Section: AsiaOne (Singapore)
Cuba, from antagonist to diplomatic player
Spurned for decades by Western powers, Cuba is now taking an ever bigger role in international relations.Havana hosted a historic meeting between the heads of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches on Friday. Cuba’s President Raul Castro, 84, witnessed their kiss and embrace.Those talks were significant in the context of tension between...
Pope, Russian patriarch will meet to talk about persecution
The patriarch of Russia’s Orthodox Church is taking part in an historic first meeting with the Roman Catholic pontiff because of the need for a joint response to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, the Orthodox Church said.Senior Orthodox cleric Metropolitan Hilarion said that long-standing differences between the two churches...
Ukraine economy minister resigns over state graft
Kiev – Ukraine’s economy minister abruptly tendered his resignation Wednesday saying overwhelming corruption had stifled his efforts to push through measures essential to getting growth back on track in the cash-strapped country.Aivaras Abromavicius’s shock departure laid bare divisions within the pro-Western government of...
Merkel tells Putin to ‘use influence’ to rein in Ukraine rebels
Berlin – Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence to rein in pro-Kremlin rebels in eastern Ukraine, a day after the German leader warned that a peace deal was not being fully implemented.During a phonecall, Merkel “made it clear to President Putin that in order to obtain further...
Top US, Kremlin officials meet at Russian border for closed Ukraine talks
MOSCOW – Top US and Russian officials met Friday in Russia’s westernmost outpost to discuss the Ukraine crisis amid attempts to bolster a fragile truce in the east of the ex-Soviet country, a source told AFP.US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and top Kremlin aide Vladislav Surkov met near the city of Kaliningrad in...
French teacher in avalanche tragedy faces manslaughter probe
Grenoble, France – A French teacher faces a manslaughter investigation after he led a group of students onto a closed skiing piste in the French Alps where an avalanche killed two of them as well as a Ukrainian tourist, a prosecutor said Thursday.The teacher cannot be taken into custody “for the time being” because he was...
Poroshenko says he wants EU, US help in securing Crimea’s return
KIEV – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Thursday he wanted EU and US help in securing Crimea’s return from Russian control and vowed to regain sovereignty over the separatist east in 2016.The bold announcements by the pro-Western leader came with Poroshenko facing increasing public pressure to end Ukraine’s brutal...
Two French teens, Ukrainian man killed in Alpine avalanche
Two French teenagers and a Ukrainian man were killed Wednesday when an avalanche swept away skiers in the French Alps, including a group on a school outing, local officials said.The avalanche hit a piste at the Deux Alpes resort in eastern France which has been closed to the public all season, engulfing a group of French pupils and their teacher...
Hackers used malware to confuse utility in Ukraine outage – report
Hackers likely caused a Dec. 23 electricity outage in Ukraine by remotely switching breakers to cut power, after installing malware to prevent technicians from detecting the attack, according to a report analysing how the incident unfolded.The report from Washington-based SANS ICS was released late on Saturday, providing the first detailed...
Uproar over Coke online ad showing Crimea part of Russia
MOSCOW/KIEV – US drinks firm Coca-Cola on Wednesday blamed a marketing agency for a map used in an online advertising campaign that showed Crimea to be part of Russia and which drew protests and threats of a boycott from angry Ukrainians.Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014, leading to condemnation from Western...
