National guardsmen fired on a crowd Sunday in eastern Ukraine, where voters were lining up for a disputed referendum on whether to split from rest of the country.
Eastern Ukraine referendums seek approval to declare sovereign the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (photo CBC)
An insurgent leader was quoted by the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass as saying that there were fatalities.
The Associated Press reported that one of its photographers witnessed the shooting, in the town of Krasnoarmeisk, where dozens of guardsmen had shut down voting earlier in the day.
The photographer saw two people motionless on the ground, the AP reported.
Eastern Ukraine referendums seek approval to declare sovereign the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where armed pro-Russia insurgents have taken control of government buildings and clashed with Ukrainian troops.
South Sudan’s army and rebels have accused each other of breaching a ceasefire, only hours after it was meant to come into effect.
The army said rebels attacked government positions in the early hours of Sunday in the town of Bentiu in oil-rich Unity State.
The rebels said their positions were targeted by ground attack and artillery in Unity and Upper Nile states.
South Sudan’s army and rebels have accused each other of breaching a ceasefire, only hours after it was meant to come into effect
A deal to end the five-month conflict was signed on Friday in Ethiopia.
At the signing ceremony in Addis Ababa, President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar met face-to-face for the first time since hostilities broke out and agreed to halt fighting within 24 hours.
But in a statement issued on Sunday, rebel military spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said the reported violations showed “that Kiir is either insincere or not in control of his forces.”
For the army, spokesman Philip Aguer said the rebel attacks in Bentiu had been repelled.
There has been no independent verification of either side’s claims.
A previous deal, made in January, collapsed in days, with each side accusing the other of breaching terms.
Earlier, the UN called on both sides to facilitate deliveries of emergency aid to a population in danger of mass hunger.
The UN estimates that some 5 million of South Sudan’s citizens are in need. At least 1.5 million have been displaced and thousands of people have been killed.
Toby Lanzer, the UN’s top aid official in the region, said roads and rivers must be opened for emergency relief.
The hope had been that the ceasefire would pave the way for the creation of a transitional government, the drafting of a new constitution and fresh elections.
The UN has accused both the South Sudanese government and the rebels of crimes against humanity, including mass killings and gang-rape.
The violence began when President Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup.
Riek Machar denied the allegation, but then marshaled a rebel army to fight the government.
The battle assumed ethnic overtones, with Riek Machar relying heavily on fighters from his Nuer ethnic group and Salva Kiir from his Dinka community.
South Sudan gained independence in 2011, breaking away from Sudan after decades of conflict between rebels and the Khartoum government.
Tiger Woods’ ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, took nine years to get her degree, but she finished with a 3.98 GPA and was named the most outstanding senior in her class at Rollins College.
Elin Nordegren was the apropos commencement speaker at the graduation ceremony as she took her degree in psychology.
Elin Nordegren was named the most outstanding senior in her class at Rollins College (photo People magazine)
According to PEOPLE magazine: “Nordegren started college courses at Rollins in 2005, when she was married to Woods and did not yet have children, chipping away at her degree sometimes one class at a time. She took a semester off following the birth of each of her children – Sam, now 6, and Charlie, now 5 – and again in 2010, in the wake of the spectacular revelations of infidelity by her then-husband. That period she referred to Saturday as “the wild storm of my personal life.”
Elin Nordegren, who divorced Tiger Woods in 2010, was probably a little sidetracked over the course of the time that spanned her degree.
“Yes, nine years is a pretty long time,” she said.
“When I received the honor of speaking today I was happy. I was also a little surprised. I have been called a <<woman with no words>> in the media and criticized for not talking very much.”
Elin Nordegren spoke about how far she’d come since coming to the US as a married 25-year-old.
“Today, nine years later I’m a proud American and have two beautiful children. … But I’m no longer married,” said Elin Nordegren, which elicited laughter and applause from the crowd.
“Your actions inspired me to keep on going to the finish line. We walked the talk,” Tiger Woods’ ex-wife said.
Two weeks before her Paris wedding, Kim Kardashian was the guest of honor at a bridal shower on Saturday, May 10.
Close friends and family arrived to celebrate at The Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills; in a nod to the wedding locale, the bash was Parisian-themed.
