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The US has deployed about 80 military personnel to Chad as part of its efforts to find more than 200 schoolgirls who have been kidnapped in Nigeria, US President Barack Obama said Wednesday.

The personnel will support the operation of “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft” for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area, Xinhua quoted Obama as saying in a letter to Congress.

“The force will remain in Chad until its support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required,” Obama added.

NATO will help Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in all possible ways over the floods, said visiting NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen here Wednesday.

BiH has been hit by widespread flooding since last week, the worst in 120 years.

NATO is in close contact with the European Union to see how to provide assistance to BiH, Xinhua quoted Rasmussen as saying duirng a press conference.

“I assure you that we are ready to help in every way possible if it is required of us,” he noted, adding that the bloc is committed to the future security and stability of Western Balkan region.

As many as 127 people have died in several weeks of violence in east and south Ukraine, which will make it more difficult for the country to hold presidential elections in the region Sunday, a UN official has said.

Ivan Simonovic, the UN assistant secretary-general for human rights, made the statement while speaking to reporters outside the Security Council chamber, where he just briefed the 15-nation council at a closed-door meeting on the current situation in the eastern Ukraine following his trip to Ukraine May 14-19, Xinhua reported.

Russia Wednesday called the extension of the so-called Magnitsky List drawn by the US as baseless, and vowed a retaliation.

“We do not leave sanctions rampage against Russia unanswered,” Xinhua quoted the foreign ministry’s human rights envoy Konstantin Dolgov as saying in a statement.

Moscow will introduce restrictions on US citizens in line with reciprocal principles as well as fairness, he said.

Russia, the official said, would sanction those who have avoided punishment by Washington for human rights violations, including those committed against Russian citizens.

Explosions at a market in China’s Xinjiang Uygur region left an unknown number of people killed and injured Thursday morning, Xinhua reported.

The explosions occurred at an open market in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur region. All the injured were rushed to several hospitals, police said.

Two cross-country vehicles driving from north to south ploughed into people in the market at 7.50 a.m. Explosives were thrown out of the vehicles, witnesses said.
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One of the vehicles exploded in the market. A business man in the market claimed to have heard a dozen of big bangs.

–IANS

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon has urged the immediate cessation of the renewed violence in northern Mali, which threatens to destabilize the country again.

Ban also called for the establishment of a ceasefire, Xinhua quoted a statement issued by his spokesperson Wednesday as saying.

“The Secretary-General particularly emphasises his concern for the security of civilian populations, and recalls that the protection of civilians is an obligation for all parties,” it said. “He condemns the killing of civilians and calls on the perpetrators to be held accountable.”

Kiev Wednesday ruled out the possibility to hold bilateral talks with Russia over crisis in the eastern Ukraine.

“In today’s environment, I believe that bilateral negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are not on the agenda,” Xinhua quoted Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk as saying Wednesday during the third session of roundtable unity talks in southern city of Nikolaev.

Russia will veto a draft resolution of the UN Security Council which intends to refer the Syrian civil war to the International Criminal Court, Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said here Wednesday.

The Syrian government has for long charged that regional countries are facilitating the flow of foreign jihadists into Syria to join the rebels’ battle against government forces, Xinhua reported.

Jacob Zuma was Wednesday elected President of South Africa by members of the National Assembly.

“In terms of Item 6 of part A, Schedule A of the Constitution, I declare the honourable Jacob Zuma duly elected president of the Republic of South Africa,” Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, who presided over the nomination process, announced.

Mogoeng congratulated Zuma as the house broke into cheers and ululations.

Zuma’s nomination came in for an objection raised by the Democratic Alliance. But the chief justice dismissed the point raised.

Finnish defence ministry said Wednesday there were two alleged violations of Finnish airspace by Russian state-owned aircraft Tuesday evening.

A “Russian state-owned” aircraft violated Finnish airspace Tuesday after 6 p.m. local time over the coast near Porvoo, a southern city of Finland about 50 km from the capital Helsinki, Xinhua quoted the ministry said.

Finnish Border Guard also detected that another “Russian state-owned” plane briefly entered Finnish airspace at 4 p.m. Tuesday over the Gulf of Finland, the ministry added.