| United Kingdom votes in most unpredictable election in decades Posted: 06 May 2015 04:25 PM PDT  By Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - British voters get to decide on Thursday who they want to rule the world's fifth-largest economy in a tight election that could yield weak government, propel the United Kingdom towards a vote on EU membership and stoke Scottish desire for secession. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives and Ed Miliband's opposition Labour Party have been neck and neck in opinion polls for months, indicating neither will win enough seats for an outright majority in the 650-seat parliament. "It is going to go down to the wire." Cameron said only his Conservatives could deliver strong, stable government: "All other options will end in chaos." The Conservatives portray themselves as the party of jobs and economic recovery, promising to reduce income tax for 30 million people while forcing through further spending cuts to eliminate a budget deficit still running at 5 percent of gross domestic product.
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| Yemen urges ground intervention to save country: letter to U.N Posted: 06 May 2015 02:36 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Yemen urged the international community "to quickly intervene by land forces to save" the country, specifically in the cities of Aden and Taiz, according to a letter sent to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday. The letter from Yemen's U.N. Ambassador Khaled Alyemany, seen by Reuters, could provide legal cover for such a move. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition launched air strikes against Houthi rebels a day after Yemen notified the 15-member Security Council in a March 24 letter that it had requested military help from Gulf Arab states. The Houthi militia battled its way into Aden's Tawahi district on Wednesday despite Saudi-led air strikes, strengthening its hold on the city whose fate is seen as crucial to determining the country's civil war.
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| Germanwings pilot rehearsed crash on outbound flight Posted: 06 May 2015 08:39 AM PDT  By Tim Hepher PARIS (Reuters) - The Germanwings co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a jet in the French Alps rehearsed the fatal maneuver on the morning of the disaster, and had twice been refused medical papers needed to fly, investigators said on Wednesday. The French BEA accident investigation agency said the co-pilot had five times set the autopilot to take the Airbus down to just 100 feet while the captain was out of the cockpit on the outbound flight to Barcelona from Duesseldorf. A preliminary report on the return flight that crashed on March 24, killing all 150 people on board, confirmed a growing picture of painstaking preparations carried out by the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz. Digging into data and cockpit recordings recovered from the jet's "black boxes", the BEA gave the most detailed picture so far on what happened in the cockpit of return flight 9525.
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| U.S. aims to make Iran nuclear deal immune to Russian, Chinese veto Posted: 05 May 2015 08:05 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Washington wants to be certain that any nuclear deal between Iran and major powers includes the possibility of restoring U.N. sanctions if Tehran breaks the agreement without risking Russian and Chinese vetoes, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday. United Nations sanctions and a future mechanism for Iran to buy atomic technology are two core sticking points in talks on a possible nuclear deal on which Tehran and world powers have been struggling to overcome deep divisions in recent days, diplomats said on condition of anonymity. Negotiators were wrapping up nearly a week of talks in New York on Tuesday, the latest round in 18 months of discussions aimed at clinching a long-term deal by June 30 to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for an end to sanctions.
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| Rescuers step up hunt for bodies in quake-hit Nepal trekking village Posted: 06 May 2015 09:32 AM PDT  Nepalese soldiers and villagers dug through snow mounds in a remote hamlet on Wednesday in search of scores of bodies of villagers and trekkers believed to be buried in an avalanche set off by last month's devastating earthquake, officials said. As rescuers hunted for more than 180 bodies in the village of Langtang, 60 km (37 miles) north of the capital Kathmandu, seven bodies including of that of a German trekker were recovered at Manaslu, another climbing site. On Wednesday, bad weather prevented the use of helicopters in support of rescue efforts in Langtang, which is on a Himalayan trekking route popular with Westerners.
