Russia Wants World War Three, Says Ukraine

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has accused Russia of wanting to start "a third world war".

Mr Yatseniuk said that Russia wanted to occupy Ukraine "militarily and politically", creating a conflict that would spread to the rest of Europe.

A pro-Russian separatist fills sand bags at a checkpoint in Slavyansk

"The world has not yet forgotten World War Two, but Russia already wants to start World War Three," he said.

His comments came as Barack Obama said he would consult key European leaders later on the possibility of imposing new sanctions against Russia.

On the ground, Ukrainian special forces launched a second phase of their "anti-terrorism" operation, blockading the rebel-held city of Slavyansk, officials said.

Reports that pro-Russian snipers had shot at a Ukranian military helicopter in the eastern town of Kramatorsk have been treated cautiously. 

Barack Obama will consult European leaders about new sanctions

According to officials in Kiev, the helicopter exploded at a military base after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Its pilot managed to escape but was wounded, the official said. Kramatorsk is one of several under the control of pro-Kremlin gunmen.

Sky's foreign affairs editor, Sam Kiley, in Ukraine, said that the "bellicose" rhetoric between Russia and Ukraine was escalating more quickly than action on the ground.

"On the ground, there are incidents, but the level of violence has been relatively low and does not justify the type of rhetoric we have heard," Kiley said. 

Journalist Simon Ostrovsky has spoken of his capture

Meanwhile, US journalist Simon Ostrovsky, who was captured and released by pro-Russian militants, says he believes he was used as a "bargaining chip" with Kiev.

Writing for Vice magazine, he said: "On Monday night I was pulled out of a car at a checkpoint, then blindfolded, beaten, and tied up with tape.

"After spending hours alone on the floor of a damp cell with my hands tied behind my back and a hat pulled over my eyes, I was led into a room where I was accused of working for the CIA, FBI, and Right Sector, the Ukrainian ultra-nationalist group."

Earlier, US Secretary of State John Kerry accused Russia of "deception" and "destabilisation" in Ukraine and hinted at more sanctions.

John Kerry has warned Russia of 'grave' consequences

Mr Kerry warned Moscow time was running out for it to change course.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia face a choice," he said in unusually blunt language.

"If Russia chooses the path of de-escalation ... all of us will welcome it. But if Russia does not, the world will make sure that the costs for Russia will only grow."

Mr Kerry added this would be a "grave" and "expensive mistake".

He also said the Kremlin has not honoured an agreement aimed at defusing the crisis, echoing earlier comments by Mr Obama.

A checkpoint apparently set on fire by pro-Russian separatists

The Geneva accord between Russia, Ukraine, the US and EU compelled armed groups to put down their weapons and vacate official buildings.

The US says Moscow is stoking unrest and separatist sentiment in the east of Ukraine after its annexation of Crimea.

Russia accuses Washington of encouraging a pro-Western government to adopt anti-Russian policies.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has warned the crisis is threatening to "spin out of control" and urged all sides to "refrain from violence".

A pro-Russian actvist has his head bandaged

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Ukraine No Longer A Game For Would-Be Soldiers

Their rifles were cocked. The safety catches off. Triggers were fingered. The car lurched to a stop.

Shrill nervous orders were barked in Russian. Men in an assortment of camouflage uniforms lay spread eagled on the roadside glaring down their sights.

A quick search followed. Then a man with a new AK74, probably nicked from the local police station, squinted, his face covered with a balaclava, perhaps attempting a faceless smile.

"Sorry for any inconvenience," he said and waved the car through.

The mixed messages of their behaviour, both aggression and politeness, both bravado and fear, point to a wider conundrum - do they really understand what they're getting in to?

One of their comrades had been shot dead that morning about a mile away on the road out of Slavyansk by an Ukrainian army patrol - probably probing the outer defences of these pro-Russian separatist militants.

Four more, the government said, had been killed in other clashes around the town.

They stand accused of kidnapping the city's elected mayor.

They have taken over city hall and are sandbagging it against an attack and yet they often appear to be no more than young or old boys playing at soldiers.

Occasionally one comes across a trained soldier. Fit and quiet they slink in the background of the occupied buildings.

They may be Russian agents, or former Ukrainian police from the disbanded Berkut who were responsible for sniper attacks on revolutionaries in Kiev.

But the ordinary militants, who are led by local politicians and allegedly funded either by Moscow or allied oligarchs, are clearly being used.

They are the teaspoons the Kremlin is using to keep the east of Ukraine swirling with dark rumours of anti-Russian ethnic cleansing.

