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| Moscow wins overwhelming Crimea vote, West readies sanctions Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 07:04 PM PDT  By Mike Collett-White and Alastair Macdonald SIMFEROPOL/KIEV (Reuters) - Crimea's Moscow-backed leaders declared a 96-percent vote in favour 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. 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 |
| 'Good night': Haunting final contact from missing Malaysian jet Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 05:33 PM PDT  By Anshuman Daga, Niluksi Koswanage and Tim Hepher KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The last words from the cockpit of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 - "all right, good night" - were uttered after someone on board had already begun disabling one of the plane's automatic tracking systems, a senior Malaysian official said. Both the timing and informal nature of the phrase, spoken to air traffic controllers as the plane with 239 people aboard was leaving Malaysian-run airspace on a March 8 flight to Beijing, could further heighten suspicions of hijacking or sabotage. The sign-off came after one of the plane's data communication systems, which would have enabled it to be tracked beyond radar coverage, had been deliberately switched off, Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said on Sunday. The pilot's informal hand-off went against standard radio procedures, which would have called for him to read back instructions for contacting the next control center and include the aircraft's call sign, said Hugh Dibley, a former British Airways pilot and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Full Story | Top |
| Defense at bin Laden son-in-law trial cites alleged 9/11 mastermind Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 08:52 PM PDT  By Bernard Vaughan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden's son-in-law Suleiman Abu Ghaith, on trial in New York, had no role in al Qaeda military operations, said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, according to court documents filed late on Sunday. Abu Ghaith's lawyers submitted Mohammed's responses to their written questions along with a request to allow his testimony at the nearly two-week-old jury trial at which Abu Ghaith is charged with conspiring to kill Americans. The U.S. government contends that Abu Ghaith, 48, became a leader of al Qaeda militants after the September 11, 2001, attacks as a spokesman and recruiter of fighters, and that he knew of planned attacks against the United States. Abu Ghaith's lawyers argue there is no evidence that he knew of future attacks. Full Story | Top |
| Markets on edge as Crimea votes to quit Ukraine Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 12:47 PM PDT  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock investors will start the week on edge as markets worldwide react to the referendum that appears to back Russia's claim to Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, even if the vote result is not internationally recognized. U.S. stocks closed on Friday with their largest weekly drop in the last seven weeks as the worst confrontation between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War continues to unfold. Russian state media quoted an exit poll as saying 93 percent of voters supported union with Russia. The White House rejected the referendum and called Russia's actions "dangerous and destabilizing." "There's an open question as to who suffers most," said Sam Wardwell, investment strategist at Pioneer Investments in Boston, about the planned economic sanctions. Full Story | Top |
| China may make the weather despite Fed and Ukraine Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 12:03 PM PDT  By Mike Peacock LONDON (Reuters) - A U.S. Federal Reserve meeting and Western sanctions on Russia will give financial markets plenty of pause for thought in the week to come but it could be China that sets the economic weather. Politically this story dwarfs all others in the world but economically, some perspective is required. Full Story | Top |
| Twitter CEO Costolo to make first China visit Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 07:36 PM 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 |
| Crews focus on gas lines in New York building explosion Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 01:07 PM PDT  By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - Emergency crews clearing debris from the site of two New York City apartment buildings leveled in a gas explosion four days ago said they expected to reach an underground area on Sunday where natural gas lines could reveal what caused the deadly blast. Firefighters and other emergency workers have been working around the clock to clear debris from the site, the New York City Fire Department said on Sunday. Investigators want to reach the front of the basements where gas pipes and meters are located to determine whether a natural gas leak led to the explosion and, if so, what caused the breach. "We'll have it all cleared so we can get to the basement to start our investigation," Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano said on Saturday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Army general in sex crimes case to plead to lesser charges Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 02:27 PM PDT  By Colleen Jenkins WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) - The United States has agreed to drop charges of sexual assault brought against an Army general in exchange for him pleading guilty to lesser charges including "mistreatment" of his accuser, a junior officer, the general's lawyer said on Sunday. Under the terms of an agreement with military prosecutors, the government will drop sex assault charges against Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair, as well as two other charges that would have forced him to register as a sex offender, lead defense attorney Richard Scheff said in an email. Sinclair, 51, had been charged with forcible sodomy based on allegations by a female U.S. Army captain that could have sent the 27-year Army veteran to prison for life. Full Story | Top |