Two weeks before her Paris wedding, Kim Kardashian was the guest of honor at a bridal shower in Beverly Hills (photo Instagram)
Kim Kardashian’s bridal shower was originally scheduled for the Beverly Hills Hotel, but the party was moved following owner Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah’s anti-gay laws, Us Weekly reported.
The 33-year-old reality star and her mother Kris Jenner arrived in a black Rolls Royce, and were followed soon after by Kim’s little sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner. The bride-to-be wore a white dress for her special day, and kept her dark locks down.
Kim Kardashian was greeted by her buddies like Brittny Gastineau, Leah Jenner, Joyce Bonelli, Rachel Roy, and Shelli Azoff. The Paris-themed party, held in the Verandah room, included white linen tables and white roses centerpieces. A small white chocolate Eiffel Tower statue was placed at each person’s plate, and those in attendance got to pose in a fun photo booth.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, 36, are set to tie the knot in Paris on May 24.
At least 39 people, including 29 police officers, have been hurt and dozens of vehicles damaged in a protest against a planned waste incinerator in Hangzhou city, Chinese state media report.
The violence broke out on Saturday in Yuhang district of Hangzhou city, in the eastern province of Zhejiang.
Local authorities say the project will not go ahead without public support.
At least 39 people, including 29 police officers, have been hurt and dozens of vehicles damaged in a protest against a planned waste incinerator in Hangzhou city (photo Reuters)
Tens of thousands of protests are held in China every year, mostly against pollution, corruption and land grabs.
Last month, state media reported that 18 people were detained after massive demonstrations against plans for a chemical plant in Maoming, in the southern province of Guangdong.
China’s citizens are increasingly conscious of the health impact of environmental pollution, with many large cities smothered in smog – a by-product of the country’s rapid industrialization and economic growth.
The state-run Xinhua news agency reports that the site for the planned waste incinerator in Yuhang was made public in April.
At the protests on Saturday, two police cars were set alight and dozens of vehicles overturned.
At least two people – a policeman and a protester – were reported to have been seriously injured.
A statement on the local government’s website, published late on Saturday, said that there would be no further work on the incinerator until the public had been consulted over the scheme.
Similar protests in other parts of China have prompted the authorities to change their plans.
Mexico has begun to swear in members of self-defense groups for its newly created rural police force, as part of a drive to disarm local vigilantes.
The move is designed to bring the militias fighting the Knights Templar drugs cartel in the western state of Michoacan under official control.
The vigilantes say they “cleaned” a number of towns before federal forces joined them in recent months.
But there have also been clashes among vigilantes and with police forces.
Mexico has begun to swear in members of self-defense groups for its newly created rural police force in Michoacan
More than 3,000 people have registered guns and signed up for the new force, officials say.
But many refused to join, despite warnings that they would be arrested.
The Mexican government’s deadline for registering the firearms expired on Saturday.
An initial 240 self-defense group members marched in Tepacaltepec in their new blue uniforms, carrying state-issued guns.
The federal envoy to Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo, personally greeted the new members of the State Rural Force.
“Those who 15 months ago said ‘Enough’ and decided to confront those who did them harm – because of them today we have the State Rural Force that carries the same conviction of justice, of courage, valor, bravery needed to protect those, who we love the most, our families,” Alfredo Castillo told the farmers.
The self-defense groups in Michoacan started an offensive against the Knights Templar drugs cartel more than a year ago.
Residents of Michoacan say the cartel terrorized them.
Local farmers, shop owners and other residents were victims of extortion, robbery and kidnappings.
During incursions backed by federal reinforcements in the last months, the head of the Knights Templar cartel, Nazario Moreno Gonzales, has been shot dead and many of the group’s leaders arrested.
Following the success in anti-cartel operations, the government demanded the self-defenses to stand down and leave the task of guaranteeing their security to the state.
But some fear that might encourage a come back from the cartel.
There have also been splits in some self-defense groups and the rise of fake vigilantes, correspondents say. The government now wants the rural force to work alongside the police.
Pfizer’s bid for AstraZeneca is being questioned by senators and Maryland and Delaware governors.
Maryland and Delaware governors have written to Pfizer’s boss saying they are “very concerned” about the deal and the possibilities of job losses in their states.
Meanwhile senators Carl Levin and Roy Wyden are looking to close the tax loophole that Pfizer plans to use.
One of the attractions of the deal to Pfizer is that it could significantly lower the company’s tax bill.
