Section: US & Canada
Ukrainian troops edge closer to city held by pro-Russian rebels
Fighting in eastern Ukraine reached the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Tuesday as separatists and government troops exchanged rocket fire in neighbourhoods on the edge of the city. …read more Source: CTV...
Russian tourists stranded abroad as crisis deepens
Tour operators, some of whom are among the nation’s oldest, say they have experienced an unprecedented slump in demand, which they blame on the bad political climate and the depreciation of the ruble, which has lost up to 10 percent against the dollar since January. The move, which authorities justified as an attempt to keep government...
NATO: More Russian troops at border
Russia now has some 20,000 troops stationed by its border with conflict-torn eastern Ukraine, a NATO official told CNN Tuesday. …read more Source:...
Ukrainian troops edge closer to rebel-held Donetsk
A couple sleep in a bomb shelter as they hide from night shelling, in Petrovsky district in the city of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, late Monday, Aug. 4, 2014. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky) …read more Source: The Bismarck...
Spain suspends arms sales to Israel over Gaza operation
(JTA) — The Spanish government “provisionally suspended” arms sales to Israel over its operation in Gaza. The country’s Interministerial Regulatory Board on Foreign Trade and Defense made the decision last week in Madrid, the Spanish daily El Pais reported Monday. Spanish arms sales to Israel are limited, and were more...
Dutch UN Ambassador pleads for access to Malaysia Airlines crash site
THE Netherlands told the UN Security Council Monday that the focus of its investigation in the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in the eastern Ukraine is the recovery of victims’ remains. …read more Source: New York Daily...
Ukrainian troops edge closer to rebel-held Donetsk
DONETSK, Ukraine — Ukrainian troops took control of a checkpoint Tuesday on the western edge of the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk as the government makes further gradual advances to quash pro-Russian separatist forces in the east.An Associated Press reporter saw a tank waving the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag in the suburb of Marinka,...
Russian Theme Park A Go For French Firm Despite EU Sanctions Link
A French company behind plans to build a Russian history theme park says it will go ahead with the project despite EU sanctions on its Russian partner. …read more Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio...
What Actually Constitutes A War Crime?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the militant group Hamas this month of committing a “double war crime” for targeting Israeli civilians with rockets and using the Gaza Strip’s residents as “human shields.” Palestinian officials, meanwhile, argued that Israel should be charged with war crimes for the...
Rights Group: Ukraine Rebels Hampering Aid Efforts
As Ukrainian forces close in on a key city controlled by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, a human rights group is accusing the fighters of aggravating the humanitarian crisis triggered by the four-month-old conflict. U.S.-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement Tuesday saying rebel attacks on medical personnel and facilities have...
