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| Fading signals add urgency to search for missing jet Friday, Apr 11, 2014 09:08 PM PDT  By Swati Pandey and Ben Blanchard PERTH/BEIJING (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 were about to die. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said signals picked up during the search in the remote southern Indian Ocean, believed to be "pings" from the black box recorders, were "rapidly fading". "While we do have a high degree of confidence that the transmissions that we've been picking up are from flight MH370's black box recorder, no one would underestimate the difficulties of the task still ahead of us," Abbott told a news conference in Beijing. 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. Full Story | Top |
| Australia avoids worst of Cyclone Ita but more wind, rain due Friday, Apr 11, 2014 08:13 PM PDT Australia's northeast escaped the worst of a tropical cyclone that was expected to wreak havoc and bring dangerous storm tides after it weakened and was downgraded on Saturday. "I am greatly relieved that at this time we've had no reports of either death or injury," Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said. Even though tropical Cyclone Ita was downgraded from a Category 5 storm to Category 1, Newman urged residents to stay at home or in shelters as wind gusts of up to 120 km (75 miles) per hour and heavy rain were still forecast for some areas. The storm, the strongest to approach the Queensland coast in three years, was classified as a tropical depression when it marched across the Solomon Islands late last week, killing at least 23 people, according to the United Nations. Full Story | Top |
| With new leader for Obamacare, White House shifts to election mode Friday, Apr 11, 2014 08:06 PM PDT  By Steve Holland, Roberta Rampton and David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Kathleen Sebelius' departure as President Barack Obama's health secretary signals a new chapter in the White House's efforts to defend Obama's signature healthcare law and help Senate Democrats who face tough battles for re-election in conservative states this fall. In the tightly orchestrated transition that included Sebelius' resignation late Thursday and Obama's quick appointment of well-regarded budget director Sylvia Mathews Burwell as Sebelius' replacement, the political calculus was clear: Having stood by Sebelius during a painful few months when Obamacare's rollout was marred by a balky enrollment web site, stinging criticism from Republicans and falling popularity ratings for Obama, the White House saw a chance to reset the national conversation over Obamacare amid good news, and with a new face in charge of the program. Full Story | Top |
| Former U.S. Marine Hekmati retried, convicted in Iran: report Friday, Apr 11, 2014 07:01 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iranian-American Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine whose previous death sentence in Iran on espionage charges was overturned, has been secretly retried, convicted of collaborating with the U.S. government and sentenced to 10 years in prison, the New York Times reported on Friday, quoting his lawyer. The newspaper quoted lawyer Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei as saying Hekmati, held since 2011, was not told by Iranian officials about the retrial, conviction or prison sentence. ... Full Story | Top |
| Magnitude 6.6 quake hits southwest Nicaragua: USGS Friday, Apr 11, 2014 06:03 PM PDT  MANAGUA (Reuters) - A 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit southwest Nicaragua on Friday near the coast, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, shaking buildings in the capital Managua and as far away as San Jose in Costa Rica. Initial reports indicated no major damage from the quake, which was also felt in El Salvador. The quake struck 15 miles south of the town of Granada, near the country's Pacific coast, at a depth of 86 miles, the USGS said. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said a tsunami was not expected due to the depth of the quake. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wild horses targeted for roundup in Utah rangeland clash Friday, Apr 11, 2014 05:41 PM PDT  By Jennifer Dobner ENTERPRISE, Utah (Reuters) - A Utah county, angry over the destruction of federal rangeland that ranchers use to graze cattle, has started a bid to round up federally protected wild horses it blames for the problem in the latest dustup over land management in the U.S. West. Close to 2,000 wild horses are roaming southern Utah's Iron County, well over the 300 the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has dubbed as appropriate for the rural area's nine designated herd management zones, County Commissioner David Miller said. Wild horse preservation groups say any attempt to remove the horses would be a federal crime. On Thursday county workers, accompanied by a Bureau of Land Management staffer, set up the first in a series of metal corrals designed to trap and hold the horses on private land abutting the federal range until they can be moved to BLM facilities for adoption. Full Story | Top |
