Wednesday May 7th 2014
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Thailand court ousts PM Yingluck
A Thai court has ordered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and several cabinet ministers to step down.
The Constitutional Court ruled that Ms Yingluck acted illegally when she transferred her national security head.The ruling follows months of political deadlock. Anti-government protesters have been trying to oust Ms Yingluck since November 2013.
The remaining cabinet members have nominated the commerce minister to replace Ms Yingluck.
"The cabinet has agreed to appoint Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan to act as caretaker prime minister," Deputy Prime Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana said.
Nigeria offers $300G reward for information on kidnapped schoolgirls
Nigeria offered a 50 million naira ($300,000) reward Wednesday to anyone with information that could lead to the rescue of almost 300 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram extremists last month.According to Reuters, police urged Nigerians to call in with "credible information."
"I abducted your girls," Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram's leader, said in a video Monday, describing the girls as "slaves" and said "By Allah, I will sell them in the marketplace."
The hour-long video starts with fighters lofting automatic rifles and shooting in the air as they chant "Allahu akbar!" or "God is great."
The U.S. has offered to send a team to Nigeria to help the search efforts.
A senior federal law enforcement source told Fox News that although the FBI has a permanent presence in Lagos, Nigeria, it is, "still unclear, what, if any, supplemental resources FBI is providing."
The FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team is not in play at this time, the source said.
A Country Is On The Brink Of Genocide And Very Few Know About It
Last Wednesday, 120 European Union peacekeepers arrived in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. They took up positions at the city's airport, where French soldiers had guaranteed security up until now. Lining the airstrip were hundreds of cardboard shacks and tarpaulins; the homes of thousands of civilians who had flocked to the foreign base in the hope of escaping the brutal violence that has rocked the CAR in recent months.Events that occurred just ahead of the handover in Bangui made it painstakingly clear why the refugees were fleeing. Hours before the Europeans' arrival, four people had been murdered in the streets of the capital. One Muslim man was found decapitated, his body heavily mutilated and his heart ripped out.
Wednesday's killings were emblematic of the brutal fighting that has plagued the country since a rebel coup against President Francois Bozize triggered the worst ethnic violence in decades. Over a year into the chaos, the country is in shambles and the rift between its ethnic groups has widened to disastrous proportions.
Ukraine crisis: Pro-Russians seize back Mariupol city hall
Pro-Russian separatists
have seized back the city hall in the southern Ukrainian port of
Mariupol, hours after being ousted by security forces.
Government forces first raised the Ukraine flag on the
building but later left - allowing the rebels who captured it last week
to be back in control.Kiev has sent in troops to try to take back official buildings occupied by pro-Russian rebels in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Russia has urged rebels to postpone an independence referendum.
President Vladimir Putin said the series of votes, planned for Sunday in south-eastern Ukraine, should be postponed "in order to create the conditions necessary for dialogue".
He also said, after talks with the chair of
the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in
Moscow, that he was ready to "seek ways out of this crisis".
Russia was again accused, by UK Foreign Secretary William
Hague, who was meeting Ukrainian leaders in Kiev, of "trying to
orchestrate conflict and provocations" in eastern and southern Ukraine.Mr Hague said Moscow's "immediate goal" was to disrupt Ukraine's presidential election on 25 May, "although of course they might also be trying to provide a pretext for intervention".
Putin says he's ready to discuss Ukraine crisis solution
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he is ready to talk about a solution to the Ukraine crisis.According to Reuters, Putin made the remarks during a meeting with Didier Burkhalter, Swiss president and chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Putin also said the May 11 referendum on autonomy in southeast Ukraine should be delayed, Russian media reported.
Putin called on Ukraine's military to halt all operations against pro-Russia activists who have seized government buildings and police stations across at least a dozen towns in eastern Ukraine.
He said the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine -- slated for May 25 -- are a move "in the right direction," but repeated that constitutional reforms would have to precede any nationwide vote in Ukraine.
Jeffrey Feltman, the U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs, met with Ukraine's acting president Oleksandr Turchynov early on Wednesday. British Foreign Secretary William Hague also arrived in Ukraine to speak with the nation's leaders.
Related Story : Russia is fomenting disorder in Ukraine to disrupt election, says William Hague
Syrian Rebels Begin Evacuating From Homs As Part Of Ceasefire Deal With Government Forces
BEIRUT (AP) — Exhausted and worn out from a year-long siege, hundreds of Syrian rebels on Wednesday left their last remaining bastions in the heart of the central city of Homs under a ceasefire deal with government forces, opposition activists and the city's governor said.The exit of some 1,200 fighters and civilians will mark a de-facto end of the rebellion in the battered city, which was one of the first places to rise up against President Bashar Assad's rule, earning its nickname as "the capital of the revolution."
