President Barack Obama arrives in Japan on Wednesday ahead of stops in three other Asian nations.
Barack Obama is not going to Beijing, but relations with China are expected to dominate his meetings with regional leaders.
The US president’s trip – April 23-29 – comes nearly seven months after he cancelled a visit to the region due to a government shutdown.
Stops include a private dinner with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, as well as bilateral meetings with the South Korean, Malaysian and Philippine leaders.
President Barack Obama arrives in Japan on Wednesday ahead of stops in three other Asian nations
Ties between Tokyo and Beijing will be high on the agenda when Barack Obama touches down in Japan.
Relations are severely strained over a raft of issues, including East China Sea islands – called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China – that both claim.
Japan controls the islands but Chinese ships have sailed repeatedly in and out of what Japan says are its territorial waters as Beijing presses its claim. Last year, China declared an air defense identification zone over the islands, drawing widespread criticism.
Japan depends on the US for its security, under a decades-old alliance that dates back to the end of World War Two.
The US, however, is keen for Japan to take on greater responsibility for its own security – an area where Barack Obama and Shinzo Abe are likely to be in general agreement.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade deal which requires each country to strike an agreement with other prospective members.
A rift between Japan and the US over agriculture product tariffs has proven a major sticking point.
Barack Obama is also expected to have to balance bolstering US ties with each Asian ally with improving communication among them, particularly between South Korea and Japan.
The two Asian nations are at odds over a separate set of disputed islands, as well as historical issues linked to Japan’s war history.
Led Zeppelin has unleashed two previously unheard recordings ahead of the reissue of the band’s first three albums in June.
The two tracks – blues classic Keys to the Highway, recorded in 1970, and an early version of the famous song Whole Lotta Love – are among dozens of tracks which the band will officially release alongside the reissues.
The companion discs will feature alternative versions of songs, works in progress and live performances, all recorded at the time of the original albums.
The tracks, like hundreds of others, had been carefully catalogued but then locked away in Led Zeppelin’s archive for decades.
Guitarist Jimmy Page, 70, has spent two-and-a-half years combing through the vaults, listening to hundreds of quarter-inch tapes before choosing the best material.
“I don’t want to die and have somebody else do it,” he says.
Led Zeppelin has unleashed two previously unheard recordings ahead of the reissue of the band’s first three albums in June
“I’m authoritative about what was done in the first place.”
Jimmy Page says the new material “deserves to be heard” because “it’s performance art”.
It will give fans the first chance to eavesdrop on some of the band’s key recording sessions.
Keys to the Highway/Trouble in Mind, to appear on Led Zeppelin III, was recorded in 1970 at the Olympic Studios in Barnes in south-west London, about half an hour after Hats Off to (Roy) Harper. But it was never released.
“It was a particularly prolific time, where we were learning about each other’s capabilities,” says singer Robert Plant.
“Jimmy and I were just fooling around with the stuff that we would play at home. We were just trying things out. Nothing was premeditated.”
Led Zeppelin II features an early version of Whole Lotta Love, which many consider to be one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll songs of all time.
There are significant differences between the two tracks. The original is missing the first chorus and middle section. New vocals appear on the finished version, as well as a slide guitar.
“You realize just how important all of those additional layers and the filigree work is,” says Jimmy Page.
“There’s all manner of bells and whistles to make it the song Whole Lotta Love as we all know it.”
Jimmy Page says it’s “reassuring” revisiting the songs after all this time.
“It’s undeniable that we’re good,” he adds.
“The band was the real deal.”
But the inevitable passage of time has given Robert Plant, who is now 65, a different perspective.
“My enthusiasm sometimes got in the way of finesse. I listen to it and go, wow, why didn’t I shut up a bit?” he laughs.
“I kind of overcooked it.”
Jimmy Page promises “lots of surprises” on the three reissues, which are part of a plan to reissue all nine of the band’s studio albums in chronological order.
But he has scotched rumors that there will be versions of songs featuring bass and keyboard player John Paul Jones on vocals.
For a band that broke up in 1980, following the death of the drummer John Bonham, interest in Led Zeppelin remains intense.
The surviving members reunited seven years ago for a concert at London’s O2. But fans will be disappointed if they are hoping there will be another one.
Police and protesters clashed in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro following the death of a young man allegedly beaten by police.
Violent protests broke out in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday after the body of a 25-year-old man, Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira, was found in the Pavao-Pavaozinho favela near the Copacabana beach.
Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira regularly appeared on Brazil’s largest TV network, Globo.
Main streets through the tourist area of Copacabana were closed as angry demonstrators from a nearby favela set barricades of tires alight.
The unrest started after a dancer was killed by police who reportedly mistook him for a drug trafficker.
It comes less than two months before Brazil hosts the football World Cup.
Police and protesters clashed in Rio de Janeiro following the death of Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira (photo Reuters)
One man was shot dead during the violence on Tuesday night, local media quoted officials as saying. A 12-year-old boy was also reportedly wounded.
Witnesses said cars were set ablaze, a police station was attacked and gunfire could be heard from the Pavao-Pavaozinho favela.
Douglas Rafael da Silva, a professional dancer, was reportedly found dead inside a school earlier on Tuesday.
