Ukraine On Full Combat Alert Over 'Invasion'

Ukraine's military is "on full combat alert" over a possible invasion by Russian troops massed on the border, Kiev's acting leader has said.

Interim president Oleksandr Turchynov told a ministerial meeting: "Our armed forces are on full combat alert. The threat of Russia starting a war against mainland Ukraine is real."

Ukraine's government later announced the country's armed forces would hold military exercises in central Kiev on Wednesday night.

The Russian Foreign Ministry responded by demanding Ukraine halt such "militaristic statements".

Ukraine's acting president Oleksander Turchinov at the cabinet meeting

"We insist that Kiev immediately ceases the bellicose rhetoric, which is aimed at intimidating its own population," the ministry said.

The increasing tension came as Downing Street confirmed that David Cameron had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

A statement from the Kremlin said the two leaders agreed that the crisis could only be solved through "peaceful means".

Russia has denied it has any plans to invade eastern Ukraine after its annexation of the Crimean peninsula in March.

Kiev, however, has accused Moscow of orchestrating an armed uprising in the industrial east by Russian-speaking separatists, who have seized government buildings in a number of towns and cities.

Ukraine's army and police appear to be making little progress in a high-profile operation to prevent the rebels expanding their grip over towns in the east.

It came as the International Monetary Fund said Russia was already in recession, while citing the effect of the ongoing crisis on investment in the country.

IMF economist Antonio Spilimbergo was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying: "If we define recession as negative growth in two quarters in a row, then Russia from that point of view is experiencing recession."

The IMF has lowered its 2014 growth forecast for Russia to 0.2% from the 1.3% figure it issued on April 8, Mr Spilimbergo added.

Russia deployed around 40,000 troops to its shared border with Ukraine in March. Moscow initially claimed they were sent for exercises but later said they were ready to respond to Kiev's military offensive against pro-Kremlin rebels.

President Putin insists he has a "right" to send his forces into Ukraine, but has not yet done so.

Kiev and the US say Russian special forces are already active in the insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

Mr  Turchynov told the cabinet meeting: "Our number one task is to prevent terrorism spreading from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions to other Ukrainian regions".

He underlined moves announced a day earlier to set up armed civilian "territorial volunteer militia" units to help beleaguered police and troops in the east.

In a separate development, Britain is to send a prosecutor to Ukraine to help local law enforcement authorities in the hunt for billions of pounds.

The money is believed to have been siphoned out of the country by ousted former president Viktor Yanukovych and his inner circle.

In America, 19 Republican senators introduced legislation on Wednesday proposing broader and tougher measures to punish Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

The measures included sanctions on major banks and energy companies, as well as $100m (£59m) in military aid for Kiev.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ukraine: Militia Controls A Million Weapons

At the end of a completely anonymous road on the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Artemivsk is the village of Paraskoviyevka.

It has two claims to fame: one of the few still functioning salt mines in the region, and, more importantly, the largest cache of weapons in Europe - over a million of them and they are under the control of separatists.

Outside the gates of the mine, a cluster of tents mark the pro-Russian checkpoint guarding the entrance to this enormous supply of weapons.

The militia say they started guarding the mine in March when efforts were made to move some of the weapons. They say they will not allow anyone to get their hands on them.

But military experts and government sources in Kiev have warned that such a ready supply should not be guarded by groups who wish to separate from the country.

The storage facility was created in the 1950s by the Soviet Union.

About 150 metres below ground and stretching horizontally for kilometres the weapons age back to World War Two but in the 1990s huge numbers of Kalashnikov machine guns were stored in the facility as well.

The men guarding the store say the conditions underground are dry and perfect for storage.

The weapons are held in a storage facility at a salt mine

They say that the armaments, particularly the newer ones, are in perfect working order.

"If anyone got in there they could arm everyone in Ukraine," a masked separatist told me.

He added: "There are rifles, machine guns, heavy weapons and millions and millions of rounds of ammunition. We are here to stop the forces of the west and anyone else for that matter from getting their hands on them.

"For certain the fascists from Kiev won't get them."

The real point of this is that there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to take control of the store from the pro-Russia group.

Soldiers at a nearby camp are powerless here; their authority has gone and do nothing to move the blockade outside the mine.

To a degree this is a perfect microcosm example of what is happening across the east of the country.

