| U.S. rejects notion that Gulf rulers snubbing Obama summit Posted: 11 May 2015 04:34 PM PDT  By Matt Spetalnick and Angus McDowall WASHINGTON/RIYADH (Reuters) - The White House scrambled on Monday to counter perceptions that the Saudi king's absence from a summit later this week could undermine U.S. efforts to assure Gulf states it remains committed to their security against Iran. King Salman's abrupt decision to skip the U.S.-hosted regional talks shows how Gulf rulers, displeased by what they see as U.S. indifference to Iranian meddling in the Arab world, may hesitate to bless any final nuclear deal that President Barack Obama reaches with Tehran. Some analysts and diplomats in the Middle East and Washington interpreted Salman's decision to stay away from the meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat as a diplomatic snub, despite denials from U.S. and Saudi officials.
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| Obama speaks to Saudi king, White House plans Camp David statement Posted: 11 May 2015 02:24 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama spoke to Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Monday about preparations for the summit with Gulf leaders at Camp David this week, and the White House said the summit would result in a statement outlining commitments from all sides. The meeting would include an announcement on integrating ballistic missile defense architecture as well as more military exercises to address maritime, counterterrorism, air and missile defense challenges, U.S. officials told reporters on a conference call. ...
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| Moroccan F-16 jet from Saudi-led coalition in Yemen crashes Posted: 11 May 2015 02:26 PM PDT  By Mohammed Ghobari and Mohammed Mukhashaf CAIRO/ADEN (Reuters) - A Moroccan F-16 warplane has crashed while on a mission with Saudi Arabia-led forces in Yemen, a Saudi military spokesman said on Monday, and Yemen's dominant Houthi militia said tribesmen shot down the aircraft. The loss of the Moroccan military jet and intensifying volleys of heavy-weapons fire across the border between the Iran-allied Houthis and Saudi forces could endanger a five-day humanitarian truce due to start in Yemen early on Tuesday. Saudi-led air strikes hit military bases and weapons stores in the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, on Monday evening, setting off huge blasts that residents said launched rockets into the air which then crashed back down. We're living a life of terror," said Ahmed Fawaz, a resident of Sanaa.
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| Greece says deal will be 'difficult' at Eurogroup meeting Posted: 11 May 2015 03:20 AM PDT  Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis acknowledged that a deal to ease Greece's cash crunch was not likely at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later on Monday despite progress in talks with lenders on some issues. Greece is under growing pressure to reach agreement with lenders to avoid financial chaos though many Greeks also want the government to stick to its "red lines" of avoiding further pension cuts and labor reforms making it easier to fire workers. A 750 million euro debt repayment to the IMF falls due on Tuesday but Varoufakis said a deal that would provide some liquidity relief for Greece was more likely in the coming days. "The Greek government is struggling in a very tough negotiating fight to achieve an agreement that will not only be an agreement to have a disbursement (of aid) but one that will deliver a substantive hit to the crisis," he said.
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| Putin, Kerry to discuss Ukraine, Syria, Iran, U.S. says Posted: 11 May 2015 06:52 AM PDT  By Arshad Mohammed and Katya Golubkova WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia, on Tuesday to discuss Ukraine and other issues, the United States said on Monday in a statement that made no mention of their deep disagreements. Relations between Russia and the West are at their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War because of Moscow's March 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its backing for pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. The West has imposed economic sanctions on Russia, triggering retaliatory measures by Moscow.