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| Netanyahu clinches deal to form new Israeli government Posted: 06 May 2015 01:59 PM PDT  By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clinched a deal to form a new government on Wednesday just before a deadline expired, but his coalition will rule by the slimmest of majorities in Israel's turbulent parliament. "Israel now has a government," Naftali Bennett, the head of the far-right Jewish Home party announced at parliament after hours of haggling with Netanyahu's Likud deputies over cabinet positions, which were not immediately announced. Barely two hours before a midnight (2100 GMT) deadline mandated by law, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud sealed an agreement with ultranationalist Jewish Home, which advocates annexation of parts of occupied territory Palestinians seek for a state. Netanyahu dispatched a formal notice to President Reuven Rivlin, telling him "I am honored to notify you I have succeeded in forming a government, which I would like to present to parliament as soon as possible." With Jewish Home, the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism and Shas parties and Kulanu, a centrist faction, the Likud-led government will control 61 of parliament's 120 seats.
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| Oldest known Malayan bear in U.S. captivity euthanized in Arizona Posted: 06 May 2015 04:49 PM PDT  By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - A 34-year-old Malayan sun bear who is believed to be the oldest in U.S. captivity has been euthanized at a southern Arizona zoo, officials said on Wednesday. "With a poor long-term prognosis and a continued decline in her condition, it became clear her quality of life would not improve and the very difficult decision to euthanize her was made," Dr. Alexis Moreno, veterinarian at Tucson's Reid Park Zoo, said in a statement. The median life expectancy for female Malayan sun bears is 23 years, according to the zoo. Officials said the 156-pound Dresena came to Tucson from the San Diego Zoo in 2001.
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| Australia's NAB to demerge British business, raise capital Posted: 06 May 2015 04:48 PM PDT  National Australia Bank announced plans Thursday to raise Aus$5.5 billion (US$4.4 billion) in capital and demerge its British banking business as it posted a 20.4 percent jump in half-year net profit. NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn said it would also help the bank exit its troubled British operations, which include Clydesdale Bank, by the end of the year. "In relation to exiting our UK banking business, we have been examining a broad range of options including those provided by public markets," he said. He added that a strong balance sheet had always been a priority at NAB "which is why we are today announcing that we will be raising $5.5 billion of capital through a rights issue".
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| Tornadoes hit southwest of Oklahoma City, airport evacuated Posted: 06 May 2015 04:35 PM PDT By Heide Brandes OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - A series of tornadoes, including a major twister, touched down southwest of Oklahoma City on Wednesday as a storm system brought severe weather to several Great Plains states, officials said. Passengers, visitors and employees at the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City were evacuated to a pedestrian tunnel for about 30 minutes as the storms moved through the area, the airport said on its Twitter feed. Several roads were closed because of debris, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said. The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for an area stretching from central Texas to central Nebraska, where millions of people live. |
| 3 accused of operating fictitious police department Posted: 06 May 2015 04:34 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three people, one an aide to California Attorney General Kamala Harris, were arrested after claiming to operate a police department with jurisdiction in 33 states and Mexico and that traces its roots back 3,000 years.
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| Cannavaro's first taste of Asian Champions League successful Posted: 06 May 2015 04:33 PM PDT SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Fabio Cannavaro's introductory period as head coach of Chinese powerhouse Guangzhou Evergrande is complete with the end of the group stage of the 2015 Asian Champions League. |
| Top Asian News at 11:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 06 May 2015 04:32 PM PDT KHADKA TOLE, Nepal (AP) — Gone, the girl says as she squints into the sun, the air around her shimmering with wind-blown wheat chaff. She points to one house after another nestled in the green hills, most shattered from the massive earthquake that hit Nepal last month. "Over there, one has gone. The same over there. Most of the young people here are gone. At least one for every house," Smriti Bastola, 16, says of this poor farming village of about 400 people just 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of the capital, Kathmandu. Most left for work in the Persian Gulf or in Kathmandu. |
| Outrage over 10-year-old Paraguayan pregnant by stepfather Posted: 06 May 2015 04:16 PM PDT  The case of a 10-year-old girl raped and impregnated by her stepfather has triggered outrage in Paraguay, where the health minister has blocked her from having an abortion. The girl's mother has been arrested for helping her partner, Gilberto Benitez Zarate, flee from the authorities after his abuse came to light. While the case is sensational, child sexual abuse is all too common in the poor South American country, the United Nations Children's Fund said Wednesday. These cases are a consequence of sexual abuse, and in most situations, repeated sexual abuse from which the victims have not received timely, appropriate protection," said UNICEF child protection officer Andrea Cid.
