Section: KXAN (USA)
Flights canceled for military drills in Russia’s south
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian airline companies have cancelled dozens of flights and four airports are planning brief closures as Russia hosts massive military exercises in the south and the annexed Crimean peninsula. Russia on Monday launched six days of military drills involving 12,500 troops, fighter jets, anti-aircraft missiles and other weaponry....
Kremlin laments new US sanctions after Putin-Obama meeting
MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says the latest round of U.S. sanctions against Russia runs counter to potential cooperation on “sensitive issues” that Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin discussed during their meeting in China this week. The U.S. Department of Commerce on Wednesday added 11 companies linked to the Russian arms sector to the sanctions list...
Dominican court orders ex-Ukrainian official held amid probe
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A court has ordered three months detention for a former Ukrainian government official during an investigation into accusations he kidnapped a fellow countryman at a popular tourist spot in the Dominican Republic. An alleged accomplice from Bulgaria also is being held. Volodymyr Vasiliovich Saldo, 60, was...
The Latest: US, France, Germany discuss Ukraine at G-20
HANGZHOU, China (AP) — The Latest on the G-20 summit in China (all times local): 1 p.m. The leaders of the U.S., France and Germany are taking a time away for economic talks in China to discuss the situation in Ukraine. The White House says President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are meeting...
Fire at Ukrainian TV headquarters amid protest; no injuries
MOSCOW (AP) — A Ukrainian television station has been forced to broadcast from outside its own building after the building caught fire amid a protest. News reports said TV Inter’s headquarters in Kiev caught fire on Sunday afternoon. A group of about 20 protesters had gathered outside the building and set tires afire, the reports said. The...
Relatives of MH17 victims seek EU help in getting radar data
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Frustrated relatives of those killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot out of the sky over eastern Ukraine are appealing to the European Union’s top diplomat to put pressure on Russia, Ukraine and the United States to hand over intelligence and radar data to investigators. An international team of...
What next? Opaque Uzbekistan faces transition anxieties
MOSCOW (AP) — Whether Uzbekistan’s president is at death’s door or has already passed through is unclear, but that may not be the greatest uncertainty facing the country — it’s what comes after his death. As independent Uzbekistan’s only leader, Islam Karimov has run a monolithic regime, harshly repressing any opposition...
Human rights activists condemn secret detentions in Ukraine
MOSCOW (AP) — International rights group are raising the alarm about secret detentions in Ukraine. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch published a report this summer detailing the use of torture and secret detentions by both the Ukrainian government and the Russia-backed separatist rebels it is fighting in the country’s east. The...
UN panel decries rise of racist crimes in UK after EU vote
GENEVA (AP) — A U.N. panel has criticized “anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric” that some British political figures used to foment prejudices ahead of the country’s vote to leave the European Union. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concerns about a “sharp increase in racist hate crimes,” particularly in...
Biden warns Europe against Russian energy reliance
HELSINKI (AP) — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has cautioned Europe against a new natural gas pipeline planned to stretch from Russia to Germany, saying it “looks like a fairly bad deal” for Europe because it further increases its energy dependency on Moscow. Biden said Thursday that to lock Europe “into greater reliance on Russia at this moment …...
