Section: KXAN (USA)
Poll: 81 percent back Putin even as ruble falls
MOSCOW (AP) — From a Western perspective, Vladimir Putin’s days as president of Russia should be numbered: The ruble has lost more than half its value, the economy is in crisis and his aggression in Ukraine has turned the country into an international pariah. And yet most Russians see Putin not as the cause, but as the solution. The...
Swiss central bank imposes negative interest rates
BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Following the fallout of the slide in the Russian ruble, Switzerland sought Thursday to prevent the Swiss franc from breaching upper limits imposed on the currency by introducing negative interest rates on commercial bank deposits. The move forces commercial banks to pay to deposit their francs with the Swiss National...
Putin: Western sanctions partly responsible for crisis
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Western sanctions have been an important factor in the current economic crisis, but not the only one. Putin said Thursday the influence of Western sanctions acounts roughly for 25 to 30 percent of factors behind the Russian crisis. He accused the West of trying to infringe on Russia’s...
Poroshenko: Ukraine is a new, changing country
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Ukraine’s president has urged Poland’s politicians and business people to intensify ties with his country as it reforms to follow European standards. At the start of a two-day visit to Poland on Wednesday, President Petro Poroshenko held talks with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and Prime Minister Ewa...
Libya frees aircrew of 3 Ukrainians, 1 Russian
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The foreign minister of Tripoli’s militia-backed government says it has freed four crew members — three Ukrainians and one Russian — of an Emirati cargo plane who were detained after landing illegally in a western Libyan airport. State news agency LANA on Tuesday quoted Mohammed al-Gharyani as saying the four were...
Russian ruble on the way down
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s embattled currency, the ruble, is down 3.5 percent at the opening of trading in Moscow. The ruble lost over 15 percent of its value this week despite Tuesday’s massive interest rate hike by the Russian central bank. The ruble has fallen sharply in recent weeks and is down more than 50 percent since January, due...
People wait to exchange currency near a sign advertising currency exchange rates at an exchange office in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. The Russian ruble came under intense selling pressure Tuesday, falling at one point by a catastrophic 20 percent to a new historic low despite a massive pre-dawn interest rate hike from Russia’s...
People wait to exchange their currency as signs advertise the exchange rates at a currency exchange office in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014. The Russian ruble came under intense selling pressure Tuesday, falling at one point by a catastrophic 20 percent to a new historic low despite a massive pre-dawn interest rate hike from...
AP PHOTOS: Top pictures from Europe and Africa
LONDON (AP) — The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India drew widespread attention to their causes: protecting children from slavery, extremism and forced labor. Yousafzai, 17, the youngest-ever Nobel Prize winner, was shot in the head by the Taliban two years ago for speaking out for the...
As Ukraine truce holds, Russia vows economic pain
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Fighting in eastern Ukraine between government troops and Russian-backed separatist forces has ground almost to halt. That should be good news for Ukraine, but Russia looks intent to pile on the economic misery. In a detailed op-ed piece Monday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev painted a grim forecast of Russian...
