Bubba Watson wins U.S. Masters after dramatic playoff
Bubba Watson won the 76th U.S. Masters as he beat South African Louis Oosthuizen at the second hole of a sudden death playoff at Augusta National on Sunday.
Watson, who won his first major title, played a remarkable recovery shot from the trees at the 10th to find the green.
Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, saw his par putt miss to leave his American opponent with two shots to take the title.
The 33-year-old Watson rolled his first to within six inches before completing the task, bursting into tears as he embraced his mother, Mollie, by the side of the green.
"I never got this far in my dreams," said Watson as he prepared to don the famous green jacket, won last year by Oosthuizen's fellow South African Charl Schwartzel.
Watson and his wife have recently adopted their first child and he added: "To go home to my new son is going to be fun."
The playoff pair had finished tied at 10-under 278 in regulation play, as Watson produced a burst of four straight birdies on the back nine to draw level with his playing partner.
Oosthuizen had taken control of the tournament when he holed his second shot at the par-5 second hole for a remarkable three-under-par double-eagle, only the fourth in the history of the Masters.
But he mixed two bogeys with two birdies to give Watson the chance to force a playoff, his second in a major after losing to Martin Kaymer of Germany at the 2010 U.S. PGA Championship.
First-round leader Lee Westwood of England, home pair Matt Kuchar and Phil Mickelson, and overnight leader Peter Hanson of Sweden finished tied for third at eight-under 280.
Mickelson's challenge was disrupted by a triple bogey six at the short fourth and he was never able to get on terms in search of his fourth Masters crown as he finished with a level-par 72.
Hanson also struggled early in his round before a late rally.
Up ahead, world No. 3 Westwood, once again immaculate from tee to green, carded a four-under 68 to set the clubhouse pace in search of his first major crown and was joined on that mark by local favorite Kuchar.
But Oosthuizen and Watson kept their nerve, parring both the 17th and 18th to stay locked together at 10 under par to go into the extra holes.
Two of the pre-tournament favorites, Tiger Woods and Northern Ireland's world No. 2 Rory McIlroy, finished tied together at five over, 15 shots adrift after final rounds of 74 and 76 respectively.
Man Utd extend lead at top as 10-man City lose at Arsenal
Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes scored as Manchester United beat 10-man Queens Park Rangers 2-0 Sunday to strengthen their grip on the English Premier League title with six matches to play.
Victory left the defending champions eight points clear of local rivals Manchester City, who were beaten 1-0 at Arsenal in the late kickoff.
Arsenal's Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta beat England goalkeeper Joe Hart with a superb shot three minutes from time to all but end City's hopes of a first league title since 1968.
Second-placed City's misery was complete when striker Mario Balotelli was sent off just before the final whistle for a second yellow card.
Manager Roberto Mancini had told Sky Sports that with United winning at home to QPR his side had to win to stay in the championship race.
"Today for us is like a final, otherwise eight points is too much," he told Sky Sports.
Interviewed after the defeat, Mancini admitted that with the points gap "it's very difficult but we will do our best."
He was also angered by Balotelli, who was lucky to stay on the pitch after a first-half tackle on Alex Song before being booked after tangling with Bacary Sagna.
"The first tackle was bad," said Mancini. "I defend Mario because he is a good guy but if he doesn't change in the future he could waste his talent. He can't continue to play like this."
Arsenal's deserved win after a game they dominated took them two points clear of north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the battle for third spot.
Earlier, United continued their recent superb run against strugglers QPR after being given the benefit of a dubious early decision.
The visitors were immediately on the back foot when Shaun Derry was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Ashley Young in conceding a penalty.
It looked a marginal decision with television replays indicating Young was offside, but Rooney thumped home the penalty for his 30th goal of the season and his 12th in 12 matches.
QPR boss Mark Hughes said the club would be appealing the decision -- the second in recent matches to favor United after Fulham's Danny Murphy was denied a clear penalty in his team's 1-0 defeat last month.
"These are massive decisions that affect people's livelihoods. Decisions are not being correctly made and they are affecting too many people," the former United striker told reporters.
"The referee was too quick to put his whistle to his mouth. The kid was still rolling around and he had already given a penalty. His assistant didn't have the opportunity to put his flag up."
United took control and in the second half the veteran Scholes duly grabbed his third goal since coming out of retirement as United made it 11 wins in 12 EPL matches.
QPR remained just above the relegation zone albeit on goal difference alone after the defeat.
Premier Hails Bermuda’s OECD Peer Review
Premier and Minister of Finance Paula Cox yesterday [Apr. 8] expressed her pleasure at the results of the most recent assessment report of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] Peer Review Group [PRG].
Bermuda was credited for legislative changes that have demonstrated progress and global leadership in the area of transparency and tax information exchange.
In the original 2010 PRG Assessment report, Bermuda received eight of eight”‘element in place” and a Supplementary Assessment listed four additional recommendations for consideration.
In this most recent PRG Assessment, the OECD deleted two of these Recommendations as a nod to Bermuda’s significant progress in these areas. Specific achievements noted were the Competent Authority Agreements for administrative matters under Bermuda’s Tax Information Exchange Agreements [TIEAs] and the passage of the Specified Business Legislation Amendment Act 2011.
