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| U.S., EU set sanctions as Putin recognizes Crimea 'sovereignty' Monday, Mar 17, 2014 06:43 PM PDT  By Aleksandar Vasovic and Adrian Croft SIMFEROPOL/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States and European Union imposed personal sanctions on Monday on Russian and Crimean officials involved in the seizure of Crimea from Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing the region as a sovereign state. The moves heightened the most serious East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War, following a disputed referendum in the Black Sea peninsula on Sunday in which Crimea's leaders declared a Soviet-style, 97-percent vote to secede from Ukraine. Within hours, the Crimean parliament formally asked that Russia "admit the Republic of Crimea as a new subject with the status of a republic". Putin will on Tuesday address a special joint session of Russia's State Duma, or parliament, which could take a decision on annexation of the majority ethnic-Russian region. Full Story | Top |
| Malaysian jet probe looks at suicide as possible motive Monday, Mar 17, 2014 06:22 PM PDT  No trace of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been found since it vanished on March 8 with 239 people aboard. A search of unprecedented scale involving 26 countries is under way, covering an area stretching from the shores of the Caspian Sea in the north to deep in the southern Indian Ocean. Airline chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya also told a news conference on Monday that it was unclear exactly when one of the plane's automatic tracking systems had been disabled, appearing to contradict comments by government ministers at the weekend. Suspicions of hijacking or sabotage had hardened further when officials said on Sunday that the last radio message from the plane - an informal "all right, good night" - was spoken after the tracking system, known as "ACARS", was shut down. Full Story | Top |
| Planning could hold key to disappearance of Flight MH370 Monday, Mar 17, 2014 07:46 PM PDT  By Siva Govindasamy and Tim Hepher KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Whoever reached across the dimly lit cockpit of a Malaysia Airlines jet and clicked off a transponder to make Flight MH370 vanish from controllers' radars flew the plane into a navigational and technical black hole. Understanding the sequence that led to the unprecedented plane hunt widening across two vast tracts of territory north and south of the Equator is key to grasping the motives of what Malaysian authorities suspect was hijacking or sabotage. Two minutes later, at 1.21 a.m. local time, the transponder - a device identifying jets to ground controllers - was turned off in a move that experts say could reveal a careful sequence. The radio call does not prove it was the co-pilot who turned off the transponder. Full Story | Top |
| Iran, six powers seek nuclear progress in shadow of Ukraine crisis Monday, Mar 17, 2014 04:09 PM PDT  By Fredrik Dahl and Parisa Hafezi VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran and six world powers will try to make headway toward resolving their nuclear dispute in talks starting in Vienna on Tuesday, with Western officials hoping the uphill challenge will not be made even more difficult by the Ukraine crisis. So far, diplomats say, there is little sign that the worst East-West confrontation since the Cold War will undermine the quest for a deal to end the long standoff over Iran's atomic activity and avert the threat of a Middle East war. ... Full Story | Top |
| Despite scandal, Indonesia election could entrench political dynasties Monday, Mar 17, 2014 02:13 PM PDT  By Andrew R.C. Marshall MAKASSAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - Makassar is a scrappy, traffic-choked port city in South Sulawesi where everybody knows your name. The family of Syahrul Yasin Limpo, the second-term governor of this resource-rich Indonesian province, has dominated local politics for three generations, and a fourth waits in the wings. Eight of Limpo's close relatives will run in the country's parliamentary elections on April 9: two sisters, one brother, two brothers-in-law, two nephews and a daughter. It all adds up to a formidable dynasty in a country where political families are both increasingly common and dogged by allegations of corruption, neglect and misrule. Full Story | Top |
| Car bombs kill at least eight at Libya army academy in Benghazi Monday, Mar 17, 2014 11:53 AM PDT  By Ayman al-Warfalli BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - A powerful car bomb attack targeted a military academy in Libya's eastern of city of Benghazi on Monday, killing at least eight people and wounding more than a dozen, hospital and security officials said. Instability in the eastern city is part of the struggle a weak central government faces in controlling armed groups, militias and brigades of former rebels who once battled Muammar Gaddafi and now refuse to disarm. A first bomb exploded at the front gate of the academy as soldiers were leaving a graduation ceremony, security officials said. In a separate explosion hours later in Benghazi, one person was killed when another car bomb went off near the state oil firm Brega Petroleum Marketing Co, which sells fuel products inside Libya, a security source said. Full Story | Top |
| GM recalls 1.5 million more vehicles; CEO says 'terrible things happened' Monday, Mar 17, 2014 02:28 PM PDT  By Ben Klayman DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co announced new recalls of 1.5 million vehicles on Monday and in a virtually unprecedented public admission by a GM chief executive, Mary Barra acknowledged the company fell short in catching faulty ignition switches linked to 12 deaths. Barra said the company is changing how it handles defect investigations and recalls. In the last two months, GM has recalled more than 3.1 million vehicles in the United States and other markets. The actions started with last month's recall of more than 1.6 million vehicles for faulty ignition switches. Full Story | Top |
| Fashion's L'Wren Scott found dead in NYC in apparent suicide Monday, Mar 17, 2014 09:13 PM PDT  By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) - Celebrated fashion designer L'Wren Scott, the girlfriend of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, was found dead from an apparent suicide in her Manhattan apartment on Monday, police said. Scott, a former model whose slim-fitting dresses were favorites among Hollywood's A-list stars such as Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams and Penelope Cruz, was found hanging from a scarf. "We are investigating it as a suicide," said New York police Detective Kelly Ort. ... Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela unrest toll rises as soldier is shot in head Monday, Mar 17, 2014 07:26 PM PDT  By Daniel Wallis and Diego Ore CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuela National Guard captain died on Monday after being shot in the head during a demonstration, the military said, the 29th fatality in six weeks of clashes between protesters and security forces. General Padrino Lopez, head of the armed forces' strategic operational command, said the captain was shot late on Sunday at a street barricade set up by demonstrators in the central city of Maracay, in Aragua state. "Our armed forces don't repress peaceful protests, they protect them." Since early February, students and hardline opposition leaders have been calling supporters onto the streets to protest against President Nicolas Maduro and his socialist government. The demonstrators are demanding political change and an end to high inflation, shortages of basic foods and one of the worst rates of violent crime in the world. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. forces seize tanker carrying oil from Libya rebel port Monday, Mar 17, 2014 01:53 PM PDT  By Ulf Laessing and Feras Bosalum TRIPOLI (Reuters) - U.S. special forces have seized a tanker that fled with a cargo of oil from a Libyan port controlled by anti-government rebels, halting their attempt to sell crude on the global market. Gunmen demanding regional autonomy and a share of oil wealth had managed to load the ship, which escaped Libya's navy and triggered a crisis that prompted parliament to sack the prime minister. A U.S. SEAL commando team boarded the tanker Morning Glory from a Naval special warfare rigid inflatable boat as it sat in international waters off Cyprus on Sunday night. The seizure was approved by U.S. President Barack Obama and requested by the Libyan and Cypriot governments, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said. Full Story | Top |
| Planning could hold key to disappearance of Flight MH370 Monday, Mar 17, 2014 11:01 AM PDT By Siva Govindasamy and Tim Hepher KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Whether by accident or design, whoever reached across the dimly lit cockpit of a Malaysia Airlines jet and clicked off a transponder to make Flight MH370 vanish from controllers' radars flew into a navigational and technical black hole. Understanding the sequence that led to the unprecedented plane hunt widening across two vast tracts of territory north and south of the Equator is key to grasping the motives of what Malaysian authorities suspect was hijacking or sabotage. By signing off from Malaysian airspace at 1.19 a.m. on March 8 with a casual "all right, good night," rather than the crisp radio drill advocated in pilot training, a person now believed to be the co-pilot gave no hint of anything unusual. Two minutes later, at 1.21 a.m. local time, the transponder - a device identifying jets to ground controllers - was turned off in a move that experts say could reveal a careful sequence. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela unrest toll rises as soldier is shot in head Monday, Mar 17, 2014 01:23 PM PDT By Daniel Wallis and Diego Ore CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuela National Guard captain died on Monday after being shot in the head during a demonstration, the military said, the 29th fatality in six weeks of clashes between protesters and security forces. General Padrino Lopez, head of the armed forces' strategic operational command, said the captain was shot late on Sunday at a street barricade set up by demonstrators in the central city of Maracay, in Aragua state. "Our armed forces don't repress peaceful protests, they protect them ... Much more Venezuelan blood would have been shed if it were not for the responsible actions of our National Guard." Since early February, students and hardline opposition leaders have been calling supporters onto the streets to protest against President Nicolas Maduro and his socialist government. The demonstrators are demanding political change and an end to high inflation, shortages of basic foods and one of the worst rates of violent crime in the world. Full Story | Top |
| Moscow wins overwhelming Crimea vote, West readies sanctions Monday, Mar 17, 2014 11:54 AM PDT By Mike Collett-White and Alastair Macdonald SIMFEROPOL/KIEV (Reuters) - Crimea's Moscow-backed leaders declared a 96-percent vote in favor of quitting Ukraine and annexation by Russia in a referendum Western powers said was illegal and will bring immediate sanctions. As state media in Russia carried a startling reminder of its power to turn the United States to "radioactive ash", President Barack Obama spoke to Vladimir Putin, telling the Russian president that he and his European allies were ready to impose "additional costs" on Moscow for violating Ukraine's territory. The Kremlin and the White House issued statements saying Obama and Putin saw diplomatic options to resolve what is the gravest crisis in East-West relations since the Cold War. But Obama said Russian forces must first end "incursions" into its ex-Soviet neighbor while Putin renewed his accusation that the new leadership in Kiev, brought to power by an uprising last month against his elected Ukrainian ally, were failing to protect Russian-speakers from violent Ukrainian nationalists. Full Story | Top |
| Fashion's L'Wren Scott found dead in NY in apparent suicide Monday, Mar 17, 2014 04:01 PM PDT By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fashion designer L'Wren Scott, the girlfriend of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, was found dead from an apparent suicide in her Manhattan apartment, police said on Monday. Scott, a former model whose slim-fitting, dresses were favorites among Hollywood's A-list stars such as Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams and Penelope Cruz, was found hanging from a scarf. Police said they had preliminary information that Scott was 49, although that had not been confirmed by her family. Her death followed the untimely deaths of two giants in fashion who succumbed to suicide: British designer Alexander McQueen, who had suffered from depression, died in London in February 2010 at the age of 40, while his close friend, British fashion editor Isabella Blow, died in 2007 at the age of 48. Full Story | Top |
| Malaysian airplane investigators look at suicide as possible motive Monday, Mar 17, 2014 01:34 PM PDT No trace of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been found since it vanished on March 8 with 239 people aboard. A search unprecedented in its scale is now under way for the plane, covering an area stretching from the shores of the Caspian Sea in the north to deep in the southern Indian Ocean. Airline chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya also told a news conference that it was unclear exactly when one of the plane's automatic tracking systems had been disabled, appearing to contradict the weekend comments of government ministers. Suspicions of hijacking or sabotage had hardened further when officials said on Sunday that the last radio message from the plane - an informal "all right, good night" - was spoken after the tracking system, known as "ACARS", was shut down. Full Story | Top |
| Iran says it foiled sabotage attempt on Arak reactor Monday, Mar 17, 2014 11:12 AM PDT  Pumps at Iran's planned Arak reactor, seen by the West as a potential source of plutonium for nuclear bombs, were tampered with in a failed attempt to sabotage the country's nuclear program, a senior official said on Monday. Asghar Zarean, deputy chief for nuclear protection and security at the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, said the incident was one of several such attacks foiled over the past few months, the official IRNA news agency reported. Iran has in the past often accused its Western and Israeli foes of seeking to sabotage its nuclear program, which Tehran says is peaceful but the United States and its allies fear may be aimed at developing a nuclear weapons capability. But this was believed to be the first time Iran has made sabotage suspicions public since a major thaw in ties with the West after a relative moderate, Hassan Rouhani, was elected president last June on a platform to ease Tehran's isolation. Full Story | Top |
