Mother of captured Ukraine pilot lobbies Germany to help free daughter

Reuters) - The mother of captured Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko sought German support on Monday in her campaign to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into ordering the release of her daughter who has become a national hero in Ukraine.

Pro-Russian separatists battling Kiev's forces captured Savchenko, 33, last June and handed her over to Moscow, where she is being held on charges of aiding the killing of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine.

Savchenko, who staged a hunger strike for more than two months, has become a symbol of resistance to Russian aggression in Ukraine. She denies the Russian accusation, but could be jailed for 20 years if found guilty.

Her mother Maria Savchenko held talks in Berlin with senior officials of the German foreign ministry and lawmakers from the Bundestag lower house of parliament's foreign affairs committee, an official from the Ukrainian embassy in Berlin said.

A German foreign ministry spokesman said there were no new developments in the case, but he welcomed Russia's decision to grant Ukrainian doctors access to the military pilot.

"Her health condition has deteriorated again," the Ukrainian embassy official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that Savchenko had begun a new hunger strike.

"Time is running out," the diplomat added. Savchenko's lawyer has warned that she may die in Russian detention.

The United Nations, the United States and Britain called for her release during a U.N. Security Council meeting on March 6 but Russia defended her detention as legal.

In January, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko sent a letter to Putin demanding Savchenko's release after reports that she had lost 17 kg (37 lb) since going on a water and glucose diet in December.

Catholic bishop heckled , pushed and shoved ( video )

Former Nurse Arrested for Removing Fetus from Pregnant Woman

DENVER – Police authorities of Longmont in Northern Colorado confirmed having arrested a former nurse aide who allegedly attacked Wednesday a young pregnant woman and removed her fetus, killing it in the process and leaving the mother severely injured.

According to the police, the attacker is Dynel Lane, 34, who Thursday had her first court hearing where she was charged with attempted murder (in case of mother) and illegal termination of pregnancy (in case of the fetus).

Current laws in the state of Colorado do not recognize unborn babies as persons because of which murder charges cannot be presented against Lane for the death of the fetus.

Lane was detained at a local jail with her bail set at $2 million.

Lane could face a sentence of up to 48 years in prison if eventually found guilty of all the charges against her.

Boulder county district attorney Stanley Garnett told local media that the victim (a 26-year-old woman whose identity was not revealed) went to Lane’s house on Wednesday to buy baby clothes, in response to an online advertisement on Craigslist.

The victim was possibly attacked on entering the house and had the fetus removed from her womb.

Despite her critical condition, the woman managed to call 911, the U.S. emergency number, and was aided by medical personnel before being taken to a hospital in the area, where she continues to remain in intensive care.

The Craigslist account in question has been frozen and is now a part of ongoing investigations, according to the attorney.

Garnett said at a press conference that the charges against Lane could change from attempted murder to murder if it could be proved that the fetus was alive for a while outside the mother’s womb before it died.

This will be determined during its autopsy early Friday.

Garnett said that in the absence of a precise legal definition on the issue, an interpretation by the courts may be necessary to finally decide the charges against the suspect.

Lane was arrested once she arrived at a hospital (the same where the victim is admitted) with a dead fetus, claiming to have suffered a miscarriage. The police took little time to connect the two circumstances and arrested her.

The motives of the attack remain unknown, while Lane’s husband is not considered a suspect.

Republican Leader John Boehner Soon to Visit Israel

WASHINGTON – The Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Boehner, will visit Israel during the next legislative recess beginning in late March, his spokesman said Friday.

The announcement is another turn of the screw in the tense relations between the governments of Democratic U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has just been reelected.

Boehner’s spokesman Kevin Smith said in a communique that the visit was scheduled before this week’s election from which Netanyahu came out the winner.

Boehner had defied the Obama administration by inviting Netanyahu to give a speech to Congress early this month, an opportunity for the prime minister to slam Washington’s negotiations with Iran to reach an accord on Tehran’s nuclear program.

According to several Israeli media citing officials of that country, Boehner plans to arrive on March 31 with several members of the U.S. Congress.

The purpose of the trip is to discuss “shared priorities for the peace and security of the region, and strengthen even more the ties between the United States and Israel,” Boehner’s spokesman said.

Among the points of conflict between the Obama government and Netanyahu are the comments he made before his electoral victory that he would never permit the creation of a Palestinian state.

However, in several interviews with U.S. television networks after the election, Netanyahu said he will continue working toward a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, as he had vowed to do years before.

The Obama administration expressed its skepticism about Netanyahu’s latest statements, and White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggested the U.S. government could “reevaluate our approach” to bilateral relations.

Khamenei calls ‘Death to America’ as deadline nears on Iran nuclear deal

Ali Khamenei, the Supreme leader of the clerical regime in Iran, called for “Death to America” on Saturday, a day after President Barack Obama appealed to that regime to seize a “historic opportunity” for a nuclear deal.

Khamenei told a crowd in the city of Mashhad that his regime would not capitulate to Western demands. When the crowd started shouting, “Death to America,” the ayatollah responded: “Of course yes, death to America, because America is the original source of this pressure.

Obama, in a message to Iranians celebrating the Persian new year this week, suggested that success at the talks could build on trust, proclaiming it was up to Iran “to seize this moment and the possibilities that can bloom.”

But Ali Khamenei told the crowd: “Negotiations with America are solely on the nuclear issue and nothing else,”

“We do not talk with U.S. over regional issues. In the regional issues, America’s goals are completely opposed to our goals.”

Khamenei also demanded that a nuclear deal end economic sanctions on his regime at its outset, rather than gradually, as the United States and five other world powers have said during negotiations.
“Sanctions must be lifted immediately," Khamenei said.

Russian Navy vessels test fire-power amid nationwide drills

Drills on liquidation of simulated subversive group start in Russia's Kuriles

MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. Russian military are conducting anti-sabotage military drills in Russia's Far-Eastern Kuril Islands as part of command and staff exercises, head of the Eastern Military District's press service Oleg Gordeyev told TASS.

Around 500 servicemen and 100 units of military hardware, including four Mil Mi-8AMTSH are taking part in the drills.