Ukraine Rebels Claim To Have Captured Key Town

Greece: Key Dates As Debt D-Day Looms Large

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 17 Februari 2015 | 23.12

Here are the key dates for Greece as its leaders desperately seek a way to avoid plunging the country into more finanical hardship.

:: Tuesday, 17 February

EU finance ministers meet a day after crucial talks on the fate of Greece's rescue programme ended without a deal,
increasing fears of it leaving the euro currency.

If a deal is not reached by the end of the month it is likely to run out of a money when its €240bn (£178bn) bailout ends.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras speaks to his parliamentary group at 2pm (UK time).

:: Wednesday, 18 February

Voting for a new Greek president begins.

It was delayed at the weekend after opposition from the left-wing Syriza government to front-runner Dimitris Avramopoulos.

He is a member of the conservative New Democracy party and Syriza disapproves of him as a candidate.

There is also a bi-weekly Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) meeting. The ELA is the body through which the European Central Bank (ECB) makes money available.

If the ELA decided to withdraw its support for Greece the country would be broke.

:: Friday, 20 February

Potential emergency meeting of Eurogroup finance ministers to discuss Greece and the end of the deadline.

This is the theoretical date on which Greece is due to have reached an agreement on a new bailout deal.

:: Tuesday, 24 February

€595m (£440m) of bond interest/capital due.

:: Saturday, 28 February

Greece's current European Financial Stability Facility programme expires.

It was introduced in June 2010 as a way of providing financial aid to troubled member states within the euro area.

It has so far given help to the Irish Republic, Portugal and Greece.

:: Friday, 6 March

€297m (£220m) IMF repayment due. €1.2bn (£888m) Greek treasury bill matures.

:: Friday, 13 March

€334m (£247m) IMF repayment due. €1.6bn (£1.19bn) Greek treasury bill matures.

:: Monday, 16 March

€556m (£412m) IMF repayment due.

:: Friday, 20 March

€334m (£247m) IMF repayment due. €111m (£82.2m) bond interest/capital due. €1.6bn (£1.19bn) Greek treasury bill matures.

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Greece Eyes New Deal As Deadline Approaches

Greece remains confident a new debt deal with its eurozone creditors will be achieved after crisis talks broke up without agreement in Brussels.

The country rejected a draft proposal put forward by European finance ministers that would see an extension of Greece's international bailout package following three hours of talks on Monday evening.

Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chaired the meeting, said Athens now has until Friday to request an extension or risk seeing the bailout expire at the end of the month.

If that happens the Greek state and its banks could face a looming cash crunch.

Greece's finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, said negotiations will continue, adding he has "no doubt" an agreement will be reached that would be "therapeutic to Greece and for Europe".

But he added his country will not implement recessionary measures such as pension cuts and VAT hikes.

Greece's anti-austerity Syriza government recently swept to power on a promise to scrap the bailout as it stands.

But with Greece running out of money, Maltese finance minister Edward Scicluna said the country faces "disaster" unless it extends the bailout, which is due to end on 28 February.

"Greece has to adjust, to realise the seriousness of the situation," he said.

"It all depends on the realisation by Greece of the real seriousness of the situation because time is running out."

Mr Dijsselbloem said a "positive outcome" was still possible if Greece asked for the extension by the end of the week.

He said further talks are dependent upon Greece requesting a bailout.

"Given the timelines we have... we can use this week but that is about it," he said.

"The general feeling in the Eurogroup is still that the best way forward would be for the Greek authorities to seek an extension of the programme."

Many in the financial markets think a failure to secure agreement will leave Greece little option but to leave the euro.

European stock markets fell on Tuesday in reaction to the deadlock, with Greek banks suffering losses of up to 10% in early trading, though hopes a deal will be done later reversed those losses.

Mr Varoufakis and other European finance ministers remain in Brussels for routine talks on the EU economy today though Greece is expected to dominate.

The Chancellor George Osborne arrived for the talks warning of "severe" consequences for economic recovery in Europe without a deal, saying he wanted to see "competence not chaos."

Speaking after last night's meeting, Sky's Economics Editor Ed Conway said: "The ball is once again in Greece's court. European finance ministers leaving the talks said it was now up to Greece and its prime minister and ministers to request an extension to the deal.

"Otherwise the Eurogroup are not going to continue talking and there is the real prospect increasingly of Greece either defaulting or leaving the euro.

