Section: Malaysia
Ukraine filmmaker in possible Russia prisoner swap: Reports
MOSCOW: Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, serving a 20-year jail sentence in Russia, has been moved to Moscow ahead of a possible prisoner swap, Russian news agencies reported Thursday.Sentsov, who lived in Crimea and opposed its annexation by Moscow, was convicted in 2015 for plotting and carrying out attacks in a controversial case.He is...
Four European states lose measles eradication status as cases soar: WHO
COPENHAGEN: Measles cases are skyrocketing in Europe and the disease is surging in four countries previously considered to have eliminated it, including the UK, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Thursday, urging countries to step up vaccination efforts.“Re-establishment of measles transmission is concerning. If high immunisation coverage...
Ukraine’s new parliament set for marathon first session
KIEV: Ukraine’s new parliament will meet for the first time on Thursday, dominated by the party of ex-comedian President Volodymyr Zelensky who has an unprecedented chance to fulfil his political ambition of “breaking the system”.The 41-year-old won a landslide election in April and his young Servant of the People party gained an absolute...
Trump advisor Bolton stresses Ukraine’s ‘territorial integrity’
US national security advisor John Bolton. (Reuters pic)KIEV: White House national security advisor John Bolton on Wednesday stressed US commitment to Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” during talks with the country’s new president, part of a regional tour in Russia’s traditional field of influence. The security advisor said he...
Trump heads to G7 with potshot at French hosts over taxes
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump threatened his French hosts with taxes on their wines Friday as he headed to a G7 summit in France with a series of parting shots, including another broadside at the Federal Reserve’s chairman.After a day that saw big falls on Wall Street after he announced new tariffs against China, Trump was in no...
Homophobia rising in European countries without gay marriage
Same-sex marriage is legal in 16 out of 48 European countries. (Reuters pic)LONDON: Homophobia has risen in European countries that do not legally recognise same-sex relationships, while acceptance of gay and lesbian people has jumped in states where they can marry, research released today showed. Most European countries saw a rise in acceptance...
State Dept No 2 expected to be next US ambassador to Russia
According to the US president John Sullivan is well liked by the US secretary of state. (AFP pic)WASHINGTON: US Department of State number two John Sullivan is expected to be nominated as the new ambassador to Russia, a sensitive position given Donald Trump’s mixed relations with Moscow. “He’s somebody that’s being put up and...
Trump unsettles G7 with support for Russia return
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Tuesday gave a foretaste of his convention-wrecking diplomacy at next weekend’s G7 by calling for Russia — expelled from the group of democracies — to be readmitted.Coming four days before he arrives at the summit in the French seaside resort of Biarritz, Trump’s support for President Vladimir...
State Dept number two expected to be next US ambassador to Russia
WASHINGTON: US Department of State number two John Sullivan is expected to be nominated as the new ambassador to Russia, a sensitive position given Donald Trump’s mixed relations with Moscow.“He’s somebody that’s being put up and respected very much,“ Trump told reporters when asked if Sullivan — the deputy secretary of state —...
HBO’s ‘Chernobyl’ sparks tours, stokes fears in Lithuania
IGNALINA: Walking along the top of Lithuania’s decommissioned nuclear reactor, the set of HBO’s critically acclaimed “Chernobyl” TV series, tourist Vytas Miknaitis says he’s not “afraid at all”.“They know what they’re doing,“ the retired computer engineer from Chicago says, referring to organisers of the three-hour tour of...