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| California Governor Brown tells critics of water project: 'Shut up' Posted: 06 May 2015 04:11 PM PDT By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday delivered a spirited defense of his controversial proposals to shore up California's water system, which is straining under years of drought and population growth. Brown's impassioned argument in favor of mandatory conservation, desalination and water recycling plants, and a massive project to funnel water from the Sacramento River came a day after regulators imposed steep cutbacks in water use as part of the state's first-ever mandatory conservation plan. "I have to deal with these problems I've been given," Brown told a meeting of the Association of California Water Agencies. I wish we didn't have any problems." California is entering the fourth year of a devastating drought that has killed 12.5 million trees, caused farmers to fallow a half-million acres of land and left mountains bereft of snow that melts to replenish streams and reservoirs. |
| UN human rights monitor to open Honduras office this year Posted: 06 May 2015 04:08 PM PDT TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduran officials say the United Nations is establishing a local office to monitor human rights in the violence-plagued Central American nation. |
| Crusaders ready to say farewell to McCaw, Carter Posted: 06 May 2015 04:02 PM PDT WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — All Blacks stars Richie McCaw and Dan Carter are likely to play their last home matches for the Christchurch-based Crusaders when they meet the Queensland Reds at the start of the 13th round of Super Rugby on Friday. |
| Top WNBA players use new leverage to demand trades, sit out Posted: 06 May 2015 03:48 PM PDT  LAS VEGAS (AP) — Several of the WNBA's marquee players are flexing newly gained leverage to make demands on the league, including forcing trades and dictating when they'll play.
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| UN reinforces east DRCongo troops after peacekeepers killed Posted: 06 May 2015 03:46 PM PDT  The United Nations has sent reinforcements to its Democratic Republic of Congo peacekeeping force near the eastern town of Beni, after two soldiers were killed and 13 others wounded in an ambush Tuesday. On Monday, a UN helicopter carrying MONUSCO's military leader, Brazilian General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, was fired upon by unknown gunmen and forced to make an emergency landing. Basse added that Santos Cruz would also travel to Beni -- a trading hub in an area regularly targeted in attacks by Ugandan rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). Santos Cruz's objective, Basse said, was to coordinate "robust measures" against members of the ADF suspected of staging Tuesday's deadly ambush.
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| California approves new uniform rules for seawater desalination Posted: 06 May 2015 03:45 PM PDT  By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California water regulators on Wednesday adopted a new uniform permitting process for seawater desalination projects expected to expand in number as the drought-stricken state increasingly turns to the ocean to supplement its drinking supplies. Action on the desalination rule, which puts key decisions for such plants in the hands of statewide regulators rather than regional boards, came a day after the same state body enacted sweeping cutbacks in water use by California's cities and towns. The latest measure amends California's Ocean Plan to make clear that regulators must evaluate the best available sites, designs, technologies and mitigation measures for minimizing harm to the environment from desalination plants. It also sets a standard limit for the discharge of desalination's waste byproducts back into the ocean, and imposes monitoring and reporting requirements for the discharges.
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| Final polls show dead heat ahead of British election Posted: 06 May 2015 03:44 PM PDT  The final polls released on the eve of Britain's general election on Thursday showed main rivals Labour and the Conservatives locked in a dead heat. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party and the Labour party led by Ed Miliband have been neck-and-neck for much of the campaign. The last survey data released before a ban on the publishing of opinion polls comes into force indicated that a flurry of last-minute campaigning to win over undecided voters had failed to sway the race one way or another.
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| Argentine medical teams debate death of late prosecutor Posted: 06 May 2015 03:39 PM PDT  BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Two medical teams are meeting in Argentina's capital in an extraordinary session aimed at concluding whether the head prosecutor investigating the country's worst terrorist attack killed himself or was slain by another person.
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| Canada passes law expanding spy agency powers, reach Posted: 06 May 2015 03:39 PM PDT  Ottawa (AFP) - Lawmakers passed a new anti-terror law Wednesday dramatically expanding the powers and reach of Canada's spy agency, allowing it to operate overseas for the first time.
