ALGIERS - Three weeks after being rushed to hospital in Paris, Algerian PresidentAbdelaziz Bouteflika has disappeared from sight, leaving behind a country preparing for a successor who for the first time will come from a generation too young to have fought in Algeria's war of independence against France.

Ukrainian world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko has led 15,000 protesters through Kyiv's streets, demanding the immediate release of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

BRUSSELS - The European Union criticised Russia's human rights record on Sunday, saying it was increasingly concerned at a wave of restrictive legislation and prosecutions against activists.

Ukrainian world boxing champion, Vitali Klitschko led 15,000 protesters through the streets of Kyiv on Saturday demanding the immediate release of jailed former Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko.

LONDON - British Prime Minister David Cameron is "losing control of his party",Conservative Party grandee Geoffrey Howe said on Sunday, as a row raged over whether a close aide to Cameron had labelled grassroots activists "mad, swivel-eyed loons".

KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai plans to discuss potential arms deals with Indian officials during a trip to New Delhi this week, officials said, at a time when tensions are running high on Afghanistan's disputed border with Pakistan.

During the week, the CIS steel export market at Black Sea remained weak. Billet price is fluctuating around USD 500 per tonne FOB with most offers at USD 505 per tonne.

The sculpture shows two elderly people hugging each other in an embrace that defies age, immortalising a reunion 60 years after the end of World War II and descent of the iron curtain tore their love apart.

MOSCOW - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern on Sunday over North Korea's launch of short-range missiles, urging Pyonyang to refrain from further launches and return to stalled nuclear talks with world powers.

Dubai - A man and his Ukrainian mistress have been sentenced to a year in jail for sex outside of marriage, after the man’s wife reported them to police.

Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk filed a suit with London’s High Court against two other magnates from his country, accusing them of selling him a shell company eight years ago.

Supporters and opponents of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych have scuffled as both sides held thousands-strong rallies in Kyiv, May 18th, police and local media have said.

BERLIN - France has a special responsibility as a euro zone heavyweight to take deficit reduction rules seriously, even though its budget deficit is above target, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said in an interview published on Sunday.

As the search for Dr. Jay Sloop entered its fifth day in Kyiv, organizers explained why volunteers focused their efforts on a large urban park in the Ukrainian capital.

MALMO, Sweden - Denmark's Emmelie de Forest won Eurovision on Saturday before an international TV audience of around 125 million, clinching the coveted crown of euro-pop with a folksy ballad backed by a wall of fire, flutes and drums.

Efforts are going ahead in Ukraine's capital Kyiv to stage a gay pride march next week in the face of data showing a sharp rise in the number of homophobic attacks reported in the city.

A clash took place between the opposition supporters and their opponents at the entrance to the Intercontinental Hotel on Mykhailivska Square.

Chairman of the Batkivschyna faction Arseniy Yatseniuk has demanded an urgent meeting with Ukraine's Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko because of the incident with the beating of a journalist of Channel 5, Olha Snitsarchuk, and a photojournalist of the Kommersant-Ukraine Newspaper, Vladyslav Sodel, according to the Web site of the Batkivschyna all-Ukrainian Union. 

The police have launched criminal proceedings in connection with the beating of a correspondent of Channel 5, Olha Snitsarchuk, in a fight on Velyka Zhytomyrska Street in Kyiv.

Kronstadt, St. Petersburg, May 18 (Interfax-AVN) - The second Mistral-class amphibious assault ship being built for Russia in France will be named the Sevastopol and will join Russia's Black Sea Fleet in 2017, a military official told Interfax-AVN on Saturday.