| Cheers and criticism mark Abbas's visit to Washington Monday, Mar 17, 2014 07:08 AM PDT  By Ali Sawafta RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets on Monday to show their support for President Mahmoud Abbas, who is under heavy pressure as he prepares to meet U.S. President Barack Obama. Abbas, scheduled to see Obama later in the day in Washington, complained last week that he had come under great duress during U.S.-brokered peace talks with the Israelis, which are due to expire next month in the absence of any accord. Adding to his diplomatic concerns, Abbas has also got entangled in a fierce slanging match with an exiled rival, Mohammed Dahlan, who lambasted his ally-turned-foe in a two-hour interview with Egyptian television on Sunday. The interview sent shockwaves through the Palestinian Territories, which is not used to seeing such political acrimony played out on their televisions screens, and Abbas's supporters rallied in a number of towns across the occupied West Bank. Full Story | Top |
| Rockets in Bekaa as Lebanon struggles to contain Syria spillover Monday, Mar 17, 2014 06:29 AM PDT  By Alexander Dziadosz AL-LABWA, Lebanon (Reuters) - Two rockets struck a mainly Shi'ite town near Lebanon's border with Syria on Monday and security forces blew up a suspected car bomb as they struggled to contain sectarian violence fuelled by a Syrian army offensive across the frontier. The rocket attack on Al-Labwa was the latest strike on a Shi'ite target inside Lebanon after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces and their Lebanese allies Hezbollah recaptured the border town of Yabroud from Sunni Muslim rebels on Sunday. The rebel defeat at Yabroud sent a stream of refugees and fighters across the border towards the Lebanese Bekaa Valley town of Arsal, and was followed hours later by a suicide car bombing against a local stronghold of Shi'ite Hezbollah. Full Story | Top |
| Vodafone agrees $10 billion deal for Spain's Ono Monday, Mar 17, 2014 11:21 AM PDT  By Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone has agreed to buy Spain's largest cable operator Ono for 7.2 billion euros ($10 billion), the latest hefty deal in a European telecoms sector starting to rebuild as the region recovers from a recession. The British group said on Monday it would use some of the $130 billion proceeds from the sale of its U.S. arm to acquire Ono, with a superfast cable network and 1.9 million customers, to create a stronger challenger to market leader Telefonica. The deal for private equity-owned Ono is Vodafone's third purchase of a European fixed-broadband asset in two years, following similar moves in Britain and Germany, enabling it to offer fixed-line and mobile services, pay-TV and broadband, while saving money on building and operating its networks. The agreement, which comes as the French market undergoes a similar transformation, could also spark more consolidation within Spain as players such as France's Orange seek out acquisitions to avoid falling behind. Full Story | Top |
| Swedes tire of tax cuts as welfare state shows strains Monday, Mar 17, 2014 08:16 AM PDT  By Daniel Dickson and Alistair Scrutton STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - To glimpse Swedish angst under its picture postcard prosperity, look no further than film director Lisa Ohlin, who has enjoyed years of tax cuts in an economy the envy of Europe. But this leafy, well-heeled area is a microcosm of Sweden, where eyes are on a struggling school with strained finances, not enough teachers and poor results. Like many Swedes, Ohlin wants her cherished welfare state back. There is a huge fear of going over the budget." Voters like Ohlin are returning to faith in cradle to grave welfare after eight years of center-right Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who cut income, wealth and corporate taxes. Full Story | Top |
| China rejects North Korean crimes report, hits chance of prosecution Monday, Mar 17, 2014 10:47 AM PDT  By Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - China dismissed on Monday a U.N. report alleging North Korea has committed crimes against humanity, effectively confirming the fears of human rights advocates that Beijing will shield its ally from international prosecution. The report, published in February, accused the reclusive country of mass killings and torture comparable to Nazi-era atrocities and said officials, possibly even Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un himself, should face the International Criminal Court (ICC). Chen Chuandong, a counsellor at China's mission in Geneva, told the U.N. Human Rights Council that the independent commission of inquiry had made unfounded accusations and recommendations that were "divorced from reality". Full Story | Top |
