Ukrainians soldiers caught in the middle in Crimea

March 04, 2014

BELBEK, Ukraine (AP) — For Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea, it's a bewildering time.

Surrounded by the Russian forces who took over much of their military air base in Crimea, some 300 Ukrainian troops made a peaceful attempt Tuesday to retake their airfield at Belbek. They were driven back by a dozen or so Russian soldiers who fired warning shots into the air and said they would shoot if the Ukrainians did not turn back. To emphasize the point, sharpshooters took up positions to their left.

The marchers retreated. "In normal life, we would not point guns at each other and would not shoot at each other," said Capt. Severin Vetvitsky, a 31-year-old Ukrainian air force engineer patrolling a different section of the Belbek base.

Russia's seizure of power in Crimea, a strategic Ukrainian peninsula in the Black Sea, has not gone as smoothly as Moscow may have expected. Ukrainian soldiers at Belbek and some other bases across Crimea have refused to hand over their weapons or switch allegiances, resulting in strange standoffs between armed men surprised to find themselves on opposing sides.

The turmoil in Crimea came after months of street demonstrations in Kiev, Ukraine's capital, drove out the Moscow-supported president and brought in a new government eager to turn away from Russia in favor of closer ties with the 28-nation European Union.

At the Belbek base, all that geopolitics turned local. The air base is near Sevastopol, where Russia has leased a port for its Black Sea Fleet since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Vetvitsky was one of the officers on patrol Tuesday at the section of the Belbek compound still held by Ukrainians. He and his compatriots had gone three days with little sleep, not much information about what was going on in the outside world and no clear orders from their commanders.

To signal their defiance, they hung a Ukrainian flag on the main gate of their compound, mostly barracks and offices. To gather information, they talked with relatives through the fence, staying alert for possible Russian troop movements.

"We are worried. But we will not give up our base," said Capt. Nikolai Syomko, a 36-year-old air force radio electrician, holding an AK-47 and patrolling the back of the compound. Syomko, who has spent 16 years in the Ukrainian air force, said troops at the base felt as if they were being held hostage, caught between Russia and Ukraine. He said their relatives are extremely worried, especially his mother.

"But at the same time she told me 'You took an oath and you need to keep it until the end,'" he said. Vetvitsky, part of the same guard unit, was watching the rear of their compound. Joking around, he smiled at a TV news camera. In broken English, he waved his fist in the air saying: "Ukraine forever!"

But that bravado was a mask. Vetvitsky said the members of his unit feel virtually alone. "The orders are not clear," he said. "They (his commanders) don't know what they are supposed to do. But they still make demands of us, for us not to give up, and so on.

"But we are not surrendering. We are officers," he added. In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday denied that the soldiers who have taken over Ukrainian military bases were Russian, saying they were self-defense forces loyal to Crimea's pro-Russian regional government.

The soldiers, however, had sophisticated weapons and used vehicles with Russian license plates. Putin said Ukraine's 22,000-strong force in Crimea has dissolved, while the regional government claimed Tuesday that 5,500 Ukrainian soldiers had switched their allegiance from Kiev to them.

There was no way to immediately verify either claim.

No fighting in Crimea as supposed ultimatum passes

March 04, 2014

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine (AP) — There has been no fighting in Crimea as a supposed Russian ultimatum for two Ukrainian warships to surrender passed without action from either side.

Two Ukrainian warships remained anchored in the Crimean port of Sevastopol early Tuesday, a day after Ukrainian authorities claimed that Russian forces had issued an ultimatum for the ships to surrender or be seized. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Vladimir Anikin said late Monday that no ultimatum had been issued.

Russian troops said to be 16,000 strong tightened their grip on Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula on Monday. Russian soldiers controlled all Crimean border posts, as well as military facilities in the territory and a ferry terminal in the city of Kerch, just 20 kilometers (12 miles) across the water from Russia.

Sanctions threat grows as Ukraine tensions rise

March 03, 2014

LONDON (AP) — Fears of a tit-for-tat campaign of economic sanctions between Russia and Western powers over Ukraine ratcheted up Monday, with concerns largely centering on Russia's supplies of natural gas to Europe.

But with the situation in Ukraine still fluid, it's not clear how far either side is willing to go. While the European Union is by far the biggest consumer of Russian gas, any disruption would come at huge financial cost to Moscow.

"The world now faces a new round of geopolitical tension with potentially very high stakes," said Jane Foley, an analyst at Rabobank International. Over the past couple of days, the crisis has ratcheted up sharply. With Ukraine accusing Russia of declaring war by taking control of the Crimea region, investors around the world took fright on Monday, sending stock indexes lower and energy and staple foods higher.

Even if military conflict does not break out, Western powers are looking at how they can punish Russia for what they consider to be a breach of international law. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that he may "find himself with asset freezes on Russian business." European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels were considering economic sanctions, but have yet to commit to anything concrete. Some have suggested boycotting the Group of Eight summit of leaders in the Olympic host city of Sochi this summer.

