Section: San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
Ukraine drops its nonaligned status
Using a news conference to sign the legislation, which parliament had adopted last week, Petro Poroshenko vowed to reform Ukraine’s economy and military forces to meet European Union and NATO standards. While public support for joining the alliance has swelled after Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March and...
Indonesian official: Prospects bleak for missing jet
SURABAYA, Indonesia (AP) — As search crews on Monday scoured the Indonesian waters where an AirAsia jet carrying 162 people is believed to have gone down, officials predicted a tragic ending to the region’s latest aviation mystery. “Based on the coordinates that we know, the evaluation would be that any estimated crash position is in...
No sign yet of missing AirAsia jet with 162 on board
JAKARTA, Indonesia — An astonishingly tragic year for air travel in Southeast Asia turned worse Sunday when an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people disappeared over stormy Indonesian waters, with no word on its fate despite several hours of searching by air and sea. There was no distress signal from the twin-engine, single-aisle plane, said Djoko...
AirAsia plane carrying 162 lost; 3rd Malaysia airline shock
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An astonishingly tragic year for air travel in Southeast Asia turned worse Sunday when an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people disappeared over stormy Indonesian waters, with no word on its fate despite several hours of searching by air and sea. Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia launched a search and rescue operation for...
Missing flight is 3rd Malaysia-linked incident
After a four-month hiatus, the hunt resumed Oct. 4 with new, more sophisticated equipment including sonar, video cameras and jet fuel sensors aboard three ships that will spend up to a year in a desolate stretch of the sea, about 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) west of Australia. Officials initially ruled out terrorism, but conspiracy theories...
As crisis saps economy, Belarus replaces premier
MOSCOW — President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus dismissed his prime minister and the head of the country’s central bank on Saturday as part of a sweeping and unexpected government reorganization. The reorganization was announced in a statement posted on the website of the presidential administration, but it offered no official...
Ukraine says Crimea transport halt temporary
Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s security council, told a briefing Saturday that the train and bus traffic was suspended because “there is a high likelihood of sabotage groups entering under the guise of local people.” …read more Source: San Francisco...
Woman who bared breasts in Vatican square is freed
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Holy See has released a Ukrainian activist who bared her breasts in St. Peter’s Square on Christmas Day and snatched the statue of Baby Jesus from the Vatican’s outdoor Nativity scene. …read more Source: San Francisco...
Ukraine, pro-Russia rebels swap war prisoners
Ukraine handed over 222 prisoners and the rebels released 145 people, according to Russia’s state RIA Novosti news agency — the biggest one-time prisoners swap since the pro-Russian insurgency flared up in eastern Ukraine in April. The Interfax news agency reported that 146 Ukrainian prisoners were released Friday and another four will be...
Vatican arrests activist who bared chest in square
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican has arrested the Femen activist who on Christmas Day bared her chest and snatched the statue of Baby Jesus in the life-size Nativity scene in the center of St. Peter’s Square, a spokesman said Friday, emphasizing that the protest insulted the faithful gathered to celebrate Christmas. The Nativity scene...
