| History now made, U.S. and Cuba face bumpy road ahead Posted: 12 Apr 2015 02:49 PM PDT  In the first meeting of its kind in nearly 60 years, U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro sat down together for over an hour on Saturday at a regional summit in Panama, moving a step closer to restoring diplomatic ties. It was the result of nearly two years of secret talks and quiet diplomacy and the mood was positive, both inside the room and out, where Latin American leaders praised Obama for ending decades of U.S. hostility toward the communist-ruled island. Obama clearly sees Cuba as a possible success story for his policy of engaging U.S. foes.
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| Kerry says he stands by presentation of Iran nuclear deal Posted: 12 Apr 2015 11:07 AM PDT  By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended on Sunday his presentation of a framework agreement on Iran's nuclear program after a different interpretation was offered by Iran's supreme leader, and a prominent U.S. senator said Kerry was "delusional." "I will stand by every fact that I have said," Kerry told ABC's "This Week." Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had strong words last week about Iran's agreement with major world powers, declaring that once a final deal was reached it should result in an immediate end to all sanctions on Iran. There were also differing U.S. and Iranian interpretations of a previous interim agreement with Iran, but Iran upheld that agreement, Kerry said.
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| Yemen's exiled president appoints conciliatory figure as deputy Posted: 12 Apr 2015 12:06 PM PDT  By Mohammed Mukhashaf and Angus McDowall ADEN/RIYADH (Reuters) - Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi appointed his former prime minister as vice president on Sunday, a move apparently aimed at improving the chances of a peaceful settlement to the civil war that forced Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia. "The president issued an order today appointing Khaled Bahah as his deputy," a presidential advisor told Reuters. Bahah is popular across Yemen's spectrum of feuding parties and may be seen as a figure who could calm tensions and bring warring parties to the negotiating table. "The appointment of Bahah may help in finding a political solution as part of efforts to revive the dialogue process sponsored by the United Nations," the Hadi aide told Reuters.
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| Egypt Muslim Brotherhood verdicts 'blatantly unjust': Human Rights Watch Posted: 12 Apr 2015 11:42 AM PDT  An Egyptian court's decision to sentence 14 men to death and jail 37 others accused of ties to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood was "politically motivated" and "blatantly unjust", Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Sunday. The court condemned Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and 13 other senior members of the group to death on Saturday. American-Egyptian Mohamed Soltan, the son of a Brotherhood preacher who received a death sentence at the same hearing, was among those sentenced to life in jail. The men were among thousands of people detained after freely elected Islamist president Mohamed Mursi was toppled in 2013 by the military under Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is now president.
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| Gunmen attack South Korea embassy in Tripoli, two guards killed Posted: 12 Apr 2015 01:36 PM PDT  Gunmen fired shots at the South Korean embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Sunday killing two local security guards, South Korean and Libyan officials said. Militants claiming loyalty to Islamic State said they were behind the attack, according to a statement on social media. The gunmen fired from a car at the embassy compound, killing two security officers who were Libyan government employees and wounding another, Tripoli security spokesman Essam Naas said. South Korea is one of the few countries which still has an embassy in Tripoli.
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| Germanwings plane evacuated after bomb scare Posted: 12 Apr 2015 03:28 PM PDT  A Germanwings flight bound for Italy from Germany was evacuated late on Sunday due to a bomb threat, the airline said. Germanwings, a budget unit of German airline Lufthansa, has been in the spotlight since one of its planes crashed into a mountain in the French Alps last month, killing everyone on board. Germanwings said the pilot of Flight 4U 826 to Milan was taxiing to the runway when he received a call from the air traffic tower at Cologne/Bonn airport to abort the flight. Passengers and crew vacated the Airbus A320 in an orderly fashion, it said, adding federal police had received the bomb threat.
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| Clinton's 2016 White House launch contrasts with her 2008 bid Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:58 PM PDT  By Jonathan Allen and John Whitesides NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton cast herself as a champion for everyday Americans on Sunday, kicking off her long-awaited second run for the White House with a vow to fight for a level playing field for those recovering from tough economic times. Clinton, who begins the 2016 presidential race as the commanding Democratic front runner, entered the fray with a flurry of video, email and social media announcements that indicated she had absorbed some of the lessons of her painful 2008 loss and would not take anything for granted this time. When she lost the Democratic nominating battle to Barack Obama, her campaign was heavily criticized for conveying a sense of arrogance and entitlement, and for being out of touch with the party's progressive wing. Eight years ago, her launch message was "I'm in it to win." On Sunday, she shifted the attention to voters, declaring on her new website, "Everyday Americans need a champion.
