Section: Indonesia
Russian, US military talks: Concerned over Syria
Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on Aug. 20. (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)American and Russian military chiefs began talks Friday over Moscow’s buildup in Syria, signaling the U.S. is resigned to Russia’s emerging plans but anxious to avoid dangerous misunderstandings on the battlefield.A...
Putin, Berlusconi in Ukraine probe for drinking Crimea wine
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) visits the state-owned Massandra winery in Yalta, Crimea on Sept. 11, 2015. President Putin arrived in Crimea to meet with Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The Massandra Collection is one of the largest and truly unique collections of fine and rare wines in the world, estimated at over one...
Russian moves in Syria flummox US
Secretary of State John Kerry is seen in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, as President Barack Obama and Spain’s King Felipe VI conclude a bilateral meeting. (AP/Andrew Harnik)Russia’s recent military buildup in Syria has perplexed the Obama administration and left it in a quandary as to how to respond,...
Obama warns Russia against helping arm Syrian government
President Barack Obama gives a thumbs up as he takes a question from a service member in Afghanistan, on screen at right, during a town hall with service members at Fort Meade, Md., Friday, on the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. (AP/Andrew Harnik)President Barack Obama warned Russia Friday against doubling down on its support for Syrian...
Russian cosmonaut back after record 879 days in space
Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka entering the International Space Station on March 28. (AFP/NASA TV)Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka returned safely to Earth with two other astronauts from the International Space Station Saturday with the record for having spent the most time in space.Padalka — who has spent a total of 879 days in space...
‘Welcome back, Lenin’ as Berlin digs up Cold War relic
Journalists examine the head of a statue of the late Soviet leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, which was buried in a forest in the east of Berlin upon its arrival at Spandau Citadel museum on Thursday. (AFP/Tobias Schwarz)A quarter-century after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Lenin made a comeback of sorts Thursday as authorities unearthed a granite...
World food commodity prices plunge in August
An Indian seller weighs a measure of onions on a hand-held scale (left) at a local market in south New Delhi on Wednesday. World food commodity prices plunge in August, the Food and Agriculture Organization has said. The price of international food commodities registered their largest monthly drop in seven years in August, the UN food agency said...
Reports of Russian military build-up in Syria fuel concern
Residents and emergency personnel gather at the site of a car bombing in a square the port city of Latakia, Syria, Sept. 2. The car bomb exploded in Latakia, a stronghold of President Bashar Assad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 25, the official Syrian news agency SANA said. (SANA via AP)Photos allegedly showing Russian soldiers, reports...
Your letters: Foreign affairs
Indonesia would do well to increase security cooperation with the US, Japan and India. A more organized and independent ASEAN wouldn’t hurt either, and Indonesia should take the lead in organizing this. Another natural ally we can look to is Russia, although this is not a politically correct choice and would require a change in mindset both...
Nearly 8,000 killed since start of Ukraine conflict: UN
Police officers help a wounded colleague during clashes with activists of few radical Ukrainian parties in front of the parliament in Kiev on Aug. 31, 2015. (AFP/Yuriy Kirnichny)Nearly 8,000 people — including civilians, soldiers and militia members — have been killed since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, the United Nations...