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| U.S., allies conduct 18 air strikes against Islamic State militants: military Posted: 11 May 2015 09:50 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces targeted Islamic State militants in Syria with nine air strikes from Sunday morning through Monday morning and conducted another nine strikes against the group in Iraq, the U.S. military said on Wednesday. Most of the Syrian strikes, six, hit targets near Al Hasakah, where they destroyed Islamic State fighting positions, vehicles, mortar positions, heavy machine guns and a supply point. There were also air strikes near Ar Raqqah and Kobani, according to a military state. ... |
| WADA to appeal decision in Essendon supplements case Posted: 11 May 2015 05:16 PM PDT MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency is set to appeal against the Australian Football League anti-doping tribunal's findings in the Essendon supplements case. |
| Chile's Valdivia suspended for calling referees 'thieves' Posted: 11 May 2015 05:12 PM PDT SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian sports tribunal has suspended Chile playmaker Jorge Valdivia for two matches for calling referees "thieves." |
| Clashes disrupt Central African Republic peace forum Posted: 11 May 2015 05:09 PM PDT United Nations peacekeepers in Central African Republic shot in the air on Monday and used tear gas to disperse gunmen who tried to disrupt a forum aimed at helping restore peace to the country, witnesses said. The incident took place as the Bangui Forum was drawing to an end, highlighting the simmering tensions in the country, where thousands have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced during waves of violence. Former members of the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel force and members of their arch rival 'anti-balaka' militia together paralysed central Bangui to protest that the peace forum had not resulted in the freeing of members detained by the government. The seizure of Bangui by Seleka in March 2013 led to tit-for-tat killings as 'anti-balaka' militia fought back against violence instigated by rebels once they were in power. |
| Cavendish wins stage 2 of Tour of California Posted: 11 May 2015 05:08 PM PDT  LODI, California (AP) — Britain's Mark Cavendish earned his second straight win over Peter Sagan of Slovakia and extended his race lead Monday after the second stage of the Tour of California.
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| UN rights experts knock Paraguay over pregnant 10-year-old Posted: 11 May 2015 05:07 PM PDT  ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — Paraguay's government has failed to protect a 10-year-old rape victim who is being denied an abortion, United Nations human rights experts said on Monday.
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| Top Asian News at 12:00 a.m. GMT Posted: 11 May 2015 05:03 PM PDT JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Hundreds of migrants abandoned at sea by smugglers in Southeast Asia have reached land and relative safety in the past two days. But an estimated 6,000 Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar remain trapped in crowded, wooden boats, migrant officials and activists said. With food and clean water running low, some could be in grave danger. One vessel that reached Indonesian waters early Monday, was stopped by the Navy and given food, water and directions to Malaysia. |
| French president calls for end to US embargo on Cuba Posted: 11 May 2015 05:01 PM PDT  HAVANA (AP) — French President Francois Hollande called on Monday for ending of the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, saying France "will be a faithful ally" as Cuba reforms its centrally planned economy and tries to re-enter the global economic system.
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| West backs Libyan 'national unity' Posted: 11 May 2015 04:47 PM PDT  The United States and five European nations reaffirmed their commitment to Libyan "territorial integrity and national unity" Monday, as the North African nation works toward a unity government to emerge from chaos. "We reiterate that Libya's challenges can only be addressed by a government that can effectively oversee and protect Libya's independent institutions," Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States said in a joint statement. Libya has an elected parliament and an internationally recognized government based in the far eastern city of Tobruk, and a rival government and legislature backed by Islamists in Tripoli. The United Nations has been brokering negotiations since January on a deal to form a national unity government.
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| Swansea beats Arsenal 1-0 thanks to goal-line technology Posted: 11 May 2015 04:27 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Bafetimbi Gomis gave Swansea an unexpected 1-0 victory over Arsenal on Monday when goal-line technology showed his late header had crossed the line to the surprise of both teams.
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| Pope Francis to visit 4 sites in Cuba during September trip Posted: 11 May 2015 04:14 PM PDT  HAVANA (AP) — The Catholic Bishops Conference of Cuba says Pope Francis will visit the cities of Havana, Holguin and Santiago, as well as the sanctuary of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, during his Sept. 19-22 stopover on the island ahead of his trip to the United States.
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| US, Saudi Arabia play down rift Posted: 11 May 2015 04:10 PM PDT  The White House and Saudi Arabia scrambled to quell talk of a diplomatic rift Monday, after King Salman pulled out of a summit with President Barack Obama at the eleventh hour. Senior US and Saudi officials appeared in public to insist the Gulf royal's decision was not a snub nor part of a deeper crisis in never-easy ties that date back decades. Obama had invited six Gulf leaders to the presidential retreat, amid suspicions that Washington is no longer committed to their security and is not doing enough to stop Iran's destabilizing actions across the region. The US president has warned the deeply conservative monarchies that they must reform, and has launched nuclear talks with their arch-foe Iran.