According to his family, his body was covered in wounds and they accused local police of beating him to death after mistaking him for a member of a local drugs gang.
The circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation, AFP news agency quoted police as saying.
“An on-site report indicates Douglas’s injuries are compatible with a death caused by a fall,” the police statement said.
Amnesty International says some 2,000 people die every year in Brazil due to police violence.
Huge crowds, demanding an explanation for the death, gathered near the entrance to the favela, which is just a few streets away from Rio’s famous beaches and tourist hot-spots.
Pavao-Pavaozinho is one of several Rio favelas or slums that have been part of the recent “pacification” program.
It is an attempt by the city authorities to drive the heavily armed drugs gangs away from the communities and to restore some peace and police authority ahead of the football World Cup in June and July.
World Cup 2014 will begin in Sao Paulo on June 12 and will end with the final in Rio’s famous Maracana stadium on July 13.
Justin Bieber is seeking a delay in his Florida trial scheduled to begin next month on charges of DUI, resisting arrest and driving with an expired license.
His lawyers filed a motion Monday saying they need more time to prepare their case.
Justin Bieber is seeking a delay in his Florida trial scheduled to begin next month
Justin Bieber’s trial is currently set for May 5 in Miami.
The motion says prosecutors do not oppose a delay. A scheduling hearing is set for Wednesday.
Justin Bieber, 20, was arrested January 23 in Miami Beach after what police described as an illegal street drag race. The singer was not charged with drag racing.
Ellen DeGeneres is joining HGTV with a six-episode competition series, Scripps announced at its upfront presentation on Tuesday.
Ellen’s Design Challenge will feature six competitors as they tackle challenges to sketch, design and build furniture in just 24 hours. Throughout the series, the contestants must showcase their creativity and versatility to impress a panel of judges. The last one standing will win a cash prize.
Ellen DeGeneres is joining HGTV with a six-episode competition series (photo Ellen)
“I’m so excited about this show because I love finding really special pieces of furniture,” Ellen DeGeneres said.
“One time I found a beautiful one-of-a-kind armoire that spoke to me in a way I’d never experienced. It turned out there was a drifter living inside of it, but that’s a story for another time.”
Ellen’s Design Challenge, which will be produced by Ellen’s production company, A Very Good Production, and A. Smith & Co. with Telepictures is scheduled to premiere in 2015.
John Turturro will replace Robert De Niro in the HBO miniseries Criminal Justice, which was to have starred James Gandolfini.
Robert De Niro replaced James Gandolfini on the drama after the Sopranos veteran’s sudden death in Rome last June.
The seven-part miniseries was thrown briefly into limbo by James Gandolfini’s death, and Robert De Niro would have been one of the most celebrated film actors to turn his attention to the small screen.
John Turturro will replace Robert De Niro in the HBO miniseries Criminal Justice, which was to have starred James Gandolfini
No one has seen Robert De Niro or James Gandolfini in the role – HBO will not air the pilot that was shot with Gandolfini – but audiences will no doubt imagine how the character might have been different as interpreted by the other men.
John Turturro stars in the new film Fading Gigolo, in which he directed a cast that includes himself and Woody Allen.
Criminal Justice is co-written and executive produced by Richard Price and Steven Zaillan. It is based on the BBC series of the same name.
James Gandolfini, who was among Criminal Justice‘s executive producers, will remain posthumously as an executive producer.
Ukraine’s acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has re-launched military operations against pro-Russian militants in the east after two men, one a local politician, were found “tortured to death”.
Oleksandr Turchynov said the politician, named as Vladimir Rybak, was found near rebel-held Sloviansk.
“The terrorists who effectively took the whole Donetsk region hostage have now gone too far,” he said.
The move came as US Vice-President Joe Biden was visiting Ukraine.
Ukraine has re-launched military operations against pro-Russian militants in the east after two men were found tortured to death
After meeting Ukrainian leaders in Kiev, Joe Biden called on Russia to “stop talking and start acting” to defuse the Ukraine crisis.
The US and the West accuse Russia of using undercover military to back separatists in eastern Ukraine, where public buildings are occupied in at least nine cities and towns. Russia denies this.
Joe Biden warned Russia that further “provocative behavior” would lead to “greater isolation” and urged Moscow to end its alleged support for pro-Russian militants.
In remarks to Ukrainian parliament, Joe Biden said the US stood with Ukraine’s new leaders against “humiliating threats” – an apparent reference to Russia.
The vice-president called on Moscow to urge the pro-Russian separatists to leave the buildings they are occupying and to abandon checkpoints.
The US is to provide an additional $50 million for political and economic reforms in Ukraine, including $11 million to help run the presidential election due on May 25.
Announcing the decision to resume the military operation Oleksandr Turchynov said in a statement: “I call on the security bodies to resume and carry out successful anti-terrorist measures aimed at defending Ukrainian citizens living in the east of Ukraine against terrorists.”
Vladimir Rybak, whose body was found on Tuesday, was described as a local councilor for the Fatherland party in the nearby town of Horlivka. The other man killed has not yet been publicly identified.
“These crimes are being committed with the full support and connivance of the Russian Federation,” Oleksandr Turchynov said.
