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| Exclusive: China seizes $14.5 billion assets from family, associates of ex-security chief - sources Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:10 PM PDT  By Benjamin Kang Lim and Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have seized assets worth at least 90 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) from family members and associates of retired domestic security tsar Zhou Yongkang, who is at the center of China's biggest corruption scandal in more than six decades, two sources said. The sheer size of the asset seizures and the scale of the investigations into the people around Zhou - both unreported until now - make the corruption probe unprecedented in modern China and would appear to show that President Xi Jinping is tackling graft at the highest levels. But it may also be driven partly by political payback after Zhou angered leaders such as Xi by opposing the ouster of former high-flying politician Bo Xilai, who was jailed for life in September for corruption and abuse of power. He is the most senior Chinese politician to be ensnared in a corruption investigation since the Communist Party swept to power in 1949. Full Story | Top |
| Philippine ship dodges China blockade to reach South China Sea outpost Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:04 PM PDT  By Erik de Castro and Roli Ng SECOND THOMAS SHOAL, South China Sea (Reuters) - The Philippine government vessel made a dash for shallow waters around the disputed reef in the South China Sea, evading two Chinese coastguard ships trying to block its path to deliver food, water and fresh troops to a military outpost on the shoal. It's also a reminder of how assertive China has become in pressing its claims to disputed territory far from its mainland. "If we didn't change direction, if we didn't change course, then we would have collided with them," Ferdinand Gato, captain of the Philippine vessel, a civilian craft, told Reuters after his boat had anchored on the Second Thomas Shoal under a hot sun. China, which claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, says the shoal is part of its territory. Full Story | Top |
| Australia taps former defence chief to coordinate MH370 search support Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 07:54 PM PDT Australia has appointed a former chief of its defense forces to coordinate the country's support for the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Sunday. Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston will lead a new Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) based in Perth, from where the search for the missing plane was being carried out in the Indian Ocean. The new JACC, headed by Houston, will aim to maintain clear lines of communication between all international partners as well as with the families of passengers, many of whom are expected to travel to Perth. Malaysia holds overall responsibility for the search for MH370, which vanished from civilian radar screens on March 8, less than one hour into its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Full Story | Top |
| Number of missing in U.S. mudslide drops to 30 as death toll rises Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 07:46 PM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky and Bryan Cohen DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - The number of people missing from a landslide that sent a wall of mud cascading over dozens of homes in Washington state dropped to 30 from 90 on Saturday, but the death toll continues to climb as another body was found in the muddy heap of debris. But with the grim news also came word that the number of missing fell dramatically as officials were able to account for dozens of people as "safe and well." Rescue and recovery workers pushed through wind and rain on Saturday continuing to comb through debris left after the rain-soaked hillside gave way without warning and destroyed dozens of homes on the outskirts of the rural Washington town of Oso, northeast of Seattle. It's hard to grasp," said volunteer Bob Michajla, 66, who has been helping to search part of the debris field that covers a square-mile (2.6 square-km). Full Story | Top |
| Iran plans to replace U.N. ambassador in New York Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 06:59 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has selected a new ambassador to represent Tehran at the United Nations, Hamid Abutalebi, a veteran diplomat who has held key European postings in the past, Iranian sources said. Abutalebi, who has served as Iran's ambassador to Italy, Belgium and Australia, was chosen to replace Iran's outgoing ambassador, Mohammad Khazaee, sources said. A spokesman for Iran's U.N. mission declined to comment. Abutalebi began working for the Islamic Republic's foreign ministry in the early 1980s, not long after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Full Story | Top |
| Number of missing in Washington state mudslide drops to 30 from 90 Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 06:44 PM PDT (Reuters) - The tally of those missing in a Washington state mudslide has dropped to 30 from 90, while the official death toll went up by one to 18, officials said Saturday. Another body located in the muddy pile has not yet been identified and is not part of the official death toll, but brings the presumed death toll to 28. Full Story | Top |
