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| Pentagon to propose shrinking Army, scrapping some jets: report Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 08:10 PM PST  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will propose on Monday a reduction in the size of the U.S. Army to its smallest size since before World War Two and scrapping a class of Air Force attack jets, the New York Times reported on Sunday. The plans, which the paper said were outlined by several Pentagon officials on condition of anonymity, would be aimed at reducing defense spending in the face of government austerity after a pledge by President Barack Obama to end U.S. involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can't carry a large land-war Defense Department when there is no large land war," the Times quoted a senior Pentagon official as saying. Full Story | Top |
| Meeting between Venezuela government, opposition may help ease protests Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 07:54 PM PST  By Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) - A meeting between a top Venezuelan opposition leader and President Nicolas Maduro on Monday may help ease nearly two weeks of violent anti-government protests that have killed at least eight people. State governor Henrique Capriles will meet Maduro at a routine gathering of governors and mayors and will likely get a chance to present the opposition's grievances. "Dialogue is not about listening to what the government wants to say, it's about making sure the demonstrators' voices are heard," Capriles, a two-time opposition presidential candidate, wrote on Sunday in his weekly column. Five people have died from gunshot wounds in the unrest that began on February 12 with the death of a student protestor and was later fueled by the arrest of hard-line opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. Full Story | Top |
| Attackers fire at convoy of Colombia presidential candidate Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 07:49 PM PST By Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) - Gunmen shot at the convoy of a left-wing Colombian presidential candidate on Sunday but no one was injured, police said, raising tensions ahead of May elections that will center on how to end a five-decade war with guerrillas. The convoy of Aida Avella of the Patriotic Union party came under fire when it was traveling on a highway in the oil-rich northeastern province of Arauca, where the left-wing FARC and ELN rebels have a heavy presence. Also on Sunday, President Juan Manuel Santos, who will seek a second term in the May 25 election, said his personal e-mail had been hacked in what he said was a politically motivated act by people who engage in a "dirty war" to grab power. The Patriotic Union was founded with rebel support in 1985, and around 5,000 members and supporters were assassinated in the years after its creation by right-wing paramilitary groups set up by vigilantes protecting wealthy landowners. Full Story | Top |
| Boeing's machinist union in St. Louis approves contract extension Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 07:47 PM PST  (Reuters) - Boeing Co's machinists' union in St. Louis approved a seven and a half year contract extension that will keep the company's unionized employees away from a defined benefit retirement plan. The workers will shift from a defined pension to a 401(k)-style retirement benefit system on January 1, 2016, Boeing said in a statement on Sunday. Boeing said it expects the changes in the retirement plan to result in non-cash pension curtailment charges of about $80 million to first-quarter GAAP earnings. Full Story | Top |
| China confident can maintain same growth pace in trade this year Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 07:24 PM PST  China is confident of maintaining around the same pace of growth in foreign trade this year as last year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Monday. Shen Danyang, the spokesman for the ministry, also noted that exports may see some fluctuation in the first quarter of this year due to seasonal factors, according to a statement on the ministry's website, www.mofcom.gov.cn China's exports grew 7.9 percent for all of 2013 compared with the previous year, while imports rose 7.3 percent, missing an official 8 percent growth target. Full Story | Top |
| China's premier unveils more measures to tackle corruption Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 07:22 PM PST  The Chinese government will decentralize authority, be more transparent and adopt a "zero tolerance" attitude to corruption this year as it deepens its fight against graft, reported state media, citing Premier Li Keqiang. President Xi Jinping has launched a sweeping crackdown on corruption since taking power, warning that the problem is a threat to the Communist Party's very survival. The latest measures were laid out in a speech by Li on February 11, in a meeting on tackling corruption, but only published by state news agency Xinhua late on Sunday. Li criticized the over-concentration of power by the central government and urged the institution of an open government "as the most effective way to accept supervision". Full Story | Top |
| Shares weaken as China slumps, dollar firms after muted reaction to G20 Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 07:04 PM PST  By Lisa Twaronite TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian stocks dropped and the dollar firmed on Monday, as investors looked past the Group of 20's latest commitment to spur faster global growth and turned their focus back to the impact of the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus withdrawal. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.6 percent, while Japan's Nikkei stock average added 0.1 percent, paring earlier gains. Full Story | Top |
| Seized phone key to Mexico kingpin 'Shorty' Guzman's capture Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 07:00 PM PST  Guzman, who long ran the feared Sinaloa Cartel and was Mexico's most wanted criminal, was caught on Saturday in his native northwestern state of Sinaloa with help from U.S. agents. The phone that helped lead to Guzman's downfall belonged to the son of his deputy, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who could now be in line to take over from his boss. The break came when Zambada's son, Serafin Zambada-Ortiz, was arrested in November trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States, where he faced sealed drug charges. "I don't know where you're getting your information but Serafin Zambada had no connection to Guzman's arrest, period." U.S. prosecutors said on Sunday they plan to seek the extradition of Guzman to face trial in the United States. Full Story | Top |
| Modest condo, port town: prosaic end to Mexican kingpin's reign Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 07:00 PM PST By Michael O'Boyle MAZATLAN, Mexico (Reuters) - He was once on Forbes magazine's billionaires list, but after more than a decade on the run, Mexico's most wanted drug lord Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman was finally caught in a modest beachside condo with American retirees for neighbors. Just days after escaping from the clutches of Mexican troops through a tunnel and sewer, Guzman was fast asleep when Mexican Marines crept up on him in the decidedly unglamorous condominium in this resort city in northwest Mexico. Full Story | Top |
| Young brother and sister killed in Thai bomb blast Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 06:25 PM PST  The six-year-old sister of a boy killed in a bomb blast in the Thai capital died on Monday, doctors said, taking the death toll to three from the latest incident in a conflict that has burst into episodic violence and shows no sign of ending. Supporters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra earlier promised to get tough with the protesters who took to the streets last November in their bid to oust her. The protests pit the mainly middle-class anti-government demonstrators from Bangkok and the south against supporters of Yingluck from the populous rural north and northeast. "The violent incidents are terrorist acts for political gains without regard for human life." Leaders of the pro-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) vowed on Sunday to "deal with" anti-government leader Suthep Thaugsuban, setting the scene for possible confrontation. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine sets European course after ouster of Yanukovich Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 06:24 PM PST  By Natalia Zinets and Alessandra Prentice KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's interim leadership pledged to put the country back on course for European integration now that Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich has been ousted from the presidency, while the United States warned Russia against sending in its forces. As rival neighbors east and west of the former Soviet republic said a power vacuum in Kiev must not lead to the country breaking apart, acting President Oleksander Turchinov said late on Sunday that Ukraine's new leaders wanted relations with Russia on a "new, equal and good-neighborly footing that recognizes and takes into account Ukraine's European choice". European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will travel to Ukraine on Monday, where she is expected to discuss measures to shore up the ailing economy. Full Story | Top |
| BOE's Carney dismisses bank concerns on capital proposals -report Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 06:03 PM PST  (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney dismissed banks' concerns about new capital requirement proposals and said they have to stop refusing to follow new international rules, in an interview published on Monday in the Sydney Morning Herald. Carney rejected claims by banks that proposed standards being discussed by G20 members in Sydney were so strict that they could lead to an explosion in shadow banking and sow the seeds of the next crisis. Full Story | Top |
| Obama to ambitious governors: 'Make yourselves at home' in White House Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 05:58 PM PST  By Paige Gance WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama invited state governors, some eyeing runs at the presidency in 2016 and beyond, to "make yourselves at home" during a black-tie dinner at the White House on Sunday honoring governors in town for an annual meeting. First lady Michelle Obama was flanked by two Republicans often cited as potential 2016 contenders: Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Mike Pence of Indiana. Vice President Joe Biden, weighing a third run at the presidency in 2016, was seated between Wisconsin Republican Scott Walker and Massachusetts Democrat Deval Patrick, both thought to be potential candidates. "But keep in mind what a wise man once wrote: 'I am more than contented to be governor, I shall not care if I never hold another office.' Of course, that was Teddy Roosevelt. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Treasury Secretary urges Ukraine to begin IMF discussions soon Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 05:20 PM PST U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has encouraged Ukraine to begin discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on an assistance package as soon as possible once a transitional government is in place in Kiev. Lew spoke with Arseny Yatsenyuk, a member of Ukraine's interim leadership, while returning to Washington from the G20 meeting in Sydney, where there was broad support for an IMF-based package, according to a Treasury official. The United States, together with Europe and others in the international community, were ready to supplement an IMF program to cushion the impact of reforms on low-income Ukrainians, the official said. Ukraine's interim leadership pledged on Sunday to put the country back on course for European integration now Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich had been ousted from the presidency. Full Story | Top |
