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| Rescuer reunited with woman he saved from U.S. mudslide with her painting Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 09:02 PM PDT By Bryan Cohen ARLINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - In the terrifying moments after she somehow emerged alive from the wall of mud and debris that swallowed her house, the only possession that Robin Youngblood managed to salvage was a painted portrait that once hung in her now-flattened home. She and crew chief Randy Fay of the Snohomish County helicopter rescue team embraced in a tearful reunion during an afternoon news conference in the town of Arlington, site of a command post for search teams looking for scores more people still missing in the slide that engulfed dozens of homes near the river valley hamlet of Oso. Full Story | Top |
| Ninety people still missing after Washington state mudslide Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:51 PM PDT  By Bryan Cohen ARLINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - The number of people missing after a landslide sent a wall of mud crashing into dozens of rural Washington state homes dropped to 90 on Wednesday, as officials reported finding more bodies but acknowledged some victims' remains may never be recovered. Officials had earlier said additional remains had been found in the devastation zone about 55 miles northeast of Seattle on Wednesday, but declined to say how many until they had been removed and sent to a medical examiner's office. "My son's best friend is out there, missing," said John Pugh, 47, a National Guardsman who lives in the neighboring village of Darrington. And it will be for a long time." Asked whether he expected the death toll to rise significantly, Governor Jay Inslee told CNN: "Yes, I don't think anyone can reach any other conclusion." "It's been very sad that we have not been able to find anyone living now for probably 36 or 48 hours," he said. Full Story | Top |
| Chinese police detain suspect after rumor sparks rural bank run Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:37 PM PDT  By Adam Jourdan SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Police in the rural Chinese city of Yancheng have detained a person suspected of spreading rumors that sparked a three-day bank run, security officials said on the city police force's official microblog on Thursday. Government, bank officials and residents all referred to a rumor that a local bank branch had turned down a client's request to withdraw 200,000 yuan ($32,200), which sparked the speculation the bank was insolvent. "After a police investigation, a person surnamed Cai who spread the rumors has been tracked down, and during the night on March 26 was detained by authorities. The police are now investigating the matter further," Yancheng police said in a statement posted on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. law firm plans to bring suit against Boeing, Malaysia Airlines Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 08:30 PM PDT By Dena Aubin and Rujun Shen NEW YORK/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A U.S.-based law firm said it expects to represent families of more than half of the passengers on board the missing Malaysian Airlines flight in a lawsuit against the carriers and Boeing Co, alleging the plane had crashed due to mechanical failure. Chicago-based Ribbeck Law has filed a petition for discovery against Boeing Co, manufacturer of the aircraft, and Malaysian Airlines, operator of the plane in a Cook County, Illinois Circuit Court. The petition is meant to secure evidence of possible design and manufacturing defects that may have contributed to the disaster, the law firm said. Though both Boeing and Malaysian Airlines were named in the filing, the focus of the case will be on Boeing, Ribbeck's lawyers told reporters, as they believe that the incident was caused by mechanical failure. Full Story | Top |
| Arrest threat gone, locals risk lives to find Washington mud slide survivors Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 07:20 PM PDT By Jonathan Kaminsky DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - Hours after a Washington state mudslide buried a community, Dayn Brunner took his life in his hands and dashed into the expanse of cement-like muck in search of his sister. Brunner was among dozens of people who had defied threats of arrest to search for loved ones on their own after a 1,500-foot long section of rain-soaked hillside tumbled onto a river near the town of Oso on Saturday, smothering a state road and swallowing up dozens of homes. She was driving on the road when the slide came down," Brunner, 42, said in an interview. ... They've got the know-how, they've got the experience," Dan Rankin, mayor of Darrington, said after a town hall meeting late on Tuesday. Full Story | Top |
| Tally of people missing from Washington state landslide falls to 90 Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:22 PM PDT Authorities searching for people missing in the deadly Washington state landslide said on Wednesday that at least 90 individuals remained missing four days after the disaster, down from 176 listed as unaccounted for earlier. Snohomish County's emergency management director, John Pennington, told reporters there may be as many as 35 more people whose fate remains uncertain but they are not being officially listed as missing. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. Security Council to meet Thursday on North Korea missile launch Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:19 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council will hold closed-door consultations on Thursday to discuss a possible condemnation of North Korea's latest ballistic missile launches, U.N. diplomats said. The request for a special session on North Korea came from the United States, council diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity on Wednesday. The U.N. mission of Luxembourg, which holds the presidency of the Security Council this month, announced on its Twitter feed that U.N. political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman will brief council members on developments on the Korean peninsula during the session. In what appeared to be a show of defiance, North Korea fired two medium-range Rodong ballistic missiles into the sea at 2:35 a.m. Japan and Korea time (1735 GMT Tuesday), both Tokyo and Seoul said. Full Story | Top |
| Lawmakers bash Obama administration's 'delusional' Syria policy Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 05:19 PM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers lashed out at the Obama administration's handling of Syria's civil war on Wednesday, demanding a stronger American response to the conflict and better communication from the White House about its plans. Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed deep frustration after Anne Patterson, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, declined to answer a question about strategy in a public setting. Heated exchanges during questioning of Patterson and Tom Countryman, another assistant secretary of state, underscored the often deep divide between Congress - both Republicans and President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats - and the administration on foreign policy. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine shows Britain should not cut military too far: lawmakers Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 05:02 PM PDT By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - Events in Ukraine have shown Britain must not cut its armed forces too deeply, a committee of lawmakers said on Thursday, saying it was concerned that allies had begun to question the country's military capabilities. Britain has, over the last few years, been shrinking its armed forces by around a sixth as part of a plan to reduce the public debt, but the scale of the cuts has fuelled a debate about its ability to project force globally. "Recent events in Ukraine illustrate the speed with which new threats, and indeed the reappearance of old threats, can manifest themselves," said James Arbuthnot, chairman of the Defense Committee, which scrutinizes government Defense policy and expenditure. "Strong conventional forces provide the UK with a contingency against the unexpected threats that may emerge ... Events might require the reconstitution of conventional forces, but once cut back they will be very difficult to rebuild." Britain is due to hold its next strategic Defense and security review (SDSR) in 2015, the year of a national election. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Sisi to run for president, vows to tackle militancy Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:50 PM PDT  By Tom Perry and Mahmoud Mourad CAIRO (Reuters) - Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who ousted Egypt's first freely elected leader, declared his candidacy on Wednesday for a presidential election he is expected to easily win. Sisi toppled Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood last July after mass protests against his rule and has emerged as the most influential figure in an interim administration that has governed since then. "I am here before you humbly stating my intention to run for the presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt," Sisi said in a televised address to the nation. "Only your support will grant me this great honor." A Sisi presidency would mark a return to the days when Egypt was led by men from the military, a pattern briefly interrupted by Mursi's one year in office after his 2012 victory in Egypt's first democratic presidential election. Full Story | Top |
| Oligarch Berezovsky was 'broken man' after court battle, inquest hears Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:41 PM PDT  By Michael Holden WINDSOR, England (Reuters) - Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky was a "broken man" after losing a multi-billion dollar court case to fellow Russian Roman Abramovich and regularly talked about killing himself in the months before his death, an inquest heard on Wednesday. Berezovsky's bodyguard Avi Navama said his employer had asked him about the best ways to commit suicide and told him he was "the poorest man in the world" after losing a $6 billion (3.6 billion pounds) damages claim to the Chelsea football club owner in 2012. Berezovsky, who became a Moscow powerbroker under the late President Boris Yeltsin only to fall foul of Vladimir Putin, was found dead a year ago in the bathroom of his former wife's home near Windsor, west of London, with a scarf around his neck. Navama said the court case against the tycoon's former partner Abramovich triggered a change in the personality of Berezovsky who suffered from depression for six months before his death at the age of 67. Full Story | Top |
