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Updated 12.15 pm
FORMER UKRAINIAN PRIME Minister and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko has been freed from prison according to a spokesperson.
It follows an overwhelming vote by Ukraine’s parliament to Tymoshenko who spearheaded the nation’s pro-democracy 2004 Orange Revolution.
A motion “to immediately free Tymoshenko based on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights” was backed by 322 deputies of the 331 registered for Saturday’s Verkhovna Rada session.
Tymoshenko was jailed for seven years on disputed “abuse of power” charges in 2011.
A close ally of Tymoshenko was also as named interim interior minister today, replacing Vitaliy Zakharchenko who has been blamed for ordering the police to open fire on unarmed protesters.
Arsen Avakov was elected to the post during an animated parliament session shortly after Tymoshenko’s right-hand man was voted in as parliament speaker, as the regime of embattled president Viktor Yanukovych appeared close to collapse.
The beginnings of political transisitons comes as opposition leader Vitali Klitschko has said that Yanukovych has left Kiev.
But a spokesperson for Yanukovych says that the embattled leader has no intention of leaving the country.
Thousands of protesters remained in central Kiev last night despite Ukraine’s embattled leader signing a deal in a bid to end the ex-Soviet country’s worst crisis since independence which has left nearly 100 protesters dead.
Yanukovych’s decision to hold early elections and form a unity government while granting amnesty for protesters detained during the unrest was met with scepticism by many who simply want their leader to step down.
“Elections in December are not enough — he has to leave now,” said 34-year-old Oleh Bukoyenko as he joined 40,000 protesters on central Kiev’s main square earlier Friday evening.
Ukraine’s parliament quickly adopted a flurry of opposition-backed laws that still need the president’s backing before entering into force.
The new unity government would have the authority to reverse the inflammatory decision Yanukovych made in November to ditch an historic deal promising a path to EU membership in favour of closer ties to former master Russia.
A woman lights candles in memory of the victims of clashes between police and protesters in Ukraine. (Pic: AP Photo/Octav Ganea/Mediafax)
Pact comes ‘too late’
But many protesters said the deal represented too little and did nothing to repair days of vicious bloodletting in which police used snipers and armoured vehicles against demonstrators who fought back with bats and shields.
One ultranationalist speaker grabbed the stage on Kiev’s iconic Independence Square late on Friday to call on protesters to storm the president’s office at 08.00 GMT this morning should Yanukovych fail to relinquish power overnight.
The call was met with cheers and rounds of applause. Several top opposition leaders meanwhile were whistled in derision for signing the compromise agreement allowing Yanukovych to keep his post until snap elections are called by December deadline.
“I received no pleasure from signing this deal,” charismatic boxer-turned-lawmaker Vitali Klitschko told the restless Independence Square crowd during a candle vigil ceremony for the scores killed in the unrest.
“If I offended any of you, I apologise,” said Klitschko. “But I am honestly doing all I can to make sure that Ukraine itself will emerge victorious from this.”
Kiev authorities have put the death toll from the past few days at 77.
But opposition medics said more than 60 protesters were shot dead by police on Thursday alone — a toll that combined with the 28 victims on Tuesday put the final count at nearly 100 dead.
The radicalisation of the opposition — furious at the live ammunition used against it — saw tens of thousands chant “death to the criminal” on Independence Square on Friday night.
Anti-government protesters rest at a barricade in central Kiev. (Pic: AP Photo/Darko Bandi)
Russia refuses to sign
The deal was worked out after two days of intense mediation by the foreign ministers of European powers France and Germany along with Ukraine’s cultural ally Poland. Officials said US Vice President Joe Biden also placed repeated calls to both Ukrainian negotiating sides.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski described harrowing negotiations in which he impressed on the opposition the possibility of even more violent unrest.
“We were getting signals that in case the agreement fails, President Yanukovych was preparing to use Interior Ministry forces,” Sikorski said after returning from Kiev.
The pact finally came into force at a solemn ceremony in the presidential palace attended by Yanukovych and top opposition leaders who included Klitschko as well as three top EU envoys.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin’s representative pointedly skipped the meeting. Envoy Vladimir Lukin explained on his return to Moscow that it was “because several questions remain unanswered”.
“The consultations will continue,” Lukin said in comments that suggested Moscow still held out hope of somehow revising the deal.
A senior US official said President Barack Obama held “a constructive” phone call with Putin as he pressed for the swift implementation of a deal he called “very, very fragile.”
- Additional reporting from Associated Press.
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This is how the Zombie Apocalypse starts.
No the park is closed, so the animals and insects will just stay in the park, won’t they
Lol M, this is the America F##K YEAH generation we’re talking about.