Pfizer’s bid for AstraZeneca is being questioned by senators and Maryland and Delaware governors
In a strategy known as “tax inversion” Pfizer could pay the UK corporate tax rate of 20%, rather than the 35% rate applied in the US, if it bought AstraZeneca.
Senator Carl Levin said in a statement: “I’ve long been concerned about inversions – companies moving offshore on paper, for tax purposes, while the management and operations remain in the United States.
“It’s become increasingly clear that a loophole in our tax laws allowing these inversions threatens to devastate federal tax receipts.
“We have to close that loophole. I am talking to my colleagues about legislation to close the loophole, which I intend to introduce soon.”
Meanwhile governors Martin O’Malley and Jack Markell are concerned about job losses.
AstraZeneca employs approximately 3,100 people in Maryland, and has around 2,600 staff in Delaware.
The governors are concerned about reports that Pfizer has given assurances to the UK government that there will be no British job losses at AstraZeneca.
They say they have had no similar assurances about AstraZeneca facilities in their states.
“Our concern is exacerbated by Pfizer’s history of closing US research facilities, including sites in Michigan and Illinois, after closing on previous corporate transactions,” Martin O’Malley and Jack Markell said in a statement.
Bayer has agreed to pay $14.2 billion to buy rival Merck’s consumer care business.
The German pharmaceutical company said buying the division, which makes Coppertone sun care products, Dr. Scholl’s foot health and allergy brand Claritin, was “a major milestone”.
Bayer said Merck would separately pay it $1 billion in a co-development deal over heart failure drugs.
Merck’s consumer care division makes Coppertone sun care products, Dr. Scholl’s foot health and allergy brand Claritin
It said the deal would help it develop sales outside the US.
Bayer also expects to become the second largest player in non-prescription, over-the-counter (OTC) products as a result of the acquisition.
“With this transaction, we are acquiring leading product brands,” said Bayer HealthCare boss Olivier Brandicourt.
Bayer said it expected the integration of the two businesses to generate significant cost savings of around $200 million per year by 2017.
Bayer also said increasing its commercial presence and rolling out Merck’s brands globally would amount to an additional $400 million in revenues per year by 2017.
Lithuania is holding presidential elections, with incumbent Dalia Grybauskaite widely predicted to secure her second term.
Recent opinion polls gave Dalia Grybauskaite a big lead over her closest rivals: lawmaker Arturas Paulauskas and European Parliament member Zigmantas Balcytis.
Lithuania is holding presidential elections, with incumbent Dalia Grybauskaite widely predicted to secure her second term
Dalia Grybauskaite, 58, is hoping to secure more than 50% of the votes to avoid a run-off.
The election comes amid rising security concerns in the region after Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Polling stations across the Baltic state will open at 04:00 GMT and will close at 17:00 GMT.
Some 2.5 million people are eligible to cast their ballots.
With Dalia Grybauskaite seen by many as a hot favorite, critics say the campaigning lacked energy.
“I have never seen in any country such a dull election campaign,” former President Valdas Adamkus was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
First results are expected shortly after the voting ends.
Pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine are holding “self-rule” referendums – a move condemned by the Ukrainian government and the West.
Self-proclaimed leaders in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are going ahead with the vote despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call to postpone it.
Self-proclaimed leaders in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are going ahead with the vote despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call to postpone it
Ukraine says the vote could result in the “self-destruction” of the regions.
Pro-Russian gunmen occupying offices in a number of towns have been involved in heavy clashes with Ukrainian troops.
Reports say there was a fierce fighting overnight on the outskirts of the rebel-held city of Sloviansk, which remains sealed by government troops conducting what the government in Kiev describes as an “anti-terror” operation.
At least seven people were killed in clashes in the port of Mariupol on Friday, officials said.
Referendum organizers said earlier this week that most of the polling stations were controlled by pro-Russian activists and would be ready for voting.
Millions of ballot papers have been prepared.
They contain only one question in both Ukrainian and Russian: “Do you support the act of state self-rule of the Donetsk People’s Republic/Luhansk People’s Republic?”
The organizers have suggested they intend to hold a second round of voting later this month, on joining Russia. They also say they will boycott Ukraine’s presidential elections on May 25.
There are no independent or international observers involved in Sunday’s vote.
