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| Satellite data shows missing Malaysia plane may have flown thousands of miles: source Friday, Mar 14, 2014 08:32 PM PDT By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Analysis of electronic pulses picked up from a missing Malaysian airliner shows it could have run out of fuel and crashed into the Indian Ocean after it flew hundreds of miles off course, a source familiar with official U.S. assessments said on Friday. The source, who is familiar with data the U.S. government is receiving from the investigation into the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane, said the other, less likely possibility was that it flew on toward India. Two sources familiar with the probe earlier said Malaysian military radar data showed a plane that investigators suspect was Flight MH370 following a commonly used navigational route toward the Middle East and Europe when it was last spotted by radar early on March 8, northwest of Malaysia. The electronic pulses were believed to have been transmitted for several hours after the plane flew out of radar range, said the source familiar with the data. Full Story | Top |
| Lost Malaysian airliner may have run out of fuel over Indian Ocean: source Friday, Mar 14, 2014 07:34 PM PDT  By Niluksi Koswanage and Mark Hosenball KUALA LUMPUR/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Faint electronic signals sent to satellites from a missing Malaysian jetliner show it may have been flown thousands of miles off course before running out of fuel over the Indian Ocean, a source familiar with official U.S. assessments said. Analysis in Malaysia and the United States of military radar tracking and pulses detected by satellites are starting to piece together an extraordinary picture of what may have happened to the plane after it lost contact with civilian air traffic. The fate of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, and the 239 passengers and crew aboard, has been shrouded in mystery since it vanished off Malaysia's east coast less than an hour into a March 8 scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A U.S. source familiar with the investigation said there was also discussion within the U.S. government that the plane's disappearance might have involved an act of piracy. Full Story | Top |
| El Salvador election runner-up appeals to top court for recount Friday, Mar 14, 2014 07:26 PM PDT  The runner-up in El Salvador's presidential election said he had requested the Supreme Court on Friday to order a recount of the weekend's tight contest. Norman Quijano, a former mayor of San Salvador and candidate of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena) party, finished fewer than 7,000 votes behind Salvador Sanchez Ceren of the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front. Quijano, 67, told reporters he filed a request for an injunction with the constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court. The electoral tribunal has said it could take until early next week to work through Quijano's legal challenge to the election and settle any remaining doubts. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. warns American travelers in Russia, and border region Friday, Mar 14, 2014 05:37 PM PDT The U.S. State Department warned American citizens on Friday of possible military clashes along the Russian-Ukrainian border and potential anti-American activities in Russia as Crimea prepares to vote Sunday on whether to join Russia. In a "travel alert," the State Department said it had no information of military conflict inside Russia as a result of regional tensions or of any threat specific to U.S. citizens. "However," it said, "all U.S. citizens located in or considering travel to the border region ... should be aware of the potential for escalation of tensions, military clashes (either accidental or intentional) or other violence." In the worst East-West confrontation since the Cold War, Moscow shipped more troops into Crimea on Friday and repeated its threat to invade other parts of Ukraine in response to violence the night before in Donetsk. EU diplomats will choose from a list of possible Russian targets for sanctions on Sunday, as pro-Moscow authorities who have taken power in Crimea hold a vote on whether to join Russia. Full Story | Top |
| As hope withers, Palestinian president heads to Washington Friday, Mar 14, 2014 05:31 PM PDT  By Crispian Balmer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - With pessimism growing by the day over the future of Middle East peace talks, U.S. President Barack Obama will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington on Monday to try to break the stalemate. The deadline for the negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, aimed at ending their entrenched conflict, expires next month and Washington is eager to persuade the two sides to prolong their discussions within a new framework. After eight months of initial talks, and at least 10 trips to the region, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sounded unusually gloomy during a Congressional hearing on March 12, indicating that little progress had been made so far. Obama's direct involvement is aimed at providing much needed additional impetus: he saw Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month, and is now meeting Abbas. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine accuses Russia of fomenting violence in east Friday, Mar 14, 2014 05:14 PM PDT By Lina Kushch DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - The new governor of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk on Friday said Russians were behind violent clashes between rival demonstrators in which one man was killed, and accused Moscow of distorting the truth in its account of what happened. Russia warned it could move in to protect compatriots - a similar justification as used in last week's military takeover of Crimea. And Ukraine's acting president raised the alarm over a Russian troop build-up on the eastern border that has fuelled fears in Kiev of a broader invasion by its former Soviet ruler. Serhiy Taruta, a steel tycoon and one of several oligarchs appointed to take control of possibly restive, Russian-speaking regions after last month's overthrow of Ukraine's Moscow-backed president, scoffed at the Russian Foreign Ministry's implication that Russians had been victims of Thursday night's violence. Full Story | Top |
| Investigators focus on foul play behind missing Malaysia plane: sources Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:48 PM PDT By Niluksi Koswanage and Siva Govindasamy KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - An investigation into a missing Malaysian jetliner, now into its second week, is focusing more on the possibility of foul play as evidence suggests it was deliberately flown hundreds of miles off course, sources familiar with the Malaysian probe said. Two sources told Reuters that military radar data showed an unidentified aircraft that investigators suspect was Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 following a commonly used navigational route toward the Middle East and Europe when it was last spotted early on March 8, northwest of Malaysia. That course - headed into the Andaman Sea and towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean - could only have been set deliberately, either by flying the Boeing 777-200ER jet manually or by programming the auto-pilot. A third source familiar with the investigation said inquiries were focusing more on the theory that someone with knowledge of navigational waypoints - used by airlines to track established commercial flight paths - had diverted the flight off its scheduled course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Full Story | Top |
| Syrian presidential election law excludes most opposition leaders Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:19 PM PDT  By Stephen Kalin BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's parliament has set residency rules for presidential candidates, state media said on Friday, a move that would bar many of President Bashar al-Assad's foes who live in exile as the uprising in the major Arab state enters its fourth year. Assad has not yet announced whether he will stand for a third term in defiance of rebels fighting to overthrow him and Western leaders who have demanded he go to help end Syria's civil war and make way for a democratic transition. U.N.-Arab League peace mediator Lakhdar Brahimi warned ON Thursday that the Syrian opposition will probably not be interested in pursuing any peace talks with the government if it goes ahead with an election highly likely to secure a new term for Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for 44 years. Full Story | Top |
| Suspected Uighurs rescued from Thai trafficking camp Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:13 PM PDT  By Andrew R.C. Marshall HAT YAI, Thailand (Reuters) - Police rescued about 200 people believed to be Muslim Uighurs from a human smuggling camp in southern Thailand, police sources said on Friday, in the latest crackdown on a burgeoning trafficking network in Southeast Asia. The latest trafficking victims, possibly from China's troubled far-western region of Xinjiang, brings the total number of people freed from human traffickers to well over 800 since Reuters exposed the whereabouts of the illegal camps in a December 5 investigation. The raid is further evidence that human smugglers in southern Thailand - already a notorious trafficking hub for Rohingya boat people from Myanmar - are exploiting well-oiled networks to transport other nationalities in large numbers, despite an ongoing crackdown by Thai police. "The human smugglers are expanding their product range," said Police Major General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, who has launched a series of raids on trafficking camps in southern Thailand, including the 200 rescued on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Biden to visit Ukraine's neighbor Poland, Lithuania next week: White House Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:12 PM PDT U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Poland, which borders Ukraine, and Lithuania next week to meet with leaders of the two countries to reassure them about defense commitments under NATO, the White House said on Friday. Biden will meet with the president and prime minister of Poland, and the presidents of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, the White House said in a statement. "During his meetings, the Vice President will consult on steps to support Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and affirm our collective defense commitments under the North Atlantic Treaty and our enduring support for all of our allies and partners in Europe," the White House said. Full Story | Top |
