| Russia and Red Cross appeal for 'humanitarian pause' in Yemen Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:49 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols and Mohammad Mukashaf UNITED NATIONS/ADEN (Reuters) - Russia and the Red Cross appealed on Saturday for a military pause in Yemen to allow urgent humanitarian aid deliveries and evacuation of civilians after 10 days of Saudi-led air strikes and fighting in which hundreds of people have died. Russia distributed a draft resolution at the United Nations pressing for suspensions of the air strikes to allow evacuation of foreign civilians and diplomats, and demanding rapid and unhindered humanitarian access.
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| Zarif stresses benefits to Iran of framework nuclear deal Posted: 04 Apr 2015 03:07 PM PDT  By Sam Wilkin and Babak Dehghanpisheh DUBAI/BEIRUT (Reuters) - All United Nations Security Council resolutions related to Iran's nuclear program will be lifted immediately if a final deal is agreed, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday, stressing the benefits to Iran of this week's negotiations. After leading Iranian negotiators to a preliminary deal with world powers in Switzerland, Zarif must now convince a domestic audience that the talks are heading toward a final deal that is in Iran's interest. He disputed a "fact sheet" released by the United States shortly after the deal that emphasized Iranian concessions and referred to sanctions being suspended rather than lifted.
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| Shi'ite fighters leave Tikrit after looting: Iraqi officials Posted: 04 Apr 2015 11:39 AM PDT  Almost all Shi'ite paramilitaries had left Tikrit on Saturday after locals complained that some fighters had spent several days looting the Sunni city after helping retake it from Islamic State. "Most of the (paramilitaries) were removed from the city," said Ahmed al-Kraim, the head of the council of Tikrit and its province Salahuddin. The rampage of theft and burning began on Wednesday, within hours of the Iraqi government declaring that security forces and Shi'ite paramilitaries had recaptured the city from Islamic State (IS) after a month-long battle.
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| Kenyatta says campus attackers 'embedded' in Kenya's Muslim community Posted: 04 Apr 2015 11:07 AM PDT  By Edith Honan GARISSA, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Saturday that those behind an attack in which al Shabaab Islamist militants killed 148 people at a university were "deeply embedded" in Kenya, and called on Kenyan Muslims to help prevent radicalization. His televised speech in response to Thursday's 15-hour siege at the Garissa university campus came after the Interior Ministry said five suspects in the assault had been detained, some while trying to flee to Somalia. The suspected mastermind, Mohamed Mohamud, a former teacher at a Garissa madrasa, is still on the run. Kenya has offered a 20 million shillings ($215,000) reward for his arrest.
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| Iraqi PM: Armies have no chance against IS if it keeps recruiting foreigners Posted: 04 Apr 2015 10:09 AM PDT  Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi told a German magazine that armies in the region around Iraq had no chance of defeating Islamic State (IS) if the militants continued to recruit ideologically indoctrinated foreign fighters. "It is the 43 percent who are foreign fighters who have been indoctrinated ideologically who have their backs up against the wall. If Daesh continues to recruit so many from other countries, then no army in our region can stand up to it." Daesh is an Arabic name for Islamic State. Abadi said Germany could play a key role in supporting the fight against IS as it had weapons that Iraq requires, particularly anti-explosive devices.
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| Pilots to be warned over icing after 2014 Mali air crash Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:03 PM PDT  By Gus Trompiz and Tim Hepher PARIS (Reuters) - Aviation regulators are expected to issue new advice to pilots after investigations into the crash of an Air Algerie jet in Mali last July found it went out of control after being hit by ice as an anti-icing system remained switched off. France's BEA crash investigation agency, which is helping Mali to investigate the crash that killed 116 people, said the MD-83 jet appeared to have run into trouble after vital probes that measure pressure on the engine inlets blocked up with ice. Properly working probes are needed to help the McDonnell-Douglas aircraft measure the thrust of its engines. With the probes iced up as the Algiers-bound jet skirted a storm, the plane's autopilot thought the power was too high and slowed the engines below the level needed to maintain cruise height, starting a chain of events that sent it out of control, BEA said on its website.
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| Gunshots fired at Fenerbahce team bus, injuring driver Posted: 04 Apr 2015 04:55 PM PDT  A bus carrying Turkey's Fenerbahce football team was attacked on a highway in the country's northeast Saturday as the players were returning from an away game, the club said, adding that the driver was injured in the shooting. Several gunshots were fired at the bus as the Turkish league leaders were returning to Istanbul having beaten Rizespor 5-1 in the Black Sea city of Rize, said the club's vice president Mahmut Uslu.
