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| Kerry: U.S. must pursue Iran talks before considering going to war Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 08:03 PM PST  The United States has an obligation to pursue nuclear negotiations with Iran before it considers going to war with Tehran to force it to give up its nuclear activities, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday. "We took the initiative and led the effort to try to figure out if before we go to war there actually might be a peaceful solution," Kerry told a group of reporters. Iran reached a landmark preliminary agreement with six world powers, including the United States, in November to halt its most sensitive nuclear operations, winning some relief from economic sanctions in return. U.S. President Barack Obama, like his predecessors, has said that all options are on the table with regard to Iran's nuclear program, using diplomatic code for the possibility of military action. Full Story | Top |
| Green group fights sand dump permit near Australia's Barrier Reef Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 07:40 PM PST Environmentalists launched an appeal on Thursday to overturn a permit granted for an Australian coal port to dump millions of cubic meters of sand near the Great Barrier Reef, arguing it fails to protect the World Heritage site. An independent agency charged with protecting the reef granted a permit in January for 3 million cubic meters of soil dredged up at the port of Abbot Point to be dumped about 25 km (15 miles) from the reef. The approval by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) sparked outrage among green groups opposed to coal expansions and fighting to protect the reef, as well as marine tourism operators, who help generate $5 billion a year. The North Queensland Conservation Council filed a challenge to the permit at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Brisbane on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| Cyprus junior governing partner confirms to quit government Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 07:16 PM PST NICOSIA (Reuters) - A junior partner in Cyprus's ruling centre-right coalition said on Thursday it would be pulling out of the government in disagreement at a resumption of peace talks between estranged Greek and Turkish Cypriots on the ethnically split island. The Democratic Party has expressed opposition to a decision by Cypriot President and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades to restart unification talks, saying terms of the dialogue contained too many concessions to Turkish Cypriots. The two sides resumed negotiations under UN auspices on February 11 after an 18-month hiatus. ... Full Story | Top |
| China paper slams West's "Cold War mentality" over Ukraine Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 07:16 PM PST China's top newspaper criticized the West on Thursday for remaining locked in a "Cold War mentality" against Russia in the contest for influence over Ukraine, calling for the shackles of such outmoded thinking to be cast off to deal with the crisis. The commentary published in the People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, was the strongest reaction yet in Beijing to the rift between the West and Russia that has been growing since the ouster of Moscow's ally Viktor Yanukovich as president following weeks of protests. "The theories related to politics, economics and security during the Cold War period are still influencing many people on their concept of the world, and some Western people are still imbued with resentment towards Russia," the paper said. "Ridding the shackles of the Cold War mentality will reduce unnecessary confrontation, thereby allowing for a smoother transition in international relations." The commentary was published under the pen name "Zhong Sheng", meaning "Voice of China", which is often used to give the paper's view on foreign policy issues. Full Story | Top |
| New Ukraine ministers proposed, Russian troops on alert Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 07:16 PM PST  By Alessandra Prentice and Richard Balmforth SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine/KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's protest leaders named the ministers they want to form a new government following the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovich, as an angry Russia put 150,000 troops on high alert in a show of strength. President Vladimir Putin's order on Wednesday for soldiers to be ready for war games near Ukraine was the Kremlin's boldest gesture yet after days of sabre rattling since its ally Yanukovich was ousted at the weekend. Moscow denied that the previously unannounced drill in its western military district was linked to events in its neighbor but it came amid a series of increasingly strident statements about the fate of Russian citizens and interests. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Moscow that "any kind of military intervention that would violate the sovereign territorial integrity of Ukraine would be a huge - a grave mistake". Full Story | Top |
| Thirteen workers test positive for radiation at New Mexico waste site Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 07:01 PM PST Thirteen workers have tested positive for radiation exposure tied to an accidental release earlier this month of high levels of radiation in an underground nuclear waste repository in New Mexico, the U.S. Department of Energy said on Wednesday. No workers were underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Project in southeastern New Mexico when air sensors half a mile below surface in an ancient salt formation triggered an alarm on February 14 indicating excessive amounts of radioactive particles. Particles emitted from the decay of those radioactive elements can harm humans if inhaled or ingested. But analyses released on Wednesday of biological samples lifted from the workers showed that 13 of them were in fact exposed to radioactive particles, Joe Franco, manager of the U.S. Energy Department field office that oversees the plant, said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Thai PM faces graft charges as standoff slips out of control Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 