The Perils Of Big Oil Democracy
As the Kremlin tries to woo yet another incoming U.S. administration, Moscow expects to count on what it considers the “greed” of Big Oil to help it end the sanctions strangling its economy and to attract fresh investment in its energy industry. Perhaps this time around, the U.S. government and the Western oil industry will more accurately view Russia as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
U.S. Formally Accuses Russian Hackers Of Launching Political Cyber Attacks
“These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process,” the joint agency statement said. “However, we are not now in a position to attribute this activity to the Russian Government.”
Russian Convoy To Bring Aid To Eastern Ukraine, Putin Says
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Monday that he was sending an aid convoy to eastern Ukraine on a humanitarian mission in which the International Committee of the Red Cross and Western governments were cooperating. Putin made the announcement after a conversation with European Commission President Jose Manuel Borroso, […]
Death Toll In Moscow Subway Accident Rises To 20
By Nikolaus von Twickel, dpa MOSCOW — At least 20 people were killed and more than 100 injured Tuesday in Moscow when a packed underground train derailed at high speed during the morning rush hour. The Russian Investigative Committee said that 20 people were killed, Interfax reported, citing the agency’s spokesman Vladimir Markin. Official said […]
Ukraine Oligarchs Intervene To Avert ‘Catastrophe’ Of Separatism
Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times Ukraine’s wealthiest industrialists appear to have entered the fight against separatists endangering their export-dependent businesses, chasing militants out of the steel-producing port of Mariupol and challenging the gunmen occupying other eastern Ukraine areas. Unarmed and protected only by hard hats, steelworkers from magnate Rinat Akhmetov’s Metinvest heavy industry empire joined […]
Obama, Merkel Threaten Broader Sanctions Against Russia Over Ukraine
By Kathleen Hennessey, Tribune Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday ratcheted up the threat of economic backlash against Russia, saying they are preparing broader sanctions if Moscow continues to stoke violence in eastern Ukraine in the run-up to elections later this month. “The Russian leadership must know that […]
Tear Gas At Turkish May Day Protests, Red Square Rally Draws 100,000
Istanbul (AFP) – Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse May Day protesters in Istanbul on Thursday, as millions took to the streets around the world to mark International Labor Day. About 100,000 workers paraded on Moscow’s iconic Red Square for the first time since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union as the […]
‘Civil War’ Warning For Ukraine As Troops, Tanks Push East
IZYUM (Ukraine) (AFP) – Russia warned on Tuesday that Ukraine was on the brink of “civil war” after Kiev’s leaders pushed troops and tanks toward a flashpoint eastern city to counter a separatist surge backed by Moscow. The 20 tanks and armoured personnel carriers were the most forceful response yet by Kiev’s Western-backed government to […]
U.S. Sees Russian Agents Behind East Ukraine Unrest
Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) – The United States accused Russia on Tuesday of sending its agents to stoke a flaring secession crisis in eastern Ukraine that Moscow itself conceded could spill over into civil war. The blunt U.S. charge came as Ukraine’s embattled leaders waged an uphill battle to keep their culturally splintered nation of 46 […]
Russia Dairy Plant Closed After Workers’ Milk Bath
By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times MOSCOW — A Siberian dairy plant was temporarily closed Friday after its workers had been found bathing in milk, a Russian consumer oversight agency reported. Trade House Cheeses, a dairy producer in Omsk, about 1,600 miles east of Moscow, was closed for 90 days by regional authorities for an […]
Kerry, Russian Counterpart Launch New Talks On Ukraine
By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times LONDON — U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry and his Russian counterpart have launched a new round of talks to try to cool down the crisis over Moscow’s de facto occupation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and the secession referendum planned there this weekend. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei […]
Gunmen Seize Government Buildings In Ukraine’s Crimea
By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times KIEV, Ukraine — Gunmen early Thursday captured the parliament and Cabinet buildings in Simferopol, the capital of Ukraine’s autonomous republic of Crimea, an official said. Ukraine lawmaker and Crimea native Andrei Semchenko told the Los Angeles Times that two units of gunmen struck about 5:30 a.m. He described the […]