On Saturday, Ukraine’s interim President Oleksandr Turchynov admitted many in eastern Ukraine supported the pro-Russian militants, but warned that the referendums were “a step towards the abyss”.
The EU and US have also condemned the referendums, amid fears that Ukraine could be sliding to civil war.
A survey by the Pew Research Centre suggested a majority even in eastern Ukraine – 70% – wanted to remain in a united country, despite concerns about governance.
President Vladimir Putin earlier called for a postponement of the vote to create the conditions necessary for dialogue.
Last month, Russia annexed Ukraine’s southern autonomous republic of Crimea, after a referendum.
Austria’s “bearded lady” Conchita Wurst has been crowned the winner of the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest held in Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen.
Conchita Wurst has been crowned the winner of the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest held in Copenhagen
Conchita Wurst, 25, won the competition with her song, Rise Like a Phoenix, with 290 points.
Collecting her trophy Conchita Wurst said: “This night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. You know who you are – we are unity and we are unstoppable.”
The Netherlands finished second with 238 points with Sweden third with 218.
To make the sauce: In the top of a double boiler, whisk together yogurt, lemon juice, egg yolks, mustard, salt, sugar, pepper and hot sauce. Cook over simmering water while stirring constantly, for 6 to 8 minutes, or until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.
In a large stock pot heat 2 quarts of salted water to a boil. Carefully break the eggs one at a time into the boiling water. When all the eggs have been added, reduce the heat to medium. When the eggs float to the top, remove them with a slotted spoon and let drain briefly.
To assemble final dish: Toast bread slices and place on warm plates. Top each piece of toast with a slice of smoked salmon and a hot poached egg. Drizzle with yogurt sauce; garnish with parsley and capers.
Pope Francis approved a miracle credited to the intercession of Pope Paul VI – who died in 1978 after a 15-year pontificate and is remembered by many for his ban on artificial contraception for Catholics.
Pope Paul VI’s beatification ceremony will be held at the Vatican on October 19, Pope Francis announced.
The move came two weeks after the canonization of two other 20th Century popes – John XXIII and John Paul II.
Beatification is the third of four steps in the process by which someone officially becomes a saint.
It requires at least one miracle to have been attributed to the intercession of a candidate for sainthood who, once beatified, is given the title blessed.
Pope Paul VI’s beatification ceremony will be held at the Vatican on October 19
After beatification, a separate miracle would have to be verified in order for Paul VI to be canonized – declared a saint – allowing him to be venerated by the universal Church as “an example of holiness that can be followed with confidence”.
Paul VI was born Giovanni Battista Montini in the Lombardy region of Italy in 1897, the son of a prominent newspaper editor.
He was elected pope in 1963 and continued the reforms of his predecessor, John XXIII.
Paul VI died in August 1978 and was succeeded briefly by Pope John Paul who died in October 1978.
During his 15-year pontificate Pope Paul VI wrote seven encyclicals – the most controversial of which was Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life), published in 1968.
Its uncompromising position on birth control led to protests around the Catholic world and some national Roman Catholic Church hierarchies openly modified the statement.
In 1995 Pope John Paul II supported Paul VI’s view on birth control in his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life).
October’s beatification ceremony will be held at the end of a crucial meeting of global bishops to discuss Catholic teaching on family life, called by Pope Francis.
As is customary, the Vatican gave no details about the miracle – which the Holy See requires must be a phenomenon certified by doctors as having no medical explanation.
However, Italian media report the miracle involved a Californian baby who was born healthy despite the pre-birth diagnoses of a ruptured foetal bladder and absence of amniotic fluid.
The mother reportedly refused to abort the child, instead praying for Paul VI’s intercession at the behest of a nun.
Florida police say the family found dead in James Blake’s burned home were shot and killed by their father, Darrin Campbell, who set the house alight before killing himself.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Col. Donna Lusczynski said investigators were looking to determine a motive.
The victims had rented the $1.5 million home from former tennis star James Blake for about two years.
James Blake, 34, was not at the home, located in a wealthy Tampa neighborhood, at the time of the fire.
Darrin Campbell had been an executive for several high-profile companies around the US
Col. Donna Lusczynski said they had not found a suicide note from Darrin Campbell, 49, but investigators had concluded the deaths were a so-called murder-suicide.
His wife, Kimberly Campbell, and their two children were found shot in the head in their respective bedrooms in the home.