06:51 PM PST  By Pairat Temphairojana and Aukkarapon Niyomyat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's anti-corruption agency is to bring charges of negligence against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday as anti-government protesters demand her ouster in a violence-pocked standoff that is slipping out of control. Guitarist Eric Clapton has pulled out of Bangkok concert on Sunday because of the deteriorating security. About 200 Yingluck supporters, who have become more boisterous in recent days, padlocked the gates of the National Anti-Corruption Commission on Thursday, demanding all members quit and setting the scene for a possible confrontation. The protesters, whose disruption of a general election this month left Thailand in paralysis, want to topple Yingluck and erase the influence of her brother, ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, seen by many as the real power in the country. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says concerned with Thailand violence, calls for restraint Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 06:39 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday expressed concern with increased violence in Thailand and called for restraint by all sides in a conflict that shows no immediate sign of ending. Thailand has been dogged by nearly four months of around-the-clock violence between supporters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and protesters who want her out. While the crisis is a long way from the running battles of April and May 2010 when more than 90 people were killed, it has stoked uncertainty and spooked investors. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. needs to do more in approach to North Korea talks: report Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 06:06 PM PST  By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. foreign policy and North Korea experts said in a report released on Wednesday that the United States should engage more with North Korea as a way to revive talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons program. The joint report from two think tanks, National Security Network and the National Committee on North Korea, said Washington needs to shift from an "all or nothing" approach requiring Pyongyang to meet conditions for the resumption of nuclear talks with major powers that were suspended in 2009. The current approach, in which U.S.-North Korean contact generally has been limited to a channel via the North Korean mission at the United Nations, effectively gave the initiative to Pyongyang when Washington should be aiming to set the agenda, the report argued. Full Story | Top |
| Pope, U.N. urge calm and dialogue amid Venezuela unrest Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 05:55 PM PST  By Daniel Wallis and Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Pope Francis called on Wednesday for an end to violence in Venezuela that has killed at least 13 people and urged politicians to take the lead in calming the nation's worst unrest in a decade. Students and other opponents of President Nicolas Maduro are demanding that he quit over grievances including high inflation, shocking levels of violent crime, shortages of basic food, and what they say is his repression of political rivals. Among the latest world figures to speak out about the unrest, Pope Francis told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square he was "particularly concerned" by recent events. Maduro, a 51-year-old former bus driver and union boss, hosted church and business leaders and some opposition politicians for a "national peace conference" on Wednesday night. Full Story | Top |
| Kerry likens Uganda anti-gay law to anti-Semitism and apartheid Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 05:29 PM PST  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday likened new anti-gay legislation in Uganda that imposes harsh penalties for homosexuality to anti-Semitic laws in Nazi Germany or apartheid South Africa. "You could change the focus of this legislation to black or Jewish and you could be in 1930s Germany or you could be in 1950s-1960s apartheid South Africa," Kerry told a group of reporters. Kerry said the legislation signed by President Yoweri Museveni on Monday was "atrocious" and expressed concern at mounting discrimination against gays in 78 countries around the world. Homosexuality is a taboo in almost all Africa countries and illegal in 37, including in Uganda where it has been criminalized since British colonial rule. Full Story | Top |
| Lawyer tied to Ukraine's Yanukovich says he's cooperating with authorities Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 04:28 PM PST By Mark Hosenball and Stella Dawson NEW YORK (Reuters) - Reinhard Proksch, an Austrian lawyer with financial dealings linked to leaders in former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich's government, said on Wednesday he is eager to cooperate with international authorities to freeze their assets. In a telephone interview with Reuters, Proksch said he is happy to provide information and has already made contact with the U.S. tax authority, the Internal Revenue Service, and with the Financial Intelligence Unit in Liechtenstein, which investigates money laundering and financial crimes. "I am not a crook," Proksch said in explaining his readiness to cooperate regarding his past work with top officials from the government of Yanukovich, who was ousted from power last weekend. Authorities are investigating how Yanukovich could have lived a lavish lifestyle, which included a luxury estate outside Kiev, on his state salary. Full Story | Top |
| Russian military action in Ukraine would be 'grave mistake': U.S. Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 04:13 PM PST  By Arshad Mohammed and Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States warned Russia on Wednesday it would be a "grave mistake" to intervene militarily in Ukraine and said it was considering $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees and additional funding to help Kiev. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued the warning after Russian President Vladimir Putin put 150,000 combat troops on high alert for war games near Ukraine, Moscow's boldest gesture since the ouster of ally Viktor Yanukovich as president in Kiev. Full Story | Top |