The military operation to end the occupation of buildings began on April 16 but was suspended over the Easter period.
Separately, a Ukrainian military surveillance plane was hit by small arms fire over eastern Ukraine, the defense ministry said.
The aircraft, an Antonov AN-30, suffered minor damage over Sloviansk when it was targeted by automatic gunfire, according to the ministry. No-one was hurt and the plane returned safely to Kiev.
Pavel Durov, the founder of Russia’s most popular social network site VKontakte, says he has been fired and that allies of President Vladimir Putin have taken over his site.
Pavel Durov who ran VKontakte had previously announced he was leaving the company but said he had withdrawn his resignation.
The company denied it had been withdrawn.
Pavel Durov had previously refused requests from the Russian government to censor posts on his site.
In a statement Pavel Durov said that he only found out about the loss of his job from press reports: “Today I was fired as general director of VKontakte. It’s interesting that the shareholders didn’t have the bravery to do this directly, and that I learned about my firing from the press.
Pavel Durov had previously announced he was leaving VKontakte but said he had withdrawn his resignation
“Today VKontakte goes under the complete control of Igor Sechin and Alisher Usmanov. Probably, in the Russian context, something like this was inevitable, but I’m happy we lasted seven and a half years. We did a lot. And part of what’s been done can’t be turned back.”
Igor Sechin is the chief executive of state-owned oil company Rosneft and was Vladimir Putin’s former deputy chief of staff.
Alisher Usmanov, who is the richest man in Russia according to Forbes, made his money in iron ore and steel and until recently held a stake in Facebook. He has a large shareholding in VKontakte via his internet company Mail.ru.
Pavel Durov announced his resignation publicly on April 1st but two days later said it was an April Fool’s joke.
The Russian news agency Interfax reported that Vkontakte said they had acted on Pavel Durov’s resignation letter of March 21 as he had not withdrawn it officially within an allowed one-month grace period.
In an interview with news website TechCrunch, Pavel Durov said he was no longer in Russia and had no plans to return.
“Unfortunately, the country is now incompatible with internet business at the moment.
“I’m afraid there is no going back [to the company], not after I publicly refused to co-operate with the authorities. They can’t stand me,” he said.
VKontakte has more than 100 million users and had been subject to several government requests for information.
Pavel Durov had been asked by the Russian authorities to hand over the details of Ukrainians who had used the site to create groups related to anti-government protests. He was also asked to close down a group that supported Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
He refused the request and said he sold his shares in the company so that he could continue “to make the right decisions”.
“I have a clean conscience and ideals that I am willing to defend,” Pavel Durov said in a post at the time.
Reports suggest that a replacement for Pavel Durov will be elected at the next VKontakte board meeting.
The family of South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius has denied he took acting lessons ahead of his testimony in the trial of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
In a statement, they say claims Oscar Pistorius had received coaching for his emotional performance were “devoid of the truth”.
Oscar Pistorius, 27, has broken down on several occasions during the trial, often disrupting proceedings.
He denies intentionally killing Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year.
Oscar Pistorius says he fired four shots through a locked toilet door out of fear, believing there was a burglar inside.
Oscar Pistorius has broken down on several occasions during the trial
But the prosecution says the 29-year-old model and law graduate was deliberately killed after the couple had an argument.
South African columnist Jani Allan claimed Oscar Pistorius took acting lessons ahead of his trial in an open letter to the athlete last week, saying she had heard it “from a reliable source”.
“Oscar, you are the latest in a long line of faux heroes. Like so many who preceded you, you have betrayed your people and disappointed your fans,” Jani Allan wrote.
Oscar Pistorius’ family said they felt compelled to deny the claims after they were widely circulated in the media.
In a statement on the athlete’s website, spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess said Jani Allan had never met Oscar Pistorius and that any knowledge she had of him was “fictitious”.
“This type of comment makes a mockery of the enormous human tragedy involving the Steenkamp family and our client and his family,” it adds.
The allegations followed seven days of emotional testimony from Oscar Pistorius, who at times broke down in court and vomited when evidence from the post-mortem examination was presented to court.
Oscar Pistorius trial has been adjourned over the Easter period and will resume on May 5.
Hitachi has announced it will install an elevator capable of reaching speeds of 45mph (72km/h) into a skyscraper in Guangzhou, southern China.
The world’s fastest elevator would take 43 seconds to go from the first to 95th floor in the Guangzhou CTF Financial Centre, the company said.
The skyscraper is scheduled to be completed in 2016.
Currently, the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan holds the record for fastest elevator – it can travel up to 60.6km/h.
Hitachi promised a “comfortable ride” even at high speeds in the new elevator.
The world’s fastest elevator would take 43 seconds to go from the first to 95th floor in the Guangzhou CTF Financial Centre
The elevators would prevent ear blockages, Hitachi said, by artificially altering air pressure in the car.
Hitachi said guiding “rollers” that adapted to warping caused by wind pressure would mean the ride remained smooth.
And brakes able to resist extreme heat would activate in the “unlikely” event of a malfunction.
The building will have in total 95 elevators, two of which will be operate at the ultra-high speed.
Twenty-eight “double-decker” elevators will also be installed into the building.
