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| Ukraine rebels free Swedish hostage; Obama seeks unity against Russia Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 09:03 PM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick and Thomas Grove KUALA LUMPUR/SLAVIANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Pro-Russian rebels paraded European monitors they are holding in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, freeing one but saying they had no plans to release another seven as the United States and Europe prepared new sanctions against Moscow. U.S. President Barack Obama called for the United States and Europe to join forces to impose stronger measures to restrain Moscow. In a move senior U.S. officials said may come as early as Monday, the White House said it would add names of people close to President Vladimir Putin and firms they control to a list of Russians hit by sanctions over Ukraine, and also impose new restrictions on high-tech exports. Full Story | Top |
| Sisi urges big vote in Egyptian election; Islamists urge boycott Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 12:37 PM PDT  Former Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday called for a big turnout in a presidential election he is expected to win easily, countering a call for a boycott by allies of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Mursi. Sisi, who deposed Mursi after mass protests against his rule last July, faces only one competitor in the May 26-27 election - leftist Hamdeen Sabahi. He came third in the 2012 election won by Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Sisi called on Egyptians to vote in "unprecedented numbers for the sake of Egypt", according to an official statement outlining comments he made during a meeting on Sunday with investors in the tourism industry. Full Story | Top |
| Microsoft rushes to fix browser after attacks; no fix for XP users Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 02:55 PM PDT  By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is rushing to fix a bug in its widely used Internet Explorer web browser after a computer security firm disclosed the flaw over the weekend, saying hackers have already exploited it in attacks on some U.S. companies. PCs running Windows XP will not receive any updates fixing that bug when they are released, however, because Microsoft stopped supporting the 13-year-old operating system earlier this month. Security firms estimate that between 15 and 25 percent of the world's PCs still run Windows XP. Microsoft disclosed on Saturday its plans to fix the bug in an advisory to its customers posted on its security website, which it said is present in Internet Explorer versions 6 to 11. Full Story | Top |
| South Korean PM resigns over government response to ferry disaster Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 01:11 AM PDT  By Narae Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won announced his resignation on Sunday over the government response to the ferry disaster, in which it was first announced that everyone had been rescued, focusing attention on poor regulatory controls. More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers on a field trip from the Danwon High School on the outskirts of Seoul, have died or are missing and presumed dead. South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy and one of its leading manufacturing and export powerhouses, has developed into one of the world's most technically advanced countries, but faces criticism that regulatory controls have not kept pace. Chung's resignation was approved by President Park Geun-hye, who has the most power in government, although her spokesman said later that he would remain in post until the rescue operation was completed. Full Story | Top |
| Hungarians march against anti-Semitism after far-right poll gains Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 11:33 AM PDT  Tens of thousands of Hungarians joined a protest march on Sunday against anti-Semitism, three weeks after the far-right Jobbik party won nearly a quarter of votes cast in a national election. Budapest's annual 'March of the Living' has drawn an increasing number of participants in recent years to commemorate the deaths of around half a million Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust in World War Two. The marchers, many holding European Union and Israeli flags, attended the inauguration of a Holocaust monument on a bank of the Danube where Jews were executed during the war. They then marched in silence through the city to an old railway station from which trains departed 70 years ago for Nazi death camps. Full Story | Top |
| French president, GE boss to meet over Alstom future Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 03:57 PM PDT  President Francois Hollande and his Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg are set to meet with General Electric Chief Executive Jeff Immelt on Monday to discuss the future of French engineering group Alstom, a presidential official said. The planned meeting between the French head of state and the boss of one of the world's 10 largest investor-controlled corporations follows a weekend of high political and corporate drama. Immelt arrived in Paris to hammer out a $13 billion deal to buy Alstom's power turbines business after news of talks between the French trains-to-turbines group and the U.S. industrial and financial giant GE late last week. His arrival coincided with political uproar over the potential loss of a national champion and the emergence of a rival proposal involving German group Siemens. Full Story | Top |
| Death of witness may stymie probe into Brazil dictatorship Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 08:57 PM PDT  By Brian Winter RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A month ago, retired army colonel Paulo Malhães proudly declared that during Brazil's 1964-85 military dictatorship he had tortured leftists until they died and then cut off their hands to prevent their bodies from ever being identified. "I tortured as many as I had to," Malhães, 76, told a special commission investigating crimes committed by the military during that era. "It's difficult to say how many (victims) there were, but it was a lot." Late on Thursday Malhães was found dead, face down and with signs of asphyxiation, after three men broke into his house outside of Rio de Janeiro. But members of the so-called National Truth Commission probing the military's abuses already fear Malhães' death will dissuade other witnesses from coming forward and cow others into silence. Full Story | Top |
| For Washington, Palestinian pact not the end of Middle East peace hopes Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 04:28 AM PDT  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The unity pact between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the militant group Hamas dealt a sharp punch to U.S.-driven peace negotiations with Israel, but the Americans insisted it was not a fatal blow to the struggling talks. Washington was stunned by the deal announced on Wednesday between Fatah, the faction that leads the West Bank, and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and is viewed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately suspended participation in the peace process brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Full Story | Top |
