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| Afghan boy relives terror of 'bomb-like' landslide Monday, May 05, 2014 12:22 AM PDT  By Mirwais Harooni AAB BAREEK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Six-year-old Abdul Maqsood stood outside his neighbor's simple mud-brick home, staring aghast at the damage caused by a landslide which had slammed into his village in remote northeast Afghanistan. Maqsood had no idea that the entire side of the bare mountain above him, drenched by a week of heavy rain, had fractured and was about to cave in. The second, even bigger landslide happened so quickly that Maqsood had no time to run. He was swamped by a wall of mud that swallowed up his home and some 300 others around him, taking hundreds, possibly thousands of lives in Afghanistan's worst natural disaster in a decade. Full Story | Top |
| Philippines, U.S. begin war games focusing on maritime threats Monday, May 05, 2014 12:22 AM PDT Thousands of Filipino and American soldiers began annual war games on Monday, the first under a new security pact with the United States, focusing on maritime security in the face of China's growing naval presence in the disputed South China Sea. The joint exercises "Balikatan" (shoulder-to-shoulder) would test the combat readiness of the two oldest allies in this part of the world to respond to any maritime threats, including piracy and humanitarian assistance and disaster response. The new security pact was signed last week just hours before U.S. President Barack Obama visited. Obama said the agreement was a testament to Washington's "pivot" to Asia and was an "ironclad" commitment to defend the Philippines. Full Story | Top |
| Two migrants drown, 30 missing after boats capsize off Greek island Monday, May 05, 2014 12:17 AM PDT Two migrants drowned and about 30 were missing after their boats capsized off the eastern Greek island of Samos early on Monday in seas where hundreds have died attempting the crossing this year alone, the Greek coast guard said. Thousands of migrants from Africa and the Middle East pack into often unsafe boats to get into the European Union via Greece, Italy, Malta and other coastal states. Two vessels carrying about 68 migrants capsized about four nautical miles off Samos in the eastern Aegean Sea, close to the Turkish coast, a coast guard official said. "Two drowned bodies were found and 36 migrants have been rescued ... About 30 are missing," the official told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| Gazprom says gas flows to Europe via Ukraine remain stable Monday, May 05, 2014 12:04 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian gas exports to Europe through Ukraine remained stable on Monday, a spokesman for state-controlled gas producer Gazprom said. Russia threatened on Friday to cut natural gas supplies to Ukraine in June if it receives no prepayment in an escalating row between Moscow, Ukraine and the European Union over energy supplies. Gazprom supplies about 30 percent of the gas consumed in Europe, shipping about half of that via Ukraine. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, editing by Nigel Stephenson) Full Story | Top |
| Pro-Russians storm Odessa police station, PM slams local police Monday, May 05, 2014 12:04 AM PDT  By Oleksander Miliukov ODESSA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Pro-Russian militants stormed a Ukrainian police station in Odessa on Sunday and freed nearly 70 fellow activists as the country's leaders lamented a police force they said was widely undermined by graft or collaboration with separatists. Militants chanted "We will not forgive!" and "Russia!" as they smashed windows and broke down the gate at the compound two days after over 40 pro-Russian activists died in a blaze at a building they had occupied after clashes with pro-Kiev groups. Odessa police said 67 activists were allowed to walk free. Some officers were offered the black and orange St. George's ribbon, a Russian military insignia that has become a symbol of the revolt, and were cheered by the crowd of several hundred. Full Story | Top |
| Ocean data points to strong El Nino: climate scientist Sunday, May 04, 2014 11:58 PM PDT By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - A spike in Pacific Ocean sea temperatures and the rapid movement of warm water eastwards have increased concerns that an El Nino weather pattern this year could be one of the strongest in several decades, an Australian climate scientist said. El Nino - a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific - affects wind patterns and can trigger both floods and drought in different parts of the globe, curbing food supply. A majority of weather forecasting models indicate that an El Nino may develop around the middle of the year, but it was too early to assess its likely strength, the U.N. World Meteorological Organization said on April 15. Dr Wenju Cai, a climate expert at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, said rises in Pacific Ocean temperature above those seen in previous El Nino years and the quick movement of warm water eastwards had raised fears of a significant event. Full Story | Top |
| Panama leader's deputy-turned-rival wins presidency Sunday, May 04, 2014 11:46 PM PDT  By Christine Murray and Elida Moreno PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama's vice-president, running as an opposition candidate, won the presidential election on Sunday after a campaign in which he took credit for outgoing leader Ricardo Martinelli's successful economic policies while promising a cleaner government. Juan Carlos Varela of the center-right Panamenista Party (PP) helped Martinelli get elected as president in 2009 but later fell out with him. Varela had 39 percent support with about 80 percent of votes counted, enough for a comfortable victory over his two main rivals, Jose Domingo Arias or the ruling Democratic Change party (CD) and left-leaning former Panama City mayor Juan Carlos Navarro of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD). There will be an honest, humane government of national unity, a government of social peace," Varela told Reuters at a Panama City hotel after the election tribunal declared him the winner. Full Story | Top |
| Governments pledge won't give up search for Malaysia Airlines jet Sunday, May 04, 2014 11:12 PM PDT  By Matt Siegel SYDNEY (Reuters) - Government officials from Australia, China and Malaysia pledged on Monday not to give up searching for a Malaysia Airlines jetliner that disappeared almost two months ago, despite lingering questions about how to proceed and who will pay. No trace of Flight MH370 has been found since it vanished on a scheduled service from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, despite the most intensive search in commercial aviation history. But after weeks of scouring millions of square kilometers without finding any sign of debris, Australian authorities have called off the air and surface search. Financial responsibility is a major focus of the talks and Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss seemed to open the door to Boeing, which produced the 777-200ER jet, and engine maker Rolls Royce, to contribute financially. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. pushes Congo on term limits, pledges aid Sunday, May 04, 2014 10:30 PM PDT  By Phil Stewart KINSHASA (Reuters) - The United States urged Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday to stick to its constitution that sets terms limits for the president, as speculation grows that Joseph Kabila may seek a third term. Highlighting an issue that exists in several African countries where leaders have sought to extend their rule beyond constitutional limits, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pledged $30 million in aid aimed in part at ensuring "credible" elections in 2016. Kerry stressed that the legacy of Kabila, who in 2006 won Congo's first democratic elections since independence but was heavily criticized over fraud-tarnished polls five years later, must go beyond security gains. "I believe it is clear to him that the United States of America feels very strongly - as do other people - that the constitutional process needs to be respected and adhered to." "We're a country with term limits. Full Story | Top |
| China gives 10-year sentence to leaker of military secrets Sunday, May 04, 2014 09:35 PM PDT China has handed a ten-year prison term to an individual who leaked secret military documents and photographs to a foreign spy, state media reported on Monday, without naming the country involved. China is working to strengthen its internet security after revelations that the U.S. government spied on a top Chinese telecommunications firm. The individual, surnamed Li, was approached by a foreign intelligence agent via a popular social media platform, state media said. Li leaked 13 highly classified documents, the official China Daily reported, which featured in the second highest tier in the country's three-tiered system for ranking military secrets. Full Story | Top |
| Death toll lowered to 17 in road accident in southwest Haiti Sunday, May 04, 2014 08:46 PM PDT By Amelie Baron MIAMI (Reuters) - Authorities in southwest Haiti have revised the death toll from a road accident on Saturday saying that 17 people were killed and another 17 were injured. The mayor of the city of Jeremie, Ronald Etienne, told Reuters on Saturday that 23 people had died and 17 had been injured when a truck carrying passengers overturned on the main highway. A government civil protection official, Silvera Guillaume, said the initial death toll had been misreported by officials due to confusion after the accident as dead and injured were being transported to hospitals and a local morgue. Haiti's rural road infrastructure is in poor shape though foreign assistance after the 2010 earthquake has led to improvements on the national two-lane highway in the southwest. Full Story | Top |
| Two Chinese sailors die, six missing after boat sinks in Pacific Sunday, May 04, 2014 08:30 PM PDT (Reuters) - Two Chinese sailors died and six are missing after their boat caught fire and sank in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Air Force said on Sunday. The boat sank on Friday and the survivors were picked up by a Venezuelan fishing boat. Seven sailors were in good condition, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona said on its website. Two of the Chinese sailors died of burns and two were critically burned, it said. Full Story | Top |
| Maiteeq installed as Libya's new premier but dismissed by speaker Sunday, May 04, 2014 05:30 PM PDT  By Feras Bosalum and Ulf Laessing TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Businessman Ahmed Maiteeq was sworn in as Libya's new prime minister on Sunday after chaotic voting in parliament, but hours later the deputy speaker declared the election invalid as a power struggle erupted in the assembly. The divisions in the assembly showcase growing turmoil in the North African country awash with arms and militias from the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gaddafi, where government and parliament are unable to assert authority. Officials gave contradicting versions of the parliamentary election outcome, with First Deputy Speaker Ezzedin al-Awami initially saying Maiteeq had failed to obtain the necessary quorum even through he had emerged as front-runner in prior votes. But a power struggle over who controls the assembly broke out when Saleh Makhzoum, second deputy speaker, rejected Awami's assertion and said Maiteeq had won the necessary support. Full Story | Top |
| Panama president's deputy-turned-rival takes early election lead Sunday, May 04, 2014 04:37 PM PDT  By Christine Murray and Elida Moreno PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama's vice-president, running as an opposition candidate, took an early lead in Sunday's presidential election after a campaign in which he took credit for outgoing President Ricardo Martinelli's policies but vowed cleaner government. Juan Carlos Varela of the center-right Panamenista Party (PP) helped Martinelli get elected in 2009 but later fell out with him and has vowed to cut the cost of living and reduce poverty. Varela had 38.87 percent support with votes counted from around 25.7 percent of polling booths, Panama's election authority said. Ruling party contender Jose Domingo Arias had 31.86 percent, while left-leaning former Panama City mayor Juan Carlos Navarro of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) had 27.97 percent. Full Story | Top |
| Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams urges calm after release Sunday, May 04, 2014 04:36 PM PDT  By Conor Humphries BELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Ireland police released Gerry Adams from custody on Sunday and the Sinn Fein leader sought to calm fears that his four-day detention could destabilize the British province by pledging his support to the peace process. Police arrested Adams on Wednesday over the 1972 murder of Jean McConville, a killing he repeated that he was "innocent of any part" in. His detention had raised tensions among Northern Ireland's power-sharing government and its fragile peace. After Sinn Fein pointed the finger at "dark forces" in the police service and their Protestant partners in government accused it of a "thuggish attempt" at blackmail, a calm Adams toned down the rhetoric and said he supported the police. Full Story | Top |
| Maiteeq installed as Libya's new PM but dismissed by speaker Sunday, May 04, 2014 02:55 PM PDT By Feras Bosalum and Ulf Laessing TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Businessman Ahmed Maiteeq was sworn in as Libya's new prime minister on Sunday after chaotic voting but parliament's deputy speaker hours later declared the election invalid as a power struggle erupted in the assembly. The divisions in the assembly showcase growing turmoil in the North African country where government and parliament are unable to assert authority in a country awash with arms and militias from the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gaddafi. Officials gave contradicting versions of the parliamentary election outcome, with First Deputy Speaker Ezzedin al-Awami initially saying Maiteeq had failed to obtain the necessary quorum even through he emerged as front runner in prior votes. But a power struggle over who controls the assembly broke out when second deputy speaker Saleh Makhzoum rejected Awami's claims and said Maiteeq had won the necessary support. Full Story | Top |
