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| North Korea frees Australian Christian missionary Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 07:42 PM PST  By Choonsik Yoo SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea freed a Australian missionary who had been jailed for promoting Christianity on Monday, releasing a picture of a handwritten confession by the elderly man who was arrested last month. John Short was picked up at Beijing airport by an Australian embassy vehicle and did not speak, according to Reuters Television journalists at the airport. He was accused by Pyongyang of committing a crime by distributing tracts from the bible at a Buddhist temple in Pyongyang on Kim Jong Il's birthday, a national holiday in North Korea to mark the ruling dynasty's second leader. "I deeply apologize for what I have done by spreading my Bible tracts on February 16th the birthday of his Excellency Kim Jong Il," Short said in the confession released by KCNA and dated March 1. Full Story | Top |
| Karzai says Afghan war not fought in his country's interest: report Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 07:40 PM PST  Expressing "extreme anger" toward the U.S. government, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview with the Washington Post that the war in Afghanistan was not fought with his country's interests in mind. "Afghans died in a war that's not ours,' Karzai said in the interview published on Sunday, just a month before an election to pick his successor. He was quoted as saying he was certain the 12-year-old war, America's longest and launched after the attacks of September 11, 2001, was "for the U.S. security and for the Western interest." Karzai's refusal to sign a security deal with Washington that would permit foreign troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond this year has frustrated the White House, and President Barack Obama has told the Pentagon to prepare for the possibility that no U.S. troops will be left in Afghanistan after 2014. The NATO-led force in Afghanistan has a current strength of more than 52,000 soldiers, including 33,600 U.S. troops. Full Story | Top |
| G7 finance ministers say ready to aid Ukraine Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 06:45 PM PST Finance ministers from the Group of Seven rich nations on Sunday pledged to throw a financial lifeline to Ukraine as long as the new government in Kiev agreed to pursue economic reforms sought by the International Monetary Fund. "We are united in our commitment to provide strong financial backing to Ukraine," the G7 ministers said in a joint statement. "The transition to a new government in Ukraine offers a unique opportunity to put in place urgently needed market-oriented reforms." The G7 said the IMF, which is sending a team to Kiev this week, needed to be in the forefront of efforts to help Ukraine with both policy advice and financing to help it through its most-pressing economic challenges. "We are also committed to mobilize rapid technical assistance to support Ukraine in addressing its macroeconomic, regulatory, and anti-corruption challenges," it added. Full Story | Top |
| Massive storm system takes aim at winter-weary U.S. East Coast Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 06:29 PM PST  By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - A massive winter storm system packing cold air, snow and freezing rain was bearing down on the U.S. East Coast, causing federal and local offices in Washington to close on Monday after it pummeled the central United States over the weekend. The National Weather Service predicted the storm will bring up to 9 inches of snow to the Washington area. Votes scheduled for Monday in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate were postponed, and District of Columbia Public Schools have canceled classes. The storm "is going to be a real mess," said Bruce Sullivan, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Silver Spring, Maryland. Full Story | Top |
| Obama warns of 'fallout' for Israel if peace effort fails Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 06:22 PM PST  President Barack Obama, issuing a veiled warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the eve of talks, said in an interview published on Sunday it would be harder for Washington to defend Israel against efforts to isolate it internationally if U.S.-led Middle East peace talks fail. Obama, speaking to Bloomberg View, also made clear that he would press Netanyahu to allow him the time needed to test Iran's willingness to curb its nuclear ambitions, despite the Israeli leader's deep skepticism of the West's diplomatic engagement with Tehran. Saying the "the window is closing" for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, Obama called on Netanyahu to "seize the moment" to help achieve a framework agreement that Secretary John Kerry is trying to forge to extend peace talks. Full Story | Top |
| China HSBC manufacturing PMI hits seven-month low in February Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 06:06 PM PST  By Adam Rose BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity shrank again in February as output and new orders fell, a private survey found on Monday, reinforcing concerns of a slowdown in the world's second largest economy. "Signs are becoming clear the risks to GDP growth are tilting to the downside," said Hongbin Qu, chief economist for China at HSBC, in a statement accompanying the PMI results. Output was likely affected by manufacturers closing for China's biggest annual holiday, the Lunar New Year festival, which began on January 31 and covered early February, although the PMI results are seasonally adjusted. That sub-index is one of the few indicators to measure the health of China's labor market, a priority area for Beijing, which wants to keep unemployment low in order to maintain social stability. Full Story | Top |
