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| U.S. lawmakers, victims pressure GM on recalled vehicles Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 12:43 PM PDT  By Ben Klayman and Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers, seeking to establish who is to blame for at least 13 auto-related deaths over the past decade, challenged General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Tuesday afternoon over the automaker's slow response to defective ignition switches in its cars. Despite tougher laws enacted in 2000 and 2010 to encourage automakers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to aggressively root out safety concerns, it took GM more than 10 years to publicly acknowledge that it had a potentially fatal problem. Since February, GM has recalled 2.6 million vehicles due to concerns about ignition switches that unexpectedly turn off engines during operation and leave airbags, power steering and power brakes inoperable. But sadly, vehicle safety has fallen short," said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan. Full Story | Top |
| NATO suspends cooperation with Russia over Ukraine crisis Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 12:11 PM PDT  By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia on Tuesday in protest at its annexation of Crimea and ordered military planners to draft measures to strengthen its defences and reassure nervous eastern European countries. Foreign ministers from the 28-nation, U.S.-led alliance were meeting for the first time since the Russian occupation of Ukraine's Crimea region touched off the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War. They agreed to "suspend all practical civilian and military cooperation between NATO and Russia". NATO officials said the decision could affect cooperation with Russia on Afghanistan in areas such as training counter-narcotics personnel, maintenance of Afghan air force helicopters and a transit route out of the war-torn country. Full Story | Top |
| Malaysia releases transcript of last words from missing plane Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 03:42 AM PDT  Malaysia on Tuesday released the full transcript of communications between the Boeing 777 and local air traffic control before it dropped from civilian radar in the early hours of March 8 as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. "There is no indication of anything abnormal in the transcript," Malaysian Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said in the statement, without giving explanation for the changes in the reported last communication. "The transcript was initially held as part of the police investigation," he added. Minutes after the final radio transmission was received the plane's communications were cut off and it turned back across Peninsular Malaysia and headed towards the Indian Ocean, according to military radar and limited satellite data. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. factory activity picks up, more gains eyed as winter fades Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 10:42 AM PDT  The Institute for Supply Management said on Tuesday its index of national factory activity rose to 53.7 last month from a reading of 53.2 in February. "It offers an upbeat assessment on manufacturing." Stocks on Wall Street pushed higher on the factory report, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index hitting a record high. Full Story | Top |
| Abbas signs international conventions, jeopardizing peace moves Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 12:25 PM PDT  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed more than a dozen international conventions on Tuesday citing anger at Israel's delay of a prisoner release, in a move jeopardized U.S. efforts to salvage fragile peace talks. His unexpected decision came just a day before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had been due to travel to Ramallah for talks aimed at finalizing a complex, three-way deal that would enable the talks to continue into 2015. Israel had promised in exchange to free more than 100 prisoners by the end of March, but failed to release the final batch, saying it wanted guarantees that the Palestinians would extend the negotiations beyond the April 29 deadline. In his remarks to Palestinian leaders in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Abbas made clear he was not abandoning the negotiations, but blasted Israel's delay in freeing prisoners. Full Story | Top |
| Republican budget proposes deep cuts in domestic programs Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 08:26 AM PDT  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Paul Ryan, the leading Republican voice on budget policy, rolled out a new fiscal blueprint on Tuesday that calls for deep cuts in domestic programs, increased defense spending and a goal of erasing annual deficits in 10 years. Ryan's budget, called the "Path to Prosperity," has almost no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate but is expected to serve as a campaign manifesto for Republicans in November's congressional elections. It proposes to kill President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare reforms and revives cuts in social programs such as the popular Medicare entitlement for the elderly that Ryan, who chairs the House Budget Committee, has proposed in other recent budgets. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt Muslim Brotherhood chief calls Sisi a 'tyrant' Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 10:11 AM PDT  By Samia Nakhoul CAIRO (Reuters) - The top leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood accused Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief widely tipped to become the country's next president, of being a tyrant and predicted he would fail to stay in power. Speaking on Tuesday from a cage in a courtroom where he faces trial for inciting violence, Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie also dismissed accusations by the military-backed government that the group engaged in terrorism. "The people will not accept an army tyrant," Badie said in reference to Sisi, who resigned from the military on Wednesday in order to contest a presidential election on May 26-27. Sisi toppled President Mohamed Mursi, who was freely elected in 2012 after many years rising through the Brotherhood, last July after mass protests against his rule. Full Story | Top |
| West stumbles as autocratic force trumps economics Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 09:15 AM PDT A quarter-century after the fall of the Soviet Union, authoritarian rulers such as Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad are showing they can and will defy international norms, suppress dissent and use military force. American policymakers are struggling with how to respond. "It's a big philosophical question about how to deal with a strong state with anti-Western and autocratic proclivities," said Michael McFaul, the most recent American ambassador to Moscow. "I would say on that score we are kind of confused as a country." Citing the sweeping unpopularity of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, American officials have embraced economic sanctions as their primary means of pressuring foreign governments. Full Story | Top |
| China's Xi seeks peace in Europe but side-steps Ukraine Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 05:30 AM PDT  By Robin Emmott BRUGES, Belgium (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping told Europe on Tuesday that Beijing opposed intervention in other countries' affairs but he declined to directly criticize Russia for its annexation of Crimea. Xi also assured European leaders that China was a close ally committed to the continent's peace and prosperity. Ending his European tour with a speech in the Belgian city of Bruges, Xi said he considered China's relationship with the European Union as Beijing's priority and praised its commitment to a lasting peace that China would also seek to uphold. He said that while the memory of foreign invasion and bullying had never been erased from the minds of the Chinese people, "I have come to Europe to build a bridge across the Eurasian continent." Xi's speech to dignitaries including the Belgian king and prime minister were his only public remarks during three days in Belgium. Full Story | Top |
| Apocalyptic prophecies drive both sides to Syrian battle for end of time Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 07:39 AM PDT  By Mariam Karouny BEIRUT (Reuters) - Conflict in Syria kills hundreds of thousands of people and spreads unrest across the Middle East. If the scenario sounds familiar to an anxious world watching Syria's devastating civil war, it resonates even more with Sunni and Shi'ite fighters on the frontlines - who believe it was all foretold in 7th Century prophecies. Among those many thousands of sayings, or hadith, are accounts which refer to the confrontation of two huge Islamic armies in Syria, a great battle near Damascus, and intervention from the north and west of the country. The power of those prophecies for many fighters on the ground means that the three-year-old conflict is more deeply rooted - and far tougher to resolve - than a simple power struggle between President Bashar al-Assad and his rebel foes. Full Story | Top |
| 'En attendant Godot': Europe waiting for France Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 05:53 AM PDT  By Paul Taylor PARIS (Reuters) - As President Francois Hollande goes through the French mid-term ritual of sacking his government and appointing a new one, promising a dynamic "fresh start" after a local election drubbing, Europe is left as usual waiting for France. Paris' partners in Berlin and Brussels are again wondering whether the French will ever keep their promises to the European Union to curb the budget deficit, reform a rigid economy and step up to the mantle of shared leadership of the euro zone. The Socialist president coupled the appointment of business-friendly centrist Manuel Valls as prime minister on Monday with vague, contradictory promises on taxation and public spending in the euro zone's number two economy. He would cut public spending but also reduce taxes by 2017 - the year when he may seek re-election - and he would also boost purchasing power to provide more social justice. Full Story | Top |