| Washington mudslide yields more bodies, but not all may be found Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:39 PM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - Search teams picked through mud-caked debris for a fifth day on Wednesday looking for scores of people still missing in a deadly Washington state landslide, as officials reported finding more bodies while acknowledging that some victims' remains may never be recovered. The latest tally did not include an unspecified number of bodies that state police spokesman Bob Calkins said had been found on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, local emergency management officials sought to fend off criticism of property development that was permitted just across the river from the caved-in slope after previous landslides in the area. "My son's best friend is out there, missing," said John Pugh, 47, a National Guardsman who lives in the neighboring village of Darrington. Full Story | Top |
| Planes, ships race to beat bad weather in search for Malaysian jet Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:30 PM PDT  By Jane Wardell and Rujun Shen SYDNEY/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Aircraft and ships scouring the southern Indian Ocean for wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 were racing to beat bad weather on Thursday and reach an area where new satellite images showed what could be a debris field. The international search team has been bolstered to 11 military and civilian aircraft and five ships that will criss-cross the remote search site with weather conditions forecast to deteriorate later in the day. New satellite images have revealed more than 100 objects that could be debris from the Boeing 777, which is thought to have crashed on March 8 with the loss of all 239 people aboard after flying thousands of miles off course. "We have now had four separate satellite leads, from Australia, China and France, showing possible debris," Malaysian Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur late Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| UK defense chief says give Russia chance to de-escalate in Crimea Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 03:29 PM PDT By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Vladimir Putin follows traditional Russian military doctrine, he may seek to de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine and not move beyond annexing Crimea, Britain's defense chief said on Wednesday, adding the West should not militarize the standoff. British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said it was important to reduce tensions with the Russian leader over the Crimea by avoiding an aggressive military response from NATO allies and instead using diplomatic and economic levers of influence. Hammond was visiting the capital for previously scheduled talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, but the crisis prompted by Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula earlier this month dominated their conversations. Putin's move was followed by a quick referendum and the formal annexation of the region by Russia. Full Story | Top |
| Israeli troops kill three Palestinian militants in West Bank raid Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 03:19 PM PDT  By Ali Sawafta JENIN, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli forces shot three Palestinian militants dead on Saturday in a raid on a home in the occupied West Bank to capture a wanted Hamas Islamist militant, Israeli military and Palestinian officials said. The Palestinian Authority denounced the violence that it said threatened U.S.-brokered peace talks ahead of a looming April deadline set by Secretary of State John Kerry. Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, urged Washington to take steps "to prevent a collapse" of negotiations. Palestinian militants fired guns into the air at the men's' funeral in the West Bank town of Jenin, scene of the clashes. Full Story | Top |
| U.S., EU to work together on tougher Russia sanctions Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 03:06 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Lidia Kelly BRUSSELS/MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union agreed on Wednesday to work together to prepare possible tougher economic sanctions in response to Russia's behavior in Ukraine, including on the energy sector, and to make Europe less dependent on Russian gas. U.S. President Barack Obama said after a summit with top EU officials that Russian President Vladimir Putin had miscalculated if he thought he could divide the West or count on its indifference over his annexation of Crimea. Leaders of the Group of Seven major industrial powers decided this week to hold off on sanctions targeting Moscow's economy unless Putin took further action to destabilize Ukraine or other former Soviet republics. "If Russia continues on its current course, however, the isolation will deepen, sanctions will increase and there will be more consequences for the Russian economy," Obama told a joint news conference with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. Full Story | Top |
