Tag: finance

Yulia Tymoshenko (Ukraine’s “Iron Lady”) Freed, Vows To “Run For President”; Addresses Protesters – Live Feed

Yulia Tymoshenko was the heroine of the 2004 pro-Western Orange Revolution in Ukraine. But, as DPA notes, the two-time former prime minister was convicted in 2011 of abuse of power in connection with a gas deal with Russia (detailed below).

 

This morning she was freed from prison in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine after parliament voted for her release…

  • *TYMOSHENKO LEAVES HOSPITAL WHERE SHE WAS UNDER GUARD: WEBSITE
  • *UKRAINE’S TYMOSHENKO GOING TO KIEV SQUARE: IFX CITES YATSENYUK
  • *UKRAINE’S TYMOSHENKO SAYS SHE WILL RUN FOR PRESIDENT: ITAR TASS

and is set to address the protesters in Independence Square… (full chronology below)

The US is pleased:

  • *U.S. PLEDGES TO WORK WITH RUSSIA FOR `DEMOCRATIC’ UKRAINE
  • *WHITE HOUSE WELCOMES TYMOSHENKO RELEASE IN UKRAINE

Russia’s not:

  • Lavrov phones Kerry, blames opposition for Ukraine violence
  • KERRY VOWS TO PUT PRESSURE ON UKRAINE OPPOSITION – RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY
  • LAVROV TELLS KERRY UKRAINE OPPOSITION CANNOT HONOR AGREEMENT

And ex-ministers are fleeing…

  • *UKRAINE EX-INT MIN CAUGHT TRYING TO FLEE BY BORDER SERVICE: IFX
  • *UKRAINE BORDER SERVICE SAYS CAUGHT MINISTER ZAKHARCHENKO: IFX

 

Live Feed from the square:

 

  • *TYMOSHENKO URGES PROTESTERS TO STAY IN INDEPENDENCE SQUARE
  • *`NOW UKRAINE IS A FREE UKRAINE:’ OPPOSITION LEADER TYMOSHENKO

 

Asked by crowds gathered at the hospital where she was released about her further plans, Tymoshenko said, “I will run for president,” news agencies reported.

 

She said she will “make it so that no drop of blood that was spilled will be forgotten.”

Via Deutsche Presse-Agentur,

CHRONOLOGY: Tymoshenko vs Yanukovych

A timeline of the Tymoshenko case:

— March 2010: Tymoshenko resigns after a vote of no confidence in parliament. Deputies accuse her of abuse of power and signing an overpriced deal to buy natural gas from Russia.

— June 2011: She goes on trial in Kiev. Supporters and opponents brawl in the courtroom and on the streets.

— October 2011: The court sentences her to seven years in prison. There is international condemnation of the verdict. The European Union calls off a meeting with Tymoshenko arch-rival President Viktor Yanukovych.

— December 2011: Tymoshenko is moved to a women’s prison in Kharkiv, 450 kilometres east of Kiev.

— February 2012: The opposition leader, complaining of severe back pain, is examined by German and Canadian doctors. They diagnose a slipped disc.

— April 2012: Tymoshenko begins a hunger strike in protest at her treatment by the Kharkiv prison staff.

— May 2012: A planned meeting of European presidents in Yalta is called off after several make clear that they will not be attending because of the Tymoshenko issue.

— June 2012: The Euro 2012 football tournament begins in Poland and Ukraine. Some European Union politicians decline to attend games in Ukraine.

— July 2012: The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg rules that Ukraine violated the rights of a jailed Tymoshenko ally, former interior minister Yuri Lutsenko, and orders Ukraine to pay damages.

— August 2012: The same European Court hears Tymoshenko’s complaint about her detention and prison conditions.

— January 2013: Tymoshenko is named a suspect in the long-dormant 1996 contract murder case of Ukrainian politician and businessman Yvhen Scherban.

— February 2013: EU leaders give Yanukovych a May deadline to show “tangible progress” on democratic reforms.

