The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “They have created a wasteland and they’re calling it peace.” Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, referring to cease-fires the Syrian government has negotiated with rebel-held areas Article, 1AUkrainian protesters bombard police

KIEV, Ukraine - Anti-government protests in Ukraine’s capital escalated into fiery street battles with police Sunday as thousands of demonstrators hurled rocks and firebombs to set police vehicles ablaze. Dozens of officers and protesters were injured.

Police responded with stun grenades, tear gas and water cannons, but they were outnumbered by the protesters. Many of the riot police held their shields over their heads to protect themselves from the projectiles.

The violence was a sharp escalation of Ukraine’s two month political crisis, which has been largely peaceful.

The crisis broke out in November after President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to freeze ties with the European Union and seek a huge bailout from Russia.

The Interior Ministry said more than 70 police were injured, four of them seriously.

The ministry also said a criminal case had been opened on charges of mass disorder.

Iran official: Uranium pullback essential

TEHRAN, Iran - Ahead of the start of a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, an official in the Islamic Republic called limiting uranium enrichment and diluting its stockpile the country’s “most important commitments,” state radio reported Sunday.

The comments by Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Iran’s atomic department, show how President Hassan Rouhani’s government welcomes the deal, which begins today.

International inspectors also already have arrived in Tehran, preparing for the government opening its facilities to them.

“Implementation of mutual commitments in the framework of the Geneva deal will begin from tomorrow,” Kamalvandi said. “Under the agreement, suspension of 20 percent enrichment of uranium - and the diluting of the current stockpile of enriched uranium - are the most important commitments of our country.”

Iran struck the deal in November with the so-called P5+1 countries - Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany. Negotiators agreed to final terms of the deal last Monday.

Israel handing over Palestinians’ bodies

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel is transferring the bodies of some Palestinians killed in fighting to their families, the military said Sunday, hours after it carried out an airstrike targeting a Palestinian militant who it says fired rockets at Israel last week.

The Israeli military said it had started the “return of bodies of terrorists to their respective families in the Palestinian Authority.” It did not elaborate.

Israeli media reported that 36 bodies of Palestinians killed in attacks on Israelis or in clashes with the military would be handed over.

Earlier, the military said it carried out an airstrike targeting a Palestinian militant in Gaza.

The military said Ahmad Saad of the Islamic Jihad group fired five rockets at Israel last week and was planning more attacks. An Israeli anti-missile battery system intercepted the rockets.

An Islamic Jihad official in Gaza confirmed Saad was targeted. He spoke anonymously because he was unauthorized to speak to the media.

Morsi accused of antagonizing judiciary

CAIRO - Egypt’s prosecutors referred to trial Sunday the country’s former Islamist president on charges of insulting the judiciary and defaming its members in an attempt to spread hate, the state news agency reported.

Mohammed Morsi is already facing three separate trials on various charges, including inciting the murder of his opponents, conspiring with foreign groups and organizing jailbreaks - all of which can carry the death penalty.

The new case includes 24 other politicians, media personalities, activists and lawyers, accused in separate incidents of insulting the judiciary. The offense is punishable by up to six months in prison, a fine or both.

Egypt’s state news agency said the referral of Morsi dates back to his time in office, when he named a judge in a public speech and accused him of bearing responsibility for fraud carried out in previous elections. At the time, the judge was presiding over a case reviewing corruption charges against former regime officials.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/20/2014

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