| Fantasy and furs draw Milan fashion week to positive end Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 04:51 PM PST  By Isla Binnie MILAN (Reuters) - Hooded models walked in an enchanted forest and fox-fur mixed with lambskin on Milan's catwalks on Sunday as the city's women's fashion week drew to an end in a positive mood. A frosty oak tree rose from beneath the stage in a flurry of snow at Dolce and Gabbana before models glided out in clothes stitched with squirrels, foxes and childlike flowers. Salvatore Ferragamo showed a textured collection of furry coats, metallic dresses and leopard-print skirt suits for autumn and winter, in a startlingly bright white room. As Italy installs a new government and struggles to emerge from recession, the national chamber of fashion (CNMI) is strongly promoting a sector it forecasts will earn 62.5 billion euros ($85.63 million) in revenue in 2014. Full Story | Top |
| Indonesian copper smelters at risk as mining policy misfires Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 03:59 PM PST By Michael Taylor and Wilda Asmarini JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian policies to force miners to process raw materials at home are misfiring, as disputes over the new rules disrupt plans to invest nearly $4 billion in copper smelters to cater for miners such as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono imposed a controversial mining law on January 12, but the rules have left the mining sector in turmoil. The tax ratchets up sharply before an outright export ban from 2017 and Freeport and Newmont Mining Corp, which produce 97 percent of Indonesia's copper, have halted all exports and are locked in talks with the government because they say the tax breaches their contracts. This has deepened uncertainty on plans to construct three copper smelters, since the firms building them say they need firm supply guarantees from Freeport and Newmont to put in place financing so they can proceed. Full Story | Top |
| Stocks sluggish, dollar firms as G20 reaction muted Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 03:56 PM PST  MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was struggling to turn positive, while Australian shares shed about 0.1 percent. Economists surveyed remain skeptical that the central bank will achieve its 2 percent inflation target by early next year. Full Story | Top |
| World's oldest Holocaust survivor, Alice Herz-Sommer, dies in UK Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 03:40 PM PST By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - A 110-year-old woman believed to be the oldest survivor of the Holocaust and who endured the ordeal partly through her passion for music, has died in London, her family said on Sunday. Alice Herz-Sommer, who is said to have counted writer Franz Kafka among her family friends and is the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary, was a Jewish pianist and musician from Prague in what is today the Czech Republic. In 1943, the Nazis sent her and her young son to Theresienstadt concentration camp, where tens of thousands of people lost their lives. Her grandson, Ariel Sommer, confirmed her death in London on Sunday, saying: "Alice Sommer passed away peacefully this morning with her family by her bedside. Full Story | Top |
| Blood, sandals on street as bomb kills two, wounds 22 in Thai capital Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 02:21 PM PST By Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Paul Barker BANGKOK (Reuters) - A bomb killed two people and wounded at least 22 in a busy shopping district of the Thai capital on Sunday, hours after supporters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra promised to get tough with demonstrators paralyzing parts of the city. Another child is undergoing an operation and a third child is still in the emergency room with us," a nurse at Ramathibodi Hospital in central Bangkok, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. "The violent incidents are terrorist acts for political gains without regard for human life." The crisis pits mostly middle-class anti-government protesters from Bangkok and the south against supporters of Yingluck from the rural north and northeast of the country. Leaders of the pro-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) had vowed to "deal with" anti-government leader Suthep Thaugsuban, setting the scene for possible confrontation between pro- and anti-government groups. Full Story | Top |
| Italy's new PM Renzi faces first parliamentary test Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 02:08 PM PST  By James Mackenzie ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi faces his first test before a fractious national parliament when he goes before the Senate on Monday to put flesh on his ambitious reform plans and seek to win a confidence vote in his newly installed government. Backed by his own center-left Democratic Party (PD), the small center-right NCD party, centrists and other miscellaneous groups, he should have enough support in the 320-seat upper house. But there will be close attention to the size of his majority after some leftwingers in his own party threatened to vote against the government. If he falls significantly below the 173 secured by his predecessor Enrico Letta in December, his authority could be weakened from the start. Full Story | Top |