— April 2013: Yanukoych pardons Lutsenko, but says it is too early to consider pardoning Timoshenko.

— April 2013: The European Court of Human Rights rules that Tymoshenko’s pre-trial detention was unlawful but rejects her claim that she is being denied adequate health care.

— November 2013: Draft legislation that would have allowed Tymoshenko to leave Ukraine for treatment in Germany fails to get enough votes in parliament. EU politicans had made her release a key demand for an association agreement with Ukraine.

— November 2013 – February 2014 – Yanukovych scraps EU association agreement and takes up closer relations with Russia, triggering massive anti-government demonstrations triggered. In recent violence related to the conflict, at least 77 people – mainly opposition supporters – were killed.

— February 22, 2014: Ukraine’s parliament votes for Tymoshenko’s immediate release. Several hours later, Tymoshenko leaves the prison hospital where she was being treated for back problems headed for Kiev.

++++++++++++++

 

CHRONOLOGY: The conflict in Ukraine

Anti-government protests have racked Ukraine since President Viktor Yanukovych decided to put a planned association agreement with the EU on ice.

A chronology follows:

November 21-24, 2013: Kiev puts a planned association agreement with the EU on ice after the failure in parliament of a series of bills that would have allowed jailed former permier Yulia Tymoshenko to get medical treatment abroad. EU politicians had made her release a key demand for the association agreement.

November 24, 2013 Thousands of people demonstrate on Independence Square in Kiev. The opposition demands Yanukovych’s resignation.

December 22, 2013: At one of largest protests in years, half a million people im Kiev call for early elections. An initial meeting between Yanukovych and opposition leader Vitali Klitschko is unsuccessful.

January 17-22, 2014: New legislation curbs the right to demonstrate. 200 people are injured as demonstrators attempt to storm parliament. Klitschko warns of the danger of a civil war. Three people are killed in clashes between demonstrators and police.

January 25-30: Opposition leaders reject Yanukovych’s invitation to join the government. The government and the opposition agree on an amnesty for all demonstrators.

January 28-29: Prime Minister Mykola Azarov tenders his resignation. A day later, Russian President Vladimir Putin puts a planned 15-billion-dollar loan to Ukraine on hold.

February 4-5: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton holds crisis talks with the government and the opposition in Ukraine.

February 19-21: At least 77 people are killed in several days of clashes between demonstrators and security forces. EU foreign ministers in Brussels agree on economic sanctions.

February 21: The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland broker an agreement between the Ukrainian government and the opposition calling for an interim government, a return to the 2004 constitution and early elections by December. Demonstrators on Independence Square continue to call for Yanukovych’s ouster. February 22: Yanukovych’s heads to Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine. Parliament in Kiev votes for the release of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and the impeachment of Yanukovych. In a televised address, the president refuses to step down. Tymoshenko leaves the prison hospital in Kharkiv where she was being treated for back problems and heads for Kiev.

 

Her release, however, hardly guarantees any stability:

As Martin Armstrong warns:

I believe the nation will survive divided for there is far too much resentment to simply put this all behind and walk forward. Divide Ukraine along the historical language faultline and there is a chance to calm things down. Otherwise, this will flare up and take others with it.

 

My position is consistent – ALL governments are only a necessary evil. They should never be allowed to have such power over the people for it will also be abused to sustain that same power. It does not matter what form of government – they are all the same.


    



via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1p8M1o9 Tyler Durden

Yulia Tymoshenko (Ukraine's "Iron Lady") Freed, Vows To "Run For President"; Addresses Protesters – Live Feed

Yulia Tymoshenko was the heroine of the 2004 pro-Western Orange Revolution in Ukraine. But, as DPA notes, the two-time former prime minister was convicted in 2011 of abuse of power in connection with a gas deal with Russia (detailed below).

