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Ukraine on Thursday hosted top diplomats for a meeting of the OSCE security group overshadowed by two weeks of protests over its rejection of an EU deal, as demonstrators kept up the pressure on President Viktor Yanukovych. PThousands of anti-Yanukovych protesters remained on Kiev’s central Independence Square which they have controlled and surrounded with barricades since a mass protest at the weekend. The president, whose sudden U-turn not to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union sparked the protests, is on a visit to China where he hopes to win a new lifeline for the country’s ailing economy. Several top foreign ministers, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, opted not to come to Kiev for the ministerial meeting of the OSCE after the government’s rejection of the deal which came under heavy Russian pressure.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Phil Collins, the former Genesis drummer whose earnest ballads made him a star in the 1980s, is penning songs again. Although he dreads the idea of extended touring because it would take him away from his five children, Collins says he has missed the creativity of music since he retired in 2010.

Adelaide (Australia) (AFP) - A leaping catch by Graeme Swann shortly before close of play kept England in contention against Australia on the opening day of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide on Thursday. The Australians, one-up in the series, looked in control at 257 for four nearing stumps, before Swann held a flying catch two-handed at square leg to dismiss the threatening George Bailey for 53. Bailey had looked set for a substantial score batting with skipper Michael Clarke before he hooked paceman Stuart Broad to Swann, whose brilliant piece of fielding meant the day finished with honours even. At the close, Australia were 273-5 after winning the toss with Clarke, who boasts a ground average of more than 100, on 48 and Brad Haddin on seven.