| Freed soldier's hometown cancels rally amid anger over swap Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:39 PM PDT By David Alexander and Phil Stewart KABUL (Reuters) - The political uproar over the prisoner swap that won the release of U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban captivity intensified on Wednesday when his hometown canceled plans for a rally celebrating his return amid allegations that he deserted. The Taliban released video of their handover of Bergdahl to U.S. special operations forces in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border on Saturday, showing the U.S. soldier seemingly dazed and anxious about the unfolding events. Bergdahl's release after being held for nearly five years in Afghanistan provoked an angry backlash in Congress among lawmakers over the Obama administration's failure to notify them in advance. That anger helped fuel congressional criticism of the Obama administration's handling of the deal to free Bergdahl in exchange for the transfer of five senior Taliban members from Guantanamo prison in Cuba to Qatar, where they were to remain for a year. |
| Fighting rages in eastern Ukraine town, residents flee Posted: 04 Jun 2014 12:29 PM PDT  By Alissa de Carbonnel NEAR SLAVIANSK Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukrainian government forces battled separatists with artillery and automatic weapons on Wednesday in a second day of fighting in and around Slaviansk, forcing many residents to flee. The Kiev government, trying to break rebellions by pro-Russia militias, said over 300 rebels had been killed in the past 24 hours in the "anti-terrorist operation" centered on the eastern town, a strategically located separatist stronghold. We will head to Russia though because it's clear we need to leave Ukraine," he said, waiting for a taxi in a small a no-man's land between the two sides. A spokesman for government forces said two soldiers had been killed and 45 wounded since Kiev launched its offensive near Slaviansk with aircraft, helicopters and artillery.
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| Hong Kong recalls Tiananmen killings, China muffles dissent Posted: 04 Jun 2014 07:53 AM PDT By Adam Rose and Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people held a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong on Wednesday to mark the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters 25 years ago in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, while mainland China authorities sought to whitewash the 1989 event. In Beijing, police flooded the streets around the square, scene of the worst of the violence a quarter of a century ago, and censors scrubbed the Internet clean of any mention of the rare open display of defiance against the Communist Party. In Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 but remains a free-wheeling, capitalist hub, demonstrators holding candles and clad mainly in black gathered in a downtown park and called on Beijing to atone for the killings. "Hong Kong is a free society where you can speak out. |
| G7 willing to step up sanctions on Russia over Ukraine Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:27 PM PDT  By Luke Baker and Mike Peacock BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The world's leading industrialized nations threatened on Wednesday to impose harder-hitting sanctions on Russia if it does not help restore stability to eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian militias continue to operate at will. While Ukraine was able to hold a largely peaceful presidential election last month, the situation in the east near the Russian border remains volatile, with armed groups attacking Ukrainian government forces and occupying state buildings. "We stand ready to intensify targeted sanctions and to consider significant additional restrictive measures to impose further costs on Russia should events so require," the G7 said in a statement after evening talks in Brussels. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Western powers would check "again and again" to verify that Russia was doing what it could to stabilize the situation, which erupted in March after Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine and annexed it.
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| Assad declared landslide victor in wartime Syrian election Posted: 04 Jun 2014 02:44 PM PDT  By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad has secured a landslide victory in a wartime election that was condemned as a sham by his opponents but demonstrated his tenacious hold on power after three years of brutal civil war. Parliamentary speaker Mohammad al-Laham said Assad secured 88.7 percent of votes cast in the election, which was held mainly in the central and western parts of the country, where his forces hold sway. "I declare the victory of Dr Bashar Hafez al-Assad as president of the Syrian Arab Republic with an absolute majority of the votes cast in the election," Laham said in a televised address from his office in the Syrian parliament. Even before he spoke, celebratory gunfire and fireworks erupted in Damascus in anticipation of the news.
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| Iraq hospital bombing kills 14 Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:39 PM PDT A car bomb exploded near a hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla late on Wednesday, killing at least 14 people, police and medical sources said. No-one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Shi'ites are often a target for Sunni Islamist insurgents who have been regaining ground and momentum in Iraq over the past year. The blast occurred around 20 meters from the main gate of Hilla General Hospital, outside a busy coffee shop where patients' relatives often sit to rest and buy food and drinks in the predominantly Shi'ite Muslim city. "I was on my way to buy some juice for my sick uncle who was in the hospital when I saw a big fireball," said eyewitness Ahmed Shirba. |
| Russia's Putin dominates G-7 summit in absentia Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:44 PM PDT  BRUSSELS (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin was kept out of Wednesday's summit of world leaders but dominated the meeting as President Barack Obama and his counterparts from the G-7 group of major economies sought the Kremlin chief's renewed cooperation to end the Ukraine crisis.