| IMF wraps up talks on aid for Ukraine: source Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 02:59 PM PDT By Natalia Zinets KIEV (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund concluded talks with Ukrainian officials on Wednesday, and was likely to announce an aid deal on Thursday for Kiev to help plug the government's budget gap and put its economy on a growth track. The central bank late on Wednesday announced a press conference with the IMF's mission chief for Thursday at 9:30 a.m. (1130 GMT) A bailout from the IMF would help prop up Ukraine's economy and clear the way for several billion dollars in aid from the United States, European Union, Japan and other nations. Ukraine has been in turmoil after months of anti-government protests and Russia's annexation of its Crimea region. In another sign officials were putting the finishing touches on a deal, Ukraine's new leaders announced a radical 50 percent increase in the price of domestic gas from May 1, meeting an unpopular condition for IMF aid that Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovich had refused before he was ousted last month. Full Story | Top |
| Small group of U.S. soldiers in Libya ahead of training mission Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 02:57 PM PDT The first two of an initial team of 11 U.S. soldiers arrived in Libya this week to help lay the groundwork for upcoming training of Libyan forces in Bulgaria, which is expected to begin in July, a U.S. military official told Reuters on Wednesday. The United States announced last year its plans to train 5,000 to 8,000 Libyan forces at the request of Tripoli, where a weak central government is struggling with rebels for control of vital petroleum resources three years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the team on the ground in Libya would help address logistical issues related to the training, included vetting of recruits. That could be a thorny issue in Libya, where militiamen and former fighters are often employed by the government to protect ministries and government offices. Full Story | Top |
| Ship backlog in Houston Ship Channel falling: Pilots Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 02:49 PM PDT The backlog of ships waiting to sail in or out of the Houston Ship Channel fell on Wednesday as crews cleaned a fuel oil spill in Galveston Bay, the head of the Houston Pilots said. The U.S. Coast Guard also reduced the so-called daylight restriction, allowing ships to sail until midnight CDT (0500 GMT) before movement stops until Wednesday morning, which is expected to further reduce the backlog, Houston Pilots Capt. Clint Winegar said. He said the number of ships waiting to move to or from the port of Houston through the channel, the waterway through which more than a tenth of U.S. refining capacity receives crude oil, slid by 30 to 57 by Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday, when both inbound and outbound traffic resumed, the Coast Guard stopped movement at about 6 p.m. CDT (2300 GMT) to limit the spread of fuel oil floating in Galveston Bay. Full Story | Top |
| Libya investigates top leader's questioning over visit by two women Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 02:22 PM PDT  Libyan authorities are investigating an incident, captured on video and circulated on Facebook, in which the country's most powerful man was grilled by an unknown questioner about why two women visited his house at night. The Attorney General's office said on Wednesday it was looking into the suspected wrongful arrest of the official, parliamentary president Nouri Abu Sahmain, but also into possible 'moral crimes'. The case has the potential to damage Abu Sahmain, who is the top army commander and has quasi-presidential powers, at a time of growing turmoil in the oil-producing North African country. The video, widely circulated on Tuesday, showed Abu Sahmain looking nervous under the questioning. Full Story | Top |
| Late blast of wintry weather hits parts of New England Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 02:18 PM PDT  By Dave Sherwood BOWDOINHAM, Maine (Reuters) - Parts of New England were hit with a late blast of wintry weather on Wednesday, the so-called "bombogenesis" storm that brought high winds to much of the region and snow to parts of Maine and Massachusetts' Cape Cod resort area. Maine's rural "Downeast" coast, known for hilltop blueberry fields and a jagged, picturesque shore, is projected to see 60 mile per hour winds over land, hurricane force gusts at sea and as much as 18 inches of new snow, said National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Schwibs. After a season rife with "polar vortexes" along the eastern seaboard, "bombogenesis," short for "bomb cyclogenesis," provides weather watchers with yet another fantastic-sounding term to describe the winter weather, said Schwibs. Full Story | Top |