| Earthquake jolts Tokyo, no tsunami warning Sunday, May 04, 2014 01:58 PM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - An earthquake with preliminary magnitude of 6.2 jolted Tokyo and vicinity early Monday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. There was no tsunami warning and no immediate reports of major damage. The epicenter was 160 km below the ocean just south of Tokyo. At least one local train line was halted but TV broadcasts showed cars moving normally in the capital. There were no reports of trouble at nuclear power plants in the vicinity, public broadcaster NHK said. (Reporting by Linda Sieg; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) Full Story | Top |
| Libyan deputy speaker declares election of prime minister invalid Sunday, May 04, 2014 01:16 PM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's deputy parliamentary speaker declared the election of Ahmed Maiteeq as new prime minister invalid, according to a letter published on a government website on Sunday. Maiteeq had failed to obtain the necessary quorum during a parliamentary vote earlier on Sunday, First Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Ezzedin al-Awami said in a letter to the government. The government of former premier Abdullah al-Thinni, who resigned three weeks ago, would stay in office until a successor is elected legally, he wrote. ... Full Story | Top |
| Three killed in bus blasts on second day of violence in Kenya Sunday, May 04, 2014 01:02 PM PDT  At least three people were killed when two buses driving on a busy highway in the Kenyan capital Nairobi were struck by explosive devices on Sunday, the day after attacks in Mombasa. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Kenya has blamed similar attacks on the al Qaeda-linked Somali group al Shabaab, which killed at least 67 people at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi last September. "So far three people have been confirmed dead, one was killed at the scene and two died in hospital," Moses Ombati, the deputy police commander for Nairobi told Reuters. Somali Islamist militants have been carrying out such attacks in retaliation for Kenya's intervention in neighboring Somalia in October 2011. Full Story | Top |
| Five killed as boulder crushes house in Sierra Leone capital Sunday, May 04, 2014 12:55 PM PDT Five people, including two children, were killed on Sunday when a boulder dislodged by heavy rains crushed a house in a poor area of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, witnesses said. Among the dead were a 10-year-old girl and a 17-year-old citizen of neighboring Guinea, who was visiting Freetown on holiday. "We had to make do with our bare hands and the shovels and pick axes we could lay hands on," youth organizer Yusufu Bendu told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| India's Modi rails against illegal immigrants after Muslim killings Sunday, May 04, 2014 12:48 PM PDT  By Sujoy Dhar and Frank Jack Daniel KOLKATA/NARAYANGURI, India (Reuters) - Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial front-runner in India's mammoth general election, on Sunday reiterated his strong stance against illegal immigrants, just days after a wave of sectarian killings in the north-eastern state of Assam. India is in the home stretch of a five-week election, which has heightened ethnic and religious tensions in many parts of the country and in which Modi's opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks set to emerge as the biggest group. India deployed troops in Assam on Saturday after more than 30 Muslims were gunned down in three days of what police said were attacks by Bodo tribal militants, who resent the presence of settlers they claim are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Full Story | Top |
| Relatives bury victims of Indian national park ethnic massacre Sunday, May 04, 2014 12:48 PM PDT By Frank Jack Daniel NARAYANGURI, India (Reuters) - Survivors of a massacre of Muslim villagers on the fringes of an Indian national park have buried 18 bodies after a spasm of ethnic violence in the northeastern state of Assam that has cast a shadow over the world's biggest ever election. India is in the home stretch of the five-week election, which has heightened ethnic and religious tensions in some parts of the country and in which the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks set to emerge as the biggest group. At least 21 people were gunned down in the village of Narayanguri, a popular picnic spot close to one of the entrances to the Manas national park. Full Story | Top |
