| Obama, Castro will meet at summit amid US-Cuba detente Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:26 PM PDT  By Daniel Trotta PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro will share the same stage on Friday in an encounter rich with symbolism as their countries set aside decades of mistrust and attempt to restore diplomatic relations. Obama and Castro have separate agendas for most of the day but they will both attend the start of the summit along with other regional leaders on Friday evening. Apart from a couple of brief, informal encounters, the leaders of the United States and Cuba have not had any significant meetings since Castro's older brother Fidel Castro toppled U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in a 1959 revolution.
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| Exclusive: U.S. expands intelligence sharing with Saudis in Yemen operation Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:47 PM PDT  By Mark Hosenball, Phil Stewart and Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is expanding its intelligence-sharing with Saudi Arabia to provide more information about potential targets in the kingdom's air campaign against Houthi militias in Yemen, U.S. officials told Reuters. The U.S. officials said the expanded assistance includes sensitive intelligence data that will allow the Saudis to better review the kingdom's targets in fighting that has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands since March. "We have opened up the aperture a bit wider with what we are sharing with our Saudi partners," said one U.S. official. U.S. ally Saudi Arabia is concerned that the violence could spill over the border it shares with Yemen, and is also worried about the influence of Shi'ite Iran, which has denied Saudi allegations it has provided direct military support to the Houthis.
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| Iran deal could stumble on sensitive nuclear monitoring Posted: 10 Apr 2015 02:08 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Beefing up international monitoring of Iran's nuclear work could become the biggest stumbling block to a final accord between Tehran and major powers, despite a preliminary deal reached last week. As part of that deal, Iran and the powers agreed that United Nations inspectors would have "enhanced" access to remaining nuclear activity in Iran, where they already monitor key sites. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has never welcomed intrusive inspections and has in the past kept some nuclear sites secret. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say for Iran on the deal, on Thursday ruled out any "extraordinary supervision measures" over nuclear activities and said military sites could not be inspected.
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| U.S., allies conduct nine air strikes in Iraq, seven in Syria Posted: 10 Apr 2015 01:25 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces targeted Islamic State militants with nine air strikes in Iraq and seven in Syria since early on Thursday, the U.S. military said on Friday. In Syria, the air strikes hit Islamic State positions near Al Hasakah and Kobani, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement. In Iraq, the air strikes hit Islamic State positions near Bayji, Mosul and Fallujah, among other places, it said. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Sandra Maler) |
| U.N. wants 'understanding' of Western Sahara human rights situation Posted: 10 Apr 2015 01:48 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling for an "independent and impartial understanding" of human rights in the disputed North African territory of Western Sahara, according to a report seen by Reuters on Friday. Ban's annual report on Western Sahara stopped short of recommending the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the territory (MINURSO) monitor rights, which the African Union has urged. Rather it suggests that the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) should do it. "I call on the Parties to continue and further enhance their cooperation with United Nations human rights mechanisms and OHCHR, including by facilitating OHCHR missions to Western Sahara and the refugee camps near Tindouf, with unrestricted access to all relevant stakeholders," Ban said in the report.
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| Islamic State attacks Iraqi provincial capital Posted: 10 Apr 2015 11:05 AM PDT  Islamic State militants attacked the capital of Iraq's vast Anbar province on multiple fronts on Friday, seizing two areas on the city outskirts in a setback for a government campaign to retake the desert terrain. The jihadists deployed vehicle and suicide bombs to tear through Iraqi government lines north of the city of Ramadi overnight before attacking on foot, said security officials and a hospital source. The head of Anbar's provincial council, Sabah Karhout, called on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send urgent military reinforcements and supplies to fighters, saying they were running low on ammunition. Abadi visited Anbar on Tuesday and declared the start of the operation to liberate the Sunni Muslim heartland, seeking to build on a victory over Islamic State last week in the city of Tikrit.
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| Top Asian News at 12:00 a.m. GMT Posted: 10 Apr 2015 05:02 PM PDT ISLAMABAD (AP) — The suspected mastermind of the deadly Mumbai attacks in 2008 was released on bail Friday by a Pakistani court — a move likely to further strain relations with India, which has accused Islamabad of turning a blind eye to Islamic militancy. The release of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who has been held since his arrest in 2009, drew expressions of concern from both India and the United States. |
| Thousands of non-native goldfish invade Colorado lake Posted: 10 Apr 2015 05:02 PM PDT  By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - A handful of goldfish dumped into a Colorado lake, evidently by a pet owner years ago, have reproduced and thousands of the non-native fish now threaten indigenous aquatic species, state wildlife officials said on Friday. Rangers in Boulder County last month detected teeming schools of the goldfish in a semi-rural lake, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said. The pet fish, a form of carp not native to North America, now number between 3,000 and 4,000 and state biologists are reviewing the best way to remove the invasive species, she said. The shock method was used to remove nearly 2,300 goldfish from a nearby lake three years ago, Churchill said.