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| FM: Iran could resume nuclear activities if West withdraws Posted: 04 Apr 2015 04:36 PM PDT  TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's foreign minister said Saturday that Tehran would be able to return to its nuclear activities if the West withdraws from a pact that is to be finalized in June.
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| Top Asian News at 11:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 04 Apr 2015 04:33 PM PDT DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The writer, a thin young man who fears the growing interweaving of religion and politics in Bangladesh, knows his turn could come next. What happened earlier this week, when the second secularist blogger in less than a month was hacked to death in the streets of the capital, made it clear he wasn't safe. "Anytime they can hit me or my like-minded friends," said Ananya Azad, a 25-year-old blogger who has written pieces that were critical of Islamic fundamentalism and politics driven by religion. He quit his job as a newspaper columnist and stopped writing blogs in recent months after receiving numerous threats, but still posts critical comments on Facebook. |
| Gunmen kidnap Romanian security guard from Burkina Faso mine Posted: 04 Apr 2015 04:28 PM PDT  Gunmen on Saturday kidnapped a Romanian security officer working at a mine in northern Burkina Faso and fled with him towards the border with Mali, security sources in both countries said. The man was seized when five armed men attacked a patrol at the manganese mine in Tambao, the mine's director general Souleymane Mien told AFP. The unidentified gunmen then took off in the direction of the nearby frontier with Mali, according to security officials in both countries. The Burkinabe authorities confirmed the abduction took place but said the attackers had fled towards the northeastern border with Niger.
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| Sierra Leone's Kailahun district records first Ebola case in months Posted: 04 Apr 2015 04:20 PM PDT By Umaru Fofana FREETOWN (Reuters) - Sierra Leone's eastern district of Kailahun, once a hotbed of Ebola, has recorded its first case in nearly four months, threatening progress made to stamp out the disease, officials said on Saturday. A 9-month-old boy tested positive for Ebola after dying in Kailahun, the district on Guinea's border that recorded Sierra Leone's first Ebola case last May and was for months the epicenter of the crisis. Kailahun went from recording up to 80 infections per week in June to zero cases at the end of last year. Alex Bonapha, the Kailahun district council chairman, said it was not clear how the boy may have contracted Ebola as both his parents were healthy. |
| Lydia Ko fails to break par again in ANA Inspiration Posted: 04 Apr 2015 04:18 PM PDT  RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) — Lydia Ko shot a 2-over 74 on Saturday in the ANA Inspiration, her second straight over-par round after tying the LPGA Tour record for consecutive rounds under par at 29.
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| Gunmen kill nine, gas pipeline hit in Nigeria's oil-rich delta Posted: 04 Apr 2015 03:58 PM PDT By Emmanuel Okolie PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's delta region was hit by violence on Friday, as gunmen killed nine people and, separately, militants blew up a gas pipeline, in a sign of returning unrest to the oil producing area days after a relatively peaceful presidential election. Opposition presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari beat incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in a landslide victory last weekend, producing some resentment in Jonathan's home region. On Friday evening, in the town of Obrikom and the nearby village of Obor in Rivers state, gunmen went on a shooting spree, the police said. The house of a parliamentary opposition candidate, Vincent Ogbagu of Buhari's All Progressives Congress, was set on fire. |
| Pope condemns indifference to jihadist atrocities against Christians Posted: 04 Apr 2015 03:43 PM PDT  Pope Francis condemned indifference and "complicit silence" to jihadist attacks on Christians as he presided over Easter ceremonies in the wake of a massacre of nearly 150 people at a Kenyan university by Shebab Islamists. The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics brought up the extremist persecution of Christians as the holiest ceremonies of the Church calendar reached a climax Sunday, when believers celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The Vatican has increasingly voiced frustration that attacks on Christians in places such as Iraq, Libya, Pakistan and Nigeria have not been more strongly condemned by Muslim authorities and Western governments.
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| Bus carrying Fenerbahce players shot at, driver wounded Posted: 04 Apr 2015 03:14 PM PDT ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A bus carrying Fenerbahce players was shot at on a highway in northern Turkey on Saturday, the region's governor said. The bus driver was wounded and hospitalized. |
| Boko Haram kill four in NE Nigeria village raid Posted: 04 Apr 2015 03:05 PM PDT  At least four people were killed Saturday when suspected Boko Haram fighters raided a local market in a village near the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, security sources said. Scores of Boko Haram gunmen stormed Kayamla village, 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) from Maiduguri, capital of restive Borno state, and opened fire on a weekly market, killing four traders, a senior security official in Maiduguri told AFP.
