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US dismisses charges against Indian diplomat

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New York (AFP) - A US judge has thrown out charges against an Indian diplomat whose New York arrest and strip-search sparked a bitter diplomatic row with Delhi.</div>
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Devyani Khobragade was arrested on December 12 outside her children's New York school, accused of defrauding her Indian housekeeper's visa application.</div>
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An outraged India claimed full diplomatic immunity on her behalf after Khobragade said she was subjected to a cavity search while in custody.</div>
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Employed at the Indian consulate in New York, she acquired in January the full diplomatic immunity granted to diplomats at the Indian mission to the UN.</div>
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It was on grounds of immunity that she petitioned a US court on January 9 to drop the case.</div>
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US District Judge Shira Scheindlin dismissed the indictment Wednesday on grounds that Khobragade was granted full diplomatic immunity on January 8.</div>
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"Even if Khobragade had no immunity at the time of her arrest and has none now, her acquisition of immunity during the pendency of proceedings mandates dismissal," Scheindlin wrote.</div>
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"Khobragade's conditions of bail are terminated, and her bond is exonerated... It is ordered that any open arrest warrants based on this indictment must be vacated."</div>
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Khobragade in January returned to India in January, leaving behind her two daughters and husband, a US citizen.</div>
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Khobragade told an Indian newspaper of her anguish at being separated from her seven- and four-year-old girls and their father, an academic.</div>
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US prosecutors, disputing her immunity, accused Khobragade of sometimes forcing her Indian maid to work 100-hour weeks, even when sick and often without a day off, for pay as little as $1.22 an hour.</div>
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The diplomatic row between the two countries, which had embraced each other as strategic partners, strained ties and fanned resentment on both sides.</div>
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<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC4pr57Un-kaHWWGm9jfGZrdZH2iKzez5pcPyRrEs33A_18SH8qFkMZtUap2n2-NPm5p5DSM7m6jHHE3Ywx0dicArRtUoL1IffjiZ40Or1Uw4BIlilizCwDY03sX42MXWzqZE3C6dCsoyq/s1600/531e28530924as5uIfaVVcO.png" width="400" /> </div>
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source:Yahoo news</div>
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US dismisses charges against Indian diplomat

New York (AFP) - A US judge has thrown out charges against an Indian diplomat whose New York arrest and strip-search sparked a bitter...

21:39

Flying cars???????

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTccvaazyB5hM3DN_geU259H_TYHmI13iOpY6j-RuzYVgwlR5rHZABzjY5vToIAI_yX6pLJF0FK9-Up_ryEAfsQEWdhCOOOjclkVhUn3Bf74Ugt_5Ytv2wEoIXdxneMzYclj0tZbrzyWuH/s1600/p019ft0w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTccvaazyB5hM3DN_geU259H_TYHmI13iOpY6j-RuzYVgwlR5rHZABzjY5vToIAI_yX6pLJF0FK9-Up_ryEAfsQEWdhCOOOjclkVhUn3Bf74Ugt_5Ytv2wEoIXdxneMzYclj0tZbrzyWuH/s1600/p019ft0w.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">An ambitious firm
has revealed their plans for a new type of personal air transport vehicle that
takes off and lands like a helicopter. Will the idea fly? </span></div>
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<aside class="related-articles small-icon">

