Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday approved a series of joint military exercises with NATO countries that would put US troops in direct proximity to Russian forces in the annexed Crimea peninsula.

"This is a good opportunity to develop our armed forces," acting defence minister Mykhailo Koval told Verkhovna Rada lawmakers ahead of the 235-0 vote.

The decision came as NATO foreign ministers gathered in Brussels for a two-day meeting dominated by concern over the recent buildup of Russian forces near Crimea that US officials estimate had at one point reached about 40,000 troops.

NATO has sought to reinforce its eastern frontier after Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula and amid concerns about Kremlin's emboldened foreign policy.

Russia on Monday reported pulling back a battalion of about 500 to 700 soldiers from the border region in a move that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called "a small sign that the situation is becoming less tense".

Ukraine is not a NATO member and its new Western-backed leaders have vowed not to push for closer relations with the Brussels-based military alliance -- a bloc that has been viewed with deep mistrust by Moscow since the Cold War.

But the ex-Soviet nation did form a "distinctive partnership" with the Alliance in 1997 and has been staging joint exercises with its state members ever since.

The exercises approved on Tuesday would see Ukraine conduct two sets of military exercises with the United States this summer -- Rapid Trident and Sea Breeze -- that have prompted disquiet in Russia in previous years.

Ukraine is planning two additional manoeuvres with NATO member Poland as well as joint ground operations with Moldova and Romania.

The Sea Breeze exercises have particularly irritated Moscow because they had on occasion been staged in Crimea -- the home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

Those manoeuvres have in more recent years been moved to the Black Sea port of Odessa where Ukraine also has a naval base.

An explanatory note accompanying the Tuesday bill says that the naval section of Sea Breeze would this time be conducted over a 25-day span between July and October out of two Odessa ports and "along the waters of the Black Sea".

Top Line

Oil is complicated business.

A new documentary juxtaposes the story of a U.S. oil company in its venture to reap profit from an oil field it discovered off the coast of Ghana with the tale of Nigeria’s deeply corrupt oil industry. In telling the story, “Big Men” director Rachel Boynton takes her audience from the boardroom negotiations of U.S.-based Kosmos Energy to the boats of militant groups in Nigeria, as they try to claim a piece of the Niger Delta’s vast petroleum riches.

“It isn't just outright condemning the oil companies and I'm not saying they're saints either but it is portraying a complicated situation,” Boynton told “Top Line.”

Obtaining access to Kosmos Energy, Boynton said, was the most challenging hurdle in creating the film.

“Oil companies are not known for opening up their doors and inviting in independent filmmakers,” she said, explaining that she ultimately gained the confidence of the company’s executive Brian Maxted.

“I had approached them before they drilled their first well as a company, and they didn't respond to me,” she said. “And then I filmed with Brian Maxted … and shortly thereafter they drilled their first well as a company in 2007, and with that well they discovered this massive oil field off Ghana, which is now known as the Jubilee field, and so I approached Brian and I said ‘listen, I think there's a movie here.’”

The movie follows Kosmos chief executive James Musselman as he travels to Ghana to solidify a partnership with the Ghana government and courts the goodwill of the necessary political players. In one scene, Musselman pays his respects to the Ashanti king, bringing along a generous supply of alcohol.

“It's actually quite normal,” Boynton said, explaining that she was also expected to bring schnapps to the chief of any village she visited as a filmmaker. “But as a scene, it does give you the sense of the cultural disconnect.”

In comparing Ghana’s budding oil industry with the Nigeria’s corrupt Delta, Boynton said it became apparent to her that the U.S. government had very limited “on-the-ground knowledge” of the deteriorated and volatile security situation in the Delta.

“The State Department did not allow its employees to go to the Delta,” she said. “And at the time it struck me, how in the world are they supposed to know what's going on if they're not allowed to visit?”

For more of the interview with Boynton, and to learn more about the making of “Big Men,” now playing in theaters, check out this episode of “Top Line.”

ABC News’ Betsy Klein, Alexandra Dukakis, Gary Westphalen, and Tom Thornton contributed to this episode.

ABC News’ John Bullard and Vicki Vennell assisted in production.

Seoul (AFP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has warned of a "very grave" situation on the Korean peninsula, where a surge in military tensions has seen the two Koreas trade artillery fire and Pyongyang threaten a new nuclear test.

In a meeting with top military leaders on Tuesday, Kim blamed Washington and Seoul for the current frictions, saying they had trampled on peace overtures from Pyongyang.

