UN: Israelis killed 44 Palestinians
UNITED NATIONS – A U.N. inquiry has found that at least 44 Palestinians were killed and at least 227 injured by direct mortar strikes and other “Israeli actions” while sheltering at U.N. locations during last year’s Gaza war. The Palestinians said they would give the findings to the International Criminal Court.
The independent board of inquiry also said that Palestinian militant groups hid weapons at three empty U.N. schools in Gaza and that in two cases Palestinian militants “probably” fired from the schools.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that he deplores the deaths, calling U.N. locations “inviolable.” Ban also said the Palestinian militants’ use of them was “unacceptable.”
Poland refuses entry for 10 Russian bikers
TERESPOL, Poland – Polish border guards Monday blocked 10 nationalistic Russian bikers loyal to President Vladimir Putin from entering Poland as part of a ride to commemorate the Red Army’s victory over Nazi Germany 70 years ago.
The bikers – who have stirred controversy with their support for Russia’s annexation of Crimea – approached the Polish border from Belarus on Monday morning and spent about three hours being questioned and searched by the Polish border guards before they were turned back.
The incident comes amid deep tensions between the West and Russia over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
Yemen identifies 3 disaster zones
SANAA, Yemen – Yemen’s exiled government Monday declared three areas in the country engulfed in fighting between Shiite rebels, their allies and pro-government forces as “disaster” zones, including the southern port city of Aden, and said that the last month of violence killed 1,000 civilians.
The crisis in Yemen, the Arab world’s most impoverished country, has deepened since March 26, when a Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes aimed at rolling back territorial gains by the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, and their allies, loyalists of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Ukraine looks ahead to joining the EU
KIEV, Ukraine – Ukraine’s president said at a high-level summit with European Union officials Monday that his country will be able to meet conditions to apply for EU membership within five years.
While Kiev looks to the distant future, however, anxiety is heightening over the souring security situation in the east of the country, where fighting continues to rage between government and separatist forces.
Speaking at the start of talks in Kiev, President Petro Poroshenko called on the EU to support his initiative to deploy international peacekeepers in war-stricken regions.
Associated Press