Darrin Campbell then scattered fireworks and petrol around the house before setting it ablaze, according to police.
Police said Darrin Campbell had purchased “several” petrol cans and $650 of fireworks days before the fire destroyed their home.
Darrin Campbell had been an executive for several high-profile companies around the US and his wife, Kimberly, was a housewife. Their two children, Colin, 19, and Megan, 15, went to a nearby school,
“This is certainly disturbing,” Donna Lusczynski said, adding the two teenagers were well-liked at their school.
“Anytime something like this happens, it’s a tragedy.”
Firefighters were called on Wednesday morning to the home. Neighbors told police they heard explosions coming from the property.
Kimberly Campbell’s father said earlier the family had been close-knit and successful.
William Weimer, vice-president of Phantom fireworks, confirmed Darrin Campbell had bought fireworks on Sunday, describing them as the kind of fireworks usually set off in back gardens.
The unidentified remains of 9/11 victims returned to the World Trade Center site in a solemn procession on Saturday morning.
The remains left the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Manhattan’s East Side shortly before 7 a.m. in three city vehicles. They were accompanied by police and fire department vehicles with lights flashing but no sirens.
Construction workers paused as the motorcade passed, and about 10 firefighters stood in the cool breeze saluting the vehicles as they arrived. The remains will be transferred to a repository 70 feet underground in the same building as the National September 11 Memorial Museum.
The unidentified remains of 9/11 victims returned to the World Trade Center site in a solemn procession
Like many decisions involving the site of the nation’s worst terrorist attack, the disposition of the unidentified remains has been contentious.
A group of victims’ family members who say the remains should be stored in an above-ground monument separate from the museum protested the procession. About a dozen wore black bands over their mouths at the site Saturday.
Other family members support the plans, which have been in the works for years.
Uniformed officers from the New York Police Department and Fire Department of New York and the Port Authority police carried the three caskets into the repository.
The facility will be available for family visits but will be overseen by the medical examiner. Officials hope that improvements in technology will eventually lead to the identification of the 7,930 fragmentary remains.
The death toll stemming from the attacks at the World Trade Center stands at 2,753. Of those, 1,115 (41%) have not been identified.
A new study suggests that a key difference in the brains of male and female patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) may explain why more women than men get the disease.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine found higher levels of protein S1PR2 in tests on the brains of female mice and dead women with MS than in male equivalents.
Four times more women than men are currently diagnosed with MS.
Experts said the finding was “really interesting”.
MS affects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord, which causes problems with muscle movement, balance and vision.
Four times more women than men are currently diagnosed with MS
Abnormal immune cells attack nerve cells in the central nervous system in MS patients.
There is currently no cure, although there are treatments that can help in the early stages of the disease.
Researchers in Missouri looked at relapsing remitting MS, where people have distinct attacks of symptoms that then fade away either partially or completely. About 85% of people with MS are diagnosed with this type.
Scientists studied the blood vessels and brains of healthy mice, mice with MS, and mice without the gene for S1PR2, a blood vessel receptor protein, to see how it affected MS severity.
They also looked at the brain tissue samples of 20 people after they had died.
They found high levels of S1PR2 in the areas of the brain typically damaged by MS in both mice and people.
The activity of the gene coding for S1PR2 was positively correlated with the severity of the disease in mice, the study said.
Scientists said S1PR2 could work by helping to make the blood-brain barrier, in charge of stopping potentially harmful substances from entering the brain and spinal fluid, more permeable.
A more permeable barrier could let attacking cells, which cause MS, into the central nervous system, the study said.
Prof. Robyn Klein, of the Washington University School of Medicine, said: “We were very excited to find the molecule, as we wanted to find a target for treatment that didn’t involve targeting the immune cells.
“This link [between MS and S1PR2] is completely new – it has never been found before.”
She said she did not know why the levels of S1PR2 were higher in women with MS, adding she had found oestrogen had “no acute role”.
Prof. Robyn Klein would be looking at taking her findings to clinical trials in the “next few years”.
The research was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
According to new reports, Cheryl Hines is engaged to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Cheryl Hines and RFK Jr. first started dating in 2012 and their engagement news was shared at Muhammad Ali’s Celebrity Fight Night in Phoenix, Arizona, held on April 29, Us Weekly reported.
