Hungary election: PM Viktor Orban declares victory

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has declared victory in Sunday's parliamentary election, winning a second consecutive term.

His centre-right Fidesz has polled 45%, with most of the votes counted.

A centre-left opposition alliance is trailing with 25%, while the far-right Jobbik party is credited with 21%.

The Hungarian left has never fully recovered from its heavy defeat in the 2010 ballot, in which Mr Orban swept to power with a two-thirds majority.

Sunday's election has been mainly fought over the state of the economy, correspondents say.

'We won'

"No doubt we have won," Mr Orban told supporters gathered in the capital, Budapest, late on Sunday evening.

"This was not just any odd victory. We have scored such a comprehensive victory, the significance of which we cannot yet fully grasp tonight."

He said the election results showed that Hungarians wanted to stay in the European Union, but with a strong national government.

"I'm going to work every day so that Hungary will be a wonderful place," he declared.

Fidesz is predicted to win around 135 of the 199 seats in parliament.

About 5m Hungarian voters cast ballots in the elections

It now also seems likely that Jobbik will become the second-largest party in parliament, the BBC's Nick Thorpe reports from Budapest.

Although the Socialist-led opposition is in second place, the five parties making up the alliance plan to form their own factions after the elections, our correspondent says.

Observers say Jobbik's adoption of a softer image has paid dividends, as a recent opinion poll found leader Gabor Vona to be the most popular opposition politician.

Fidesz supporters say Mr Orban's victory is a tribute to his leadership powers. But opposition parties have accused the prime minister throughout their campaign of undermining Hungarian democracy.

They have also accused Mr Orban of curtailing civil liberties and harming free speech.

Fidesz has insisted that reform was needed to complete the work of eradicating the legacy of Communism from the country, and reduce the budget deficit to below the EU's required 3% of gross domestic product.

Mr Orban's populist and Eurosceptic approach has proven popular with many Hungarians.

"The left had eight years to show what they can do, and they showed us all right," he told Hungarian media on Saturday.

"Why on Earth should we believe that the same people and the same parties would not do the same if given another opportunity?"

US accuses Chinese man of breaching Iran nuclear sanctions

A Chinese national faces US criminal charges that he conspired to export devices to Iran that could be used in uranium enrichment.

US prosecutors said Sihai Cheng supplied thousands of parts to a company involved in Iran's nuclear programme in violation of US sanctions.

Mr Cheng is in custody in the UK after being arrested at Heathrow Airport in February on a US provisional warrant.

He faces a hearing in June over whether he will be extradited to the US.

Iran is subject to a raft of international sanctions over its controversial nuclear programme.

The US indictment, unsealed on Friday, comes as Iran and six world powers are trying to strike a permanent deal to address Western concerns that Tehran is secretly trying to develop a nuclear weapon.

Iran has always insisted it only wants nuclear energy.

Mr Cheng - who is based in Shanghai - is alleged to have conspired with an Iranian to illegally supply US-made pressure transducers to Iran through China.

These transducers - a special type of sensors - are alleged to have been sold to a "front" company for the Iranian nuclear programme.

Pictures are alleged to show the transducers in use at the Natanz enrichment facility.

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera says that in the detailed indictment, it appears that an Iranian purchaser - also indicted - made a transfer from a UK bank into Mr Cheng's Chinese bank.

However, it is not clear if there were any further business dealings in the UK, our correspondent adds.

Iran's economy has been badly hit by international sanctions.

In an interim deal agreed last November, Iran agreed to curb uranium enrichment in return for an easing of sanctions.

Rwanda to start mourning week for genocide anniversary

Rwanda will start a week of official mourning to mark the 20th anniversary of the country's genocide on Monday.

President Paul Kagame is to light a torch which will burn for 100 days - the length of time the genocide lasted.

A diplomatic row has prompted France's justice minister to pull out of the commemorative events, but Paris says its ambassador will be present.

At least 800,000 people - mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus - died at the hands of Hutu extremists in 1994.

