| | |
| Australian authorities say Malaysia plane search shifts north Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 09:08 PM PDT SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian authorities said on Friday that they have abandoned the previous search area in the southern Indian Ocean for wreckage of Malaysia Airlines MH370, in favor of a new site more than 1,000 km north. "We have moved on from those search areas to the newest credible lead," John Young, general manager of the emergency response division of AMSA, told reporters in Canberra. Young said the revised data, which was based on the jet travelling at a faster but constant speed than previously thought, could be revised still further as analysis continued. ... Full Story | Top |
| Grenade attack on Thai anti-graft office ahead of PM hearing Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 08:49 PM PDT By Panarat Thepgumpanat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Grenades were thrown at the offices of Thailand's anti-corruption agency, which has summoned the prime minister to answer charges of dereliction of duty next week, as protesters trying to oust her prepared for a big weekend rally. Supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra have been demonstrating at the building this week. The National Anti-Corruption Commission is examining the alleged failure of Yingluck to stop corruption and stem huge losses in a government rice-buying program. It is widely expected to recommend her impeachment by the Senate. Full Story | Top |
| As landslide risks remain, Washington state residents stay put Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 08:32 PM PDT By Jonathan Kaminsky DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - Ken Root used to live just five minutes west of Steelhead Drive, an idyllic spot on the North Fork Stillaguamish River in Washington state that was washed away in a deadly landslide last Saturday. Root was just one of as many as 30,000 inhabitants of hilly Snohomish County - equal to 5 percent of the total county population - who are exposed to some kind of landslide risk, according to a report commissioned by the county in 2010. Because of glacial sediment and sand, vast tracts of Washington state are susceptible to landslides, said Daniel Miller, a geomorphologist who wrote a study of the Oso area in 1999 and warned of potential catastrophe. "Here in Washington, right around Seattle, there are areas that are built on sand. Full Story | Top |
| Mudslide deaths expected to soar; some question disaster response Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 08:32 PM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - Rescuers searching for 90 people still missing five days after a massive mudslide in Washington state braced the public on Thursday for an impending steep rise in the death toll even as they sought to deflect criticism about the early disaster response. Only the first 16 victims recovered and examined by coroners have been formally counted among the dead, though local fire district chief Travis Hots said that figure would soon climb sharply higher. Snohomish County officials said on Wednesday about 90 people remained missing, down from 176, and Hots said on Thursday the revised figure was holding. Full Story | Top |
| Search for lost Malaysian jet shifts significantly after new lead Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 08:04 PM PDT  By Lincoln Feast and Michael Martina SYDNEY/PERTH (Reuters) - Australian authorities said on Friday they were shifting the focus of their Indian Ocean search for the wreckage of Malaysia's missing jet, moving it 1,100 km (685 miles) to the northeast after receiving new information from Malaysia. For more than a week, ships and surveillance planes have been scouring seas 2,500 km (1,550 miles) southwest of Perth, where satellite images had suggested there could be debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which went missing on March 8 with 239 people aboard. The dramatic shift in the search area was based on analysis of radar data between the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said. At that time, the Boeing 777 was making a radical diversion west from its course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Full Story | Top |
| China sacks ally of former security chief as graft probe widens Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 07:57 PM PDT  A former aide to China's retired domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang was sacked on Thursday after authorities opened a corruption probe, state media said, the latest move targeting associates of Zhou, who is also under investigation for graft. The official Xinhua news agency said Ji Wenlin had been removed from his post as a vice governor of the southern island province of Hainan. The ruling Communist Party's anti-corruption watchdog announced in February that Ji was being investigated for suspected serious breaches of party discipline and the law, the usual euphemism it uses for graft. President Xi Jinping has launched a sweeping crackdown on corruption since taking power, warning corruption is a threat to the Communist Party's survival. Full Story | Top |
| South Korea sends back stray North Korean fishing boat Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 07:38 PM PDT South Korea on Friday sent back a North Korean fishing boat that had drifted across a disputed maritime border off the west coast, the defense ministry said, defusing tensions in an area which has been the scene of deadly clashes in recent years. South Korea's military had seized the boat after it ignored warnings to retreat, but later confirmed the vessel had experienced engine failure and the three crewmen had no wish to defect to the South, a ministry official said. The incident came as the North faced renewed pressure from the international community after it fired two mid-range missiles on Wednesday just as the leaders of the South, Japan and the United States pledged to curb its arms ambitions. North Korea refuses to recognize the so-called Northern Limit Line that has been the naval border since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Full Story | Top |
| Families of some Chinese passengers on missing plane get insurance payouts Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 07:23 PM PDT Chinese insurance companies have started to pay compensation to the families of passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines plane presumed crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. China Life, the country's largest insurance company, has compensated the families of seven passengers a total of 4.17 million yuan ($671,600), Chen Honghao, an official from China Life's department of planning told Reuters by telephone on Friday. China Life had 32 clients on the flight and estimates its total compensation would be 8.94 million yuan, Chen said. New China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. will compensate the families of nine clients on board the flight with a total of about 1 million yuan, Zhang Hongxia, a public relations official from the firm, said on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| Team to re-enter New Mexico nuclear waste site after radiation leak Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 06:23 PM PDT An investigative team plans to re-enter an underground nuclear waste site in New Mexico next week for the first time since an accidental release of unsafe levels of radiation there last month, a U.S. Energy Department official said Thursday. U.S. authorities now say that 21 workers at the Carlsbad-area "waste isolation pilot project" (WIPP) were exposed to radiation after the accidental leak from the site, which stores waste from U.S. nuclear labs and weapons production facilities. Eight workers will test air for contamination as they seek to make their way into an ancient salt formation half a mile below ground where radioactive waste is stored, Energy Department spokesman Bradley Bugger said in a statement. Testing of surface air in and around the Energy Department complex has shown elevated levels of radiation since the mishap, but those have steadily decreased. Full Story | Top |
| Syria refugee crisis poses major threat to Lebanese stability: U.N. Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 05:45 PM PDT  By Missy Ryan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An influx of almost 1 million refugees from Syria into neighboring Lebanon poses a serious threat to the already fragile country, but donor nations may not grasp the potential impact of further destabilization, a U.N. official said on Thursday. "There is not a single country in the world today that is shouldering as much in proportion to its size as Lebanon," said Ninette Kelley, regional representative for Lebanon for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "If this country is not bolstered, then the very real prospect of it collapsing and the conflict of Syria spreading full force to Lebanon becomes much more likely," she said during a visit to Washington. Last month, top U.N. officials said that as Syria's grinding conflict enters its fourth bloody year, Syrians are set to replace Afghans as the world's largest refugee population. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. warns of increasing militant links between Iraq, Syria Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 05:33 PM PDT By Mirjam Donath UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations on Thursday warned about Islamist militant networks increasingly forging links across the border of Syria and Iraq, which is fueling sectarian tensions in a region that has suffered from years of bloodshed. Violence in Iraq reached new highs in 2013, when nearly 8,000 civilians were killed. Its political elite remains deeply divided along sectarian lines, as it has been since after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq 11 years ago this month. "The ongoing conflict in Syria has added a regional dimension to sectarian tensions and is affording terrorist networks the occasion to forge links across the border and expand their support base," U.N. special envoy to Iraq Nickolay Mladenov told the 15-nation Security Council. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council members condemn North Korea missile launch Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 05:10 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Members of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday condemned North Korea's recent ballistic missile launch as a violation of U.N. resolutions and will continue discussions on an "appropriate response", the council president said. The remarks were made by Luxembourg's U.N. Ambassador Sylvie Lucas, president of the 15-nation Security Council for the month of March, after a closed-door meeting on North Korea requested by the United States. "Members of the Security Council condemned this launch as a violation of Security Council resolution(s)," she said. "Council members agreed to consult on an appropriate response." "There was unanimous condemnation of the launches," Lucas told reporters, adding that, "We also all agreed that this response should be given quickly." North Korea fired two medium-range Rodong ballistic missiles into the sea at 2:35 a.m. Japan and Korea time on Wednesday (1735 GMT Tuesday), Tokyo and Seoul said. Full Story | Top |
| Brazil's president loses support but on track to win re-election Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 05:02 PM PDT  By Paulo Prada RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Popular support for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has faltered ahead of the October 5 presidential election, a poll showed Thursday, but the leftist leader remains favored to win a second term. Hurt by a sluggish economy, high inflation and a scandal surrounding Brazil's state-run oil company, Rousseff's personal approval rating has dropped to 51 percent from 56 percent in November, the survey by the Ibope polling institute and Brazil's National Industry Confederation showed. "It shows that 2014 is going to be a hard year for the government," said Rafael Cortez, a political analyst with Tendencias, a consultancy in São Paulo. "All these negative issues are hurting her image as a candidate." Although Rousseff and her ruling Workers' Party still enjoy widespread support because of economic gains made during the administration of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, her mentor and predecessor, Rousseff is currently presiding over the fourth year of lackluster growth in Latin America's largest economy. Full Story | Top |
| Malaysian jet search resumes, U.S. sends second Poseidon plane Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 04:59 PM PDT  The disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines jet, which vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on a routine flight to Beijing on March 8, has gripped the world and baffled investigators. The search zone centers on the latest sightings of possible wreckage that were captured by Thai and Japanese satellites in roughly the same frigid expanse of sea as earlier images reported by France, Australia and China. Full Story | Top |
| The great Indian election: it's about jobs Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 04:06 PM PDT  By Frank Jack Daniel and Rajesh Kumar Singh PATNA, India (Reuters) - Old enough to vote for the first time, student Sheeba Shamim, the daughter of a middle class family, and young construction workers sweating on a nearby building site are impatient for a government in India that delivers jobs and hope for the future. The election comes as India struggles through its longest period of sub-5 percent economic growth since the 1980s. Shamim, a 20-year-old undergraduate in media studies at university in Patna, the capital of Bihar, one of the states that make up India's Hindi speaking heartland, is hungry for change. "I want India to become the world's biggest economy. Full Story | Top |
| Most Germans unhappy with Merkel's new government: poll Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 04:01 PM PDT  BERLIN (Reuters) - Most Germans are unhappy with Chancellor Angela Merkel's right-left coalition, a poll showed on Friday, even as support for the parties that make up her government has hardly changed since September's election. A Deutschlandtrend poll published on Friday showed 55 percent of those asked were "not very or not at all happy" with the first 100 days of the coalition between Merkel's conservatives and the Social Democrats. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lists lesser prairie chicken as threatened, energy groups wary Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 03:49 PM PDT By Ros Krasny WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Thursday listed the lesser prairie chicken, a small grassland bird native to parts of the country's oil and gas belt, as "threatened," a move that could draw the ire of some Western lawmakers and energy producers. "The lesser prairie chicken is in dire straits," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director Dan Ashe, citing a "rapid and severe decline" in the species' population. Full Story | Top |
| Mali swears in court to hear treason case against ex-president Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 03:12 PM PDT  Mali swore in a new high court on Thursday that will be charged with hearing a case of high treason against former President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was toppled in a coup in 2012, state radio and a member of parliament said. The government brought the case before the National Assembly in December, accusing Toure of failing in his duty as commander of Mali's armed forces to prevent foreign forces from seizing national territory. They were sworn in at the National Assembly this morning," parliament member Mamadou Diarrassouba told Reuters. The occupation of northern Mali by al Qaeda-linked groups ended in January 2013 when France sent more than 4,000 troops to halt a southern advance by the militants. Full Story | Top |
| US mudslide death toll expected to soar as survivors sought Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 03:06 PM PDT By Jonathan Kaminsky DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - Rescuers searching for 90 people still missing five days after a massive Washington state mudslide said they expect the death toll to climb sharply soon, even as they clung to hope on Thursday of finding a miracle survivor. At least 25 people are known to have died when a rain-soaked hillside collapsed without warning on Saturday, unleashing a wall of mud that engulfed dozens of homes in a river valley near the rural town of Oso, 55 miles northeast of Seattle. Only the first 16 victims recovered and examined by coroners have so far been officially counted as dead, although local fire district chief Travis Hots said that figure would soon spike upwards. Snohomish County officials said on Wednesday that about 90 people remained missing or unaccounted for, down from an earlier estimate that was nearly twice that number, and Hots said on Thursday the revised figure was holding. Full Story | Top |
| Turkey calls Syria security leak 'villainous,' blocks YouTube Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:53 PM PDT  By Nick Tattersall ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday denounced as "villainous" the leaking of a recording of top security officials discussing possible military action in Syria to the video-sharing site YouTube. Erdogan's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the posting a "declaration of war," an apparent reference to an escalating power struggle between Erdogan and rivals. The posting took the campaign to a higher level, impinging on a highly sensitive top-level meeting of security officials. "They even leaked a national security meeting," Erdogan said at a campaign rally. Full Story | Top |
