| Iran, world powers reach initial deal on reining in Tehran's nuclear program Posted: 02 Apr 2015 05:08 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau and Stephanie Nebehay LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - Iran and world powers reached a framework agreement on Thursday on curbing Iran's nuclear program for at least a decade, a step toward a final pact that could end 12 years of brinkmanship, threats and confrontation. The tentative agreement, after eight days of marathon talks in Switzerland, clears the way for negotiations on a settlement aimed at allaying Western fears that Iran was seeking to build an atomic bomb and in return lift economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic. All sanctions on Iran remain in place until a final deal. President Barack Obama described the agreement as a "historic understanding with Iran" and compared it to nuclear arms control deals struck by his predecessors with the Soviet Union that "made our world safer" during the Cold War.
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| Al Shabaab kills at least 147 at Kenyan university; siege ends Posted: 02 Apr 2015 12:26 PM PDT  By Edith Honan GARISSA, Kenya (Reuters) - Gunmen from the Islamist militant group al Shabaab stormed a university in Kenya and killed at least 147 people on Thursday, in the worst attack on Kenyan soil since the U.S. embassy was bombed in 1998. The siege ended nearly 15 hours after the Somali group's gunmen shot their way into the Garissa University College campus in a pre-dawn attack, sparing Muslim students and taking many Christians hostage. Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said four gunmen strapped with explosives were behind the attack, the same number that killed 67 people during the 2013 bloodbath at a shopping mall in Nairobi. Kenyan police chief Joseph Boinet said the attackers had "shot indiscriminately" when they entered the university compound.
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| Yemen's Houthis seize central Aden district, presidential site Posted: 02 Apr 2015 12:56 PM PDT  By Mohammed Mukhashaf ADEN (Reuters) - Yemeni Houthi fighters and their allies seized a central Aden district on Thursday, striking a heavy blow against the Saudi-led coalition which has waged a week of air strikes to try to stem advances by the Iran-allied Shi'ite group. Hours after the Houthis took over Aden's central Crater neighborhood, they marked another symbolic victory by fighting their way into a presidential residence overlooking the neighborhood, residents said. The southern city has been the last major holdout of fighters loyal to the Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who fled Aden a week ago and has watched from Riyadh as the vestiges of his authority have crumbled. By nightfall the Iran-allied Shi'ite fighters had reached the edge of Aden's port district of Mualla, they said.
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| Nuclear deal means more Iran oil - just not this year Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:00 PM PDT  By Timothy Gardner and Jonathan Leff WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A framework accord to curb Iran's nuclear program forged on Thursday could eventually allow Tehran to reclaim lost ground in the global oil market. While global Brent oil prices tumbled as much as 5 percent on Thursday to $54 in anticipation of a deal that could allow Iran to begin selling more crude within months, traders later began weighing the timing of that return. Verifying compliance by Iran, once the world's fifth-largest oil producer, will "likely take many months after implementation, which itself is likely to slip from the June 30 target," said Bob McNally, president of energy research group Rapidan Group and a former adviser to President George W. Bush. Jason Bordoff, founding director at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy and former adviser to President Barack Obama, agreed: "It is going to take time for Iranian oil to come back to the global market, likely not until 2016 at the earliest." The delayed impact may be quietly welcome news for Saudi Arabia, Iraq and others in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), who had feared that a rapid rebound in Iranian output could pile more pressure on oil prices that have halved since last summer due to a global glut.
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| Germanwings pilot hid from doctors he was still flying Posted: 02 Apr 2015 05:06 AM PDT  By Caroline Copley and Madeline Chambers BERLIN (Reuters) - The Germanwings co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing an airliner in the French Alps allegedly lied to doctors, telling them he was on sick leave rather than flying commercial planes, German daily Bild reported on Thursday. The revelation came as Germany set up a task force to learn safety lessons from the crash which killed 150 people last week. Citing sources close to the investigation, Bild said 27-year-old Andreas Lubitz had sought medical help to try to cure an eye condition. Although Lubitz told doctors about his job as a pilot, and in some cases about his employer Germanwings, he deliberately concealed that he was still working, the paper said.
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| After Tikrit, Iraqi forces may turn back to Baiji: U.S. official Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:30 PM PDT After declaring victory in the city of Tikrit, the next significant operation for Iraqi forces will likely be clearing out Islamic State fighters from the refinery city of Baiji, a U.S. military official said on Thursday. Last November, Iraqi security forces backed by Shi'ite paramilitary groups managed to break a months-long siege of the Baiji refinery that had forced it to shut down operations. "In order to do the Tikrit operation, the (Iraqi security forces) ... thinned the defense of Baiji and ISIL took advantage of that and has been pressuring them. |
| Israeli police find missing man in West Bank Posted: 02 Apr 2015 05:02 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police say a missing Israeli man who had been feared to have been kidnapped in the West Bank has been located.
