| Ukraine rebels ignore Putin call to delay self-rule vote Posted: 08 May 2014 02:26 PM PDT  By Matt Robinson and Gabriela Baczynska DONETSK, Ukraine/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine ignored a public call by Russian President Vladimir Putin to postpone a referendum on self-rule, declaring they would go ahead on Sunday with a vote that could lead to war. The decision, which contradicted the conciliatory tone set by Putin just a day earlier, caused consternation in the West, which fears the referendum will tear Ukraine apart. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns said Russia was heading down a \"dangerous and irresponsible path\" and the situation in Ukraine was \"extremely combustible\". Denis Pushilin, a leader of the self-declared separatist Donetsk People's Republic, expressed gratitude to Putin but said the \"People's Council\" had voted unanimously on Thursday to hold the plebiscite as planned.
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| Nigeria's president at WEF pledges to free kidnapped girls Posted: 08 May 2014 01:23 PM PDT  Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan pledged on Thursday to find more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Islamist rebels, as the hostage crisis overshadowed his opening address to a major conference designed to showcase investment opportunities in Africa's biggest economy. Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) being hosted in the capital Abuja, Jonathan thanked foreign nations including the United States, Britain, France and China for their support in trying to rescue the girls, who were kidnapped from a secondary school on April 14 by Boko Haram. \"I believe that the kidnap of these girls will be the beginning of the end of terrorism in Nigeria.\" Despite such pledges, Jonathan admitted on national television this week that he had no idea where the girls were. The kidnappings and numerous other attacks by Boko Haram have totally overshadowed Nigeria's hosting of the forum, an annual gathering of the rich and powerful that replicates the one in Davos, Switzerland.
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| Families of South Korea ferry dead march on presidential palace Posted: 08 May 2014 02:43 PM PDT  By James Pearson and Ju-min Park SEOUL/INCHEON, South Korea (Reuters) - Parents of children killed when a passenger ferry sank last month led a somber march on South Korea's presidential palace in the early hours of Friday morning, where they demanded to meet with President Park Geun-hye. Clutching memorial portraits of their children, family members and grieving parents were prevented by riot police from nearing the palace, and instead sat in the middle of the road where they sobbed, wailed and shouted in anger. \"Listen to us, President Park. Just give us ten seconds!,\" one family member said, using a portable address system.
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| Swedish PM warns of nationalist surge as EU elections loom Posted: 08 May 2014 03:17 PM PDT  By Alistair Scrutton and Simon Johnson STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Europe's failure to deliver economic growth and jobs has frayed public trust in democracy and fostered a nationalist climate that could reward anti-immigration, Eurosceptical parties in May's EU elections, Sweden's prime minister said on Thursday. Fredrik Reinfeldt also saw nationalism shaping Russia's actions in Ukraine, which he said was creating \"instability\", but despite such concerns he said Sweden was unlikely to abandon its formal neutrality and join NATO any time soon. \"(The economic crisis) has weakened the forces of integration or standing up for this European ideal,\" he said in an interview in which he also invoked the destructive nationalism that tore Europe apart 100 years ago this summer with the outbreak of World War One. \"The kind of (nationalist) thinking behind that, which has been a problem in Europe for hundreds of years ... is very much the same kind of thinking you see Russia now doing in Ukraine or you will see in many forces throughout Europe,\" Reinfeldt said.
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| Clashes flare after Venezuela student camps raided, one dead Posted: 08 May 2014 04:41 PM PDT  By Eyanir Chinea and Diego Ore CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan troops on Thursday rounded up hundreds of youth activists and dismantled camps set up to protest against President Nicolas Maduro, and a policeman was shot dead in the demonstrations and clashes that ensued around Caracas. Pre-dawn raids by National Guard troops broke up four tent camps maintained by student activists in the capital of the OPEC member nation during three months of protests. Masked youths hurled stones and petrol bombs, while police fired tear gas in upmarket east Caracas.
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| Britain must prevent its nationals fighting abroad: report Posted: 08 May 2014 04:11 PM PDT By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Britain needs to take urgent action to stop citizens travelling to fight in Syria and other conflicts, a parliamentary committee said on Friday, amid fears they could be radicalized there and return to carry out attacks on their homeland. The head of the Home Affairs Committee also warned that Britain faced a \"terrorist threat\" as grave as at any point since the September 11 attacks on the United States 13 years ago. \"We require an immediate response targeted at dissuading and preventing those who wish to go to fight from going.\" Britain and other European governments have stepped up warnings in recent months that Muslims who go to fight against the forces of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria could end up posing a threat to their home countries. \"Stopping British men and women going to become foreign fighters, in Syria and other theatres of conflict, and engaging with them when they return is vital to avoid endangering the security of the UK for many years to come,\" said committee chairman Keith Vaz. |
| Mexican vigilante movement dismisses spokesman Posted: 08 May 2014 04:52 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Vigilantes who have spent the last year beating back a drug cartel in Mexico said Thursday they have dismissed their chief spokesman after he used unusually blunt language to challenge President Enrique Pena Nieto.