"The current situation is very grave," Kim was quoted as saying by the North's official KCNA news agency on Wednesday.

Kim, the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army (KPA), told his most senior officers that despite the North's conciliatory gestures, South Korea and the United States had pushed ahead with joint military drills that Pyongyang views as rehearsals for an invasion.

"The United States and other hostile forces, ignoring our magnanimity and goodwill, are viciously stepping up their manoeuvres in order to annihilate our republic politically, isolate it economically and crush it militarily," he said.

The North Korean military and people will never tolerate the "US policy of hostility" and will "crush it thoroughly", Kim added.

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Map showing the area where North and South Korea exchanged shells Monday (AFP Photo/)

The rhetoric seemed largely aimed at a domestic audience and Kim's more combative remarks were not translated in the English version of the KCNA dispatch.

Just one month ago, inter-Korean relations appeared to be enjoying something of a thaw.

In February the two rivals held rare, high-level talks, after which they held the first reunion in more than three years for families divided by the 1950-53 Korean War.

Even when the annual South Korean-US military exercises began at the end of February, the protests from Pyongyang were relatively muted, and there was talk of further high-level meetings and greater cooperation.

But the mood soon soured, and recent weeks have seen North Korea conduct a series of rocket and missile tests, culminating last month in the test-firing of two medium-range ballistic missiles capable of striking Japan.

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A crashed drone found by South Korea on March 31, 2014 on Baengnyeong island near the disputed water …

On Monday, North Korea conducted a live-fire drill along the disputed maritime border. After some shells crossed the boundary, South Korea responded and the two sides fired hundreds of artillery rounds into each other's territorial waters.

The exchange of fire came the day after North Korea sounded an ominous warning that it might carry out a "new" type of nuclear test -- a possible reference to testing a uranium-based device or a miniaturised warhead small enough to fit on a ballistic missile.

Although South Korean intelligence reports say there are no signs of an imminent test, analysts note that the North is treading a familiar path that has previously ended in an underground bunker.

"The most disturbing possibility is that recent steps might conform with a pattern: missile test, UN condemnation, nuclear threat, nuclear test," said Stephan Haggard, professor at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego.

The UN Security Council condemned the North's mid-range missile launches -- a violation of UN resolutions prohibiting North Korean ballistic missile tests -- and said it would consider "appropriate" action.

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A South Korean Marine stands on a beach as amphibious assault vehicles approach shore during a joint …

That could include asking the council's North Korean Sanctions Committee to consider expanding its list of designated individuals and entities.

"That step would provide an excuse –- if one were needed –- for a fourth nuclear test," Haggard wrote in a regular blog post.

North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests -- in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

Last year's was by far the largest and prompted speculation that the North may already have switched to testing a uranium device rather than plutonium.

A basic uranium bomb is no more potent than a basic plutonium one, but the uranium path holds various advantages for the North, which has substantial deposits of uranium ore.

A uranium enrichment programme is easy to hide. It does not need a reactor like plutonium, and can be carried out using centrifuge cascades in relatively small buildings that give off no heat and are hard to detect.

North Korea revealed it was enriching uranium in 2010 when it allowed foreign experts to visit a centrifuge facility at its Yongbyon nuclear complex.

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber wearing a military uniform killed six police officers Wednesday inside the heavily fortified Interior Ministry compound in the heart of Kabul, authorities said, the latest in a wave of violence as the Taliban threatens to disrupt this weekend's presidential election.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said the death toll rose from four to six as investigators reached the site of the explosion.

The bomber walked through several checkpoints to reach the ministry gate before detonating his explosives. An Interior Ministry statement said the bomber was among other men in uniform entering the compound.

Within minutes of the blast, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack. It came soon after he issued a statement to journalists warning of more violence ahead of Saturday's presidential elections.

Witness Mohammad Karim, who was walking toward the gate to leave the compound, said he was blown back by the force of the blast. Police then rushed him and others into a safe room.

Baryalai, a police officer who only gave one name as is common among Afghans, said the blast occurred near a bank that is close to the entrance gate. Police officers collect their paychecks at the bank.

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Afghan police men arrive after a suicide bomber wearing a military uniform struck the entrance gate …

In Mujahid's earlier warning, he told Afghans to stay away from Saturday's vote, saying election workers and polling centers would be targeted. The Interior Ministry primarily has responsibility for securing the elections. Several recent high-profile attacks also have threatened to undermine the results by scaring voters away.

