Section: US & Canada
Ballet Stars Dance At Bolchoi For Ukraine
A dozen ballet stars have participated in a gala at Moscow’s iconic Bolshoi Theater in support of young dancers in Ukraine. …read more Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio...
Russia’s Economy Has Shrunk So Much It’s Now Only As Small As Spain
The decline in the price of oil, Western economic sanctions against the nation following its invasion of Ukraine, and the collapse of the Russian rouble that resulted, has decimated Russia’s economy. Now Russian GDP has shrunk so much it is no longer the world’s eighth largest economic power, according to The Telegraph. Instead,...
Five civilians killed in fresh east Ukraine violence
Kiev (AFP) – Five civilians have been killed in fresh violence in eastern Ukraine, where more explosions and gunfire rang out on Sunday, two days before the start of a planned truce, officials said.Three civilians were killed and 10 were wounded overnight in the rebel bastion of Donetsk, where further explosions and gunfire were heard...
‘Buckwheat panic’ grips Russians as economic sanctions bite
Moscow (AFP) – With its warm, fluffy brown grains, buckwheat is the ultimate comfort food for Russians and as sanctions hit home, it is flying off the shelves in a shopping frenzy dubbed the “buckwheat panic”.Hard-hit by falling oil prices and Western economic sanctions imposed over the Kremlin’s role in the Ukrainian...
The Two Faces of Azerbaijan’s Government
Azerbaijan’s most famous investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova is the latest in a long list of Azerbaijani activists to become political prisoners. Ismayilova, a journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, has just been sentenced to two months of administrative detention on charges of driving a fellow reporter to attempt suicide,...
Putin, Hollande attempt to defuse Ukraine tensions
Moscow (AFP) – French President Francois Hollande on Saturday became the first European leader to travel to Russia in an attempt to defuse the standoff with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, as Kiev announced a fresh round of peace talks next week.Hollande’s meeting with Putin in the diplomatic terminal of an airport outside the capital...
Kazakh Banker Saga Spins Intrigue, Politics, Cash
PARIS—Traced to a Cote d’Azur villa by private detectives for the bank he once led, the Kazakh oligarch-turned-dissident is dwarfed by the masked French court guards flanking him. He is the smallest man in the room. Mukhtar Ablyazov is nonetheless a huge problem for Western governments, forced to choose between abetting a resource-rich...
Putin, Hollande hope Ukraine ceasefire will soon take hold
French President Francois Hollande said after an impromptu visit to Russia for crisis talks with Vladimir Putin on Saturday that a ceasefire could take hold in eastern Ukraine in the next few days. …read more Source: The Toronto...
Putin, Hollande hope Ukraine ceasefire will soon take hold
French President Francois Hollande said after an impromptu visit to Russia for crisis talks with Vladimir Putin on Saturday that a ceasefire could take hold in eastern Ukraine in the next few days. …read more Source: The Peace River Record...
Putin, Hollande Hope Ukraine Ceasefire Will Soon Take Hold
French President Francois Hollande said after an impromptu visit to Russia for crisis talks with Vladimir Putin on Saturday that a ceasefire could take hold in eastern Ukraine in the next few days. The Russian president, who met Hollande during his stopover at a Moscow airport after a trip to Kazakhstan, said he also hoped agreement would be...
