Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was hiding in a well-equipped bunker in a monastery in Donetsk, the pro-Russian region where the embattled leader was born and raised, a lawmaker said Monday.
Oleksandr Bryginets, a member of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland Party, made the claims on his Facebook page.
NBC News could not independently verify Bryginets' account, which was reported by independent television station Espresso TV.
Ukraine's acting interior minister earlier issued an arrest warrant for Yanukovych, who’s been on-the-run since Saturday after he signed a deal with protestersdemanding early elections and that he step down.
The warrant issued for Yanukovych and several other officials was for the "mass killing of civilians," Interior Minister Arsen Avakhov said on his official Facebook page.
Three months of protests against Yanukovych, who had turned away from closer ties with Europe and towards Vladimir Putin's Russia, burst into deadly violence last week.
More than 80 people were killed in battles with police.
Ukraine Mourns Dead, Plans Next Steps
Award-winning poet and author Rigoberto González, a son of migrant workers, traveled between Mexico and the United States for most of his young life. Born in Bakersfield, California, he grew up in Michoacán, Mexico until he was 10. His childhood was not easy - in addition to severe poverty and the loss of his mother at the age of 12, González struggled with the education system, discrimination, and the English language.
Yet like other American writers of immigrant backgrounds, González found books to be a lifeline that opened a window into a whole new world. Now that he is in a position to make a difference in the education of others, he believes the arts are being painfully ignored, and he uses his platform to mentor, support, and give exposure to other writers, including aspiring Latino authors.
“When I came to the US, I knew there was something magical about sitting down and reading a book. There was a kind of peace I admired and looked forward to especially because there was no peace in my house,” explains González, whose fourth book of poetry, Unpeopled Eden, was published last fall.
Unfortunately, he says, people are taught to fear poetry, which he sees as essential.
"When I came to the US, I knew there was something magical about sitting down and reading a book. There was a kind of peace I admired and looked forward to especially because there was no peace in my house."
"I have always turned to the poets to illuminate the paths toward perspective and clarity, and it's important to recognize that poets are essential to our cultural legacy," he says. "We have always had poets, because we have always had something to wonder about.”
González warns against diminishing opportunities in teaching writing and letters as a career.
“Academia looks very devastating in terms of the job market,” he says, adding that universities "exploit labor" with adjunct professors. Despite the challenges, he doesn't want to discourage anyone from pursuing that path. He is currently a professor at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, is on the board of the National Book Critics Circle and is a contributing editor of Poets and Writers Magazine.
Tackling the tough issues - through art
For González, books have been a way of grappling with issues of gender, migration, and borders. When it comes to the current state of immigration reform, he says it's important not to see it as a new debate.
“There's a lot of protest because it's imminent, because it's unstoppable. The statistics are there. Latinos are going to be largest minority in this country. Even if they close the borders, it's too late because most of us are already on this inside," he says. "We're already transforming the culture. It annoys me to have to hear this rhetoric that is so dated, and that is so powerless."
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- A couple has been charged in connection with the December disappearance of 20-year-old Heather Elvis.
Sidney and Tammy Moorer were charged with one count each of kidnapping, police said.
These charges came one day after authorities announced the Moorers had been charged with one count each of obstruction of justice and two counts each of indecent exposure.
HORRY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
Sidney Moorer (left) and Tammy Moorer (right).
Lt. Robert Kegler of the Horry County Police Department told Dateline he did not know if other charges were pending.
"This is a very much an open investigation," Kegler said. Asked if this development means there is a possibility Heather Elvis may still be alive, Lt. Kegler responded: "There's always the possibility."
Lt. Kegler would not comment on the results of last Friday's search of the Moorer home.
TSVANGIRAYI MUKWAZHI / AP
Zimbabwe's Mugabe Celebrates 90th Birthday With $1M Party
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe told crowds celebrating his 90th birthday on Sunday that he was "made to feel as youthful and energetic as a boy of nine."
Lauded as a liberation hero by some and condemned by others as a human rights abuser, Mugabe has spent more than a third of his life as leader of the southern African nation.
The event at the 50,000-seat stadium in Marondera was held a few days after his birthday due to a trip he made to Singapore for what aides said was a cataract operation. It is estimated to have cost $1 million.
Russian riot police detained over 100 protesters on Monday outside a Moscow courthouse where they were demonstrating against the prosecution of seven defendants who were arrested at a 2012 rally against President Vladimir Putin.
Their pleas fell on deaf ears however as the judge sentenced seven defendants to prison terms ranging from two-and-a-half to four years for attacking police officers.
Among those detained was Alexei Navalny, who emerged from a series of street protests in 2011-2012 as one of the top opposition leaders.
TATYANA MAKEYEVA / REUTERS
Police detain opposition leader Alexei Navalny outside a courthouse in Moscow on Feb. 24.
Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina also took part in the protest.
काठमाण्डु, माघ – नेपाल टेलिकमले २० रुपियाँमा एक महिनाका लागि अनलिमिटेड भ्वाइस कलको प्याकेज घोषणा गरेको छ।कम्पनीको १० औँ वार्षिकोत्सका अवसरमा आयोजित कार्यक्रममा प्रबन्ध निर्देशक अनुपरञ्जन भट्टराईले विभिन्न छुटको प्याकेज घोषणा गरेका हुन्।सिडिएमए प्रिपेड सेवामा राति १० बजेदेखि बिहान ६ बजेसम्म कम्पनीकै नेटवर्कभित्र हुने फोनमा प्रति महिना २० रुपियाँमा जति पनि कुरा गर्न सकिन्छ। यस्तो नाइट कल प्याकेज आजदेखि तीन महिनासम्म दिइनेछ।मोबाइल सेवामा अनलिमिटेड भ्वाइस कलको सुविधा दिइएको नेपालमा यो पहिलो अवसर हो।वार्षिकोत्सवका अवसरमा अरु पनि विभिन्न छुट प्याकेजको घोषणा गरिएको छ।
