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| Iran shuts reformist paper over comments on law Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 08:09 PM PST Iranian authorities shut a reformist newspaper on Thursday, less than a week after its launch, because it published comments critical of Islamic criminal law. "Aseman" (Sky) newspaper, a weekly magazine turned newspaper aligned with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, had quoted a political science professor describing eye-for-an-eye punishment as "inhumane." "The newspaper was banned for spreading lies and insulting Islam," an official from Tehran's Prosecutor's office told the official IRNA news agency. Numerous articles by Iran's hardline Fars News agency had called for the paper's closure, reflecting conservative displeasure with any challenge to shariah law, which mandates equal retribution for a crime. The paper's managing director, Mohamad Ghouchani, was also prosecuted, the semi-official ISNA news agency said without elaborating. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. ready to assist Ukraine return to democracy: Lew Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 08:05 PM PST U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Sunday the United States was ready to work with Russia and other countries to restore democracy in Ukraine, a U.S. Treasury official said. Lew met his Russian counterpart, Anton Siluanov, on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in Sydney to discuss the situation in Ukraine after the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovich and the release of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. "Secretary Lew emphasized that the United States, working with other countries including Russia, stands ready to assist Ukraine as it implements reforms to restore economic stability and seeks to return to a path of democracy and growth," the Treasury official said. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico captures No.1 drug kingpin 'Shorty' Guzman Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 07:13 PM PST  By Michael O'Boyle MAZATLAN, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexico's most wanted man, drug cartel kingpin Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, was captured on Saturday with help from U.S. agencies in a major victory for the government in a long, grisly war. Guzman, known as "El Chapo" (Shorty) in Spanish, has long run Mexico's infamous Sinaloa Cartel and over the past decade he emerged as one of the world's most powerful organized crime bosses, even making it onto Forbes' list of billionaires. He was caught in his native northwestern state of Sinaloa in an early morning operation without a shot being fired, Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said, adding that Guzman's identity had been "100 percent confirmed." It is a political triumph for President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office in late 2012. Pena Nieto confirmed the capture via Twitter earlier on Saturday and congratulated his security forces. Full Story | Top |
| Two killed, 41 wounded in attack on Thai protest rally Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 06:55 PM PST Thousands of supporters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra meet on Sunday hours after an attack on an anti-government rally killed at least two people and wounded 41, police said, raising tension in the country's protracted political crisis. Gunmen shot at a protest stage and threw explosive devices in the Khao Saming district of the eastern province of Trat on Saturday evening, police said. "At least two people were killed, but the number of dead is not definite and it could be more," police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen told Reuters. Anti-government protesters have blocked main Bangkok intersections for weeks with tents, tires and sandbags, seeking to unseat Yingluck and halt the influence of her billionaire brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, an ousted former premier regarded by many as the real power behind the government. Full Story | Top |
| Police fire tear gas at Istanbul anti-government protest Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 05:16 PM PST  By Ece Toksabay ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish riot police fired tear gas on Saturday to disperse thousands of demonstrators in central Istanbul protesting against what they see as authoritarian new laws from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government. Battling a corruption scandal, Erdogan's AK Party has pushed through laws tightening government control over the Internet and courts this month, and has proposed a bill envisaging broader powers for the national intelligence agency. Officers backed by water cannon cleared demonstrators from the main Istiklal shopping street, some chanting "Everywhere Taksim, Everywhere Resistance", a reference to weeks of anti-government protests last summer on the nearby Taksim Square. "(Prime Minister) Tayyip Erdogan, don't pull the Internet plug," read one banner among the crowds. Full Story | Top |
| Suicide bomber kills three in Lebanon: security sources Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 05:15 PM PST  A suicide bomber killed two Lebanese soldiers and a civilian with a car bomb at an army checkpoint in a Hezbollah stronghold in northeast Lebanon on Saturday, security sources said. The Nusra Front in Lebanon - a militant Sunni group named after one of the factions fighting against President Bashar al-Assad in Syria - said it carried out the attack, in a statement posted on Twitter and a website used by militant groups. Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed political and military movement, is fighting alongside Assad's forces against predominantly Sunni Muslim rebels in a conflict that has exacerbated sectarian tensions in Lebanon. Full Story | Top |
