| Russia sees no need for Ukraine incursion, Tatars seek autonomy Posted: 29 Mar 2014 12:43 PM PDT  By Katya Golubkova and Gabriela Baczynska MOSCOW/BAKHCHISARAY, Crimea (Reuters) - Russia said on Saturday it had no intention of invading eastern Ukraine following its annexation of Crimea, while the Black Sea peninsula's Muslim Tatars demanded autonomy. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet on Sunday in Paris, the State Department said, as both sides moved to ease tensions in the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War. In a pivotal political development, Ukraine's presidential election effectively became a two-horse race when boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko pulled out and threw his weight behind confectionary oligarch Petro Poroshenko. Speaking on Russian television, Lavrov reinforced a message from President Vladimir Putin that Russia would settle - at least for now - for control over Crimea despite massing thousands of troops near Ukraine's eastern border.
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| Car bomb kills three soldiers in attack on Lebanese army checkpoint Posted: 29 Mar 2014 11:00 AM PDT A suicide bomber killed himself and three soldiers when he detonated a car bomb at a Lebanese army checkpoint in the border town of Arsal on Saturday, Lebanese security sources said. Arsal is home to thousands of Syrian refugees but also Syrian rebels and their Lebanese allies who have fled a Syrian army advance on the Syrian side of the border. Lebanese Sunni militants accuse the Lebanese army of conspiring with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah, which has sent fighters into Syria to support Assad fight a Sunni-led revolt. |
| Taliban attack election commission HQ in Kabul ahead of vote Posted: 29 Mar 2014 01:56 PM PDT  By Mirwais Harooni and Jessica Donati KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents attacked the Independent Election Commission headquarters in Kabul on Saturday, staff and police said, in the their third big assault on the capital this week aimed at derailing the April 5 presidential election. Afghan security forces battled the militants for about five hours, while frightened IEC staff and eight international United Nations employees took refuge in safe rooms inside the compound, a security source and staff said. Four suicide bombers were involved in the attack and all were killed in gunbattles, according to an Afghan army general on the scene in the eastern part of the capital. An investigation team is in the area," said commander Qadam Shah Shaheem, adding that three security force members had been injured in the operation.
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| Mexico finds 370 abandoned immigrant children Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:56 PM PDT In one week, 370 immigrant children, most of them from Central America, were found abandoned in Mexico, after traffickers promised to take them to the United States but left them to their own devices after being paid thousands of dollars, authorities said. Almost half of them, 163 children under the age of 18, were found traveling alone, Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM) said in a statement. The children told federal migration agents that their 'guides' abandoned them after accepting $3,000 to $5,000 in payments, INM said. The children and young people, who came from three of the poorest countries in Central America, were found between March 17 and 24, in 14 different states in Mexico. |
| Chinese ships search new area for Malaysian plane Posted: 29 Mar 2014 01:28 AM PDT  By Jane Wardell and Matt Siegel SYDNEY/PERTH (Reuters) - Chinese ships trawled a new area in the Indian Ocean for a missing Malaysian passenger jet on Saturday, as the search for Flight MH370 entered its fourth week amid a series of false dawns over sightings of debris. Australian authorities coordinating the operation moved the search 1,100 km (685 miles) north on Friday after new analysis of radar and satellite data concluded the Malaysia Airlines plane travelled faster and for a shorter distance after vanishing from civilian radar screens on March 8. A Chinese military aircraft spotted three suspicious objects on Saturday in the new search area some 1,850 km (1,150 miles) west of Perth, colored white, red and orange respectively, the official Xinhua news agency said. That sighting follows reports of "multiple objects of various colors" by international flight crews on Friday, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).
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| Political newcomer Kiska takes wide lead in Slovak presidential election Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:42 PM PDT  By Jiri Skacel and Jan Lopatka BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Philanthropist and former businessman Andrej Kiska took a wide lead over Prime Minister Robert Fico in Slovakia's presidential election, partial results of the second election round showed on Saturday. Data from 45 percent of voting districts showed the politically unaffiliated Kiska leading over the center-left prime minister by 59.4 percent to 40.6 percent of the vote. Kiska, 51, has been riding the wave of anti-Fico sentiment among right-wing voters as well as distrust in mainstream political parties because of graft scandals and persistently high unemployment. Kiska made millions of dollars in consumer credit companies which he sold a decade ago, setting up a charity to help families with ill children.
