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| 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 |
| 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 |
| White House to send Biden to Kiev as conflict with Russia escalates Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 03:27 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Kiev on April 22, to demonstrate high-level U.S. support for Ukraine, the White House said on Saturday after expressing concern about escalating tensions in the eastern part of the country. The White House warned Russia against further military action in Ukraine after armed separatists seized government offices in the eastern city of Slaviansk, saying the situation was reminiscent of what happened before Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region. "The vice president will discuss the latest developments in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists, apparently with the support of Moscow, continue an orchestrated campaign of incitement and sabotage to destabilize the Ukrainian state," the White House said in a statement. Biden, a top advisor to President Barack Obama on foreign policy issues, has been deeply involved in U.S. diplomatic efforts in Ukraine since protests erupted in Kiev in November. Full Story | Top |
| Biden to visit Kiev to show U.S. support for Ukraine unity: White House Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 02:48 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Kiev on April 22 to meet with government officials and civil society groups ahead of the Ukrainian presidential election in May, the White House said on Saturday. "The vice president will underscore the United States' strong support for a united, democratic Ukraine that makes its own choices about its future path," the White House said in a statement. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Will Dunham) 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 'Million Orchid' project to revive native Florida flowers Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 05:41 AM PDT  By Zachary Fagenson MIAMI (Reuters) - Inside a small bright lab, nestled behind sprawling Banyan trees in Miami's Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, scientists and volunteers tend to tens of thousands of just-germinated orchids tucked in glass bottles. In the coming weeks, crews in bucket trucks, usually used to fix power lines, will lift the fragile plants onto trees that line south Florida's roads, hoping they will take root and re-establish the blanket of millions of brightly colored flowers that once covered the state. "We want to bring back not just the orchids, but the insects that pollinate them," said Carl Lewis, who leads the Million Orchid Project as director of the botanic garden. Florida's obsession with orchids, particularly rare species, was detailed in journalist Susan Orlean's 1998 book, "The Orchid Thief," which was about the arrest of a man and a group of Seminole Indians who poached the rare Ghost Orchid in hopes of cloning it for profit. Full Story | Top |
| Billionaire Russian gas trader says U.S. sanctions a badge of honor Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 03:09 AM PDT  By Christian Lowe MOSCOW (Reuters) - Gennady Timchenko, the billionaire Russian gas trader hit with U.S. sanctions over his alleged ties with the Kremlin following Russia's annexation of Crimea, said being singled out by Washington was a badge of honor. But Timchenko, who sold his stake in oil trading firm Gunvor last month, acknowledged that the sanctions were slightly inconveniencing his business interests because some European banks were reluctant to deal with him. "The fact that I was included in the list (of people subject to U.S. sanctions) was a little surprising maybe, but it was quite an honor for me," he said in an interview with the state-run Rossiya television station to be broadcast later on Saturday. "In general it is not all that serious because we anticipated this might happen and so in a certain sense took care in advance of our assets" by shifting them into Russian bank accounts, Timchenko said. Full Story | Top |
| Billionaire Russian gas trader says U.S. sanctions a badge of honour Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 02:53 AM PDT By Christian Lowe MOSCOW (Reuters) - Gennady Timchenko, the billionaire Russian gas trader hit with U.S. sanctions over his alleged ties with the Kremlin following Russia's annexation of Crimea, said being singled out by Washington was a badge of honour. But Timchenko, who sold his stake in oil trading firm Gunvor last month, acknowledged that the sanctions were slightly inconveniencing his business interests because some European banks were reluctant to deal with him. "The fact that I was included in the list (of people subject to U.S. sanctions) was a little surprising maybe, but it was quite an honour for me," he said in an interview with the state-run Rossiya television station to be broadcast later on Saturday. "In general it is not all that serious because we anticipated this might happen and so in a certain sense took care in advance of our assets" by shifting them into Russian bank accounts, Timchenko said. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine suspends gas payments to Russia until talks conclude Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 02:41 AM PDT  Ukraine's state-run energy company Naftogaz has suspended gas payments to Russia until the conclusion of price talks, chief executive Andriy Kobolev was quoted as saying on Saturday. Russia, which last month angered Western powers by annexing Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, has raised the price it charges Kiev for gas and said it owes Moscow $2.2 billion in unpaid bills. It also says Kiev had failed to pay its bill on time. Russian gas giant Gazprom earlier this month increased gas price for Ukrainian consumers to $485 per 1,000 cubic meters (tcm) from $268 for the first quarter, saying Kiev was no longer eligible for previous discounts. Full Story | Top |
| Total set to push ahead with Angolan Kaombo oil project Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 02:15 AM PDT  Total is on the verge of making a final investment decision on Angola's Kaombo oil project after lowering the costs by $4 billion, the French oil major's chief executive said on Friday. "There are projects which had problems, like Kaombo, because they were too expensive. We've managed to cut costs by $4 billion," Christophe de Margerie told reporters on the sidelines of an oil conference in Paris. Asked if it had made a final investment decision, the CEO said: "We're on the verge." A source with knowledge of the matter said the company might make an official statement on Monday morning. Full Story | Top |
| Congo Republic state oil firm seeks to revive oilfields Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 02:09 AM PDT Republic of Congo's state oil company SNPC said it hopes to develop a strategy to pump more oil from fields under-exploited by foreign investors as part of a plan to revive oil production. Societe Nationale des Petroles du Congo (SNPC) said in a statement in Congolese newspaper La Semaine Africaine on Friday that it had completed two geological surveys since December in the Mengo-Kundji-Bindi (MKB) permit to assess their potential. "SNPC is using hydraulic fracturing on the Kundji field allowing improved production of compact reserves...which constitute the oil reserves on the MKB permit. The Kundji field is currently being exploited by SNPC in collaboration with Ivorian state oil company Petroci and Canada's Orion Oil and Gas, SNPC said. Full Story | Top |
| 12,000 evacuated from St. Louis stadium after gas odor reported Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 12:21 AM PDT (Reuters) - About 12,000 people were evacuated from a Missouri stadium after a gas odor was reported on Friday evening, but no leak was detected, St. Louis fire officials and gas utility The Laclede Group Inc. said. The crowd funneled out of the Edward Jones Dome, the home of the St. Louis Rams National Football League team, after about 9 p.m. local time (0200 GMT), the gas utility and the St. Louis Fire Department said in a statement. Fire officials also ordered people away from the downtown building for at least an hour while Laclede ran tests which ultimately found no natural gas leak, fire officials and the company said. Full Story | Top |
| Intercept's liver disease drug proves highly effective in study Friday, Apr 11, 2014 10:04 PM PDT A drug being developed by Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc led to significant improvement in signs of a rare liver disease that primarily affects middle-aged women, likely reducing the risk of need for liver transplant and of death, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial presented on Saturday. Nearly half the patients suffering from primary biliary cirrhosis who received the drug, obeticholic acid, achieved the primary goals of the study, compared with 10 percent for those who received a placebo, researchers said. The composite main goal of the study was to achieve at least a 15 percent reduction in levels of alkaline phosphatase, a biomarker for severity of the liver disease, serum alkaline phosphatase activity of less than 1.67 times the upper limit of normal and bilirubin within normal limits. "Reduction in alkaline phosphatase is really the best prognostic factor for survival," Dr. Frederik Nevens, the study's lead investigator and chairman of the department of hepatology at the University of Leuven, in Belgium, said in a telephone interview. Full Story | Top |
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