Ukraine president returns to work as protests persist - Times Of India You are here: Home>Collections>ProtestUkraine president returns to work as protests persistAFP Feb 3, 2014, 11.20AM ISTTags:Viktor Yanukovych|Ukraine protest|Ukraine president returns to work(Yanukovych has offered…)

KIEV: Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych returns to work on Monday from four days of sick leave after opposition leaders appealed for Western assistance and an injured militant accused of rioting left the country for medical treatment.

As he recovers from what officials said was an "acute respiratory infection", Yanukovych faces a crisis with no solution in sight that has dragged on for over two months and has pitted Russia against Europe and the United States.

Opposition leaders have asked the West, which has so far pledged only verbal support for their cause, to mediate in talks with Yanukovych to prevent "misunderstandings".

They have also requested "real financial aid" after more than two months of protests that have left much of central Kiev looking like a war zone and hobbled an already frail economy.

Speaking to a protest rally of over 60,000 people on Sunday, former economy minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Western officials had assured him that funding was on its way.

"They are ready to do it," he told the crowd. The case of Dmytro Bulatov showed the international resonance of events in Ukraine after EU and US officials reacted with shock to his account of being kidnapped and tortured.

Bowing to pressure, a Kiev court on Sunday allowed the 35-year-old to leave the country for treatment in Lithuania and he was quickly taken by ambulance to the airport.

Bulatov said he was "crucified" by his unidentified captors before being released in a forest last week and images of his bloodied face were broadcast around the world.

Ukrainian authorities have cast doubt on the veracity of his story and Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara dismissed his injuries as "a scratch" before retracting the comment.

The case has been highlighted by the opposition as an example of what it says is a "secret repression" against protesters in which pro-government vigilantes have been employed.

The protests touched off in November when Yanukovych turned his back on a partnership deal with the European Union under pressure from Moscow — Ukraine's former master.

They have since expanded beyond Kiev into traditionally pro-opposition western Ukraine but also into central and eastern parts normally considered a heartland for Yanukovych.

BANGKOK: Anti-government protesters planned to forge ahead on Monday with efforts to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a day after a disrupted election that is unlikely to settle Thailand's long-running political conflict.

The demonstrators blocked balloting in a fifth of the country's constituencies and say Yingluck must resign and make way for an appointed "people's council" to overhaul a political system they say has been taken hostage by her billionaire brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Sunday's election, which the main opposition party boycotted, is almost certain to return Yingluck to power and, with voting passing off peacefully across the north and northeast, Yingluck's supporters will no doubt claim a legitimate mandate.

But the vote is unlikely to change the dysfunctional status quo in a country popular with tourists and investors yet blighted by eight years of polarisation and turmoil, pitting the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poor, rural supporters of the Shinawatras.

The election was peaceful, apart from a few scuffles, with no repeat of the chaos seen the previous day, when supporters and opponents of Yingluck clashed in north Bangkok. Seven people were wounded by gunshots or explosions.

The protesters, led by former opposition politician Suthep Thaugsuban, have rallied in Bangkok since November to try to oust Yingluck. They wanted electoral rules rewritten before any election and have vowed to keep up the protests.

"I'm confident this election won't lead to the formation of a new government," Suthep told supporters late on Sunday.

He said it was premature for ministers to say the vote had gone smoothly.

"We will gather en masse in Bangkok once more but, before then, we will deal with Yingluck and other ministers. We will surround their houses until they cannot leave," he said.

However, Suthep is closing protest camps at two of the seven big intersections that his supporters have blockaded since mid-January, at Victory Monument and Lat Phrao, citing security reasons. A third run by an allied group at a huge government administrative complex may also be closed.

Suthep is to lead a march on Monday that will end at another camp at Lumpini Park in the centre of Bangkok.

YINGLUCK REMAINS CARETAKER PM

Voting on Sunday was disrupted in 18 percent of constituencies nationwide, 69 out of 375, the Election Commission said, affecting 18 of 77 provinces. Neither the result nor the turnout was announced.

The disruption means it could be weeks before parliamentary seats are filled, so Yingluck will remain a caretaker with no policy authority.

"Having gone through more than two months of protests, the election will strengthen Yingluck's position, but her troubles are not over yet," said Kan Yuanyong, director of the Siam Intelligence Unit think tank.

"We'll see a continuation of the conflict, the standoff remains and the likelihood of more violence could increase."

The Election Commission said it expected legal challenges to be lodged as early as Monday to try to invalidate the poll and attack the legitimacy of the government

Yingluck said the election was a "positive signal", but a lasting solution was needed.

"This election is part of the democratic process," she told reporters. "I hope all sides can help solve each of the country's problems."

The protesters say former telecoms tycoon Thaksin has subverted a fragile democracy with populist politics such as doling out subsidies, cheap loans and healthcare to woo the poor and guarantee victory for his parties in every election since 2001.

Thaksin's critics also accuse him of disrespecting Thailand's revered monarchy, which he denies.

