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Russia to urgently evacuate Arctic post as ice melts

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 19:37

Russia has ordered the urgent evacuation of the 16-strong crew of a drifting Arctic research station after ice floe that hosts the floating laboratory began to disintegrate, officials said Thursday. Natural Resources and Ecology Minister Sergei Donskoi set a three-day deadline to draft a plan to evacuate the North Pole-40 floating research station, the ministry said in a statement. "The ice is disintegrating," a ministry spokeswoman told AFP. "Cracks appeared in the floe." The station is currently home to 16 personnel.

UN combat troops in DR Congo in 'one or two months'

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 19:33

UN chief Ban Ki-moon pledged Thursday that UN troops will be in place within "one or two months" to battle armed rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo's volatile east, as he arrived in the flashpoint city of Goma for a brief visit. Ban's visit came after three days of sometimes deadly fighting between rebels and government forces that ended months of calm in the mineral-rich east of the country, an area gripped by conflict for more than two decades.

EU seeks China investment accord as first step to free trade deal

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 19:32

The EU wants to negotiate an investment protection accord as a first step towards a wider Free Trade Agreement with China, one of its biggest trading partners despite a series of tit-for-tat disputes, EU officials said Thursday. "We want to see this as a first step towards" an FTA, one EU official said, asking not to be named. "It is an important step."

Court rejects parole bid from Pussy Riot hunger striker

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 19:31

A court in Russia's Urals Thursday rejected a request for parole by hunger-striking Pussy Riot punk rocker Maria Alyokhina, despite support from music luminaries including Paul McCartney. The hearing in the town of Berezniki stalled for several hours as judge Mikhail Shagalov searched for a new legal representative for the 24-year-old convict, who launched a hunger strike over not being allowed to be present personally in the court room.

Islamist bombers kill 19 in Niger attacks, seize hostages

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 19:31

Islamist militants staged brazen twin car bomb attacks on an army base and a French-run uranium mine in Niger on Thursday, killing at least 19 people and taking several trainee army officers hostage in the impoverished west African nation, the government said. The unprecedented attacks were claimed by an Islamist group as revenge for Niger's involvement in a French-led military offensive in neighbouring Mali and come just four months after Al-Qaeda linked militants seized a desert gas plant in neighbouring Algeria in a siege that left 38 hostages dead.

Bomb kills 13 in southwest Pakistan

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 19:30

A bomb planted in a rickshaw tore through a truck used by security forces in southwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 13 people, police said. The remotely detonated bomb containing around 100 kg (220 pounds) of explosives targeted a truck carrying members of a government paramilitary force on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of restive Baluchistan province. Baluchistan, Pakistan's largest but most undeveloped province, is racked by Islamist and sectarian violence as well as a long-running separatist insurgency, and attacks on security forces are common.

Spanish queen presents Mapfre awards

Agencia EFEMay 23, 2013 19:15

Madrid, May 23 (EFE).- Spain's Queen Sofia on Thursday presented the Mapfre Foundation's 2012 Social Awards to projects in Puerto Rico, Guatemala and Brazil and to a Spanish physician. The awards, each of which comes with 30,000 euros (around $39,000), are presented annually to recognize people or institutions pursuing outstanding activities to benefit society. The queen presented the award for Best Environmental Management to the director of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, Fernando Lloveras, for a project to reduce light pollution in natural habitats.

Chernin, Guggenheim Digital put in bids for Hulu: sources

Thomson ReutersMay 23, 2013 19:15

By Ronald Grover LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former News Corp president Peter Chernin and private equity fund Guggenheim Digital Media have placed bids for Hulu, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, triggering a tug-of-war for the online video service. Hulu was put on the auction block this year for the second time after disagreement between owners News Corp and Walt Disney Co on how best to operate a Web service that streams TV programs and other videos, Reuters previously reported.

Pittsburgh on the Hudson? Wrong city in NY City campaign logo

Thomson ReutersMay 23, 2013 18:32

NEW YORK (Reuters) - For New York City mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner, the road to City Hall leads through Pittsburgh. Weiner, the candidate who infamously resigned from the U.S. Congress two years ago in a sexting scandal, unveiled a video announcing his mayoral candidacy and a campaign logo on his website on Wednesday.

Microsoft did not violate Google patent, ITC says

Thomson ReutersMay 23, 2013 18:31

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp did not violate a patent owned by Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility when it made its popular Xbox, the International Trade Commission said on Thursday. The fight over the Xbox is related to the larger smartphone patent war between Apple, Microsoft and the mobile phone makers who use Google's Android software, including its subsidiary Motorola Mobility. The case is at the International Trade Commission, No. 337-752. (Reporting by Diane Bartz)