Section: San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
European Union agrees to extend economic sanctions against Russia
BRUSSELS — The European Union reached a preliminary agreement Wednesday to extend economic sanctions against Russia that expire at the end of next month until January next year, frustrating a campaign by Moscow to break the unity of the 28-nation bloc in its response to the conflict in Ukraine. The United States lobbied Europe against any let-up...
Ukrainian soldiers accused of murdering civilians
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Prosecutors in Ukraine says a pair of government soldiers has been detained on suspicion of killing two women that allegedly sympathized with armed separatists in the east. The Donetsk region prosecutor’s office said in a statement Wednesday that the two soldiers broke into the women’s home in the village of...
News of the day from across the world, June 17
Russia’s military this year alone will receive over 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of piercing any missile defenses, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday in a blunt reminder of the nation’s nuclear might amid tensions with the West over Ukraine. Putin made the statement at the opening of an arms show at a shooting...
Progress in Ukraine talks reported, but no breakthrough
An array of political, security, humanitarian and economic questions face the negotiators, including the contentious issue of how much autonomy the rebel regions could achieve. …read more Source: San Francisco...
Russia to get 40 new intercontinental missiles this year
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s military this year alone will receive 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of piercing any missile defenses, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday in a blunt reminder of the nation’s nuclear might amid tensions with the West over Ukraine. Amid the current spike in Russia-West tensions, Washington...
In east Ukraine psychiatric ward, war deepens mental wounds
HORLIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — Whenever the bombs fell, the men and women in the psychiatric ward would huddle in terror around fellow patient Valentina Izotova, a stout, maternal-looking woman, and she would read to them from her favorite book. The hospital in Ukraine’s war-torn east has been shelled eight times since the conflict started more...
Ukraine’s artillery duels again take toll on civilians
DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Crackling forth over radio, the voice ordered tanks to take position in a residential area in Donetsk, the stronghold of separatist rebels in east Ukraine. The rebel armored vehicles trundled to their destination accompanied by a reinforced minivan carrying infantrymen to provide cover. Artillery duels like this one have...
News of the day from across the globe, June 14
Taliban fighters overran multiple checkpoints in overnight raids in Afghanistan’s volatile southern Helmand province, killing at least 20 police officers, authorities said Saturday. 2 Gitmo transfers: A pause in prisoner transfers from Guantanamo Bay has ended with the arrival Saturday in Oman of six Yemenis long held at the U.S. prison for...
Ukraine says 6 servicemen killed in fighting
MOSCOW (AP) — Ukraine’s military says six of its servicemen have been killed and another 14 wounded in fighting over the past day, one of the highest casualty tolls reported in a single day since an often-violated cease-fire was called more than three months ago. …read more Source: San Francisco...
Caught in the middle: War in Ukraine creates no man’s lands
The gunshot, fired in error by a jumpy soldier, sent government border guard troops on patrol this week scrambling to brace against the ambush they expect every time they venture into Katerynivka. The men said that four of their fellow soldiers were killed in a recent clash with separatist rebels. “Katerynivka is nominally the territory of...
