Section: The Guardian (The United Kingdom)
Pro-Russian group claims cyber-attack on German government websites
Angela Merkel’s page blocked ahead of visit by Ukraine’s prime ministerGerman government websites including chancellor Angela Merkel’s page were hacked on Wednesday in a cyber-attack claimed by a group demanding that Berlin sever official ties with the Ukrainian government.The attack, against which counter-measures were taken,...
Ukraine’s forgotten city destroyed by war
Pervomaisk has been reduced to rubble in the fighting between government troops and rebel forces, and at least half of its population has fled. Russian human rights campaigner Oleg Orlov was granted rare access to the areaThe scale of destruction in the city of Pervomaisk, Luhansk Oblast, recalls wartime Grozny. Such devastation is not to be...
Ex-Soviet countries on front line of Russia’s media war with the west
The Kremlin’s big plans for the global expansion of state media has been greeted with suspicion, especially in the countries of the former USSRWhen Dmitry Kiselyov, the Russian state television presenter known for his scandalising monologues, announced the opening of the Kremlin’s new website and radio service Sputnik News, he...
In 2014, Russia’s Olympian efforts were dwarfed by Ukraine crisis
Vladimir Putin wanted to use Games and G8 to establish Russia on world stage, but starring role became for far grimmer reasonOn New Year’s Eve it will be 15 years since Vladimir Putin first took over the reins of Russia from an ailing Boris Yeltsin as the millennium struck, and 2014 ranks as perhaps the most challenging and dramatic year...
Urban photos of the year – in pictures
Fire in Valparaiso, umbrellas in Hong Kong, a wall of snow towering over Buffalo … here are 13 of the most powerful images from cities around the world in 2014 … …read more Source: The...
Rising stars of 2015: chef Olia Hercules
With a book of old family recipes the Ukrainian-born cookery writer is spreading the word about the culinary treasures of her homelandSee the Observer’s rising stars of 2015 in fullRising stars of 2015: musician KwabsWhen Olia Hercules went to work on her first cookbook, a joyful celebration of eastern European cooking called Mamushka, she...
Fear of flying: the spectre that haunts modern life
After a bad year for the air travel industry dominated by disasters and technical meltdowns, Alex Preston decides to come to terms with his ‘aviophobia’It’s been a bad year for aviophobes. About 30% of us find air travel anything from faintly disconcerting to unutterably terrifying, as we pore over reports of near-misses and midair...
The 20 photographs of the year
The world’s leading photojournalists describe how they captured 20 defining images in 2014 – from the ongoing violence in Syria to the World Cup in Brazil• Warning: some of these photographs contain graphic content … …read more Source: The...
Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko greets returning prisoners of war – video
The Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, welcomes home dozens of prisoners of war at an airport in Kiev on Saturday, after they were exchanged with hundreds of pro-Russian separatist prisoners. Video released by Ukraine’s Presidential Press Service shows Petro Poroshenko shaking the hands of those returning and embracing some, as they...
Ukraine army begins to swap captives with rebel forces
Negotiators trying to reach broader agreement involving a ceasefire and withdrawal of troops and weapons from frontlineThe Ukrainian army has begun swapping soldiers with pro-Russia rebels under the terms of a preliminary deal agreed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.The exchange began with 30 captives from each side and by it was expected to...