 

This morning she was freed from prison in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine after parliament voted for her release…

  • *TYMOSHENKO LEAVES HOSPITAL WHERE SHE WAS UNDER GUARD: WEBSITE
  • *UKRAINE’S TYMOSHENKO GOING TO KIEV SQUARE: IFX CITES YATSENYUK
  • *UKRAINE’S TYMOSHENKO SAYS SHE WILL RUN FOR PRESIDENT: ITAR TASS

and is set to address the protesters in Independence Square… (full chronology below)

The US is pleased:

  • *U.S. PLEDGES TO WORK WITH RUSSIA FOR `DEMOCRATIC’ UKRAINE
  • *WHITE HOUSE WELCOMES TYMOSHENKO RELEASE IN UKRAINE

Russia’s not:

  • Lavrov phones Kerry, blames opposition for Ukraine violence
  • KERRY VOWS TO PUT PRESSURE ON UKRAINE OPPOSITION – RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY
  • LAVROV TELLS KERRY UKRAINE OPPOSITION CANNOT HONOR AGREEMENT

And ex-ministers are fleeing…

  • *UKRAINE EX-INT MIN CAUGHT TRYING TO FLEE BY BORDER SERVICE: IFX
  • *UKRAINE BORDER SERVICE SAYS CAUGHT MINISTER ZAKHARCHENKO: IFX

 

Live Feed from the square:

 

  • *TYMOSHENKO URGES PROTESTERS TO STAY IN INDEPENDENCE SQUARE
  • *`NOW UKRAINE IS A FREE UKRAINE:’ OPPOSITION LEADER TYMOSHENKO

 

Asked by crowds gathered at the hospital where she was released about her further plans, Tymoshenko said, “I will run for president,” news agencies reported.

 

She said she will “make it so that no drop of blood that was spilled will be forgotten.”

Via Deutsche Presse-Agentur,

CHRONOLOGY: Tymoshenko vs Yanukovych

A timeline of the Tymoshenko case:

— March 2010: Tymoshenko resigns after a vote of no confidence in parliament. Deputies accuse her of abuse of power and signing an overpriced deal to buy natural gas from Russia.

— June 2011: She goes on trial in Kiev. Supporters and opponents brawl in the courtroom and on the streets.

— October 2011: The court sentences her to seven years in prison. There is international condemnation of the verdict. The European Union calls off a meeting with Tymoshenko arch-rival President Viktor Yanukovych.

— December 2011: Tymoshenko is moved to a women’s prison in Kharkiv, 450 kilometres east of Kiev.

— February 2012: The opposition leader, complaining of severe back pain, is examined by German and Canadian doctors. They diagnose a slipped disc.

— April 2012: Tymoshenko begins a hunger strike in protest at her treatment by the Kharkiv prison staff.

— May 2012: A planned meeting of European presidents in Yalta is called off after several make clear that they will not be attending because of the Tymoshenko issue.

— June 2012: The Euro 2012 football tournament begins in Poland and Ukraine. Some European Union politicians decline to attend games in Ukraine.

— July 2012: The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg rules that Ukraine violated the rights of a jailed Tymoshenko ally, former interior minister Yuri Lutsenko, and orders Ukraine to pay damages.

— August 2012: The same European Court hears Tymoshenko’s complaint about her detention and prison conditions.

— January 2013: Tymoshenko is named a suspect in the long-dormant 1996 contract murder case of Ukrainian politician and businessman Yvhen Scherban.

— February 2013: EU leaders give Yanukovych a May deadline to show “tangible progress” on democratic reforms.

— April 2013: Yanukoych pardons Lutsenko, but says it is too early to consider pardoning Timoshenko.

— April 2013: The European Court of Human Rights rules that Tymoshenko’s pre-trial detention was unlawful but rejects her claim that she is being denied adequate health care.

— November 2013: Draft legislation that would have allowed Tymoshenko to leave Ukraine for treatment in Germany fails to get enough votes in parliament. EU politicans had made her release a key demand for an association agreement with Ukraine.