| North Korea fires 25 short-range and obsolete rockets: South Korea Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 07:22 PM PDT North Korea fired 10 short-range missiles into the sea off the east of the Korean peninsula on Sunday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing unidentified government officials in South Korea. North Korea is not banned from short-range missile launches under U.N. sanctions and frequently tests its arsenal. The U.S. State Department said it was closely monitoring the situation after the reports of the missile firing. "We once again call on North Korea to refrain from provocative actions that aggravate tensions," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a brief statement. Full Story | Top |
| Syrian forces fully control rebel stronghold near Lebanon Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 03:41 PM PDT  By Mariam Karouny and Stephen Kalin BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces backed by Hezbollah militants took full control of the town of Yabroud on Sunday after driving out rebels, helping President Bashar al-Assad secure the land route connecting the capital Damascus with Aleppo and the Mediterranean coast. The fall of Yabroud, the last rebel bastion near the Lebanese border, could sever a vital insurgent supply line from Lebanon and consolidate government control over a swathe of territory from Damascus to the central city of Homs. A suicide bomber killed three people in a strike on a Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley on Sunday. Radical Sunni groups have pledged to attack the Shi'ite Muslim militant group in Lebanon until it withdraws from Syria. Full Story | Top |
| Long road to hold Kim, North Korea liable for crimes Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 06:53 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Western and Asian powers will begin pressing this week for North Korea to be held liable for crimes against humanity documented in a United Nations report, but concede that their chances of influencing the isolated country are slim. North Korean security chiefs and possibly even Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un should face international justice for ordering systematic torture, starvation and killings comparable with Nazi-era atrocities, U.N. investigators said last month. They demanded closure of political prison camps believed to hold up to 120,000 people and action by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Michael Kirby, a former Australian judge who led the independent inquiry, will officially present the report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday. Full Story | Top |
| Berkshire opposes dividend proposal; Buffett, Gates get pay rises Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 09:44 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has urged shareholders to vote against a proposal that it consider spending some of its $48.2 billion of cash on a "meaningful" dividend. According to a Berkshire proxy filing on Friday, David Witt, a Cincinnati resident who owns nearly $8,600 of Berkshire stock, will propose the payout at the company's May 3 annual meeting. Berkshire has not paid a cash dividend since 1967. "Whereas the corporation has more money than it needs and since the owners unlike Warren are not multi-billionaires, the board shall consider paying a meaningful annual dividend on the shares," Witt's proposal said, referring as Buffett does to shareholders as owners. Full Story | Top |
| North Korea fires 10 short-range missiles: Yonhap Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 03:22 PM PDT North Korea fired 10 short-range missiles into the sea off the east of the Korean peninsula on Sunday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing unidentified government officials in South Korea. Yonhap said the missiles flew for 70 km (45 miles) before splashing into the sea. North Korea is not banned from short-range missile launches under U.N. sanctions and frequently tests its arsenal. The U.S. State Department said it was closely monitoring the situation after the reports of the missile firing. Full Story | Top |
| Crimeans vote over 90 percent to quit Ukraine for Russia Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 02:25 PM PDT  By Mike Collett-White and Ronald Popeski SIMFEROPOL/KIEV (Reuters) - Russian state media said Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to break with Ukraine and join Russia on Sunday, as Kiev accused Moscow of pouring forces into the peninsula and warned separatist leaders "the ground will burn under their feet". With over half the votes counted, 95.5 percent had chosen the option of annexation by Moscow, the head of the referendum commission, Mikhail Malyshev, said two hours after polls closed. Western powers and leaders in Kiev denounced it as a sham. Underlining how Moscow's military takeover of the peninsula two weeks ago has driven Russia and the West into a crisis with echoes of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama spoke by telephone and, according to the Kremlin, the Russian and U.S. presidents agreed on a need to cooperate to stabilize Ukraine. Full Story | Top |
