| Saudi-led coalition bombs Yemen despite calling off air campaign Posted: 22 Apr 2015 02:39 PM PDT  By Mohammed Ghobari Mohammed Mukhashef CAIRO/ADEN (Reuters) - Saudi-led coalition warplanes bombed Yemen on Wednesday despite an announcement by Riyadh that it was ending its campaign of air strikes, while renewed fighting erupted on the ground between rebels and forces loyal to the exiled president. The hostilities illustrated how difficult it will be to find a political solution to a war stirring animosities between rival Gulf powers Saudi Arabia and Iran. Tuesday's announcement by Riyadh that it would end almost a month of air strikes against the Iranian-allied Houthis drew positive responses from both the White House and Tehran.
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| Timing of sanctions relief may be deal breaker as Iran talks resume Posted: 22 Apr 2015 08:56 AM PDT  By Shadia Nasralla VIENNA (Reuters) - The timing of sanctions relief is the main sticking point in nuclear talks that resumed on Wednesday with a meeting between delegates from Iran and the European Union. Arriving in Vienna, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reiterated Iran's position: "All the economic sanctions should be lifted on the day that the deal is implemented," Iranian news agency Tasnim reported. The United States says the sanctions, imposed on Iran by countries concerned that its nuclear programme could be aimed at weapons development, would have to be phased out gradually. Referring to concerns that the U.S. Congress might try to delay lifting sanctions, Araqchi told state television that President Barack Obama's administration was "responsible to ensure that its commitments, particularly sanctions-related ones, are fulfilled".
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| EU leaders to restore rescue operations after migrant boat disaster Posted: 22 Apr 2015 12:38 PM PDT  By Adrian Croft and Steve Scherer BRUSSELS/ROME (Reuters) - European Union leaders who decided last year to halt the rescue of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean will reverse their decision on Thursday at a summit hastily convened after nearly 2,000 people died at sea. Public outrage over the deaths peaked this week after up to 900 migrants died last Sunday when their boat sank on its way to Europe from Libya. Italy shut down the mission that saved the lives of more than 100,000 migrants last year because other EU countries refused to pay for it. The peak migration season of late spring and summer has barely begun, with international organisations estimating tens of thousands of African and Asian migrants likely to attempt the journey per month, mostly from Libya.
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| Puerto Rico officials warn government shutdown imminent Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:50 PM PDT  By Edward Krudy NEW YORK (Reuters) - Puerto Rico's top finance officials said the government of the U.S. territory will likely shutdown in three months because of a looming liquidity crisis and warned of a devastating impact on the island's economy. In a letter to leading lawmakers, including Governor Alejandro Padilla, the officials said a financing deal that could potentially salvage the government's finances currently looked unlikely to succeed. It warned of laying off government employees and reducing public services "A government shutdown is very probable in the next three months due to the absence of liquidity to operate," the officials said. "The likelihood of completing a market transaction to finance the government's operations and keep the government open is currently remote." The letter, dated April 21, was also sent to the heads of Puerto Rico's Senate and House as well as the governor.
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| Iraqi forces fight to rout Islamic State militants from Ramadi Posted: 22 Apr 2015 11:19 AM PDT  Iraqi security forces fought to rout Islamic State militants from the western city of Ramadi on Wednesday, slowly regaining some ground from the militant group, security and local officials said. The insurgents began encroaching on Ramadi two weeks ago and local officials warned it was about to fall, sending more than 100,000 people fleeing their homes in and around the provincial capital of Anbar. Security officials said Islamic State were being pushed back from sections near the military's Anbar operation command but booby-traps, snipers and suicide attacks were hindering government troops from recapturing other areas they lost last week. "We're engaged in tough guerrilla warfare in Ramadi," said an Iraqi security officer whose unit is fighting in Ramadi.
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| U.S. says Russia air defense systems inside Ukraine Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:54 PM PDT  The United States on Wednesday accused Russia of building up air defense systems inside eastern Ukraine and of involvement in training exercises of pro-Russian rebels in breach of a European-brokered truce. "This is the highest amount of Russian air defense equipment in eastern Ukraine since August," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement. She said the increasingly complex nature of the training exercises "leaves no doubt that Russia is involved." "The training has also incorporated Russian UAV's (unmanned aerial vehicles), an unmistakable sign of Russian presence," Harf added. Fighting has picked up in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks despite the ceasefire agreed in February, with each side accusing the other of violence.
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| Top Asian News at 12:00 a.m. GMT Posted: 22 Apr 2015 05:02 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Modern-day slavery persists around the world, including the abuse of fishermen in the Thai seafood industry whose catch can end up in U.S. markets, a congressional panel was told Wednesday. "As has been reported for years, the Thai fishing industry is rife with forced labor, both on the high seas and within seafood processing and packing plants," Mark Lagon, former State Department ambassador for trafficking in persons, told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee. |
| In Florida's Everglades, Obama wades into climate change politics Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:53 PM PDT  By Roberta Rampton EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, Fla. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama strolled past reedy sawgrass and twisted mangrove tree roots in Florida's Everglades on Wednesday, part of a push to get Americans thinking and talking about the damage climate change is causing close to home. Obama took a half-hour walk on the Anhinga boardwalk trail on the western edge of the vast 1.5-million-acre (607,000-hectare) park, past alligators slinking around the edge of porous limestone pinnacle rocks. It was silent, save for birds, the occasional splash of a gar fish, and the clicking of cameras capturing Obama in this vivid backdrop for talking about the urgency of climate change. "Climate change is threatening this treasure and the communities that depend on it," Obama said in a speech to a small crowd at the park's welcome center.
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| Calbuco volcano erupts in Chile, and nearby town evacuated Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:53 PM PDT  SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The Calbuco volcano erupted Wednesday for the first time in more than 42 years, billowing a huge ash cloud over a sparsely populated, mountainous area in southern Chile.
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| Super Rugby: Former champions under pressure in round 11 Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:52 PM PDT WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Former champions face critical matches in the 11th round of Super Rugby as they struggle to keep title hopes alive and to head off the elevation of a new victor. |
| Chile declares emergency as Calbuco volcano erupts Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:51 PM PDT  Southern Chile's Calbuco volcano erupted on Wednesday for the first time in nearly half a century, spewing a giant funnel of ash high into the sky and prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency. Officials ordered an evacuation for a 20-kilometer (12-mile) radius around the volcano and the interior ministry rushed in the army to temporarily take control of the province of Llanquihue and the town of Puerto Octay. "People are very, very frightened," said Gervoy Paredes, the mayor of the largest city in the area, Puerto Montt, which was blanketed in a cloud of ash. Airlines cancelled flights as a towering, mushroom-shaped ash cloud rose from Calbuco's snowy peak.
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| Juventus rounds out mouthwatering final four in CL Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:46 PM PDT  MONACO (AP) — Juventus and Italian football are back among the elite of the elite in Europe.
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| Med migrant crisis needs rescue response: UN refugee chief Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:38 PM PDT  The migration crisis in the Mediterranean -- in which 800 people are feared to have died Sunday alone -- is a tragedy that needs a coordinated rescue response, the top UN official for refugees said Wednesday. "Our ability to save lives at sea has to be guaranteed, because the current situation is a tremendous tragedy," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said at a briefing at the Organization of American States in Washington. Guterres said that while Italy had organized a successful rescue operation at sea, called Mare Nostrum, it was put on hold amid concerns it could be encouraging more migrants to make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe. "Today we know that the fact that there is no effective rescue operation in place, has not reduced but rather increased the number of people who try to cross the Mediterranean," he said.
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| Kashiwa reaches ACL knockout stage with 3-2 win over Jeonbuk Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:34 PM PDT  Japanese club Kashiwa Reysol secured a spot in the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League with a 3-2 win over Jeonbuk Motors on Wednesday night.