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| Messi nets 2, Barca beats Guardiola's Bayern 3-0 in CL semi Posted: 06 May 2015 03:39 PM PDT  BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lionel Messi scored two outstanding goals and set up Neymar to add another in injury time as Barcelona handed Bayern Munich and former coach Pep Guardiola a 3-0 defeat in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday.
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| Last known member of US' German moon rocket design team dies Posted: 06 May 2015 03:38 PM PDT  BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (AP) — The last known surviving member of the German engineering team that came to the United States after World War II and designed the rocket that took astronauts to the moon has died.
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| Ebola deaths pass 11,000 mark: WHO Posted: 06 May 2015 03:37 PM PDT  The number of deaths from the Ebola epidemic now exceeds 11,000, figures from the World Health Organization showed on Wednesday. In the three countries worst affected -- Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea -- 26,593 people were infected, and 11,005 had died, the WHO said. The worst ever outbreak of Ebola began in southern Guinea in December 2013 before spreading to Liberia and Sierra Leone. Liberia has recorded the most deaths with 4,716, while 3,903 have died in Sierra Leone and 2,386 have died in Guinea.
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| Boko Haram refugees suffer "dramatic" conditions in east Niger: UN source Posted: 06 May 2015 03:32 PM PDT  Around 25,000 Niger nationals who fled islands in Lake Chad over fears of attack from the Boko Haram jihadist group are living in "dramatic" conditions on the mainland, a UN source said Wednesday. Citing security fears, Niger authorities last week urged residents of islands on the Niger side of the vast lake to evacuate by Monday. "According to preliminary figures, 25,000 people have arrived in the towns of N'Guigmi and Bosso", near the shores of Lake Chad in southeast Niger, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Niger's capital Niamey said on its website. The call for Lake Chad residents to evacuate came a week after a cross-border assault by Nigerian-based Boko Haram insurgents on the island of Karamga that left at least 74 dead.
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| Nigerians fleeing Lake Chad in Niger say some have died from lack of food, water Posted: 06 May 2015 03:30 PM PDT  By Joe Hemba and Abdoulaye Massalaki GEIDAM, Nigeria/NIAMEY, Niger (Reuters) - Some of thousands of Nigerians told to leave neighboring Niger in the past week due to threats from Boko Haram militants have died en route from lack of food and water, evacuees said. Niger has evacuated Nigerians living around Lake Chad, military and aid officials told Reuters on Tuesday, as the armies of four west African nations battle to quash the Islamist militants. "I counted over 50 people that died on our way out of (the town of) Lalewa when the Niger soldiers were chasing us as if we are animals," said 45-year old Ibrahim, one of the group who was originally from Nigeria's Kebbi state. The United Nations humanitarian coordinator OCHA said that 25,000 people had arrived in the towns of N'Guigmi and Bosso in southeastern Niger after fleeing their island homes on Lake Chad.
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| Britain in final hours of tight election campaign Posted: 06 May 2015 03:27 PM PDT  Britain's political leaders ended their campaigns ahead of Thursday's general election, the most unpredictable in living memory, which could yield no clear winner and weeks of haggling over the next government. A win for Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives would raise the risk of Britain exiting the European Union because he has promised a referendum on leaving the bloc by 2017. Three polls showed Labour and the Conservatives in a dead heat, while another three showed the Conservatives just one point ahead.
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| Yemen at UN calls for land forces to 'save' country Posted: 06 May 2015 03:22 PM PDT  Yemen's mission to the United Nations called Wednesday for a ground intervention to push back a Huthi rebel offensive in the south of a country where conditions are deteriorating after weeks of war. The mission also urged rights organizations to document "barbaric violations" allegedly carried out by the Iran-backed Huthis in Aden, in the south of Yemen, and other cities. "We urge the international community to quickly intervene by land forces to save Yemen, especially Aden and Taiz," the mission said in a letter sent to the UN Security Council. Huthi militias are "targeting anything that moves in the city of Aden," said the letter obtained by AFP.
