Section: theSun (Malaysia)
Putin promises Russians better living conditions ‘within this year’
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin promised Russians rapid improvements in their living conditions as he kicked off his annual state of the nation address on Wednesday.“We cannot wait, the situation must change for the better now,“ Putin said. “Within this year (Russians) should feel changes for the better.”The Russian leader announced several...
Mueller seeks tough sentence for ex-Trump campaign chairman Manafort
WASHINGTON: Prosecutors for Special Counsel Robert Mueller urged a federal judge in Virginia yesterday to impose a strict prison sentence for President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, after a jury last year convicted him on eight counts of bank and tax fraud.In their sentencing memo filed in US District Court for the...
Ukrainian official arrested over deadly acid attack
KIEV: A Ukrainian court on Friday placed a high-ranking regional official in custody after he was charged with organising a deadly acid attack on an activist.Vladyslav Manger will be held until at least March 3, with bail of 2.5 million hryvnia (US$91,800), press secretary for General Prosecutor Larysa Sargan told AFP.Manger, the head of the...
In war-torn Ukraine, women get taste of combat training
MARIUPOL, Ukraine: In a gym in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, not far from the frontline with Russia-backed separatists, 20 women fall to the floor and pull back the rifle bolts of dummy Kalashnikovs.Next to them a bearded instructor in camouflage barks out orders: “Get on your knee, reload, take aim, get on the ground, reload, take aim.”A...
Judge rules that ex-Trump aide Manafort broke plea deal
WASHINGTON: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort could face a much longer prison sentence than expected after a Washington judge ruled Wednesday that he had broken his plea deal with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.Federal district judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed with prosecutors that Manafort had...
Hundreds flee US-backed Syria battle for last IS holdout
NEAR BAGHOUZ: The ferocious battle for the Islamic State group’s last bastion in eastern Syria entered its fifth day on Wednesday, as exhausted families left the ever-shrinking scrap of land where holdout jihadists have been boxed in by Kurdish-led forces.Hundreds fled day and night from Baghouz, near the enclave where diehard IS fighters...
Ukrainian official charged in acid attack on activist
KIEV: Ukrainian prosecutors said today they had charged a high-rankng regional official with organising a deadly acid attack on a prominent anti-corruption activist.Vladyslav Manger, the head of the local council in the southern region of Kherson, is accused of “organising the murder of Kateryna Gandzyuk,” Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Yuriy...
Pompeo seeks to end Hungary’s eastward drift on Europe trip
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is hoping to stall inroads of Russian and Chinese influence as he visits two of the European Union’s most quarrelsome members, Hungary and Poland.The top US diplomat arrives Monday in Hungary and will also visit Slovakia and Poland, in each Nato ally highlighting Washington’s role in the...
In Venezuela, Russia risks losing an ally and billions
MOSCOW: As President Nicolas Maduro’s rule hangs in the balance in Venezuela, Russia risks losing its long-cultivated main ally in Latin America and billions invested in oil and arms contracts.Russian President Vladimir Putin spent years building up an alliance with Venezuela’s late populist leader Hugo Chavez and his successor...
20 presumed dead from ship fires off Crimea
MOSCOW: Up to 20 people were presumed dead off Russia-annexed Crimea in the Black Sea after a fire engulfed two ships sailing under the Tanzanian flag, authorities said Tuesday.The fire broke out when one vessel was transferring fuel to the other on Monday, driving both crews to jump overboard.Russian authorities rescued 12 people and recovered...
