EUROPE-STIMULUS-FIVE THINGS
FRANKFURT, Germany — The European Central Bank has hit the launch button on its 1.1 trillion euro ($1.2 trillion) stimulus program by starting to buy government bonds. Here are five things to know about the program and its effects. S
BRITAIN-DOG DEATH
LONDON — The co-owners of an Irish setter feared poisoned at Britain's leading dog show are devastated by his death — but they don't believe that one of the other competitors is responsible. Three-year-old Thendara Satisfaction, known as Jagger, died Friday, shortly after returning to Belgium following an appearance at the world-famous Crufts dog show in the central English city of Birmingham last week. A veterinarian performed a post-mortem examination and found pieces of meat laced with poison in his stomach.
RUSSIA-PUTIN-AWARD
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has bestowed an award on the leader of Chechnya — just as the North Caucasus strongman hailed the suspected killer of an opposition politician as a "true patriot." Documents posted on the Kremlin website Monday listed Ramzan Kadyrov as a recipient of the Order of Honor, which is given in recognition of achievements in public life.
UCI DOPING REPORT-ARMSTRONG
PARIS — Lance Armstrong welcomed an investigative report into the murky past of cycling's governing body and said he hopes it can help the sport move on from an era that will always be remembered for the doping by himself and others. The report turned up no evidence to sustain previous allegations that Armstrong paid the UCI to cover up a positive doping test back in his heyday, yet it explains in great detail how the UCI acted favorably toward Armstrong — a rider dubbed "cycling's pop star."
EU-RUSSIA-PUTIN-CRIMEA
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has described a secret meeting with officials last year when Russia decided it would take Crimea — the Black Sea region that Moscow annexed from Ukraine last March. In a trailer for an upcoming documentary, shown on state-owned television late Sunday, Putin said that he met with security officials in February to make plans for saving Ukraine's then-President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled power after months of pro-European protests in the Ukrainian capital. Associated Press.
GREECE-BAILOUT
BRUSSELS — Greece will try to convince eurozone creditors on Monday that its proposed economic reforms are enough for them to release funds from rescue loans. The country got an extension on its European bailout last month but creditor states want to approve its detailed list of reforms before they pay out any money.
EU-FRANCE-NUCLEAR-PROTEST
PARIS — Police in Paris detained five Greenpeace activists on Monday after they dangled from a bridge and unfurled banners on the Seine River that call for cuts in nuclear power, the environmental group said. France has the world's highest reliance on nuclear power — about two-thirds of its current energy production — and parliament is going to debate nuclear power this week. The activists protested on a bridge near the National Assembly, parliament's lower house.
FRANCE-SARKOZY
PARIS — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy's ex-chief of staff has been handed preliminary charges in an investigation into suspected illegal funding of Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign by late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Claude Gueant denies any wrongdoing, saying on RTL radio Monday: "Nothing in the case is proof of the crimes that I'm accused of."