Section: US & Canada
Submarine hunt exposes Swedish readiness gap
Sweden, which is not a NATO member, has downsized its military significantly since the Iron Curtain fell and has scrapped some of the resources it used to hunt for Soviet submarines, including helicopters equipped with sonar and anti-submarine weapons. Sweden built up an anti-submarine force after a Soviet sub with nuclear weapons ran aground off...
More ‘Foreign Underwater Activity’ Sighted Off of Sweden
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s military is working on two new observations that could be evidence of suspected “foreign underwater activity” near the country’s capital, a senior naval officer said on Tuesday. Swedish forces have been scouring the sea off Stockholm since Friday, after what the military called three...
Ukraine to Try Fugitive Yanukovych in Absentia
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, in a move to head off discontent before an election, signed a law on Tuesday that will allow ousted leader Viktor Yanukovych to be tried by court in his absence for crimes carried out while he was in power. Poroshenko and his pro-Western government, who are seeking a strong mandate in a parliamentary election...
Obama’s Troublesome Distractions Won’t Wreck His Asia-Pacific Pivot (But Not Because of Him)
These are not good times for President Barack Obama, and they’re apt to get worse before they get better. But one good thing for the president is that his Asia-Pacific Pivot — heightened engagement with the rising region, and nascent superpower China — hasn’t been wrecked by the lengthening array of Obama administration...
The ‘Russian Submarine’ in Swedish Waters Isn’t the Only Unwelcome Visitor in the Baltic Sea
Last week Sweden received a decidedly unwelcome visitor. Following a Russian-language phone call between the Stockholm archipelago and the Russian city of Kaliningrad, intercepted by Sweden’s FRA signals intelligence agency, the Swedish military discovered what it believes was a Russian submarine just outside Stockholm. Though Russia denied...
Ukraine Brings in Law to Try Fugitive Yanukovich in Absentia
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, in a move to head off discontent before an election, signed a law on Tuesday that will allow ousted leader Viktor Yanukovich to be tried by court in his absence for crimes carried out while he was in power. Poroshenko and his pro-Western government, who are seeking a strong mandate in a parliamentary election...
Ukraine Update 2014: Ukraine Used Cluster Munition, Says Watchdog, Military Denies Report
Ukraine allegedly used cluster munitions against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, according to Human Rights Watch, but Ukrainian officials denied Tuesday using the weapons banned by over 100 countries for their indiscriminate nature. Human Rights Watch also accused separatists of using the weapons, but to a lesser degree. …read...
Ukraine vote candidate survives gun, grenade attack: party
A Ukrainian election candidate allied to the prime minister was shot at and came under a grenade attack as he left his home late on Monday, and only survived because he was wearing body armor, his party said. …read more Source: New York Daily...
Putin offered to carve up Ukraine with Poland, says ex-minister
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, described Radek Sikorski’s comments as a “fable.” …read more Source: Toronto...
Ex-Senators Confirm Lobbying For Russian Bank On Ukraine Sanctions
This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.Former Sens. Trent Lott and John Breaux were part of a team paid $150,000 by a Russian bank to lobby on U.S. sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, according to a new disclosure their firm has filed with the U.S....
