New Russian buildup
seen as fighting rages
in eastern Ukraine; rebels beg Moscow for help ADVERTISING New Russian buildup
seen as fighting rages
in eastern Ukraine; rebels beg Moscow for help MOSCOW — Russia is resuming its military buildup along
New Russian buildup
seen as fighting rages
in eastern Ukraine; rebels beg Moscow for help
MOSCOW — Russia is resuming its military buildup along the Ukrainian border in an apparent attempt to intimidate its neighbor, NATO’s chief said Thursday as Ukrainian government forces unleashed a major offensive against pro-Moscow insurgents.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, voicing strong concern about the Ukrainian military onslaught. Putin said he expects Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to immediately launch his plan to end the violence, the Kremlin said.
Putin and Poroshenko then discussed details of the peace plan in a phone call — their second conversation this week. Poroshenko’s office said he emphasized the need for introducing effective border controls and quickly releasing hostages.
Russia has denied Ukrainian and Western allegations that it is fomenting the rebellion by sending troops and weapons into Ukraine.
Last month, in an apparent attempt to ease tensions in Ukraine, Putin pulled back many of the estimated 40,000 Russian troops massed along the border.
Prosecutors: Gov. Walker
at center of criminal campaign fundraising scheme, no charges filed
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, took part in a nationwide criminal scheme to coordinate fundraising with conservative groups, prosecutors said in court documents unsealed Thursday.
No charges have been filed against Walker or any member of his staff. And both sides are arguing in court over whether the activities are covered by election laws. The documents, some written in December as prosecutors defended their investigation, for the first time publicly put Walker himself at the center of the examination of campaigns in 2011 and 2012.
The investigation into fundraising involving Walker and his campaign, the Wisconsin Club for Growth, the state Chamber of Commerce and other groups began in 2012. Walker, who rose to fame by passing a law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers, was facing a recall election. But the probe has been on hold since May, when a federal judge ruled it was a breach of Wisconsin Club for Growth’s free-speech rights and temporarily halted it.
State prosecutors said in the December filing that Walker, former chief of staff Keith Gilkes, top adviser R.J. Johnson and campaign operative Deborah Jordahl discussed illegal fundraising and coordination with national political groups and prominent Republican figures, including GOP strategist Karl Rove.
“The scope of the criminal scheme under investigation is expansive,” lead prosecutor Francis Schmitz wrote in a Dec. 9 court filing objecting to an attempt by Walker’s campaign and other conservative groups to quash subpoenas. “It includes criminal violations of multiple elections laws” including filing false campaign-finance reports, Schmitz wrote.
Audit seeks investigation into unlawful sterilization
of 39 California
female prison inmates
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — State auditors found 39 cases where female state prison inmates may not have understood they were submitting to medical procedures that would leave them sterile, according to a report released Thursday that recommended authorities investigate the doctors and hospitals involved.
State law prohibits inmates from elective sterilizations as methods of birth control. However, prison officials allow sterilizations in cases deemed medically necessary.
The audit was prompted by the Center for Investigative Reporting, which last year found that doctors sterilized nearly 150 female prisoners without obtaining proper consent. Auditors confirmed 144 cases between 2006 and 2013 in which inmates had their fallopian tubes tied or cut for the sole purpose of birth control.
The report identified 39 “unlawful” cases with apparent violations of state rules requiring inmates understand the nature and permanence of the procedures.
Margarita Fernandez, a spokeswoman for the California State Auditor, said those “tubal ligation” sterilizations involved 17 doctors and eight hospitals. The sterilizations were performed by private doctors at facilities outside the prisons, which is typical, she said. No names were released.
By wire sources