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| Obama, Saudi King Salman discussed summit, Yemen: White House Posted: 11 May 2015 04:04 PM PDT Saudi King Salman phoned U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday to "express his regret" for missing a high-profile summit at the White House and Camp David this week, and review the agenda for the meeting with Gulf leaders, the White House said. The leaders agreed they need to work with other Gulf states "to build a collective capacity to address more effectively the range of threats facing the region and to resolve regional conflicts," the White House said, noting the leaders agreed on the need for urgent humanitarian aid in Yemen. |
| In Cuba, France's Hollande urges US to end embargo Posted: 11 May 2015 03:52 PM PDT  French President Francois Hollande on Monday called for an end to the US embargo on Cuba, during the first visit by a Western leader to the island since Washington and Havana moved to restore ties. Hollande said his trip came "at a particularly important but also uncertain time," as the United States seeks to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba and European countries scramble to reinforce ties.
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| Blue whales, unused to dodging, at risk from ships: Stanford biologist Posted: 11 May 2015 03:42 PM PDT  By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Blue whales are vulnerable to cargo ship strikes because they are so used to being the largest animal in the ocean that they often fail to avoid the vessels, a Stanford University biologist has found. Researchers found that blue whales, instead of diving sharply, responded to approaching ships by descending gradually at a rate of just over a foot and a half (0.5 meter) per second, and did not try swimming to one side, according to Stanford University. The study, published about two weeks ago, represents an effort to better understand the behavior of the endangered behemoths, which according to the World Wildlife Fund number between 10,000 and 25,000, in hopes of finding ways to avoid fatal collisions. Conservation groups have said at least 11 blue whales are struck annually along the U.S. West Coast.
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| Protesters march again in Burundi's capital despite ban Posted: 11 May 2015 03:41 PM PDT  BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) — About 2,000 people marched through a neighborhood of Burundi's capital on Monday as police looked on, breaking the government's ban on any further street protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in power.
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| Shock result in Polish vote could signal larger power shift Posted: 11 May 2015 03:38 PM PDT  WARSAW, Poland (AP) — President Bronislaw Komorowski lost the first round of the country's presidential election to a previously unknown 42-year-old member of the European Parliament, in what is being called the biggest shock in Polish politics in years.
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| 30 charged with 'terrorism' over deadly Macedonia shooting Posted: 11 May 2015 03:36 PM PDT  Thirty alleged gunmen were charged Monday with terror offences after a bloody shootout with Macedonian police left 22 dead, including eight police officers, and dozens of homes destroyed in a town close to the border with Kosovo. The clashes in Kumanovo at the weekend were the worst in Macedonia for 14 years, and raised fears of fresh unrest similar to the country's 2001 ethnic conflict. Eighteen of the 30 men charged were ethnic Albanians from neighbouring Kosovo, a Macedonian prosecutor said in a statement. In the district where the shootout took place -- consisting of several dozen houses and around a dozen small narrow streets populated by both Macedonians and ethnic Albanians -- signs of large-scale destruction were everywhere to be seen.
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| Kisses and first-day euphoria as new British MPs arrive Posted: 11 May 2015 03:34 PM PDT  As newly-elected British MPs arrived for their first day in parliament Monday, Conservatives exchanged kisses and handshakes while a new bloc of Scottish nationalists faced their first battle -- finding their way around. While the House of Commons does not formally sit until next Monday, most lawmakers have already come to London to set up their offices, meet colleagues and gossip about the general election result. Beaming members of Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives, who scored a surprise victory in Thursday's poll, stopped to congratulate each other and staffers were seen carrying bouquets of flowers. As well as a majority centre-right Conservative government for the first time since 1996, the number of lawmakers from the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) is up ninefold, while Labour and the Liberal Democrats have shrunk.