| Hints of possible deal on Ukraine gas emerge at G20 Friday, Apr 11, 2014 04:46 PM PDT By Lidia Kelly WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Behind statements that Russia will not budge in demanding Ukraine repay its debts for its natural gas deliveries, hints emerged at a meeting of G20 finance chiefs this week that a deal in which Moscow eases its stance might be in the works. Financial aid to Ukraine was a hot topic at a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of 20 leading nations, but the country's gas crisis, which could threaten deliveries to Europe, topped discussions with Russia that were held on the sidelines. Moscow, which alienated Western powers by annexing Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, this month raised the price it charges Kiev for gas and said it awaits $2.2 billion in unpaid bills. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov reiterated the Kremlin's threats that it may switch to prepaid gas deliveries to Ukraine if payments don't start coming, but between the now-standard lines he signaled some room for maneuver. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. sanctions Crimea gas company, in move aimed at Gazprom Friday, Apr 11, 2014 04:46 PM PDT By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on a Crimea-based gas company, Chernomorneftegaz, effectively putting it off limits to Russia's state-controlled Gazprom, which was expected to bid for a stake in the company. The move, along with penalties on six Crimean separatists and a former Ukrainian official, is the third round of U.S. sanctions since the Ukraine crisis erupted and lays down a harder line ahead of talks among U.S., Russian, Ukrainian and EU officials in Geneva on Wednesday. Russian forces took over Crimea last month and Moscow annexed the Ukrainian region on March 18, angering Western powers who say Russia has massed forces on its border with Ukraine, possibly as a prelude to seizing more of the country. Russia denies having such plans. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says G7 backs more sanctions if Russia escalates Ukraine crisis Friday, Apr 11, 2014 04:46 PM PDT  A group of the world's leading rich nations will support increasing sanctions against Russia if Moscow escalates the crisis in Ukraine, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said on Friday. "There is broad and strong unity within the G7 on increasing sanctions and costs in response to escalating action from Russia," Lew said at a news conference, referring to the Group of Seven industrial nations. The G7 includes the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Great Britain. Top officials from the group met in Washington on Thursday and discussed the situation in Ukraine at length, Lew said. Full Story | Top |
| Russia, Ukraine, EU and U.S. to hold talks on April 17 in Geneva Friday, Apr 11, 2014 04:46 PM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union confirmed plans on Friday for talks between Russia, Ukraine, the EU and the United States in Geneva on April 17. "The European Union is fully engaged in the diplomatic efforts to deescalate the crisis in Ukraine and to find a political solution," the office of EU foreign policy representative Catherine Ashton said. Ashton will take part in the talks. (Reporting by Justyna Pawlak; Editing by Anguys MacSwan) Full Story | Top |
| Amid 'gas war' talk, Russia reassures Europe on supply Friday, Apr 11, 2014 04:46 PM PDT By Natalia Zinets and Alexei Anishchuk KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to ease European fears of gas supply cuts on Friday after Brussels said it would stand with the new authorities in Kiev if the Kremlin carries out a threat to turn off the tap to Ukraine. 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. A repeat of that scenario could hurt Russia as well as EU customers for its gas because Moscow depends for its public revenues on selling gas in Europe. "I want to say again: We do not intend and do not plan to shut off the gas for Ukraine," Putin said in televised comments at a meeting of his advisory Security Council. Full Story | Top |
| Scottish leader urges voters to put aside politics for independence Friday, Apr 11, 2014 04:05 PM PDT  By Belinda Goldsmith ABERDEEN, Scotland (Reuters) - Scotland's leader Alex Salmond will on Saturday urge Scots to put aside party politics in the vote on independence, as he tries to win support from Labour rivals for his bid to leave the United Kingdom. In an address to the Scottish National Party's (SNP) last conference before a September 18 referendum, Salmond will stress that a vote for independence is not a vote for him or his party 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 made a vote for independence look a possibility, with both sides trying to persuade the up to 15 percent of voters who remain undecided. Salmond will promise to set up an all-party "Team Scotland" group after any "Yes" vote, to negotiate the terms of independence by March 24, 2016. Full Story | Top |
