VOA NEWS

April 15, 2014

From Washington, this is VOA news. Pro-Russia demonstrators defy Ukraine's ultimatum. Dozens killed in Nigerian bomb blast. I'm Ray Kouguell reporting from Washington.



Pro-Russia demonstrators Monday defied a government deadline to vacate occupied buildings in exchange for amnesty as Ukraine's interim president threatened a military crackdown.

Dozens of protesters smashed windows of the police headquarters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Horlivka and scuffled with police as they took control of the facility.

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged President Obama to discourage the Ukrainian government from using force against the protesters.

During a phone conversation Monday with Mr. Obama, the Russian leader denied claims of Russian agents' involvement in the protests, calling them "speculations based on unreliable information.'



Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah fighters recaptured the ancient Christian town of Maaloula from anti-government rebels.

Monday's government capture of that city came surely after that of Al-Sarkha, another town near Syria's border with Lebanon.



A report from the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights finds widespread and systematic use of torture and detention facilities in Syria. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.

A U.N. report describes conditions of detention in some Syrian government-run facilities as absolutely horrific, with dozens of people crammed into a tiny cell, forced to use one hole as a toilet. U.N. investigators say some detainees are subjected to physical, mental and sexual torture, which often leaves the victims permanently scarred. They say some have died.

U.N. investigators say torture by armed opposition groups appears to be on the rise since 2013, particularly in Al-Raqqa in northern Syria. But they say torture is not committed by all armed groups, and when it occurs it is sporadic and not systematic as is the case with the government.

Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.



An apparent car bombing in a Nigerian bus station killed at least 71 people and wounded more than 120 others Monday.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan visited the bus terminal on the outskirts of the capital, Abuja, several hours after the bomb exploded during Monday morning rush hour.

He suggested Islamist militant group Boko Haram was behind the blast, although there has been no claim of responsibility. VOA's Heather Murdock has more.

Shortly before 7:00 a.m. Monday morning, taxi driver Joseph Suleiman was driving into the city for work. He was about a half a kilometer from Nyanya Motor Park when the bomb exploded.

"We were inside the car. We heard the bomb blast and my car was shaking. Everybody, we were totally confused."

They were confused, he says, because there hasn't been an attack in the Nigerian capital in two years. Suleiman says he saw scores of badly injured people as he passed the bus depot.

Some officials say despite nearly a year of emergency rule in three northeastern Nigerian states, the Boko Haram insurgency is growing.

Heather Murdock, for VOA news, Abuja.



The head of the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 says an Australian ship will deploy an unmanned mini-sub "as soon as possible" to determine if signals detected by sound-locating equipment were from the missing jet.

Angus Houston, who heads Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Center, says the small sub will use sonar to chart any debris in the search for the plane's flight recorders on the floor of the Indian Ocean.

The Boeing 777 with 239 people on board vanished March eighth during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.



A jury has been chosen in New York City terrorism trial of an Egyptian-born Islamic cleric.

Eight men and four women were picked to hear evidence in the U.S. government's case against Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri.

Abu Hamza is charged with conspiring with al-Qaeda to set up a jihadist training camp in the western U.S. state of Oregon in 1999. He is also accused of raising money to send militants to train in Afghanistan and with providing support to militants in Yemen who kidnapped 16 tourists in 1998. Four were killed during the Yemeni military's rescue attempt.



Prosecutors say there is now enough evidence to warrant hate-crimes charges in the shooting spree that killed three people Sunday at a Jewish community center and Jewish retirement complex in the central U.S. state of Kansas.

Police have arrested Frazier Glenn Cross, a longtime white supremacist and Ku Klux Klan member, in connection with those shootings.



I'm Ray Kouguell, VOA new. Details on these and other stories at voanews.com.