| Kurdish forces attack Islamic State west of Kirkuk Posted: 09 Mar 2015 12:12 PM PDT  By Isabel Coles ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Kurdish forces drove Islamic State militants back from the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq on Monday, in an advance backed by heavy air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition. Speaking to a local television channel near the frontline, Kirkuk governor Najmaldin Karim, who was wearing a helmet, said the purpose of the offensive was to secure Kirkuk, which the Kurds have held since last summer. Kurdish fighters retook around 100 square km (40 square miles), including about a dozen villages, from Islamic State to the south and west of Kirkuk, killing some 100 militants, a statement from the region's security council said.
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| Ukraine's Poroshenko says rebels have withdrawn significant amount of heavy weapons Posted: 09 Mar 2015 01:54 PM PDT  Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday pro-Russian rebels had withdrawn a significant amount of weaponry from the front-lines in eastern Ukraine in accordance with a three-week-old ceasefire deal. Attacks have fallen significantly, but accusations of continued violence on both sides show the fragility of the peace accord agreed in Minsk last month, which calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the frontline. Ukraine has withdrawn the lion's share of its rocket and heavy artillery systems.
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| Colleagues say Islamist motive for killing Nemtsov is nonsense Posted: 09 Mar 2015 06:57 AM PDT  By Christian Lowe and Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW (Reuters) - Suggestions that Russian politician Boris Nemtsov was killed by Chechen Islamists are nonsense designed to deflect suspicion from President Vladimir Putin, associates of the slain opposition figure said on Monday. Investigators have charged two men, including a former Chechen police official, over the shooting of Nemtsov within sight of the Kremlin walls on Feb. 27. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said the charged ex-policeman, Zaur Dadayev, was a pious Muslim who had been angered by publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Nemtsov had condemned an attack on Charlie Hebdo in which Islamist militants killed 12 people in January.
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| Exclusive: IMF assumes Ukraine to get $15.4 billion from creditor talks Posted: 09 Mar 2015 01:11 PM PDT  The International Monetary Fund's bailout program for Ukraine assumes Kiev will be able to get $15.4 billion from talks with its creditors, according to four sources familiar with the IMF's documents. The assumption is necessary to ensure Ukraine's sovereign debt can fall to 70 percent of gross domestic product by 2020, a level the IMF would deem sustainable, according to three people. Targeting a particular level for debt renegotiation, considering debt talks have not yet begun, points to the uncertainty surrounding the $40 billion international rescue package for Ukraine announced last month. After a year of political upheaval and war, Ukraine's economy is in tailspin with a currency that just pulled back from record lows and the highest interest rates in 15 years.
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| U.S. declares Venezuela a national security threat, sanctions top officials Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:43 PM PDT  By Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday declared Venezuela a national security threat and ordered sanctions against seven officials from the oil-rich country in the worst bilateral diplomatic dispute since socialist President Nicolas Maduro took office in 2013. U.S. President Barack Obama issued and signed the executive order, which senior administration officials said did not target Venezuela's energy sector or broader economy.
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| Forty years after escaping war, 'boat people' find fortune back in Vietnam Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:47 PM PDT  By Lien Hoang HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) - As one of the Vietnam War's final battles raged four decades ago, Quynh Pham lay with her mother in a field covered in a stranger's blood. They were among an exodus of over a million South Vietnamese who fled oppression and uncertainty before and after U.S. forces retreated and victorious North Vietnamese tanks rolled into Saigon in April 1975, reuniting the two sides under communism. Pham, 41, resettled in California and is now owner of an art gallery in Ho Chi Minh City, one of a stream of Vietnamese Americans who found their fortunes in a fast-changing Vietnam where capitalism is thriving under communist rule. In the 17 years she's lived in Vietnam, her mother has refused to visit.