— November 2013 – February 2014 – Yanukovych scraps EU association agreement and takes up closer relations with Russia, triggering massive anti-government demonstrations triggered. In recent violence related to the conflict, at least 77 people – mainly opposition supporters – were killed.

— February 22, 2014: Ukraine’s parliament votes for Tymoshenko’s immediate release. Several hours later, Tymoshenko leaves the prison hospital where she was being treated for back problems headed for Kiev.

++++++++++++++

 

CHRONOLOGY: The conflict in Ukraine

Anti-government protests have racked Ukraine since President Viktor Yanukovych decided to put a planned association agreement with the EU on ice.

A chronology follows:

November 21-24, 2013: Kiev puts a planned association agreement with the EU on ice after the failure in parliament of a series of bills that would have allowed jailed former permier Yulia Tymoshenko to get medical treatment abroad. EU politicians had made her release a key demand for the association agreement.

November 24, 2013 Thousands of people demonstrate on Independence Square in Kiev. The opposition demands Yanukovych’s resignation.

December 22, 2013: At one of largest protests in years, half a million people im Kiev call for early elections. An initial meeting between Yanukovych and opposition leader Vitali Klitschko is unsuccessful.

January 17-22, 2014: New legislation curbs the right to demonstrate. 200 people are injured as demonstrators attempt to storm parliament. Klitschko warns of the danger of a civil war. Three people are killed in clashes between demonstrators and police.

January 25-30: Opposition leaders reject Yanukovych’s invitation to join the government. The government and the opposition agree on an amnesty for all demonstrators.

January 28-29: Prime Minister Mykola Azarov tenders his resignation. A day later, Russian President Vladimir Putin puts a planned 15-billion-dollar loan to Ukraine on hold.

February 4-5: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton holds crisis talks with the government and the opposition in Ukraine.

February 19-21: At least 77 people are killed in several days of clashes between demonstrators and security forces. EU foreign ministers in Brussels agree on economic sanctions.

February 21: The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland broker an agreement between the Ukrainian government and the opposition calling for an interim government, a return to the 2004 constitution and early elections by December. Demonstrators on Independence Square continue to call for Yanukovych’s ouster. February 22: Yanukovych’s heads to Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine. Parliament in Kiev votes for the release of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and the impeachment of Yanukovych. In a televised address, the president refuses to step down. Tymoshenko leaves the prison hospital in Kharkiv where she was being treated for back problems and heads for Kiev.

 

Her release, however, hardly guarantees any stability:

As Martin Armstrong warns:

I believe the nation will survive divided for there is far too much resentment to simply put this all behind and walk forward. Divide Ukraine along the historical language faultline and there is a chance to calm things down. Otherwise, this will flare up and take others with it.

 

My position is consistent – ALL governments are only a necessary evil. They should never be allowed to have such power over the people for it will also be abused to sustain that same power. It does not matter what form of government – they are all the same.


    



via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1p8M1o9 Tyler Durden

Just 12 WTF Charts

Sometimes you just have to sit back, look at some charts, and say WTF…

Carry Trade
1. SPX vs USDJPY

 

2. SPX vs US Treasuries

3. SPX vs US Term Structure

Fun-durr-mentals
4. SPX vs Fwd EBITDA Expectations (bottom-up)

5. SPX vs US Macro (top-down)

6. SPX vs Jobless Claims (so long held as supportive of the recovery)

7. SPX vs Lumber (the housing pillar is cracking)

Risk Assets
8. SPX vs High Yield Credit

9. SPX vs China's Shanghai Composite Equity Index

10. SPX vs Japan's Nikkei 225 Equity Index

11. SPX vs Emerging Market Bonds

12. SPX vs Emerging Market FX

 

Of course, there are those who see these charts and through no self-referential cognitive-dissonance of their own (well in fact entirely for that status quo engendering reason) will proclaim… that proves it – US is cleanest dirty shirt and money is flooding back to 'safety' – however – that is entirely disingenuous…

The ironists among market punters will even attempt to construe all this as a reason to buy more developed world stocks on the premise that the money flooding out of such places as Thailand, the Ukraine, Turkey, and Argentina will be parked in the S&P and the DAX (perhaps overlooking the fact that the purchase price of these now-unwanted positions was most likely borrowed, meaning that their liquidation will also extinguish the associated credit, not re-allocate it).