Bombers loaded with Napalm are being flown in as we speak.
You don’t f##k with America.
Cant wait, would bw some craic. I wonder will they be fast like the ones in 28days later or slow like the ones in dawn of the dead.
It is to be hoped so.
The War on Squirrels begins. They’re probably trained by Al Qaieda or Iran or North Korea or some commies..
The CIA are looking for WMDs
american zombies…they’ll be SLOW!
Phew! Flying squirrels with the AIDS would’ve been much more Hollywood – or is that the summer 2014 blockbuster sheeple worrier?
So long as they can read the signs telling them it’s closed…
Plague is the great leveller ; it was instrumental in changing Europe from a feudal system where the “lords” owned the people to one where the workers earned the right to ear money for labour !
And there’s only one cure ! The Bishop of Winchester knew that one!
Squirrels and fleas?? This article had me scratching my nuts after.
Another strategy to keep the American population scared. Why? Because a scared population is a controllable population.
Yes, an easily treatable illness will realy scare the bejesus out of them.
‘LA park evacuated after DEADLY plague virus detected in squirrel’
Sounds like a pretty scary headline to me regardless of the fact it’s easy to treat…
Niall, as the squirrel would say…you’re nuts…
Coming from a man who can hear squirrels talking?!
Niall…As the squirrel WOULD say…( if it could talk)…
Don’t tell me you think that I can hear squirrels talking??? This is much more serious than I thought. You’re not just nuts, you’re nut eile….lol
Thank god it was a squirrel and not a beaver – I like beavers !
Then you are one of the few on journal.ie. Very few beaver lovers on here hence the high quantity of bitchy comments on a daily basis.
Elks are the enemy of the beaver an the wolf is the enemy of the elk.
No wolf ; No beaver!
Emmet “Stagg” is an elk for example !
That’d be great excuse to get off work, “Sorry, I can’t come.in today because I have the plague.”
Wonna ask what happened to the squirrel but know I won’t like the answer
Treated for fleas…
Somebody phone Dustin Hoffman!!
Wait for it, the Americans will blame the Taliban or some other terrorists organisation. Some marine will shoot the squirrel and will be thanked for giving the citizens “their freedom”.
Dope
A tenner says they won’t… ;-)
I hope that the Smithwick’s squirrel has got the all clear ?
Surly just brushing his teeth and flossing well fix that problem in a jiffy?
Give him some boiled 7up and he’ll be grand
And some disprin. Sorted.
Go squirrels!!
Ah nuts
Useless story. One squirrel tested positive for a something they routinely look for? That’s someone doing their job not an outbreak. Ireland had three cases of yersiniosis last year (HSPC.ie) and shure we’re grannnndddd. #plaugeproof
The Great Barrier Reef last week ( bombed) this week the evil squirrel. What next, butterflies carrying the Plague virus?
Slight hint of paranoia I suspect.
Dope 2.0
Well done rotund, a valuable contribution from an obvious troll. ;)
Still smarting from being called a dope for your useless attempt at wit regarding marines and americans in general? Jog on son…
After reading your comment, the obvious lack of grammar proves to me that intellectually you are so far beneath me that I will not be responding to you.
Ha. Good one. Listen im sorry that your ‘hilarious’ quip about americans and marines wasnt as funny as you thought it was. Better luck next time. Im off to get grinds now ;)
Saucers of milk for the pair of you.
But but but Gary. By typing that, you DID respond.
I was under the impression that James Reilly got rid of the plague!!
God’s wrath? Gay marriage! Where’s Pat Robertson when an opportunity like this arises?
That’s how Elvis died, he ate a plague ridden squirrel
How does a bacteria which hasn’t reappeared in over 600years in Europe suddenly appear in the US? I’m probably wrong in this, any experts out there?
Its always been around it never went away.
It isn’t know if the black death was the bubonic plague or not, some info here if you’re interested:
http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/blog/the-black-death-is-now-likely-extinct-perhaps/
Just out of interest: How did they know the squirrel had the plague in the first place? Was it a random check or what?
Better set up a “Squirrel Patrol”, course that could bring a “Squirrel Tax”…..
Won’t someone think of the children!!
I wonder will the Yankees blame Iran or some other country in the the east for this.
Methinks another invasion I’d the answer.
Karl. A rather stupid comment. Plague carrying fleas can be found all around the world. The only reason there is not serious outbreaks is that modern antibiotics are quite capable of stopping the infection.
If Barack Obama had a squirrel it would look like Trayvon.
Someone has read Dan Browns inferno and got a bit excited!
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