Most of the victims of the genocide were attacked with machetes during 100 days of slaughter that began on 6 April 1994, shortly after Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana was killed when his plane was shot down over the Rwandan capital.

Some Christian leaders were implicated in the violence.

An estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days

The killings ended in July 1994 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi-led rebel movement that entered the country from Uganda, marched on Kigali and seized control of the country.

No 'boycott'

The week of mourning begins with a wreath-laying ceremony at the national genocide memorial followed by the lighting of a flame at the Amahoro Stadium in the capital, Kigali.

The torch has been carried across the country for the past three months, visiting 30 districts and passing from village to village.

International leaders including former British PM Tony Blair, South African President Thabo Mbeki and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon are due to attend the ceremony.

On Sunday, hundreds of people attended a Mass at Sainte-Famille Catholic church in Kigali to remember those who died in the church itself and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, France has denied that it is boycotting the event.

The Mass remembered those who died in the church itself and elsewhere in the country

"The ambassador will be present at the ceremony presided over by Paul Kagame," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said.

"There was never any question of a boycott of the ceremonies. Saturday's decision only concerned the justice minister's participation."

Christiane Taubira had cancelled her plans to attend the events in Kigali following an accusation by Mr Kagame that France, as an ally of Mr Habyarimana's government at the time, had participated in the mass killings.

In an interview with the French-language weekly news magazine Jeune Afrique, Mr Kagame denounced the "direct role of Belgium and France in the political preparation for the genocide".

Mr Kagame reportedly said France had a "direct role" in the "political preparation for genocide"

Rwanda's government has long accused France - an ally of the previous regime - of aiding the genocide

The French foreign ministry said the comments went against reconciliation efforts between the two countries.

Rwanda responded by accusing the French government of overreacting.

France has previously acknowledged that serious errors were made during the genocide in Rwanda.

BBC Africa's Kassim Kayira explains the events that shook Rwanda in 1994

A Rwandan commission in 2008 said France was aware of preparations for the genocide and helped train ethnic Hutu militias who participated in killings.

Paris said its forces had helped protect civilians as part of a UN-mandated intervention in Rwanda. But Mr Kagame said French troops had protected the militias carrying out the killings.

In recent years there has been a thaw in relations between the two countries, with a visit by Mr Kagame to Paris in 2011 and the establishment by France of a genocide investigation unit.

Last month, a Paris court sentenced former Rwandan spy chief Pascal Simbikangwa to 25 years in jail for his role in the genocide - the first such conviction in France.

#Malaysia flight MH370: Search ships to verify signals

A UK ship with sophisticated detection equipment, HMS Echo, has arrived in an area where a Chinese vessel searching for the missing Malaysian plane has twice detected a pulse signal.

Australian ship Ocean Shield is first investigating a possible third signal elsewhere in the massive search zone.
None has been confirmed as coming from the flight recorders of MH370.
Meanwhile families of the missing passengers have attended a prayer service in Kuala Lumpur.

The plane disappeared four weeks ago with 239 people on board.

Investigators believe it crashed in the Indian Ocean although no confirmed debris has been found.
Australian co-ordinators said on Sunday that new analysis of satellite data meant efforts would now focus on the southern part of the search zone, near where China's vessel is located.
'Some promise' Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said China's Haixan 01 had redetected a signal for about 90 seconds on Saturday, within hours of it being heard earlier.

HMS Echo is is expected to arrive in the area where the Haixun 01 is located within hours

Malaysian Buddhists offer prayer for passengers on board missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in Kuala Lumpur

Up to a dozen military aircraft and 13 ships were to help with the search on Sunday

He said the latest discovery was about 2km (1.2 miles) away from the original pulse, and that China had also reported spotting white objects on the surface of the water about 90km away.
"The fact that we have two detections - two acoustic events - in that location provides some promise," he said.
However he said these signals were "fleeting encounters" that could not be verified until the arrival of British naval ship HMS Echo and Australian defence vessel Ocean Shield.
Both vessels have technology able to detect underwater signals emitted by "black box" data recorders.
HMS Echo arrived around 15:45 GMT on Sunday. The depth of the water in this zone is said to be about 4.5km (2.8 miles).

