Remember that Russian submarine in Swedish waters a while ago? Now, in case any other Russian subs venture into Swedish seas, a group called the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society has created an underwater sign with a sailor thrusting his hips which beeps out a Morse code signal saying "this way if you're gay." In this video, the group's president, Anna Ek, explains why.
This just in from our news desk:
French President Francois Hollande has denounced as "unacceptable" cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine.
Hollande was speaking in the western German city of Aachen on May 14, after a brief conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko.
"There are cease-fire violations today and that's unacceptable," he said, "There is a risk of fresh unrest and we need to warn [about] that."
Poroshenko also held separate talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk.
More than 6,000 people have been killed since fighting began in April 2014 between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, which continues to be embroiled in sporadic fighting despite a cease-fire sealed in mid-February and brokered by Germany and France.
(AFP, TASS)
Donbas residents show their homes destroyed by shelling to OSCE monitors, Interfax reports:
SAKHANKA, Donetsk region. May 14 (Interfax) - Christopher James of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Special Monitoring Mission (OSCE SMM) and Joint Coordination Center for Ceasefire Monitoring member Gen. Alexander Lentsov are visiting the village of Sakhanka, the Novoazovsk district in the Donetsk region, to record reported ceasefire violations.
"No one has been killed or injured over the past 24 hours. Local residents are showing destroyed houses to the OSCE mission and the Joint Coordination Center for Ceasefire Monitoring," Lentsov told journalists.
"Sakhanka was shelled yesterday from 10:00 p.m. to midnight. A 120-mm mortar was used to fire upon residential neighborhoods," he said.
The village, which is located on a territory currently controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk people's republic (DPR), has lately been shelled virtually every day, he said.
"While there is not a single military serviceman here, from 10 to 12 mines fly here" every day, Lentsov said.
Russia is doing all it can at the Joint Coordination Center to stop the shelling, he added.
Baltic states want a permanent NATO troop presence:
Lithuania's military says the Baltic states will seek a permanent presence of NATO troops on their territory to counter increased Russian air and naval activity.
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia fear they could become a target of Russian pressure after a pro-Moscow rebellion in eastern Ukraine.
All three Baltic states have sizeable Russian minorities and were part of the former Soviet Union. They have been members of NATO since 1999 and joined the European Union in 2004.
Lithuanian Army spokesman Mindaugas Neimontas said on May 14, "In reaction to the security situation in the region, as a measure of deterrence, chiefs of defense of the Baltic states will apply officially to Supreme NATO Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) about permanent stationing of a brigade-sized NATO unit in the Baltic states."
A NATO brigade typically numbers between 3,000 and 5,000 troops and is made up of several battalions.
NATO is establishing six regional command-and-control centers in the Baltic states, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria.
But the alliance has pledged under a 1997 agreement with Russia not to permanently station "substantial combat forces" in its eastern member countries. (Reuters, dpa)