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Tymoshenko confidante is acting Ukrainian President
New rulers dismantle ‘old’ power structure
Taliban checkpoint attack kills 21 Afghan soldiers
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12 killed in Pak blast
G20 vows to rev up global GDP
by 2%; addresses Delhi concerns
Restrictions on ‘The Hindus’ ignites row in US
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Tymoshenko confidante is acting Ukrainian President
Kiev, February 23 In a hectic round of voting in the chamber, near where triumphant but wary protesters remain encamped on Kiev's main square, lawmakers stripped the still missing President of his abandoned country home. Its brash opulence, now on display, has fuelled demands that the Russian-backed, elected leader and his allies be held to account for corruption on a grand scale. The European Union and Russia, vying for influence over the huge former Soviet republic on their borders, considered their next moves. EU officials said they were ready to help Ukraine, while Russia, its strategy of funding Yanukovich in tatters, said it would keep cash on hold until it sees who is in charge. Parliament-appointed security officials announced legal moves against members of the ousted administration and those responsible for sniper fire and other police attacks on demonstrators in violence that left 82 dead in Kiev last week. A day after dismissing Yanukovich with the help of votes from his own party, Parliament handed his powers temporarily to Oleksander Turchinov, who was elected speaker on Saturday. An ally of newly freed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, Turchinov called for an interim Prime Minister to be in place by Tuesday to run the country until a presidential election called for May 25. Among contenders may be Tymoshenko, 53, who lost to Yanukovich in 2010 and was then jailed for corruption. Yanukovich, 63, denounced what he called a "coup d'etat" reminiscent of Nazi Germany. He spoke on television on Saturday from what looked like a hotel room in a city close to the Russian border. With pro-EU protesters still controlling central Kiev, and crowds on the streets in other towns and cities, Parliament is under pressure to demonstrate its authority across the nation and to calm fears of a split with pro-Russian regional leaders in the fallen president's eastern political base. "In these days the most important thing is to form a functioning government," said Vitaly Klitschko, a former world boxing champion and a leading figure in the uprising. "We have to take very important steps in order to ensure the survival of the economy, which is in a very bad shape," he told a news conference. He denied there had been a coup.
— Reuters Putin, Merkel discuss Ukraine over phone
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the situation in Ukraine during a phone call initiated by Berlin, Kremlin's press service said on Sunday. "The latest development of the situation in Ukraine was discussed," the press service said in a statement without disclosing any further details. A victim of West, Russia rivalry
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New rulers dismantle ‘old’ power structure
Kiev, February 23 At an emergency parliament session, they worked at breakneck pace to dismantle the coterie of ministers and cronies he had gathered around him since coming to power in 2010. Yanukovich remained at an undisclosed location somewhere in eastern Ukraine, still protesting against the "bandits terrorising the country" and declaring himself a legitimate president who had fallen victim to a coup d'etat. But with defections from his Party of the Regions now swelling opposition ranks in parliament, opposition deputies found no difficulty in Parliament in pushing through decisions that took to pieces the political house he had built. Law enforcement bodies and leading figures were particularly targeted because of their involvement in clashes with protesters before Yanukovich fled Kiev. Interior minister Vitaly Zakharchenko, a hate figure for the protest movement, was stripped of his post on Friday and, like others, has gone into hiding.
— Reuters
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Taliban checkpoint attack kills 21 Afghan soldiers
Kabul, February 23 In response to the assault, which also left several Afghan soldiers missing, President Hamid Karzai postponed a planned trip to Sri Lanka. General Mohammad Zahir Azimi, who is spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said "hundreds" of foreign and Afghan insurgents crossed the border to mount the attack, which took place in the remote and mountainous Ghazi Abad district of Kunar Province in the early morning hours. Azimi did not specify which border, but Kunar lies next to Pakistan. It's a militant stronghold, and many Arab and other foreign insurgents are believed to operate there alongside the Afghan Taliban. The Taliban claimed responsibility for today's attack in an emailed statement, saying that one of their insurgents was killed and two were wounded. The group has escalated attacks in recent months as it tries to take advantage of the withdrawal of foreign troops at the end of 2014. Casualties among Afghan troops have been rising significantly since they took the lead in the war against the Taliban. Since the beginning of 2014, 84 Afghan army soldiers have been killed. Azimi said that 21 Afghan soldiers died and three others were wounded in the attack. An army support unit en route to assist the operation also was targeted by a suicide bomber, he said, but there were no military casualties. General Abdul Habib Sayedkhaili, chief of police for Kunar Province, said that there were around 30 Afghan soldiers manning the outpost when insurgents attacked from three sides with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and light weapons.
