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Cuba dissidents approved, denied for passports
HAVANA (AP) -- Two Cuban dissidents who applied for passports to go overseas under recently enacted travel reform reported mixed results Wednesday, as one former prisoner was turned down while a prominent blogger excitedl y tweeted a photo of her brand new, bright blue travel document.

Government to scrap second rail franchise - Telegraph
LONDON (Reuters) – The government is to scrap the bidding process for train services in the west of the country, months after axing the contract for a different rail line, the Telegraph reported on Thursday. Bidders are to be told that the First Group, which currently runs the Great Western line from London to Bristol and Cardiff, will retain the contract, according to the newspaper. The department declined to comment on the report when approached by Reuters. …

Cost cuts and poor governance blamed for UK rail fiasco
LONDON (Reuters) – Cost-cutting, a lack of governance at Britain’s Department for Transport and mistakes by ministers contributed to the mishandling of the award of the West Coast Main Line rail franchise, according to a parliamentary report into the fiasco. The 13-year contract to run the London to Scotland route was awarded to FirstGroup late last year, but the government was forced to pull the award after flaws were found in the bidding process following a legal challenge by the losing bidder Virgin Trains. …

UK unveils £159 billion defence equipment plan, but doubts remain
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain published on Thursday a 159-billion-pound long-term defence equipm ent spending plan, a move aimed at reversing decades of mismanagement but which drew only qualified praise from experts. The plan covers spending from 2012 to 2022, the first time the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has outlined defence equipment spending over such a long period, reflecting the gestation time of major military projects. …

Government to scrap second rail franchise - Telegraph
LONDON (Reuters) – The UK government is to scrap the bidding process for train services in the west of the country, months after axing the contract for a different rail line, the Telegraph reported on Thursday. Bidders are to be told that the First Group, which currently runs the Great Western line from London to Bristol and Cardiff, will retain the contract, according to the newspaper. The department declined to comment on the report when approached by Reuters. …

Argentine court upholds freeze on Chevron assets
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- The winners of a major environmental damages judgment in Ecuador say an appeals court in Argentina has spurned an attempt to unfreeze Chevron Corp.’s assets there.

China's narrow focus on oil in South Sudan won't work: U.S. envoy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China needs to move beyond a narrow focus on oil issues in South Sudan and help tackle that country’s larger political disputes with Sudan, the outgoing U.S. special envoy to the two African states said on Wednesday. Ambassador Princeton Lyman said he had worked closely with Chinese officials more than two years, during which time South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 to become the world’s newest nation. …