| Seeking cheap stocks, chaos no problem? Try Libya Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 05:05 PM PST  Ever since the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya's government has been struggling to establish law and order and assert control over a vast desert nation awash with arms. But despite the turmoil, Libya's stock market is getting ready for the first launch of Islamic investment funds, the most prominent bourse debut since the eight-month uprising. Authorities also hope a regulator, another novelty for Libya, will bring transparency to an opaque market and put it on the radar of risk-willing investors. "We need stability," said Ahmed Karoud, the energetic bourse director, whose office is almost as large as the trading room. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. calls for peaceful change in Ukraine Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 04:52 PM PST By Lesley Wroughton and Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Saturday the dramatic ouster of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich and the release of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko could move the country away from violence toward a political settlement. The White House said Washington was keen to see the country build a new government and hold early elections. Ukraine's Rada parliament voted to oust Yanukovich, who abandoned his Kiev office to protesters and denounced what he described as a coup after a week of fighting in the streets. The White House issued a statement welcoming the release of Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, and pledging to work with Russia, European allies and international organizations to support the formation of a government of national unity. Full Story | Top |
| Protests in east Ukraine ease separatism fears Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 04:37 PM PST A bid by regional leaders loyal to President Viktor Yanukovich to challenge the legitimacy of the national parliament appeared to founder on Saturday, after thousands of protesters rallied in eastern Ukraine in support of the political changes in Kiev. The meeting of governors of mainly Russian-speaking regions in the northeastern city of Kharkiv had raised the possibility of a split in the vast former Soviet republic of 46 million. In Kiev, the parliament has passed a series of measures that would reduce the president's powers and pave the way to the formation of a national unity government and early presidential elections. Mikhaylo Dobkin, Governor of Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, told regional leaders meeting in the city: "We're not preparing to break up the country. Full Story | Top |
| Russia, Belarus, UAE? Few options for Ukraine's ousted leader Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 04:16 PM PST By Matt Robinson and Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - Big and burly with two convictions for assault, Viktor Yanukovich is hard to miss. One report had him ejected from a charter flight at Donetsk airport in his native east. The mystery did little to help loyalists who stuck to the line that their leader was still the president, even after parliament voted to remove him in the climax to three months of turmoil and several days of carnage over Ukraine's allegiance to Europe or Russia. "We have a legitimate, living president, we just don't know where he is," Oleh Tsaryov, a member of Yanukovich's Party of Regions, said grimly on Russian television. Full Story | Top |
| Brazil presidential poll tips Rousseff win; Neves support slips Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 03:40 PM PST  Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff would likely win a second, four-year term if elections scheduled for October were held today, a poll published by the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper said on Saturday. The survey, conducted February 19 and 20 by the Datafolha public opinion research group, gives Rousseff, a member of the Workers' Party, 47 percent of Brazilians' intended votes, the same amount she had in the last Datafolha poll conducted November 28 and 29. Senator Aecio Neves, a former governor of Minas Gerais state and a member of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), saw his support slip to 17 percent from 22 percent in the previous poll. Eduardo Campos, the governor of Pernambuco state and member of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) saw his support edge up to 12 percent from 11 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela deaths rise as unrest claims student and biker Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 03:28 PM PST By Daniel Wallis and Tomas Sarmiento CARACAS (Reuters) - A female student and a young supermarket worker were the latest fatalities from Venezuela's political unrest as the death toll from 10 days of violence rose on Saturday to at least eight. Both sides are mourning supporters killed in the worst turmoil since President Nicolas Maduro narrowly won an election in April 2013 to replace the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. The government blames "fascist groups" seeking a coup like the one that briefly ousted Chavez 12 years ago, while the opposition is accusing troops and pro-Maduro militants of attacking peaceful demonstrators. Opposition officials and local media in central Carabobo state said a 23-year-old student, Geraldine Moreno, died in hospital on Saturday after being shot in the face with rubber bullets as security forces broke up a protest there on February 19. Full Story | Top |