Richard Westcott reports on the use of a pinger locator to find a black box

Ocean Shield - described by officials as the best equipped vessel taking part in the search - will head there once it has investigated a third acoustic detection about 300 nautical miles away (560km).
It is not expected to reach the southern area for over a day.
As crews began day 30 of the search on Sunday, Air Chief Marshal Houston told reporters investigators were "running out of time" in the search for the flight's "black box".
The battery-powered signal from recorder can begin to fade after 30 days.
Blessings Thousands of people, including families of the missing passengers, attended the prayer service in the Malaysian capital on Sunday.
"This is not a prayer for the dead because we have not found bodies. This is a prayer for blessings and that the plane will be found," said Liow Tiong Lai, the president of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), one of the parties in the governing coalition.

The signal detected by Haixun 01 reportedly had the same frequency as those emitted by flight recorders

A dozen military aircraft and 13 ships are searching three areas about 2,000 km (1,240 miles) north-west of the Australian city of Perth.

The areas cover a total of 216,000 sq km (560,000 square km).

Haixun 01 picked up the first so-called "ping" signal at about 25 degrees south latitude and 101 degrees east longitude, state-run Xinhua news agency said.
The signal reportedly had a frequency of 37.5kHz - the same as that emitted by the flight recorders.
Three people on board the boat were said to have heard the pings, which were not recorded as they came suddenly.
Flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March.
Malaysia earlier announced it had set up three ministerial committees to help co-ordinate the search, and a new investigation team which would include members from Australia, China, the US, the UK and France.

#Ukraine: Pro-Russians storm offices in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv

Pro-Russian protesters have stormed government buildings in three eastern Ukrainian cities.

In Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv they clashed with police, hung Russian flags from the buildings and called for a referendum on independence.

Ukraine's acting president called an emergency security meeting in response.

The unrest comes amid tensions between Russia and Ukraine over the removal of pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych and Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has the right to protect the Russian-speaking population there.

Ukraine's leaders deny the country's Russian speakers are under threat and have said they will resist any intervention in their country.

Ukrainian Acting President Olexander Turchynov cancelled a planned visit to Lithuania and called a meeting of the country's security chiefs to deal with the unrest.

In Donetsk, in what was reportedly the day's most violent protest, a large group of activists broke away from a crowd rallying in the main city square to attack and occupy the regional government seat.

After clashing with riot police and breaking through their lines to enter the building, they raised the Russian flag and hung a banner from the building. Protesters outside cheered and chanted: "Russia, Russia."

Ihor Dyomin, a spokesman for Donetsk local police, said about 1,000 people had taken part in the storming of the building.

"Around 100 people are now inside the building and are barricading the building," he added.

The protesters in Donetsk engaged in a stand-off with riot police

Scuffles between the two sides broke out

A breakaway group broke into the regional administration building and hung a banner

In Luhansk, similar scenes saw pro-Russian demonstrators remove the sign from the front of the Ukrainian state security agency

In Luhansk, police fired tear gas at dozens of protesters who broke into the local security service building in an attempt to force the release of 15 pro-Russian activists who were arrested earlier in the week and accused of plotting violent unrest.

Local news reports said at least two people had been injured in clashes, and TV pictures from the scene showed a riot policeman being taken away on a stretcher.

And in Kharkiv, several dozen people also entered the regional government building after breaking through police lines.

They waved Russian flags out of windows as a crowd outside cheered and chanted. Police officers reportedly refused to use force against the crowd and moved away from the government building after the pro-Russian supporters broke in.

Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov accused President Putin and Mr Yanukovych - who was forced from office in February following months of street protests and is now living in exile in Russia - of "ordering and paying for another wave of separatist turmoil in the country's east".

In a message posted on his Facebook account, he said: "The people who have gathered are not many but they are very aggressive. The situation will be brought under control without bloodshed. But at the same time, a firm approach will be used against all who attack government buildings, law enforcement officers and other citizens."

