Section: theSun (Malaysia)
Comic poised to take over presidency in Ukraine vote
KIEV: Ukrainians went to polls today in the second round of an extraordinary election with a comedian who plays a president on TV expected to win in a stunning rebuke to the political establishment.Forty-one-year-old Volodymyr Zelensky’s bid to lead the country of 45 million people was initially dismissed as a joke when he announced his...
As comedian eyes presidency, Ukraine braces for uncertain future
KIEV: Ukraine readied Saturday for a change in leadership as a young comedian appeared set to crush his incumbent rival in presidential polls, delivering a stinging rebuke to the old elite.The 41-year-old television star Volodymyr Zelensky’s bid to lead Ukraine began as a long shot but all polls show him defeating President Petro Poroshenko...
China to show new warships as Beijing flexes military muscle on navy anniversary
QINGDAO (China): China will show off new warships including nuclear submarines and destroyers at a parade next week marking 70 years since its navy’s founding, a senior commander said on Saturday, as Beijing flexes its increasingly well-equipped military muscle.President Xi Jinping is overseeing a sweeping plan to refurbish the...
Republican Romney says ‘sickened’ by Trump’s behaviour during Russia probe
WASHINGTON: Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said yesterday he was “sickened” by the dishonesty of US President Donald Trump and people around him as portrayed in a report on Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 election.Romney, now a US senator from Utah and an off-and-on Trump critic, was responding to the report by...
Ex-Obama lawyer Craig charged in Mueller spin-off probe for lying
WASHINGTON: Greg Craig, who served as former President Barack Obama’s top White House lawyer, was charged yesterday with lying about work he performed in 2012 for Ukraine in a case that grew out of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.Craig, 74, faces up to 10 years in prison for charges of making false statements and...
Wladimir Klitschko urges new Ukraine vote dope tests
BERLIN: Ex-world heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko Wednesday dismissed as a “farce” the doping tests performed on both Ukraine presidential election candidates last week and offered to pay for new ones.Independent US experts of the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association were in Kiev Wednesday and ready to perform tests of both candidates,...
Facebook to block foreign ads for Australia election
SYDNEY: Facebook will block election advertising from outside Australia ahead of polls next month, in the wake of growing criticism of the social media giant’s role in the spread of disinformation.The restrictions – already rolled out for polls in other countries such as Thailand and Indonesia – will come into force when the government...
Family of MH17 victim sues Russia banks, US money transfer companies
NEW YORK: The family of an American teenager killed aboard the MH17 flight launched a court case Thursday against Russian banks and US money transfer companies for helping to finance pro-Moscow separatists accused of shooting it down over Ukraine.In a complaint filed in US federal court, the family of Quinn Lucas Schansman – the only US citizen...
NATO chief to meet Trump, alliance critic, on anniversary
WASHINGTON: Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (pix) was due to meet President Donald Trump Tuesday ahead of celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the alliance, a frequent target of the US leader.The White House visit comes before two days of talks in Washington among the 29 foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,...
Ukraine police seize US$60m of heroin, say ‘never seen so much’
KIEV: Ukraine police seized heroin worth about US$60 million — over half a tonne of the powder — in raids in the country’s centre and west, officials said Sunday, describing it as the biggest haul they had ever seen.Chief of the national police Sergiy Knyazev announced on Facebook two raids in Kiev region yielding “600kg (1,322 pounds) of...