The anti-Shinawatra demonstrators enjoy broad support from southerners and Bangkok's middle class and are tacitly backed by a royalist oligarchy that sees Thaksin as a corrupt crony capitalist and resents the rapid rise of his political order.

Thaksin has lived abroad since 2008 to avoid a jail term for a graft conviction he says was politically motivated. Critics say Yingluck is merely a stand-in for him.

Thaksin's supporters accuse the military and the establishment, including the judiciary, of colluding over the years to oust his governments.

The military, which has staged numerous coups since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, overthrew Thaksin in 2006 but so far has stayed aloof this time.

With several cases against Yingluck and her party taken up by the courts, Thaksin's supporters fear judges might intervene again and they have threatened to stage their own protests if the government is ousted, either by the courts or the military.

 

About 1,000 curious onlookers crowded the dock for a glimpse of the long-haired fisherman, who smiled and waved briefly before he was whisked away for a medical check-up at Majuro Hospital.

The castaway told US ambassador Thomas Armbruster, who was acting as an interpreter for Marshall Islands authorities, that he was originally from El Salvador but had been living in Mexico for 15 years before his epic voyage.

"He said he is a shrimp and shark fisherman," Armbruster said on Monday in Majuro minutes after talking to him. "He looked better than one would expect."

And foreign ministry officials said he had told them during a debriefing aboard the patrol boat that his full name was Jose Salvador Albarengo.

He was found disorientated and clad only in ragged underpants last Thursday, after his 24-foot (7.3-metre) fibreglass boat floated onto a reef at Ebon Atoll, the southernmost cluster of coral islands in the Marshalls.

Unable to speak English, he communicated to his rescuers through pictures and gestures that he had survived by eating turtles, birds and fish and drinking turtle blood when there was no rain.

No details have yet emerged about why he began drifting the 12,500 kilometre (8,000 mile) expanse between southern Mexico and the Marshall Islands, or about the fate of a companion he said had died a few months ago.

Marshall Islands immigration chief Damien Jacklick said authorities were still gathering information and the foreign affairs department planned to contact overseas officials for his repatriation.

"With the help of the US ambassador, we were able to obtain information on his family members in El Salvador and the United States," he said. "We hope this information will help us track down his family."

Medics plan to give Albarengo a thorough medical check before he is interviewed by detectives.

Stories of survival in the vast Pacific are not uncommon. In 2006, three Mexicans made international headlines when they were discovered drifting, also in a small fibreglass boat near the Marshall Islands, nine months after setting out on a shark-fishing expedition.

 

UN delegation meets with armed groups in Mali - The Hindu var _comscore = _comscore || [];_comscore.push({ c1: "2", c2: "11398210" });(function() {var s = document.createElement("script"), el = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.async = true;s.src = (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js";el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el);})(); Follow Today's Paper Archive Subscriptions RSS Feeds Site Map ePaperMobileApps Social SEARCHHome News Opinion Business Sport S & T Features Books In-depth Jobs Classifieds International South Asia World International» WorldBAMAKO,February 4, 2014 Updated: February 4, 2014 10:10 IST
UN delegation meets with armed groups in Mali APShare  ·   Comment  ·  print  ·   TweetTOPICS World Mali
diplomacy peace negotiations
unrest, conflicts and war armed conflict The U.N. Security Council met on Monday with representatives of armed Tuareg groups active in northern Mali as part of an effort to accelerate peace talks with the government, though participants said disagreements on conditions for the talks had not been resolved.

Tuareg rebels launched a rebellion in northern Mali in early 2012 that gave way to a military coup, allowing them to take control of the country’s north. However, al-Qaeda-linked Islamic extremists later took over much of the north, prompting France to launch a military intervention in early 2013.

Though Mali held successful presidential and legislative elections last year, security in the north remains precarious, and the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad in particular maintains a strong presence in and around the northern city of Kidal.

Despite the efforts of various mediators, negotiations between the armed groups in the north and the government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita have stalled. Last month, Tuareg rebels withdrew from negotiations set to take place in Algeria after concluding that their push for greater autonomy would not be addressed. Authorities in Bamako are emphasizing a decentralization process that would bolster the Bamako-based government’s presence throughout the country.

One of the chief goals of the Security Council visit, which ended on Monday, was to accelerate peace talks with all groups in northern Mali.

The visiting U.N. delegation also met with local authorities and received briefings on the work of the country’s U.N. peacekeeping mission. On Sunday France’s U.N. ambassador Gerard Araud said the mission would reach its full operational capacity in July, one year after it took over peacekeeping activities.

Keywords: Mali unrest, Tuareg rebels, al-Qaeda, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, united nations, UNSC

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Strong earthquake rattles Greek island -   Major EarthquakeStrong earthquake rattles Greek islandAFP Feb 3, 2014, 10.04AM IST Geological Survey|Strong earthquake rattles Greek island|Greek island of Cephalonia

ATHENS: A strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck near the Greek island of Cephalonia in the Ionian Sea early on Monday, the the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

The quake hit at 5:08am (0308 GMT) with its epicentre just 12 kilometres (7 miles) from the town of Lixourion, 300 kilometres west of Athens, the USGS said.