| Obama must carefully calibrate Russia response, rhetoric: Gates Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 05:41 PM PST  By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama needs to look "two or three moves out" as he weighs his response to Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula, which Moscow is unlikely to soon reverse, Obama's former defense secretary, Robert Gates, said on Sunday. Gates, a Russia expert and former CIA chief, portrayed a difficult path for Obama in which European allies may "huff and puff" but fail to match rhetoric with strong action and where Russian President Vladimir Putin feels he has the upper hand. Full Story | Top |
| China's February official services PMI rises to three-month high Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 05:39 PM PST  By Adam Rose BEIJING (Reuters) - China's services sector grew at its fastest pace in three months in February, data showed on Monday, a positive sign for the world's second-largest economy following a string of indicators suggesting a loss in momentum. "I'm not surprised it's up," said Ting Lu of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, noting that the Lunar New Year, a prime travel and holiday, fell in early February. The pick-up in the services PMI contrasted with Saturday's drop in the official manufacturing PMI to an eight-month low of 50.2 in February. China's services industry contributed 45 percent of gross domestic output in 2012, and it overtook manufacturing as the country's biggest employer in 2011. Full Story | Top |
| SEC investigates Citigroup over fraudulent Mexican loans: source Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 05:24 PM PST  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Citigroup for accounting fraud after it disclosed bogus loans in its Mexican Banamex unit, a source familiar with the investigation said. The securities regulator is also examining whether Citigroup violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the source said. An employee at Banamex has been questioned by Mexican police after being suspected by the bank of involvement in the loan scheme, another source familiar with the police investigation said. Citigroup said on Friday it had found $400 million in bad Banamex loans and was reducing its full year profit by $235 million to $13.67 billion, after the bank had first reported its 2013 earnings more than one month ago. Full Story | Top |
| Winter storm closes federal, local offices in Washington D.C. area Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 05:04 PM PST (Reuters) - Federal offices in the Washington, D.C., area will be closed on Monday to the public and non-emergency workers due to a massive winter storm that was bearing down on the East Coast, officials said. Votes scheduled for Monday in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have also been postponed due to the storm, which the National Weather Service predicts will bring up to 9 inches of snow to the metro area. "Federal offices in the Washington, DC, area are closed," the U.S. Office of Personnel Management said on its website on Sunday. Local government offices in Washington will be closed on Monday and Mayor Vincent Gray has rescheduled his state of the district address until March. Full Story | Top |
| Hundreds of Keystone protesters arrested at White House Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 04:58 PM PST  By Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Police arrested hundreds of young people protesting the Keystone XL project on Sunday, as demonstrators fastened themselves with plastic ties to the White House fences and called for U.S. President Barack Obama to reject the controversial oil pipeline. Participants, who mostly appeared to be college-aged, held signs reading: "There is no planet B" and "Columbia says no to fossil fuels," referring to the university in New York City. Organizers estimated 1,000 people protested and said several hundred agreed to risk arrest by refusing to leave the sidewalk in front of the White House. "If the Democratic Party wants to keep our vote, they better make sure President Obama rejects that pipeline," said Nick Stracco, a 23-year-old student at Tulane University in New Orleans. Full Story | Top |
| North Korea fires two short-range missiles into sea: Seoul Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 04:10 PM PST North Korea fired two short-range missiles on Monday into the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, South Korea's defense ministry said, days after launching similar rockets last week. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the missiles likely flew about 500 km (300 miles) after being launched off the North's east coast, adding they were believed to be Scud-C models. South Korea's defense ministry has said the Scuds are normally fired using mobile launch pads which can be activated with minimal preparation. The distance would mean the weapon can hit targets in South Korea and Japan. Full Story | Top |
