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| 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 |
| 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 |
| Oscars kick off with Leto win for 'Dallas Buyers Club' Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 06:10 PM PST By Mary Milliken LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Academy Awards kicked off on Sunday by bestowing the best supporting actor Oscar on favorite Jared Leto for his role as a transgender woman in "Dallas Buyers Club," in a night that may yield few surprises apart from the tight best picture race. Dressed in a tuxedo, returning host Ellen DeGeneres opened the 86th annual Academy Awards taking friendly jabs at nominees, from Jennifer Lawrence for her tripping on the stage last year to Leto. Leto, who returned to acting after a six-year break with the portrayal of Rayon in the low-budget AIDS drama, thanked his mother and honored victims of AIDS. 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 |
| 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 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Ultra-Orthodox Jews stage mass protest against Israeli draft law Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 08:44 AM PST  By Crispian Balmer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews held a mass prayer in Jerusalem on Sunday in protest at a bill that would cut their community's military exemptions and end a tradition upheld since Israel's foundation. Most Israeli Jewish men and women are called up for military service when they turn 18, but most ultra-Orthodox Jews, or "Haredim", a Hebrew term meaning 'those who tremble before God', are excused from army service. Full Story | Top |
| Massive storm system takes aim at winter-weary Midwest, East Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 12:28 PM PST By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) - A massive winter storm system packing cold air, snow and freezing rain was pummeling the central United States on Sunday and headed for the East Coast, sending temperatures plummeting and causing major delays for weekend travelers. The storm "is going to be a real mess," said Bruce Sullivan, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Silver Spring, Maryland. "Ripple-effect flight delays and cancellations are likely to reach nationwide," said AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. SNOW EMERGENCY Boston and New York City should see only light snowfall, but lingering freezing rain could complicate Monday morning's rush hour for commuters. Full Story | Top |
| SEC investigates Citigroup over fraudulent Mexican loans: source Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 12:45 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 |
| Nine bodies, mostly women, found on Sri Lanka's last battlefield Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 07:49 AM PST By Shihar Aneez COLOMBO (Reuters) - Nine bodies, most of them women, have been found in a mass grave in Sri Lanka in the area where the last, bloody battle of a 26-year war with Tamil separatists was fought in 2009. International pressure is growing on Sri Lanka's government to address allegations that tens of thousands of civilians were killed by the army in the final weeks of the war. The United States plans to put forward a resolution criticizing Sri Lanka at this month's session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, and U.S. officials have said it may call for an international investigation. Sri Lanka disputes the figure and the conclusion. Full Story | Top |
| Pakistani jets bomb militant hideout a day after Taliban ceasefire plan Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 05:01 AM PST  By Jibran Ahmad PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani warplanes bombed the hideout of a militant leader, killing five insurgents, the military said on Sunday, only a day after the Pakistani Taliban declared a one-month ceasefire to pursue stalled peace talks with the government. The target of the attack, Mullah Tamanchey, directed a deadly assault against a convoy carrying a polio vaccination team and security forces on Saturday in which 12 people were killed, the military said. Hours after the attack on the convoy, the Taliban had said they would observe a one-month ceasefire to try to revive peace talks that failed last month. It also called on other militant groups to observe the ceasefire. Full Story | Top |
| Wisconsin Republican lawmakers seek to remove majority leader Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 07:24 AM PST By Brendan O'Brien MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Wisconsin Republican lawmakers will attempt to remove Assembly Majority Leader Bill Kramer from his leadership post after two women accused him of sexual harassment last week, according to local media on Sunday. The Republican caucus in the Assembly will vote on Tuesday on whether to oust Kramer, according to a statement released by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to Wispolitics.com. The paper said another woman accused him of harassing her on the airplane flight back to Wisconsin on Thursday. Kramer's office said on Saturday he entered a treatment facility and that there would be no other comment on the matter, according to a statement on Wispolitics.com As majority leader, Kramer leads the day-to-day activities on the Assembly floor. Full Story | Top |
| French PM denies talk of replacement, says not 'used up' Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 07:02 AM PST  France's unpopular Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault brushed off suggestions that he might soon be replaced, telling a newspaper on Sunday he was not "used up and tired" and wanted to see economic reforms through to fruition. With unemployment stubbornly high, President Francois Hollande and Ayrault are both struggling with approval ratings under 30 percent, prompting media speculation about an imminent reshuffle to refresh the governing team. The government's lack of support is weighing on its chances ahead of local elections and European parliament in March and May. French presidents often sack unpopular prime ministers or reshuffle cabinets after poor local poll results. Full Story | Top |
| Tired of protests, Venezuelans take politics to the beach Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 08:53 AM PST  By Esteban Israel CATIA LA MAR, Venezuela (Reuters) - Thousands of Venezuelans have escaped to the beach for the long Carnival weekend, heeding President Nicolas Maduro's call to leave behind nearly a month of anti-government protests. But rather than leaving the inflamed partisan politics at home, many have brought it with them. The small beach of La Morena, about 25 miles northeast of the capital Caracas, is packed. But not even the reggaeton pop music blasting at full volume drowns out the discussions about inflation, violent crime, and the political differences that divide Venezuelans and have fed the unrest. Full Story | Top |