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| US launches $1 billion push for off-grid Africa power Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:43 PM PDT  US companies have promised $1 billion for off-grid power projects in Africa, putting a growing focus on small-scale and renewable energy in the push to ease the continent's chronic electricity shortages. President Barack Obama's administration announced commitments by 27 investors as it moves forward on a goal of doubling electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa, where a lack of power has been a key impediment to improving education and public health. "With close to 600 million people without access to modern-day electricity, it is clear that centralized grid access is not a comprehensive solution for these countries in one of the world's least urban continents," Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Tuesday on a visit to Ethiopia, according to a statement. "But through solutions including off-grid and small scale energy projects, we can bring electricity to these rural areas," he said.
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| Scores killed in Boko Haram village raids Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:40 PM PDT  Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Heavily armed gunmen raided four villages in northeast Nigeria leaving scores dead and sending survivors fleeing the attacks blamed on Boko Haram, a local lawmaker and residents said on Wednesday. "There were deadly attacks on these villages by Boko Haram insurgents who killed a large number of people and destroyed homes," lawmaker Peter Biye, who represents the area in Nigeria's lower chamber of parliament, told AFP. "Boko Haram have hoisted their flags in at least seven villages in the area which they now claim to be under their control," said the lawmaker. Military jets bombarded Boko Haram positions in the affected area to try to flush out the insurgents, he added.
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| Bergdahl's hometown cancels celebration amid furor Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:34 PM PDT  HAILEY, Idaho (AP) — Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's hometown abruptly canceled plans Wednesday for a welcome-home celebration, citing security concerns over the prospect of big crowds — both for and against the soldier.
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| ICC hands three asylum-seeking Congolese to Dutch state Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:28 PM PDT  Three Congolese witnesses detained by the International Criminal Court were released on Wednesday into the custody of the Dutch state pending an asylum bid, the Hague-based court said. Floribert Ndjabu, Pierre Celestin Mbodina and Sharif Manda Ndadza "were transferred from ICC detention to the Dutch authorities' custody" in accordance with a court order, the ICC said in a statement. The three witnesses sought asylum in the Netherlands after giving testimony in 2011 in the cases of Congolese former militia boss Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui and Germain Katanga.
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| Media outlets given free access to D-Day broadcasts Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:27 PM PDT  Broadcast images of events marking the D-Day landings will be made freely available to news agencies and media outlets across the world at the request of the French presidency, broadcasters announced on Wednesday. "For all foreign channels and agencies, given the exceptional nature of the event and at the request of the Presidency of the Republic, pictures will be available for free... for live broadcasts outside France," the TF1 and France Television channels said. Contrary to convention for such major international events, TF1 and France Television wanted to charge agencies - such as Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Reuters, and ENEX (a global network of private channels) - for the right to broadcast the live images, including any images shown on the Internet. The agencies had also protested to the French presidency, which had asked TF1 and France Television to broadcast the events.
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| Anglican leader prays with Nigeria's president over missing girls Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:16 PM PDT  The leader of the world's Anglicans on Wednesday visited Nigeria, his office said, expressing sympathy to the country's president over security concerns and the fate of more than 200 schoolgirl hostages. "The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby made a last-minute visit to Nigeria today to offer his heartfelt sympathy for the recent events affecting the country," Lambeth Palace said in a statement. During a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja, described by Welby's office as a "pastoral visit", the cleric expressed his "personal pain and condolence about the ongoing terrorism" affecting mainly Muslim northern Nigeria. The talks also touched on a recent twin car bomb attack in the central city of Jos, also blamed on Boko Haram militants, which killed at least 118.
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| Dalai Lama in bid to revive Tibetan autonomy in China Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:15 PM PDT  Dharamsala (India) (AFP) - The Dalai Lama and other exiled Tibetan leaders will on Thursday launch a renewed push for autonomy within China as they seek to end a wave of gruesome self-immolations against perceived oppression in their homeland by Beijing. The leaders will meet in the northern Indian hill station of Dharamsala to kick off a media campaign promoting the "Middle Way" for peaceful autonomy for Tibetans, in a bid to pile global pressure on Beijing to revisit the issue. The prime minister of Tibet's government in exile, Lobsang Sangay, is expected to host a press conference, after taking over the job of pushing for autonomy from the revered spiritual leader. But the Dalai Lama, who stepped down from political duties in 2011, stole the spotlight on the eve of the launch by urging China to embrace democracy in comments marking the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
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| Good news for Luongo: Turkish holiday has to wait Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:14 PM PDT SYDNEY (AP) — Midfielder Massimo Luongo figured his chances of making Australia's team for the World Cup were so remote he planned a holiday to Turkey during the tournament. |
| Premier League clubs' revenue hits new high Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:12 PM PDT LONDON (AP) — The revenue generated by football clubs in the Premier League struck a record 2.53 billion pounds ($4.23 billion) in the 2012/13 season as the English topflight remained the world leader. |
| Godzilla's owners, US brewery, settle beer case Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:12 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A New Orleans brewery has agreed to change the name of one of its beers after it was sued by the Japanese company that owns the rights to the movie monster Godzilla.
