News Info - A Beijing man who supplied information to a dissident-run U.S.-based news website has been detained on charges he made up stories that disparaged the Chinese government, police said Tuesday.
Xiang Nanfu was accused of providing false stories to Boxun.com that authorities harvested organs and buried people alive, according to a police statement. It said Xiang worked with Boxun.com to incite public dissatisfaction against the government.
Last week, China announced the detention of a prominent journalist, Gao Yu. She was accused of leaking a document from the ruling Communist Party to a publication abroad.
definition of abyssal plain - Chinese leaders want "to stop the flow of embarrassing and damaging information to overseas websites," said Willy Lam, a longtime political analyst in Hong Kong.
Lam said publications abroad are a battleground for Chinese political factions, which use them to attack each other by leaking information such as about the wealth of leaders' families.
Boxun.com, founded in 2000 and based in New York City, is known for publicizing allegations of corruption and human rights abuses. Access to the site is blocked in China.
Boxun gained prominence in 2012 when it publicized information it said came from insiders about the downfall of Bo Xilai, a leading ruling party figure.
Xiang, 62, was detained under a law against troublemaking, according to the police statement. Violators usually are punished with fines, but the law also allows a prison sentence of up to five years.
Xiang was shown on the national state television noon newscast confessing and expressing contrition.
"I have made up things that are not facts," said Xiang, who was shown wearing the green vest of a jail inmate. "My behavior has had a very bad impact. I realize that I have smeared the ruling party and the government."
The founder of Boxun.com, Watson Meng, denied it had reported that organ harvesting or burying people alive had occurred. But he said an April report described petitioners who made such allegations in front of the Beijing office of the United Nations.
"The authorities could have used some means to extort the public confession, although we do not know what means they have used," Meng said by phone from New York.
Meng called Xiang trustworthy and said he backed up his reports with photos and video footage. Meng said most were about people who petitioned the government seeking redress to what they perceive as injustice done by local authorities.
Meng rejected a police allegation that Boxun paid Xiang "large amounts of U.S. dollars" for his reports.
Another veteran activist, Huang Qi, said authorities regularly investigate his website, which documents efforts of petitioners and the government's response. The site, 64Tianwang.com, also is blocked in China.
"We condemn all forms of illegal suppression of freedom of the press and citizen journalists," Huang said.
Tuesday, 13 May 2014
US Flying Aircraft Over Nigeria in Hunt for Girls
News Info - A Nigerian government official said "all options are open" in the search for missing schoolgirls that's now being actively supported by U.S. surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.
Boko Haram, the militant group that is holding some 276 female students kidnapped , says in a new video that the girls will only be freed after the government releases jailed militants.
genghis khan facts - The group, which wants to impose Islamic law on Nigeria, has killed more than 1,500 people this year in a campaign of bombings and massacres. Boko Haram's kidnapping of schoolgirls at a boarding school in northeast Nigeria last month has focused international attention on the extremist group amid outrage that most of the girls have not been rescued.
Nigeria's government, which has repeatedly denied allegations that was slow to respond to the mass abduction, had initially suggested there would be no negotiations with Boko Haram. Now it appears that stance may be relaxed.
Mike Omri, the director of Nigeria's National Orientation Agency, said late Monday that the government will "use whatever kind of action" it takes to free the girls.
"At the moment, because all options are open we are interacting with experts, military and intelligence experts from other parts of the world," he said. "So these are part of the options that are available to us and many more."
The White House said Monday that the U.S. team assisting is made up of nearly 30 people drawn from the State and Defense departments, as well as the FBI, including 10 Defense Department planners who were already in Nigeria and were redirected to assist the government.
Another seven Defense Department personnel were sent to Nigeria from AFRICOM, the U.S. Africa Command based in Germany, said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
The U.S. is also sharing commercial satellite imagery with the Nigerian government, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press on Monday.
Boko Haram, the militant group that is holding some 276 female students kidnapped , says in a new video that the girls will only be freed after the government releases jailed militants.
genghis khan facts - The group, which wants to impose Islamic law on Nigeria, has killed more than 1,500 people this year in a campaign of bombings and massacres. Boko Haram's kidnapping of schoolgirls at a boarding school in northeast Nigeria last month has focused international attention on the extremist group amid outrage that most of the girls have not been rescued.
Nigeria's government, which has repeatedly denied allegations that was slow to respond to the mass abduction, had initially suggested there would be no negotiations with Boko Haram. Now it appears that stance may be relaxed.
Mike Omri, the director of Nigeria's National Orientation Agency, said late Monday that the government will "use whatever kind of action" it takes to free the girls.
"At the moment, because all options are open we are interacting with experts, military and intelligence experts from other parts of the world," he said. "So these are part of the options that are available to us and many more."