| Indian election cash call puts strain on construction, real estate Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 02:05 PM PDT  By Aditi Shah and Tommy Wilkes NEW DELHI (Reuters) - As India's mammoth general election approaches, jackhammer drills are quietening down at construction sites and earthmovers and cranes remain parked. Many of the country's real estate and construction companies - their finances already squeezed by a sharp economic slowdown - are diverting funds from housing and other projects to election campaign contributions. Based on past elections, such companies could end up funding a disproportionate amount of the $5 billion that political parties are likely to spend this time to woo the country's 815 million voters. "A lot of money will flow from real estate into the elections, much of it unaccounted for," said Santhosh Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of operations at Jones Lang LaSalle India, which advises real estate clients, including developers. Full Story | Top |
| Kerry interrupts Rome visit to salvage Mideast peace talks Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 01:58 PM PDT By Lesley Wroughton AMMAN (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry broke from a visit to Italy on Wednesday to try to salvage Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, even as Arab leaders declared they would never meet Israel's core demand to be recognized as a Jewish state. Kerry flew to Jordan to ask Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to commit to extending the negotiations, just days before Israel is supposed to release a final group of Palestinian prisoners as a confidence-building gesture. Before it releases the prisoners, Israel wants to be assured Abbas won't abandon the U.S.-brokered talks, which resumed last July after a three-year break. He also spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the three-hour flight from Rome, U.S. officials said. Full Story | Top |
| Hero to many, Egypt's Sisi faces formidable task Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 01:42 PM PDT By Michael Georgy CAIRO (Reuters) - Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who announced on Wednesday he would run for president in a vote he is expected to win easily, has gained cult-like adulation since he toppled Egypt's first freely elected leader in July. Supporters see Sisi as a savior who can end the political turmoil dogging Egypt since a popular uprising ended Hosni Mubarak's three decades of one-man rule in 2011. If he becomes president he will become the latest in a line of Egyptian rulers drawn from the military that was only briefly broken during Islamist President Mohamed Mursi's year in office. Sisi resigned from his posts of army chief and defense minister on Wednesday so that he could run for president. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt's Sisi says will run for presidency Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 01:42 PM PDT Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday he had resigned from his positions as defense minister and army chief and announced he would run for the presidency in a forthcoming election that he is expected to win easily. In a televised statement, Sisi said he could not "perform miracles" and called on Egyptians to work hard to improve their country. The 59-year old who deposed President Mohamed Mursi last year also said Egypt was threatened by terrorists and he would work to make a country "free of fear". Full Story | Top |
| No vodka for Obama - Russians impose joke 'sanctions' Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 01:30 PM PDT Russians have begun an Internet campaign of tongue-in-cheek "sanctions" against U.S. President Barack Obama in retaliation to measures Washington imposed on Moscow over the Crimea crisis. "Barack Obama as well as members of the U.S. administration, Senate and Congress are forbidden from wishing me a happy birthday," Instagram user kos77 posted along with a photo of a frowning Obama. Posting on a website called www.oursanctions.ru, the owner of a photographic studio said he would not serve Obama or his family, should the president ever try to use his services. A Moscow shopping centre incorporated a ban on Obama and Congress members into an advertisement, underscoring the popularity of President Vladimir Putin's actions in Crimea. Full Story | Top |
| Western governments see continuing Russian buildup on Ukraine border Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 01:27 PM PDT By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and European security agencies estimate Russia has deployed military and militia units totaling more than 30,000 people along its border with eastern Ukraine, according to U.S. and European sources familiar with official reporting. The current estimates represent what officials on both sides of the Atlantic describe as a continuing influx of Russian forces along the Ukraine frontier, the sources said. The 30,000 figure represents a significant increase from a figure of 20,000 Russian troops along the border that was widely reported in U.S. and European media last week. But U.S. and European security sources noted that these estimates are imprecise. Full Story | Top |
