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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
5/25/2014 11:00:10 AM

Ukraine election draws high turnout, voters blocked in fearful east

Reuters

As poll workers scramble to prep for Sunday's presidential election, fear is keeping some voters from heading to the polls. Nathan Frandino reports.


By Pavel Polityuk and Sabina Zawadzki

KIEV/DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukrainians voted on Sunday in a presidential election billed as the most important since they won their independence from Moscow 23 years ago, but armed pro-Russian separatists disrupted voting in eastern regions of the former Soviet republic.

Early signs pointed to a high turnout in sunny weather in an election where the main candidates, including front-runner Petro Poroshenko, a confectionery magnate, are promising closer ties with the West in defiance of Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

But the absence of over 15 percent of the electorate, in Russian-annexed Crimea and two eastern regions where fighting with pro-Moscow rebels continued on Saturday, may mar any result - and leave the Kremlin questioning the victor's legitimacy, for all Putin's new pledge to respect the people's will.

Voting began in most of Ukraine at 8 a.m. (1 a.m. EDT) and will end 12 hours later, when exit polls will indicate a result ahead of an official outcome on Monday.

Only about 20 percent of the polling stations in the heavily industrialized, Russian-speaking Donetsk region, which has 3.3 million registered voters, were working as of 9:30 a.m. (2.30 a.m. EDT), authorities said. None were open in the city of Donetsk.

"These are extremely important elections. We have to make sure Ukraine becomes a truly independent country, a powerful independent state that nobody will be able to push around," said pensioner Mikhailo Belyk, 65, casting his ballot at a crowded polling station in a southeast district of the capital Kiev.

Sounding an equally upbeat note, businessman Viktor Sypchenko, 45, said: "I am voting for my children and their future. I hope we can break free from our awful past."

The picture emerging in the east was more confused. European election monitors have largely pulled out of the Donetsk region for their own safety, citing a campaign of "terror" by pro-Russian separatists against Ukrainian electoral officials.

'THINGS ARE BAD'

At a school in a Donetsk suburb, pensioner Grigory Nikitayich, 72, was unhappy about being denied the right to vote for Poroshenko. "I don't even know where I can vote. No one has said anything. What kind of polls are these? Things are bad."

Others also complained of being prevented from voting, in some cases because ballot papers had not been delivered due to security concerns after at least 20 people were killed in the region during fighting over recent days.

Polls make Poroshenko, known as the "chocolate king" because of his confectionery empire, overwhelming favorite to win Sunday's election. The biggest question is whether he can take over 50 percent to win outright. If not, a run-off vote will be held on June 15.

He was a strong backer of the protests against Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich last winter and has sought a quick victory by warning that new unrest might prevent a second round.

His closest, if distant, rival is Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister. She remains a divisive figure to many, more closely linked than Poroshenko with the economic failures and graft that have blighted post-Soviet Ukraine.

"It is time to hold a referendum on joining NATO to restore peace in Ukraine," said Tymoshenko after voting in her native city of Dnipropetrovsk in central Ukraine. Russia is fiercely opposed to Ukraine joining the Western military alliance.

As Yanukovich's fiercest rival, Tymoshenko may benefit from the fact that few of the 5 million voters in his eastern power base regions of Donetsk and Luhansk may be able to cast ballots for any of the 21 candidates.

Interim Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk urged Ukrainians to hand the new president a strong mandate to forge closer ties with the European Union and move Ukraine away from a "grey zone of lawlessness and dark forces that dream of suffocating us and into ... a place where it is easier to breathe".

The West has backed the interim government since mass street protests toppled Moscow-backed Yanukovich in February.

But Russia characterized the protests as a "fascist coup". Citing the need to defend Ukraine's large Russian-speaking population, it seized Crimea and backed the separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The West hopes that a new leader in Kiev can help resolve a confrontation with Russia that has sparked military buildups east and west of Ukraine and raised fears of a new Cold War.