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| Despite 'halt' to Saudi raids, peace elusive for Yemen Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:34 PM PDT  Saudi Arabia has declared nearly a month of air strikes on Yemeni rebels a success, but at the cost of a resurgent Al-Qaeda and with no sign of peace yet. "The air campaign had exhausted its potential," and with Riyadh's allies like Pakistan unwilling or unable to provide ground forces, there were "few good options," said the Soufan Group intelligence consultancy. It said US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin had also "made clear that they favoured a political solution" to the conflict.
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| England 74 in reply to West Indies 299 on day 2 of 2nd test Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:34 PM PDT  ST.GEORGE'S, Grenada (AP) — England openers Alistair Cook and Jonathan Trott wasted no time building a strong reply to the West Indies first-innings 299 on the second day of the second test Wednesday.
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| Agents: Some in Minnesota lost multiple sons to extremists Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:28 PM PDT  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The mother of two Minnesota men charged with attempting to join the Islamic State group in Syria says she didn't see anything amiss and doesn't believe they wanted to join the terrorist group.
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| Volcano erupts in southern Chile, belching ash, smoke into sky Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:25 PM PDT  By Anthony Esposito SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Volcano Calbuco in southern Chile erupted for the first time in more than five decades on Wednesday, sending a thick plume of ash and smoke several kilometers into the sky. Chile's Onemi emergency office declared a red alert following the sudden eruption at around 1800 local time (2100 GMT), which occurred about 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) south of Santiago, the capital, near the tourist town of Puerto Varas. "In this situation, with the eruption column so high, the main risk is that it collapses, falls due to gravity because of its own weight and causes a pyroclastic flow," Gabriel Orozco, a vulcanologist with Chile's geological and mining service, said on local TV. A pyroclastic flow is a superheated current of gas and rock that can destroy nearly everything in its path and travel at speeds upwards of 200 to 300 kilometers per hour.
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| Spain locates sunken Russian trawler off Canaries Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:21 PM PDT  A Russian fishing trawler that sank last week off Spain's Canary Islands has been found and is still losing fuel, Public Works Minister Ana Pastor said Wednesday. An underwater robot deployed on Tuesday to inspect the wreck located it at a depth of 2,700 metres (8,850 feet), some 15 miles (24 kilometres) off the southern coast of Gran Canaria island, she told reporters. "It is a greater depth than we had expected," Pastor, who was speaking in Gran Canaria, added. The Oleg Neydenov was carrying nearly 1,500 tonnes of fuel oil when it sank near the Canary Islands on April 15.
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| Brazil's Petrobras: Graft scheme cost $2.1B in losses Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:20 PM PDT RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras says it lost $2.1 billion because of inflated contracts and other costs related to a long-running kickback scheme. |
| Jordanian immigrant family charged in activist's death in US Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:17 PM PDT HOUSTON (AP) — Three members of a Jordanian immigrant family have been charged in Texas with killing a female Iranian activist authorities say persuaded a family member to leave home and marry a Christian man. |
| France foils church attack after suspect shoots self in leg Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:15 PM PDT  France said Wednesday it had foiled a jihadist plot to attack a church after an Algerian who accidentally shot himself was found with a stash of weapons and documents mentioning Islamist militant groups. The 24-year-old IT student Sid Ahmed Ghlam's plans were exposed purely by chance after he called an ambulance saying he had been shot during an armed robbery at his Paris home, prosecutor Francois Molins told journalists. The suspect, who was admitted to a Paris hospital after his arrest, was known to intelligence services over comments on social networks expressing his desire to go and fight in Syria alongside jihadists, said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
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| Authorities seize wrong Mexican girl for forced return to US Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:14 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — A 14-year-old Mexican girl who was taken by authorities and sent screaming to live in the United States was returned home Wednesday after DNA tests showed she is not the daughter of the Houston woman who claimed her.
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| Still possessing record, Radcliffe ready for final marathon Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:11 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — In front of Buckingham Palace, Paula Radcliffe will cross the finish line and bid farewell on Sunday.
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| House panel is told of slavery in Thai seafood industry Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:11 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Modern-day slavery persists around the world, including the abuse of fishermen in the Thai seafood industry whose catch can end up in U.S. markets, a congressional panel was told Wednesday.
