Section: AsiaOne (Singapore)
Ukraine separatists start controversial election
DONETSK, Ukraine – Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine began voting in controversial leadership elections on Sunday that Kiev and the West have refused to recognise and which threatened to deepen an international crisis over the conflict.The elections in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s...
1 pilot dead as Virgin Galactic spaceship crashes in US desert
LOS ANGELES – Virgin Galactic’s pioneering spacecraft designed to take tourists into space crashed on Friday in California, killing one of the two pilots and scattering debris across the desert.Television images showed parts of SpaceShipTwo, a test vehicle flying to the edge of space, scattered amid brush in the desert east of Mojave,...
Back to Cold War as Russia probes NATO defences
BRUSSELS – Nuclear-capable Russian bombers in European airspace, NATO intercepts, a foreign submarine in Swedish waters – the fall-out from the Ukraine crisis feels like a return to Cold War days.NATO has intercepted Russian aircraft on more than 100 occasions so far this year, three times more than all 2013, its new head Jens...
Ukraine rebel vote drives further wedge between Russia and West
DONETSK, Ukraine – Pro-Russian separatists controlling swathes of east Ukraine are set to hold leadership polls on Sunday that Moscow has backed despite condemnation from Kiev and the West.While insurgent leaders hope the first elections in their “republics” will show they have popular support, Ukraine and the West fear the...
First lawsuit filed in Malaysia over MH370
KUALA LUMPUR – A Malaysian family on Friday sued the government and beleaguered national carrier for negligence in the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370, in what is believed to be the first lawsuit filed over the disaster.The suit was filed by lawyers on behalf of the two underage sons of Jee Jing Hang, who was on board the ill-fated...
Kremlin-funded broadcaster lauded by Putin starts TV news channel in UK
LONDON – RT, a Kremlin-funded broadcaster lauded by President Vladimir Putin, launched a TV news channel in Britain on Thursday, promising to challenge “dominant power structures” and scrutinise the UK government.Seeking to extend Russia’s soft power in a close US ally, the channel said it would broadcast dedicated news...
Ukraine-Russia gas talks stall, Moscow demands EU help pay
BRUSSELS – EU-brokered talks to resolve a bitter gas supply dispute between Russia and Ukraine stalled Thursday as Moscow demanded that Brussels and Kiev first agree on how Ukraine will pay its huge bill.The talks were due to resume later in the day as the international community looked anxiously ahead to elections planned Sunday by...
East Ukraine’s rebels prepare for a long cold war
LUKOVE, Ukraine – As winter approaches in Ukraine’s eastern countryside, pro-Russian rebels and Kiev forces eye each other uneasily across a ragged frontline. Despite signing a truce, both seem to be digging in for the long haul.”We are repairing this tank after it was hit by mortar shells yesterday. The war will be long. If...
Poland says to beef up military on its eastern border
WARSAW – Poland said on Tuesday it is drawing up a long-term plan to shift some of its military strength towards its eastern border, closer to Ukraine and Russia, in response to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine.NATO member Poland is anxious that it could be the next target for Kremlin expansion after Russia annexed Ukraine’s...
Ukraine’s pro-West parties in coalition talks
KIEV – Coalition talks intensify Tuesday between the pro-Western winners of Ukraine’s parliamentary poll, while attacks by pro-Russian insurgents in the east highlight the obstacles to their promises of peace and deeper EU ties.The day after pro-West and moderate nationalist forces backing President Petro Poroshenko scored a big win...
