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| Kidnapped Uzbek doctor freed in northern Yemen: local official Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 12:44 PM PDT An Uzbek doctor kidnapped in northern Yemen last week has been freed, a provincial official said on Saturday. Kidnapping is common in U.S.-allied Yemen, where the government is struggling with an array of security problems: an insurgency by Islamists linked to al Qaeda, a southern separatist movement, fighting in the country's north, and sporadic conflicts with armed tribes. On Saturday an air strike killed 10 al Qaeda militants and three civilians in central Yemen. Full Story | Top |
| Two killed by bomb inside Bahrain car: ministry Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 12:41 PM PDT  Two people were killed in a car that blew up in a mainly Shi'ite village in Bahrain on Saturday, and the interior ministry said the initial investigation showed that a homemade bomb had detonated inside the vehicle. 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. A third person was wounded and was being treated in hospital for second-degree burns, the statement said, citing the health ministry. Bahrain's Shi'ites want political reforms and an end to alleged discrimination against them, which the government denies. 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Eighty percent of Syrian chemical weapons shipped out: monitors Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 11:01 AM PDT Syria has shipped out or destroyed approximately 80 percent of its declared chemical weapons material, the head of the international team overseeing the disarmament process said on Saturday. Sigrid Kaag, special coordinator of the joint mission of the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said if the momentum was sustained, Syria should be able to meet its April 27 deadline to hand over all declared chemical agents. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed with the United States and Russia to dispose of the chemical weapons - an arsenal which Damascus had never formally acknowledged - after hundreds of people were killed in a sarin gas attack on the outskirts of the capital last August. The government blamed the rebel side in Syria's civil war, which is now in its fourth year. Full Story | Top |
| Italy gives wife, daughter of wanted Kazakh banker refugee status Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 10:23 AM PDT  The wife and daughter of a Kazakh tycoon who is wanted in three countries for alleged fraud have been granted refugee status in Italy, their lawyer said on Friday. Lawyer Anton Giulio Lana said in a statement that an Interior Ministry committee had granted Alma Shalabayeva and daughter Alua a five-year, renewable permit of stay. Shalabayeva is the wife of oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov, a political adversary of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev who has ruled for more than two decades and tolerates no dissent. Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan have laid charges against Ablyazov. 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 |
| Strong 7.5 magnitude quake hits off Papua New Guinea Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 08:05 AM PDT (Reuters) - An earthquake with a magnitude 7.5 struck off Papua New Guinea on Saturday and a tsunami warning was briefly issued for the Pacific Island nation and neighboring Solomon Islands, but there were no immediate reports of damage. The quake, at a depth of 10 km (6 miles), struck 68 km southwest of Panguna on the island of Bougainville, the U.S. Geological Survey said, revising down the magnitude from an initial 7.8. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later cancelled a tsunami warning for Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and there was no threat to neighboring Australia or across the Pacific Ocean. At least six strong tremors have hit near Bougainville in the past week or so, including a magnitude 7.3 on April 11, but there have been no reports of major damage. Full Story | Top |
| Iran says plane at airport leased to Ghana after U.S.-flagged plane sighting Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 08:04 AM PDT Iran says that a plane which landed in Tehran airport flying the American flag was leased to Ghana's presidential office and carrying a business delegation from the West African nation. The New York Times reported on Thursday that a plane owned by the Bank of Utah was parked in Mehrabad Airport in Tehran on Tuesday. Its presence was noteworthy as the United States and Iran have been at loggerheads for decades and the Islamic Republic is subject to economic sanctions. A State Department spokeswoman said on Friday these sanctions "generally prohibit" U.S.-registered aircraft from flying to Iran. 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 |
| Two killed in Bahrain car explosion: Interior Ministry Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 05:34 AM PDT An explosion in a car killed two people and wounded a third in a mostly Shi'ite village in Bahrain on Saturday, the Interior Ministry said. There were early signs the car contained explosive substances, it added. Bahrain's majority Shi'ite Muslim population wants political reforms and an end to perceived discrimination in the Sunni-Muslim ruled country. Bahrain denies any discrimination. 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 |
| Japan expands army footprint for first time in 40 years, risks angering China Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 04:59 AM PDT  By Nobuhiro Kubo YONAGUNI, Japan (Reuters) - Japan began its first military expansion at the western end of its island chain in more than 40 years on Saturday, breaking ground on a radar station on a tropical island off Taiwan. The move risks angering China, locked in a dispute with Japan over nearby islands which they both claim. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, who attended a ceremony on Yonaguni island to mark the start of construction, suggested the military presence could be enlarged to other islands in the seas southwest of Japan's main islands. "I want to build an operation able to properly defend islands that are part of Japan's territory." The military radar station on Yonaguni, part of a longstanding plan to improve defense and surveillance, gives Japan a lookout just 150 km (93 miles) from the Japanese-held islands claimed by China. 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 |
| Russia says reinforced troops on Ukraine border as precaution Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 04:06 AM PDT The extra Russian military forces near the border with Ukraine have been deployed there in response to instability in Ukraine, a Kremlin spokesman said, in a departure from the previous explanation that they were on routine exercises. Some of these forces are based there permanently, others are there to reinforce, against the backdrop of what is happening in Ukraine itself," Dmitry Peskov, spokesman to Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the Rossiya 1 television station. "Forgive me but, it (Ukraine) is a country where there has just been a military coup, so naturally any country is going to take particular precautionary measures in terms of ensuring its security." He said as a sovereign state, Russia was free to deploy troops anywhere on its territory without restrictions. He denied allegations that the Russian military was interfering in events inside Ukraine territory. 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 |
| Northern Ireland police arrest man in Belfast shooting Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 03:40 AM PDT Northern Ireland police have arrested a man in connection with the shooting of a prominent former member of a hardline republican splinter group. Tommy Crossan, a leading opponent of a 1998 peace deal in the British province who had been a senior figure in the Continuity IRA, was shot on Friday afternoon in west Belfast and died at the scene. Northern Ireland has been largely peaceful since the "Good Friday" agreement largely ended more than three decades of sectarian violence but there have been sporadic outbreaks of violence, particularly in the last 18 months. More than 3,600 people died in sectarian strife between mainly Catholic Irish nationalists, seeking union with Ireland, and predominantly Protestant unionists who want to remain part of the United Kingdom. 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 |
| 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 |
| Gunmen kidnap two Pakistani U.N. staff members from Karachi Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 01:08 AM PDT By Syed Raza Hassan ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Gunmen have kidnapped two men working for the U.N. Children's Fund from Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, police said Saturday. A spokeswoman for the U.N. Children's Fund, also known as UNICEF, was not available to comment. The port city of Karachi is Pakistan's financial heart and home to 18 million people. Many neighborhoods are considered Taliban strongholds, including the area of Shorab Goth, which is near where the men were taken. Full Story | Top |
| Putin welcomes new NATO head, says better ties with West possible Saturday, Apr 19, 2014 01:05 AM PDT Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed NATO's selection of former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as its new head, saying on Saturday the pair had "very good relations" but that it was up to the West to improve ties. Relations between Russia and the NATO military alliance are at their worst since the Cold War following Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, a move Putin said on Thursday was partly influenced by NATO's expansion into eastern Europe. In a sign of his strained ties with current NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Putin repeated an accusation that the former Danish prime minister had secretly taped and leaked a private conversation between them, a charge Rasmussen has denied. Putin said there was no reason why relations between Russia and the West can not improve, but that it was up to the West to make that happen. 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 |
| Australian officials say should complete current underwater search for plane in 5-7 days Friday, Apr 18, 2014 10:39 PM PDT By Matt Siegel SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian officials supervising the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 told Reuters on Saturday that an underwater search for the black box recorder based on "pings" possibly from the device could be completed in five to seven days. A U.S. Navy deep-sea autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is scouring a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean floor for signs of the flight, which disappeared from radars on March 8 with 239 people on board and is believed to have crashed in the area. The current underwater search has been narrowed to a circular area with a radius of 10 km (6.2 miles) around the location in which one of four pings believed to have come from the black box recorders was detected on April 8, officials said. Full Story | Top |
| Landslide gains speed, threatens Wyoming resort homes Friday, Apr 18, 2014 09:53 PM PDT  A slow-moving landslide threatening the affluent Wyoming community of Jackson is picking up speed, with safety concerns prompting authorities to halt efforts to stabilize the area, city officials said on Friday. The landslide has displaced residents of several homes and two apartment buildings near the base of the East Gros Ventre Butte, which geologists said was slumping at a rate that this week increased to a foot a day from four inches. "The fractured mass wants to slide down and gravity is pulling it down," said Peter Ward, a retired geologic hazards expert with the U.S. Geological Survey. Full Story | Top |
| France denies veto threat looms over Western Sahara negotiations Friday, Apr 18, 2014 06:24 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - France's U.N. envoy on Friday vehemently denied threatening to use its Security Council veto power to block any proposals to have U.N. peacekeepers in Western Sahara monitor the human rights situation in the disputed North African territory. The denial from French Ambassador Gerard Araud came after the United States circulated a draft resolution that would renew the U.N. mission in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, but without asking for sustained U.N. human rights monitoring as demanded by rights advocates. Full Story | Top |
| South Korean divers see three bodies inside hull of capsized ferry: coastguard Friday, Apr 18, 2014 06:14 PM PDT JINDO, South Korea (Reuters) - South Korean divers saw on Saturday three bodies inside the hull of a ferrry that capsized three days ago as they resumed a search and rescue operation for more than 200 people, many of whom teenage students, missing. The ferry that was carrying more than 470 people capsized and listed sharply before sinking on a voyage from the port of Incheon to the resort island of Jeju. Three crew members including the captain have been arrested. (Reporting by Ju-min Park, writing by Jack Kim) 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 |
| Nigeria Islamists still holding 85 schoolgirls after raid: state Friday, Apr 18, 2014 04:44 PM PDT Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram is still holding 85 girls it abducted from a raid on a secondary school in northeastern Borno state this week, although the other 44 were free, the state government said on Saturday. Monday's mass abduction of schoolgirls aged 15 to 18 by Boko Haram, who are fighting for a breakaway Islamic state in northern Nigeria, shocked Africa's most populous country. The Islamists attacked Chibok school, in remote Borno state, which had 129 girls staying in it, on Monday. Borno state education commissioner Inuwa Kubo said in a statement late on Saturday that 16 students had managed to flee back home during the night of the attack, while another 28 had escaped after being abducted. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. further delays final decision on Keystone XL pipeline Friday, Apr 18, 2014 04:01 PM PDT  By Patrick Rucker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration further delayed its decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project on Friday, with no conclusion now likely until after the U.S. mid-term elections in November. President Barack Obama has said he will have the final say on whether to allow the pipeline connecting Canada's oil sands region to Texas refiners, and several government agencies had been given until May to weigh in. But the State Department said on Friday it was extending that agency comment period, citing a need to wait until the Nebraska Supreme Court settles a dispute over what path the $5.4 billion TransCanada Corp project should take. "That pipeline route is central to the environmental analysis for the project and if there are changes to the route it could have implications," a senior State Department official told reporters. 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 |
| Dissident Irish republican shot dead in Belfast Friday, Apr 18, 2014 03:05 PM PDT A prominent dissident Irish republican was shot dead in Northern Ireland on Friday, the latest incident in some of the highest levels of violence since a 1998 peace deal in the British province. Northern Ireland has been largely peaceful since the "Good Friday" agreement largely ended more than three decades of sectarian violence but there are sporadic outbreaks of violence, particularly in the last 18 months. Tommy Crossan, a leading opponent of the peace deal, was shot on Friday afternoon in west Belfast and died at the scene. More than 3,600 people died in sectarian strife between mainly Catholic Irish nationalists, seeking union with Ireland, and predominantly Protestant unionists who want to remain part of the United Kingdom. Full Story | Top |
| Besieged Muslims face murder, starvation in Central African Republic Friday, Apr 18, 2014 02:41 PM PDT By Emmanuel Braun BODA, Central African Republic (Reuters) - In normal times, the rickety wooden bridges at each end of the red-dirt main street in Boda were gateways to shops and a bustling market in the diamond-mining town in Central African Republic. Today, they mark the fine line between life and death for hundreds of Muslims living under siege, encircled by Christian 'anti-balaka' militia fighters bent on chasing out the country's Islamic population. "We live in a prison," said Adou Kone, a tailor. It's very expensive to buy food ... Our life is at a critical stage." Boda illustrates the chaos that has gripped Central African Republic since late 2012 when a battle for political power degenerated into clashes between Muslims and Christians that have forced about 1 million people from their homes. Full Story | Top |
| Nobel winner Garcia Marquez, master of magical realism, dies at 87 Friday, Apr 18, 2014 02:25 PM PDT  By Anahi Rama MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian author whose beguiling stories of love and longing brought Latin America to life for millions of readers and put magical realism on the literary map, died on Thursday. A prolific writer who started out as a newspaper reporter, Garcia Marquez's masterpiece was "One Hundred Years of Solitude," a dream-like, dynastic epic that helped him win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. Garcia Marquez died at his home in Mexico City, where he had returned from hospital last week after a bout of pneumonia. Known affectionately to friends and fans as "Gabo," Garcia Marquez was Latin America's best-known and most beloved author and his books have sold in the tens of millions. Full Story | Top |
| TransCanada CEO 'disappointed' with Keystone XL pipeline delay Friday, Apr 18, 2014 01:55 PM PDT (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp Chief Executive Russ Girling said on Friday he was "extremely disappointed and frustrated" with yet another delay in making a decision on a presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. The statement followed the decision by the U.S. State Department to extend the government comment period on the Keystone XL pipeline, a move that likely postpones a final decision on the controversial project until after the November 4 mid-term elections. By linking Canadian fields to refiners on the Gulf Coast, the 1,200-mile (1,900-km) Keystone XL pipeline would be a boon to an energy patch where oil sands are abundant but that produce more carbon pollution than many other forms of crude. Keystone opponents say that burning fossil fuels to wrench oil sands crude from the ground will worsen climate change, and that the $5.4 billion pipeline, which could carry up to 830,000 barrels per day, would only spur more production. Full Story | Top |
| Bomb blast in Cairo kills police officer: Egyptian state media Friday, Apr 18, 2014 01:53 PM PDT  CAIRO (Reuters) - A bomb exploded in a Cairo square late on Friday, killing one police officer and wounding another, the Egyptian state newspaper Al Ahram reported on its website. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Since the army toppled Egypt's first freely-elected president, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, in July, Islamist militants have stepped up attacks on members of the security forces, killing hundreds. On Tuesday, two bomb attacks wounded three policemen in central Cairo. (Reporting by Asma Alsharif, editing by Mark Heinrich) 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 |
| Vice-principal of South Korea school in ferry disaster commits suicide Friday, Apr 18, 2014 01:51 PM PDT By Jungmin Jang and Ju-min Park MOKPO/JINDO, South Korea (Reuters) - The vice-principal of a South Korean high school who accompanied hundreds of pupils on a ferry that capsized has committed suicide, police said on Friday, as hopes faded of finding any of the 274 missing alive. 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. Kang Min-gyu, 52, had been missing since Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| Avalanche kills at least 12 guides in deadliest incident on Mount Everest Friday, Apr 18, 2014 01:46 PM PDT  By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - An avalanche sweeping down Mount Everest killed at least 12 Nepali guides on Friday in what may be the deadliest single incident on the world's highest peak. The avalanche struck a perilous passage on the main route to the summit as sherpas were preparing the way for climbers at the start of the season. Nepal's tourism ministry listed the 12 dead and four others missing, presumed buried in the snowslide. Scottish film maker Ed Wardle put the death toll at 16 - including five from his own party - with more badly injured. Full Story | Top |
| East Ukraine separatists stay put despite diplomatic deal Friday, Apr 18, 2014 01:35 PM PDT  By Pavel Polityuk and Thomas Grove KIEV/SLAVIANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Armed pro-Russian separatists were still holding public buildings in eastern Ukraine on Friday, saying they needed more assurances about their security before they comply with an international deal ordering them to disarm. The agreement, brokered by the United States, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union in Geneva on Thursday offered the best hope to date of defusing a stand-off in Ukraine that has dragged East-West relations to their lowest level since the Cold War. Enacting the agreement on the ground though will be difficult, because of the deep mistrust between the pro-Russian groups and the Western-backed government in Kiev, which this week flared into violent clashes that killed several people. Full Story | Top |
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