Allegations of persecution of pro-Russian groups are entirely false.

But while the militants swagger about the streets, take over government buildings and harass their political opponents, they face a crack down from Kiev.

The nervous men at the road block feared an Ukrainian government attack on the bases in Slavyansk.

They were also facing the reality that what may have felt like a nationalistic camping trip with the added spice of gun play, may no longer be a game.

They may fold under a professional attack by Ukrainian troops.

But if they do not, there will be blood.

And if it flows from Putin's local pawns then so may Russian troops pour in from the east.

He may win, but they will not be around to see his victory.

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Four Paris Policemen Accused Of Raping Tourist

Four French police officers have been arrested after a Canadian woman claimed she was raped at the Paris police headquarters.

The alleged attack took place overnight Tuesday-Wednesday after the woman reportedly met the off-duty officers at an Irish pub in the city.

French media say the woman, 34, agreed to go with the men to their headquarters, which is widely known by its address - 36, Quai des Orfevres.

The woman, who was reportedly in the city during a two-week holiday, registered a criminal complaint several hours after the alleged attack.

The officers, who worked for a gang crime unit, can be held for up to 48 hours before they must be brought before a judge or released.

France's police inspectorate is also looking into the claims, in parallel with the criminal probe.

Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve has vowed to take "all the necessary measures" if there is substance to the claims.

"I want the justice system and the police inspectorate to complete their investigations so that the truth can be established," Mr Cazeneuve said in a speech to police in Marseille.

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Missing Malaysia Flight MH370 Search To Widen

The seabed search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet that vanished on March 8 is due to widen as a sonar scan of the most likely crash site nears its end.

A robotic submarine has scanned 95% of a 120-square-mile (310-square-kilometres) area since last week but has found nothing that might give a clue about what happened to the plane, organisers of the search in Australia said.

Up to eight military aircraft and 10 ships took part in the search for missing flight MH370 on Frida which had 239 people onboard when it disappeared.

The planned search area Pic: Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA)

The US Navy's Bluefin 21 sub is creating a three-dimensional sonar map of the ocean floor near where signals consistent with aircraft black boxes were heard earlier this month.

The search area is a circle with a six-mile radius, 2.8 miles deep off the west Australian coast in the Indian Ocean, and is scheduled to be completed within days.

"If no contacts of interest are made, Bluefin 21 will continue to examine the areas adjacent to the 10-kilometre radius," the Perth-based co-ordination centre said in a statement.

"We are currently consulting very closely with our international partners on the best way to continue the search into the future," it added, referring to Malaysia, the US and China.

A robotic submarine has been scanning the seabed Pic: AMSA

A senior defence official, who did not want to be named, told Reuters the search could last "years".

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has said his government will release a preliminary report on the plane's disappearance next week.

The report has already been sent to the UN's International Civil Aviation Organisation, but has yet to be made available to the public, according to CNN.

No wreckage has been found from the jet so far Pic: AMSA

The Malaysian government, which has primary responsibility for the investigation, has been accused of mismanaging the search, concealing information about the tragedy and of being too slow to update families of the missing on developments.

Meanwhile in Beijing, about 50 relatives of Chinese passengers who were on the flight have continued a sit-in protest outside the Malaysian embassy after officials failed to show up to update them on the search.

"We keep on waiting because we want the news," said Steve Wang, whose parents were on the flight and who has served as a representative for the relatives.

"What we are concerned about is where is the plane, and where are our loved ones," he added.

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Gazprom Turns Up Heat On Kiev With $11bn Bill

Russia Has Best Hand In Ukraine Poker Game

Updated: 6:58pm UK, Tuesday 22 April 2014

By By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor in Donetsk

If the Ukrainian crisis was a poker game, Russia holds a royal flush, the Kiev government and her allies not much more than a pair. And that's for every hand played, for now.

Since the annexation of Crimea it has been Vladimir Putin's choice as to whether to fold or call or raise and with every round his pot appears to be getting richer.

In the long term, though, Russia knows it could lose heavily.

The question is: When will the Kremlin decide to cash in its winnings and celebrate a return as a world power with a hearty round of chilled vodka at the bar?

US Vice President Joe Biden, on a visit to Kiev, said "time is short" for Russia to make progress on its commitment at Geneva last week to help defuse the crisis in Ukraine by signalling to its proxy militia (and the Russian commandos alongside them) to evacuate the buildings they have seized across the east of the country.

