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| Malaysia plane hunt resumes amidst optimism over 'pings' Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 09:00 PM PDT  By Matt Siegel and Swati Pandey SYDNEY/PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - The search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner resumed on Thursday with a renewed sense of optimism, after Australian officials said they had detected two new "ping" signals that may have come from the plane's black box recorders. The mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared more than a month ago, has sparked the most expensive search and rescue operation in aviation history, but concrete information has proven frustratingly illusive. "I'm now optimistic that we will find the aircraft, or what's left of the aircraft, in the not too distant future," Angus Houston, the head of the Australian agency coordinating the search, told reporters in Perth. Full Story | Top |
| Car bomb explodes outside a Greek central bank building, no injuries Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 08:58 PM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - A car bomb went off outside a Bank of Greece building in central Athens early on Thursday, causing damages but no injuries a police source said. Police cordoned off the area after a Greek newspaper received a warning call from a person saying that a bomb containing about 70 kilograms of explosives would detonate at the central bank, the police official added on condition of anonymity. The explosion comes hours before Greece plans to return to bond markets for the first time since its international bailout began four years ago. ... Full Story | Top |
| Beijing eyes smog controls ahead of APEC meeting Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 08:52 PM PDT  China may revive 2008 Beijing Olympics-style air pollution controls when it holds a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in the often smog-shrouded capital in November, state media said on Thursday. Officials are mulling traffic curbs based on license plate numbers to cut emissions and the closure of plants and construction sites during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting, which draws many heads of state from the group's 21 member economies. The plan is reminiscent of emergency measures implemented with mixed results to tame Beijing's chronic pollution when the city was on the world stage ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics. During the APEC meeting, officials would work with the local governments in the nearby city of Tianjin and surrounding Hebei province to combat smog, Zhuang Zhidong, deputy head of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, was cited by the English-language China Daily newspaper as saying. Full Story | Top |
| Indonesia's surprise election result unsettles investors Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 08:25 PM PDT  By Jonathan Thatcher JAKARTA (Reuters) - An unexpectedly weak election result for the party behind the frontrunner to be Indonesia's next president hurt stocks and the currency on Thursday, with concern Southeast Asia's biggest economy could be heading into a period of political confusion. Early returns from Wednesday's parliamentary election show that the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) will have no choice but to cut a deal with other parties to nominate its hugely popular candidate for president in a July 9 poll. Investor enthusiasm for Indonesia had been on the rise on the belief that Jakarta governor Joko Widodo might even win enough votes to avoid having to go to a run-off in three months time. "At the very least, expectations on the duration of the presidential election is likely to move from one to two rounds, which increases the period of uncertainty," Trimegah Securities wrote in a research note. Full Story | Top |
| Pistorius forced to look at 'exploded' head of girlfriend Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 05:36 PM PDT  By Joe Brock PRETORIA (Reuters) - A South African prosecutor forced Oscar Pistorius on Wednesday to look at a forensic photograph that showed the head of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp after it was blown open by a hollow-point bullet fired by the Olympic and Paralympic track star. In a dramatic opening to his cross-examination of Pistorius, prosecutor Gerrie Nel made him admit he had killed Steenkamp then later confronted him with the photograph showing the side and back of her skull, her hair matted with blood and brains. Pistorius responded by burying his head in his hands in the witness stand, rocking from side to side and weeping. The double amputee sprinter, once revered across the world for his triumph over adversity, faces life in prison if convicted in the Pretoria High Court of the murder of Steenkamp, a 29-year-old law graduate and model. Full Story | Top |
| Death toll rises to 36 in Washington state mudslide Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 05:30 PM PDT  (Reuters) - The death toll in a mudslide that buried much of a rural Washington state community last month rose to 36 on Wednesday after medical examiners extricated one more body from the rubble. A rain-soaked hillside collapsed without warning above the north fork of the Stillaguamish River on March 22, unleashing a torrent of mud that engulfed some three dozen homes on the outskirts of the tiny community of Oso. The death toll had stood at 35 on Tuesday. President Barack Obama will stop in Oso on April 22 and plans to view the devastation and meet with families of those affected by the disaster, as well as first responders and recovery workers. Full Story | Top |
