| Russia opens way to missile deliveries to Iran, starts oil-for-goods swap Posted: 13 Apr 2015 10:54 AM PDT  By Gabriela Baczynska MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia paved the way on Monday for missile system deliveries to Iran and started an oil-for-goods swap, signaling that Moscow may have a head-start in the race to benefit from an eventual lifting of sanctions on Tehran. The moves come after world powers, including Russia, reached an interim deal with Iran this month on curbing its nuclear program. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin signed a decree ending a self-imposed ban on delivering the S-300 anti-missile rocket system to Iran, removing a major irritant between the two after Moscow canceled a corresponding contract in 2010 under pressure from the West. A senior government official said separately that Russia has started supplying grain, equipment and construction materials to Iran in exchange for crude oil under a barter deal.
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| Deal or not, many U.S. states will keep sanctions grip on Iran Posted: 13 Apr 2015 10:22 AM PDT  By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the United States and Iran come closer to a historic nuclear deal, many U.S. states are likely to stick with their own sanctions on Iran that could complicate any warming of relations between the long-time foes. In a little known aspect of Iran's international isolation, around two dozen states have enacted measures punishing companies operating in certain sectors of its economy, directing public pension funds with billions of dollars in assets to divest from the firms and sometimes barring them from public contracts. In more than half those states, the restrictions expire only if Iran is no longer designated to be supporting terrorism or if all U.S. federal sanctions against Iran are lifted - unlikely outcomes even in the case of a final nuclear accord. The prospect of unwavering sanctions at the state level, or new ones, just as the federal government reaches a landmark agreement with Iran risks widening a divide between states and the federal government on a crucial foreign policy issue.
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| Violence escalates in east Ukraine ahead of talks Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:48 PM PDT Ukraine's military accused pro-Russian rebels on Monday of using heavy weapons that were meant to have been withdrawn under a ceasefire deal, after one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and six wounded in rebel-held territories. With fighting intensifying once more, the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany were due to meet in Berlin later on Monday to discuss the next steps in implementing a ceasefire agreement signed in the Belarusian capital Minsk in February. "The rebels have not stopped firing at Ukrainian positions ... Over the past day, the enemy has used weapons banned under the Minsk agreements," Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said in a televised briefing. Under the deal, weapons bigger than 100 mm caliber, including heavy artillery and powerful rocket systems, are meant to have been withdrawn from the front line. |
| China frees five women activists on bail after outcry Posted: 13 Apr 2015 10:28 AM PDT  By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - China has unexpectedly released five women activists on bail, two lawyers said on Monday, after a vocal campaign against their detention by the West and Chinese rights campaigners. The women were taken into custody on the weekend of March 8, International Women's Day, and detained on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble". U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry also called for their release, prompting China's Foreign Ministry to lodge a formal protest with Washington The European Union also expressed concern about the case. Now Wei Tingting, 26, Wang Man, 32, Zheng Churan, 25, Li Tingting, 25, and Wu Rongrong, 30, have been released on bail, Liang Xiaojun and Wang Qiushi, two lawyers involved in the case, told Reuters, citing accounts from family members.
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| U.N. vote on Tuesday on Yemen arms embargo; Russia stance unclear Posted: 13 Apr 2015 04:59 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is due to vote on Tuesday on a resolution to blacklist the son of Yemen's former president and a Houthi leader and effectively impose an arms embargo on the rebels who rule most of the country, diplomats said. It was unclear how Russia would vote on the draft by council member Jordan and Gulf Arab states. Russia had unsuccessfully suggested during negotiations that the text call for an immediate ceasefire and that an arms embargo include President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government, diplomats said. |
| U.S. protests 'sloppy,' unsafe Russian intercept of spy plane Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:22 PM PDT The United States said on Monday it has expressed its concerns to Moscow over a Russian fighter jet's "sloppy" and unsafe intercept of a U.S. spy plane in international airspace, in the latest sign of tensions between the two countries. The incident took place on April 7 over the Baltic Sea, when a Russian SU-27 Flanker intercepted a U.S. RC-135U reconnaissance plane and performed what the Pentagon described as unsafe aerial maneuvers. Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said the Russian aircraft did a roll in front of the U.S. aircraft and showed its belly to the pilot to indicate it was armed. Relations between the West and Russia have soured as a result of Moscow's role in the conflict in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea, while increased Russian military activity in the Baltics has added to tensions. |
| Chilean peacekeeper killed in Haiti protest Posted: 13 Apr 2015 04:54 PM PDT  A Chilean soldier who was part of the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti was shot dead Monday during a violent protest on the island, defense ministry officials said. Sergeant Rodrigo Sanhueza was providing security for a military vehicle traveling near the border with the Dominican Republic when the unit encountered a protest and came under fire, the ministry said in a statement. He was hit and rushed to the UN force's Uruguay Battalion for medical care, but died of his wounds, it said. The ministry said it would send an official from the joint chiefs of staff to Haiti to investigate.