| Five months later, jurors face tough task in Madoff aides' trial Monday, Mar 17, 2014 11:05 AM PDT  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - Like Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme itself, the trial of five of his former aides has been virtually unprecedented in its scope. A federal jury of 12 men and women on Monday began deciding whether the defendants are guilty of aiding in Madoff's massive fraud. And U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain's two sets of jury instructions to help jurors understand how to apply the law to the evidence ran an astonishing 250 pages. Despite the voluminous record, experts said, the case turns on a relatively simple question: did the defendants knowingly engage in fraud, as prosecutors contend, or were they fooled by one of history's greatest con men, as their lawyers argue? Full Story | Top |
| New Thai "red shirt" leader may escalate fight to save PM Monday, Mar 17, 2014 01:14 AM PDT  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - The new leader of Thailand's pro-government "red shirt" movement said on Monday that his supporters would take to the streets in support of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra if the elite or the courts dared try to oust her. The red shirts have kept to the sidelines during the past 4-1/2 months of political unrest in Thailand, while anti-government protesters forced state offices to close and disrupted an election in February. Any further threat to Yingluk could see their patience snap, warned Jatuporn Prompan, who became leader of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), as the red shirts are formally known, at the weekend. Thousands of supporters attended the rally in Ayutthaya north of Bangkok to witness the change of leadership. Full Story | Top |
| Cold War reflexes return to Europe over Ukraine Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 11:54 PM PDT  By Paul Taylor BERLIN (Reuters) - The Cold War is back. Russia's military seizure of Crimea and preparations for a possible annexation of the southern Ukrainian province have revived fears, calculations and reflexes that had been rusting away since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Whether the crisis triggered by President Vladimir Putin's attempt to prevent Ukraine, a strategic former Soviet republic, turning to the West, becomes a turning point in international relations like the 2001 Al Qaeda attacks on the United States or the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, is not yet certain. And states in the middle such as Germany and Poland are starting to weigh uncomfortable adjustments to their policy. Full Story | Top |
| Lebanese army blows up suspect car close to Syrian border Monday, Mar 17, 2014 01:40 AM PDT  Lebanon's army blew up a car on Monday in the border region with Syria which they suspected contained explosives and was being prepared for use in a bomb attack, security sources said. They said the car was found in a rural area between the Bekaa Valley villages of Ras Baalbek and Fakeha, about 5 km (3 miles) north of a village where a suicide car bombing killed three people on Sunday. Sunday's bombing, which killed two members of the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim militant group Hezbollah, appeared to be retaliation for Hezbollah's support for Syrian troops who had recaptured the border town of Yabroud from rebel fighters. Hezbollah has been the target of repeated car bombings and rocket fire inside Lebanon during the past year over its involvement in Syria's civil war. Full Story | Top |
| Twitter CEO Costolo to make first China visit Monday, Mar 17, 2014 08:30 AM PDT  By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter Inc CEO Dick Costolo will meet Shanghai government officials, academics and students in his first visit to China, signaling Twitter's interest in cracking a lucrative but thorny market with 600 million Internet users. Twitter, which has been blocked by Chinese censors since 2009, described the trip as a personal tour for Costolo, who is due to land at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport on Monday and plans to spend three days in the business capital. Costolo is scheduled to meet Shanghai government officials — including representatives of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, established in 2013 to test market liberalization measures, such as looser rules governing currency conversion and foreign direct investment. Full Story | Top |
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