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From Washington, this is VOA news. Coming up, the latest on the Ukraine crisis, and more peacekeepers for the Central African Republic. Hello everyone, I'm Steve Norman.
NATO has released satellite photographs showing [that] what it says are 40,000 Russian troops massed near the Ukrainian border, along with tanks, aircraft and other hardware said to be awaiting orders from Moscow. The satellite intelligence comes as the government in Kyiv seeks to defuse tensions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian protesters seized control of government buildings that happened earlier in the week and issued demands for a vote on joining the Russian Federation. The U.N. Security Council has approved an expanded peacekeeping force of 10,000 soldiers and 1,800 police for the Central African Republic. They will become operational in September and replace the current African Union peacekeeping mission. French Ambassador Gérard Araud told reporters the African and French forces have been working hard on the ground, but the security situation remains volatile, and the authorization of new U.N. force will be a turning point. "Their mandate under Chapter 7 will focus on protection of civilians, restoration of law and order, support to humanitarian access, monitoring of human rights and fight impunity." Also at the Security Council on Thursday, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power, who visited the Central African Republic this week, said the violence [in] the country has witnessed has brought it "to the edge of disaster." India's election moved to the country's heartland on Thursday, a region that will play a critical role in deciding the political fortunes of the ruling Congress Party. Anjana Pasricha reporting now from New Delhi. Spread over 14 states and territories and covering some 110 million voters, Thursday's vote was the first big round: it will decide the fate of 91 parliamentary seats. But nowhere was it as crucial as in the populous Uttar Pradesh, where ballots were cast in the west. The north Indian state sends 80 lawmakers to the 543-member house and is famously known as the route to power in the Indian capital. Voting has been largely peaceful. But on Thursday, suspected Maoist rebels blew up a jeep, killing at least two paramilitary soldiers. Anjana Pasricha, for VOA news, New Delhi. A frontrunner in Afghanistan's presidential voting wants to see a transparent vote count in this month's election. When asked about a possible run-off, former Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah told VOA's Afghan Service on Thursday that it's more important that the process be fair and legitimate, regardless of who [the] ultimately wins the April 5 vote. Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission says more than 45 percent of ballots have been entered into its data system, and that a partial vote count can not be released until at least 20 of 34 total provinces are counted. A final tally is not expected until mid-May. The United States and Mongolia are bolstering military ties after a deal signed in Ulan Bator by [defense secretary] U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The Mongolian capital is the last stop on Secretary Hagel's 10-day Asian tour, which has also included visits to China and Japan. And search crews have detected more underwater transmissions they believe belong to the flight data recorder of the missing Malaysian jetliner. It went missing on March eighth while traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard. South African runner Oscar Pistorius returned to the witness stand in his murder trial Thursday, as prosecutors tried to portray him as self-centered in his relationship with girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Lead prosecutor Gerrie Nel focused on the apology Pistorius made when he first began his testimony this week, saying the athlete chose to make a spectacle in the courtroom rather than apologize in private. "You never thought about them. You never thought how they would feel, sitting in the public gallery of a court while you made that apology. Did you think how they would experience that, or did it only matter about Pistorius, Oscar Pistorius?" Pistorius said he did not have the chance to meet with Steenkamp's family, and that he believed they would not be able to talk to them. Nel also repeatedly accused Pistorius of not taking responsibility for being a negligent fire(arm) owner. Pistorius is on trial for murdering Steenkamp. Get more news by going to our website at voanews.com. I'm Steve Norman, VOA news in Washington. |