Greece’s PM warns the country has not yet won “the war” – Russians denounce Ukraine “fascist coup” – China and India bicker over disputed territory – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is warning of “real difficulties” ahead, after his government agreed to four more months of the Eurozone bailout. “We won a battle, not the war,” Tsipras said, hailing the agreement as a “decisive step” towards ending EU-imposed austerity. For the extension to go forward, Athens must present a list of reforms it will undertake to the EU by Monday, and Eurozone ministers will vote on that list on Tuesday. If the deal collapses, it will revive fears of Greece’s possible exit from the Eurozone.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels released the deposed president Mansour Hadi from house arrest in the capital Sana’a.. and he quickly made a beeline out of the city for his hometown Aden. Looters sacked the presidential residence after Hadi left. Rival parties agreed on forming a transitional council to govern the country, but the Shiite Houthis face opposition from Sunni tribes and al Qaeda.
Officials in Liberia sent eight health care workers to their homes for 21 days of observation. This, after they came in contact with a patient who later tested positive for Ebola. Liberia currently has two new Ebola cases, and eight active cases in the entire country. Troubling, but a vast improvement from last year when the deadly virus was killing people by the hundreds. Almost 4,000 people died of Ebola in Liberia since the beginning of 2014 out of more than 9,000 infections.
Nigeria’s military now claims to have retaken Baga town from Boko Haram and killed many militants in the process. This has not been independently verified. Boko Haram took over Baga on 3 January and reportedly massacred as many as 2,000 people, numbers backed up by witnesses and analysis of satellite photographs. The Nigerian military downplayed those numbers, saying only 150 people died in last month’s chaos.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond are raising the prospect of more sanctions against Russia over the violence in eastern Ukraine. “We know to a certainty what Russia has been providing to the separatists,” Kerry said. “We’re not going to sit there and be part of this kind of extraordinarily craven behavior at the expense of the sovereignty and integrity of a nation.” Kiev accuses Russia of massing forces near the port city of Mariupol.
Meanwhile, government supporters in Moscow rallied on Saturday to denounce what many called the “fascist coup” in Ukraine that ousted Viktor Yanukovych one year ago today, eventually ushering in President Petro Poroshenko. The crowd, composed of pro-Kremlin elements from student groups and military veterans to bikers, blamed the US for engineering the change. A poll last month showed the number of Russians describing Russia and the US as “enemies” jumped up to 42 percent.
Singapore's founding leader Lee Kuan Yew is in hospital and breathing with the help of a machine. The government says the 91-year old is in stable condition. He was admitted on 5 February for pneumonia. Lee is credited with transforming the city-state to one of Asia’s wealthiest economies.
China is protesting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing also claims and calls “South Tibet”. “I assure you that you will witness more development in the state in the next five years than it has seen in the last 28 years,” Modi told a huge crowd. Chinese troops briefly occupied the town of Tawang in the state during a 1962 war.
As many as 70 people were hurt in a fire at an open-air market at a fair in Honduras, and six children were among the injured. Witnesses say several gas cylinders at the food stands exploded.
Witnesses credit a quick, orderly evacuation of residents from the burning Torch Tower in Dubai’s Marina district prevented injuries and death as a fire spread through the 86 storey building. It’s believed the fire started at the 50th floor and spread through at least five more, and blackened 15 floors outside.