Top news: Regional tensions over the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych deepened on Tuesday and into Wednesday, with protests in Crimea against the revolution in Kiev and an announcement by Russia that it has put troops on combat readiness near Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops in his country’s western military district to carry out a test of combat readiness, and while the head of the Russian upper house assured that Russia will not intervene militarily in Ukraine, the move is sure to strain the situation along the Russia-Ukraine border. Ukrainian authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of the deposed Yanukovych, and he is said to in hiding in Crimea, which is home to a large Russian military installation.

Crimea, which in recent days has seen frequent demonstrations against the Kiev revolution, is rapily shaping up as the next flashpoint in the Ukrainian crisis, and on Tuesday the speaker of the regional parliement issued a strident call for the region’s autonomy. “I share your anxiety and concern about the future of Crimea,” Vladimir Konstantinov, a member of Yanukovych’s Party of Regions, said. “I declare that I’m not going anywhere and will be here with you. We will fight for an autonomous republic until the end.” On Wednesday, police had to intervene and separate pro-Kiev and pro-Moscow protesters in the Crimean city of Simferopol.

Meanwhile in Kiev, the new authorities are struggling to settle into power. The country’s acting president has delayed the formation of a government, even as there is an urgent need to begin the business of governing and securing an international aid package widely seen as necessary to address Ukraine’s economic problems. The revolutionary authorities did secure one victory on Wednesday. The acting interior minister disbanded the elite Berkut police unit, thought to be responsible for much of the violence visited on protesters in Kiev.

U.S. Military: U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced earlier this week that he will try to reduce the size of the U.S. military to levels not seen since World War II. But as FP’s Gordon Lubold reports, the man who will be most responsible for selling Congress on those cuts — Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno — has long been skeptical that such reductions represent a wise move for the U.S. military.

 Asia

 In a phone call with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, President Obama informed him that he has told the Pentagon to plan for a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan by year’s end.

A Hong Kong newspaper editor who was recently replaced by a pro-Chinese journalist was attacked by two men, one wielding a meat cleaver.

A lawyer for a Uighur economist in China said his client could face the death penalty after being slapped with a separatism charge.

Middle East

 Hezbollah vowed to respond to an Israeli air strike on one of the group’s bases near the Lebanon-Syria border.

An ambush on Islamist fighters near the Syrian capital of Syria left scores of fighters, possibly as many as 170, dead.

Israeli police and Palestinian protesters clashed on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Africa

 Gunmen from the Islamist group Boko Haram shot or burned to death 59 pupils at a boarding school in Nigeria.

Several European nations suspended aid to Uganda after the country’s president signed a stringent anti-homosexuality law.

The bodies of five miners were found near an illegal gold mine outside Johannesburg.

Europe

 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced as a fake an alleged recording of a conversation between him and his son in which he instructs his son, Bilal, how to hide money.

An investigation by a U.S. congressional committee found that Credit Suisse helped its customers conceal Swiss bank accounts and avoid paying taxes on as much as $12 billion in assets.

The German constitutional court struck down a 3 percent threshold for the country’s political parties to enter the European parliament.

Americas

 Mexican drug kingping Joaquin Guzman is unlikely to be extradited to the United States and is instead headed for trial in Mexico.

The United States expelled three Venezuelan diplomats in a tit-for-tat move following unrest in Venezuela that President Nicolas Maduro has blamed on foreign meddling.

Pope Francis expressed concern about ongoing violence in Venezuela, calling on its people “to promote reconciliation through mutual forgiveness and sincere dialogue.”