“These positive reviews benefit Bermuda as we take action to further enhance our international business product,” said the Premier. “Transparency and cooperation are key to the long term survival of our economy. A positive PRG assessment is an excellent outcome that certainly serves to safeguard our status as a leading international financial centre.”
“One may ask, after signing 32 TIEAs, what is the purpose of continuing to sign TIEAs and participating in the Peer Review Group assessment regime? The answer is that it protects Bermuda’s reputation as a premier international business domicile, the bedrock of our economy.”
The Premier further noted that TIEAS provide a useful launching pad to expand Bermuda’s global network of commercial and trade relations.
“Through the TIEA negotiation process, countries that previously may not have known much about Bermuda now gain more information and background on the services that we offer,” she said. “As countries expand their commercial relations with us, we are able to diversify our global business network and further grow our economy by expanding into new markets.
“The TIEAs are bringing results, as our global partners are taking note of Bermuda. During a recent trip to New York and Washington DC, Business Bermuda leveraged TIEA relationships to meet with a number of Consulates to promote business opportunities in Bermuda. These engagements will lead to growth in our economy which will provide opportunities for our service providers and create jobs in Bermuda.”
“Bermuda is a Vice Chair of the OECD Global Forum and firmly supports the work of the PRG because no one jurisdiction should profit from unfair competition in financial services. Jurisdictions that refuse to abide by the PRG’s global assessment regime may be viewed as raising the possibility of facilitating tax evasion, now recognised as a form of money laundering. Refusing to comply with the PRG assessment regime allows distortion by such jurisdictions taking business from Bermuda and other compliant jurisdictions.”
--BernNews
Senator Edo Zenny Urges Martelly to File Complaint against Dominican Journalist
The senator from the southeast, Edwin Zenny (Sud-Est/Independent) encouraged President Michel Martelly to file a complaint against the Dominican Journalist Nuria Piera for her allegations of corruption against the Head of State.
With most Parliamentarians avoiding to comment on the corruptin scandal, indeed on Thursday, Senator Zenny characterized the report of Piera as a charge designed to sully the image of the Haitian president, his close friend. Zenny wishes to see legal action taken against the journalist.
The day before, on Wednesday, Zenny defended President Martelly on electoral financing. Accused of having collected over $2.5 million [US] from a Dominican senator, Zenny says there were not structures in place to keep the then-presidential candidate Martelly from going over the allowable $50,000 [US] limit of financing from one entity.
Brazil's Rousseff talks trade and training in US visit
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is making her first official visit to the US for a range of talks including trade, education and foreign policy.
But the overall focus of her trip is boosting ties between the two biggest nations in the Americas - and Brazil's international standing.
Brazil, the world's sixth biggest economy, is only the eighth biggest trading partner of the US.
Brazil wants US support for its bid for a permanent UN Security Council seat.
President Rousseff is due to meet President Barack Obama at the White House later on Monday.
Their talks are set to focus on "fostering trade and economic ties, and in education and innovation between the two nations", the White House said.
Ms Rousseff will also address business leaders at the US Chamber of Commerce.
"We for a long time at the US Chamber have felt that we need to have a much more bold and ambitious agenda with Brazil," Jodi Bond, vice-president for the Americas, told reporters last week.
Dinner date
A key focus of Ms Rousseff's visit is education, as Brazil seeks to tackle its shortage of skilled workers.
The Brazilian government has unveiled a programme to send some 100,000 students overseas to study at the world's best universities, with about a fifth destined for US institutions.
One negative note has been what Brazilian officials saw as a snub, with Washington not rolling out the full red-carpet, state visit treatment for President Rousseff.
"There's a feeling that most people in Washington don't appreciate what's happening in Brazil," an official close to President Rousseff told Reuters.
"It didn't have to be a state dinner but Obama could have taken her to dinner, or to the Kennedy Center."
US officials say state visits are not usually accorded during election years.
6 Colombian Soldiers Killed in FARC Ambush
Colombia's military says rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - FARC - have ambushed a military unit, killing six soldiers.
A military spokesman says three rebels were killed in the return fire Saturday about 400 kilometers northwest of the capital, Bogota.
Last month, the Colombian government says it killed more than 30 FARC rebels in a bombing raid.
FARC has been at war with the Colombian government since the 1960s. Their numbers have dwindled over the years, but some analysts estimate the group has as many as 9,000 fighters.
FARC has been designated as a terrorist organization by Colombia, the United States and the European Union.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
Peru trapped miners: rescue operation 'could take days'
The operation to free nine Peruvian miners trapped underground by a rockfall at a depth of more than 200m (650ft) could take up to three more days, the government has said.
Fresh collapses at the Cabeza de Negro mine are responsible for the delay, said cabinet chief Oscar Valdes.
The miners, who have been trapped since Thursday, are not injured and are being given oxygen and drinks through a tube.
The mine is located in Ica, some 300km (185 miles) south of the capital, Lima.