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| Mali vows not to bow to terror after jihadist killings Posted: 09 Mar 2015 04:41 PM PDT  Mali vowed Monday not to bow to terror and to punish the jihadists behind a deadly nightclub attack in the capital, as local and French investigators joined forces to hunt down the killers. Bamako has been on high alert since a heavily-armed gunman burst into La Terrasse, a popular venue among expatriates, early Saturday and killed five people, including a French national and a Belgian. A counter-terrorism team arrived from Paris overnight to join the investigation, with the assailant and a suspected accomplice still at large despite a huge manhunt and stepped-up vehicle checks across the capital. "We are still standing," President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said in a defiant first public reaction after visiting La Terrasse and eight people wounded in the attack, including two Swiss nationals.
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| 'Urgent need' for unified anti-jihadist force: Arab League Posted: 09 Mar 2015 04:29 PM PDT  Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi called on Monday for the creation of a unified Arab force to battle the spread of Islamic extremist groups. "There is an urgent need for the creation of a multi-purpose common Arab military force... able to intervene rapidly to fight terrorism and the activities of terrorist groups," Arabi told a meeting of league foreign ministers in Cairo. Arab League deputy chief Ahmed Ben Helli told reporters last week that the bloc's leaders are expected to focus on the creation of such a common force when they meet for its annual summit on March 28-29 in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has also called for such a force, saying it is needed to confront security threats in a region where the jihadist Islamic State group holds swathes of Syria and Iraq and has gained a foothold in Egypt's neighbour Libya.
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| Egyptian president pushes U.S. for military aid in Fox News interview Posted: 09 Mar 2015 04:21 PM PDT Egypt's president called for increased U.S. military aid and creation of a regional coalition to fight Islamic State in an interview with Fox News that aired on Monday, just days before the United States sends its top diplomat to the country. "It is very important for the United States to understand that our need for the weapons and for the equipment is dire, especially at the time when the Egyptians feel they are fighting terrorism and they would like to feel the United States is standing by them in that fight against terrorism," said President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with Sisi after he arrives in Egypt on Thursday for the Egypt Economic Development Conference, the State Department said on Monday. Kerry will also meet with other senior Egyptian leaders to discuss "a range of bilateral and global issues," including efforts against Islamic State militants, Libya and Syria's crisis, according to the department. |
| Turkey's former spy chief quits election, gets job back Posted: 09 Mar 2015 04:15 PM PDT  Turkey's powerful former intelligence chief was on Monday reappointed head of the secret service after dropping a bid to run for parliament in upcoming elections, a government spokesman said. "Mr prime minister has reappointed (Hakan Fidan) as MIT (National Intelligence Organisation) undersecretary," Bulent Arinc told reporters in Ankara. Fidan had earlier on Monday announced he was abandoning his election bid after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed fury over his decision to step down and seek elected office. In February, Fidan resigned from the MIT to stand as a lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the June 7 legislative polls.
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| French reality TV cast among 10 killed in Argentine crash Posted: 09 Mar 2015 04:09 PM PDT  Two helicopters collided in mid-air Monday in northern Argentina, killing 10 people including cast members filming a French reality show, officials said. "There are several French nationals among the victims. So far we only know of two Argentine victims," La Rioja province government spokesman Disel Cuneo told AFP. Another provincial spokesman, Horacio Alarcon, said that the two helicopters appeared to have collided during filming.