 

The Goldilocks lovers will also tend to assume that any such disruption will serve to delay the onset of genuine tightening and may even induce further ill-advised stimulus measures on the part of the major central banks. Certainly Madame Christine Defarge – that tax-sheltered tricoteuse who knits beside the guillotine set up for the hated bourgeoisie – has already begun to militate for such a response.

 

For their part, the biddable are already trying to drown out the noise of the Cacerolazo by making the fatuous argument that the EMs account for such a piffling portion of world GDP that their fate should be a matter of complete indifference to the rest of us. Needless to say this is a touch disingenuous at best. Their share of end consumption-biased GDP may be lower, but they account for an equivalent fraction, if not a small majority, of global industrial production – and they have been responsible for an even bigger proportion of its growth this past decade. Ditto for trade and ditto for resource use.

Bonus
13. SPX vs The Federal Reserve Balance Sheet – The Truth


    



via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/MjrP3i Tyler Durden

DHS Cancels Plan For National License Plate Tracking System

Fresh on the heels of the administration's decision to embed "government researchers" in the mainstream media to make sure they are doing their job properly (just as Maduro has decreed in Venezuela and punished CNN for?), we find out that the Department of Homeland Security planned to outsource the creation of a gigantic, comprehensive nationwide license plate database to a private corporation enabling license plate recognition "to catch illegal immigrants." However, after extreme pushback by privacy advocates, WaPo reports the DHS has cancelled the plan amid "a serious management problem within this DHS component that currently does not have a director nominated by the president."

 

Mike Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog describes the original plan…

The status quo is now overtly doubling down on surveillance in the wake of the Snowden revelations rather than reigning them in. Game is on folks. Things are getting very serious.

From the Washington Post:

The Department of Homeland Security wants a private company to provide a national license-plate tracking system that would give the agency access to vast amounts of information from commercial and law enforcement tag readers, according to a government proposal that does not specify what privacy safeguards would be put in place.

 

The national license-plate recognition database, which would draw data from readers that scan the tags of every vehicle crossing their paths, would help catch fugitive illegal immigrants, according to a DHS solicitation. But the database could easily contain more than 1 billion records and could be shared with other law enforcement agencies, raising concerns that the movements of ordinary citizens who are under no criminal suspicion could be scrutinized.

It’s for the children! How can you object to saving the children!

“It is important to note that this database would be run by a commercial enterprise, and the data would be collected and stored by the commercial enterprise, not the government,” she said.

Yeah, because that makes me feel so much better…

But civil liberties groups are not assuaged. “Ultimately, you’re creating a national database of location information,” said Jennifer Lynch, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “When all that data is compiled and aggregated, you can track somebody as they’re going through their life.”

 

The agency said the length of time the data is retained would be up to the winning vendor.Vigilant Solutions, for instance, one of the leading providers of tag-reader data, keeps its records indefinitely.

 

Nationwide, local police as well as commercial companies are gathering license-plate data using various means. One common method involves drivers for repossession companies methodically driving up and down streets with cameras mounted on their cars snapping photos of vehicles. Some police forces have cameras mounted on patrol cars. Other images may be retrieved from border crossings, interstate highway on-ramps and toll plazas.

 

Some questions about ICE’s plan remain open. The agency could not say how long the data would be stored, which other law enforcement agencies would have access to it and what constitutes an “investigative lead” to allow database querying.

 

The DHS effort arises as states are confronting policy choices about the use of license-plate readers. Laws vary across jurisdictions on how long data can be stored and who may have access. Some delete the data after 48 hours. Others keep it indefinitely. About 20 states have passed or proposed legislation that would restrict the use of such readers or the storage of the data. Utah has a law prohibiting commercial companies from using automated high-speed cameras to photograph license plates. Vigilant has filed a First Amendment lawsuit to overturn the ban.

