Section: Time (USA)
Pope Francis Urges Muslim Leaders to Condemn Violence
Pope Francis has called on Muslim leaders to condemn violence in order to eliminate the unfortunate stereotype linking Islam with terrorism. The Pontiff made his statement on a flight from Turkey, where he’s spent three days discussing divisions between faiths, reports the BBC. He rejected those who say that “all Muslims are terrorists …...
Watch Drone Footage Explore Chernobyl From Above for the First Time
Areas affected by the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 are still frozen in time, as haunting drone footage of the empty city of Pripyat reveals. The scenes of rusted ferris wheels and abandoned buildings, shot by British filmmaker Danny Cooke for a CBS 60 Minutes segment that aired last week, mark the first time Chernobyl has been seen by air, The...
Malaysia Airlines Apologizes for Insensitive Twitter Promotions
Malaysia Airlines posted an unfortunate tweet as part of its year-end promotion. “Want to go somewhere but don’t know where?” read the post on Twitter, part of a promotion of special deals by the national carrier, Yahoo News reports. Twitter users criticized the national carrier for the tone-deaf tweet, sent out after two major calamities...
German Chancellor Says Russia’s Actions Are Unjustifiable
German Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday suggested she is prepared for a drawn-out confrontation with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine crisis “We need patience and staying power to overcome the crisis,” Merkel told German lawmakers in a speech to Berlin’s parliament. She added that economic sanctions on Russia “remain...
French National Front Secures Funding From Russian Bank
Is Russian President Vladimir Putin meddling in the internal politics of countries in the European Union? That seemed a strong possibility to some Europeans this week, after French political leader Marine Le Pen confirmed she had secured a €9-million ($11.1 million) loan from a Moscow-based bank, in order to run her right-wing National Front...
Russian Official Says Oil Slump and Sanctions Cost $140 Billion a Year
Russia’s Finance Minister said the combined cost of western sanctions and the recent fall in world oil prices to Russia’s economy this year would be a massive $140 billion. “We will lose around $40 billion a year because of sanctions, and around $90-100 billion a year, if we assume a 30% drop in the price of oil,” Anton Siluanov told...
Report: U.S. Will Boost Non-Lethal Aid to Ukraine
The Obama Administration is ready to increase its delivery of non-lethal aid to the Ukrainian government, but will refrain from furnishing Kiev with weapons to use in its fight against pro-Russian forces in the country’s southeast, according to a new report. Citing unnamed U.S. officials, Reuters says that Vice President Joe Biden will...
U.N. Says Nearly 1,000 Killed in Ukraine Since September Truce
Almost 1,000 people have been killed in Ukraine since a truce was signed in September between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists controlling parts of the restive eastern region, according to a United Nations report. An average of 13 people have been killed every day since the Sept. 5 cease-fire was brokered between Ukraine and...
Russia’s Lackluster Economy Means Putin Simply Can’t Afford a New Cold War
One of the axioms of global geopolitics is that a country can project power only as far as its economic might allows. There is good reason why the United States, by far the world’s largest economy, has been the dominant force in all things political and military for the past 60 years. And we can see China now rising to superpower status on...
Russia Wants a ’100% Guarantee’ That Ukraine Won’t Join NATO
A top adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the Kremlin wants “a 100 percent guarantee” that Ukraine will be prevented from joining NATO. Dmitri Peskov told the BBC that NATO’s eastward expansion continued to make Russia “nervous.” His comments echoed similar tough talk coming from President Putin, who promised a...
