Section: US & Canada
Drama in the skies in 2014
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters MALAYSIA AIRLINES MH17 On July 17, pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine allegedly shot down a commercial jet travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew. Questions swirled about how a ragtag group of separatists who apparently couldn’t tell military jets from passenger planes...
High School Revisited: Kim Jong Un Gets an Invite from Russia
It’s possible to see North Korea’s alleged cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment as little more than high schoolers intercepting notes sent from desk to desk during class when the teacher wasn’t looking. But geo-strategically, the schoolhouse drama ratcheted up Monday, when the Russians confirmed that they have invited Kim...
Ukraine votes to move toward NATO, infuriating Russia
Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday voted to drop the country’s non-aligned status, allowing it to work towards NATO membership. While Kiev hailed the move as historic, Russia did not mince words in voicing its opposition to Ukraine’s pivot towards NATO and the West. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the move...
Is Saudi Arabia Trying to Cripple American Fracking?
In a country that never tires of hearing itself described as “a nation of innovators,” the idea that one such innovation — the shale oil boom — has galvanized the world’s most powerful cartel, OPEC, to launch a campaign to snuff it out has obvious appeal. But like most Hollywood notions of reality, however, this one is too good to be true....
Russia Forms Alliance With 4 Ex-Soviet Nations
MOSCOW—The leaders of Russia and four other ex-Soviet nations have completed the creation of a new ambitious alliance intended to bolster their economic integration. The Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, comes to existence on Jan. 1. In addition to free trade, it’s to coordinate the...
Putin’s Eurasian Economic Union starts in 2015 with curtailed ambitions
MOSCOW — It was to have been Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy triumph: a grand alliance to rival to the European Union, stretching from Ukraine to the Pacific.But with conflict engulfing Ukraine, the pact that will go into effect on Jan. 1 is a more modest version of Putin’s lofty vision. On Tuesday, the leaders...
Ukraine takes step toward NATO membership
Ukraine’s parliament voted 303-9 on Tuesday to abandon its nonaligned status. …read more Source: USA...
Russia, 4-ex-Soviet nations finalize new alliance
MOSCOW (AP) — The leaders of Russia and four other ex-Soviet nations have completed the creation of a new ambitious alliance intended to bolster their economic integration. The Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, comes to existence on Jan. 1. In addition to free trade, it’s to...
Ukraine Inches Closer to NATO in Important Vote
Ukraine took a major step on Tuesday in a parliamentary vote to drop its “non-aligned” status, which made the country ineligible to participate in military alliances and war—a status more famously upheld by Switzerland. As a result, Ukraine’s government could now apply to join NATO. The move has angered the Russian government, which...
Ukraine votes to ax nonaligned status, eyes NATO
Ukraine’s parliament votes for the country to renounce its “nonaligned” status and work towards membership of the NATO alliance. …read more Source:...
