| Shi'ite forces move in on Iraqi city taken by Islamic State Posted: 18 May 2015 03:09 PM PDT  Thousands of Shi'ite militiamen on Monday prepared to fight Islamic State insurgents who seized the Iraqi provincial capital Ramadi at the weekend in the biggest defeat for government forces in nearly a year. A column of 3,000 Shi'ite militia fighters assembled at a military base near Ramadi, preparing to take on Islamic State militants advancing in armored vehicles from the captured city northwest of Baghdad, witnesses and a military officer said. The decision by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is a Shi'ite, to send in the militias to try to retake the predominantly Sunni city could add to sectarian hostility in one of the most violent parts of Iraq. Washington, which is leading a campaign of air strikes to roll back Islamic State advances and struggling to rebuild Baghdad's shattered army, played down the significance of the loss of Ramadi, the capital of the vast western Anbar province.
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| Saudi-led air strikes hit Yemen after truce expires Posted: 18 May 2015 12:33 PM PDT  By Mohammed Mukhashaf and Angus McDowall ADEN/RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi-led forces resumed military operations in Yemen after a five-day ceasefire ended late on Sunday, and Yemen's exiled government in Riyadh and the Iranian-allied Houthis blamed each other for a failure to renew the truce. The ceasefire ended despite appeals by the United Nations and rights groups for extra time to allow badly needed humanitarian supplies into the country of 25 million, one of the poorest in the Middle East. "That's what we said before - that if they start again, we will start again," Yemeni Foreign Minister Reyad Yassin Abdulla told Reuters. Saudi-led forces conducted three air strikes on Yemen's northern Saada province on Monday, according to Houthi media, which said Saudi forces had fired 70 rockets and artillery shells into north Yemen.
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| Egypt death sentences worry U.S., U.N., Turkey Posted: 18 May 2015 12:31 PM PDT  By Ercan Gurses ANKARA (Reuters) - The United States and United Nations expressed deep concern on Monday about the death sentences handed down in Egypt for President Mohamed Mursi and other Islamists, while Turkey warned of Middle East turmoil if they are carried out. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he will closely monitor the appeals process for the death sentences and urged actions that would promote the rule of law. The U.S. State Department said Egypt's practice of mass trials and sentences was unjust and often used against members of the opposition or non-violent activists.
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| Burundi president fires defense chief after coup attempt Posted: 18 May 2015 09:21 AM PDT  By Goran Tomasevic and Njuwa Maina BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi's embattled President Pierre Nkurunziza sacked his defense and foreign ministers on Monday, five days after surviving an attempted coup by generals opposed to his bid for a third term in office. In a decree seen by Reuters, Nkurunziza declined to give any reasons for the dismissals. "Constitution gives him powers to (do) so." The sackings are the first signs of ructions inside Nkurunziza's administration after the attempted coup, which intensified fears a political crisis may be spiraling out of control and pitching Africa's Great Lakes region towards another bout of ethnic conflict. Neighboring Rwanda, which shares a similar ethnic mix between a Hutu majority and Tutsi minority, is still recovering from a 1994 genocide in which 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis and moderate Hutus, were killed.
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| Cuba says conditions 'favorable' for restoring ties with U.S. Posted: 18 May 2015 04:50 PM PDT  By Daniel Trotta HAVANA (Reuters) - Conditions are favorable for restoring diplomatic relations with the United States, Cuba said on Monday ahead of upcoming talks in Washington. The two longtime adversaries are scheduled to meet on Thursday for their fourth negotiating session on re-establishing diplomatic ties, which were severed in 1961 amid Cold War tensions. The so-called interests sections in Washington and Havana would be upgraded to embassies if diplomatic ties were restored. Cuba wants the Americans to halt training courses in journalism and the Internet that it considers subversive and a violation of the Vienna convention on diplomacy.
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| Roads before welfare: India's Modi faces dissent over spending shakeup Posted: 18 May 2015 03:07 PM PDT  By Aditya Kalra and Andrew MacAskill NEW DELHI (Reuters) - As Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes one year in office, his cuts in federal welfare spending on the poorest of India's 1.25 billion people are coming in for sharp criticism, including from within his cabinet. In a break with India's socialist past, Modi has saved money on federal social and subsidy expenditure and pumped it into an infrastructure stimulus he hopes will trigger a spurt in economic growth. The government says lower welfare spending will be compensated for by giving state governments a larger allocation of tax revenues to spend as they choose. Maneka Gandhi, women and child development minister in Modi's cabinet, has said the impact of the policy will borne by India's estimated 300 million poor.
