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| Search planes checking China satellite report on missing airliner Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 08:17 PM PDT  By Eveline Danubrata and Nguyen Phuong Linh KUALA LUMPUR/PHU QUOC, Vietnam (Reuters) - Search planes were flying on Thursday to an area where a Chinese satellite has seen objects that could be debris from the Malaysian airliner missing for almost six days, but those waters had been checked before and nothing found, officials said. At the same time, China heaped pressure on Malaysia to improve its coordination over the search for the Malaysia Airlines plane, which disappeared early on Saturday on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Premier Li Keqiang, speaking at a news conference in Beijing, demanded that the "relevant party" step up coordination while China's civil aviation chief said he wanted a "smoother" flow of information from Malaysia, which has come under heavy criticism for its handling of the disaster. Full Story | Top |
| EU moves toward sanctions on Russians; Obama meets Ukraine PM Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 06:43 PM PDT  By Martin Santa and Aleksandar Vasovic BRUSSELS/SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) - The European Union agreed on a framework on Wednesday for its first sanctions on Russia since the Cold War, a stronger response to the Ukraine crisis than many expected and a mark of solidarity with Washington in the drive to make Moscow pay for seizing Crimea. U.S. President Barack Obama warned Russia it faced costs from the West unless it changed course in Ukraine, and pledged to "stand with Ukraine" as he met with the country's new prime minister in Washington. Full Story | Top |
| NYC buildings explosion kills three, others missing Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 07:01 PM PDT  Mayor Bill de Blasio, who rushed to the scene in East Harlem, where a cascade of twisted and burnt metal blocked the sidewalk and covered parked cars, said preliminary information showed the explosion was caused by a gas leak. Edward Foppiano, Con Ed's vice president for gas operations, said while the utility could not say for certain what caused the explosion, it was treating the incident as a gas leak issue. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the "gas explosion and subsequent fire." Metro-North Railroad, which had shut down train traffic moving through Manhattan while it cleared debris from the tracks, announced in late afternoon it had restored all commuter rail service through the area. One of the victims was identified as Griselde Camacho, a campus public safety officer for Hunter College in East Harlem, according to a message posted on the school's website. Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Release of Afghan prisoners exposes root of rift with U.S Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 07:10 PM PDT  By Sayed Anwar Amani and Mirwais Harooni KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S. military commanders believe Sardar Mohammad is a dangerous Taliban bomb-maker who has attacked foreign and Afghan soldiers. In April last year, U.S. and Afghan forces captured Sardar and placed him in a military prison. The Afghan government ordered Sardar and 64 other men to be released last month. A quiet man who says he is in his late teens, Sardar headed back to his village in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar. Full Story | Top |
| GM waited on Ion recall despite awareness of fatal crashes Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 06:58 PM PDT  By Ben Klayman, Richard Cowan and Paul Lienert DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Motors Co waited more than two weeks to expand a major recall to include the Saturn Ion and other compact cars, even though its engineers were aware of four fatalities in crashes involving the model, GM said in filings published on Wednesday. In an amended submission to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, GM also said it had identified an issue with the ignition switch, the central failing in the recall of more than 1.6 million cars, in 2001 preproduction testing on the Ion. Before Wednesday, GM had said that it became aware of the problem in 2004, in the Chevrolet Cobalt. GM says the switch has been connected with at least 34 crashes and is linked to at least 12 deaths. Full Story | Top |
| Turkish protester, police officer die in day of clashes: media Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 04:35 PM PDT  A protester in Istanbul died from a head injury and a police officer suffered a fatal heart attack during Turkey's worst day of civil unrest since anti-government protests swept the nation last summer, local media said late on Wednesday. A defiant Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, already battling a damaging corruption scandal weeks ahead of elections, cast the latest unrest as part of a plot against the state. Police fired water cannon, tear gas and rubber pellets on a major Istanbul avenue to stop tens of thousands of protesters from reaching the central Taksim square. Officers in riot gear chased pockets of protesters into side streets late into the night. Full Story | Top |