Earlier Wednesday, an Afghan official said Taliban gunmen killed nine people, including a candidate running for a seat in the provincial council, who had been abducted in northern Afghanistan.

The governor of Sar-i-Pul province, Abdul Jabar Haqbeen, said authorities received word that the candidate, Hussain Nazari, and the others were killed overnight by their abductors. They were seized by the Taliban three days ago while traveling to the provincial capital.

No group has claimed responsibility.

Haqbeen says they recovered four bodies and one man who was wounded, while the five other bodies, including the candidate's, are in a remote area and have yet to be found.

Haqbeen says authorities were told that Nazari and two others were beheaded.

___

Associated Press writer Amir Shah contributed to this report.

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Six police officers are dead after a suicide bomber attacks a key area in Kabul, an official said.
Taliban claims responsibility

Blasts at Cairo University kill two: security officials

By Stephen Kalin

CAIRO (Reuters) - A series of explosions outside Cairo University killed two people on Wednesday, including a police brigadier-general, in what appeared to be a militant attack targeting security forces.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Islamist militants have carried out many similar operations against police and soldiers since the army ousted President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July after mass protests against him.

The fast-growing insurgency threatens the security of the most populous Arab nation ahead of a presidential election in May - as well as the vital tourist industry on which Egypt relies for revenue.

Two bombs, left among trees outside the university, killed the police officer and wounded five other security forces who had been guarding the facility, the ministry said.

Shortly afterwards, a third blast killed one person, four security officials said.

People screamed and ran for safety after the attacks as panic spread on the streets and on campus in an upmarket area near the zoo in Giza, a Reuters witness said. Police found a fourth bomb in the area.

"We expect trouble for the long term. How can the police protect us when they can't even protect themselves. It is not possible," said student Mohamed Abdel Aziz outside Cairo University after the explosions.

Responding to Wednesday's violence, Egypt's presidential spokesman Ahmed al-Muslimani said: "Terrorist groups want Egyptian universities to be known for chaos and bloodshed instead of for modernity and civilisation."

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People stand near a damaged car after explosions near Cairo University April 2, 2014. REUTERS/Al You …

Video footage online showed a cloud of smoke hovering above a tree-lined roundabout. A loud blast is heard moments later.

Members of the security forces clad in black uniforms are shown moving away from the suspected site of the explosions and then advancing towards it with their weapons drawn.

Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the video, which was released by El-Youm el-Sabaa newspaper.

ELECTION FEARS

Bombings and shootings targeting the security forces have become commonplace in Egypt since the army deposed Mursi. The government this week put the death toll from such attacks at nearly 500 people, most of them soldiers and police.

Analysts predict that militants will escalate violence before the May 26-27 presidential election that is expected to be easily won by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who toppled Mursi.

Widely seen as Egypt's de facto leader since he deposed Mursi, Sisi enjoys backing from supporters who see him as Egypt's saviour who can end the political turmoil and bring prosperity to the country.

But he is viewed by the Islamist opposition as the mastermind of a coup that ignited the worst internal strife in Egypt's modern history.

It will be the second time Egyptians have voted in a presidential election in less than two years.

But in contrast to the 2012 vote won by Mursi, this election follows a fierce government crackdown on dissent that has included both Islamists and secular-minded democracy activists.

Thousands of Brotherhood supporters have been detained and killed in mass protests and clashes with police since Mursi was deposed. Last week more than 500 were sentenced to death in a mass hearing condemned by rights groups and Western governments.

The Brotherhood, Egypt's best organised political party until last year, has been banned, driven underground and declared a terrorist group by the government.

The movement says it is committed to peaceful activism. Senior Brotherhood politician Amr Darrag condemned the violence at Cairo University on his Twitter site and said it showed the clear failure of the security forces to protect Egyptians.

Tackling Islamist insurgents based in the Sinai Peninsula will be a far more daunting task for security forces. They have shown their ability to carry out nearly daily attacks despite army offensives against strongholds.

The attacks have spread from the largely lawless Sinai to Cairo and other cities, rattling Egyptians who have longed for security since a popular uprising ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

While the militants are not expected to seize power, their campaign could weaken the government by dealing a major blow to the economy. Tourism, a vital source of hard currency, has been hit hard by the bloodshed.

(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Series of explosions set off near Cairo University

Three blasts hit close to the main campus of the school, killing at least two and injuring seven others, Egyptian TV says.
Police targeted