Full article here.

And the follow-up:

The DHS has canceled the plan due to outrage. This is what we can achieve if we are informed and keep the pressure on. I expect them to be back at it in the future, so stay vigilant.


    



via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/On83WB Tyler Durden

How The Chinese Buy Gold?

880 grams at a time…

 

 

As China News reports, in a gold shop in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, a "tyrant female" (Google Translate must have loved that one) bought more than 880 grams of gold jewelry. Lunch boxes were used to weigh the gold and it left other shoppers speechless with admiration.

Reporters on the scene saw the woman buy gold jewelry and diverse, there are a dozen light gold ring, the rest of the gold necklaces, gold pendants and other a lot. The staff at the time of weighing a total of more than 880 grams of gold jewelery boxes accounted for nearly one-third the size of the load box, stacked full of gold so that shoppers around again and again speechless.

Faced with the question, "why buy gold", Ms. "buy gold" did not want to say, but suggsted for her "own use."

 

Perhaps she read Grant Williams anti-"Anti-Gold-Idiots" discussion this week:

"So these anti-gold idiots are just that, idiots, or else they have the memory of a goldfish, because currencies come and currencies go, as sure as night follows day. It is the natural order of things. And as you can see, it's not about trading gold to get rich or getting long gold or buying one by two call spreads or getting fancy, it literally is about protecting yourself in the end. It's not like Williams got rich. He just stayed rich. Everyone else got poor."

When Western central bankers rubbish gold as a "barbarous relic" or, as in the case of Ben Bernanke shortly before he started his job at The Brookings Institution left office in January, admit to a complete lack of understanding of it, does it not strike you as strange that, having accumulated significant stockpiles of gold over the years, they aren't in a hurry to swap any of it for paper money (well, with the notable exception perhaps of the United Kingdom, thanks to the antics of Gordon Brown, King of the Idiot Chancellors)?

It shouldn't.

Gold is held by Western central banks for exactly the same reason individuals ought to hold it: protection.

Central banks are accumulating gold because it cannot go BANG! like fiat currencies do.

Individuals should be doing the same — not being sidetracked by the distractions.

It's not about price. The story Jared shared with us demonstrates that beyond any doubt.

If you own gold, it will do all the heavy lifting for you when the time comes


    



via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1cBleLN Tyler Durden

Ukraine Government Votes To Remove President; Calls Early Elections After “Coup D’Etat”

In the minds of so many western journalists, yesterday’s “deal” to reform the constitution, hold new elections in 10 months or so, and generally all ‘just get along’ was a victory but this morning it is clear that very little has changed.

  • *YANUKOVYCH SAYS HE WON’T LEAVE UKRAINE OR RESIGN: INTERFAX

Late last night Ukraine time, President Yanukovych (and some of his key advisers) fled Kiev (amid so-called threats) and headed to the eastern part of the country. Then following rumors he would resign, he stated in a TV address that he would not and that pro-EU forces had staged a “coup d’etat”. This has left a troubled nation with just as divided a future as protesters have taken back control of Kiev.

Russia is not happy; blaming extremists for threatening order.

  • *RUSSIA URGES GERMANY, POLAND FRANCE TO INFLUENCE UKRAINE OPPOS.
  • *RUSSIA SAYS UKRAINE OPPOSITION FAILED TO FULFILL OBLIGATIONS
  • *RUSSIA SAYS UKRAINE OPPOSITION THREATENS SOVEREIGNTY, ORDER
  • *RUSSIA SAYS UKRAINE OPPOSITION `FOLLOWING LEAD OF EXTREMISTS’

The government is moving for early elections:

  • *UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER TURCHYNOV SPEAKS IN ASSEMBLY
  • *UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO REMOVE PRESIDENT YANUKOVYCH
  • *UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO HOLD EARLY ELECTIONS ON MAY 25

 

 

 

Via WSJ,

From Deal to Defection…

*YANUKOVYCH SAYS SOME PARTY MEMBERS DEFECT IN BETRAYAL: UBR TV

Government authority appeared to melt away Saturday, leaving protesters in control of the capital’s center. President Viktor Yanukovych left the capital for a city in the country’s Russian-speaking east and said he would work to prevent the country from splitting up.