That isn't the view from Moscow - or from the sandbagged municipal centres, where the men in balaclavas, known locally as "the green men", are reinforcing their defences, not tearing them down.

Sure, Russia faces an increase in sanctions from Europe which may bite into an economy already suffering capital flight, inflation and reduced growth.

But Mr Putin knows that more sanctions are going to cut into Europe too - possibly slowing growth and the recovery from recession that in any case is looking fragile.

Individual countries in the 28-member European Union have been conducting analyses of how damaging broad sanctions against Russia would be.

The City of London will be anxious indeed - it runs on the fuel of  "few questions asked" capital injections from oligarchs who have gouged the countries of the former Soviet Union.

"Stop talking and start acting" said the US vice president.

In Donetsk the "meh" from the Kremlin was almost audible.

"No nation should threaten its neighbours by amassing troops along the border. We call on Russia to pull these forces," he said after meeting Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk.

"We have been clear that more provocative behaviour by Russia will lead to more costs and to greater isolation."

In Moscow, once senior officials had figured out who this "Mr Biden" was - a man without portfolio - minds have already been focussed on how to face down the European sanctions which have been threatened now for weeks.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Prime Minister who channels Mr Putin as his avatar, said Russia was already looking for diversified markets for its gas, namely China, and that sanctions threats were a "bluff".

Mr Putin's popularity is soaring up to and over 90% since he grabbed Crimea amid red-faced blustering from the international community.

His generals have harnessed some of the finest chess minds in a game that has left his opponents gasping. The government now enjoys untrammelled authoritarian power.

In Russia the opposition press was silenced before the Crimean operations.

Now the media there and in the east of Ukraine pumps out lies about neo-Nazis running the Ukrainian government in league with the CIA - convincing enough people that backing the pro-Russian separatists, who now only admit to being "federalists", is an existential necessity.

Mr Yatseniuk said Russian special forces are operating in eastern Ukraine to undermine a presidential election due on May 25 and he called on Moscow to pull them out.

"Everything that is now happening in the east and which Russia is supporting is aimed at wrecking the presidential election," Mr Yatseniuk said.

And that is the Kremlin's ace.

In a month's time Ukraine will not be able to hold legitimate elections in the east of the country because the separatists and their Russian sponsors will not let them.

Instead they are threatening to hold referenda in the middle of May - just as in Crimea - which one can confidently predict will result in a huge pro-Russian majority for independence or annexation into the Russian Motherland.

By the end of the month the Kremlin will be able to step up the chaos and divisions - probably even revving the engines of tanks and mobile artillery on the borders to signal that it may rush to the "aid" of "persecuted" ethnic Russians in Ukrainian territory.

This is the point at which it will be in Russia's interests to cash in on the game it has been playing by forcing its own agenda on Kiev, and getting the West to turn its face away from Ukraine's flirtation with formal association with Nato and the EU.

The alternative will be a return to cold war and economic embargo. Ordinary Russian's won't like that – they have got used to Armani.

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Giant Antarctica Iceberg Puts Nasa On Alert

An iceberg bigger than Chicago is being monitored by Nasa after breaking into the ocean off Antarctica.

The sheet, known as B31, is one of the biggest on the planet at 255 square miles (660 sq km).

NASA has been monitoring Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier since a crack was spotted in 2011, amid fears any iceberg could contribute to rising sea levels.

B31, which is about a third of a mile (500m) thick, is not currently on any major shipping routes.

However, with winter approaching in the area, it could become difficult to track.

"The iceberg is now well out of Pine Island Bay and will soon join the more general flow in the Southern Ocean," Grant Bigg, from the University of Sheffield, said in the NASA statement.

The iceberg before breaking into the ocean

"We are doing some research on local ocean currents to try to explain the motion properly. It has been surprising how there have been periods of almost no motion, interspersed with rapid flow."

An iceberg this big could take a year or more to melt, Robert Marsh, a scientist at the University of Southampton, said in an interview last year.

The largest iceberg ever recorded was called B15 and had an area of 4,250 square miles (11,000 square kilometres) - about the size of Jamaica.

It broke off Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000 and still exists in several parts around the Antarctic.

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UK School Confirms US Paedophile Abused Pupils

A prolific paedophile who taught at a London school was a "very popular" teacher who never showed any hint of wrongdoing, the school's chair of governors has told Sky News.

Sir Chris Woodhead confirmed pupils were abused by William James Vahey, who killed himself last month.

British detectives are helping an international investigation into Vahey, an American who abused at least 90 known victims around the world.