The biggest economic risk revolves around Russia's supply of natural gas. Many eastern European countries rely almost entirely on those imports and even Germany, Europe's largest economy, gets 35 percent of its supplies from Russia. Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, has threatened to end a cheap deal on gas it sells to Ukraine, and claimed it is owed around $1.55 billion.

"No wonder Europe's response to the on-going problems has been little more than a wag of the finger at this stage," said Kathleen Brooks, market analyst at Forex.com. "We will have to wait and see if the EU merely looks the other way when it comes to Russian-Ukrainian problems and leaves the diplomatic response to the U.S. and U.K. as they try and protect their energy supplies."

But cutting gas supplies or raising their prices would be a dangerous game for Russia as well, whose economy relies heavily on energy exports — shares in Gazpom, the Russian energy giant, plunged 14 percent on Monday.

Gazprom's retreat was a large reason why Moscow's RTS stock index slid 12 percent while the dollar spiked to an all-time high of 37 rubles. That prompted the country's central bank to make an emergency interest rate increase, by 1.5 percentage points to 7 percent. Though it didn't mention Ukraine as a motivation for the increase, the move is clearly an attempt by the Russian authorities to stem the financial outflows and support the currency.

European officials suggested Russia had more to lose in the case of an exchange of economic sanctions. "Those consequences will be bad for everyone, but for Russia they will be far worse than for the EU," said Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, adding it would not be wise to threaten sanctions now.

The EU is Russia's biggest trading partner, and Russia is the EU's third-largest partner with imports predominantly raw materials such as oil and gas, according to the EU Commission. Russian exports to the EU totaled 213 billion euros ($293 billion at current prices) in 2012, with imports from the EU at about 123 billion euros.

Russia is the largest oil, gas, uranium and coal exporter to the EU. Gazprom exported 133 billion cubic meters of gas to the European Union in 2013. Almost half of this amount — 65 billion cubic meters— was transported through pipelines on Ukrainian soil. Germany is Russia's single-biggest client, gobbling up some 40 billion cubic meters alone, according to Gazprom statistics.

Given Russia's dependence on European markets, there are hopes that cool heads will prevail. "Moscow will likely keep such disruptions to a minimum under almost all circumstances," said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank.

Fears also grew that trade of basic agricultural products will be impacted by the crisis. Wheat futures, for example, were up over 5 percent, while corn futures spiked more than 2 percent. Some experts suggest that instead of wide-ranging sanctions on industries, western powers might prefer more focused ones on individuals. Russians are huge investors outside their country. They store deposits in banks in Cyprus, control companies in the Netherlands and own property in many western capitals, notably in London. Penalties on those activities could be most effective.

"That would upset a lot of London estate agents," said Louise Cooper, an analyst at CooperCity. One part of Europe that is likely to suffer anyway is Ukraine, which is hanging in limbo. The country's currency has in recent days hit a record low and the economy is estimated to be sliding into recession. The government estimates it needs $35 billion in international rescue loans over the next two years.

Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, has thrown his support behind the new government that wants Russia to end its control of Crimea. "I call upon all my fellow citizens to unity for the sake of a whole and undivided Ukraine ... Our strength is in the solidarity of business, government and society," said Akhmetov. His company alone employs 300,000 people.

Juergen Baetz in Brussels contributed to this report.

Pro-Russian troops fire warning shots in Ukraine

March 04, 2014

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Pro-Russian troops who had taken control of an air base in the Crimea region fired warning shots into the air as around 300 Ukrainian soldiers, who previously manned the airfield, demanded their jobs back.

About a dozen Russian soldiers at the Belbek air base stood guarding the airfield and warned the Ukrainians on Tuesday, who were marching unarmed, not to approach. They fired several warning shots into the air and said they would shoot the Ukrainians if they continued to march toward them.

Ukraine has accused Russia of military invasion. Moscow, who does not recognize the authority of the new Ukrainian leadership, says it is protecting ethnic Russians living there.

Crisis in Crimea sharply divides small town

March 04, 2014

NOVO-OZERNE, Ukraine (AP) — For years, the little Crimean town was closed off from the rest of the world, a secretive community, at the edge of a key Soviet naval base, sealed by roadblocks and armed guards.

Today, to get to Novo-Ozerne, you just follow a pitted two-lane road far into the Crimean countryside, past collective farms abandoned decades ago and villages where it's hard to see any life, even at midday.

There's not much in town anymore, just the occasional ship that has sailed up the Black Sea inlet to this isolated spot, a handful of crumbling navy buildings, and an armory ringed by barbed wire. But the Russians want it.

And the little forgotten town is now sharply divided, torn between those who welcomed the arrival here over the weekend of dozens of Russian soldiers wearing unmarked uniforms, and those who back the Ukrainians who are refusing to surrender their weapons.

"We know who they are and we see (what they are doing) as terrorism," said Sergei Reshetnik, a local businessman furious over the Russians' arrival. "We just want to live quietly." The standoff in Novo-Ozerne between Russian and Ukrainian soldiers is a scene playing out across Crimea, days after Moscow effectively seized political power across the strategic Black Sea peninsula, establishing a pro-Russian regional government backed up by hundreds — perhaps thousands — of soldiers. The seizure of power came after months of street demonstrations in the capital, Kiev, which forced out Ukraine's president, the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych. The new government has taken a sharp turn away from Moscow, and is eager to form closer ties to the European Union.