| Amnesty says some Israeli West Bank killings may be war crimes Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 04:04 PM PST  By Crispian Balmer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli forces are using excessive, reckless violence in the occupied West Bank, killing dozens of Palestinians over the past three years in what might constitute a war crime, Amnesty International said on Thursday. In a report entitled "Trigger Happy", the human rights group accused Israel of allowing its soldiers to act with virtual impunity and urged an independent review of the deaths. The Israeli army dismissed the allegations, saying security forces had seen a "substantial increase" in Palestinian violence and that Amnesty had revealed a "complete lack of understanding" about the difficulties soldiers faced. According to U.N. data, 45 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between 2011-2013, including six children. Full Story | Top |
| Big utilities shunned green energy at their peril: Greenpeace Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 03:04 PM PST BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) - Europe's 10 biggest utilities, produce more than half of Europe's power, but only a tiny percentage is from the new green energy sources that could revive their profits, a report from campaign group Greenpeace said on Thursday. Traditionally profitable utility companies have been hurt by an EU-wide shift towards renewable power that has created pro-sumers - or consumers with their own sources, such as solar panels, which enable them to sell back power to the grid. While the uptake in renewables has been spurred by EU policy and subsidies, the top 10 utilities largely stuck to old business models for which they are now paying the price, Greenpeace's report said. It calculates the big 10 generated 58 percent of power within Europe, but only 4 percent of this was from non-hydro renewable sources, such as solar and wind, in 2012. Full Story | Top |
| Turkish Prime Minister targeted in second audio tape Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 02:46 PM PST  By Humeyra Pamuk ANKARA (Reuters) - A second audio recording, presented as the voice of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan asking his son not to accept an amount of money on offer in a business deal but to hold out for more, was published on YouTube by an anonymous poster using a pseudonym on Wednesday. An accompanying text within the YouTube clip says the reference is to Sitki Ayan, the chairman of Istanbul-based company Turang Transit Tasimacilik. Full Story | Top |
| Germany advises against travel to all of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 02:40 PM PST Germany's foreign ministry said on Wednesday it strongly advised against travel to all regions of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Previously the ministry had made a warning against travel in the north of the Sinai peninsula and the Egyptian-Israeli border area as well as the resort of Taba. The ministry said it advised travelers on the ground to contact their travel agent to organize an earlier departure from Sinai. Until then they are encouraged to keep movement to a minimum and follow instructions from travel agents and the Egyptian security forces, it said. Full Story | Top |
| Kerry opens door to extended talks for Israeli-Palestinian deal Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 02:35 PM PST  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged on Wednesday he hopes at best to get Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a "framework" for a peace agreement by April 29, but that a final deal could take another nine months or more. Kerry brought the two sides back into negotiations on July 29 after a three-year gap and, at the time, said that "Our objective will be to achieve a final status agreement over the course of the next nine months." As that deadline has approached, U.S. officials appear to have scaled back their ambitions, saying they are trying to forge a "framework for negotiations" as a first step though they still hope to hammer out a full agreement by April 29. "We are trying to get the framework ... If we have used these seven months thus far to get an understanding of where the parties are and to be able to shape the final negotiation, then we get into the final negotiation," Kerry added. "So I don't think anybody would worry if there's another nine months, or whatever it's going to be, to finish up but that's not defined yet," he said. Full Story | Top |
| East and West face off over Ukraine's Crimea Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 02:18 PM PST By Alessandra Prentice SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) - Waving the Russian flag and chanting "Russia! Russia!", protesters in Crimea have become the last major bastion of resistance to Ukraine's new rulers. President Viktor Yanukovich's overthrow on Saturday has been accepted across the vast country, even in his power base in the Russian-speaking regions of eastern Ukraine. But Crimea, a Black Sea peninsula attached to the rest of Ukraine by just a narrow strip of land, is alone so far in challenging the new order. As the only Ukrainian region with an ethnic Russian majority, and a home to Russia's Black Sea fleet, the strategically important territory is also now the focus of a battle between Russia and the West over the future of Ukraine. Full Story | Top |