| Iranian official will not get visa for U.N. ambassadorship: White House Friday, Apr 11, 2014 03:01 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Friday it would not grant a visa to Iran's proposed U.N. ambassador, citing the envoy's links to the 1979-1981 hostage crisis, in a rare step that raises questions about how much influence the White House can wield over the world body. President Barack Obama had come under strong pressure not to allow Hamid Abutalebi into the country to take up his position in New York, raising concerns that the dispute would disrupt delicate negotiation between Tehran, Washington and other world powers over Iran's nuclear program. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United Nations and Iran had been told "that we will not issue a visa to Mr. Abutalebi." Neither the White House nor the State Department provided further explanation. Full Story | Top |
| Ohio links fracking to earthquakes, announces tougher rules Friday, Apr 11, 2014 02:02 PM PDT By Edward McAllister NEW YORK (Reuters) - Recent small earthquakes in Ohio were likely triggered by fracking, state regulators said on Friday, a new link that could have implications for oil and gas drilling in the Buckeye State and beyond. In the strongest wording yet from the state linking energy drilling and quakes, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) said that injecting sand, water and chemicals deep underground to help release oil and gas may have produced tremors in Poland Township last month. The statement, in which the department announced stricter rules for oil and gas exploration in areas where seismic activity has occurred, comes after a steep rise in earthquakes in Ohio and other areas where intense drilling has taken place. Full Story | Top |
| Madagascar names new prime minister, eyes World Bank aid Friday, Apr 11, 2014 01:47 PM PDT By Lovasoa Rabary ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Madagascar named Kolo Christophe Laurent Roger, a radiologist who lived abroad for decades, as its new prime minister on Friday, as part of a process aimed at ending prolonged political turmoil on the Indian Ocean island. President Hery Rajaonarimampianina, who took office in January, has pledged to woo foreign investors and tourists to Madagascar, which is famed for its exotic wildlife and also boasts nickel, cobalt, coal, iron ore and uranium deposits. "(Roger Kolo) was proposed by 12 parties with 93 members (backing him). In Madagascar, the president wields most power, while the prime minister's job is to run day-to-day affairs of government and to implement the president's policies and orders. Full Story | Top |
| India election chief bans rallies by Modi aide over religious hatred Friday, Apr 11, 2014 01:31 PM PDT  By Frank Jack Daniel NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Narendra Modi, widely tipped to become India's next prime minister, suffered a setback on Friday when his closest aide was banned from election rallies and meetings after a series of speeches deemed to have stoked tensions with Muslims. Modi, 63, a pro-business Hindu nationalist, is the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which hopes to oust the ruling Congress Party of Rahul Gandhi with its promises of jobs and new infrastructure. The aide, Amit Shah, who faces murder charges dating to his time serving under Modi in the state government of Gujarat, runs Modi's campaign in the state of Uttar Pradesh, which has a population larger than Brazil's and holds the keys to national power. It was not immediately clear what impact a possibly disruptive ban on meetings in Uttar Pradesh by such a high profile figure would have on Modi's campaign in the state. Full Story | Top |
| Iran's oil exports surge above West's sanctions cap: IEA Friday, Apr 11, 2014 12:53 PM PDT  By Ron Bousso and Timothy Gardner LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran's crude oil exports have surged to their highest in 20 months, far exceeding a 1 million barrel-per-day limit set by the West under an interim deal on curbing Tehran's nuclear program. The International Energy Agency's monthly report revised February's global crude imports from Iran upwards by 240,000 bpd to 1.65 million barrels per day, the highest since June 2012. Under an interim deal signed in November between Iran and six world powers - known as the P5+1 - that came into effect on January 20, Iran's exports are supposed to be held to an average 1 million bpd through July 20. Tough international sanctions over the past two years have cut Iran's oil exports by about half. Full Story | Top |