But if Russia expected the Ukrainian military to go easily, handing over its weapons as soon as it was asked, things turned out far more complicated. Instead, military installations across Crimea — many of them surrounded or taken over by Russian forces — have refused to surrender, raising the tension and leading to fears of all-out combat. Ukraine's new government has ordered the bases to remain loyal to Kiev.

In Novo-Ozerne, the standoff had turned into an impasse by Monday afternoon. After the initial confrontation, the Russians had moved most of their forces away from the base and into an abandoned building, leaving about a dozen heavily armed soldiers in hurriedly built trenches outside the armory.

The commanders have talked a few times, trying to avoid the chance of accidental bloodshed, and things often looked fairly normal, with soldiers, their wives and girlfriends passing easily in and out of the main Ukrainian base.

Outside the armory, members of pro-Russian self-defense groups — which have often worked closely with the Russian military — set up a perimeter to search vehicles leaving the compound. They were thrilled at the Russians' arrival.

To them, what happened in Kiev was a coup staged by anti-Russian fascists who they fear will punish the ethnic Russians who dominate this part of Ukraine. So, they said, they were making sure no weapons made it out of the armory.

"We don't want to become another Yugoslavia here," said Alexei Maslyukov, a local resident who organized the checkpoint, barely 50 feet (15 meters) from where masked Russians watched with automatic weapons.

In many ways, what happened in this town is unusual. Crimea was a crown jewel of the czarist and Soviet empires, and ethnic Russians moved here in droves over the years. After the fall of the Soviet Union and Ukraine's independence, many Crimeans continued to see themselves as more Russian than Ukrainian.

By all appearances, most Crimeans have welcomed the Russian military, and given only scattered support to the Ukrainian soldiers. But this town, which outwardly is just another vision of post-Soviet decay, with its identical concrete-block apartments and empty storefronts, is shockingly diverse. There are Russians and Tatars, the Turkic people who once dominated Crimea. There are Azeris, Gypsies and Jews. Few of these people have any loyalty to Moscow.

The village, which once numbered more than 12,000, now has fewer than half that many people. The Soviets took most of their ships and equipment with them at independence, leaving the naval installations little more than piles of concrete and decades-old weaponry.

"Whatever they didn't want, that's what they left here," said Reshetnik, the local businessman. The town now depends on summer tourists for much of its income. The population almost doubles again during the key summer tourist months, with thousands attracted by the chance of a cheap holiday along the water.

Many fear the standoff could scare away the travelers. "The tourist season will be totally screwed," grumbled Reshetnik. "People are already broke." Dozens of local residents turned out early Monday to demonstrate their support for the Ukrainians, with many shouting angrily at Russian soldiers to leave the base's main gate. And, in fact, the Russians did soon withdraw.

That fact made the base's acting commander smile. "Talking to them, I know that they are ready to come here and stand as defense between us and the Russians," said Vadim Filipenko. His forces are clearly outgunned. The Ukrainian soldiers are ready for an attack, standing at the main gate with their fingers just off the triggers of their AK-47s.

But the armored vehicle parked behind them, with its spray-painted tires and splotches of rust, appears to have been used for decoration until just a few days ago.

Pro-Russian troops take Crimea terminal in Ukraine

March 03, 2014

KERCH, Ukraine (AP) — Britain's foreign secretary said the U.K. is not discussing military options in its attempts to reverse the Russian incursion into Ukraine but insisted that Moscow must face "significant costs" over its moves in Ukraine's Crimean peninsula that its troops now control.

Ukraine's prime minister called on the West for political and economic support and said Crimea remained part of his country — but conceded there were "for today, no military options on the table." Pro-Russian soldiers seem to further cement their control over the strategic region — that also houses the Russian Black Sea Fleet — by seizing a ferry terminal in the Ukrainian city of Kerch about 20 kilometers (12 miles) by boat to Russia, intensifying fears that Moscow will send even more troops into the peninsula. It comes as the U.S. and European governments are trying to figure out ways to halt and reverse the Russian incursion.

The soldiers at the terminal refused to identify themselves on Monday, but they spoke Russian and the vehicles transporting them had Russian license plates. Russia has taken effective control of the Crimean peninsula without firing a shot. Now, the fears in the Ukrainian capital and beyond are that that Russia might seek to expand its control by seizing other parts of eastern Ukraine. Senior Obama administration officials said the U.S. now believes that Russia has complete operational control of Crimea, a pro-Russian area of the country, and has more than 6,000 troops in the region.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk insisted that Crimea remains Ukrainian territory despite the presence of Russian military. "Any attempt of Russia to grab Crime will have no success at all. Give us some time," he said at a news conference with British Foreign Secretary Wiliam Hague, who is visiting Kiev.

"For today, no military options (are) on the table," he said, adding that what they urgently need is an economic and political support. "Real support. Tangible support. And we do believe that our Western partners will provide this support," he said.

