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Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev announces his resignation Tuesday after nearly 30 years in power.
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev announces his resignation Tuesday after nearly 30 years in power.

Kazakhstan leader abruptly steps down

MOSCOW -- President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the only leader that independent Kazakhstan has ever known, abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday after three decades in power, raising uncertainty over the future course of the Central Asian country.

In a televised address to the oil-rich nation, the 78-year-old Nazarbayev said he has made the "difficult" decision to terminate his authority as president, effective today.

He did not give a specific reason for the surprise move, but noted that he would have marked 30 years on the job later this year and added that he sees his mission as securing a smooth transition of power.

Nazarbayev will retain the honorary title of "Elbasy" or "leader of the nation" and continue to wield considerable political power. He said he will remain chairman of the nation's Security Council and the head of the ruling Nur Otan party.

He said that upper house Speaker Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will serve as interim head of state in line with the constitution until a new election is held.

U.S., Russia still at odds on Venezuela

ROME -- Russia and the United States remain split on how to resolve the crisis in Venezuela, officials from both powers said Tuesday after talks in Rome.

Elliott Abrams, U.S. special envoy to Venezuela, met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to discuss the situation in the South American country.

"We did not come to a meeting of the minds, but the talks were positive in the sense that I think both sides emerged with a better understanding of the other's views," Abrams told reporters after the meeting.

Russia backs Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and has accused the United States of meddling in the country's affairs by pressing Maduro to step down and hand over power to opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Speaking to Russian media outlets, Ryabkov emphasized the need for dialogue with the U.S. but warned against military intervention.

President Donald Trump has said "all options are on the table" regarding Venezuela, which Russia interprets as a refusal to exclude military force, Ryabkov said.

Abrams insisted the U.S. will continue to keep its options open but said it has chosen the path of putting political, financial and diplomatic pressure on Maduro's regime.

7 Bangladeshis die in tribal-area attack

DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Gunmen opened fire as two cars carrying ballot boxes returned from a polling station, killing at least seven people and wounding 15 in a part of southeastern Bangladesh known for tribal life and tourism, officials said Tuesday.

Police official Manjurul Alam said early Tuesday that the attack took place Monday evening when the election and security officials were returning from the polling station at Baghaichhari in Rangamati district, an area once hit by tribal insurgency. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks.

He said military helicopters carried 11 critically injured people to a military hospital in neighboring Chittagong.

Authorities increased security in the region after the violence, he said.

Voting was held in Rangamati to elect local government officials, but some candidates boycotted, citing irregularities.

Several armed tribal groups are still active in the district, which shares borders with India and Burma.

Ruling prods Germany on U.S.' drone use

BERLIN -- A court in Germany ruled Tuesday that the government has partial responsibility to ensure U.S. drone strikes controlled with the help of an American base on German territory are in line with international law, but judges stopped short of ordering the ban that human-rights activists had sought.

The case was lodged by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights on behalf of three Yemeni plaintiffs, who allege their relatives were killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2012. A lower court had dismissed their case in 2015, concluding at the time that the government had fulfilled its legal duties and was within its rights to balance them with "foreign and defense policy interests."

The Muenster administrative court said in a statement that available evidence suggests the Ramstein U.S. air base in southern Germany plays "a central role" for the relay of flight-control data used for armed drone strikes in Yemen.

Judges ordered the German government to take "appropriate measures" to determine whether the use of armed drones controlled through Ramstein is in line with international law and, if necessary, to press Washington to comply with it.

"The judgment from the court in Muenster is an important step toward placing limits on the drone program as carried out via Ramstein," said Andreas Schueller, a lawyer with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.

A spokesman for U.S. Air Force Europe said the Ramstein base is used to "conduct operational level planning, monitoring and assessment of assigned airpower missions throughout Europe and Africa."

A Section on 03/20/2019

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