| Iran says U.S. visa decision on U.N. envoy pick 'regrettable' Friday, Apr 11, 2014 12:37 PM PDT A U.S. decision to not issue a visa for an Iranian official to allow him to become Iran's ambassador to the United Nations was "regrettable," a spokesman for Iran's mission to the United Nations said on Friday. "It is a regrettable decision by the U.S. Administration which is in contravention of international law, the obligation of the host country and the inherent right of sovereign member states to designate their representatives to the United Nations," spokesman Hamid Babaei said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Russia says Germany, others willing to help with Ukraine's gas crisis Friday, Apr 11, 2014 12:12 PM PDT Russia's finance minister said on Friday that his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schaeuble, and other ministers from the Group of 20 leading nations have expressed willingness to help resolve Ukraine's gas crisis. Schaeuble met on the sidelines of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund spring meeting in Washington and gas deliveries to Ukraine dominated the bilateral talk, Anton Siluanov said. "Schaeuble and others are interested in a fast resolve of Ukraine's (gas) conflict and in the country's ability to repay its obligations," Siluanov said. Full Story | Top |
| Iran official says envoy decision will not affect nuke talks Friday, Apr 11, 2014 12:08 PM PDT An Iranian official said on Friday a U.S. decision to deny a visa to an Iranian diplomat to allow him to become Iran's ambassador to the United Nations would not affect Tehran's nuclear talks with world powers. The official told Reuters it would be for the Iranian foreign ministry to "take the necessary measures" in any official response by the Islamic Republic to the U.S. decision to bar Hamid Abutalebi. But the U.S. move "will have no impact on our talks with the P5+1 ", the official added, using a phrase that refers to the six powers involved in negotiating with Tehran. The U.S. government objects to Abutalebi because of his suspected participation in a Muslim student group that held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days starting in 1979, when the group seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, the Iranian capital. Full Story | Top |
| Policeman hurt in Bahrain bomb blast:ministry Friday, Apr 11, 2014 11:28 AM PDT A policeman was wounded when a homemade bomb exploded in a village in Bahrain on Friday, the Interior Ministry said, in the latest of a series of attacks by suspected Shi'ite Muslim militants on security forces. No one claimed responsibility for the blast in the village of al-Daih, west of the capital Manama. Bahrain has for three years been grappling with unrest by its Shi'ite Muslim community demanding political reform and an end to perceived discrimination in the Sunni Muslim-ruled country. Bahrain denies discrimination. Full Story | Top |
| Pope asks forgiveness for 'evil' of child abuse by priests Friday, Apr 11, 2014 11:04 AM PDT By Naomi O'Leary VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis made his first public plea for forgiveness on Friday for the "evil" committed by priests who molested children, using some of his strongest words yet on the Roman Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis. The Argentine-born pontiff said the Church, which last month named a high-level group on the scandal including an abuse victim, had to take an stronger stand on a scandal that has haunted it for more than two decades, and indicated there would be repercussions for perpetrators. "I feel compelled to personally take on all the evil that some priests - quite a few in number, (although) obviously not compared to the number of all priests - to personally ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children," he told members of the International Catholic Child Bureau. Because you cannot interfere with children," Francis said in unscripted comments as he addressed the children's rights body. Full Story | Top |
| Shift to green energy will be tiny brake on growth: U.N. Friday, Apr 11, 2014 10:52 AM PDT By Alister Doyle, Environment Corrrespondent BERLIN (Reuters) - A radical shift from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy would slow world economic growth by only a tiny fraction every year, a new draft U.N. report on tackling global warming said on Friday. Many governments had complained that an earlier draft was not clear in its estimate of the costs of low-carbon energy, which include solar or wind, nuclear and fossil fuels whose greenhouse gas emissions are captured and buried underground. The study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a main guide for governments working on a U.N. pact due to be agreed in Paris at the end of 2015 to slow global warming, which the IPCC says is extremely likely to be man-made. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. expects Iran will meet oil export target in nuclear deal Friday, Apr 11, 2014 10:43 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration believes that oil exports from Iran from January to July will meet an average 1 million barrel per day goal outlined in an interim agreement with Tehran over curbing its disputed nuclear program, a State Department spokeswoman said on Friday. "We expect, we still expect, and anticipate that this will average over a six-month period ... to meeting the bar that was set" in the interim agreement, spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. The Paris-based International Energy Agency on Friday revised Iran's exports in February up 240,000 bpd to 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Libya's western Zawiya oil port, refinery shut by protests Friday, Apr 11, 2014 10:42 AM PDT  By Feras Bosalum and Julia Payne TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's bid to resume normal oil exports after blockades at eastern ports that have lasted months stumbled on Friday when the oil terminal and refinery at Zawiya in the west were closed by fresh protests. Two days ago, the same group of protesters set fire to the council headquarters for the town of Zawiya, one of the activists told Reuters. BREAKTHROUGH DEAL The port closure compounds Libya's troubles in resolving protests that have choked oil exports and adds to stoppages at the connecting oilfield El Sharara and its pipeline which have been blocked by other groups since March. Full Story | Top |
| Ex-adviser says Indian PM was hobbled by Sonia Gandhi Friday, Apr 11, 2014 10:42 AM PDT  A former media adviser to India's prime minister has alleged in a new book that Manmohan Singh allowed his authority to be undermined by Sonia Gandhi, president of the Congress party and standard-bearer of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Sanjaya Baru's book, "The Accidental Prime Minister", was published on Friday, days after India began a five-week election that is expected to oust Singh's Congress-led coalition from power after two successive terms. But the memoirs, which show the prime minister as subservient to a woman without an official government position, are likely to hand the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a stick with which to beat the Congress party in an increasingly acrimonious campaign. The government is answerable to the party." Singh's spokesman Pankaj Pachauri described the book as "an attempt to misuse a privileged position and access to high office to gain credibility". Full Story | Top |
| Militias in Central African Republic block Muslims exit to Cameroon: U.N. Friday, Apr 11, 2014 10:21 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Christian militia forces are blocking the main roads used by Muslim civilians trying to flee Central African Republic to Cameroon and attacking the refugees, the United Nations said on Friday, citing accounts from "traumatized" victims. Some refugees have suffered serious machete and gunshot wounds and many are severely malnourished after walking for months, having to detour and enter Cameroon via remote entry points, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. "New arrivals have told our colleagues the militias have blocked main roads to Cameroon, forcing people to wade through the bush for two to three months before reaching the border. The refugees also said that the anti-balaka attacked them during the flight," UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. Full Story | Top |
| Darfur rebel says peacekeepers turning blind eye to new violence Friday, Apr 11, 2014 10:13 AM PDT  By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - A veteran rebel leader from Sudan's Darfur region accused international peacekeepers on Friday of turning a blind eye to what he called a renewed campaign of ethnic cleansing by government-backed Arab militias. The joint U.N/African Union UNAMID peacekeeping force told Reuters it was doing as much as it could policing the vast western territory - and Sudan's government dismissed rebel leader Minni Minnawi's account of a fresh offensive. International efforts have failed to end clashes in Darfur, more than 10 years after Khartoum unleashed militias to try and crush a rebellion by mostly non-Arab insurgents. Frustrated with the lack of progress, the U.N. Security Council last week demanded improvements in UNAMID, and urged Khartoum to improve cooperation with the mission. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. charges nine in international hacking conspiracy; two extradited from UK Friday, Apr 11, 2014 10:07 AM PDT  Nine people have been charged in an alleged international conspiracy that used malicious software to gather bank account details and use the information to steal millions of dollars, including from accounts held at a Nebraska bank, the Department of Justice said on Friday. Two of the defendants, both Ukrainian nationals who were living in the UK, have been extradited to face charges in Nebraska, the U.S. Justice Department said. A grand jury indicted the defendants in August 2012, but the indictment was not unsealed until Friday. The Zeus virus is a piece of malicious software that has been widely used to steal credit card information and other financial data. Full Story | Top |
