Section: US & Canada
As Ukraine Truce Holds, Russia Vows Economic Pain
(KIEV, UKRAINE) — Fighting in eastern Ukraine between government troops and Russian-backed separatist forces has ground almost to halt. That should be good news for Ukraine, but Russia looks intent to pile on the economic misery. In a detailed op-ed piece Monday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev painted a grim forecast of Russian economic...
Exclusive: 29 Instagrams That Defined the World in 2014
As Instagram hit a milestone this month, with its number of monthly active users ballooning to 300 million, TIME, in association with the photo-sharing app, takes a look back at the key moments of 2014. The selection of images, shared by some of Instagram’s most popular and respected photographers, offers an intimate view of some of the...
Dems, GOP press Obama to back Russian sanctions
Republicans and Democrats spoke with one voice on Monday in pressing President Barack Obama to sign legislation that would slap new sanctions on Russia while providing weapons and other assistance to Ukraine. …read more Source: WAVE 3...
Congress Urges Obama To Sign Bill That Slaps New Sanctions On Russia, Gives Assistance To Ukraine
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans and Democrats spoke with one voice on Monday in pressing President Barack Obama to sign legislation that would slap new sanctions on Russia while providing weapons and other assistance to Ukraine. The widely popular legislation cleared Congress late Saturday, but the White House has remained non-committal about...
Ukraine PM: $10B Needed to Avoid Bankruptcy
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says his country urgently needs $10 billion to avoid bankruptcy. After meeting with European Union ministers in Brussels Monday, reporters asked Yatsenyuk when he needs the money. He replied “yesterday.” Ukraine’s war with pro-Russian separatists has battered an already bad economy....
News of the day from across the globe, Dec. 16
The Vatican on Monday asked the U.S. to find an “adequate humanitarian solution” for prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, a reflection of Pope Francis’ vocal concern that prisoners be treated with dignity and not be subject to inhumane treatment. Fighting in eastern Ukraine between government troops and pro-Russian rebels...
Russia Raises Key Interest Rate to 17 Percent Overnight
(Reuters) – Russia’s central bank raised its key interest rate to 17 percent in the early hours of Tuesday morning in an emergency move to halt a collapse in the ruble as oil prices decline and the country’s sanctions-hit economy slides towards recession. The ruble RUB= RUB=EBS strengthened sharply after the decision, recouping...
The Global Conflicts to Watch in 2015
Foreign policy often involves making difficult and debatable choices about which parts of the world matter more to a given country—and which, by extension, matter less. It’s about defining national interests and determining where those interests are most evident and endangered. This is why the United States has done far more to stop ISIS in...
UN: Human Rights Abuses Rampant in Embattled Eastern Ukraine
The coming winter is set to make life harder for the more than 5 million people living in eastern Ukraine’s conflict areas, many of whom are already struggling to survive, the office of the United Nations high commissioner for human rights wrote in a new report released Monday. “The conflict is in its ninth month, and the situation is...
Bank Of Russia Hikes Rate To Aid Sinking Currency
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bank of Russia has drastically raised its key interest rate to 17 percent from 10.5 percent to try to boost its currency, which has been plunging along with oil prices. The moves comes after the ruble has shed roughly 50 percent of its value since January, battered by Western sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine...