The Guangzhou CTF Financial Centre will house office, hotel and residential space.
If the Hitachi elevator performs as well as the company has said, it will comfortably top the global chart for fastest elevator.
Today’s record is held in Taiwan, where passengers in the Taipei 101 building are flung from the fifth to the 89th floor in 37 seconds, a speed of 1,010m (3,313ft) per minute.
The Yokohama Landmark Tower in Japan moves its passengers at 750m per minute, while the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, has a lift that moves at 600m per minute.
London’s Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe, has elevators that move at 360m per minute.
An Irish-UK scientific team managed to make “supermaterial” graphene using a kitchen blender.
Graphene is thin, strong, flexible and electrically conductive, and has the potential to transform electronics as well as other technologies.
The research team poured graphite powder (used in pencil leads) into a blender, then added water and dishwashing liquid, mixing at high speed.
The results are reported in the journal Nature Materials.
Because of its potential uses in industry, a number of researchers have been searching for ways to make defect-free graphene in large amounts.
An Irish-UK scientific team managed to make “supermaterial” graphene using a kitchen blender
The material comprises a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb structure. Graphite is effectively made up of many layers of graphene stacked on top of one another.
Jonathan Coleman from Trinity College Dublin and colleagues tested out a variety of laboratory mixers as well as kitchen blenders as potential tools for manufacturing the wonder material.
They showed that the shearing force generated by a rapidly rotating tool in solution was sufficiently intense to separate the layers of graphene that make up graphite flakes without damaging their two-dimensional structure.
However, it’s not advisable to try this at home. The precise amount of dishwashing fluid that’s required is dependent on a number of different factors and the black solution containing graphene would need to be separated afterwards.
However, the researchers said their work “provides a significant step” towards deploying graphene in a variety of commercial applications.
In addition to its potential uses in electronics, graphene might have applications in water treatment or oil spill clean-up.
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg will work together for a fourth time on a new Cold War thriller.
The untitled DreamWorks film is being produced by Steven Spielberg who is also said to be considering a directing role, according to Variety.
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have previously teamed up for Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me if You Can and The Terminal.
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg will work together for a fourth time on a new Cold War thriller
The new project is about real-life US lawyer James Donovan, who was enlisted by the CIA during the Cold War.
Tom Hanks will play James Donovan, who had to negotiate the release of a pilot captured when his U2 spy plane was shot down over Russia.
DreamWorks has declined to comment, but the film is thought to be one of several directing projects being considered by Steven Spielberg, who is already producing the film along with Marc Platt.
Other possibilities are Robopocalypse and the historical drama Montezuma, from American Gangster and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo writer Steve Zaillian.
Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22 with worldwide events to demonstrate support for environmental protection.
It was first celebrated in 1970, and is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and celebrated in more than 192 countries each year.
A major catalyst for Earth Day was the New York Times best-seller Silent Spring, published in 1962 by marine biologist and conservationist Rachel Carson. Prior to Silent Spring, environmental issues – and their effect on our health – weren’t on the public’s radar. The book went on to sell more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries and has been heralded as the “watershed moment for the modern environmental movement”.
Gaylord Nelson, a US Senator from Wisconsin, came up with the idea of Earth Day after witnessing the massive 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Gaylord Nelson modeled his idea for an environmental movement after the student anti-war demonstrations across the country, realizing that if the public became passionate about the issues and banded together to demand change, the government would eventually listen.
The date Gaylord Nelson chose for Earth Day – April 22 – was a strategic scheduling move. Since he realized college students would be the majority – and the most passionate – of the participants, Gaylord Nelson decided the date was ideal for most college schedules, falling midway between spring break and final exams.
Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22 with worldwide events to demonstrate support for environmental protection
After recruiting conservation-minded Republican Congressman Pete McCloskey to serve as his co-chair, Gaylord Nelson presented his Earth Day idea to the media, calling it a “national teach-in on the environment”. His team promoted events nationwide. As a result, 20 million Americans attended coast-to-coast rallies, calling for a healthy, sustainable environment on April 22, 1970.
Gaylord Nelson’s theory that Earth Day would get the government to listen proved correct. The event not only led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency but also to the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts. Talk about accomplishing a lot in one day.
While Earth Day is most often associated with April 22, there are technically two celebration dates.
John McConnell, a newspaper publisher and community activist, suggested an annual observance of our shared responsibility to care for the Earth that would coincide with the Vernal Equinox. In 1971, the United Nations signed a declaration establishing February 26 as the International Earth Day. The ringing of the UN Peace Bell at the UN headquarters in New York City continues to commemorate International Earth Day every year on the first day of spring.
In honor of Earth Day’s 20th Anniversary on April 22, 1990, the movement sought to boost its outreach goals. The day was celebrated globally rather than only in the U.S., and focused on increasing worldwide recycling initiatives. Earth Day’s global presence soon prompted the United Nations Earth Summit, held in 1992 – the first gathering of world leaders to create a global plan for sustainable development.
To mark Earth Day’s 25th anniversary, President Bill Clinton awarded Senator Gaylord Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest honor given to US civilians.
Gaylord Nelson shared his reflections on the past 25 years, saying: “There has been a sea change in the degree of environmentally educated people in our society. They, in the end, will make the difference.”