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| As Cuba opens, Hollande seeks greater French role Posted: 11 May 2015 03:22 PM PDT  By Elizabeth Pineau HAVANA (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande on Monday urged an end to the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba and envisioned a larger French role in Cuba's engagement with the West during the first visit by a French head of state to Cuba. Cuba is in foreign policy talks with both the European Union and the United States amid intense world interest in Cuba following detente with Washington in December. Hollande, traveling with a host of French business executives, is the first serving Western European leader to visit Cuba since Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez came in 1986, and he said he expected others to soon follow his example.
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| Small plane crashes in St. Vincent; both on board survive Posted: 11 May 2015 03:17 PM PDT KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (AP) — Authorities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines say a small plane crashed on the island Monday but that both people on board have survived. |
| Pietersen snubbed by Strauss over England recall -- reports Posted: 11 May 2015 03:15 PM PDT  Kevin Pietersen was told by new England chief Andrew Strauss he will not play for his country again just hours after blasting a career-best 326 not out, according to reports on Monday. Exiled batsman Pietersen surpassed his previous first-class best of 254 in a mammoth innings for Surrey on day two of their County Championship Division Two match against Leicestershire at The Oval. South Africa-born Pietersen, who has hoped for an England recall since being axed in the aftermath of their 2013-14 Ashes defeat in Australia, revealed immediately after the day's play that he was due to meet Strauss, the ECB's director of cricket, and chief executive Tom Harrison to discuss his international prospects. "We understand that Kevin Pietersen has been told this evening that he won't be picked to play for England again," a tweet from the BBC's Test Match Special account read.
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| Colombia army raids illegal mines funding FARC rebels Posted: 11 May 2015 03:14 PM PDT Colombia's armed forces raided 63 illegal mines operated by leftist FARC guerrillas on Monday, blowing up machinery and arresting dozens, in an operation the defense minister said will deprive FARC of $9 million a month. "Illegal mining generates illicit finances for illegal groups and destroys the environment," minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said after the raids. "We're talking about the heaviest blow to illegal and criminal mining in at least a decade." Illegal mining of gold, coltan, tungsten and other minerals has become a big source of income on top of extortion and narcotrafficking activity for FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which has been fighting the government for 50 years. In sectors like gold, legally registered, tax-paying companies produce only about one-fifth of the roughly 57 tonnes Colombia produces a year, a top Colombian mining executive estimated last week. |
| C.Africa reconciliation forum calls for elections to be delayed Posted: 11 May 2015 03:12 PM PDT  A forum seeking to restore peace in the Central African Republic on Monday called for the country's upcoming presidential and legislative elections to be delayed to give the transitional authorities more time to organise the closely-watched polls. The presidential and legislative elections are currently slated for July and August but preparations are reportedly running behind schedule.
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| Arsenal sunk by Fabianski and Gomis Posted: 11 May 2015 03:09 PM PDT  Bafetimbi Gomis scored a late, technology-assisted winner as Swansea City compromised Arsenal's quest for automatic Champions League qualification with a smash-and-grab 1-0 away victory on Monday. Arsenal had won nine of their previous 10 games, only dropping points in a goalless draw with champions Chelsea, but after being kept at bay by their former goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, they were undone in the 85th minute. Gomis, a 74th-minute replacement for Ki Sung-yueng, sent a header towards goal and although Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina appeared to have clawed it away, the Goal Decision System showed that the ball had in fact crossed the line. "We were unlucky against a team who refused to play completely and just defended," complained Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
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| Chile's Bachelet names new cabinet amid scandal Posted: 11 May 2015 03:05 PM PDT  Chilean President Michelle Bachelet named a new cabinet Monday, seeking to turn the page on a corruption scandal involving her son that risks derailing her ambitious reform agenda. Five days after making a surprise announcement that she had asked her entire cabinet to resign, Bachelet unveiled her new line-up of ministers, sacking five, including finance minister Alberto Arenas and interior minister Rodrigo Peñailillo, a close ally who was also her chief of staff. "Today, it's time to give new impetus to the quality of our government," said Bachelet, Chile's first woman president. Bachelet, 63, replaced Arenas with the head of the national bank, Rodrigo Valdes -- the first time a Chilean leader has sacked a finance minister since the end of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship in 1990.
