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Over 50 pro-Russian rebels killed in biggest Ukraine govt assault
fierce confrontation: Black smoke billows from Donetsk international airport during a heavy gun battle between the Ukrainian Army and pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk. AFP
EU summit seeks way out of election quagmire
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Thai junta gets down to work on economy
Demonstrators hold up signs during a protest against military rule at Victory Monument in Bangkok on Tuesday. Reuters
Vietnam, China trade barbs after fishing boat sinks
Pregnant Pak woman stoned to death
US: Can’t verify Nigerian claim to have located abducted girls
US plans 9,800 troops in Afghanistan next year
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Over 50 pro-Russian rebels killed in biggest Ukraine govt assault
Donetsk, May 27 "From our side, there are more than 50 (dead)," the prime minister of the rebels' self-styled Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Borodai, told Reuters at the hospital. The government said it suffered no losses in the assault, which began with air strikes hours after Ukrainians overwhelmingly voted to elect a 48-year-old billionaire confectionary magnate Petro Poroshenko as their new President. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has declared Moscow's right to intervene to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine, demanded an immediate halt to the offensive. Moscow also said it would not consider a visit by Poroshenko for any talks. Until now, Ukrainian forces have largely avoided direct assaults on the separatists, in part out of what they say is fear of precipitating an invasion by tens of thousands of Russian troops massed on the border. But the government in Kiev appears to have interpreted Poroshenko's big election victory — he won more than 54 per cent of the vote in a field of 21 candidates, against 13 per cent for his closest challenger — as a mandate for decisive action. After rebels seized the Donetsk airport on Monday, Ukrainian warplanes and helicopters strafed them from the air and paratroopers were flown in as part of the assault. Shooting carried on through the night and on Tuesday the road to the airport bore signs of fighting. Heavy machinegun fire could be heard in the distance in mid-morning. — Reuters Lethal force * The battle marks the first time Ukraine has unleashed the full lethal force of its aircraft and ground troops directly at the Donetsk rebels * The intensification of the Ukrainian campaign is a direct challenge to Putin * The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Putin had called for an end to the Ukrainian military campaign and for dialogue between Kiev and the separatists * For two months, Putin has massed troops on the frontier, while pro-Russian gunmen took control of towns and cities in the east and the Kiev government seemed powerless to stop them
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EU summit seeks way out of election quagmire
Brussels, May 27 The parties of leaders like French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron were shaken to the core by anti-EU challengers, yet they have offered starkly different alternatives on how to deal with the situation ahead of today’s EU summit. Hollande has said that “France’s future is in Europe” and has remained steadfast in the defence of joint policies and common stands on major issues. The first battle will likely be over Jean-Claude Juncker, the former prime minister of Luxembourg and longtime leader of the group of nations with the euro currency, who wants to replace Jose Manuel Barroso as leader of the EU Commission. The post is important since the commission proposes legislation and runs much of the day-to-day affairs of the EU. — AP |
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Thai junta gets down to work on economy
Bangkok, May 27 Soldiers burst into a journalists’ club in Bangkok and detained a former minister after he had denounced the coup saying it would bring disaster. A protest in Bangkok passed off without incident with fewer people coming out to chant their opposition to the coup compared with previous days. Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha seized power on Thursday, saying the army had to restore order after nearly seven months of sometimes deadly demonstrations. He said on Monday he had been formally recognised by King Bhumibol Adulyadej as head of the ruling military council, a crucial seal of legitimacy in a country where the monarchy is the most important institution. The junta has moved quickly to stamp out dissent and tackle economic problems, notably preparing payments for hundreds of thousands of rice farmers that the ousted government was unable to make. The military has detained scores of politicians and activists and anyone defying a summons could be jailed for up to two years. It has censored the media and imposed a nightly curfew. “We are very firm on our strategy,” deputy army spokesman Winthai Suvaree said of the protests. “If they break the law, we have to detain them. If they don’t go home by 10 pm curfew time, we must take them in.” He said the Army had found weapons in raids around the country in recent days. “Most of these appear to belong to those linked to the ‘red shirt’ movement,” Winthai said. — Reuters
