Section: News & Summaries
Reuters: Canadian wildfire edges south, leaves thousands stranded
The 88,000 residents who fled a wildfire that has ravaged the Canadian oil town of Fort McMurray in Alberta will not be able to return home anytime soon, officials warned on Thursday, even as the inferno edged slowly south, according to Reuters.The out-of-control blaze has consumed entire neighborhoods of Fort McMurray in Canada`s energy...
UN relief chief calls for probe into air strikes in Syria`s Idleb
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O`Brien has called for an immediate, impartial and independent investigation into the air strikes that on May 5, 2016, left dozens of civilians dead and injured in the northern Syrian Governorate of Idleb, which, if found to be deliberate, could amount to a war crime, according to the UN...
Russian user reposts ”Crimea is Ukraine” in social network, gets 2 yrs in prison
Zavolzhskiy district court in the Russian city of Tver sentenced a local citizen Andrey Bubeyev for reposting in Vkontakte social network an article claiming ”Crimea is Ukraine” to two years three months in a penal colony. The verdict was announced on May 5 after the court debate, Bubeyev`s lawyer Svetlana Sidorkina reported from the courtroom,...
Russian-backed separatists plot provocations in Donbas
Information Resistance group reports that the self-proclaimed ”Donetsk People`s Republic” ordered the garment factory in the temporarily occupied Donetsk (”Tekstylnyk” district) to tailor a large number of military uniform of Ukrainian type with specific insignia, the group posted on their website on May 5, Ukraine Today reports.According to the...
Russia takes Nadia Savchenko`s sister off wanted list
Savchenko`s lawyer Ilya Novikov published on Facebook a document signed by a Russian investigation official on taking Vira Savchenko, sister of illegally imprisoned in Russia Ukrainian female pilot and MP Nadia Savchenko, off the wanted list.”The search for Vira Savchenko has stopped,” he said in a statement.Novikov also released a copy of the...
NBU expands assets by UAH 38 bln
In Q1 2016, NBU assets increased by UAH 38 billion to UAH 887.2 billion compared with the beginning of the year, says the statement of financial position of the National Bank of Ukraine.”Such growth in NBU assets can be primarily attributed to non-residents` securities, the volume of which increased by UAH 85.3 billion in Q1. In addition, banks...
Mariupol hosts counterterrorism drills
The National Police Department in Donetsk region held large-scale counterterrorism exercises on the eve of the second anniversary of the attempt of the pro-Russian militants to seize Mariupol police headquarters on May 4, as reported by local police press service.The exercises involved Donetsk regional police, the National Guard, and the State...
Slovakia Foreign MInister supports granting Ukraine visa-free regime
Slovakian Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said that Slovakia sees no problem in the abolition of EU visa requirements for Turkish citizens traveling to the European Union and in the country`s support for visa liberalization for Kosovo, Ukraine or Georgia, given the nominees meet the required criteria, Blic reports.Lajcak stressed that the...
Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu announces resignation
Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed that he will formally step down at his party`s congress on 22 May following local media reports of his imminent resignation, The Independent reported.”I decided that for the unity of the (ruling party) a change of chairman would be more appropriate. I am not considering running at the May 22 congress,” Mr Davutoglu told...
Heating tariffs in Ukraine rise by 75-90%
The National energy and utility regulator increased central heating tariffs in Ukraine by an average of 75-90% by a corresponding decision taken at the agency`s meeting on May 5.The rates have been increased against the backdrop of of the establishment from May 1 of a single gas price for the households at UAH 6,879 per 1,000 cubic meters.”The...