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| France lifts restrictions on D-Day video coverage Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:12 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — France on Wednesday dropped restrictions on live video coverage of ceremonies this week marking the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, ensuring that millions of viewers across the world will be able to watch the event as it unfolds. |
| Rooney ends goal drought as England, Ecuador draw Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:07 PM PDT  MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Rarely has tapping in a goal provided such relief for Wayne Rooney.
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| US welcomes 'good steps' by Iran on nuclear drive Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:02 PM PDT  The United States on Wednesday welcomed Iran's recent efforts to alleviate concerns about its nuclear programme, but urged it to increase the pace of cooperation. A recent report by the UN atomic watchdog IAEA found Iran was sticking to its agreements with the agency and implementing all newly agreed measures, even addressing matters related to bomb-making for the first time in six years. "You can't see steps taking place and say it's not sufficient, those are good steps," the US delegate to the IAEA, Ambassador Joseph Macmanus, told journalists Wednesday on the sidelines of an IAEA board of governors meeting. Addressing member states earlier, Macmanus however highlighted that Iran's engagement was "long overdue," according to a copy of his address.
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| Protesters march in Sao Paulo ahead of World Cup Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:01 PM PDT SAO PAULO (AP) — Some 4,000 protesters in Brazil's biggest city marched peacefully Wednesday night on the stadium that will host the World Cup's opening match next week, calling on the government to provide more low-income housing. |
| Torture in Northen Ireland sanctioned by minister Posted: 04 Jun 2014 04:01 PM PDT  Torture methods used during internment of Irish nationalists at the height of the Northern Irish Troubles were sanctioned by the British government minister, an Irish television documentary claimed Wednesday. In 1971, as violence intensified in the sectarian conflict, internment â or imprisonment without trial â was introduced by the British state as they tried to bring order to the province. The men were subjected to five techniques of deprivation: hooding, wall standing in stress positions for hours, sleep deprivation, water and food deprivation and subjection to noise, according to the report.
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| Iran says optimistic on nuclear deal by July 20 Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:58 PM PDT  A major nuclear deal between world powers and Iran can still be achieved by next month as planned, Tehran said Wednesday as lack of progress recently raised fears the talks had hit a wall. Iran and the so-called P5+1 -- the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany -- are trying to draft a potentially historic nuclear agreement by July 20. "We believe that we can meet the deadline set out in the Geneva agreement and we work toward that aim," Iran's ambassador to the UN atomic watchdog IAEA, Reza Najafi, said Wednesday in Vienna.
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| Snowden wants to extend Russia refugee status: lawyer Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:56 PM PDT  Fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden is seeking to extend his refugee status in Russia, his lawyer said Wednesday, despite Snowden saying recently he wants to move to the United States or Brazil. We are working on the questions of extending his status, so everything is normal," Anatoly Kucherena told the Interfax news agency. Snowden flew into Russia from Hong Kong in June last year after shaking the intelligence establishment to its core with a series of leaks on mass surveillance in the United States and around the world. He was only able to leave Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on August 1 after obtaining temporary refugee status, which lasts for one year.
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| Guam official complains of delay in tax breaks Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:55 PM PDT HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Guam's reputation is at stake with the delay of tax breaks for a developer building a $219 million private hospital, a government economic development official said. |
| AP Exclusive: Western couple held in Afghanistan Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:49 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The family of a pregnant American woman who went missing in Afghanistan in late 2012 with her Canadian husband received two videos last year in which the couple asked the U.S. government to help free them and their child from Taliban captors, The Associated Press has learned.
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| Russia, friend or foe for NATO? Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:47 PM PDT  Russian intervention in Ukraine has set off an anguished debate within NATO over how to deal with a newly assertive Moscow ready to defy the West. For some, President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea in March shows Russia has ditched the post-Cold War rulebook, redrawing borders by intimidation and force. For others, the Ukraine crisis is a one-off in which Russia's legitimate interests must be dealt with to avoid a lasting confrontation which will poison relations and require massive additional defence spending for years. NATO leaders will meet at a September summit in Britain now dominated by events in Ukraine, with the US-led military alliance reviewing options to reassure its nervous east European members that they will not be abandoned if Russia goes for broke.
