| Aleppo bombed as Syrian army begins 'calm' plan elsewhere Posted: 30 Apr 2016 09:05 AM PDT  By John Davison BEIRUT (Reuters) - Nearly 30 air strikes hit rebel-held areas of Aleppo on Saturday as a temporary "calm" declared by Syria's military took effect around Damascus and in the northwest. It was the ninth day of deadly bombardments in Aleppo, which has borne the brunt of increased fighting that has all but destroyed a February ceasefire and killed nearly 250 people in the northern city since April 22, a monitoring group said. The Syrian army announced a "regime of calm", or lull in fighting, late on Friday, which Damascus said was designed to salvage the wider ceasefire.
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| Sadr followers dig in inside Baghdad's Green Zone, political crisis deepens Posted: 30 Apr 2016 12:53 PM PDT  By Stephen Kalin and Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Hundreds of supporters of Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed parliament inside Baghdad's Green Zone on Saturday and camped out nearby after Sadr denounced politicians' failure to reform a political quota system blamed for rampant corruption. The protesters, who had gathered outside the heavily fortified central district housing government buildings and many foreign embassies, crossed a bridge over the Tigris River chanting: "The cowards ran away!" in apparent reference to departing lawmakers. The initial breach was mostly peaceful, but around sunset security forces fired teargas and bullets into the air in an effort to stop more protesters from entering.
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| Russia defends intercept of U.S. reconnaissance plane over Baltic Posted: 30 Apr 2016 03:35 AM PDT  Russia said on Saturday it had sent a fighter plane on Friday to intercept a U.S. aircraft approaching its border over the Baltic Sea because the American plane had turned off its transponder, which is needed for identification. The Pentagon said the U.S. Air Force RC-135 plane had been flying a routine route in international airspace and that the Russian SU-27 fighter had intercepted it in an "unsafe and unprofessional" way. CNN reported that the Russian jet had come within about 100 feet (30 meters) of the U.S. plane and had performed a barrel roll.
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| Iran's moderates make modest gains in run-off election Posted: 30 Apr 2016 03:00 AM PDT  By Sam Wilkin DUBAI (Reuters) - Politicians allied to President Hassan Rouhani came out strongest in a second round of parliamentary elections in Iran, early results showed on Saturday, but his moderate faction appeared unlikely to clinch an overall majority. If confirmed, the results suggest Iran's next parliament will be more supportive of Rouhani's drive for economic reforms, but conservatives will remain a powerful force and could limit the prospects for social change. Rouhani's allies made significant gains in that vote, held in February, ending conservative dominance of the 290-seat assembly.
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| UK's 'Remain' camp gains ground in EU poll: Opinium Posted: 30 Apr 2016 03:23 PM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - The number of British people who want to stay in the European Union has risen over the past four weeks, an online poll by market research company Opinium Research for the Observer newspaper showed on Saturday. Some 42 percent of those surveyed wanted to remain in the EU, up 3 percentage points from the last comparable poll on April 2, while 41 percent wanted to leave, down from 43 percent previously, the newspaper said. (Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Andrew Roche)
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| Bomb attack on Shi'ite pilgrims in Baghdad kills at least 19: sources Posted: 30 Apr 2016 03:24 AM PDT  A suicide bomber driving a car killed at least 19 people and wounded 48 others on Saturday in an attack claimed by Islamic State on a group of Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims in a southeastern suburb of Baghdad, Iraqi police sources said. A second explosion near a Shi'ite militia checkpoint in the capital's Dora district killed two and wounded three others, police sources said. Amaq news agency, which supports Islamic State, said a fighter in the Nahrawan district had driven a truck loaded with three tonnes of explosives into the gathering of Shi'ite pilgrims.
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| Raiders give Mexico a taste of the NFL during draft days Posted: 30 Apr 2016 03:41 PM PDT  MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Oakland Raiders relocated south for the third day of the NFL draft Saturday. South of the border, that is. Amid sombrero- and lucha libre mask-clad fans, the Raiders announced their late-round picks from Azteca Stadium, where they'll face the Houston Texans on Nov. 21.
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| Sporting beats Porto 3-1 to stay in Portuguese title fight Posted: 30 Apr 2016 03:28 PM PDT  LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Striker Islam Slimani scored two goals as Sporting Lisbon defeated Porto 3-1 on Saturday to remain two points behind Benfica with two rounds left in the Portuguese league.
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| Vikings pick WR Boehringer, a European first for NFL draft Posted: 30 Apr 2016 03:06 PM PDT  EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — Willkommen to the NFL, Moritz Boehringer.
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| Lyon and Monaco level on points in Champions League pursuit Posted: 30 Apr 2016 03:05 PM PDT  Lyon and Monaco remained level on points in the fight for second spot in the French league after victories on Saturday, setting up an enticing match between the two teams in the penultimate round.
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| Barcelona beats Betis, moves closer to Spanish league title Posted: 30 Apr 2016 02:52 PM PDT  MADRID (AP) — Barcelona scored two second-half goals to defeat 10-man Real Betis 2-0 on Saturday and move closer to winning the Spanish league title.
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| Qatar announces death of World Cup stadium worker Posted: 30 Apr 2016 02:47 PM PDT  An Indian steelworker taken ill at a Qatar World Cup site has died, organisers of the 2022 tournament announced in a statement on Saturday. Jaleshwar Prasad, 48, died of a cardiac arrest after falling ill at the Al Bayt stadium on Wednesday morning, said the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the body responsible for organising the Qatar World Cup.
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| 33 rescued lions arrive in South Africa in airlift Posted: 30 Apr 2016 02:30 PM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The roars of lions filled the cargo section of Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport Saturday evening as 33 lions rescued from South American circuses landed in South Africa where they will be released into a bush sanctuary for big cats.
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| McLeod blows past field to win 110 hurdles at Drake Relays Posted: 30 Apr 2016 02:28 PM PDT  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Omar McLeod has put himself in position to make the loaded American men's hurdles field a lot more crowded.
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| Udinese still in danger after 5-1 thrashing by Torino Posted: 30 Apr 2016 02:09 PM PDT  MILAN (AP) — Udinese remains uncomfortably close to the relegation zone after being thrashed 5-1 at home to Torino in Serie A on Saturday, while Fiorentina's miserable run continued with a goalless draw at Chievo Verona.
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| Worker dies after falling ill at World Cup stadium site Posted: 30 Apr 2016 02:03 PM PDT DOHA, Qatar (AP) — World Cup organizers say a worker has died after falling ill on the site of one of the stadiums being constructed for the 2022 tournament in Qatar. |
| Circus lions rescued in South America arrive in new African home Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:54 PM PDT  By Siyabonga Sishi JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A group of 33 lions rescued from circuses in Peru and Columbia arrived by plane in Johannesburg on Saturday to begin a new life in the African bush. The final destination for the animals, which were flown in on a chartered cargo flight, will be the Emoya Big Cat Sanctuary, a 5,000 hectare reserve on a private estate in South Africa's northern Limpopo province. Cleared by a state vet, the cats grunted and roared as the crates containing them were loaded onto trucks for the last leg of their journey by road several hours north of Johannesburg.
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| Errani loses to Giorgi in 1st round at Madrid Masters Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:54 PM PDT MADRID (AP) — Sara Errani lost in the first round for the third time this season, losing 7-5, 7-5 to Camila Giorgi at the Madrid Masters on Saturday. |
| Vikings make German WR the 1st player drafted from Europe Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:49 PM PDT EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have made German wide receiver Moritz Boehringer the first player drafted straight into the NFL from Europe. |
| Rescued lions roar into South Africa after flight from Peru Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:42 PM PDT  The roaring of 33 lions rescued from circuses in Peru and Colombia echoed through Johannesburg's international airport Saturday after they arrived in their ancestral homeland for the first time. The lions appeared healthy but a little distressed by the long journey, Jan Creamer, the president of Animal Defenders International (ADI), an animal rights charity that organised the flight, told reporters.
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| Comoros court orders partial re-run of presidential poll Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:38 PM PDT  The Comoros constitutional court on Saturday ordered a partial re-run of the country's April 10 presidential ballot due to "irregularities", a decision that could reverse the close election result. In a court ruling, president of the Constitutional Court Loutfi Soulaimane asked newly-elected leader Azali Assoumani and elections minister Mohamed el-Had Abbasto to take steps to re-run the second-round poll in 13 constituencies by May 15. The repeat vote could throw into the question the entire election result because of the narrow margin by which former coup leader Assoumani won, according to provisional results.
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| With spotlight on top, Newcastle moves out of EPL drop zone Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:36 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Less than 24 hours before the global soccer spotlight falls on Leicester in its bid to win the top tier for the first time, Newcastle came out best in the scrapping at the other end of the English Premier League on Saturday.
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| Prospects for Syria political solution 'in danger': opposition Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:21 PM PDT  The prospects of finding a political solution to the Syria conflict are in danger unless the international community acts fast to pressure the regime, the head of the main Syrian opposition group said Saturday, after new air strikes on rebel-held areas of Aleppo. The assault on Syria's divided second city by the armed forces of President Bashar al-Assad has put in jeopardy a fragile truce that had given new hope to UN-backed peace talks in Geneva. "The regime is not really interested in a political solution and they are not really interested in hearing the cessation of the hostilities initiative," the head of the Syrian National Coalition Anas al-Abdeh told AFP in Istanbul.
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| Germany says to host fresh Ukraine talks Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:20 PM PDT  German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier Saturday said he had invited his Russian, Ukrainian and French counterparts to talks in Berlin on May 11 intended to smooth differences between Moscow and Kiev. "It is necessary to give new momentum (to efforts) to surmount obstacles between Kiev and Moscow," Steinmeier said in comments due to appear in Sunday's Die Welt and sevral other European newspapers. "That is why I have sent out an invitation for a meeting of foreign ministers... on May 11 in Berlin," said Steinmeier, two days after Ukrainian counterpart Vadym Prystaiko had suggested such a meeting.
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| Turkey detains pro-Kurdish news editor over tweets: channel Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:18 PM PDT  Turkish authorities on Saturday detained the chief news editor of a pro-Kurdish television channel over tweets posted on his account, the broadcaster said, as concern grows over freedom of expression in the country. The news editor of IMC TV, Hamza Aktan, was detained at dawn Saturday by masked and armed police in a raid on his home in Istanbul, the channel said in a statement on its website. Part of the case against him was also that he had retweeted a request by the BBC for information from the mainly Kurdish town of Cizre while it was under military curfew.
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| Protesters storm parliament in Iraq's Green Zone Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:11 PM PDT  Thousands of angry protesters broke into Baghdad's fortified Green Zone area on Saturday and stormed the Iraqi parliament building after lawmakers again failed to approve new ministers. Jubilant crowds, most of them supporters of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, invaded the main session hall, shouting slogans glorifying their leader and claiming that they had rooted out corruption. The capital was already on high alert for a major Shiite pilgrimage, participants in which were targeted in a bombing that killed 23 on Saturday, but extra security measures were taken after protesters stormed the Green Zone.
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| Iraq forces in major offensive on IS-held town Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:10 PM PDT  Iraqi forces launched a final assault Saturday to retake the Turkmen majority town of Bashir from the Islamic State jihadist group, Kurdish authorities said. Pressure for an operation to retake the town had grown in March after IS launched a chemical attack from Bashir on the nearby town of Taza that killed at least three children. "Bashir village is surrounded and 80 percent has been cleared," the Kurdistan Region Security Council said on social media.
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| Clashes, arrests as protesters seek to disrupt German right-wing congress Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:06 PM PDT  German riot police on Saturday briefly detained some 500 protesters as clashes erupted outside a meeting of the right-wing populist AfD party, which is set to adopt an anti-Islamic manifesto amid a rise in European anti-migrant groups. Left-wing demonstrators burned tyres and threw firecrackers as they tried to disrupt the start of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party's weekend congress in the western city of Stuttgart. The AfD gathering comes a week after the far-right Freedom Party's Norbert Hofer sent shock waves through Austria's political establishment by winning the first round of a presidential ballot.
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| Everton beats Bournemouth 2-1 as Martinez faces protests Posted: 30 Apr 2016 01:02 PM PDT  LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Defender Leighton Baines' first goal since 2014 gave Everton a 2-1 victory against Bournemouth in the English Premier League on Saturday but it was not enough to prevent growing opposition to manager Roberto Martinez.
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| Five killed in Texas floods as severe weather lashes central U.S. Posted: 30 Apr 2016 12:59 PM PDT  By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A grandmother and four of her grandchildren were killed and another person missing in floods in Texas caused by storms that unleashed tornadoes, damaging hail and torrential rains on several central U.S. states, officials said on Saturday. The flood victims in Palestine, Texas, 100 miles (160 km)southeast of Dallas, escaped a house where flood waters had reached the roof line and were then swept away by the rushing waters, Palestine police Captain James Muniz said. "I don't recall ever seeing this much water rise so fast and in such a short period of time," Palestine Mayor Bob Herrington said in a statement where he also offered condolences to the family of the five victims.
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| Newcastle beats Palace to keep alive hopes of EPL survival Posted: 30 Apr 2016 12:57 PM PDT  NEWCASTLE, England (AP) — A stunning free kick from Andros Townsend gave Newcastle a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday and boosted its hopes of survival in the English Premier League.
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| Hurricanes thump Lions in Super Rugby, Highlanders beat ACT Posted: 30 Apr 2016 12:53 PM PDT JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Defending champions the Highlanders ended a two-game losing streak to beat the ACT Brumbies and the Hurricanes revived their Super Rugby season with a thumping 50-17 win over the Lions on Saturday. |
| Kenya torches world's biggest ivory bonfire to save elephants Posted: 30 Apr 2016 12:50 PM PDT  Eleven giant pyres of tusks went up in smoke Saturday as Kenya torched its vast ivory stockpile in a grand gesture aimed at shocking the world into stopping the slaughter of elephants. Lighting the fire in Nairobi's national park, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta demanded a total ban on trade in ivory to end the "murderous" trafficking and prevent the extinction of elephants in the wild. "The height of the pile of ivory before us marks the strength of our resolve," Kenyatta said, before thrusting a burning torch onto the ivory.
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| Moqtada al-Sadr: Iraq's powerful unpredictable cleric Posted: 30 Apr 2016 12:46 PM PDT  Moqtada al-Sadr is the scion of an influential clerical family who raised a rebellion after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and has now reinvented himself as a reform champion. Sadr, who has a grey-streaked, bushy black beard and wears the black turban of a "sayyid" or descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, gained widespread popularity in the months after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Sadr's intervention revitalised a moribund pro-reform protest movement, but it has also positioned him to wield a level of direct political influence that he has not had in years.
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| Liberia's Weah back on the pitch after candidacy announcement Posted: 30 Apr 2016 12:41 PM PDT  Two days after announcing a fresh bid to become president of Liberia, ex-football star George Weah sits munching a donut on the concrete steps of a suburban football pitch, barefoot and joking with his friends. "He's a local boy, came from here," says spectator Wilson Toba, looking on as the six-foot (1.84-metre) Weah begins his warm-up, catching the attention of skinny boys leaning on the walls of the stand. Many Liberians still idolise Weah, 49, who announced his intention on Thursday to contest an election to replace President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf next year.
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| Arsenal edges past Norwich in 1-0 win on day of fan protest Posted: 30 Apr 2016 12:38 PM PDT  LONDON (AP) — Substitute Danny Welbeck's second-half goal helped Arsenal to a 1-0 victory Saturday over relegation-threatened Norwich in the Premier League on a day of protests and division among the home fans.
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| Officials: Collapsed Kenyan building had no occupancy permit Posted: 30 Apr 2016 12:34 PM PDT  NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A building that collapsed amid heavy rains in Nairobi, killing at least 12 people and injuring at least 134, did not have an occupancy permit, officials said Saturday as they ordered its owner to turn himself in.
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| Herzog invites Britain's Corbyn to Israel amid anti-Semitism row Posted: 30 Apr 2016 12:33 PM PDT  Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog on Saturday invited Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's Labour party, to visit the Yad Vashem holocaust memorial in Jerusalem amid a row over anti-semitism. Former London mayor Ken Livingstone said on Saturday he regretted the row that has rocked Britain's opposition Labour party, but refused to withdraw comments linking Hitler to Zionism.
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| Puerto Rico police investigate triple killing Posted: 30 Apr 2016 12:29 PM PDT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico police say three senior citizens have been found slain in their home in the west coast town of Cabo Rojo. |
| More than 80% of Syrians live below the poverty line: UN Posted: 30 Apr 2016 12:29 PM PDT  The number of Syrians living below the poverty line has almost tripled after five years of conflict, according to a report published this week. Around 83.4 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line compared with 28 percent in 2010, the report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the University of St Andrews said. An estimated 13.5 million people in Syria needed humanitarian aid by late 2015, and more than 4 million of these were in Damascus and Aleppo provinces.
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