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| Obama deplores Kansas City violence, says US ready to aid probe - Reuters Posted: 14 Apr 2014 09:16 AM PDT (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday deplored the shootings at Kansas City-area Jewish centers, saying at an Easter season prayer breakfast there was no place for anti-Semitism or other religious-based hatred. The federal government will provide whatever assistance is needed to investigate the attacks that killed three people on Sunday, the president said at the White House. A suspect is being held on suspicion of premeditated first-degree murder. "As Americans, we not only need to open our hearts to the families of the victims, we've got to stand united against this kind of terrible violence, which has no place in our society," he said. It was unfortunate that synagogues and Jewish community centers would feel they needed to step up security ahead of the Passover holiday, he added. "That this occurred now, as Jews were preparing to celebrate Passover, as Christians were observing Palm Sunday, makes this tragedy all the more painful," Obama said. "Nobody should have to worry about their security when gathering with their fellow believers." (Reporting By Mark Felsenthal; Editing by David Gregorio) |
| No sign of crackdown as Ukraine deadline passes - CNN Posted: 14 Apr 2014 09:17 AM PDT STORY HIGHLIGHTS
(CNN) -- Scores of pro-Russian protesters storm a Ukrainian police headquarters and confront the officers inside. Hundreds outside back up the intruders, chanting. A Russian flag flies from the structure as the crowd listens to activists with a megaphone at the entrance. Monday was the day the Ukrainian government demanded pro-Russian activists give up. Instead, they appear to have overrun another key building in yet another eastern Ukrainian city. Protesters forced police officers out of their four-story headquarters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Horlivka, witnesses said, adding a new complication for a Kiev government worried about demonstrators' escalating activity in the east and a Russian neighbor that it accuses of fomenting the discontent. Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov had given pro-Russian protesters in other eastern Ukrainian cities until 2 a.m. ET to disarm or face a "full-scale anti-terrorist operation" by Ukraine's armed forces. But the deadline passed with no sign that it was heeded, including in the eastern city of Donetsk, where protesters have held the regional government building for more than a week.   Russian supporters attend a rally in front of the security service building occupied by pro-Russian activists in Luhansk, Ukraine, on Monday, April 14. Ukraine has seen a sharp rise in tensions since a new pro-European government took charge of the country in February. Moscow branded the new government illegitimate and annexed Ukraine's Crimea region last month, citing threats to Crimea's Russian-speaking majority. Crisis in Ukraine HIDE CAPTION Similar deadlines in the past have come and gone with no consequences. A video shown on online streaming service Ustream purports to show scores of people entering the police headquarters in Horlivka, a city of 300,000. CNN could not independently verify the video. Demonstrators crammed the halls in the video. Windows were broken, small fires burned and police appeared to have no control. Officers warned activists to avoid looting, though no officer stopped the masses walking through the halls and rooms. A severely beaten man in a police uniform was taken to an ambulance as onlookers shouted at him. Horlivka would be at least the 10th city or town in eastern Ukraine where activists have taken over security or government buildings in recent days. Also Monday, in Slaviansk, Ukrainian authorities appeared to take no action to retake a police station that was occupied earlier. Pro-Russian protesters milled around with makeshift shields outside the building. When asked why the Ukrainian government had made no apparent move to evict protesters after the deadline passed, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Danylo Lubkivsky told reporters that the government still believes in a political solution. Although it wants to avoid bloodshed, the government still will protect the country's territorial integrity, he said Monday in Kiev. Kiev blames Moscow The unrest is the latest in a series of events ratcheting up tensions between Ukraine and Russia, which Kiev accuses of fomenting trouble in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine. After then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych backed out of a deal with the European Union in November in favor of closer ties with Russia, months of protests in Kiev led to his ouster in February. Distrust among the population in eastern Ukraine -- the base of Yanukovych's power -- grew as the new national government shifted rapidly in a pro-Western direction. A