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| Advisers to India's Modi dream of a Thatcherite revolution Saturday, Apr 05, 2014 07:22 PM PDT  By Frank Jack Daniel and Rajesh Kumar Singh NEW DELHI (Reuters) - When Indian opposition leader Narendra Modi gave a speech on the virtues of smaller government and privatization on April 8 last year, supporters called him an ideological heir to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died that day. Modi, favorite to form India's next government after elections starting on Monday, has yet to unveil any detailed economic plans but it is clear that some of his closest advisers and campaign managers have a Thatcherite ambition for him. "If you define Thatcherism as less government, free enterprise, then there is no difference between Modi-nomics and Thatcherism," said Deepak Kanth, a London-based banker now collecting funds as a volunteer for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "What Thatcher did with financial market reforms, you can expect a similar thing with infrastructure in India under Modi," he said, referring to Thatcher's trademark "Big Bang" of sudden financial deregulation in 1986. Full Story | Top |
| Brazilian leader Rousseff slips in poll on economic woes Saturday, Apr 05, 2014 02:12 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Support for President Dilma Rousseff is slipping among Brazilian voters who are increasingly pessimistic about their country's economy and disappointed with her performance, according to a poll published on Saturday. While Rousseff is still on track to win re-election outright in elections on October 5, she has lost six points among potential voters since last month, a survey by local Datafolha polling firm said. The poll showed more Brazilians want a change of course in government policies, and twice as many Brazilians think Rousseff's predecessor and mentor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is more qualified than her to carry out those changes. The leader of the main opposition party Aécio Neves was unchanged at 16 percent of voter intentions and Eduardo Campos, governor of Pernambuco state, edged forward one point to 10 percent. Full Story | Top |
| EU weighs new approach towards Russia in wake of Ukraine crisis Saturday, Apr 05, 2014 11:45 AM PDT By Justyna Pawlak ATHENS (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers tried to map out a new strategy towards Russia at talks in Athens on Saturday, pledging to keep a tough stance over its tensions with Ukraine, while steering clear of provoking Moscow into further conflict. Since Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, the European Union has imposed sanctions against the closest allies of President Vladimir Putin, and Group of Seven governments have suspended top-level contacts with Russia. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said it was not in the European Union's interest to fuel confrontation with Russia, already at its highest since the Cold War. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine eyes arbitration if Russia doesn't cut gas price Saturday, Apr 05, 2014 11:45 AM PDT By Pavel Polityuk and Thomas Grove KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine warned on Saturday it would take Russia to an arbitration court if talks with Moscow failed to roll back hikes in the price of natural gas that Kiev called an act of economic aggression. Russia nearly doubled the price Ukraine pays for its gas this week, forcing Kiev, whose economy is in chaos, to enter into emergency talks with European neighbors to boost cheaper imports from the West. Ukraine accuses Russia of using the price hikes as a tool of economic pressure after popular protests in Kiev ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich in February, souring relations between the two former Soviet republics. Russia seized Ukraine's Crimea region and formally annexed it last month widening the dispute into the biggest stand-off between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine detains 15 suspected of planning unrest in Russian-dominated east Saturday, Apr 05, 2014 11:45 AM PDT Ukraine's state security service said on Saturday it had detained 15 people suspected of planning to overthrow the authorities in a mostly Russian-speaking eastern region and had confiscated hundreds of rifles, grenades and petrol bombs. The service said those arrested were planning to stir up unrest in the region of Luhansk which, like most of Ukraine's eastern regions, has been tense since the ouster of pro-Russia former president Viktor Yanukovich in February. "The group of attackers planned to carry out an armed seizure of power on April 10 in the Luhansk region through the intimidation of the peaceful population and the use of weapons and explosives," the service, which has intelligence and policing functions, said in a statement. Eastern Ukraine's population is largely made up of Russian-speakers who are culturally close to Russia. Full Story | Top |
| Series of small earthquakes rock Oklahoma in record seismic activity Saturday, Apr 05, 2014 11:01 AM PDT Earthquakes rattled residents in Oklahoma on Saturday, the latest in a series that have put the state on track for record quake activity this year, which some seismologists say may be tied to oil and gas exploration. One earthquake recorded at 3.8 magnitude by the U.S. Geological Survey rocked houses in several communities around central Oklahoma at 7:42 a.m. local time. Another about two hours earlier in the same part of the state, north of Oklahoma City, was recorded at 2.9 magnitude, USGS said. Those two were preceded by two more, at 2.6 magnitude, and 2.5 magnitude, that also rolled the landscape in central Oklahoma early Saturday morning. Full Story | Top |
| Merkel: No one should doubt EU resolve on Russia sanctions Saturday, Apr 05, 2014 05:43 AM PDT  No one should doubt Europe's willingness to introduce tougher sanctions against Russia if it takes further steps to destabilize Ukraine, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday. Merkel acknowledged differences among EU countries in the Ukraine crisis but said this would not get in the way of a united approach. "If the territorial integrity of Ukraine continues to be violated, then we will have to introduce economic sanctions," Merkel told a congress of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), kicking off its campaign for European Parliament elections next month. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine says will not siphon off European gas if Russia cuts supplies Saturday, Apr 05, 2014 02:54 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ukraine Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said on Saturday Kiev would not take natural gas from pipelines that deliver supplies to European consumers if Russia turns off gas to Ukraine. Russia has accused Ukraine of stealing gas from pipelines that transit its territory during previous price rows, a charge Kiev denies. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Thomas Grove; Editing by David Holmes) Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine says to go to arbitration if Russia gas talks fail to cut price Saturday, Apr 05, 2014 02:53 AM PDT KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said on Saturday Kiev was still in negotiations with Moscow over reducing the price it pays for gas but will turn to an arbitration court if those talks fail to cut the cost of Russian gas. Moscow raised its gas tariff for Kiev twice this week, almost doubling it in three days in moves Kiev said were political. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Thomas Grove; Editing by David Holmes) Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Enbridge first to confirm re-exports of Canadian crude via U.S. Friday, Apr 04, 2014 09:37 PM PDT  By Selam Gebrekidan and Nia Williams NEW YORK (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc has become the first company to confirm plans to re-export Canadian oil from the United States, a move that could fuel debate over U.S. trade policy and intensify opposition to new oil sands pipelines. Its U.S. subsidiary Tidal Energy Marketing has received a U.S. government license to export "limited quantities" of Canadian-origin oil from a U.S. port, Enbridge said, confirming weeks of market rumors and speculation about such shipments. Re-exports from the United States are rare but allowed as an exception to a contentious ban on exports of its own oil imposed since the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s. Full Story | Top |
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