| NATO chief still hopes to salvage new Afghan mission Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 01:21 PM PST  By Adrian Croft and Phil Stewart BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO's chief said on Wednesday he still hoped plans to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond this year could be salvaged despite objections by President Hamid Karzai that have called the mission into question. NATO plans to keep a scaled-down training mission with around 8,000 to 12,000 soldiers in Afghanistan after international troops end combat operations by year-end. But both the United States and NATO have said that Karzai's refusal to sign an agreement setting the legal framework for U.S. troops to stay could jeopardise the plan and prompt a complete pullout, dubbed the "zero option". President Barack Obama has told the Pentagon to prepare for the possibility that no U.S. troops will be left in Afghanistan because of Karzai's refusal to sign the accord, the White House said on Tuesday. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine draws Obama into Putin's long game Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 01:12 PM PST  Days after his ally Viktor Yanukovich was ousted as Ukraine's leader, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 150,000 troop Russian military exercise on Ukraine's border. The fall of Yanukovich - and Putin's potential response to it - has reignited a debate in Washington on how to respond to the assertive Russian leader. For Obama administration officials, Vladimir Putin is a concern but not a threat. "This is a world where we need to work with the Russians," a senior State Department official said on Tuesday. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council urged to consider Guinea Bissau sanctions Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 12:56 PM PST The U.N. special representative to Guinea-Bissau on Wednesday urged the Security Council to consider imposing sanctions against anyone who attempts to undermine the country's forthcoming general election. According to a decree signed this week by the West African nation's interim president, Guinea-Bissau's long-delayed legislative and presidential election, intended to draw a line under a 2012 military coup, has been postponed again to April 13 from March 16. "I recommend that the Security council consider a robust and prompt response, including targeted sanctions, to any attempts to undermine the electoral process and post-electoral stability," U.N. envoy Jose Ramos-Horta told the 15-nation council via video link. The coup-prone former Portuguese colony was plunged into its latest crisis after soldiers seized power in April 2012, days before the second round of a presidential election. Full Story | Top |
| Wintry weather returns to U.S. Midwest, Northeast with a vengeance Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 12:42 PM PST  By Ellen Wulfhorst NEW YORK (Reuters) - A recent stint of warm days and sunshine in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast was just a tease, as forecasters on Wednesday predicted an extended stretch of bitter cold and snow reaching well into March. The wintry conditions were likely to take a firm hold on Thursday in the Midwest and move eastward over the weekend, meteorologists said. This latest frigid plunge will engulf the nation's northern tier through the weekend," wrote The Weather Channel meteorologist Chris Dolce on its website. The arctic air mass was affecting the eastern two-thirds of the nation on Wednesday, with high temperatures some 15 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit below normal in many places, the National Weather Service said. Full Story | Top |
| Two humanitarian workers injured in landmine explosion in Mali Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 12:39 PM PST Two employees of humanitarian group Medecins du Monde's Belgian chapter were seriously injured on Wednesday when the vehicle they were travelling in hit a landmine in restive northern Mali, the organization and a local official said. "Around noon...a Medecins du Monde vehicle triggered a mine on the road from Kidal to the airport," the group said in a statement posted on its website. "The vehicles two occupants, including the driver, are seriously injured." The statement was accompanied by a photo showing the twisted wreckage of a 4x4 bearing Medecins du Monde's logo. Medecins du Monde said that there was no indication that the organization had been specifically targeted. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. authorizes sanctions regime for Yemen, leaves blacklist blank Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 12:32 PM PST  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday authorized sanctions against anyone in Yemen who obstructs the country's political transition or commits human rights violations but stopped short of blacklisting any specific individuals. It leaves the imposition of asset freezes and travel bans on specific individuals to a newly created U.N. sanctions committee for Yemen, which will be made up of all 15 council members. Western diplomats say former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and former Vice President Ali Salim Al-Beidh are top candidates for the U.N. blacklist. "The council has made clear that we remain firmly committed to supporting Yemen as it implements subsequent steps in the transition process, including constitutional reform and national elections," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power told the council. Full Story | Top |
| Russia's largest banks halt new loans in Ukraine eyeing political risk Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 12:28 PM PST By Megan Davies MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's second-largest bank VTB has joined Sberbank in saying it would halt new lending in Ukraine, underlining concerns over financial risks due to political turmoil in Kiev. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich was driven from power over the weekend after months of upheaval sparked by his decision to spurn deals with the European Union and improve ties with Russia. "It is hard to evaluate the risk at the moment," VTB Chief Executive Andrei Kostin said at a press conference on Wednesday. While other foreign lenders have cut their Ukraine exposure in the five years since the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers - to 20 percent of Ukraine banking sector assets in 2012 from 40 percent in 2008, according to a Raiffeisen Research survey - Russian banks stayed. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine to seek international help to trace Yanukovich accounts, assets Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 12:27 PM PST By Stephen Grey KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine will urgently contact international organizations with an official request to help trace bank accounts and assets controlled by ousted President Viktor Yanukovich and his allies, the acting prosecutor general said on Wednesday. Accusing Yanukovich and his aides of stealing "not millions but billions" of dollars, Oleh Makhnytsky said he had ordered police and intelligence agencies to draw up a list of foreign accounts held by Yanukovich's aides and their connections. "We are preparing today the requests to international organizations to find the accounts," he told Reuters in an interview. Officials who he said were under investigation included former prime minister Mykola Azarov and Yanukovich's chief of staff Andriy Klyuev. Full Story | Top |