| Obama, allies say Russia's Ukraine threat to peace, security Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 03:59 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain, Germany and Poland expressed "grave concern" on Sunday over Russia's intrusion into Ukraine, which they called a breach of international law and a threat to international peace and security. Obama spoke to each leader in a separate phone call, the White House said. "The leaders stressed that dialogue between Ukraine and Russia should start immediately, with international facilitation as appropriate," the White House said in a statement. (Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Peter Cooney) Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine mobilizes after Putin's 'declaration of war' Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 03:54 PM PST  By Natalia Zinets and Alissa de Carbonnel KIEV/BALACLAVA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukraine mobilized for war on Sunday and Washington threatened to isolate Russia economically after President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade his neighbor in Moscow's biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War. Yatsenuik heads a pro-Western government that took power in the former Soviet republic when its Moscow-backed president, Viktor Yanukovich, was ousted last week. Putin secured permission from his parliament on Saturday to use military force to protect Russian citizens in Ukraine and told U.S. President Barack Obama he had the right to defend Russian interests and nationals, spurning Western pleas not to intervene. Russian forces have already bloodlessly seized Crimea, an isolated Black Sea peninsula where Moscow has a naval base. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says it and partners could give Kiev as much help as it needs Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 03:48 PM PST The United States signaled on Sunday that it and its partners could give as much financial support as Ukraine needs to get the crisis-hit country's economy back on track. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, who has urged Kiev to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund, said Washington could lend a hand either through bilateral programs or larger international institutions. "The United States is prepared to work with its bilateral and multilateral partners to provide as much support as Ukraine needs," Lew told a conference. He said Washington was monitoring the situation in Ukraine with "grave concern" after Russia's intervention in Ukraine's Crimea region. Full Story | Top |
| North Korea fires two short-range missiles into sea: Yonhap Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 03:42 PM PST SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has fired two short-range missiles into the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Monday. Yonhap did not give any more details about what kinds of missiles had been launched. The report comes after North Korea fired four short-range missiles over the sea off its eastern coast last week. (Reporting by Choonsik Yoo and Se Young Lee; Editing by Paul Tait) Full Story | Top |
| Kerry to visit Ukraine, military options not U.S. focus Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 03:41 PM PST By Arshad Mohammed and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Sunday said it will send its top diplomat to Kiev in a show of support and threatened economic sanctions against Russia but made clear it is not seriously considering military action over Ukraine. The Obama administration sought to devise a diplomatic and economic strategy to reverse Russia's bloodless seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region and to dissuade Moscow from sending its forces further into the territory of its neighbor. In a series of public statements and private conversations with reporters, however, U.S. officials made it abundantly clear that their desire was to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to pull back without themselves getting into an armed confrontation. Full Story | Top |
| North Korea to expel Australian Christian missionary Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 03:31 PM PST  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has decided to expel an Australian man who was arrested last month while working as a Christian missionary, the North's official KCNA news agency reported on Monday. KCNA said 75-yer-old John Short had admitted to violating North Korean law and apologized. It said North Korea had decided to expel him partly in consideration of his age. (Reporting by Choonsik Yoo and Se Young Lee; Editing by Paul Tait) Full Story | Top |
| Britain warns Russia of 'significant costs' over Ukraine Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 03:17 PM PST British Prime Minister David Cameron warned President Vladimir Putin on Sunday that Russia would pay significant costs unless the Kremlin changed course on Ukraine. Cameron said he had agreed with U.S. President Barack Obama that Russia's actions in Ukraine were completely unacceptable, a Downing Street spokesman said. "They agreed that Russia's actions were completely unacceptable. They agreed on the urgent need for de-escalation and for Russia to engage in a dialogue directly with Ukraine," the spokesman said. Full Story | Top |
| Britain preparing to end plans to tax Bitcoin trading: FT Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 03:00 PM PST  (Reuters) - Britain's revenue collector is preparing to abort its plans to tax Bitcoin trading only days after the currency's leading exchange, Mt Gox, collapsed after losing almost $500 million of customer deposits to hackers, the Financial Times reported. HM Revenue & Customs said in a meeting with UK traders that it would no longer levy 20 percent value-added tax (VAT) on bitcoin transactions and also said it would not tax margins either, according to the paper. Corporation tax and other taxes would still apply, according to the FT. The market for bitcoins - a virtual currency created or "mined" through a process involving a network of computers that solve complex mathematical problems - is worth about $7 billion at current market rates. Full Story | Top |