The White House said Monday that the U.S. team assisting is made up of nearly 30 people drawn from the State and Defense departments, as well as the FBI, including 10 Defense Department planners who were already in Nigeria and were redirected to assist the government.
Another seven Defense Department personnel were sent to Nigeria from AFRICOM, the U.S. Africa Command based in Germany, said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
The U.S. is also sharing commercial satellite imagery with the Nigerian government, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press on Monday.
Ukrainian Separatists Ask to Join Russia
News Info - The leader of the pro-Russian separatist "People's Republic of Donetsk" requested Monday afternoon that Moscow consider annexing the eastern Ukrainian province, shortly after declaring independence.
"Given the will of the people of the Donetsk People's Republic, and in order to restore historical justice, we ask Russia to consider the issue of our republic’s accession into the Russian Federation," said Denis Pushilin, the self-declared governor.
Adinkra Symbols of West Africa - The request followed unofficial referenda in Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk province on Sunday in which separatist leaders said voters voted 89 percent and 96 percent, respectively, for independence for the regions.
Earlier on Monday, Pushilin told ABC News that the overwhelming results mean "the people now have the right to decide what is in the best social and economic interest of this region."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to respond, but had earlier called on separatist leaders to delay the vote. In a statement before Pushilin’s announcement, the Kremlin encouraged Kiev to have talks with pro-Russian leaders in the eastern part of the country.
"Moscow respects the will of the population of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and hopes that the practical implementation of the outcome of the referendums will proceed along civilized lines, without repeat outbreaks of violence and through dialogue between representatives of Kiev, Donetsk and Luhansk," the statement said, according to the Interfax news agency.
But Pushilin told ABC News that after several violent incidents that left pro-Russian protesters dead, the separatists in Donetsk have no meaningful contact with Ukrainian leaders in Kiev.
"The channel of interaction with Ukraine is very narrow, if not closed," Pushilin said. "The only negotiations with Ukraine at the moment is about hostages. I don’t see any other topics."
Ukraine’s interior minister also dismissed the idea of negotiations, saying that there can’t be talks with “terrorists” and that the Ukrainian security services will "restore constitutional order in the east of Ukraine."
The unofficial votes in Donetsk and Luhansk over the weekend have been condemned as improper and illegal by Western nations and Ukraine.
"The farce, which terrorists call the referendum, will have no legal consequences except the criminal responsibility for its organizers," Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said in a statement Monday, the AP reported.
Added U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki today, "We do not recognize the illegal referendum that took place in portions of Donetsk and Luhansk over the weekend. ... It was illegal under Ukrainian law and an attempt to create further division and disorder in the country. Its methodology was also highly suspect, with reports of carousel voting, pre-marked ballots, children voting, voting for people who were absent, and even voting in Moscow and St. Petersburg."
"Given the will of the people of the Donetsk People's Republic, and in order to restore historical justice, we ask Russia to consider the issue of our republic’s accession into the Russian Federation," said Denis Pushilin, the self-declared governor.
Adinkra Symbols of West Africa - The request followed unofficial referenda in Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk province on Sunday in which separatist leaders said voters voted 89 percent and 96 percent, respectively, for independence for the regions.
Earlier on Monday, Pushilin told ABC News that the overwhelming results mean "the people now have the right to decide what is in the best social and economic interest of this region."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to respond, but had earlier called on separatist leaders to delay the vote. In a statement before Pushilin’s announcement, the Kremlin encouraged Kiev to have talks with pro-Russian leaders in the eastern part of the country.
"Moscow respects the will of the population of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and hopes that the practical implementation of the outcome of the referendums will proceed along civilized lines, without repeat outbreaks of violence and through dialogue between representatives of Kiev, Donetsk and Luhansk," the statement said, according to the Interfax news agency.
But Pushilin told ABC News that after several violent incidents that left pro-Russian protesters dead, the separatists in Donetsk have no meaningful contact with Ukrainian leaders in Kiev.
"The channel of interaction with Ukraine is very narrow, if not closed," Pushilin said. "The only negotiations with Ukraine at the moment is about hostages. I don’t see any other topics."
Ukraine’s interior minister also dismissed the idea of negotiations, saying that there can’t be talks with “terrorists” and that the Ukrainian security services will "restore constitutional order in the east of Ukraine."
The unofficial votes in Donetsk and Luhansk over the weekend have been condemned as improper and illegal by Western nations and Ukraine.
"The farce, which terrorists call the referendum, will have no legal consequences except the criminal responsibility for its organizers," Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said in a statement Monday, the AP reported.
Added U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki today, "We do not recognize the illegal referendum that took place in portions of Donetsk and Luhansk over the weekend. ... It was illegal under Ukrainian law and an attempt to create further division and disorder in the country. Its methodology was also highly suspect, with reports of carousel voting, pre-marked ballots, children voting, voting for people who were absent, and even voting in Moscow and St. Petersburg."