| BP raises Lake Michigan oil spill estimate; Senators request meeting Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:50 PM PDT  More oil than previously thought may have leaked into Lake Michigan this week from BP Plc's Indiana refinery, the company said on Thursday, after two U.S. Senators requested a meeting with the British oil major. The request from Senators Mark Kirk, a Republican and Dick Durbin, a Democrat, both from Illinois, came before BP issued its estimate that between 15 and 39 barrels of oil had spilled - more than an earlier assessment that nine to 18 barrels leaked on Monday. The Senators asked for details on the spill's cause, an analysis of the impact of the 405,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Whiting refinery's production increase, and information on what is being done to prevent future spills. "Given the Whiting refinery's recent expansion of its operations to double the amount of heavy oil sands being processed, this spill raises questions about the long-term safety and reliability of BP's new, expanded production," the senators wrote to John Minge, chief executive officer, BP America Inc. The U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday that between nine and 18 barrels had spilled. Full Story | Top |
| Libyan protesters block oil pipeline to Mellitah port as strikes widen Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:48 PM PDT Libyan protesters have blocked a pipeline carrying oil condensates from the southwestern al-Wafa oilfield to the Mellitah export port, state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Thursday. The action, the latest in a wave of protests paralyzing oilfields and ports across the North African country, knocks out one of the last oil export lines for the cash-strapped government. NOC spokesman Mohammed El Harari said a gas pipeline from the Wafa field, which produces around 30,000 barrels a day of very light oil, to Mellitah was still working. But Libya's al-Aseema television station said the protesters, made up of oil security guards, were also threatening to stop gas exports from the Mellitah complex, operated by NOC and Italy's ENI, to Italy. Full Story | Top |
| Trapped at sea, tanker captain craved salvation from Libya rebels Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:45 PM PDT  By Ulf Laessing TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Pakistani sea captain Mirza Noman Baig knew he was trapped when dozens of fighters armed with rifles boarded his tanker just off a rebel-held port on Libya's coast. A militia from the country's restive east forced his crew to load oil onto Baig's vessel, the Morning Glory, and demanded they escape the navy before the ship was stormed by U.S. special forces on March 16, according to his account of events. Full Story | Top |
| Turkish foreign minister calls Syria security leak a declaration of war Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:13 PM PDT Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday the posting on YouTube of a recording of top officials discussing possible military operations in Syria constituted a declaration of war against Turkey. Davutoglu, one of the officials involved in the conversation, did not name the target of his accusation. But Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, facing key local polls on Sunday, says he has been the target of an internet defamation campaign by a U.S.-based Islamic cleric who seeks to topple him and undermine Turkey. The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, denies that accusation. Full Story | Top |
| Turkey says leaked recording of Syria meeting a 'wretched attack' Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:13 PM PDT ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's foreign ministry said on Thursday the leaking of a recording purportedly of top officials discussing possible military operations in Syria was a "wretched attack" on national security and those behind it would receive the heaviest punishment. In a written statement the ministry said some sections of the recording - presented on an anonymous YouTube account as Turkey's intelligence chief discussing Syria with the foreign minister and deputy head of the armed forces - had been manipulated. (Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Nick Tattersall) Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's Erdogan says leaking of Syria recording is 'villainous' Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:13 PM PDT ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday the posting on YouTube of a recording purportedly of top officials discussing possible military operations in Syria was "villainous". "They even leaked a national security meeting. This is villainous, this is dishonesty (...) Who are you serving by doing audio surveillance of such an important meeting?" Erdogan told a crowd of supporters in Diyarbakir. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Nick Tattersall) Full Story | Top |
| UK coroner records open verdict on death of Russian oligarch Berezovsky Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 02:02 PM PDT  By Toby Melville WINDSOR, England (Reuters) - A British coroner said on Thursday he could not be sure if exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky killed himself at his former wife's British home or was the victim of foul play. Berezovsky, a sworn enemy of President Vladimir Putin, was found dead in March last year with a scarf tied around his neck in the bathroom of a luxury mansion in Ascot, an affluent English town near Queen Elizabeth's Windsor Castle, west of London. The family of the 67-year-old tycoon, once one of Russia's most powerful figures who wielded immense influence for a decade after the Soviet Union's collapse, feared he might have been murdered by his enemies in Russia. Pathologists at the inquest, held in Britain when someone dies in unexplained circumstances, gave differing views on the cause of death. Full Story | Top |
