Tag - russia

 
 

RUSSIA

"Crossing prohibited" signs at a border fence running along the Polish border with Belarus, near the village of Bialowieza, Poland, in May
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2024
Another Japanese national is detained in Belarus
Belarus, an ally of Russia, previously detained another Japanese national in July for alleged spying.
A Ukrainian tank crew member stands on a tank near Pokrovsk, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, on Friday.
WORLD
Dec 18, 2024
Ukraine has inflicted casualties on North Korean forces, U.S. says
The officials did not provide specific numbers on missing, dead and wounded or if some of the wounded could go back into action.
The scene of an explosion where Russian chemical weapons chief Igor Kirillov and his assistant were killed in Moscow on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 18, 2024
Ukraine kills Russian chemical weapons chief Igor Kirillov in Moscow
The lieutenant general was killed outside an apartment building when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter went off.
A man rides a motorbike along a street in the settlement of Hulbuk, formerly known as Vose, in the Khatlon region, Tajikistan, on Dec. 12.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 17, 2024
Tajik migrants fear for income and security as Russia reels from terror attack
Migrants in Russia say a rise in street harassment and police raids are making life there more difficult, a concern also raised by rights advocates.
Russian and North Korean flags are attached to a car during a ceremony welcoming Russian President Vladimir Putin at an airport in Pyongyang on June 19.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 17, 2024
U.S. hits North Korea and Russia with new sanctions, Treasury says
The sanctions are the latest U.S. measure aimed at disrupting North Korea's support to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov attend an expanded meeting of the Defense Ministry Board at the National Defense Control Center in Moscow on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 17, 2024
Russia must be ready to fight NATO in Europe in next decade, minister says
Russian defense chief cited a NATO summit in July and military doctrines in NATO members as evidence that Moscow had to prepare.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, in October. India and China reached a border deal for Chinese forces to retreat from disputed territory and for India to resume border patrols.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2024
How India’s soft power led to a border deal with China
New Delhi played its cards right, adopting a multipronged strategy that led to Beijing withdrawing from disputed territory that could be model for other countries, too.
Then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in August 2021. From Syria to Ukraine, Merkel and former U.S. President Barack Obama’s missteps still haunt the West.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2024
Putin’s loss in Syria exposes Western failures
The West's indecision and failed liberal internationalist policies allowed Putin to bolster Assad’s regime and secure strategic advantages in Syria.
A damaged poster of Syria's ousted leader, Bashar Assad, in Aleppo on Nov. 30
WORLD / FOCUS
Dec 15, 2024
Assad's final hours in Syria: Deception, despair and flight
Hours before he fled to Moscow, Assad assured army and security chiefs that Russian support was on its way and urged ground forces to hold out.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters gather in Damascus on Saturday.
WORLD
Dec 15, 2024
U.S. says it is in contact with new Syria rulers
Secretary of State Antony Blinken's comment on "direct contact" with the HTS rebels came despite the United States having designated the group as terrorists in 2018.
Girls hold banners urging passersby to stop and pay their respects during a minute of silence honoring the victims of Russia's invasion at 9 a.m. in front of Golden Gates metro station in central Kyiv.
WORLD / Society
Dec 14, 2024
Observing a minute of silence for Ukraine's fallen soldiers
As fewer people stop to pay their respects during a 9:00 am ritual for victims of the war, a small activist group is pushing for a change.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in an online meeting of Group of Seven leaders at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo early Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 14, 2024
Ishiba urges deeper G7 security cooperation as North Korea gets closer to Russia
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said recent developments have a "direct impact" on security in the Indo-Pacific region.
A satellite image shows an An-124 heavy transport aircraft with its nose cone lifted, at Russia's Khmeimim airbase, near Latakia, Syria, on Friday.
WORLD
Dec 14, 2024
Russian military appears to be packing up equipment in Syria, satellite imagery shows
The moves could be a prelude to Moscow’s military withdrawal from the country in the wake of President Bashar Assad’s fall.
Farhan al-Khouli, a Syrian military conscript who deserted his post on the first day of the rebel offensive, works at a horse stable in Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 13, 2024
Demoralized and abandoned by allies: Why Syria’s army failed to fight
Rampant corruption and a heavy reliance on foreign allies hollowed out Bashar Assad's once-feared army.
Boxer Kevin Johnson displays a shirt with an image of Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Nov. 24.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Dec 13, 2024
Aging U.S. heavyweight Kevin Johnson fights on to honor Vladimir Putin in Russia
Putin granted Johnson nationality with a decree under an express procedure used for others including U.S. actor Steven Seagal.
People wave the flag of the Syrian National Coalition as they celebrate the fall of the Assad regime in Aleppo, Syria, on Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2024
The Syrians have a chance to be free. They need our help.
The future of Syria, and the wider Middle East, remains uncertain, however, and the ultimate outcome could be more threatening than that of the Assad era.
Syrian President Bashar Assad's downfall stemmed from his failure to reform the country's corrupt, sectarian regime and an economy ravaged by war, leaving his government unable to withstand the recent rebel offensive.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2024
Syria’s kleptocratic rule and a house of cards
Like the fictional mafia family, Assad’s regime relied on kickbacks from wealthy business owners and shaking down foreigners.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrive for a news conference following their meeting in Moscow in July. Both of their countries have pro-government "fact-checking" websites.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 12, 2024
Rise in pro-government 'fact checking' sparks concern in Europe
Fresh initiatives are presenting themselves as genuine fact-checking outfits while pushing their own agenda.
A liquefied natural gas plant operated by Sakhalin Energy in Sakhalin, Russia. Japan, the world's second biggest LNG buyer, depends on Russia for 9% of its LNG.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 12, 2024
Rival supplies and depleting fields give Japan an exit from Russian gas
Japan, the world's second-biggest liquefied natural gas buyer, depends on Russia for 9% of its LNG.
Georgian anti-government protesters face off against police during consecutive days of mass demonstrations against the government's postponement of European Union accession talks in central Tbilisi on Dec. 3.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2024
Georgia has crossed a Russian Rubicon
A tipping point came last week when authorities in the capital Tbilisi sent masked police to raid the headquarters of opposition parties.

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Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan