Police fire teargas at angry crowds and parliament speaker offers to step down as bill is passed Police have fired teargas and used batons to disperse hundreds of protesters in Kiev and Ukraine’s parliament speaker has offered to quit after the passing of a law to boost the status of the Russian language in the former Soviet republic. Protesters, led by opposition members of parliament defending the role of Ukrainian as the only state language, massed in front of a building where the president, Viktor Yanukovich, was due to hold a press briefing. The chamber approved the language bill on Tuesday, minutes after a surprise proposal by a pro-Yanukovich deputy, giving opponents little time to cast their vote, prompting brawls in parliament and on the streets. “There are millions of us and they cannot pretend that nothing has happened,” said Vitali Klitschko, the world heavyweight boxing champion who has founded his own opposition party – Udar (Blow) – and who was among protesters. Protesters urged Yanukovich, who had planned a celebratory statement after the successful co-hosting of the Euro 2012 soccer tournament, to veto the bill, pushed through by his own majority Party of Regions

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