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| Atletico, Sevilla win to stay near top in Spain Posted: 04 Apr 2015 02:55 PM PDT BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Atletico Madrid and Sevilla eased to comfortable wins to stay in the hunt for a top-four finish in the Spanish league on Saturday. |
| Benfica beats Nacional 3-1 to extend lead in Portugal Posted: 04 Apr 2015 02:22 PM PDT LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Jonas scored twice as Benfica beat Nacional 3-1 to extend its lead of the Portuguese league on Saturday. |
| Chelsea takes another step to title; Arsenal, Man U win Posted: 04 Apr 2015 02:13 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — With a seven-point lead and a game in hand, Chelsea's title triumph seems assured. What made the English Premier League action so thrilling on Saturday were the wonder goals.
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| Roma beats Napoli 1-0 to end 4 months of misery at home Posted: 04 Apr 2015 02:04 PM PDT  ROME (AP) — Roma ended its four-month winless streak at home with a 1-0 victory over Napoli in Serie A on Saturday, while Lazio kept up the pressure on its city rival with a 3-1 win at relegation-threatened Cagliari.
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| United States defends women's world hockey title Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:59 PM PDT MALMO, Sweden (AP) — The United States defended its women's world hockey championship with a 7-5 victory over Canada on Saturday. |
| Cleaners accused of sweeping up elderly sisters' fortune Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:48 PM PDT  Two cleaners who worked for a pair of elderly sisters have been accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of euros the women kept in cash in their home near Lyon in central France, a judicial source said Saturday. The cleaners, men aged 41 and 44, were charged with theft on Friday and detained after a two-year police investigation which began shortly after the bodies of the sisters were discovered in their home in the suburb of Bron in April 2013. An autopsy concluded that they had died four months earlier, but no foul play was suspected, according to the regional newspaper Le Progres. Living alone with no heirs, the sisters had designated neighbours as executors of their estate.
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| More than 300 migrants rescued off Sicily Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:46 PM PDT  Around 318 migrants in distress at sea between Sicily and the coast of Libya were rescued by an Icelandic navy ship taking part in an EU border patrol of the Mediterranean, Italian media reported Saturday. The ship, the Landhelgisgaeslan, arrived in the evening at the Sicilian port of Pozzallo with the rescued migrants, including 14 children and five pregnant women, who were hospitalised. According to the reports, the migrants came from 13 different countries: Sudan, Ghana, Morocco, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Pakistan, Nigeria, Syria, Palestine, Eritrea, India and Tunisia. The number of migrants entering the EU illegally in 2014 nearly tripled to 276,000 people compared to 2013, according to the EU borders agency Frontex, nearly 220,000 of them arriving via the Mediterranean.
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| Serena wins 8th Key Biscayne title by beating Suarez Navarro Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:43 PM PDT  KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) — Clutching her latest trophy, Serena Williams brushed confetti from her arms and smiled for the cameras as she chatted with Martina Navratilova, her relaxed multitasking a reflection of vast experience with championship ceremonies.
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| Aid will reach Yemen when conditions right: Arab coalition Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:42 PM PDT  Aid will be allowed into strife-torn Yemen when conditions are right, the Saudi-led military coalition said Saturday after the Red Cross urged a 24-hour ceasefire to address "dire" conditions on the ground. "The humanitarian operation is part of our job, part of our responsibility," Brigadier General Ahmed Assiri told reporters on the 10th day of coalition air strikes against Shiite Huthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen. Assiri said aid "will come when we are able to set the conditions (so) that this aid will benefit the population". The Huthis, allied with army units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been fighting forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to the Saudi capital Riyadh late last month from Aden.
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| Asteras comes from 2 goals down to draw 2-2 at Panathinaikos Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:29 PM PDT ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Panathinaikos blew a 2-0 lead in conceding a 2-2 draw with visiting Asteras on Saturday, giving Olympiakos a chance to clinch its 42nd Greek league title. |
| Arsenal overwhelms listless Liverpool with 4-1 EPL win Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:21 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Arsenal produced a three-goal burst in eight minutes to beat Liverpool 4-1, making Champions League qualification look increasingly likely for the London club and keeping alive its faint English title hopes on Saturday.
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| Spanish caver trapped in Morocco dies, two rescued Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:21 PM PDT  A Spanish caver trapped at the bottom of a cliff in Morocco's High Atlas mountains died on Saturday, but rescuers were able to save two of his friends, officials said. Spanish media identified the three as 26-year-old lawyer Gustavo Virues and policemen Juan Bolivar and Jose Antonio Martinez, both 41. They were part of a group of nine Spaniards who had split up on Sunday to explore different caves and were later due to meet in Ouarzazate in southern Morocco. "The two persons who were injured received first aid and will be evacuated to a hospital, but the third caver has unfortunately died," MAP news agency reported local officials in Ouarzazate as saying.