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| Lawmakers: UK spies need stronger oversight Posted: 08 May 2014 04:05 PM PDT LONDON (AP) — A panel of British lawmakers says the system for scrutinizing the country's spies is stuck in the 20th-century world of John Le Carre's fiction rather than the 21st-century age of online surveillance and cyber-espionage. |
| Mourinho fined after sarcastic praise for referees Posted: 08 May 2014 03:52 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — The English Football Association has fined Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho 13,000 pounds ($16,900) for bringing the game into disrepute with sarcastic comments about match officials after a shock defeat in the Premier League to Sunderland.
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| Mexico suspends 3 federal judges in casino probe Posted: 08 May 2014 03:51 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — Three Mexican federal judges have been suspended pending an investigation into court judgments that benefited casino owners, the judiciary announced Thursday. |
| Andy Murray loses in 3rd round at Madrid Open Posted: 08 May 2014 03:43 PM PDT  MADRID (AP) — Andy Murray hit error after error Thursday and was eliminated from the Madrid Masters in the third round.
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| Leno to host award ceremony in Israel Posted: 08 May 2014 03:41 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — Jay Leno sees a small silver lining in the recent collapse of U.S.-backed Mideast peace talks: It should make his job just a little easier when he performs in front of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later this month.
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| Ferragamo launches signature Fiamma bag Posted: 08 May 2014 03:38 PM PDT  MILAN (AP) — Perhaps the "It" bag's star just burned too bright. Those must-have handbag wonders, which flew out of stores before dropping into sudden oblivion, have given way to something more enduring: signature bags.
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| Crisis in Nigeria: #BringBackOurGirls Posted: 08 May 2014 03:32 PM PDT  Millions have expressed outrage and concern as nearly 300 girls are still in the hands of the terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria. Join Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric for a special live conversation about the crisis on Friday, May 9, at 11:30am ET. Katie will talk to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof who called for an international effort to rescue the girls in his most recent column, Nigerian human rights leader Hafsat Abiola and Ramaa Mosely, the mother from California who is the force behind the hashtag "BringBackOurGirls' going viral.
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| Ex-London imam cries in US terror trial testimony Posted: 08 May 2014 03:31 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — An Egyptian cleric known for fiery oratory at a London mosque has quietly cried at his New York terrorism trial while describing seeing Muslims being harmed.
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| Putin to face Western leaders at D-Day anniversary Posted: 08 May 2014 03:25 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Complicating the West's efforts to isolate Russia, the Kremlin announced Thursday that Vladimir Putin will join President Barack Obama and European leaders in France next month for a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion that hastened the end of World War II.
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| Helicopter crash off Ghana kills at least 3 Posted: 08 May 2014 03:23 PM PDT  Three people were killed on Thursday when a helicopter carrying eight passengers crashed off Ghana's western coast, home to the nation's offshore oil industry, the military said. \"Three people have been confirmed dead,\" Ghana Armed Forces spokesman M'Bawine Atintande told AFP, adding that four people have been rescued and one remained missing. Ghana's respected Joy FM radio station reported online that five Ghanaians and three foreign nationals -- British, French and Nigerian -- were on board the helicopter, citing an official at Ghana's Civil Aviation Authority, Albert Taylor. Atintande could not confirm the nationalities reported by Joy FM.
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| US commandos head to Baltics, Europe for training Posted: 08 May 2014 03:16 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — About 200 U.S. special operations forces and support staff will be participating in training exercises across Europe, including in the three Baltic nations, in the coming months as part of America's ongoing effort to reassure allies in the region. |
| Official: New US ambassador headed to Egypt Posted: 08 May 2014 03:16 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Thursday tapped a career diplomat to fill a nine-month vacancy as the U.S. ambassador to Egypt in a routine but necessary step toward smoothing its stormy relationship with Cairo.