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| Mexico may have right girl to return to mother in Texas Posted: 11 May 2015 02:59 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities may have located a girl taken by her father from Houston to Mexico eight years ago in a cross-border custody case that exploded into international headlines recently in a case of mistaken identity, an official said Monday. |
| White House denies Obama's Gulf overtures are unraveling Posted: 11 May 2015 02:51 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Monday raced to dispel the notion that President Barack Obama's efforts to reassure anxious Persian Gulf nations about his overtures to Iran were unraveling ahead of a rare Camp David summit this week.
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| Putin to host John Kerry for high-stakes Sochi talks Posted: 11 May 2015 02:48 PM PDT  President Vladimir Putin is expected to host US Secretary of State John Kerry for talks in Sochi on Tuesday, in the first visit to Russia by the US top diplomat since the start of the crisis in Ukraine. Ties between Moscow and Washington collapsed after Russia seized Crimea and buttressed separatists in eastern Ukraine, but after a year of raging tensions signs are emerging that both Russia and the West may be ready for a detente.
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| El Shorbagy serves up British Open warning Posted: 11 May 2015 02:46 PM PDT  Mohamed El Shorbagy served up a warning that he intends to achieve the last of his three main goals this season by winning the British Open for the first time. El Shorbagy felt it was scary because he had been given a freakishly awkward start against an opponent of exceptional calibre, as a result of Willstrop having fallen outside the seeding positions during a recovery from a hip injury. "I got a shock when I saw that draw," El Shorbagy admitted, "It was scary and I had to completely alter my preparations. I set myself the goals this season of becoming world number one, becoming world champion, and winning the British Open.
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| Impact of El Nino on key crops in Asia Posted: 11 May 2015 02:43 PM PDT  Closely watched weather forecasts by Japan and Australia on Tuesday are likely to confirm the return of El Nino this year. In 2009, the weather pattern had caused the worst drought in four decades in India and ravaged croplands across Asia, driving food prices to multi-year highs. WHEAT Australia's high-protein wheat crop is likely to take a hit with El Nino expected to bring dry weather across its eastern grain-belt. RICE Although there are abundant stocks of rice in key producers India and Thailand, El Nino is likely to curb the output of Asia's staple food.
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| Kerry, China leaders to meet in Beijing, May 16-17 Posted: 11 May 2015 02:42 PM PDT  By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry will meet senior Chinese leaders in Beijing this weekend at a time of heightened concerns in Asia and Washington over China's pursuit of maritime claims and shared worries about North Korea. Kerry will be the most senior U.S. official to visit China since many U.S. allies rushed to embrace a new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which some see as a challenge to U.S. leadership of the global financial system. Kerry will spend Saturday and Sunday in the Chinese capital and will discuss the annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue scheduled to be held in Washington in late June as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping's expected visit to the U.S. capital in September. On his way home, Kerry will stop in Seattle on May 19 to deliver a speech on trade policy, including a 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, to which neither China nor South Korea is party, that Washington hopes to see concluded this year.
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| Israel bill on expanding cabinet passes first reading Posted: 11 May 2015 02:41 PM PDT  Israel's parliament on Monday passed the first reading of a bill which would effectively enlarge the cabinet, in the first test of strength for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new coalition. After the vote in the Knesset plenum, which was approved by 61 to 59, speaker Yuli Edelstein formally announced that Netanyahu had succeeded in forming a coalition government. "I am honoured to announce to the Knesset that according to Basic Law: The Government, the prime minister has managed to forming a government," he said in remarks published on Ynet news website. Members of Netanyahu's new government, which commands a razor-thin majority of just 61 of the Knesset's 120 seats, were all present to vote in favour, as were all members of the opposition who have vowed to try and block the bill.
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