| Iraqi offensive on Tikrit stalls, Kurds say Islamists used chlorine Posted: 15 Mar 2015 10:31 AM PDT  By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters traded sniper fire and mortar rounds with Iraqi troops and allied Shi'ite militia forces on Sunday in the city of Tikrit amid further reports the militants had obtained chlorine for possible use as a chemical weapon. A military official returned from the front in Tikrit said no major advances were made by either side nearly two weeks into an operation to win back the city IS fighters seized last June. Iraqi Kurdish authorities said on Saturday they had proof the radical Islamist militants occupying large parts of the country's north and west used chlorine against Kurdish peshmerga fighters in January in a car bombing attempt west of the city of Mosul. "We found a number of storage units containing chlorine that we think were seized by Daesh from water purification stations in different parts of Tikrit," Laith al-Jubouri said, using the Arabic acronym for the group.
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| West hopes for Iran concessions in nuclear talks Posted: 15 Mar 2015 01:27 PM PDT  By Louis Charbonneau and Parisa Hafezi LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - Western powers are hoping for concessions from Tehran that could help clinch a political agreement in nuclear talks this week after the United States and European powers voiced a willingness to compromise on suspending U.N. sanctions, officials said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had been due to meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, later on Sunday to try to break the logjam ahead of a crucial round of talks between Iran and six major powers. Kerry has urged Iran to take decisions now to enable them to clinch a political framework agreement for a nuclear deal with Tehran that would lift sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear program ahead of an end-March deadline.
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| Nearly 1 million Brazilians protest Rousseff, economic woes Posted: 15 Mar 2015 12:36 PM PDT  By Paulo Prada RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - (This story corrects start of Rousseff's first term to 2011, not 2012) Close to a million demonstrators marched in cities and towns across Brazil Sunday to protest a sluggish economy, rising prices and corruption - and to call for the impeachment of leftist President Dilma Rousseff. The marches across the continent-sized country come as Brazil struggles to overcome economic and political malaise and pick up the pieces of a boom that crumbled once Rousseff took office in 2011. Now in the third month of her second four-year term, Rousseff is unlikely to resign or face the impeachment proceedings called for by many opponents angry about a fifth year of economic stagnation and a multibillion dollar corruption scandal at state-run energy company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras. Rousseff has recently been jeered at public appearances and Brazilians in some cities banged pots during a televised speech she made earlier this month.
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| Putin says Russia was ready for nuclear confrontation over Crimea Posted: 15 Mar 2015 03:11 PM PDT  Moscow was ready to put its nuclear forces on alert to ensure Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year, President Vladimir Putin said in a pre-recorded documentary aired on Sunday. Putin also said that Russia had saved the life of Ukraine's former pro-Moscow president, Viktor Yanukovich, who he said had been in danger after 'revolutionaries' seized power following weeks of violent street protests in Kiev last year.
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| Russia a land of plenty, but hard to reach from rebel east Ukraine Posted: 15 Mar 2015 02:13 PM PDT By Gabriela Baczynska USPENKA BORDER CROSSING, Ukraine (Reuters) - Looking out over the several hundred cars lined up to cross into Russia from rebel-held eastern Ukraine, Vladimir curses the separatist authorities who he says are forcing people to venture out of the rebel stronghold in search of basic needs. In contrast to the highly publicized Russian humanitarian aid convoys that roll into rebel-held territory, the kilometer-long line at the Uspenka border post testifies to the hardships common people endure in the conflict between Ukrainian troops and forces of the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR). He said he arrived at the border crossing in his Chevrolet at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday to take his 78-year-old father to Russia for eye surgery no longer available in Donetsk. Moscow has vocally supported the separatists who took up arms against Kiev last April -- the West says with weapons and troops -- and Russia is a welcome escape from the hardships of the conflict, but traveling there is fraught with frustration. |
| Kerry says Syrian transition would have to be negotiated with Assad Posted: 15 Mar 2015 02:02 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would have to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a political transition in Syria and was exploring ways with other countries to pressure him into agreeing to talks. She reiterated that Washington would never negotiate with the Syrian leader. Harf added: "By necessity, there has always been a need for representatives of the Assad regime to be a part of this process. It has never been and would not be Assad who would negotiate - and the Secretary was not saying that today." Washington has long insisted that Assad must be replaced through a negotiated, political transition, although the rise of a common enemy, hardline militant group Islamic State, appears to have slightly softened the West's stance toward him.
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| Vanuatu struggles to account for cyclone damage, deaths Posted: 15 Mar 2015 05:04 PM PDT  WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The official death toll from a massive cyclone that tore through Vanuatu has risen to four, with fears it could jump significantly, officials from the tiny South Pacific archipelago said Monday.