| More funds sought for Bangladesh factory collapse victims Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 05:14 PM PDT  Campaigners launched a new effort on Thursday to push Western brands to pay into a compensation fund for victims of the collapse of a Bangladeshi factory almost a year ago that killed more than 1,100 people. Global trade unions IndustriALL and UNI and labor rights network Clean Clothes Campaign said in a joint statement that a fund set up for the over 2,000 people injured and the families of the dead had raised only a third of its target of $40 million to date. They said only half of the 29 brands that sourced goods from factories in the Rana Plaza complex have contributed to the fund run by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and want the rest to pay by the first anniversary of the April 24 disaster. The last year has seen medical expenses, lack of income and the horrors of that day relived," said Jyrki Raina of IndustriALL. Full Story | Top |
| Separatists in east Ukraine call on Putin for help, Kiev warns of force Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 03:00 PM PDT By Thomas Grove LUHANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Pro-Russian separatists reinforced barricades around the state security building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk on Wednesday and called on President Vladimir Putin for help after the government warned it could use force to restore order. Protesters were also engaged in talks to ease the standoff, which Kiev has said could provide a pretext for a Russian invasion, and lawmakers from eastern Ukraine proposed an amnesty for protesters to defuse tension. The former KGB headquarters is one of three government buildings seized this week in eastern Ukraine by protesters demanding regional referendums on independence from Kiev. Full Story | Top |
| Two French soldiers wounded in Central African Republic before U.N. vote Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 02:47 PM PDT Two French soldiers were wounded in the Central African Republic capital, an army spokesman said on Wednesday, a day before the United Nations Security Council was due to vote on a new peacekeeping force. Killings have continued between the majority Christian population and increasingly isolated Muslim communities in the landlocked former French colony despite the presence of 2,000 French peacekeepers as well as 6,000 African Union forces. In a sign of the ongoing difficulty in restoring order, two French soldiers were wounded in the legs when a man threw a grenade at them after he had been asked to disarm, said French Army Captain Sebastien Isern in Banqui. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, who met with its interim leader Catherine Samba-Panza, said only 29 percent of the funding had been forthcoming. Full Story | Top |
| Move to oust Thai PM more than just a walk in the park for protesters Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 02:06 PM PDT  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two months ago, Piyavadee Boonmak was living comfortably at home. But she quit her job as a civil servant and now works as a volunteer cleaning toilets at Lumpini Park, the new focal point of anti-government protests in the Thai capital. Piyavadee now lives in a khaki tent in the central Bangkok park, once a haven for joggers but now a temporary home for more than 10,000 supporters of a movement that has been trying for five months to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Their aim is also to rid Thailand of the influence of her billionaire brother, ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Full Story | Top |
| Extinct Australian predator was fierce but no Tasmanian devil Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 02:02 PM PDT By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A fox-sized marsupial predator that roamed Australia from about 23 to 12 million years ago had plenty of bite to go along with its bark. But while it was certainly fierce, it was no Tasmanian devil, Australia's famously ferocious bantamweight brute. They used 3D computer software to reconstruct its skull - patterned after a nicely preserved fossil - and performed biomechanical analysis to see whether it was a champion chomper. The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, assessed the biting and killing capabilities of a marsupial called Nimbacinus dicksoni that lived in northern Australia during the Miocene Epoch, a span of time populated by a wondrous array of mammals and other animals. Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu orders cutback in contacts with Palestinian Authority Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 01:58 PM PDT  By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel announced on Wednesday a partial freeze in high-level contacts with the Palestinians and also threatened economic steps after they signed international conventions, deepening a crisis menacing U.S.-brokered peace talks. Israeli government officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered cabinet members, directors-general of government ministries and other senior officials not to meet their counterparts in the Palestinian Authority (PA). A spokesman for the PA, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said Israeli-Palestinian ministerial meetings were rare but voiced concern about the possibility of Israeli economic sanctions. The order does not apply to Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel's chief peace negotiator, or to defense and security officials, Israeli officials said. Full Story | Top |
| Election board rejects Turkish opposition call for Ankara re-run Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 01:50 PM PDT Turkey's opposition failed on Thursday to have the results of a local election in Ankara canceled in an attempt to salvage some victory from nationwide polls that proved a triumph for Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey's High Election Board refused an appeal by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) for a re-run of the March 30 Ankara result on allegations of irregularities in the count. A reversal of the Ankara result would be little more than a consolation prize for the opposition, which failed to dent Erdogan's support nationally in a vote that became a referendum on his rule as he battles allegations of corruption. Erdogan dismisses the allegations as politically motivated. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. expectations low for talks with Russia on Ukraine: diplomat Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 01:44 PM PDT By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. expectations for talks with Russia on the Ukraine crisis next week are not high, the top U.S. diplomat for Europe said on Wednesday, but it is essential to make every effort to ease tensions. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Victoria Nuland also reiterated the U.S. accusation that Russia was behind the takeover of government buildings in eastern Ukraine this week. Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union will hold a ministerial meeting next week to discuss the Ukraine crisis, the EU said on Tuesday. Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela reaches out to Vatican No. 2 to mediate crisis Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 01:32 PM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's government formally invited Vatican No. 2 Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Wednesday to mediate talks with the opposition in hopes of stemming violence that has killed dozens in the nation's worst unrest in a decade. In a letter, President Nicolas Maduro's government asked that Parolin, a former envoy to Venezuela who is now the Vatican's secretary of state, be named a "good faith witness" to a dialogue agreed after two months of protests. A Vatican spokesman confirmed the Roman Catholic Church's willingness to mediate, but gave no details. Venezuela's opposition coalition had indicated that current Vatican envoy, Aldo Giordano, would be attending the first formal talks, which are to start on Thursday in Caracas. Full Story | Top |
| Kuwait hopes for remedy to Gulf row over Qatar soon Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 01:23 PM PDT By Sylvia Westall KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait expects to see "positive steps" taken in a dispute between Qatar and three other Gulf Arab states as soon as this week that may include a decision to send those countries' ambassadors back to Doha, a Kuwaiti official said on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain last month took the unprecedented step of recalling their ambassadors from Qatar in protest at what they see as Doha's political meddling and giving support to Islamist groups that they see as a regional political and security menace. The public nature of the dispute has highlighted the severity of divisions that are usually kept behind the closed doors of the U.S.-allied Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). "There will be very positive steps in the future regarding this ... I hope this week," Kuwait's undersecretary for foreign affairs Khaled al-Jarallah told reporters. Full Story | Top |
| Bill seeks to block mandatory GMO food labeling by states Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 01:01 PM PDT  A Republican congressman from Kansas introduced legislation on Wednesday that would nullify efforts in multiple states to require labeling of genetically modified foods. The bill, dubbed the "Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act," was drafted by U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo and is aimed at overriding bills in about two dozen states that would require foods made with genetically engineered crops to be labeled as such. The bill specifically prohibits any mandatory labeling of foods developed using bioengineering. "We've got a number of states that are attempting to put together a patchwork quilt of food labeling requirements with respect to genetic modification of foods," said Pompeo. Full Story | Top |
