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| Pakistan army launches new air strikes near Afghan border Monday, Feb 24, 2014 07:44 PM PST Pakistan's army launched new air strikes targeting militant hideouts in the tribal region of North Waziristan on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people, military officials said. North Waziristan residents have been trickling out of the troubled region in recent days anticipating a full-scale military offensive, leaving their homes and villages behind and settling in more peaceful areas such as Bannu, Kohat and Peshawar. "The militants had captured a stretch between South Waziristan and North Waziristan and had established training centers where they were also preparing suicide bombers," said one military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Fifteen were killed in the South Waziristan side of the border, while 12 were killed in North Waziristan." The latest air strikes mainly took place in the Shawal valley and Dattakhel areas of North Waziristan where militant training facilities and compounds are said to be located. Full Story | Top |
| Peru's keeps finance minister in cabinet shuffle, names fifth PM Monday, Feb 24, 2014 07:22 PM PST  By Marco Aquino and Patricia Velez LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's President Ollanta Humala reappointed his finance minister in a major cabinet reshuffle late on Monday that also replaced the mines minister and made the current housing minister his fifth prime minister. Finance Minister Luis Miguel Castilla had offered his resignation to Humala earlier on Monday, three government sources said, following a spat with the outgoing prime minister over a bid to raise the minimum wage. Humala chose Housing Minister Rene Cornejo, the former head of the state investment promotion agency Proinversion, to be his new prime minister after making eight changes to his cabinet in Monday night's televised swearing-in ceremony. Cornejo, described by some as a Humala loyalist, had been housing minister since the beginning of Humala's presidency in July 2011. Full Story | Top |
| Arrest of son of 'Shorty' Guzman aide led to Mexico kingpin's capture Monday, Feb 24, 2014 07:17 PM PST  By John Shiffman and Gabriel Stargardter WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The arrest of the son of Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman's deputy at the U.S.-Mexico border was an important break in the operation that led to the drug lord's capture, a senior U.S. law enforcement official said on Sunday. Following the arrest of Serafin Zambada-Ortiz, subsequent wiretaps and phone records of others provided investigators with leads that played a role in the arrest of Guzman, two people familiar with the matter said. 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. One of several key elements in Guzman's downfall started with the arrest of Zambada-Ortiz, the son of Guzman's deputy, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who could now be in line to take over from his boss. Full Story | Top |
| Costa Rica seeks court ruling on Nicaragua border dispute Monday, Feb 24, 2014 06:53 PM PST Costa Rica will ask the International Court of Justice to settle a decade-old maritime border dispute with Nicaragua related to potential oil concessions, President Laura Chinchilla said on Monday. Costa Rica plans to file a complaint with the court at The Hague on Tuesday in which it will ask the court to determine its borders with Nicaragua in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, she said in a statement. The dispute dates back to 2002 when Nicaragua published maps detailing oil concessions, some of which were in waters claimed by Costa Rica. Full Story | Top |
| Explosion, gunfire ring out near Bangkok protest site Monday, Feb 24, 2014 06:28 PM PST  By Pairat Temphairojana BANGKOK (Reuters) - An explosion and gunfire rang out near a sprawling anti-government protest site in the Thai capital early on Tuesday after the protesters' leader warned that government supporters were planning to bring armed militants to Bangkok. Weeks of unrest, in which protesters have barricaded key intersections of the city, have been interrupted by occasional bombs and gunfire, with one blast killing a woman and a young brother and sister in a central shopping district on Sunday. There was another explosion and gunfire near one protest site on the edge of Bangkok's Lumpini Park in the early hours, national security chief Paradorn Pattanathabutr told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Peru's Humala names fifth PM, keeps finance minister in cabinet shuffle Monday, Feb 24, 2014 05:50 PM PST  LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's President Ollanta Humala named his housing minister as his fifth prime minister on Monday in a cabinet shuffle that reappointed his widely respected finance but replaced his energy and mines minister. Finance Minister Luis Miguel Castilla had tendered his resignation to Humala - three government sources said earlier on Monday - following a dispute with outgoing cabinet chief Cesar Villanueva over a potential increase to the minimum wage. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkish PM's office says Erdogan recordings are faked Monday, Feb 24, 2014 04:39 PM PST  Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office said voice recordings on YouTube purportedly of Erdogan telling his son to dispose of large sums of money on the day news broke of a graft inquiry into his government were fake and "completely untrue". Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the audio recordings, which were posted on the video sharing site late on Monday. In the recordings, a voice supposedly of Erdogan can be heard asking his son to remove the money from his home. The recordings are purportedly of Erdogan and his son Bilal discussing how to reduce the funds to "zero" by distributing them among several businessmen. Full Story | Top |
| Cameroon frees French national after 17 years behind bars Monday, Feb 24, 2014 04:37 PM PST Cameroon authorities have freed a French national whose 17-year imprisonment on corruption charges became a source of tension between the two countries and drew appeals from France's president and the U.N. human rights agency. Michel Atangana, 49, a French national of Cameroon origin, and former Cameroon Health Mnister Titus Edzoa, were found guilty in 1997 of embezzling about $2.3 million and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Before their imprisonment, Edzoa, 69, a former adviser to Cameroon's long-serving President Paul Biya, resigned from his cabinet position and announced he would challenge Biya in the 1997 election. Full Story | Top |
| New Italy PM Renzi wins Senate confidence vote Monday, Feb 24, 2014 03:51 PM PST  ROME (Reuters) - New Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi won his first confidence vote in parliament after pledging to cut labour taxes and pass broad institutional reforms to bring life back into a moribund economy. In a vote which concluded in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Senate supported the confidence motion needed to confirm his new government in office by 169 votes in favour to 139 against. Renzi must now win a confidence vote on Tuesday in the lower house, where his center-left Democratic Party has a strong majority. (Reporting by Naomi O'Leary and James Mackenzie) Full Story | Top |
| Egypt government resigns, paving way for Sisi to seek presidency Monday, Feb 24, 2014 03:25 PM PST By Asma Alsharif and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's government resigned on Monday, paving the way for army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to declare his candidacy for president of a strategic U.S. ally gripped by political strife. After the July overthrow of elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and subsequent crackdown on Islamists and liberals with hundreds killed and thousands jailed, critics say Cairo's military-backed authorities are turning the clock back to the era of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, when the political elite ruled with an iron fist in alliance with top businessmen. The outgoing government "made every effort to get Egypt out of the narrow tunnel in terms of security, economic pressures and political confusion," Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said in a live nationwide speech. Beblawi, who was tasked by interim President Adly Mansour with running the government's affairs until the election, did not give a clear reason for the decision. Full Story | Top |
| Yanukovich planned harsh clampdown on protesters: Ukraine deputy Monday, Feb 24, 2014 03:21 PM PST Before he was ousted as Ukraine's president, Viktor Yanukovich drew up plans to use thousands of troops to crush the protests that eventually toppled him, according to a leaked document published online. Ukrainian journalists are going through thousands of papers they say were found near Yanukovich's opulent residence near Kiev after he fled the capital and some documents have already started to surface in the Internet. Although its authenticity could not be confirmed, parliamentary deputy Hennadi Moskal, a former deputy interior minister, published a document online detailing a plan to surround Independence Square - the cradle of the uprising - with snipers and open fire on the protesters below. Moskal, a member of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna party, said he had published the document to put pressure on Ukraine's new authorities to bring Yanukovich to justice. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico kingpin Guzman seeks to block U.S. extradition Monday, Feb 24, 2014 03:03 PM PST  By Anahi Rama MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Lawyers for Mexican drugs kingpin Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman on Monday filed an injunction to block any move to extradite him to the United States after he was captured and charged with drugs and arms trafficking, an official said. Guzman, Mexico's most wanted criminal and boss of the feared Sinaloa Cartel, was caught in the northwest of the country with help from U.S. agents in a pre-dawn raid on Saturday. According to a Mexican justice official, Guzman's lawyers filed the injunction on Monday after the spokesman for a U.S. federal prosecutor said he planned to seek the capo's extradition to face trial in the United States. Earlier on Monday, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman said an extradition decision would "be the subject of further discussion between the United States and Mexico". Full Story | Top |
| Peru's energy and mines minister Merino resigns: government sources Monday, Feb 24, 2014 02:43 PM PST Peru's Energy and Mines Minister Jorge Merino is resigning from President Ollanta Humala's government, a government source and another source from the energy sector said on Monday. Finance Minister Luis Miguel Castilla is also leaving the cabinet, a third government source said earlier on Monday, and Prime Minister Cesar Villanueva announced his own resignation on TV earlier on Monday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. eyes funding for Ukraine alongside IMF program Monday, Feb 24, 2014 02:43 PM PST By Lesley Wroughton and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Monday it was ready to provide financial assistance to Ukraine to complement a loan program from the International Monetary Fund in the aftermath of the ouster of Ukraine's president Viktor Yanukovich. Two days after the dramatic departure of pro-Moscow Yanukovich after bloody clashes in Kiev, the White House sought to apply subtle pressure on Russia to let events unfold in Ukraine without interfering. This message has been delivered in recent days from President Barack Obama on down. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. rights boss seeks international probe into Sri Lanka war crimes Monday, Feb 24, 2014 02:17 PM PST  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations' human rights chief called on Monday for an international inquiry into war crimes committed by both sides during Sri Lanka's civil war, saying the government had failed to do its own credible investigation. In a much anticipated report ahead of a U.N. Human Rights Council debate next month that could order action on the issue, Navi Pillay recommended an "independent, international inquiry mechanism, which would contribute to establishing the truth where domestic inquiry mechanisms have failed." The United States plans to propose a resolution against Sri Lanka at the meeting and Pillay's report, based on her visit to the country last August, adds to pressure on the government. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration, in 18 pages of comments as long as Pillay's report, rejected the recommendations as "arbitrary, intrusive and of a political nature". Many thousands of civilians were killed, injured or remain missing after the 25-year conflict between government forces and separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that ended in May 2009, Pillay said in her report to the Geneva forum. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela says new forex market to take wind out of black market Monday, Feb 24, 2014 02:15 PM PST By Eyanir Chinea and Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's top economy official vowed on Monday that a new currency exchange platform would undermine the spiraling black market for U.S. dollars by adding a market-based mechanism to existing currency controls. Economy Vice President Rafael Ramirez told reporters that the system known as Sicad 2 would be based on supply and demand and would create an exchange rate through a bond swap system known locally as "permuta." Sicad 2 will add a third rate to the 11-year-old currency controls that sell dollars at 6.3 bolivars for preferential goods and at 11.8 for other items, both of which are far below the 87 bolivars that greenbacks fetch on the black market. "The enemy is the parallel exchange rate, we are going to bring it down." Venezuela has maintained currency controls since 2003, but has sought to overhaul them over the last year amid product shortages that resulted from businesses struggling to import products. Full Story | Top |
| Peru's finance minister Castilla resigns: government source Monday, Feb 24, 2014 02:02 PM PST  LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's Finance Minister Luis Miguel Castilla is resigning and President Ollanta Humala is now considering "other options" to replace him, a government source said on Monday. Castilla, a former World Bank economist and one of Humala's original cabinet picks, had remained in office after two and a half years and was widely praised by investors. (Reporting By Marco Aquino, Writing by Mitra Taj; Editing by Chris Reese) Full Story | Top |
| Israeli warplanes strike eastern Lebanon near Syria Monday, Feb 24, 2014 01:53 PM PST Israeli warplanes struck a target in eastern Lebanon near the border with Syria on Monday, security sources said. It was not immediately known what the target was or the exact location of the air strike, which was in a mountainous area near the border. The Israeli army declined to comment but an Israeli security source confirmed that there had been "unusually intense air force activity in the north", referring to Lebanon. Israeli planes have struck in the area several times in the last two years, and security sources say the targets may have been trucks of weapons destined for Lebanon's Hezbollah group from Syria. Full Story | Top |
| Colombia blames ELN rebels for attack on presidential candidate Monday, Feb 24, 2014 01:50 PM PST  By Helen Murphy and Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) - The National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia's second-biggest guerrilla group, was behind the attack this weekend on a leftist presidential candidate, the country's top defense official said on Monday. A convoy carrying Aida Avella, 65, a contender from the Patriotic Union party, came under fire on Sunday as it traveled on a highway in the oil-rich northeastern province of Arauco, where rebels of the ELN have a strong presence. Police and military intelligence overheard conversations between members of the ELN, referring to the shots fired at her vehicle, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon told reporters. "In a specific manner, they talk about how the 12-vehicle convoy mobilized, how they tried to stop the presidential candidate's convoy and when they could not, they opened fire," Pinzon said. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Iraq signs deal to buy arms, ammunition from Iran - documents Monday, Feb 24, 2014 01:47 PM PST  By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iran has signed a deal to sell Iraq arms and ammunition worth $195 million, according to documents seen by Reuters - a move that would break a U.N. embargo on weapons sales by Tehran. The agreement was reached at the end of November, the documents showed, just weeks after Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki returned from lobbying the Obama administration in Washington for extra weapons to fight al Qaeda-linked militants. Some in Washington are nervous about providing sensitive U.S. military equipment to a country they worry is becoming too close to Iran. Several Iraqi lawmakers said Maliki had made the deal because he was fed up with delays in U.S. arms deliveries. Full Story | Top |
| Seven Egyptian Christians found shot execution-style on Libyan beach Monday, Feb 24, 2014 01:20 PM PST  Seven Egyptian Christians were found shot dead on a beach in eastern Libya after they were abducted from their apartments, security officials and local residents said, in the second such execution-style killing this year. Three years after the revolution that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's weak government and army is struggling to impose state authority and control brigades of former rebels and Islamist militias in a country awash with weapons. A police officer told Reuters the bodies were found with gunshots to the head outside Benghazi in the east, where assassinations, kidnappings and car bombs are common and Islamist gunmen are active. "They were killed by head shots in execution style," a police officer said. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela death toll rises to 13 as protests flare Monday, Feb 24, 2014 01:10 PM PST By Brian Ellsworth and Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Anti-government demonstrators put up barricades and set fire to trash in Caracas on Monday despite calls from within the opposition to rein in protests that have led to 13 deaths in Venezuela's worst unrest for a decade. Traffic in the capital slowed to a crawl and many people stayed home as protesters burned trash and piled debris along main avenues a day after opposition leader Henrique Capriles called on them to keep demonstrations peaceful. "We know we're bothering people but we have to wake up Venezuela!" student Pablo Herrera, 23, said next to a barricade in the affluent Los Palos Grandes district of Caracas. Authorities in the convulsed border state of Tachira confirmed another death: a man who fell from his second-storey apartment after being hit by a bullet from a nearby protest. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela protest leader 'alone but firm' in jail cell Monday, Feb 24, 2014 01:07 PM PST By Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan protest leader Leopoldo Lopez is being held alone in a small cell at a military jail but remains strong and wants his supporters to stay in the streets, his family says. The wife and parents of Lopez, who was arrested last week as the alleged mastermind of unrest against President Nicolas Maduro's government, spoke after several visits to the hilltop Ramo Verde jail outside Caracas. His only contact is with the family," his wife Lilian Tintori, 36, told Reuters at the headquarters of Lopez's political party Popular Will in Caracas on Monday. It's a military jail, and the soldiers are following orders." Tintori, a former TV presenter and sportswoman who has two young children with Lopez, has kept him informed of events outside and Tweets his messages to supporters. Full Story | Top |
| Kerry ups ante in struggle to crack South China Sea rules Monday, Feb 24, 2014 01:02 PM PST  By Greg Torode and Manuel Mogato HONG KONG/MANILA (Reuters) - Pressure is mounting on China and Southeast Asia to agree a code of conduct to keep the peace in the disputed South China Sea, but Beijing is warning of a long road ahead. Only last week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged China and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to work out rules to ease tensions after a fresh Chinese campaign of assertiveness in the region. ASEAN officials told Reuters that a working group of officials from China and the 10-member association would resume negotiations in Singapore on March 18 after agreeing to accelerate talks last year that have made little headway so far. Full Story | Top |
| Fugitive Ukraine leader wanted for murder, Russia sounds alarm Monday, Feb 24, 2014 12:49 PM PST By Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's fugitive president was indicted for "mass murder" on Monday over the shooting of demonstrators as new leaders in Kiev sought urgent Western aid to make up for a loss of funding from Russia, which is angry at the overthrow of its ally. Moscow said it would not deal with those who led an "armed mutiny" against Viktor Yanukovich, who was elected in 2010, and said it now feared for the lives of its citizens, notably in the Russian-speaking east and Crimea on the Black Sea. Russia's top general agreed with NATO to maintain contact on a crisis that has raised fears of civil war and which U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said called for an "inclusive political process" that "preserves Ukraine's ... territorial integrity". While Russia, its strategy for maintaining influence in its former Soviet neighbor in shreds, made clear its $15-billion package of loans and cheap gas deals was in jeopardy, the European Union and United States offered urgent financial assistance for a new government that may be formed on Tuesday. Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria president defends suspension of central bank governor Monday, Feb 24, 2014 12:38 PM PST  Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said on Monday his decision to suspend the central bank governor had nothing to do with the governor's exposing corruption in the oil sector. Jonathan suspended Governor Lamido Sanusi on Thursday on allegations he had mishandled the bank's budget. Sanusi, due to step down in June, was becoming an increasingly vocal critic of the government's record on tackling corruption. Sanusi had been presenting evidence to parliament that he said showed that state oil company Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) failed to pay $20 billion it owed to federal government coffers, fuelling speculation his suspension was an attempt to silence a whistleblower. Full Story | Top |
