| U.S. expedites arms shipments to coalition bombing Yemen Posted: 07 Apr 2015 11:27 AM PDT  By Angus McDowall and Mohammed Mukhashaf RIYADH/ADEN (Reuters) - The United States is speeding up arms supplies and bolstering intelligence sharing with a Saudi-led alliance bombing a militia aligned with Iran in neighboring Yemen, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S., a key ally of oil-rich Saudi Arabia, had also set up a coordination center in the Sunni Muslim kingdom, whose forces have led an air campaign against the Shi'ite Houthi group which rules most of Yemen. "Saudi Arabia is sending a strong message to the Houthis and their allies that they cannot overrun Yemen by force," he told reporters in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that his country opposed the coalition's 13-day air assault.
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| Obama says confident Iran sanctions could be reimposed if deal broken Posted: 07 Apr 2015 04:27 AM PDT  President Barack Obama said in an interview released on Tuesday he is confident sanctions against Iran could be reimposed if Tehran violates an agreement to restrict its nuclear program. Obama told National Public Radio (NPR) that U.S. and European negotiators are trying to reach a deal with Iran in which sanctions could be reimposed without a U.N. Security Council vote, where Tehran-ally Russia would have a veto. "We are absolutely convinced we can do it again," Obama said of the international sanctions, which have crippled Iran's economy. He said a reimposition of sanctions would be triggered by a finding of the International Atomic Energy Agency that Tehran had broken the agreement.
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| U.S. closing in on recommendation to remove Cuba from state terrorism list Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:56 PM PDT By Matt Spetalnick and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department is closing in on a decision to recommend removal of Cuba from its list of countries accused of sponsoring terrorism, days before President Barack Obama attends a regional summit with his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro. Obama ordered the review after announcing a diplomatic breakthrough with Havana on Dec. 17 and has vowed to act quickly once he receives the recommendation, which would mark a major move toward ending five decades of estrangement. A U.S. official told Reuters the State Department could send its conclusions to Obama this week calling for the Communist-ruled island to be taken off the blacklist. Cuba's presence on the state-sponsored terror list has been a major stumbling block to efforts to restore relations and re-establish embassies. |
| U.S. judge denies request by Prince Andrew accuser to join lawsuit Posted: 07 Apr 2015 12:41 PM PDT  A woman who said in court papers she was forced as an underage girl to have sex with Britain's Prince Andrew, prominent U.S. lawyer Alan Dershowitz and other men cannot join an ongoing lawsuit in Florida, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. The lawsuit, filed in 2008, seeks to undo a non-prosecution agreement between federal prosecutors and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who the woman said arranged the sex with Prince Andrew and Dershowitz. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra in West Palm Beach, Florida, ruled that it was unnecessary for the woman, known in court papers as Jane Doe No. 3, and another known as Jane Doe No. 4 to join the lawsuit.
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| Kenyan university students march to demand security after Garissa Posted: 07 Apr 2015 12:10 PM PDT  By Duncan Miriri and Humphrey Malalo NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan university students marched in the capital on Tuesday to demand more security from the government after gunmen killed 148 people at a campus in the eastern town of Garissa last week. A citizens group held a vigil in Nairobi's main park later in the evening, grieving for those killed in the attack claimed by al Shabaab Islamists based in neighboring Somalia. Last Thursday, gunmen from the al Qaeda-aligned group stormed Garissa University College, some 200 km (120 miles) from the Somali border. The government must tackle the issue of insecurity seriously," said John Derrick, a student at the Technical University of Kenya.
