Section: US & Canada
Ukrainian president calls for international peacekeeping mission
ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called Wednesday for an international peacekeeping mission in his nation’s war-torn east, a stark admission that his nation can no longer fend off pro-Russian rebels after a major battlefield defeat. …read more Source: Pittsburgh...
Ukrainian soldiers tell of harrowing escape
When the order to retreat came over the radio Wednesday, most of the Ukrainian troops under siege in Debaltseve abandoned their heavy weapons, blew up their ammunition, and then fled…Click to Continue » …read more Source: The Bellingham...
Somalia on the Mediterranean
The Islamic State’s beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya, and Egypt’s subsequent airstrikes on Libyan soil, have relaunched debate over what to do about the mounting crisis in that country. The situation in Libya — previously seen as a success of Western intervention and a victory for the heady, if unsteady, forces of...
Jeb Bush: On Foreign Policy, I Am Not George W. Bush
In an attempt to distance himself from his brother, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush found vagueness was a virtue when he went before the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Wednesday to deliver what was billed as a major foreign-policy address. Bush presented a somewhat hawkish vision of America’s role in the world — decrying cuts to defense...
The Draft Dodgers of Ukraine
KIEV, Ukraine — Roman has been dodging the draft for almost a month now. A longtime political activist and accountant in Lviv, in western Ukraine, he no longer lives where he’s registered at his parents’ house in a small village outside the city, so he wasn’t there when the local draft board tried to serve him notice on Jan. 16....
Ukrainian battalion’s soldiers recall desperate run to safety
ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine — When the order to retreat came over the radio Wednesday, most of the Ukrainian troops under siege in Debaltseve abandoned their heavy weapons, blew up their ammunition, and then fled in convoys of trucks as pro-Russian forces shot at them along the way.Read full article >> …read more Source: The Washington...
Ukraine loses key town to separatists despite cease-fire
RELATED LINKSFighting continues in eastern Ukraine despite truce (Some) quiet on the eastern front as Ukraine’s cease-fire goes into effect Minsk deal offers ‘glimmer of hope’ amid major obstacles for Ukraine, Russia GWEN IFILL: As we reported earlier, thousands of Ukrainian troops withdrew today from Debaltseve in Eastern Ukraine...
CHRISTOPHER HARPER: Citizen journalist scoops war news from home in England
ANALYSIS/OPINION: As Syria and Iraq have become increasingly dangerous for reporters, a citizen journalist has provided extraordinary information from his laptop in England about what is happening in the Middle East and in other dangerous locales, such as Ukraine. Without any journalistic training, Eliot Higgins, who lives in Leicester, has...
Scenes From Eastern Ukraine Show Cease-Fire in Shreds
Ukrainian troops pulled out of the besieged town of Debaltseve on Wednesday as pro-Russian rebels advanced despite a cease-fire agreed upon last week. The strategic town was the site of intense bombardment by rebel forces, and clashes left at least 22 Ukrainian soldiers dead in the past few days, according to Reuters. On Wednesday, President...
Obama Administration Affirms Ukraine’s ‘Right’ to Surrender Territory to Putin
Despite a European-brokered “ceasefire,” the war in eastern Ukraine rages on. Russian separatists continue their assault on the city of Debaltseve, forcing the Ukrainian army to withdraw its troops. And yet, the U.S. State Department continues to hold out hope that the ceasefire will work. “We don’t consider it dead,” said spokeswoman Jen...
