Section: AsiaOne (Singapore)
Serbia to salute Putin but sees future with Europe
BELGRADE – Russian President Vladimir Putin is guest of honour at a military parade in Belgrade on Thursday to mark 70 years since the city’s liberation by the Red Army, a visit loaded with symbolism as Serbia walks a tightrope between the Europe it wants to join and a big-power ally it cannot leave behind.The United States and...
Putin takes centre stage at Asia-Europe summit
MILAN – Vladimir Putin will take centre stage at an Asia-Europe (ASEM) summit that opens Thursday in Milan, where the Russian leader is to hold face-to-face talks with Ukraine counterpart Petro Poroshenko.The headline theme of the conference is promoting economic cooperation between more than 50 countries who share one of the world’s...
Putin in Serbia to secure Russian interests
BELGRADE – Vladimir Putin was expected in Belgrade Thursday to secure Russian interests in Serbia, its traditional ally but also EU aspirant, and to attend 70th anniversary of Belgrade’s liberation from Nazi occupation.”Our joint obligation is to oppose to glorification of Nazism and to attempts to revise outcome of the World...
EU, China agree to step up cooperation against terrorism
BRUSSELS – Leaders from China and the European Union agreed to step up cooperation to counter extremism and terrorism in the Middle East and Africa, the EU said on Thursday.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang held talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy on Wednesday evening on the...
MH17 crash site access narrows
MALAYSIA – As winter approaches and with more than 10 separatist groups fighting, the chance to enter the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash site gets slimmer.The separatists were making sporadic exchanges of fire in nearby areas of the crash site, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said, and preventing Dutch and Malaysian...
Moscow and Beijing ‘natural allies’ Putin tells China
MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday praised growing economic ties with “natural ally” Beijing as he hosted Chinese premier Li Keqiang for high-profile talks.Li’s three-day visit to Russia comes as the Kremlin is locked in a battle of wills with the West over Ukraine and is seeking to ramp up cooperation...
Chinese PM Li to meet Putin as ties deepen
MOSCOW – Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang will meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Tuesday as Moscow, struggling with its deepest isolation since the end of the Cold War, seeks to deepen a key relationship.The two nations on Monday pledged to increase efforts to promote a just world order as Li and his counterpart Dmitry Medvedev signed...
Kongsberg sees billions of dollars in possible missile sales
WASHINGTON – Kongsberg Gruppen ASA says its Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and a sister missile developed to go into the bomb bay of the F-35 fighter jet could generate billions of dollars of new revenues for the Norwegian company in coming years.Walter Qvam, president and chief executive of Kongsberg, told Reuters that Russian aggression in...
Kerry meets Egypt’s Sisi to press democracy
CAIRO – US Secretary of State John Kerry was meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday to press the former military leader to adopt greater democratic reforms.Fresh from a day-long donors conference in Cairo which raised some US$5.4 billion (S$6.9 billion) in pledges to help the Palestinians and the Gaza Strip, Kerry was to...
Five countries set to join world’s ‘top table’
UNITED NATIONS, United States – Years of campaigning for a seat at the world’s “top table” come to a head this week when elections are held to the UN Security Council, which decides on such weighty matters as sanctions, war and peace.Five seats are up for grabs in the 15-member Council, where the elected countries will...