Monday, 12 May 2014
Pregnant drivers face higher risks for serious motor vehicle crash
News Info - Women in their second trimester of pregnancy are at much greater risk of a serious motor vehicle crash compared with the same women before pregnancy, say Canadian doctors who want obstetricians to remind their patients about road safety.
financial crisis - In Monday's issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers crunched data on emergency department visits for more than 507,000 women who gave birth in the province over five years.
"Our main finding was that the middle months of pregnancy were associated with about a 42 per cent increase in the risk of a life-threatening motor vehicle crash," Dr. Donald Redelmeier, the study's lead investigator and a senior scientist at Toronto's Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, said in an interview.
The magnitude of the effect equals about one crash for every 50 pregnant women.
Redelmeier is concerned that pregnant women might let down their guard on the road during the second trimester when the fatigue, back pain, and insomnia that many face are beginning to take their toll on top of the stress of preparing for the baby's arrival.
"I look after these patients in clinic and they frequently ask me about roller-coasters and airline flights and hot tubs and yet they almost never ask about road safety, despite it being a much larger risk to the safety of Canadians," he said.
The researchers don't advise women to give up driving during pregnancy or to ask their husbands to chauffeur. They simply want women to drive more carefully.
Standard advice applies:
financial crisis - In Monday's issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers crunched data on emergency department visits for more than 507,000 women who gave birth in the province over five years.
"Our main finding was that the middle months of pregnancy were associated with about a 42 per cent increase in the risk of a life-threatening motor vehicle crash," Dr. Donald Redelmeier, the study's lead investigator and a senior scientist at Toronto's Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, said in an interview.
The magnitude of the effect equals about one crash for every 50 pregnant women.
Redelmeier is concerned that pregnant women might let down their guard on the road during the second trimester when the fatigue, back pain, and insomnia that many face are beginning to take their toll on top of the stress of preparing for the baby's arrival.
"I look after these patients in clinic and they frequently ask me about roller-coasters and airline flights and hot tubs and yet they almost never ask about road safety, despite it being a much larger risk to the safety of Canadians," he said.
The researchers don't advise women to give up driving during pregnancy or to ask their husbands to chauffeur. They simply want women to drive more carefully.
Standard advice applies:
- Buckle up.
- Obey traffic signs.
- Follow the speed limit.
- Minimize distractions like cellphones.
The risk during the middle months of pregnancy were about 6.47 compared with about 4.55 beforehand. The elevated risk during the second trimester is about the same as for a patient with sleep apnea, Redelmeier said. In comparison, a teenage boy's risk ranks about 10.
Why second trimester riskier?
Study co-author Dr. Jon Barrett, chief of maternal fetal medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, said he was surprised at the magnitude of the effect.
"The first trimester is up to 12 weeks. People might be nauseous but they're still sleeping. The big pregnancy hasn't really taken effect," Barrett said.
"In the third trimester, maybe they're stopping work, maybe they're so tired and so uncomfortable they're not doing so much activity finally. It's the second trimester where you still have all these pregnancy symptoms … people are expecting them to function as normal because you know in our society we don't give pregnant women much leeway."
The study was funded by a Canada Research Chair in Medical Decision Sciences, the Canadians Institutes of Heath Research, a community health course at the University of Toronto and the D+H SRI Summer Student Research Program.
Why second trimester riskier?
Study co-author Dr. Jon Barrett, chief of maternal fetal medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, said he was surprised at the magnitude of the effect.
"The first trimester is up to 12 weeks. People might be nauseous but they're still sleeping. The big pregnancy hasn't really taken effect," Barrett said.
"In the third trimester, maybe they're stopping work, maybe they're so tired and so uncomfortable they're not doing so much activity finally. It's the second trimester where you still have all these pregnancy symptoms … people are expecting them to function as normal because you know in our society we don't give pregnant women much leeway."
The study was funded by a Canada Research Chair in Medical Decision Sciences, the Canadians Institutes of Heath Research, a community health course at the University of Toronto and the D+H SRI Summer Student Research Program.
Free aircraft-tracking service launched after Flight MH370 tragedy
News Info - The British satellite communications company that pointed the search for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 to the Indian Ocean is offering a free and basic tracking service to its customers, which include most of the world's airlines.
Inmarsat said the service would be offered to all 11,000 commercial passenger aircraft that are already equipped with Inmarsat satellite connections, comprising virtually 100 per cent of the world's long-haul commercial fleet.
crocodile facts - Malaysia Airlines MH370: Report urges better real-time tracking
"This offer responsibly, quickly and at little or no cost to the industry, addresses in part the problem brought to light by the recent tragic events around MH370," Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce told the Associated Press.
The company made the announcement before United Nations aviation officials gathered in Montreal on Monday to discuss better tracking of aircraft in the highest-level response yet to safety concerns raised by the disappearance of Flight MH370.
