Section: The Manila Times (Philippines)
Putin says ‘no grudge’, willing to reach out to Europe
SAINT PETERSBURG: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday insisted he was willing to reach out to Europe to mend relations shattered by the Ukraine crisis but insisted the West was responsible for the bad blood. “We hold no grudge and are willing to reach out to our European partners but obviously this can’t be a one-sided game,” Putin...
Juncker warns Russia on sanctions, meets Putin
SAINT PETERSBURG: EU Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker warned Russia Thursday that the 28-nation bloc will only lift its sanctions if the Kremlin fully implements a Ukraine peace deal. “The next step is clear: full implementation of the agreement — no more, no less,” Juncker told Russia’s main economic forum in Saint Petersburg ahead of a...
Putin to meet EU, UN leaders at key Russian economic forum
SAINT PETERSBURG: Russian President Vladimir Putin will look to refashion himself as a more reliable partner for the West as Moscow struggles to come in from the cold at its flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg. Putin will host European Union Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker and Italian premier Matteo Renzi at the conference starting...
NATO to deploy 4 ‘robust’ battalions in Baltics, Poland
BRUSSELS: NATO will deploy four international battalions to Poland and the three Baltic states as part of the wider pushback against Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, alliance head Jens Stoltenberg said Monday. “We will agree to deploy by rotation four robust multi-national battalions in the Baltic states and Poland,” Stoltenberg told a...
Malaysia shuts down first sharia-compliant airline
KUALA LUMPUR: Rayani Air, Malaysia’s first Islamic-compliant airline, has been shut down, regulators said Monday, months after it was suspended from flying for breaching aviation regulations. The carrier launched only in December with Muslim flight crew wearing the hijab while non-Muslim members were forbidden from wearing revealing...
Hundreds attend tightly-policed gay pride march in central Kiev
KIEV: More than 700 gay-rights activists held a peaceful march through central Kiev on Sunday amid an unprecedented security operation in the ex-Soviet country where homophobia remains widespread. Sunday’s march was the third such gay pride rally in Ukraine but the first ever to be held in the center of the capital Kiev. Several thousand...
Boxing: Lomachenko knocks out Martinez for historic 2nd title
NEW YORK: Ukraine’s Vasyl Lomachenko knocked out Roman Martinez on Saturday to grab the World Boxing Organization super featherweight world title — his second world belt in just his seventh pro bout. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Lomachenko sent Puerto Rico’s Martinez sprawling on his back with a devastating left uppercut-right hook...
Brexit ‘disastrous’ for EU global role — analysts
BRUSSELS: Britain leaving the European Union would strip the bloc of a nuclear-armed global player and prove “disastrous” for its presence on the world stage, analysts say. The timing could hardly be worse, as the EU struggles with its biggest migration crisis since World War II and the continent facing a growing threat from terrorism fueled by...
Crimea unveils gun-toting statue to celebrate Russian annexation
SIMFEROPOL: The authorities in Crimea on Saturday unveiled a bronze statue of a heavily armed Russian soldier to celebrate the peninsula’s 2014 annexation from Ukraine. The slightly larger-than-life sculpture in Crimea’s main city of Simferopol shows a soldier carrying a Kalashnikov and wearing rounds of ammunition on his chest. A...
Thousands protest OSCE presence in rebel-held Ukraine
DONETSK, Ukraine: More than 5,000 people rallied Friday in Donetsk, the main base of pro-Russian insurgents in east Ukraine, to protest the presence of OSCE monitors in the war-ravaged region. The demonstration was the latest in a series of rallies organized by pro-Moscow rebels against the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe—a...