| Tension turns to triumph for Ukrainian protesters Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 03:05 PM PST By Timothy Heritage KIEV (Reuters) - The Ukrainian parliament's vote to oust President Viktor Yanukovich on Saturday was the end of a journey for Vasily Lyubarets that began in Salt Lake City 18 months ago. The relief and joy that swept protesters camped out on Kiev's Independence Square reminded the veteran of Moscow's Afghan war of the emotions he felt on the day the Soviet Union died in 1991. "When I told my friends in Salt Lake City that I was going to Ukraine to see the end of Yanukovich's rule, they laughed at me," the 58-year-old said on Independence Square. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine parliament ousts Yanukovich, Tymoshenko freed Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 03:03 PM PST By Pavel Polityuk and Matt Robinson KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovich after three months of street protests, while his arch-rival Yulia Tymoshenko hailed opposition demonstrators as "heroes" in an emotional speech in Kiev after she was released from jail. Yanukovich abandoned the capital to the opposition on Saturday and denounced what he described as a coup after several days of bloodshed this week that claimed 82 lives. Supporters cheered former prime minister Tymoshenko as she left the hospital where she had been held. When she spoke later in Kiev, her reception was mixed. Full Story | Top |
| Missing U.S. student found dead in Italy railroad tunnel Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 02:37 PM PST (Reuters) - A U.S. college student who went missing two days ago while traveling in Italy has been found dead, authorities said Saturday. The body of 21-year-old John Durkin, of Rye Beach, New Hampshire, was discovered in a railroad tunnel in Rome, authorities said. The State Department confirmed the find but did not release details about the circumstances of the death, citing "respect for the family at this difficult time." Durkin was an economics major with a minor in Asian studies, and played football at Bates College, a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. He was studying abroad with five other Bates College students through a program sponsored by Trinity College of Hartford, Connecticut. Full Story | Top |
| Captured drug lord 'Shorty' Guzman a cunning, brutal businessman Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 02:26 PM PST By Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, the world's most wanted drugs lord, fought his way up from a ramshackle mountain village to become the Mexican government's most powerful adversary in a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Guzman, who was captured early on Saturday in his native northwestern state of Sinaloa after a months-long operation, gained power by crushing rivals in brutal turf wars and dominated drug smuggling across the border into the United States after escaping from a high-security prison in 2001. But in towns and villages across Mexico he was better known for his squads of assassins who committed thousands of murders and kidnappings. Guzman's Sinaloa cartel smuggled billions of dollars worth of cocaine, marijuana and crystal meth across Mexico's 2,000- mile (3,200-km) border with the United States. Full Story | Top |
| Morocco summons French ambassador over torture lawsuit Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 01:52 PM PST Morocco has summoned the French ambassador in Rabat to protest against a French lawsuit filed against the head of Morocco's domestic intelligence for alleged complicity in torture, the foreign ministry said on Saturday. It was a rare diplomatic spat between France and Morocco, a former French colony and strong ally of Paris which has faced criticism from rights groups over police abuses, press freedom and judicial independence. The lawsuit filed by Moroccan activists in France accuses the Moroccan intelligence service, known by its French acronym DST, of torturing them while in detention in Morocco. During a visit by DST chief Abdellatif Hammouchi to France this week, French police officers went to the Moroccan embassy to ask about him, the Moroccan statement said. Full Story | Top |
| Polarizing opposition leader freed in Ukraine after enemy ousted Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 01:49 PM PST  By Alessandra Prentice and Matt Robinson KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko was freed by her jailors on Saturday during the dramatic ouster of President Viktor Yanukovich, but an emotional speech from her wheelchair won a mixed response from Kiev's Independence Square. Cheers and whistles from anti-government protesters reflected the polarizing nature of the 53-year-old former gas magnate, who co-led Ukraine's 2004-05 Orange Revolution but disappointed supporters as prime minister. Within hours, the former prime minister was carried in her wheelchair onto a stage on Independence Square, where 82 people were killed this week in the worst violence in more than 22 years of Ukrainian statehood. Thousands had packed the square after parliament voted to oust her arch-enemy, President Viktor Yanukovich. Full Story | Top |
| Militants shoot down Iraqi helicopter and occupy northern town Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 01:47 PM PST  By Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Militants shot down a helicopter on Saturday and briefly occupied a town, in an escalating turf war with Iraq's government that has killed at least 25 people in two days, police said. All four crew members were killed when their helicopter was downed during a reconnaissance flight over the town of Karma in Iraq's western province of Anbar, where the army is engaged in a standoff with anti-government fighters. Sunni Islamist insurgents have been gaining ground in Iraq over the past year and in recent weeks overran several towns, raising the stakes in a conflict against the Shi'ite-led government that made last year the deadliest since sectarian civil strife began to abate in 2008. Late on Friday, dozens of militants in SUVs drove into the small town of al-Sainiyah, near Baiji, some 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, after bombing the local police headquarters, and fought troops for several hours overnight, witnesses said. Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria court rules central bank governor can't be arrested pending plea Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 01:31 PM PST  A Nigerian court has issued an order on the security agencies, barring them from arresting suspended Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi, after he was briefly detained and his passport seized at the airport, a document viewed by Reuters showed. Justice Buba Ibrahim issued the order on Friday, after Sanusi complained that his detention had breached his right to freedom of movement, since he had not yet been charged with committing the financial malpractices for which he was suspended. President Goodluck Jonathan suspended Sanusi on Thursday, removing an outspoken critic of his government's record on corruption, citing "acts of financial recklessness". Since the suspension, presidential spokesman Reuben Abati has accused the central bank of procurement irregularities during Sanusi's tenure, most of them dating back to 2011. Full Story | Top |
| Algeria's Bouteflika to seek fourth term in April Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 12:54 PM PST  By Lamine Chikhi and Hamid Ould Ahmed ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the aging independence veteran who suffered a stroke last year, will run in April's election, the government said on Saturday, in a vote likely to hand him a fourth term in power. Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal's announcement appeared to end months of speculation over Bouteflika's future after his trips to Paris for treatment in the last year intensified talk of a succession after his 15 years in office. Sellal said Bouteflika, who opponents believe is still too frail to govern, had decided to run and state news agency reported that he had already formally registered his candidacy. "Bouteflika will be a candidate," Sellal said at event in the city of Oran. Full Story | Top |
| Police attacked with grenade at Tunisian consulate in Libya Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 12:44 PM PST Gunmen fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a police car parked in front of the Tunisian consulate in Libya's eastern Benghazi city on Saturday, security officials said. Security officials said it was not clear whether the unknown gunmen had targeted the car, which had four officers inside, or the consulate. Tunisia is one of the last states still with a mission in Benghazi. Egypt withdrew its personnel last month from its Benghazi consulate and Tripoli embassy for security reasons. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's Yanukovich refused exit from country: Interfax Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 12:43 PM PST Ukraine's border authorities said on Saturday it had refused to allow President Viktor Yanukovich to leave the country, Interfax news agency said. Yanukovich subsequently got off the plane and left in a waiting car, it said. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt sweeps out senior wheat import official; suspects corruption Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 12:32 PM PST By Shadia Nasralla and Maha El Dahan CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt, the world's top wheat importer, has sacked the head of its silos and storage holding company and referred an official at the main wheat importing body to prosecutors on suspicion of corruption, state media said on Saturday. Supplies Minister Mohamed Abu Shadi referred the head of the central import administration at the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) to prosecutors for suspected corrupt dealings with traders, a ministry official said. The moves come just days after two other senior GASC officials were removed, and mark another flash point for the major consumer after deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi spent his year in power dramatically reducing wheat imports in a failed attempt at self sufficiency. This will also unnerve several small companies involved in importing grain to Egypt and potentially a small group of global traders that supply them. Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen kidnap Czech woman doctor in Yemen Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 12:24 PM PST A Czech doctor was kidnapped by gunmen in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Saturday, the third foreigner to be snatched this month, security sources said. The kidnapping, which highlights the increasing breakdown of security in the U.S.-allied country, follows that of a British oil worker by unidentified gunmen and a German abducted by Yemeni tribesman to press for the release of their jailed relatives. Also on Saturday, an intelligence officer was killed by suspected al Qaeda militants in Yemen's southern province of Shabwa. Colonel Ahmed Hashem was shot dead by the armed gunmen in the city of Atak, a security source said. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico drug boss "Shorty" Guzman caught with U.S. help: Attorney General Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 12:23 PM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico captured its most-wanted man, drug kingpin Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, in his native northwestern state early on Saturday after a months-long operation with help from certain U.S. agencies, Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said. Officials have confirmed Guzman's identity "100 percent", and the operation passed off without a single shot fired, he added. After he spoke, Guzman, wearing a cream shirt and dark jeans, was frog-marched across the tarmac by soldiers in face masks, his head pushed down, and put aboard an awaiting federal police helicopter. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ukrainians gawp as Yanukovich's luxury estate is opened to public Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 12:10 PM PST By Richard Balmforth NOVI PETRIVTSI, Ukraine (Reuters) - A sprawling forested estate of graceful waterways and summer houses - half the size of Monaco but just one hour's drive from Kiev - stands as a symbol of the folly of Ukraine's fugitive president. Even the most cynical Ukrainians, who on Saturday streamed to see Viktor Yanukovich's luxury estate, rubbed their eyes in disbelief when they were confronted by the scale of the opulence he built around him and kept secret from the outside world. Yanukovich, 63, who fled into hiding on Saturday as the turmoil of three months confrontation with his people caught up with him, relaxed at weekends in luxury behind high walls patrolled by scores of security guards. When the dream ended and Yanukovich's staff fled the Gatsby-like mansion in the early hours of Saturday, the Kiev protest movement that had opposed him invited Ukrainians to go to see the opulence Yanukovich lived in. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's Tymoshenko says carry on with protests Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 12:02 PM PST Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko urged President Viktor Yanukovich's opponents on Saturday not to abandon their protests in central Kiev even though parliament has voted to oust him. In an emotional speech to thousands of protesters in Kiev's Independence Square after she was carried on to a stage in a wheelchair, she said: "You have no right to leave the Maidan (square)... Don't stop yet." Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, was released earlier on Saturday from the hospital where she had been held under prison guard for much of the time since she was convicted in 2011 on charges of abuse of office. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Mexico's cartel kingpins: dead, captured and wanted Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 11:55 AM PST By Julia Symmes Cobb MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's most wanted man, cocaine kingpin Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, has been captured by U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials, sources said on Saturday, the highest profile drug cartel leader to fall in nearly a decade of raging violence. Below are some facts about the capture or death of some of the gang leaders who appeared on a list of Mexico's 37 most wanted posted in March 2009, and of others still at large. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. welcomes release of Ukraine's Tymoshenko: White House Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 11:47 AM PST The United States on Saturday welcomed the release from prison of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and pledged to work with its allies, Russia and international organizations to support a unified and democratic Ukraine. "We have consistently advocated a de-escalation of violence, constitutional change, a coalition government, and early elections, and today's developments could move us closer to that goal," the White House said in a statement. The White House praised the "constructive work" in Ukraine's parliament, which declared President Viktor Yanukovich constitutionally unable to carry out his duties and set an early election for May 25 after the pro-Russian president's violent suppression of demonstrations in Kiev. Yanukovich abandoned the capital and said the parliament's actions amounted to an illegal "coup d'etat." The White House urged an end to violence by all sides and wished Tymoshenko a speedy recovery as she seeks appropriate medical treatment. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council unanimously approves Syria aid access resolution Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 11:35 AM PST  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council achieved rare unity to act on Syria's civil war on Saturday when Russia and China supported adoption of a resolution to boost aid access in Syria that threatens to take "further steps" in the case of non-compliance. Russia, supported by China, has shielded its ally Syria on the Security Council during the three-year-long war. They had previously vetoed three resolutions that would have condemned Syria's government and threatened it with possible sanctions. Lithuanian U.N. Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaite, president of the 15-member council for February, described the unanimous approval of the resolution, drafted by Australia, Jordan and Luxembourg, as a "moment of hope" for Syria's people. Full Story | Top |
| Ukrainian opposition group Right Sector says keep up protests Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 11:27 AM PST Ultra-Radical Ukrainian opposition group Right Sector said on Saturday it would continue protests in the capital Kiev despite parliament's vote to oust President Viktor Yanukovich. "The Right Sector will not disperse," the group, one of several that is involved in the protests in central Kiev, said in a written statement. Full Story | Top |
| Protest against new airport for west of France turns violent Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 11:08 AM PST  Violence erupted when about 20,000 people demonstrated against an airport project near the city of Nantes on Saturday, leaving six riot police officers injured. Environmental activists have been protesting for more than a year against the government's plan to build a new airport for the west of the country, with some activists occupying the area by living rough in makeshift wooden cabins. The protest on Saturday in Nantes, homeland of French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, involved around 20,000, according to police, and was the first since local authorities gave the project a green light. Riot police used tear gas to disperse protesters who lobbed projectiles and threw paint onto Nantes' city hall, set fire to construction vehicles and vandalized the offices of Vinci, the project's contractor. Full Story | Top |