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| Philanthropist elected first Slovak president with no communist past Posted: 29 Mar 2014 04:57 PM PDT  Political newcomer and millionaire Andrej Kiska emerged out of nowhere to win a landslide in Saturday's presidential run-off, preventing veteran leftist Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico from tightening his grip on power. A non-aligned centrist who made his fortune in the consumer-credit business, the 51-year-old Kiska will be Slovakia's first president since independence in 1993 without a past in the Communist party. "I want to reestablish the people's trust into the presidential office," Kiska said in a victory speech at his campaign headquarters in the capital Bratislava. Fico, who will likely stay on as prime minister in the runup to a 2016 general election, conceded defeat as results showed Kiska winning a landslide.
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| AP PHOTOS: Hindu festival draws Mormon crowds Posted: 29 Mar 2014 04:56 PM PDT  Tens of thousands of revelers are gathering at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah, for the annual two-day festival of colors.
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| In week, Mexico finds 370 abandoned child migrants Posted: 29 Mar 2014 04:47 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican officials said Saturday that in one week they found 370 migrant children who had apparently been abandoned by traffickers paid to take them to the United States. |
| Chelsea loses but stays top; Spain's leading 3 win Posted: 29 Mar 2014 04:36 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — While Spain's top three all won, none of the England's leading sides could produce a victory on Saturday.
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| City misses chance to go top after Chelsea loses Posted: 29 Mar 2014 04:35 PM PDT LONDON (AP) — The Premier League's most unpredictable title race produced another surprise on Saturday as Chelsea lost at Crystal Palace for the first time since 1990. |
| Atletico, Barcelona win to say 1-2 in Spain Posted: 29 Mar 2014 04:33 PM PDT  BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Diego Costa sparked Atletico Madrid's exhilarating 2-1 comeback at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, while Lionel Messi converted a late penalty to keep Barcelona one point behind the Spanish league leaders with a contentious 1-0 win at Espanyol.
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| Spanish Leading Scorers Posted: 29 Mar 2014 04:25 PM PDT BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Leading scorers Saturday in Spanish first-division football (penalties in parentheses): |
| Newcomer Andrej Kiska elected Slovak president Posted: 29 Mar 2014 04:18 PM PDT  BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Nearly complete results show that businessman-turned philanthropist Andrej Kiska has won the runoff race for the largely ceremonial post of Slovakia's president.
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| Monaco loses 1-0 at Evian Posted: 29 Mar 2014 04:17 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — Monaco let Paris Saint-Germain run away with the title by losing 1-0 at struggling Evian in the French league on Saturday. |
| Delayed Curitiba stadium opens for test event Posted: 29 Mar 2014 04:14 PM PDT SAO PAULO (AP) — World Cup organizers in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba held the first test event at the Arena da Baixada stadium on Saturday, with Atletico Paranaense and J.Malucelli playing out a goalless draw in front of about 10,000 fans. |
| Sporting beats Guimaraes, stays 2nd in Portugal Posted: 29 Mar 2014 04:05 PM PDT LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Sporting Lisbon beat Guimaraes 1-0 on Saturday to remain undefeated at home this season and provisionally cut into Benfica's lead at the top of the Portuguese league standings. |
| US beats Uruguay 32-13 to qualify for Rugby WCup Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:56 PM PDT KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — The sun came out, the United States kicked into another gear, and weary Uruguay couldn't keep up. |
| Hundreds of children abandoned en route to US: Mexico Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:51 PM PDT  Authorities in Mexico said Saturday they found more than 370 children dumped by people smugglers while trying to make their way into the United States. The National Institute of Migration (INM) said the huge number of children, from different nations in Central America, were discovered in just a single one-week period in March. The figure included some 163 children who were abandoned because they were not traveling with an adult family member or an acquaintance, the INM said in a statement. In many cases, the children had been left in dangerous or difficult transit points by guides who had been paid between $3,000 and $5,000, it said.