The Boeing 777 with 239 people on board was en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8 when it disappeared. The plane automatically sent signals to a satellite belonging to Inmarsat after the plane's transponder and its communication systems had shut down — but researchers were unable to find the plane before the batteries in the black box flight recorder shut down.
Inmarsat said it anticipated the adoption of further safety measures following the loss of MH370.
Black box streaming service
The company said it would also offer both an enhanced position reporting facility and a 'black box in the cloud' service that would stream historic and real-time flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder information when a plane deviates from its course. These would not be free.
Malaysia Airlines MH370: Why airlines don't live-stream black box data
The United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is hosting this week's talks in Montreal to discuss what can be done with current technology and what standards need to be set for new technology as globalization brings a steady increase in intercontinental air traffic.
The May 12-13 meeting at ICAO headquarters brings together 40 nations and representatives of aviation regulators, airports, airlines, air traffic controllers, pilots and radio experts.
"For the general public it has become unthinkable that a flight can simply disappear," the European Union said in a paper presented in advance of the two-day talks.
"An aircraft should be permanently tracked, even beyond radar coverage, and in case of an accident it should be immediately located," the paper said.
The EU paper also warned that some existing satellite-based cockpit systems could also be vulnerable to cyberattacks.
How could Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 go off the radar?
The International Air Transport Association, which represents nearly all long-haul airlines, said in April that it would set up a special task force on the issue of tracking.
Officials say that jets can be tracked with hardware available for less than $100,000 and updates can be transmitted using existing technology, though the cost depends on the frequency of updates.
Other more simple options include embedding GPS tracking devices in aircraft, but these could require safety certification and there are no common safety standards.
Plane-tracking discussed since 2010
Regulators have been discussing since 2010 how to improve communications with passenger jets over oceans and remote areas after an Air France plane crashed into the Atlantic a year earlier, but they have so far failed to agree on a co-ordinated international approach to the problem.
However, worldwide alarm at the failure to find MH370 in more than two months since it vanished en route to Beijing has pushed the issue to the top of the aviation agenda.
Regular flight-tracking was one of the key recommendations of French investigators after the loss of Air France 447.
Aviation experts say previous attempts to reach agreement on tracking and other reforms in the aftermath of Air France 447 have been delayed by uncertainties over the cost and control of infrastructure and reluctance to rely on "monopoly" providers.
Recent EU decision-making has also had to overcome wrangling among manufacturers, regulators and pilots.
But officials are now more optimistic that the aviation industry will take the lead with the help of a common strategy between regulators.
Inmarsat said the service would be offered to all 11,000 commercial passenger aircraft that are already equipped with Inmarsat satellite connections, comprising virtually 100 per cent of the world's long-haul commercial fleet.
crocodile facts - Malaysia Airlines MH370: Report urges better real-time tracking
"This offer responsibly, quickly and at little or no cost to the industry, addresses in part the problem brought to light by the recent tragic events around MH370," Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce told the Associated Press.
The company made the announcement before United Nations aviation officials gathered in Montreal on Monday to discuss better tracking of aircraft in the highest-level response yet to safety concerns raised by the disappearance of Flight MH370.
The Boeing 777 with 239 people on board was en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8 when it disappeared. The plane automatically sent signals to a satellite belonging to Inmarsat after the plane's transponder and its communication systems had shut down — but researchers were unable to find the plane before the batteries in the black box flight recorder shut down.
Inmarsat said it anticipated the adoption of further safety measures following the loss of MH370.
Black box streaming service
The company said it would also offer both an enhanced position reporting facility and a 'black box in the cloud' service that would stream historic and real-time flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder information when a plane deviates from its course. These would not be free.
Malaysia Airlines MH370: Why airlines don't live-stream black box data
The United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is hosting this week's talks in Montreal to discuss what can be done with current technology and what standards need to be set for new technology as globalization brings a steady increase in intercontinental air traffic.
The May 12-13 meeting at ICAO headquarters brings together 40 nations and representatives of aviation regulators, airports, airlines, air traffic controllers, pilots and radio experts.
"For the general public it has become unthinkable that a flight can simply disappear," the European Union said in a paper presented in advance of the two-day talks.
"An aircraft should be permanently tracked, even beyond radar coverage, and in case of an accident it should be immediately located," the paper said.
The EU paper also warned that some existing satellite-based cockpit systems could also be vulnerable to cyberattacks.
How could Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 go off the radar?
The International Air Transport Association, which represents nearly all long-haul airlines, said in April that it would set up a special task force on the issue of tracking.
Officials say that jets can be tracked with hardware available for less than $100,000 and updates can be transmitted using existing technology, though the cost depends on the frequency of updates.
Other more simple options include embedding GPS tracking devices in aircraft, but these could require safety certification and there are no common safety standards.