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| G7 to focus on Syria foreign fighters after Brussels attack Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:43 PM PDT  Leaders of the Group of Seven powers are hoping to draw up plans Wednesday on how to guard against the threat of attacks by European jihadists returning home from the Syrian front, diplomats said. In the wake of a fatal shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels just days ago, British and French diplomatic sources said the matter would be raised when G7 leaders kick off a two-day summit with talks over dinner. The gunman suspected of the May 24 attack in Brussels, who killed three people outright and left a fourth clinically dead, spent more than a year fighting in Syria. Europe can expect further "small-scale attacks" like the Brussels shooting, the EU's anti-terror chief Gilles de Kerchove said this week.
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| Canada unveils new prostitution law Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:38 PM PDT  Canada's attorney general unveiled a law Wednesday that makes it legal to sell sex to individuals but illegal to buy it, after the high court struck down an anti-prostitution law. "We're targeting Johns and pimps, those that treat sexual services as a commodity," Justice Minister and Attorney General Peter MacKay. The Supreme Court in December struck down key provisions of the original law that effectively criminalized prostitution, saying that they endangered prostitutes. The legal challenge was brought by three sex workers who argued that Canada's restrictions on prostitution -- criminalizing keeping a brothel, living off prostitution or soliciting sex in public -- put their safety at risk.
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| Envoy: Last dangerous chemicals must leave Syria Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:36 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The head of the mission charged with destroying Syria's chemical weapons called Wednesday on President Bashar Assad's government and the international community to ensure that the last 16 containers of dangerous chemicals are immediately removed from the country. |
| England await word on injured Oxlade-Chamberlain Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:33 PM PDT  England winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain faces a nervous World Cup wait for scan results after picking up a knee injury in Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Ecuador. Oxlade-Chamberlain limped off in the 63rd minute of the warm-up friendly when he was kicked during a challenge from Carlos Gruezo, who then tumbled on to him. England manager Roy Hodgson said other players he had replaced had been suffering only from cramp but that the Arsenal wide-man was a concern. England's World Cup Group D campaign starts against Italy on June 14 in Manaus.
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| Obama's counterterrorism doctrine: Let locals lead the fight Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:30 PM PDT By David Rohde NEW YORK (Reuters) - (This May31 story corrects spelling of byline to Rohde, not Rhode) In a foreign policy address this week, U.S. President Barack Obama gave his clearest outline yet of his counterterrorism strategy. Al Qaeda splinter groups remain the largest threat to the United States, he said, but Washington must respond to it in a new way: by training local security forces, not deploying American ground troops. "We have to develop a strategy that matches this diffuse threat - one that expands our reach without sending forces that stretch our military too thin, or stir up local resentments," Obama said. "We need partners to fight terrorists alongside us." But critics say America's past efforts to train local security forces have had mixed results. Washington has a poor track record of applying the long-term resources, funding and attention needed to carry out such efforts successfully. And in Afghanistan, the United States failed to mount a major training effort until nine years after the fall of the Taliban. |
| JK Rowling tweet tweaks Amazon in contract dispute Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:28 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — J.K. Rowling added a subtle comment under her pen name Robert Galbraith on Wednesday about the standoff between her publisher and Amazon.com.
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| Despite political uproar, Kentucky could meet EPA emissions goal Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:27 PM PDT By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Kentucky may be well positioned to meet a carbon emission target for power plants set by federal regulators, even as U.S. Senate candidates there blast the plan, saying it will cripple the state's coal industry. The Environmental Protection Agency seems to have listened to feedback from state officials before the rollout on Monday, said John Lyons, Kentucky's assistant secretary for climate policy. The result: the Bluegrass State may be able to meet EPA targets between now and 2030. Shedding the carbon intensity of its fleet by 400 pounds of CO2/MWh will rely on retiring coal plants and shifting to natural gas, measures already planned to meet separate EPA rules on slashing mercury emissions. |
| HRW urges DR Congo to investigate attacks on activists Posted: 04 Jun 2014 03:27 PM PDT  Human Rights Watch called Wednesday on the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate attacks and threats against opponents of a major oil exploration project at one of Africa's oldest national parks. The group said activists and rangers at the Virunga National Park, home to some of the last surviving mountain gorillas rangers, had been detained by authorities and threatened or assaulted after criticising the project. They include Emmanuel de Merode, the park's Belgian director, who was shot and seriously wounded by armed men on April 15 while driving alone. De Merode had criticised the plan to explore for oil, saying it would have a negative impact on the park, its wildlife, and local communities.
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