'Troops killed' in Ukraine ambush

Separatists have called for Russia to absorb Donetsk region

Seven Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in an ambush in the eastern Donetsk region, reports say.

A unit was attacked near the town of Kramatorsk by about 30 heavily-armed rebels, the defence ministry said. One rebel is also said to have died.

Correspondents say this is the most serious loss of life for the government in its operation against separatists.

Donetsk is one of two regions declared separate from Ukraine after referendums deemed illegal by Kiev, the US and EU.

The defence ministry said an armoured personnel carrier carrying paratroopers was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and exploded.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says Moscow has "crossed red lines"

More soldiers were killed or injured in a firefight which ensued with the insurgents, who were said to be hiding in bushes.

On Monday, the pro-Russian separatists who declared independence in Donetsk said that all Ukrainian troops in the region would be viewed as occupying forces and should leave.

Their leader Denis Pushilin called on Russia to "absorb" Donetsk region.

Meanwhile in the neighbouring Luhansk region, separatists said an attempt was made on the life of a rebel leader.

Self-declared governor Valery Bolotov was shot and had lost a lot of blood, but his life was not in danger, the press office of the "Luhansk People's Republic" said.

'Crucial'

The BBC's Richard Galpin reports from Donetsk on the fears of some pro-unity residents

Earlier the Kiev-appointed governor of Donetsk region said Ukraine was planning a national referendum on devolving power to regions.

Speaking at a news conference in Donetsk, Mr Taruta called on parliament to pass legislation which would authorise a vote to help regions get more power while remaining within Ukraine.

Mr Taruta also described Sunday's separatist referendums in Donetsk and Luhansk as "an opinion poll".

He said the self-declared "People's Republic of Donetsk" did not exist legally or politically, and that the Donetsk region could not survive economically as an independent territory.

People in the east "should hear answers to the questions that they are concerned about", he said.

On a visit to Kiev, Germany's foreign minister urged talks between government and rebels.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed support for a national round table which the government is planning to hold on Wednesday.

Ukrainian officials say the meeting will include politicians and civic leaders from the country's east, but armed separatists have already refused to negotiate.

Mr Steinmeier also backed Ukraine's 25 May presidential vote, which he said would be "crucial" in bringing the country out of its crisis.

Ukrainian forces are holding positions outside the eastern town of Sloviansk

Ukraine PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk (L) signed a deal for 1bn euros in EU aid

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier hopes to mediate in the Ukraine crisis

Separatists in Luhansk declared a "sovereign state" after the referendum

Separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk say 89% and 96% respectively voted in favour of "self-rule" in the referendums.

Armed rebels remain in control of many official buildings across eastern Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russian gas company Gazprom has asked Ukraine to pay $1.66bn (£1bn) for gas deliveries in June.

Gazprom says Ukraine owes it $3.5bn. It recently doubled the price Ukraine must pay for gas - a move that Kiev has refused to accept.

But Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Russia should stop using gas as "a new type of weapon".

He also accused Moscow of seizing Ukrainian property including oil and gas during the annexation of Ukraine's southern autonomous republic of Crimea in March following a controversial referendum.

Mr Yatsenyuk was speaking in Brussels after signing a deal for 1bn euros in EU aid.

The Ukrainian government fears a similar outcome to the annexation of Crimea in Donetsk, Luhansk and parts of the south.

Nato believes some 40,000 Russian troops are deployed near Ukraine's border, although Moscow says they have been pulled back.

Are you in the Donetsk or Luhansk region, or elsewhere in Ukraine? Will you be voting in the presidential election on 25 May? What do you think of the "self-rule" referendums? You can send us your thoughts by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line "Ukraine".

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Published on: 9:12 PM

'TOSH.O' TRAGEDYTV assistant mistakenly shot, killed by LA police

John Winkler, left, is shown alongside Daniel Tosh. Winkler was accidentally killed by police on Monday in California.Facebook/ Comedy Central

An aspiring TV producer, who had worked for Comedy Central’s viral video-based series “Tosh.0,” was accidentally killed on Monday night when Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies mistook him for a mad slasher, FOX411 has learned.

A panicky 911 caller told dispatchers a man with a 10-inch butcher knife was threatening people. So when Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies saw a wounded, bloody man rush out of a West Hollywood apartment with someone on his heels, they opened fire.

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But the man they gunned down Monday night wasn't the slasher; he was a fleeing hostage.

John Winkler, 30, had served as a temporary production assistant for the Daniel Tosh-hosted series. He died at a hospital in California. 

Tosh has yet to address Winkler’s death on his Twitter account.

“Comedy Central and ‘Tosh.0’ extend their deepest condolences to the family of John Winkler," a statement released Friday by Comedy Central read. 

"We only had the privilege of working with him for a short while and extend heartfelt sympathy to his family and friends during this tragic time,” the statement said. 

"Taking the life of an innocent person is a police officer's greatest nightmare," Interim Los Angeles County Sheriff John Scott said Thursday at a news conference.

The entire department mourned Winkler's death, he added.

Winkler was "hanging out" with some friends who lived in the apartment below him on Palm Avenue when a man who also lived in that apartment, Alexander McDonald, climbed over the balcony with the knife, sheriff's homicide Lt. David Coleman said.

McDonald was "in an incoherent state of mind, seemed very paranoid, which was uncharacteristic," Coleman said.

McDonald took his roommate, Winkler and another man hostage, then flew into a rage and began stabbing and fighting with them, authorities said.

"We don't know what caused his rage or what caused his outburst," and it was unclear whether drugs were involved, Coleman said.

Someone called 911 and arriving deputies were told the hostage-taker was a thin man in a black shirt.

Deputies announced themselves and pounded on the door and at that moment one of the stabbing victims took the opportunity to escape, Coleman said.

"The door suddenly opened and a man with blood spurting form his neck entered the doorway" with Winkler — a thin man wearing a black shirt — running after him only inches away, Scott said.

The fleeing man appeared to be under "continuous attack," the sheriff said.

Three deputies fired four shots, and a bullet mortally wounded Winkler. The other man was hit in the leg and was hospitalized in stable condition, according to a Sheriff's Department statement.

Winkler had moved to West Hollywood from Washington state six months ago to work in the entertainment industry, his friend, Devin Richardson, told the Los Angeles Times.

Winkler's Facebook page said he studied directing at the Seattle Film Institute and was in the class of 2010.

The deputies, all department veterans, were removed from patrol after the shooting but were expected to return to full duty next week, sheriff's officials said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Published on: 8:32 PM

Man Who Says He Killed 40 Won't Divulge Associates

A man in an Alabama jail who has confessed to killing dozens across the country did not name the drug cartels he said employed him.

Tim McWhorter, a captain and chief investigator with the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office in Alabama, says 51-year-old Jose Manuel Martinez told authorities that he would never divulge the names or cartel affiliations of his criminal associates. Martinez told investigators he was not necessarily a hit man but was hired to collect debts.

Lawrence County deputies arrested Martinez in connection with a 2013 shooting death.

McWhorter said that Martinez, who has pleaded not guilty in the case, confessed to that killing and many others.

Martinez has also been charged with nine murders in California and is wanted on suspicion of committing two 2006 murders in Florida.

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Published on: 10:00 PM