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| 'Grave concern' about Ukraine fighting at four-way talks Posted: 13 Apr 2015 04:51 PM PDT  The French, German, Russian and Ukranian foreign ministers expressed "grave concern" Tuesday about violations of a shaky ceasefire in separatist-held east Ukraine but pledged to continue dialogue. As surging fighting around hotspots put fresh pressure on the accord, the four gathered in Berlin late Monday to assess progress in the truce deal agreed in February between the Ukraine government and pro-Russian rebels to end a conflict that has killed more than 6,000 people over the past year. In a final statement, the four ministers expressed "grave concern at the recent outbreak of fights over the last weekend". After weeks in which the ceasefire agreed in the Belarussian capital Minsk appeared to be largely holding despite isolated skirmishes, clashes seemed to be mounting in flashpoint areas.
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| Top Asian News at 11:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 13 Apr 2015 04:32 PM PDT BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities released five women's rights campaigners Monday whose detentions sparked an international outcry and underscored the government's tight restrictions on independent social activism, lawyers said. Lawyer Liang Xiaojun said the five were let go after more than a month in detention under a form of conditional release that still allows charges to be brought later. As of late Monday night, all had either returned or were on their way to their homes in Beijing and elsewhere in China, including the southern metropolis of Guangzhou and the eastern resort city of Hangzhou. |
| Britain's Cameron pledges to extend Thatcher policy Posted: 13 Apr 2015 04:25 PM PDT  British Prime Minister David Cameron is to pledge to extend the "right-to-buy" housing policy of 1980s predecessor Margaret Thatcher on Tuesday in a bid to seize victory in a close-fought election race. The policy allows social housing tenants to buy their homes from local authorities at a deep discount, and Cameron will say it shows his Conservatives are "the party of working people" at the Tuesday manifesto launch. Cameron is keen to take momentum from the rival centre-left Labour party, whose leader Ed Miliband has promised to increase the minimum wage and end "zero-hours contracts" which guarantee no minimum number of work hours. "Conservatives have dreamed of building a property-owning democracy for generations, and today I can tell you what this generation of Conservatives is going to do," Cameron will say at the manifesto launch in Wiltshire, south west England.
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| Guatemalan mine manager jailed for alleged river fouling Posted: 13 Apr 2015 04:15 PM PDT GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The general manager of a Guatemalan mine has been jailed following a 2012 complaint about contamination of a river with mining residue. |
| Russia, Ukraine agree on withdrawal of smaller caliber arms Posted: 13 Apr 2015 04:11 PM PDT  BERLIN (AP) — Russia and Ukraine agreed Monday to call for the pullback of smaller caliber weapons from the front lines in eastern Ukraine as part of a fresh push to end the region's yearlong conflict.
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| Golfer bitten by crocodile at Australian tourist resort Posted: 13 Apr 2015 04:10 PM PDT BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — A golfer has been bitten on the leg by a crocodile while playing at an Australian tourist resort. |
| 'Imitation Game' code breaker Turing's notes net $1 million Posted: 13 Apr 2015 04:08 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — A handwritten notebook by British World War II code-breaking genius Alan Turing, who was the subject of the 2014 Oscar-winning film "The Imitation Game," brought more than $1 million at auction on Monday.
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| One dead, several injured in Guinea anti-government protests Posted: 13 Apr 2015 04:06 PM PDT  One protester was killed and several others shot and wounded Monday as Guinean police battled to control violent demonstrations in the capital Conakry against the regime of President Alpha Conde. Rioting broke out around 9:30 am (0930 GMT) in several suburbs including Simbaya and Hamdallaye, with protesters throwing stones and setting fire to tyres as the police responded with tear gas. At least seven youths were treated for gunshot wounds, according to the opposition, which had called for the demonstrations against a lack of stability it blames on Conde's government. The director of Conakry's Mother and Child clinic, Ibrahima Balde, told AFP that one of those injured later died from his wounds.
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| At least 2,000 women and girls kidnapped by Boko Haram: Amnesty Posted: 13 Apr 2015 04:03 PM PDT  Boko Haram has kidnapped at least 2,000 women and girls since the beginning of last year, Amnesty International said on Tuesday, a year on from the mass abduction of 219 Nigerian schoolgirls. "It is difficult to estimate how many people have been abducted by Boko Haram," Amnesty said in the report, "'Our job is to shoot, slaughter and kill': Boko Haram's reign of terror". On the Chibok girls, Amnesty quoted a senior military source as saying they had been split into three or four groups and held at different Boko Haram camps. The 219 teenagers have not been seen since Boko Haram released a video message in May last year, showing about 100 of the girls in Muslim dress and reciting verses of the Koran.
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| Ministers agree to extend heavy weapons withdrawal in Ukraine Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:57 PM PDT Foreign ministers from Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine agreed to push ahead with the withdrawal of heavy weapons from eastern Ukraine where violence has escalated after tough talks in Berlin on Monday. "We agreed today not only to continue with the withdrawal of heavy weapons but also to include other categories of weapons in the withdrawal," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters after the talks had finished, adding weapons to be withdrawn would now include tanks. "Nothing is easy in the Ukraine crisis, this is not new. |
| Blackwater guards get heavy sentences in 2007 Iraq killings Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:57 PM PDT  A former Blackwater guard was sentenced to life in prison and three others received 30-year sentences Monday for their roles in a 2007 mass shooting in Iraq that left at least 14 civilians dead. The four ex-employees of the US private security firm were convicted last October on an array of charges ranging from first degree murder to voluntary manslaughter stemming from the incident in Baghdad's Nisour Square. During a two month-trial in US federal court in Washington, a jury heard how the four defendants opened fire with sniper rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers in the bustling square as they escorted a diplomatic convoy. US federal judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Nicholas Slatten, who was accused of firing the first shots, to life in prison on the first-degree murder charge.
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| Bell, Root help England recover vs West Indies in 1st test Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:44 PM PDT  NORTH SOUND, Antigua (AP) — Ian Bell hit a polished 143 for his 22nd test century to help turn a precarious start for England into a powerful position on the opening day of the first test of the three-match series against West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Monday.
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| Ex-guards to get lengthy prison sentences for Iraq shootings Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:41 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge sentenced one former Blackwater security guard to life in prison and three others to 30-year terms for their roles in a 2007 shooting that killed 14 Iraqi civilians and wounded 17 others.
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| UN chief: 1915 slaughters of Armenians are 'atrocity crimes' Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:34 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon considers the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks 100 years ago "atrocity crimes," but he isn't supporting Pope Francis' description of the killings as "the first genocide of the 20th century," the U.N. spokesman said Monday. |
| Republican Marco Rubio announces US presidential run Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:29 PM PDT  The conservative 43-year-old first-term lawmaker, son to poor immigrants from Cuba, presented the 2016 presidential election as "a generational choice" -- a clear jab at his more senior rivals, notably the newly-announced Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and his fellow Republican and potential adversary Jeb Bush.
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| Burnley wins admirers, punches above its weight in England Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:28 PM PDT  BURNLEY, England (AP) — With chimneys rising from the former cotton mills which nestle between tightly-packed houses, Burnley provides a quintessentially English vista for fans at the town's soccer stadium.
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| Huge Siberia wildfires kill 26 Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:22 PM PDT  Twenty six people died and nearly a thousand sought medical treatment after wildfires blamed on reckless human behaviour swept through Siberia, Russian authorities said on Monday. Some 5,000 rescue workers battled through the night to contain the blazes in the Khakassia region of southeastern Siberia, where 23 people died, said investigators. Fires also raged in eastern Siberia, claiming three lives including that of a three-year-old girl, authorities in the Chita region told AFP. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was personally coordinating the emergency response.
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| Fish die-off hits Olympic lake in Rio Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:21 PM PDT  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Dead fish continued to wash up Monday on the banks of a Rio de Janeiro lake that's slated to hold Olympic rowing competitions during the 2016 games.
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| Ahead of UK election, Labour leads Conservatives by one point: YouGov poll Posted: 13 Apr 2015 03:16 PM PDT (Reuters) - Ahead of Britain's May 7 election, a YouGov poll on Monday evening said Labour leads by one point, with 34 percent, followed by the Conservatives at 33 percent, UKIP at 13 percent, Liberal Democrats at 8 percent and the Greens at 6 percent, the Sun newspaper reported. Britain's opposition Labour party has a 1 percentage point lead over Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives, according to the poll. |
| Former US envoy for NKorea nominated to post in Thailand Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:58 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has nominated a former U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, Glyn Davies, as ambassador to Thailand.
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| Islamic State, Boko Haram use rape as tactic of war: UN Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:47 PM PDT  Extremist groups like Islamic State and Boko Haram are increasingly resorting to rape and sexual violence as a tactic of war, according to an annual UN report released Monday. 2014 "was marked by harrowing accounts of rape, sexual slavery and forced marriage being used by extremist groups, including as a tactic of terror," Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in the report. Rape and other forms of sexual violence are being used to advance recruitment, terrorize populations, displace communities and generate revenue through sex trafficking, the slave trade and ransom. Islamic State (IS) and Boko Haram were among 13 groups added to a UN list of parties that resort to sexual violence - a measure intended to focus greater international attention on those conflicts.
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| Sterling stars as Liverpool maintain Champions League hopes Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:44 PM PDT  Raheem Sterling helped Liverpool keep alive their hopes of finishing inside the Premier League's top four and securing a place in next season's Champions League with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Newcastle United at Anfield on Monday. The Reds clinched the win thanks to goals from Sterling and Joe Allen as they closed the gap on fourth-placed Manchester City to four points with six matches of the season remaining. The result also meant Newcastle, who had captain Moussa Sissoko sent off seven minutes from time, have lost their last five league matches. "I thought we showed attacking intent in the game, won the ball back quickly and controlled the game until the last five, six minutes in the first half, when we started to give the ball away too cheaply," Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers told Sky Sports.
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| Warming seas may spell end to Britain's fish and chips Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:38 PM PDT  Warming seas may spell the end to traditional British food favourites such as haddock and chips, researchers said on Monday. Haddock, plaice and lemon sole are to decline in numbers as the North Sea warms by a predicted 1.8 degrees Celsius (35.24 degrees Fahrenheit) over 50 years, according to research by University of Exeter scientists. "Our study suggests that we will see proportionally less of some of the species we eat most of as they struggle to cope with warming conditions in the North Sea," said postgraduate researcher and research author Louise Rutterford. The North Sea, the part of the Atlantic Ocean stretching between Britain, Norway, Denmark and Germany, has warmed four times faster than the global average over the last four decades.
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| Canada's Ontario province puts a price on carbon Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:37 PM PDT  Canada's most populous province and economic engine will introduce a carbon cap and trade scheme to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne said Monday. The system would cap the amount of carbon dioxide gas emitted by each industry, and allow firms to buy and sell unused emissions quotas under an imposed ceiling. By also joining other jurisdictions under the so-called Western Climate Initiative, the emissions credits could also be traded with companies in Quebec and California. The west coast province of British Columbia is also a WCI member but has imposed a carbon tax instead of credits.
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| Nina Ricci heiress gets prison term for tax fraud Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:34 PM PDT  A Paris court on Monday sentenced Nina Ricci's heiress to a year in prison and handed her a million-euro fine for tax fraud, in the first ruling against a famous figure in the SwissLeaks scandal. It also confiscated properties in Paris and Corsica, estimated to be worth around four million euros ($4.2 million). The court also handed her tax lawyer a one-year suspended sentence and ordered him to pay a 10,000 euro ($10,575) fine, while giving her daughter an eight-month suspended sentence for tax fraud. The Nina Ricci house was founded in 1932 in Paris, and is known for its luxury perfumes -- especially the floral classic L'Air du Temps -- and its classic, slender fashion lines.
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| Kerry: There are many 'misrepresentations' about Iran deal Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:29 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration stepped up its lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill on Monday to try to persuade lawmakers not to pass any legislation that could hamper prospects for negotiating a final deal with Iran to curb its nuclear program.
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| Space station grocery run stalled by storm clouds Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:24 PM PDT  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) — SpaceX will have to wait another day to deliver groceries and an espresso maker to the International Space Station.
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| Nicaragua asks US to remove embassy worker over Ebola worry Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:23 PM PDT MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaragua has asked the United States to remove an embassy worker who was in Liberia because it fears the person may have been exposed to the Ebola virus that has devastated several West African countries. |
| Liverpool beats Newcastle 2-0 in Premier League Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:22 PM PDT  LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Raheem Sterling and Joe Allen scored in each half to give Liverpool a 2-0 win over Newcastle in the Premier League on Monday that puts the club four points from the last Champions League place.
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| Russia lifts ban on supplying S-300 missiles to Iran Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:20 PM PDT  President Vladimir Putin on Monday lifted a ban on supplying Iran with sophisticated S-300 air defence missile systems after Tehran struck a landmark framework deal with the West over its nuclear programme. A decree signed by Putin gave the go-ahead for "the shipment from Russia to Iran", ending Moscow's self-imposed ban on supplying the surface-to-air missiles to the Islamic republic. The move comes before any sanctions have been lifted on Iran, with difficult technical negotiations still to come following a breakthrough April 2 deal aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear drive.
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| Colin Slade to join French club Pau after World Cup Posted: 13 Apr 2015 02:08 PM PDT WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — All Blacks flyhalf Colin Slade has confirmed he will join the French club Pau on a three-year contract after this year's Rugby World Cup. |