Putin pledged on Saturday to "respect" the people's choice and work with Ukraine's new administration - a conciliatory move during an economic forum at which he had acknowledged that U.S. and EU sanctions over Ukraine were hurting the Russian economy.

But he defended his annexation of Crimea in March as a response to the democratic will of the majority ethnic Russian population there. Kiev and its Western allies accuse Moscow of a propaganda war to sow fear among Russian-speakers in eastern and southern Ukraine of "fascist" Ukrainian nationalists and of supporting rebel forces who have seized many towns in the east.

Two weeks ago, separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions ran referendums they said let them break from Kiev and opened a way to possibly following Crimea into union with Russia - though Moscow denies any plan to seize any more Ukrainian territory.

Opinion polls before the last few months of violence showed disillusion with Kiev's politicians in the east but limited appetite for outright secession.

Putin played down talk of a return to Cold War with the West and dismissed the idea he was bent on restoring the former USSR, whose collapse he has in the past lamented.

Washington and its EU allies are concerned that while Russia may accept the election result, it may use influence in eastern Ukraine to undermine the new president's authority and keep the country beholden to Moscow. Russian officials have questioned the value of holding the vote when the east is in "civil war".

NEW BEGINNING?

A territory on a par with France and with 45 million people, Ukraine is the second most populous ex-Soviet state and plays a pivotal role in relations between Russia and the EU.

Large volumes of Russian natural gas flow across it to Germany and other consumers, creating mutual dependencies that complicate diplomatic calculations on all sides of the conflict.

The inheritor of a patchwork of regions ruled not only from Moscow but by Poland, Austria and others, Ukraine's mix of Russian and Ukrainian speakers as well as ethnic minorities have struggled to forge a common national purpose. But polls consistently show a majority in favor of independence.

Since the 2004 "Orange Revolution" that kept Yanukovich from power, Ukrainians of all stripes have been disappointed with a decade of economic drift and graft that won them the dubious distinction of being named Europe's most corrupt country. Their hopes for a fresh start are pinned on Sunday's vote.

Few of the leading candidate are new faces, however.

Both Poroshenko and Tymoshenko played leading roles in the administrations that preceded Yanukovich's defeat of Tymoshenko in the 2010 election. Poroshenko, now a burly 48-year-old, later held a cabinet post for a time under Yanukovich.

Both became wealthy in the anarchic post-Soviet 1990s, Poroshenko, now worth $1.3 billion according to Forbes, through his candy and chocolate empire, Tymoshenko as the "gas princess" involved in the trade and transit of Russian natural gas.

After the Orange Revolution, when he was head of the National Security Council and she prime minister, the two traded

accusations of corruption. Tymoshenko, 53, was jailed in 2011 for corrupt gas deals with Russia but was released when Yanukovich was toppled and her record cleared.

(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Mariupol, Gareth Jones, Alastair Macdonald and Yvonne Bell in Kiev; Writing by Gareth Jones and Alastair Macdonald Editing by Ron Popeski and Jason Neely)


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Most voters likely will endorse Ukraine’s government, but many polling stations in the east remain shut.
'Chocolate king' favored



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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
5/25/2014 11:11:18 AM
Pope's visit to Bethlehem

Pope: Israel-Palestinian stalemate 'unacceptable'

Associated Press

Pope Francis prays at Israel's separation barrier on his way to a mass in Manger Square next to the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Sunday, May 25, 2014. Francis called the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate "unacceptable" as he landed Sunday in the West Bank town of Bethlehem in a symbolic nod to Palestinian aspirations for their own state. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)


BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Pope Francis landed Sunday in the cradle of Christianity in a symbolic nod to Palestinian aspirations for their own state, calling the stalemate in peace talks "unacceptable" and stopping briefly to pray at the Israeli separation barrier surrounding this biblical West Bank town.