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| Chile's Bachelet visits flood-hit north after 25 killed Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:19 PM PDT  Chile's President Michelle Bachelet visited the flood-hit north of the country where at least 25 people died this week, vowing to "rebuild" the stricken region. "We stand with you, as we have from the beginning, and we will rebuild," Bachelet said as she toured the region. Bachelet had cancelled a trip to a regional summit to cope with the crisis in Atacama, where entire buildings were reduced to rubble and towns were caked in mud after the devastating landslides. According to a tally put out Friday by the National Emergency Office, about 2,700 victims of the flooding are being housed in emergency accommodation and as many as 30,000 people have been affected.
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| From Beckham's playbook: Adam scores from inside own half Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:15 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam evoked memories of the most memorable goal of David Beckham's career by scoring from inside his own half at Chelsea on Saturday.
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| Residents of large Brazil slum demonstrate against violence Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:14 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Hundreds of people marched Saturday through the narrow streets of one of Rio de Janeiro's largest complex of slums in a peaceful demonstration demanding an end to recent violence.
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| Lyon wins to move top of French league and pressure PSG Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:12 PM PDT  PARIS (AP) — Lyon kept the heat on Paris Saint-Germain in a close-fought French title race thanks to beating Guingamp 3-1 with a goal each from strike duo Nabil Fekir and Alexandre Lacazette on Saturday.
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| Hamas holds Gaza march for besieged Yarmuk refugees Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:08 PM PDT  Hundreds rallied Saturday in the Gaza Strip in support of thousands of fellow Palestinians trapped in Syria's Yarmuk camp, which has been largely overrun by jihadist fighters. Hundreds, many waving Hamas flags, took to the streets in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis in a march organised by the militant Islamic movement, the de facto power in the coastal enclave. He called on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA to use all the influence at its disposal. "Reports of kidnappings, beheadings and mass killings are coming out from Yarmuk, which is under a brutal campaign of murder and occupation at the hands of the terrorist group of Daesh and its allies," he said.
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| Pope presides over Easter Vigil service amid martyr concerns Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:06 PM PDT  VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis presided over the solemn Easter Vigil service Saturday night amid mounting Vatican concern for modern-day Christian martyrs whose deaths have dominated this Easter season.
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| Ankara's controversial mayor erects huge robot statue Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:05 PM PDT  A massive statue of a "Transformers" style robot has gone on display in Ankara not, as some of residents suspected, as an elaborate April Fool's joke but erected by the city's mayor. The mass of metal and polyester, which now towers over a busy road junction in the centre of the Turkish capital, went up on Thursday to promote the new Anka theme park, which mayor Melih Gokcek is having built despite a court injunction over complaints it breaks city planning rules, local press reported. Gokcek, who has been mayor of this city of five million people since 1994, is one of the more colourful members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Turkish prosecutors last month launched an investigation into both him and Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc after the two politicians traded angry accusations as a row within the ruling party widened.
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| Chelsea concedes long-range shot but recovers to beat Stoke Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:04 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Chelsea responded to conceding from Charlie Adam's ultra long-range strike and losing Diego Costa to a hamstring injury by beating Stoke 2-1, moving seven points clear at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
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| Fidel Castro makes first public appearance in 14 months Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:00 PM PDT  Cuba's former president and revolutionary icon Fidel Castro has made his first public appearance in 14 months, local media reported Saturday. The state-run newspaper Granma said Castro had this week met with a Venezuelan delegation that had been invited to the communist island. Since leaving office in 2006 for health reasons, the father of the Cuban revolution has kept a low public profile. Castro was particularly close to the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who provided Havana with a steady supply of cut-rate oil and brought in thousands of Cuban doctors, nurses and advisers.
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| US geologist jailed in China released, deported: rights group Posted: 04 Apr 2015 01:00 PM PDT  A US geologist convicted on state secrets charges and imprisoned in China has been released and returned to the United States, a human rights group said. Xue Feng, who had been serving an eight-year sentence in Beijing No. 2 Prison, was immediately deported upon leaving jail, the US-based Dui Hua Foundation said in a release dated Friday. The rights group, which advocates clemency and better treatment for prisoners in China and had repeatedly raised Xue's case with Chinese officials, said that he arrived in the US city of Houston on Friday evening. "Dui Hua is delighted that Dr. Xue has finally been reunited with his family in America after a terrible ordeal," the San Francisco-based group's executive director John Kamm said in the release.
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