— AP
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3 killed as violence rocks Thai rallies
Bangkok, February 23 The explosion took place this afternoon near an anti-government rally site in a central Bangkok shopping district killing two persons and injuring at least 22 others. The bomb went off near one of the biggest shopping malls here in an area popular with tourists. "A 12-year-old boy and a 40-year-old woman have died from severe injuries inflicted by a bomb blast near Big C Ratchadamri that also injured 22 others," the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's Erawan Emergency Health Service reported. The injured include a nine-year-old boy who has a serious head wound and internal bleeding while a girl of the same age is also in a critical condition with internal bleeding. A tuk-tuk (autorickshaw) driver was caught by the anti- government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) guards on suspicion that he was behind the bomb attack. The drive-by shooting attack occurred last night in Trat province, about 300 km east of Bangkok, where protesters were holding a rally demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Suvichan Suwannakana, a spokesman of PDRC, said about 2,000 demonstrators were present at the rally during the attack. The gunmen in pick up trucks threw grenades at a noodle shop near a sit-in by 20 people including PDRC guards. The men also fired indiscriminately at the noodle shop and then turned their guns to the stage, killing a five-year-old girl and wounding 34 people, including five critically. The girl died after being hit by a grenade fragment on her head. A seven-year-old boy was in a serious condition after he too was hit by a grenade fragment. — PTI
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Peshawar, February 23 Inspector General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police, Nasir Khan Durrani said the blast took place near a passenger vehicle. He said the blast appeared to have been carried out using a planted explosive device. Durrani said according to initial reports, five kilograms of explosives were used in the blast which were planted in a wooden crate placed on the roadside. The explosives were detonated as a passenger vehicle reached Peshawar Chowk. — PTI
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G20 vows to rev up global GDP by 2%; addresses Delhi concerns
Sydney, February 23 The communique, issued after the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meet, also took into account concerns of emerging economies, like India, about the impact of US stimulus withdrawal by asking central banks to calibrate and clearly communicate monetary policies. "We will develop ambitious but realistic policies with the aim to lift our collective GDP by more than 2 per cent above the trajectory implied by current policies over the coming 5 years. This is over USD 2 trillion more in real terms and will lead to significant additional jobs," it said. A satisfied Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram later told PTI: "The communique has been drawn by the deputies sitting together and I think our concerns have been fully reflected in the communique". The G20 ministerial joint statement committed a global response to Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) based on sound tax policy principles. "We endorse the Common Reporting Standard for automatic exchange of tax information on a reciprocal basis and will work with all relevant parties...," it said. The G20 also expressed hope that it will implement the automatic tax exchange information among themselves by 2015. Facing challenges to get trans-border details on tax issues, India has been pressing for smooth exchange of financial information. The G20 also expressed "deep regret" over delay in IMF quota reforms implementation as the US is yet to ratify it. "Our highest priority remains ratifying the 2010 reforms, and we urge the US to do so before our next meeting in April," the two-page communique said. Quota reforms, which were to be implemented by January 2014, will increase the say of emerging economies in IMF. — PTI
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Restrictions on ‘The Hindus’ ignites row in US
Washington, February 23 The reactions have ranged from anger to sadness to jubilation depending on which side of the debate one is in. If the influential New York Times branded it "Muzzling Speech in India", an Indian-American author and activist called it a "moral victory" for Hindus. Pulping of "The Hindus: An Alternative History" by Wendy Doniger, who teaches Hinduism at the University of Chicago Divinity School, "is only the latest assault on free speech in India", the Times said in an editorial on Friday. "The publisher's move is likely to encourage more demands for censorship," it said, suggesting "the wanton abuse of laws restricting speech is creating a climate of fear" and "enemies of free speech have pledged to get even more books banned". Alyssa Ayres, a senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a leading think tank, who earlier worked as a top official in the State Department's South Asia Bureau, was more circumspect. In an article last week on "The Limits of Speech in India", Ayres wrote that Penguin's decision "came as sad news" to her. "One of the great things about India, in my view, is the wonderful acceptance of vigorous disagreement." — IANS
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