| Italy's 5-Star expels four senators as internal dissent grows Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 12:17 PM PST  By Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) - Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement on Wednesday kicked out four senators for criticizing its leader Beppe Grillo, in the latest sign of growing internal strife in the party that took a quarter of votes at last year's election. In an online ballot, around 68 percent of the 43,000 5-Star members who participated voted to expel senators Luis Orellana, Francesco Campanella, Lorenzo Battista and Fabrizio Bocchino following a recommendation by the party's lawmakers. Of the 54 senators and 109 lower house deputies elected last year, eight senators and three deputies have now left 5-Star and there has been media speculation for months of possible defections by scores more of the young lawmakers, most of whom had no previous political experience. Grillo wrote on his blog that the four senators had been lazy and were "no longer in synch with the movement," but the catalyst for their expulsion was their criticism of Grillo in his dealings with new Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Full Story | Top |
| Islamists demand levy from Christians in Syrian city Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 11:22 AM PST An al Qaeda splinter group has demanded that Christians in a Syrian city it controls pay a levy in gold and curb displays of their faith in return for protection, according to a statement posted online on Wednesday. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), mainly composed of foreign fighters, is widely considered the most radical of the groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad, and is also engaged in a violent struggle with rival Islamist rebels. Its directive to Christians in the eastern city of Raqqa is the latest evidence of the group's ambition to establish a state in Syria founded on radical Islamist principles, a prospect that concerns Western and Arab backers of other rebel groups fighting Assad. It said Christians must not make renovations to churches or other religious buildings, display religious insignia outside of churches, ring church bells or pray in public. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine's protest leaders name Yatseniuk as candidate for PM Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 11:15 AM PST Ukraine's protest leaders on Wednesday named former economy minister Arseny Yatseniuk as their choice to head a new government following the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovich. Oleksander Turchinov, acting president since Yanukovich was toppled on Saturday by parliament, said the new government would have to take unpopular decisions to head off default and guarantee a normal life for Ukraine's people. The council, made up of popular figures from the uprising which brought Yanukovich down, named career diplomat Andriy Deshchytsya, a former ambassador in Finland and in Iceland, as foreign minister. Oleksander Shlapak, a former economy minister and former deputy head of the central bank, was named as finance minister. Full Story | Top |
| Romanian leaders reassure investors as government splits Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 11:06 AM PST  By Matthias Williams and Radu Marinas BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's president and prime minister said they were still committed to reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday, after a split in the ruling coalition threatened the IMF deal and worried investors. After a weeks-long standoff with the government, President Traian Basescu abruptly threw his weight behind the latest review of a 4 billion-euro aid agreement that is key to the credibility of the European Union's second-poorest state. Separately, Prime Minister Victor Ponta underlined his government's commitment to reforms, seeking to dispel fears he would try to implement an ambitious privatization agenda with a reduced parliamentary majority in an election year. The Liberal party had pulled the plug on Ponta's Social Democrats after crisis talks on Tuesday evening, as Romania's two biggest parties jockeyed for position ahead of European elections in late May and a presidential vote in November. Full Story | Top |
| Attack on Colombia candidate highlights risks to left Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 10:59 AM PST  By Helen Murphy and Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) - Through the noise and dust churned up by her armored car, leftist presidential candidate Aida Avella assumed the popping noise was a rock hitting the wheel. Avella's convoy was under armed attack. The first assault on a presidential candidate in Colombia for more than a decade has left Avella in fear for her life and her family crushed. The convoy carrying 65-year-old politician was ambushed on Sunday on a dirt road in the oil-rich northeastern province of Arauca, where rebels of the FARC and another group, the National Liberation Army, or ELN, have a strong presence. Full Story | Top |
| Muslim converts who hacked British soldier to death jailed for life Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 10:44 AM PST  By Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) - Two British Muslim converts were sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for hacking a soldier to death on a London street in broad daylight, a gruesome killing that horrified the nation and provoked an anti-Islamic backlash. Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, were convicted by a jury in December of murdering off-duty soldier Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old Afghan war veteran in Woolwich, southeast London, in May last year. Adebolajo received a whole-life term while Adebowale was told he would serve a minimum period of 45 years. They were sentenced in their absence after being dragged shouting and struggling down to the cells by security guards with whom they had started brawling in the dock as Judge Nigel Sweeney opened his sentencing remarks. Full Story | Top |