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| Iraq Shiite militias head for Ramadi after IS takeover Posted: 18 May 2015 04:52 PM PDT  Shiite militias converged on Ramadi Monday to try to recapture it from jihadists who dealt the Iraqi government a stinging blow by overrunning the city in a deadly three-day blitz. The loss of the capital of Iraq's largest province was Baghdad's worst military setback since it started clawing back territory from the Islamic State (IS) group late last year. Washington, which had made Anbar -- of which Ramadi is the capital -- a cornerstone of its assistance to Baghdad against IS, admitted to a "setback". Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had been reluctant to deploy Shiite militias to Anbar province for fear of alienating its overwhelmingly Sunni Arab population.
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| Guatemalan president vows to stay in office despite protests Posted: 18 May 2015 04:44 PM PDT  GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina has said he will stay in office through his full term ending in January 2016 despite massive protests against government corruption.
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| Correction: Vatican-Palestinians story Posted: 18 May 2015 04:42 PM PDT VATICAN CITY (AP) — VATICAN CITY (AP) — In a story May 16 about Pope Francis meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, The Associated Press erroneously omitted two words when quoting the pope. Francis told Abbas "you are a bit an angel of peace," not "you are an angel of peace." The original Italian quote was, "Lei e un po un angelo della pace." |
| Burkina judge hears complaint of slain ex-leader's widow after 27 years Posted: 18 May 2015 04:39 PM PDT  Mariam Sankara, the widow of former Burkina Faso president Thomas Sankara, on Monday for the first time gave testimony in an inquiry looking into the assassination of her husband more than 27 years ago. Sankara spent nearly eight hours at a military court in the capital Ouagadougou answering questions by a judge tasked with investigating her husband's murder in a 1987 coup that saw his former friend Blaise Compaore take power. Thomas Sankara was a popular Marxist army captain who came to power in a 1983 coup and transformed what was then the former French colony of Upper Volta into Burkina Faso. Many Burkinabe, including Sankara's family members, doubt that the corpse buried in a cemetery in the east of the capital is indeed that of Thomas Sankara.
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| Shirin Neshat, inadvertent narrator of history Posted: 18 May 2015 04:38 PM PDT  Iranian-American artist Shirin Neshat's dark kohl-lined eyes are immediately recognizable. The Hirshhorn Museum's retrospective in Washington, just steps from Congress, coincides with a diplomatic push to seal a nuclear deal with Iran that has revived interest in relations between Tehran and the West. The non-linear narrative of the exhibit provides a glimpse not just at Neshat's art and life, but also the trajectory of Iran in modern times, from the 1953 coup through the 1979 Islamic Revolution to the recent Green Movement. Although the self-described secular Muslim, insists her exile is "self-imposed," her work is so controversial in Iran that it has yet to be shown there publicly, and she has not returned since 1996.
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| Frustration with Latin America's left on the rise Posted: 18 May 2015 04:35 PM PDT  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's socialist government is struggling to put food on the shelves amid runaway inflation. Brazil's president is facing calls for impeachment. And even Cuba's communist government, an iconic touchstone for generations of leftists, is embracing closer ties with the U.S.
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| Top Asian News at 11:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 18 May 2015 04:32 PM PDT SITTWE, Myanmar (AP) — The boy was shoved onto the wooden vessel with hundreds of other Rohingya Muslims. For days, the 14-year-old sat with his knees bent into his chest, pressed up against sweaty bodies in the cabin's rancid heat. Women cradled coughing babies. The crew paced back and forth with belts and iron rods, striking anyone who dared to speak, stand up or even those who vomited from the nauseating stench and rolling waves. |
| British contractor killed in Kabul blast named Posted: 18 May 2015 04:30 PM PDT  A British security contractor killed in a Taliban car bomb attack in Afghanistan was described as a loving son and fiance by his family on Monday. Michael Hampshire, from Huddersfield in Yorkshire, was killed when a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with an explosives close to the airport in the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday. In a statement released through Britain's foreign ministry, Hampshire's family asked to be allowed to grieve privately. "Michael was a loving fiance, son, grandson, brother, uncle, cousin and a friend to everyone who knew him," the statement said.
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| US man in prison 21 years to be freed pending new trial Posted: 18 May 2015 04:21 PM PDT SALEM, Massachusetts (AP) — A Dominican-born man who had spent 21 years behind bars for a murder he says he did not commit has been released from prison until a new trial can be held, a judge in Massachusetts ruled Monday. |
| Police say tourist from Texas drowns in Jamaica Posted: 18 May 2015 04:14 PM PDT KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Authorities say an American tourist has drowned while swimming at a beach in eastern Jamaica. |
| More than 50 dead, dozens injured in Colombia landslide Posted: 18 May 2015 04:12 PM PDT  A landslide sent mud and water crashing onto homes in a town in Colombia's northwest mountains on Monday, killing more than 50 people and injuring dozens, officials said. "The earth slid into the course of the La Liboriana ravine, then the dammed water caused an avalanche which destroyed everything in its path" in Salgar in Antioquia department, regional police commander Jose Angel Mendoza said in an interview. "We don't know how many people are missing," said President Juan Manuel Santos, who flew over the affected area to survey the damage and met with local authorities. We're on alert because there are fears there could be another landslide," resident Maria Gutierrez told local media.
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| UN: Yemen crisis could open jihadist path through Somalia Posted: 18 May 2015 04:04 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is warning that the crisis in Yemen could open a corridor for jihadist movements through Somalia, which is just across the Gulf of Aden. |
| All-Star center Marc Gasol will consider free agency options Posted: 18 May 2015 04:03 PM PDT  MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis Grizzlies head into the offseason with a major goal: re-signing their free agent All-Star center.
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| Five Mexico children detained over six-year-old's murder Posted: 18 May 2015 04:03 PM PDT  Mexico sought answers Monday after five children aged 11 to 15 stoned, stabbed and buried a six-year-old boy, a shocking case that raised questions about the influence of drug violence on kids. The boy was found in a shallow grave by a stream on Saturday, two days after he was last seen with a group of children on the outskirts of the Chihuahua state capital, the regional prosecutor's office said. Cristopher Raymundo Marquez Mora was found after investigators interrogated the children, who include two 13-year-old girls, one 11-year-old boy and two 15-year-old boys. The boy and the other children are neighbors who knew each other.
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| At least 52 dead in Colombia landslide: officials Posted: 18 May 2015 03:59 PM PDT  A massive landslide tore through a ravine in northwest Colombia Monday before dawn, killing 52 people and injuring 37, authorities said. Most residents were sleeping when the landslide hit the municipality of Salgar around 3:00 am, burying a large area in mud and debris. The rush of mud and water "tore down everything in its path," Salgar Mayor Olga Osorio told RCN Radio. The small town of Santa Margarita was practically "wiped off the map," she said.
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| Cuba's Elian Gonzalez, former castaway, wants to visit US Posted: 18 May 2015 03:57 PM PDT  HAVANA (AP) — Elian Gonzalez, who spent months with his Florida relatives as a Cuban child at the center of an international custody dispute, said in an interview broadcast Monday that he'd like to return to the United States for a visit.
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| Unionized miners in Peru launch strike against law Posted: 18 May 2015 03:53 PM PDT LIMA, Peru (AP) — Unionized workers have gone on strike at some of Peru's biggest mines to demand a law be struck down that they say hurts their earnings and bargaining power by promoting the use of contractors. |
| Seahawks' Williams to undergo surgery for kidney cancer Posted: 18 May 2015 03:44 PM PDT RENTON, Washington (AP) — Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Jesse Williams will undergo kidney surgery after being diagnosed with cancer. |
| Restored 'The Third Man' emerges again from the shadows Posted: 18 May 2015 03:34 PM PDT  CANNES, France (AP) — Break out your zithers: "The Third Man" is back.
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| Haiti grants appeal of abuse case against US man Posted: 18 May 2015 03:34 PM PDT  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian justice authorities are making plans for a new criminal trial against a U.S. citizen who has been accused of physically and sexually abusing boys in an orphanage that he has run for decades in the impoverished Caribbean country, a top government official and lawyers said Monday.
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| Prince Charles to meet Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams Posted: 18 May 2015 03:33 PM PDT  Britain's Prince Charles will meet Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in a historic first during a visit to Ireland on Tuesday, the republican party said in a statement. "This was agreed to promote the process of resolving past injustices and promoting reconciliation and healing," the Sinn Fein statement read. The meeting between the royal heir and the president of a party once considered the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) would mark a milestone in warming relations between Ireland and Britain since a 1998 peace deal ended decades of conflict known as "The Troubles". Sinn Fein, which campaigns for Northern Ireland to break with Britain and be part of a united Ireland, said both Adams and Northern Ireland Assembly Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness would accept invitations to meet the prince.
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| Flood, mudslide sweep away homes in Colombia, killing 52 Posted: 18 May 2015 03:33 PM PDT  SALGAR, Colombia (AP) — An avalanche of mud and debris roared over an alpine town in western Colombia before dawn Monday, killing at least 52 people in a flash flood and mudslide triggered by heavy rains.
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| Protesters of Arctic drilling block entry to Seattle port Posted: 18 May 2015 03:27 PM PDT  SEATTLE (AP) — A few hundred critics of oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean blocked entrances for several hours Monday to a seaport terminal in Seattle where Royal Dutch Shell's massive floating drill rig will be loaded up before heading to the waters off Alaska this summer.
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| Zimbabwe team arrives in Pakistan amid tight security Posted: 18 May 2015 03:11 PM PDT  LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Zimbabwe arrived in Pakistan early Tuesday in the eastern city of Lahore as the first test playing nation to visit the country for international matches since an attack on Sri Lanka's team bus six years ago.
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| Argentine court eases child abuser's punishment, blaming six-year-old Posted: 18 May 2015 03:10 PM PDT  An Argentine appeals court has touched off protests by reducing the sentence of a man convicted of abusing a six-year-old boy, on grounds that the victim was a homosexual who had previously been abused by his father. The Federation of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transsexuals on Monday called for impeachment trials of the two members of a Buenos Aires appeals court who signed the decision. The judges -- Horacio Piombo and Benjamin Sal Llargues -- slashed Mario Tolosa's prison sentence from six years to three years and two months in a ruling disclosed on Monday.
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| Nearly 25,000 fled IS attack on Ramadi in Iraq: U.N. Posted: 18 May 2015 03:09 PM PDT Close to 25,000 people fled the Iraqi city of Ramadi after it was attacked by Islamic State militants and most of them headed toward Baghdad, the United Nations said on Monday. U.N. and other aid agencies have begun distributing food, water and medical supplies as well as setting up temporary camps and latrines, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Iraq said. Ramadi fell to the militants at the weekend and those fleeing were thought to be escaping from Islamic State for a second time, having been among 130,000 who fled from the western Iraqi city in April. |
| Prince Charles to meet Sinn Fein leaders during Ireland trip Posted: 18 May 2015 03:03 PM PDT DUBLIN (AP) — The Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party says its two senior figures will meet Prince Charles during his visit this week to Ireland in another groundbreaking event for peacemaking. |
| Greece hopes to meet June payments, wages and pensions a priority: finance minister Posted: 18 May 2015 02:57 PM PDT Greece hopes to meet its debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund and pay wages and pensions next month, but if it has to choose between the two it will opt to pay the latter, the country's finance minister said on Monday. "I hope we will be able to pay both (the IMF and pensions and wages) ... after a deal," Yanis Varoufakis told Star TV channel's late night show Ston Eniko. "If we face a dilemma over paying one of the lenders or wages and pensions, then we will opt to pay wages and pensions," he said. |
| Obama moves to demilitarize US cops Posted: 18 May 2015 02:56 PM PDT  President Barack Obama barred police from using tracked armored vehicles, bayonets, grenade launchers and large-caliber firearms, in response to accusations that US law enforcement has become too militarized. After controversy over the policing of high-profile protests in Baltimore, Maryland and Ferguson, Missouri, Obama said communities should not feel there is an "occupying force" in their neighborhood. Each of the demonstrations were met with police deployments, which Obama agreed appeared more like a military style operation -- with tactical units in full combat gear atop armored personnel carriers. Obama's measures would bar the purchase of some military uniforms, firearms of .50 caliber or greater, grenade launchers and bayonets.
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| France, Niger forces kill 3 fighters, detain 3 others Posted: 18 May 2015 02:55 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — The French Defense Ministry says troops from France and Niger killed three armed combattants and detained three others who tried to force their way through a checkpoint near the Libyan border. |
| Liverpool star Sterling to ask for transfer -- reports Posted: 18 May 2015 02:52 PM PDT  Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling is set to rock the Premier League club by telling them he wants to leave in the close-season, according to reports on Monday. Sterling and his agent Aidy Ward put contract negotiations on hold earlier this season despite being given what Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers described as a "fantastic offer". It was reported that offer would have increased the 20-year-old's wages to around £100,000-a-week and, in response to mounting criticism of his attitude from frustrated Liverpool fans, the England international was forced onto a public relations offensive in which he denied he was a "money-grabber". Sterling is believed to want to play in the Champions League and Liverpool will be missing from Europe's elite club competition next term after a disappointing Premier League campaign, which sees them in fifth place, seven points behind fourth placed Manchester United, heading into the final round of fixtures.
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| Greek finance minister says bailout deal is very close Posted: 18 May 2015 02:52 PM PDT  ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said Monday that he expects an agreement with bailout creditors within the next week, which would save the cash-strapped country from fast-approaching bankruptcy.
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