| In mirror-image speech, Obama rebuts Putin over Ukraine Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 12:59 PM PDT Without mentioning Putin's name, Obama used a keynote speech in Brussels on U.S.-European relations to push back against many of the justifications, grievances and accusations used by the Russian leader for Moscow's annexation of Crimea. Obama offered advice for Americans skeptical about why they should care about what happens in a distant part of the world. And he told NATO allies it was time to bolster an alliance many of whose members have cut defense spending since the Cold War ended, in the face of what he called Russia's "brute force". To Republican critics who want him to be tougher, Obama said this: Now is not the time for bluster, this is not a Cold war rerun, and there are no easy answers nor a military solution. Full Story | Top |
| Latvia condemns political activities aimed at inciting tension Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 12:56 PM PDT Latvia's president, parliamentary speaker and prime minister issued a joint statement on Wednesday condemning any political activities aimed at fomenting tensions among different parts of Latvian society. Russian speakers make up about 35 percent of Latvia's 2 million population. There was some disquiet in the country when, as pro-Russian forces took up positions in Crimea, the Russian ambassador to Latvia offered Russian passports and pensions for ethnic Russians. Some people in Latvia and Estonia fear their Russian enclaves could be geopolitical flashpoints, which have the potential to be manipulated to destabilize the region. Full Story | Top |
| Italy's Renzi wins confidence vote on cutting local government Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 12:53 PM PDT  By Roberto Landucci ROME (Reuters) - Prime Minister Matteo Renzi won a vote of confidence in the Senate on Wednesday on a proposal to reduce the powers of provincial governments as part of his pledge to cut the cost of Italy's political apparatus. The provinces have for many years been considered a wasteful and largely superfluous layer of local government whose tasks could be redistributed among the smaller town councils and the larger regional authorities. However, repeated pledges by recent governments to abolish the 110 provincial councils, while ostensibly supported across the political spectrum, have floundered in the face of opposition by parties which exploit them as local power bases. The setbacks prompted him to call Wednesday's confidence vote, a tactic often used to truncate debate and speed the passage of legislation. Full Story | Top |
| Obama says NATO needs to boost presence in eastern Europe Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 12:50 PM PDT  By Adrian Croft and Jeff Mason BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO needs to boost its presence in eastern European countries that feel vulnerable to Russia after its annexation of Crimea, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday. Some defense experts have said the Crimea crisis could put NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia back on the agenda, but Obama said neither country was on a path to NATO membership and there were no immediate plans to expand the 28-member alliance. Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region has made newer NATO members in eastern Europe, particularly in the Baltics, nervous about a newly assertive Moscow. Full Story | Top |
| Russia frees Ukrainian officers 'illegally' held in Crimea Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 12:41 PM PDT By Aleksandar Vasovic SEVASTOPOL, Crimea (Reuters) - An airbase commander who has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in Crimea was released by Russian forces after being "illegally" detained, Ukraine's acting president said on Wednesday. The freeing of Colonel Yuliy Mamchur, along with three fellow officers, follows Russia's takeover of the last military ship controlled by Ukraine in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula whose largely bloodless annexation Ukraine refuses to recognize. Full Story | Top |
| BP Whiting refinery spilled 9-18 barrels of oil: Coast Guard Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 12:29 PM PDT  By Elizabeth Dilts NEW YORK (Reuters) - Between nine and 18 barrels (378-756 gallons) of oil spilled into Lake Michigan from BP Plc's Whiting refinery in Indiana after a malfunction on Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed on Wednesday. The amount of oil spilled is based on an initial visual estimate and may change, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said. The spill occurred Monday afternoon at a recently upgraded water treatment plant in a cove that leads into the lake, the company and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said. About 5,000 square yards of water was coated in an oily sheen and oil slicks could be seen on the shore and rocks, BP said in an initial report to the EPA. Full Story | Top |
| Leading Kenyan MP says homosexuality 'as serious as terrorism' Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 12:14 PM PDT By James Macharia NAIROBI (Reuters) - Homosexuality in Kenya is as bad a problem as terrorism, the ruling party's parliamentary leader said on Wednesday, but argued against stepping up legal sanctions on the grounds that existing laws were tough enough. Aden Duale, the majority leader from President Uhuru Kenyatta's ruling Jubilee coalition, was responding to a group of MPs demanding tougher laws. "Can't we just be brave enough, seeing that we are a sovereign state, and outlaw gayism and lesbianism, the way Uganda has done?" legislator Alois Lentoimaga said. Uganda has voted for life imprisonment for some homosexual acts, prompting some international donors to suspend aid. Full Story | Top |