Jubilant Palestinians cheered Francis on the second day of his Mideast pilgrimage as he arrived for Mass in Bethlehem's Manger Square, shouting "Viva al-Baba!" or "Long live the pope!" Giant Palestinian flags in red, white, green and black and the Vatican's yellow-and-white flags decorated the square, which is home to the Church of the Nativity, built over Jesus' traditional birth grotto.

A smaller crowd waving Vatican flags also surrounded Francis as he made a brief stop en route to the square at the Israeli separation barrier surrounding three sides of Bethlehem. Francis got out of his open-topped car and bowed his head in silent prayer before the massive concrete wall that Israel says is necessary for its security and the Palestinians say has stifled life in Bethlehem and engulfed land across the West Bank.

Previous popes always came to the West Bank after first arriving in Tel Aviv, Israel. Francis, however, landed at a Bethlehem helipad from Jordan aboard a Jordanian helicopter and immediately headed into an official welcoming ceremony and meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Standing alongside Abbas, Francis declared: "The time has come to put an end to this situation which has become increasingly unacceptable."

He said both sides needed to make sacrifices to create two states, with internationally recognized borders, based on mutual security and rights for everyone.

"The time has come for everyone to find the courage to be generous and creative in the service of the common good," he said, urging both sides to refrain from any actions that would derail peace.

In his remarks, Abbas voiced his concerns about the recent breakdown in U.S.-backed peace efforts and lamented the difficult conditions facing the Palestinians. He also expressed hope for peace.

"Your visit is loaded with symbolic meaning as a defender of the poor and the marginalized," he said.

Abbas listed a series of complaints against Israel, including continued settlement construction, the plight of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, Israel's control of east Jerusalem — the Palestinians' would-be capital — and Israel's construction of the "ugly wall" that encircles Bethlehem.

"We welcome any initiative from you to make peace a reality in the Holy Land," Abbas said. "I am addressing our neighbors — the Israelis. We are looking for the same thing that you are looking for, which is safety, security and stability."

Security was lax by papal standards, even for a pope who has shunned the armored popemobile that his predecessors used on foreign trips.

When Francis went to Brazil last year, a half-dozen or more bodyguards jogged alongside his open-topped car anytime he went out. With the crowds smaller in Bethlehem, only two bodyguards stood on the back of Francis' vehicle keeping watch as Palestinian police kept the crowd at bay. Francis waved and warmly smiled as his car made its way through the crowd in Manger Square, at one point holding a child passed up to him.

Palestinian officials have hailed Francis' decision to arrive first in Bethlehem, rather than Tel Aviv, and to refer to the "state of Palestine." In its official program, the Vatican referred to Abbas as the president of the "state of Palestine," and his Bethlehem office as the "presidential palace."

"The fact that he is coming straight from Jordan to Bethlehem, without going through Israel," is a tacit recognition of a Palestinian state, said Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian Christian who is a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization.

In November 2012, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly recognized a "state of Palestine" in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — lands Israel captured in the 1967 war — as a non-member observer. The recognition still has little meaning on the ground, with Israel remaining in full control of east Jerusalem, which it annexed in 1967, and the West Bank.

Israel objects to the Palestinian campaign, saying it is an attempt to bypass negotiations.

In addition to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Francis also sought to encourage Palestinian Christians, whose numbers have dwindled as the conflict drags on.

Currently, Christians are roughly 2 percent of the population of the Holy Land, down from about 10 percent at the time of Israel's establishment in 1948. In Bethlehem, they are less than one third of the population, down from 75 percent a few decades ago.

"I want the pope to see the situation of the Christians," said Salib Safar, 23, who studies hotel management in Bethlehem and was in Manger Square for Sunday's Mass. "The wall (separation barrier), the occupation, the pressure on our lives."

Francis acknowledged the Palestinian Christian hardship and in his homily sought to encourage the younger generations with a strong plea for children around the globe to be protected and defended from war, poverty, disease and exile as refugees.

