Section: San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
Russian fund with US advisers eludes sanctions
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Barack Obama warns of stepped-up economic punishments against Russia for its military incursions inside Ukraine, U.S. sanctions have so far avoided one prominent financial institution: the $10 billion Russian Direct Investment Fund, which has partnered with brand-name American companies and whose advisers include...
Russia’s Putin urges release of Ukrainian soldiers
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Friday called on pro-Russian separatists fighting government troops in eastern Ukraine to release Ukrainian soldiers who have been surrounded by the rebels. Putin’s statement came several hours after Ukraine accused Russia of entering its territory with tanks, artillery and troops,...
Ukraine accuses Russia of sending in tanks, armor
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied arming and supporting the separatists who have been fighting Ukrainian troops for four months in the gravest crisis between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. Two columns of tanks and other equipment entered southeastern Ukraine at midday, following heavy shelling of the area from Russia that...
UN Security Council meets on Ukraine crisis
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday accused Moscow of having “outright lied” about its role in Ukraine, as alarmed members of the Security Council demanded that Russia remove its fighters from a new front in the unfolding crisis in Ukraine. Council members at the emergency meeting heard from a...
EU struggles with dearth of women in top jobs
EU leaders meet on Saturday to divide top jobs for the next half decade, and after years of paying lip service to increasing equality between the sexes, the problem of inequality is still plain for all to see at these meetings — where are the women? “If you look at the family picture of these European summits for the past few years, there...
Strategic Ukraine town under rebel control
NOVOAZOVSK, Ukraine (AP) — The strategically positioned southeastern Ukraine town of Novoazovsk appears firmly under the control of Russia-backed separatists as concerns grow about the opening of a new front in the Ukraine conflict. Novoazovsk, which lies along the road connecting Russia to the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula, had come under...
Battle for Ukraine’s southeast coast heats up
Novoazovsk, Ukraine — Pushing west in a new offensive along Ukraine’s strategic coastline, heavily armed Russian-backed separatist forces captured new territory Wednesday far from their previous battles with government troops. The bold offensive along a new southeastern front raised the prospect that the separatists are seeking to...
Government-held Ukraine town hit by rebel shells
Despite a one-on-one session between Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko that lasted over two hours, there was no indication of a swift resolution to the fighting that has dragged on since April and claimed at least 2,000 civilian lives. The latest shelling has raised fears that the separatists are aiming to take control of a strip of land that...
Even if attacked, an airlines could be liable in crash
[…] payments may create goodwill, lawyers say, but they are not likely to discourage some families from seeking more than the amount promised under an international treaty – about $174,000. Since the early days of commercial aviation, international agreements have governed compensation for crash victims. Malaysian officials have said...
Ukraine leader cites support for his peace plan
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said early Wednesday that he has support for a peace plan from leaders who attended a summit meeting in Minsk, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Interfax news agency reported. In addition to their one-on-one meeting, Putin and Poroshenko also met in a general session meeting with the presidents...