| Manila raises stakes with Beijing, seeks arbitration over South China Sea Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 01:27 PM PDT  By Greg Torode and Manuel Mogato HONG KONG/MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines will file a case against China over the disputed South China Sea at an arbitration tribunal in The Hague next week, subjecting Beijing to international legal scrutiny over the increasingly tense waters for the first time. Manila is seeking a ruling to confirm its right to exploit the waters in its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as allowed under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), its team of U.S. and British lawyers said. A ruling against China by the five-member panel of the Permanent Court of Arbitration could prompt other claimants to challenge Beijing, experts said. China, which has refused to participate in the case, claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, displaying its reach on official maps with a so-called nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Congress passes aid for Ukraine, sanctions on Russia Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 01:23 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives easily passed bills on Thursday to provide aid to Ukraine, back a $1 billion loan guarantee for the Kiev government and impose sanctions on Russians and Ukrainians over Russia's annexation of Crimea. The Senate passed its legislation by voice vote and the House voted for its legislation by 399-19, two days after Senate Democrats ended a weeks-long standoff by agreeing to remove from the legislation reforms to the International Monetary Fund urged by the White House but opposed by many Republicans. Lawmakers said they wanted to send a unified message to Russian President Vladimir Putin - and the rest of the world - as Ukraine and neighboring states worry about more aggression from Russia. Full Story | Top |
| Pentagon sees no signs of Russia military drills despite buildup Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 01:21 PM PDT By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States sees no indications that Russian forces along the border with Ukraine are carrying out the kind of springtime military exercises that Moscow has cited as the reason for their deployment, the Pentagon said on Thursday. Ukraine's government has put its heavily outnumbered and outgunned forces on alert for an invasion from Russia in the east following Moscow's seizure of Crimea, as the West moves to isolate Russia diplomatically and pressure it economically. U.S. and European security agencies estimate Russia has deployed military and militia units totaling more than 30,000 people along its border with eastern Ukraine. Although the Pentagon has cited assurances from Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that its troops along the border were sent for exercises and that they would not cross into Ukraine, U.S. officials have acknowledged concerns about continued Russian reinforcements to the area. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. raises alarm over escalating violence in Darfur Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 12:48 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations and African Union officials sounded an alarm on Thursday over the worsening violence in Sudan's western Darfur region, which has led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people this year in the remote, conflict-torn territory. The expressions of concern came as a U.S. activist group released an analysis of new satellite images that it said showed signs of devastation in an area of Darfur in which Khartoum-backed Janjaweed fighters were recently present. Joseph Mutaboba, deputy head of the joint U.N. peacekeeping mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID, and Ali Al-Za'tari, U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, issued a joint statement that said it had become extremely difficult to deliver aid to the needy people of Darfur. "In the last month, a wave of violence has been underway in Darfur, affecting tens of thousands of people," they said. Full Story | Top |
| Turkey court frees 45 Kurdish suspects in militant case Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 12:43 PM PDT A Turkish court released 45 defendants, including journalists and political activists, accused of links to Kurdish militants on Thursday, a small step in the country's ongoing efforts to end a Kurdish insurgency. Lawyers had demanded the release of the defendants, on trial for links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, after changes to Turkey's anti-terrorism laws which reduced the maximum pre-trial detention period from 10 years to five years. PKK fighters began withdrawing from Turkey to bases in northern Iraq last May after a ceasefire was declared but stopped the move in September, citing government failures to take steps to advance the broader peace process. The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and United States. Full Story | Top |
| Philippines, Muslim rebels sign final peace deal to end conflict Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 12:36 PM PDT  The Philippines and its largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), on Thursday signed a final peace pact, ending about 45 years of conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people in the country's south. The fight against Muslim separatists and Maoist guerrillas for almost five decades has stunted growth in resource-rich rural areas, besides scaring off potential investment in mines, plantations, energy and infrastructure. President Benigno Aquino and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who briefly put aside his own country's problems over a missing Malaysia Airlines jet to witness the event, smiled and clapped as peace panel leaders signed the autonomy deal. "Let us exchange our bullets for ripening fruit, our cynicism for hope, our histories of sorrow for a future of harmony, peace, and prosperity," Aquino told a gathering of officials, diplomats, lawmakers and Muslim community members. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. EPA head defends proposed cuts in biofuel target for 2014 Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 12:26 PM PDT  By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. energy markets cannot absorb the levels of biofuels required by law to be blended into the fuel supply in 2014, Environmental Protection Agency head Gina McCarthy said on Thursday, defending a controversial proposal to slash the target for this year. The EPA is working on final 2014 biofuel use targets after issuing a proposal in November that slashed federal requirements for ethanol in U.S. fuel supplies. Although it is under pressure from the biofuel industry to reverse the move changes, McCarthy's comments suggested the agency might stick to its guns, or come to some kind of middle ground on targets. The draft rule cut the 18.15 billion gallons (68.7 billion liters) of biofuels mandated for use by a 2007 law down to 15.21 billion gallons, angering biofuel producers who argued the rule would damage their industry. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani judge sentences Christian to death for blasphemy Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 12:20 PM PDT By Mubasher Bukhari LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Pakistani judge has sentenced a Christian to death for blasphemy, lawyers said on Thursday, in the latest of a rising tide of such legal cases. Judge Lahore Ghulam Murtaza Chaudhry sentenced Sawan Masih to hang after a Muslim said he had insulted the prophet Mohammed in the eastern city of Lahore a year ago. The accusation against Masih sparked a riot in which Muslims burned more than 100 Christian homes. "Today (the judge)announced his verdict that says that Sawan must be hanged and fined," said Nameem Shakir, a lawyer for the accused. Full Story | Top |
| Wanted bomb maker killed by Lebanese army in shootout Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 12:13 PM PDT A suspected bomb-maker died of his wounds after he was shot by Lebanese soldiers trying to arrest him at a house in a border town near Syria, security sources said. Sami Al-Atrash was suspected by authorities of preparing car bombs to plant in Shi'ite areas and coordinating rocket attacks on Shi'ite towns in retaliation for Lebanese militant Shi'ite group Hezbollah's role in Syria. Hezbollah has sent fighters into Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad fight a majority Sunni revolt, deepening sectarian woes in Lebanon, which suffered its own civil war from 1975 to 1990. Lebanese Sunni militants have also joined forces with Syrian rebels to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon. Full Story | Top |
| Protesters opposed to Myanmar census attack NGO offices Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 12:07 PM PDT By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Protesters in Myanmar's Rakhine State opposed to a census attacked offices and houses used by international aid groups after reports a European staff member from one group had removed a Buddhist flag used as a symbol to boycott the operation, witnesses said. "A female European staff member allegedly took off a religious flag put up near her office by local people as a gesture of boycotting the government-sponsored census," Aung Mra Kyaw, an official from the Rakhine National Party, told Reuters. The offices of some United Nations agencies were also attacked, Aung Mra Kyaw said. A Myanmar citizen working for one aid group said all staff from international non-governmental organizations and U.N. agencies were preparing to evacuate to the commercial capital, Yangon. Full Story | Top |
| Obama hears Vatican's concerns over health care, invites Pope to US Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 11:58 AM PDT By Philip Pullella and Jeff Mason VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama heard the Catholic Church's concerns over his health care plan while on a visit to the Vatican on Thursday, but drew a cheerful response from Pope Francis when inviting him to visit Washington. The president appeared at ease and joked during the parts of his meeting with the pope that were open to a few reporters, but a brief Vatican statement issued later indicated that Obama's private talks there had a more serious side. The statement said Obama, who was accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry, was told of the Vatican's concern about "the exercise of the rights to religious freedom, life and conscientious objection" in the United States. Obama later told a news conference in answer to a question that the pope "did not touch in detail" on the health care act but that it was discussed more in a separate meeting with Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine wins IMF lifeline as Russia faces growth slump Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 11:57 AM PDT  By Natalia Zinets and Elizabeth Piper KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ukraine won a $27-billion international financial lifeline on Thursday, rushed through in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea, while Moscow's economy minister acknowledged that his country's growth would slow dramatically as funds flee abroad. The International Monetary Fund announced a $14-18 billion standby credit for Kiev in return for tough economic reforms that will unlock further aid from the European Union, the United States and other lenders over two years, effectively pulling Kiev closer to Europe. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. bans licenses for military exports to Russia Thursday, Mar 27, 2014 11:51 AM PDT The United States said on Thursday it imposed a ban this week on the issuance of licenses for the export of defense items and defense services to Russia in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea. A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department said the move followed a U.S. Commerce Department ban on the export to Russia of "dual use" items that could have military applications. "The State Department has also placed a hold on the issuance of licenses that would authorize the export of defense articles and defense services to Russia," Marie Harf told a regular news briefing. A Commerce Department statement said the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security had placed a hold on the issuance of licenses that would authorize the export or re-export of items to Russia from March 1. Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment