Section: The Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
Estonians vote in parliamentary election amid security fears
Estonians are voting for a new Parliament in an election dominated by economic issues and security concerns due to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine.Opinion polls índicate a close race between the Baltic nation’s governing center-right coalition, led by Prime Minister Taavi Roivas’ Reform Party, and the opposition Center Party,...
Ukraine’s new US-born finance chief enduring baptism by fire
War-torn Ukraine is a long way from Wood Dale, Illinois.But Natalie Jaresko, the country’s new finance minister who was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, says she feels just as much at home here as she takes on a daunting task: overhauling a Soviet-era economy at a time when public finances are being drained by war.It’s been a...
Prominent Putin critic Boris Nemtsov shot dead near Kremlin
A few hours after going on the radio to denounce President Vladimir Putin’s policies as mad, charismatic opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down early Saturday as he walked near the Kremlin.Colleagues in Russia’s beleaguered and marginalized opposition pointed fingers at the state or at assailants fired up by fervent...
Prominent Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov shot dead
Boris Nemtsov, a charismatic former deputy prime minister turned Russian opposition leader, was shot and killed in Moscow Saturday, officials said.Nemtsov’s death comes just a day before a planned protest against President Vladimir Putin’s rule. The Kremlin said that Putin will personally oversee the investigation.Nemtsov, who was 55,...
Report: Cluster bombs have been used in Ukraine conflict
Amnesty International says illegal weapons such as cluster bombs have been used in Ukraine.The organization’s senior director for research, Anna Neistat, says it has been difficult to determine, but “taking into account everything we understand for now” cluster bombs were used by both sides.In its annual report, released early...
Ministers urge strict implementation of Ukraine truce
The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany on Tuesday called for a ceasefire deal to be strictly implemented in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has persisted since the accord came into effect. In a joint statement read by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius after talks in Paris, the minister urged parties to “start with...
Foreign ministers meet in Paris on Ukraine crisis
Foreign ministers from Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany were meeting in Paris Tuesday in a bid to salvage a ceasefire deal which has failed to halt fighting in eastern Ukraine. The meeting comes as pro-Russian separatists kept up their attacks on the key port town of Mariupol and Kiev accused Moscow of torpedoing the deal. Germany on Monday...
OSCE says Ukraine cease-fire has lowered military exchanges
The head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Monday that the latest cease-fire in Ukraine has “very significantly” lowered the level of military exchanges between government and separatist forces but violations are still taking place and must end.Lamberto Zannier told a group of reporters that OSCE monitors...
US-Cuba thaw good for stability
Better relations between Cuba and the United States could lead to more regional stability and prove that Cold War tensions are finally starting to ease, according to a leading political analyst. “The Cold War has long been over and many adversaries during the Cold War are now cooperating with each other,” said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, an expert in...
First Ukraine war prisoner exchange completed
Ukrainian military and separatist representatives exchanged dozens of prisoners under cover of darkness at a remote frontline location Saturday evening, kicking off a process intended to usher in peace to the conflict-ridden east.One hundred and thirty nine Ukrainian troops and 52 rebels were exchanged, according to a separatist official...