In a television interview Saturday afternoon in Kharkiv, where Russian-speaking supporters had gathered, Mr. Yanukovych denounced the events in Kiev as a “coup d’etat” that he blamed on “bandits.” He said he wasn’t stepping down and vowed to remain inside the country. He said parliament’s decisions today are “illegal” and that he would refuse to sign them. Asked about his plans, he said he will travel in the Russian-speaking south and east of the country, “where for the moment it’s less dangerous.”

Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko earlier had called on parliament to vote to oust Mr. Yanukovych and announce presidential elections in May, as police withdrew from the center of the capital Saturday.

Ukraine opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was expected to be released from prison within hours, according to a spokeswoman for the opposition.

The army has said it will not get involved…

*UKRAINE MILITARY, DEFENSE MINISTRY `REMAIN FAITHFUL TO PEOPLE’
*UKRAINE DEFENSE MIN: ARMY WON’T BE INVOLVED IN GOVT CONFLICT

 

Opposition leaders signed a peace deal with Mr. Yanukovych Friday after dozens were killed in clashes between protesters and police. The deal proposed power sharing and presidential elections by the end of the year. But protesters weren’t satisfied and called for his immediate ouster.

 

In Kiev on Saturday, volunteer security brigades from among the protesters took over security at government buildings, and journalists reported around 300 people had entered Mr. Yanukovych’s opulent suburban residence without resistance.

 

Oleh Tyahnybok, an opposition leader, called on parliament to adopt a resolution calling on police and protesters’ “self-defense” forces to work to prevent looting in Kiev and other cities.

 

Outside the Kiev headquarters of Ukraine’s security service, plain-clothed men wearing earpieces stood at the street corners, eying those who passed. They wouldn’t say who they worked for.

 

…

 

With truckloads of activists armed with baseball bats driving the streets of Kiev, the security service appeared to be taking no chances. In the interior lobby and parking lot of the building, fire hoses and fire extinguishers were piled in the corners.

 

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that “it serves only the Ukrainian people and fully shares the desire of citizens for immediate change.” It called for cooperation from all sides to ensure public order.

A power vaccum has developed…

Opposition lawmakers in parliament called for calm amid concerns over a power vacuum, calling on state officials and religious and civic leaders to work together to ensure order.

Parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Rybak, a close ally of Mr. Yanukovych, handed in his resignation Saturday. Lawmakers elected opposition leader Olexander Turchinov to replace him. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the opposition could muster sufficient support to vote Mr. Yanukovych out.

The European Union is prepared to offer Ukraine financial support, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said on Saturday.

“If there is a reform-minded government in Ukraine, we will work with the international community and international financial institutions to support Ukraine,” Mr. Barroso told German newspaper “Welt am Sonntag.”


    



via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1e3h7t3 Tyler Durden

Ukraine Government Votes To Remove President; Calls Early Elections After "Coup D'Etat"

In the minds of so many western journalists, yesterday’s “deal” to reform the constitution, hold new elections in 10 months or so, and generally all ‘just get along’ was a victory but this morning it is clear that very little has changed.

  • *YANUKOVYCH SAYS HE WON’T LEAVE UKRAINE OR RESIGN: INTERFAX

Late last night Ukraine time, President Yanukovych (and some of his key advisers) fled Kiev (amid so-called threats) and headed to the eastern part of the country. Then following rumors he would resign, he stated in a TV address that he would not and that pro-EU forces had staged a “coup d’etat”. This has left a troubled nation with just as divided a future as protesters have taken back control of Kiev.

