Section: KXAN (USA)
Ukraine fighting persists as cease-fire time approaches
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Officials in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol say an array of artillery attacks hit areas near the city during the morning, as the deadline for a cease-fire creeps closer. The city’s press service reported a half-dozen rocket and mortar attacks on outlying areas Saturday morning. There was no immediate information on...
Russia asks UN Security Council to take action on Ukraine
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia has circulated a draft resolution in the United Nations Security Council endorsing the latest cease-fire agreement on Ukraine and calling on all parties involved to carry it out. U.N. diplomats say the council is expected to meet Sunday to vote on the resolution, just hours after the cease-fire is to take effect. The...
Fighting intensifies in Ukraine
ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine (AP) — There’s no sign of a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine — where hostilities are supposed to end over the weekend under a peace plan worked out this week in Belarus. Russian-backed separatists have mounted a sustained offensive to capture a strategic railway hub ahead of the truce. Officials say at least 25 people were...
Dutch extradite Russian hacking suspect to face US charges
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Netherlands has extradited a Russian suspected of involvement in a huge data breach that racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in losses over seven years for U.S. companies. Dutch Justice Ministry spokeswoman Sentina van der Meer says Vladimir Drinkman was flown out of the Netherlands on Friday, two weeks...
Russia says it will not release key Ukrainian prisoner
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian investigators say there are no grounds to release a key Ukrainian prisoner despite claims by Ukraine’s president that she would soon be freed. In a statement posted online Friday, Russia’s Investigative Committee said that only a court could free Nadezhda Savchenko, a Ukrainian air force officer who has been on...
Germany helps eurozone economy pick up speed in 4th quarter
BRUSSELS (AP) — Strong growth in Germany helped the eurozone economy grow faster than expected in the final three months of 2014, official figures showed Friday. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, said economic output across the 18 eurozone countries was 0.3 percent higher in the fourth quarter than the previous three-month period....
Ukraine says 8 troops killed in past day despite peace deal
MOSCOW (AP) — Ukraine says that eight troops have been killed and 34 wounded overnight, despite a peace deal and a looming cease-fire deadline. Vladislav Seleznyov, spokesman for the Ukrainian army general staff, said in comments carried by Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Friday that much of the fighting had taken place in Debaltseve, a key...
EU extremely wary about Ukraine peace deal, cease-fire
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders expressed caution Thursday about the peace deal hammered out for eastern Ukraine, saying the cease-fire must be respected before any scaling back of sanctions against Moscow can be considered. “It will be very important for us to continue to keep up the necessary pressure, the necessary vigilance, for there...
AP Interview: Hungary ‘cannot afford not to talk to Russia’
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary “cannot afford not to talk to Russia” about ensuring gas supplies, the Hungarian foreign minister said Thursday. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told The Associated Press that because of the cancellation of two natural gas pipeline projects, Nabucco and South Stream, “the only way to ensure energy security in...
Peace plan still faces significant hurdles
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Residents of the Ukrainian city of Donetsk say they’ll believe it when they see it. The city has been pounded daily by artillery since late May, as pro-Russia rebels battle government forces in eastern Ukraine. And residents aren’t ready to believe that a cease-fire will take effect under a peace deal that was...