| Obama to campaign for minimum wage hike despite opposition Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 02:41 PM PST  President Barack Obama will take his campaign to increase the minimum wage on the road in the coming week in an effort to build pressure on Republicans who oppose the raise. Obama will appear on Wednesday in New Bristol, Connecticut alongside four New England governors to make the case, the White House said. The president wants to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.25, where it has been since 2009. The president will make the pitch a day after presenting his federal government budget proposal for fiscal year 2015. Full Story | Top |
| Washington could give 'as much support as Ukraine needs': Treasury's Lew Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 02:22 PM PST The United States signaled on Sunday it could give as much financial support as Ukraine needs to get the crisis-hit country's economy back on track. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, who has urged Kiev to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund, said Washington could lend a hand either through bilateral programs or larger international institutions. "The United States is prepared to work with its bilateral and multilateral partners to provide as much support as Ukraine needs," Lew told a conference, adding that Washington was monitoring the situation in Ukraine with "grave concern" after Russia's intervention in Ukraine's Crimea region. Full Story | Top |
| Cossacks, Berkut and other armed men dig in for Crimea stay Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 02:08 PM PST By Alessandra Prentice CHONGAR, Ukraine (Reuters) - Cossack militia from Russia, disbanded Ukrainian riot police and other unidentified armed men stood guard on Sunday at a token border post on one of the two land links between Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula. Home to mostly farmers and fishermen, Chongar has become a frontline in Crimea's militarization against the threat the largely pro-Russian population feels from what many call western Ukrainian 'nationalists'. Russian President Vladimir Putin cited that concern on Saturday as justification to declare his right to invade Ukraine and protect its Russian citizens. At the windswept checkpoint, tires, stacks of sandbags and a large army truck blocked most of the road, forcing cars to queue up for inspection by blue camouflage-clad 'Berkut' riot police, a force formally disbanded by the central powers in Kiev. Full Story | Top |
| Loyal to Ukraine, Tatars lie low as Russia seizes Crimea Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 02:01 PM PST By Alissa de Carbonnel BAKHCHISARAY, Ukraine (Reuters) - Only five days ago, Tatars of Ukraine's Crimea came out in their thousands, chanting Allahu Akbar in a show of loyalty to the new authorities in Kiev and opposition to separatist demands by the region's Russian ethnic majority. "If there is a conflict, as the minority, we will be the first to suffer," said Usein Sarano, 57, as the midday call to prayer rung out from the 16th-century stone minarets of Bakhchisaray, once an ancient Tatar capital. This could be a new Yugoslavia." Back on Wednesday, thousands of Tatars turned out in the streets of Simferopol, the regional capital, marching in favor of Kiev's new government at a counter demonstration to one held by Russian separatists. The next morning before dawn, unidentified armed men seized the Crimean parliament in a mysterious raid, since revealed to have been the start of a military operation launched by Russia's President Vladimir Putin to take control of the region. Full Story | Top |
| Kerry to visit Kiev, Ukraine on Tuesday in gesture of support Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 01:36 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday to stress U.S. political and economic support after Russian forces' bloodless seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region, a senior U.S. official said on Sunday. (Reporting By Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Peter Cooney) Full Story | Top |
| For oil traders, a vexing new risk: U.S. politics Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 01:35 PM PST By Jonathan Leff NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil traders are past masters at handicapping geo-political risks, from war in the Middle East to resource nationalists in Latin America. Lately, they face another confounding political landscape: Washington. As a bounty of shale oil transforms the trading landscape across North America, U.S. policymakers are being confronted with a host of issues that hold immediate and material implications to energy companies, investors and traders. While energy policy has typically moved at a steady, stately pace for much of the past few decades, Washington is now grappling with a host of pressing questions that will affect oil prices: easing a crude oil export ban that could raise domestic crude prices; Full Story | Top |
| Venezuela opposition musters thousands for march despite Carnival holiday Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 01:10 PM PST  By Girish Gupta CARACAS (Reuters) - While many Venezuelans went to the beach to enjoy the Carnival holiday, thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched in the capital on Sunday, trying to keep up the momentum from weeks of protests demanding President Nicolas Maduro resign. The opposition repeatedly staged street protests later that year as well as in 2004, but they fizzled out as protesters grew weary of blocked streets and barricades made from smoldering trash. Full Story | Top |
| China's state planning body grows more assertive as revamp looms Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 01:03 PM PST  By Michael Martina and Benjamin Kang Lim BEIJING (Reuters) - China will present proposals to revamp its behemoth economic planning agency at an annual session of parliament this week, sources said, but the organization's role as an antitrust regulator could eventually be enhanced. Chinese and foreign companies, including U.S. technology firms Qualcomm Inc. and InterDigital Inc., have fallen afoul of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in recent months as its anti-monopoly arm has become more assertive. The crackdown on price-fixing and monopolistic practices should become more pronounced as the NDRC has said it is ramping up staffing in its antitrust division. Academics and senior officials have forecast a streamlining of the NDRC since President Xi Jinping vowed to make the economy more responsive to market forces and shift to consumer-focused investment from a state-led model. Full Story | Top |
| NATO deplores Russia's actions, offers no hard response Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 12:48 PM PST By Luke Baker and Justyna Pawlak BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia's seizure of Crimea is a threat to peace in Europe and the situation must be "de-escalated", NATO's secretary-general said on Sunday, but the alliance failed to agree any major steps to rein in Russia during emergency talks in Brussels. Speaking before chairing a meeting of ambassadors from the 28 NATO member states, known as the North Atlantic Council, Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned that Russia's actions were unacceptable and could destabilize the continent. "What Russia is doing now in Ukraine violates the principles of the United Nations charter," Rasmussen told reporters. Full Story | Top |
| Dozens of young Keystone protesters arrested at White House Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 12:41 PM PST By Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Police arrested dozens of young people protesting the Keystone XL project on Sunday, as demonstrators fastened themselves with plastic ties to the White House fences and called for U.S. President Barack Obama to reject the controversial oil pipeline. Organizers estimated 1,000 people protested and said several hundred agreed to risk arrest by refusing to leave the sidewalk in front of the White House. "If the Democratic Party wants to keep our vote, they better make sure President Obama rejects that pipeline," said Nick Stracco, a 23-year-old student at Tulane University in New Orleans. Canadian energy firm TransCanada Corp is behind the proposed pipeline that would carry crude from Alberta's oil sands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Full Story | Top |
| NATO urges Russia to bring troops back to bases Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 12:09 PM PST  NATO warned Russia on Sunday that military action against Ukraine was against international law, and expressed grave concern over the Russian parliament's authorization of the use of force. After an emergency meeting of NATO ambassadors in Brussels, the alliance called on Russia to bring its forces back to bases and refrain from interfering in Ukraine. "We urge both parties to immediately seek a peaceful solution through bilateral dialogue, with international facilitation ... and through the dispatch of international observers under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council or the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe," NATO said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| German foreign minister against excluding Russia from G8 Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 11:59 AM PST German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged world leaders on Sunday to work to calm the crisis in Ukraine and defended Russia's membership of the Group of Eight leading economies, which enabled the West to talk directly with Moscow. "The format of the G8 is actually the only one in which we in the West can speak directly with Russia," he told the public broadcaster ARD. "Should we really give up this unique format?" U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry earlier said recent events had "put at question Russia's capacity to be within the G8", which Russia joined in 1998. He urged Ukraine and Russia to talk with one another, if necessary through intermediaries. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says it has support at OSCE for Ukraine monitoring mission Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 11:50 AM PST The United States has won tentative support from many members of the OSCE, Europe's main human rights and democracy watchdog, for an OSCE monitoring mission to be sent to Ukraine to help defuse the crisis there, its envoy said on Sunday. The 57-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's discussed the situation in Ukraine during an informal extraordinary session on Sunday evening to prepare for a meeting of its Permanent Council in Vienna on Monday. Ukraine mobilized for war on Sunday and Washington threatened to isolate Russia economically after President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade his neighbor, creating Moscow's biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War. Full Story | Top |