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| Greenpeace wants Shell's lawsuit over protest dismissed Posted: 06 May 2015 03:20 PM PDT ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Attorneys for Greenpeace Inc. say Royal Dutch Shell PLC has demonstrated no harm from environmental protesters who boarded a ship carrying a drill rig last month. |
| Kyrgios knocks Federer out of 2nd round at Madrid Open Posted: 06 May 2015 03:10 PM PDT  MADRID (AP) — Top-seeded Roger Federer made an early exit from the Madrid Open on Wednesday after a second-round defeat to Nick Kyrgios of Australia.
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| Mexico: Oil-maintenance rig injury toll rises to 18 Posted: 06 May 2015 03:10 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican official says the number of workers injured in a deadly oil-maintenance platform collapse has risen to 18. |
| A glance at challenges facing new Israel's government Posted: 06 May 2015 03:07 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — After weeks of haggling with potential political partners, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cobbled a governing coalition together Wednesday night. His narrow coalition, dominated by nationalists and religious parties, sets Netanyahu's government on a collision course on many fronts. |
| The first self-driving vehicle you see may have 18 wheels Posted: 06 May 2015 03:06 PM PDT  LAS VEGAS (AP) — Traveling about 55 miles per hour on a Nevada highway, the big rig's driver looked like The Thinker, with his elbow on the arm rest and his hand on his chin. No hands on the steering wheel, no feet on the pedals.
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| Bacon sandwich solidarity trends on Twitter on eve of UK vote Posted: 06 May 2015 03:06 PM PDT  A humorous social media trend declaring solidarity with Labour leader Ed Miliband went viral on the eve of Thursday's election, which will decide whether he becomes British prime minister. Supporters of Miliband, whose awkward manner was definingly captured in a much re-produced photo of him eating a bacon sandwich, uploaded pictures of themselves messily eating food in solidarity. "I will never vote based on how a candidate eats food," wrote physics and maths student Henry Legg with a photo of himself with a banana. Many users expressed anger that the bacon sandwich image had been put on the front page of The Sun, a newspaper owned by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, the day before the vote.
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| Venezuelan military officers sentenced for plotting coup Posted: 06 May 2015 03:04 PM PDT CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A group of Venezuelan military officers the government accused of plotting to blow up the presidential palace have been sent to prison, officials said Wednesday. |
| Maldives minister says jailed ex-president can appeal, won't get pardon Posted: 06 May 2015 03:04 PM PDT By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - The Maldives would welcome an appeal by its jailed former president against his 13-year sentence, but he was found guilty of terrorism and cannot expect to be pardoned, Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon told Reuters on Wednesday. Mohamed Nasheed, the Maldives' first democratically elected president, was ousted in 2012 in what his supporters call a coup, and then convicted of terrorism in March this year for ordering the arrest of a judge. United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has said the trial was marked by "flagrant irregularities," and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called it "an injustice that must be addressed soon". A senior U.N. human rights official who visited Nasheed last month said he had not been able to present any defence and the window for an appeal had been cut from 90 days to 10 days, making it impossible for him to challenge his sentence. |
| Yemen's UN ambassador calls for ground forces to intervene Posted: 06 May 2015 03:02 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations is asking the international community to quickly intervene with ground forces to save the country from Houthi rebels who have been targeted by Saudi-led airstrikes for weeks. |
| Israel's Netanyahu completes formation of government Posted: 06 May 2015 03:01 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu completed the formation of a new coalition late Wednesday, putting him at the helm of a hard-line government that appears to be set on a collision course with the U.S. and other key allies.
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| First Princess Charlotte souvenirs on sale in Britain Posted: 06 May 2015 03:00 PM PDT  The first souvenirs commemorating the birth of Princess Charlotte were rolling off the production lines on Wednesday, in a race to fill London tourist shops and meet online orders. The family-run business "Prince William Pottery" in Liverpool, northwest England, began printing mugs as quick as possible to meet demand, working with existing designs from the birth of her older brother Prince George. "To commemorate the birth of Princess Charlotte," the mugs read, showing a portrait of the baby's parents Prince William and his wife Kate surrounded by cherubs.
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