"The big problem is that Greece is potentially going to run out of money quite soon."

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American Sniper Shooter Confesses On Tape

By Sky News US Team

The man standing trial for the murder of "American Sniper" Chris Kyle said in a videotaped confession that he was "sorry for what I've done".

Prosecutors in Texas showed the jury the confession by Eddie Ray Routh, a former Marine accused of murder in the fatal shooting of Mr Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield.

"I'm just sorry for what I've done," Routh said in the interview with Texas Ranger Danny Briley, The Dallas Morning News reported.

"If I did not take down his soul, he was going to take down mine."

At one point in the video, Routh is face down on a table.

Although he has confessed, Routh has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

The verdict hinges on whether the defence can prove Routh was insane at the time and did not know the killings at a gun range constituted a crime.

Mr Briley testified that he believed Routh knew his actions were wrong.

"He stated that he knew it was wrong to kill them, that he wished he hadn't done it," Mr Briley told the court.

Family and lawyers have described 27-year-old Routh as a troubled man with serious mental problems.

Mr Kyle and Mr Littlefield were shot on 2 February 2013 at a Texas shooting range where they had taken Routh.

Mr Kyle was a Navy SEAL who served four tours in Iraq and made more than 300 kills - the most of any US sniper.

The case, held in the small Texas town of Stephenville, has drawn intense interest, partly because of Kyle's memoir American Sniper and the Oscar-nominated film based on the book.

The film has grossed more than $300m (£195m) in North America.

Prosecutors are expected to rest their case on Tuesday.

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Oil Train Blast 'Like Atomic Bomb Went Off'

By Sky News US Team

A house has been destroyed and two towns evacuated after a train carrying 100 tankers of crude oil derailed, causing a massive explosion.

The train derailed during a snowstorm in southern West Virginia on Monday. One tanker ended up in the Kanawha River and at least 14 others exploded.

"It was a little scary. It was like an atomic bomb went off," said David McClung, who said he felt the heat from the blast at his home about a half mile up the hill.

One of the explosions sent a fireball at least 300 feet into the air, he said.

Officials evacuated hundreds of families and shut down two water treatment plants threatened by oil seeping into the river. One person was treated for potential inhalation issues, but no other injuries have been reported, according to CSX, the train company.

Hours after the accident, fires were still burning, as state emergency and environmental officials rushed to the scene about 30 miles (about 50km) southeast of Charleston.

The state has been hit by heavy snowfall but it is not clear if the weather had anything to do with the derailment, which happened along a flat stretch of track.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has issued a state of emergency.

The tanker cars were loaded with Bakken crude from North Dakota and headed to Yorktown.

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It's My Party Singer Dies In Hospital

Leslie Gore, who topped the US charts in 1963 with her song about teenage angst called It's My Party, has died.

Her hits in the early 60s also included Judy's Turn To Cry, You Don't Own Me, She's A Fool, That's The Way Boys Are and Maybe I Know.

Gore, who had cancer, died aged 68 at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan.

The American singer was discovered by Quincy Jones as a teenager and signed to Mercury Records.

She co-wrote with her brother Michael the Academy Award-nominated Out Here On My Own from the film Fame.

Gore, who was born in Brooklyn and raised in New Jersey, also played Catwoman's sidekick in the TV show Batman in 1967.

She also co-wrote My Secret Love for the film Grace Of My Heart which was released in 1996.

A couple of years later she appeared in Smokey Joe's Cafe on Broadway.

Gore had been working on a stage version of her life with playwright Mark Hampton when she died.

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Millionaire Charged With Murdering His Guard

A millionaire has been charged with murder after allegedly killing his security guard as he came home from work.

Mohammed Nisham is accused of driving his car into the guard because he was too slow opening the house gates.

The victim, K. Chandrabose, was pinned against a wall - and police believe he was then hit with an iron rod.

After spending two weeks in hospital on life support, the 50-year-old died on Monday in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

Nisham is already facing a separate court case after allowing his nine-year-old son to drive a Ferrari on a public road in 2013.

According to past police reports, he owns 18 luxury cars worth $4m (£2.6m) – including a Lamborghini and a Bentley.

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Egypt's Al Sisi Calls For UN Libya Intervention

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi has called for the UN Security Council to mandate an international intervention in Libya.

