At least 30 people – mostly homeless – have died in Ukraine. Deaths have also been reported in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, among others.

Temperatures plunged to -20C (-4F) on Monday.

Health officials in Ukraine say nearly 24,000 people have sought refuge in some 1,590 shelters over the past three days.

More than 600 people have sought treatment for frostbite and hypothermia during this time.

The authorities say they are planning to set up 150 more centres, as heavy snow was forecast in the region on Wednesday.

(BBC)

The Taliban have refused previously to recognise the government of President Hamid Karzai.

They have insisted they would only talk to the US and other Kabul allies.

A senior Afghan government official told the BBC: “Even if the Taliban office is established in Qatar we will obviously pursue other efforts in the region, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey.”

He continued: “Saudi Arabia has played an important role in the past. We value that and look forward to continued support and contact with Saudi Arabia in continuing the peace process.”

The Taliban, contacted by the BBC, refused to comment on the move.

(BBC)

Panetta told CBS’s “60 Minutes,” in a profile to be broadcast on Sunday, that Shakil Afridi helped provide intelligence for the raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Afridi ran a vaccination program for the CIA to collectDNA and verify bin Laden’s presence in the compound. He has since been charged by Pakistan with treason. Panetta said he is “very concerned” for the doctor.

Panetta also told “60 Minutes” that he remains convinced that someone in the Pakistani government “must have had some sense” that a person of interest was in the compound. He added that he has no proof that Pakistan knew it was bin Laden.

(USA Today)

Unveiling a restructure of the armed forces, Mr Panetta said the US would boost special forces and retain the ability to defeat “any enemy on land”.

The Pentagon is facing cuts of $487bn (£310bn) over the next 10 years.

In five years, the Army will drop from a peak of 570,000 to 490,000, and the marines be cut by 20,000, to 182,000.

The military’s budget would rise, albeit at a slower rate, to $567bn by 2017.

(BBC)

More than 8,000 pro-Gaddafi supporters are being held by militia groups, amid reports of torture, UN officials said.

Four died in clashes in Bani Walid, a former Gaddafi stronghold, on Monday.

The UN’s Libya envoy, Ian Martin, told the Security Council in New York on Wednesday that those clashes between armed residents of Bani Walid and revolutionaries had been misreported as pro-Gaddafi forces retaking the city.

Nevertheless, he said, it highlighted the challenge of reconciling the former leader’s supporters and the rebels that had defeated them.

(BBC)

A new-found species of ancient hermit crabs was recently named after the singer, not because it had a particularly unusual Moondance-like walking style, but because it was discovered on the day that he died.

There is now a type of crab named Mesoparapylocheles michaeljacksoni, insuring that the singer will not just be examined for his dance moves.

The now-famous crab was discovered by a group of international scientists on June 25, 2009- the day when Jackson died.

The team were celebrating their find in a restaurant in Alsasua, Spain when they saw news of his passing on a nearby television. ’Michael Jackson’s music will no doubt live a very long time and influence many people so I think the name is appropriate,’ said Adiel Klompmaker, one of the scientists involved in the discovery. 

(Daily Mail)

The quake was 420 km (260 miles) southwest of Banda Aceh, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Indonesia’s meterological and geophysics agency, which said the quake was 7.6 magnitude on the Richter scale, routinely issues tsunami warnings for quakes over 7 magnitude.

Local people in Banda Aceh ran away in panic from buildings after news of the quake, a witness said.

(Reuters)

The ICC, based in in The Hague, has indicted him for crimes against humanity and wants to know officially whether Libya plans to hand him over.

It could refer Libya to the UN Security Council if it does not respond.

(BBC)

Civil defence chief Benito Ramos told the BBC it had been triggered by “continuous rain” over two days.

A nearby village was also hit by a landslide last year that left 14 dead.

(BBC)

But he said that the biggest goal was stability, and that aid-for-disarmament talks could resume if Pyongyang halted its nuclear activities.

On Sunday North Korea told citizens to defend leader Kim Jong-un to the death.

Kim Jong-un has succeeded his father, Kim Jong-il, who died on 17 December at the age of 69.

On Friday, the country’s powerful National Defence Commission warned the outside world to expect no change from the new leadership.

(BBC)