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| Slovak PM Fico concedes defeat in presidential election Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:48 PM PDT BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovak centre-left Prime Minister Robert Fico conceded defeat to independent Andrej Kiska in the central European country's presidential election on Saturday. "I would like to congratulate (Kiska), although not all the votes have been counted yet," Fico, who keeps his post as prime minister, told reporters. Results from 72 percent of voting stations showed Kiska leading by 59.2 to 40.8 percent. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Jiri Skacel; Editing by David Gregorio) |
| Another earthquake rattles southern California following 5.1 quake Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:46 PM PDT Residents of southern California were rattled by a 4.1 magnitude earthquake Saturday afternoon, the largest of more than 100 aftershocks following Friday's 5.1 rumbler that caused light scattered damage around the Los Angeles area. Saturday's quake rippled through an area near Rowland Heights, California, about 2:32 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor was considered relatively shallow with a depth of 5.6 miles, the USGS said. Aftershocks are expected following earthquakes, according to the USGS. |
| Broad looks for new England era after tough winter Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:41 PM PDT  Chittagong (Bangladesh) (AFP) - Stuart Broad looked forward to a new England era after a miserable winter ended with a World Twenty20 exit in Chittagong on Saturday. England went down by three runs in a pulsating Super-10 stage Group One match against South Africa, going out of the semi-final race after two defeats in three matches. That ended a frustrating winter for England who lost the coveted Ashes in Australia, a whitewash which turned acrimonious with the axing of key batsman Kevin Pietersen. Broad said despite the exit there were some positives for the 2010 World Twenty20 champions.
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| Worker dies at stadium hosting World Cup opener Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:38 PM PDT  SAO PAULO (AP) — A worker died Saturday after falling at the construction site of the stadium that will host the World Cup opener in Sao Paulo, marking the seventh death in accidents at World Cup venues in Brazil.
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| Political newcomer Kiska leads Slovak presidential election Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:28 PM PDT  BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Philanthropist and former businessman Andrej Kiska has taken an early lead over Prime Minister Robert Fico in Slovakia's presidential election, partial results of the second and final round of voting showed on Saturday. Kiska, who is politically unaffiliated, had 58.8 percent of the vote versus 41.2 percent for the center-left prime minister, according to results from 20 percent of the country's voting districts. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Paul Simao)
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| Tatar minority seeks autonomy in Crimea Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:24 PM PDT  Bakhchysaray (Undefined) (AFP) - Crimea's Tatars on Saturday voted to push for self-rule in their historic homeland following its annexation by Russia, but remained torn on how to engage with the new authorities. Ethnic Tatars from all over Crimea convened in the town of Bakhchysaray for an emergency Qurultai, or congress, to decide on the fate of the Muslim community of about 300,000 people on the Black Sea peninsula. "There comes a moment in the life of every people when a choice must be made that will determine its future," said Tatar leader Refat Chubarov. The Tatars, which make up about 12 percent of Crimea's population, strongly opposed and largely boycotted the hastily-organised March 16 referendum that saw the peninsula split from Ukraine.
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| Balotelli, Kaka lead Milan to 3-0 win over Chievo Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:06 PM PDT  MILAN (AP) — Mario Balotelli scored one goal and Kaka added two as AC Milan comfortably beat relegation-threatened Chievo Verona 3-0 Saturday to give coach Clarence Seedorf consecutive victories for the first time since being hired in January.
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| Top Asian News at 10:00 p.m. GMT Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:03 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — One morning, many stories. The three women woke before sunrise that day, leaving their hotel while it was still dark and boarding a small plane in Katmandu, Nepal, for a look at Mount Everest. They were Chinese retirees, avid photographers ending a two-week tour of the Himalayan nation. Late that night, after a stopover in Kuala Lumpur, they would head home to Beijing. |
| Sharks extend lead in Super Rugby by beating NSW Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:02 PM PDT WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A series of surprise results compacted the standings in the Super Rugby tournament after the weekend's seventh round and shone a harsh light on the form of teams in the Australian and New Zealand conferences. |
| New help puts EU Central African Republic mission back on track Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:53 PM PDT  By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The commander of a planned European Union peacekeeping force for Central African Republic has decided he now has enough soldiers and equipment to launch the delayed mission after governments came forward with new offers of help, the EU said on Saturday. But the mission has been held up by the failure of European governments to provide soldiers and equipment. At a meeting in Brussels late on Friday, EU governments and some countries from outside the bloc offered new support for the mission in the areas of strategic airlift and help with deploying the force, the EU said. "On the basis of this significant progress ... the commander of the operation (French Major-General Philippe Ponties) has recommended the launch of the operation," a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.