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| Top Asian News at 12:00 a.m. GMT Posted: 02 Apr 2015 05:02 PM PDT BENJINA, Indonesia (AP) — Officials from three countries are traveling to remote islands in eastern Indonesia to investigate how thousands of foreign fishermen were abused and forced into catching seafood that could end up in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. A week after The Associated Press published a story about slavery in the seafood industry — including video of men locked in a cage — delegations from Thailand and Indonesia visited the island village of Benjina. A government team from Myanmar is also scheduled to visit the area next week to try to determine how many of its citizens are stuck there and what can be done to bring them home. |
| Netanyahu tells Obama Iran deal 'threat to Israel's survival': spokesman Posted: 02 Apr 2015 05:01 PM PDT  The framework nuclear deal agreed with Iran would jeopardise Israel's existence if implemented, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman quoted him as saying to US President Barack Obama on Friday. "PM Netanyahu to Pres Obama: A deal based on this framework would threaten the survival of Israel," Mark Regev wrote on his official Twitter account. Regev quoted the Israeli premier as saying in the telephone conversation that the deal as it appears to be emerging "would not block Iran's path to the bomb. "It would increase the risks of nuclear proliferation and the risks of a horrific war," he added.
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| Mass killing of dogs shocks city in northern Mexico Posted: 02 Apr 2015 05:00 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Somebody is systematically poisoning the dogs of Hermosillo, an industrial city in northern Mexico, and not just strays: At least 64 dogs, all with owners, have died of a similar poison since mid-March. More stray animals have probably been killed, but had no one to file a complaint, authorities say.
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| Tweets, bellowing car horns and hope in Iran after nuclear deal Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:57 PM PDT  It was a single message on Twitter that began to raise expectations that the agonising wait would be worth it, as families gathered around their televisions looking for news. The feeling soon turned into joyful scenes in Tehran, with people dancing on the streets in the early hours of Friday as car horns blared and Iranians spoke of their hopes for a different future. "Whatever the final result of the negotiations, we are winners," said Behrang Alavi, a 30-year-old actor, on Val-e-Asr Avenue at around 1:00 am as the noise reverberated around him on the capital's longest street. It was Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who had signalled a breakthrough was at hand after eight days of around-the-clock nuclear talks in Switzerland.
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| Cameron and austerity take fire in UK election debate Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:55 PM PDT  British Prime Minister David Cameron and his austerity policies came under attack on Thursday from six other party leaders in the only full debate before next month's general election. The Conservative party head struggled to convince viewers in an unprecedented seven-leader live television contest that underscored the fragmentation of the electorate. "My plan is about basically one word: security," Cameron said in his concluding remarks. His main rival, Ed Miliband of the left-leaning opposition Labour Party, sought to shake off a socially awkward media image and define himself as a real alternative to Cameron.
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| Israel cool to Iran deal, may struggle to rally opposition Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:49 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the international community's framework nuclear agreement with Iran early Friday, putting him on a collision course with the United States and other close allies as the world tries to close in on a final deal in the coming months.
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| Mexico probes deadly oil rig blast and fire Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:41 PM PDT  Mexican authorities launched an investigation Thursday into what caused an explosion and fire on an oil platform operated by state firm Pemex that killed four workers and injured several others. It deployed officials from the Criminal Investigation Agency, some specializing in fires, explosives and mechanical engineering. The ASEA agency, which is in charge of safety in the energy industry, said its own staff began to work after water was poured overnight to cool down the Abkatun A-Permanente platform on the Gulf of Mexico. Pemex said it managed to avoid an oil spill.
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| Obama to Netanyahu: Iran deal is 'significant progress' Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:35 PM PDT  Netanyahu had bitterly opposed an agreement between the world powers and Iran. The White House said Obama spoke to Netanyahu from aboard Air Force One to discuss the framework agreement that would see Iran scale back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
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| Netanyahu tells Obama Iran nuke deal threatens Israel Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:22 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister says he has voiced his "strong opposition" to the world's framework nuclear agreement with Iran to President Barack Obama. |
| Explosion near bus station in Gombe, Nigeria, kills 5: witnesses Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:18 PM PDT  An explosion near a bus station in the northeast Nigerian city of Gombe killed at least five and injured 15 others, witnesses told AFP on Thursday, in an attack that bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram. "We had an explosion outside the motor park (bus station) this evening around 8:30 pm (1930 GMT) which killed five people and injured 15 others," said Muhammad Garkuwa, a drivers' union official. The attack is the latest in a string of similar explosions against so-called "soft targets" such as busy bus stations and crowded markets in the restive northeast, which has been hit for the last six years by Boko Haram Islamists. The group has been pushed out of captured territory in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states since February by a four-nation coalition of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
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| Netanyahu tells Obama: World nuclear deal with Iran 'would threaten the survival of Israel.' Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:10 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — Netanyahu tells Obama: World nuclear deal with Iran 'would threaten the survival of Israel.' |
| Nuke deal: World powers, Iran seal breakthrough framework Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:07 PM PDT  LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Capping exhausting and contentious talks, Iran and world powers sealed a breakthrough agreement Thursday outlining limits on Iran's nuclear program to keep it from being able to produce atomic weapons. The Islamic Republic was promised an end to years of crippling economic sanctions, but only if negotiators transform the plan into a comprehensive pact.
