FORMATION OF UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT DELAYED
Ukraine’s interim President Oleksandr Turchynov has delayed the formation of a unity government, initially planned for today, until Thursday, Itar-Tass reports. The Parliament also voted to give Turchynov the power to sign laws until the early presidential election, planned for May 25.
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Speaking about the election date, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that it was a “deviation from the agreements” reached between Yanukovych and the opposition. The constitutional reform, planned for September, was supposed be held before the election, he said. Lavrov also expressed concern over a possible ban of Russian media in Ukraine, Itar-Tass reports. The Russian FM also said Moscow would not interfere in Ukrainian affairs and that they expected the West to do the same.
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According to the BBC, Turchynov described separatism in Ukraine as a “serious threat,” as Ukraine’s pro-Russian east denounces what it sees as a coup against Yanukovych. Meanwhile, in Western Ukraine, supporters of the Maidan movement are toppling statues linked to Russian history, including those of Lenin and of Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov. Read more from RT.
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Ousted President Yanukovych is still missing but documents that he allegedly tried to destroy show evidence of corruption, France24 reports.
ISLAMISTS KILL DOZENS OF NIGERIAN SCHOOL PUPILS
Islamist fighters from Boko Haram killed at least 29 students when they stormed a boarding school and set it on fire during the night in northeast Nigeria, Reuters quotes the police and military as saying. The armed group killed over 200 people in other attacks last week.
ISRAELI POLICE CLASH WITH PROTESTERS AT JERUSALEM MOSQUE
The Israeli police used rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse Palestinian protesters in the al-Aqsa mosque complex in East Jerusalem, also known as Temple Mount, Ma’an news agency reports. The protests come ahead of a debate later today in the Knesset over the possible annexation of the compound, which is located in Palestinian territories. But according to AFP, no vote is expected to follow the debate, and PM Benjamin Netanyahu is himself opposed to the draft bill. The site is both the holiest in Judaism, as it is thought to be the former location of the First and Second Temple, and the third holiest in Islam.
TURKISH PM DENOUNCES INCRIMINATING RECORDING
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office dismissed as “an immoral product of montage and completely false” a leaked tape on which the PM is allegedly heard telling his son to dispose of money ahead of a police raid,Hurriyet reports. The tape, which got over 1.2 million hits in 12 hours after it was published, is the latest in a series of leaked recordings incriminating Erdogan.
For more on the ongoing corruption scandal in Turkey, we offer this Hurriyet/Worldcrunch piece: Turkey’s Corruption Probe, And One Question For Erdogan
PAKISTAN AIR STRIKES TARGET TALIBAN
The Pakistani military killed at least 30 suspected Taliban fighters in air strikes in the country’s northwestern region, the BBC reports. The government had halted peace talks with the Taliban last week after the armed group attacked the military, killing 23 soldiers.
FOTO
NASA has released a photo showing two very different Koreas from space.
NORTH KOREA SHIP VIOLATES BORDER WITH S. KOREA
A patrol ship from North Korea violated the sea border with the South several times on Monday night but retreated after warnings, Yonhap quotes Seoul’s Defense Ministry as saying. According to the ministry’s spokesman, the move was interpreted as part of a “military drill” or a test of South Korea’s defenses. This comes amid recent warming relations between the two countries and as South Korea started its joint annual military drill with the U.S.
VERBATIM
As if signing a drastic anti-gay bill weren’t enough, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has called homosexuals “disgusting.”
BY THE NUMBERS
China’s version of Twitter, the Weibo microblogging service, plans to raise around $500 million in an initial public offeringin New York.
MY GRAND-PÈRE’S WORLD