| Russia says four-way talks on Ukraine must foster internal dialogue Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 12:50 PM PDT By Steve Gutterman and Adrian Croft MOSCOW/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia told the West on Wednesday that four-way talks between representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the United States and European Union must focus on fostering dialogue among Ukrainians and not on bilateral relations among the participants. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov delivered the message in a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the Foreign Ministry said. It said Lavrov and Kerry urged all sides to refrain from violence in eastern and southern Ukraine. The European Union said on Tuesday that top diplomats from the EU, Russia, Ukraine and the United States would meet next week to discuss the crisis, but Russia says it wants to know more about the agenda for such a meeting. Full Story | Top |
| Frontrunner in Afghan vote rules out coalition government Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 12:32 PM PDT  By Maria Golovnina KABUL (Reuters) - A frontrunner to succeed Hamid Karzai as Afghanistan's president voiced the possibility of teaming up with a rival on Wednesday but ruled out forming a coalition government in order to avoid a second-round runoff. Afghanistan voted in a landmark presidential election last weekend which, if successful, will usher in the first democratic handover of power in the country's history as Karzai prepares to step down after more than 12 years in office. Preliminary tallies put former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah in the lead in parts of the capital Kabul. But it could be weeks before a countrywide winner emerges from the field of eight candidates because Afghanistan's rugged terrain and weak infrastructure make tallying all the ballots so difficult. Full Story | Top |
| Hezbollah confident in Assad, West resigned to Syria stalemate Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 12:11 PM PDT  By Samia Nakhoul and Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) - Bashar al-Assad's Lebanese ally Hezbollah said his Western foes must now accept he will go on ruling Syria after fighting rebels to a standstill - a "reality" to which his foreign enemies seem increasingly resigned. Echoing recent bullish talk coming out of Damascus, Sheikh Naim Qassem, deputy leader of the Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia which is supporting Assad in combat, told Reuters that the president retained popular support among many of Syria's diverse religious communities and would shortly be re-elected. He said the United States and its Western allies were in disarray and lacked a coherent policy on Syria - reflecting the quandary that Western officials acknowledge they face since the pro-democracy protests they supported in 2011 became a war that has drawn al Qaeda and other militants to the rebel cause. Syria's fractious opposition - made up of guerrillas inside the country and a largely impotent political coalition in exile - had, he said, proved incapable of providing an alternative to four decades of rule by Assad and his late father before him. Full Story | Top |
| Iran, six powers seek to narrow 'significant gaps' in nuclear talks Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 10:48 AM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau and Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran will never slow down its nuclear research program, its supreme leader said on Wednesday as negotiators from Tehran and six world powers struggled to narrow "significant gaps" that the United States warned might be insurmountable. Western powers, along with Russia and China, want to prevent chronic tensions in the Middle East from boiling over into a wider war or triggering a regional nuclear arms race. Iran, for its part, is keen to be rid of international sanctions hobbling its oil-based economy. Clerical supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the Islamic Republic's negotiating team in Vienna should not yield to issues "forced upon them". Full Story | Top |
| Twin car bombs in Syria's Homs kill at least 21 people Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 10:46 AM PDT  At least 21 people including women and children were killed by twin car bombs in the central Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday, a monitoring group and state media said. The explosions went off in the Karam al-Loz area of Homs, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, and the death toll was expected to rise because over 100 people were wounded, some seriously. Syrian state news agency SANA put the death toll at 25, saying it included women and children. The Observatory, an anti-Assad group that monitors violence on both sides through a network of sources in Syria, said the area was inhabited largely by Alawites, the Shi'ite Islam-derived sect of President Bashar al-Assad. Full Story | Top |
| Cuba says U.S. hunger striker's treatment in prison 'dignified' Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 10:32 AM PDT  By Daniel Trotta HAVANA (Reuters) - A U.S. contractor who has launched a hunger strike while serving a long prison term in Cuba is receiving "dignified and decent treatment" in a hospital ward where he is in stable health, a Cuban official said on Wednesday. Cuba's communist government said it was concerned by a statement from Alan Gross's lawyer on Tuesday that said his client had begun a hunger strike last week to protest his treatment by both the Cuban and U.S. governments. Gross, 64, is serving a 15-year prison term for trying to start an illegal Internet service for Cuban Jews while working as a subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Full Story | Top |
| Kenya deports Somalis, arrests hundreds in crackdown after attacks Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 10:26 AM PDT  By Humphrey Malalo NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya said on Wednesday it had deported 82 Somalis and rounded up hundreds of others without proper documents, part of a security crackdown launched after repeated attacks claimed by militants from neighboring Somalia. Police had detained 472 people in the past few days, Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku told reporters at a stadium where other people were being screened to establish their identity. Muslim leaders say they have been targeted unfairly by the arrests - and Human Rights Watch has called on Kenya to reconsider plans to move Somali refugees from cities to camps. Kenya says the measures are vital to security. Full Story | Top |
| Trinidad's ex-Prime Minister Robinson dies at 87 Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 10:19 AM PDT Trinidad and Tobago's former Prime Minister and President A.N.R. (Ray) Robinson, one of the architects of the International Criminal Court, died on Wednesday at age 87 after a long illness. National Security Minister Gary Griffith confirmed the death of Robinson who served as prime minister from 1986 to 1991 and as president from 1997 to 2003. Robinson is internationally recognized for his proposal, at the 44th session of the United Nations in 1989, to create a permanent international court to hear cases involving the international drug trade. Full Story | Top |
| Top EU election candidates struggle to find differences Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 10:16 AM PDT By Paul Taylor PARIS (Reuters) - The top two rival candidates to lead the European Commission struggled on Wednesday to find real policy differences in the first live television debate ahead of European Parliament elections next month. Conservative Jean-Claude Juncker and Social Democrat Martin Schulz - both native German speakers - argued politely in French over the appropriate balance between budget austerity and investment to promote economic growth in a 50-minute debate on France 24 television. Juncker, 59, the veteran former Luxembourg prime minister and chairman of euro group finance ministers, stressed the need to maintain tight control of public finances and said he could see no grounds to give France more time to reduce its deficit. "France has already had two extensions to its period of adjustment. Full Story | Top |
| French appeals court blocks Kazakh tycoon Ablyazov's extradition Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 10:14 AM PDT A French appeals court has blocked the extradition from France to Ukraine or Russia of jailed Kazakh tycoon Mukhtar Ablyazov, accused of embezzling up to $6 billion from his former bank BTA, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Ablyazov had been in hiding since being sentenced to prison for contempt of court by an English judge in 2012. He was arrested near the Riviera resort of Cannes last July and a French court agreed in January that he could be extradited to either Russia or Ukraine. Full Story | Top |
| Toronto stabbing leaves two with life-threatening injuries Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 09:42 AM PDT  Toronto police took a man into custody on Wednesday and four people were sent to hospital, two of them with life-threatening injuries, after a stabbing at an office building in the city's north end, a police spokesman said. Police spokesman Victor Kwong said he could not confirm the weapon used, though initial reports to police were that it was a pair of scissors. Full Story | Top |
| New French PM wagers on growth, stirs deficit angst Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 09:42 AM PDT In a 47-minute speech only days after his appointment, Manuel Valls laid out a stark appraisal of Europe's second-largest economy that earned upbeat reviews on Wednesday for its forthright tone and unflinching view of the country's mood. "There is a clear change in tone that's very beneficial, with the clear understanding that companies will be the driver in any economic recovery," said Deutsche Bank economist Gilles Moec. "But Valls is vague on how the savings will be achieved and on the deficit, he seems to say: we'll do what we can." If deficit targets are not kept, as some Socialist ministers have suggested, investors could grow worried about debt sustainability, prompting credit downgrades and even a reawakening of Europe's sovereign debt crisis, critics said. "Moreover, beyond the French case, investors could lose confidence in the ability of European institutions to enforce budgetary discipline in the euro area." SAVINGS PLAN IS TOO VAGUE Valls' speech to parliament on Tuesday amplified measures announced in January by Socialist President Francois Hollande as he shifted toward supply-side policies