| White House tried to mediate dispute between Senate panel, CIA Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 05:33 PM PDT  By Mark Hosenball and Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House tried to mediate between the CIA and the Senate panel that oversees it after both sides alleged they were spied on by the other over a Bush-era interrogation program, a source familiar with the discussion told Reuters on Wednesday. The involvement of the White House's most senior lawyer indicates President Barack Obama's interest in ending the increasingly bitter dispute between the Central Intelligence Agency and the Senate Intelligence Committee. White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler has attempted to "de-escalate" the tension, the source said. The fight burst into the open on Monday when the committee chair Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said the CIA had possibly broken the law by spying on Congress. Full Story | Top |
| Three more killed in Venezuela unrest, students battle troops Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 05:42 PM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore CARACAS (Reuters) - Protesters battled soldiers in the streets of Caracas again on Wednesday as three more fatal shootings raised to 25 the death toll from a month of demonstrations against Venezuela's socialist government. Thousands of supporters and foes of President Nicolas Maduro took to the capital's streets for rival rallies marking a month since the first bloodshed in the recent unrest around the South American OPEC nation. Violence began when National Guard troops blocked opposition marchers from leaving Plaza Venezuela to head to the state ombudsman's office. Students threw stones and petrol bombs while security forces fired teargas and turned water cannon on them. Full Story | Top |
| GOP takes aim at Obamacare to fund Medicare Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 05:33 PM PDT  By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Republicans said on Wednesday that they are pushing a plan to delay for five years the penalties for failing to buy health insurance under Obamacare, and to use the savings to spare doctors from a steep cut in Medicare payments. Delaying until 2019 the financial penalty for not signing up for health insurance would slow down Obamacare signups and save the government billions of dollars that would otherwise be paid out in taxpayer subsidies to enrollees, the Republicans say, citing Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates. Democrats derided the idea as a "poison pill." They complained that House Republicans have tried dozens of times to change or repeal Obamacare and now proposed another change to a bipartisan deal making a long-sought repair to the formula used to determine Medicare payments to physicians. Full Story | Top |
| Libyan PM flees country after tanker escapes rebel-held port Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 03:47 PM PDT  By Ulf Laessing TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Former Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan sought refuge in Europe on Wednesday after parliament voted him out for failing to stop rebels independently exporting oil in a challenge to Libya's fragile unity. According to varying accounts by government officials, the navy or air force then fired on the vessel, although it was not clear if this happened in Libyan or international waters. He said Libya had asked Egypt and other countries to help stop the ship. The debacle underlines the impotence of the authorities in Tripoli, whose fledgling army and police force are no match for the militias and other armed groups who remain a law unto themselves three years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Full Story | Top |
| Missing jet may have strayed to west, Malaysia military says Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 04:18 PM PDT By Eveline Danubrata and Nguyen Phuong Linh KUALA LUMPUR/PHU QUOC, Vietnam (Reuters) - Malaysia's military has traced what could have been the jetliner missing for almost five days to an area south of the Thai holiday island of Phuket, hundreds of miles to the west of its last known position, the country's air force chief said on Wednesday. His statement followed a series of conflicting accounts of the flight path of the Boeing 777-200ER with 239 people on board, which left authorities uncertain even which ocean to search in for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The last definitive sighting of the aircraft on civilian radar screens came shortly before 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, as it flew northeast across the mouth of the Gulf of Thailand bound for Beijing. In the latest potential lead, a Chinese government agency website on Wednesday said a Chinese satellite had photographed three "suspicious floating objects" on Sunday in waters northeast of Kuala Lumpur and south of Vietnam. Full Story | Top |
| Italy presents sweeping tax cuts, plans to raise deficit goal Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 02:01 PM PDT  By Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Wednesday presented a sweeping package of tax cuts, saying they could help economic recovery in the euro zone's third largest economy without breaking EU budget deficit limits. Renzi, in his first full news conference since taking office last month, said income tax would be reduced by a total of 10 billion euros ($14 billion) annually for 10 million low and middle income workers from May 1. The cuts will be financed by reductions in central government spending, extra borrowing and by resources freed up thanks to the recent fall in Italy's borrowing costs, he said. "This is not what Italy needs," he said. Full Story | Top |
| NYC buildings explosion kills three, others missing Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 04:20 PM PDT By Chris Francescani and Edith Honan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two New York City buildings collapsed on Wednesday in an explosion believed to be caused by a gas leak, killing three people, injuring at least 36, and setting off a search for more victims feared trapped in the rubble, officials said. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who rushed to the scene in East Harlem, where a cascade of twisted and burnt metal blocked the sidewalk and covered parked cars, said preliminary information showed the explosion was caused by a gas leak. Edward Foppiano, Con Ed's vice president for gas operations, said that while the utility could not say for certain what caused the explosion, it was treating the incident as a gas leak issue. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the "gas explosion and subsequent fire." Metro-North Railroad, which had shut down train traffic moving through Manhattan while it cleared debris from the tracks announced late afternoon it had restored all commuter train traffic passing through the area. Full Story | Top |
| EU moves toward sanctions on Russians, Obama meets Ukraine PM Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 03:38 PM PDT By Martin Santa and Aleksandar Vasovic BRUSSELS/SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) - The EU agreed on a framework on Wednesday for its first sanctions on Russia since the Cold War, a stronger response to the Ukraine crisis than many expected and a mark of solidarity with Washington in the drive to make Moscow pay for seizing Crimea. U.S. President Barack Obama warned Russia it faced costs from the West unless it changed course in Ukraine, and pledged to "stand with Ukraine" as he met with the country's new prime minister in Washington. Full Story | Top |
| Three more die in Venezuela unrest, students battle troops Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 03:44 PM PDT By Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore CARACAS (Reuters) - Protesters battled soldiers in the streets of Caracas again on Wednesday as three more fatal shootings raised to 25 the death toll from a month of demonstrations against Venezuela's socialist government. Thousands of supporters and foes of President Nicolas Maduro took to the capital's streets for rival rallies marking a month since the first bloodshed in the recent unrest around the South American OPEC nation. Trouble began when National Guard troops blocked opposition marchers from leaving Plaza Venezuela to head to the state ombudsman's office. Students threw stones and petrol bombs while security forces fired tear gas and turned water cannons on them. Full Story | Top |
| 'Candy Crush' maker sees up to $7.6 billion IPO valuation Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 03:56 PM PDT  King Digital Entertainment Plc, maker of hit mobile phone game "Candy Crush Saga", expects to be worth up to $7.6 billion when it goes public this month in the United States, amid concerns about its over reliance on the game. King will hope to benefit from its focus on the estimated $17 billion market for mobile game apps and avoid the fate of rivals such as Zynga Inc, which has struggled to make its games as popular on phones as they are online. "Candy Crush," which involves moving candies to make a line of three in the same color, was the most downloaded free app and top revenue-grossing app in 2013. The game accounts for nearly three-quarters of King's revenue. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. appeals to Russia, U.S. to salvage Syria peace talks Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 10:39 AM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to Russia and the United States on Wednesday to help revive stalled peace talks aimed at ending Syria's three-year-old civil war, saying it was time to put an end to the bloodshed that has torn Syria apart. "Syria is now the biggest humanitarian and peace and security crisis facing the world, with violence reaching unthinkable levels," Ban's press office said in a statement issued on the third anniversary of the Syrian uprising. "Syria's neighbors are bearing the increasingly unbearable humanitarian, security, political and socio-economic effects of this conflict," the statement said. With the Syrian conflict now entering a fourth year this week and more people fleeing the war, the United Nations has warned that Syrians are about to replace Afghans as the world's largest refugee population. Full Story | Top |
| Tokyo lawsuit raised red flags on Mt. Gox funding, compliance Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 08:30 AM PDT  Two months before Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy it was sued by a customer seeking the return of funds in a case that highlights some of the red flags raised in the run-up to the collapse of what was once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange. New York resident Marko Simovic filed a civil action at the Tokyo District Court on December 24, seeking to recover $105,000 he had on deposit at Mt. Gox and about $14,000 in interest, court filings show. Simovic, who described himself as a software developer who previously managed the bitcoin operations for a hedge fund, said Mt. Gox dodged repeated requests to withdraw funds from his account, which as of July 1 was credited with $935,000 in cash. Simovic could not be reached for comment. Full Story | Top |
| Pistorius smashed toilet door with bat, expert says Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 08:24 AM PDT  By John Mkhize PRETORIA (Reuters) - Double amputee Oscar Pistorius was standing on his stumps when he smashed down a locked toilet door to reach his shot girlfriend, a South African police forensic expert said on Wednesday, countering the Paralympic star's assertion he was wearing his prosthetic legs at the time. Wielding the cricket bat in his hands, police colonel Johannes Vermeulen knelt down before swinging it at the wooden door in a court reconstruction to show the angle of the marks and to suggest they could only have been made by someone much shorter than him. The 27-year-old track star is charged with the murder of model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp, whom he shot through the locked toilet door on Valentine's Day last year. Vermeulen disagreed. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: EU approves framework for asset freezes, travel bans on Russia Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 07:23 AM PDT  By Martin Santa and Luke Baker BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union member states have agreed the wording of sanctions on Russia, including travel restrictions and asset freezes against those responsible for violating the sovereignty of Ukraine, according to a draft document reviewed by Reuters. The seven-page document describes in detail the restrictive measures to be taken against Moscow if it does not reverse course in Crimea and start to engage with international mediators on efforts to resolve the crisis. If approved by EU foreign ministers at a meeting on Monday, they would be the first sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia since the end of the Cold War, marking a severe deterioration in East-West relations. The measures are being coordinated with the United States, Switzerland, Turkey, Japan and Canada, an effort to ensure the sanctions net is as tight and effective as possible. Full Story | Top |
| Gun and grenade feud kills 14, mostly women and children, in Pakistan's Karachi Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 08:31 AM PDT  By Syed Raza Hassan ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Rival gangs opened fire and lobbed grenades in a notoriously violent district of Pakistan's financial hub, Karachi, on Wednesday, killing 14 people, including eight women and three children, police said. Karachi, a city and port of more than 18 million people, is home to many militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban. More than two dozen people were wounded in the violence which erupted in Lyari, one of South Asia's most dangerous neighborhoods, where rival gangs have been fighting for years for control. "In reaction, gangsters came to a market on Wednesday morning in Lyari and opened indiscriminate fire, killing women and children along with the men," senior police officer Abdul Khalique Shaikh told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Assad visits displaced Syrians outside Damascus: TV Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 12:53 PM PDT  President Bashar al-Assad visited displaced Syrians in the town of Adra on Wednesday, state media said, in a rare public appearance outside the heart of Damascus. State television said Assad inspected a shelter for people displaced by fighting in Adra, which lies about 12 miles northeast of central Damascus and was partly captured by rebels three months ago. Footage showed Assad in a dark jacket and white shirt touring shelters for displaced people, shaking hands, kissing cheeks and talking with groups of men, women and children. We are concerned for every one of you, and for every displaced person everywhere in Syria," he said. Full Story | Top |
| Front companies, embassies mask North Korean weapons trade: U.N. Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 01:47 AM PDT  By James Pearson SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has developed sophisticated ways to circumvent United Nations sanctions, including the suspected use of its embassies to facilitate an illegal trade in weapons, a United Nations report issued on Tuesday said. It said North Korea was also making use of more complicated financial countermeasures and techniques "pioneered by drug-trafficking organizations" that made tracking the isolated state's purchase of prohibited goods more difficult. The report, compiled by a panel of eight U.N. experts, is part of an annual accounting of North Korea's compliance with layers of U.N. sanctions imposed in response to Pyongyang's banned nuclear weapons and missile programs. "From the incidents analyzed in the period under review, the panel has found that (North Korea) makes increasing use of multiple and tiered circumvention techniques," a summary of the 127-page report said. Full Story | Top |
| From loyal aides and 'inner voice', Putin hears no Crimea dissent Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 01:18 AM PDT  By Elizabeth Piper MOSCOW (Reuters) - Surrounded by faithful aides, President Vladimir Putin hears no opposition to his plans in Crimea, allowing him to drive Russia's bid to reclaim Ukraine's southern region guided by little more than his "inner voice". That the seizure of Crimea, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, could tip a faltering economy into recession, spark visa bans and asset freezes on top officials and isolate Russia in ways not seen since Soviet times have not been considerations. For the time being, Putin can rely on a system of control he has honed and cultivated since he first came to power 14 years ago. But the Crimea move has led to mutterings of discontent, mostly among the financial and economic ministries, who were cut out of the meeting when it was decided to act over a region Putin felt might be lost forever if Kiev's new leaders were successful in taking Ukraine into the European Union. Full Story | Top |
| Once-genteel Caracas plaza is ground zero for protests Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 10:03 PM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - An elegant 1940s square in an affluent area of the Venezuelan capital has become a charred battleground at the heart of violent protests against President Nicolas Maduro's government. A couple of months back, Plaza Altamira was hosting book fairs, food festivals and open-air concerts around its landmark obelisk. Children played, and lovers sat round a fountain in one of Caracas' most pleasant open-air spaces. Now though, the protesters have made the square their base of operations, with a militant hard core battling security forces most evenings. Full Story | Top |
| Facebook's San Francisco-area HQ secured after threat made: police Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 03:18 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Police searched and secured the headquarters of social media giant Facebook Inc on Tuesday evening after receiving a threat against the company, which San Francisco-area authorities said turned out to be "totally not credible". Facebook personnel held employees at the campus until officers were on scene, Menlo Park Police Department spokesman Dave Bertini said. Police officers allowed Facebook staff to leave at about 8:30 p.m. (0330 GMT). "I am not even sure that it was specifically to the Menlo Park campus of Facebook." Facebook declined to comment on the incident. Full Story | Top |
| Saudi listing of Brotherhood as terrorist group complicates Gulf ties Wednesday, Mar 12, 2014 02:17 AM PDT  By Yara Bayoumy and Sylvia Westall DUBAI/KUWAIT (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's fierce campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood, already on the run in its Egyptian birthplace, has divided a Gulf Arab bloc, causing discomfort in some member states where the Islamist group is embedded in daily politics. Feuding with Qatar over Islam's place in a turbulent Arab world, Riyadh recalled its ambassador from Doha last week and branded the Brotherhood, a Qatari ally, a terrorist group. Saudi Arabia has swung firmly behind the Egyptian military, which deposed President Mohamed Mursi last year after mass protests against the Brotherhood leader. Riyadh has since pumped billions of dollars into Egypt's creaking economy. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. refugee chief warns world powers not to forget Syria conflict Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 10:34 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the United Nation's refugee agency said on Tuesday it must be ready in case Ukraine's crisis causes refugees to flee Crimea, but his biggest worry is that "a total disaster" could occur if the international community diverts its attention away from Syria's conflict. Antonio Guterres, the head of the U.N.'s High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), said in an interview that little progress was being made in efforts by the United States and Russia, now at loggerheads over Ukraine, to bring Syria's warring sides together after the collapse of talks in Geneva last month. "In the moment in which we need the most relevant countries in the world to be able to come together to narrow their differences and to try to find a way to move into peace for Syria, this tension around Ukraine will obviously not help," Guterres told Reuters while visiting Washington to discuss Syria's refugee crisis. Full Story | Top |
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