| Turkey's Koc calls on Erdogan to address graft charges to lower tensions Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 06:45 AM PST  Mustafa Koc, chairman of Turkey's biggest company Koc Holding, on Sunday called on the government to calm financial markets worried about a corruption inquiry and denied he has sought to undermine Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. In a rare interview, Koc also told Hurriyet newspaper that in May 2013 he met with Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based Islamic cleric whom Erdogan has accused of orchestrating the corruption scandal, but that they did not discuss "political designs". Since a December 17 police operation, Erdogan has been battling a series of allegations that he and members of his family and senior government officials took bribes and engaged in other improprieties. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine crisis gives NATO, West no good options Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 07:27 AM PST  By Peter Apps LONDON (Reuters) - With Western powers increasingly concluding Ukraine has lost Crimea to Russia, the U.S. and its allies face few viable options and serious questions over future relations. In ignoring President Barack Obama's Friday warning to keep out of Ukraine, Russia looks to be precipitating the greatest crisis in Russia-Western relations since at least the fall of the Berlin Wall. Ukraine's relatively small and underequipped forces could take action but would risk inciting a much wider Russian invasion that could overrun the country. Obama in particular faces some domestic calls to support Ukraine, although appetite for military involvement appears almost entirely absent. Full Story | Top |
| Witnesses recall fear, chaos after China train station attack Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 02:14 AM PST  By Maxim Duncan and James Pomfret KUNMING, China (Reuters) - Witnesses to chilling violence at a Chinese train station placed under heavy security on Sunday recalled moments of fear and chaos after at least 29 people were killed in what authorities called a terrorist attack by Xinjiang militants. Officials said a group of knife-wielding "terrorists" from the restive Xinjiang region launched a premeditated attack at the Kunming Railway Station in China's southwest on Saturday night. Armed riot police stood guard as people streamed into the railway station on Sunday only hours after the attack, one of the worst of its kind in China in recent memory. Police shot four of the attackers dead and captured one, state news agency Xinhua reported. Full Story | Top |
| Obama's dilemma: boosting domestic initiatives without adding to deficit Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 09:57 AM PST  By Mark Felsenthal and David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will unveil a budget this week that seeks to boost spending on new initiatives such as road repairs, education programs and tax breaks for the working poor while avoiding an increase in U.S. deficits. Obama has made reducing the gap between the rich and the poor a centerpiece of his agenda for his next three years in office. But he is limited in his ability to offer bold new initiatives because of a budget accord he reached in 2011 with House of Representatives Republicans that puts strict curbs on both domestic and military spending. An agreement reached in December between congressional Republicans and Obama's Democrats allowed a slight easing of curbs on spending in the current 2014 fiscal year, but outlays will be essentially flat in fiscal 2015, which begins October 1. 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 |
| Thousands march in Hong Kong to condemn attack on ex-newspaper editor Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 01:45 AM PST  By Alice Woodhouse and Venus Wu HONG KONG (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters rallied outside the Hong Kong's government headquarters on Sunday to condemn a knife attack on a former newspaper editor and to voice support for press freedom amid growing concern over Beijing's influence in the media. Kevin Lau Chun-to, who until recently had been chief editor of Ming Pao, a Chinese-language newspaper known for its investigative reports, was stabbed in the back and legs several times by a man in a helmet on Wednesday. Dressed in black and wearing blue ribbons, symbolizing press freedom, protesters carried a large banner with the words "They can't kill us all". "We're not going to bow to the intimidation," said Shirley Yam, vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Journalists' Association, one of the organizers of the protest. Full Story | Top |
| Thai vote goes smoothly as protesters regroup near Bangkok lakes Saturday, Mar 01, 2014 11:37 PM PST  By Khettiya Jittapong and Nick Macfie BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand held re-run elections in five provinces where voting was disrupted in last month's poll by anti-government protesters who decamped from a main Bangkok intersection on Sunday and moved inside a central park. There were no reports of violence at Sunday's vote, although gunfire and at least two explosions had raised tension in Bangkok before the original February 2 general election. The protesters, seeking to unseat Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, gathered in central Lumpini Park, where hundreds already sleep in tents alongside boating lakes and under trees, after protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said they would abandon other sites in the city. Another protest site was dismantled, with stages, huge screens, giant speakers and amplifiers, tents, stalls and mobile toilets cleared away overnight, but the elevated highway along the south side of Lumpini Park was still blocked by tires and sandbags. Full Story | Top |
| Elbit Systems wins homeland security contract Sunday, Mar 02, 2014 12:56 AM PST  Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection (CBP) awarded its subsidiary a contract to deploy border surveillance technology in southern Arizona. Known as the Integrated Fixed Tower contract, it includes a base period quantity and options that CBP may exercise over several years. Currently, CBP awarded the base period quantity for a portion of the $145 million total contract amount, to be implemented over one year, Elbit said on Sunday. "Arizonans have been waiting more than a decade for the Department of Homeland Security to place the needed technology along our border to support the Border Patrol and fully secure our southern border," U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona said in a separate statement. Full Story | Top |
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