| Collins signs with Nets as first openly gay player Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 01:02 PM PST  By Mark Lamport-Stokes (Reuters) - Veteran NBA player Jason Collins signed a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, making him the first openly gay athlete on a team roster in any of North America's four major professional sports leagues. Collins, who last April revealed that he was gay in a Sports Illustrated article that was published after the National Basketball Association regular season, joined the Nets before their Sunday game in Los Angeles against the Lakers. "Official: The #Nets have signed @jasoncollins34 to a 10-day contract," the NBA team announced on Twitter. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was quick to issue a welcoming statement. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: China, eyeing Japan, seeks WW2 focus for Xi during Germany visit Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 12:57 PM PST  By Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) - China wants to make World War Two a key part of a trip by President Xi Jinping to Germany next month, much to Berlin's discomfort, diplomatic sources said, as Beijing tries to use German atonement for its wartime past to embarrass Japan. China has increasingly contrasted Germany and its public contrition for the Nazi regime to Japan, where repeated official apologies for wartime suffering are sometimes undercut by contradictory comments by conservative politicians. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. wants Ukraine to remain unified, cautions Russia Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 12:49 PM PST  By Will Dunham and Ros Krasny WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials insisted on Sunday that Ukraine should remain unified and cautioned that any military intervention by Russia would be a mistake after bloody street protests ousted the pro-Moscow president. In an appearance on the NBC TV program "Meet the Press," National Security Adviser Susan Rice was asked about a scenario in which Russia would send troops to restore a government more friendly to Moscow, or for the country to be carved up. It is not in the interests of Ukraine or of Russia or of Europe or the United States to see the country split. Rice's appearance provided the most extensive White House comments yet on days of drama in Ukraine in which opposition groups with leanings toward western Europe took control and Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovich left the capital, Kiev. Full Story | Top |
| American retirees and cheap digs: drab end to Mexico kingpin's reign Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 12:12 PM PST By Michael O'Boyle MAZATLAN, Mexico (Reuters) - He was once on Forbes' billionaire list, but after more than a decade on the run Mexico's most wanted drug lord Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman was finally caught in a modest beachside condo with American retirees for neighbors. Just days after escaping from the clutches of Mexican troops through a tunnel and sewer, Guzman was fast asleep when Mexican Marines crept up on him in the decidedly unglamorous condo in this resort in northwest Mexico. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to seek extradition of Mexican drug kingpin Guzman Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 12:12 PM PST By Mark Hosenball and John Shiffman WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors plan to seek the extradition of Mexico's most wanted man, drug cartel kingpin Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, to face trial in the United States after he was captured in Mexico. Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn, said on Sunday his office would request Guzman's extradition to face a variety of charges. Guzman, caught on Saturday in Mexico with help from U.S. security forces, had long run Mexico's infamous Sinaloa Cartel. Full Story | Top |
| Syrian rebel, friend of al Qaeda leader, killed by rival Islamists Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 12:04 PM PST By Mariam Karouny BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian rebel commander who fought alongside al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and was close to its current chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was killed by a suicide attack on Sunday, intensifying infighting between rival Islamist fighters. The Observatory for Human Rights in Syria said Abu Khaled al-Soury, also known as Abu Omair al-Shamy, a commander of the Salafi group Ahrar al-Sham was killed along with six comrades by al Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It said al-Soury had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Sheikh Abu Khaled was an important jihadi figure, he fought the Americans in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Full Story | Top |
| Thousands remember slain Missouri girl with porch lights, vigil Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 11:53 AM PST (Reuters) - More than 200,000 supporters vowed to keep their porch lights on through Sunday and roughly 10,000 people joined a weekend vigil for a 10-year-old girl who was snatched off a Missouri street and later found killed. The outpouring of support for the family of Hailey Owens came days after her accused killer, school coach Craig Michael Wood, said through his lawyer that he planned to plead not guilty to charges of murder, child abduction and armed criminal action. Owens was kidnapped last week in Springfield, Missouri, while walking home from a friend's house. About 10,000 people attended a march and candlelight vigil on Saturday in Springfield led by Owens' family. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine charts course to Europe, wants better Russia ties Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 11:26 AM PST Acting President Oleksander Turchinov said on Sunday Ukraine would try to improve relations with Russia but made clear that Kiev's return to European integration would be the priority. In an address to the nation, Turchinov spelled out the enormity of the task facing Ukraine's new leadership following the fall of Viktor Yanukovich, including stabilizing an economy which he said was close to default and "heading into the abyss". "We recognize the importance of relations with the Russian Federation and are ready for dialogue with the Russian leadership in order to build relations with this country on a new, truly equitable and good-neighborly basis," he said. But he added: "Another priority is the return to the path of European integration ... We must return to the family of European nations." Turchinov, the parliamentary