Government institutions and police stations in virtually all the main towns and cities have fallen to the pro-Russia militia.

Tents mark the pro-Russian checkpoint guarding the entrance

It is an extremely well-organised takeover. Armed and masked men arrive and disarm police before moving to town halls and regional buildings.

At gunpoint, they impose their authority before civilian activists move in and start building barricades.

Asked who the enemy are, the usual reply is "Fascists from Kiev".

The truth is there isn't a fascist horde wending its way out here.

It is a myth that has been propagated by self-appointed regional leaders with the help of Russian media, whose reporting of events is watched by most people here.

And it is a cross between hysterical warnings of armageddon and comic manipulation of facts and events; comic if people were not dying as a result, which they are.

This is getting increasingly nasty and once again there is nothing anyone can do about it.

A pro-Russian separatist in Ukraine

In Donestsk, where pro-Kiev supporters have staged rallies of support, people have been beaten senseless and in one instance knifed to death by pro-Russian thugs.

The police do nothing to stop the attacks happening and, worse, there is more than a suspicion that they are in cahoots with the mob.

I have seen riot police clad in full protective gear hugging men who minutes earlier were beating an old man.

The Kiev administration admits its forces in the east are not able to intervene or are failing to do their jobs.

But the police themselves say they are getting no orders or guidance from Kiev.

Even if they don't like what is going on here, and many admit they do, they have no intention of taking a beating, or worse, by stick-wielding groups and armed masked men.

From Kiev, they are warning of an imminent invasion by Russian forces and have put their troops on full alert.

But these soldiers are in truth utterly incapable of resistance to an army, or, as we have seen, even a militia.

Eastern Ukraine is drifting away and it seems there is nothing anyone can do to stop it - just like Crimea.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Clippers Fans Demand Owner Sterling Sells Team

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

Fans of the Los Angeles Clippers have demanded that disgraced owner Donald Sterling be forced to sell the team over his racist comment shame.

Civil rights groups joined Clippers fans before the team's home match last night to welcome the NBA's decision to ban Sterling for life.

The protest was staged to show that "Donald Sterling's comments do not represent Los Angeles and the millions of collective voices of minorities who call Los Angeles home".

There was widespread support for the call by the NBA administrator Adam Silver for Sterling to be forced to sell.

"He might be banned from the games, but he is sitting at home counting the money," said one fan.

Fans hold signs before the Clippers' game against the Golden State Warriors

The fury at Sterling's comments, in which he asked his then-girlfriend not to bring black people to games, has reached everywhere from the White House to rappers and sports stars, and even the Clippers' city rivals the LA Lakers.

Outside of the Clippers' Staples Center home, Michael Smith, a long-time Lakers fan who used to perform in half-time shows, held up a sign asking: "What about black people who have given their lives in the service of this country?"

He told Sky News: "Obviously he was ranting, but what is bad is that he didn't make any distinction. There are good and bad people of all colours. We have black police officers in this city, good people."

Another fan was more blunt: "Why aren't the Clippers players out here protesting with us? They are the ones he's insulting as well."

Joe Crew arrived for the Clippers game with a black shirt and team jersey inside out.

Clippers owner Donald Sterling has been banned for life from the NBA

He told Sky News: "I felt a hundred different emotions when I heard that recording. Did they do the right thing in banning him? You bet. 100%."

Basketball chiefs have said they will attempt to force him to sell the team but Sterling, who is the longest standing owner in the sport, has reportedly told friends that the Clippers are "not for sale".

Potential buyers for the Clippers, who are valued at $575m, include basketball legend Magic Johnson and entertainment mogul David Geffen. Both have expressed their interest.

Throughout the day the Clippers website featured a black page and the message: "We are one".

Former NBA star Kevin Johnson, now of the mayor of California's capital city Sacramento, said: "I believe that today stands as one of those great moments where sports once again transcends, where sports provides a place for fundamental change on how our country should think and act."

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ukraine: US And Nato Build-Up 'Worries' Russia

Who's Who On Latest Sanctions US And EU List

Updated: 11:00am UK, Tuesday 29 April 2014

The US has targeted seven of President Vladimir Putin's "cronies" in a new round of sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

The Russian and Ukrainian individuals have been hit with visa bans and freezing of any US assets.

Some 17 companies were also named by the US Treasury.