| Slovak PM Fico fights political newcomer for presidency Friday, Mar 14, 2014 04:10 PM PDT  By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - Slovaks vote on Saturday to pick a new president in an election that will either cement Prime Minister Robert Fico's power in the central European country or usher in an independent. A Fico victory would give his center-left Smer party full control of all the main power centers, even if the Slovak constitution does not grant the president himself a huge political role. Fico, 49, took Slovakia into the euro zone in 2009 and has kept the country of 5.5 million friendly to investors despite levying extra taxes on banks and utilities. This gives a fighting chance to Andrej Kiska, a businessman-turned-philanthropist whose chances to beat Fico have grown in the latest opinion polls. Full Story | Top |
| Peru former President Fujimori hospitalized after stroke Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:36 PM PDT Peru's jailed former president, Alberto Fujimori, was hospitalized and in stable condition on Friday after suffering a small stroke, doctors said. Fujimori, 75, was conscious and talking on Friday afternoon following a stroke in his jail cell in the morning, said Dr Juan Barreto, with the Clinica La Luz in Lima. "He is a little bit delicate." Fujimori started to have problems with blood flow to his brain four days ago, and a magnetic resonance imaging scan confirmed he had a stroke on Friday that impaired movement of his left arm, said Jose Luis Ore, the medical director of the clinic. "He won't be released today and probably not tomorrow." Fujimori, who has been imprisoned since 2007 on charges of human rights abuses and corruption committed during his 1990-2000 term, often coordinates with members of his political party from his jail cell and criticizes President Ollanta Humala via Twitter and Facebook. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. to seek extradition of Ukrainian industrialist Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:24 PM PDT  By David Ingram and Michael Shields WASHINGTON/VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.S. government will ask Austria to extradite Ukrainian industrialist Dmytro Firtash to face charges filed in a Chicago court arising from an investigation into international corruption, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday. One of Ukraine's most influential oligarchs, Firtash, 48, was arrested in Vienna on Wednesday. "Firtash's arrest is not related to recent events in Ukraine," they said in a reference to the political crisis between Ukraine and Russia. Full Story | Top |
| West prepares sanctions as Russia presses on with Crimea takeover Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:17 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn and Lina Kushch SEVASTOPOL/DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Dozens of Russians linked to Russia's gradual takeover of Crimea could face U.S. and EU travel bans and asset freezes on Monday, after six hours of crisis talks between Washington and Moscow ended with both sides still far apart. Moscow shipped more troops and armor into Crimea on Friday and repeated its threat to invade other parts of Ukraine in response to violence in Donetsk on Thursday night despite Western demands to pull back. EU diplomats will choose from a long list of 120-130 possible Russian targets for sanctions on Sunday, as pro-Moscow authorities who have taken power in Crimea hold a vote to join Russia in the worst East-West confrontation since the Cold War. Full Story | Top |
| French court sentences Rwandan ex-soldier for genocide role Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:05 PM PDT  A Paris court sentenced a former Rwandan soldier to 25 years in jail on Friday for his role in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, in France's first trial to punish those responsible for the three-month wave of violence. The court found Pascal Simbikangwa, 54, described by prosecutors as a former soldier who rose to become the No. 3 in Rwanda's intelligence services, guilty of genocide and complicity in crimes against humanity. Under French law, Rwandans suspected of involvement in the genocide can be tried in a French court. France was long considered a safe haven for those fleeing prosecution for their role in the massacre. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. prosecutors again indict Indian diplomat Khobragade Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:02 PM PDT  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - A grand jury in New York has returned a new indictment against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade for visa fraud, two days after a U.S. judge dismissed a similar indictment because she had diplomatic immunity. Khobragade's arrest in December and a subsequent strip search drew outrage in India, causing a major diplomatic rift between the United States and India. "Unfortunately, I can have no comment at this stage," Khobragade's lawyer, Daniel Arshack, said in an email. "The government of India will respond in due course." The new indictment effectively returns the case to where it was before Wednesday's dismissal. Full Story | Top |