speaker, was handed the president's duties temporarily in a vote in the chamber earlier on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| Obama adviser Rice has no regrets on 2012 Benghazi comments Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 11:23 AM PST  By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, said on Sunday she was not "100 percent correct" in her remarks after the deadly 2012 attack on a U.S. compound in Libya, but called it patently false to say she intentionally misled Americans about the incident. Republican critics were not satisfied with her explanation, with Senator John McCain proclaiming himself "almost speechless." On September 11, 2012, an attack by militants killed four Americans at the U.S. mission in Benghazi, including American Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Just days later, Rice appeared on news shows and stated that the attack was the work of a spontaneous crowd, instead of Islamic militants. Full Story | Top |
| George W. Bush launches program to help veterans transition from war Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 11:22 AM PST  By Margaret Chadbourn WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President George W. Bush on Sunday promoted a new initiative to help veterans transition back to civilian life and aid in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. The onetime commander-in-chief, who led the United States into war in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, said he wants to highlight the challenges facing service members returning from war zones, as well as their families. "I have a duty," Bush said in an interview that aired on Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "Obviously I get slightly emotional talking about our vets because I have an emotional...," Bush said, trailing off. About 2.5 million U.S. service members have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, according to the Department of Defense. Full Story | Top |
| Euro zone inflation to offer clues on ECB action Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 11:11 AM PST  By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone inflation due on Friday will be firmly in the sights of financial markets eager to establish whether the European Central Bank (ECB) has enough ammunition to ease monetary policy in the following week. The ECB cut its main refinancing rate to a record low of 0.25 percent in November and left it at that level at its meeting earlier this month, but put markets on alert for a possible move in March. ECB President Mario Draghi said the Governing Council had not acted because of the complexity of the situation and the need to have more information. Friday's February inflation figure could cause a fine-tuning of those forecasts, which form the basis of the ECB's monetary policy. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. governors plan to urge Obama not to downsize National Guard Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 11:08 AM PST  By Aruna Viswanatha WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Governors from both U.S. political parties plan to talk to President Barack Obama on Monday about preventing potential cuts to National Guard units, several governors said on Sunday. "In downsizing the military, we want to make sure that reserve and National Guard is protected in our country," Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I'm going to have that discussion with the President tomorrow," Malloy, a Democrat, said. Many governors are in Washington this week for a national conference of state executives. Several appeared on Sunday morning talk shows, where they said they wanted to speak to the president about the potential cuts to the National Guard. Full Story | Top |
| Governors say legalizing marijuana is a step too far Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 11:06 AM PST  By Aruna Viswanatha WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington and Colorado may have blazed the trail by legalizing marijuana, but not all U.S. states are rushing to follow their lead, governors from several states in the Midwest and the East Coast said on Sunday. "I don't support the legalization of marijuana, and that's been my position for a long time and will continue to be," Indiana Governor Mike Pence, a Republican, said on CNN's "State of the Union". The two western states became the first to legalize marijuana for recreational use through a ballot initiative in 2012. Last month, Colorado became the first state to open retail outlets legally permitted to sell marijuana to adults for recreational purposes, in a system similar to what many states have long had in place for alcohol sales. Full Story | Top |
| Russia lightens up with softer image at closing ceremony Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 10:45 AM PST  By Mike Collett-White SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - An emotional closing ceremony at Russia's first Winter Olympics painted the hosts in soft colors, in contrast to the muscular, assertive spectacle that kicked off the Games, and there was even room for a joke at the home nation's expense. They began to form the five rings of the Olympic symbol, but, in a reference to an embarrassing technical hitch during the opening ceremony when one failed to open, only four circles appeared. After laughs and loud applause from the audience, the fifth ring eventually opened, and the mood was immediately more playful than an opening spectacle which had sought to portray Russia as a strong nation with nothing to fear. "As grand as the opening was, with this one they went for another side of Russia - intimate, full of heart, and they (organizers) mentioned the word 'nostalgia'," he told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Olympics-Russia lightens up with softer image at closing ceremony Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 10:44 AM PST * Russia laughs at own mistake in closing ceremony * Lighter mood contrasts with muscular opening show * Greats of