He told French radio: "There is no other choice, taking into account the agreement of the Libyan people and government and that they call on us to act."

On Monday, Egypt bombed Islamic State targets in Libya - after a video was released which showed the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by militants connected to the terror group.

Mr al Sisi also described the Libyan war of 2011 - where an international coalition including the UK supported the forces which deposed Muammar Gaddafi - as "an unfinished mission".

Urging for arms to be sent to Libya's internationally-recognised government in Tobruk, the president claimed: "We abandoned the Libyan people as prisoners to extremist militias. We will not allow them to cut off the heads of our children."

Speaking to Sky News following the retaliatory attack, Egypt's ambassador to the UK claimed there had been a collective failure to "snuff out" the organisation.

Nasser Kamel also warned the threat is "coming closer to Europe" as Islamic State, which has historically been active in Iraq and Syria, moves to Libya.

Italy has rescued thousands of migrants who have tried to escape the North African country, amid fears that terrorists could try to reach Europe by sea.

But Italy's prime minister believes a political solution remains the best option for confronting Libyan jihadists.

"What is happening is very complicated," Matteo Renzi said.

"We are following events closely and with concern but there is no need to jump from total indifference to hysteria and an unreasonable reaction."

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians remain in Libya and their foreign ministry has encouraged them to leave as soon as possible.

The former secretary-general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, told Sky News: "[Islamic State] were acting in Iraq and Syria, and now they are showing a jump into the Mediterranean and sending a message to Arab and non-Arab countries that the threat is knocking at their doors.

"That is why we have to stand firm - all of us - in the Mediterranean Basin against such an organisation."

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Ukraine Rebels Claim To Have Captured Key Town

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Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine claim they have taken the key transportation hub of Debaltseve and the epicentre of recent fighting.

Separatist leaders said in remarks carried by the rebel-supporting Donetsk News Agency that their forces pushed the Ukrainian army out of the town.

The claim comes as five Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 14 wounded in clashes between the rebels and government forces.

The rebels have declared they will begin withdrawing heavy weaponry from those areas of the frontline where the cease-fire holds, but this does not appear to include Debaltseve,

The fighting is the latest apparent breach of a fragile ceasefire under which both sides were supposed to pull heavy artillery back from the front line today.

Fighting erupted on the streets inside the town, which until now had been the scene of artillery exchanges between government troops inside and heavily-armed rebels encircling it.

But government and rebel leaders indicated they would withdraw only after the other side does so.

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Gallery: The Town At The Centre Of The Ukraine Conflict

Ukrainian armed forces take up positions near the eastern town of Debaltseve.

A ceasefire came into effect on Sunday, but fighting has continued in Debaltseve, where pro-Russian rebels claim to have surrounded thousands of Ukrainian fighters.

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Buildings damaged by fighting are pictured in the village of Nikishine, south east of Debaltsev

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A convoy of Ukrainian forces drives in the direction of the embattled town, which is a major rail and road junction northeast of the city of Donetsk.

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Pro-Russian rebels stationed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Gorlivka launch missiles towards Ukrainian forces in Debaltseve last week.

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"As soon as the militants cease fire, the Ukrainian side will begin to withdraw heavy weaponry from the frontline," said government military spokesman Anatoliy Stelmakh, who claimed his troops were pounded by the rebels overnight.

Rebel leader Andrei Purgin said the separatists were prepared to discuss withdrawing with the international group monitoring the ceasefire, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Reporting from Ukraine, Sky's Stuart Ramsay said: "Usually these ceasefires completely fall apart within three or four days because the sides are near one another and small arms are involved.

"The OSCE monitors have been trying to get into Debaltseve but so far they've been refused entry by the pro-Russia separatists.

"The rebel leadership have been talking about what they see as a moral responsibility to continue fighting to get to Debaltseve because they say it's inside their territory and not part of the ceasefire plan.

"They want that town because they've been focusing on it and believe they'll be able to get it soon."

The leaders of Ukraine, Russia and Germany discussed the cease-fire in a phone call late last night.

During the call German chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence on the separatists to ensure that they stop fighting.

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Greece: Key Dates As Debt D-Day Looms Large

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 17 Februari 2015 | 23.12

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It's My Party Singer Dies In Hospital

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Ukraine Rebels Claim To Have Captured Key Town

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