With the new millennium came a renewed energy for Earth Day. The 30th anniversary was dedicated to raising awareness about clean energy, with activities that ranged from a traveling drum chain in Gabon, Africa, to hundreds of thousands gathering at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
According to the Earth Day Network, 1 billion people participate in Earth Day events, making it the largest secular civic event in the world. This year’s theme, Green Cities, is inspired by the trend of the world’s population moves into cities. It is intended to motivate the public and city-planning officials to create and further support sustainable urban projects.
Other holidays include food traditions, why shouldn’t Earth Day have a celebratory meal too? In 2003, Earth Dinner was created as an opportunity to gather ’round the table with family and friends on Earth Day for a healthy meal (think local, organic and seasonal) and some talk about ways to reduce, reuse, recycle and conserve.
Celebrating Earth Day can be as simple as carpooling to work for the day or maybe just sporting the official 2014 Earth Day Tee.
Pharmaceutical giants Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline have agreed to exchange assets and combine their consumer healthcare units.
Novartis will acquire GSK’s oncology drugs business for $16 billion and sell its vaccines division, excluding the flu unit, to GSK for $7.1 billion.
In a separate deal, Novartis has agreed to sell its animal health division to Lilly for nearly $5.4 billion.
Novartis said the moves would help the company focus on its key businesses.
Novartis will acquire GSK’s oncology drugs business for $16 billion and sell its vaccines division, excluding the flu unit, to GSK for $7.1 billion
“The transactions mark a transformational moment for Novartis,” Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez said in a statement.
“They also improve our financial strength, and are expected to add to our growth rates and margins immediately.”
The deals are a part of Novartis’s review of its business as it continues to face sluggish growth.
Novartis and GSK said that combining their over-the-counter (OTC) units would help boost the fortunes of both the companies.
The combined unit will have annual revenues of more than $10 billion.
“Opportunities to build greater scale and combine high quality assets in vaccines and consumer healthcare are scarce,” GSK CEO Andrew Witty said in a statement.
“With this transaction, we will substantially strengthen two of our core businesses and create significant new options to increase value for shareholders.”
Glaxo shareholders will get a $6.5 billion capital return from the deal proceeds, the company said.
Ukraine’s government has released photos that it says show Russian soldiers among militants holding official buildings in eastern region of the country.
Handed to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) last week, the photos have since been distributed by the US state department.
They are said to show Russian soldiers or paramilitaries in flashpoint towns in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Russia denies it has military units on the ground in Donetsk.
Pro-Russian militants are holding official buildings in towns and cities in the east.
According to the Ukrainian press release, the photos show the same bearded gunman taking part in militant operations in the Donetsk towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk this year, and in operations in Georgia in 2008.
The US State Department has released photos purportedly showing the same bearded Russian soldier in operations in Georgia in 2008 and Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in Ukraine in 2014
However, in the 2014 photos, his greying beard appears to be black while in Georgia six years ago, the slimmer-looking man shown has a reddish beard.
Other unverified photos are said to show the same masked gunman in both Donetsk and Crimea, the Ukrainian region annexed last month by Russia.
The Ukrainian press release argues that the photos are proof of a Russian special forces unit operating in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine’s permanent representative to the International Organizations in Vienna said the photos provided “growing evidence of Russia’s involvement in instigating and co-ordinating the separatist actions that destabilise the situation in the east of Ukraine”.
US state department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said there was “broad unity in the international community about the connection between Russia and some of the armed militants in eastern Ukraine”.
“The photos presented by the Ukrainians last week only further confirm this,” she said, adding that it was a “pivotal period” for Russia to “use their influence to de-escalate the situation in Eastern Ukraine”.
Russia has previously denied it is destabilizing Ukraine, and warned the authorities in Kiev against any use of force against pro-Russian demonstrators.
“There are no Russian units, special services or instructors in the east of Ukraine,” President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
The confirmed death toll of Sewol ferry disaster has passed 100, as divers recovered more bodies from the sunken hull.
A total of 108 people are now known to have died, but another 194 are missing, presumed trapped inside the vessel.
Last week, the South Korean ferry tipped over and sank within two hours, but it is not yet clear why.
Seven crew members have been detained, however, amid intense criticism of their failure to evacuate all passengers as the ship listed.
Passengers were told to remain in rooms and cabins, reports suggest, amid confusion on the bridge over whether to order them to abandon ship.
A total of 108 people are now known to have died in the Sewol ferry disaster, but another 194 are missing, presumed trapped inside the vessel (photo AP)
South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday condemned the conduct of some of the crew, calling it “akin to murder”.
A total of 174 passengers were rescued from the Sewol, which capsized as it sailed from Incheon in the north-west to the southern island of Jeju.
But there were 476 people on board, including 339 children and teachers on a school trip. Many were trapped inside the ship as it listed to one side and then sank.
Military divers have been searching the ship for those who died. Bodies of victims are being brought back to the port on Jindo island at a steady rate now.
Divers have managed to reach many of the cabins in the hull of the upturned ferry, although they are still trying to get into the ship’s restaurant, where they believe many of the passengers were trapped.