| French set to punish Hollande in mayoral runoffs Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 06:03 PM PDT  By Michel Rose PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande's Socialists braced for losses in hundreds of towns and villages in mayoral elections on Sunday, with far-right National Front candidates seen winning a handful of cities for the first time since 1995. The runoff round of voting comes at the end of a week that saw French unemployment surge to a new record, making a reverse of first round losses unlikely and a cabinet reshuffle by Hollande possible as soon as Monday. Some 80 percent of the French want him to dismiss Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll, and ambitious and tough-talking Interior Minister Manuel Valls comes top of their favorites for the job. "I can't see how (Ayrault) could stay, unless we save about thirty towns, something nobody really believes," a Socialist Party source said. Full Story | Top |
| If Modi wins election, neighbours can expect a more muscular India Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 06:01 PM PDT  By Sanjeev Miglani NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will get tougher on territorial disputes with China and in its old rivalry with Pakistan if opposition leader Narendra Modi becomes the prime minister in May after a general election, two of his aides said. On the campaign trail, he has warned Beijing to shed its "mindset of expansionism" and in the past he has railed against Pakistan, an Islamic state, for attacks by Muslim militants in India. "I swear in the name of the soil that I will protect this country," Modi said at a rally in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh last month, a region claimed by China. India, China and Pakistan are all nuclear powers. Full Story | Top |
| Political newcomer Kiska trounces PM Fico in Slovak presidential election Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 05:57 PM PDT  By Jiri Skacel and Jan Lopatka BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Philanthropist and former businessman Andrej Kiska trounced Prime Minister Robert Fico in Slovakia's presidential election on Saturday as voters feared Fico and his center-left party would amass too much power. Results from over 99 percent of voting districts showed the politically unaffiliated Kiska leading the center-left prime minister by 59.4 percent to 40.6 percent. Kiska, 51, rode a wave of anti-Fico sentiment among right-wing voters as well as distrust in mainstream political parties because of graft scandals and persistently high unemployment. Full Story | Top |
| Slovak PM Fico concedes defeat in presidential election Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 05:57 PM PDT BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovak centre-left Prime Minister Robert Fico conceded defeat to independent Andrej Kiska in the central European country's presidential election on Saturday. "I would like to congratulate (Kiska), although not all the votes have been counted yet," Fico, who keeps his post as prime minister, told reporters. Results from 72 percent of voting stations showed Kiska leading by 59.2 to 40.8 percent. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Jiri Skacel; Editing by David Gregorio) Full Story | Top |
| Search for Malaysian jet grows, but poor weather again forecast Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 05:38 PM PDT  By Michael Martina and Niluksi Koswanage PERTH/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Ten ships and as many aircraft will search a swathe of the Indian Ocean west of Perth on Sunday, trying again to find some trace of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 after more than three weeks of fruitless and frustrating hunting. An Australian navy ship fitted with a sophisticated U.S. black box locater and an unmanned underwater drone is due to leave later on Sunday. Malaysia says the plane, which disappeared less than an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was likely diverted deliberately. WEATHER THREATENS EXPANDED SEARCH The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said aircraft from China, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the United States would be searching on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| China's Xi turns to panda diplomacy to seek EU trade deal Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 05:26 PM PDT  By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping will use two pandas to break the ice and soften European opposition to a free-trade deal with China during a visit to Belgium which starts on Sunday. As the first Chinese leader to visit the European Union's headquarters since Brussels established ties with Beijing four decades ago, Xi will also seek to send a message that China is a less confrontational partner, ready to resolve trade disputes. "Our common interests far outweigh our differences," said China's ambassador to the EU, Yang Yanyi. "We need to explore ways to deepen our partnership." Xi will say hello to China's two ursine envoys Xing Hui and Hao Hao, loaned to Belgium last month, at a wildlife park near Brussels - part of a Chinese tradition of using pandas to foster better relations around the world. Full Story | Top |
| Erdogan seeks Turkish voters' support in fierce power struggle Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 05:01 PM PDT  By Ralph Boulton and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL/ANKARA, March 30 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan turns to the ballot box that has favoured him over a decade on Sunday in his battle to ward off graft allegations and stem a stream of damaging security leaks he blames on "traitors" embedded in the Turkish state. The municipal elections have become a crisis referendum on the rule of Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party and he has been crisscrossing the nation of 77 million during weeks of hectic campaigning to rally his conservative core voters. "They are all traitors," Erdogan said of his opponents at a rally in Istanbul, Turkey's commercial capital, on Saturday. Full Story | Top |
| Another earthquake rattles southern California following 5.1 quake Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 03:46 PM PDT Residents of southern California were rattled by a 4.1 magnitude earthquake Saturday afternoon, the largest of more than 100 aftershocks following Friday's 5.1 rumbler that caused light scattered damage around the Los Angeles area. Saturday's quake rippled through an area near Rowland Heights, California, about 2:32 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor was considered relatively shallow with a depth of 5.6 miles, the USGS said. Aftershocks are expected following earthquakes, according to the USGS. Full Story | Top |
| Political newcomer Kiska takes wide lead in Slovak presidential election Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 03:42 PM PDT  By Jiri Skacel and Jan Lopatka BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Philanthropist and former businessman Andrej Kiska took a wide lead over Prime Minister Robert Fico in Slovakia's presidential election, partial results of the second election round showed on Saturday. Data from 45 percent of voting districts showed the politically unaffiliated Kiska leading over the center-left prime minister by 59.4 percent to 40.6 percent of the vote. Kiska, 51, has been riding the wave of anti-Fico sentiment among right-wing voters as well as distrust in mainstream political parties because of graft scandals and persistently high unemployment. Kiska made millions of dollars in consumer credit companies which he sold a decade ago, setting up a charity to help families with ill children. Full Story | Top |
| Political newcomer Kiska leads Slovak presidential election Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 03:28 PM PDT  BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Philanthropist and former businessman Andrej Kiska has taken an early lead over Prime Minister Robert Fico in Slovakia's presidential election, partial results of the second and final round of voting showed on Saturday. Kiska, who is politically unaffiliated, had 58.8 percent of the vote versus 41.2 percent for the center-left prime minister, according to results from 20 percent of the country's voting districts. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Paul Simao) Full Story | Top |
| Mexico finds 370 abandoned immigrant children Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 02:56 PM PDT In one week, 370 immigrant children, most of them from Central America, were found abandoned in Mexico, after traffickers promised to take them to the United States but left them to their own devices after being paid thousands of dollars, authorities said. Almost half of them, 163 children under the age of 18, were found traveling alone, Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM) said in a statement. The children told federal migration agents that their 'guides' abandoned them after accepting $3,000 to $5,000 in payments, INM said. The children and young people, who came from three of the poorest countries in Central America, were found between March 17 and 24, in 14 different states in Mexico. Full Story | Top |
| New help puts EU Central African Republic mission back on track Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 02:53 PM PDT  By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The commander of a planned European Union peacekeeping force for Central African Republic has decided he now has enough soldiers and equipment to launch the delayed mission after governments came forward with new offers of help, the EU said on Saturday. But the mission has been held up by the failure of European governments to provide soldiers and equipment. At a meeting in Brussels late on Friday, EU governments and some countries from outside the bloc offered new support for the mission in the areas of strategic airlift and help with deploying the force, the EU said. "On the basis of this significant progress ... the commander of the operation (French Major-General Philippe Ponties) has recommended the launch of the operation," a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said. Full Story | Top |
| Greek conservatives retake lead before key vote, poll shows Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 02:49 PM PDT  By Angeliki Koutantou and Harry Papachristou ATHENS (Reuters) - The main party in Greece's ruling coalition, conservative New Democracy, has nudged ahead of the leftist opposition for the first time in six months, an opinion poll showed on Saturday, ahead of a key parliamentary vote on more tough reforms. The poll will be welcome news for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' fragile government, whose cohesion has been tested by the controversial reforms demanded by international lenders as a condition to keep debt-laden Greece afloat. The poll, conducted on March 24-27 by Alco for weekly newspaper Proto Thema, showed Samaras' New Democracy winning 21.7 percent of the vote if elections were held today, against 21.2 percent for the main opposition, anti-bailout Syriza party. In Alco's previous poll on March 11-13, Syriza led New Democracy by 21.2 to 20 percent, a lead similar to that in all other polls tracked by Reuters in recent months. Full Story | Top |
| Germany, China say renminbi hub in Frankfurt will boost trade Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 02:45 PM PDT  By Matthias Inverardi DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - A decision by Germany and China to make Frankfurt a European hub for financial transactions in the Chinese currency will give new momentum to trade between the two economic powers, Chinese President Xi Jinping and a German minister said on Saturday. In a speech to politicians and business leaders in the city of Duesseldorf, Xi said setting up the hub for the renminbi in Germany "represents an important step on the road of the internationalisation of our currency," according to a translation. Full Story | Top |