Rescuers, including police officers and firefighters, have communicated with the miners, who are aged between 22 and 59, through the tube and although none of them is hurt, some are feeling anxious or desperate.
Heavy machinery
An improvised camp, comprised of the miners' family members and the emergency services, has sprung up near the mine as the rescue operation has unfolded.
However, as of yet, rescuers have been unable to get heavy machinery to the mine.
Rescue worker Erin Gomez told the AFP news agency: "They're alive, but we can't use diggers because of the difficulty of getting them up the steep hill.
"Due to the cave-ins late Saturday we don't know exactly the distance between rescuers and the miners but communication has been maintained constantly."
Besides Mr Valdes, the government has also sent Peru's Mining and Energy Minister Jorge Merino to the scene.
Cabeza de Negro is one of Peru's many wildcat mines, where miners take high risks to extract copper and other metals.
Last year, more than 50 people died in accidents in Peru's silver, gold and copper mines.
Iran 'blocks' official London 2012 Olympics website
Iran appears to have blocked the official website for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Users in Iran have tweeted that they are unable to connect to london2012.com and are instead redirected to peyvandha.ir - a site offering stories from Iran's official news agencies.
The blockediniran.com website confirms that most users in Iran are unlikely to be able to see the Olympics web pages.
Iran's ministry of foreign affairs did not reply to a request for comment.
Nima Akbarpour, the presenter of the BBC's Click Farsi programme, said such website bans are not uncommon, but it is hard to know exactly who is responsible.
"The blocking process in Iran is not related to a single specific organisation," he said.
"It happens every day - even affecting pro-government sites and blogs. The Iranian government's Internet Filtering Committee is in charge of the process, but individual judges can also order a web filter to be imposed."
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, recently ordered officials to set up a new body to co-ordinate decisions regarding the net.
Citizens have also been told they would need to show IDs and give their full name when visiting an internet cafe.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also discussed plans to create a "clean web" within Iran with its own search engine and messaging service.
Logo row
Iran had previously signalled it might boycott the Olympics over claims that the official logo says the word "Zion" - a Hebrew word used to refer to Israel or Jerusalem.
In February 2011 the Iranian authorities called for the logo to be withdrawn and the designers "confronted".
However, a follow-up letter later made clear its athletes would still "participate and play gloriously".
The Iranian weightlifting superheavyweight, Behdad Salimikordasiab, is expected to be among those taking part.
He previously won gold in the Asian Games in 2010 despite being affected by swine flu.
--BBC
Body of Late Malawi President to Return Thursday
Malawi says the body of late president Bingu wa Mutharika will arrive back in the country Thursday.
The Office of President and Cabinet said Mr. Mutharika's body will return from South Africa, where he was taken after suffering a heart attack last week.
Meanwhile, the late president's party has named his brother, Peter Mutharika, as its leader. The move comes amid several high-profile defections from the former ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
As of Sunday, 24 members of parliament had switched to the People's Party of President Joyce Banda, who was sworn into office on Saturday. The defections include the deputy speaker of parliament and the country's labor minister.
Also Sunday, President Banda replaced Malawi's national police chief, but did not give a reason for the move.
Ms. Banda is Malawi's first female president and served as vice president under Mr. Mutharika.
Shooting, Bombing Kill Dozens in Northern Nigeria
Police in northeastern Nigeria say suspected members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram shot dead a 6-year-old girl and wounded two infants Sunday, after a suicide car bombing earlier in the day killed at least 36 people.
A Yobe state police spokesman told VOA the gunmen stormed the house of a police corporal in the town of Potiskum and shot three of his children. The spokesman said the officer narrowly escaped the attack.
The bombing happened earlier Easter Sunday in the city of Kaduna, where witnesses said security personnel prevented the attacker from reaching a group of several churches.
Saidu Adamu, Kaduna state's information commissioner, told VOA the explosion damaged several buildings on the city's main road and struck an area where motorcycle taxis do business. He said it appeared the bomb had detonated prematurely, and that despite the casualties, the attack could have been much worse.
“I want to believe that we are so lucky that possibly the person who was carrying the bomb could not reach his target, and the bomb's timer was against him.”
He noted that the city's streets are mostly empty on Sundays and said it was “lucky” the attack did not come on a work day.
A second blast hit later Sunday in the central city of Jos, wounding several people. The explosions came after foreign diplomats warned of possible attacks on one of the holiest days on the Christian calendar.
Four bombs killed 44 people in Nigeria on Christmas Day last year, including more than 30 at a Catholic church near the capital, Abuja.
Adamu said authorities stationed 30 to 50 security personnel at Kaduna churches Sunday, and that the measures were “highly effective.” He also said citizens play an important role in maintaining security.
“Without peace we can never have any municipal government, so I want to assure that Kaduna state government will continue to do its best, but I also want to call on people to understand that security is a business of all.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday's attacks.
The radical Islamic group Boko Haram has killed hundreds of people this year in Nigeria and claimed responsibility for the Christmas Day bombings.
Boko Haram, which means “Western education is a sin” in the Hausa language, is fighting to turn northern Nigeria into a strict Islamic state.
--VOA