music, literature, art and dance remembered * Home athletes roared on in burst of national pride (Adds details, colour) By Mike Collett-White SOCHI, Russia, Feb 23 (Reuters) - An emotional closing ceremony at Russia's first Winter Olympics painted the hosts in soft colours, in contrast to the muscular, assertive spectacle that kicked off the Games, and there was even room for a joke at the home nation's expense. They began to form the five rings of the Olympic symbol, but, in a reference to an embarrassing technical hitch during the opening ceremony when one failed to open, only four circles appeared. After laughs and loud applause from the audience, the fifth ring eventually opened, and the mood was immediately more playful than an opening spectacle which had sought to portray Russia as a strong nation with nothing to fear. "As grand as the opening was, with this one they went for another side of Russia - intimate, full of heart, and they (organisers) mentioned the word 'nostalgia'," he told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Global warming won't cut winter deaths as hoped: UK study Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 10:43 AM PST By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO (Reuters) - Global warming will fail to reduce high winter death rates as some officials have predicted because there will be more harmful weather extremes even as it gets less cold, a British study showed on Sunday. A draft U.N. report due for publication next month says that, overall, climate change will harm human health, but adds: "Positive effects will include modest improvements in cold-related mortality and morbidity in some areas due to fewer cold extremes, shifts in food production and reduced capacity of disease-carrying vectors." However a report in the journal Nature Climate Change on the situation in England and Wales said climate warming would likely not decrease winter mortality in those places. Lead author Philip Staddon of the University of Exeter told Reuters that the findings were likely to apply to other developed countries in temperate regions that risk more extreme weather as temperatures rise. Excess winter deaths (EWDs), the number of people who die in winter compared to other times of the year, roughly halved to 31,000 in England and Wales in 2012-12 from 60,000 typical in the 1950s, official data show. Full Story | Top |
| Russia says Ukraine opposition has flouted deal and seized power Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 10:21 AM PST Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday opponents of Ukraine's Viktor Yanukovich had failed to abide by a peace deal they signed on Friday and had seized power, the ministry said. In their second telephone conversation in two days, Lavrov told Kerry "the most important thing now is to provide for the complete fulfillment" of the agreement brokered by three top European Union diplomats, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. A Russian envoy sent by President Vladimir Putin to participate in mediation efforts did not sign the peace deal. Full Story | Top |
| Olympics-Bach brings Sochi Games to a close Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 10:10 AM PST SOCHI, Russia, Feb 23 (Reuters) - International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach brought the Sochi Winter Games to a close on Sunday, ending 17 days of competition on snow and ice. "There is no higher compliment than to say on behalf of all participants and on behalf of all of my fellow Olympic athletes - these were the athletes' Games. "I declare the 22nd Olympic Winter Games closed. In accordance with tradition, I call upon the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in Pyeongchang to celebrate with us the 23rd Olympic Winter Games." Russia's first Winter Games ended with the host nation on top of the medals table, with Norway second and Canada third. Full Story | Top |
| Sun-dimming volcanoes partly explain global warming hiatus-study Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 10:06 AM PST By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent OSLO (Reuters) - Small volcanic eruptions help explain a hiatus in global warming this century by dimming sunlight and offsetting a rise in emissions of heat-trapping gases to record highs, a study showed on Sunday. Eruptions of at least 17 volcanoes since 2000, including Nabro in Eritrea, Kasatochi in Alaska and Merapi in Indonesia, ejected sulfur whose sun-blocking effect had been largely ignored until now by climate scientists, it said. The pace of rising world surface temperatures has slowed since an exceptionally warm 1998, heartening those who doubt that an urgent, trillion-dollar shift to renewable energies from fossil fuels is needed to counter global warming. "This is a complex detective story," said Benjamin Santer of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, lead author of the study in the journal Nature Geoscience that gives the most detailed account yet of the cooling impact of volcanoes. Full Story | Top |
| Estonia's PM to resign as parties prepare for 2015 vote Sunday, Feb 23, 2014 10:02 AM PST  Estonia's Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said on Sunday he would submit his and his government's resignation to the country's president on March 4, with slightly more than a year to go before parliamentary elections. "The preparations for the next parliament elections in 2015 have begun." Ansip, Estonia's longest-serving prime minister, has held office with three coalition governments since April 2005, and said two years ago he would not form another government. The prime minister's center-right Reform Party is betting the president will again nominate a leader from his party to form a new government as it still holds the largest number of seats in parliament, although is losing support in opinion polls. "As the chairman of the Reform Party, I assure you that we have candidates who would do well in the role of prime minister," Ansip said. Full Story | Top |
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