Plane-tracking discussed since 2010
Regulators have been discussing since 2010 how to improve communications with passenger jets over oceans and remote areas after an Air France plane crashed into the Atlantic a year earlier, but they have so far failed to agree on a co-ordinated international approach to the problem.
However, worldwide alarm at the failure to find MH370 in more than two months since it vanished en route to Beijing has pushed the issue to the top of the aviation agenda.
Regular flight-tracking was one of the key recommendations of French investigators after the loss of Air France 447.
Aviation experts say previous attempts to reach agreement on tracking and other reforms in the aftermath of Air France 447 have been delayed by uncertainties over the cost and control of infrastructure and reluctance to rely on "monopoly" providers.
Recent EU decision-making has also had to overcome wrangling among manufacturers, regulators and pilots.
But officials are now more optimistic that the aviation industry will take the lead with the help of a common strategy between regulators.
Friday, 9 May 2014
Smartphone app predicts bipolar mood swings
News Info - An essential part of managing bipolar disorder -- which is characterised by dramatic mood swings between manic energy and depressive apathy -- is being able to predict when those changes will occur, and act accordingly.
An experimental new smartphone app called PRIORI could offer an non-intrusive way to manage the condition. Developed by a team at the University of Michigan's Depression Center, the app runs in the background, automatically kicking in to monitor the user's voice patterns, whether it be a normal phone conversation or a scheduled weekly call with their care team.
abyssal plain animals - As it monitors the call, it analyses the sounds and silences of the user. A manic episode, for instance, may be heralded by rapid-fire speech with little silence, where as a depressed episode could be signalled by fewer words and longer silences.
After the individual user's patterns have been learned by the app, it will be able to signal both the user and his or her medical team to alert them of the upcoming mood change.
The team is careful to note that only the patient's side of the conversation is recorded, and then it is encrypted and placed on a secure server so that no one can listen to it -- the researchers only have access to the computer analysis of the recordings.
So far, the app has been tested on six patients with rapid-cycling Type 1 bipolar disorder. The researchers have found that the app is able to detect in everyday conversations the vocal modulations that predict varying levels of bipolar mood changes. The next step is to test the app further, with the eventual hope that it will help not just bipolar individuals, but those living with disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress and even Parkinson's disease.
"These pilot study results give us preliminary proof of the concept that we can detect mood states in regular phone calls by analysing broad features and properties of speech, without violating the privacy of those conversations," said study co-leader Zahi Karam, a postdoctoral fellow and specialist in machine learning and speech analysis. "As we collect more data the model will become better, and our ultimate goal is to be able to anticipate swings, so that it may be possible to intervene early."
The app may not be much use for those who text rather than make calls, but, once the analysis framework is in place, we imagine it would not be too much of a stretch to use software similar to Swype's behaviour-learning technology to the same end.
In the meantime, PRIORI still needs a fair bit of work to get it off the ground. If you want to help out by participating in the study, you can sign up at the University of Michigan clinical studies website.
An experimental new smartphone app called PRIORI could offer an non-intrusive way to manage the condition. Developed by a team at the University of Michigan's Depression Center, the app runs in the background, automatically kicking in to monitor the user's voice patterns, whether it be a normal phone conversation or a scheduled weekly call with their care team.
abyssal plain animals - As it monitors the call, it analyses the sounds and silences of the user. A manic episode, for instance, may be heralded by rapid-fire speech with little silence, where as a depressed episode could be signalled by fewer words and longer silences.
After the individual user's patterns have been learned by the app, it will be able to signal both the user and his or her medical team to alert them of the upcoming mood change.
The team is careful to note that only the patient's side of the conversation is recorded, and then it is encrypted and placed on a secure server so that no one can listen to it -- the researchers only have access to the computer analysis of the recordings.
So far, the app has been tested on six patients with rapid-cycling Type 1 bipolar disorder. The researchers have found that the app is able to detect in everyday conversations the vocal modulations that predict varying levels of bipolar mood changes. The next step is to test the app further, with the eventual hope that it will help not just bipolar individuals, but those living with disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress and even Parkinson's disease.
"These pilot study results give us preliminary proof of the concept that we can detect mood states in regular phone calls by analysing broad features and properties of speech, without violating the privacy of those conversations," said study co-leader Zahi Karam, a postdoctoral fellow and specialist in machine learning and speech analysis. "As we collect more data the model will become better, and our ultimate goal is to be able to anticipate swings, so that it may be possible to intervene early."
The app may not be much use for those who text rather than make calls, but, once the analysis framework is in place, we imagine it would not be too much of a stretch to use software similar to Swype's behaviour-learning technology to the same end.
In the meantime, PRIORI still needs a fair bit of work to get it off the ground. If you want to help out by participating in the study, you can sign up at the University of Michigan clinical studies website.