| Police hunt for motive as search for Malaysian jet spans hemispheres Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 10:25 AM PDT By Anshuman Daga, Niluksi Koswanage and Tim Hepher KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian investigators are trawling through the backgrounds of the pilots, crew and ground staff who worked on a missing jetliner for clues as to why someone on board flew it perhaps thousands of miles off course, the country's police chief said. Background checks of passengers on Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 have drawn a blank, but not every country whose nationals were on board has responded to requests for information, police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told a news conference on Sunday. No trace of the Boeing 777-200ER has been found since it vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board, but investigators believe it was diverted by someone who knew how to switch off its communications and tracking systems. Malaysia briefed envoys from nearly two dozen nations and appealed for international help in the search for the plane along two arcs stretching from the shores of Caspian Sea to the far south of the Indian Ocean. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. urges North Korea to refrain from provocative actions Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 02:20 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Sunday called on North Korea to refrain from provocative actions following reports Pyongyang had fired 10 short-range missiles into the sea off the east of the Korean peninsula. "We are closely monitoring the situation on the Korean Peninsula," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a brief statement. "We once again call on North Korea to refrain from provocative actions that aggravate tensions." (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Peter Cooney) Full Story | Top |
| Hindu temple set on fire in Pakistan over blasphemy Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 10:17 AM PDT  By Syed Raza Hassan ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Hundreds of angry Pakistanis attacked a Hindu temple and set it on fire in southern Pakistan overnight following a rumor that a member of the Hindu community had desecrated the Koran, police and community leaders said on Sunday. The incident took place just before midnight on Saturday after locals in Larkana district alleged that Sangeet Kumar, 42, had torn out pages of Islam's holy book and tossed them down on the street from the roof of his home. All the statues have been destroyed by the attackers," Kalpana Devi, chairperson of the local Hindu committee, told Reuters. They also set fire to the temple before ransacking it." Sindh province, where the attack took place, is home to most of Pakistan's small Hindu community which numbers about two million among a population of about 180 million. Full Story | Top |
| China plans investment and reform to ease urbanization drive Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 10:07 AM PDT  China is planning a major expansion of its transport networks and urban infrastructure as it seeks to increase migration from rural to urban areas, lifting incomes and demand to drive continued economic growth. The 2014-20 urbanization plan released on Sunday aims to boost domestic consumption by increasing the proportion of urban residents among China's population of almost 1.4 billion to 60 percent by 2020, up from 53.7 percent now. Among the biggest obstacles to the planned relocation of several hundred million rural residents is the huge infrastructure development needed to accommodate the new wave of city dwellers as well as reform of the country's "hukou" registration system. China's leaders, however, will make it easier for rural migrants to obtain residency status in smaller cities, with the intention of helping to unlock the nation's huge potential domestic demand. Full Story | Top |
| Owners of recalled GM cars feel angry, vindicated Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 04:03 AM PDT  Saturn Ion owner Nancy Bowman of Washington, Michigan, said she is outraged that GM allowed her to drive a "death trap." She said her car had so many ignition problems she was afraid to resell it to an innocent buyer. "Five times the car died right out from under me after hitting a bump in the road," she wrote in a 2013 posting on a complaint website, arfc.org, that says it sends information to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Couldn't find the problem, so they acted like I was an idiot." GM recalled 1.6 million cars last month because a faulty ignition switch could turn off a car's engine, disable its airbags and make steering difficult. Documents released by GM this week revealed that the automaker knew about the ignition problem as early as 2001. Full Story | Top |
| Bargain retail lifts U.S. shopping centers as big names stumble Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 07:09 AM PDT  By Tim McLaughlin BOSTON (Reuters) - Bargain store chains are flooding into North American malls and shopping centers like never before, upstaging old mainstays like J.C. Penney and Sears that are reeling from the one-two punch of an ailing economy and competition from online stores. "We're seeing a seismic shift in retail shopping centers," said Garrick Brown, director of research at real estate firm Cassidy Turley. Commercial real estate rents are rising, and many retailers, especially bargain chains, are in better shape than they have been since the Great Recession in 2008, analysts say. Shopping center vacancy rates in 60 major U.S. markets fell to 8.6 percent at the end of last year from 9.5 percent a year earlier, reflecting 38 million square feet of occupancy growth, according to Cassidy Turley research. Full Story | Top |
| Iran pursuing banned items for nuclear, missile work: U.S. official Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 08:47 AM PDT  By William Maclean DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has pursued a longstanding effort to buy banned components for its nuclear and missile programs in recent months, a U.S. official said on Sunday, a period when it struck an interim deal with major powers to limit its disputed atomic activity. Vann Van Diepen, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation, said Iran was still "very actively" creating front companies and engaging in other activity to conceal procurements. But such trade would breach a 2006 U.N. embargo banning the provision by any nation to Iran of materials related to its nuclear and missile development work. Western experts say such low-profile procurement efforts by Iran date back many years, perhaps decades in the case of its nuclear activity. Full Story | Top |
| Swords of Damocles threaten French comeback for Sarkozy Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 07:35 AM PDT  They're picking up again," joked President Francois Hollande to reporters last week in a pun on the French word for both business activities and political scandals. For the legacy of a turbulent past few weeks of intrigue may be to harm any hopes ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy has of avenging his 2012 defeat by Hollande in the next presidential election. In quick succession, Sarkozy and France's conservative opposition have been hit by allegations of improper use of party funds, influence-peddling and leaked tapes in which the former leader is heard trashing his then ministers. It will also do little to help mainstream parties, left or right, in town hall elections this month when the anti-immigrant National Front - France's third political force - expects gains. Full Story | Top |
| Former Afghan defense minister drops out of presidential race Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 06:40 AM PDT  By Mirwais Harooni and Katharine Houreld KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's former defense minister became on Sunday the second candidate to drop out of a presidential election race, with his departure possibly helping consolidate support for a candidate favored by outgoing President Hamid Karzai. Rahim Wardak was not considered a front runner in the April 5 election and he did not throw his support behind any other candidate. "We can confirm that Rahim Wardak resigned from elections as a presidential candidate and will not run," his spokesman, Sayed Baqer Kazimi, told Reuters. The election is seen as a crucial step in building stability in Afghanistan in the same year that most foreign troops are due to leave after 13 years of inconclusive war against a stubborn Taliban insurgency. Full Story | Top |
| NATO websites hit in cyber attack linked to Crimea tension Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 07:28 AM PDT  By Adrian Croft and Peter Apps BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - Hackers brought down several public NATO websites, the alliance said on Sunday, in what appeared to be the latest escalation in cyberspace over growing tensions over Crimea. The Western military alliance's spokeswoman, Oana Lungescu, said on social networking site Twitter that cyber attacks, which began on Saturday evening, continued on Sunday, although most services had now been restored. At no time was there any risk to our classified networks," another NATO official said. NATO's main public website (www.nato.int), which carried a statement by Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen saying that Sunday's referendum on Crimea's status would violate international law and lack legitimacy, worked intermittently. Full Story | Top |
| Special Report: Egyptian militants outwit army in Sinai battlefield Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 03:03 AM PDT  AL-LAFITAAT, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt's army says it is crushing Islamist militants in the Sinai Peninsula, but in the region's villages and towns a victory for the state feels a long way off. Almost every night, Apache helicopters fire rockets at suspected Islamist militant hideouts in the houses and farms of the largely lawless peninsula, a 61,000 sq km (24,000 sq mile) area wedged between the Suez Canal to the west and Israel and Gaza to the east. Full Story | Top |
| Serbia's center-right to tighten grip on power in vote, promises reform Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 05:40 AM PDT  By Ivana Sekularac and Matt Robinson BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's center-right Progressive Party attempted to cement its grip on power for the next four years in a snap election on Sunday, promising an economic overhaul of the ex-Yugoslav republic as it embarks on talks to join the European Union. Opinion polls suggest the party may win more than 40 percent of the vote, a haul unprecedented in the almost 14 years since Serbia came in from the cold with the ouster of strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Party leader Aleksandar Vucic, 44, a former ultra-nationalist and once feared Milosevic-era minister who converted to the pro-EU cause in 2008, is likely to become prime minister. The Progressive Party (SNS) forced the snap election after just 18 months in coalition government, saying it needed a stronger mandate to overhaul Serbia's shaky finances. Full Story | Top |
| China police to increase armed patrols in crime crackdown Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 02:54 AM PDT  Chinese police will increase armed patrols, especially in densely populated areas like urban centers and transport hubs, in a drive to crack down on violent crime, state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday. China's stability obsessed ruling Communist Party, always jittery about any threats to its rule, has been alarmed by a series of incidents in recent months, including a knife attack at a train station in the city of Kunming blamed on militants from the far western region of Xinjiang this month. "The ministry (of public security) said that it will carry out armed patrols and take timely measures to handle violent criminals," Xinhua said. "The ministry urged public security organs at all levels to increase work efficiency and further improve the emergency command mechanism in order to fight crime," it added. Full Story | Top |
| Democrats seek ways to limit Obamacare fallout after Florida defeat Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 04:07 AM PDT  By Steve Holland and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and his Democrats face the challenge of limiting fallout from Obamacare and drumming up voter enthusiasm in the November congressional elections, problem areas exposed by the loss of a Florida candidate who had led in the polls. The defeat of Democrat Alex Sink by Republican David Jolly in a special election last Tuesday has raised anxiety levels for Democrats as they struggle to hold on to control of the Senate in November and pick up seats in the Republican-held House of Representatives. The Florida race reflected turnout concerns, as Sink had been leading in the polls in the days ahead of the election. "We need to think about how to energize our base." A focus simply on turnout, however, could distract party leaders from recognizing the dangers presented by the president's healthcare law and, with his approval rating mired in the mid-40s, his relative unpopularity. Full Story | Top |
| NATO websites hit in cyber attack linked to Crimea tension Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 05:13 AM PDT  By Adrian Croft and Peter Apps BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - Hackers brought down several public NATO websites, the alliance said on Sunday, in what appeared to be the latest escalation in cyberspace over growing tensions over Crimea. The Western military alliance's spokeswoman, Oana Lungescu, said on social networking site Twitter that cyber attacks, which began on Saturday evening, continued on Sunday, although most services had now been restored. At no time was there any risk to our classified networks," another NATO official said. NATO's main public website (www.nato.int), which carried a statement by Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen saying that Sunday's referendum on Crimea's status would violate international law and lack legitimacy, worked intermittently. Full Story | Top |
| Former U.S. Representative Bo Callaway of Georgia dies Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 05:02 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Howard "Bo" Callaway, who served as secretary of the Army after becoming the first Republican from Georgia elected to the U.S. House of Representatives since the Civil War, died on Saturday at age 86. He died of renewed complications from a brain hemorrhage he suffered about two years ago, said Rachel Crumbley, spokeswoman for Callaway Gardens, a resort complex and public garden that Callaway cofounded in Pine Mountain, Georgia. "His spirit will live on in his love of and vision for Callaway Gardens," his son, Edward Callaway, said in the statement. A Georgia native and Korean War veteran, Callaway was elected to the House of Representatives in 1964 and served one term. Full Story | Top |
| Indian Ocean poses daunting challenge in search for missing Malaysia plane Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 04:54 AM PDT  By Jane Wardell SYDNEY (Reuters) - The southern Indian Ocean, where investigators suspect missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 may have come down, is one place where a commercial airliner can crash without a ship spotting it, a radar plotting it or even a satellite picking it up. Even Australia, which has island territories in the Indian Ocean and sends rescue planes to pluck stricken yachtsmen from the cold, mountainous seas in the south from time to time, has no radar coverage much beyond its Indian Ocean coast. "In most of Western Australia and almost all of the Indian Ocean, there is almost no radar coverage," an Australian civil aviation authority source said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak on the record. "If anything is more than 100 kilometers offshore, you don't see it." The Indian Ocean, the world's third largest, has an average depth of more than 12,000 feet, or two miles. Full Story | Top |
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