Section: San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
Crimea annexation upends lives of Tatar minority
SARY-SU, Crimea (AP) — Since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, armed men have shown up frequently and at odd hours to search the cinder-block houses, mosque and school in this settlement of Crimean Tatars, a Muslim ethnic minority that has long suffered from discrimination in the peninsula that is its historic homeland. […] the community...
Netherlands gets wreckage from Ukraine plane crash
AMSTERDAM (AP) — A convoy of eight trucks carrying wreckage from the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disaster arrived at a Dutch military base Tuesday, as the official investigation into the cause of the crash continues nearly five months after the plane went down in eastern Ukraine. International teams seeking to retrieve human remains and salvage...
Ukraine attempts news cease-fire in the east
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s military authorities say they are suspending hostilities against Russian-backed separatists in the east in line with a truce declared last week. Ukrainian officials said Tuesday that government-controlled residential areas and armed positions had come under fire 64 times over the previous 24-hour period....
News of the Day From Across the Globe, Dec. 5
1 Holocaust victims; Thousands of Holocaust survivors and family members in the United States and elsewhere will be entitled to compensation from a $60 million French-U.S. fund, reparations to those deported by France’s state rail company SNCF during the Nazi occupation. In return, the United States is expected to help ease obstacles...
Greece outraged by British Museum sculpture loan
LONDON (AP) — One of the British Museum’s much-disputed Parthenon Marbles was unveiled Friday after being sent in secret to Russia — a surprise move that outraged Greece, which has long demanded the return of the artifacts. The loan of the piece, an elegant depiction of the river god Ilissos, was the first time in two centuries that any of...
Ukraine tests ground for lasting cease-fire
Spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the “day of silence” would demonstrate the degree of coordination possible within rebel forces — an apparent reference to reports of schisms among the separatists. Lavrov said it was brokered with the help of Russian military experts at Poroshenko’s invitation and “is linked to create a...
Putin stresses foreign policy and economic goals in speech
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had endured a “difficult year,” but he pledged that the country would pursue its independent foreign policy and economic objectives despite dogged Western efforts to weaken it. Putin used his annual state of the nation speech both to reaffirm the Kremlin’s intention to restore...
Ukraine rebel says residential areas used as cover
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — A leading military separatist commander in eastern Ukraine has admitted that rebels have mounted rocket attacks against government troops from within residential areas, but says efforts are being undertaken to halt the practice. A large number of homes in the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk have been hit by rockets...
Putin defends Russia’s foreign policy
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended the Kremlin’s aggressive foreign policy, saying the actions are necessary for his country’s survival. Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in March and was later accused of supplying pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine with ammunition and manpower. Putin...
Ukraine nuclear plant accident poses ‘no threat,’ official says
MOSCOW — Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk of Ukraine on Wednesday announced that there had been an accident at one of the country’s nuclear power plants, briefly setting off fears of a Chernobyl-like catastrophe. Yatsenyuk, during a session of the new Ukrainian government, disclosed that the accident had taken place at the Zaporizhia...