Cheryl Hines and RFK Jr. first started dating in 2012 and their engagement news was shared at Muhammad Ali’s Celebrity Fight Night in Phoenix
This will be the second marriage for Cheryl Hines, 48, and the third for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 60, who specializes in environmental law.
When they’re not traveling together, the couple enjoys volunteering and promoting their respective causes.
RFK Jr. has six children from his first two marriages. His shares his oldest two children, Bobby III, 29, and Kathleen, 26, with first wife Emily Ruth Black. He shared his other four kids, Conor, 19, Kyra, 18, Finn, 16, and Aiden, 13, with second wife, the late Mary Kathleen Richardson.
Approximately 100 people were given spots on the guest list of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s much-anticipated Paris wedding on May 24.
According to Us Weekly, the invitations feature a simple design: gold lettering on a neutral background. Information is scarce; all that’s included are a few lines about the date and dress code for the ceremony and rehearsal dinner.
Approximately 100 people were given spots on the guest list of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s much-anticipated Paris wedding on May 24 (photo Us Weekly)
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are keeping most details under wraps until their friends and family arrive in France.
“Guests won’t know the venue until they get to Paris,” a source told the publication.
“[Kim] hasn’t even told her sisters.”
Kim Kardashian, 33, recently tweeted about the upcoming event, noting that the vows would not be filmed, but “everything leading up til and after” would be.
“We’ve decided to keep this close to our heart and share thru photos,” Kim Kardashian wrote.
Sefer Calinak, who appeared on a Turkish television dating show, shocked the audience by revealing he had murdered his former wife and a former lover.
Sefer Calinak, 62, told Flash TV’s Luck of the Draw he had served prison sentences for both murders and had been released under an amnesty program.
“I’m an honest person looking for a new wife,” he said.
Sefer Calinak shocked the audience by revealing he had murdered his former wife and a former lover
Sefer Calinak was asked to leave the show by the host, in an episode that made headlines in Turkish newspapers.
He explained that he had murdered his first wife – also his cousin – out of jealousy.
Sefer Calinak said he then killed his subsequent lover accidentally, “when I swung an axe”.
In an interview after the show, Sefer Calinak vowed not to kill his next partner.
“Women would leave me after I told them that I murdered my previous wives. But I spent 14 years in jail. I have changed,” Sefer Calinak told the Haberturk newspaper.
The head of Turkey’s Media Monitoring Group, Hulya Ugur Tanriover, was quoted by Hurriyet newspaper as saying a complaint should be filed against the program.
Hulya Ugur Tanriover said the criminal records of the participant should have been checked.
Michelle Obama has said the mass kidnap of Nigerian schoolgirls is part of a wider pattern of threats and intimidation facing girls around the world who pursue an education.
The first lady said she and President Barack Obama were “outraged and heartbroken” over the abduction on April 14 of more than 200 girls from their school.
Michelle Obama was speaking instead of her husband in the weekly presidential address.
Michelle Obama was speaking instead of her husband in the weekly presidential address (photo White House)
The Islamist militant group Boko Haram has claimed the abductions.
Michelle Obama, who was speaking ahead of Mother’s Day in the US on Sunday, said the girls reminded her and her husband of their own daughters.
“What happened in Nigeria was not an isolated incident. It’s a story we see every day as girls around the world risk their lives to pursue their ambitions,” she said.
Michelle Obama cited the Pakistani schoolgirl and campaigner Malala Yousafzai, who was shot and wounded by the Taliban for speaking out for girls’ education.
“The courage and hope embodied by Malala and girls like her around the world should serve as a call to action,” she said.
It is unusual for a US first lady to make outspoken foreign policy remarks, but Michelle Obama has campaigned for the girls’ release.
Michelle Obama has often appeared alongside her husband during the weekly address, which is broadcast on radio with a video version available online. This is the first time she has delivered the speech alone.
Earlier this week, Michelle Obama tweeted a picture of herself in the White House holding a sign with the message “#BringBackOurGirls”.
The UN Security Council expressed outrage over the abductions, saying it would consider “appropriate measures” against Boko Haram. The US is seeking to have UN sanctions imposed on the group.
Supporters of Yingluck Shinawatra’s government are gathering in western Bangkok for what they are calling a rally in support of Thailand’s democracy.
Earlier this week, a court ordered PM Yingluck Shinawatra and nine ministers to step down.
Thousands of police are on standby as opposition protesters are also planning a march in the capital.
