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| Malaysia air probe finds scant evidence of attack: sources Monday, Mar 10, 2014 04:43 PM PDT By Eveline Danubrata and Mark Hosenball KUALA LUMPUR/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Investigators in Malaysia are voicing skepticism that the airliner that disappeared early Saturday with 239 people on board was the target of an attack, U.S. and European government sources close to the probe said. The fate of the Malaysian airliner that vanished about an hour into a flight to Beijing remained a mystery, as a massive air and sea search, now in its third day, failed to turn up any trace of the Boeing 777 plane. Neither Malaysia's Special Branch, the agency leading the investigation locally, nor spy agencies in the United States and Europe have ruled out the possibility that militants may have been involved in downing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. "There is no evidence to suggest an act of terror," said a European security source, who added that there was also "no explanation what's happened to it or where it is." Meanwhile, dozens of ships and aircraft from 10 countries were still scouring the seas around Malaysia and south of Vietnam as questions mounted over possible security lapses that could have led to a downing of the Boeing 777-200ER after it climbed to an altitude of 35,000 feet. Full Story | Top |
| Confrontation in Ukraine as diplomacy stalls Monday, Mar 10, 2014 06:13 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn and Natalia Zinets SEVASTOPOL/KIEV (Reuters) - A pro-Russian force opened fire in seizing a Ukrainian military base in Crimea on Monday and NATO announced reconnaissance flights along its eastern frontiers as confrontation around the Black Sea peninsula showed no sign of easing. Ukrainian activists trying to cross into Crimea to show solidarity with opponents of last week's Russian military takeover there said they were halted by men in uniforms of the now outlawed riot police. With diplomacy at a standstill, Russia said the United States had spurned an invitation to hold new talks on resolving the crisis, the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War - although Washington said later a meeting of foreign ministers was possible this week, if Moscow shows it is ready to "engage". The U.S.-led NATO defense alliance said AWACS early warning aircraft, once designed to counter feared Soviet nuclear missile strikes, would start reconnaissance flights on Tuesday over Poland and Romania to monitor the situation in Ukraine, flying from bases in Germany and Britain. Full Story | Top |
| Governor Christie's trustworthiness takes a hit in New Jersey poll Monday, Mar 10, 2014 09:02 PM PDT  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie casts himself as a straight-talking everyman, but as scandal swirls around his administration, the number of state voters who see him as trustworthy has fallen dramatically, a poll said on Tuesday. Fewer than a quarter of New Jersey voters say "trustworthy" applies very well to Christie - down 20 points from October, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. Still, more than half of state voters see the charismatic Republican governor, who is seen as a leading contender for the White House in 2016, as a "strong leader." "Trustworthy was one of Christie's hallmarks, especially given voters' normal cynicism about politicians," said David Redlawsk, director of the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. Also on Monday, local media reported that federal prosecutors in Manhattan had subpoenaed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for records regarding the business dealings of the agency's chairman, David Samson, a Christie appointee. Full Story | Top |
| White House has optimistic growth forecast for 2014, 2015 Monday, Mar 10, 2014 05:23 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal and Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Monday forecast more robust economic growth in 2014 than last year and a further pickup in the economy for 2015. Under a White House projection, the U.S. economy is expected to expand by 3.1 percent this year, faster than last year's 1.7 percent. Growth would pick up to 3.4 percent in 2015, the White House said. The jobless rate, which reached a high of 10 percent in 2009, fell to a five-year low of 6.6 percent in January. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Chinese raw materials also found on U.S. B-1 bomber, F-16 jets Monday, Mar 10, 2014 04:27 PM PDT  By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After discovering China-made components in the F-35 fighter jet, a Pentagon investigation has uncovered Chinese materials in other major U.S. weaponry, including Boeing Co's B-1B bomber and certain Lockheed Martin Corp F-16 fighters, the U.S. Defense Department said. Titanium mined in China may also have been used to build part of a new Standard Missile-3 IIA being developed jointly by Raytheon Co and Japan, said a senior U.S. defense official, who said the incidents raised fresh concerns about lax controls by U.S. contractors. U.S. law bans weapons makers from using raw materials from China and a number of other countries, amid concerns that reliance on foreign suppliers could leave the U.S. military vulnerable in some future conflict. Full Story | Top |
| Syria among 'most dangerous places on Earth' for children: UNICEF Monday, Mar 10, 2014 03:56 PM PDT  The number of children affected by the civil war in Syria has more than doubled over the past year, with hundreds of thousands of young Syrians trapped in besieged parts of the country, the United Nations Children's Fund said on Monday. "After three years of conflict and turmoil, Syria is now one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a child," said the UNICEF report. "In their thousands, children have lost lives and limbs, along with virtually every aspect of their childhood." "They have lost classrooms and teachers, brothers and sisters, friends, caregivers, homes and stability," it said. "Instead of learning and playing, many have been forced into the workplace, are being recruited to fight, or subjected to enforced idleness." UNICEF said the child casualty rates were the highest recorded in any recent conflict in the region. Full Story | Top |
| Chilean is first foreign fatality in Venezuela unrest Monday, Mar 10, 2014 06:15 PM PDT  By Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore CARACAS (Reuters) - A Chilean woman was shot dead while clearing a barricade put up by anti-government protesters, the first foreign fatality during a month of civil unrest in Venezuela, authorities said on Monday. The death of Gisela Rubilar, 47, who was studying in the western Venezuelan city of Merida, brought to at least 21 the number of fatalities in five weeks of demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro's government. "She was ambushed by extreme right-wing groups ... She was vilely murdered with a shot in the eye," Alexis Ramirez, the governor of Merida state, told reporters, blaming the killing on unidentified demonstrators in the Andean city. The barriers have become frequent flashpoints for violence between protesters, police and government supporters. Full Story | Top |
| Mt. Gox files U.S. bankruptcy, opponents call it a ruse Monday, Mar 10, 2014 02:27 PM PDT  Mt. Gox, once the world's largest bitcoin exchange, received U.S. bankruptcy protection on Monday to temporarily halt U.S. legal action against the Japanese company by traders who allege the operation was a fraud. Judge Harlin Hale in Dallas granted temporary bankruptcy protection to Mt. Gox, which had filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan in February. Attorneys for Mt. Gox said without bankruptcy protection the company would be irreparably harmed by a proposed class action in Chicago federal court and a breach of contract case in Seattle federal court. Full Story | Top |
| Libya says halts tanker outside rebel port, plans military offensive Monday, Mar 10, 2014 05:25 PM PDT  By Ulf Laessing and Feras Bosalum TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya on Monday stopped a North Korean-flagged tanker that had loaded oil from a rebel-held port, after naval forces briefly exchanged fire with the rebels, officials said. They also said the government will assemble forces to "liberate" all occupied ports, raising the stakes over a blockage that has cut off vital oil revenue. The conflict over oil wealth is increasing fears that the OPEC producer may slide deeper into chaos or even splinter as the fragile government fails to rein in dozens of militias that helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but now defy state authority. The rebels, who have seized three ports and partly control a fourth in the North African country, said they had dispatched forces to central Libya to deal with any government attack. Full Story | Top |
| EBay rejects Icahn board nominees, asks investors to do same Monday, Mar 10, 2014 04:22 PM PDT  EBay Inc on Monday rejected activist investor Carl Icahn's two nominees to its board, saying both were unqualified, and urged shareholders to vote against them at its next annual meeting. Icahn, who owns just over 2 percent of the e-commerce company, has been pressuring eBay for weeks to spin off its PayPal payments business. He has also repeatedly accused eBay of poor corporate governance. The chairman of eBay's corporate governance and nominating committee, Richard Schlosberg III, said the board considered both but rejected them because "neither nominee has relevant experience or expertise." EBay said since each Icahn nominee currently sits on four public company boards, they are not in compliance with eBay's guidelines on "overboarding." EBay founder and Chairman Pierre Omidyar in a statement urged shareholders to support the company's slate, which includes Chief Executive John Donahoe. Full Story | Top |
| Freed nuns reach Damascus as prisoner exchange continues Monday, Mar 10, 2014 04:52 PM PDT  By Marwan Makdesi and Khaled Yacoub Oweis DAMASCUS/AMMAN (Reuters) - Thirteen Greek Orthodox nuns arrived in Damascus on Monday after al Qaeda fighters who held them for more than three months freed them in a deal providing for the release of women prisoners held by President Bashar al-Assad's government. Activists said at least 15 were released from Adra prison north of Damascus, just a fraction of the 153 which some officials had said would be included in the exchange. The mostly elderly nuns and three other women from their convent seemed in good health as they sat in a room in Damascus with several other Christian clerics. "All of Syria is happy today (for their return)," Bishop Luka al Khoury told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Confrontation in Ukraine as diplomacy stalls Monday, Mar 10, 2014 02:41 PM PDT  By Andrew Osborn and Natalia Zinets SEVASTOPOL/KIEV (Reuters) - A pro-Russian force opened fire in seizing a Ukrainian military base in Crimea on Monday and NATO announced reconnaissance flights along its eastern frontiers as confrontation around the Black Sea peninsula showed no sign of easing. Ukrainian activists trying to cross into Crimea to show solidarity with opponents of last week's Russian military takeover there said they were halted by men in uniforms of the now outlawed riot police. With diplomacy at a standstill, Russia said the United States had spurned an invitation to hold new talks on resolving the crisis, the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War - though Washington later said a meeting of foreign ministers was possible this week, if Moscow shows it is ready to "engage". The U.S.-led NATO defense alliance said AWACS early warning aircraft, once designed to counter feared Soviet nuclear missile strikes, will start reconnaissance flights on Tuesday over Poland and Romania to monitor the situation in Ukraine, flying from bases in Germany and Britain. Full Story | Top |