Gaining full control of Syria's third largest city is a major win for Assad on multiple levels. Militarily, it solidifies the government hold on a swath of territory in central Syria, linking the capital Damascus with government strongholds along the coast and giving a staging ground to advance against rebel territory further north. Politically, gains on the ground boost Assad's hold on power as he seeks to add a further claim of legitimacy in presidential elections set for June 3.
By early afternoon Wednesday, over 400 fighters had boarded several batches of buses that departed from a police command center on the edge of Homs' rebel-held areas, heading north, opposition activists said. Many of the rebels were wounded, and it was unclear how many civilians were among them.
An activist who goes by the name of Abu Yassin al-Homsi said all fighters and any remaining civilians would leave the city before the end of the day. According to the deal, the rebels were being taken a few kilometers (miles) north to the rebel held towns of Talbiseh and al-Dar al-Kabira on the northern edge of Homs province — a short drive away.
Vietnam and China ships 'collide in South China Sea'
Vietnamese naval ships and Chinese vessels have collided in the South China Sea, Vietnamese officials say.
The incident happened as the Vietnamese navy was trying to
prevent the Chinese from setting up an oil rig in an area claimed by
both nations.No shots were fired, reports say. But Vietnamese officials said that water cannons were used on their ships.
The incident is the most serious between the countries at sea in years, with dozens of boats now in the area.
Vietnamese officials said on Wednesday that the Chinese ships intentionally rammed their vessels.
Several sailors were injured, AP quoted one official as saying.
Vietnamese maritime police official Ngo Ngoc Thu told media in Hanoi on Wednesday that Chinese boats had collided with Vietnamese vessels three times since 3 May.
Palestinian forces bust terror cell looking to attack Jewish-Israelis
A bust by Palestinian security forces of a four-man Kalkilya terror cell led to the arrest and indictments of the cell by Israel, the Justice Ministry announced on Wednesday.On Wednesday the Central District Attorney's Office filed an indictment with the Lod District Court against Khaled Daoud, 21, for his involvement in the cell, including charges of manufacturing and attempting to manufacture weapons as well as conspiracy to commit a felony.
The other three members of the cell are being handled by the West Bank prosecution arm of the IDF legal division.
Daoud was indicted in Israel because he was born to a mother with Israeli citizenship.
The indictment said that Daoud conspired with the others to form a terror cell, manufacture weapons and carry out terror attacks on Israeli Jewish targets.
The cell either tried to build or built remote detonating explosives, explosives and grenades.
At least one "home-made" grenade was tested and successfully detonated.
In November, Palestinian security forces arrested the cell and eventually they were taken into custody by Israeli security forces.
Don't tell us how to run Hong Kong: China to US
BEIJING: China on Wednesday asked the US to stop issuing orders regarding political reforms in Hong Kong asserting that Washington has no right to interfere in its internal affairs.
Reacting to US Assistant Secretary Of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel's remarks about Hong Kong's political reform and universal suffrage in the chief executive election, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, "Political system development is Hong Kong's own affair and China's internal affair. Others have no right to interfere in it".
The Chinese government firmly opposes any foreign interference in Hong Kong's political reform or other affairs, Hua told a media briefing.
China regained sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 after 99 years of British rule.
Universal suffrage in the chief executive election is regarded as an important development in the region's political system.
In December, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government launched a five-month public consultation on methods for the election of Hong Kong's next chief executive through universal suffrage in 2017 and for forming the legislative council in 2016.
Russia to deploy new submarines, ships in Black Sea fleet: report
Russia will beef up its Black Sea fleet this year with new submarines and warships, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted as saying on Tuesday, following the annexation of the Crimean peninsula.New air defence and marine infantry units would also be deployed at the fleet’s bases, which include Sevastopol in Crimea.
“New submarines will join the Black Sea fleet, as well as new-generation surface ships, this year. All this requires much attention from us,” Interfax news agency quoted Shoigu as saying. Shoigu said the fleet would receive funding of 86.7 billion rubles ($2.43-billion) by 2020.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March sparked the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War. President Vladimir Putin said last month that Russia’s action over Crimea was partly a response to NATO expansion in Eastern Europe. Russia also feared Ukraine’s new government would cancel a lease allowing the fleet to stay until 2042.
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Car trails Obama daughters' motorcade, prompts White House lockdown
Washington: A car that trailed a motorcade carrying President Barack Obama's daughters on to Pennsylvania Avenue prompted a security lockdown at the White House on Tuesday.A Secret Service spokesman said the car entered the security checkpoint at 17th Street and Pennsylvania and was immediately stopped by Secret Service uniformed officers.
The male driver was arrested and Washington police checked the car for explosives.
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