Gunmen take over police station in east Ukraine: minister

KIEV,  (AFP) -- Gunmen have taken over a police station in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Kremlin militants are already holding state buildings in several cities, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Saturday."Armed men in camouflage fatigues have taken the police station in Slavyansk," Avakov wrote on his Facebook page, adding that "the reaction will be very strong." He did not provide any other details.

April 12, 2014

MH370 co-pilot made mid-flight phone call: report

KUALA LUMPUR, (AFP) - The co-pilot of missing Malaysian airliner MH370 attempted to make a mid-flight call from his mobile phone just before the plane vanished from radar screens, a report said Saturday citing unnamed investigators.The call ended abruptly possibly "because the aircraft was fast moving away from the (telecommunications) tower", The New Straits Times quoted a source as saying.But the Malaysian daily also quoted another source saying that while Fariq Abdul Hamid's "line was reattac

April 12, 2014

Japan minister visits controversial war shrine: reports

TOKYO (AFP) -- A Japanese cabinet minister visited a controversial war shrine in Tokyo on Saturday, in a move likely to cause anger in China and South Korea, which see it as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.Yoshitaka Shindo, minister for internal affairs and communications, paid homage Saturday morning at the Yasukuni shrine, Jiji Press and other news reports said.Shindo, a regular visitor to the shrine, insisted that it was a "private matter", playing down the potential for diplomatic fallou

April 12, 2014

Kate goes fact-finding on hospice care in New Zealand

HAMILTON, New Zealand, (AFP) - The Duchess of Cambridge carried out her first solo engagement Saturday on her New Zealand tour for a fact-finding visit to a children's hospice where she told the curious youngsters that even royals have to eat all their vegetables.The Duchess of Cambridge carried out her first solo engagement Saturday on her New Zealand tour leaving husband Prince William and baby Prince George for a fact-finding mission to a children's hospice.Catherine was welcomed by more than

April 12, 2014

Obama: Right to vote under threat in the US

NEW YORK (AP) -- President Barack Obama said the Republican Party is threatening voting rights in America more than at any point since the passage of a historic 1965 law expanding rights at the ballot box to millions of black Americans and other minorities.Obama's critique of Republicans on Friday came as he seeks to mobilize voters ahead of the November congressional elections, when Democratic control of the Senate is at stake, as is the president's already limited ability to push his agenda th

April 12, 2014

Australia PM warns of lengthy search for MH370

SYDNEY, (AFP) - The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 will likely continue for "a long time", Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott warned Saturday, a day after voicing confidence that signals from the black box had been detected.The Australian-led search for the Boeing 777, which disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, is racing to gather as many signals as possible to determine an exact resting place before a submersible is sent down to find wreckage."We do have a hi

April 12, 2014

Cathay Pacific jet stranded for 16 hours in China

 BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese authorities say a Cathay Pacific flight from New York to Hong Kong was stranded for more than 16 hours in a Chinese city because of bad weather and limits on the crew's work hours.Flight 831 was diverted to the southern city of Zhuhai on the night of March 30 because of a hail storm. According to the customs district in Zhuhai, the plane was left sitting on the tarmac for hours until Cathay Pacific sent it a new flight crew because of work-hour limits on the first crew.A

April 12, 2014

Obama taps budget guru, technocrat for health job

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sylvia Mathews Burwell, nominated to run President Barack Obama's much maligned health care overhaul, would bring a wealth of expertise in economics and government management to one of Washington's toughest jobs, even though she has little direct experience in the health care industry.In selecting Burwell to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Obama chose a veteran technocrat who members of both parties say is up to the challenge of running a $1 tril

April 12, 2014

2 reporters who probed NSA surveillance back in US

NEW YORK (AP) -- Two reporters central to revealing the massive U.S. government surveillance effort returned to the United States on Friday for the first time since the story broke and used the occasion to praise their exiled source: Edward Snowden.Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras of The Guardian became a story of their own amid speculation they could be arrested upon arriving at Kennedy Airport. They were instead confronted by only reporters and photographers before fighting through traffic en

April 12, 2014

President Obama attends 'A Raisin in the Sun'