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| Top Asian News at 12:00 a.m. GMT Posted: 15 Mar 2015 05:02 PM PDT LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A pair of suicide bombers attacked two churches in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Sunday as worshippers prayed inside — killing 15 people in the latest assault against religious minorities in this increasingly fractured country, officials said. A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, Ahsanullah Ahsan, claimed responsibility for the assault in a statement emailed to reporters, and warned, "There will be more of such attacks." |
| Gay groups march at last in Boston St. Patrick's Day parade Posted: 15 Mar 2015 05:00 PM PDT  BOSTON (AP) — Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade made history Sunday as two gay and lesbian groups marched after decades of opposition and a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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| Bordeaux beats PSG 3-2 in French league Posted: 15 Mar 2015 04:54 PM PDT  PARIS (AP) — Lyon failed to take full advantage of Paris Saint-Germain's slip-up in the race for the French title by drawing 0-0 at third-place Marseille on Sunday.
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| US, Iran press for nuke pact; lesser announcement on table? Posted: 15 Mar 2015 04:54 PM PDT  LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The United States and Iran plunged back into negotiations Sunday, hoping to end once and for all a decades-long standoff that has raised the specter of an Iranian nuclear arsenal, a new atomic arms race in the Middle East and even a U.S. or Israeli military intervention. Two weeks out from a deadline for a framework accord, some officials said the awesomeness of the diplomatic task meant negotiators would likely settle for an announcement that they've made enough progress to justify further talks.
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| Tony Blair to step back from Middle East Quartet: FT Posted: 15 Mar 2015 04:47 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Tony Blair is relinquishing his post as the envoy for the Middle East Quartet to take a different role in the peace negotiations, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing people it said were familiar with the matter. Blair, at the helm of the Quartet for nearly eight years, intends to reshape his role in the Quartet and remain part of the peace process, the report said.(http://on.ft.com/1Bmvqj4) The former prime minister of the UK met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and spoke to Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, to discuss a possible job change, the paper said. His role is likely to be more regional and he will continue to work on the Palestinian economy, the source added. The Middle East Quartet, comprising the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, has been seeking to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 2002.
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| Serena Williams easily advances at Indian Wells Posted: 15 Mar 2015 04:41 PM PDT  INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Serena Williams cruised into the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday, beating up-and-comer Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-0 in 53 minutes.
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| Man charged in Ferguson police shooting Posted: 15 Mar 2015 04:40 PM PDT  Police charged a young African-American man on Sunday in connection with the shooting in Ferguson last week that wounded two police officers and rekindled tension in the racially troubled Missouri city. Jeffrey Williams, 20, is charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and shooting a firearm from a motor vehicle causing injury, St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch told reporters, after an intense four-day manhunt. "It's possible at this point that he was firing shots at someone other than the police, but struck the police officers," McCulloch said, adding that Williams had acknowledged firing gunshots and that the investigation was ongoing. Ferguson has been in the global spotlight since a white policeman fatally shot unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August, igniting sometimes violent protests in major American cities and prompting an impassioned debate about policing and race relations.
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| Ibrahimovic faces ban after abusive comment about France Posted: 15 Mar 2015 04:38 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain's star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be suspended after losing his temper following the champions' 3-2 loss at Bordeaux in the French league on Sunday. |
| Weakened Tropical Storm Bavi moves away from Guam Posted: 15 Mar 2015 04:33 PM PDT HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Guam schools were closed Monday but University of Guam classes were scheduled to resume as Tropical Storm Bavi moved away from the region. |
| Harvick makes it 4 straight wins at Phoenix with a rout Posted: 15 Mar 2015 04:26 PM PDT  AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kevin Harvick is redefining dominance at NASCAR's highest level.
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| Bale scores twice for Real, Man United impresses Posted: 15 Mar 2015 04:23 PM PDT  PARIS (AP) — Gareth Bale finally got his name back on the scoresheet to help Real Madrid remain firmly in the hunt for the Spanish title.
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| Ukraine leader says truce deal 'not working' Posted: 15 Mar 2015 04:21 PM PDT  Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko slammed a month-old peace deal with pro-Russian rebels as "not working" Sunday as a pro-government militia member was killed in continuing clashes. "The truth is that the accord is not working," Poroshenko told Germany's Bild newspaper in an interview at the start of a two-day visit to Berlin, accusing the separatists of reneging on their end of the February 12 accord.
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| Blair poised to step back from Mideast role: FT Posted: 15 Mar 2015 04:12 PM PDT  Tony Blair is poised to step back from his role with the diplomatic Middle East Quartet, the Financial Times reported Sunday, citing several people familiar with the situation. The former British prime minister has discussed his position with US Secretary of State John Kerry and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, the business daily said, adding that news on his amended role could come later this week.