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| Three sentenced to death over Gambia coup plot in 'secret' trial Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:05 PM PDT  Three Gambian soldiers have been sentenced to death for their roles in a failed coup attempt, a leading human rights group said Thursday, condemning their "secret" trial and urging the country not to carry out the executions. Amnesty International called the death sentences, handed down by a military court on Monday, "a cruel violation" of the right to a fair trial. The United Nations also expressed its concern about the legal proceedings. "We hope that the six detainees will be allowed to appeal, as is their right, and we call upon the Gambian government to maintain its moratorium on the use of the death penalty," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
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| US to refuel Saudi-led aircraft in Yemen war Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:02 PM PDT  The United States will provide aerial refueling for a Saudi-led campaign in Yemen but is not passing on precise information for air raids, a senior military official said Thursday. The US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) has been given the green light to deploy refueling tankers for the Saudis and their Gulf partners in the operation, though the refueling will take place outside of Yemen's airspace, the official told reporters. Officials had said previously Washington was considering offering refueling assistance as well as airborne early warning and control aircraft (AWACs). The Saudis were expected to reimburse Washington for the refueling flights, which have not yet started, officials said.
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| Mexico City: 007 film 'Spectre' good for business in capital Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:58 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico City officials said Thursday that recent filming for the upcoming James Bond movie "Spectre" was a business boon for the capital's colonial core, despite complaints over lost sales blamed on street closures.
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| 3 countries investigate fishing slavery reported by AP Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:53 PM PDT  BENJINA, Indonesia (AP) — Officials from three countries are traveling to remote islands in eastern Indonesia to investigate how thousands of foreign fishermen were abused and forced into catching seafood that could end up in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.
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| Boko Haram 'kills 9 Chadian troops, one Niger soldier' in ambush Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:53 PM PDT  N'Djamena (AFP) - Nine Chadian troops and one Niger soldier were killed after being ambushed by Boko Haram fighters in northeastern Nigeria, army spokesmen said Thursday. A Chadian military spokesman said fighting took place on Wednesday about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the town of Malam Fatori, which Niger said was retaken by regional forces fighting the Islamist radicals earlier this week. "Elements of the Chad-Niger (military alliance) were killed in a pocket of resistance," Colonel Azem Bermandoa Agouna told AFP, giving a toll of nine Chadian deaths. "After heavy fighting, the armed forces of Chad and Niger totally cleaned up the zone," the spokesman added.
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| Rubio chooses Miami's Freedom Tower to announce 2016 plans Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:43 PM PDT MIAMI (AP) — Sen. Marco Rubio on Thursday told The Miami Herald that he plans to announce his 2016 intentions at a downtown landmark that was often the first stop for exiles fleeing Cuba, but the Florida Republican declined to disclose what political office he would be seeking. |
| Top Democratic senator pleads not guilty to corruption Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:41 PM PDT  NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) — Prominent Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he accepted nearly $1 million in gifts and campaign contributions from a longtime friend in exchange for a stream of political favors.
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| 10 migrants detained near Puerto Rico; 1 dead Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:34 PM PDT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.S. authorities have detained 10 migrants from Cuba and the Dominican Republic, including a 3-year-old boy, who were found on an uninhabited island near Puerto Rico. |
| Turks and Caicos Islands signs $224M hotel development plan Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:23 PM PDT PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands (AP) — The government of the Turks and Caicos Islands has announced an agreement with a hotel developer to build a $224 million resort project on the most populous island of the British territory. |
| Isner rolls at Miami Open, Suarez Navarro into women's final Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:22 PM PDT  KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) — John Isner has all four teams still alive on his NCAA Tournament bracket.
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| UN inquiry faults peacekeepers in Mali protest deaths Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:21 PM PDT  A UN inquiry on Thursday faulted peacekeeping police from Rwanda for opening fire on a crowd during a violent protest in northern Mali in January that left three dead. The inquiry found that the police unit serving in the MINUSMA force had "used unauthorized and excessive force on civilian protesters during the demonstration" outside a UN base in Gao, spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters. UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous briefed the Security Council on the inquiry's findings and later told reporters that up to four police were "directly involved" in the shootings and should face legal action. The commander of the Rwandan police unit has been sent back to his country and the 35-member platoon has turned over its weapons before its repatriation back to Rwanda in the coming days.
