Protesters storm governors' offices in Ukraine

Enraged protesters stormed government offices in three western Ukraine cities today, forcing one governor to write a letter of resignation, as demonstrations against the pro-Russian president and his allies intensified outside the smoldering capital.
Kiev, the capital, has been the epicenter of two months of protests against President Viktor Yanukovych that have grown increasingly violent this week. Opposition leaders had given Yanukovych a deadline of today evening to make concessions or face renewed clashes there, and they quenched the barricade fires that had coated the capital in black smoke in a tenuous cease-fire.
The president responded by calling a special session of parliament next week to discuss the tensions, telling the parliament speaker: "The situation demands an urgent settlement." But there was no indication that the move represented a compromise, since the president's backers hold a majority of seats.

The protests began after Yanukovych turned away from closer ties with the European Union in favour of getting a bailout loan from Russia. They turned violent this week after he pushed through harsh anti-protest laws, rejecting protesters' demands that he resign and call new elections.
At least two protesters died yesterday of gunshot wounds, a grim escalation that also galvanised anger in western Ukraine, where support for Yanukovych is virtually non-existent and most residents want closer ties to the 28-nation EU.
In Lviv, a city in near the Polish border 450 kilometers (280 miles) west of Kiev, hundreds of activists burst today into the office of regional governor Oleh Salo, a Yanukovych appointee, shouting "Revolution!" and singing Christmas carols.

After surrounding him and forcing him to sign a resignation letter, an activist ripped it out of Salo's hands and lifted it up to the cheers and applause of the crowd.