Section: San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
Russian ruble on the way down
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s embattled currency, the ruble, is down 3.5 percent at the opening of trading in Moscow. The ruble lost over 15 percent of its value this week despite Tuesday’s massive interest rate hike by the Russian central bank. The ruble has fallen sharply in recent weeks and is down more than 50 percent since January, due...
Obama to sign new sanctions bill on Russia
WASHINGTON — President Obama has decided to sign legislation imposing further sanctions on Russia and authorizing additional aid to Ukraine, despite concerns that it will complicate his efforts to maintain a unified front with European allies, the White House said Tuesday. The legislation calls for a raft of new measures penalizing Russia’s...
Ruble slides again despite Central Bank rate hike
The surprise Central Bank decision to raise the rate to 17 percent from 10.5 percent came in the early hours on Tuesday in a desperate attempt to prop up the troubled currency, which has fallen sharply in recent weeks as a result of sliding oil prices as well as the pressure from Western sanctions over Russia’s involvement in Ukraine. The...
News of the day from across the globe, Dec. 16
The Vatican on Monday asked the U.S. to find an “adequate humanitarian solution” for prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, a reflection of Pope Francis’ vocal concern that prisoners be treated with dignity and not be subject to inhumane treatment. Fighting in eastern Ukraine between government troops and pro-Russian rebels...
As Ukraine truce holds, Russia vows economic pain
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Fighting in eastern Ukraine between government troops and Russian-backed separatist forces has ground almost to halt. More than 4,700 people have been killed since the conflict broke out in mid-April, U.N. rights investigators estimate — and more than a quarter of those deaths came after a cease-fire in September that was...
UN says death toll in eastern Ukraine up to 4,707
The latest findings from the Geneva office, based on reports from a 34-member U.N. monitoring mission in Ukraine during November and other figures through Dec. 12, says large-scale offensives have halted since the cease-fire but skirmishes and indiscriminate shelling of populated areas continue. …read more Source: San Francisco...
Russia reaches out to Europe’s far-right parties
[…] they are embraced as partners who can help further Russia’s interests and who share key views — advocacy of traditional family values, belief in authoritarian leadership, a distrust of the U.S. and support for strong law-and-order measures. Daughter Marine Le Pen, party president and a strong contender for the French presidency in...
Ukraine: Truce results in 1st casualty-free day
SYDNEY (AP) — Ukraine’s president said Friday that a fragile truce between his government’s troops and Russian-backed separatists in east Ukraine had resulted in the first day free of deaths or injuries for his soldiers since the conflict erupted months ago. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, wrapping up a three-day visit to...
Russia’s ruble under pressure despite rate rise
The Central Bank raised its key interest rate by a percentage point to 10.5 percent, citing an increasing rise in consumer prices and “significant inflation risk.” The ruble has lost more than 40 percent of its value since January, battered by Western sanctions imposed over the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the drop in the price of...
Russia criticizes US over CIA torture report
The Russian statement, which comes amid U.S.-Russian tensions over Ukraine, marked an attempt by Moscow to turn the tables on continuous Western criticism of Russia’s rights abuses. …read more Source: San Francisco...