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| Bale ends scoring drought with brace as Madrid rebounds Posted: 15 Mar 2015 04:08 PM PDT  BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Gareth Bale struck a brace to end his scoring drought and Real Madrid's winless run with a 2-0 victory over Levante on Sunday, keeping his side a point behind Spanish leader Barcelona before the title rivals meet next week.
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| Ten-man Porto beats Arouca 1-0 in Portuguese league Posted: 15 Mar 2015 03:54 PM PDT LISBON, Portugal (AP) — FC Porto eked out a 1-0 win at home over Arouca despite being a man down for 78 minutes in the Portuguese league on Sunday. |
| Saddam's tomb suffers extensive damage in Iraq fighting Posted: 15 Mar 2015 03:50 PM PDT  OUJA, Iraq (AP) — The tomb of Iraq's late dictator Saddam Hussein was virtually leveled in heavy clashes between militants from the Islamic State group and Iraqi forces in a fight for control of the city of Tikrit.
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| Hundreds of thousands march to ask Brazil president's ouster Posted: 15 Mar 2015 03:49 PM PDT  SAO PAULO (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians marched peacefully Sunday in more than 50 cities around the country to demand President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment and to criticize government corruption amid a sprawling graft inquiry at state-run oil firm Petrobras.
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| US Reform Jewish rabbis install 1st openly lesbian leader Posted: 15 Mar 2015 03:49 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — As a rabbinic student in 1980s New York, Denise Eger lived away from other seminarians. She quietly started a group for fellow gay and lesbian students, but held the meetings in another borough. By the time of her ordination, she wasn't formally out, but her sexuality was known, and no one would hire her. Later, she took the only job offered, with a synagogue formed expressly as a religious refuge for gays.
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| 2 athletes in Puerto Rico triathlon wounded by crossfire Posted: 15 Mar 2015 03:25 PM PDT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Two competitors in a Puerto Rico Ironman triathlon were injured by gunfire exchanged between occupants of two cars as they sped past the bicycling part of the Sunday event in an upscale area of the U.S. island's capital. |
| Boko Haram militants attack village in Chad, killing one Posted: 15 Mar 2015 03:17 PM PDT N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Fighters from Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist insurgency attacked a village in Chad early on Sunday, killing one person, local residents said. Boko Haram, which is seeking to carve an Islamist emirate out of northeastern Nigeria, has expanded its zone of operations over the past year, but attacks on Chadian territory remain rare. "Boko Haram elements this morning attacked the village of Djargagoroum, between Ngouboua and Kaiga," said a resident of the targeted village who asked not to be named. We count one dead and two houses were burned." Boko Haram raided nearby Ngouboua, on the shores of Lake Chad, last month in the group's first known lethal attack on Chadian soil. |
| Napoli loses at Verona to dent Champions League hopes Posted: 15 Mar 2015 03:15 PM PDT  MILAN (AP) — Napoli's hopes of a Champions League spot were dealt a blow on Sunday by a 2-0 defeat at Hellas Verona in Serie A.
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| Aid effort kicks in after 'monster' cyclone ravages Vanuatu Posted: 15 Mar 2015 03:12 PM PDT  Aid began arriving in Vanuatu Sunday as the tiny Pacific nation struggled to uncover the devastation wrought by what relief workers warned could be one of the worst storms to ever hit the region. The official death toll in the capital Port Vila stood at six, although experts said this was likely a fraction of the fatalities nationwide after reports entire villages were "blown away" when the cyclone swept through. Communications were still down across most of the archipelago's 80 islands, although the airport in Port Vila reopened with limited facilities to allow in much-needed aid. The UN had unconfirmed reports that the cyclone had killed 44 people in one province alone and Oxfam said the destruction in Port Vila was massive, with 90 percent of houses damaged.
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| UK's hoped-for treaty change almost impossible: EU head Posted: 15 Mar 2015 03:12 PM PDT  EU president Donald Tusk warned Sunday that British Prime Minister David Cameron's plans to amend the bloc's treaties to secure a new deal for Britain in Europe were virtually "mission impossible". "My intuition is that treaty change is close to mission impossible today because it's not only about rationality, about good argument," Tusk said in an interview with The Guardian newspaper published online. "We have to help David Cameron because he is obviously pro-European. He accepts that his proposed reforms would require changes to existing EU treaties, but is under pressure to deliver from the right flank of his Conservative party and the anti-EU, anti-immigration UK Independence Party (UKIP).
