Pope Francis met Argentine veterans of the Falklands War on Wednesday, posing for a photograph and signing a placard calling for peace in the South Atlantic, amid speculation that the future of the islands may be discussed when he meets the Queen on her visit to Rome next month.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Canada backs tougher U.S. measures on Russia
OTTAWA — Canada did not object Thursday to new U.S. sanctions that could harm the global economy to protest Russia's takeover of Crimea and discourage any military incursion into mainland Ukraine.
The U.S. upped the ante with the toughest measures to date after weeks of featherweight initiatives announced by Canada, the U.S. and European countries were ignored and mocked by Russian officials.
President Barack Obama said Thursday the White House now plans to go after key sectors of the Russian economy -- likely oil and gas -- and a bank and wealthy Russians with holdings in the U.S., on top of Kremlin officials who had already been targeted.
"This is not our preferred outcome," Obama said. "These sanctions would not only have a significant impact on the Russian economy, but could also be disruptive to the global economy." Moscow responded to the U.S. blacklist by slapping travel restrictions on American legislators, including House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, a trio of White House officials and others.
"We have repeatedly warned that sanctions are a double-edged instrument and would hit the United States like a boomerang," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "There must be no doubt: We will respond adequately to every hostile thrust."
Canada has been in lockstep with its allies on the rhetoric front and has endorsed all U.S. efforts to date since troops were deployed to the Black Sea peninsula and the subsequent annexation of Crimea.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is heading to Ukraine on Saturday to provide moral support to the interim government.
He'll also make stops in The Netherlands and Germany to rally his counterparts, including G7 leaders attending an emergency meeting in The Hague, to take a tougher stance against Russia because, unlike Canada, they have the muscle to do so.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is accompanying Harper to Kiev.
"First and foremost we've got to stand up for freedom," Baird told Sun News. "All freedom-loving countries have got to stand together.
"It's tremendously important that we speak loudly and clearly. This is not a time for moral relativism. It's a time for tough talk."
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel received assurances on Thursday from his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, that Russian troops along Ukraine's eastern border had no plans to enter the country, a Pentagon spokesman said.
Rear Admiral John Kirby said Hagel spoke to Shoigu for nearly an hour by telephone and was "clear and firm" in telling him that with Russian forces in control in Crimea, they were responsible for any incidents there.
During the call, Hagel asked for an explanation of why Russia was deploying forces along Ukraine's eastern and southern borders and was assured by Shoigu they were conducting exercises and had no intention of crossing the border, the spokesman said.
Still, Ukrainian paratroopers with armoured vehicles were digging in on Thursday near the Russian border as the military demonstrated its presence in the east.
Obama Walks The Talk On Ukraine
Washington (CNN) - It must have been at least a little satisfying Thursday for President Barack Obama
He had repeatedly warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against annexing Crimea from Ukraine, threatening tougher sanctions aimed at the Russian economy.
Keeping Promise to Companion who Perished
(CNN) -- It was a promise the castaway made to a dying man: He vowed the man's mother would learn how he perished and hear his last words.
Jose Salvador Alvarenga flew from El Salvador to Mexico this week to keep his word -- more than a month after the stunning story of his survival at sea captured international attention.
"It's a promise that we both had made," Alvarenga said after landing in Mexico City, "and now I'm here to fulfill it."
Alvarenga was found in an atoll in the Marshall Islands in late January. He told authorities there he had drifted on a small fishing boat for 13 months all the way from Mexico, more than 6,000 miles away.
because he couldn't manage to drink turtle blood and eat raw fish.
While Alvarenga, 37, returned to his native El Salvador last month,
Cordoba's family was left demanding answers.
This week, they got some.
Roselia Diaz, Cordoba's mother, said she was grateful that Alvarenga had traveled to the coastal Mexican town where she lives.
"For me, it would have been sadder if both had died, because I never would have known what happened to my son," she said. "So I'm very happy to see him again."
Alvarenga told reporters that Cordoba often spoke about his mother.
"He told me a lot about her, that she was a very good person with everybody, and that she was very loving," he said.
Cordoba, an Evangelical Christian, told the Salvadoran fisherman about his faith as they both clung to the hope of being found alive and rescued in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.Alvarenga also told Cordoba's mother how the two fishermen passed the time while drifting in the open sea.
"He taught me how to pray," Alvarenga said. "He taught me to sing."
The castaway said there were some things Cordoba told him that only the dead fisherman's mother must know.
"To reveal them publicly," he said, "would be to betray his memory."
Falkland Islands will be ours, says Argentina's new minister
Daniel Filmus, Argentina's 'Malvinas Secretary,' says he believes one day the Falklands will belong to Argentina – and that the negotiations would not be 'mission impossible'
7:00AM GMT 19 Mar 2014
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Argentina's newly appointed Falklands Islands secretary has said he is convinced that the islands will one day be returned to Argentine rule – and denounced Britain's "aggressive moves" in the region.
Daniel Filmus said the issue was "a question that runs deep in the hearts of the Argentine people," speaking two days after Cristina Kirchner, the Argentine president, met with the Pope and is thought to have asked him – as a fellow Argentine – to champion their cause.
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