2 April, 2014

16:37

5.8-magnitude earthquake hits off Panama coast – USGS

An earthquake measured at 5.8 magnitude has hit south of David, a city in western Panama, reports the US Geological Survey. The service said the quake was about 64 km away from the city, that is home to some 125,000 people, at a depth of 10 km. No report on tsunami threat or damage immediately followed. The quake comes a day after Chile was rattled by a massive 8.2 quake that set off a 2-meter tsunami wave and led to deaths of 6 people.

14:56

Libya rebels to reopen Zueitina oil port when deal done with govt

Rebels in eastern Libya will reopen the seized Zueitina oil port once they have reached a final deal with the government, a rebel official said on Wednesday. “Zueitina could open within two days,” Essam al-Jahani, a member of the rebels' leadership team, told Reuters. He referred to the smallest of the three ports held by the rebels since summer. Talks with the government were ongoing, he said, citing the rebels’ demands to move state institutions such as the central bank to Benghazi, and the possibility of a vote over a federalist system.

14:24

UK summons Spanish envoy over Gibraltar ‘provocative incursion’

The UK summoned Spanish Ambassador Federico Trillo on Wednesday to condemn “a provocative incursion” by Spanish boats into Gibraltar's territorial waters, Reuters reported. A Spanish state research vessel tried to carry out survey activity in Gibraltar’s waters on April 1, said Britain’s Europe minister, David Lidington. The vessel was accompanied by a Guardia Civil police boat which made dangerous maneuvers, the minister said. London will continue to take “whatever action we consider necessary to uphold British sovereignty and the interests of Gibraltar, its people, its security and economy,” Lidington said.

13:30

Moscow to continue using legal ways to return Russian pilot Yaroshenko – ministry

Moscow is demanding again that the US stop the outrageous situation surrounding Konstantin Yaroshenko, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. The Russian pilot is serving time in the US prison, Fort Dix, after he was detained in Liberia four years ago on allegations of preparing the transportation of a large batch of cocaine. Russia will continue using all legal mechanisms to achieve the return of its citizen “who has fallen a victim to outrage,” the ministry said. Yaroshenko earlier sent a letter to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in which he described his health problems.

12:19

NATO to stop cooperation with Russia on Afghan helicopters, anti-drug training - reports

NATO plans to suspend cooperation with Russia on the maintenance of Afghan helicopters and training anti-drug officials in Afghanistan and Pakistan, RIA Novosti quoted a source in the alliance as saying. Current trainees will be allowed to complete the training program before the project is scrapped, the source said. Head of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service Viktor Ivanov said that Russia would be able to train Afghan drug policemen without NATO, ITAR-TASS reported Wednesday. The alliance’s secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, earlier said the bloc hoped to continue working with Russia in Afghanistan and training anti-drug officials in that country and Pakistan.

11:46

Suicide bomb kills 6 in Iraq

A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to an army recruitment center in northern Iraq and killed six army recruits on Wednesday, AFP said. Fourteen others were wounded, officials said. The attack in Riyadh, a mostly-Sunni town in the ethnically mixed Kirkuk province, came on the second day of campaigning for the April-30 parliamentary polls, Iraq's first since March 2010. Violence is now at its highest since 2008.

11:32

Germany sends frigate on mission to destroy Syrian chemical weapons

The German government said on Wednesday it would send a frigate to take part in an international mission in the Mediterranean Sea to destroy Syria's chemical weapons. Up to 300 German soldiers will take part in the deployment to help protect the US vessel, MV Cape Ray, AFP reported. The weapons will be broken down aboard that vessel at sea using hydrolysis.

10:43

7 killed, 19 injured in Thailand WWII bomb blast

At least seven people died and 19 others were injured on Wednesday when a World War II bomb exploded at a scrap metal warehouse in Bangkok, AFP said. Workers reportedly tried to cut the 225-kilogram shell open, officials said. It was found at a construction site by builders who then sold it to a suburban scrap metal merchant, believing the bomb had been defused.

10:04

Egypt police brigadier-general killed in Cairo blasts

An Egyptian police brigadier-general was killed as two blasts hit outside Cairo University on Wednesday, state television said. Four police officers were wounded in an attack on a police vehicle, Reuters reported, citing security officials.

09:56

Suicide bomber, gunmen attack army HQ in south Yemen

A suicide bomber tried to storm the main gate of the Yemeni army's southern command headquarters in the port city of Aden on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Militants in a separate vehicle also attacked the compound from another side in the al-Tawahi area of Aden, using rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, according to witnesses. At least three soldiers and one of the attackers were killed in the incident, local media reports said.

09:23

No side gains if Russia-NATO cooperation suspended – Moscow

Neither Russia nor NATO states would gain if Russia-NATO joint activity to combat present-day threats to international security were suspended, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said on Wednesday. The language of the statement of the NATO Council at the level of the foreign ministers “reminds us of verbal sparring of the Cold War times,” ITAR-TASS quoted him as saying. The decision itself to suspend cooperation with Russia both in military and civilian areas “brings us six years back, when Brussels ‘froze’ the work of the Russia-NATO Council,” he said. However, NATO later initiated a return to cooperation with Russia, Lukashevich said.

08:12

Malaysia focusing investigation on crew, pilots of missing plane

Malaysia is focusing its criminal investigation on the cabin crew and pilots of a missing Malaysia Airlines plane, Reuters said. National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said all 227 passengers had been cleared of possible involvement in hijacking, sabotage or having personal problems that could have been connected to the flight’s disappearance on March 8. The authorities have still not ruled out mechanical problems as causing the disappearance. However, they say evidence suggests the plane was deliberately diverted from its scheduled route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

07:24

Iran rejects Yemen accusations of meddling

Tehran on Wednesday rejected Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi’s accusations it was stoking unrest in his country. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said the accusations are “without foundation,” ISNA said. She added that meddling by “certain countries in the region… contrary to the interests and security” of Yemen were continuing, apparently referring to Saudi Arabia, AFP said. Afkham urged Sanaa to arrest and punish those responsible for Iranian diplomat Ali Asghar Assadi’s murder in the capital last January, and to secure the release of colleague Ahmad Nikbakht kidnapped in July 2013 by suspected Al-Qaeda militants.

06:56

Thai Constitutional Court to hear new case against PM Shinawatra

Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is facing another legal challenge after the Constitutional Court announced it will hear a case on her alleged misconduct for transferring a key government official, AP reported. The court said Wednesday it had accepted a petition from anti-government senators that Yingluck violated the charter by unjustly removing the head of the National Security Council, an opposition supporter, in 2011. If Yingluck is found guilty she will be removed from office.