Section: US & Canada
EU, ex-Soviet states meet in Putin’s shadow
Warsaw (AFP) – European Union leaders and six ex-Soviet states hold a summit Thursday focussed on the bloc’s Eastern Partnership project, which was designed to bolster mutual ties but has been undermined by Russia’s intervention in Ukraine.The number one question at the two-day meeting in the Latvian capital Riga will be how the...
Tensions With Russia Hang Over EU Partnership Summit
European Union leaders are set to meet with their counterparts from six eastern countries in Riga May 21 and 22, amid concern that the meeting could further inflame tensions with Russia. …read more Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio...
Russians captured in Ukraine send messages back home
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Lonely and hurting, two men lie in narrow beds in a Kiev hospital as controversy swirls around them. …read more Source: CNS...
Russia and U.S. Find Common Cause in Arctic Pact
Russia will sign a treaty on fishing in the Arctic Ocean, which was delayed by the crisis in Ukraine. …read more Source: The New York...
The Art of Avoiding War
DeAgostini / Getty The Scythians were nomadic horsemen who dominated a vast realm of the Pontic steppe north of the Black Sea, in present-day Ukraine and southern Russia, from the seventh century to the third century b.c. Unlike other ancient peoples who left not a trace, the Scythians continued to haunt and terrify long after they were gone....
Russian Parliament Passes Law To Shut Down ‘Undesirable’ NGOs
MOSCOW, May 19 (Reuters) – The Russian parliament’s lower chamber adopted on Tuesday a law barring foreign and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the country if they are deemed to pose a threat to Russia’s constitutional order, defense or security. The law further increases pressure on NGOs after Russia...
Russian captured in eastern Ukraine says he is fine
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Representatives of Amnesty International and the OSCE have visited the two captured fighters whom Ukraine claims are Russian soldiers in a Kiev hospital. …read more Source: CNS...
Brian Mulroney announces expanded scholarship program
Justin Tang/CP Paying for university just got a whole lot easier, with former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s announcement of a $10-million endowment for high school students. Mulroney announced the new endowment in a hall crowded with dignitaries, including astronaut Chris Hadfield, Juno-award winning quartet the Tenors and Toronto Mayor...
Jean Chretien invited Putin to send emissary to meeting next month
Former prime minister Jean Chrétien tried at a meeting last month to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to send a representative to a meeting of former world leaders where the crisis in Ukraine will be on the agenda. Chrétien is co-chair of the InterAction Council, a global group of ex-presidents and prime ministers. The council’s...
Estonian choir brings taste of the power of music to Canada
Norman Reintamm witnessed the real-world power of music when he left Canada to work in the National Opera House in Estonia, just before the fall of the Soviet Union. During the late 1980s, the declining empire was still throwing its weight around and the Estonians, who wanted to become free of Moscow, did not want to “raise arms against the...
