Section: AsiaOne (Singapore)
Obama ramps up pressure on Russia after deadly Ukraine blitz
KIEV – US President Barack Obama vowed on Sunday to ramp up pressure on Russia after rocket attacks blamed on Kremlin-backed Ukrainian rebels killed 30 and injured 95 more.Saturday’s surprise assault on the strategic eastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol threatened to open a new front linking separatist territory near the Russian border...
Lavrov tells Kerry Ukraine violence due to ‘constant firing’ by Kiev troops
MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking to his US counterpart John Kerry on Sunday, blamed the latest upsurge in fighting in eastern Ukraine on Ukrainian government forces who he said were “constantly” shelling towns.”Sergei Lavrov pointed out that an escalation of the situation is a result of Ukrainian...
Saudi capital goes quiet for day of mourning
RIYADH – The normally gridlocked streets of the Saudi capital were quiet on Sunday after King Salman declared a day of mourning for his predecessor Abdullah, and more foreign leaders made their way to the kingdom.Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean arrived, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was on his way to offer...
Survivors, royalty, presidents mark Auschwitz liberation 70 years on
WARSAW – Seventy years after it was liberated, 300 Auschwitz survivors – most now in their nineties – will on Tuesday return to the former Nazi death camp, the site of the largest single number of murders committed during World War II.Between 1940-45 some 1.1 million people, including one million Jews, perished in the twin death...
Russia blocks UN statement on Ukraine as fighting escalates
UNITED NATIONS – Russia blocked a UN Security Council statement on Saturday that would have criticised a pro-Russian Ukrainian rebel leader and condemned a recent upsurge in violence that has claimed dozens of lives in eastern Ukraine, council diplomats said.The latest failure of the council to weigh in on the war came as pro-Russian rebels...
Putin blames Ukraine’s ‘criminal orders’ for new fighting
MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed “criminal orders” by Ukrainian leaders on Friday for a surge in fighting in east Ukraine, and Russian-backed separatists struck a bellicose tone in ruling out seeking more peace talks.Putin’s remarks, and the comments by the separatists’ main leader, signalled a...
Putin to visit Hungary on February 17
BUDAPEST – Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Hungary on February 17 with controversial Prime Minister Viktor Orban seen as one of his closest European allies.”We will have bilateral and geopolitical issues on the agenda… including the energy security of central Europe as it is one of the most important issues for the...
Backing down over Ukraine, could hurt public support for Putin
MOSCOW – A surge in violence in east Ukraine is undermining international hopes that Russia’s financial crisis and Western sanctions will force President Vladimir Putin to change policy on the conflict.There is a growing sense of foreboding as fighting between Ukrainian government forces and separatists intensifies, complicating...
Five civilians dead as fresh battles rock east Ukraine’s Donetsk
KIEV – Fresh clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels rocked Donetsk in the country’s war-torn east Wednesday, killing at least five civilians and wounding 29 others ahead of high-stakes peace talks, officials said.The deaths came with concerns mounting over the fate of civilians in the nine-month-old conflict that has...
Davos elite gather in shadow of attacks
DAVOS, Switzerland – The world’s political and business elite gather for their annual meeting in the glitzy Swiss ski resort of Davos from Wednesday, with the shadow of recent attacks in France and ongoing global conflicts looming large.French President Francois Hollande and US Secretary of State John Kerry will be among the 2,500...