"All too many children continue to be exploited, maltreated, enslaved, prey to violence and illicit trafficking," he said, a mural depicting the Nativity scene with the baby Jesus wrapped in the black-and-white checkered Palestinian headdress behind him. "Today in acknowledging this, we feel shame before God."

After Mass, Francis was to lunch with Palestinian families and visit a Palestinian refugee camp before arriving at Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion airport.

At the start of his weekly Cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the pope's visit "an opportunity to present to the world the real Israel — the advanced, modern, tolerant Israel." He said Israel guaranteed freedom of religion for all faiths.

About 8,000 police officers deployed in Jerusalem and 320 closed-circuit surveillance cameras monitored Jerusalem's old city, said Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. Early Sunday, police arrested 26 Israelis for throwing stones at police officers and causing disturbances at a Jerusalem holy site where the pope will celebrate Mass at the end of his trip.

Rosenfeld said 150 religious Jews demonstrated to protest rumors that Israel will transfer control of the site to the Vatican. Catholics believe the site is the location of the Last Supper of Jesus, while it is revered by devout Jews as the burial spot of King David.

___

Winfield reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nwinfield.


Pope: Israel-Palestinian stalemate 'unacceptable'


His visit to the West Bank is seen as a symbolic nod to Palestinians' aspirations for their own state.
A controversial barrier


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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
5/25/2014 11:19:26 AM

Thai coup official: Democracy caused 'losses'

Associated Press

An anti-coup protester cries as she asks a Thai soldier to go away during a demonstration in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 25, 2014. The top general in Thailand's ruling junta warned people Sunday not to join anti-coup street protests, saying normal democratic principles cannot be applied at the time, as troops fanned out in central Bangkok to prevent rallies.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)


BANGKOK (AP) — A spokesman for Thailand's coup leaders said Sunday that democracy had caused "losses" for the country, as the junta sought to combat growing international condemnation and hundreds of protesters angrily confronted soldiers in central Bangkok.

Small protests have persisted since the army seized power on Thursday after months of conflict between the elected government and a fierce opposition protest movement, and the junta has been pleading for patience.

Troops fanned out Sunday in one of Bangkok's busiest shopping districts and blocked access to the city's Skytrain in an attempt to prevent a third day of anti-coup protests. They were soon met by a crowd that swelled to about 1,000 people shouting, "Get out, get out, get out!"

Tensions ran high, and at one point a group of soldiers was chased away by the crowds at the Ratchaprasong shopping district. By midafternoon, soldiers were blocking off elevated walkways linking the upscale malls, and Skytrain stops to the area were suspended. Soldiers also barricaded the road to the U.S. Embassy about 2 kilometers (1 mile) away on reports that a rally was planned there.

The junta's leader, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, had warned people earlier Sunday not to join anti-coup street protests, saying normal democratic principles cannot be applied.

At a press briefing, spokesmen for the junta sought to deflect international criticism. The United States has cut off foreign aid and canceled military exercises with Thailand since the coup. Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said the U.S. also was reconsidering its long military relationship with the Southeast Asian country.

The U.S. State Department on Saturday urged "the immediate restoration of civilian rule and release of detained political leaders, a return to democracy through early elections, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms."

Asked about the U.S. relationship, the junta spokesmen expressed hope that Washington might consider what they termed special circumstances, referring to several years of disruptive demonstrations by two bitterly divided factions that have several times paralyzed the country and led to violent clashes.

"For international issues, another difference is that democracy in Thailand has resulted in losses, which is definitely different from other countries and which is another detail we will clarify," said army spokesman Col. Winthai Suvaree.

"For Thailand, its circumstances are different from others," he said. "There is the use of weapons of war. Signs of violence against residents are everywhere. This is out of the ordinary."

The junta has defended the detentions of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, most of the deposed government's Cabinet and dozens of politicians and activists. It also has ordered dozens of outspoken activists, academics and journalists, including a prominent Thai reporter, to surrender themselves to military authorities.