| Hundreds of thousands watch two popes become saints Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 04:56 AM PDT By Philip Pullella and James Mackenzie VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis proclaimed his predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II saints in front of more than half a million pilgrims on Sunday, hailing both as courageous men who withstood the tragedies of the 20th century. Cheers and applause rang out across St Peter's Square after the historic double papal canonization as many in the crowd fixed their gaze on huge tapestries of the two popes on the facade of the basilica behind Francis. "We declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II to be saints and we enrol them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church," Francis said in his formal proclamation in Latin. Relics of each man - a container of blood from John Paul II and skin from John XXIII - were placed near the altar. Full Story | Top |
| Syria misses self-imposed deadline for destroying chemical arms Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 08:50 AM PDT  Syria appeared to have missed a self-imposed deadline to get rid of all its chemical weapons by April 27, as the United Nations announced that more than 92 percent of the arsenal had been shipped out of the country or destroyed. The UN deadline for the total destruction of Syria's chemical weapons is June 30, but the government had vowed to complete the removal of its 1,300 tonnes of chemical substances on April 27, after missing several deadlines. Sigrid Kaag, head of the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, told reporters in Damascus that the UN hoped Syria would meet the June deadline. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine rebels free Swedish hostage; Obama seeks unity against Russia Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 12:02 PM PDT By Matt Spetalnick and Thomas Grove KUALA LUMPUR/SLAVIANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Pro-Russian rebels paraded European monitors they are holding in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, freeing one but saying they had no plans to release another seven as the United States and Europe prepared new sanctions against Moscow. U.S. President Barack Obama called for the United States and Europe to join forces to impose stronger measures to restrain Moscow. The White House said it will add names on Monday of people close to President Vladimir Putin and firms they control to a list of Russians hit by sanctions over Ukraine, and also impose new restrictions on high tech exports. Full Story | Top |
| Death of witness may stymie probe into Brazil dictatorship Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 09:32 AM PDT By Brian Winter RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A month ago, retired army colonel Paulo Malhães proudly declared that during Brazil's 1964-85 military dictatorship he had tortured leftists until they died and then cut off their hands to prevent their bodies from ever being identified. "I tortured as many as I had to," Malhães, 76, told a special commission investigating crimes committed by the military during that era. "It's difficult to say how many (victims) there were, but it was a lot." Late on Thursday Malhães was found dead, face down and with signs of asphyxiation, after three men broke into his house outside of Rio de Janeiro. But members of the so-called National Truth Commission probing the military's abuses already fear Malhães' death will dissuade other witnesses from coming forward and cow others into silence. Full Story | Top |
| Fed may offer clues on rate timing conundrum Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 03:10 AM PDT  By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. policymakers have the chance this week to give clearer guidance on the future path of interest rates and settle markets that are uncertain over how and when a hike would occur. Global financial markets are still on alert for developments in Ukraine, with the United States and its G7 partners preparing tougher sanctions against Russia. But investors will have much to chew over, including Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan policy meetings and data from U.S. growth and jobs to euro zone inflation. The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meets from Tuesday to Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| Everest tragedy exposes big business behind noble pursuit Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 03:18 AM PDT  By John Chalmers and Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Blogging from Everest base camp after 16 sherpas were killed by an avalanche, American climber Ed Marzec lamented: "I am shamed by our greed and embarrassed by our lack of compassion." Expressions of sympathy and regret were not enough, however, for the Nepali guides who take breathtaking risks to help Western clients scale the slopes of Everest and realize the ultimate conquest. There was fury among the roughly 400 sherpas at base camp after the April 18 accident on the perilous Khumbu icefall, the single deadliest disaster on the world's highest mountain. At the top of the Everest supply chain are "clients" from around the globe who pay tens of thousands of dollars to Western mountaineering firms. Then there are Nepali middlemen and the government who take a cut, shoestring local agents, and finally the guides, who can earn as little as $1,000 a season. Full Story | Top |
| Gaddafi's son Saif, former officials face charges in Tripoli court Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 07:21 AM PDT By Ulf Laessing TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi appeared via video-link on Sunday with 22 others to hear charges in a Tripoli court ranging from war crimes to corruption in a major test of whether the state can implement the rule of law. Saif al-Islam, the most high-profile of Gaddafi's seven sons, smiled and looked confident on the link-up from a jail in the western town of Zintan where he has been held since he was captured by former rebels. The rebels refuse to hand Saif over, saying they do not trust the government to ensure he won't escape, but have agreed to have him tried in a government court. The judge took about 20 minutes to read out the charges, accusing the defendants of giving orders to arm militias and kill peaceful protesters and locking up thousands of political opponents. Full Story | Top |