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| Hernandez goal puts Real Madrid into Champions League semis Posted: 22 Apr 2015 04:07 PM PDT  MADRID (AP) — A late goal by Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez gave Real Madrid a tense 1-0 win over 10-man Atletico Madrid and a place in the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday.
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| Haitian marine biologist wins environmental activism prize Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:56 PM PDT  By David Adams MIAMI (Reuters) - A Haitian marine biologist who successfully fought to create a national park to protect a large swath of Haiti's north coast has won a prominent U.S. environmental activism prize. Jean Wiener was awarded a Goldman Environmental Foundation prize for his efforts to establish the Caribbean nation's first Marine Protected Areas while working with local communities to promote sustainable fishing practices and preserve mangrove forests. In awarding the $175,000 prize, the Goldman foundation highlighted Wiener's efforts in overcoming extreme poverty and political instability in Haiti, a country with few full-time environmentalists and almost no government programs to protect natural resources. Wiener, 50, is being honored along with five other prize winners at a ceremony in Washington on Wednesday for a campaign he led to create the Three Bays National Park, covering 30,000 square miles (75,000 sq km) stretching from the city of Cap Haitien to the border with the Dominican Republican.
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| UN raises alarm over stalled nuclear disarmament Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:53 PM PDT  The failure of the world's nuclear powers to make headway on disarmament is threatening to unravel a landmark treaty coming up for review next week, the UN's disarmament chief warned Wednesday. The 190 countries that have signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are opening a month-long conference on Monday at the United Nations to take stock amid much gloom over the lack of progress. "We have a stalling in the path to a nuclear-free world," said Angela Kane, the UN high representative for disarmament affairs. "The nuclear-weapons states are not living up to their side of the bargain," Kane told a meeting organized by the International Peace Institute.
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| Drug cartel violence flares again in Northern Mexico state Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:51 PM PDT Drug cartel violence in Mexico's Tamaulipas state flared up for the second time in a week on Wednesday, with gun battles and arson attacks erupting in the street after police captured four alleged drug gang members. The detainees, whose identity is still unknown, are from the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico's oldest drug trafficking groups, also known for kidnappings and immigrant trafficking. They [organized crime groups] are trying to intimidate the government," a state government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Earlier in April, parts of Reynosa, a city across the Rio Grande from McAllen, Texas, ground to a halt after gunfights broke out and vehicles were set ablaze the same day authorities caught Gulf Cartel leader known as "El Gafe" there. |
| Zuma vows action over immigrant attacks as army deployed Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:41 PM PDT  President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday pledged to tackle xenophobia in South Africa as troops were sent in to support police in a crackdown against attacks on immigrants that have left at least seven people dead. Overnight Tuesday, 11 men were arrested in a joint police and army raid on a hostel in downtown Johannesburg, hours after the military was deployed. After meeting business, civil and religious leaders, Zuma said his government would take decisive steps to address "underlying" problems behind the attacks and ensure foreigners were not targeted. "South Africans are not xenophobic," he said.
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| New Zealand will not ease eligibility rules Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:39 PM PDT  New Zealand Rugby chiefs said Thursday they had no plans to emulate Australia and relax eligibility rules so overseas-based players can represent the All Blacks. The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) announced the move on Wednesday in response to a host of top players taking up lucrative club contracts after this year's September-October World Cup in England. Defending world champions New Zealand face a similar post-tournament exodus, with at least 10 All Blacks heading offshore, including Dan Carter, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Colin Slade.
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| Cook closes in on England record Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:36 PM PDT  St. George's (Grenada) (AFP) - Alastair Cook closed in on becoming England's highest Test run-maker on Wednesday as his team began their pursuit of West Indies' 299 all out on the second day of the second Test. England skipper Cook and fellow opener Jonathan Trott negotiated 26 overs without real alarm as the visitors reached 74 without loss at the National Cricket Stadium. Cook achieved a milestone during his unbeaten 37, going past former player Alec Stewart as his countryâ s second-highest run-getter in Test history with a tally of 8,484. Only Graham Gooch, the former opening batsman and captain, remains ahead of him in the list of prolific English batsmen with an aggregate of 8,900.
