Kim oversees North Korea display of military strength Pyongyang, North Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un Saturday saluted as ranks of goose-stepping soldiers followed by tanks and other military hardware paraded in Pyongyang for a show of strength with tensions mounting over his nuclear ambitions. After inspecting …
Read More »Moscow says US has no objective data on ‘monstrous crime’ in Syria
Moscow, Russia | AFP | The Kremlin on Thursday said US allegations that Syrian forces carried out a deadly chemical attack are not based on “objective” information. “We consider a much more measured approach necessary and do not think it is possible to surrender oneself to hasty conclusions about what happened …
Read More »Saint Petersburg metro driver hailed as hero after 14 killed in blast
Saint Petersburg, Russia | AFP | Alexander Kaverin, the driver of the Saint Petersburg metro train hit by a deadly explosion, has become an unlikely hero in a tragedy that has claimed 14 lives and injured dozens. The 50-year-old Russian appeared stunned in the spotlight of state television, describing how …
Read More »Putin says climate change not caused by emissions
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said climate change was unstoppable and not caused by human activity as he urged countries to adapt to global warming. One day after visiting the Franz Josef Land archipelago in the Arctic, Putin claimed that icebergs had been melting …
Read More »Spy fiction? Byzantine Russia tale envelops Washington
Washington, United States | AFP | Secret meetings, phone taps, Russian oil money and mysterious intelligence dossiers: the swirling scandal over Donald Trump’s ties to Moscow has all the makings of a classic spy novel — whose ending has yet to be written. But the maelstrom engulfing Washington over Russia’s …
Read More »Trump son-in-law Kushner to face Russia investigation panel
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner will appear before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the US election, the White House said Monday. Kushner, 36, was Trump’s main intermediary with foreign governments during the 2016 election campaign and now plays that …
Read More »Russia trying to gain influence in Libya: US general
Washington, United States | AFP | Russia is trying to expand its influence in Libya through a combination of military means and oil and weapons sales, a top US general said Friday. General Thomas Tom Waldhauser, who heads the US military’s Africa Command, said Russia is “on the ground” in …
Read More »UK banks ‘handled’ $740 mn in laundered Russian money
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Several British banks processed nearly $740 million in a multi-billion dollar Russian money-laundering scam, The Guardian newspaper said on Monday. According to documents obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, at least $20 billion was moved out of Russia between 2010 and 2014 …
Read More »FBI’s Comey: from Clinton bugbear to thorn in Trump’s side?
Washington, United States | AFP | Eight months ago, James Comey hampered Hillary Clinton’s White House bid with a damning assessment of her email practices. On Monday, the powerful FBI chief lobbed another bombshell into the world of US politics — this time directed at the sitting president, Donald Trump. …
Read More »No Russian links found with Trump campaign
‘No evidence of collusion’ between Trump campaign, Russia: US lawmaker Washington, United States | AFP | A congressional panel so far has found “no evidence” that Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election, its chairman said Sunday, ahead of testimony by the head of the FBI on …
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