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| Australia says progress towards G20 growth target "unacceptable" Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 08:00 PM PDT  PERTH, Australia, April 13 - Slow progress towards meeting economic growth targets set by the Group of 20 bloc of advanced and developing nations this year is "unacceptable", Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey said on Sunday. G20 finance ministers had pledged to have "real and effective plans to lift the global economy by a further 2 percent" before they meet in Australia in September but were only one-tenth of the way there, he said. "The proposals put forward by nations so far have been unacceptable and they only meet 10 percent of our goal," Hockey told Australian Broadcasting Corp. TV after talks in Washington. Hockey coordinated the talks, with Australia holding the G20 presidency. Full Story | Top |
| New York district attorney investigating Port Authority: media reports Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 07:58 PM PDT  By David Jones NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - The Manhattan district attorney has issued a subpoena seeking correspondence from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's administration and records from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey relating to several major construction projects, according to media reports. The subpoena, issued in March, seeks a wide range of records from current and former officials from the Port Authority and Christie's administration about a number of projects, the Wall Street Journal, citing an unidentified source, reported on its website. The New York Times, also citing an unnamed source in a report on its website on Saturday, said District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr's rackets division is leading the investigation. The reports follow a scandal over the September closing of access lanes to the George Washington Bridge which connects New Jersey to northern Manhattan, ostensibly for a traffic study which never materialized, and which caused extensive delays for four days in the town of Fort Lee. Full Story | Top |
| Nevada ranching family claims victory as government releases cattle Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 07:42 PM PDT  By Jennifer Dobner BUNKERVILLE, Nevada (Reuters) - U.S. officials ended a stand-off with hundreds of armed protesters in the Nevada desert on Saturday, calling off the government's roundup of cattle it said were illegally grazing on federal land and giving about 300 animals back to the rancher who owned them. The dispute less than 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas between rancher Cliven Bundy and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had simmered for days. Bundy had stopped paying fees for grazing his cattle on the government land and officials said he had ignored court orders. Anti-government groups, right-wing politicians and gun-rights activists camped around Bundy's ranch to support him in a standoff that tapped into long-simmering anger in Nevada and other Western states, where vast tracts of land are owned and governed by federal agencies. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine prepares armed response as city seized by pro-Russia forces Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 06:54 PM PDT  By Pavel Polityuk and Thomas Grove KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Armed separatists took control of a city in eastern Ukraine on Saturday and Kiev prepared troops to tackle what it called an "act of aggression by Russia", pushing the conflict between the neighbors into a dangerous new phase. Pro-Russian activists carrying automatic weapons seized government buildings in Slaviansk, a town about 150 km (90 miles) from the Russian border, and set up barricades on the outskirts of the city. Government buildings in several other towns in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions were attacked in what Washington said were moves reminiscent of the events that preceded Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. "We are very concerned by the concerted campaign we see under way in eastern Ukraine today by pro-Russian separatists, apparently with support from Russia, who are inciting violence and sabotage and seeking to undermine and destabilize the Ukrainian state," said Laura Lucas Magnuson, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council. Full Story | Top |
| White House to send Biden to Kiev as conflict with Russia escalates Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 05:53 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Saturday that Vice President Joe Biden would travel to Kiev this month to show support for the Ukrainian government as U.S. officials expressed new concern over "violence and sabotage" by militants it said were apparently supported by Russia in eastern Ukraine. Biden, set to travel to Kiev on April 22, will become the most senior U.S. official to visit the country since the crisis began there. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the State Department said. Full Story | Top |
