Section: KXAN (USA)
Leaders mark Soviet dissolution, urge Ukraine dialogue
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three former top Soviet officials on Friday marked the signing 25 years ago of the treaty that formally dissolved the Soviet Union, and they used the occasion to urge dialogue on the deadly separatist conflict in Ukraine. On Dec. 8, 1991, the leaders of the Soviet republics of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed a pact that broke...
US votes against anti-Nazi resolution at UN
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States says it was one of three countries to vote against a U.N. resolution condemning the glorification of Nazism over freedom of speech issues and concerns that Russia was using it to carry out political attacks against its neighbors. The resolution entitled “Combating glorification of Nazism, Neo-Nazism and...
Poland to compare photos of US man in Nazi crimes probe
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Polish prosecutor pursuing a Nazi crimes investigation of a Minnesota man said Thursday that experts will compare the man’s photos with that of a Nazi commander to make sure they are the same person. The Associated Press has identified the man, Michael Karkoc, as a World War II commander of a unit in the SS-led...
IOC strips 10 athletes of Olympic medals in doping retests
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The International Olympic Committee on Thursday stripped 10 athletes of medals from the 2008 Olympics after banned substances were found during retests of samples from the games. The IOC says the 10, nine of whom hail from former Soviet nations, had all tested positive for various steroids. No gold medalists were...
Obama to meet Merkel in Germany, top trade partner and ally
BERLIN (AP) — President Barack Obama is stressing a message of solidarity on his final visit to Germany — a top trade partner, key NATO ally and home to thousands of American troops, as well as a nation critical to solving Europe’s migrant crisis and debt woes. Obama arrived Wednesday night in Berlin from Greece, making his sixth and final...
NATO general says Trump not serious about abandoning treaty
TORONTO (AP) — A top NATO general said Wednesday that President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that the United States might abandon its NATO treaty commitments is not serious because the treaty is so binding and important to America and its allies that no president “would dare” change it. Czech Army Gen. Petr Pavel said NATO’s...
ICC supporters call for unity after withdrawals, Russia snub
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Supporters of the International Criminal Court appealed for unity Wednesday in the aftermath of three African nations announcing plans to withdraw and Russia symbolically turning its back on the court. The departures of the African states — South Africa, Burundi and Gambia — buzzed through the corridors on the first...
Putin withdraws Russia from International Criminal Court
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to withdraw Russia from the International Criminal Court, which rules on such grave charges as genocide and crimes against humanity. Putin’s decree, published Wednesday on the Kremlin’s website, comes a day after the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee...
Study: Corruption seen as a great challenge in Europe, Asia
BERLIN (AP) — One in three people in Europe and Central Asia see corruption as one of the greatest challenges for their countries, but a similar number fear retaliation of they speak out against it, according to a study released Wednesday by an international corruption watchdog. Transparency International said that within the European Union,...
China says aircraft carrier now ready for combat
BEIJING (AP) — China’s first aircraft carrier is now ready to engage in combat, marking a milestone for a navy that has invested heavily in its ability to project power far from China’s shores. The Liaoning’s political commissar said in an interview with Tuesday’s Global Times newspaper that his ship is “constantly...