in a last-ditch attempt to bring down unemployment stuck above 10 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Bomb kills 20 in market on edge of Pakistani capital Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 09:35 AM PDT By Syed Raza Hassan ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A bomb exploded in a crowded market on the outskirts of Islamabad on Wednesday, killing 20 people and wounding about 70 in the deadliest attack in the Pakistani capital in years. If true, it would be the first attack in the capital carried out by Baluch separatist rebels and a significant escalation of Pakistan's western insurgency, which has often been overshadowed by the fight against the Taliban to the north. "We conducted (the bombing) in retaliation for the military operation," said Mureed Baloch, referring to an operation on Monday in which the Pakistani military claimed to have killed 30 Baluch insurgents. Baloch said he was from the United Baloch Army, which is banned by the Pakistani government for its militant activities. Full Story | Top |
| Germany asked U.S. about monitoring of Merkel but got no response: MP Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 09:33 AM PDT  By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government asked the United States what information the National Security Agency had collected on Angela Merkel after monitoring her mobile phone for years but got no response, a German lawmaker said on Wednesday. Omid Nouripour, a member of parliament for the opposition Greens, asked the German government in a formal parliamentary query if it had contacted Washington to discover what the NSA found out. "I wanted to find out what the German government was doing about the NSA eavesdropping on her," Nouripour told Reuters. Merkel needs to keep pressing for answers." Reports in October about the monitoring - based on disclosures by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden - caused outrage in Germany, which is sensitive about surveillance because of abuses by East Germany's Stasi security police and the Nazi's Gestapo secret police. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's richest man gambles on peacemaker role Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 09:25 AM PDT By Richard Balmforth KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's richest man has seized on the stand-off between the Kiev authorities and pro-Russia separatists to help forge new political alliances following the overthrow of his former ally, President Viktor Yanukovich. Steel and mining magnate Rinat Akhmetov is drawing on his local clout in Donetsk to negotiate with separatist protesters to end their occupation of state buildings in the eastern city, his industrial fiefdom where Yanukovich was once the governor. Since Monday, sources close to him say, Akhmetov has been actively involved in talking to the rebels - even sympathizing with some of their demands - while urging law-enforcement agencies to stay their hand in using force to end the stand-off. If he miscues, those close to him say, he could be accused of toeing Moscow's line and will find himself at odds with Ukraine's new leaders. Full Story | Top |
| France's Hollande names European expert his chief of staff Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 09:23 AM PDT  By Alexandria Sage PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande appointed a close friend and former European affairs minister to the strategic post of his chief of staff on Wednesday and reshuffled his private office to tighten the country's relations with Brussels. The nomination of Jean-Pierre Jouyet as secretary-general of the presidency was also designed to ensure better coordination with the government of new Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Hollande told the daily Le Monde. Separately, Valls appointed Socialist Party Secretary Harlem Desir to run the European Affairs ministry. It was the first government post for Desir, 54, who has struggled during his 18 months at the helm of the Socialist Party to hold back dissent. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. targets Egypt militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 09:10 AM PDT The United States has designated Egypt's most active militant group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, a foreign terrorist organization, officials said on Wednesday, making it a crime to support the group. The Sinai-based group, formed in the wake of the 2011 uprisings in Egypt, has claimed responsibility for several high-profile attacks, including an assassination attempt on Egypt's interior minister last year. The formal designation signals the United States' willingness to pursue groups responsible for some of the ongoing violence in Egypt, which has seen a string of attacks on security forces by various factions since the military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi last summer. Full Story | Top |