They have also loaded an underwater robot at the port this morning, ready to be used in the operation to bring the hull to the surface.
Rescue officials say they will keep searching with divers for another two days, but that the families of the victims have agreed that the salvage operation can begin after that.
Investigations are focusing on whether the ferry took too sharp a turn – perhaps destabilizing the vessel – before it started listing and whether an earlier evacuation order could have saved lives.
Sewol’s Captain Lee Joon-seok was not on the bridge when the ferry began listing. It was being steered by a third mate who had never navigated the waters where the accident occurred, prosecutors say.
Captain Lee Joon-seok and two other crew members have been charged with negligence of duty and violation of maritime law. Four more crew members were detained on Monday.
Siale Angilau, a man accused of robbery and assault, was shot dead in a Salt Lake City court after he lunged at a witness giving evidence.
Siale Angilau, 25, died in hospital after being shot several times by a US marshal in front of the jury at the new federal courthouse.
The FBI said Siale Angilau had rushed towards the witness with a pen in an “aggressive, threatening manner”.
Siale Angilau was the last of 17 accused gang members tried as part of a 2010 case.
The case included 29 counts, including assault, conspiracy, robbery and weapons offences.
Siale Angilau was shot dead in a Salt Lake City court after he lunged at a witness giving evidence (photo Department of Corrections)
Perry Cardwell, who was in the courtroom with his adult daughter, told the Associated Press news agency at least six shots were fired.
The witness on the stand at the time was not identified and was not injured.
He appeared to be in his mid-20s and was testifying about gang initiation, Perry Cardwell said.
US District Judge Tena Campbell declared a mistrial, writing in her order that members of the jury were visibly shaken and upset.
Siale Angilau’s lawyer declined to answer questions as he left the court on Monday. The accused had been transferred to federal custody last week after serving time in prison in Utah on other charges.
The new federal courthouse in Salt Lake City opened just a week ago. It was designed with several security features, including bulletproof glass in some areas and separate routes in and out for judges, prisoners and the public.
The building was closed for a while after the shooting but later reopened.
About 150 Japanese lawmakers have visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, in a move likely to further sour ties with China and South Korea.
Yasukuni shrine commemorates Japan’s war dead, including convicted war criminals from World War Two.
The visit, marking a spring festival, comes a day before President Barack Obama arrives in Tokyo.
It also comes amid strained relations between Japan and its neighbors over geopolitical and historical tensions.
Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe was not among those who visited the shrine, but he sent a traditional offering on Monday.
The Chinese foreign ministry denounced Shinzo Abe’s offering as a “negative asset for Japan”, saying that both it and visits by Japanese cabinet ministers reflected “the erroneous attitude towards history adopted by Japan’s incumbent cabinet”.
About 150 Japanese lawmakers have visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine (photo Reuters)
South Korea’s foreign ministry said that Shinzo Abe had “romanticized Japanese colonialism and its war of aggression” by paying tribute to the shrine.
Japanese officials visit the shrine during seasonal festivals and on the anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.
Japanese lawmaker Hidehisa Otsuji told the Associated Press news agency that he visited the shrine “with a calm mind” and that there was “no further meaning” to the visit.
“I have been visiting here for decades,” he said.
Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Yoshitaka Shindo, meanwhile, said: “As this visit was my own personal visit, I don’t believe that it will have any effect on the US president’s visit.”
China and South Korea view the shrine as a symbol of Japan’s wartime aggression and have accused Tokyo of failing to show the necessary remorse for wartime atrocities.
When Shinzo Abe visited the shrine on December 26, 2013, the US embassy in Tokyo expressed disappointment and said Abe’s actions would “exacerbate tensions” with neighbors.
Washington has also been trying to get Japan and South Korea to set aside their differences and work more closely together, both on North Korea and in terms of counter-balancing China’s growing power in the region.
Ties between China and Japan meanwhile, remain severely strained, over historical tensions and a territorial dispute in the East China Sea.
North Korea has increased the activity at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit to South Korea.
South Korean military was “currently detecting a lot of activity in and around the Punggye-ri nuclear test site”, a South Korean defense ministry spokesman said.
North Korea could be planning to hold a “surprise nuclear test or just pretend to stage a nuclear test”, he said.
North Korea has increased the activity at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit to South Korea
The communist country has carried out three nuclear tests in the past.
South Korea’s foreign minister warned of the dangers of another.
“If North Korea goes ahead with another nuclear test as it has publicly warned, it will be a game changer,” Yun Byung-se said.
North Korea’s most recent test was in February 2013 – an incident that triggered several months of severe tension on the Korean peninsula.
It also carried out tests in 2006 and 2009.
All of the tests – which were signposted well in advance – resulted in the imposition of UN sanctions on Pyongyang.
Reddit has downgraded the status of its “technology” section after a censorship row.
Technology category is no longer a “default subreddit” on the social news site, meaning it stops being one of two dozen communities promoted to new account holders.
The move follows a report by the Daily Dot that revealed headlines posted to the area had been secretly deleted if they featured certain words.
The subreddit’s own moderators now acknowledge that this was a “disaster”.
Reddit describes itself as “the front page of the internet”.