| French foreign minister meets Raul Castro on historic visit to Cuba Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 05:45 PM PDT  By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - France's foreign minister met with Cuban President Raul Castro on Saturday during the first visit to the island by such a high-ranking French official in 31 years and a sign of the quickening pace of improving ties between the European Union and Havana. Laurent Fabius said he discussed politics, human rights, market-oriented reforms in Cuba and bilateral relations in what he characterized as "a long conversation" with Castro. Earlier in the day, Fabius met with his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez, various Cabinet ministers, Cardinal Jaime Ortega and French businessmen. Since Fabius took office in 2012, he has tried to shift more of France's diplomatic focus toward winning contracts in markets where French firms are traditionally weak, as Paris looks to find growth opportunities overseas. Full Story | Top |
| Beijing rejects IMF's hard-landing warning for China's economy Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 05:40 PM PDT  By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Chinese official hit back on Saturday at International Monetary Fund warnings that China's economy faced the danger of a hard landing due to poor asset quality, saying the government was taking action to deal with financial risk. Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said China worked closely with the IMF but did not agree with all of its analysis. "In general, we think they are a very professional financial institution, but some of the methodology used and some traditional thinking, they also need reform," he told a small group of Western journalists on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington. If your policy suggestion is (to be) a valuable suggestion, you must base it on reality." IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned of the risk of what she termed a "hard landing" in China, the world's second-largest economy, and negative repercussions on other emerging markets in her Global Policy Agenda released at the start of the meetings in Washington on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| Conservatives Rand Paul, Ted Cruz test U.S. presidential waters in New Hampshire Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 05:07 PM PDT  By Gabriel Debenedetti MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Conservative Republican Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz tested the 2016 presidential waters at an event on Saturday in the influential state of New Hampshire at which potential opponents from the more moderate wing of the party did not appear. The "Freedom Summit" rally was the latest in a series of stops for Cruz and Paul, who are hoping to win the favor of the party's right wing for potential White House bids. The event was co-hosted by Americans for Prosperity, a group funded by the conservative billionaire Koch brothers and the single largest advertiser in the 2014 election cycle so far. Among other speakers was former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who ran for the Republican nomination in 2008 and is seen as a potential 2016 contender. Full Story | Top |
| Remaining cattle released to Nevada rancher after armed standoff: witness Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 04:39 PM PDT The U.S. Bureau of Land Management released on Saturday the remaining cattle of a Nevada ranching family that the agency had seized in a dispute over grazing on federal land, according to a Reuters witness. The close to 300 cattle were led through a wash under Interstate-15 near Bunkerville, Nevada, and back onto the grazing land where rancher Cliven Bundy's herds have grazed for decades. The action by U.S. officials, who had earlier ended a roundup of Bundy's cattle, followed the arrival of armed supporters of the ranching family. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. agency ends Nevada cattle roundup, releases herd after stand-off Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 04:39 PM PDT  By Jennifer Dobner BUNKERVILLE, Nevada (Reuters) - U.S. officials ended a stand-off with hundreds of armed protesters in the Nevada desert on Saturday, calling off the government's roundup of cattle it said were illegally grazing on federal land and giving about 300 animals back to the rancher who owned them. The dispute less than 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas between rancher Cliven Bundy and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had simmered for days. Bundy had stopped paying fees for grazing his cattle on the government land and officials said he had ignored court orders. The bureau had called in a team of armed rangers to Nevada to seize the 1,000 head of cattle on Saturday but backed down in the interests of safety. Full Story | Top |
| France's Hollande approval at record low, prime minister far ahead Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 04:00 PM PDT  French President Francois Hollande's popularity fell sharply in April to the lowest levels since he was elected in May 2012, taking his rating below that of the Prime Minister Manuel Valls to the largest gap ever calculated between the two titles. Only 18 percent are satisfied with Hollande's performance, five points less than last month, after his Socialist party was routed in local elections for a failure to turn around the euro zone's second largest economy and combat an unemployment rate stuck at more than 10 percent. Hollande reshuffled it cabinet in early April, putting former Interior Minister Valls to head the government after local elections in March resulted in a victory of the far-right National Front in a record number of towns. Valls won an approval rating of 58 percent in a poll carried out during April 4 to April 12, gaining the strongest popularity of a French Prime Minister at the beginning of the mandate. Full Story | Top |
| Pro-Russian separatists take Kramatorsk police HQ after firefight Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 02:57 PM PDT KIEV (Reuters) - Pro-Russian militants armed with automatic weapons on Saturday took control of the police headquarters in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, 150 km (95 miles) from the Russian border, a Reuters witness said. An organized military unit of over 20 men wearing matching military fatigues and carrying automatic weapon took over the building around 1700 GMT after arriving on at least two buses. Video footage showed the men taking orders from a commander and shooting from automatic rifles as they approached the building. (Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Peter Cooney) Full Story | Top |
| Ally says Algeria's Bouteflika recovering, will make reforms Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 02:29 PM PDT  By Patrick Markey and Lamine Chikhi ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is recovering steadily from a stroke last year, talks with his team every day, and is healthy enough to govern after the election on April 17, his chief ally said on Saturday. Bouteflika, a 77-year-old veteran of Algeria's independence war, has no serious rivals for re-election in Thursday's ballot, but he has not campaigned himself and has only rarely spoken in public since his illness. Questions about Bouteflika's health and Algeria's stability are key for Western governments, who see the North African state as a partner in the campaign against Islamist militancy in the Maghreb, and a stable supplier of gas for Europe. Abdelmalek Sellal, who resigned as prime minister to campaign for Bouteflika, said the president planned constitutional reforms to strengthen democracy, with term limits for the president and wider powers for opposition parties if he wins. Full Story | Top |
| Boston ramps up security ahead of first marathon since bombing Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 02:24 PM PDT  By Elizabeth Barber BOSTON (Reuters) - Boston officials vowed on Saturday to balance tight security with a feeling of fun at the coming Boston Marathon, the first running of the world-renown race since the bomb attack last year killed three people and injured 264. Officials advised residents and visitors to expect a large police presence through the week leading up to the April 21 race, starting with a memorial service attended by Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of the attack. "It will be the Boston Marathon as it has always been," Mayor Martin Walsh said during a press conference in front of city hall. Over 100 cameras have been installed at more than 50 observation points along the Boston portion of the course. Full Story | Top |
| Former U.S. Marine's family asks Iran to reconsider prison term Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 02:17 PM PDT  By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The family of an Iranian-American former U.S. Marine held in Iran since 2011 called on Saturday for senior Iranian officials to review his conviction and 10-year prison sentence on charges of collaborating with the U.S. government and to free him. The family of Amir Hekmati, whose previous espionage conviction and death sentence in Iran were overturned in 2012, said he was retried in secret, convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison on a charge of "practical collaboration with the American government." The family said he was innocent of the charges. Iran has not commented on any developments in the case. "The Hekmati family respectfully asks senior Iranian officials to review Amir's conviction, and to resolve this grave misunderstanding by granting Amir his freedom and a safe return home," the family, living in Flint, Michigan, said in a statement emailed to Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Draghi says a stronger euro would trigger looser ECB policy Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 01:54 PM PDT  By Jan Strupczewski and Krista Hughes WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Central Bank will ease monetary policy further if the euro keeps strengthening, President Mario Draghi said on Saturday as world finance chiefs ramped up pressure on Europe to ward off deflation. In the clearest signal yet the ECB was prepared to launch a stimulative asset-purchase program, Draghi said the euro's exchange rate had become increasingly important to policy and would act as a trigger. "The strengthening of the exchange rate would require further monetary policy accommodation. If you want policy to remain as accommodative as now, a further strengthening of the exchange rate would require further stimulus," he told a news conference. Full Story | Top |
| Russia says armed action by Ukraine would threaten peace talks Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 01:40 PM PDT Russia warned the United States on Saturday that any armed action by Ukrainian authorities in the east of Ukraine would undermine efforts at a diplomatic solution to the conflict and put planned peace talks at risk. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the warning during a call from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who expressed concern about Russia's role in "inciting" trouble in eastern Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Hungary's Orban retains two-thirds parliament majority Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 01:02 PM PDT  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's party has retained its two-thirds majority in parliament, and with it the ability to change the constitution, according to a final tally of votes from last weekend's election published on Saturday. Close results in some constituencies had meant it was not clear whether the Fidesz party would reach the threshold of 133 of the 199 seats in parliament. By late Saturday, with 99.9 percent of votes counted, the National Election Office's website said Fidesz would have exactly 133 seats, the Socialist-led leftist alliance 38, and the far-right Jobbik party 23. "Now it is certain that Fidesz will again have a two-thirds majority," said Peter Kreko, director of the political think tank Political Capital. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. senator warns of disenchanted voters in New Hampshire Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 12:43 PM PDT By Daniel Lovering MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders warned that a growing number of Americans were losing faith in the political system at a New Hampshire site that often hosts presidential primary debates. Liberal independent Sanders, 72, covered a raft of issues in an hour-long speech before taking questions from an audience of about 220 people at Saint Anselm College's New Hampshire Institute of Politics in Manchester, New Hampshire. "There are a lot of angry people out there." Earlier in the week, Sanders told his hometown Burlington Free Press newspaper that if he were to run for president in 2016, it would be important to perform well in the neighboring New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation nominating primary. Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen kidnap 100 Pakistani villagers in northwest, government says Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 12:33 PM PDT By Jibran Ahmad PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Gunmen stormed a village gathering in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday and kidnapped around 100 men, Pakistani government officials said. Officials said they suspected that the gunmen are Taliban who attacked because the villagers supported the government. Three local government officials told Reuters that the gunmen had initially taken around 100 villagers from a gathering in the remote region on the border of Orakzai and Khyber tribal areas, both of which border Afghanistan, but had later released around 40 of them. "The government has no writ in those areas between Orakzai and Khyber tribal region but we are hearing from the local people that tribal elders had sent (elders) to the Taliban to release the kidnapped villagers without any condition," one official said. Full Story | Top |
| French foreign minister on historic visit to Cuba Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 11:44 AM PDT  By Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) - France's foreign minister arrived in Cuba on Saturday for a brief but historic visit, the first by such a high-ranking French official in 31 years and a sign of the quickening pace of improving ties between the European Union and Havana. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius met with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez upon arrival, and was scheduled to meet with Cardinal Jaime Ortega and then French businessmen. Rodriguez met with Laurent in Paris last month. "We want to strengthen our ties with South America and particularly with Cuba," Fabius said, before sitting down for talks with Rodriguez. Full Story | Top |
| Thousands march in Paris, Rome against austerity, economic reforms Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 10:56 AM PDT  PARIS/ROME (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people took part in protests in central Paris and Rome on Saturday organized by hard-left parties against government economic reform plans and austerity measures. The protest in Rome turned violent when a large splinter group - many wearing masks and helmets - threw rocks, eggs, firecrackers and oranges at riot police in front of the industry ministry. Riot police with batons charged the group, with protesters fighting back with rocks and firecrackers. In Paris, protestors marched from the Place de la Republique, some carrying banners attacking President Francois Hollande with slogans such as "Hollande, that's enough" and "When you are leftist you support employees." French police said that about 25,000 joined the protest, which came after new Prime Minister Manuel Valls unveiled planned tax and spending cuts on Tuesday, vowing to bring down France's public deficit and following on the heels of pro-business reforms announced earlier this year by Hollande. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine accuses Russia of 'act of aggression' Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 10:50 AM PDT KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine considered attacks by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine on Saturday as an "act of aggression by Russia", Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said. "Units of the interior and defense ministries are implementing an operational response plan," he said in a statement on his Facebook page. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) Full Story | Top |
| Funeral in Missouri for soldier killed at Fort Hood Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 10:35 AM PDT  Mourners gathered in Rolla, Missouri, on Saturday for the funeral of one of three U.S. soldiers killed in a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army base earlier this month. Friends and family of Iraq war veteran Timothy Owens, 37, a native of Effingham, Illinois, attended a private service at First Baptist Church. Veteran Frank Reinhart said the mission of the Patriot Guard Riders was to ensure dignity at memorial services for fallen military, something his generation missed after returning from the Vietnam War. "You go through little towns and see people with their hands over their hearts, it's very moving," Reinhart said, adding that the group aims "to see that the family gets support and a little bit of honor." Two other soldiers died in the attack this month - Daniel Ferguson, 39, of Mulberry, Florida, and Carlos Lazaney Rodriguez, 38, of Puerto Rico. Full Story | Top |
| Vienna orchestra to return Nazi-looted painting Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 09:51 AM PDT The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra will return to a French family a valuable painting that was looted by the Nazis and given to the orchestra as a gift in 1940 by a Viennese secret police official. The heirs of the painting's late owner, Marcel Koch, will receive "Port-en-Bessin" by neo-Impressionist Paul Signac at a ceremony this year, the orchestra said on Saturday, announcing the latest step to address its past association with Nazism. About half the Philharmonic's musicians were Nazi party members by 1942, four years after Hitler's annexation of Austria. Thirteen musicians with Jewish origins or relations were driven out of the orchestra and five died in concentration camps. Full Story | Top |
| China backs aid for Ukraine, worried by IMF funding capacity Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 09:16 AM PDT By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China said on Saturday it backed IMF financial support for Ukraine, but expressed concern about the global lender's funding capacity given the failure of the U.S. Congress to ratify a program of reforms for the institution. Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao told a small group of Western journalists on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank spring meetings in Washington it was a "worry" that more than 85 percent of IMF lending was currently focused on Europe. Zhu highlighted the importance of reacting quickly to any problems that arise in regions outside Europe, adding: "That is why IMF financial capacity has become so important." Zhu said China was worried about the potential impact of the Ukraine crisis, especially on Europe, which was already facing risk from deflation. Full Story | Top |
| Scottish leader urges voters to put aside politics for independence Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 09:15 AM PDT  By Belinda Goldsmith ABERDEEN, Scotland (Reuters) - First Minister Alex Salmond on Saturday urged Scots to look beyond party politics and break the 307-year union with England when they vote in an independence referendum in September. Closing the Scottish National Party's (SNP) last conference before the ballot on September 18, Salmond said a vote for independence was not a vote for his party or for him, but a way to put Scotland's future in its own hands. His appeal comes after a narrowing in opinion polls that has for the first time in the SNP's 80-year history made independence look a possibility, with both sides now trying to convince up to 15 percent of voters who remain undecided. Salmond promised to form an all-party "Team Scotland" group after a "Yes" vote to negotiate terms of independence by March 24, 2016, such as how to divide oil revenues, the currency, removing nuclear weapons, and European Union membership. Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian hardline Islamist leader jailed for one year Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 08:56 AM PDT An Egyptian court sentenced a hardline Islamist former presidential hopeful to one year in prison on Saturday for insulting the court, state news agency MENA reported. Salafist preacher Hazem Salah Abu Ismail is on trial for fraud in a case related to presidential elections in 2012 which brought the now ousted President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood to power. Abu Ismail, who has links to the Brotherhood, was disqualified from that election after reports that his late mother had held a U.S. passport. During his short-lived presidential campaign, he built a passionate base of followers among Salafists who broadly opposed Mursi's ousting a year later. Full Story | Top |