| Chilean is first foreign fatality in Venezuela unrest Monday, Mar 10, 2014 04:46 PM PDT By Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore CARACAS (Reuters) - A Chilean woman was shot dead while clearing a barricade put up by anti-government protesters, the first foreign fatality during a month of civil unrest in Venezuela, authorities said on Monday. The death of Gisela Rubilar, 47, who was studying in the western Venezuelan city of Merida, brought to at least 21 the total number of fatalities in five weeks of demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro's government. "She was ambushed by extreme right-wing groups ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Libya orders military force to 'liberate' rebel-held ports Monday, Mar 10, 2014 12:01 PM PDT By Ulf Laessing and Feras Bosalum TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's parliament has ordered a special force to be sent within one week to "liberate" all rebel-held ports in the volatile east, officials said on Monday, raising the stakes over a blockage that has cut off vital oil revenue. The conflict over oil wealth is increasing fears that Libya may slide deeper into chaos or even splinter as the fragile government fails to rein in dozens of militias that helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but now defy state authority. The rebels, who have seized three ports and partly control a fourth in the OPEC member country, said they had dispatched forces to central Libya to deal with any government attack. The North Korea-flagged tanker was undamaged and being escorted to western Libya, culture minister and government spokesman Habib al Amin told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian at Jordan crossing Monday, Mar 10, 2014 01:44 PM PDT  Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian judge from Jordan on Monday in an altercation at a crossing point between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said. The Israeli military said the man had tried to seize a soldier's gun at the Allenby bridge, which spans the Jordan River, and that troops had then shot him. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank city of Ramallah condemned what it called the "shooting at close range" by Israeli troops. An Israeli military official said the army was checking reports about the man's identity. Full Story | Top |
| Fannie, Freddie could send $179.2 billion to taxpayers: White House Monday, Mar 10, 2014 10:54 AM PDT  By Margaret Chadbourn WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. government-owned mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could send about $179.2 billion in profits to taxpayers over the next 10 years if the terms of their bailout remain intact, the White House budget office said on Monday. The amount is more than triple the estimated 10-year payments calculated last year in the White House budget proposal, driven by the companies' increased profitability. ... Full Story | Top |
| Netanyahu, showing seized rockets, says Iran fooling the world Monday, Mar 10, 2014 09:39 AM PDT  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, displaying on Monday what Israel said were seized, Iranian-supplied missiles bound for militants in Gaza, urged the West not to be fooled by Tehran's diplomacy on its nuclear program. Netanyahu was briefed by intelligence officers during a live broadcast on the weapons and shipping documentation that connected the stockpile to Iran. Iran and Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers, both hostile to the Jewish state, rejected the Israeli findings as fabrications. "(The world) wants to delude themselves that Iran has changed its intention to obtain nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said. Full Story | Top |
| Pistorius vomits in court at Steenkamp autopsy details Monday, Mar 10, 2014 02:18 PM PDT  By Vanessa Romeo PRETORIA (Reuters) - Track star Oscar Pistorius, on trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, wept and vomited into a bucket in a South African courtroom on Monday after hearing graphic details from her autopsy. Pathologist Gert Saayman was interrupted several times by the 27-year-old Paralympic and Olympic athlete's sobbing and retching but the defense team argued against an adjournment, saying a break would not improve his state of mind. Earlier, Judge Thokozile Masipa imposed a broadcast blackout on Saayman's testimony out of respect for Steenkamp's family and to prevent children from accidentally hearing its contents. "Broadcast would compromise the privacy of the deceased, hurt the interests of the Steenkamps and be against the morals of society," Saayam said when he took the stand to ask for a temporary broadcast blackout of a trial that has so far been shown in its entirety on live television. Full Story | Top |