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| U.S.-led forces conduct 12 air strikes in Iraq, three in Syria: military Posted: 07 Apr 2015 02:07 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces targeted Islamic State militants with 12 air strikes in Iraq and three air strikes in Syria, the U.S. military said on Tuesday. In Iraq, the air strikes, conducted since Monday morning, hit Islamic State positions near Bayji, Mosul and Fallujah, among other places, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement. In Syria, the air strikes hit Islamic State targets near Aleppo and Kobani, it said. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Will Dunham) |
| Sanctions, higher costs considered under California drought plan Posted: 07 Apr 2015 04:25 PM PDT  By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California may require communities to pay for water according to how much they use and impose sanctions on those who do not conserve, in the state's first-ever mandatory cutbacks in urban water use because of ongoing drought, regulators said Tuesday. The tactics and issues under consideration for a still- developing conservation plan were distributed at a meeting of the State Water Resources Board on Tuesday, just days after Governor Jerry Brown ordered mandatory 25 percent cutbacks in urban water use as the state's devastating drought enters its fourth year.
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| Jordan circulates UN resolution aimed at ending Yemen fight Posted: 07 Apr 2015 04:21 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Jordan circulated a draft U.N. resolution that would ban arms shipments to leaders of Yemen's Houthi Shiite rebels and the country's former president and his son in an effort to halt their military campaign against supporters of the embattled president and attempt to take over the strategic Mideast country. |
| Brazilians protest against the outsourcing of jobs Posted: 07 Apr 2015 04:21 PM PDT  SAO PAULO (AP) — Thousands of workers staged rallies in 12 cities across Brazil on Tuesday to protest a proposed law that would allow companies to outsource their labor force.
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| Scottish nationalists offer to help British opposition to power Posted: 07 Apr 2015 04:07 PM PDT  The Scottish National Party will work to make British opposition leader Ed Miliband prime minister after the May 7 election, nationalist party leader Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday. In a televised debate between leaders of the four main Scottish parties, Sturgeon said she would help Labour leader Ed Miliband take over from his main rival, Prime Minister David Cameron. "I don't want David Cameron to be prime minister, I'm offering to help make Ed Miliband prime minister," Sturgeon said in a televised debate on Tuesday.
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| Scientists map Caribbean seafloor as part of 12-year project Posted: 07 Apr 2015 04:06 PM PDT  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.S. scientists on Tuesday completed a nearly two-week mission to explore waters around the U.S. Virgin Islands as part of a 12-year project to map the Caribbean seafloor and help protect its reefs.
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| Attack in western Mexico kills 15 police officers, wounds 5 Posted: 07 Apr 2015 04:03 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Gunmen ambushed a police convoy in the western state of Jalisco, killing 15 state police officers and wounding five as bullets riddled their vehicles in the deadliest single attack on Mexican police in recent memory.
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| Top Asian News at 11:00 p.m. GMT Posted: 07 Apr 2015 04:02 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Nuclear-armed North Korea already has hundreds of ballistic missiles that can target its neighbors in Northeast Asia but will need foreign technology to upgrade its arsenal and pose a more direct threat to the United States, U.S. researchers said Tuesday. Those are the latest findings of a research program investigating what secretive North Korea's nuclear weapons capability will be by 2020. |
| A return for Tiger, but not the Eisenhower Tree Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:57 PM PDT  AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods felt right at home at Augusta National, a golf course he has been playing since 1995. He said he is fascinated that the course keeps making subtle changes, and yet it looks as though it hasn't been touched.
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| No final decision immediately on Cuba and terrorism list: White House Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:56 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A White House spokesman said on Tuesday that he would not expect a final decision in the next day or two on removing Cuba from a U.S. list of countries accused of sponsoring terrorism. Spokesman Josh Earnest said that process begins with the State Department and could move to the next stage soon. But he said a final decision to make the change was not imminent. (Reporting by Emily Stephenson; Editing by Sandra Maler) |
| Authorities: Man stashed 2 pounds of heroin in underwear Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:54 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Customs officials at Kennedy International Airport say they discovered shrink-wrapped cylinders filled with 2 pounds (0.91 million kilograms) of heroin in the underwear of a Colombian man arriving in the United States.
