Main News of February 19

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* At least 25 people, including nine police officers, were killed in bloody clashes in the Ukrainian capital that are threatening to tip the former Soviet nation into civil conflict

* Ukraine’s main government security agency declared what it called a nationwide anti-terrorism operation

* Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has sacked the head of the armed forces, Col. Gen. Volodymyr Zamana, his press service announced

* Several dozen mortgage-holders in Kazakhstan staged a rally outside the National Bank in the business capital, Almaty, to raise concerns over their loans following a sharp devaluation of the local currency

*  A US warship dispatched to the Black Sea to provide security at the Sochi Olympics suffered minor damage after running aground at a Turkish port last week, the US Navy said

RUSSIA

* Russia threatened Swedish authorities with a tit-for-tat response over the forced sale of its Trade Mission building in Stockholm for about 2 million euros ($2.7 million)

SPORTS

* The Russian men’s hockey team crashed out of its home Olympics in the quarterfinals Wednesday with a 3-1 defeat to Finland, a crushing failure for a star-studded roster that had been charged with winning the country its first post-Soviet gold medal

* American-born snowboarder Vic Wild heaped praise on Russia for helping him to win a gold medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics

* Finland beat Russia to cross-country skiing team sprint gold at the Sochi Olympics as a controversial crash denied Germany a medal