 There were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties. A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck the same region late last month. That quake was felt on several Ionian islands and as far away as the capital Athens.

Greece is one of Europe's most earthquake-prone countries. Cephalonia has previously been struck on several occasions and in August 1953 virtually every house on the island was destroyed during a major earthquake.

The island was also the setting for the popular novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin, about a Second World War romance between an Italian soldier and a local woman. A 2001 movie of the same name, starring Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz, was filmed on the island.

The Mediterranean region as a whole is seismically active due to the convergence of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates.

Anti-graft body opposes Zardari's acquittal in cases -

AcquittalAnti-graft body opposes Zardari's acquittal in casesPTI Feb 3, 2014, 07.39PM ISTTags:Nab|Benazir Bhutto|Asif Ali Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's anti-graft watchdog on Monday opposed a petition filed by former President Asif Ali Zardari seeking acquittal in five cases against him for alleged corruption.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Akbar Tarar submitted the rejoinder to Zardari's petition. The cases against the Pakistan People's Party leader date back to the time when his slain wife Benazir Bhutto was the premier.

Anti-corruption court Judge Mohammad Bashir conducted the hearing in the five cases against Zardari.

Zardari's counsel, former Law Minister Farooq H Naek, filed the petition for his acquittal in the cases related to alleged financial irregularities and kickbacks paid for government contracts.

Naek contended that there was no solid evidence or witness against his client and therefore, the court should acquit him.

Talking to media outside the court, Naek said NAB had opposed Zardari's acquittal and would present its witnesses at the next hearing on February 24.

Zardari became head of the PPP after Bhutto was killed by a suicide bomber in December 2007. The party was routed in last year's general election. Zardari enjoyed immunity from prosecution in criminal cases while serving as President till September 2013.

About 1,000 curious onlookers crowded the dock for a glimpse of the long-haired fisherman, who smiled and waved briefly before he was whisked away for a medical check-up at Majuro Hospital.

The castaway told US ambassador Thomas Armbruster, who was acting as an interpreter for Marshall Islands authorities, that he was originally from El Salvador but had been living in Mexico for 15 years before his epic voyage.

"He said he is a shrimp and shark fisherman," Armbruster said on Monday in Majuro minutes after talking to him. "He looked better than one would expect."

And foreign ministry officials said he had told them during a debriefing aboard the patrol boat that his full name was Jose Salvador Albarengo.

He was found disorientated and clad only in ragged underpants last Thursday, after his 24-foot (7.3-metre) fibreglass boat floated onto a reef at Ebon Atoll, the southernmost cluster of coral islands in the Marshalls.

Unable to speak English, he communicated to his rescuers through pictures and gestures that he had survived by eating turtles, birds and fish and drinking turtle blood when there was no rain.

No details have yet emerged about why he began drifting the 12,500 kilometre (8,000 mile) expanse between southern Mexico and the Marshall Islands, or about the fate of a companion he said had died a few months ago.

Marshall Islands immigration chief Damien Jacklick said authorities were still gathering information and the foreign affairs department planned to contact overseas officials for his repatriation.

"With the help of the US ambassador, we were able to obtain information on his family members in El Salvador and the United States," he said. "We hope this information will help us track down his family."

Medics plan to give Albarengo a thorough medical check before he is interviewed by detectives.

Stories of survival in the vast Pacific are not uncommon. In 2006, three Mexicans made international headlines when they were discovered drifting, also in a small fibreglass boat near the Marshall Islands, nine months after setting out on a shark-fishing expedition.

 

Russians jailed for stabbing, burning 'gay man' - Times Of India You are here: Home>CollectionsRussians jailed for stabbing, burning 'gay man'AFP Feb 3, 2014, 06.16PM ISTTags:Vladimir Putin|Russian court|Russia Gays

MOSCOW: A Russian court on Monday handed down long jail sentences to three men who stabbed and kicked a man they believed to be gay and then set him on fire.

The men, all from the same village in the region of Kamchatka in far eastern Russia, committed the murder last May because they were "convinced of the non-traditional sexual orientation of their fellow villager," regional prosecutors said in a statement, using a euphemism for being gay.

 a strict-regime prison colony," prosecutors said.

The men "lured the man in his car to a deserted part of the forest. There, the eldest man stabbed the victim multiple times in the chest, face and neck, and two others kicked him."

Finally they placed the 29-year-old victim in his car and set the vehicle alight using petrol, prosecutors said.

The men who committed the murder are now aged 26, 22 and 18, with the youngest still a minor at the time of the crime.

It was highly unusual for prosecutors to state publicly that the motive was homophobia. However the men were prosecuted for murder, not for a hate crime, a classification that is rarely used.

In a hugely controversial move decried by gay activists and the West, Russia imposed sanctions for the promotion of "gay propaganda" to minors.

Activists say the measure has helped inflame anti-gay sentiment in the country. President Vladimir Putin has denied that gays and lesbians face discrimination.

In the southern Russian city of Volgograd, a man last year was tortured to death for saying he was gay.