Section: The Epoch Times (USA)
American Farmer Among the Winners in Sanctions-Hit Russia
MOSCOW—Kansas-born farmer Justus Walker is prospering in Russia — one year after the U.S. and European Union began imposing sanctions against his adopted country over its aggression in Ukraine. Walker, sporting a bushy beard reminiscent of a Russian peasant from past centuries, uses his Siberian dairy smallholding to support his missionary work....
Airline Knew About Co-pilot’s Depressive Episode
BERLIN — Lufthansa knew six years ago that the co-pilot of the passenger plane that crashed in the French Alps last week had suffered from a “serious depressive episode,” the German airline said Tuesday. The airline said that as part of its internal research it found emails that Andreas Lubitz sent to the Lufthansa flight school in Bremen when he...
French Eye Cockpit Entry, Psychological Screening Rules
PARIS—French aviation investigators said Tuesday they will examine “systemic weaknesses” like cockpit entry rules and psychological screening procedures that could have led to the Germanwings crash, while Lufthansa said its insurers set aside $300 million to deal with possible fallout from the disaster. Authorities say co-pilot Andreas Lubitz,...
Campaign Begins for Most Unpredictable UK Election in Years
LONDON—British Prime Minister David Cameron paid a courtesy call on Queen Elizabeth II, then launched a most uncourteous attack on his main political rival, as campaigning formally began Monday in the most unpredictable U.K. election in decades. The royal audience — possibly Cameron’s last as prime minister — came as Britain’s...
German Airline Could Face ‘Unlimited’ Damages for Alps Crash
STOCKHOLM — Lufthansa could face “unlimited” compensation claims for the crash that killed 150 people in the French alps and it would be difficult, even counterproductive, for the German carrier to try to avoid liability, experts said Friday. Under a treaty governing deaths and injuries aboard international flights, airlines are required to...
Putin Says Russia Will Not ‘Make Concessions’ to Pressures From West
MOSCOW— President Vladimir Putin has vowed that Russia will stand firm in the face of what he described as Western attempts to isolate the country politically and pressurize its economy. Speaking Thursday before officials of the Federal Security Service, Putin said Moscow has no intention to “make concessions or bend down” and that “no one has...
Memorial to Kremlin Critic Nemtsov Vandalized, Then Restored
MOSCOW— Nationalists have vandalized a makeshift memorial to Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov on the site of his killing, but it has been quickly restored. Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and a top critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot and killed on Feb. 27 on a bridge near the Kremlin. Mourners set up a memorial at the site...
Ukraine’s President Dismisses Powerful Regional Governor
KIEV, Ukraine—Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko dismissed the billionaire governor of an eastern region Wednesday following a rancorous dispute pitting the tycoon against the government. Poroshenko’s office said in a statement that Ihor Kolomoysky had asked to be released from his duties as governor of Dnipropetrovsk. The government last...
Ukrainian Officials Detained During Government Meeting
KIEV, Ukraine— Ukrainian police have detained the head of the state emergency service and his deputy on suspicion of fraud during a televised government meeting. The two officials were escorted out of Wednesday’s meeting in handcuffs by police officers. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that the men have been detained on suspicion of...
Fighting Near Ukraine Port Show Truce is Not Effective
SHYROKYNE, Ukraine—To reach rear-guard government positions in the seaside town of Shyrokyne, Ukrainian soldiers gingerly wind their off-roaders through private gardens hugging a precipice along the Azov Sea. The truce announced in mid-February has never taken here, so traveling by the main roads is too dangerous. Government and Russian-backed...