| Canadian railways aim to boost grain movement, government may act Monday, Feb 24, 2014 12:30 PM PST By Rod Nickel WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Canada's two big railways are ramping up to provide thousands more cars per week to transport grain to ports, government officials said on Monday, aiming to work through a backlog of orders after last year's record harvest. Record Canadian crops of wheat and canola, along with frigid weather, have overwhelmed Canadian National Railway Co and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd, resulting in a backlog of orders for tens of thousands of grain cars. Saskatchewan Economy Minister Bill Boyd said in a statement that both railways assured the government of Saskatchewan last week that they are working to deploy thousands more grain cars per week, and would sustain that pace until at least December 2014. Saskatchewan produces more wheat and canola than any other Canadian province. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine calls for urgent Western aid after Yanukovich ousted Monday, Feb 24, 2014 12:28 PM PST By Timothy Heritage and Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine appealed for urgent international aid on Monday after the fall of Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovich cast doubt on a bailout deal with Moscow, saying it needed $35 billion over the next two years. With acting President Oleksander Turchinov warning that Ukraine was close to default and "heading into the abyss", the United States and European Union said they were looking at how to help Kiev. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. surprised by resignation of Egyptian government Monday, Feb 24, 2014 12:21 PM PST The United States said on Monday it was surprised by the resignation of Egypt's government and would continue to push for a transition process that led to a democratically elected government in the country. "This step was unexpected, so we are looking to obtain information on it," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a regular news briefing. Egypt's government resigned earlier on Monday, paving the way for army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to declare his candidacy for president of the strategic U.S. ally. "Our focus ... remains on pressing and encouraging Egypt to take steps forward that will advance an inclusive transition process that leads to a democratic civilian-led government selected through a credible and transparent elections process," Psaki said. Full Story | Top |
| Justices question Obama climate change regulations Monday, Feb 24, 2014 12:05 PM PST  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court appeared closely divided on Monday as it weighed whether the administration of President Barack Obama exceeded its authority when crafting the nation's first greenhouse gas emissions regulations. Justice Anthony Kennedy could hold the swing vote on the nine-member high court, with conservative justices skeptical of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approach and liberal justices generally supportive. It is possible the court could opt for a compromise in which the EPA loses the case but retains most of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the specific program at issue in the case. Absent congressional action, Obama has been using his regulatory authority to address climate change. Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu tells Merkel Iran is greatest threat to world security Monday, Feb 24, 2014 12:03 PM PST  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday that Iran's nuclear program was the biggest threat to global security. "I would like to discuss the ways to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons capability," Netanyahu said in brief public remarks with Merkel at his side at the start of her two-day trip. "I believe that this is the greatest challenge to the security of the world." Speaking to his cabinet a day earlier, Netanyahu said Germany and other world powers negotiating with Iran needed to take a hard line with the Islamic republic to ensure it cannot "produce or launch nuclear weapons". Full Story | Top |
| Ugandan president signs anti-gay bill, defying the West Monday, Feb 24, 2014 12:02 PM PST  By Elias Biryabarema ENTEBBE, Uganda (Reuters) - Uganda's president signed a law imposing harsh penalties for homosexuality on Monday, defying protests from rights groups, criticism from Western donors and a U.S. warning that it will complicate relations. Gay rights activists in Uganda said they planned a legal challenge. Ugandan officials broke into loud applause as President Yoweri Museveni put his signature to the document in front of foreign journalists at his State House outside the capital. Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh last week called homosexuals "vermin". Full Story | Top |
| Freed Ukraine opposition leader to have treatment in Germany Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:52 AM PST Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko has accepted an invitation from Chancellor Angela Merkel to be treated for a back problem in Germany, a decision made possible by the ouster of Viktor Yanukovich as president, her party said on Monday. Tymoshenko's Batkivshchyna party announced her decision on its website. Full Story | Top |