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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I
received an email this week from a researcher based in Los Angeles, who I
wanted to interview. “I hope to be back before 4pm,” it read. “Of course, if I
had a flying car I could better negotiate the LA traffic congestion and be back
earlier.”</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">An
unusually imaginative response, you might think. In fact it was pretty apt as I
wanted to ask him about the future of personal transportation, and the sender
was Professor Mario Gerla, who studies traffic congestion, pollution and
intelligent transport at the University of California, Los Angeles.</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Many
of us have wished for a personal flying machine to lift us out of infuriating
traffic jams and deposit us on our driveways. With recent advances in
materials, power sources, and automation, those dreams may become reality more
quickly than many of us realise, as I’ve <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120813-flying-cars-ready-for-take-off">discussed
before</a>. Earlier this month, US aerospace start-up Terrafugia unveiled the
TF-X, a concept design for a radical new type of personal air transport
vehicle. So I talked to Carl Dietrich, co-founder of the company, to find out
how it might work.</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“We
think this is the right time to start seriously looking at the challenges
associated with creating what people call a flying car," he says.
"The vision is to try to create the future of personal transportation that
people have dreamed about for years." Dietrich believes all the required
technology already exists, and that initial discussions with the US Federal
Aviation Administration suggest existing regulatory obstacles can be overcome.</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Terrafugia
is just one of a number of companies proposing personal aviation and it has
been taking orders for an earlier design – the Transition, a road-legal
aeroplane with foldable wings – for several years. The TF-X design is more
futuristic, but is more likely to provide what most of us dream of when we
think of flying cars.</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One
of its main selling points is the ability to <a href="http://www.terrafugia.com/tfx-vision">take off and land vertically</a>
like a helicopter. In car mode, the plug-in hybrid can rely on its electric
motors and battery packs. For lift-off it needs extra power from its
hydrocarbon combustion engine. Folded winglets are extended. Two huge motor
pods on either side of the vehicle are pointed vertically up, and the
propellers provide lift. Each pod has 16 independent electric motors, with its
own controller and battery pack, meaning a failure is not catastrophic.</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">When
it attains the required altitude the pods start to point forward. A ducted fan
at the rear provides thrust and the wings start to operate as a conventional
aerodynamic surface to provide lift as it accelerates. At full speed the
propellers on the ends of the pods fold back and the vehicle enters “cruise”
mode. The TF-X has a maximum speed of 200 miles per hour and a proposed range
of 500 miles.</span><br />

<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Off-road visions</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“With
electric propulsion we can go to much higher levels of what we call parallel
system architecture, so a given failure of a battery, or a motor controller, or
even a motor itself, would not necessarily result in total loss of propulsive
capability,” says Dietrich. “One of the big advantages of going to
electric-powered aircraft is that there is the opportunity to change the system
architecture away from what’s been typical in aviation to date where you have
one, two, or four engines tops,” he adds.</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“It’s
definitely an interesting proposition,” says Dr Frank Nieuwenhuizen, Aerospace
Engineer at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, and one of the
people behind the <a href="http://mycopter.eu/">EU MyCopter</a> project that
looks at how the air transport industry might change over the next century.
“The vision takes parts of what we think is important for a personal air
transportation system, like the vertical takeoff and landing feature for
example.”</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">However
Nieuwenhuizen cautions that futuristic visions are not enough to get flying
cars off the drawing board. “It’s not just the vehicle, it’s the complete
system that has to be set up for something like this to be useful. Acceptance
is a big part of it, and that’s where a lot of work still needs to be done in
terms of what will actually happen when something like this becomes available.
Would people want such a flying vehicle above their homes all the time?”</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Mario
Gerla likes the idea but warns the concept has significant hurdles to overcome.
"We always think how nice it would be if we're stuck in a traffic jam, to
all of a sudden, just take off from the road pavement and go where you
want," he says. "I can understand the idea of flying from airport to
airport, folding the wings and becoming a car. In the air, you're just one more
plane. But if you take off from your parking lot and fly a few blocks away, it
is more like a helicopter. It becomes much more flexible, and interesting, but
maybe dangerous."</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Terrafugia
originally hoped to be shipping its less radical Transition in 2009, but now
says the first customers will take delivery sometime in 2015 or 2016. As for
the TF-X, Dietrich acknowledges the concept is a long way from becoming
airborne, but he says discussing the idea early is a way to shorten the time it
will take to make it a reality, which he currently estimates as between eight
and 12 years.</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“We’re
a small company," he says. "We do have expertise in developing
flying/driving vehicles now, but we haven’t developed an electric powered
aircraft before. That’s a reason to take the concept public – to find potential
development partners.”</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Reservations
are being taken for the TF-X, although its price tag has not yet been revealed.
It's a fair bet that it'll cost more than the quoted $279,000 that the
Transition will set customers back by.</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But
even those of us unlikely to be able to afford the first personal flying cars
when they become available will benefit thanks to our early-adopting
neighbours, says Gerla, who as a result may be able to get home from his office
at UCLA more quickly.</span><br />