| Syrian forces committing war crimes in Yarmouk siege: Amnesty Monday, Mar 10, 2014 08:46 AM PDT  Amnesty International accused President Bashar al-Assad's forces on Monday of perpetrating war crimes as part of a siege in southern Damascus which has killed nearly 200 people, mostly by starvation. Yarmouk, once home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees and Syrian nationals, is one of several districts on the edge of the Syrian capital which the army has surrounded to choke off rebel forces seeking Assad's overthrow. "The Syrian government has committed numerous war crimes as part of the siege of Yarmouk," Amnesty said in a report released on Monday. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. aims to bring killers to account in Central African Republic Monday, Mar 10, 2014 07:01 AM PDT  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The head of a United Nations inquiry said on Monday it was seeking to establish who should face prosecution for killings and other crimes in Central African Republic in order to halt for good bloodshed that has raised fears of genocide. "We want to present to the Security Council a complete file so that the appropriate action can be taken," Bernard Acho Muna, who chairs a commission of inquiry set up by the U.N. Security Council in December, told a news briefing. "The Central African Republic has had many coup d'etats. And basically after each coup d'etat there is reconciliation, and nobody is held accountable and then in the end we have people sitting in the cabinet, in government with blood on their hands and this has never helped the situation." Muna, a former judge in Cameroon, said that a team of U.N. investigators would arrive in Bangui on Tuesday to begin interviewing Christian and Muslim victims of attacks, senior political and military officials and activist groups. Full Story | Top |
| Afghan Taliban threaten to attack 'sham' poll 'manipulated by U.S.' Monday, Mar 10, 2014 03:50 AM PDT By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - The Afghan Taliban said on Monday next month's presidential election was being manipulated by the United States, which had already chosen the winner, and threatened to use "full force" in attacking anyone taking part. Two campaign workers have already been killed and at least one presidential candidate has been assaulted during campaigning for the April 5 poll, the first democratic transition of power in the country's history. The Taliban said the proceedings were being stage-managed by the United States. "The people should realize that the election will bear no result because the real elections have taken place in CIA and Pentagon offices and their favorite candidate has already been chosen," the Taliban said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| The children of Japan's Fukushima battle an invisible enemy Monday, Mar 10, 2014 04:05 AM PDT  By Toru Hanai and Elaine Lies KORIYAMA, Japan (Reuters) - Some of the smallest children in Koriyama, a short drive from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, barely know what it's like to play outside - fear of radiation has kept them indoors for much of their short lives. Though the strict safety limits for outdoor activity set after multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in 2011 have now been eased, parental worries and ingrained habit mean many children still stay inside. And the impact, three years on, is now starting to show, with children experiencing falling strength, lack of coordination - some cannot even ride a bicycle - and emotional issues like shorter tempers, officials and educators say. "There are children who are very fearful. Full Story | Top |
| El Salvador election fight looms as ex-rebel claims narrow win Monday, Mar 10, 2014 02:30 AM PDT  By Nelson Renteria and Michael O'Boyle SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - A former Marxist guerrilla leader and his right-wing rival both claimed victory in El Salvador's presidential election after results showed just a tiny margin between the two. Salvador Sanchez Ceren of the ruling Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), which as a rebel group fought a string of U.S.-backed governments in the 1980-92 civil war, won 50.11 percent support in Sunday's election, preliminary results showed. Challenger Norman Quijano, the 67-year-old former mayor of San Salvador and candidate of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena) party, had 49.89 percent support. The FMLN and Arena - founded by the late Roberto D'Aubuisson, a reputed death squad leader - were fierce enemies during the civil war that killed about 75,000 people. Full Story | Top |
| Japan, U.S. differ on China in talks on 'grey zone' military threats Sunday, Mar 09, 2014 10:11 PM PDT  By Nobuhiro Kubo, Linda Sieg and Phil Stewart TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Japan and the United States start talks on how to respond to armed incidents that fall short of a full-scale attack on Japan, officials in Tokyo worry that their ally is reluctant to send China a strong message of deterrence. Tokyo hopes to zero in on specific perceived threats, notably China's claims to Japanese-held islands in the East China Sea, while Washington is emphasizing broader discussions, officials on both sides say. Washington takes no position on the sovereignty of the islands, called the Senkaku by Japan and the Diaoyu by China, but recognizes that Japan administers them and says they fall under the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, which obligates America to come to Japan's defense. Full Story | Top |
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