| At least 19 killed and 130 injured in Indian train accident: police Sunday, May 04, 2014 12:26 PM PDT  At least 19 people were killed and more than 130 injured when a passenger train was derailed in western India on Sunday, police said. The accident took place in Raigad district, around 100 km (60 miles) south of India's financial capital Mumbai, when the engine and some of the coaches of the train came off the tracks on Sunday morning. The Konkan Railway Corporation, the government-owned company that operates the railway line, put the death toll at 13 and the number of people injured at 123 in a statement on its website earlier on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| Switzerland has frozen $193 million in Ukrainian assets: report Sunday, May 04, 2014 12:13 PM PDT Switzerland's federal prosecutor has frozen 170 million Swiss francs ($193.34 million) of assets in Swiss bank accounts belonging to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich and people close to him, a Swiss newspaper reported on Sunday. The Swiss government ordered the freezing of the assets of 20 Ukrainians, including Yanukovich and his son Oleksander, at the end of February. Swiss newspaper Zentralschweiz am Sonntag said Switzerland's federal prosecutor had opened five investigations against individuals suspected of money-laundering and the assets it had frozen in that context were partly identical with those concerned by the government freeze. "The federal prosecutor's office said around 170 million Swiss francs had been frozen in connection with the investigations," the newspaper said. Full Story | Top |
| Police disperse crowd after Belgium bans French comedian event Sunday, May 04, 2014 11:57 AM PDT Police used water cannon on Sunday to disperse a crowd after authorities banned a rally in Brussels that a French comedian accused of anti-Semitism was due to address. Eric Tomas, mayor of the Brussels suburb of Anderlecht, told Reuters he had issued an order prohibiting the "First European Dissidents' Congress" scheduled to be held in the area on Sunday because there was a clear risk of a disturbance to public order. The event, organized by a small far-right group, "Stand up Belgians!", was to have been addressed by speakers including French comedian Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala, according to the group's web site. The Belgian League against Anti-Semitism had lodged a legal complaint against the meeting, describing it as a "real day of hatred which would be a framework for the worst gathering of anti-Semitic authors, theoreticians and propagandists in our country since World War Two". Full Story | Top |
| Thousands flee Syria rebel infighting Sunday, May 04, 2014 10:21 AM PDT  Fighting between al Qaeda's Syria branch and a splinter group in eastern Syria has forced more than 60,000 people to flee their homes, emptied villages and killed scores of fighters, a monitoring group said. Fighters from the al Qaeda branch, the Nusra Front, also arrested a rebel commander from a more moderate group and several other insurgent leaders in a southern province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Infighting among insurgents has undermined the three-year-old rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad and killed thousands of people since the start of the year. The British-based Observatory said the Nusra Front had taken over control of the town of Abreeha from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a former al Qaeda affiliate formally disowned by the group this year. Full Story | Top |
| Yemeni army in heavy fighting; six soldiers die in suicide blast Sunday, May 04, 2014 10:16 AM PDT  By Mohammed Mukhashaf ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - Yemen said at least 37 al Qaeda militants were killed in the southern province of Shabwa on Sunday as the army intensified an offensive to root out foreign and local Islamist fighters holed up in some of the country's most impenetrable areas. The report by state news agency Saba came shortly after a military source told Reuters a suicide bomber killed six soldiers by their outpost in Shabwa, one of two provinces where the army has been fighting al Qaeda and its allies. The number of attacks against the army and security forces in the south has risen sharply since Yemen's U.S.-backed army launched its anti-al Qaeda offensive last week. Western countries fear further destabilization in Yemen, which also faces separatists in the south and unrest in the north, could give more space to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the local branch of the global Islamist militant movement, to plot attacks on international targets. Full Story | Top |
| East Antarctica more at risk than thought to long-term thaw: study Sunday, May 04, 2014 10:10 AM PDT By Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - Part of East Antarctica is more vulnerable than expected to a thaw that could trigger an unstoppable slide of ice into the ocean and raise world sea levels for thousands of years, a study showed on Sunday. The Wilkes Basin in East Antarctica, stretching more than 1,000 km (600 miles) inland, has enough ice to raise sea levels by 3 to 4 meters (10-13 feet) if it were to melt as an effect of global warming, the report said. The Wilkes is vulnerable because it is held in place by a small rim of ice, resting on bedrock below sea level by the coast of the frozen continent. That "ice plug" might melt away in coming centuries if ocean waters warm up. Full Story | Top |