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| Aid teams report devastation and death after Vanuatu cyclone Posted: 15 Mar 2015 03:07 PM PDT  By Gyles Beckford WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The first reports from the outer islands of Vanuatu on Monday painted a picture of utter destruction after a monster cyclone tore through the Pacific island nation. The southern island of Tanna, about 200 km (125 miles) south of the capital, Port Vila with its 29,000 inhabitants, took the full force of the category 5 storm. "What they saw was lots of debris, the foliage was completely destroyed, lots of uprooted trees," the Red Cross regional head Aurelia Balpe told Radio New Zealand, citing a pilot who had been able to land on the island. In Port Vila, where seas were reported to have surged as high as 8 meters (26 feet), a clean-up was under way with as much as three-quarters of the capital's houses reported destroyed or severely damaged.
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| Venezuelan parliament OKs decree powers for president Posted: 15 Mar 2015 03:06 PM PDT  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Venezuelan parliament has approved a law giving President Nicolas Maduro the power to legislate by decree for nine months in the face of what he describes as threats by the U.S. government.
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| Algeria oil corruption trial opens, is adjourned Posted: 15 Mar 2015 02:49 PM PDT  A high-profile corruption trial of former executives at Algeria's state energy giant Sonatrach and involving foreign firms opened on Sunday but was quickly adjourned after witnesses failed to show up. Sonatrach's former chief executive officer Mohamed Meziane, two of his sons and eight ex-executive directors are among 19 defendants in the case. The defendants face a raft of accusations, including embezzlement of public funds, money laundering, corruption and pocketing bribes in exchange for unlawfully awarded contracts to foreign firms.
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| U.S. diplomat arrested with pro-democracy activists in Congo Posted: 15 Mar 2015 02:47 PM PDT By Bienvenu-Marie Bkumanya and Aaron Ross KINSHASA (Reuters) - Security forces in Democratic Republic of Congo arrested a U.S. diplomat along with pro-democracy activists, journalists and musicians on Sunday following a news conference in the capital Kinshasa, a government spokesman and witnesses said. The event was held by activists from Congo, Senegal and Burkina Faso at a cultural center and was attended by around 20 journalists and observers. In total around 40 people were detained, the witness said. "Some say that it was a press conference - an exchange between the members of the Burkinabe and Senegalese civil societies and the Congolese civil society," Information Minister Lambert Mende told Reuters. The U.S. embassy in Kinshasa declined to immediately comment on the events. |
| Olympiakos beats Xanthi 2-0 in Greek league Posted: 15 Mar 2015 02:45 PM PDT ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Alejandro Domingues and Ibrahim Affelay scored in the second half to lead Greek league leader Olympiakos to a 2-0 victory over Panathinaikos on Sunday. |
| Fire hits bell tower at famed Moscow convent Posted: 15 Mar 2015 02:43 PM PDT MOSCOW (AP) — A fire has broken out in the bell tower of Moscow's Novodevichy Convent, one of the Russian capital's most noted visitor attractions. |
| Anti-Rousseff protests draw 1.5 million across Brazil Posted: 15 Mar 2015 02:40 PM PDT  About 1.5 million protesters hit the streets across Brazil on Sunday in a major show of anger against leftist President Dilma Rousseff, who faces a growing number of crises from a faltering economy to a massive corruption scandal at state oil giant Petrobras. The biggest demonstration took place in Sao Paulo, where a million people rallied -- according to police estimates -- many of them wearing the distinctive yellow and green of Brazil's national football team. Demonstrations also took place in 83 cities and towns around the country, including major protests in the capital Brasilia and in Rio de Janeiro. The numbers matched the vast rallies that roiled Brazil in June 2013, when protesters angry at the cost of hosting the 2014 World Cup demanded an end to corruption and more spending on transportation, health and education.
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| Boko Haram burns Nigerian town as troops advance: residents Posted: 15 Mar 2015 02:39 PM PDT  Boko Haram Islamists have set fire to homes in Nigeria's northeast town of Bama that are under their control, forcing residents to flee as troops advance to recapture it, witnesses said Sunday. The Islamists on Saturday told residents of Bama, 70 kilometres (37.5 miles) southeast of Maiduguri, to evacuate before setting fire to many homes as Nigerian troops inched closer in a bid to retake the town, residents told AFP. The blaze forced hundreds of residents to flee towards Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, the group's hometown and stronghold.
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| US seeking to get Assad to negotiate end to Syria war Posted: 15 Mar 2015 02:35 PM PDT  As the devastating war in Syria entered its fifth year Sunday, the US said it would have to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as it seeks to "reignite" new peace talks. We've always been willing to negotiate in the context of the Geneva I process," US Secretary of State John Kerry said when asked by CBS television if he would negotiate with Assad. His spokeswoman stressed however there had been no change in US policy as it was envisioned any talks would be held with representatives of the Assad regime rather than directly with the Syrian leader. "Our policy has not changed -- there is no future for a brutal dictator like Assad in Syria," said Deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf in a statement.
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