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Vietnam, China trade barbs after fishing boat sinks
Hanoi/Beijing, May 27
Hanoi said some 40 Chinese fishing boats surrounded the Vietnamese craft on Monday before one of them rammed it and it sank. Vietnamese fishing boats operating nearby rescued the 10 fishermen on board, the government and the coastguard said. China’s official Xinhua news agency, citing a government source, said the vessel capsized after “harassing and colliding with” a Chinese fishing boat. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Vietnam caused the incident with its “insistence on forcefully disrupting China’s normal operations and its dangerous actions on the seas. “We urge the Vietnamese side once again to immediately stop all disruptive and damaging (activities),” he added. Scores of Vietnamese and Chinese ships, including coastguard vessels, have continued to square off around the rig despite a series of collisions this month after the platform was towed to the site. Each side has blamed the other over those incidents. Until Monday, no ship had sunk. The disputed incident took place around 17 nautical miles from the Haiyang Shiyou 981 rig, which is drilling between the Paracel islands occupied by China and the Vietnamese coast. China calls them the Xisha islands. Vietnam has said the rig is in its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and on its continental shelf. China says it is operating within its waters. — Reuters
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Pregnant Pak woman stoned to death Lahore, May 27 The police said Farzana Parveen, resident of Nanakana Sahib, some 80 km from here, had married 45-year-old Mohammad Iqbal, who hailed from the same area, a few months ago against the wishes of her family. The incident occurred as the couple reached the court premises to record Farzana's statement to defend her husband against allegations by her family that he kidnapped her and forced her to marry him. Initially, the family members fired shots in the air and tried to snatch her from Iqbal. After failing in their attempt, nearly 20 members of her family, including her father and brothers, attacked the couple with sticks and bricks before a crowd of onlookers in front of the court, said police official Naseem Butt. Farzana was three-months pregnant. — PTI
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US: Can’t verify Nigerian claim to have located abducted girls WASHINGTON, May 27 "We don't have independent information from the US to support that statement," US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "We, as a matter of policy and for the girls' safety and wellbeing, would not discuss publicly this sort of information regardless." Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh said on Monday that the country's military knew the location of the schoolgirls, abducted by the Boko Haram Islamic militant group on April 14. Five US and European security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they had no credible information on the location of girls and were sceptical that the Lagos government knew where they were. — Reuters
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US plans 9,800 troops in Afghanistan next year WASHINGTON, May 27 The decision, to be announced by Obama in a White House Rose Garden event, means that the President will leave office in early 2017 with no measurable troop strength in Afghanistan. The number emerged after Obama met US military commanders at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan as the US winds down the longest war in American history, which began following the September 11, 2001, attacks. The US now has nearly 32,000 troops in Afghanistan, along with NATO allies and others. Most of the US forces will have been withdrawn by the end of 2014. This means 9,800 troops would remain behind into next year. By the end of 2015, that number would be reduced by roughly half, the officials said. — Reuters
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EU summit seeks way out of election quagmire Chemical weapons watchdog says team in Syria ‘safe’ Myanmar seeks views on religious conversion bill New app to help curb food wastage, hunger Wave of attacks in Iraq, 27 killed Iran judge summons Facebook CEO to court Indian boy falls to death from 13th floor in Sharjah |
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More than 50 pro-Russian rebels were killed in an unprecedented assault by Ukrainian government forces, which raged into a second day on Tuesday after a newly-elected President vowed to crush the revolt in the east once and for all. Reuters journalists counted 20 bodies in combat fatigues in one room of a city morgue in
Donetsk.
Thailand’s military rulers settled down to work at their Bangkok headquarters on Tuesday, firmly in charge with royal endorsement while rounding up critics and searching for weapons they fear could still be used to fight their takeover.
Soldiers burst into a journalists’ club in Bangkok and detained a former minister after he had denounced the coup saying it would bring disaster.