| Washington community grieves growing toll in U.S. mudslide Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 02:30 PM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - The grim task of combing through debris from a landslide that sent a wall of mud cascading over dozens of homes on the outskirts of a rural Washington town came to a standstill briefly on Saturday for a moment of silence. It's hard to grasp," said volunteer Bob Michajla, 66, who has been helping to search part of the debris field that covers a square-mile (2.6 square-km). "These are all friends and neighbors and family. Everybody knows everybody in this valley." One more body was found on Friday in the muck and rubble left after the rain-soaked hillside above the north fork of the Stillaguamish River gave way without warning on the outskirts of Oso, northeast of Seattle, a Snohomish County official said. Full Story | Top |
| Crimea switches to Moscow time amid incorporation frenzy Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 02:15 PM PDT  By Gabriela Baczynska SIMFEROPOL, Crimea (Reuters) - The hands of a clock on the main railway station in Simferopol jumped from 10 P.M. to midnight on Saturday as Crimea switched to Moscow time, symbolicly finalizing the region's incorporation into Russia. Several hundred people gathered on the railway square for the ceremonial change of time, waving Russian national flags and chanting "Crimea! Russia!" after Moscow formally annexed the Black Sea region from Ukraine on March 21. "I greet you with our return home," Crimea's new pro-Moscow Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov told the crowd. Full Story | Top |
| Taliban attack election commission HQ in Kabul ahead of vote Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 01:56 PM PDT  By Mirwais Harooni and Jessica Donati KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents attacked the Independent Election Commission headquarters in Kabul on Saturday, staff and police said, in the their third big assault on the capital this week aimed at derailing the April 5 presidential election. Afghan security forces battled the militants for about five hours, while frightened IEC staff and eight international United Nations employees took refuge in safe rooms inside the compound, a security source and staff said. Four suicide bombers were involved in the attack and all were killed in gunbattles, according to an Afghan army general on the scene in the eastern part of the capital. An investigation team is in the area," said commander Qadam Shah Shaheem, adding that three security force members had been injured in the operation. Full Story | Top |
| Storm forces evacuation of spectators, delay of Florida car race Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 01:31 PM PDT (Reuters) - A powerful storm in Florida forced the delay of the St. Petersburg Grand Prix car race and the evacuation of spectators from the grandstands on Saturday, said organizers who were working on a revised schedule of the three-day IndyCar event. Right now we are still in evacuation procedures," the organizers of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg said in a statement. Florida, from the Panhandle region to Miami, was expected to be lashed by powerful storms "producing damaging winds, hail, and a few isolated tornadoes," throughout the day, the National Weather Service said in an alert Saturday afternoon. A tornado warning was issued for parts of Orlando, about 84 miles northeast of St. Petersburg, after meteorologists detected a twister in the area, the weather service said. Full Story | Top |
| Russia sees no need for Ukraine incursion, Tatars seek autonomy Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 12:43 PM PDT  By Katya Golubkova and Gabriela Baczynska MOSCOW/BAKHCHISARAY, Crimea (Reuters) - Russia said on Saturday it had no intention of invading eastern Ukraine following its annexation of Crimea, while the Black Sea peninsula's Muslim Tatars demanded autonomy. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet on Sunday in Paris, the State Department said, as both sides moved to ease tensions in the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War. In a pivotal political development, Ukraine's presidential election effectively became a two-horse race when boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko pulled out and threw his weight behind confectionary oligarch Petro Poroshenko. Speaking on Russian television, Lavrov reinforced a message from President Vladimir Putin that Russia would settle - at least for now - for control over Crimea despite massing thousands of troops near Ukraine's eastern border. Full Story | Top |
| Russia not intending to publish new blacklists: report Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 12:10 PM PDT Russia does not intend to publish new blacklists of Western citizens who may be targeted in sanctions as result of the Ukraine crisis, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday, according to Interfax. Moscow said on Friday that Russia has retaliated against expanded sanctions imposed by Western countries over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region but it did not name any U.S. or European Union officials affected. Ryabkov said on Saturday that Russia did not intend to copy Western counterparts and would not publish lists, Interfax said. Full Story | Top |
| Fuel cache blows up in Egypt, killing 10 Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 11:56 AM PDT Ten people were killed on Saturday in Egypt when an explosion ripped through a house where a man had been hoarding state-subsidized fuel to sell in the black market. A further 37 people were wounded by the explosion in the village of Shotora in the southern province of Sohag, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Fuels including gasoline and diesel are sold at a fraction of their real price in Egypt thanks to long-standing government subsidies that soak up a fifth of the state budget and have given rise to black markets and smuggling. Full Story | Top |
| Senegal shuts land border with Guinea to prevent Ebola spreading Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 11:54 AM PDT By Daniel Flynn and Saliou Samb DAKAR/CONAKRY (Reuters) - Senegal closed its land border with Guinea on Saturday to try to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, which Guinean authorities say is suspected of killing 70 people in what would be the deadliest outbreak in seven years. The discovery of 11 people suspected to have died of Ebola in Sierra Leone and Liberia in recent days has stirred concern that one of the most lethal infectious diseases known to man could spread in a poor corner of West Africa, where health systems are ill-equipped to cope. Senegal's Interior Ministry said it had closed the land border with Guinea in the southern region of Kolda and the southeastern region of Kedougou. Full Story | Top |
| Car bomb kills three soldiers in attack on Lebanese army checkpoint Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 11:00 AM PDT A suicide bomber killed himself and three soldiers when he detonated a car bomb at a Lebanese army checkpoint in the border town of Arsal on Saturday, Lebanese security sources said. Arsal is home to thousands of Syrian refugees but also Syrian rebels and their Lebanese allies who have fled a Syrian army advance on the Syrian side of the border. Lebanese Sunni militants accuse the Lebanese army of conspiring with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah, which has sent fighters into Syria to support Assad fight a Sunni-led revolt. Full Story | Top |
| Crimean Tatars' want autonomy after Russia's seizure of peninsula Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:55 AM PDT By Gabriela Baczynska BAKHCHISARAY, Crimea (Reuters) - The Crimean Tatars' assembly voted on Saturday in favor of seeking "ethnic and territorial autonomy" for the indigenous minority on the Black Sea peninsula annexed from Kiev by Moscow. The 300,000-strong Muslim minority make up less than 15 percent of Crimea's population of 2 million and has so far been overwhelmingly opposed to Russia's annexation of the peninsula. Crimean Tatars' assembly leader Refat Chubarov told more than 200 delegates: "In the life of every nation there comes a time when it must make decisions that will determine its future." "I ask you to approve ... the start of political and legal procedures aimed at creating ethnic and territorial autonomy of the Crimean Tatars of their historic territory of Crimea." The assembly subsequently voted in favor of his proposal, made in the Crimean Tatars historic capital of Bakhchisaray. Full Story | Top |
| Russia sees no need for Ukraine incursion, Lavrov to meet Kerry Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:42 AM PDT  By Katya Golubkova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Saturday it had "no intention" of invading eastern Ukraine, responding to Western warnings over a military buildup on the border following Moscow's annexation of the Crimean peninsula. The comments by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were followed by news that he would meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris on Sunday, as both sides moved to ease tensions in the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War. Speaking on Russian television, Lavrov reinforced a message from President Vladimir Putin that Russia would settle - at least for now - for control over Crimea despite massing thousands of troops near Ukraine's eastern border. Full Story | Top |
| Hezbollah leader defends Syria intervention Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:27 AM PDT Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday called for domestic support for his militants after a year of growing sectarian violence in Lebanon following the Shi'ite militant group's intervention in the Syrian war. "Some in Lebanon say the resistance (Hezbollah) has nothing to do with Syria," Nasrallah told supporters via a television link from a secret location in South Lebanon. He justified sending his forces to a foreign war by saying that Sunni rebel groups would "eliminate everyone in Lebanon" if they won in Syria. "The problem in Lebanon is not that Hezbollah went to Syria, but that we were late in doing so," he said. Full Story | Top |
| U.S., Russian foreign ministers to meet in Paris on Sunday to discuss Ukraine Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:14 AM PDT SHANNON, Ireland (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Paris on Sunday to discuss ways to resolve the Ukraine crisis, state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. The meeting follows Russian President Vladimir Putin's call to U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday to discuss a U.S. diplomatic proposal for Ukraine. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton, Editing by Angus MacSwan) Full Story | Top |
| German execs criticize West for allowing tension with Russia to rise Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:14 AM PDT By Maria Sheahan FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Several top German executives criticized the strategy of the U.S. and Europe in dealing with Russia after it took control of the Crimea region, fearing the consequences for their businesses. The European Union, United States and other Western nations have imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its seizure of the Crimea region of Ukraine and have threatened broader economic penalties if the crisis escalates, triggering the worst East-West clash since the Cold War. Steelmaker ThyssenKrupp's Chief Executive Heinrich Hiesinger told daily newspaper Die Welt that the events of the past had shown that great change could be achieved if the West cooperated with Russia rather than being confrontational. "Now we have a situation in which Russia feels that its back is against the wall," he said in an article published on the paper's website on Saturday. Full Story | Top |
