| Putin says Russians to start withdrawing from Syria, as peace talks resume Posted: 14 Mar 2016 04:18 PM PDT By Denis Dyomkin and Suleiman Al-Khalidi MOSCOW/GENEVA (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin announced out of the blue on Monday that "the main part" of Russian armed forces in Syria would start to withdraw, telling his diplomats to step up the push for peace as U.N.-mediated talks resumed on ending the five-year-old war. Damascus rejected any suggestion of a rift with Moscow, saying President Bashar al-Assad had agreed on the "reduction" of Russian forces in a telephone call with Putin. Western diplomats speculated that Putin may be trying to press Assad into accepting a political settlement to the war, which has killed 250,000 people, although U.S. officials saw no sign yet of Russian forces preparing to pull out. |
| North Korea leader says will soon conduct nuclear warhead test: KCNA Posted: 14 Mar 2016 04:12 PM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would soon conduct a nuclear warhead test and test launch ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the official KCNA news agency reported on Tuesday. Kim made the comments as he supervised a successful simulated test of atmospheric re-entry of a ballistic missile that measured the "thermodynamic structural stability of newly-developed heat-resisting materials," KCNA said. "Declaring that a nuclear warhead explosion test and a test-fire of several kinds of ballistic rockets able to carry nuclear warheads will be conducted in a short time to further enhance the reliance of nuclear attack capability, he (Kim) instructed the relevant section to make prearrangement for them to the last detail," the agency said.
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| Islamic State operative, wounded in U.S. air strike in Syria, dies: CNN Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:52 PM PDT  Senior Islamic State operative Omar al-Shishani, who was wounded in a U.S. air strike last week in Syria, has died, CNN reported on Monday, citing two unnamed U.S. officials. Shishani, also known as Omar the Chechen and described by the Pentagon as the group's "minister of war," was targeted near the town of al-Shadadi in Syria, U.S. officials told Reuters last week. Shishani had been badly wounded but not killed and had been moved to Islamic State's base of operations in Raqqa for treatment, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said last week.
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| Turkish warplanes strike Iraq after Ankara bombing blamed on Kurdish militants Posted: 14 Mar 2016 12:12 PM PDT  By Orhan Coskun ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes struck Kurdish militant camps in northern Iraq on Monday, a day after 37 people were killed in an Ankara car bombing that security officials said involved two fighters - one female - from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Sunday's attack, tearing through a crowded transport hub a few hundred meters from the Justice and Interior Ministries, was the second such strike at the administrative heart of the Turkish capital in under a month.
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| Islamic State fighter from U.S. in custody in Iraq Posted: 14 Mar 2016 02:57 PM PDT By Isabel Coles ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - An American fighting for Islamic State was taken into custody in northern Iraq after he left territory controlled by the militant group, according to two Kurdish officers, one of whom arrested him. Both said it appeared the man was intending to escape both Islamic State and Kurdish forces but handed himself in after peshmerga fighters opened fire on him near the frontline in the village of Golat. Captain Daham Khalaf said they had spotted the fighter hiding in long grass around dawn and waited until the sun rose before surrounding him: "He shouted 'I am a foreigner'," Khalaf said, describing him as bearded and dressed in black. |
| U.S. vows to push for U.N. action on Iran despite Russian opposition Posted: 14 Mar 2016 10:52 AM PDT  By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Monday vowed to continue pushing for United Nations Security Council action on Iran's recent ballistic missile tests and accused Russia of looking for reasons not to respond to Iranian violations of a U.N. resolution. "This merits a council response," U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power told reporters after a closed-door meeting of the 15-nation Security Council convened at Washington's request. "Russia seems to be lawyering its way to look for reasons not to act," she said.
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| Putin orders withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria as peace talks start Posted: 14 Mar 2016 04:43 PM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced the withdrawal of Moscow's forces from Syria in a shock move as fresh peace talks began in Geneva. The Kremlin said Putin had called Assad to inform Moscow's long-standing ally of the move that appears to end the main part of its controversial bombing campaign that began in September. "The task that was set before our defence ministry and armed forces has as a whole been completed and so I order the defence ministry to from tomorrow start the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingents from the Syrian Arab Republic," Putin told Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in televised comments.
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| Al Qaeda gunmen drank in bar before unleashing Ivory Coast attack Posted: 14 Mar 2016 04:41 PM PDT  By Joe Bavier GRAND BASSAM, Ivory Coast (Reuters) - Gunmen from al Qaeda's North African branch drank beer at a beachside bar before launching a shooting rampage at an Ivory Coast resort town that left at least 18 people dead, the group's third major attack in West Africa in four months. Sunday's raid, details of which are beginning to emerge in witness and official accounts, was the furthest yet from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's (AQIM) traditional desert base, a worrying indication of the militants' growing reach. The attack raised questions about Ivory Coast's preparedness for such an attack, with some asking why such a sensitive target was left so vulnerable.
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| White House hopefuls in last push before 'Super Tuesday 2' Posted: 14 Mar 2016 04:38 PM PDT  Youngstown (United States) (AFP) - The six remaining White House hopefuls made a frantic push for votes Monday on the eve of make-or-break nominating contests, with Donald Trump's Republican rivals desperate to bar his path after a weekend of violence on the campaign trail.
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| Two former Flint officials blame state and feds for water crisis Posted: 14 Mar 2016 04:37 PM PDT  The former mayor and former emergency manager of Flint both blamed the dangerously high lead levels in the city's water on state and federal officials, according to testimony released on Monday that is to be delivered at a hearing in Washington this week. Former Mayor Dayne Walling and former emergency manager Darnell Earley, who was appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, are among witnesses who will testify at two days of hearings by the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The water crisis has drawn national attention and led to heavy criticism of Snyder, with some voters mounting a petition drive to have him recalled.
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| The Latest: UN council says Russia out of Syria is positive Posted: 14 Mar 2016 04:33 PM PDT  GENEVA (AP) — The Latest on Syrian peace talks that resumed in Geneva on Monday (all times local):
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| Puerto Rico officials find 7 tourists lost in popular forest Posted: 14 Mar 2016 04:28 PM PDT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Rescue crews in Puerto Rico say they have found seven tourists who got lost in a popular tropical forest on the island's northeastern corner. It is the second such rescue at El Yunque in less than a week. |
| In secret meetings, Taliban rejected Pakistan pressure on peace process Posted: 14 Mar 2016 04:17 PM PDT  By Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Jibran Ahmed ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani officials threatened to expel Afghanistan's Taliban from bases in Pakistan if they did not join peace talks this month, but the militants rebuffed their traditional patron, two officials said, casting doubt on how much influence Islamabad retains over them. After the secret meetings with Pakistani officials about two weeks ago, the Taliban's Supreme Council met at an undisclosed location and voted to reject the talks scheduled for early March with the Afghan government, according to a council member. Instead, the insurgents are now pouring back into Afghanistan for what they say will be a fierce spring offensive to be launched soon. Pakistan's influence over the insurgents is the lynchpin to the peace plan developed over last few months by Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China to bring an end to the 15-year-old war in Afghanistan.
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| IS commander 'Omar the Chechen' dead, US confirms Posted: 14 Mar 2016 04:10 PM PDT  A top Islamic State group commander known as "Omar the Chechen" is dead after suffering injuries in a US-led coalition strike in northeastern Syria, the Pentagon confirmed Monday. The announcement would appear to clear up the fate of the notorious Omar al-Shishani, a week after a US official said the most-wanted militant had been targeted in a March 4 attack on the jihadist's convoy. "We believe he subsequently died of his injuries," Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told AFP.
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| Brazil has its 3rd justice minister in 2 weeks Posted: 14 Mar 2016 04:01 PM PDT RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Embattled Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has appointed a new justice minister, the third in only two weeks. |
| N. Korea leader says nuclear warhead re-entry test a success Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:46 PM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said the country has successfully lab-tested a nuclear warhead re-entry, as he ordered upcoming warhead detonation and ballistic missile tests, just weeks after being slapped with tough, new UN sanctions. The test had provided a "sure guarantee for the reliability of the inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) warhead re-entry," Kim was quoted as saying by the North's official KCNA news agency on Tuesday. A proven ability to build a warhead capable of standing the intense heat and vibration of atmospheric re-entry would be a major step-up in North Korea's nuclear strike capability, comprising a clear threat to the US mainland.
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| Okazaki overhead kick sees leader Leicester beat Newcastle Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:40 PM PDT  LEICESTER, England (AP) — Shinji Okazaki's overhead kick gave leader Leicester a 1-0 victory over Rafa Benitez's Newcastle on Monday, a goal as spectacular as his team's improbable Premier League title challenge.
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| Lebanon: Missiles on Serbian flight were for training Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:39 PM PDT  BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Two U.S.-bound missiles found on a passenger flight from Lebanon to Serbia were used for training and did not contain any explosives, the Lebanese army said Monday. Serbian investigators remain unconvinced, saying police found traces of suspected explosive materials on the cargo.
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| Slovakia's Fico inches closer to clinching third term as PM Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:38 PM PDT  Slovakia's leftist Premier Robert Fico inched closer to forging a governing coalition Monday, after marathon talks with three right-wing and centrist parties resulted in a "complete proposal of programme priorities" and further negotiations. "Our negotiations were difficult... But we didn't come across questions or topics that would definitively divide us," Fico told reporters after eight hours of discussions with prospective coalition partners. The four parties agreed to meet again on Tuesday afternoon, Fico added.
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| Mexico nabs alleged cartel leader tied to border shootouts Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:35 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — A suspected drug cartel boss linked to a string of deadly weekend gunbattles in a northern border city was arrested at a horse-race track in the capital, Mexican officials said Monday. |
| Migrants scramble for way past EU's closed Balkan door Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:33 PM PDT  Hundreds of desperate migrants were stopped by Macedonian troops Monday after wading thigh-deep through a surging river to cross the border from Greece, where thousands have been left stranded after Balkan states slammed Europe's migrant door shut. The migrants, who had set off from an overcrowded refugee camp on the Greek side, clung perilously to a rope strung between the banks to cross north into Macedonia, bypassing the closed regular border crossing. About 20 journalists who had followed the migrants from the Idomeni migrant camp were taken to a police station in Gevgelija, just over the border in Macedonia.
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| Okazaki upstages Benitez as Leicester march on Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:30 PM PDT  Shinji Okazaki's stunning goal upstaged new Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez as Leicester City reasserted a five-point lead in the Premier League with a tight 1-0 victory on Monday. Benitez was taking charge of Newcastle for the first time since being appointed as the successor to the sacked Steve McClaren on a three-year contract, but it was Japan international Okazaki, 29, who stole the headlines with an acrobatic 25th-minute overhead kick.
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| Brazil's largest party closer to backing impeachment after protests Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:23 PM PDT  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Record protests against President Dilma Rousseff have all but guaranteed her impeachment by pushing hesitant lawmakers from Brazil's biggest party now to favor her ouster, party sources said on Monday. The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), the biggest partner in Rousseff's governing coalition, is poised to vote against her in ongoing proceedings in Congress to impeach the president, who is beset by a corruption scandal and an economy suffering its worst recession in decades. Massive turnout for nationwide protests on Sunday, three senior party sources said, tipped the balance within the PMDB.
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| Slovak PM Fico says closer to forming coalition government Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:21 PM PDT  By Tatiana Jancarikova BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico moved closer on Monday to breaking an election stalemate after agreeing a draft of priorities for a new governing program in coalition talks with rival parties. Eight parties won seats in a March 5 election in which Fico's leftist Smer party garnered the most votes but lost its parliamentary majority, leaving the two-time prime minister with a tough task in forming a coalition among opposition factions. Fico's odds improved over the weekend when centrist party Siet (Net) and another opposition party, Most-Hid (Bridge), agreed to negotiate with him, reversing their earlier opposition.
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| Vatican prelate admits leaks; says woman 'spy' intimidated him Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:07 PM PDT  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A Vatican prelate on Monday admitted in court he had leaked confidential documents to the media and said he had been manipulated into it by a woman co-defendant who claimed she was a spy. After an adjournment of more than three months, Spanish Monsignor Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda was questioned at the resumption of the so-called "Vatileaks II" trial. Vallejo and four other people are on trial in the case, which centers on the publication last year of two books based on leaked documents that depict a Vatican plagued by graft and where Pope Francis faces stiff resistance to his agenda.
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| Australian broadcaster says Malaysia won't charge reporters Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:04 PM PDT CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian state broadcaster said Malaysian authorities have decided against charging two Australian journalists who attempted to interview the Malaysian prime minister over corruption allegations. |
| Niger court refuses to free jailed presidential hopeful before run-off Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:04 PM PDT  A Niger appeals court on Monday rejected a demand to release jailed presidential candidate Hama Amadou before a run-off vote on March 20, saying it would only rule on the case a week later. Amadou's lawyer Souley Oumarou told reporters that the court, which had been due to rule on a conditional release on Monday, said it would only deliver its verdict on March 28, eight days after the run-off vote. The court will also decide on March 23 if Amadou, who received medical treatment last week for eye problems, will go on trial.
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| Own goal by 10-man Granada gifts Espanyol a 1-1 draw Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:04 PM PDT MADRID (AP) — A late defensive blunder saw 10-man Granada gift Espanyol a 1-1 draw in the Spanish league on Monday. |
| US and Russia sharply divided over Iran missile tests Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:01 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States insisted Monday that Iran's test-firing of two ballistic missiles last week was in defiance of a U.N. resolution, but Russia said the launches were not a violation. |
| Obama, Putin discuss Syria crisis: White House Posted: 14 Mar 2016 03:00 PM PDT U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by phone on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the crisis in Syria and Putin's announcement of a partial withdrawal of Russian forces, the White House said in a statement. Obama welcomed the reduction in violence since the beginning of the cessation of hostilities, but he stressed that continuing offensive actions by Syrian government forces risk undermining peace efforts, the statement said. Obama also noted some progress on humanitarian assistance efforts in Syria and emphasized the need for Syrian government forces to allow unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance, the White House said. |
| Suspended U.N. diplomat to plead guilty in U.S. bribery case Posted: 14 Mar 2016 02:58 PM PDT  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A suspended deputy United Nations ambassador from the Dominican Republic accused of participating in a scheme to bribe a former U.N. General Assembly president is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday, according to a court filing. Francis Lorenzo, 48, is scheduled to appear in Manhattan federal court for a plea hearing, according to a docket entry on Monday. "Ambassador Lorenzo is remorseful and has chosen to accept full responsibility for his participation in his criminal conduct with his co-defendants," said Brian Bieber, Lorenzo's lawyer.
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| Israel says not convinced by 'logic' of French peace initiative Posted: 14 Mar 2016 02:55 PM PDT  By Ori Lewis JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said it was struggling to "understand the logic" of a French peace initiative favored by the Palestinians after Israeli foreign ministry officials met with a French envoy in Jerusalem on Monday. France is lobbying for an international peace conference before May that would outline incentives and give guarantees for Israelis and Palestinians to resume face-to-face talks before August and try to end a decades-long conflict. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has welcomed the initiative and the international support it would bring but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has voiced opposition and has insisted on direct talks between the parties without pre-conditions and prefers less international involvement.
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| Missing Venezuela miners' bodies found Posted: 14 Mar 2016 02:54 PM PDT  The bodies of four missing miners have been found in a mass grave in Venezuela, and up to 24 co-workers may be buried with them, officials said Monday. Family members say the 28 miners failed to return home from their shifts on March 4, and reports soon emerged that they had been gunned down by attackers trying to take over their small-scale gold mine. At this moment there's a team of experts at the scene exhuming the remains," Attorney General Luisa Ortega told TV network Globovision.
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| Putin, Obama hold phone call on Syria crisis: Kremlin Posted: 14 Mar 2016 02:50 PM PDT Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama discussed the Syria crisis by phone on Monday, the Kremlin said in a statement. Putin told Obama Russian forces would begin to withdraw from Syria, having completed their "main tasks" in the fight against terrorism. "The presidents called for an intensification of the process for a political settlement to the Syria conflict, and voiced their support for the U.N. talks starting in Geneva between the Syrian government and opposition," the Kremlin said. |
| Rousseff in survival mode after historic Brazil protests Posted: 14 Mar 2016 02:47 PM PDT  Brazil's leftist President Dilma Rousseff huddled with cabinet ministers Monday after mass demonstrations calling for her resignation pushed Latin America's biggest country further into crisis. Between one and three million people flooded the streets of Sao Paulo, Rio, Brasilia and some 400 other cities, according to conflicting data. Turnout in Sao Paulo was estimated at 500,000 by the research center Datafolha and 1.4 million by the Sao Paulo military police.
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| Brazil's Petrobras corruption: a multi-layered scandal Posted: 14 Mar 2016 02:39 PM PDT  The Petrobras corruption scandal rocking Brazil could see iconic leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva end up behind bars -- and even help bring down his successor President Dilma Rousseff. Here is a look at how the mega-scandal has plunged Brazil into instability, with more to come. What's Petrobras and what happened?
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| European, Russian space agencies launch mission to Mars Posted: 14 Mar 2016 02:37 PM PDT  DARMSTADT, Germany (AP) — Europe and Russia launched a joint mission Monday to explore the atmosphere of Mars and hunt for signs of life on the red planet.
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