Tension between Ukraine and Moscow rose sharply after Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was pushed out by a protest movement among people who wanted closer ties with the European Union. Yanukovych fled to Russia after more than 80 demonstrators were killed near Kiev's central square. He says he is still president. Since then, troops that Ukraine says are Russian soldiers have moved into Crimea, patrolling airport, smashing equipment at an airbase and besieging Ukrainian military installations.

Outrage over Russia's military moves has mounted in world capitals, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry calling on President Vladimir Putin to pull back from "an incredible act of aggression." Kerry is to travel to Ukraine on Tuesday.

British Foreign Secretary Hague laid a bouquet of flowers on Kiev's Independence Square where the slain demonstrators are being commemorated. Hague said it was urgent to get Russia and Ukraine "in direct communication with each other."

Hague said on the BBC that Moscow would face "significant costs" for taking control of Crimea. "If Russia continues on this course we have to be clear this is not an acceptable way to conduct international relations," Hague said. "There are things that we can do about it and must do about it."

He suggested economic sanctions were possible. "The world cannot just allow this to happen," he said. But he ruled out any military action. "The U.K is not discussing military options. Our concentration is on diplomatic and economic pressure."

So far, Ukraine's new government and the West have appeared powerless to counter Russia's tactics. Putin has defied calls from the West to pull back his troops, insisting that Russia has a right to protect its interests and those of Russian-speakers in Crimea and elsewhere in Ukraine. His confidence is matched by the knowledge that Ukraine's 46 million people have divided loyalties. While much of western Ukraine wants closer ties with the 28-nation European Union, its eastern and southern regions like Crimea look to Russia for support.

Faced with the Russian threat, Ukraine's new government has moved to consolidate its authority, naming new regional governors in the pro-Russia east, enlisting the support of the country's wealthy businessmen and dismissing the head of the country's navy after he declared allegiance to the pro-Russian government in Crimea.

NATO held an emergency meeting in Brussels and the U.S., France and Britain debated the possibility of boycotting the next Group of Eight economic summit, to be held in June in Sochi, the host of Russia's successful Winter Olympics. On Sunday evening, the White House issued a joint statement on behalf of the Group of Seven saying they are suspending participation in the planning for the upcoming summit because Russia's advances in the Ukraine violate the "principles and values" on which the G-7 and G-8 operate.

Russia has long wanted to reclaim the lush Crimean Peninsula, part of its territory until 1954. Russia's Black Sea Fleet pays Ukraine millions annually to be stationed at the Crimean port of Sevastopol and nearly 60 percent of Crimea's residents identify themselves as Russian.

Associated Press writers David McHugh in Kiev and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

Creativity on display in Venezuelan protest masks

March 11, 2014

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Fashion is not foreign to the young demonstrators who skirmish nearly nightly with security forces at the barricades in the Venezuelan capital's upper-class Chacao district.

Nor is improvisation absent in the gear that protects their eyes and throats from government tear gas. An eye-catching transparent mask made from a large plastic water bottle is now so popular that several videos demonstrating its assembly are circulating online.

Some protesters have military-grade gas masks, many predating their owners by decades. Painter and dust masks are also common, as are ski, scuba and swim goggles. As the protests against Venezuela's socialist-led government move into their second month, front-line head gear includes skate, bicycle and motorcycle helmets but encompasses the more whimsical, too.

Identities are hidden by the mustachioed Guy Fawkes mask, often painted in the red, blue and yellow of the Venezuelan flag, or by sparkly Carnival masks or simply a cloth wrapped around the face. For extra protection from the sting of tear gas, some protesters coat their faces in toothpaste or spray a water-based Maalox solution in their eyes.

Venezuela unrest plays out daily in posh district

March 11, 2014

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A squad of motorcycle-mounted police wheels into an intersection newly seized from student protesters in a barrage of tear gas in eastern Caracas' wealthy Chacao district, an important center of resistance to Venezuela's socialist-led government.

From a side street, a young man in a phosphorescent green hockey mask and a white T-shirt advances, his throwing hand sheathed in a fire-retardant glove for returning tear-gas canisters. The young man struts and taunts the cops, accompanied by comrades behind a makeshift metal shield with "SOS" painted on it. Gunpowder charges explode near the police. The officers retreat. But the withdrawal is tactical. Seconds later, a different set of motorcycle police in body armor roars uphill into the intersection, giving chase. Startled parrots scatter from a tree.

The police screech to a halt. A metal chain blocks the side street, and the masked youth escapes, while an audience inside an upmarket clothing store stays glued to the plate-glass windows. Officers take down the chain, but as soon as they leave two middle-aged men run out of an office building and stretch it back across the street.

In a month of almost daily street protests, a certain crude choreography between the opposing forces has emerged in this neighborhood that is at ground zero for Venezuela's worst unrest in more than a decade. Several hundred hard-core young people gather, erect barricades and hurl rocks, bottles and fireworks at police. Officers advance firing tear gas and plastic shotgun pellets to disperse the youths, drawing catcalls from people in apartment high-rises.

