Section: US & Canada
Russia defiant after more threats from West over Ukraine
MOSCOW — A defiant President Vladimir Putin on Monday called the Ukrainian army a “NATO foreign legion,” reflecting his readiness to stand up to the West regardless of rising economic costs, as Standard & Poor’s rating agency downgraded Russia’s credit rating to junk. …read more Source: Pittsburgh...
Attack on Ukraine’s Mariupol targeted civilians: UN
Moscow (AFP) – The UN said a rocket attack that killed 30 people in a city in eastern Ukraine deliberately targeted civilians, as Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned Western calls to rein in a pro-Moscow insurgency.A senior UN official told an emergency Security Council meeting that the deadly rocket barrage on the port city of...
Last Survivors Recall Auschwitz, Ask if Lessons Learned
Russia’s Vladimir Putin will be absent from the main event marking 70 years since Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz death camp in Poland, held against a backdrop of hostilities in Ukraine and warnings of a rise in anti-Semitism in Europe. The commemoration on Tuesday at the site in southern Poland where the Nazis killed about 1.5...
Raw grief at Ukraine graves
Funerals are held in Mariupol, Ukraine, for the 30 people who were killed by a missile strike over the weekend. CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reports. …read more Source:...
Undercover Banker: Feds Bust Russian Spy Ring in New York
On April 8, 2013, Victor Podobnyy sat down for a conversation with his boss, Igor Sporyshev, in the New York offices of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, the SVR. Podobnyy had recently met a consultant who hoped to strike it rich in Russia’s oil industry, and Podobnyy hoped to pump him for information. “He got hooked on Gazprom,”...
US Warns of More Sanctions Against Russia; Ukraine Waiting for ‘Lethal’ Aid
The United States is echoing concerns from Western allies about Russia’s continued interference in eastern Ukraine. U.S. military officials say Moscow’s support for separatists is “troubling,” as is the presence of what they call “a strong Russian force postured along the Ukrainian-Russian border.” VOA’s Jeff Seldin reports from...
Washington to Play Bigger Role in Yemen Terror Fight
The United States is continuing airstrikes against al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen while facing questions about how to carry on such operations without a trusted partner on the ground following the collapse of the country’s fragile, pro-Western government. The U.S. strategy until now has been centered on CIA drone strikes on al Qaeda...
Deadly attack on Ukrainian city of Mariupol could be a war crime: UN
Deadly rocket attacks on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol this weekend that “knowingly targeted civilians” violated international humanitarian law and could amount to war crimes, the U.N. political chief said Monday. …read more Source: CTV...
Long-Awaited Litvinenko Inquiry To Begin in London
LONDON (Reuters) – A long-awaited public inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko begins in London on Tuesday, nine years after the former KGB spy died after drinking tea poisoned with a rare radioactive isotope in the British capital. From his deathbed, Kremlin-critic Litvinenko, who had been granted British citizenship, accused...
S.&P. Cuts Russian Debt One Notch to Junk Level
Between Western sanctions on Russia and the sliding price of oil, the ratings agency cited narrowing possibilities for its government and companies to service their debt. …read more Source: The New York...