Pro-Russian separatists defy Putin call to delay referendum in Ukraine
News Info - Pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine have decided to go ahead with a Sunday referendum on greater local powers, they said Thursday, defying a call by Russian President Vladimir Putin to postpone the vote.
Putin had urged the pro-Russia sympathizers to delay the referendum to give dialogue "the conditions it needs to have a chance."
human body fact - Representatives from the council of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic and separatists from Luhansk told reporters they have voted to press ahead to ask eastern Ukrainians there if they want sovereignty from Kiev.
"After the vote that was held today, the unanimous decision was to go ahead with the referendum May 11," Denis Pushilin, the self-declared chairman of the Donetsk People's Republic said, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Pushilin said Putin's comments Wednesday were "surprising" but he respected him.
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow or Kiev.
Sunday's referendum could echo events in March when voters in Crimea approved a controversial ballot to secede from Ukraine and join Russia, which subsequently annexed the Black Sea peninsula. The move escalated the turmoil rocking the country.
"On the local 'referenda,' we strongly emphasize that they should not take place -- neither on 11 May nor at any later date," said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for the European Union's top diplomat, Catherine Ashton. "Such unauthorized local 'referenda' have no democratic legitimacy and can only lead to further escalation."
Separatists have been defiant in the past. An international pact reached among Russia, Ukraine and its Western allies in Geneva, Switzerland, last month that called for the rebels to disarm and vacate buildings seized in the volatile region has not yet materialized.
In what seemed to signal a softening in Moscow's attitude toward Kiev, Putin also said Wednesday that Ukrainian presidential elections scheduled for this month were "a step in the right direction."
However, he also voiced caution.
"But it will not solve anything unless all of Ukraine's people first understand how their rights will be guaranteed once the election has taken place," Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript following his meeting with the chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Putin also said that direct talks between Kiev authorities and representatives of the pro-Russian sympathizers in southeast Ukraine were key to settling the crisis.
Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk dismissed Putin's comments on the referendum as "hot air."
Amid the diplomatic tit-for-tat, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday it had added names to its list of U.S. and Canadian officials barred from entering Russia, in response to sanctions impose by the United States and Canada on Russian officials.
NATO: No sign of Russian troop withdrawal
In a statement on his official website on Thursday, interim President Oleksandr Turchynov said his government was ready for dialogue with those who want to talk -- but not with "armed criminals with blood on their hands."
"Ukrainian authorities have never conducted punitive operations in the east," he said, responding to Russian accusations over Kiev's military campaign to defeat the rebels who have overrun the east.
"The law enforcement agencies protect the lives and health of the citizens in the framework of the anti-terrorist operation performed against terrorists, saboteurs, and other criminals who murder, torture, and kidnap our citizens."
Police in Luhansk confirmed Thursday that Valeriy Salo, a man named by the Kyiv Post as the kidnapped head of a pro-Ukrainian group in the Donetsk region, was found dead in a burned-out car near the Luhansk village of Petrovskiy.
Salo's family told police that on Wednesday evening an unknown armed group arrived at their home and took Salo away. The Kyiv Post said he was captured by representatives of the Donetsk People's Republic.
Rights group Amnesty International last month raised concern over the reported abduction of journalists and local officials by the Donetsk People's Republic and other groups, and urged their immediate release.
Poll: Lack of confidence
A majority of Ukrainians agree their country should remain a unified state, according to a poll released Thursday.
The Pew Research Center poll, conducted in the first half of April, found that 77% of Ukrainians want the country to remain united; 70% in the east feel the same. Things differ in Crimea, where 54% of those surveyed voice support for the right to secede.
The survey also highlighted a lack of confidence in the new government that came to power after pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted following months of protests. Just 41% say the interim authorities are having a good influence on the way things are going.
"Russia is viewed with the greatest suspicion. Three times as many Ukrainians say Russia is having a bad influence on their country as say it is having a good impact (67% vs. 22%)," it said.
Meanwhile, NATO hasn't seen "any signs" that Russia is withdrawing troops from Ukraine's border, said Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the military alliance's secretary-general.
"So far we haven't seen any indications that they are pulling back their troops. Let me assure you that if we get visible evidence that they are actually pulling back their troops, I would be the very first to welcome it," Rasmussen told a news conference in the Polish capital.
White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest also told reporters Wednesday that "there is not evidence to date that there has been a meaningful and transparent withdrawal of Russian forces from the Ukrainian border."
The comments came after Putin announced a troop pullback Wednesday, saying Russian forces are "now not on the Ukrainian border but are carrying out their regular exercises at the test grounds."
Kiev, its neighbors and Western governments have voiced alarm over what NATO estimates are around 40,000 Russian troops massed along the Ukrainian border. Moscow has repeatedly said they are only carrying out exercises.
