Section: San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
Study: Embargo wouldn’t hurt Russia
European Union countries exported $583 million of military equipment to Russia last year, less than 1 percent of the nation’s $68 billion defense budget, according to a study by IHS Jane’s, which provides analysis on the defense industry and security issues. The propriety of arms sales to Russia was questioned last week as the U.S....
AP Analysis: Putin stays on offense in Ukraine
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin might be expected to hunker down into defense mode as he is besieged by accusations of Russian involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Just hours after the crash, Putin laid the groundwork for this approach, saying at a meeting of economic officials that “the tragedy...
Obama, senior EU officials barred from Chechnya
The president of the small Russian republic that was the scene of two devastating separatist wars in the past 20 years on Saturday said he was placing Obama on a list of people banned from visiting. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on his Instagram account Saturday that the ban is in response to U.S. and EU actions in Ukraine, Libya, Syria,...
Planes fly more victims from Ukraine crash site
KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — Two cargo planes have flown 38 more coffins carrying victims of the Malaysia Airlines disaster out of eastern Ukraine to a forensic center in the Netherlands for identification and investigation. The planes took off Saturday from Kharkiv, a government-controlled city where the bodies have been brought from the crash...
AP Essay: Air tragedies bring grief without order
Whether it was mechanical failure, human error or terrorism, we are reassured by the notion that knowledge brings the power to stop it from happening again. Twice this year, when disaster struck two Malaysia Airlines planes, fate has torn up the script. Usually, to keep horror at bay, we watch the news and slot it into boxes: a war here, a...
New EU sanctions to target Russian businesses
European Union ambassadors reached a preliminary deal Friday on stepped-up sanctions against Russia, targeting its access to European capital markets and trade in the defense sector, dual-use goods and sensitive technologies. The trade bloc’s foreign ministers on Tuesday ordered the preparation of stepped-up economic sanctions, frustrated...
Russia: McDonald’s food has ‘too many calories’
Last year, as tensions heated up over Ukraine’s desire to sign a trade pact with the European Union, Russia banned imports of chocolates made by the company of Petro Poroshenko, a tycoon who supported the EU deal and is now Ukraine’s president. According to the statement, some food was found with microbial contamination and several...
Ukrainian president: Confidence vote Thursday
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko says the government of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk will face a vote of confidence in a special session of Parliament next week. […] Poroshenko seemed to indicate Yatsenyuk could stay on at least for a while, saying the collapse of the coalition “is not a basis...
What happened? The day Flight 17 was downed
SNIZHNE, Ukraine (AP) — It was lunchtime when a tracked launcher with four SA-11 surface-to-air missiles rolled into town and parked on Karapetyan Street. A man wearing unfamiliar fatigues, speaking with a distinctive Russian accent, checked to make sure they weren’t filming. Sergei Kavtaradze, a spokesman for rebel leader Alexander...
New EU sanctions to target Russian businesses
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union ambassadors reached a preliminary deal Friday on stepped-up sanctions against Russia, targeting its access to European capital markets and trade in the defense sector, dual-use goods and sensitive technologies. The trade bloc’s foreign ministers on Tuesday ordered the preparation of stepped-up economic...
