Section: KXAN (USA)
Russia and Ukraine swap prisoners
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia and Ukraine has exchanged four prisoners in a move coordinated by their governments. The swap follows last month’s release of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko after two years in a Russian prison. Savchenko was swapped for two Russians convicted of fighting in eastern Ukraine. In Tuesday’s exchange, Russia’s...
Despite defense buildup, NATO also seeks to assure Russia
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO’s chief said Tuesday the alliance is reinforcing its defenses against Russia from the Baltic to the Black Sea, but keeping all possible contacts with Moscow open to avoid any unwarranted escalation of tension. Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, confirmed previous statements that alliance defense ministers...
The Latest: English FA gives advice to players’ families
PARIS (AP) — The Latest from soccer’s European Championship (all times local): ___ 1:50 p.m. The English Football Association says it has contacted players’ families and given them advice ahead of Thursday’s match between England and Wales at the European Championship, which is being played amid tightened security after fan...
Russian military drills check mobilization readiness
MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin has ordered snap drills to check the Russian military’s readiness to quickly mobilize its forces. Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the maneuvers that began Tuesday will last for a week. He said the exercise is aimed at checking the readiness of reserve military units and weapons...
France vows to expel foreign hooligans
PARIS (AP) — France’s government vowed Sunday to expel foreign football hooligans, saying their violence during the European Championship is distracting police from the fight against terrorism. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he instructed local officials to issue expulsion orders for “all foreign supporters whose behavior disturbs...
Hooliganism scars Euro 2016 as England, Russia risk ejection
PARIS (AP) — Football hooliganism has been making a comeback at the European Championship and is challenging French authorities who have struggled to deal with the sudden surge in violence. England and Russia were threatened with expulsion from Euro 2016 by UEFA on Sunday if there is further violence from their fans during the tournament. Clashes...
Ukraine holds its first major gay pride march in Kiev
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Around a thousand people have turned up for Ukraine’s first major gay pride march in the capital Kiev. Several thousand police forces were guarding the procession in central Kiev on Sunday and the rally was peaceful despite far-right groups making threats last week to attack it. People were marching with rainbow flags...
UEFA opens disciplinary case against Russia over violence
PARIS (AP) — Russia is facing UEFA sanctions after disciplinary proceedings were opened against the federation for crowd disturbances and racist behavior by its fans during a European Championship game against England. The English Football Association, whose fans fled the stadium in Marseille after being attacked by a large group of Russian fans,...
Nobel laureate makes grim assessment of post-Soviet life
HAY-ON-WYE, Wales (AP) — In the view of Nobel literature laureate Svetlana Alexievich, Russia is taking refuge in ideas from its Soviet past, but this nostalgia collides with newer, darker forces. In an interview with The Associated Press at the Hay Festival of literature, the 68-year-old Alexievich assessed what she has learned from decades of...
AP Interview: Savchenko calls for early elections in Ukraine
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko says the nation needs early parliamentary elections to “to infuse fresh blood” into its politics. Savchenko, who has become a national hero in Ukraine after spending two years in a Russian prison, told The Associated Press Friday that the “Ukrainian people deserve a better government that they...