The 64-year-old killed himself in a Minnesota motel room on March 21 - two days after FBI agents filed for a warrant to search a computer thumb drive containing child abuse images featuring at least 90 children aged from 12-14.

Sir Chris told Sky News he discovered children at the Southbank International School had been targeted after receiving information from the Met Police, who in turn were informed by the FBI.

He said: "When we appointed him we had a criminal records bureau investigation done, as is standard procedure.

Vahey taught at Southbank International School. Pic: Joe Tidy

"We had another CRB check three years later; we requested interviews from his previous schools covering 17 years of his previous professional employment. The references were immaculate."

Vahey worked at the school from 2009-2013, teaching history and geography to pupils aged 11-16.

Specific safeguarding children checks showed "nothing untoward" and there were never any complaints against him, added Sir Chris.

Some parents had even written to the school to say they were sad when he decided to leave.

"He was a very popular member of staff with both parents and students - which is perhaps an index of his sophistication and cleverness as a deceitful man who abused children," said Sir Chris, a former chief inspector of schools.

Police broke the news to staff at the £25,000 a year school this morning and a letter is being to parents this afternoon.

The victims on Vahey's computer drive appeared drugged and unconscious in the images dating back to 2008.

However, FBI agents believe he may have abused children on an unprecedented scale during his 40-year teaching career in at least 10 countries.

The thumb drive was handed to the US Embassy by one of Vahey's co-workers at the American Nicaraguan School in Managua after it was discovered by one of his domestic staff, who first raised the alarm.

In a statement on its website the FBI said: "When confronted about the images by a school administrator, Vahey confessed that he was molested as a child and had preyed on boys his entire life, giving them sleeping pills prior to the molestation."

The FBI is appealing for public help to identify potential victims, who appear to have been abused during overnight field trips led by the US citizen.

Parents have been showing "considerable concern" after receiving confirmation that Vahey took part in several field trips while working at the London school.

One couple said Vahey was their 13-year-old son's teacher last year - they found out about his crimes last night.

The mother said: "I couldn't sleep for worrying about it and I had to sit my son down and ask him if anything had ever happened in school.

"Mr Vahey also took my son on a field trip abroad and this is a big concern for us.

"My son is fine though and I would have expected his behaviour to change if anything happened so I don't think anything did.

"I know there are pictures that police have of boys but if my son is on the list, I don't want to know and I don't want him to know."

Another parent told Sky News: "It's massively worrying."

Families at the school are to be offered psychological counselling.

The FBI said Vahey was jailed for child molestation in California in 1969, but the conviction does not appear to have shown up when checked by schools.

FBI special agent Patrick Fransen said some of the alleged victims may not know they were abused.

He said: "He created a system that gave him the opportunity and the means to molest children.

"The manner in which he committed these acts - while the boys were unconscious - may have inhibited them from knowing what happened, making it impossible for them to come forward at the time."

He added: "I've never seen another case where an individual may have molested this many children over such a long period of time."

A Met Police spokesman said: "Officers from the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Investigation Team are assessing and evaluating intelligence passed to the MPS by US authorities, and actively seeking any evidence whilst working with partner agencies to ensure that potential victims are supported."

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Putin: Ukraine 'Crime' Will Have Consequences

Vladimir Putin has warned there will be "consequences" if Ukraine has used its army against pro-Russian activists.

Ukraine's interior ministry said "up to five terrorists" have been killed in clashes during an operation to clear three checkpoints in the eastern town of Slavyansk.

In response Russian troops have begun military exercises near the border with Ukraine.

"If Kiev really began to use the army against the country's population... that is a very serious crime against its own people," said Mr Putin, the Russian President.

"That is simply a punitive measure that will without question have consequences... including for our inter-governmental relations."

Vladimir Putin has warned of consequences

There were reports of at least 10 Ukrainian armoured vehicles just north of Slavyansk, while two helicopters were seen circling the area.

There remains a heavy rebel presence in the city.

One activist, Stella Khorosheva, told The Associated Press: "We will defend ourselves to our last drop of blood. We are ready to repeat Stalingrad."

Reuters is reporting Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the city, which is 160 kilometres (100 miles) west of Russia.

Ukraine has re-launched a campaign against pro-Russia insurgents occupying government buildings.

Ukrainian troops enter Slavyansk

The military liberated a town hall in eastern Mariupol without any casualties, according to interior minister Arsen Avakov on Facebook.

He also claimed 70 people led by Russian soldiers raided a Ukrainian base at Artemivsk, wounding one soldier.

With tensions rising, all sides have ramped up their rhetoric.

Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, accused the West of instigating a "revolution" in Ukraine, culminating in the ousting of pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych, as part of a "geopolitical game" against Moscow.

Sergei Lavrov says the West is behind the Ukraine crisis

"Our Western partners, first and foremost the United States, tried to behave as winners in the Cold War and pretend one can ignore Russia in European affairs," the Interfax news agency quoted Mr Lavrov as saying.

US President Barack Obama accused the Kremlin of not honouring an agreement aimed at defusing the Ukraine crisis.

The Geneva accord between Russia, Ukraine, the US and EU compelled armed groups to surrender weapons and leave official buildings.

Mr Obama said further sanctions were "teed up".

"We continue to see malicious, armed men taking over buildings, harassing folks who are disagreeing with them, destabilising the region, and we haven't seen Russia step out and discourage it," said Mr Obama.

Barack Obama issued a warning to Russia during a trip to Japan

The West has already issued asset freezes and visa bans targeting Russian officials but has ruled out military action.

Mr Putin admitted sanctions were hurting Russia - but claimed the West would also suffer.

"Overall they are causing (damage), because ratings are being reviewed, loans could become more expensive and so forth. But this is of no critical character," he said.

"They are harmful for everyone, they destroy the global economy and are dishonourable on the part of those who use those types of tools."

To add to the tensions, Russia's Gazprom has sent an $11.4bn (£6.7bn) gas bill to Ukraine energy firm Naftogaz - five times the original amount.

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Battle For Control Of Net Kicks Off In Brazil

The battle for control of the internet enters a new phase today when 850 experts thrash out its future in Brazil.

Last month, the US announced it plans to give up oversight of the way net addresses are distributed.

Now hundreds of government officials, technical experts and academics are meeting at the NetMundial conference in Sao Paulo to discuss who should oversee the worldwide web in future.

China and Russia want the United Nations to have some say over how the internet is controlled, while the US and parts of Europe say it should be at arm's length from government control.

A draft outcome document has been drawn up for discussion, but the final text will not be binding.

The US currently oversees the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), but is willing to relinquish control by September 2015.

Officials from countries including China, the US and Great Britain will attend the two-day conference, which was due to be opened by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Organisers say every attendee - from academics to government officials - will have an equal voice.

The goal is to agree on principles that could form the basis of later internet governance discussions.

It is expected that despite the non-binding nature of the discussions, an accord will be hard to reach.

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Missing Plane: Material Washes Ashore In Oz

Officials searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane say material has washed ashore off the coast of Western Australia.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is now examining photographs of the objects, which have been secured by police in the region, to establish whether they are linked to flight MH370.

Authorities said the images had also been passed to investigators in Malaysia.

Relatives are urging governments not to give up the search

The development came after Australia pledged to keep searching for the plane despite no sign of wreckage after almost seven weeks.

Bad weather is continuing to hamper the search with aircraft grounded for the second day due to heavy rain, low clouds and rough seas.

An undersea drone is nearing the end of its first full mission and Australian PM Tony Abbott says the search strategy may change if seabed scans taken by the US Navy drone fails to find a trace of MH370, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board.

The deep search covers an area where sonar equipment picked up a signal

"We may well re-think the search but we will not rest until we have done everything we can to solve this mystery," he said.

"The only way we can get to the bottom of this is to keep searching the probable impact zone until we find something or until we have searched it as thoroughly as human ingenuity allows at this time."

The Bluefin-21 drone is a key component in the search after the detection of audio signals, or "pings", believed to be from the plane's black box flight .

Relatives are asking Mr Hussein to investigate old media reports

The search co-ordination centre said the robotic submarine had so far covered more than 80% of the 120 square mile (310 square kilometres) seabed search zone off the Australian west coast, creating a three-dimensional sonar map of the ocean floor, but failing to find anything of interest.

The 2.8 mile (4.5-kilometre) deep search area is a circle 12 miles (20 km) wide around an area where sonar equipment picked up a signal on April 8 consistent with a plane's black boxes. The batteries powering those signals are now dead.

Both Australia and Malaysia are under growing pressure to show what lengths they are prepared to go to in order to give closure to the grieving families of those on board.

In a sign of the families' growing desperation for answers, a group purporting to be relatives of the missing flight's passengers wrote a letter to Malaysian defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein, urging the government to investigate old media reports that the plane landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

"It is high time that the government should start thinking out of the box by exploring and re-examining all leads, new and old," said the letter, published on Facebook on Wednesday.

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