| Fed's Kocherlakota touts tax cuts for business spending Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 08:52 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Cutting taxes on business investment is an effective form of economic stimulus that could go a long way toward mending the damage from the financial crisis and Great Recession, a top Federal Reserve official said on Saturday. In prepared remarks that did not touch on monetary policy, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Narayana Kocherlakota told a National Bureau of Economic Research conference that even apparently permanent damage to the economy can be reversed if policymakers are willing to take appropriate steps. The U.S. economy was hit hard by the 2007-2009 financial crisis and the ensuing recession, with output last year 13 percent below where it had been before the crisis. Although high unemployment has received the most policy attention, spurring unprecedented amounts of monetary accommodation from the U.S. central bank, the biggest drag on growth has actually been a decline in business capital, according to research presented at the conference by Stanford University professor Robert Hall. Full Story | Top |
| Deceased Dutch Catholic bishop was child molester: commission Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 08:18 AM PDT By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor PARIS (Reuters) - The Dutch Catholic Church, in a rare admission of guilt among senior clergy, has confirmed that a bishop who died last year had sexually abused two boys decades earlier. The diocese of Roermond said a Church commission had found that accusations against former bishop Johannes Gijsen, dating back to his time as chaplain at a minor seminary from 1958 to 1961, were "well founded". Mea Culpa, a Dutch group supporting abuse victims, welcomed the Roermond statement. Bishop Frans Wiertz, current head of Roermond diocese, said he accepted the commission's findings and "regrets the abuse and suffering inflicted on the victims". Full Story | Top |
| Fading signals add urgency to search for missing Malaysian jet Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 07:24 AM PDT  By Swati Pandey PERTH (Reuters) - The search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner resumed on Saturday, five weeks after the plane disappeared from radar screens, amid fears that batteries powering signals from the black box recorder on board may have died. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott warned on Friday that signals picked up during the search in the remote southern Indian Ocean, believed to be "pings" from the black box recorders, were fading. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared soon after taking off on March 8 from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board, triggering a multinational search that is now focused on the Indian Ocean. Search officials say they are confident they know the approximate position of the black box recorder, although they have determined that the latest "ping', picked up by searchers on Thursday, was not from the missing aircraft. Full Story | Top |
| Ukrainian regional police chief steps down Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 07:14 AM PDT The regional police chief of the east Ukrainian city of Donetsk said on Saturday he was quitting his post, bowing to demands from pro-Russian protesters. Above the police headquarters, the Ukrainian flag was no longer flying, and was replaced with a separatist flag, according to a Reuters witness. "In accordance with your demands I am stepping down," police chief Kostyantyn Pozhydayev told protesters. Full Story | Top |
| California sheriff probes inmate mistreatment report at county jail Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 06:56 AM PDT (Reuters) - A California sheriff and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have launched an investigation into whether inmates were mistreated at a jail outside Los Angeles, the sheriff's department said in a statement late Friday. The San Bernardino Sheriff's office said that it received a report in March about possible misconduct by the staff at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga and that three deputies who had worked at the facility were "no longer employed" by the department as of Tuesday. "These allegations are being taken very seriously and this department is determined to get answers." FBI officials in California could not immediately be reached for comment. Full Story | Top |
| Iran rejects U.S. ban on pick for U.N. envoy, vows legal action Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 06:46 AM PDT  By Mehrdad Balali DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran on Saturday rejected a U.S. decision to deny a visa for its newly appointed ambassador to the United Nations, pledging to take up the case directly with the world body in a dispute that has reopened old wounds dating to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The United States, which hosts the United Nations, said Iran's candidate Hamid Abutalebi was unacceptable given his role in a 444-day crisis in which radical Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 52 Americans hostage. President Barack Obama had come under strong domestic pressure not to allow Abutalebi into the United States to take up his position in New York, raising concerns that the dispute would disrupt delicate negotiations between Tehran and six world powers including Washington over Iran's nuclear program. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine says Russia stoking unrest as gunmen seize more buildings Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 06:44 AM PDT  By Gleb Garanich SLAVIANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukraine appealed to Russia to halt "provocative actions" in its eastern regions on Saturday as pro-Russian militants seized two more government buildings and called for autonomy from Kiev. At least 20 armed militants wearing mismatched camouflage outfits took over the police and security services headquarters in the eastern city of Slaviansk, about 150 km (90 miles) from the border with Russia, seizing hundreds of handguns. Police said gunmen later took over the local headquarters of Ukraine's SBU security service. Ukraine's acting foreign minister, Andriy Deshchytsia, urged Russia to end what he called "provocative actions" by its agents in a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Full Story | Top |
| Preventing summer blackouts in Egypt is "impossible" -minister Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 06:37 AM PDT  Egypt's minister of electricity and renewable energy said that the government will not be able to prevent power cuts this summer, an acknowledgment of the severe energy crunch facing the most populous Arab country. "Eliminating blackouts and reducing loads this summer is impossible," Mohamed Shaker said in comments published on Saturday in the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper. Summer blackouts have hit Egypt in the past few years as successive governments have failed to develop a sound strategy to tap major natural gas reserves even as a rapidly growing population boosted demand for the fuel. But power cuts have come early this year, ahead of peak electricity use in the summer when many households crank up their air-conditioning units - a sign of the most severe energy crunch in years. Full Story | Top |
| Greece's Eurobank gets green light for 2.9 billion euro share issue Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 06:16 AM PDT  By George Georgiopoulos ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's third-largest lender Eurobank got approval on Saturday from the country's bank rescue fund, its main shareholder, for a 2.86 billion euro ($3.97 billion) share offering to plug a capital shortfall. Eurobank expects the share offering to be completed by May, its board told shareholders on Saturday. Eurobank will be the third Greek lender after Alpha Bank and Piraeus to tap capital markets to bolster it equity this year, as signs that Greece is starting to recover from its severe debt crisis are luring foreign investors back to battered Greek assets. Athens returned to the bond market on Thursday after a four-year exile, raising 3.0 billion euros with a five-year bond that was snapped up by foreign investors. Full Story | Top |
| Anglo American seeks compensation from Venezuela Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 05:59 AM PDT  Anglo American is seeking compensation from Venezuela at a World Bank tribunal over the 2012 cancellation of mining concessions by late president Hugo Chavez's government. The World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) said on its website the claim was introduced on Thursday, but gave no more details. Venezuela faces more than 20 international compensation cases in disputes largely stemming from the 1999-2013 Chavez era. He died from cancer in 2013, with a protégé, Nicolas Maduro, winning election to replace him. Full Story | Top |
| France's Le Pen, in Moscow, blames EU for new 'Cold War' Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 05:57 AM PDT  By Alessandra Prentice MOSCOW (Reuters) - Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Front, blamed the European Union for declaring a new Cold War on Russia that would hurt all concerned, Russian media reported on Saturday as she paid an official visit to Moscow. Europe-Russia relations are at their lowest ebb in decades after President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea prompted the EU to impose sanctions on dozens of prominent Russian officials and lawmakers. However Le Pen, along with other Eurosceptic leaders of the far left and nationalist right, believe the original fault lies with Brussels for offering closer ties with Ukraine, a move Russia opposes. Full Story | Top |
| Beirut police detain Berlusconi ally ahead of mafia verdict Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 05:28 AM PDT  By Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - Beirut police on Saturday picked up a longtime political ally and friend of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi after he was declared a fugitive earlier this week. A Palermo court said on Friday that former senator Marcello Dell'Utri, who co-founded Berlusconi's Forza Italia party in 1994, was considered a fugitive ahead of a final verdict in a trial for mafia collusion, due on Tuesday. "He was captured and is now in a Lebanese police office," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, a former Berlusconi ally who broke with the centre-right leader last year, said on the sidelines of a political rally in Rome. But Dell'Utri, in a statement issued through his lawyer, Giuseppe Di Peri, responded on Friday that he had left the country for medical tests and some rest after undergoing an angioplasty a few weeks ago. Full Story | Top |
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