Ukraine Crisis: Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that he considers the toppling of Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich to be an “unconstitutional coup” and he reserves the right to use force if necessary to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine. “If I decide to use armed forces it will be in line with international law,” Putin said.

In an hour-long angry press conference, Putin gave a version of events in Ukraine that differs from international understanding of what happened. He said Yanukovich never ordered the shooting of protesters in Kiev and that the snipers may have been “provocateurs” from the opposition. He denies that the troops with no unit insignia in Crimea are Russian. He claims to be protecting Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine, although they have not been threatened.

President Obama has suspended all military ties with Russia including joint naval exercises scheduled for May. US officials also say if Russia does not back off from its occupation of Crimea, economic sanctions will be brought against high Russian officials and state run financial institutions. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “It is likely we will put those in place and we are preparing that.”

European countries, including Britain, are not yet willing to talk as tough as the US, thereby weakening any influence Obama might have over the situation. But The German foreign minister said, “We are in the most serious crisis for Europe since the fall of the (Berlin) Wall.”

The Russian economy is already feeling some pain. The country’s key stock index dropped more than 9 percent and the ruble fell to a record low against the dollar.
In a play from the old Soviet Union, demonstrators claiming to be Russian Crimeans marched in 11 cities yesterday, but they were highly organized and many were actual Russian citizens who had been bused over the border into Crimea.

In military developments, Ukraine claims Russia now has 16,000 troops in Crimea. Russia demanded the surrender of two Ukrainian warships blocked into Sevastapol harbor by four Russian ships. The Russians are threatening to storm a Ukrainian command ship and an anti-submarine ship at the dock if their commanders do not surrender.

World: A neighbor testified in the opening day of trial for South African blade runner Oscar Pistorius that she heard a woman screaming then gunshots a year ago when Pistorius killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius said he thought an intruder was in the bathroom and fired his pistol through the door. Even if he is acquitted of murder, Pistorius still has big trouble. Even if what Pistorius says is true, it’s illegal under South African law to have fired through the door without knowing who was on the other side.

Nation: The Supreme Court hears a case today about whether workers at Amazon.com should be paid for the time they spend clearing security checks at the end of the day to be sure they haven’t stolen anything. The workers in a Nevada warehouse say they spend as much as a half hour a day, unpaid, waiting to clear security.

Papal Fallibility: Pope Francis is reported to have mangled an Italian word during his Sunday blessing and ended up uttering a vulgarity instead, which, even though the Pope said it, we are not going to repeat it.

Editorial Infallibility: The NY Times, which considers itself the newspaper of record, printed a correction for a 161-year-old article about Solomon Northup, whose true story was the basis for the Oscar-winning movie “12 Years a Slave.” In 1853 the Times printed the name as “Northrup”. But the paper defended its 19th Century journalism describing its story as, “a more complete and authentic record than has yet appeared.”

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