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| Caffeine High: Space station getting Italian espresso maker Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:53 PM PDT  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) — The next space station grocery run will carry caffeine to a whole new level: Aboard the SpaceX supply ship is an authentic espresso machine straight from Italy.
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| James Hinchcliffe wins wet Indy GP of Louisiana Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:50 PM PDT  AVONDALE, La. (AP) — James Hinchcliffe is getting used to partying in New Orleans.
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| Mickelson plays solid final round when he needed exceptional Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:50 PM PDT  AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — 7:29 p.m.
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| Jordan Spieth, 21, captures Masters victory for the ages Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:48 PM PDT  AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Jordan Spieth got more than redemption and a green jacket Sunday. He took his place among the best in the game with a Masters victory for the ages.
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| Tribute to boy killed skiing Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:47 PM PDT  The family of a seven-year-old boy who died on a skiing holiday in France paid tribute to him as a "daring, outgoing, determined little boy" on Sunday. Carwyn Scott-Howell, from Wales, lost his way skiing in the French Alpine resort of Flaine on Friday and fell from a cliff edge.
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| Brazilians march against Rousseff government Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:35 PM PDT  Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets Sunday, venting anger over government corruption and a souring economy a month after protests gathered more than a million people. Police put turnout at 682,000 people who marched in 195 cities, while organizers gave a total estimate of 1.5 million -- around half of them attending the largest gathering, in business center Sao Paulo.
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| Top Asian News at 12:00 a.m. GMT Posted: 12 Apr 2015 05:03 PM PDT DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Thousands of Bangladeshis poured onto the streets to applaud the execution of an Islamist party official on charges of crimes against humanity during the country's 1971 independence war, while security forces were on alert Sunday for a possible backlash from his supporters. Mohammad Qamaruzzaman was hanged Saturday night in the central jail in the capital, Dhaka, a senior prison official, Forman Ali, told reporters. He was buried early Sunday under tight security, according to his brother, Kafil Uddin. |
| China, Russia and eastern Europe boost defence spending Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:23 PM PDT  Military spending increased sharply in 2014 in China and Russia and the Ukraine conflict prompted eastern European countries to boost their defence programmes, according to a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released Monday. The United States remains the world's biggest spender on defence, but it spent 6.4 percent less year-on-year in 2014, while China, Russia and Saudi Arabia -- the world's next three highest spenders -- all increased their expenditures.
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| Would-be extremist recruit from Jamaica detained in Suriname Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:20 PM PDT KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — A Jamaican teenager has been detained in the South American country of Suriname on suspicion of being a would-be militant hoping to join Islamic extremists. |
| Leading Gabonese opposition figure dies, supporters riot Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:12 PM PDT By Gerauds Wilfried Obangome LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Opposition supporters in Gabon rampaged through the streets of the capital, burning cars and setting fire to the embassy of Benin, following the death on Sunday of a senior opposition leader, a Reuters witness said. Andre Mba Obame died in Yaounde, capital of neighboring Cameroon, at around noon (07:00 a.m. EDT), his National Union political party announced. Mba Obame served as an adviser to longtime President Omar Bongo, eventually rising to the post of minister of the interior. Though official results handed victory to the late leader's son, Ali Bongo, Mba Obame declared himself the winner, leading the authorities to accuse him of treason. |
| Angela Lansbury, Kinks' Davies win at UK's Olivier Awards Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:09 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — An American classic directed by a Belgian and a musical about a very English rock band were the big winners at Britain's Olivier theater awards Sunday — but it was an 89-year old theatrical Dame who brought the house down.
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| Protests across Brazil seek ouster of president Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:09 PM PDT  SAO PAULO (AP) — Nationwide demonstrations calling for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff swept Brazil for the second day in less than a month, though turnout at Sunday's protests appeared down, prompting questions about the future of the movement.
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| Corporate deal appetite hits 5-year high amid dollar rise Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:06 PM PDT LONDON (AP) — The current wave of corporate takeovers and mergers is set to grow as the appetite for deals among global executives hits a five-year high in the wake of the strong dollar and low oil prices, a survey found Monday. |
| Real faces rival Atletico again in Champions League Posted: 12 Apr 2015 04:01 PM PDT  BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — With three teams in the final eight of the Champions League, Spain is again home to the top contenders for Europe's biggest prize as the quarterfinals start this week.
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| Arms spending up globally, except in US, Western Europe Posted: 12 Apr 2015 03:58 PM PDT HELSINKI (AP) — World military spending was largely unchanged in 2014 as lower spending in the United States and Western Europe was matched by increases elsewhere, prompted by conflicts in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa, an arms watchdog said Monday. |
| Brazilians protest Rousseff in second big demonstration of 2015 Posted: 12 Apr 2015 03:57 PM PDT  By Brad Haynes SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilians took to the streets in over 100 cities on Sunday in the second major protest of the year against President Dilma Rousseff, blaming her for a sputtering economy and widening corruption scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras. While the crowds shrank significantly from around a million protesters on March 15, organizers said the dozens of major demonstrations in every corner of Brazil showed the extent of anti-government sentiment that has taken hold in the country. Three quarters of Brazilians support the protests, according to a Datafolha poll released on Saturday. "The best would be for her to resign so the country doesn't have to suffer so much with impeachment," said Sandra di Giacomo, a protester in São Paulo draped in a Brazilian flag.
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| Jordan Spieth at 21 wins Masters, leads from start to finish; 18 under ties best score ever Posted: 12 Apr 2015 03:55 PM PDT AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Jordan Spieth at 21 wins Masters, leads from start to finish; 18 under ties best score ever. |
| Saudi Arabia: No evidence its agents helped in 9/11 attacks Posted: 12 Apr 2015 03:44 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Attorneys for Saudi Arabia say a judge should reject claims by families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks that new evidence — including an interview with the man who became known as the "20th hijacker" — shows agents of the kingdom "directly and knowingly" helped the hijackers.
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| Clinton launches White House bid to champion 'everyday Americans' Posted: 12 Apr 2015 03:31 PM PDT  Casting herself as a champion of "everyday Americans," Hillary Clinton on Sunday finally launched her campaign to become the first female tenant of the White House. Long assumed to be the front-runner for her Democratic Party's presidential nomination, Clinton's formal entry into the race unleashes her fundraising machine and empowers her to parry Republican attacks. "I'm running for president," a beaming Clinton said in a slickly produced video that quickly went viral after it was posted on her revamped campaign website Sunday. "Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion," she said in a two-minute clip featuring, upbeat middle-class families from a variety of backgrounds sharing their aspirations.
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| United beats City in Manchester derby, Chelsea wins again Posted: 12 Apr 2015 03:28 PM PDT  Manchester United broke its losing streak to crosstown rival Manchester City on Sunday, while Chelsea moved one step closer to the Premier league title.
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| Marseille loses 1-0 to Bordeaux in French league Posted: 12 Apr 2015 03:09 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — Marseille's hopes of winning a record-equaling 10th league title took a serious blow with a 1-0 loss at Bordeaux on Sunday that left the club five points behind the leaders. |
| Saudi military spending rose 17 percent in 2014: study Posted: 12 Apr 2015 03:03 PM PDT STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's military spending grew 17 percent in 2014 to $80.8 billion, data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) showed on Monday, the biggest annual hike by any of the world's top 15 military spenders. Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia launched air strikes last month on Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen, leading a regional coalition against Shi'ite fighters it says are backed by rival Gulf power Iran. ... |
| World powers call for 'unconditional' Libya ceasefire Posted: 12 Apr 2015 02:59 PM PDT  European powers and the United States pressed Libya's rival factions Sunday to set an "unconditional" ceasefire at talks on forming a unity government to halt the country's conflict. The Islamist-backed Fajr Libya militia alliance seized Tripoli in August and installed a government and a parliament opposed to the elected legislature and the country's internationally-recognized government, both of which have taken refuge in the country's far east. "We strongly urge all participants to the dialogue to negotiate in good faith and use this opportunity to finalize agreements on the formation of a national unity government and make arrangements for an unconditional ceasefire," a US-European joint statement read. The statement was issued by Foreign Ministers Laurent Fabius of France, Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, Paolo Gentiloni of Italy and Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo of Spain, along with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and US Secretary of State John Kerry.
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| Families of Turkey mining disaster victims in quest for justice Posted: 12 Apr 2015 02:55 PM PDT  Almost a year after the disaster that killed her husband and 300 other miners at the Soma mine in western Turkey, Gamze Degirmen can finally see the managers of the company that ran the mine on trial. "Given what they have done they need to be punished and they should never be allowed out," she told AFP in the town of Savastepe where many of the miners lived. Forty-five people, including eight former top managers from the Soma Komur group that ran the mine, go on trial Monday over the disaster in the nearby town of Akhisar in western Turkey. They are accused of a long series of faults and negligence which led to the tragedy, the worst industrial accident in Turkey's history.
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| Report: US reporter held in Iran facing 'espionage' charges Posted: 12 Apr 2015 02:51 PM PDT  TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A Washington Post journalist detained in Iran for over eight months is accused of "espionage" and "acting against national security," the semiofficial Fars news agency reported Sunday.
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| Sudan police breaks up anti-election demo in port: witnesses Posted: 12 Apr 2015 02:46 PM PDT  Sudanese police in the eastern city of Port Sudan on Sunday broke up a small student demonstration against nationwide elections due to be held the next day, eyewitnesses told AFP. The three-day elections for the presidency and national and state parliaments start on Monday, and President Omar al-Bashir is widely expected to extend his 25-year rule. They "were talking to people in the main bus station, when the riot police came and beat them with batons until they left," the witness said. The mainstream opposition is boycotting the elections and 15 little-known challengers are competing for the presidency with Bashir.
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| Sporting wins to strengthen hold of 3rd place Posted: 12 Apr 2015 02:30 PM PDT LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Sporting Lisbon won 2-1 at Setubal on Sunday to retain its hold on third place in the Portuguese league. |
| Embattled Yemen leader names new vice president Posted: 12 Apr 2015 02:21 PM PDT SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled the country in the face of a rebel advance last month, has tapped his former Prime Minister Khaled Bahah to be vice president in a move aimed at strengthening the embattled executive branch, an official close to Hadi said. |
| Spieth stays in front as Masters back nine looms Posted: 12 Apr 2015 02:17 PM PDT  Jordan Spieth reached the turn in Sunday's final round of the Masters on the verge of taking his first major title in historic fashion with a five-stroke lead at Augusta National. The 21-year-old American was at 17-under par entering the back nine, one under for the day, and being tested by last-pair playing partner Justin Rose, the 2013 US Open winner from England who stood on 12-under after a bogey at nine left him level on the day. Three times on the front nine Rose trimmed Spieth's lead from four shots to three and each time the Texan boosted his edge back to four on the very next hole. Spieth, who squandered a front-nine Masters lead on Sunday last year and settled for sharing second, must face down the intense back-nine drama to claim the green jacket symbolic of Masters suprmeacy and the top prize of $1.8 million at the $10 million event.
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| Germany calls on Russia, Ukraine to move to next phase of peace deal Posted: 12 Apr 2015 02:13 PM PDT  German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called on Russia and Ukraine to set in motion the next phase of the shaky Minsk peace accords aimed at stopping the fighting in east Ukraine, ahead of talks about their implementation in Berlin on Monday. "We expect both Moscow and Kiev to seize the central issue of the implementation of the next phase of Minsk," Steinmeier said in an interview in Monday's edition of Die Welt newspaper. The next phase foresees "the preparation of local elections in the areas occupied by the separatists, but also humanitarian access and reconstruction in eastern Ukraine," Steinmeier said. The German minister will host his counterparts from Ukraine, Russia and France in Berlin on Monday to study the implementation of the Minsk accords that have stopped much of the fighting despite frequent violations.
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| Sudan votes in elections boycotted by opposition groups Posted: 12 Apr 2015 02:05 PM PDT By Shadi Bushra and Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese begin voting on Monday in an election boycotted by the main opposition parties which looks set to extend President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's more than 25 years in power. The presidential and parliamentary polls, held on April 13-15, are the first since Sudan split with the south in 2011, losing a third of its land and nearly all of its oil production. Polls open at 8 a.m. local time (01:00 a.m. EDT) and 13 million people are eligible to vote, according to the National Election Commission. The European Union, which observed the last, more widely contested elections in 2010, has criticized the political environment ahead of the polls. |
| Far-right party ahead of government in Hungary by-election Posted: 12 Apr 2015 02:04 PM PDT  BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A candidate from Hungary's far-right Jobbik party was narrowly ahead of a rival from Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party in a parliamentary by-election on Sunday.
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