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| Top Asian News at 11:00 p.m. GMT Posted: 09 Mar 2015 04:02 PM PDT TOKYO (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday on a visit to Japan, where bitter disputes mark the country's attempts to define its wartime actions, that Germany was able to return to a respected place in the international society because of its efforts to squarely face its World War II atrocities. But Merkel, at a speech organized by the liberal-leaning Asahi newspaper in Tokyo, said she could not give any specific advice to Japan because lessons should be learned by its own people. |
| Tepid reaction as U.N. issues new women's rights declaration Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:58 PM PDT By Maria Caspani UNITED NATIONS (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - World leaders on Monday pledged to ramp up action to achieve gender equality by 2030, but some women's rights activists were impatient with new promises after sluggish progress made in the past 20 years. Women and girls have come a long way in some areas, such as health and education, since the signing of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995. In 1995, 189 nations at the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing signed the landmark document calling for the "full and equal participation of women in political, civil, economic, social and cultural life." "Progress remains unacceptably [slow], and our gains are not irreversible," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during the CSW opening session. |
| Prague approves warplanes sale to Iraq to fight jihadists Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:53 PM PDT  The Czech government on Monday approved the sale of 15 combat and training L-159 jets to help Baghdad fight the jihadist Islamic State group, the defence minister told reporters. "We are looking at a total of 15 warplanes, four of which come from the Czech air force, while 11 others come from surplus stock," Martin Stropnicky said. The contract with Baghdad, whose troops have faced a major jihadist onslaught since June, also envisages the sale of ground equipment, weapons and ammunition. Because of budget cuts, the air force has only held on to some 30 jets since.
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| France condemns Mali attacks as bid to wreck peace hopes Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:49 PM PDT  French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Monday condemned the weekend attacks in Mali as an attempt to wreck the country's prospects of sealing a newly signed peace deal. He called for Malian rebels to sign up to an internationally backed peace accord which Bamako signed in Algiers on March 1. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has "recommended that all parties sign this accord. On Saturday, a heavily armed gunman burst into La Terrasse, a popular Bamako venue among expatriates, and killed five people including a French national and a Belgian.
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| Jessica Chastain and Salma Hayek get frisky at Saint Laurent Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:44 PM PDT  PARIS (AP) — In a tuxedo, a boisterous Salma Hayek ramped up the feminism at the Saint Laurent Paris show and encouraged actress Jessica Chastain to expose her chest.
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| British WWII pilot's wedding ring returned to family 70 years on Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:42 PM PDT  The wedding ring of a British airman who disappeared during World War II was returned to his family Monday 70 years after his plane crashed in the mountains of Albania. Aeronautical engineer John Thompson's Royal Air Force plane vanished in October 1944 and for decades his family, including his bride, knew nothing of his fate. "Today, my brother came home," Dorothy Webster, 93, said through tears at a ceremony at Albania's defence ministry.
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| Apple Watch moves Internet out of your pocket Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:18 PM PDT  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple wants to move the Internet from your pocket to your wrist.
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| UN puts Libya request for weapons on hold Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:39 PM PDT  Libya's request for UN approval to buy fighter jets, tanks and other weaponry to fight Islamic State militants has been put on hold at the request of seven Security Council members led by Spain, diplomats said Monday. Libya had asked a Security Council committee for an exemption to an arms embargo to make the purchases from defense contractors in the Czech Republic, Serbia and Ukraine. Spain asked that the request be put on hold as UN envoy Bernardino Leon held talks on forming a unity government that could spearhead the battle against the IS jihadists, diplomats said. His request was supported by Britain, France, Chile, Lithuania, New Zealand and the United States in line with demands that reaching a power-sharing agreement be given priority.
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| UN Security Council to meet on 'persecution' of Mideast Christians Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:38 PM PDT  The UN Security Council is to meet on March 27 to oppose the growing persecution of Christians in the Middle East, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Monday.
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| Swedish minister says silenced by Saudis at Arab League Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:36 PM PDT  The Swedish foreign minister accused Saudi Arabia of blocking her speech at an Arab League meeting Monday due to her stance on human rights in the region, Swedish media reported. "The explanation we have been given is that Sweden has highlighted the situation for democracy and human rights and that is why they do not want me to speak," Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem told news agency TT in Cairo. An Arab diplomat confirmed to AFP that Riyadh had stopped the Swede from making her opening speech. Her cancelled opening speech -- published by the Swedish foreign ministry -- mentioned neither Saudi Arabia nor Wallstroem's feminist foreign policy agenda but stressed women's and human rights.