Igor Sechin - President Putin's friend and head of oil giant Rosneft.

Oleg Belavencev - Mr Putin's presidential envoy to Crimea

Dmitry Kozak - Deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation, responsible for overseeing the integration of the annexed Crimea into Russia

Evgeniy Murov - Director of Russia's federal protective service

Aleksei Pushkov - A state Duma deputy

Vyacheslav Volodin - A Putin adviser

Sergei Chemezov - A Putin ally and head of Rostec, a Russian state-owned high-tech products company.

The European Union has also released a list of 15 politicians and military leaders that will be subject to asset freezes and travel bans.

The EU had already sanctioned 33 Russians and Ukrainians in protest at Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in March.

The 15 new names are:

Dmitry Kozak

Oleg Belavencev

Oleg Savelyev - Minister for Crimean Affairs responsible for the integration of Crimea into Russia

Sergei Menyailo - Acting governor of the Ukrainian annexed city of Sevastopol

Olga Kovatidi - Member of the Russian Federation Council from Crimea

Lyudmila Shvetsova - Deputy chairman of the State Duma, responsible for initiating legislation to integrate Crimea into Russia

Sergei Neverov - Deputy chairman of the state Duma, responsible for law to integrate Crimea into Russia

Igor Sergun - Director of GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate), deputy Chief of the general staff of Russia's armed forces. He is responsible for GRU officers in Eastern  Ukraine

Valery Gerasimov - Chief of the general staff of Russia's armed forces, first deputy minister of defence, army general responsible for "massive deployment" of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine

German Prokopiv - Active leader of the Lugansk Guard who took part in the seizure of the building of the Lugansk regional office of the Security Service

Valeriy Bolotov - One of the leaders of the separatist group Army of the South-East, which occupied the building of the Security Service in the Lugansk region

Andriy Purgin - Head of the "Donetsk Republic", active organiser of separatist actions, co-ordinator of actions of the "Russian tourists" in Donetsk.

Denys Pushylin - One of the leaders of the Donetsk People's Republic. Participated in the seizure and occupation of the regional administration. Spokesman for the separatists

Tsyplakov Gennadevich - One of the leaders of "ideologically radical organisation", the People's Militia of Donbass. He took part in the seizure of state buildings in the Donetsk region

Igor Strelkov - From the main intelligence directorate of the general staff of Russia's armed forces. He was involved in incidents in Sloviansk. He is an assistant on security issues to Sergey Aksionov, self-proclaimed prime-minister of Crimea.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

India: Briton's Body Found Inside Plastic Bag

By Neville Lazurus, India Producer

The decomposed body of a 40-year-old British man has been found by the side of a road in India.

Roddick Andrew Reymond's body was discovered wrapped in a carpet inside a plastic bag in southern Delhi by passers-by.

It was found outside a mobile repair shop on Church Road in Jangpura, where local people noticed a large, blue bag emanating a foul smell.

Neveen, who lives in the neighbourhood, said: "Initially we thought it was a dead animal. We called the police and when they opened the bag they found a body of a man."

According to police, the body was dumped in the early hours of the morning when area guards were off duty.

The level of decomposition suggests the killing took place several days ago.

A passport recovered from Mr Reymond's pocket allowed him to be identified, although it was soiled and prevented police obtaining his address.

An investigator, who did not want to be identified, said the victim suffered multiple injuries inflicted by a blunt object struck around his head and face.

There were abrasions on his hands and legs, which were bound together, as well as burn marks on his face.

Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told Sky News the body had been transferred to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences for a post-mortem examination.

The local deputy police commissioner told Sky News an investigation had been launched.

Detectives are now trying to obtain the phone number Mr Reymond used while travelling in India.

Preliminary reports suggest he has been in the country on a tourist visa for the last two months and had travelled to Goa, Chennai and Mumbai.

The police are yet to determine where he was staying.

In a statement, the British High Commission in Delhi said: "We are aware of the death of the British national in Delhi and are providing consular assistance."

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ukraine: Russia Denounces New US Sanctions

Russia has denounced new sanctions imposed by the United States over Moscow's actions in Ukraine, accusing Washington of using Cold War tactics from a "bygone era".

Allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin have been subjected to visa bans and asset freezes, including his friend Igor Sechin, head of oil giant Rosneft.

