Section: KXAN (USA)
Dutch court: Crimea treasures must return to Ukraine
AMSTERDAM (AP) — A Dutch court has ruled that a trove of historical artefacts that is being held by an Amsterdam museum must be returned to Ukraine and not to four museums in Crimea that loaned out the objects for an exhibition in 2014. But the court on Wednesday said that the treasures shouldn’t immediately be returned pending the outcome...
5 things to know ahead of the Abe-Putin hot springs summit
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will become on Thursday the first G-7 leader to allow an official visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. The reason? His eagerness to resolve a 70-year-old territorial dispute that has kept their countries from signing a peace treaty formally...
2 Yazidi women accept EU’s Sakharov Prize for human rights
BRUSSELS (AP) — Two Yazidi women who escaped sexual enslavement by the Islamic State group accepted the European Union’s Sakharov Prize for human rights on Tuesday and said they would continue to be a voice for others suffering a similar fate. Lamiya Aji Bashar, 18, said the EU’s top human rights prize was one “for every woman and...
AP Interview: Gorbachev says US was short-sighted on Soviets
MOSCOW (AP) — As the Soviet Union was breaking up 25 years ago, Mikhail Gorbachev expected the United States and its Western allies to provide vital aid. The former Soviet president thinks their failure to offer significant help wasted a chance to build a safer world and resulted from short-sighted gloating at a Cold War rival’s demise. In...
Emails show how Russian officials covered up mass doping
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s doping cover-up went far beyond the Olympics, according to a vast archive of emails released by a World Anti-Doping Agency investigator. Besides the 12 medal winners from the 2014 Winter Olympics whose samples were supposedly tampered with, messages show a system which covered up drug use by blind athletes and...
Top GOP leader: Senate to probe reports of Russia hacking
NEW YORK (AP) — The top Senate Republican said Monday that Congress will investigate a CIA assessment that Russia interfered in the November election on behalf of Donald Trump, an intelligence conclusion that the incoming commander in chief has called “ridiculous.” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters that an inquiry would be conducted...
Glencore, Qatari fund finalize deal to acquire Rosneft stake
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Rosneft oil company said Saturday that commodities company Glencore and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund will invest $3 billion of their own funds to acquire a 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft. Rosneft said the 10.5-billion euro ($11.1-billion) deal signed Saturday also envisages that Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo will...
France’s court annuls Kazakh banker’s extradition to Russia
PARIS (AP) — A top French court refused to hand over a Kazakh banker-turned-dissident to Russia despite accusations he embezzled millions, saying it considered the extradition request from Moscow to be “politically motivated.” Hours after Friday’s ruling, Mukhtar Ablyazov walked free from a French prison, hugging his son, brother and...
Doping agency criticizes Russia as Isinbayeva given key role
MOSCOW (AP) — Even before Friday’s publication of a new report into alleged state-sponsored doping by Russian athletes, Russia and the World Anti-Doping Agency are bickering. WADA is upset because it was not consulted before a new board was picked to oversee reforms at the suspended Russian drug-testing agency, known as RUSADA. The board is...
Germany hosts foreign ministers from 57-nation OSCE
BERLIN (AP) — Foreign ministers from the 57-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe are meeting in Germany, which says the group is needed more than ever to bolster dialogue between east and west. The two-day meeting opening at Hamburg’s trade fair grounds Thursday under heavy police protection isn’t expected to...