Pravit Rojanaphruk, an outspoken columnist for the English-language daily The Nation, tweeted that he was reporting to the junta after being summoned. "On my way to see the new dictator of Thailand. Hopefully the last," he wrote.

Gen. Prayuth has justified the coup by saying the army had to act to avert violence and end half a year of political turmoil triggered by anti-government protests that killed 28 people and injured more than 800.

The protests were part of a cycle of dueling demonstrations between supporters of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — Yingluck's brother, who himself was ousted in a 2006 military coup — and staunch opponents with support of Thailand's traditional establishment.

The intractable divide plaguing the country today is part of an increasingly precarious power struggle between an elite, conservative minority backed by powerful businessmen and staunch royalists based in Bangkok and the south that can no longer win elections, and the political machine of Thaksin and his supporters in the rural north who backed him because of populist policies such as virtually free health care.

Parties allied with Thaksin have won every election in Thailand since 2001. The government deposed Thursday rose to power in a landslide election in 2011 that was deemed fair, and Yingluck served as prime minister until she was forced from office earlier this month by a controversial court verdict for abuse of power, which she denies.

The government had insisted for months that Thailand's fragile democracy was under attack from protesters, the courts and, finally, the army, which together had rendered it powerless.

The army launched the coup after ordering two days of brief peace talks last week in which the country's political rivals failed to end their deadlock. Since November, anti-government protesters had been calling for the army to intervene and support their bid to overthrow the government, which they accused of corruption.

The turbulence has played out against a backdrop of fears about the future of Thailand's monarchy. Thaksin's critics have accused him of disrespecting ailing King Bhumibol Adulyadej and trying to gain influence with Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, the heir to the throne.

The king, who is 86, has been silent on the crisis.






Democracy had caused "losses" for the country, a spokesman for the country's coup leaders says.
'This is out of the ordinary'




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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
5/25/2014 4:47:34 PM
Ukraine election begins

Ukraine holds presidential vote; rebels block it

Associated Press

An elderly woman casts her vote in the presidential election in the eastern town of Krasnoarmeisk, Ukraine, Sunday, May 25, 2014. Ukraine's critical presidential election got underway Sunday under the wary scrutiny of a world eager for stability in a country rocked by a deadly uprising in the east. While there were no immediate reports of violence, pro-Russia insurgents were trying to block voting by snatching ballot boxes and patrolling polling stations.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)


KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Long lines snaked around polling stations in Kiev for Ukraine's crucial presidential election Sunday in stark contrast to the country's troubled east, where heavily armed pro-Russia rebels intimidated voters by smashing ballot boxes and blocking voting centers.

Sunday's ballot is taking place despite weeks of fighting in the sprawling eastern regions that form Ukraine's industrial heartland, where pro-Russia insurgents have seized government buildings, battled government troops and vowed to disrupt the ballot.

The election, which authorities in Kiev hoped would unify the divided nation, came three months after the country's pro-Russia leader fled, chased from power by months of protests over corruption and his decision to reject a pact with the European Union and forge closer ties with Moscow.

Yet the question of who was able to vote Sunday loomed large over the democratic process. Some 35.5 million Ukrainians were eligible to vote, but separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk regions — which have 5.1 million voters — have vowed to stop the vote.

Military operations at least appeared to halt for the day but little voting was taking place in the east: The regional administration in Donetsk said only 426 of 2,430 polling stations in the region were open Sunday, and none in the city of Donetsk, which has 1 million people. There was no voting in the city of Luhansk either, but some stations appeared to be open in the Luhansk region, according to local officials.

Polls have shown 48-year old billionaire candy-maker Petro Poroshenko far ahead of the other 20 candidates, but short of the absolute majority needed to win in the first round, so a runoff is expected June 15.