NEW YORK (AP) -- Tickets to watch Denzel Washington on Broadway in "A Raisin in the Sun" are hard to come by, but one man managed it -- President Barack Obama.The president and the first lady caught the American masterpiece Friday night at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, where it first opened more than 50 years ago. They took their seats to huge applause.There was a 20-minute delay in the beginning of the show when an alarm flooded the theater with a piercing sound. A huge ovation greeted its end.L

April 12, 2014

Woman gets life in prison in stiletto heel slaying

HOUSTON (AP) -- A woman was sentenced to life in prison Friday for fatally stabbing her boyfriend with the stiletto heel of her shoe, striking him at least 25 times in the face and head.Ana Trujillo was convicted of murder Tuesday by the same jury for killing 59-year-old Alf Stefan Andersson, a native of Sweden who became a U.S. citizen, during an argument last June at his Houston condominium.Defense attorneys argued that Trujillo, 45, was defending herself from an attack by Andersson, who was a

April 12, 2014

Park discusses economic cooperation with Dutch P.M.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye met bilaterally with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday and discussed ways to expand economic cooperation and exchanges between the two countries, her office said.The meeting took place in The Hague on the sidelines of a global leaders' summit on anti-nuclear terrorism opening later Monday for a two-day run. South Korea hosted the biennial Nuclear Security Summit in 2012 that was initiated by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2010.Park and Rutte noted tha

March 24, 2014

Merkel starts UK visit for talks on EU, Ukraine

LONDON (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel began a visit to Britain Thursday, where she will make a historic speech to parliament, hold talks on the EU and Ukraine with Prime Minister David Cameron and take tea with the queen.The eyes of Europe will be on how the continent's most powerful politician deals with Cameron's efforts to win her support for his bid to reform the bloc ahead of a referendum on Britain's membership.Merkel is expected to speak in German when she addresses lawmakers fro

Feb. 27, 2014

NATO warns Russia to avoid Crimea 'escalation, misunderstanding'

BRUSSELS (AFP) - NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Thursday warned Russia not take any action over Crimea that could stoke tensions or misunderstandings in the Ukraine crisis."I'm concerned about developments in Crimea," Rasmussen said in a tweeted message."I urge Russia not to take any action that can escalate tension or create misunderstanding," he said.Rasmussen's comments were made as the Ukraine interim government called in Moscow's representative in Kiev to warn that Russia must respect i

Feb. 27, 2014

Author says Japan's 1995 war apology should stand

TOKYO (AP) – Former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said Thursday that the landmark 1995 war apology carrying his name is an international pledge that Japan must not change, amid speculation that the current conservative leaders want to revise it.Murayama said that Japan should also keep another apology over forced prostitution before and during World War II, and urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to stand by both statements. ``Nobody can deny the Murayama statement,'' he said during his

Feb. 27, 2014

Pentagon vows not to downsize U.S. forces in Korea

A top Pentagon official assured South Koreans Wednesday that the size and operation of American forces on the peninsula will remain intact despite plans to make deep cuts in the number of U.S. ground troops."The importance of our relationship with Korea and the importance of our commitment to South Korea and the troops on the peninsula is not affected by our plans," Christine Fox, acting deputy secretary of defense, said at a forum here hosted by American Economic Institute.It is a matter of Was

Feb. 27, 2014

China's Xi vows denuclearization of Korean Peninsula

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula amid ongoing diplomacy involving the U.S. that is seeking to revive the long-suspended six-party talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.   Xi made the remarks at a meeting with a South Korean parliamentary delegation, led by Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the ruling Saenuri Party, at the Great Hall of the People.    "The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the basic stanc

Feb. 21, 2014

Ukraine: 25 killed, 241 injured in Kiev clashes

As thick black smoke rose from the barricades encircling the protest camp in central Kiev, a tense calm descended Wednesday over the capital and the European Union threatened sanctions against Ukraine following deadly violence between riot police and protesters in which at least 25 people died and 241 were injured.Thousands of defiant protesters faced rows of riot police who have squeezed them deeper into the Kiev's Independence Square, known as the Maidan, which has been a bastion and symbol fo

Feb. 19, 2014