| Kuwait summit merely papers over Arab rifts Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 11:46 AM PDT  By Sylvia Westall and Amena Bakr KUWAIT (Reuters) - Arab leaders, at loggerheads over inter-Arab issues including Egypt and Syria, offered little evidence of progress after a two-day summit in Kuwait focused largely on avoiding further splits. Gulf opposition to Qatar's financial backing for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist rebels in Syria burst into the open last month when Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain followed suit. Full Story | Top |
| Moroccan police stop protesters setting themselves on fire Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 11:45 AM PDT  Moroccan police spraying water cannon stopped 13 unemployed blind university graduates from setting themselves on fire in Rabat on Wednesday in protest against a public sector hiring freeze. Morocco, which brought in the austerity measures in January, faces demands from international lenders to reduce deficits and cut public spending, which has risen as Rabat sought to calm the kind of popular discontent seen in the Arab Spring revolts. Those revolts began in 2011 after street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself ablaze in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid in a protest against police harassment there. Rabat police moved in quickly to spray the blind protesters with water cannon to dampen the fuel before chasing them away using batons. Full Story | Top |
| Three killed in fighting in Lebanon's Tripoli: sources Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 11:29 AM PDT At least three people were killed in fighting between rival religious sects in Lebanon's second city on Wednesday, medical and security sources said, as violence from Syria spills over into the small Mediterranean country. The long-running rivalry between Tripoli's Sunni Muslims and members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, has been worsened by Syria's three-year-old conflict. The civil war has become increasingly sectarian as mostly Sunni rebels - who represent the majority in Syria - battle President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite. That has in turn exacerbated tensions in Lebanon, which is home to Sunnis, Shi'ites, Christians and a number of smaller sects, and is still recovering from its own 1975-90 civil war. Full Story | Top |
| Russia's seizure of Crimea denounced at U.N. rights forum Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 11:26 AM PDT More than 40 mainly Western countries led by the United States on Wednesday denounced Russia's annexation of Crimea and voiced concern for the fate of minority Tatars as well as missing activists and journalists. In a joint statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council, they urged Russia to allow international monitors to deploy across Ukraine, "including Crimea". Russia has agreed with the 56 other members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to send a six-month monitoring mission to Ukraine, but said it had no mandate in Crimea. Paula Schriefer, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state, read a two-page statement to the Geneva forum from 42 countries, saying: "We call on Russia and all concerned to ensure full and unimpeded access and protection for the teams to all of Ukraine, including Crimea ..." "We are deeply concerned about credible reports of kidnappings of journalists and activists, the blocking of independent media and the barring of independent international observers," she said. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt army presents Sisi resignation to president: report Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 11:15 AM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's military leadership was presenting Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's resignation from his post of defense minister at a meeting with the interim head of state on Wednesday, the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported on its website. Sisi is required to step down from his positions in the military in order to mount a widely expected bid for the presidency, which he is forecast to win easily in a forthcoming election. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Michael Georgy) Full Story | Top |
| Russia cannot achieve security through force: Obama Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 11:02 AM PDT Russia will not be pushed out of Ukraine's Crimea region by military means but, if the West stays united, Russians will realise they cannot achieve security through brute force, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday. Obama, in a speech in Brussels, said the Ukraine crisis showed the United States and Europe were again confronted with the belief that bigger nations can bully smaller ones. Russia would not be "dislodged from Crimea or deterred from further escalation by military force. But with time, so long as we remain united, the Russian people will recognize that they cannot achieve security, prosperity, and the status they seek through brute force," he said. Full Story | Top |
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