| Satellites scour earth for clues as Malaysia jet mystery deepens Friday, Mar 14, 2014 03:02 PM PDT By Andrea Shalal, Paul Sandle and Brenda Goh WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - An unprecedented international effort is under way from space to track the missing Malaysia passenger jet as satellite operators, government agencies and rival nations sweep their gaze across two oceans in search of elusive debris or data. Six days after the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 went missing with 239 people on board, the search has widened to the Andaman Sea, northwest of the Malay Peninsula, with only one precious clue - an ephemeral 'ping' detected five or six times after the plane lost contact - picked up in orbit. "I haven't seen this sort of level of involvement of satellites in accident investigation before," said Matthew Greaves, head of the Safety and Accident Investigation Centre at Cranfield University in Bedford, England. "It is only going to get more important until they find some wreckage." Several governments are using imagery satellites - platforms that take high definition photos - while data from private sector communications satellites is also being examined. Full Story | Top |
| Sri Lanka arrests Tamil woman who pressed case for disappeared rebel son Friday, Mar 14, 2014 02:41 PM PDT By Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez COLOMBO (Reuters) - An ethnic Tamil woman who has become a prominent face in the effort to find out what happened to the tens of thousands who disappeared in the final stages of Sri Lanka's 26-year war has been arrested, the main Tamil party TNA said on Friday. Sri Lankan police said Balendran Jayakumari, a 50-year-old widow and mother of four, was arrested in Sri Lanka's former northern war zone of Kilinochchi on the charge of harboring a criminal who shot at a police officer to evade arrest. The Tamil National Alliance, which was the political proxy of the now-defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said she was being punished for repeatedly protesting over the fate of her son, an under-age rebel who disappeared after the Tigers surrendered to the government at the end of the war in May 2009. Those people may not come out to tell what happened to their beloved ones in the future," TNA lawmaker Eswarapatham Saravanabavan told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Dominican Republic homicide rate hits lowest level in 11 years Friday, Mar 14, 2014 02:40 PM PDT By Ezra Fieser SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - The homicide rate in the Dominican Republic plunged to an 11-year low in 2013 as the government used the military to back up the National Police, bucking the trend in the Caribbean where increased drug trafficking has brought more violence. That brought the homicide rate in the Caribbean country of 9.8 million to 20 murders per 100,000 residents, the lowest since 2002 when the rate was 14 per 100,000. The administration of Dominican President Danilo Medina tightened security last year by calling in the military to patrol alongside the National Police. "In each operation that we carry out, we're coordinating with different departments, including intelligence and counter-narcotics offices," said National Police Colonel Jacobo Moquete. Full Story | Top |
| Kerry and Lavrov fail to reach breakthrough on Ukraine Friday, Mar 14, 2014 02:21 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton and Dmitry Zhdannikov LONDON (Reuters) - The United States and Russia found no middle ground on the Ukraine crisis on Friday, with the Russians saying they would respect an independence referendum in Crimea and the Americans vowing to impose sanctions if they do. After six hours of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in London, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned of "an even greater response" if Russia, which shipped more troops and armor into Crimea on Friday, increased tensions further by deploying troops into eastern Ukraine. Full Story | Top |
| Reconstruction of Timbuktu tombs begins in Mali Friday, Mar 14, 2014 02:20 PM PDT  Malian masons on Friday began rebuilding mausoleums in the historic city of Timbuktu destroyed by Islamists during their occupation of the country's north, the United Nations said. The earthen tombs of saints, located in the UNESCO listed desert city, were destroyed in July 2012 by militants who considered the local Sufi version of Islam to be idolatrous. "The rehabilitation of Timbuktu's cultural heritage is critical for the Malian population, for the inhabitants of the city and for the entire world," said UNESCO head Irina Bokova. Located on an old Saharan trading route that saw salt from the Arab north exchanged for gold and slaves from black Africa to the south, Timbuktu blossomed in the 16th century as an Islamic seat of learning, home to priests, scribes and jurists. Full Story | Top |
| Canada PM to visit Ukraine on March 22 for talks with government Friday, Mar 14, 2014 02:01 PM PDT Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Friday he would visit Ukraine on March 22 to meet with the country's interim government and show support for Kiev during the Crimea crisis. Harper - who has been particularly critical of Russia's actions - will hold talks with Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, he said in a statement. Canada said on Thursday it would give C$220 million ($198 million) in aid to Ukraine to help promote sustainable economic growth and good governance. Canada's Conservative government has already imposed a travel ban on the people it blames for the crisis and frozen the assets of those close to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich. Full Story | Top |
