Section: US & Canada
Russia’s Ex-Economy Minister Sees Fundamental Problems
Russia’s currency, the ruble, this week fell to its lowest value in a quarter century. Oil prices also fell as finance officials changed their economic forecast for next year from slight growth to recession. Russia’s economy is taking a beating from Western sanctions over Ukraine, and foreign investment is fleeing the country. But...
Kerry, Lavrov Expected To Discuss Ukraine Crisis
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are scheduled to meet on December 4 with the crisis in Ukraine expected to be among the topics up for discussion. …read more Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio...
BREAKING: Explosion, Heavy Fighting Reported in Grozny, Chechnya
A loud explosion and sounds of heavy fighting have been reported in Chechnya’s capital of Grozny, according to sources on Twitter and some media outlets in the region. Multiple sources on Twitter are reporting that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motorcade has been seen pulling into the Kremlin in the middle of the night, around...
Donetsk residents deal with continued shelling despite truce
The Ukrainian government accused Pro-Russia rebels of violating a truce around Donetsk airport on Wednesday. Amid the devastated buildings, fighting could still be heard. Video provided by AFP …read more Source: USA...
Ukraine says nuclear transformer damage poses no danger
Ukrainian authorities said Wednesday that a damaged transformer at a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, an industrial center, cut electrical power production for several days but did not pose any danger. …read more Source: Los Angeles...
Accident reported at Ukrainian power plant
Ukraine’s Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn says an accident at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine poses no danger. Jillian Kitchener reports. Video provided by Reuters …read more Source: USA...
Q&A: Oleksiy Matsuka on the failed launch of a new Ukraine
Oleksiy Matsuka. (Photo by Ginger Shewell) While the West has been distracted by headlines about Russia’s incursion into Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea, it can be easy for us to forget that Ukraine is actually fighting a multi-front war with its own deep-rooted domestic concerns, from political corruption to the influence of the...
Vladimir Putin’s state of union speech caps a bad year for Russia
When President Vladimir Putin gives his state of the union address Thursday, he’ll be putting a cap on a tumultuous year for Russia. …read more Source:...
Putin Under Pressure To Address Russia’s Economic Ills in State of the Union Address
MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin is under pressure to show he has a prescription to cure Russia’s rapidly growing economic ills in his annual state of the union address on Thursday. Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, sharp falls in global oil prices and the ruble’s slide against the dollar culminated in an...
World landmine injuries down but Canada must boost funds, says report
The international treaty to ban landmines, signed in Ottawa on Dec. 3, 1997, is slowly eradicating the production and use of the crippling weapons, according to a study released Wednesday. Landmine Monitor, an annual report by the Nobel-prize winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), says that fewer people were killed and injured by...