Supporters of Yingluck Shinawatra’s government are gathering in western Bangkok for what they are calling a rally in support of Thailand’s democracy (photo AP)
Yingluck Shianwatra’s removal came after six months of protests which have unnerved investors and reduced tourist numbers.
Thailand has faced a power struggle since 2006, when Yingluck Shinawatra’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted as prime minister by a military coup, accused of corruption and abuse of power.
Their Pheu Thai party has a strong base of support with rural voters. Its supporters are known colloquially as “red shirts”.
Opposition supporters – dubbed “yellow shirts” – tend to be urban and middle class. They have been protesting against Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration for six months, occupying official buildings and disrupting elections in February.
Yingluck Shinawatra was ordered to step down on Wednesday over the illegal transfer of her security chief. Another court has indicted her for negligence.
A caretaker government led by Thaksin Shianwatra loyalist Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan is running the country and says it is working towards a July 20 election.
The opposition says it will not contest the polls and that political reforms must be introduced first.
On Friday, a rally of “yellow shirts” ended with police firing tear gas and water cannon. At least five demonstrators were injured.
At least 25 people have died over the course of the protests in Thailand.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar have signed a peace deal after a five-month conflict.
The deal calls for an immediate truce and the formation of a transitional government ahead of the drafting of a new constitution and new elections.
The conflict in the world’s newest state has left thousands dead and more than one million homeless.
A ceasefire agreed in January collapsed within days, with both sides accusing each other of restarting the fighting.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday’s agreement “could mark a breakthrough for the future of South Sudan”.
Salva Kiir and Riek Machar signed the deal in Addis Ababa, after their first face-to-face meeting since the hostilities began
The UN has accused both the South Sudanese government and the rebels of crimes against humanity, including mass killings and gang-rape.
The rivals signed the deal in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa late on Friday, after their first face-to-face meeting since the hostilities began.
The agreement calls for a cessation of hostilities within 24 hours of the signing. A permanent ceasefire will then be worked on.
Salva Kiir and Riek Machar are to issue immediate orders for troops to end combat and to allow in humanitarian aid.
It was not immediately clear who would form the transitional administration.
The deal was also signed by Ethiopian PM Hailemariam Desalegn, who hosted the talks.
Leading mediator Seyoum Mesfin, from the regional Igad bloc, congratulated Salva Kiir and Riek Machar for “ending the war”.
However, African Union official Smail Chergui warned that “given the current crisis, the restoration of peace in South Sudan will not be easy”.
A UN report released on Thursday said that “widespread and systematic” atrocities had been carried out by both sides in homes, hospitals, mosques, churches and UN compounds.
It called for those responsible to be held accountable.
An estimated five million people are in need of aid, the UN says.
The violence began when President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup.
Riek Machar denied the allegation, but then marshaled a rebel army to fight the government.
The battle assumed ethnic overtones, with Riek Machar relying heavily on fighters from his Nuer ethnic group and Salva Kiir from his Dinka community.
The UN has about 8,500 peacekeepers in South Sudan. However, they have struggled to contain the conflict.
South Sudan gained independence in 2011, breaking away from Sudan after decades of conflict between rebels and the Khartoum government.
Sarajevo’s iconic city hall – now housing the national library – has been re-opened 22 years after it was destroyed by shelling during the Bosnian War.
The building was hit by a mortar and burned down during the Bosnian Serb siege of the city in 1992.
It was restored to mark the centenary of WWI, which was triggered by the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Franz Ferdinand was shot dead after leaving city hall on June 28, 1914.
Sarajevo’s iconic city hall has been re-opened 22 years after it was destroyed by shelling during the Bosnian War
The city hall was re-opened at a ceremony on Friday, with 3D projections on its facade showing key moments in the history of the 19th Century building.
“Tonight… we mark the triumph of civilization over barbarism, of light over darkness, of life over death and the triumph of the idea of unity and co-existence over the idea of inhuman and unnatural divisions and clashes,” said Bakir Izetbegovic, the Muslim Bosniak member of Bosnia’s three-man presidency.
The building – in the city’s old Turkish quarter – had no military significance. Almost two million books – including many rare manuscripts – were destroyed in 1992.
The city hall – which was first opened in 1896 – was converted into the national library in 1949.
It now houses the national and university libraries, the city council and a museum.
