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RUSH: All right. The Israelis have rejected the ceasefire proposal made by the haughty John Kerry, who served in Vietnam. The Israelis reject ceasefire deal. The only thing a ceasefire does is allow Hamas to regroup. I think Hamas is on the ropes and that's why everybody wants a ceasefire. I'm telling you, everything over there is ass backwards. Everything in this conflict is 180 degrees out of phase. They want the ceasefire to give Hamas time to regroup. "Well, we have to make it fair, Mr. Limbaugh, because the Israelis have such an unfair advantage. They're richer and they're...

(Reuters) - Ukraine announced on Thursday that it would begin withdrawing artillery from the front line with separatist rebels in the east, a move that amounts to recognition that a ceasefire meant to take effect on Feb. 15 is holding at last. The pro-Russian rebels have already been pulling back heavy weapons for two days, but Kiev had held back, arguing that fighting had not yet ceased. However, the army reported no combat fatalities at the front for a second straight day on Thursday, the first time no troops have been killed since long before the French- and German-brokered truce...

"It is no secret that the Russian army is here. My wife runs a small shop and some men only wanted to pay in rubles. They are Russian! They have broken the silence that we once had!" Vladimir said, as his three chess partners agreed in unison. "We'd like them to leave. It's not their country," he says. "I've lived most of my life in the Soviet Union. I consider myself Ukrainian, but I prefer to live in Russia, yes. You know why? Because my wife is from Russia. My two sons live in Russia. My entire family lives in...

Monitors from the OSCE, which is monitoring the ceasefire between Kiev and separatist rebels in east Ukraine, told FRANCE 24 on Monday that the truce is not being respected in critical areas nor with regard to the withdrawal of heavy weapons. Alexander Hug, the deputy chief monitor of the special mission to Ukraine for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), warned that fighting had continued over the weekend and urged both Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed rebels to disclose information about the current positions of the heavy artillery that is to be pulled back from the front line...

(Reuters) - The package of measures underpinning a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine must be "unconditionally observed", Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Sunday. Dmitry Peskov was commenting on a remark by a senior pro-Russian separatist commander that, despite the truce deal that took effect at midnight, rebels have the right to fire on the town of Debaltseve in east Ukraine as it is "our territory."

(Reuters) - Rebels in eastern Ukraine refused to allow monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to reach the encircled town of Debaltseve after a ceasefire took effect on Sunday, the head of the OSCE mission said. The rebels have said the ceasefire does not apply to Debaltseve, scene of the worst fighting in recent weeks.

The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko has called an emergency meeting Sunday regarding the violation of silence regime in Donbas by Kiev forces, the deputy head of DPR militia said. "The head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko has called an emergency meeting at which the current situation is being discussed," Eduard Basurin said. Eduard Basurin said that at 02:00 (February 14, 23:00 GMT) armed groups of Kiev militants in the town of Debaltseve have opened fire targeting the positions of LPR and DPR. “In order to avoid civilian casualties, the units of DPR...

KYIV, September 8 /Ukrinform/. The self-declared “DPR” stops a process of exchange of captives since it says that it has not received a list of captured militants. This is said on the website of terrorists. “There are fears that we will release everyone, and Kyiv will try to cheat,” acting “minister of state security” of the “DPR” Leonid Baranov said. Due to this, the “DPR” is not planning to release about 1,000 Ukrainian military in order not to become, as they allege, “victims of fraud.”

KYIV, September 8 /Ukrinform/. Russian soldiers and militants conducted active actions near Mariupol and Donetsk since yesterday's evening. Head of the Information Resistance group Dmytro Tymchuk said about this on his page on Facebook. “Since the yesterday's (7.09.2014) evening, the enemy conducted active actions in the area of Mariupol, Donetsk, Debaltseve,” he wrote. In addition, Tymchuk informed that Russian military and terrorists fired positions and roadblocks of Ukrainian military with the use of small arms, mortars and grenade launchers in the area of inhabited localities of Zhdanivka, Zolote, Nyzhnia Krynka, Fashchivka.

Pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian military accused each other on Saturday of breaking a tenuous Kremlin-backed truce only hours after it came into force across the war-battered east.

KYIV, September 6 /Ukrinform/. Militants have shelled the positions of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) forces 28 times over the last 24 hours, including ten after a bilateral ceasefire was declared in Minsk.

V ladimir Putin's spokesman has denied that the Russian president and Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko agreed on a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, saying that Russia is not a party to the conflict there. Dmitry Peskov was speaking after Poroshenko's office said in a statement that the two leaders, in a telephone conversation, had reached agreement on a permanent cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are fighting government forces. Peskov said Putin and Poroshenko "did discuss steps which would contribute to a cease-fire." However, he said, "Russia cannot agree on a cease-fire as it is not a participant in the...

<p>Ukrainian president says he has agreed with Russia's President Putin on "permanent ceasefire" in east of country.</p>

Announced just now on Bloomberg TV as breaking news. Several Tweets just now breaking say it was announced by Poroshenko's "Presidential Press Service Moments ago. More as it comes.... CNBC now announcing it on their TWitter, as well: https://twitter.com/CNBCWorld

Ukraine rebels pull back from independence demands at cease-fire talks MOSCOW – Pro-Russian rebels softened their demand for full independence Monday, saying they would respect Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for autonomy -- a shift that reflects Moscow's desire to strike a deal at a new round of peace talks. The insurgents' platform, released at the start of Monday's negotiations in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, represented a significant change in their vision for the future of Ukraine's eastern, mainly Russian-speaking region. It remains unclear, however, whether the talks can reach a compromise amid the brutal fighting that has continued in eastern...

Israel is claiming victory in the 50-day war with Hamas, which temporarily ended in a ceasefire that went into force Tuesday. "We were victorious in the negotiation phase,” said Liran Dan, Head of the National Information Directorate in the Prime Minister's Office, in an interview with IDF Radio Wednesday. “The military blow that the IDF dealt Hamas – the hardest it has experienced since it was founded – was heavy and meaningful. What we saw is that in a prolonged and well executed campaign, Hamas suffered a harsh military blow and damage to the most heavily constructed arrays it built.”...

The first night of the ceasefire was peacefully quiet: no violations were reported on the part of either side. .....

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israel and Hamas agreed Tuesday to an open-ended cease-fire, halting a seven-week war that killed more than 2,200 people, the vast majority Palestinians, left tens of thousands in Gaza homeless and devastated entire neighborhoods in the blockaded territory. Hamas declared victory and bursts of celebratory gunfire erupted across Gaza, but the terms of the deal fell far short of Hamas' demand that Israel and Egypt open Gaza's borders. Under the Egyptian-brokered deal, Israel is to ease imports into Gaza, including aid and material for reconstruction. It also allows Palestinians to fish six nautical miles...

GAZA CITY — Hamas leaders said Tuesday afternoon that Egypt had brokered a long-term cease-fire after 50 days of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, though Israeli officials would not say whether they had actually accepted the conditions.

Terrorist factions in Gaza are apparently split once again over the possibility of accepting an Egyptian ceasefire proposal, with Hamas stubbornly refusing to accept it and at least two Islamic Jihad leaders claiming a truce will come into effect imminently. Islamic Jihad official Khaled al-Battash told interviewers a ceasefire would be coming into effect "within hours", along the same basis as the ceasefire following Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, as outlined by an Egyptian proposal. The truce deal would include provisions for the rehabilitation of Gaza after a month and a half of fierce fighting, as well as an...