The state-run ITAR-Tass news agency cited Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov as saying Thursday that Ukraine has deployed a 15,000-strong military force near Russia's borders. He reiterated Putin's comments that Russia had pulled back from the border and said Moscow's defense minister had informed U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel about this in a phone conversation.
Military offensive
Violence has escalated on the ground as tensions rise.
The State Department is now warning U.S. citizens to defer all non-essential travel to Ukraine. It also said Thursday that U.S. citizens should defer all travel to Crimea and eastern regions
Kiev last week launched its biggest military campaign yet to drive out pro-Russian militants who have reportedly taken over some public buildings in towns across southeast Ukraine.
Five pro-Russian activists were killed overnight Wednesday when Ukrainian forces attacked barricades on the outskirts of Mariupol, a spokeswoman for the pro-Russian camp said.
Elsewhere in the volatile Donetsk region, an uneasy standoff continued between the Ukrainian military and separatists.
Both sides clashed Monday at the rebel stronghold of Slovyansk. Ukraine's security services said 30 "heavily armed" militants had been killed in recent days as part of the "anti-terrorist" operation in the area.
Kiev and many experts in the West believe the separatists are backed by Moscow and fear that Putin is fomenting trouble to increase his influence in the region. The Ukrainian authorities have accused Russian special forces of leading the rebellion in the field -- a claim Moscow denies.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia accused Russian troops -- which he says comprise special forces and intelligence -- of infiltrating and destabilizing the east of the country.
"These well-equipped groups resort to guns, oppression and blackmail to intimidate people ... in an effort to channel them to their own purposes, and thus create the false impression that their demands are backed by broad public support," he said.
"Russia's major goal is to destabilize and control the country. We will not let this happen."
Moscow says right-wing, ultranationalist groups are behind the violence in Ukraine and that it has no direct influence over the pro-Russian groups.
The violence in Ukraine has created the worst East-West diplomatic crisis since the end of the Cold War.
However, French President Francois Hollande said Thursday that Putin would be welcome to attend next month's ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, northern France.
"We may have differences with Vladimir Putin at the moment namely over the crisis in Ukraine but I have not forgotten and never will forget that the Russian people gave millions of lives (during World War II)," Hollande told local television in a clip posted on the presidential palace website.
"That is why I told Vladimir Putin that as the representative of the Russian people, he is welcome to these ceremonies."
The government in Kiev is bracing for further unrest in the run-up to Friday's national holiday to commemorate the end of World War II.
In a television address, Yatsenyuk urged Ukrainians not to take part in "mass actions" and not to respond to provocations. Kiev has said it is stepping up security measures ahead of the holiday.
Putin had urged the pro-Russia sympathizers to delay the referendum to give dialogue "the conditions it needs to have a chance."
human body fact - Representatives from the council of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic and separatists from Luhansk told reporters they have voted to press ahead to ask eastern Ukrainians there if they want sovereignty from Kiev.
"After the vote that was held today, the unanimous decision was to go ahead with the referendum May 11," Denis Pushilin, the self-declared chairman of the Donetsk People's Republic said, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Pushilin said Putin's comments Wednesday were "surprising" but he respected him.
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow or Kiev.
Sunday's referendum could echo events in March when voters in Crimea approved a controversial ballot to secede from Ukraine and join Russia, which subsequently annexed the Black Sea peninsula. The move escalated the turmoil rocking the country.
"On the local 'referenda,' we strongly emphasize that they should not take place -- neither on 11 May nor at any later date," said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for the European Union's top diplomat, Catherine Ashton. "Such unauthorized local 'referenda' have no democratic legitimacy and can only lead to further escalation."
Separatists have been defiant in the past. An international pact reached among Russia, Ukraine and its Western allies in Geneva, Switzerland, last month that called for the rebels to disarm and vacate buildings seized in the volatile region has not yet materialized.
In what seemed to signal a softening in Moscow's attitude toward Kiev, Putin also said Wednesday that Ukrainian presidential elections scheduled for this month were "a step in the right direction."
However, he also voiced caution.
"But it will not solve anything unless all of Ukraine's people first understand how their rights will be guaranteed once the election has taken place," Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript following his meeting with the chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Putin also said that direct talks between Kiev authorities and representatives of the pro-Russian sympathizers in southeast Ukraine were key to settling the crisis.
Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk dismissed Putin's comments on the referendum as "hot air."
Amid the diplomatic tit-for-tat, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday it had added names to its list of U.S. and Canadian officials barred from entering Russia, in response to sanctions impose by the United States and Canada on Russian officials.
NATO: No sign of Russian troop withdrawal
In a statement on his official website on Thursday, interim President Oleksandr Turchynov said his government was ready for dialogue with those who want to talk -- but not with "armed criminals with blood on their hands."
"Ukrainian authorities have never conducted punitive operations in the east," he said, responding to Russian accusations over Kiev's military campaign to defeat the rebels who have overrun the east.