Russia is not happy; blaming extremists for threatening order.

  • *RUSSIA URGES GERMANY, POLAND FRANCE TO INFLUENCE UKRAINE OPPOS.
  • *RUSSIA SAYS UKRAINE OPPOSITION FAILED TO FULFILL OBLIGATIONS
  • *RUSSIA SAYS UKRAINE OPPOSITION THREATENS SOVEREIGNTY, ORDER
  • *RUSSIA SAYS UKRAINE OPPOSITION `FOLLOWING LEAD OF EXTREMISTS’

The government is moving for early elections:

  • *UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER TURCHYNOV SPEAKS IN ASSEMBLY
  • *UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO REMOVE PRESIDENT YANUKOVYCH
  • *UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO HOLD EARLY ELECTIONS ON MAY 25

 

 

 

Via WSJ,

From Deal to Defection…

*YANUKOVYCH SAYS SOME PARTY MEMBERS DEFECT IN BETRAYAL: UBR TV

Government authority appeared to melt away Saturday, leaving protesters in control of the capital’s center. President Viktor Yanukovych left the capital for a city in the country’s Russian-speaking east and said he would work to prevent the country from splitting up.

In a television interview Saturday afternoon in Kharkiv, where Russian-speaking supporters had gathered, Mr. Yanukovych denounced the events in Kiev as a “coup d’etat” that he blamed on “bandits.” He said he wasn’t stepping down and vowed to remain inside the country. He said parliament’s decisions today are “illegal” and that he would refuse to sign them. Asked about his plans, he said he will travel in the Russian-speaking south and east of the country, “where for the moment it’s less dangerous.”

Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko earlier had called on parliament to vote to oust Mr. Yanukovych and announce presidential elections in May, as police withdrew from the center of the capital Saturday.

Ukraine opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was expected to be released from prison within hours, according to a spokeswoman for the opposition.

The army has said it will not get involved…

*UKRAINE MILITARY, DEFENSE MINISTRY `REMAIN FAITHFUL TO PEOPLE’
*UKRAINE DEFENSE MIN: ARMY WON’T BE INVOLVED IN GOVT CONFLICT

 

Opposition leaders signed a peace deal with Mr. Yanukovych Friday after dozens were killed in clashes between protesters and police. The deal proposed power sharing and presidential elections by the end of the year. But protesters weren’t satisfied and called for his immediate ouster.

 

In Kiev on Saturday, volunteer security brigades from among the protesters took over security at government buildings, and journalists reported around 300 people had entered Mr. Yanukovych’s opulent suburban residence without resistance.

 

Oleh Tyahnybok, an opposition leader, called on parliament to adopt a resolution calling on police and protesters’ “self-defense” forces to work to prevent looting in Kiev and other cities.

 

Outside the Kiev headquarters of Ukraine’s security service, plain-clothed men wearing earpieces stood at the street corners, eying those who passed. They wouldn’t say who they worked for.

 

…

 

With truckloads of activists armed with baseball bats driving the streets of Kiev, the security service appeared to be taking no chances. In the interior lobby and parking lot of the building, fire hoses and fire extinguishers were piled in the corners.

 

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that “it serves only the Ukrainian people and fully shares the desire of citizens for immediate change.” It called for cooperation from all sides to ensure public order.

A power vaccum has developed…

Opposition lawmakers in parliament called for calm amid concerns over a power vacuum, calling on state officials and religious and civic leaders to work together to ensure order.

Parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Rybak, a close ally of Mr. Yanukovych, handed in his resignation Saturday. Lawmakers elected opposition leader Olexander Turchinov to replace him. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the opposition could muster sufficient support to vote Mr. Yanukovych out.

The European Union is prepared to offer Ukraine financial support, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said on Saturday.

“If there is a reform-minded government in Ukraine, we will work with the international community and international financial institutions to support Ukraine,” Mr. Barroso told German newspaper “Welt am Sonntag.”


    



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