RIOTERS OPEN FIRE IN KIEV DESPITE DEAL
A group of rioters opened fire on security forces near Kiev’s Independence Square this morning as they were headed towards the Parliament, Reuters quotes a police statement as saying. This comes despite news of a deal between the government, the opposition and EU foreign ministers after a night of “very difficult” negotiations, according to the EU officials.
The negotiated deal, still unfinalized, is said to have three main components: early presidential elections would be held in December, a coalition government would be in place within 10 days, and the country would return to its 2004 constitution, which would dilute the presidential powers, Sky News reports.
According to RT journalist Alexey Yaroshevsky, protesters are unwilling to accept the deal, as they want Yanukovych’s resignation. Similarly, a correspondent for UK broadcaster Channel 4 tweeted: “I asked Polish FM if he thought the big problem now is that opposition leaders may not have authority to sell deal to #Maidan. “yes!” ”
BOMB HITS SOMALI PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
The Somali Presidential Palace in Mogadishu was hit by a car bomb this morning, followed by exchange of fire between al-Shabaab gunmen and African peacekeepers, Al Arabiya reports. No information on casualties has yet been released, although a UN envoy confirmed that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was unharmed.
OBAMA TO MEET DALAI LAMA
Barack Obama is due to welcome the Dalai Lama today at the White House, a meeting that has attracted intense criticism from China.
MADURO THREATENS TO EXPEL CNN
In a televised address, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro threatens to expel CNN from the country if it didn’t “rectify its coverage” of the recent anti-government protests, adding that he wouldn’t accept “war propaganda,” opposition newspaper El Universal reports. This comes as Henrique Capriles Radonski, a moderate political opponent who lost the presidential elections in 2012 and 2013, called for new protests tomorrow.
For a different point of view on the Venezuelan crisis, we offer this America Economia/Worldcrunch piece: Venezuela's Protests, Seen From The Far Left. To understand the country’s economic problems, here’s a very thorough analysis by economist Jacques Sapir.
LIBYAN MILITARY PLANE CRASHES
All 11 passengers of a Libyan military aircraft have died in a crash on Tunisian farmland during the night, news agency TAP reports. The plane was carrying six crew members, as well as three patients and two others, a Tunisian Defense Ministry spokesman said.
THE END OF U.S. AUSTERITY FOR 2015?
Next year’s U.S. budget is expected to mark the “end to the era of austerity,” with Barack Obama looking for tens of billions to spend on domestic policy priorities, such as job training and early education, and defense, The Washington Post reports.
BY THE NUMBERS
In Tokyo, 250 copies of Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl have been vandalized in public libraries, sparking alarm amid a rightward shift in Japanese politics.
EYE OF THE PRINTER
After Star Wars’ “Imperial March” with floppy disks, here’s another video of unusual objects playing our favorite tunes: Survivor’s “Eye Of The Tiger” on a dot matrix printer. (Warning: can cause headaches!)
MY GRAND-PÈRE’S WORLD