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| Jordan Spieth sets lowest 36-hole score in Masters history Posted: 10 Apr 2015 05:02 PM PDT  AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Jordan Spieth made Friday feel like Sunday at the Masters.
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| Libyan lawmakers heading to Washington: US official Posted: 10 Apr 2015 05:00 PM PDT  A delegation of Libyan lawmakers recognized by the international community will head to Washington next week as part of UN efforts to create a stable unity government in the war-torn country, the US State Department said Friday. "We look forward to discussing their work with the UN Special Representative (Bernardino) Leon in support of the UN-led process to constitute a national unity government," State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said about the delegation from Libya's House of Representatives. Opposing militias in Libya, awash with weapons since its 2011 revolution that toppled longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi, are battling for control of its cities and oil wealth.
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| Dry, warm winter leaves Western U.S. snowpack at record low levels Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:56 PM PDT By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Meager precipitation and a premature spring thaw caused by unusually mild temperatures last month have left the U.S. Western mountain snowpack, a key source of fresh surface water for the region, at record low levels, the government reported on Friday. Melting of winter snows began much earlier than usual this year, from the Sierra Nevada range in California to the lower elevations of Colorado's Rockies, leaving much of the Western snowpack greatly diminished or gone by early April, when it is typically at its peak. As a consequence, Western states will experience reduced stream-flows from mountain runoff this spring and summer, leaving reservoirs - already well below average capacity in several states - that much more depleted, the report said. The issue drew wide public attention in drought-stricken California last week, when Governor Jerry Brown stood on dry grass at a snow-monitoring station in the Sierras to announce the lowest snowpack level on record there and ordered an unprecedented 25 percent mandatory cut in statewide water use. |
| Obama meets Cuba dissidents on eve of Castro talks Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:56 PM PDT  On the eve of an historic meeting with Raul Castro, US President Barack Obama pointedly met two of the Cuban leader's fiercest critics and launched a staunch defense of opposition activists Friday. In a move that could irritate Havana, Obama held a closed-door discussion with dissident lawyer Laritza Diversent and political activist Manuel Cuesta Moura, along with a dozen other activists from the Americas. Obama and Castro will join some 30 other regional leaders at the Summit of the Americas in Panama for a dinner on Friday, before the two hold talks on Saturday. While declaring that the days of US meddling in the region were over, the first African American president of the United States launched a defiant and markedly personal defense of Washington's support for opposition groups.
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| Kanaan's good form continues at GP of Louisiana practice Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:48 PM PDT AVONDALE, La. (AP) — Tony Kanaan's strong early season form continued Thursday when turned a lap at 125.058 mph to top practice for the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana. |
| Prominent father-son lawyers killed by gunmen in Honduras Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:45 PM PDT TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Authorities in Honduras say prominent father-son lawyers who had held a variety of political positions have been killed in the city of San Pedro Sula. |
| Stage being set for historic Obama-Castro meeting Saturday Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:44 PM PDT  PANAMA CITY (AP) — President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro moved toward a groundbreaking meeting on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas Friday in what would be a remarkable display of reconciliation between two nations with the leadership of the Western Hemisphere gathered around them.
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| Russia lashes out at law to erase Ukraine's Soviet past Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:37 PM PDT  Controversial laws designed to leave Ukraine's Soviet past behind stoked tension in the war-divided country Friday and prompted an angry reaction from Russia which called the ban on communist-era symbols "totalitarian". "Kiev used truly totalitarian methods, attacking freedom of the press, opinion or conscience," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement, also accusing Ukraine of "rewriting history". Ukraine's parliament voted on Thursday to ban communist-era and Nazi symbols in what supporters said was a bid to break with the country's tragic World War II past and Moscow's domination through most of the 20th century. The measure, which was enacted quickly and with little debate, exacerbating tensions with pro-Moscow rebel forces who have seized control of a swathe of territory in Ukraine's east.