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| Puerto Rico bank warns of imminent government shutdown Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:36 PM PDT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's Government Development Bank warned Wednesday that it is very likely the U.S. territory's government could be forced to shut down in the next three months because of a lack of funds. |
| NBA visits Cuba for basketball clinic Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:30 PM PDT HAVANA (AP) — The NBA is the first U.S. professional league to visit sports-crazy Cuba since the declaration of detente between the Cold War enemies late last year. |
| Turkey 'stops Bosnian Serb leader from travelling to Armenia' Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:18 PM PDT  Turkey on Wednesday stopped Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik's plane from flying over its territory, preventing him from attending a ceremony to mark the centenary of the Armenian genocide, his cabinet said. The plane carrying the president of Republika Srpska, a Serb-run entity of Bosnia, returned to his capital Banja Luka after spending four and a half hours at an airport in eastern Bulgaria, waiting in vain for authorisation to fly over Turkish territory, the statement said. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to flock to the towering genocide memorial in Armenia's capital Yerevan on Friday to mark the start of a tragedy that still stirs deep divisions. Ex-Soviet Armenia and the huge Armenian diaspora worldwide have battled for decades to get the World War I massacres at the hands of Ottoman forces between 1915 and 1917 recognised as a targeted genocide.
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| Leishman rejoins PGA Tour in New Orleans with new outlook Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:14 PM PDT  AVONDALE, La. (AP) — Marc Leishman fully expects to be rusty this week in the Zurich Classic, not that he's all that concerned.
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| Rwandan troops cross into Congo, wound soldier -Congo government Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:10 PM PDT Rwandan troops crossed into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and wounded a local soldier, the Congolese government said on Wednesday, drawing an immediate denial from a Rwandan official. Government spokesman Lambert Mende said Congolese troops fired warning shots at Rwandan troops who entered Rutshuru territory in Congo's eastern province of North Kivu. North Kivu governor Julien Paluku also said Rwandan troops had crossed the border on Wednesday afternoon. He added that a team from the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region was being deployed to investigate the incident. |
| FA chief says Kane wants to play at Euro Under-21s Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:09 PM PDT  Football Association chairman Greg Dyke has said the agent of Harry Kane has told him the Tottenham striker wants to play at the European Under-21 Championships in the Czech Republic in June. Kane's astonishing breakthrough season has seen him score 30 goals already in all competitions for Spurs and last month he took just 79 seconds to mark his full England debut with a goal in a 4-0 Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley. Tottenham are sure to have concerns about the risk of Kane being 'over-played' in a post-season tournament.
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| Chile court rules tailings dam for Antofagasta's Los Pelambres mine safe Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:08 PM PDT  A Chilean court ruled on Wednesday that the tailings dam for Antofagasta Minerals' flagship Los Pelambres copper mine is safe, though a separate appeal has not yet been decided on a judge's ruling to demolish the facility that holds refuse left over from the extraction process. The massive tailings dam is at the center of a conflict with the local Caimanes community in central Chile, which claims it has dried up a local stream and contaminated underground water. The La Serena appeals court unanimously rejected a lawsuit presented by residents of Caimanes that said the tailings dam was unsafe. "This ruling backs our conviction that the El Mauro tailings dam does not represent a risk for people's safety and health," said the mine's chairman Francisco Veloso.
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| Gunfights erupt again after Mexican drug lord arrested Posted: 22 Apr 2015 03:07 PM PDT  A drug lord's capture triggered firefights in Mexico's troubled northern state of Tamaulipas on Wednesday, as his henchmen tried to rescue him in the second such incident in days. Four state police officers were wounded in the violence that erupted after the arrest of the criminal group's local chief and three accomplices in Altamira, the state's security task force said in a statement. The gang blocked access to Altamira and two other municipalities with vehicles on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico "in an attempt to prevent that the detainees be taken to Mexico City," the statement said, adding that authorities reclaimed control. The statement did not name the gang but an official in the Tamaulipas prosecutor's office said it was the Gulf cartel, a group that has been dealt heavy blows in recent months.
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