Ukraine Activist Says He Was Abducted And Tortured

Opposition politician Vitali Klitschko visiting Dmytro Bulatov in hospital

A leading activist in Ukraine’s street opposition who vanished for eight days says he was abducted and tortured before being left to die in the cold.

Dmytro Bulatov, who organised car protests for the opposition camped out in Kyiv, is being treated in hospital after being found near the capital.

Police have confirmed Bulatov received an ear injury and bruising.

In another development, the army called on President Viktor Yanukovych to take “urgent steps” to ease the crisis.

Three protesters and three police officers have been killed, and scores injured on both sides, since the protests turned violent on 22 January.

Opposition to Yanukovych spilled into the streets in November after he abandoned a trade deal with the EU in favour of closer economic ties with Russia.

Yanukovych accused the opposition of seeking to “inflame” the situation on Thursday by continuing the protests despite moves by the government and parliament to ease the stand-off.

Parliament voted to annul a recently enacted law restricting protests and passed a law giving amnesty to detained protesters, under the condition that occupied buildings were vacated.

Anti-government demonstrators remain in their camp in Independence Square (Maidan) with no sign of the political crisis in the country coming to an end, the BBC’s Duncan Crawford reports from Kyiv.

Yanukovych, 63, has gone on sick leave, with his staff reporting he has a respiratory illness and a high fever.

The activist reportedly said he did not know who had abducted him but his abductors had spoken with Russian accents.

President Yanukovych accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his cabinet this week, and offered senior jobs to the opposition – offers that were rejected. Demonstrators accuse the security forces of being behind the abductions and brutality towards protesters.

Of the other two activists abducted this month, one was found dead in a forest near Kyiv with his body reportedly showing signs of torture. The activist, Yuri Verbitsky, was reportedly abducted along with fellow protester Igor Lutsenko, who was later released and spoke about his ordeal.
– BBC

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Thai Protesters Blockade Ballot Papers

Protesters have held daily marches and rallies through parts of the Thai capital

Thailand’s anti-government protesters are blockading buildings where ballot papers are being stored, two days before the general election.
At least one office in Bangkok has been surrounded and several in southern Thailand in an attempt to prevent ballot papers being distributed.
The protesters oppose the poll, which is sure to be won by the ruling party.
They want the government replaced by an unelected “people’s council” to reform the political system.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra called the 2 February polls in response to the protests – but the opposition are boycotting them. Voting could well be disrupted and there are fears of violence.
Because of disruption to candidate registration, the elections will also not deliver enough MPs for a quorum in parliament, meaning that by-elections will be needed before a government can be approved, extending the instability.
Last week, there were chaotic scenes as protesters tried to stop advance voters from casting their ballots.
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy prime minister under a previous opposition-led government, said election day polling would not be blocked.
But some protesters are already surrounding post offices and other buildings where ballot papers are being kept, preventing them from being distributed to polling stations, reports the BBC’s Jonathan Head in Bangkok.
The army says it will increase the number of troops deployed in Bangkok for the polls on Sunday. Some 10,000 police will also be on the streets.
At least 10 people have been killed since the anti-government campaign began late last year.
So far the government “red-shirt” supporters have mostly stayed off the streets, but observers fear a trigger that caused them to protest would spark more violence.
The protests began in November, after the lower house backed a controversial amnesty bill that critics said would allow Ms Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, to return.
Mr Thaksin was ousted as prime minister by the military in a 2006 coup. He was convicted in absentia of corruption and lives overseas, but the protesters say he controls Ms Yingluck’s government.
They also accuse her Pheu Thai party and its Thaksin-allied predecessors – which have won the last five elections – of misusing state funds on ill-judged schemes that win rural votes.
The protesters say they want Thailand’s political system reformed and an end to money politics.
– BBC

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Vodka Blamed For High Death Rates In Russia

By Tulip Mazumdar

The high number of early deaths in Russia is mainly due to people drinking too much alcohol, particularly vodka, research suggests.
The study, in The Lancet, says 25% of Russian men die before they are 55, and most of the deaths are down to alcohol. The comparable UK figure is 7%.

Causes of death include liver disease and alcohol poisoning. Many also die in accidents or after getting into fights.
The study is thought to be the largest of its kind in the country.

Researchers from the Russian Cancer Centre in Moscow, Oxford University in the UK and the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer, in France, tracked the drinking patterns of 151,000 adults in three Russian cities over up to 10 years.
During that time, 8,000 of them died. The researchers also drew on previous studies in which families of 49,000 people who had died were asked about their loved ones’ drinking habits.

In 1985, the then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev drastically cut vodka production and did not allow it to be sold before lunch-time.
Researchers say alcohol consumption fell by around a quarter when the restrictions came in, and so did overall death rates.
Then, when communism collapsed, people started drinking more again and the death rates also rose.
– BBC
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Syria Peace Talks Due To End In Geneva

The current round of peace negotiations on Syria is due to end in Switzerland later on Friday, with little or no progress expected on core issues.

After a week of talks at the UN headquarters in Geneva, the opposing sides are still stuck on the question of how to proceed.
UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has said he hopes for more progress in next week’s second round of talks.More than 100,000 people have died since the uprising began in March 2011.

In a rare gesture of harmony on Thursday, both sides stood together in silence to remember victims of the violence.
Correspondents say Friday’s closing session in Geneva is expected to be largely ceremonial, with government and opposition delegates expected to meet again on 10 February. Brahimi said he was “very, very disappointed” that a UN aid convoy was still waiting to enter the rebel-held Old City of Homs, where the US says civilians are starving.

In a separate development, the UN relief agency UNRWA said it had delivered 720 food parcels to a besieged Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus on Thursday.

Yarmouk camp, which is held by the rebels, is suffering severe shortages of food and medical supplies, with activists reporting dozens of deaths there from starvation.

UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness described “chaotic scenes” as 700 of the total 900 food parcels brought into the camp were distributed to residents. He said it was the first aid to reach the remaining 18,000 residents since 21 January, when UNRWA distributed 138 food parcels.

Diplomats have said that a top priority in Geneva is to keep the talks process going in the hope that hard-line positions can be modified over time.

The BBC’s diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says there has been little or no progress on basic issues such as ending the violence, sharing political power or allowing humanitarian aid to get to besieged communities. Even the order in which these problems should be tackled is disputed, he says. US and Russian officials – co-sponsors of the conference – are in Geneva advising the opposition and Syrian government delegations, their respective allies.Both sides have agreed to use a 2012 document known as the Geneva Communique as a basis for discussions. That agenda sets out stages to end the conflict, including a halt to fighting, delivery of aid and the setting up of a transitional government body.

While the opposition wants to start by addressing the question of a transitional government – which it believes would mean President Bashar al-Assad stepping down – the government insists the first step is to discuss “terrorism”. – BBC