| Russia tells U.S. that Ukraine's peace deal is under threat Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 10:40 AM PST Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday that the peace deal signed in Ukraine had been "sharply degraded by opposition forces' inability or lack of desire" to respect it, the ministry said. "Illegal extremist groups are refusing to disarm and in fact are taking Kiev under their control with the connivance of opposition leaders," Lavrov told Kerry by telephone, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement. Lavrov "reminded" Kerry that President Vladimir Putin had urged U.S. President Barack Obama during an earlier call to "use every opportunity to stop the illegal actions of radicals and return the situation to constitutional channels", it said. Full Story | Top |
| Tymoshenko sure Ukraine will join EU in near future: Interfax Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 10:40 AM PST KIEV (Reuters) - Opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko said on Saturday she believed Ukraine would join the European Union, Interfax news agency reported. "I am sure that Ukraine will be a member of the European Union in the near future and this will change everything," she was quoted as saying in Kiev after her release from the hospital where she had been held under prison guard in the northeastern city of Kharkiv. (Reporting By Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage) Full Story | Top |
| German minister urges Ukraine parties to seek national unity Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 10:34 AM PST German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Saturday urged all parties in Ukraine to act in the interests of national unity. "I urge those with responsibility to halt the political escalation and to keep a sense of proportion. Maintaining channels of communication and being willing to compromise given the situation and regional differences are more vital than ever," he said in a statement. "The basis of all political decisions must be the upholding of Ukraine's territorial integrity and national unity ... Ukraine needs a functioning interim government which can restore order throughout the land as quickly as possible," he added. Full Story | Top |
| Russian envoy criticizes EU envoys after Ukraine deal Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 10:33 AM PST An envoy sent to Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin to participate in mediation efforts on Saturday criticized the European Union ministers who helped broker a peace deal in Kiev. "I do not understand, frankly, how after recognizing the legitimacy of President Yanukovich, the parliament, all the state structures, my European colleagues can then come to Kiev and go to the nationalist-revolutionary and terrorist Maidan and say there - down with the legitimate government they recognized," Vladimir Lukin said in a television interview. The deal between Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovich and the opposition was brokered by the foreign ministers of France, Poland and Germany, who signed it on Friday as witnesses. It was also unclear "to what degree the three gentlemen who participated from the other side ... are in control of the situation," he said, referring to Ukraine's three main opposition leaders. Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Renzi sworn in as prime minister Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 10:11 AM PST  By Giselda Vagnoni ROME (Reuters) - Italian center-left leader Matteo Renzi took office on Saturday as his country's youngest prime minister, facing pressure to show immediate results after he forced out his predecessor over the slow pace of economic reforms. The 39-year-old Renzi has named a low-profile list of ministers with a mix of politicians and technocrats which included no figures capable of challenging his control of the government. Business and union leaders have repeatedly warned that the government must take urgent action to save Italy's ailing industry, with thousands of companies going out of business and millions put out of work. "The responsibility is enormous and this must not fail," said Rocco Palombella, secretary general of the UILM union, which represents workers in the engineering sector. Full Story | Top |
| Central African Republic militia says will only disarm after Muslim rebels do Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 09:29 AM PST  By Media Coulibaly BANGUI (Reuters) - A powerful militia in Central African Republic said on Saturday it will only disarm once its main rivals, the mainly Muslim Seleka fighters, lay down their weapons, a deadlock that risks prolonging the crisis in the war-torn country. The "anti-balaka" self defense militia was formed last year to defend Christian communities targeted by Seleka forces who ousted the president in March, triggering cycles of revenge killings that continue to grip the country despite the deployment of thousands of foreign peacekeepers. But Muslims who stayed behind have been targeted, and France now believes the largely Christian militia is the main obstacle to peace. "We will lay down (our weapons) in the center of town in front of the international community ... only on the condition that these bandits are disarmed first," Sebastien Wenezoui, spokesman for the "anti-balaka" force said on Saturday. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: U.N. Security Council action on the Syrian conflict Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 08:59 AM PST The U.N. Security Council has adopted five resolutions linked to Syria's three-year civil war, while Russia and China have blocked another three attempts at action by the 15-member body. The fifth resolution, adopted on Saturday, aims to boost humanitarian access in Syria. The previously vetoed and adopted Security Council resolutions on Syria are: VETO ONE - October 4, 2011 Russia and China blocked a European-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria and hinting it could face sanctions if its bloody crackdown on protesters continues. Full Story | Top |
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