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| Israel ends West Bank manhunt after 'missing' man found Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:14 PM PDT  Israel called off a search for one of its citizens feared snatched by Palestinian militants after he was found alive in a West Bank settlement, police said early Friday. Police, troops and agents of the Shin Bet security service had spent hours Thursday blocking off Palestinian villages and searching house to house near Hebron, in the southern West Bank, after the young man was reported missing. A police statement said that the man, Niv Asraf, was discovered in Kiryat Arba, next to Hebron camping out in a sleeping bag and equipped with cans of food. "The 'missing person' and his friends staged the kidnapping," it said, adding that the reasons were still under investigation.
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| Rio mayor denies construction stoppage Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:13 PM PDT  Rio de Janeiro's mayor on Thursday denied reports that construction had stopped on some projects for the 2016 Olympics because the city had failed to make payments on time. There's no stoppage," Mayor Eduardo Paes told journalists. Brazilian media reports said Wednesday that construction firm Queiroz Galvao had laid off 70 workers and given notice to 1,000 others because the city had failed to pay it for work on the Deodoro Olympic Park, the second-largest cluster of venues that Rio has planned for the Games. Deodoro, in the north of Rio, is scheduled to host 11 sports, including equestrian events, BMX cycling and canoeing.
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| Civilians pay the price for expanding conflict in Yemen Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:11 PM PDT  SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Violence in Yemen has killed an estimated 519 people the past two weeks, 90 of them children, and tens of thousands are fleeing their homes, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Thursday, signs of the humanitarian damage being wreaked in the Arab world's poorest nation in the rapid escalation of its conflict.
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| Ko ties Sorenstam's record of 29 straight rounds under par Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:09 PM PDT  RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) — Lydia Ko was in trouble. Trying to tie Annika Sorenstam's LPGA Tour record for consecutive rounds under par, the 17-year-old New Zealander was even par with three holes left and stuck behind five large trees to the left of the seventh fairway.
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| Firefighters control fire near Brazil's port of Santos Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:08 PM PDT  SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials say a fire that billowed flames and smoke from a liquid bulk storage facility has been contained.
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| Syrian regime reels from setbacks as rebels score key wins Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:01 PM PDT  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime was reeling Thursday from a series of setbacks after rebels seized a major provincial capital and a key border post in less than a week. Experts said the losses were a reflection of the regime's weariness after more than four years of civil war and increasing regional efforts to counter Iran's backing for Assad. The rebels' capture late Wednesday of the last border crossing with Jordan in loyalist hands and three days earlier of provincial capital Idlib have dealt the regime major blows, experts said. Also on Wednesday the Islamic State group took parts of Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, triggering alarm bells for the Syrian government which appealed for UN intervention and ramped up security.
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| Canada police: 7 arrested in massive Asian prostitution ring Posted: 02 Apr 2015 02:57 PM PDT MONTREAL (AP) — Seven members of an Asia-based organized crime syndicate have been arrested for exploiting more than 500 women mostly from China and Korea in a prostitution ring that spanned Canada, authorities said Thursday. |
| Obama hails Iran framework as 'historic' understanding Posted: 02 Apr 2015 02:53 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama heralded a framework nuclear understanding with Iran as a "historic" agreement and warned Congress Thursday against taking action that could upend work toward a final deal.
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| Oxfam assails World Bank arm for rights violations Posted: 02 Apr 2015 02:52 PM PDT  The World Bank's private-sector finance unit supported development projects in numerous countries that involved grave violations of human rights, anti-poverty group Oxfam alleged in a new report Thursday. Oxfam said the World Bank's International Finance Corporation has increasingly channelled its funds through other financial institutions, like local banks and private-equity funds, sacrificing close oversight of projects that have a harmful impact on impoverished populations. The IFC "has little accountability for billions of dollars' worth of investments into banks, hedge funds and other financial intermediaries, resulting in projects that are causing human rights abuses around the world," Oxfam said.
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| Joyful Iranians dance into night after nuclear breakthrough Posted: 02 Apr 2015 02:52 PM PDT  Hundreds of Iranians took to the streets in Tehran early Friday to celebrate a breakthrough in talks with the West that may end the country's 12-year-long nuclear crisis. The capital's longest street, Val-e-Asr Avenue, was lined with cars as drivers sounded their horns in approval of a framework deal intended to lead to a comprehensive agreement with world powers in June. "Whatever the final result of the negotiations, we are winners," 30-year-old Behrang Alavi said on Val-e-Asr at around 1:00 am as the noise reverberated around him. The scenes came after Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said key parameters of the framework for a deal had been agreed with the West, paving the way for a final deal by June 30.
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