| South Africa's ANC vows to extend rule, rivals promise election 'shock' Sunday, May 04, 2014 09:24 AM PDT  By Stella Mapenzauswa JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's ruling ANC predicted it would sweep national elections this week on promises to build more houses, create jobs and eradicate inequality, but opponents warned of a shock for a party they said was arrogant after 20 years in power. An Ipsos poll in the Sunday Times newspaper suggested the ANC would win 63.9 percent of the vote, down from 65.9 percent five years ago and short of the two-thirds majority needed in parliament to push through changes to the constitution. Analysts and critics say Nelson Mandela's movement has lost support due to rising anger among its mainly black supporters over the slow delivery of adequate housing, sanitation, quality education and jobs. "The ANC lives, the ANC leads. Full Story | Top |
| Germany calls for second Geneva meeting on Ukraine Sunday, May 04, 2014 09:19 AM PDT German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday called for a second international conference to put an end to the crisis in Ukraine. He said he made the proposal in telephone conversations on Sunday with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). "In the many discussions I've had in the last couple of hours, I've been campaigning ... to hold a second meeting in Geneva to follow up on the first one," he told ARD television, according to a text of an interview to be aired later. On April 17, the United States, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union struck a deal in Geneva that outlined steps to defuse the crisis, including the disarmament of militants and a national dialogue on constitutional reform. Full Story | Top |
| Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams expected to be released by police: source Sunday, May 04, 2014 09:15 AM PDT  Northern Ireland police are expected to release Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams later on Sunday and send a file to the province's public prosecutor after four days of questioning, a source familiar with the case told Reuters. Police arrested Adams on Wednesday over the 1972 abduction and murder of Jean McConville and have until 1900 GMT to decide whether to charge, release him, or seek a further extension in custody. His detention has raised tensions among Northern Ireland's power-sharing government and the province's fragile peace. Full Story | Top |
| Blasts hit buses in Kenyan capital, casualties feared Sunday, May 04, 2014 09:14 AM PDT Two buses driving on a busy highway in the Kenyan capital Nairobi were struck by explosive devices on Sunday, ripping a huge hole in one of the vehicles. A Reuters reporter saw blood and broken glass next to the two buses that were about 1 km from each other heading out of town. There was no word on casualties and no immediate claim of responsibility but Kenya has blamed similar attacks on the al Qaeda-linked Somali group al Shabaab, which killed at least 67 people at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi last September. Four people were killed on Saturday when attackers threw an explosive device at passengers at a bus station in Mombasa, and also targeted a luxury hotel in the coastal city. Full Story | Top |
| U.N. chief says Syrian authorities holding up aid access Sunday, May 04, 2014 07:41 AM PDT  The head of the United Nations said on Sunday that "bureaucratic resistance" by Bashar al-Assad's government was preventing aid getting to millions of Syrians in need due to the three-year-old conflict. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television channel he was no longer in direct communication with Assad after months of the Syrian president "not keeping his promises." Last month, Ban said none of the warring parties in Syria were meeting U.N. demands for aid access and demanded the Security Council take action on violations of international law. In Sunday's interview, he said a February Security Council resolution demanding rapid, safe and unhindered aid access had "not helped much" and that there were still 3 million people in areas the U.N. could not reach and deliver humanitarian aid to. "It's not that we are in shortage of something to deliver, it's just because of bureaucratic resistance by the Syrian government," he said. Full Story | Top |
| Iran has briefed U.N. nuclear agency on detonators: ISNA Sunday, May 04, 2014 06:54 AM PDT  DUBAI/VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has provided the U.N. nuclear watchdog with information about detonators with possible military applications, under an accord intended to allay concerns about Tehran's atomic activities, an Iranian news agency said on Sunday. There was no immediate comment from the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which for years has been trying to investigate suspicions that Iran may have researched how to make an atomic bomb. Iran, which is seeking an end to sanctions hurting its oil-dependent economy, denies any such work. Diplomats in Vienna, where the IAEA is based, last week told Reuters they did not know whether Iran had so far given the U.N. body the requested information about fast-functioning Exploding Bridge Wire (EBW) detonators, which can be used to help set off an atomic explosive device but also has civilian applications. Full Story | Top |