It had about 115 million unique visitors last month, according to its own data, and more than 6,500 active subreddit communities, all moderated by independent volunteers.
Members can submit links to articles to each community, for which they provide their own headlines.
Other members then up-vote or down-vote the links, which determines how prominently they feature both in each individual section and on a core list of the most popular posts. Users can also submit comments, leading to lively discussions.
Reddit has downgraded the status of its “technology” section after a censorship row
Reddit is majority-owned by media group Conde Nast’s parent Advanced Publications, and has proven particularly popular with 18-30 year-old males.
This audience-profile closely matches that of many of the major tech blogs and, as such, articles that have attracted interest on the technology subreddit have helped drive traffic to these third-party sites.
However, the section will now be much less visible to people who either have not edited their “subscriptions” to include it or have visited Reddit without logging in.
After a similar action was taken against Reddit‘s “politics” community last year it experienced a steep decline in activity.
Reddit said that it had acted because the technology community’s moderators had become distracted by “petty squabbles”.
The issue was brought to light by a Reddit user nicknamed Creq who posted a message to the site a week ago suggesting that 20 terms had been banned.
He said the list of censored words included: “National Security Agency”, “GCHQ”, “Anonymous”, “anti-piracy”, “Bitcoin”, “Snowden” and “net neutrality”.
It later became clear that other terms, including “EU Court”, “startup” and “Assange” had also been blocked.
When the Daily Dot questioned one of the section’s volunteer moderators about this, he confirmed that software was being used to automatically delete posts that featured “politicized” words in order to avoid the links making it to the core list of most popular topics.
The news caused controversy with those users, prompting a U-turn.
“As many of you are aware the moderators of this subreddit have failed you,” the volunteers wrote in a message to Reddit visitors over the weekend.
“While the intent of this system was, to the extent of my knowledge, not malicious it ended up being a disaster. We messed up, and we are sorry.
“The mods directly responsible for this system are no longer a part of the team and the new team is committed to maintaining a transparent style of moderation.”
One of the changes taken, they added, was to allow the general population to view a configuration page that listed banned materials.
While links to petitions remain blocked, it reveals that most of the censored headline words can now be used again.
However, the move has failed to placate several of the subreddit’s visitors who are now calling for a further two of the section’s surviving moderators to resign.
Public memorials to Nobel prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who died on Thursday in Mexico City aged 87, are being hold in Mexico and Colombia.
The presidents of Colombia and Mexico are due to attend a formal ceremony with funeral cortege in Mexico City, where Garcia Marquez lived for decades.
At the same time residents in his home town of Aracataca in northern Colombia will hold a symbolic funeral.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez was considered the finest writer of the Spanish language since Cervantes.
The author was cremated at a private family ceremony in Mexico City last week.
A funeral cortege is taking Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s ashes from his house to the historic centre of Mexican City for the memorial ceremony.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez was considered the finest writer of the Spanish language since Cervantes (photo EPA)
The event in the majestic Palace of Fine Arts will be attended by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto and the author’s wife, Mercedes Barcha, and sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo.
Thousands of members of the public who are mourning his loss will also say goodbye to Gabriel Garcia Marquez at the cultural venue, which is where Mexico pays tribute to its late artistic icons.
It has been adorned with yellow flowers, the author’s favorite, and a string quartet will perform music by the Hungarian Bela Bartok, among other composers.
In Colombia, residents are holding a ceremony of their own in his birth place of Aracataca, the inspiration for Macondo, the setting for his 1967 seminal masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude, which sold millions of copies around the world.
On Tuesday, the Colombian government will hold a formal ceremony at the main cathedral in the capital Bogota, which will be televised.
Then on Wednesday, Colombians will have readings of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel No One Writes to the Colonel in hundreds of libraries, parks and universities across the country.
There may be an element of disappointment in Colombia that the first main event to commemorate Gabriel Garcia Marquez is taking place in Mexico rather than his country of origin.
But rather than a diplomatic spat, it simply reflects the degree to which both countries – indeed all Latin Americans – considered Gabriel Garcia Marquez to be their own.
One solution being posited is that Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s ashes be divided between Mexico and Colombia, but his family has not yet revealed its wishes.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez fled Colombia in 1981 after learning that the country’s military wanted to question him over links to left-wing guerrillas.
The Syrian plan to hold a presidential election on June 3 has been dismissed by the US as a “parody of democracy”.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon also condemned the plan, saying it could torpedo efforts to broker a deal to end the three-year civil war, which has killed 150,000.
Syrian government forces have made gains recently, but rebels still control vast territories. It is unlikely that voting would be held in those areas.
President Bashar al-Assad is expected to seek a third seven-year term.
The government recently framed an election law that stipulated all candidates must have lived in Syria for the past 10 years.
Most opposition leaders have fled the country, so are in effect barred from standing.
Syrian parliament announced the presidential election will be held on June 3 (photo Reuters)
Opposition activist Ahmad Alqusair accused Bashar al-Assad of “holding elections over the blood of Syrians” and said only the president’s supporters would vote.
“If we are being blockaded from even eating bread, how can I vote,” he told the Associated Press.
One government lawmaker said there would be no voting in rebel-held areas, but no official announcement has yet been made.