| Uighur professor could face death sentence in China: lawyer Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 10:40 AM PST  By Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) - A prominent ethnic Uighur economist is unlikely to receive a fair trial and could face the death penalty after being charged with separatism in China's far western Xinjiang region, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Beijing police last month detained Ilham Tohti, a professor who has championed the rights of Xinjiang's large Muslim Uighur minority. Unrest in Xinjiang has killed more than 100 people in the past year, prompting authorities to toughen their stance. Tohti was taken after his detention to Xinjiang's regional capital Urumqi and on Tuesday his wife was notified of the charges. Full Story | Top |
| Russia, Germany express concern over Ukraine, Moscow says Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 10:30 AM PST The Russian and German foreign ministers called on Wednesday for steps to improve law and order in Ukraine following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovich, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "The importance of taking urgent measures to restore law and order and to immediately cease violence was stressed," it said in a statement after Sergei Lavrov and Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke by telephone. "Agreeing on the need for close monitoring of ongoing events in Ukraine, the German minister argued in favor of intensive interaction between Russia and the EU on Ukraine," the ministry said. Full Story | Top |
| White House urges 'outside actors' in region to respect Ukraine's sovereignty Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 10:09 AM PST ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - The White House responded to a Russian troop alert near Ukraine on Wednesday by urging "outside actors" in the region to respect Ukrainian sovereignty. White House spokesman Josh Earnest, briefing reporters as President Barack Obama flew from Washington to Minnesota, said the United States strongly supports Ukraine leaders' efforts to form an inclusive, multi-party government. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bulgarian sentenced for pistol attack on Turk party leader Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 09:41 AM PST A 26-year-old Bulgarian was sentenced to prison on Wednesday for pointing a pistol at the head of a senior ethnic Turkish party member on stage at a party congress a year ago. Ahmed Dogan, then leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party, part of Sofia's governing coalition, escaped unhurt when Oktay Enimehmedov, an ethnic Turk from the Black Sea town of Burgas, menaced him in January 2013. Enimehmedov told the court he believed former secret police agents should not have positions of power today. "Enimehmedov made three attempts to fire a shot," prosecutor Ilian Tochev said. Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's president approves law tightening grip on judiciary Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 09:35 AM PST  By Humeyra Pamuk ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Wednesday approved a law boosting government control over the appointment of judges and prosecutors, even though he deferred some elements in the legislation to the Constitutional Court. The law, along with a regulation tightening control of the Internet already approved by Gul, is seen by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's critics as part of a backlash against a corruption inquiry shaking his government. Erdogan has also accused his enemies on Tuesday of hacking encrypted state communications to fake a phone conversation suggesting he warned his son to hide large sums of money before police raids as part of the inquiry. The law will give the government more say in the naming of judges and prosecutors, a role currently fulfilled by the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK). Full Story | Top |
| Syria agrees new April target to remove chemicals: diplomats Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 09:28 AM PST By Dominic Evans and Michelle Nichols BEIRUT/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria has agreed a new timetable to remove its chemical weapons by late April after failing to meet a deadline to ship out the arsenal earlier this month, diplomats said on Wednesday. Under a U.S.-Russian deal reached after a chemical weapons attack killed hundreds of people around Damascus last year, President Bashar al-Assad's government should have handed over 1,300 tonnes of toxic chemicals by February 5 for destruction abroad. But only a handful of cargoes have been shipped out of the country so far, a small fraction of the stockpile declared to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) overseeing the process along with the United Nations. The OPCW said a fourth consignment, containing mustard gas, left Syria on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Iranian oil exports rise in February, more to ally Syria Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 09:18 AM PST  By Alex Lawler and Jonathan Saul LONDON (Reuters) - Iran's oil exports have risen further in February for a fourth consecutive month, according to sources who track tanker movements, adding to signs that the easing of sanctions pressure on Tehran is helping its oil exports to recover. The rise in shipments follows an interim deal agreed in November with world powers in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program. A second tracking source familiar with Iran's shipments said extra cargoes had headed to Syria and South Korea in February. Two cargoes were unloaded in Indonesian waters - a location sometimes used by Iran for ship-to-ship transfers. Full Story | Top |
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