They were joined by Switzerland as the eighth and ninth countries through to the expanded 24-team tournament. Spain made it eight wins out of nine with a...
Ajay Jayaram, Guru, Thulasi win in Dutch Open
Defending champion Ajay Jayaram and Commonwealth bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Dutch Open Grand Prix after notching up straight-game wins in Round 2, here. Brimming with confidence after his maiden runners-up finish at the Korea Super Series, World No. 25 Jayaram thrashed Germany’s Fabian Roth...
The World This Week: Russia bombs Syria while America guns its own
Once upon a time, not a very long time ago, Peter the Great decimated Swedish troops in the Battle of Poltava in 1709. Charles XII, the last of the Swedish warrior kings, was forced into exile in Ottoman Turkey and later died fighting as his country was attacked on all sides. After Poltava, Russia emerged as a great power, while the death of the...
NATO denounces Russian incursion into Turkish airspace
The United States and NATO denounced Russia on Monday for violating Turkish airspace and Ankara threatened to respond, reporting two incursions in two days and raising the prospect of direct confrontation between the former Cold War adversaries. NATO held an emergency meeting in Brussels of ambassadors from its 28 member states to respond to what...
Russia is conducting ‘asymmetric warfare’ in Syria: Britain’s Hammond
Russia is engaged in “classic asymmetric warfare” in Syria by using its military clout to prop up President Bashar al-Assad while saying it is attacking Islamic State militants, Britain’s foreign minister said on Sunday. Russia last week began striking targets in Syria – a dramatic escalation of foreign involvement in the...
Diego Costa dropped: Has Vicente del Bosque run out of patience?
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has overlooked Diego Costa and recalled Thiago Alcantara for the holders’ final two Euro 2016 Group C qualifiers against Luxembourg and Ukraine this month. Chelsea forward Costa is suspended for the match against Luxembourg in Logrono in a week’s time but would have been available for the game in Kiev...
Russia launches air strikes in ISIS-ravaged Syria after Kremlin approval
Russia said it launched air strikes against Islamic State in Syria on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin secured his parliament’s unanimous backing to intervene to prop up the Kremlin’s closest Middle East ally. Moscow gave Washington just an hour’s notice of the strikes, which set in train Russia’s biggest play in...