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| Sharks beat NSW in Super Rugby to extend lead Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:52 PM PDT WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A series of surprise results compacted the standings in the Super Rugby tournament after the weekend's seventh round and shone a harsh light on the form of teams in the Australian and New Zealand conferences. |
| EU ready to deploy delayed C.Africa peacekeeping mission Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT  The European Union on Saturday signalled that it is ready to deploy its delayed peacekeeping force to help put down the escalating crisis in Central African Republic, after obtaining additional backing for the mission. Following new contributions and additional support from France, the "commander of the operation has recommended the launch of the operation and expects a progressive increase in troops in Bangui," a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Saturday. The date of the operation is expected to be announced Wednesday following a meeting of EU member states Tuesday, a European source said.
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| Greek conservatives retake lead before key vote, poll shows Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:49 PM PDT  By Angeliki Koutantou and Harry Papachristou ATHENS (Reuters) - The main party in Greece's ruling coalition, conservative New Democracy, has nudged ahead of the leftist opposition for the first time in six months, an opinion poll showed on Saturday, ahead of a key parliamentary vote on more tough reforms. The poll will be welcome news for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' fragile government, whose cohesion has been tested by the controversial reforms demanded by international lenders as a condition to keep debt-laden Greece afloat. The poll, conducted on March 24-27 by Alco for weekly newspaper Proto Thema, showed Samaras' New Democracy winning 21.7 percent of the vote if elections were held today, against 21.2 percent for the main opposition, anti-bailout Syriza party. In Alco's previous poll on March 11-13, Syriza led New Democracy by 21.2 to 20 percent, a lead similar to that in all other polls tracked by Reuters in recent months.
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| Germany, China say renminbi hub in Frankfurt will boost trade Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:45 PM PDT  By Matthias Inverardi DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - A decision by Germany and China to make Frankfurt a European hub for financial transactions in the Chinese currency will give new momentum to trade between the two economic powers, Chinese President Xi Jinping and a German minister said on Saturday. In a speech to politicians and business leaders in the city of Duesseldorf, Xi said setting up the hub for the renminbi in Germany "represents an important step on the road of the internationalisation of our currency," according to a translation.
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| Venezuela death toll rises to 39 amid new protests Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:41 PM PDT  The death toll from several weeks of protests that have paralyzed Venezuela rose to 39 on Saturday after two more people died in separate incidents, Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez said. Rodriguez said on VTV public television that in San Cristobal, hotbed of the movement that has seen some of the worst violence, a 44-year-old man died after being struck by a high tension cable as demonstrators carried a billboard to form a barricade. President Nicolas Maduro's leftist government has faced a wave of near-daily street protests since February 4, with the public venting anger over soaring crime, hyper-inflation and shortages of essential goods. Maduro, the elected socialist heir to late President Hugo Chavez, has decried the demonstrations, branding them a "fascist" plot orchestrated by the United States to overthrow his government.
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| Top Asian News at 9:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:33 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — One morning, many stories. The three women woke before sunrise that day, leaving their hotel while it was still dark and boarding a small plane in Katmandu, Nepal, for a look at Mount Everest. They were Chinese retirees, avid photographers ending a two-week tour of the Himalayan nation. Late that night, after a stopover in Kuala Lumpur, they would head home to Beijing. |
| Washington community grieves growing toll in U.S. mudslide Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:30 PM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - The grim task of combing through debris from a landslide that sent a wall of mud cascading over dozens of homes on the outskirts of a rural Washington town came to a standstill briefly on Saturday for a moment of silence. It's hard to grasp," said volunteer Bob Michajla, 66, who has been helping to search part of the debris field that covers a square-mile (2.6 square-km). "These are all friends and neighbors and family. Everybody knows everybody in this valley." One more body was found on Friday in the muck and rubble left after the rain-soaked hillside above the north fork of the Stillaguamish River gave way without warning on the outskirts of Oso, northeast of Seattle, a Snohomish County official said.
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