Section: US & Canada
On the edge of peace — or catastrophe — in Ukraine
Unless Russia and the rebels it backs in eastern Ukraine find Mariupol an irresistible strategic target — in which case all bets are off, again — the Minsk II ceasefire and peace deal Angela Merkel brokered appears to have survived the battle of Debaltseve and may be taking hold. This tragic Slavic civil war has killed thousands and condemned...
It is not who killed Russia’s Boris Nemtsov, it is why
Among the many theories for the calculated murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov last week is his outspoken contempt for the Kremlin’s involvement in Ukraine. It is a subject not much discussed inside Russia, Nahlah Ayed reports, but Nemtsov was determined to change that. …read more Source:...
China state media harden stance against Western values
BEIJING — Western values are a “ticket to hell,” a newspaper published by China’s Communist Party said in a recent editorial that held up Ukraine and some Arab countries as examples of outside ideas causing turmoil. In the two-plus years since President Xi Jinping took the helm of the ruling Communist Party, state media have become more...
Russia Tries to Block Benefits for Families of Gay U.N. Employees
Last June, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a far-reaching administrative ruling that offered marital benefits for the first time to all of its lesbian and gay employees, as well as to other U.N. workers that had entered legally-recognized domestic partnerships. On Monday, the Russian Federation gave the plan a resounding nyet. Speaking...
More Ukraine sanctions possible: Nicholson
More Ukraine sanctions possible if ceasefire problems continue, says Nicholson …read more Source:...
For Russia’s Jews, Nemtsov murder is reminder of their vulnerability
Some of the tens of thousands in Moscow protesting the murder of Boris Nemtsov, March 1, 2015. (Alexander Aksakov/Getty Images) (JTA) — During the past two years, Dima Zicer has skipped several political rallies opposing the chauvinistic policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A Jewish scholar of education from St. Petersburg, Zicer, 55,...
An Islamic State paradise
REUTERS/Social media via Reuters TV Islamic State’s most horrific video to date, the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians, was shocking not only for its unsettling content but for its novel setting. It was not shot in the deserts of Iraq or Syria but on a beach in Libya, far from where the U.S. and its allies have been bombing the group. The...
Woman with slain Putin critic says she didn't see his killer
MOSCOW — The 23-year-old Ukrainian model who was with slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov tearfully recounted Monday their last dinner in a chic Red Square restaurant and their walk onto a nearby bridge — but said she did not see the gunman who pulled the trigger.The emotional account by Anna Duritskaya came amid a swirl of speculation about...
John Mraz: Putin’s war on the truth
Russian opposition leader’s Boris Nemtsov’s assassination last week came as no surprise to Russia’s or Ukraine’s polities, and should come as none to Western governments and leaders. Failing an extraordinarily unlikely, voluntary, and credible confession from the assassin(s), it will remain unsolved, simply another murder...
Nemtsov murder witness heads to Kiev after leaving Moscow: Ukrainian official
Kiev (AFP) – The chief witness in the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who had complained of being kept under guard in Moscow, was able to leave Russia and is now on her way to Kiev, Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman said late Monday.”Ganna Duritska has just left for Kiev. Ukrainian diplomats in Moscow...
