Section: theSun (Malaysia)
China’s WWII military parade a show of strength
BEIJING: Soldiers will march, gleaming hardware will roll, and warplanes will fly above Tiananmen Square at China’s WWII anniversary parade, but major Western leaders are shunning the show as Beijing assumes an increasingly assertive role on the global stage. Chinese authorities are pulling out all the stops for Thursday’s...
1 dead, 100 police hurt in Ukraine parliament clashes
KIEV: A Ukrainian National Guard officer died on Monday after being injured in the heart in fierce clashes between protesters and police that wounded around 100 people. “He died on the operating table,” a spokeswoman for the National Guard, Svitlana Pavlovska, told AFP. Street battles broke out between dozens of demonstrators and...
Blast, clashes as Ukraine MPs back more autonomy for rebels
KIEV: Clashes erupted outside parliament in Kiev on Monday as lawmakers gave initial approval to constitutional changes granting more autonomy to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. A blast was also heard outside parliament, an AFP correspondent said, although the cause was not immediately known. About a dozen people were reportedly...
Two US F-22 jets land in Poland amid Ukraine tensions
WARSAW: Two US F-22 Raptor stealth fighters landed in Poland on Monday, as regional tensions run high over Russia and the conflict in Ukraine. The arrival of the two planes was aired on TVP Info public television channel. They flew in from their German base of Spangdahlem into the Lask air base in central Poland. Poland borders war-torn Ukraine,...
‘Cure’ for Chernobyl children: sun, sea, clean air in Portugal
PENICHE, Portugal: Anya wasn’t even born when Chernobyl exploded nearly 30 years ago, but even today its radioactive fallout stalks her and other Ukrainian youngsters growing up near the disused plant. The world’s worst nuclear disaster saddled the sparkly-eyed 16-year-old with chronic cardiovascular and respiratory problems, thanks...
Ukraine leader accuses Russia of arms supplies to rebel east
KIEV: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday accused Russia of sending major military backup to pro-Moscow rebels, speaking just ahead of talks on the conflict with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. “Just this week three big convoys crossed our border towards Lugansk, Donetsk and...
Hollande, Merkel to discuss EU migrant crisis, Ukraine unrest
BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will meet in Berlin on Monday to give a new push to European efforts to tackle the biggest migrant crisis in 50 years. The pair will also hold talks on the resurgence of violence in Ukraine and will be joined by that country’s president Petro Poroshenko later in...
Belarus president frees six jailed opponents before election
MINSK: Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko has released from jail six opposition leaders – considered the last political prisoners in the ex-Soviet state – less than two months before presidential polls, the presidency announced Saturday. A pardon for the six was revealed in a brief statement. Among the freed opponents was Mikola Statkevich, a...
Russian prosecutors seek to jail Ukrainian filmmaker for 23 years
MOSCOW: Russian prosecutors on Wednesday demanded that Ukrainian film-maker Oleg Sentsov be jailed for 23 years on terror charges, in a trial decried by the West. Sentsov and another Ukrainian from Crimea, Alexander Kolchenko, have been held since May 2014 are accused of setting a pro-Kremlin party office on fire and wanting to blow up a statue...
Russia jails Estonian policeman for 15 years for spying
MOSCOW: A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced an Estonian policeman to 15 years in jail on espionage charges in a move slammed by the European Union, as tensions spike over the Ukraine crisis. A court in the western Pskov region, which borders Estonia, sentenced Eston Kohver on charges of spying, weapon possession and illegally crossing the...