| Bahrain sentences eight people to life for policeman bomb death Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 07:15 AM PDT Bahrain's Supreme Criminal Court has sentenced eight people to life in prison for their part in the killing of a policeman in a bomb blast in November, the prosecutor's office said on Sunday. The Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab kingdom and host of the U.S. Fifth Fleet has struggled with unrest since mass pro-democracy protests, led by the majority Shi'ite population but also included some Sunnis, erupted in 2011. The protests were put down by the authorities but since then more radical Shi'ites have carried out low-level violence against security forces on an almost daily basis. The prosecutor's office said the eight men planted a homemade bomb close to where police usually erected a checkpoint during protests, before setting tires on fire and blocking the road to lure police to the site. Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian judge to rule on mass death sentence Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 08:59 AM PDT By Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court will on Monday pass final judgment on 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters sentenced to death last month, in a case that has provoked outrage among Western governments and rights groups. The preliminary death sentences were issued on March 24 - just two days after the mass trial began - and relate to violence in which a policeman was killed in August in the southern province of Minya. The United States and European Union said they were "appalled" at the ruling. The court will also issue verdicts on another 683 people accused of violence last year in Minya, including Mohamed Badie, the Muslim Brotherhood's General Guide, or top leader. Full Story | Top |
| Abbas calls Holocaust "most heinous crime" against humanity Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 08:32 AM PDT  By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the Nazi Holocaust "the most heinous crime" against humanity in modern times, in an apparent bid to build bridges with Israel days after troubled peace talks collapsed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the overture on Sunday, saying Abbas's Palestinian power-sharing deal with Hamas, which led Israel to suspend the negotiations on Thursday, put him in partnership with an Islamist group that denies the Holocaust and seeks the Jewish state's destruction. "What I say to him very simply is this: President Abbas, tear up your pact with Hamas," Netanyahu said on the CBS news program Face the Nation. Abbas's message, published in Arabic and English by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, coincided with Israel's annual remembrance day for the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust, and included an expression of sympathy for the families of the victims. Full Story | Top |
| South Africa marks 20 years of freedom ahead of election Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 04:41 AM PDT  By Ndundu Sithole and Dinky Mkhize PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa marked two decades of multi-racial democracy on Sunday, still feeling the loss of Nelson Mandela and in somber mood just 10 days before elections which are expected to keep the African National Congress (ANC) party in power. His name was evoked several times by South Africa's current president Jacob Zuma during a ceremony attended by around 5,000 people under bright autumn skies outside of the ornate Union Buildings, the seat of government. "Our country continues to contribute to building a better Africa and a better world, building on Madiba's legacy," Zuma said, referring to Mandela by his clan name. The ANC under Zuma has seen its star fade since the heady days of the liberation struggle against white domination and the one term in office served by Mandela, who devoted his formidable charisma and charm to the cause of racial reconciliation. Full Story | Top |
| Obama: Myanmar won't succeed if Muslims are oppressed Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 02:05 AM PDT  U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday that the rights of Myanmar's minority Muslim population were not being fully protected and warned that the Southeast Asian country would not succeed if Muslims there were oppressed. On a visit to Malaysia, Obama praised political reforms under way in once-isolated Myanmar but said the danger of democratization was that it could unleash religious and ethnic conflicts and that such developments could move Myanmar in a bad direction. "You have a Muslim minority (in Myanmar) … that the broader population has historically looked down upon and whose rights are not being fully protected," Obama told a townhall-style meeting of young leaders from across Southeast Asia. "Myanmar won't succeed if the Muslim population is oppressed." Members of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority have been the victims of attacks and widespread abuse in recent years blamed by human rights groups and other observers on security forces and anti-Muslim mobs in the country's Rakhine state. Full Story | Top |
| EU courts Moldova with visa-free travel from Monday Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 05:50 AM PDT Moldovan citizens will no longer require visas to travel to the European Union beginning on Monday, as the bloc presses ahead with deeper ties with east European nations in defiance of Russia. Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine are all seeking tighter links with the European Union as part of an Eastern Partnership with the bloc, which allows for closer trade and business ties without full EU membership. In response to the Ukraine crisis, the European Union has said it will accelerate the partnerships and from Monday, all citizens of Moldova with a biometric passport can travel visa-free to Europe's Schengen zone, the European Commission said on Sunday in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| EU parliament flexes muscles despite skeptics' rise Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 01:05 AM PDT  By Paul Taylor PARIS (Reuters) - At each election since Europe's unique experiment in cross-border democracy began in 1979, the percentage of voters casting ballots for the directly elected European Parliament has fallen. When citizens in the 28 European Union countries vote on May 22-25 for 751 members of the bloc's legislature, opinion polls suggest they will for the first time elect a sizeable phalanx of politicians bent on reversing 60 years of European integration. Full Story | Top |
| Obama says U.S. committed to supporting MH370 search Sunday, Apr 27, 2014 12:21 AM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick and Morag MacKinnon KUALA LUMPUR/PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday that the United States was fully committed to providing more assets to assist in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean. "I can tell you the United States is absolutely committed to providing whatever resources and assets that we can," Obama told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Full Story | Top |
| Malaysia PM says agreed with Obama to upgrade ties Saturday, Apr 26, 2014 11:00 PM PDT  KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Sunday that he and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed to upgrade the two countries' ties to a "comprehensive partnership." "This marks a new phase in our relationship, with greater collaboration in economy, security, education, science, technology," Najib told a joint news conference with Obama following their discussion. "We also decided to reinfigure senior officials' dialogues as a key forum for high-level discussion. ... Full Story | Top |
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