Officials said the penalties, which affect seven individuals and 17 companies, were aimed at "cronies" of the Russian leader.

President Barack Obama said: "The goal is not to go after Mr Putin personally.

"The goal is to change his calculus with respect to how the current actions that he's engaging in Ukraine could have an adverse impact on the Russian economy over the long haul."

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov described the sanctions as illegitimate, uncivilised and in breach of international law.

A child looks at pro-Russian militants standing guard in Konstantinovka

"Washington is in effect reviving ... an old method of restricting normal cooperation, from Cold War times, essentially chasing itself into a dark, dusty closet of a bygone era," he said.

The European Union has added 15 more Russians and Ukrainians to its blacklist and will reveal the names on Tuesday.

The latest round of sanctions comes as violence continues in the east of Ukraine.

Doctors are battling to save the life of Gennady Kernes, the mayor of Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, who was shot in the back while exercising.

Several people have been injured in Donetsk after dozens of men in military fatigues, carrying baseball bats and throwing firecrackers, tried to break up a pro-Ukraine demonstration.

Pro-Russian separatists in Slavyansk continue to hold seven monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

The self-declared mayor, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, has given the OSCE a list of detainees his movement wants released by the government in Kiev for the observers he is holding.

Russia has been accused by the US of fermenting unrest in Ukraine, allegations Moscow rejects.

In the face of calls to pull back troops massed near Ukraine's border, Russia's Foreign Ministry said it has "deep concern about soldiers Kiev has sent to the area, suggesting Ukrainian troops might be getting ready for "the destruction of entire cities".

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ukraine: Pro-Russian Separatists Seize TV Offices

Pro-Russian separatists have seized control of state television offices in eastern Ukraine, according to reports.

Four men wearing masks and armed with truncheons were standing at the entrance to the building in Donetsk, while more separatists could be seen inside wearing camouflage fatigues, Reuters reported.

The regional governor's office and the city hall in Donetsk have already been seized by separatists.

One of the masked men claimed to be a member of the Donetsk People's Republic and said the TV station would now be broadcasting Rossiya 24 - a Russian state-owned news channel.

It comes after one of eight Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers detained by separatists in Slavyansk was released on Sunday on medical grounds.

The first contingent of US troops arrives in the Latvian capital Riga

Stella Korosheva, a spokeswoman for the separatist mayor of Slavyansk, said the observer who has been freed is a Swedish national.

She said: "He has a mild form of diabetes and so we decided to let him go."

The separatists are not expected to release more of the OSCE observers.

Team leader Colonel Axel Schneider appeared before cameras in Slavyansk to say they are being well-treated and "haven't been touched" by their kidnappers.

They are being protected by the town's self-appointed mayor, Vyacheslav Ponomaryovt, and "treated as his guests," he said.

A barricade around the state security service building in Slavyansk

"We have no indication when we will be sent home to our countries," he added.

"We wish from the bottom of our hearts to go back to our nations as soon and as quickly as possible."

The head of the OSCE, secretary general Lamberto Zannier, was due to fly Ukraine later on Sunday.

Rebels have accused the observers of being "Nato spies" and vowed to continue holding them.

The US earlier reassured its East European allies of Nato's support as the worst post-Cold War stand-off between Russia and the West continues.

US Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and "underscored the ironclad commitment of the US" to the collective defence of Nato members.

They "agreed that Russia would face further costs for its destabilising actions in Ukraine and massing of troops along the Russian-Ukrainian border," the White House said.

The US has ruled out sending American or Nato forces into Ukraine, but has begun deploying 600 US troops to bolster defences in the nearby countries of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Speaking at a news conference in Malaysia, US President Barack Obama said: "We're going to be in a stronger position to deter Mr Putin when he sees that the world is unified and the United States and Europe is unified rather than this is just a US-Russian conflict," he said.

Senior EU diplomats will hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Monday to discuss sanctions against Moscow.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the EU and US would be bringing forward further travel bans and asset freezes against Moscow over coming days as punishment for its "bullying" behaviour.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Arkansas Tornado: 'Mass Casualty Situation'

A "mass casualty situation" has been reported in Arkansas after a tornado touched down in the town of Vilonia.

A spokesman for the Faulkner County Sheriff's Office says the number of casualties from the tornado is not immediately clear.

It comes after two people died in Oklahoma on Sunday when a powerful storm system surged through the city of Quapaw.