| Thousands pack the streets as Ivory Coast's Ouattara returns home Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 11:47 AM PST  By Joe Bavier ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Thousands of Ivorians flooded the streets on Sunday to welcome back President Alassane Ouattara after a month of medical treatment in France that raised fears of a return to domestic political upheaval. Ouattara, who came to power after a brief post-election civil war in 2011, underwent a successful operation to alleviate pain caused by sciatica, his government said last month. Full Story | Top |
| Spot checks on the global economy and a dilemma for the ECB Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 11:03 AM PST  By Jeremy Gaunt LONDON (Reuters) - Take your pick of the most important economic event of the coming week - forward-looking global activity data, interest rate decisions in Europe or a spot-check on U.S. jobs after a month of particularly bad weather. They will be eyed for signs of further slowing in China, indications as to whether Europe's growth gathering any momentum, and for confirmation that the U.S. economy is on its way up although by no means there yet. Full Story | Top |
| Boeing may slow F/A-18 plane output to keep line going longer Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 10:55 AM PST  By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co is considering a slower build rate and other options to keep production of its EA-18G electronic attack planes running into 2017, and give Congress time to add more orders, a top company executive told Reuters in an interview. The St. Louis production line for Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers is slated to shut down after 2016 unless the Pentagon's No. 2 supplier wins additional U.S. or foreign orders for the planes soon. U.S. Navy officials often laud the performance, on-time deliveries, and low operating cost of the Super Hornet and Growler aircraft, which fly from U.S. aircraft carriers. But U.S. defense officials say the Pentagon's 2015 budget will not fund any more of the Boeing planes given competing budget demands and a growing focus on Lockheed Martin Corp's next-generation F-35 fighter, which has three models, including a carrier-based model for the Navy. Full Story | Top |
| Gunmen kill French national in Libya's Benghazi Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 10:55 AM PST By Ayman al-Warfalli and Feras Bosalum BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a Frenchman and wounded an Egyptian in separate attacks in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi on Sunday, security sources said, as insecurity threatens to overwhelm the North African nation. In the capital, Tripoli, protesters stormed parliament to demand the dissolution of the General National Congress (GNC), shooting and wounding two lawmakers and beating others. Many Libyans blamed the GNC and the government for the chaos that persists three years after Muammar Gaddafi's overthrow. A security official named the Frenchman killed in Benghazi as Patrice Real, who worked for a company upgrading a large hospital. Full Story | Top |
| Suspected Islamists kill 85 in northeast Nigeria Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 10:54 AM PST  By Lanre Ola MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Suspected Islamist militants have killed at least 85 people in northeastern Nigeria, witnesses and officials said on Sunday, in a further setback to President Goodluck Jonathan's military campaign. Twin bomb blasts in the city of Maiduguri killed at least 46 people on Saturday evening while, around 50 km (30 miles) away, dozens of gunmen were razing a farming village, shooting dead another 39. The attacks will heap pressure on Jonathan, whose intensified military push to end the Islamist sect Boko Haram's four-and-a-half-year-old insurgency has been running for almost a year. While the bloodshed has not diminished, the army had at least had some success in confining it to remote rural areas in recent months, so that the attack on a densely populated market area in Maiduguri will be seen as a setback. Full Story | Top |
| Obama plans to speak to allies on Ukraine: White House Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 10:43 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans to speak to allies about the Ukraine situation today, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Sunday. "The president's been working on this issue today," Earnest told reporters. "He has calls planned with our partners and allies in other countries." (Reporting By Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Phil Berlowitz) Full Story | Top |
| British ministers to shun Sochi Paralympics over Ukraine: Cameron Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 10:41 AM PST British government ministers will stay away from the Paralympics in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi due to the situation in Ukraine, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday. Ukraine has mobilized for war and Washington has threatened to isolate Russia economically after President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade his neighbor, creating Moscow's biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War. "Because of the serious situation in Ukraine, (Foreign Secretary) William Hague and I believe it would be wrong for UK Ministers to attend the Sochi Paralympics," Cameron said on Twitter. Full Story | Top |
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