Section: International Business Times (USA)
Amid Russian Hostility, Poland To Build Watchtowers On Border With Kaliningrad
Poland’s border service will erect six guard towers at the frontier with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad in June, Polish information agency PAP reported. The towers are expected to oversee border operations as well as add another layer of security against recent Russian hostility in the region. The development comes amid rising tension...
Czech President Bans US Ambassador From Prague Castle: Reports
(Reuters) – President Milos Zeman has “closed the door” of Prague Castle to the U.S. ambassador following comments perceived as critical of the Czech’s decision to attend a World War Two commemoration in Moscow, according to local media reports on Sunday. European Union leaders are boycotting the ceremony in May over...
Six Ukrainian Soldiers Killed In Artillery And Land Mine Blasts Sunday
Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed in a government-controlled town in the Donbass region of the country Sunday when their vehicle was hit by what police said was an artillery shell fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels, Reuters reported. At the time of the blast, they were crossing a bridge outside the town of Schastye, about 105 miles...
Pope Francis Easter Message Prays For Peace In Syria, Iraq
Pope Francis called for peace “above all” in Syria and Iraq in his Easter Sunday message at the Vatican, describing the violence associated with the Islamic State group and other extremist organizations there an “immense humanitarian tragedy.” The pontiff also evinced hope the peace process between Israeli and Palestinians would be relaunched, as...
Ukraine War Forces A Nation To Talk About A Taboo: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
KIEV, Ukraine — In mid-February, Fedir Kalenychenko, a Ukrainian army soldier, was retreating with his unit from the town of Debaltseve amid heavy fighting punctuated with shelling by pro-Russian rebels. He suffered a concussion, and now that the 24-year-old is back here in the capital, he has begun seeing psychologists to talk about his...
Did Russia Try To Bribe French Politicians? Leaked Texts Suggest France’s Right-Wing Party Endorsed Crimean Referendum For Cash
Text messages revealing a potential bribe paid by Russia to France’s Front National party in exchange for an endorsement of last year’s controversial Crimean referendum were released by a Russian hacker group this week. The texts reveal Russian plans to “thank” the nationalist party “in some way or another,” for the endorsement of the...
Ukraine Crisis: Russia Moves From Sending Soldiers To Training Rebel Fighters During Shaky Ceasefire
As a tenuous ceasefire continues to hold in strife-torn eastern Ukraine, Russian forces in the country are moving from direct participation in military action, to training rebel fighters in the use of sophisticated weaponry, according to reports. …read more Source: International Business...
Russian Army Conscription Begins In Crimea As Peninsula Drifts Further From Ukraine
In the year since Russia annexed Crimea, it has taken strides to integrate the peninsula into the Russian legal and economic systems: Moscow has introduced the ruble, issued passports to residents and implemented russian laws in the former Ukrainian territory. …read more Source: International Business...
Ukraine Won’t Extradite Mikhail Saakashvili To Georgia To Face Criminal Charges
Ukraine will not honor Georgia’s request for the extradition of its former President Mikhail Saakashvili, according to a report. Saakashvili, who served as Georgia’s president from 2004 to 2013, faces criminal abuse of power charges in his homeland for the use of force to quell protests in 2007. …read more Source: International...
Ukraine Crisis Update: UN Mine Awareness Campaign Aims To Teach Children, Families About Risks Of Unexploded Ordnances
A United Nations program aimed at helping children in crisis-stricken countries announced Tuesday a new campaign around mine awareness in eastern Ukraine. Though the country has entered a ceasefire in its conflict with Russia and state officials are working to remove weapons from residential areas, many explosives remain on the ground. UNICEF...