More follows...

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ukraine: 'Observers To Be Used As Human Shield'

It Is No Longer A Game For Separatist Militia

Updated: 12:32am UK, Saturday 26 April 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor in Slavyansk

Their rifles were cocked. The safety catches off. Triggers were fingered. The car lurched to a stop.

Shrill nervous orders were barked in Russian. Men in an assortment of camouflage uniforms lay spread eagled on the roadside glaring down their sights.

A quick search followed. Then a man with a new AK74, probably nicked from the local police station, squinted, his face covered with a balaclava, perhaps attempting a faceless smile.

"Sorry for any inconvenience," he said and waved the car through.

The mixed messages of their behaviour, both aggression and politeness, both bravado and fear, point to a wider conundrum - do they really understand what they're getting in to?

One of their comrades had been shot dead that morning about a mile away on the road out of Slavyansk by an Ukrainian army patrol - probably probing the outer defences of these pro-Russian separatist militants.

Four more, the government said, had been killed in other clashes around the town.

They stand accused of kidnapping the city's elected mayor.

They have taken over city hall and are sandbagging it against an attack and yet they often appear to be no more than young or old boys playing at soldiers.

Occasionally one comes across a trained soldier. Fit and quiet they slink in the background of the occupied buildings.

They may be Russian agents, or former Ukrainian police from the disbanded Berkut who were responsible for sniper attacks on revolutionaries in Kiev.

But the ordinary militants, who are led by local politicians and allegedly funded either by Moscow or allied oligarchs, are clearly being used.

They are the teaspoons the Kremlin is using to keep the east of Ukraine swirling with dark rumours of anti-Russian ethnic cleansing.

Allegations of persecution of pro-Russian groups are entirely false.

But while the militants swagger about the streets, take over government buildings and harass their political opponents, they face a crack down from Kiev.

The nervous men at the road block feared an Ukrainian government attack on the bases in Slavyansk.

They were also facing the reality that what may have felt like a nationalistic camping trip with the added spice of gun play, may no longer be a game.

They may fold under a professional attack by Ukrainian troops.

But if they do not, there will be blood.

And if it flows from Putin's local pawns then so may Russian troops pour in from the east.

He may win, but they will not be around to see his victory.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

South Korean PM Resigns Over Ferry Disaster

South Korea's Prime Minister has resigned over the government's handling of the ferry disaster that has left more than 300 people dead or missing.

Chung Hong-won said: "As I saw grieving families suffering with the pain of losing their loved ones and the sadness and resentment of the public, I thought I should take all responsibility as prime minister.

"There have been so many varieties of irregularities that have continued in every corner of our society and practices that have gone wrong.

"I hope these deep-rooted evils get corrected this time and this kind of accident never happens again."

A total of 115 passengers remain missing after the Sewol ferry sank on a trip from the port on Incheon to the holiday island of Jeju on April 16.

More than 100 passengers remain missing

The death toll stands at 187.

The resignation has to be accepted by President Park Geun-hye.

Executive power largely rests with the president, so Mr Chung's offer appears to be largely symbolic.

Mr Chung was booed and had a water bottle thrown at him when he visited distraught parents the day after the tragedy.

There has been anger at the slow pace of the recovery mission and the frequent changes in information provided by the government.

A relative of one of those on board cries as she waits for news

There have also been several reports in the South Korean media of bodies going to the wrong families, with the error sometimes being identified only after remains had been taken to a funeral home.

A total of 325 out of the 476 people on board were high school students. Around 250 are either confirmed or presumed dead.

The children on board were told to stay put in their cabins while they waited for further orders.

Divers are continuing to search for bodies believed to be trapped in the sunken vessel, but poor weather conditions and a powerful swell are complicating efforts.

Despite waves of up to nine feet (three metres) and near gale-force winds, 93 divers are trying to get into the ferry.

Search teams are battling harsh conditions in the hunt for bodies

A coastguard spokesman said: "The situation is very difficult due to the weather, but we are continuing search efforts, using the occasional calmer periods."

Around a quarter of the bodies recovered have been found in waters outside the vessel, and there are fears some of those who are missing might have drifted from the wreck.

On Saturday four more crew members were arrested.

All 15 members of the crew are in custody and face charges ranging from criminal negligence to abandoning passengers.

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More