| Pro-Russian activists attack police station in Ukraine's Odessa Sunday, May 04, 2014 06:32 AM PDT ODESSA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Hundreds of pro-Russian activists attacked a police station in Ukraine's southern port city of Odessa on Sunday, forcing open its gate and breaking windows. Calling for the release of their detained comrades, hundreds surrounded the building. (reporting by Oleksander Miliukov, writing by Elizabeth Piper, editing by Ralph Boulton) Full Story | Top |
| Lockheed sees Ukraine crisis boosting missile system sales: paper Sunday, May 04, 2014 06:31 AM PDT FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin is on the lookout for acquisition deals and expects the crisis in Ukraine to boost sales of its missile defense system MEADS, the company's chief executive told German weekly paper Welt am Sonntag. "We see strong demand for defense systems in the world. Here in Europe it is for missile defense systems. Many of our NATO partners are also looking at our F-35 fighter jet program," Marilyn Hewson, company CEO, was quoted as saying. Across the world there are around 20 new clients for its Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) Hewson told the paper. ... Full Story | Top |
| Tight finish looms in Panama presidential election Sunday, May 04, 2014 06:30 AM PDT  By Christine Murray and Elida Moreno PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama's presidential election on Sunday is expected to be the closest in decades, as the opposition battles to deny outgoing President Ricardo Martinelli a chance to keep an indirect hold over the booming Central American economy. The winner will inherit oversight of a major expansion of the Panama Canal, which briefly stalled earlier this year after a row over costs between the canal and the building consortium. A banking and trading hub, Panama is best known for the canal that links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The 62-year-old Martinelli backs former businessman and housing minister Jose Domingo Arias of the ruling Democratic Change (CD) party. Full Story | Top |
| Syria court accepts Assad's presidential nomination bid Sunday, May 04, 2014 05:46 AM PDT  A Syrian court said on Sunday it had accepted requests from President Bashar al-Assad and two other candidates to be nominated to run in a presidential election next month. Assad's challengers are unlikely to pose a serious threat to the president in the June 3 vote, which his international opponents and the rebels fighting to overthrow him have dismissed as a farce. Syria's opposition leaders in exile are barred from standing by a constitutional clause requiring candidates to have lived in the country continuously for 10 years. The Supreme Constitutional Court had accepted nomination requests from Assad as well as Hassan Abdallah al-Nouri and lawmaker Maher Abdel-Hafiz Hajjar, court spokesman Majid Khadra said in statements broadcast on state television. Full Story | Top |
| Yemen says 37 militants killed in southern army offensive: Saba Sunday, May 04, 2014 05:19 AM PDT Yemen said on Sunday 37 al Qaeda fighters had been killed in heavy clashes between the army and the militants in the southern Shabwa province. The state news agency Saba quoted a military source as saying most of those killed in the fighting on Sunday were Saudis, Afghans, Somalis and Chechens and other nationalities. The source also said the army destroyed a number of vehicles and weapons belonging to the militants. Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian militants claim attacks near tourist sites in Sinai Sunday, May 04, 2014 05:18 AM PDT Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the most active of the militant groups waging an insurgency against the army-backed government since it deposed elected leader Mohamed Mursi last summer, made the claim in a statement posted online. "We announce our responsibility for the attacks which targeted a security checkpoint and a tourist bus in South Sinai," the statement said. "We will not rest ... until we avenge Muslims' blood and honor." Militant attacks and other political violence have intensified since the army overthrew Mursi last July following mass protests against his rule. The militant group's statement called on Egyptians to violently oppose the government and not to rely on peaceful actions. Full Story | Top |
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