Section: Singapore
Sink or sell? Russia spat leaves France with warships to spare
PARIS – For sale: two French-built helicopter carriers, tested by Russians. Buy now for only 1.2 billion euros. Shipping extra.Tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine have blocked a deal in which Moscow was to buy the ships, leaving Paris trying to negotiate a face-saving compromise and work out CAwhat to do with two unwanted...
Russian missile maker says BUK rocket downed MH17
June 02, 2015 8:42 PMMOSCOW (AFP) – The Russian firm making missiles similar to the one the West claims downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine said on Tuesday the passenger jet was likely hit by a BUK missile system. …read more Source: The Straits...
Latvia to choose president in controversial ‘black box’ vote
RIGA – Latvia’s parliament votes for a new president on Wednesday as the small Baltic NATO and eurozone member weighs security concerns amid heightened tensions with Soviet-era master Russia.Four candidates are in the race, but given Latvia’s indirect presidential voting system and its fractious 100-member parliament, it is...
UN finds growing signs of Russian involvement in Ukraine war
A separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine is revealing increasing evidence, but not yet conclusive legal proof, of Russian state involvement, senior United Nations human rights officials said on Monday. …read more Source: Channel...
Egypt seizes over 64 million smuggled cigarette packs
CAIRO – Egypt said on Monday it seized more than 64 million packs of smuggled cigarettes in May, of which over two million were counterfeit.The customs authorities at Port Said confiscated about 56 million packs before they could enter the country, the interior ministry said.At the same port, 5.9 million packs that were being shipped from...
Georgia threatens to strip ex-leader Saakashvili’s citizenship
TBILISI – Georgia has threatened to revoke pro-Western former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s citizenship after he was granted a Ukrainian passport and appointed as governor of the strategic Odessa region.Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said Saakashvili’s move, which according to the constitution, could lead to the loss...
IMF mission gives upbeat assessment of Ukraine
[KIEV] The head of an International Monetary Fund team visiting Ukraine gave a positive assessment of progress by Kiev on reform on Sunday and said there would be further discussion on loans that the near-bankrupt country badly needs. …read more Source: The Business...
S Korean violinist, 20, wins Queen Elisabeth competition
BRUSSELS – Twenty-year-old South Korean violinist Ji Young Lim has won Belgium’s prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition.Ji’s interpretation of Brahms’s violin concerto in D major landed her the top prize of 25,000 euros (S$36,750) and a four-year loan of a 1708 Stradivarius from the Nippon Music...
EU criticises ‘unjustified’ Russian travel blacklist
Russia’s entry ban on 89 European politicians and military leaders angered Europe and worsened its standoff with the West over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine conflict. …read more Source: Channel...
Putin getting left out of G-7 meeting, but not much else
WASHINGTON – When US President Barack Obama and other world leaders gather in Germany next week, Russia’s Vladimir Putin will be left off the guest list, part of his punishment for more than a year of alleged Kremlin-supported aggression in Ukraine. But… …read more Source:...