| Supreme Leader says Iran will not be bullied in nuclear talks Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 09:09 AM PDT By Mehrdad Balali DUBAI (Reuters) - Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday he had authorized nuclear talks with world powers including arch-foe the United States just to prove Iran's peaceful intentions, but Tehran would not be bullied and would not stop atomic research. He added in remarks to nuclear scientists that Iran should continue the discussions to end a dispute over nuclear work the West fears is aimed at developing a bomb, but Iran's negotiators should not cede any gains made by its nuclear program. "Americans are well aware we are not after nuclear weapons, but they still raise the charges every now and then to keep up the anti-Iran hype," Khamenei told a group of nuclear scientists and officials who gathered to mark Iran's "Nuclear Technology Day," an important event in Iranian calendar. "That's why I agreed to the government's initiative to negotiate, just to break the hype and expose the truth to world opinion," he said, referring to moderate President Hassan Rouhani's diplomatic overture to the West after his landslide election last June. Full Story | Top |
| China optimistic about Iran talks, praises Russian role Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 08:53 AM PDT China praised Russia's role in nuclear talks with Iran on Wednesday and said it was optimistic that a comprehensive settlement between Tehran and six world powers in their nuclear dispute can be reached by the July 20 deadline. In rare comments to the press, a senior Chinese official at the talks held in Vienna said the powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - and Iran "demonstrated a sense of urgency" ahead of the expiration of their interim accord. "Everyone is aiming at that (meeting the deadline)," the official, Wang Qun, told reporters after the two-day meeting in the Austrian capital. The powers want Iran to curb its nuclear activity, which Western nations fear aims to give Tehran the capability to manufacture an atomic bomb. Full Story | Top |
| Lebanese patriarch suggests housing Syrian refugees in Syria Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 08:52 AM PDT The head of Lebanon's Maronite Christian Church suggested on Wednesday that Syrian refugees should be housed in camps inside Syria, reflecting growing frustration among Lebanese over the burden imposed on their country by their neighbors' war. The United Nations has registered 1 million refugees in Lebanon since the conflict began three years ago, the highest concentration of refugees worldwide. They are housed in homes and local communities rather than refugee camps. Cardinal Beshara al-Rai, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, told a news conference in Geneva that the presence of so many Syrians represented a huge economic, social, political and security burden for Lebanon. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says unclear if gaps in Iran nuclear talks can be bridged Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 08:52 AM PDT Iran and six major powers are ready to start drafting a long-term agreement on curbing Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief but it is unclear if they will succeed in overcoming disagreements, a U.S. official said on Wednesday. "Now we are set to start drafting," the senior administration official told reporters on condition of anonymity at the end of a two-day round of talks in Vienna between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. Full Story | Top |
| Arabs urge U.S. to keep up Mideast peace push Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 08:49 AM PDT  By Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - The Arab League called on the United States on Wednesday to keep up efforts to salvage Middle East peace talks that are on the brink of collapse, blaming Israel for a crisis that has led Washington to evaluate its role in the negotiations. At a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, the Arab League said Israel was responsible for the "serious predicament" facing the negotiations, citing its failure to release about two dozen Palestinian prisoners as one of the major causes. "(The ministers) called on America to continue its efforts for the resumption of the negotiation track that obliges Israel to implement its commitments ... according to the agreed time frame," a League statement said. The U.S.-brokered negotiations plunged into crisis last week after Israel, demanding a Palestinian commitment to continue talking after the end of the month, failed to carry out the promised release of about two dozen Palestinian prisoners. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt to announce steps on subsidy reform before next month's election: minister Wednesday, Apr 09, 2014 08:35 AM PDT By Aziz El Yaakoubi TUNIS (Reuters) - Egypt will announce major steps towards subsidy reform ahead of next month's presidential election, the country's minister of planning said on Wednesday. The more we delay them, the more the costs get higher," Ashraf al-Arabi told Reuters during a visit to Tunisia. After the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, already high energy subsidy costs ballooned to a fifth of state spending due as the Egyptian pound plunged, and due to an expanding population. Egypt's Finance Minister said last month that spending on energy subsidies next year will be 10-12 percent above the 130 billion Egyptian pounds ($18.6 billion) budgeted for in the current fiscal year, unless immediate reforms are made. Full Story | Top |
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