| China unveils anti-graft rules for urbanization drive -state media Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 09:06 AM PDT  China has unveiled plans to tackle corruption and abuse of power in the real estate sector, state media said, as it tries to smooth the way for the mass migration of millions of Chinese into cities from the countryside. The anti-graft plans are part of an urbanization program designed to underpin a restructuring of China's economy, the world's second largest, away from exports towards one based mainly on domestic consumer demand. Corruption is rife in China, particularly within the state administration where many officials and their dependants have grown rich by abusing their authority, often in the areas of real estate and land ownership. The rules will strengthen penalties for fraud and illegal use of public housing and specify the responsible governments and departments as well as the conditions for abuse of power, neglect of duty, bribery and fraud, Xinhua said. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt court sentences two Mursi supporters to death Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 08:08 AM PDT An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced two supporters of former president Mohamed Mursi to death for murder during violence that broke out in Alexandria last year after the army deposed the Islamist head of state. The judge ruled that the two men's files be referred to the mufti, the country's highest religious authority to whom death sentences are always sent for review. In a separate case on Monday, an Egyptian court in the southern province of Minya sentenced 529 supporters of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood to death, drawing strong criticism from Western governments and human rights groups. Full Story | Top |
| Slovak voters turn out for cliffhanger presidential vote Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 07:43 AM PDT  By Jiri Skacel and Jan Lopatka BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovak voters turned out in unexpectedly higher numbers on Saturday for the runoff in the country's presidential election where an underdog philanthropist is challenging political heavyweight Prime Minister Robert Fico. Bookmakers are giving the edge to political newcomer Andrej Kiska, a businessman turned philanthropist riding on the wave of anti-Fico sentiment among right-wing voters as well as distrust in mainstream political parties because of graft scandals. Full Story | Top |
| Turkey begins espionage investigation after Syria leak Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 06:22 AM PDT  By Humeyra Pamuk ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey has started an espionage investigation after a discussion between top officials on potential military action in Syria was leaked on YouTube, heralding a possible government crackdown on its political opponents after elections on Sunday. The recording of the meeting between Turkey's intelligence chief, foreign minister and deputy head of the military was by far the most serious breach in weeks of highly sensitive leaks, a scandal which Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has cast as a plot to sabotage the state and topple him. Erdogan and his aides have blamed the Hizmet movement of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally whose followers have influence in the police and judiciary, of running a "dirty campaign" of espionage to implicate him in corruption ahead of crucial nationwide municipal elections on Sunday. "Tomorrow we will teach those liars and slanderers a lesson," Erdogan told a jubilant crowd of supporters in Istanbul's working class Kartal district on Saturday, vowing his ruling AK Party would triumph at the polls. Full Story | Top |
| Loyalty to embattled Erdogan lies deep in Turkey's pious heartlands Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 04:56 AM PDT  By Alexandra Hudson KONYA, Turkey (Reuters) - If Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is fighting the toughest battle of his political career as corruption allegations swirl and elections approach, Turkey's conservative Anatolian heartlands appear to have his back. Here, far from dividing his pious core supporters, the graft scandal and bitter power struggle with a U.S.-based cleric have served only to stir more devotion to a man they see as Turkey's greatest modern leader, delivering hospitals and schools and breaking the grip of secular elites over the past decade. One senior official called the crisis "one of the biggest in Turkish history" and the government has responded by blocking Twitter and YouTube, drawing public anger and international condemnation. But in Konya, a conservative city that gave Erdogan's AK Party 70 percent of the vote in a 2011 general election, many see the scandal as the prime minister does: part of a "dirty plot" to unseat him by ruthless and immoral political enemies. Full Story | Top |
| Top U.S. general to visit Israel amid strategy differences Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 04:40 AM PDT  The United States' top military officer will visit Israel next week where he will meet the defense minister who has angered Washington by criticizing its strategies in the Middle East and Ukraine. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon in Jerusalem on Sunday, an Israeli government official said on Saturday. In a statement, the Israeli military said Dempsey and his hosts would discuss "issues of mutual strategic interest, while continuing to build on this important defense relationship". The visit would reflect "the United States' unwavering commitment to Israel's security," it said. Full Story | Top |
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