Painted on a wall near Altamira Square, where the protesters gather, is a motto from jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez that they have embraced: "He who tires first, loses." The government claims these are all spoiled rich kids. But an informal census suggests hard-core protesters are increasingly from lower-middle-class and poor neighborhoods and are as fed up as anybody with the country's chronic shortages of staple food items, 56 percent inflation, runaway violent crime and lousy job prospects.

"I can't go out and protest in my neighborhood," said Vi Dibrahim Torrealba, a 29-year-old medical student from Catia, a working-class district. Why? Armed pro-government motorcycle gangs won't allow it, he and others say.

"The shortages affect me more than the rich," said Any Salazar, a 20-year-old communications student from Petare, Latin America's biggest slum. Crime, too. "I've been robbed three times this year." The protesters are mostly male but include young women. A few use gas masks but others sport alternatives. White dust masks, ski and swim googles are employed. So are homespun solutions for the sting of tear gas, which can penetrate clothes. One is Maalox and water, sprayed on the eyes. Some coat their faces in toothpaste or slather Vicks VapoRub on their nostrils. Masks are common to protect identities and prevent reprisal. The Venezuelan flag is a popular accessory.

There has been vandalism, though little of it wanton. Protesters break apart walls for rocks and raid construction sites for barricade material. On Sunday, some burned a bus kiosk. President Nicolas Maduro blames the protesters for several deaths, including a motorcyclist who rode into a cable strung across a street and an elderly woman that officials say died en route to the hospital because of traffic snarled by barricades. The government says 21 people have died since the protest wave began Feb. 12.

Most marches are peaceful, such as one Monday in the capital by doctors upset over acute shortages of medicines and medical supplies, but extremists on both sides have exacerbated tensions. The western city of San Cristobal has been especially restive. A student leader was killed there Monday night by a gunshot to the chest, Mayor Daniel Ceballos reported. National Guardsmen had battled protesters all day after attacking and dismantling barricades at key intersections. Ceballos said the city of about 600,000 people was "pretty well paralyzed."

Chacao's residents aren't experiencing anything like the mayhem of San Cristobal, But many are less than thrilled by the inconveniences of playing host to nightly street battles: blocked streets, upturned sewer grates, fetid plastic bags of burned garbage.

They nevertheless happily take up collections and provide food, Maalox, eye drops and protective masks to the protesters. "Who wants water!" shouts Vivian, 26-year-old sporting a Mexican wrestler's leopard skin-patterned Lucha Libre mask and stylish sneakers. She jogs around handing out bottled water and cookies as tear gas canisters fall nearby.

Vivian won't give her last name for fear of reprisal. She's from money but says class doesn't matter in this struggle: "We are fighting because we are all living poorly."

Venezuela opposition gears up for new protest

By Sofia Miselem
March 8, 2014

Caracas (AFP) - Venezuelans will march again on Saturday against the country's chronic food shortage, one of the major grievances in a wave of protests shadowing President Nicolas Maduro's government.

At least 20 people have now died in Venezuela since protests first erupted a month ago, giving Maduro his biggest test since succeeding late leader Hugo Chavez almost a year ago.

The new rally was called by the country's most prominent opposition leader, two-time presidential election runner-up Henrique Capriles, who lost to Maduro by a whisker in the April 2013 election.

Hours before the march, Capriles charged on Twitter that Maduro wanted to "put obstacles" against the demonstration.

"Our people have the right to protest and we will do it in peace," he said.

Some of the demonstrations have drawn tens of thousands of people, and Capriles' participation could attract a large crowd.

The rally, which coincides with International Women's Day, will include a march by stay-at-home moms who will bang empty pots - a traditional form of protest across Latin America.

Venezuela's protest movement has been marked by regular clashes between security forces and radical protesters. Dozens of claims of police abuse have been made.

Capriles has accused Maduro of promoting a "confrontation of people against people" after the socialist leader called on his followers to "enforce order."

"Little candle that is lit, little candle that we put out with our people," Maduro said this week.

The violence claimed two more lives on Thursday when a man who tried to dismantle an opposition barricade in Caracas and a riot police officer were shot dead.

The protests began early last month as a student movement but it has since been joined by opposition figures, all fed up with Venezuela's runaway murder rate, chronic food shortages and high inflation of 56 percent.

But the opposition has been divided about the tactic.

The former of Caracas' Chacao district, Leopoldo Lopez, spearheaded a strategy called "the exit" to push for Maduro's resignation.

Lopez gave himself up to police in dramatic fashion on February 18 in front of thousands of supporters after the authorities accused him of inciting violence.

Capriles has distanced himself from "the exit" movement, warning that "the conditions are not there to pressure for the government's exit."

The former candidate, who officially lost to Maduro by 1.5 percentage points, has said that to succeed, the protests need the support of the poorer neighborhoods - Chavez's, and now Maduro's, base.

Analysts say that while Maduro is facing the biggest challenge of his young presidency, his government is sturdy enough to withstand the pressure.

El Salvador's presidential election proves tight

March 10, 2014

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Authorities declared El Salvador's presidential runoff election too close to call late Sunday, with just a 0.2-percent margin separating a one-time Marxist guerrilla and the conservative former mayor of El Salvador's capital.

Preliminary returns with more than 98 percent of votes counted showed Salvador Sanchez Ceren, the leftist candidate of the ruling Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, the FMLN, less than 6,000 votes ahead of his conservative adversary, former San Salvador Mayor Norman Quijano, out of about 3 million ballots cast.

It was a surprising result, considering that opinion polls in the weeks leading up to the election had put Quijano 10 to 18 percentage points behind Sanchez Ceren. The president of El Salvador's Supreme Electoral Tribunal, Eugenio Chicas, said the race was "extremely tight" and said neither candidate could claim victory.

"This tribunal orders neither party to declare itself the winner, in light of results that are so close that only the final count can decide," Chicas said, adding that "the margin is so close that we ask for prudence."

He said the final vote count would begin Monday. Sanchez Ceren, 69, had been seen as the favorite to become the first true guerrilla to lead this Central American nation. Outgoing President Mauricio Funes was a journalist who was sympathetic to the FMLN rebels during the civil war but was never a guerrilla.

Quijano, 67, ran for the once long-ruling Nationalist Republican Alliance, known as ARENA, which lost the presidency to Funes in 2009. Sanchez Ceren campaigned on a promise to deepen the outgoing government's popular social programs and govern as a moderate. He said he envisioned ruling like Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, also a former guerrilla who formed an inclusive government.

Quijano accused the former guerrilla of appearing to want to lead the country like Venezuela's late socialist president, Hugo Chavez, and he warned of a return of communism. He also promised to crack down on rising gang violence.

Sanchez Ceren was a top rebel commander who helped negotiate the 1992 Peace Accords that ended El Salvador's 12-year civil war. During the war that killed 76,000 people, the United States supported the Salvadoran government against the FMLN to prevent communism from spreading in Latin America.

El Salvador is dealing with one of the highest murder rates in the world. A 2012 gang truce seemed to cut the country's daily average of 14 dead by half, but the drop appears to have been short-lived.

Homicides, mostly of gang members, have risen again this year; police statistics show 501 murders the first two months of this year— a more than 25 percent increase over the same period of 2013. More unsettling is the fact that many dead have turned up in mass graves, leading some to believe the gang truce could have been either an illusion or an agreement to cover up the violence.

During the campaign, Quijano lambasted Funes for negotiating with criminals because of the truce he struck between the Mara Salvatrucha and the 18th Street gangs. He promised to get tough on criminals, possibly militarizing public security.

The ruling party, in turn, focused on alleged ARENA corruption, accusing Quijano's former campaign manager of mismanaging millions in aid he received from Taiwan.

President says Gambia to shift from English

March 09, 2014

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Gambia's president said that he wants to implement a policy change that would shift the country's language from English to a local language.

"We no longer subscribe to the belief that for you to be a government you should speak English language. We should speak our language," President Yahya Jammeh said during the swearing-in ceremony of Gambia's new Chief Justice that aired on state-run Gambia Television Services on Friday.

The announcement comes months after the West African country announced it is withdrawing from the Commonwealth, a collection of 54 nations made up largely of former British colonies, saying it would "never be a member of any neo-colonial institution."

The United Kingdom recently warned its citizens of rising anti-British rhetoric from the president, who last year accused the former colonial power and the United States of organizing coup attempts in the West African nation. The allegations were denied.

Though a popular destination for British tourists, Gambia has also been criticized by the U.K. for human rights abuses, including when it executed nine death-row inmates by firing squad in August 2012. Rights groups such as Amnesty International have also criticized Jammeh's government for cracking down on dissent and targeting political opponents and sexual minorities for arrest and detention, among other alleged abuses.

Gambia is at loggerheads with the European Union as the bloc threatens to suspend its aid if the country's human rights situation is not improved. Jammeh, who came to power in a military coup in 1994, said the U.K. has no "moral platform" to talk about human rights.

"What brought the British to the Gambia in the first place -which was bigger than it is now- was trade in ivory because the Gambia had a lot of elephants," he said. "They wiped out all the elephants and ended up selling Africans."

Gambia is one of Africa's smallest and poorest countries with a population of about 1.8 million people.

Philippines has 'right' to defend its territory like China: PM spokesman

Manila (AFP)
March 09, 2014

The Philippines also has the right to defend every inch of its territory, President Benigno Aquino's spokesman said on Sunday, after China made a similar warning.

Spokesman Herminio Coloma's remarks came after China's foreign minister Wang Yi said on Saturday said his country would vigorously defend its sovereignty against "unreasonable demands from smaller countries".

Although he was referring to Japan, which has its own territorial dispute with China, his remarks could also cover China's other territorial dispute with the Philippines and other countries over parts of the South China Sea.

"It is the right of every country to defend its national territory. That is also the principle we are following," Coloma told reporters, commenting on the Chinese minister's remarks.

Coloma added that the Philippines was basing its position on the principles of international law like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.

The Philippines and China, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam are all claimants to parts of the South China Sea, a major sea lane and rich fishing ground which is believed to sit on vast mineral deposits.

The Philippines has also expressed growing concern at the increased aggressiveness of the Chinese in pressing their claim to almost all of the waters, even up to the coasts of its neighbors.

The Philippine government has sought UN arbitration under UNCLOS to settle the dispute but China has rejected the move.

Last month the Philippines lodged a protest after the Chinese coastguard allegedly attacked Filipino fishermen off a disputed South China Sea shoal with water cannon on January 27. Beijing rejected the protest...

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Philippines_has_right_to_defend_its_territory_like_China_PM_spokesman_999.html.

China to launch first "space shuttle bus" this year

Beijing (XNA)
Mar 09, 2014

China is expected to launch an upper stage aircraft this year that can be used as a "space shuttle bus" to propel payload in space, a senior official in charge of rocket research said Monday.

The Yuanzheng-1 (Expedition-1) upper stage aircraft, attached with a carrier rocket, can carry aircraft using its own power system after reaching an initial orbit, said Liang Xiaohong, Party secretary of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.

Yuanzheng-1, which uses liquid propellant, can fulfill several missions while in space and operate as long as 6.5 hours in orbit, said Liang, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body.

It has the same function as a carrier rocket and can bring multiple aircraft to different locations in space, said Liang.

Yuanzheng-1 will play an important role in future moon and Mars exploration as well as orbital transfer and space debris clearing, he said.

China has developed multiple upper stage aircraft with solid propellants since 1980s. Those aircraft had 10 flights, all of which were successful.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/China_to_launch_first_space_shuttle_bus_this_year_999.html.

Russia to launch three lunar rovers from 2016 to 2019

Moscow (Voice of Russia)
Mar 09, 2014

Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, will send three automated rovers to the moon from 2016 to 2019 as part of its plan to eventually send a manned mission to Mars, according to agency head Oleg Ostapenko.

"Stage one priority is research projects to be carried out by automated rovers on the moon and Mars," Ostapenko told Rossiyskaya Gazeta in an interview that will be published on Wednesday.

"These plans will be officially committed to paper in a new federal space program. State financing will be provided for the building of three lunar surface vehicles - Luna-25, Luna-26, and Luna-27. The first one will be launched in 2016, the second one - in 2018, and the third one - in 2019."

Luna-25 will land around the moon's south pole for a demonstration mission, Ostapenko said.

Luna-26 will travel along the moon's orbit to conduct remote probing and data relaying.

A third vehicle will carry a drilling unit to search for water ice in sub-polar regions.

Following this initial stage of the lunar plan, Roscosmos will move to the next phase, which will involve the delivery of moon soil to Earth by Luna-28 and Luna-29.

Ostapenko said Roscosmos hopes to establish permanent lunar research bases.

"Relevant technologies are now being developed. Researchers are working on options of long-term autonomous stay of humans on the Moon. As an option, we look at a possibility to place a powerful observatory there. Obviously, we will have to build a space platform to perform intermediary tasks. And to solve many other related problems," he said.

Source: Moon Daily.
Link: http://www.moondaily.com/reports/Russia_to_launch_three_lunar_rovers_from_2016_to_2019_999.html.

Russia reinforces military presence in Crimea

March 08, 2014

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Dozens of military trucks transporting heavily armed soldiers rumbled over Crimea's rutted roads Saturday as Russia reinforced its armed presence on the disputed peninsula in the Black Sea. Moscow's foreign minister ruled out any dialogue with Ukraine's new authorities, whom he dismissed as the puppets of extremists.

The Russians have denied their armed forces are active in Crimea, but an Associated Press reporter trailed one military convoy Saturday afternoon from 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Feodosia to a military airfield at Gvardeiskoe north of Simferopol, over which a Russian flag flew.

Some of the army green vehicles had Russian license plates and numbers indicating that they were from the Moscow region. Some towed mobile kitchens and what appeared to be mobile medical equipment. The strategic peninsula in southern Ukraine has become the flashpoint in the battle for Ukraine, where three months of protests sparked by President Victor Yanukovych's decision to ditch a significant treaty with the 28-nation European Union after strong pressure from Russia led to his downfall. A majority of people in Crimea identify with Russia, and Moscow's Black Sea Fleet is based in Sevastopol, as is Ukraine's.

Vladislav Seleznyov, a Crimean-based spokesman for the Ukrainian armed forces, told AP that witnesses had reported seeing amphibious military ships unloading around 200 military vehicles in eastern Crimea on Friday night after apparently having crossed the Straits of Kerch, which separates Crimea from Russian territory.

"Neither the equipment, nor the paratroopers have insignia that identify them as Russian, but we have no doubt as to their allegiance," Seleznyov said. The amphibious operation appeared to be one of the largest movements of Russian military forces since they appeared in Crimea a week ago.

Seleznyov also said a convoy of more than 60 military trucks was spotted Saturday heading from Feodosia toward Simferopol, the regional capital. An AP reporter caught up with the convoy and trailed it to a Russian-controlled airfield. In the rear of the vehicles, heavily armed soldiers could be seen, though none appeared to have identifying badges or insignia. Soldiers spat at the reporters following them.