| Draft U.N. resolution declares Crimea referendum invalid Friday, Mar 14, 2014 01:57 PM PDT (Reuters) - A draft U.N. Security Council resolution declares that Sunday's planned referendum on Crimea's status "can have no validity" and urges nations and international organizations not to recognize it, according to a copy obtained by Reuters. The draft resolution, drawn up by the United States, is due to be voted on Saturday, and is almost certain to be vetoed by Russia. Moscow, which has sent military forces to the Crimea, is backing the referendum, which would transfer control of the region from Ukraine to Russia. The brief resolution notes that the referendum was not backed by the Ukrainian government in Kiev. Full Story | Top |
| Ahead of St. Patrick's Day, Obama hails U.S.-Irish ties Friday, Mar 14, 2014 01:47 PM PDT  By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama met with Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny on Friday - and even sang along to an Irish folk song - three days ahead of St. Patrick's Day as the two leaders held the annual celebration of U.S.-Irish relations. It was all smiles in the White House Oval office as Obama welcomed Kenny and lauded the "incredible bond" between the two countries. "I think it's fair to say that there are very few countries around the world where the people-to-people ties are so strong," Obama said. The president praised Ireland's economic progress following the financial crisis and said the two leaders discussed the Ukraine crisis. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela warns airlines not to cut flights amid debt woes Friday, Mar 14, 2014 01:40 PM PDT By Deisy Buitrago CARACAS (Reuters) - President Nicolas Maduro on Friday warned airlines not to limit flights in and out of Venezuela, a day after reports a Colombian airline was reducing services to Caracas amid industry complaints of billions of dollars in unpaid debts. "Airlines have no excuse to reduce their flights to Venezuela," Maduro said during a press conference. "If airlines reduce (flights), I will take severe measures." Airlines have struggled to obtain dollars in exchange for the bolivar currency as a result of long-running delays in Venezuela's 11-year-old currency control system. The International Air Transport Association this week said that airlines are owed $3.7 billion and that some are considering halting service to Venezuela. Full Story | Top |
| Israel fires into Lebanon after bomb targets its soldiers Friday, Mar 14, 2014 01:18 PM PDT Israel fired tank rounds and artillery into southern Lebanon on Friday, its military said, in retaliation for a bomb that targeted Israeli soldiers patrolling the border. The Israel-Lebanon border has been mostly quiet since Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah fought an inconclusive war in 2006, even as civil war has raged in neighboring Syria over the past three years. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the Israeli fire targeted "Hezbollah terror infrastructure in southern Lebanon" and that a hit was confirmed. Earlier this month Israel said its troops shot two Hezbollah gunmen who tried to plant a bomb further east near the fence between the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and Syrian-held territory. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela's foreign minister calls Kerry 'murderer' Friday, Mar 14, 2014 01:17 PM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's foreign minister lambasted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday as a "murderer" fomenting unrest that has killed 28 people in the South American OPEC member nation. Since street demonstrations began against President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government in early February, Venezuelan officials have been accusing Washington of stirring the country's worst political troubles in a decade. U.S. officials say Venezuela is using them as a scapegoat, inventing accusations to distract from internal economic and political problems. In the sternest words during the crisis from Washington, Kerry said on Thursday the Venezuela government was using a "terror campaign" to repress its own citizens. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine crisis hampers EU's Central African Republic mission Friday, Mar 14, 2014 01:16 PM PDT  By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The Ukraine crisis is hampering the European Union's plans to send a peacekeeping force to Central African Republic because nervous eastern European countries want to keep their troops at home rather than send them to Africa, diplomats said on Friday. The EU has drawn up plans to send 800 to 1,000 soldiers to Central African Republic to join 6,000 African and 2,000 French troops, who have struggled to stop the fighting that started when the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power a year ago in the majority Christian state. But the plan has been jeopardized by the failure of European governments to provide key soldiers and equipment for the force, EU sources said on Thursday. EU diplomats said that there was a link between the problems facing the Central African Republic force and the crisis in Ukraine, where Russian forces have occupied the Crimea region, raising tensions throughout the region. Full Story | Top |
| Romania bars Hungarian 'extremists' on eve of national day Friday, Mar 14, 2014 01:08 PM PDT By Radu Marinas BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania has barred what it says are Hungarian extremists from four different organizations from entering the country, moving to prevent possible clashes when ethnic Hungarians celebrate their national day in Romania on Saturday. Those barred include supporters of Jobbik, a far-right Hungarian party whose popularity has surged in the run-up to a parliamentary election due to take place in Hungary on April 6, according to a recent poll. Conflicting territorial claims over parts of Romania have sparked tensions and violence between ethnic Hungarians and Romanians in the past, and earlier this week clashes between Hungarians and police broke out in northeast Romania. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has courted the support of ethnic Hungarians across the border, including by giving them dual citizenship and the right to vote in Hungarian elections. Full Story | Top |
| Canada to make it easier to shut down problem railroads Friday, Mar 14, 2014 12:52 PM PDT  By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will bring in new rules making it easier to quickly shut down unsafe railroads, the government said on Friday, eight months after 47 people died in the Lac-Megantic, Quebec, crude-by-rail disaster. In case of serious problems, Transport Canada "could suspend or cancel the company's operating certificate. This could put an immediate stop to the company's railway operations in Canada," it said. An official watchdog said last November that Canada was not doing enough to ensure rail safety. Full Story | Top |
| Peru's former president Fujimori suffers stroke, hospitalized Friday, Mar 14, 2014 12:50 PM PDT Peru's jailed former president Alberto Fujimori was hospitalized and in "moderately serious" condition after suffering a small stroke Friday, a doctor said. Fujimori, 75, was conscious and talking on Friday afternoon following a morning stroke in his jail cell, said doctor Juan Barreto with the Clinica La Luz in Lima where the former political leader is recovering. There may be more serious consequences and he will remain hospitalized." Barreto said that one of Fujimori's arms is numb and that he risks partial paralysis if his situation worsens. Fujimori, who has been imprisoned since 2007 on charges of human rights abuses and corruption committed during his 1990-2000 term, often coordinates with members of his influential political party from his jail cell and criticizes President Ollanta Humala via Twitter and Facebook. Full Story | Top |
| Lithuania detains a Russian citizen suspected of 1991 crimes Friday, Mar 14, 2014 12:48 PM PDT A Russian former tank officer was detained by a Lithuanian court on Friday on suspicion of involvement in a 1991 Soviet Army attack aimed at halting the Baltic state's drive for independence from the Soviet Union, the General Prosecutor's office said. Thirteen civilians were killed and more than 1,000 wounded when Soviet troops stormed Vilnius's TV tower and a building of the national broadcaster on January 13, 1991. The Prosecutor's office said a Vilnius court ordered the detention for two months pending investigation of a Russian citizen it named as Yuri Mel, born in 1968, on suspicion of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Vilnius. The former lieutenant had been arrested at Lithuania's border crossing point with Russia's Kaliningrad exclave on Wednesday, the prosecutor office said. Full Story | Top |
| India scours jungle islands for lost Malaysian jetliner Friday, Mar 14, 2014 12:46 PM PDT By Sanjib Kumar Roy PORT BLAIR, India (Reuters) - Indian aircraft on Friday combed Andaman and Nicobar, made up of more than 500 mostly uninhabited islands, for signs of a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner that evidence suggests was last headed towards the heavily forested archipelago. Popular with tourists and anthropologists alike, the islands form India's most isolated state. Initially focused northeast of Malaysia, search operations took a new turn after Malaysia's air force chief said military radar had spotted an unidentified aircraft, suspected to be the lost Boeing 777, to the west of Malaysia early on March 8. On Thursday, two sources told Reuters the unidentified aircraft appeared to be following a commonly used navigational route that would take it over the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Full Story | Top |
| Uruguay not seen setting drug liberalisation trend: U.N. official Friday, Mar 14, 2014 12:03 PM PDT  By Fredrik Dahl and Derek Brooks VIENNA (Reuters) - The United Nations anti-drugs chief said on Friday he did not see - for now at least - Uruguay setting a trend for countries to legalise the cultivation, sale and smoking of marijuana. In a move being closely watched by other nations discussing drug liberalization, Uruguay's parliament in December approved a bill to legalise and regulate the production and sale of marijuana - the first country to do so. Yury Fedotov, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said that for now he did not see other countries following Uruguay's example. "So far I don't see any other countries, or group of countries, that may follow the route which has been taken by Uruguay," he told a news conference. Full Story | Top |
