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| Mediator heads to east Ukraine, seeking surrenders Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 11:12 AM PDT  By Alastair Macdonald and Aleksandar Vasovic KIEV/DONETSK (Reuters) - A mediator from Europe's OSCE security body headed to eastern Ukraine on Saturday seeking the surrender of pro-Russian separatists as the Kiev government declared an Easter truce following a peace accord with Moscow. Gunmen occupying public buildings in Donetsk and other Russian-speaking border towns refuse to recognize an accord in Geneva on Thursday by which Russia, Ukraine and Kiev's U.S. and EU allies agreed that the OSCE should oversee the disarmament of militants and the evacuation of occupied facilities and streets. Full Story | Top |
| Sunken Korea ferry relatives give DNA swabs to help identify dead Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 04:06 AM PDT  By Ju-min Park and Jungmin Jang JINDO/MOKPO, South Korea (Reuters) - Some relatives of the more than 200 children missing in a sunken South Korean ferry offered DNA swabs on Saturday to help identify the dead as the rescue turned into a mission to recover the vessel and the bodies of those on board. The Sewol, carrying 476 passengers and crew, capsized on Wednesday on a journey from the port of Incheon to the southern holiday island of Jeju. The 69-year-old captain, Lee Joon-seok, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday on charges of negligence along with two other crew members, including the third mate who was steering at the time of the capsize. Full Story | Top |
| In Damascus, Christians briefly ignore war for Easter Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 06:30 AM PDT  The sound of battles echoes from the outskirts of the capital as Christians in Damascus celebrated the Easter weekend, briefly ignoring the conflict for the yearly ritual. At the gates of Saint George Syrian Orthodox Church - just a few minutes walk from a school where a mortar attack killed several children and injured dozens earlier this week - incense was burning as several uniformed and armed men stood patrol before Good Friday evening services. Inside the ancient city walls of the Old City where the church is located, the cobbled streets bustled with evening shoppers and diners, a rare sight reminiscent of pre-war Damascus. Christians, many belonging to ancient denominations found only in Syria, form about 10 percent of the country's population. Full Story | Top |
| New militant group claims responsibility for Friday blast in Cairo Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 08:06 AM PDT  The Egyptian militant group Ajnad Misr claimed responsibility on Saturday for a blast that killed one police officer in Cairo. The bomb exploded in Cairo's Lebanon Square on Friday night, killing the officer and wounding another. Ajnad Misr, or Soldiers of Egypt, said in a statement on an Islamist website that its militants had monitored a police checkpoint in the square before detonating the bomb. It has claimed at least six attacks since then, including explosions outside Cairo University which killed a police brigadier-general and one other person earlier this month. Full Story | Top |
| Death toll climbs to at least 13 in worst tragedy on Everest Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 05:11 AM PDT  By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Rescuers recovered the body of one mountain guide on Saturday after an ice avalanche swept the lower slopes of Mount Everest, bringing the death toll to at least 13 in the deadliest accident on the world's highest mountain. The avalanche struck a perilous passage called the Khumbu Icefall, which is riddled with crevasses and piled with serac - or huge chunks of ice - that can break free without warning. "We were tied on a rope and carrying gas to camp when there was a sudden hrrrr sound," said Ang Kami Sherpa, 25, one of at least three survivors flown by helicopter to Kathmandu. Some climbers are packing up and calling it quits, they want nothing to do with this," Tim Rippel of Peak Freaks Expeditions wrote in a blog. Full Story | Top |
| High stakes as restive Benghazi votes in Libyan local polls Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 12:32 PM PDT  Libyan voters went to the polls on Saturday to elect municipal council members in 15 cities, including Benghazi, the country's second city, which is seeking greater autonomy for the eastern seaboard region. Benghazi has until now had only an interim council with piecemeal funding from central government, but the election is meant to pave the way for fuller and more regular allocations, potentially improving the volatile city's relationship with Tripoli. Militias in Libya have become increasingly powerful and violent. In Libya's eastern cities, mainly Benghazi and Derna, around 200 people have been killed since early 2013, according to activists and local army officials. Full Story | Top |
| France's oldest nuclear plant shut down after incident but no danger posed - EDF Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 10:43 AM PDT France's oldest nuclear power plant, Fessenheim, was shut down on Saturday following an incident at the facility away from the reactor which did not pose any danger, operator EDF said. The accidental closing of a valve controlling the steam supply to the turbine generator automatically shut down Fessenheim's reactor 2. Technicians were working on the issue and a restart date had yet to be determined, an EDF spokeswoman told Reuters. Fessenheim's reactor 1, the oldest in France, has been inactive since April 9 when a leak was detected in a water supply pipe. Full Story | Top |
| Current underwater search for Malaysia plane could end within a week Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 01:03 AM PDT  By Matt Siegel and Byron Kaye SYDNEY/PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - The current underwater search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, focused on a tight 10 km (6.2 mile) circle of the sea floor, could be completed within a week, Australian search officials said on Saturday. Malaysia said the search was at a "very critical juncture" and asked for prayers for its success. A U.S. Navy deep-sea autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is scouring a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean floor for signs of the plane, which disappeared from radars on March 8 with 239 people on board. "Provided the weather is favorable for launch and recovery of the AUV and we have a good run with the serviceability of the AUV, we should complete the search of the focused underwater area in five to seven days," the Joint Agency Coordination Centre told Reuters in an email. Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian court jails Muslim Brotherhood leader for insulting judiciary Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 10:23 AM PDT An Egyptian court sentenced a leading figure of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed El-Beltagy, to one year in prison on Saturday for insulting the judiciary, the first sentence handed to a leader of the organization since it was outlawed last year, security and judicial sources said. Beltagy is standing trial along with former president Mohamed Mursi and 13 other Muslim Brotherhood leaders on charges of inciting the killing of protesters outside the presidential palace during unrest in late 2012. Saturday's sentence was for a separate charge of insulting the judiciary during the hearing after Beltagy accused the prosecution of colluding against Muslim Brotherhood leaders. "The court has decided to imprison the accused, Mohamed El-Beltagy, for one year on charges of insulting the judiciary," a senior court official said. Full Story | Top |
| Special Report: How the U.S. made its Putin problem worse Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 04:07 AM PDT  By David Rohde and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON AND NEW YORK (Reuters) - In September 2001, as the U.S. reeled from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Vladimir Putin supported Washington's imminent invasion of Afghanistan in ways that would have been inconceivable during the Cold War. He agreed that U.S. planes carrying humanitarian aid could fly through Russian air space. He said the U.S. military could use airbases in former Soviet republics in Central Asia. And he ordered his generals to brief their U.S. counterparts on their own ill-fated 1980s occupation of Afghanistan. Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian leftist politician submits bid to run for president Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 02:27 AM PDT  Leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi officially submitted his bid on Saturday to run for Egypt's presidency, making him the second candidate for next month's election alongside former army-chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who is widely expected to win. Sabahi, who heads a political alliance called the Popular Current, was a member of parliament during ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak's years in office and came third in the 2012 election that was won by Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Full Story | Top |
| Two killed in Bahrain car explosion Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 07:48 AM PDT Two people were killed and one wounded when a car blew up in a mainly Shi'ite village in Bahrain on Saturday, and the interior ministry said there were signs the vehicle had been carrying explosives. Sunni-ruled Bahrain has been hit by several small bombings in recent weeks as the kingdom struggles to end simmering unrest among its Shi'ite Muslim majority, which rose up unsuccessfully in an Arab Spring-inspired revolt in 2011. Full Story | Top |
| Air strike kills 10 al Qaeda militants, three civilians in Yemen: Saba Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 11:48 AM PDT By Mohamed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) - An air strike killed 10 al Qaeda militants in central Yemen on Saturday after an intelligence report said they were planning attacks on civil and military targets in al-Bayda province, the state news agency Saba said. Saba quoted an official source in the High Security Committee as saying that the strike hit the militants, described as "among the dangerous and leading elements of al Qaeda", in a car as they were on their way to the central province. Ten al Qaeda militants were killed and one was wounded, the source said, while three civilians were also killed and five were wounded because they happened to be in a nearby vehicle. "This happened after security bodies received confirmed intelligence information about the presence of a car with 11 terrorist elements on board who were planning to target vital civil and military institutions in al-Bayda province," Saba cited the source as saying. Full Story | Top |
| Kidnapped French journalists found on Turkey's Syrian border Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 02:38 AM PDT  Four French journalists held hostage in Syria since June were found by Turkish soldiers on its border with Syria on Saturday, Turkish media reported, and French President Francois Hollande said the four were in good health. Nicolas Henin, Pierre Torres, Edouard Elias and Didier Francois were found in Sanliurfa province blindfolded with their hands bound, Dogan News Agency said. Dogan said the journalists had been kidnapped by the rebel group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) but that an unknown group brought the journalists to the Turkish border on Friday night. Full Story | Top |
| Obama signs law to bar Iran diplomat from serving in U.N. post Friday, Apr 18, 2014 01:53 PM PDT  President Barack Obama signed a law on Friday that effectively bars an Iranian diplomat from serving as an envoy at the United Nations because of suspicions he was involved in the 1979-81 Tehran hostage crisis. Obama signed a law passed by the U.S. Congress that blocks any individual from entering the United States who has been found to have been engaged in espionage or terrorist activity against the United States or if that person may pose a threat to U.S. national security. The United States had already said it would not grant a visa to Iran's proposed U.N. ambassador, citing the envoy's links to the 1979-1981 hostage crisis. Full Story | Top |
| Powerful earthquake rattles Mexico, shakes buildings Friday, Apr 18, 2014 04:51 PM PDT By Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake shook Mexico on Friday, damaging more than 100 homes in the southwestern state of Guerrero and opening cracks in some buildings but there were no reports of deaths. Striking close to the popular beach resort of Acapulco, the 7.2 magnitude quake sent people scurrying out of homes and hotels, causing brief panic from the Pacific coast to states in central and eastern parts of Mexico. At least 127, mostly adobe homes were damaged in Guerrero. Some people in Mexico City fled homes in panic when the quake hit. Full Story | Top |
| Obama-Abe summit to aid trade talks, not seal deal: U.S. official Friday, Apr 18, 2014 03:48 PM PDT  By Krista Hughes and Kaori Kaneko WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) - Next week's meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a good opportunity to give impetus to Pacific trade negotiations but will not seal a deal, a senior U.S. administration official said on Friday. Talks between the United States and Japan seen as vital to a broader regional trade pact had narrowed to a few critical areas and will resume again on Monday, officials of both countries said, as negotiators hustle to prepare for Thursday's summit. Breaking a U.S.-Japan deadlock over access to Japan's farm and auto markets is seen as key to finalising the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade bloc that would stretch from Asia to Latin America. When the leaders meet, they are likely to review progress so far on the trade talks and give some impetus to negotiators to move on to the next stage, the senior official said. Full Story | Top |
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