A small plane belonging to the Ukrainian border guards was fired on by "extremists" using automatic weapons as it flew near the administrative border of Crimea, but took evasive maneuvers and escaped unscathed, the Interfax news agency reported, quoting Ukrainian officials.

The regional parliament in Crimea has set a March 16 referendum on leaving Ukraine to join Russia, and senior lawmakers in Moscow said they would support the move, ignoring sanctions threats and warnings from President Barack Obama that the vote would violate international law.

While the U.S. and the EU urged Russia to engage in dialogue with new Ukrainian authorities, the Kremlin has refused to do so, denouncing the change of power in Ukraine as an "unconstitutional coup." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow sees no sense in talking with Ukraine's new authorities because, in his view, they kowtow to radical nationalists.

"The so-called interim government isn't independent. It depends, to our great regret, on radical nationalists who have seized power with arms," he said at a news conference. He said that nationalist groups use "intimidation and terror" to control Ukraine.

Despite that tough talk, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met Saturday with Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, the first such diplomatic contact since the crisis began. In a terse statement, the ministry said only that they discussed issues related to Russian-Ukrainian ties in a "sincere atmosphere."

At a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine's new foreign minister, Andrii Deshchytsi, spoke hopefully about creation of a contact group made up of foreign ministers of various countries to mediate the crisis. Forming the group was an idea discussed during meetings between Ukraine's prime minister and European Union leaders in Brussels on Thursday.

Deshchytsi said that he learned from mediators that Russia hasn't "categorically' refused the idea of permitting a contact group to help broker an end to the dispute. "The Russians are thinking," Deshchytsi said, so there is "reason to hope." He reiterated that the new Ukrainian government understands it is vital to establish good relations with all neighbors, including Russia.

Lavrov also spoke by telephone with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity to describe a private diplomatic conversation. Kerry "made clear that continued military escalation and provocation in Crimea or elsewhere in Ukraine, along with steps to annex Crimea to Russia would close any available space for diplomacy, and he urged utmost restraint," the official said. Kerry and Lavrov agreed to speak again soon.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow has no intention of annexing Crimea, but that its people have the right to determine the region's status in a referendum. The Crimean referendum has been denounced by Ukraine's new government. The U.S. moved Thursday to impose its first sanctions on Russians involved in the military occupation of Crimea.

Speaking on the BBC on Saturday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that while there is no military response to the recent events of Crimea, the crisis was a reminder of threats to European security and stability.

"I do believe that politicians all over NATO will now rethink the whole thing about investment in security and defense," he told the BBC. "Obviously, defense comes at a cost but insecurity is much more expensive."

An international military mission composed of officers from the U.S. and 28 other nations tried again Saturday to enter Crimea, but it was turned back around the town of Armiansk by armed men. An AP reporter traveling with the 54 observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that after the group had stopped, the armed men fired bursts of automatic weapons fire to halt other unidentified vehicles. No injuries were reported.

In Simferopol, meanwhile, a public ceremony was held for the swearing-in of the first unit in the pro-Russia "Military Forces of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea." About 30 men armed with AK-47s, and another 20 or so unarmed, turned out. They ranged in age from teenagers to a man who looked to be about 60. They were sworn in at a park in front of an eternal flame to those killed in World War II.

Sergei Aksyonov, the Crimean prime minister, came to the ceremony and was greeted by the soldiers with shouts of "Commander!" He said their main role, at least until the referendum, would be to "keep the peace." He said he didn't foresee any fighting with the Ukrainian soldiers still at bases in Crimea.

"We are not enemies with those soldiers who pledged loyalty to the Ukrainian state. They are not our enemies," Aksyonov said. He said they could safely leave Crimea if they wanted to. In the week since Russia seized control of Crimea, Russian troops have been disarming Ukrainian military bases here. Some Ukrainian units, however, have refused to give up. Aksyonov has said pro-Russian forces numbering more than 11,000 now control all access to the region and have blockaded all military bases that haven't yet surrendered.

On Friday evening, pro-Russia soldiers tried to take over another Ukrainian base in Sevastopol, resulting in a tense standoff that lasted for several hours. Lt. Col. Vitaly Onishchenko, deputy commander of the base, said three dozen men wearing unmarked camouflage uniforms arrived late Friday. While one group climbed over a wall on one side of the base, another crashed a heavy military truck through the gates, Onishchenko said.

He said Saturday that they turned off power, cut telephone lines and demanded that about 100 Ukrainian troops, who barricaded themselves into one of the base buildings, surrender their weapons and swear allegiance to Russia. The invaders left around midnight.

No shots were fired in and no injuries were reported. Russia has described the troops who wear green uniforms without insignia as local "self-defense forces." But Onishchenko said the troops who tried to overrun his base were clearly Russian.

"These were Russian servicemen specially ordered," he said. "Their watches were set to Moscow time. They spoke with Russian accents and they didn't hide their allegiance to the Russian Federation."

Dmitry Vlasov in Armiansk, Tim Sullivan in Simferopol, Mike Eckel and John-Thor Dahlburg in Kiev, Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, Danica Kirka in London, and Matthew Lee in Washington, contributed to this report.