Observers in Ukraine speak under guard
SLOVYANSK, Ukraine – Eight European military observers held prisoner by pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine were marched out under armed guard on Sunday to give public assurances they weren’t being mistreated.
Germany’s foreign minister condemned the appearance as “revolting” and a violation of the men’s dignity. Four members of the team are German.
One of the observers, a Swedish officer, was released later in the day for medical reasons.
The insurgents in Slovyansk have taken a number of people hostage, including journalists and pro-Ukraine activists, as they strengthen their control in the east of the country in defiance of the interim government in Kiev and its Western supporters. On Sunday, they captured three Ukrainian security service officers, who were shown to Russian journalists bloodied and blindfolded with packing tape.
S. Korea’s PM quits over sunken ferry
JINDO, South Korea – South Korea’s prime minister resigned Sunday over the government’s handling of a ferry sinking that has left more than 300 people dead or missing and led to widespread shame, fury and finger-pointing, blaming “deep-rooted evils” in society for the tragedy.
South Korean executive power is largely concentrated in the president, so Chung Hong-won’s resignation appears to be symbolic. Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said President Park Geun-hye would accept the resignation but did not say when Chung would leave office.
Chung’s resignation comes amid rising indignation over claims by the victims’ relatives that the government did not do enough to rescue or protect their loved ones..
Supreme Court to look at privacy in digital age
WASHINGTON – Two Supreme Court cases about police searches of cellphones without warrants present vastly different views of the it’s-everywhere device.
Is it a critical tool for criminals or is it someone’s virtual home? How the justices answer that question could determine the outcome of the cases being argued Tuesday.
In those cases, a drug dealer and a gang member argue searches of their cellphones after their arrest violated their right to privacy in the digital age.
The Obama administration and California defend the searches, saying cellphones are no different from anything else a person may be carrying when arrested.
Watchdog says Syria must destroy toxins
DAMASCUS, Syria – The head of an international mission to Syria charged with destroying the country’s chemical weapons called on President Bashar Assad’s government Sunday to ensure it meets a deadline to destroy all its toxic chemicals amid a raging civil war.
Sigrid Kaag of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons told reporters in Damascus that 92.5 percent of Syria’s chemical materials had been removed from the country and destroyed. She called it “significant progress,” although she called on Syria’s government to ensure remaining materials would be eradicated by the end of April.
Associated Press
