United Nations asks Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraine

On Feb. 3 Russian troops are showing no signs of leaving Ukraine, even as world leaders threaten sanctions and an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting is called. Russia has been using helicopters, planes and boats to send in 16,000 troops into Ukraine in the past week. Diplomats from the U.N. have asked Russia to withdraw its troops; Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has insisted that Russia’s goal was to preserve democracy and to stop radical extremists. A letter from ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, read at the U.N. meeting, said that Ukraine is a country “on the brink of civil war.”

Mass knife attack in China leaves at least 28 dead

At China’s Kunming railway station a mass knife attack on Mar. 1 left at least 28 dead and over 130 injured. Eight people had come into the station and began stabbing people at random. Four of the attackers were shot dead by police at the scene, and the other four suspects were detained. Chinese authorities have blamed militants from Xinjiang for the attack. Security in Xinjiang had been increased in Oct. 2013 after a vehicle drove into tourists in Tiananmen Square, killing two bystanders and the car’s occupants. The country has labeled this a “suicide attack” by militants from Xinjiang.

North Korea fires two missiles off its eastern coast

On Feb. 3 North Korea fired two short range missiles off of its eastern coast. This is the second launch in less than a week according to the South Korean Defense Ministry. South Korea is on high alert and monitoring the situation, and has asked North Korea to stop the missile launches. On Feb. 27 four short range missiles were fired into the sea off of the eastern coast of North Korea, just days after the annual joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea. North Korea is against those exercises, which causes tension between the three countries.