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| Morocco bus crash kills 33, mostly school athletes Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:34 PM PDT  More than 30 people, mostly schoolchildren returning from a sports meet, were killed Friday in Morocco when their bus caught fire after a head-on collision with a trailer truck. The early morning accident at Chbika in southern Morocco was the deadliest in the North African kingdom since 2012 when a bus plunged into a ravine, killing 42 people. "A majority of the victims are children aged eight to 14," a regional official from the sports and youth ministry told AFP. The fire broke out when the bus and the truck collided and then it spread," social worker El Hassan Mouline told 2M state broadcaster, speaking from the scene.
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| Nigeria votes for state governors, local assemblies Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:33 PM PDT  Nigeria votes in gubernatorial and state assembly polls on Saturday, bringing to an end a remarkable election cycle that saw the first win for an opposition presidential candidate in the country's history. Governorship elections are being held in 29 of Nigeria's 36 states and in local assemblies in all states, with polls due to open at 8:00 am (0700 GMT) for registration with voting proper in the afternoon. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is hoping to retain or build on its current tally of 21 states against a strong challenge from the All Progressives Congress (APC), which currently controls 14. Much of the focus will be on the financial capital Lagos, where APC candidate Akinwunmi Ambode is being pushed hard by the PDP's Jimi Agbaje, as well as Rivers state in the oil-producing south.
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| Clinton to launch White House bid on Sunday: media Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:33 PM PDT  Hillary Clinton is poised to officially launch her 2016 presidential campaign this weekend, setting the stage for a bruising election battle as she bids to become the first woman elected to the White House. Several US media reports citing sources in Clinton's campaign team said the 67-year-old was likely to announce her candidacy for the Democratic nomination on Sunday. The former first lady is expected to be the clear Democratic frontrunner in the race to succeed Barack Obama, who pipped her for the nomination in a protracted battle in 2008. Clinton is expected to announce her candidacy via social media and a video message, several reports said, followed by a low-key campaign swing through key state Iowa.
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| Kenya starts to bury its massacre dead Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:33 PM PDT  The funerals began Friday of students killed in a university massacre of almost 150 people, as some parents still waited to receive the remains of their loved ones. In Nairobi, hundreds of students gathered as the body of Angela Nyokabi Githakwa, known as Jojo, was taken amid tears and wails from the mortuary to her home village in Kiambu, some 20 kilometres (15 miles) to the north. The massacre, Kenya's deadliest attack since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi, claimed the lives of 142 students, three police officers and three soldiers at the university in the northeastern town of Garissa. In the main mortuary in Nairobi, some bodies were being collected on Friday, with more than 20 coffins lined up, surrounded by photographs of the victims.
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| Spieth heads to the weekend with a commanding Masters lead Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:27 PM PDT  AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — 7:17 p.m.
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| Red Cross, UN fly aid into Yemen as raids batter south Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:27 PM PDT  The Red Cross and UN flew medical aid into Yemen's capital Friday after southern city Aden was battered by the heaviest night yet of Saudi-led air strikes targeting Shiite rebels. The United Nations also called for a daily "humanitarian pause" of a few hours, saying aid was desperately needed in the conflict-ravaged country. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it dispatched an aircraft to Sanaa, its first aid shipment since the international campaign against Shiite rebels began last month. "This is the first ICRC plane to have landed in Sanaa.
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| Saudis say UN could vote soon on Yemen sanctions resolution Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:14 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Saudi Arabia's U.N. ambassador said Friday a vote on a draft United Nations resolution that would impose new sanctions on leaders of Yemen's Houthi Shiite rebels and the country's former president and his son will likely take place early next week. |
| Norway to ease rules on gender change recognition Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:12 PM PDT  Norway will introduce a new law governing sex changes, the government said Friday after an expert group recommended an end to what critics call "medieval" treatment of transgender people. "The situation today is in my view intolerable and has gone on for far too long," the Conservative Party minister said, adding that the new proposal would be ready soon. Requiring sterilisation was "a violation of human rights", said Kari Paulrud, who headed the expert group commissioned by Norway's health ministry. The group also recommended that Norway should go further than neighbouring Denmark -- which stopped sterilisations last year -- and not impose a six-month reflection period before registering a request for a legal gender change.
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| Latest on Americas Summit: Diplomacy can be tiring work Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:08 PM PDT  5:35 p.m. (2235 GMT, 6:35 p.m. EDT)
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| Burkina Faso seals ex-president's tomb for probe Posted: 10 Apr 2015 04:07 PM PDT  Burkina Faso authorities investigating the assassination of former president Thomas Sankara during a 1987 coup have sealed his tomb ahead of attempting to identify the remains of the late leader, a lawyer for his family told AFP on Friday. A magistrate from a military court ordered "placing seals on 12 tombs" of Sankara and 11 other people, mostly members of the military who died at the same time, the lawyer, Benewende Sankara, said.