| France's Hollande seeks fresh start as new PM begins work Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 09:18 AM PDT  Francois Hollande launched what he has billed as a fresh start to his unpopular 22-month-old presidency on Tuesday, as new prime minister Manuel Valls took up his post and set about forming a reshuffled government. The 51-year-old centrist, who as tough-talking interior minister has consistently been Hollande's most popular minister in surveys, replaced Jean-Marc Ayrault who quit following the ruling Socialist Party's rout in weekend local elections. While Valls is a public favorite, including with conservative voters, his centrist views make him more controversial with the left wing of the Socialist Party. Speculation has centered on whether Pierre Moscovici will remain in the powerful finance minister's job, while coalition sources have also talked about a possible return to government for Segolene Royal, Hollande's ex-partner and a former Socialist presidential candidate. Full Story | Top |
| Thai anti-government protester killed, rekindling political crisis Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 03:47 AM PDT  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Gunmen opened fire on a group of Thai anti-government protesters driving away from a Bangkok rally on Tuesday, killing one, wounding four and raising tension in a political crisis that has gripped the country for months. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the violence which brought the death toll to 24, with scores wounded, since protesters took to the streets in November in a bid to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office and erase the influence of her brother, ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Yingluck has resisted mounting pressure to step down and her "red shirt" supporters have called for a mass rally in Bangkok on Sunday, raising the risk of further confrontation. One succumbed to a gunshot wound to the head," an official at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Hong Kong, New Zealand investigate banks for alleged FX manipulation Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 03:20 AM PDT  Regulators in Hong Kong and New Zealand said on Tuesday that they are investigating banks' conduct in the foreign exchange market as part of an investigation tied to the global probe into FX markets. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said in a statement after an inquiry from Reuters that it is requiring several banks to conduct independent reviews of their FX divisions and to then send the HKMA the results. "The HKMA is investigating into a number of banks in Hong Kong," an HKMA spokeswoman said in the statement. Full Story | Top |
| Japan relaxes arms export regime to fortify defense Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 01:17 AM PDT  By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Nobuhiro Kubo TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan eased its weapons export restrictions on Tuesday in the first major overhaul of arms transfer policy in nearly half a century, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks to fortify ties with allies and bolster the domestic defense industry. In a move which alarmed China, where bitter memories of Japan's past militarism run deep, the government decided to allow arms exports and participation in joint weapons development and production when they serve international peace and Japan's security. That is a shift from a decades-old policy of banning all weapons exports in principle, although quite a few exceptions to the rule have been made over the years, such as the transfer of arms technology to the United States, Japan's closest ally. "If you live in a closed market like the Japanese defense industry does, you clearly lag behind in technological development." But even under the new regime, Japan is to focus mainly on non-lethal defense gear such as patrol ships and mine detectors and says it has no plan to export such weapons as tanks and fighter jets. Full Story | Top |
| Asia's manufacturing powers stutter, stir talk of policy support Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 03:35 AM PDT  By Adam Rose and Leika Kihara BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) - Asia's major economies finished the first quarter on a weak note with manufacturing surveys in China and Japan fueling expectations that policymakers will be forced to act in coming months to prop up faltering growth. In China, the final Markit/HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) gauge of factory activity, fell to an eight-month low of 48.0 in March. In Japan, the closely watched central bank tankan survey showed business sentiment barely improved in the three months to March and was set to sour this quarter following an increase in sales tax that took effect on Tuesday. Investors are betting China will look to arrest the loss of momentum after what has shaped up to be its worst quarter in five years, by boosting or bringing forward spending on some infrastructure projects. Full Story | Top |
| Apple again seeks decisive U.S. court ruling against Samsung Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 12:47 PM PDT  By Dan Levine SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - An Apple Inc attorney told jurors the company deserves about $2 billion from Samsung for copying the iPhone, but a Samsung lawyer said Apple was merely seeking to make up for losing its lead in the smartphone market. Jurors awarded the iPhone maker about $930 million after a 2012 trial in San Jose, California, but Apple failed to persuade U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh to issue a permanent injunction against the sale of Samsung phones. A sales ban would be a far more serious threat to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which earned $7.7 billion in the quarter that ended in December. Samsung's mobile division, which includes smartphones, generated operating profit of 5.47 trillion won ($5.1 billion). Full Story | Top |
| U.S. ambassador to India resigns after diplomatic row Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 02:10 AM PDT  By Frank Jack Daniel and David Brunnstrom NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to India has resigned following a row over the arrest of a junior Indian diplomat in New York that pushed relations between the world's biggest democracies to their lowest ebb in more than a decade. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf denied on Monday that Nancy Powell's resignation was related to ongoing tensions after the December arrest and subsequent strip search of the Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade. The United States sees India as a natural ally on a range of issues and a potential counterbalance to China in Asia. In 2010, President Barack Obama declared the U.S.-Indian relationship would be "one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century." Trade in goods was $63.7 billion last year, and U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden last year called for that to grow to half a trillion dollars in five years. Full Story | Top |
| Israel may freeze settlement construction for peace talks Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 04:14 AM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton and Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel may impose a partial settlement freeze to keep U.S.-brokered peace talks with the Palestinians alive, an Israeli source close to the negotiations said on Tuesday. The proposed halt to Israeli public construction in the occupied West Bank would be part of a package that includes the release of Jonathan Pollard, an Israeli spy jailed in the United States, and hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel. The source, who is close to talks held on Monday and Tuesday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, said that in return for the Israeli steps, Palestinians would agree to extend the peace talks beyond an April 29 deadline into 2015. Full Story | Top |
| Special Report: The bishop who stood up to China Monday, Mar 31, 2014 06:01 PM PDT  By Sui-Lee Wee SHANGHAI (Reuters) - It was shaping as a win in the Communist Party's quest to contain a longtime nemesis, the Roman Catholic Church. In July 2012, a priest named Thaddeus Ma Daqin was to be ordained auxiliary bishop of Shanghai. The Communist body that has governed the church for six decades had angered the Holy See by appointing bishops without Vatican approval. Known as the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, it was now about to install Ma, one of its own officials, as deputy in China's largest Catholic diocese. Full Story | Top |
| Unidentified drone crashed on South Korean border island: military Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 02:19 AM PDT  An unmanned drone crashed on a South Korean island near a disputed maritime border with North Korea, a South Korean defense ministry official said on Tuesday, triggering an investigation into whether the aircraft was from the North. The drone fell on Baengnyeong island at about 4 p.m. on Monday, when North Korea fired hundreds of artillery rounds in seas close to a disputed maritime line. That triggered a similar show of strength from South Korea. The South Korean military was trying to verify where the drone had come from and what its purpose might have been, and was also looking into any possible link to North Korea's espionage operations, the military official told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Shrine for Washington state mudslide site is considered Tuesday, Apr 01, 2014 10:52 AM PDT  By Eric M. Johnson DARRINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - Survivors of a mudslide that left dozens dead or missing in Washington state said they would like to turn the disaster site into a shrine for the victims once bulldozers clear away the mud and debris. Rescue teams pressed on for an 11th day on Tuesday in their efforts to find more victims of the slide, triggered when a rain-soaked hillside collapsed above the north fork of the Stillaguamish River, northeast of Seattle. The torrent of mud roared over the riverbanks and across state Highway 530, flattening more than two dozen homes on the outskirts of the town of Oso in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office said 19 of the confirmed fatalities have now been identified, including a 4-month-old girl and two children aged 5 and 6. Full Story | Top |
| Congress approves bill to avert Medicare pay cut for doctors Monday, Mar 31, 2014 04:06 PM PDT The U.S. Senate gave final congressional approval on Monday to legislation to avert a pay cut for doctors who participate in the Medicare insurance program for the elderly and disabled. By a vote of 64-35, the Democratic-led Senate sent the measure, approved last week by the Republican-led House of Representatives, to President Barack Obama to sign into law. The bill would give doctors a one-year reprieve from a 24 percent cut set to kick in this week under the Medicare payment formula, known as the Sustainable Growth Rate, or SGR. The payments affect doctors treating patients under Medicare, which pays for healthcare for nearly 51 million people in the United States who are 65 and older or disabled. Full Story | Top |
| JPMorgan fails to end lawsuit over London Whale losses Monday, Mar 31, 2014 03:04 PM PDT  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co must face a lawsuit from shareholders accusing it of securities fraud by misleading them about its ability to manage risk, which surfaced when it lost $6.2 billion in the "London Whale" scandal. U.S. District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan said shareholders could pursue claims that JPMorgan, Chief Executive Jamie Dimon and former Chief Financial Officer Douglas Braunstein knowingly hid the increased risks that the bank's Chief Investment Office had been taking in early 2012. In separate decisions also issued on Monday, the judge also dismissed a lawsuit brought against JPMorgan directors, and a lawsuit by employees over their losses from investing in the bank's stock in their retirement accounts. The $6.2 billion loss was linked to trades by Bruno Iksil, a French national who had worked in a bank office in London. Full Story | Top |
| China factories struggle, adds to expectations for stimulus Monday, Mar 31, 2014 11:36 PM PDT  By Kevin Yao and Adam Rose BEIJING (Reuters) - Persistent weakness in China's manufacturing sector reinforced fears of a sharper-than-expected slowdown at the start of 2014, and some government economists think authorities have already started boosting spending to put a floor under growth. On Tuesday two surveys showed that manufacturing struggled in March, with activity at smaller, private firms contracting for a third month, adding to a run of disappointing data that has sparked speculation of imminent government-led stimulus. "We're still in a subdued part of the cycle," said Louis Kuijs, chief China economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland. "I still don't think the downward pressures are tremendous, but they are large enough for the government to really start to talk about the need to support growth." In March, sources told Reuters the central bank was prepared to loosen monetary policy in order to keep the world's second-biggest economy growing at the government's target rate of 7.5 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Russian prime minister angers Ukraine by visiting Crimea Monday, Mar 31, 2014 05:07 PM PDT  By Darya Korsunskaya SIMFEROPOL, Crimea (Reuters) - Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev flaunted Russia's grip on Crimea by flying to the region and holding a government meeting there on Monday, angering Ukraine and defying Western demands to hand the peninsula back to Kiev. But in a gesture that could ease tension in the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War, Russia pulled some troops back from near Ukraine's eastern frontier - a move the United States said would be a positive sign if it is confirmed as a withdrawal. President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he had ordered a partial drawdown in the region, Merkel's spokesman said. Full Story | Top |
| Yellen takes case for Fed's easy money policies to the public Monday, Mar 31, 2014 02:44 PM PDT  By Jonathan Spicer CHICAGO (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Monday took a page from a politician's playbook to defend the U.S. central bank's easy-money policies, citing the struggles of three Americans in a speech and touring a college workshop to shake hands with students and teachers. It was her first public address since becoming Fed chair two months ago, and the tour of a manufacturing laboratory at Daley College on Chicago's southwest side was her first high-profile effort to lend an empathetic ear to the concerns of Americans five years into a frustratingly slow U.S. recovery from recession. At the lab, Yellen leaned in to watch as Masson Covington, a 29-year-old student, demonstrated how to precision-cut an aluminum bowling pin with a computer-numerical-controlled lathe. But behind the polite questions about course studies and job prospects, the trip around Chicago may have been as much about protecting the central bank's cherished independence from political interference. Full Story | Top |
| Senate advances bill to renew jobless benefits Monday, Mar 31, 2014 04:19 PM PDT  The Democratic-led U.S. Senate agreed by a voice vote on Monday to begin debate on a bipartisan bill to renew expired jobless benefits for 2.2 million Americans. The action cleared a second Republican procedural roadblock in as many weeks and moved the bill toward anticipated Senate passage later this week. But the White House-backed measure is expected to die when it reaches the Republican-led House of Representatives. House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, has called the bill "unworkable," citing concerns by state administrators. Full Story | Top |
| Lawmakers probing why GM employees approved switches Monday, Mar 31, 2014 04:26 PM PDT  By Ben Klayman, Paul Lienert and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional probe is focusing on why General Motors Co employees repeatedly approved substandard ignition switches linked to at least 13 fatalities, as the automaker on Monday announced another major recall, this time related to power steering issues. On the eve of a high-profile hearing before a House of Representatives panel, GM said it is recalling more than 1.5 million additional vehicles globally. The Detroit-based automaker says it is taking an aggressive stance on safety issues, after coming under intense criticism for waiting more than a decade to recall millions of cars with potentially faulty ignition switches. On Monday, Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee released details of some of the more than 200,000 pages of documents they have received from GM and a federal regulator. Full Story | Top |
| Kerry returns to Middle East to push flailing peace talks Monday, Mar 31, 2014 03:27 PM PDT  By Lesley Wroughton and Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry rushed back to the Middle East on Monday to try to salvage stalled peace talks, possibly by releasing an Israeli spy jailed in the United States to push Israel to free Palestinian prisoners. Requesting anonymity, a U.S. official said the release of Jonathan Pollard, who is serving a life sentence in the United States for spying for Israel, was "on the table" as a possible element in a Middle East peace deal as an incentive to Israel. Kerry, who flew to Israel from Paris, held two-hour talks in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. ambassador to India resigns after diplomatic row Monday, Mar 31, 2014 02:59 PM PDT  By Frank Jack Daniel and David Brunnstrom NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to India has resigned following a row over the arrest of a junior Indian diplomat in New York that pushed relations between the world's biggest democracies to their lowest ebb in more than a decade. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf denied on Monday that Nancy Powell's resignation was related to ongoing tensions after the December arrest and subsequent strip search of the Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade. The United States sees India as a natural ally on a range of issues and a potential counterbalance to China in Asia. In 2010, President Barack Obama declared that the U.S.-Indian relationship would be "one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century." Trade in goods was $63.7 billion last year, and U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden last year called for that to grow to half a trillion dollars in five years. Full Story | Top |
| Russian prime minister angers Ukraine by visiting Crimea Monday, Mar 31, 2014 01:24 PM PDT  By Darya Korsunskaya SIMFEROPOL, Crimea (Reuters) - Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev flaunted Russia's grip on Crimea by flying to the region and holding a government meeting there on Monday, angering Ukraine and defying Western demands to hand the peninsula back to Kiev. But in a gesture that could ease tension in the worst East-West stand-off since the Cold War, Russia pulled some troops back from near Ukraine's eastern frontier - a move which the United States said would be a positive sign if it is confirmed as a withdrawal. President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he had ordered a partial drawdown in the region, Merkel's spokesman said. Full Story | Top |
| Australia PM vows to continue hunt for missing Malaysia plane Monday, Mar 31, 2014 02:58 PM PDT By Michael Martina PERTH (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 had no time limit, despite the failure of an international operation to find any sign of the plane in three weeks of fruitless searching. A total of 20 aircraft and ships were again scouring a massive area in the Indian Ocean some 2,000 km (1,200 miles) west of Perth, where investigators believe the Boeing 777 carrying 239 people came down. Some families have strongly criticized Malaysia's handling of the search and investigation, including the decision last week to say that, based on satellite evidence, the plane had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean on March 8. Abbott rejected suggestions his Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak, had been too hasty to break that news, given that no confirmed wreckage from the plane has been found and its last sighting on radar was northwest of Malaysia heading towards India. Full Story | Top |
| North, South Korea trade artillery rounds into the sea: Seoul Monday, Mar 31, 2014 02:58 PM PDT By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired more than 100 artillery rounds into South Korean waters as part of a drill on Monday, prompting the South to fire back, officials in Seoul said, but the exercise appeared to be more saber-rattling from Pyongyang rather than the start of a military standoff. The North had flagged its intentions to conduct the exercise in response to U.N. condemnation of last week's missile launches by Pyongyang and against what it says are threatening military drills in the South by U.S. forces. ... Full Story | Top |
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