<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“If
you could levitate just some of these cars, fly them through the air and
deposit them somewhere else, you could remove some of the major road
congestion,” he says. “Just removing 10% or 15% of the cars would help it all
flow again.”</span><br />

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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Posted By :: Muhammad Usman</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Source::BBC</span></div>
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Flying cars???????

An ambitious firm has revealed their plans for a new type of personal air transport vehicle that takes off and lands like a...

07:24

Ukraine crisis: Diplomacy gathers pace ahead of talks

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZlZDls9SOxo8NbBUh06Wx2yULauyuemfJKIWSR76tJPibS-k3g-WahNP-wV2poyApgq5OiCE8KCPZbo4Di6dL_ifcCxT0OvXwahvh4W3EvTw0LgH5UwcFfLNZgXUVh8Rq0H-dbpfmEkD-/s1600/_73384013_73384012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZlZDls9SOxo8NbBUh06Wx2yULauyuemfJKIWSR76tJPibS-k3g-WahNP-wV2poyApgq5OiCE8KCPZbo4Di6dL_ifcCxT0OvXwahvh4W3EvTw0LgH5UwcFfLNZgXUVh8Rq0H-dbpfmEkD-/s1600/_73384013_73384012.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">US Secretary of State John Kerry has begun talks with Russian
counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Paris to try to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The US wants independent observers in the flashpoint region of
Crimea and direct talks between Kiev and Moscow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Russia is likely to call for greater representation for Ukraine's
Russian-speaking areas in the Kiev government.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The EU earlier offered 11bn euros ($15bn; £9bn) in aid to Ukraine
and froze the assets of 18 Ukrainians.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the package
of loans and grants over the next couple of years was "designed to assist
a committed, inclusive and reforms-oriented government" in Kiev.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Ukraine's finance ministry has predicted it needs $35bn to rescue
its economy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In other developments in Ukraine: </span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The
     national flag is once again flying over the administrative headquarters in
     Donetsk, replacing the Russian flag hoisted there five days ago. The
     building was evacuated after an apparent bomb threat</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In
     Crimea, pro-Russian demonstrators have turned away families bringing food
     and supplies to Ukrainian troops refusing to surrender their bases</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Russian
     forces have seized two Ukrainian missile-defence sites in Crimea,
     according to unconfirmed reports</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Nato and Russia are also due to hold parallel talks in Brussels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Paris gathering is being seen above all as a chance to test the
waters for a dialogue about Ukraine, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent
Bridget Kendall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">But UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Russians had already
failed to appear at one meeting with the Ukrainians in Paris so he was
"not optimistic" of making progress later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">"If we cannot make progress on that course there will be costs
and consequences," he said, in reference to a threat of sanctions by the
US and EU.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMBU8Q0cPmiVHhFAQVB04HsfHVcYiVSDqHoIds8Zwj-2B_j7bZtkIe-9Rk3Hh5-Sj6FFKHE0VHtg8V-ksNemVVqnLPkGPL2yKJXPIvjtGeRn-qLU6uhsfTNqvsej62lA3scOQA17W6n1hK/s1600/_73378349_3d05f386-a378-48ef-ab7f-dc7463c31a56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMBU8Q0cPmiVHhFAQVB04HsfHVcYiVSDqHoIds8Zwj-2B_j7bZtkIe-9Rk3Hh5-Sj6FFKHE0VHtg8V-ksNemVVqnLPkGPL2yKJXPIvjtGeRn-qLU6uhsfTNqvsej62lA3scOQA17W6n1hK/s1600/_73378349_3d05f386-a378-48ef-ab7f-dc7463c31a56.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMBU8Q0cPmiVHhFAQVB04HsfHVcYiVSDqHoIds8Zwj-2B_j7bZtkIe-9Rk3Hh5-Sj6FFKHE0VHtg8V-ksNemVVqnLPkGPL2yKJXPIvjtGeRn-qLU6uhsfTNqvsej62lA3scOQA17W6n1hK/s1600/_73378349_3d05f386-a378-48ef-ab7f-dc7463c31a56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="color: black;">Troops
believed to be Russian servicemen are in control of Ukrainian military bases in
Crimea</span> </span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxdWJXi6IR1gXdEAkU3nbS523A5qaQ6OmjhbiNEjEoa2PCLODXc97pP6i4ZZrVCIuZK0rrwfLW54LRCq-9XQcYSX85fKbdGzcAP7O2vSnWmkUSKpEnKCP0l0Dii79SIEM2nj-MCI2uqGq/s1600/_73378351_fc29d469-bae3-4efd-b29f-ba2ed21e6b90.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxdWJXi6IR1gXdEAkU3nbS523A5qaQ6OmjhbiNEjEoa2PCLODXc97pP6i4ZZrVCIuZK0rrwfLW54LRCq-9XQcYSX85fKbdGzcAP7O2vSnWmkUSKpEnKCP0l0Dii79SIEM2nj-MCI2uqGq/s1600/_73378351_fc29d469-bae3-4efd-b29f-ba2ed21e6b90.jpg" width="640" /><span style="width: 624px;"> </span></a></div>
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<span style="width: 624px;">Mourners at Kiev's Independence Square remember the 88 protesters who died in clashes with police</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9fCqpBh7mkp7qZnPBB5IpMmFQA1VSxWdLuhw7Y0CkU0AHy3zLGyzExeUhqsDpBOuT-N2syjDcuE_USLRcHhI81DlgB3hNHVejUBV7f8g06jYpYYnv_xJikiGuCTsR37-095TE5ZP6vkvZ/s1600/_73383072_donetsk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9fCqpBh7mkp7qZnPBB5IpMmFQA1VSxWdLuhw7Y0CkU0AHy3zLGyzExeUhqsDpBOuT-N2syjDcuE_USLRcHhI81DlgB3hNHVejUBV7f8g06jYpYYnv_xJikiGuCTsR37-095TE5ZP6vkvZ/s1600/_73383072_donetsk.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="width: 624px;">Donetsk's regional government headquarters was emptied of pro-Russian activists</span>

