Section: US & Canada
Czech PM: President Zeman Overreacted to Comments by US Envoy
The prime minister of the Czech Republic and other top officials criticized the country’s president for a rare diplomatic row with the U.S. ambassador to Prague. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said Monday he wished President Milos Zeman was more professional in diplomatic affairs. Sobotka made it explicitly clear that it was crucial for...
IMF Official Sees ‘Leeway’ in Judging Ukraine’s Debt Progress
The International Monetary Fund will assess the progress of Ukraine’s talks with creditors, but does not have to make any decisions in June, when its next review of the country’s $17.5-billion bailout is due, the Fund’s No. 2 official said on Tuesday. Ukraine’s officials have set themselves a June deadline to complete debt...
Russia May Consider Removing Greece, Hungary, Cyprus From Food-Ban List
The Russian government could consider removing Greece, Hungary and Cyprus from its ban on most Western food imports, Russian Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov was quoted as saying on Tuesday. Russia’s ban, which should run until early August, was imposed in retaliation to Western sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s role in the...
Ukraine Beats Russia – at the Women’s World Chess Championships
A Ukrainian has beaten a Russian to the title of this year’s Women’s World Chess Championships, which came to a close yesterday in the Russian resort city of Sochi. In the final match, 22-year-old Mariya Muzychuk from Ukraine, a two-time former national champion, defeated 30-year-old Natalia Pogonina from Russia, with the final score...
Judith Miller Clings to Her Own Stubborn Myths
Judith Miller recently popped out of the Fox News bubble for a quick jaunt to the Wall Street Journal editorial page, the home base for John Bolton, Max Boot, and other neo-con hawks, to give her forthcoming book a little free advertising. In the process she attempts to whitewash her role as an influential pro-war voice in the lead-up to the Iraq...
Why Europe Backs Obama on Iran
PARMA, Italy — Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu seems close to ordering a general mobilization of his country’s military, and Republicans in the United States are preparing for a ferocious battle with President Barack Obama’s administration, in the wake of the framework nuclear agreement with Iran. And yet the framework...
Ukraine in Talks to Boost Reserves
Ukraine is in talks with several countries to provide currency swap lines to boost the country’s emergency cash reserves, the IMF’s No. 2 official, David Lipton, said Tuesday. …read more Source: The Wall Street...
Russia Strips ‘Rogue’ MP of Immunity
Russia’s parliament voted on Tuesday to strip the only deputy who voted against last year’s annexation of Crimea of his immunity from prosecution as a lawmaker. State prosecutors had asked the State Duma lower house to deprive opposition deputy Ilya Ponomaryov of his immunity, opening the way for him to face possible embezzlement...
Quebec politician Gerard Deltell to seek nomination for federal Tories
QUEBEC – A longtime member of the Quebec legislature is jumping to the federal Conservatives as Prime Minister Stephen Harper pushes for further inroads in the province.Gerard Deltell of the Coalition for Quebec’s Future will seek the Tory nomination in the Quebec City riding of Louis-Saint-Laurent.Deltell, 50, has represented the...
Large Crowds Honor Nemtsov at Memorial Near Kremlin
Hundreds of people paid their respects Tuesday to the memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in February just meters from the Kremlin. Supporters squeezed onto the narrow pedestrian walkway of a bridge where Nemtsov died to place flowers to mark the 40-day memorial, an Orthodox Christian tradition. Police set up...