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| Plummeting sardine numbers could prompt U.S. West coast fishing ban Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:53 PM PDT  By Courtney Sherwood PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Plummeting sardine populations could lead to a complete ban on harvesting the small oily fish off the U.S. West Coast starting later this year, officials with the Pacific Fishery Management Council said on Tuesday. Decimated by overfishing, sardine numbers in U.S. waters have dropped by about 90 percent in less than a decade, estimates the council, which regulates fishing within 200 miles of the California, Oregon and Washington coasts. The decline has harmed predators that feed on sardines, contributing to mass starvation of sea lions, which have washed ashore by the thousand in southern California. It has also led to starvation deaths of brown pelicans and other fish-eating birds, said Ben Enticknap of Portland-based environmental advocacy group Oceana, which is urging regulators to adopt a long-term plan for boosting sardine populations.
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| France declassifies Rwanda genocide documents Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:52 PM PDT  France on Tuesday declassified documents in the presidential archives relating to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which Kigali accuses Paris of having an indirect role. A decision to declassify the papers was signed on Tuesday and concerns "documents in the Elysee relating to Rwanda between 1990 and 1995," spanning the genocide which claimed at least 800,000 lives, a source in President Francois Hollande's entourage said. "The president had announced a year ago that France must provide proof of transparency and facilitate remembrance of this period," the source said. Ties between France and Rwanda are strained as Rwandan President Paul Kagame accuses Paris of complicity in the genocide because of its support of the Hutu nationalist government that carried out the mass killings, mainly of ethnic Tutsis.
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| IndyCar rookie Karam gets ride with Ganassi for New Orleans Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:45 PM PDT INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Sage Karam will return to the No. 8 Chevrolet for team owner Chip Ganassi at the IndyCar race in Louisiana. |
| Burkina votes to bar ex-Compaore figures from office Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:42 PM PDT  Burkina Faso's interim parliament voted Tuesday to bar figures linked to deposed president Blaise Compaore from running for office, hours after several of the toppled leader's allies were arrested. Ahead of the vote seven of Compaore's political allies, including three former ministers, were arrested for "alleged embezzlement", authorities said in a statement. An eighth person linked to former foreign minister Djibrill Bassole was also held for "illegal political activities," and for "incitement to public disorder," said the statement.
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| Dominguez, 1 of 7 amateurs at the Masters, 'really calm' Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:42 PM PDT  AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — It didn't take Matias Dominguez long to enjoy some of the perks of playing in the Masters.
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| US expedites arms shipments to Saudi-led coalition Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:42 PM PDT  The United States has stepped up weapons deliveries in support of a Saudi-led coalition resisting the advance of Shiite rebels in Yemen, a senior US official said Tuesday. "Saudi Arabia is sending a strong message to the Huthis and their allies that they cannot overrun Yemen by force," Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in the Saudi capital. A US defense official told AFP that Washington was sending primarily precision-guided munitions to the United Arab Emirates, which was then delivering the bombs to Gulf partners. The shipments of bombs to the Saudi-led coalition was part of the US commitment to provide intelligence and logistical assistance to the air campaign, Pentagon officials said.
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| US court rejects Argentine appeal related to debt fight Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:37 PM PDT BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A U.S. appeals court in New York has thrown out an appeal by the Argentine government in the long-running legal fight over the South American country's debt. |
| Anti-establishment Rand Paul joins US presidential race Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:34 PM PDT  Conservative US Senator Rand Paul on Tuesday formally launched his 2016 White House bid, the second Republican to join what is expected to be a crowded contest for the party's nomination. Paul, a conservative libertarian who was elected to the Senate in 2010 with strong support from the Tea Party movement, wasted no time in lashing out at the traditional political establishment, including his own party. "The Washington machine that gobbles up our freedoms and invades every nook and cranny of our lives must be stopped," Paul told cheering supporters at a rally in Louisville, Kentucky, where he serves as senator. "Big government and debt doubled under a Republican administration and is now tripling under Barack Obama's watch," he added, noting that Republicans had too often "squandered" their time in Washington.