| Peru's PM resigns after spat with first lady, finance minister Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:37 AM PST  By Marco Aquino LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian Prime Minister Cesar Villanueva said on Monday that he was stepping down after just four months in office and a recent public spat with the finance minister and the first lady over his effort to raise the minimum wage. Villanueva said on local broadcaster RPP that President Ollanta Humala had accepted his resignation on Monday after he told a local newspaper that he was working on a new wage law with the finance ministry. First Lady Nadine Heredia and later Finance Minister Luis Miguel Castilla, one of Humala's few original cabinet members who have remained in power, denied that the government was working on raising the minimum wage. Castilla's rebuttal late on Sunday was widely interpreted as a way to embarrass Villanueva and to push him from power. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. urges calm in Venezuela, encourages dialogue Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:27 AM PST The United States is working with the Organization of American States (OAS) and regional partners to urge calm in Venezuela, the White House said on Monday, as that South American country faces its most sustained unrest in a decade. White House spokesman Jay Carney expressed concern about developments in Venezuela and said the United States has made clear that with the OAS and regional partners "we are working to urge calm and encourage a genuine dialogue among all Venezuelans." "Another way of putting this is that when President (Nicolas) Maduro calls for a dialogue with the U.S. president and an exchange of ambassadors, he should focus instead on a dialogue with the Venezuelan people - because that it what is at issue here," Carney told a news briefing. Full Story | Top |
| Kremlin says Putin, Hollande voice concern over Ukraine Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:20 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Francois Hollande voiced concerned over the political crisis in Ukraine in a telephone conversation on Monday, the Kremlin said in a statement. It said the talk had been initiated by the French side. In Paris, Hollande's office said the French president had tried to persuade Putin to back a peaceful political transition in Ukraine. (Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) Full Story | Top |
| Hollande urges Putin to back Ukraine transition Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:15 AM PST French President Francois Hollande spoke to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday to try to pressure him into backing a peaceful political transition in Ukraine. "The head of state emphasized the need for a peaceful transition and the importance of ensuring the unity and territorial integrity of the country," a statement from Hollande's office said. In the statement, which comes after Russia-backed President Viktor Yanukovich was toppled by a popular uprising, Hollande also urged Russia to cooperate in financial assistance for Ukraine to help its economic modernization. Full Story | Top |
| Russia police detain hundreds protesting against jailing of activists Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:10 AM PST  By Thomas Grove and Ian Bateson MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian riot police detained hundreds of Kremlin opponents on Monday, moving swiftly to curb protests over the jailing of activists convicted of attacking police at a rally against President Vladimir Putin. With the turmoil in Ukraine adding to tension between the Kremlin and its opponents, Putin foes including Alexei Navalny and members of protest band Pussy Riot were hauled away twice by police, first outside a courthouse and later near the Kremlin. The prison sentences and the detention of activists protesting them drew criticism from Europe, adding to strains between Russia and the West at a time when they are deeply at odds over the future of Ukraine. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. ready to give financial support to Ukraine to complement IMF aid: White House Monday, Feb 24, 2014 11:07 AM PST The United States is ready to provide financial support to Ukraine to complement IMF aid, the White House said on Monday, in the aftermath of the ouster of Ukraine's Russian-backed president, Viktor Yanukovich. "The United States, working with partners around the world, stands ready to provide support for Ukraine as it takes the reforms it needs to, to get back to economic stability," White House spokesman Jay Carney told a news briefing. "This support can complement an IMF program by helping to make reforms easier and by putting Ukraine in a position to invest more in health and education to help develop Ukraine's human capital and strengthen its social safety net," Carney added. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says reviewing relationship with Uganda government Monday, Feb 24, 2014 10:36 AM PST The United States said on Monday it is reviewing its relationship with Uganda's government, including U.S. assistance programs that are heavily focused on fighting HIV/AIDS, after its president signed a law imposing harsh penalties for homosexuality. "Now that this law has been enacted, we are beginning an internal review of our relationship with the Government of Uganda to ensure that all dimensions of our engagement, including assistance programs, uphold our anti-discrimination policies and principles and reflect our values," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
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