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| US sanctions Syrian government officials Posted: 08 May 2014 03:08 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Stepping up pressure on Syria, the Treasury Department on Thursday sanctioned six Syrian officials and a Russian bank for their alleged support of the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been fighting opposition forces in a 3-year-old bloody civil war. |
| Rock gods Metallica to headline Britain's Glastonbury Posted: 08 May 2014 03:05 PM PDT  US metal giants Metallica will play this year's coveted Saturday night headline spot at Britain's Glastonbury festival, organisers announced Thursday. It will be the \"Master of Puppets\" four-piece's first appearance at the legendary festival, held in south west England, following on from The Rolling Stones' Worthy Farm debut last year. The band took to Twitter, writing: \"Worst kept secret in rock and roll is now confirmed... see you at @GlastoFest on June 28th!\" Arcade Fire and Kasabian are the two other headline acts, while the Pixies, Jack White and Dolly Parton are some of the other artists playing the main stage.
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| Susan Rice reassures Israel on Iran nuclear ambitions Posted: 08 May 2014 03:03 PM PDT  US National Security Adviser Susan Rice assured Israel at high-level talks on Thursday that Washington remained determined to stop Iran developing nuclear arms, the White House said. \"The US delegation reaffirmed our commitment to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,\" said a White House statement released after talks in Jerusalem between Rice, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior officials from both sides. \"The delegations held thorough consultations on all aspects of the challenge posed by Iran, and pledged to continue the unprecedented coordination between the United States and Israel,\" it added.
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| Guam to discuss potential partial refuge closure Posted: 08 May 2014 03:01 PM PDT HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Guam's nonvoting delegate in U.S. Congress is moving to give the territory's community members a chance to weigh in on whether the Navy should close part of a wildlife refuge as part of a military buildup. |
| Ignoring Putin, Ukraine insurgents to hold vote Posted: 08 May 2014 02:48 PM PDT  DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — In an obscure government office guarded by a man in a red T-shirt armed only with a stick, two photocopy machines churned out ballots Thursday for eastern Ukraine's referendum on secession, as they have been doing around the clock for days.
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| 'Hitler Album' of stolen art donated to US Archive Posted: 08 May 2014 02:38 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Adolf Hitler's last known album of artworks stolen by the Nazis during World War II is being donated to the U.S. National Archives to mark the anniversary of the war's end in Europe. |
| Judge probing Mozambique kidnappings shot dead Posted: 08 May 2014 02:35 PM PDT  A judge who has been investigating a string of recent kidnappings in Mozambique was shot dead in the capital on Thursday, police said. Dinis Silica was killed in his car in the city centre by gunmen who were driving behind him, police spokesman, Arnaldo Chefo said. Mozambique has in recent years been hit by kidnapping gangs targeting wealthy businessmen, and increasingly children, as well as foreign nationals.
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| Top Asian News at 9:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 08 May 2014 02:32 PM PDT BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's anti-graft commission indicted ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday on charges of dereliction of duty in overseeing a widely criticized rice subsidy program, a day after a court forced her from office. Yingluck was accused of allowing the rice program, a flagship policy of her administration, to proceed despite advice that it was potentially wasteful and prone to corruption. |
| Strong earthquake shakes Mexico's Pacific coast Posted: 08 May 2014 05:09 PM PDT  ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — A strong earthquake shook the southern Pacific coast of Mexico as well as the capital and several inland states Thursday, sending frightened people into unseasonal torrential rains that were also bearing down on the coast.
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| Corruption charge for ex-Virgin Islands official Posted: 08 May 2014 02:25 PM PDT ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) — A former government official in the U.S. Virgin Islands who was already facing fraud and tax evasion charges has been indicted on bribery and extortion charges in an unrelated case, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday. |
| Thai auto sector slams on brakes as political crisis rumbles on Posted: 08 May 2014 02:23 PM PDT  By Khettiya Jittapong and Pisit Changplayngam BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's auto sector, Southeast Asia's biggest, has fired more than 30,000 subcontracted workers this year and slashed production, as sales plunge after months of political unrest that threatens to drive some manufacturers offshore. The lay-offs are the latest sign that the auto industry, accounting for about 11 percent of Thai economic output, is being hit hard by the prolonged power-struggle between the Bangkok-based royalist establishment and the mainly rural supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The crisis deepened on Wednesday, when a court ordered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin's sister, to step down after finding her guilty of abuse of power, leaving a caretaker government to press ahead with plans for a July election. As a regional production and export base, Thailand's troubles have major implications for top manufacturers such as Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co and Ford Motor Co, which may be forced to shift some production to cheaper bases such as Indonesia, the region's second-biggest auto market.
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| US democracy in Guyana project on hold for talks Posted: 08 May 2014 02:23 PM PDT GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — A U.S.-funded program aimed at improving the democratic process in Guyana has been suspended amid complaints from the South American government, officials said Thursday. |
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