Section: The Malaysian Insider (Malaysia)
Tense G20 vows action on Ebola as climate returns to fore
Feuding G20 leaders found common ground today in vowing to “extinguish” the Ebola outbreak as they worked to revamp the global economy at a summit marked by discord over Ukraine and climate change. Along with the crisis between Ukraine and Russia, a surprise Sino-US pact on global warming has upset Australian Prime Minister Tony...
Putin berates US over sanctions before G20 meeting
President Vladimir Putin (pic) accused the United States on Friday of undermining the very trade institutions it created by imposing sanctions on Russia, a “mistake” he hoped would be overcome in the “final count”. In an interview with Russian state news agency TASS before a meeting of the G20 major and developing...
Russia on the spot as fears mount over east Ukraine conflict
Russia hit back Thursday against Western claims that it was sending fresh military hardware into eastern Ukraine which could fuel a return to all-out conflict. The Kremlin issued a fierce denial after Nato’s commander in Europe accused Russia of sending columns of troops and equipment over the border. Asked at a press conference if...
Monitors fear rising violence in eastern Ukraine
International observers issued a stark warning over escalating violence in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as Dutch investigators hoping to recover debris from a doomed airliner left the MH17 crash site with little progress. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said there was a “rising” risk that unrest in the...
Worst east Ukraine shelling for month, ceasefire looks in doubt
East Ukraine’s rebel stronghold Donetsk was pummelled on Sunday by the heaviest shelling in a month, and the OSCE said it spotted an armoured column of troops without insignia in rebel territory that Kiev said proved Moscow had sent reinforcements. A two-month-old ceasefire to end a war that has killed 4,000 people has appeared shakier...
Intense artillery fire in Ukraine’s rebel bastion Donetsk
Intense artillery fire broke out early Sunday in Ukraine’s separatist bastion of Donetsk, in a level of combat not seen in the region since a barely-observed ceasefire was signed in September. Firing close to the town centre began to build up at 2300 GMT Saturday (7am Malaysian time, Sunday), and could still be heard at the same intensity...
US backs probe into Ukraine school shelling
The United States on Thursday backed a Ukrainian investigation into the shelling of a school in rebel-held eastern Donetsk which killed two teenagers. “We condemn the shelling of a school in Donetsk that left at least two children dead and wounded many others,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. “We certainly...
MH17 crash investigators seek local help to reach wreckage in conflict zone
Accident investigators looking into the July crash of a Malaysia Airlines plane in eastern Ukraine said on Thursday they would probably hire local contractors to collect wreckage still beyond their reach because of a continuing pro-Russian insurrection. The crash of flight MH17 as it flew over the conflict zone stirred angry mutual...
Putin cannot avoid me, says Tony Abbott
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Thursday warned Vladimir Putin he will not be able to avoid a “conversation” over the loss of Australian lives in the downing of Flight MH17 over Ukraine. Last month Abbott vowed to “shirtfront” the Russian president at the G20 summit in Brisbane next week, although Moscow has yet...
China on best behaviour for APEC, but guests may not be
From territorial disputes with neighbours to rivalry with the United States, China is setting aside some of its biggest foreign policy challenges to prevent discord at a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders that it hosts next week. What’s not clear is whether the guests will behave as well. One potential hotspot is the conflict in Ukraine, as...