<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Earlier, Mr Lavrov underlined Moscow's differences with Western
nations, accusing them of setting a bad example by supporting protesters - some
of whom now make up the government - in their "armed coup d'etat".</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Russian FM Sergei Lavrov accused protesters of conducting an
"armed coup-d'etat"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This agreement included constitutional reform that would fully take
into account the interests of all regions of Ukraine - giving the
Russian-speaking areas in the east more influence and greater legal protection.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">This, says the BBC's Richard Galpin in Moscow, would give Russia
more leverage over the future direction of Ukraine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Moscow has strongly condemned the recent change of government in
Ukraine, which came after months of street protests, more than 90 deaths and
the flight of President Yanukovych, a Russian ally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Since his fall, Moscow has retained de facto control of Ukraine's
southern autonomous region of Crimea.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Pro-Russian troops in unmarked uniforms began taking control of
strategic points on Saturday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Troops are surrounding Ukrainian military bases and other
installations, while two Ukrainian warships are reported to be blocked by a
Russian ship in Sevastopol's harbour.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Posted By :: Muhammad Usman</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Source::BBC</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTf8mZmLFoeP_gVFKE_rTfOaT__D1U_X_A1Th9kBgg5l9e9H6HozijXEWm4nz2O-RkIotK0mhpej2PuKA6ehe_q7gi7PkERdAsd7aCYIXYXyj6nOCoo-CtmsAZk8nmHNWMEqUpLvJ3HeJw/s1600/_73383072_donetsk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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Ukraine crisis: Diplomacy gathers pace ahead of talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry has begun talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Paris to try to resolve the crisis in U...

07:11