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| Old boy Welbeck fells Man United in FA Cup Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:28 PM PDT  Danny Welbeck claimed revenge for his departure from Manchester United by scoring the winner as holders Arsenal reached the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-1 away victory on Monday. "Tonight I thought we played well and deserved to win the game," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, whose side were drawn to face either Championship side Reading or third-tier Bradford City in the last four. Danny Welbeck, I believe, is just happy to score. Welbeck pounced on a mistake by Antonio Valencia to score a 61st-minute winner after Wayne Rooney had cancelled out Nacho Monreal's opener, and United's evening ended in ignominy when Angel di Maria was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for manhandling referee Michael Oliver.
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| Woman now in wheelchair testifies at Boston bombing trial Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:25 PM PDT  BOSTON (AP) — A woman testifying from a wheelchair Monday in the Boston Marathon bombing trial recalled shielding her husband from the sight of his mangled leg, being pushed to the ground by a bystander frantically trying to extinguish the flames on her body and coming to grips with becoming a double amputee.
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| Riyadh to host Yemen talks at Hadi request Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:23 PM PDT  The Gulf monarchies have agreed to a request by Yemen's beleaguered president to host talks in Riyadh aimed at pulling their impoverished neighbour out of crisis, the Saudi royal cabinet said. President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has been based in Yemen's second city Aden since escaping the Shiite militia-controlled capital last month, made the request after failing to reach agreement with the militia and their backers on a venue inside Yemen. UN-brokered reconciliations talks, which had been taking place in Sanaa, have broken down since Hadi's flight to Aden. "The secretariat general of the Gulf Cooperation Council is going to make the necessary arrangements" for the talks which Hadi requested in a message to Saudi Arabia's King Salman, the royal cabinet said.
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| US offers $5 mn for return of ex-FBI agent missing in Iran Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:08 PM PDT  The United States announced a $5 million increased reward Monday for information leading to the return of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, as it marked the eighth anniversary of his mysterious disappearance in Iran. The FBI had previously issued a $1 million reward for Levinson's return in 2012, five years after he went missing. "Today, we mark eight years since Bob disappeared in Iran, and we are increasing the reward for his location and safe return to his family," said FBI Director James Comey. "We ask anyone with information to contact the FBI.
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| South Korea's president visits injured US ambassador Posted: 09 Mar 2015 03:02 PM PDT  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's president visited injured U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert on Monday amid an outpouring of public sympathy and support for the envoy, who is recovering from an attack by a knife-wielding man.
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| Dutch minister resigns over misleading parliament Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:52 PM PDT By Thomas Escritt AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch minister of justice and his state secretary resigned on Monday after acknowledging they misled parliament about facts surrounding a settlement with a drug lord in 2001. The resignations of the men, both members of Mark Rutte's VVD political party, weakens the Cabinet shortly before provincial elections on March 18 that have the potential to destabilize the ruling coalition. The two politicians had told parliament that Cees Helman, a drug lord, had been paid far less than the 4.7 million guilders he received, and that all records of the transaction had been lost. State Secretary Fred Teeven, who was then a prosecutor, authorized the tax-free payment, worth more than 2 million euros, after authorities failed to prove that money confiscated from him by the state had been illegally obtained. |
| Rangers rotation suddenly Swiss cheese with Darvish out Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:43 PM PDT SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — The experience was all too familiar to Rangers utility man Ed Lucas, a sinking feeling in the deepest pit of his stomach as the news filtered through the clubhouse. |
| Venezuela vows to respond 'soon' to U.S. measures Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:43 PM PDT CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela will respond shortly to new U.S moves to declare it a national security threat and sanction seven prominent officials, its foreign minister said on Monday. "We will soon make public Venezuela's response to these declarations," Delcy Rodriguez told reporters, declining to give further details. (Reporting by Diego Ore and Brian Ellsworth; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) |
| Florida bans use of 'climate change' by state agency: report Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:38 PM PDT  By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - Climate change activists blasted Florida Governor Rick Scott on Monday for leading an "Orwellian" campaign to ban employees of the state's lead environmental agency from using such terms as "global warming" and "climate change." Despite coastal Florida's vulnerability to storm surges and rising sea levels, the state's Department of Environmental Protection was directed in 2011 not to use the phrases in official communications, according to a report by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. "This is embarrassing, but worse than that, it's very worrying," said David Hastings, a marine science professor from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, on Florida's west coast.
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| African Tour rookies get classics berth Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:38 PM PDT  Contres (France) (AFP) - South African cycling team MTN-Qhubeka were given a fresh boost on Monday when they were handed tickets to three one-day classics in April to warm up for their debut Tour de France in July.
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| Obama orders deeper Venezuela sanctions over abuses Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:28 PM PDT  US President Barack Obama ordered new sanctions Monday against senior Venezuelan officials involved in cracking down on the opposition. Leftist regional allies, many of whom receive critical economic aid from Caracas, came to Venezuela's defense. Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino warned the South American bloc UNASUR would not allow "foreign intervention" or a coup in Venezuela.
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| British MP O'Brien named UN humanitarian aid chief Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:27 PM PDT  UN chief Ban Ki-moon appointed British lawmaker Stephen O'Brien on Monday as the UN's humanitarian aid chief tasked with leading global relief efforts at a time of worsening conflicts. O'Brien will replace Valerie Amos, who served as under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator for the past four years, earning high praise for her commitment in one of the UN's most demanding posts. The 57-year-old Conservative politician served as Prime Minister David Cameron's envoy for the Sahel since 2012 and was parliamentary under-secretary of state for international development from 2010 to 2012.
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| German government backs end-to-end encryption for email Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:26 PM PDT BERLIN (AP) — Users of an email service backed by the German government will soon be able to rely on strong encryption of the kind that used to be the preserve of geeks and hackers, officials said Monday. |
| Letter inflames US feud over Iran talks Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:21 PM PDT  Barack Obama pilloried Republicans Monday over an incendiary letter to Iran's leaders that warned a nuclear deal with the United States could be scrapped by the next president. Forty-seven Senate Republicans -- including several potential 2016 presidential candidates -- made the unprecedented move of directly and publicly addressing leaders of the Islamic Republic in a bid to scupper the sensitive talks. "I think it is somewhat ironic to see some members of Congress wanting to make common cause with hardliners in Iran," Obama said. Republican leaders recently invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress, despite White House anger over the visit.
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| Ukraine president says 64 soldiers killed since Feb 15 ceasefire Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:19 PM PDT  A total of 64 soldiers have been killed in eastern Ukraine since a ceasefire deal between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels took effect almost a month ago, President Petro Poroshenko said Monday. While the shaky truce has been largely holding, sporadic clashes have continued with both sides accusing the other of violating the European-brokered, Russian-backed peace deal signed in the Belarussian capital.
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| Putin describes meeting to take Crimea before referendum Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:17 PM PDT  MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has described a secret meeting with officials last year when Russia decided it would take the Crimean Peninsula, the Black Sea region that Moscow annexed from Ukraine last March.
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| Netanyahu's former US envoy now among his Israeli rivals Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:10 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — He was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoy to the United States for more than four years. But when former Ambassador Michael Oren decided to enter politics, he joined an upstart rival and began questioning Netanyahu's handling of relations with the Palestinians.
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| Greece to start technical talks with lenders this week Posted: 09 Mar 2015 02:10 PM PDT  Greece agreed to start urgent technical talks on extending its crucial bailout on Wednesday after its eurozone partners accused debt-stricken Athens of wasting time in previous negotiations. The main talks will be in Brussels but teams from Greece's creditors will also be on the ground in Athens, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said, despite the new left-wing government's earlier insistence that they should not return. The announcement came after a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels on Monday at which the Greek government outlined the reforms demanded by lenders in exchange for further cash. The ministers agreed last month to extend Greece's current bailout until June as long as Athens comes up with suitable proposals, but Dijsselbloem accused the Greeks of wasting time.
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