"I am convinced that this election must finally bring peace to Ukraine, stop lawlessness, stop chaos, stop bandit terror in the east," Poroshenko said after casting his ballot in Kiev, where many people wore the traditional embroidered shirts that have become a symbol of Ukrainian patriotism.

"People with weapons must be removed from Ukrainian streets, Ukrainian villages and cities," Poroshenko said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to "respect the choice of the Ukrainian people" and said he would work with the winner, in an apparent bid to ease Russia's worst crisis in relations with the West since the Cold War and to avoid a new round of Western sanctions.

Many voters appreciate Poroshenko's pragmatism and his apparent knack for compromise, making him stand out in a political environment long dominated by intransigent figures. Poroshenko strongly backs closer ties with the EU, but also speaks about the need to normalize ties with Russia.

"He is a very smart man who can work hard compared to others, and he is also a businessman and knows that compromises are necessary even if unpleasant," said 55-year old Kiev teacher Larisa Kirichenko, who also voiced hope that Poroshenko will negotiate a peaceful solution in the east.

The long lines at some Kiev polling stations indicated a solid turnout. Overall, about 40 percent of the nation's eligible voters cast their ballot by 3 p.m., the Ukrainian Election Commission said.

Poroshenko's nearest challenger is Yulia Tymoshenko, the charismatic and divisive former prime minister. The 53-year-old blond-braided heroine of the 2004 Orange Revolution, who spent 2 1/2 years in prison on abuse of office charges denounced as political by the West, is still admired by many for her energy and will, but detested by others over her role in political infighting that weakened the country.

Tymoshenko said after casting her ballot that Ukraine must join the European Union and NATO.

"I am convinced that Ukraine can be strong, happy and prosperous if it becomes a member of the European Union," she said. "It is time to conduct a referendum on NATO membership in order to bring peace back to the country."

Vladislav Golub, a 31-year old lawyer, said he voted for Tymoshenko because "Ukraine must stop being an oligarchic state and be part of Europe, instead of serving the interests of the Russian Federation."

The interim Kiev government and the West have accused Russia of backing the separatist uprising after it annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March. Moscow has denied the accusations.

Ukraine and the rest of the world have not accepted Moscow's annexation of Crimea so residents there who wanted to vote were allowed to travel to other areas in Ukraine. It was not clear how many were doing so.

Ukrainian election officials said they have received as little as 26 percent of the election registers for the Donetsk region and 16 percent for the Luhansk region. Ukraine's deputy interior minister, Serhiy Yarovyi, said police are ready to ensure security at polling stations in just nine of the 34 electoral districts in the east.

In the center of Donetsk, a team of insurgents was visiting polling stations Sunday to make sure they were closed. At one station, Vyacheslav Kucher, 36, tested the front door and gave a thumbs-up sign after finding it locked.

"I am checking to see everything is normal, to see that there is no nonsense, so this junta doesn't come to power," Kucher said.

Outside the Donetsk regional administration building, which has been occupied by government opponents since early April, a group of masked men drove up carrying confiscated ballot boxes and made a show of smashing them in front of a journalist's camera.

One polling station in Donetsk opened but minutes later a group of gunmen arrived and forced the election commission out, its chief, Nadia Melnyk, told Ukraine's Channel 5.

A convoy of an armored personnel carrier and seven trucks carrying several hundred heavily armed men drove through central Donetsk early Sunday. The gunmen got out of the trucks, stood to attention and shot into the air in jubilation as several thousand supporters cheered them and chanted: "Heroes!"

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said in the village of Artemivka, in the Donetsk region, gunmen stormed the village council hosting a polling station and set it ablaze.

An Italian photojournalist, 30-year-old Andrea Rocchelli, and his Russian interpreter Andrei Mironov was killed Saturday near Slovyansk from mortar shelling, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.

Some parts of the Donetsk region remain under greater government control so voting could take place.

