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| Ukraine police charge protesters after nation's bloodiest day Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 07:24 PM PST  By Pavel Polityuk and Marcin Goettig KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian riot police charged protesters occupying a central Kiev square early on Wednesday after the bloodiest day since the former Soviet republic, caught in a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West, won its independence. Police battled their way into Independence Square, center of three months of protests against President Viktor Yanukovich, and demonstrators, some armed with clubs and wearing helmets and body armor, were losing ground. Smoke billowed from burning tents and piles of tires and wood as thousands of protesters were pushed back on to the center of the square, a Reuters cameraman said. At least 14 protesters and seven policemen were killed in violence that erupted in Kiev on Tuesday and continued into the early hours of Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Asia stocks in hesitant mood; euro holds gains Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 05:56 PM PST  By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian share markets were in hesitant mood on Wednesday as investors keep a wary eye on interest rates in China, though the euro left the dollar in its dust after more soft U.S. economic data. The action was light, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan barely changed and Australia up a slim 0.3 percent. Japan's Nikkei pared its early losses to be off 0.6 percent, battling to maintain the momentum of Tuesday's 3 percent rally which followed a decision by the Bank of Japan to expand a scheme to encourage more bank lending. The move was taken as a sign that the central bank was open to further easing steps, which many expect will be needed once an increase in Japan's sales tax is enacted in April. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela opposition leader surrenders, protesters flood streets Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 06:31 PM PST  By Eyanir Chinea and Jorge Silva CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan security forces arrested opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez on Tuesday on charges of fomenting unrest that has killed at least four people, bringing tens of thousands of his angry supporters onto the streets of Caracas. Opposition leaders hope Lopez's arrest will galvanize street demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro, though there is no immediate sign the protests will topple the socialist leader. "I am handing myself over to an unfair justice system," the protest leader told supporters, standing on a platform next to a statue of Cuban poet and independence hero Jose Marti. Minutes later, he surrendered to military officers, pumping his fist and then stepping into the military vehicle with a Venezuelan flag in one hand and a white flower in the other. Full Story | Top |
| Thai protesters to rally against PM after deadly Bangkok clashes Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 07:15 PM PST  By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Protesters seeking to oust Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra plan to rally at her temporary office on Wednesday, creating another potential flashpoint a day after five people were killed in gun battles in Bangkok. The protests are the latest installment of an eight-year political battle broadly pitting the Bangkok middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Tuesday's clashes were some of the worst between protesters and security forces since the campaign to unseat Yingluck began in November. The Erawan Medical Center, which monitors Bangkok hospitals, said on Wednesday one police officer and four protesters had been killed and 65 wounded. Full Story | Top |
| Iran, powers hold 'substantive' nuclear talks; U.S., Iranians meet Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 04:11 PM PST  By Parisa Hafezi and Louis Charbonneau VIENNA (Reuters) - Six world powers and Iran began "substantive" talks on Tuesday in pursuit of a final settlement on Tehran's contested nuclear program in the coming months despite caveats from both sides that a breakthrough deal may prove impossible. Senior U.S. and Iranian officials met separately for 80 minutes on the sidelines of the negotiations in Vienna. Details were not given, but such bilateral talks were inconceivable before the 2013 election of Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, as president of Iran. "The conversation was productive and focused mainly on how the comprehensive talks will proceed from here," a senior U.S. State Department official said on condition of anonymity after Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman's meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to announce $6.5 billion loan deal for Southern Co nuclear plant Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 04:36 PM PST By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will announce that it has finalized $6.5 billion in loan aid to build the country's first new nuclear reactors in more than 30 years, sources said on Tuesday. The announcement, expected on Wednesday, follows four years of wrangling between the government and energy company Southern Co over the terms of the loan agreement, which was initially offered in February 2010 to support the construction of two new reactors at the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia. The conditional agreement totaling $8.3 billion provided loan aid to Southern's Georgia Power unit as well as project co-owners Oglethorpe Power and Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG). Full Story | Top |
| Looking for Syria options, U.S. remains cool to using force Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 07:48 PM PST  By Steve Holland and Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite a forthcoming review of options in the deteriorating Syria crisis, the White House on Tuesday signaled that President Barack Obama remains wary of any direct U.S. involvement in the three-year-old civil war. U.S. policy toward Syria appears to be approaching a crossroads, with peace talks between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government and his armed opponents having failed for now and Russia unwilling or unable to pressure its ally Assad to cede power. The White House is beginning to take a new look at options in Syria, a process that could take several weeks, U.S. officials have said. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. rights commissioner urges prosecution of North Korean crimes Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 02:52 PM PST  U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged world powers on Tuesday to refer North Korea to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) following a U.N. report documenting crimes against humanity. North Korean security chiefs and possibly even Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un himself should face international justice for ordering systematic torture, starvation and killings comparable to Nazi-era atrocities, U.N. investigators said on Monday. "We now need strong international leadership to follow up on the grave findings of the Commission of Inquiry. I therefore call on the international community, in line with the report's recommendations, to use all the mechanisms at its disposal to ensure accountability, including referral to the International Criminal Court," Pillay said in a statement issued in Geneva. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. minimum wage hike would kill jobs but alleviate poverty: CBO Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 02:19 PM PST  By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Raising the U.S. minimum wage would lead to the loss of about half a million jobs by late 2016 but lift almost a million Americans out of poverty, the Congressional Budget Office forecast in a report on Tuesday that reignited debate over one of President Barack Obama's top priorities this year. Buoyed by polls showing three-quarters of Americans in favor of a minimum wage hike, Obama and his fellow Democrats advocate raising the minimum hourly wage to $10.10 from the current $7.25 in a move to boost the stagnant wages of millions of low-income workers. In the long term, Democrats also want to tie future minimum wage increases to inflation, avoiding the legislative fights over wages for lower-paying jobs. The Obama administration challenged the CBO's estimates on potential job losses, citing the findings of a large group of private economists who saw little or no negative impact from a minimum wage hike. Full Story | Top |
| More Scots would back greater devolution over independence: poll Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 09:00 AM PST  By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - More Scots would prefer the Scottish parliament to be given greater powers to control their tax and spending than the riskier option of independence from the United Kingdom, according to a survey released on Tuesday. Social research institute ScotCen found further devolution, or "devo max", was the preferred future for many Scots although this option will not feature when they go to vote on September 18 on whether Scotland should break away from Britain. But analysts said devolution was likely to become more central to the debate as the vote neared and UK parties offered swaying voters sweeteners if they opposed independence. Scotland has had its own devolved parliament since 1999; Full Story | Top |
| Looking for Syria options, U.S. remains cool to using force Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 03:49 PM PST By Steve Holland and Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite a forthcoming review of options in the deteriorating Syria crisis, the White House on Tuesday signaled that President Barack Obama remains wary of any direct U.S. involvement in the three-year-old civil war. With peace talks between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government and his armed opponents having failed for now, and Russia unwilling or unable to pressure its ally Assad to cede power, U.S. policy toward Syria appears to be approaching a crossroads. The White House is beginning to take a new look at options in Syria, a process that could take several weeks, U.S. officials have said. Full Story | Top |
| Four killed in Thai clashes; PM to face charges over rice scheme Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 06:52 AM PST By Athit Perawongmetha and Damir Sagolj BANGKOK (Reuters) - Gun battles erupted between Thai police and anti-government protesters in Bangkok on Tuesday and four people were killed and dozens wounded as authorities made their most determined effort yet to clear demonstrators from the streets. In a day of tangled developments in Thailand's long-running political crisis, the country's anti-corruption body announced it was filing charges against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra relating to a rice subsidy scheme that has fuelled middle-class opposition to her government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela opposition leader surrenders, protesters flood streets Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 03:05 PM PST  By Eyanir Chinea and Jorge Silva CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan security forces arrested opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez on Tuesday on charges of fomenting unrest that has killed at least four people, bringing tens of thousands of angry supporters onto the streets of Caracas. Opposition leaders hope Lopez's arrest will galvanize street demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro, though there is no immediate sign the protests will topple the socialist leader. Minutes later, he surrendered to military officers, pumping his fist and then stepping into the military vehicle with a Venezuelan flag in one hand and a white flower in the other. In a speech to a rival rally of his own supporters, Maduro said he had sent the Vice President of the Socialist Party, Congress Chief Diosdado Cabello, to help transport Lopez. Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian militants warn tourists to leave or face attack Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 10:02 AM PST  By Shadia Nasralla and Michael Georgy CAIRO (Reuters) - A militant Islamist group has warned tourists to leave Egypt and threatened to attack any who stay after February 20, raising the prospect of a new front in a fast-growing insurgency in the biggest Arab nation. The Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group, which claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed two South Korean tourists and an Egyptian on Sunday, made the statement on an affiliated Twitter account. "We recommend tourists to get out safely before the expiry of the deadline," read the tweet, written in English, which Egypt's prime minister said on Tuesday aimed to undermine the political process begun after an army takeover in July. Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has said that it does not post statements on social media sites, but statements that appeared on the Twitter account in the past have afterwards surfaced on jihadist websites which the group says it does use. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine police charge protesters after nation's bloodiest day Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 02:36 PM PST By Pavel Polityuk and Marcin Goettig KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian riot police charged protesters occupying a central Kiev square early on Wednesday after the bloodiest day since the former Soviet republic, caught in a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West, won its independence more than 22 years ago. At least 18 people, including seven policemen, died on Tuesday during hours of violence between security forces and civilians who have staged protests against President Viktor Yanukovich since last November. Despite Western demands for restraint and dialogue, the state security service first set a deadline for the demonstrators to end disorder or face "tough measures", and then the police advanced into Independence Square, the center of the protest campaign. Protesters responded with petrol bombs, fireworks and stones. Full Story | Top |
| Iran, powers hold 'substantive' nuclear talks; U.S., Iranians meet Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 02:42 PM PST  By Parisa Hafezi and Louis Charbonneau VIENNA (Reuters) - Six world powers and Iran began "substantive" talks on Tuesday in pursuit of a final settlement on Tehran's contested nuclear program in the coming months despite caveats from both sides that a breakthrough deal may prove impossible. Senior U.S. and Iranian officials met separately for 80 minutes on the sidelines of the negotiations in Vienna. Details were not given, but such bilateral talks were inconceivable before the 2013 election of Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, as president of Iran. "The conversation was productive and focused mainly on how the comprehensive talks will proceed from here," a senior U.S. State Department official said on condition of anonymity after Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman's meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. Full Story | Top |
| World shares edge up after BOJ move, but data weighs Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 01:33 PM PST  By Ryan Vlastelica NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock markets around the world edged higher on Tuesday following a fresh round of stimulus from the Bank of Japan, though gains were limited by some tepid data following a recent rally, which also pushed the dollar down against the euro. The Bank of Japan maintained its expansionary monetary policy, extending special loan programs to help buoy economic growth. "The move by the Bank of Japan is important as it shows how central banks around the world want to make sure economies don't slip back into recession," said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at Rockwell Securities in New York. "That will be an overriding factor in any trading." The MSCI World index was up 0.3 percent. Full Story | Top |
| British suspect planned attacks on U.S., UK, France targets, Kenyan court hears Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 08:08 AM PST  By Joseph Akwiri MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - British national Jermaine Grant, on trial in Kenya accused of planning an attack there, was targeting British, French and U.S. interests, a London detective told the court on Tuesday. Kenyan police suspect Grant, from east London, has ties to the Somali al Shabaab rebel group blamed by the authorities for a string of attacks in the port city of Mombasa, the capital Nairobi and in the remote hinterlands bordering Somalia. Steve Ball, a London police forensic examiner, said officers had retrieved files gathered from several websites, including instructions on making chemical bombs and literature related to jihad, from a memory device belonging to Grant. Kenyan police had requested London police's help in the investigation into Grant. Full Story | Top |
| Putin foes denounce trial as 'political order' Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 08:15 AM PST  By Maria Tsvetkova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two Russian opposition activists accused of plotting violent protests went on trial on Tuesday and denounced the charges against them as part of a politically motivated crackdown on opponents of President Vladimir Putin. Sergei Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev are charged with organizing violent mass disorder and face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. The accusations against the two men are linked to a protest on the eve of Putin's inauguration for a third term as president in May 2012, when clashes erupted between protesters and police. Putin has emphasized that anyone who attacks police must be punished. Full Story | Top |
| Syria's warring parties share ire over jovial photos of local truce Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 07:34 AM PST  By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Pictures of rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad laughing and shaking hands after a local ceasefire have sparked outrage on both sides, shocked at the outpouring of goodwill after three years of fierce bloodletting. The images came from a media trip organized by the Syrian government to the Damascus suburb of Babila, the latest in a series of districts to agree a truce that most opposition critics say works in Assad's favor. Heavy fighting continues throughout most of Syria. The localized truces have been agreed mostly around Damascus and have ended prolonged government sieges on those rebel-held areas, many of which were waged for more than a year and caused severe hunger to the point of illness and death. Full Story | Top |
| China rejects U.N. criticism in North Korea report, no comment on veto Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 12:49 AM PST  China rejected what it said was "unreasonable criticism" of Beijing in a new U.N. report on human rights abuses in North Korea, but it would not be drawn on whether it would veto any proceedings in the Security Council to bring Pyongyang to book. North Korean security chiefs and possibly even Kim Jong Un, the leader of the country, should face international justice for ordering systematic torture, starvation and killings comparable to Nazi-era atrocities, U.N. investigators said on Monday. The unprecedented public rebuke and warning to a head of state by a U.N. inquiry is likely to further antagonize Kim and complicate efforts to persuade him to rein in his isolated country's nuclear weapons program and belligerent confrontations with South Korea and the West. The U.N. investigators also told China, the North's main ally, that it might be "aiding and abetting crimes against humanity" by sending migrants and defectors back to North Korea to face torture or execution, a charge that prompted a sharp rebuke from Beijing. Full Story | Top |
| Listen to your people, EU tells Bosnia leaders after unrest Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 07:38 AM PST  By Daria Sito-Sucic SARAJEVO (Reuters) - The European Union told Bosnia's fractious leaders on Tuesday to heed protesters' demands for more accountability and transparency after the worst bout of civil unrest since the Balkan country's 1992-95 war. The protests over unemployment, graft and political inertia toppled four of 10 regional governments in Bosnia's autonomous Federation, dominated by Muslim Bosniaks and Croats. Bosnia is made up of two parts, the Federation and Serb Republic. Smaller, peaceful protests continue in what may become the most significant challenge yet to the peace deal that ended Bosnia's war but created an unwieldy system of ethnic power-sharing that has stifled all political and economic progress. Full Story | Top |
| Pussy Riot members detained by police in Sochi Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 06:21 AM PST  By Mike Collett-White SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Pussy Riot protest band members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were detained on Tuesday in connection with a theft in the Winter Olympics host city of Sochi, less than two months after their release from prison under an amnesty. The pair were held for around three hours at a police station in the Adler district of Sochi, before appearing with other women on the steps outside wearing summer dresses, colored leggings and their trademark balaclava masks. The women were in Sochi with other members of Pussy Riot to record a musical film called "Putin will teach you to love the motherland". Russian President Vladimir Putin has staked his reputation on the Sochi Games, hoping they would show the world Russia's modern face more than two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Full Story | Top |
| South Sudan rebels say capture oil-producing state capital Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 06:32 AM PST  By Carl Odera JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudanese rebels said they had seized control of the capital of oil-producing Upper Nile state on Tuesday, an assault that the government said breached a ceasefire and which casts doubt over planned peace talks. The rebel strike was the first attack on a major town since the January 23 ceasefire deal, but the government denied rebels now controlled Malakal, which lies on the fringes of a key oil-producing area in the country's northeastern corner. The clashes will fuel concerns over the security of South Sudan's northern oil fields - an economic lifeline for Juba and neighboring Sudan, which receives a fee from the south for crude piped across its territory to the coast for export. The rebels struck Malakal, located 650 km (400 miles) north of the capital Juba, shortly after daybreak. Full Story | Top |
| Pratt, GE battle over billions in jet engine orders Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 04:07 AM PST  Orders worth $20 billion are up for grabs in the competition between Pratt & Whitney and CFM International. Pratt also stands to gain market prominence as it makes what some experts describe as an industry comeback. Pratt, a unit of United Technologies Corp and a major military contractor, has had a smaller commercial engine market presence in recent years. In contrast, CFM, a joint venture between General Electric Co and Safran , has supplied the dominant engine on narrow-body, single-aisle planes, which are the best-selling Boeing Co and Airbus Group models. Full Story | Top |
| Italy recalls ambassador to India after trial delay Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 05:48 AM PST  NEW DELHI/ROME (Reuters) - Italy recalled its ambassador to India on Tuesday after the Supreme Court in New Delhi delayed a decision on a trial for two Italian marines accused of shooting two fishermen in February 2012. The Italian foreign ministry said it would recall its ambassador for consultations after the Supreme Court adjourned a hearing that had lasted only 10 minutes. The judge said India's government needed to produce more paperwork on whether the trial could be heard under anti-piracy legislation. The foreign ministry in Rome later also summoned the Indian ambassador to a meeting, according to a separate statement. Full Story | Top |
| Italy's man in a hurry faces questions as he starts coalition talks Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 04:28 AM PST  By Massimiliano Di Giorgio ROME (Reuters) - Italian center-left leader Matteo Renzi began the delicate task of trying to form a new government on Tuesday, facing questions about how he will fill key ministerial posts and the details of his ambitious reform agenda. "The work's going well, we're relaxed," Graziano Delrio, Renzi's right-hand man in the coalition talks, told reporters as meetings began to form Italy's 65th government since World war Two. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's energy quagmire could sink Sisi Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 02:29 AM PST  By Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army chief, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, won vast popularity by crushing the Muslim Brotherhood, but even a man seen by his followers as invincible may be unable to fix the mess in the politically sensitive energy sector. Sisi, who toppled Islamist leader Mohamed Mursi in July and promised to bring calm to Egypt, is expected soon to stage a triumphal run for the presidency in elections due within months. "Sisi is still very popular, but he realizes that Egyptians can go to Tahrir Square tomorrow if his administration is seen as not being as efficient as promised," said Justin Dargin, a Middle East energy expert at the University of Oxford. Cairo's Tahrir was the hub of protests that ended three decades of one-man rule by President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Full Story | Top |
| World powers, Iran start talks on lasting nuclear settlement Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 02:34 AM PST  VIENNA (Reuters) - Six world powers and Iran began talks in Vienna on Tuesday in pursuit of a final settlement on Tehran's disputed nuclear program in the coming months despite warnings from both sides that a deal may prove impossible. Expected to last two or three days, the meeting is the first since the powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - struck an interim accord with Iran in November under which Iran scaled back its most sensitive nuclear work in return for some sanctions relief. ... Full Story | Top |
| China January foreign direct investment rises in sign of confidence Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014 03:11 AM PST  China drew $10.76 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in January, up 16.1 percent from a year earlier, the Commerce Ministry said on Tuesday, a sign that confidence in the world's second-largest economy remains firm even as growth cools. The majority of the new investment, some $6.33 billion, went into China's services industry, while investment in manufacturing fell 21.7 percent, the ministry said. Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang told a media briefing that China's economic reforms and opening up of the services sector, helped boost confidence of foreign investors. Full Story | Top |
| Bomb attacks kill at least 24 in Iraq capital Monday, Feb 17, 2014 09:18 PM PST  At least 24 people were killed in bomb explosions in the Iraqi capital late on Monday, including blasts near two Shi'ite Muslim mosques and at a busy bus station, police and medics said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for any of the attacks, but Shi'ites are often targeted by Sunni Islamist insurgents who have been regaining ground in Iraq over the past year and overran several towns in recent weeks. In Monday's deadliest attack, a minibus packed with explosives blew up at a bus station in the mainly Shi'ite district of Ur in northern Baghdad, killing at least 11 people, police and medical sources said. A further nine people were killed in car bomb attacks targeting mosques in Baghdad's predominantly Shi'ite districts of Amil and Karrada, police and medical sources said. Full Story | Top |
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