Section: KXAN (USA)
Rebel pageant: Ukrainian fighters trade in boots for heels
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Trading in their combat boots and fatigues for high heels and ball gowns, female rebel fighters who normally fight Ukrainian soldiers have taken the day off to take part in a beauty pageant. The event was organized by self-proclaimed authorities in the rebel-held city of Donetsk on Saturday. Women from three main rebel...
Ukraine claims completing weapons pullback
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s military says it is completing its pullback of heavy weapons under the terms of a peace agreement aimed at ending the war with separatist rebels that has killed more than 6,000 people. An internationally brokered agreement calls for both sides to create a buffer zone by pulling back heavy weapons. Saturday...
EU warms, a little, to Belarus as Russia relations freeze
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — The European Union is starting to warm to Belarus again after years of bitter division during which the east European nation was coined as “the last dictatorship” on the continent. At the end of Saturday’s EU foreign affairs meeting, the Latvian host said that as relations with Russia take a further dive “we see the...
Russia: 2 suspects detained in murder of Boris Nemtsov
MOSCOW (AP) — The head of Russia’s federal security service said Saturday that two suspects have been detained in the killing a week ago of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov. Alexander Bortnikov made the statement on state television. He said the two suspects were from Russia’s North Caucasus region, but no other details were given....
In EU foreign policy, strength through unity hard to come by
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — It was enough even for the normally unflappable European Union President Donald Tusk to start losing his cool. He stuttered, staggered his sentences, as he assessed what Russian President Vladimir Putin was doing to the EU’s brittle sense of unity. “One of the most important goals for President Putin today is to divide...
Stoltenberg says Merkel asked him to become NATO chief
STOCKHOLM (AP) — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says it was German Chancellor Angela Merkel who convinced him to accept the alliance’s top job. In a prerecorded talk show to be aired Friday by Swedish broadcaster SVT, Stoltenberg says Merkel “was the first to talk to me (about it). And I must admit that I have a problem saying no when asked by...
EU chief speaks out against arms supplies for Kiev
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — The European Union’s foreign policy chief is speaking out against bipartisan calls in the U.S. to provide lethal, defensive weapons to Ukraine in its fight against Russian-backed separatists. Some lawmakers from both major parties have been pressing the Obama administration to provide lethal arms to Kiev, a move the...
Ukraine declares heavy weapons pullback from front line
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian military officials say government forces are withdrawing heavy rocket launchers from the front line with Russian-backed separatists in accordance with last month’s cease-fire accord. Military spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko said the Uragan launchers were being pulled back by 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the...
Kremlin critic Navalny released after 15 days in custody
MOSCOW (AP) — Leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny was released Friday after spending 15 days in custody and vowed that he and his supporters will not be intimidated by the slaying of a top Kremlin critic. Navalny, the driving force behind the 2011-2012 mass protests in Moscow, said the killing of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov will...
Witness in Russian politician’s slaying gets death threats
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Authorities in Ukraine say the sole witness in the killing in Moscow of prominent Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov has received death threats since returning to her family home in Ukraine. The General Prosecutor’s office in Kiev said in a statement Friday that Anna Duritskaya, the 23-year old model who was...
