Section: AsiaOne (Singapore)
Russia may claim damages if France doesn’t deliver Mistral warship
MOSCOW – Russia may demand monetary compensation unless France delivers the first of two Mistral helicopter carriers by the end of November, state news agency RIA quoted an unnamed source as saying on Friday.RIA said a Russian delegation that had planned to travel to France on Friday to take part in a ceremony to transfer the first ship in...
Showdown over Ukraine at G20 looms
BRISBANE Australia – Western leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin, following fresh reports of Russian troops pouring into eastern Ukraine.Ukraine has accused Russia of sending soldiers and weapons to help separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine launch a new offensive in a conflict that has killed more than 4,000 people.British Prime...
Moscow and Kiev trade accusations
MOSCOW/KIEV – Moscow and Kiev accused each other on Thursday of violating a ceasefire and the United States warned Russia the West might punish it further for its “military escalation” of the Ukraine crisis.Ukraine accused Russia of sending soldiers and weapons to help separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine launch a new offensive...
World leaders enjoy sun, beer, koalas on Australian
BRISBANE, Australia – An Australian newspaper gave G20 leaders an irreverent welcome Friday, with Barack Obama depicted bare-chested and in swimming trunks, Angela Merkel shown hugging a koala and Vladimir Putin wearing a hat made from beer cartons.Brisbane’s Courier-Mail’s shows Indonesia’s Joko Widodo tending a barbecue,...
Investigations into downed MAS flight MH17 extended to Aug 2015
PETALING JAYA – Investigations into downed Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH17 have been extended to Aug 2015.”Member countries of the joint investigation team (JIT) into the downing of MH17 in July have agreed to extend the investigation for another nine months,” said Australia’s Justice Minister Michael Keenan in a...
Australia monitors Russian ships off north coast
BRISBANE – Australia on Thursday said it was tracking four Russian naval vessels off its north coast, with relations between the two nations strained after the downing of Flight MH17 in Ukraine.The appearance of the fleet coincides with Vladimir Putin’s arrival at the G20 summit in Brisbane and follows a highly-anticipated exchange...
Italy couple cannot keep child born to surrogate mother: Court
ROME – Italy’s supreme court has ruled that a baby born to a surrogate mother in Ukraine cannot be kept by the Italian couple who paid for it and must be put up for adoption, Italian media reports said Wednesday.Under Italian law, the person who gives birth to a baby is legally its mother, and the use of surrogate mothers is...
Finland Prime Minister warns of new ‘Cold War’
HELSINKI – Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb warned Tuesday that the conflict in the Ukraine was bringing the world to the “brink of a Cold War” but that trade sanctions were the only credible weapon against Russia.”Russia’s foreign policy doctrine has Cold War elements,” he told public broadcaster...
Obama and Putin are odd couple at Beijing summit
BEIJING – A couple of brief encounters between Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin during an Asia-Pacific summit in China on Tuesday spoke volumes about the chilly state of relations between the United States and Russia.With the two men crossing paths twice this week, first in Beijing and later at a G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, there was...
Biden warns Russia over Ukraine
WASHINGTON – US Vice President Joe Biden warned Russia over Ukraine after new columns of tanks, trucks and heavy artillery rumbled towards the pro-Moscow rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Monday.The West has repeatedly expressed concern at Ukrainian claims that Russian military reinforcements are being sent in, while Moscow denies that it is...