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| British Columbia: oil spill response shows unprepared for more tankers Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:52 PM PDT By Julie Gordon VANCOUVER (Reuters) - British Columbian officials on Friday criticized the Canadian government's response to an oil spill in the waters around Vancouver, calling into question plans for new crude oil export pipelines in the Pacific Coast province. Nearly 3,000 liters of oil spilled after an anchored bulk carrier began leaking bunker fuel in English Bay, just west of Vancouver's downtown core, on Wednesday. They said the federal agency failed to notify the cities of Vancouver and West Vancouver until early Thursday, delaying public safety warnings by more than 12 hours. "It took them six hours to get booms in place ... in the busiest port in Canada where they have all the resources," British Columbia's Premier Christy Clark told reporters. |
| Maduro gives US eye-poke in visit to 1989 invasion monument Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:49 PM PDT  PANAMA CITY (AP) — Nicolas Maduro had barely gotten off his plane at the Summit of the Americas on Friday before he gave a symbolic poke in the eye to Washington, paying a visit to a monument honoring victims of the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama.
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| UN chief calls for new push to settle Western Sahara Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:42 PM PDT  UN chief Ban Ki-moon called Friday for a new push to resolve the conflict over Western Sahara and stressed that cooperation to address human rights could help find a settlement. In a report to the Security Council, Ban said Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front must "seriously engage" with his envoy and "intensify their efforts" to end the conflict over the north African territory.
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| Warriors, Andrew Bogut reaping rewards of center's health Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:41 PM PDT  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Golden State Warriors bet on Andrew Bogut staying healthy when they signed him to a three-year, $36 million extension before last season, and Bogut bet on himself by taking an incentive-rich deal.
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| Keys, Hrdecka surprise semifinalists at the Family Circle Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:35 PM PDT  CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Madison Keys and Lucie Hradecka are finding their games on clay and are both surprise semifinalists at the Family Circle Cup.
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| Bournemouth move a step closer to Premier League Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:32 PM PDT  Bournemouth moved another step closer to a dream promotion to the Premier League as the Championship leaders sealed a 2-0 win against Brighton on Friday. Eddie Howe's team moved four points clear of second placed Norwich after second half goals from Yann Kermorgant and Callum Wilson settled the south-coast derby at the Amex Stadium. With just four games to play, Bournemouth, who have never played in the top-flight, have their promotion fate in their own hands, although Norwich, Watford and Middlesbrough can all keep up the pressure on the surprise promotion contenders with wins on Saturday. Wigan's new manager Gary Caldwell saw his side keep their slender hopes of avoiding relegation alive as they twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at fellow strugglers Fulham.
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| French Resistance propagandist Cremieux-Brilhac dead at 98 Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:30 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — Jean-Louis Cremieux-Brilhac, a Jewish member of the French Resistance in charge of propaganda during World War II, has died. He was 98. |
| Correction: Guatemala-Building Collapse-Victim story Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:28 PM PDT GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — In a story April 9 about the repatriation of the remains of a Guatemalan victim in a New York City explosion, The Associated Press erroneously reported the date of the explosion. It occurred on March 26, 2015, not March 23. The story also incorrectly described the blast as a gas explosion, rather than as an apparent gas explosion. The cause remains under investigation. |
| 7 hurt in car bomb on tourist island in southern Thailand Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:23 PM PDT BANGKOK (AP) — A car bomb exploded at a shopping mall on a Thai island popular with foreign tourists for its pristine beaches, injuring seven people, officials said on Saturday. |
| Albanian arrested after Israeli murdered in Berlin: German police Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:19 PM PDT  An Albanian man was arrested Friday in the Czech Republic on suspicion of beating to death an Israeli tourist in Berlin, German police said. The victim, identified by police Thursday as 22-year-old Yosi Damari, was found by passersby early Sunday beaten beyond recognition in the ruins of a Gothic church. No motive has been found for his horrific murder, which had taken place the previous day, Berlin police say. The Israeli man's body was found in the ruins of the 14th century Church of the Franciscan Monastery, which was destroyed during World War II. The site is near City Hall and Alexanderplatz, which has seen an increase in violent crime in recent years including two high-profile killings of young men.
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| Kerry calls for release of 5 Chinese women activists Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:14 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of five Chinese activists detained before International Women's Day in March. |
| Judge denies request to postpone Blackwater sentencing Posted: 10 Apr 2015 03:09 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday rejected a last-minute request to delay the sentencing hearing for four former Blackwater guards convicted in the 2007 fatal shooting of Iraqi civilians. |
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