short time later, pro-Russian elements occupied the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed in March. Since then, pro-Russian protesters have taken to the streets in eastern Ukraine and in some cases stormed and occupied buildings. Kiev's fragile new government and the West accuse Russia of destabilizing the region as a pretext to potentially send in troops to protect the local Russian-speaking population. NATO says Russian armed forces are massing on Ukraine's eastern border, while Moscow says they are merely carrying out military exercises. Turchynov on Sunday issued a promise of amnesty for the activists -- including protesters as well as armed militants -- in eastern Ukraine but warned that anyone who continued to support the takeover of government buildings would be held responsible for their actions. "We'll not allow any repetition of the Crimean scenario in the east of Ukraine," Turchynov said. "I have signed a decree that would allow those who did not shoot at our officers to lay down their arms and leave the occupied buildings by Monday morning without fear of being prosecuted." Referendum proposed After the deadline passed Monday, Turchynov said the majority of Ukrainians would back keeping Ukraine in one piece if a referendum is held along with presidential elections set for May 25. "We do not mind having a referendum," Turchynov told members of parliament. "Moreover, if there is (a) parliamentary decision to hold one together with the presidential elections, I am sure most people will express support of independent and unitary Ukraine." Turchynov has said Russia was responsible for the bloodshed relating to the most recent protests. At least one Ukrainian soldier was killed in Sunday clashes between pro-Ukrainian crowds and pro-Russian protesters, a high-level source in Ukraine's Security Services told CNN. In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said any use of force against pro-Russian demonstrators in Ukraine will make it more difficult to create a lasting solution to the crisis. A stable Ukraine is in Moscow's best interest, Lavrov said, also denying reports that Russian forces are active in the east. He refused to speculate about what events or actions would spur a military intervention by Russia into Ukraine. Lavrov said he would hold off judgment on Turchynov's proposed referendum until Moscow sees the outline of the questions to be asked. He added that pro-Russian activists in the east must be given an active role in shaping a new constitution. 'Evidence of Russian involvement' Ukrainian officials have placed blame for unrest in the eastern section of their country squarely on Russia. The new Ukrainian government said it was launching security operations against terrorists who are attempting to "destroy our country." Giving no further details, it also said it had "concrete evidence of Russian special service involvement" in the pro-Russian protests and storming of buildings and would present it at an international meeting on the Ukraine crisis on Thursday. Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday the attacks in Slaviansk were "professional" and "coordinated" -- similar to Russia's incursion into the Crimean Peninsula last month. The United States is prepared to step up sanctions against Russia if the recent actions in Ukraine continue, she said. Speaking on ABC's "This Week," she said the latest events in Ukraine bore "the telltale signs of Moscow's involvement." "I think we've seen that the sanctions can bite. And if actions like the kind that we've seen over the last few days continue, you're going to see a ramping up of those sanctions," she said. EU cutting tariffs for Ukraine The European Union on Monday took another step to help Ukraine economically as Kiev's new government seeks closer ties to the West. The EU's Foreign Affairs Council approved tariff cuts for most industrial and all agricultural goods, which will make it cheaper for Ukraine to export them to the European Union, saving Ukraine about 500 million euros a year, the council said. The cuts will start at the end of April and last until November 1, by which time a fuller free-trade deal is expected to take effect. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is to meet this week with foreign ministers from the United States, Russia and Ukraine in Switzerland to discuss efforts to de-escalate the situation. EU foreign ministers will meet in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss the crisis. On Sunday night, the U.N. Security Council held an urgent, previously unscheduled meeting to discuss the worsening crisis, where strong condemnations and accusations were traded. Opinion: The West must not blame itself for Putin's revanchism CNN's Arwa Damon, Khushbu Shah, Steve Almasy and Nick Paton Walsh; journalist Victoria Butenko in Kiev; and journalist Lena Kashkarova in Donetsk contributed to this report |
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