(Reuters) – Gunmen burst into a court in a busy shopping area in the center of the Pakistani capital on Monday, killing at least 11 people in a brazen attack likely to shatter any prospect of meaningful peace negotiations with Taliban insurgents. A loud explosion reverberated across central Islamabad just after 9 a.m., followed by bursts of gunfire. Police said at least 30 were wounded. A judge was among those killed. “There was a blast, […]
International
Ukraine mobilizes after Putin’s ‘declaration of war’
(Reuters) – Ukraine mobilized for war on Sunday and Washington threatened to isolate Russia economically after President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade his neighbor in Moscow’s biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War. “This is not a threat: this is actually the declaration of war to my country,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said in English. Yatsenuik heads a pro-Western government that took power in the former Soviet republic when […]
Ukraine in State of Upheaval
The crisis between Russia and Ukraine are escalating as Ukraine’s new leaders accused Russia of declaring war with Kiev mobilizing its troops. The international community called for diplomatic solutions.
Ukraine mobilizes for war, calls up reserves
(Reuters) – Ukraine mobilized on Sunday for war and called up its reserves, after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to invade in the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War. Ukraine’s security council ordered the general staff to immediately put all armed forces on highest alert, the council’s secretary Andriy Parubiy announced. The Defense Ministry was ordered to conduct the call-up, potentially of all men up to 40 in a country […]
West scrambles, Kiev braces as Putin threatens Ukraine war
(Reuters) – The West faced its biggest confrontation with Russia since the Cold War and Ukraine marshaled its forces for defense after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the right to invade his neighbor. Ethnic Russian forces have already bloodlessly seized Crimea, an isolated Black Sea peninsula where most of the population are Russian and Moscow has a naval base, and sought to disarm the small Ukrainian contingents there on Sunday. Of potentially even greater concern […]
Thousands protest in Hong Kong vs editor stabbing and erosion of media freedoms
Thousands in Hong Kong took to the streets on Sunday (March 2) to protest the stabbing of a former chief editor in an attack that has fuelled concerns about what many see as an erosion of media freedoms. Holding a banner declaring “they can’t kill us all”, the protesters in black shirts and wearing blue ribbons symbolizing press freedom expressed their shock and anger at the attack last Wednesday (February 26). Shirley Yam, the Vice […]
Witnesses recall fear, chaos after China train station attack
(Reuters) – Witnesses to chilling violence at a Chinese train station placed under heavy security on Sunday recalled moments of fear and chaos after at least 29 people were killed in what authorities called a terrorist attack by Xinjiang militants. Officials said a group of knife-wielding “terrorists” from the restive Xinjiang region launched a premeditated attack at the Kunming Railway Station in China’s southwest on Saturday night. More than 130 people were wounded. Armed riot […]
Ukraine crisis: US calls for Russia to pull back troops in Crimea
US President Obama and Russian President Putin have discussed the Crimea crisis via telephone. Obama called for Russian forces to withdraw, while Putin said Moscow reserved the right to defend its interests in Ukraine. President Barack Obama reportedly told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday that Moscow had violated international law by intervening in Crimea, calling for Russian forces to withdraw to their bases on the peninsula. The White House has suspended its […]
Putin ready to invade Ukraine; Kiev warns of war
(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded and won his parliament’s approval on Saturday to invade Ukraine, where the new government warned of war, put its troops on high alert and appealed to NATO for help. Putin’s open assertion of the right to send troops to a country of 46 million people on the ramparts of central Europe creates the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, leading […]
China blames Xinjiang militants for train station attack that killed at least 33 persons
(Reuters) – China blamed militants from the restive far western region of Xinjiang on Sunday for an attack at a train station on the other side of the country by knife-wielding “terrorists” in which at least 33 died, including four of the assailants, who were shot dead. The attack, in the balmy southwestern city of Kunming late on Saturday evening, marks a major escalation in the simmering unrest which had centered on Xinjiang, a heavily Muslim […]
Obama Makes Phone Call To Putin On Ukraine, Expresses Deep Concern
(Reuters) — U.S. President Barack Obama told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday (March 1) that Russia had committed a clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty by sending forces into Crimea and warned of consequences. In a written statement outlining what was discussed in a 90-minute phone call between Obama and Putin, the White House said: “The United States condemns Russia’s military intervention into Ukrainian territory.” The White House said the United States will suspend participation in preparatory meetings for G8 summit in Sochi, Russia.
Ukraine cites Russian troop movements as Crimea sliding from its grasp
Ukraine accused Russia on Saturday of sending thousands of extra troops to Crimea and placed its military in the area on high alert as the Black Sea peninsula appeared to slip beyond Kiev’s control. Russia’s RIA news agency said pro-Russian authorities in the region, which has an ethnic Russian majority, and the Russian Black Sea fleet based there had agreed to guard important buildings. Regional premier Sergei Aksyonov said that that Fleet personnel had already […]