Section: Mashable (USA)
In challenge to Obama, U.S. Senate passes defense bill that allots lethal aid to Ukraine
MOSCOW — Ukraine moved one step closer to receiving lethal military aid from the U.S. after the Senate passed a $612 billion defense policy bill late Thursday that would allocate $300 million of military aid, including radars and antitank weapons, to the war-stricken country. Kiev has said it desperately needs the arms for its forces, which have...
Ex-Pussy Riot member stages Moscow performance protest with a sewing machine
MOSCOW — Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot fame, along with activist Katya Nenasheva, staged a brief performance in support of female prisoners at central Bolotnaya Square before being dragged away by police officers. See also: Ukraine’s children of war Donning drab makeshift prison garb with hand-scrawled serial numbers, the women laid out...
Pope tells Vladimir Putin to make a ‘sincere effort’ to find peace in Ukraine
MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin, in typical fashion, was over an hour late to meet Pope Francis on Wednesday. But they eventually met inside the walls of the Vatican, where the pontiff urged the Russian president to make a “sincere effort” to achieve peace in Ukraine A year-long war in the country has killed more than 6,700 people, and...
Deadly blaze engulfs oil facility near Kiev
A major fire broke out at a Ukrainian oil storage facility near Kiev on Monday night, killing one person and injuring several others. See also: Ukraine ceasefire in tatters after bloody new ‘rebel offensive’ Firefighters continued to battle the blaze on Tuesday in an effort to prevent it from spreading to a nearby military unit,...
Warm up your vocal chords, university set to offer Eurovision subject
Off the back of the country’s debut in the Eurovision Song Contest, an Australian university is taking the obsession with European culture to the next level. The University of Melbourne has announced a subject titled “Eurovisions,” in which a student can learn about the history and development of Europe via Eurovision’s...
President Obama addresses Russia, ISIS and FIFA scandal at G7 presser
President Obama held a press conference this afternoon in Krün, Germany, where world leaders have gathered for the G7 summit. Besides briefly addressing some of the topics from the G7 summit agenda and championing recent domestic job growth numbers, the president addressed the possibility of more sanctions against Russia over actions in the...
LGBT activists overcome attacks to hold ‘Equality March’ in Ukraine
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s LGBT community and civil rights activists overcame a flurry of violent attacks with smoke bombs and stones to carry out the country’s second-ever “Equality March” in Kiev on Saturday. At least 10 participants were reportedly wounded, along with five police officers, including one seriously. See...
Ukraine’s President Poroshenko supports pride parade in Kiev
MOSCOW — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Friday voiced support for LGBT rights, saying he believes an ‘Equality March’ planned for Saturday in Kiev should take place as planned. “I will not participate in it but I don’t see any reason to impede this march because it’s a constitutional right of every citizen...
Ukraine ceasefire in tatters after bloody new ‘rebel offensive’
MOSCOW — The ceasefire is dead. Combined Russian-separatist forces in eastern Ukraine claimed Wednesday to have seized control of a frontline town in government-controlled territory, threatening to reignite the bloody, 14-month-long war that has claimed over 6,400 lives. Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said rebels had mounted an...
Beijing Winter Olympics would exhaust water supplies, IOC study finds
Beijing’s bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics could deplete existing water resources, according to an International Olympic Committee report. “Reliance on artificial snowmaking would require diversion of water from existing reservoirs and may impact other land uses,” the IOC evaluation commission said Monday after visiting the...