| Russia says U.S. should convince Ukraine government not to use force Friday, Apr 11, 2014 10:03 AM PDT Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday urged U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to use Washington's influence to convince Ukraine's government to refrain from using force against protesters in eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, the ministry said. Lavrov told Kerry in a telephone conversation that Washington should use its influence "in order to avoid the use of force and to push (the government in Kiev) to a dialogue with representatives of the regions to create conditions allowing for fully fledged constitutional reform," the ministry said. Full Story | Top |
| Chinese rush for bottled drinks after benzene pollutes tapwater Friday, Apr 11, 2014 09:50 AM PDT  BEIJING/PARIS (Reuters) - Residents in the Chinese city of Lanzhou rushed to buy bottled drinks on Friday after authorities said benzene, a cancer-inducing chemical, had been found in tapwater at 20 times above national safety levels. The water supply was turned off in one district, and officials warned citizens not to drink tapwater for the next 24 hours. "Lanzhou has shut down the contaminated water supply pipe and deployed activated carbon to absorb the benzene," local authorities said in a statement. The water supply company, Lanzhou Veolia Water Co, is majority-owned by the city government, with Veolia China, a unit of French firm Veolia Environnement, holding a 45-percent stake. Full Story | Top |
| Germany's Merkel praises Greece, wants joint European response to Putin letter Friday, Apr 11, 2014 09:48 AM PDT  Germany will continue to back Greece, whose reforms are paying off but still has a long way to go to overhaul its economy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Athens on Friday. Asked to comment on a letter by Russian Premier Vladimir Putin to 18 European leaders, about the flows of natural gas from Russia to the Ukraine, Merkel said Europe needed to consult and deliver a joint response. "There is good reason to take this letter as an opportunity to deliver a joint European response," Merkel said, adding the issue will be discussed in a meeting by European Union foreign ministers on Monday. Full Story | Top |
| In Burkina Faso, some Mali refugees want to grow up to serve Friday, Apr 11, 2014 09:44 AM PDT By Misha Hussain GOUDEBOU, Burkina Faso (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - T en-year-old Atahib goes to school in the Goudebou refugee camp in the savannah of Burkina Faso, not hoping to become a teacher or a doctor like his classmates. Each day, Atahib wakes up before the Muslim morning call to prayer to help his mother with her chores - unpaid work that people from their Bella ethnic group have been doing for the lighter-skinned Tuaregs for centuries in Mali, Niger and Mauritania. At 7 a.m., Atahib walks along a dusty track to join the rest of the children in school. His masters fled to Burkina Faso after a rebellion erupted in their home, northern Mali, two years ago. Full Story | Top |
| Slim majority of Swiss oppose buying Saab fighters: poll Friday, Apr 11, 2014 09:24 AM PDT A slim majority of Swiss voters are against the purchase of 22 Gripen fighter jets from Swedish defence firm Saab, a poll showed on Friday, though the number who oppose the deal has fallen. A referendum on the purchase will be held in May. The results will determine whether Switzerland will spend $3.4 billion to replace Switzerland's aging fleet of Northrop F-5 Tiger fighters with the Gripen jets. The Gripens are unpopular with some in Switzerland, which has not fought an international war for 200 years, because the deal will require cost cuts in other areas, such as education. Switzerland's upper and lower houses voted in favour of the purchase of the jets in September, but Swiss interest groups can secure referendums on new laws by collecting enough signatures. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine PM offers more powers for regions to end eastern standoff Friday, Apr 11, 2014 09:16 AM PDT By Lina Kushch and Thomas Grove DONETSK/LUHANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukraine's prime minister offered on Friday to boost local powers in the regions in an effort to undercut pro-Russia separatists who have occupied official buildings in Russian-speaking cities in eastern Ukraine. But separatists still occupied the main regional offices in Donetsk, while in Luhansk armed rebels were refusing an offer of non-prosecution by the Kiev authorities in exchange for them laying down their weapons and quitting the regional offices of the state security service. The new pro-Europe leadership in Kiev says the separatists are acting out a plan drawn up by the Kremlin to dismember Ukraine and follows the scenario under which Russia annexed Crimea. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt violence kills three; group names suicide bomber Friday, Apr 11, 2014 09:13 AM PDT By Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - Two members of the Muslim Brotherhood were killed in an exchange of gunfire with Egyptian security forces in the Nile Delta on Friday, the Interior Ministry said, and the Islamist group said another of its supporters was shot dead in Alexandria. Attacks on the security forces have become commonplace since the army deposed president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood last July after mass protests against his rule. The state has declared the Brotherhood a terrorist group, but its leaders say it remains committed to peaceful activism. Egypt's Interior Ministry said the Nile Delta shootout began when Brotherhood activists on motorbikes were spotted attempting to set alight a police checkpoint on a road between the cities of Tanta and al-Mahalla al-Kubra north of Cairo. Full Story | Top |
| Albania readies power imports to make up for drought Friday, Apr 11, 2014 09:05 AM PDT By Benet Koleka TIRANA (Reuters) - Albania is working to arrange the import of electricity worth up to 90 million euros ($124.93 million) to make up for the loss of domestic output caused by a drought, officials said on Friday. The Balkan state, which relies almost entirely on hydro power plant to produce electricity, has seen water flows to its power stations cut by 40 percent in another year of little rain. Finance Minister Shkelqim Cani said this year's rainfall and snow, below the decade-average by more than a third, meant Albania had "very serious problems with energy". "We have one month to find alternative sources because we shall import 100 million to 200 million euros of additional power, outside the budget," Cani told a local television. Full Story | Top |
| Longtime Berlusconi ally declared fugitive ahead of mafia verdict Friday, Apr 11, 2014 08:45 AM PDT  By Wladimir Pantaleone PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) - A longtime political ally, business associate and friend of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has left the country ahead of a final ruling on mafia collusion charges, a Palermo prosecutor said on Friday. This week the Palermo court issued an arrest warrant for former Senator Marcello Dell'Utri, who co-founded Berlusconi's Forza Italia party in 1994, after prosecutors said they had evidence that he had already left the country and there was a "concrete danger" that he would not return for the verdict due next Tuesday, according to a court document dated April 8. After he could not be tracked down, the court declared Dell'Utri a fugitive, Palermo prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio told Reuters. "Now we will start the procedure for tracking him down abroad, with help from the justice ministry and Interpol." When contacted early on Friday, Dell'Utri's lawyer, Giuseppe Di Peri, said he did not know his client had left the country. Full Story | Top |
| Two Kenyans kidnapped by Somali militants in 2011 freed Friday, Apr 11, 2014 08:41 AM PDT Two Kenyans kidnapped by Somali Islamists in 2011 have been found alive in Somalia, officials said. Kenyan officials said the two men were rescued by Kenyan troops who are part of the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia but al Shabaab rebels said the duo were freed in February after converting to Islam. They're incoherent and dazed," said Willy Wesonga, the Kenyan Defence Force (KDF) spokesman. Emmanuel Chirchir, another spokesman for the Kenyan military, said one of the two kidnapped men was James Kiarie Gichui, a driver for CARE International, a charity. Full Story | Top |
| Indian election gets personal, rivals attack Modi over marriage Friday, Apr 11, 2014 08:39 AM PDT  India's Rahul Gandhi on Friday laid into opposition candidate Narendra Modi for acknowledging for the first time only this week that he is married, the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter fight to form the next government. Modi, 63, is the favorite to become prime minister when election results are announced on May 16, polls show, and uses stump speeches to accuse the Gandhi family of decades of misrule. After dodging questions for years about a woman named Jashoda Chiman Modi who says they had an arranged wedding more than 40 years ago, Modi publicly acknowledged that he is married in election documents filed on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
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