The US, EU and UN were united in condemning the planned vote.
“Calling for a de-facto referendum rings especially hollow now as the regime continues to massacre the very electorate it purports to represent,” said state department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki.
Ban Ki-moon warned that it would “damage the political process and hamper the prospects for a political solution”.
And both the EU and the US labeled it a “parody of democracy”.
Parliamentary speaker Mohammed al-Lahham announced the election, and said overseas Syrians would be able to vote from May 28.
It is unclear how the government plans to organize voting in contested areas, or how the six million people who have fled their homes could register.
Also, more than 2.7 million Syrians are living as refugees in neighboring countries, and many other expatriates live in countries where Syrian embassies have been closed since 2011.
The announcement came just hours after mortar shells exploded about 300ft from the parliament building in central Damascus, killing five people, according to state TV.
President Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father Hafez al-Assad in 2000 and was re-elected in 2007, taking 98% of the vote in a referendum.
He has not said publicly whether he will stand, however, no-one doubts that he will seek a third term.
Amendments to the constitution approved in a widely criticized referendum in 2012 mean that there can be multiple candidates in the election.
However, it is unlikely that anyone will seriously challenge Bashar al-Assad.
Boston honored three killed and more than 260 injured in the last year’s bomb attack as thousands of marathoners took to the city’s streets for this year’s race.
Dignitaries, spectators and more than 36,000 runners observed a moment of silence before the race began.
The heavy security operation included a ban on rucksacks and screening at checkpoints.
US runner Meb Keflezighi and Rita Jeptoo from Kenya won the men’s and women’s races.
Athletes with disabilities were the first competitors to set off, at 08:50 local time.
The elite women’s race started at 09:32, with the elite men setting off half an hour later, followed by thousands of other runners.
Boston honored three killed and more than 260 injured in the last year’s bomb attack as thousands of marathoners took to the city’s streets
Meb Keflezighi won the men’s race, clocking in at 2 hours, 8 minutes and 37 seconds.
He is the first US runner to take the title since 1985.
Rita Jeptoo was the first to cross the finish line in the women’s race, marking her third win in the competition.
She finished the course in a record 2 hours, 18 minutes and 57 seconds.
The 26.2-mile (42.2 km) route was tightly guarded in a massive mobilization of law enforcement agencies, including police units, bomb squads and tactical assault teams from other states.
The Boston police department erected 8,000 steel barricades, 1,200 more than last year.
Many people in the city have been wearing “Boston Strong” T-shirts.
Last year’s winner of the men’s elite race, Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa, was competing again and met several victims of the blast.
Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is due to stand trial in November. He has pleaded not guilty to 30 charges, including 17 that carry the death penalty.
Russia has accused the Kiev authorities of breaking last week’s Geneva accord on resolving the Ukraine crisis.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kiev government – not recognized by Moscow – had not moved to disarm illegal groups, especially the ultra-nationalist Right Sector.
“Extremists are calling the tune,” he alleged, condemning a fatal shooting near Sloviansk, in eastern Ukraine.
Sergei Lavrov also condemned the continuing Maidan street protests in Kiev.
He said it was “absolutely unacceptable” that the Ukrainian authorities had failed to end what he called the illegal protests in the capital.
However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya said he was “surprised” Sergei Lavrov did “not know what is being done in Ukraine regarding the Geneva agreements”, Kiev-based news agency Unian reported.
Sergei Lavrov has accused the Kiev authorities of breaking last week’s Geneva accord on resolving the Ukraine crisis
The government had been having regular consultations with the parties to the agreement in an attempt to find “ways of de-escalating the situation in the east of Ukraine”, Andriy Deshchytsya was reported to have said.
Early on Sunday at least three people were killed in a shooting at a checkpoint manned by pro-Russian separatists near Sloviansk.
The circumstances remain unclear. The local separatists said the attack was carried out by Right Sector militants. Kiev called it a “provocation” staged by Russian special forces.
Sergei Lavrov said the incident proved Kiev did not want to control “extremists”.
He said that the most important demand of the Geneva deal was to “prevent any violence”, and it was not being implemented.
“Steps are being taken – above all by those who seized power in Kiev – which crudely violate the accords reached in Geneva,” Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow.
The April 17 accord was agreed at talks between Russia, Ukraine, the EU and US. It demanded an immediate end to violence in eastern Ukraine and called on illegal armed groups to surrender their weapons and leave official buildings.
Pro-Russian militants are still holding official buildings in at least nine towns and cities in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
The interim authorities in Kiev said they had suspended operations against pro-Russian militants over Easter, and appealed for national unity.
They promised to meet some of the demands of pro-Russian protesters, which include the decentralization of power and guarantees for the status of the Russian language.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has deployed around 100 monitors across 10 cities in Ukraine to explain the details of the Geneva accord to each side.
Spokesman Michael Bociurkiw said they were having a “mixed experience dealing with checkpoints and so forth and there is a varying reaction to teams”.
He said they were facing a “hardened attitude” in places such as Donetsk and Slaviansk, but other, smaller, areas are “more accommodating”.
Meanwhile, US has warned the next few days will be pivotal and has threatened more sanctions against Russia if it fails to abide by the Geneva accord.