In the Azov Sea port of Mariupol, 202 out of 216 polling stations were working. Just over a week ago, Rinat Akhmetov, the billionaire metals tycoon who is Ukraine's richest man, had workers from his factories in Mariupol join police to patrol the city and evict pro-Russia insurgents from the government buildings they had seized.

"I want order in this country. We can't continue without a president. We need order," voter Gennadiy Menshykov said in Mariupol.

In the town of Krasnoarmeisk, in the west of the Donetsk region, a trickle of people came out to cast their ballots.

Ivan Sukhostatov, 37, said he had voted for peace in the region.

"We came to show that this whole situation is contrived," he said. "One side are called terrorists, the others get called fascists. But we have no differences between us. We have one faith, we speak one language. We just want there to be peace."

___

Leonard reported from Donetsk, Ukraine. Sasha Zemlianichenko in Slovyansk, Dmitry Kozlov in Mariupol, Ed Brown in Krasnoarmeisk and Nataliya Vasilyeva in Kiev contributed to this report.



Most voters likely will endorse Ukraine’s government, but pro-Russia insurgents are trying to block voting.
Candy-maker favored



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Luis Miguel Goitizolo

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RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?
5/25/2014 4:56:58 PM

Putin accuses Britain's Prince Charles of unroyal behavior

Reuters


Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with a group of foreign journalists on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2014 (SPIEF 2014) in St. Petersburg May 24, 2014. REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin

By Paul Ingrassia

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Britain's Prince Charles on Saturday of unacceptable and unroyal behavior by comparing him with Adolf Hitler over Russia's stance in Ukraine.

Putin said he had not heard the comment, made by the prince to a Jewish woman who fled Poland during World War Two, but asked reporters to pass on a message to the heir-to-the-British throne and the country's Prime Minister David Cameron.

"This is not royal behavior," Putin told journalists from Reuters and other international news agencies at the Konstantinovsky Palace, built in the 18th and 19th centuries on the coast of the Gulf of Finland outside St Petersburg, Russia's former imperial capital.

"If you are angry, this means you are wrong. I have not heard this remark. If (it was said), then it is unacceptable. I think he himself realizes that. He is a well-brought-up person.

"I know him and other members of the royal family personally. But I have got used to all kinds of things over the years."

According to a British newspaper, the 65-year-old prince made the comment earlier this week during a tour of Canada.

Charles told the woman, who lost relatives during the Holocaust and was recounting how she had fled Poland, that "Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler".

Putin's response came after Russia's foreign ministry had criticized Charles for his remarks, saying they did not reflect well on a future British monarch and were an "unacceptable" attempt to spread propaganda against Russia over Ukraine.

The Soviet Union lost more than 20 million people in the war and the victory over Nazi Germany is celebrated across Russia as a national triumph.

Putin, a former KGB spy, has repeatedly spoken about the sacrifices of what Russians call the Great Patriotic War and he himself lost a brother in the Nazi siege of Leningrad.

The palace where Saturday's interview took place, where G20 leaders met last September, was itself seriously damaged between 1941 and 1944 by the German armed forces.

However, Russia's annexation of Crimea has led to some in Ukraine and a few Western politicians to liken the incursion by Putin to the actions of Hitler.

Former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton had to clarify remarks in March suggesting Putin's justification for his actions over Crimea to protect ethnic Russians was reminiscent of claims made by Hitler over foreign territories.

The prince's office and Cameron, who has scolded the Kremlin for annexing Crimea and supporting pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, have declined to comment on Charles's reported remarks because they had been made during a private conversation.

However, the comments have raised some eyebrows in Britain as the royal family is not expected to voice political views publicly and the head of state is merely a constitutional figurehead.

Queen Elizabeth, Charles's 88-year-old mother, has never aired such emotive sentiments during her long reign.

"In constitutional monarchy policy and diplomacy should be conducted by parliament and government," opposition Labour lawmaker Mike Gapes wrote on Twitter. "Monarchy should be seen and not heard."

(Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Timothy Heritage)



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