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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Opposition rejects conditional amnesty

From Wire Reports

Kiev, Ukraine – Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday voted to grant a conditional amnesty to more than 100 antigovernment protesters arrested in recent days, but the move failed to keep demonstrators outside from preparing for the possibility of more violent confrontations with security forces.

The amnesty, which would require protesters to vacate buildings they seized during several days of demonstrations against President Viktor Yanukovich’s government, was immediately rejected by opposition leaders seeking an unconditional release.

“What they have just voted on is a law about hostages,” opposition leader Oleg Tyagnybok told reporters. “The authorities have officially confessed they were taking hostages.”

Legislators had debated for hours whether to offer amnesty as a way to help end violent street clashes between protesters and police in Kiev, the capital, the seizure of government buildings, and other forms of protest in the country.

At least four activists have been killed, hundreds of people have been hurt and dozens arrested during the protests.

Syria behind on chemical agents delivery

Washington – Syria has delivered less than 5 percent of its deadliest chemical weapons agents to international authorities a week before a deadline to surrender the entire cache, officials said Wednesday.

The government of President Bashar Assad, which is fighting a bitter civil war against insurgent militias, has transferred about 32 tons of the so-called Category 1 chemical agents to the Syrian port of Latakia, where it has been loaded onto ships for destruction at sea.

But about 670 tons remain in collection points, and officials say it is unlikely that Syria will meet the Feb. 5 deadline.

Chobani can’t be called Greek in U.K.

London – It’s not all Greek to yogurt makers.

A British court has ruled that Chobani, the company leading the burgeoning Greek yogurt market in the U.S., cannot label its products “Greek” in the U.K. because they are made in America.

Chobani said Wednesday it was disappointed with the ruling, but added that “the fight is not over” and it would continue the legal battle.

The court case was brought by Chobani’s rival Fage, a Greek company, soon after New York-based Chobani launched their products in the U.K. in 2012.

Nicaragua expands military’s powers

Managua, Nicaragua – Nicaragua’s congress on Wednesday approved allowing the military chief of staff to hold his post indefinitely and letting the army take a bigger role in the economy, further concentrating power in the hands of longtime President Daniel Ortega and his allies.

Ortega helped lead the 1970s uprising against dictator Anastasio Somoza and served as president until losing an election in 1990. Since returning to the presidency in the 2006 election, he has engineered a series of legal changes allowing him to remain in power indefinitely.

The vote on the military came a day after the congress controlled by Ortega’s Sandinista party altered the constitution to erase presidential term limits and eliminate a requirement for a candidate to receive at least 35 percent of the vote in order to win presidential election. Both measures are widely seen as easing Ortega’s path to a fourth term.