| NATO says Crimea referendum would break international law Friday, Mar 14, 2014 11:58 AM PDT NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday a planned referendum in Ukraine's Crimea region would violate international law and lack legitimacy. Moscow shipped more troops and armor into Crimea on Friday and repeated its threat to invade other parts of Ukraine in response to violence in Donetsk on Thursday night, showing no sign of bowing to Western demands to pull back. Crimea's parliament has voted to join Russia and has set a referendum on the decision for Sunday. "The so-called referendum ... would be a direct violation of the Ukrainian constitution and international law. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine president, in uniform, says determined to boost military Friday, Mar 14, 2014 11:57 AM PDT Ukraine's acting president, dressed in combat fatigues as Russia's military tightened its grip on the Crimea peninsula, said on Friday the former Soviet republic was taking every possible measure to strengthen its military. Oleksander Turchinov, elected by parliament as speaker last month after the removal of a Moscow-backed president, praised troops taking part in exercises north of Kiev, saying they were "carrying out their duties with honor". "Today at this training site, we saw not some sort of show, but real exercises with tank units and mobile air units essentially working in tandem," the acting head of state and commander-in-chief told the troops during the exercises, about 150 km (90 miles) north of Kiev. Similar exercises were held in other parts of the country, military officials said. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says Russian decision not to ease Ukraine crisis 'regrettable' Friday, Mar 14, 2014 11:57 AM PDT Russia's failure to take steps to ease the crisis in Ukraine is "regrettable" and the United States is ready to respond quickly following a referendum planned for Sunday on whether Ukraine's Crimea region should join Russia, the White House said on Friday. "We have obviously not gotten to a situation where Russia has chosen to de-escalate, where Russia has chosen a path of resolving the situation peacefully and through diplomacy. We will have to see how the next several days unfold," White House spokesman Jay Carney told a briefing. Asked how soon the response would come, he said, "I think without putting too fine a point on it, I'd say quickly." Carney's comments came as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in London in talks aimed at reducing tensions ahead of the planned referendum. Full Story | Top |
| Anti-gay laws violate global pacts: U.N. rights chief Friday, Mar 14, 2014 11:46 AM PDT  By Robert Evans GENEVA (Reuters) - A legal ban on same-sex marriage in Nigeria, Africa's largest country, violates international accords and could bring mob law against gays onto its streets, the United Nations' human rights chief Navi Pillay said on Friday. Pillay told her largely Nigerian audience that the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community was "living in fear", since the loosely-drafted law, not yet put into effect, had gone onto the statute books. "The law violates international law in that it is discriminatory and seriously impinges on the freedom of expression and freedom of assembly," she declared. It could also "lead to human rights defenders advocating for the rights of LGBT people receiving draconian prison sentences," Pillay said, in a clear reference to phrasing in the measure that bars promotion of homosexuality. Full Story | Top |
| Rabbi hurt in Kiev attack wife calls anti-Semitic Friday, Mar 14, 2014 11:28 AM PDT Ukrainian police are investigating at attack on a rabbi in a Kiev street that the man's wife said on Friday was clearly an anti-Semitic act. Ukrainian Jewish leaders have said they have generally seen little sign of a growing threat to their community. Racheli Cohen, wife of rabbi Hillel Cohen, said Thursday's attack by two men on her husband was clearly an anti-Semitic act. "They struck him in the leg, shouting anti-Semitic slurs," she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). Full Story | Top |
| Visa ban on Russian energy CEOs could backfire Friday, Mar 14, 2014 11:11 AM PDT By Vladimir Soldatkin and Olesya Astakhova MOSCOW (Reuters) - A possible ban on visas for the heads of Russia's two biggest energy firms, Rosneft and Gazprom, may hamper their international partnerships but also harm their Western partners and push the two towards the East. Rosneft, the world's largest listed oil company by production and reserves, and Gazprom, the top natural gas producer, rely heavily on overseas markets for their sales. Germany's Bild newspaper reported on Friday that visa bans threatened by the European Union and the United States in retaliation for Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region would include Gazprom head Alexei Miller and Rosneft head Igor Sechin. Full Story | Top |
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