"The law enforcement agencies protect the lives and health of the citizens in the framework of the anti-terrorist operation performed against terrorists, saboteurs, and other criminals who murder, torture, and kidnap our citizens."
Police in Luhansk confirmed Thursday that Valeriy Salo, a man named by the Kyiv Post as the kidnapped head of a pro-Ukrainian group in the Donetsk region, was found dead in a burned-out car near the Luhansk village of Petrovskiy.
Salo's family told police that on Wednesday evening an unknown armed group arrived at their home and took Salo away. The Kyiv Post said he was captured by representatives of the Donetsk People's Republic.
Rights group Amnesty International last month raised concern over the reported abduction of journalists and local officials by the Donetsk People's Republic and other groups, and urged their immediate release.
Poll: Lack of confidence
A majority of Ukrainians agree their country should remain a unified state, according to a poll released Thursday.
The Pew Research Center poll, conducted in the first half of April, found that 77% of Ukrainians want the country to remain united; 70% in the east feel the same. Things differ in Crimea, where 54% of those surveyed voice support for the right to secede.
The survey also highlighted a lack of confidence in the new government that came to power after pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted following months of protests. Just 41% say the interim authorities are having a good influence on the way things are going.
"Russia is viewed with the greatest suspicion. Three times as many Ukrainians say Russia is having a bad influence on their country as say it is having a good impact (67% vs. 22%)," it said.
Meanwhile, NATO hasn't seen "any signs" that Russia is withdrawing troops from Ukraine's border, said Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the military alliance's secretary-general.
"So far we haven't seen any indications that they are pulling back their troops. Let me assure you that if we get visible evidence that they are actually pulling back their troops, I would be the very first to welcome it," Rasmussen told a news conference in the Polish capital.
White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest also told reporters Wednesday that "there is not evidence to date that there has been a meaningful and transparent withdrawal of Russian forces from the Ukrainian border."
The comments came after Putin announced a troop pullback Wednesday, saying Russian forces are "now not on the Ukrainian border but are carrying out their regular exercises at the test grounds."
Kiev, its neighbors and Western governments have voiced alarm over what NATO estimates are around 40,000 Russian troops massed along the Ukrainian border. Moscow has repeatedly said they are only carrying out exercises.
The state-run ITAR-Tass news agency cited Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov as saying Thursday that Ukraine has deployed a 15,000-strong military force near Russia's borders. He reiterated Putin's comments that Russia had pulled back from the border and said Moscow's defense minister had informed U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel about this in a phone conversation.
Military offensive
Violence has escalated on the ground as tensions rise.
The State Department is now warning U.S. citizens to defer all non-essential travel to Ukraine. It also said Thursday that U.S. citizens should defer all travel to Crimea and eastern regions
Kiev last week launched its biggest military campaign yet to drive out pro-Russian militants who have reportedly taken over some public buildings in towns across southeast Ukraine.
Five pro-Russian activists were killed overnight Wednesday when Ukrainian forces attacked barricades on the outskirts of Mariupol, a spokeswoman for the pro-Russian camp said.
Elsewhere in the volatile Donetsk region, an uneasy standoff continued between the Ukrainian military and separatists.
Both sides clashed Monday at the rebel stronghold of Slovyansk. Ukraine's security services said 30 "heavily armed" militants had been killed in recent days as part of the "anti-terrorist" operation in the area.
Kiev and many experts in the West believe the separatists are backed by Moscow and fear that Putin is fomenting trouble to increase his influence in the region. The Ukrainian authorities have accused Russian special forces of leading the rebellion in the field -- a claim Moscow denies.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia accused Russian troops -- which he says comprise special forces and intelligence -- of infiltrating and destabilizing the east of the country.
"These well-equipped groups resort to guns, oppression and blackmail to intimidate people ... in an effort to channel them to their own purposes, and thus create the false impression that their demands are backed by broad public support," he said.
"Russia's major goal is to destabilize and control the country. We will not let this happen."
Moscow says right-wing, ultranationalist groups are behind the violence in Ukraine and that it has no direct influence over the pro-Russian groups.
The violence in Ukraine has created the worst East-West diplomatic crisis since the end of the Cold War.
However, French President Francois Hollande said Thursday that Putin would be welcome to attend next month's ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, northern France.
"We may have differences with Vladimir Putin at the moment namely over the crisis in Ukraine but I have not forgotten and never will forget that the Russian people gave millions of lives (during World War II)," Hollande told local television in a clip posted on the presidential palace website.
"That is why I told Vladimir Putin that as the representative of the Russian people, he is welcome to these ceremonies."
The government in Kiev is bracing for further unrest in the run-up to Friday's national holiday to commemorate the end of World War II.
In a television address, Yatsenyuk urged Ukrainians not to take part in "mass actions" and not to respond to provocations. Kiev has said it is stepping up security measures ahead of the holiday.
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