Tensions are running high between Ukraine and Russia, with thousands of Russian soldiers still said to be deployed along the border.

The new administration in Ukraine has faced continuing opposition from Ukraine's Russian-speaking regions.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's far-right Svoboda party has reported that the body of one its activists was found on Saturday after it was dumped in the woods with signs of torture, a day after his abduction in the central village of Vygrayev.

Svoboda was one of the participants in the protests that toppled Mr Yanukovych's administration.

Navies of Iran, Pakistan to hold joint drill in Hormuz strait

Several Pakistani naval vessels, including a warship and a submarine, docked at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. (File photo: Reuters)

 

Reuters, Dubai
Sunday, 6 April 2014

The navies of Iran and Pakistan plan to hold joint military exercises in the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, Iran’s state news agency said on Sunday.

Several Pakistani naval vessels, including a warship and a submarine, docked at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, the IRNA news agency said, citing an Iranian Navy statement.

“The most important activity of the Pakistani fleet during its stay in Bandar Abbas is to launch joint maneuvers with selected units of Iran’s Navy in eastern waters of the Hormuz Strait,” Iranian Rear Admiral Shahram Irani told IRNA.

Iran’s state news agency said the joint naval exercises were aimed at promoting military cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad but gave no details of the plans.

More than a third of the world’s sea borne oil exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow corridor between Iran and Oman. Western navies, led by the United States, patrol the region to ensure their safe passage.

A crude oil tanker was shot at last week as it sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, although such incidents are rare.

Israel wants peace talks but ‘not at any price’

Israel wants peace talks but ‘not at any price’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is ready for peace talks with the Palestinians after it neared collapse. (File photo: Reuters)

 

By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Sunday, 6 April 2014

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his first public comments on a crisis in U.S.-brokered peace talks with the Palestinians, said on Sunday Israel was prepared to continue negotiations but “not at any price,” Reuters reported.

Netanyahu, speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, also cautioned that Israel would respond with steps of its own if the Palestinians pressed ahead with unilateral moves toward statehood.
“Any unilateral moves they take will be answered by unilateral moves at our end,” he said. 
Meanwhile, U.S. envoy Martin Indyk on Sunday is expected to rejuvenate Mideast peace negotiations after Israelis and Palestinians took counter offensive measures, bringing the talks near to an imminent collapse.
Indyk will give diplomacy another chance when U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made a big announcement saying that Washington was going to review its role as mediator of peace talks for Israelis and Palestinians to reach a final settlement status.
Kerry said on Friday there were “limits” to the time and energy Washington could devote to the process, adding that it was time for a “reality check.”
The U.S. top diplomat made the announcement when Israel rejected releasing the fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners, a key condition for the peace talks to continue.
In response, the Palestinians infuriated the Israelis when they sought to gain wider international recognition by attempting to attain a full-fledged U.N. membership, and join 15 other international organizations. This made Israel consider imposing more sanctions on the Palestinians.
Despite the setback, attempts continue to prevent the collapse of talks.

Intensive involvement

Israel’s chief negotiator called on Saturday for direct talks with the Palestinians. Tzipi Livni’s remarks came on the eve of a three-way meeting with her Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erakat and Indyk, officials close to the talks said.
Indyk met the two separately on Friday, and he is expected to meet with them again on Sunday.
Livni told Channel 2 television that the “intensive” U.S. involvement in the talks might have got in between the actual sides in conflict, Agence France-Presse reported.
The Americans should remain involved but “as those who help negotiations and bilateral talks, rather than as their replacement,” she said.
“I think we need to advance to more meetings and direct negotiations than there were till now, I think the Americans realize this as well.”
Meanwhile, Livni insisted on Saturday that the release of prisoners was delayed only because of the Palestinian demand that the prisoners to be freed include Arab Israelis.
Livni stressed, however, that Israel would continue peace efforts, since “the current condition isn't one we can sustain.”

(With Reuters and AFP)