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| African Union urges U.N. rights monitoring role in Western Sahara Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:34 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The head of the African Union has urged the United Nations to add human rights monitoring to the tasks of its peacekeeping mission in the disputed North African territory of Western Sahara. The request came in a letter from African Union Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Zuma asked Ban to circulate the letter to the 15-nation Security Council, which is expected to vote on renewing the U.N. mission's (MINURSO) mandate this month. |
| Gulf states seek UN sanctions on Yemen rebel chief, ex-leader's son Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:20 PM PDT  Gulf countries are making a push for UN sanctions to be imposed on the leader of Yemen's Huthi rebels and the ex-president's son, according to a draft resolution that could come up for a vote this week. Jordan circulated the draft resolution prepared by Gulf states to the Security Council late Monday as Russia stepped up its criticism of the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen. The draft resolution, obtained by AFP, demands that the Shiite Huthis withdraw from Sanaa and all other areas seized since 2013 and slaps an arms embargo on the Huthi leaders and their allies.
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| DR Congo authorities seek to explain discovery of mass grave Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:14 PM PDT  Democratic Republic of Congo authorities on Tuesday said that a mass grave discovered in the capital Kinshasa contained mainly stillborn babies and foetuses, in a bid to quash rumours that the bodies of opposition supporters were buried there. "The bodies of 421 people were buried on March 19 in the capital's Maluku district, Kinshasa's interim governor Luzolanu Mavema told reporters. Among these were "around 300 stillborn babies and foetuses abandoned in streams, rivers and even hospitals," he added. The protesters had denounced moves they claimed were designed to delay presidential elections and allow President Joseph Kabila to remain in power in defiance of the constitution.
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| Outsourcing bill foments protest in Brazil Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:13 PM PDT  Brasília (AFP) - Brazilian police and demonstrators clashed Tuesday in the capital Brasilia during a march opposing a congressional bill to increase outsourcing in the workplace. Police cordoned off access to the Congress building and fired tear gas as some marchers tried to break through their ranks. According to the union, some 6,000 marchers answered their call to protest in Brasilia -- though police put the figure at 2,000, compared to some 500 in Sao Paulo. Other social movements, including a movement for homeless people, backed the marches ahead of an expected vote in Congress on a proposed measure which lawmakers have kicked back and forth for several years.
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| Warnings on Libya government move to divert oil revenues Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:11 PM PDT  Libya's internationally recognised government has moved to divert revenues from the long-established state oil company and Central Bank to its own coffers -- in an effort experts warn is "risky" and likely to fail. Libya has been run by two governments and two parliaments since August, when an Islamist-backed militia alliance overran the capital Tripoli. The government recognised by the international community fled to the country's far east and set up in the city of Tobruk.
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| Radiation from Fukushima detected off Canada west coast Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:10 PM PDT  Traces of radioactivity originating from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011 have been detected in a seawater sample collected near Canada's west coast, according to a radiation monitoring group. The Integrated Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring (InFORM) Network said Monday that it was the first time traces of Cesium 134 had been detected off North American coasts. The isotope is characteristic of the disaster which struck the Fukushima power plant on March 11, 2011, when a magnitude-9 earthquake unleashed a devastating tsunami in Japan. The sample, collected in February off the coast of British Columbia, contained Cesium levels "well below internationally established levels that might represent a danger to human or environmental health," InFORM said on its website.
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| Atletico Madrid beats Real Sociedad 2-0 in Spanish league Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:09 PM PDT  MADRID (AP) — Atletico Madrid's Jorge "Koke" Resurrecion created both goals as the Spanish champions beat Real Sociedad 2-0 in the league on Tuesday.
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| Italy urged to act after Europe court rules police brutality torture Posted: 07 Apr 2015 03:02 PM PDT  Rights campaigners in Italy called Tuesday for the urgent adoption of a law against torture following a damning verdict from Europe's top court over police brutality in a case which shocked the world. The European Court of Human Rights rapped Italy for a 2001 crackdown on demonstrators on the fringes of a G8 summit in Genoa, northern Italy, accusing police of acts of torture and ordering Rome to compensate one of the victims. The rights court said Italy must change its laws to make torture a crime -- a call taken up by campaigners and politicians, who urged greater urgency in implementing a bill which has been under examination in parliament for two years. "Justice in Strasbourg, with Italy condemned for a brutality which in Europe can be called torture.
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| Lack of English meant Puerto Ricans got disability benefits Posted: 07 Apr 2015 02:58 PM PDT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A federal audit has found that some Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. territory have received disability benefits in part because they could not speak English. |
| Cuba says it's launching first official classified ads Posted: 07 Apr 2015 02:56 PM PDT HAVANA (AP) — The Cuban government says it will start publishing classified ads in print and online, entering a vibrant informal marketplace where Cubans can find everything from houses to pirated U.S. television programs. |
| Clashes, explosions as IS seeks expansion in north Syria Posted: 07 Apr 2015 02:51 PM PDT  Two car bombs and heavy clashes rocked a strategic city in northern Syria on Tuesday night as Islamic State militants sought to expand their reach, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the jihadists attacked the city of Marea, which lies along a key rebel supply route in Aleppo province leading north to the Turkish border. "There were two car bombs on positions in and near Marea, which is controlled by Islamist militants and (Al-Qaeda affiliate) Al-Nusra Front," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Observatory. Seven people were killed in the first explosion, which struck within Marea, and another eight died in the second, which detonated near the city, Abdel Rahman said.
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| Canadian senator pleads not guilty to fraud, bribery Posted: 07 Apr 2015 02:48 PM PDT  A Canadian senator at the center of an expenses scandal pleaded not guilty Tuesday at the start of a fraud trial which threatens to cast a shadow over Prime Minister Stephen Harper's bid for re-election. Senator Mike Duffy faces 31 charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust related to his government expense claims, and for Can$90,172.24 ($72,155) he received from Canadian leader Harper's then chief-of-staff, Nigel Wright.
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| Bulldogs captain suspended after crowd violence incident Posted: 07 Apr 2015 02:38 PM PDT SYDNEY (AP) — Canterbury Bulldogs captain James Graham and forward David Klemmer have been suspended after pleading guilty to "contrary conduct" charges against a National Rugby League referee which led to dozens of water bottles being thrown at match officials at Sydney's Olympic stadium. |
| 560 dead amid fears of humanitarian collapse in Yemen Posted: 07 Apr 2015 02:29 PM PDT  SANAA, Yemen (AP) — As tons of desperately needed medical supplies await clearance to be flown into Yemen, aid workers warned Tuesday of an unfolding humanitarian crisis, saying at least 560 people, including dozens of children, have been killed, mostly in a Saudi-led air campaign and battles between Shiite rebels and forces loyal to the embattled president.
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| Wolfsburg, Dortmund advance to German Cup semifinals Posted: 07 Apr 2015 02:26 PM PDT  FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Sebastian Kehl fired a spectacular long-distance volley in extra time to give Borussia Dortmund a 3-2 victory over Hoffenheim on Tuesday and a place in the semifinals of the German Cup.
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| Benteke treble keeps Villa out of trouble Posted: 07 Apr 2015 02:21 PM PDT  Christian Benteke scored a potentially priceless hat-trick as Aston Villa avoided slipping into the Premier League relegation zone by drawing 3-3 at home to Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday. After Matt Phillips put QPR ahead, a Benteke brace gave Villa control, only for second-half goals from Clint Hill and Charlie Austin to leave QPR on the brink of a win that would have taken them out of the bottom three at their opponents' expense.
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