| Two charged with Nemtsov killing include former Chechen policeman Posted: 08 Mar 2015 02:09 PM PDT  By Katya Golubkova and Jason Bush MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian authorities said on Sunday they had charged two men over the killing of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov and said one of them was a former senior policeman from the mainly Muslim region of Chechnya who had confessed to involvement in the crime. Nemtsov was shot dead on the night of Feb. 27 within sight of the Kremlin walls, in the most high-profile killing of an opposition figure in the 15 years that President Vladimir Putin has been in power. Judge Natalia Mushnikova ordered that all five men should remain in custody. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a Putin ally, said the former policeman, Zaur Dadayev, was a pious Muslim who had been angered by cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
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| Malaysian PM vows to keep up search for MH370, report offers no new clues Posted: 08 Mar 2015 01:53 AM PST  By Siva Govindasamy and Praveen Menon KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Sunday Malaysia remained committed to the search for the missing MH370 jetliner a year after it vanished without trace, and a report by international investigators offered no new clues as to its fate. A 584-page interim report into the disappearance of the Boeing 777-200ER provided details on how radars had tracked the plane going off course to issues concerning the battery of the flight data recorder's underwater locator beacon. MH370 vanished from radar screens shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing, early on March 8 last year, becoming one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history. Investigators believe the plane, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, was flown thousands of miles off course before eventually crashing into the ocean off Australia.
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| Obama cites progress in U.S.-Iran nuclear talks Posted: 08 Mar 2015 10:28 AM PDT  The United States and Iran have narrowed their differences in nuclear weapons negotiations, President Barack Obama said in the face of a renewed Republican warning on Sunday that any deal will face a tough congressional review. "We have made progress in narrowing the gaps, but those gaps still exist," Obama said in an interview on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that was recorded on Saturday and broadcast on Sunday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, cautioned the Democratic president not to make "the bad deal we all anticipate he's going to make". McConnell told CBS he was hoping to get 67 of the Senate's 100 members "to assert the historic role of the Senate ... in looking at matters of this magnitude".
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| Netanyahu denies report he's backed off two-state solution Posted: 08 Mar 2015 03:26 PM PDT  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office denied reports on Sunday he has backed away from a 2009 commitment to seek a two-state peaceful solution with the Palestinians. A statement by Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party widely reported by Israeli media said he had said that a speech he gave six years ago agreeing for the first time to Palestinian statehood as a solution to decades of conflict was now "irrelevant." Netanyahu "never said such a thing," his office said in a statement responding to the reports. Likud had apparently issued the remarks to debunk earlier Israeli media reports suggesting Netanyahu had in a previous term of office negotiated a broad withdrawal from land Israel captured in a 1967 war.
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| Air strike on Islamic State-run refinery in Syria kills 30-monitor Posted: 08 Mar 2015 03:45 PM PDT A U.S.-led coalition air strike in Syria hit an oil refinery run by the Islamic State militant group near the border with Turkey on Sunday, killing 30 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory, said the dead were refinery workers and Islamic State militants. The Islamic State group has seized wide areas of Syria and Iraq, declaring them part of a cross-border "caliphate". |
| Iraqi troops, militia make advances near Tikrit Posted: 08 Mar 2015 07:42 AM PDT  By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite militia fighting the Islamic State took control of the center of a town on the southern outskirts of Saddam Hussein's home city Tikrit on Sunday, security officials said. Sending in more troops and fighting fierce clashes, the army and militiamen were still struggling to drive out Islamic State militants entrenched in buildings in the western section of the town of al-Dour, officials said. Military commanders said the army and militia, known as Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) units, launched another offensive late on Saturday to break into the center of al-Dour. By Sunday they had succeeded in recapturing the central area where government headquarters are located, but Islamic State insurgents were still holding positions in the west.
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| Mayer beats Souza in longest Davis Cup singles match ever Posted: 08 Mar 2015 04:53 PM PDT  BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Leonardo Mayer defeated Joao Souza in the longest Davis Cup singles match ever, converting his 11th match point to win 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 5-7, 5-7, 15-13 and keep Argentina's hopes alive against Brazil in their first round series on Sunday.
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| Fekir scores 2 as Lyon beats Montpellier 5-1 to go top Posted: 08 Mar 2015 04:46 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — Lyon responded to Paris Saint-Germain's big win on Saturday with an even more emphatic performance, romping to a 5-1 victory away to Montpellier to reclaim top spot from PSG in the closely-contested French title race. |
| Poisoning investigation after Crufts dog dies Posted: 08 Mar 2015 04:44 PM PDT  The owners of a prize-winning Irish Setter who died after competing at the renowned Crufts dog show claimed on Sunday their dog had been poisoned at the British event. Thendara Satisfaction, who was known as Jagger and was almost four years old, won second in his class at the event in the English city of Birmingham on Thursday. The dog died after returning home to Belgium, 26 hours after leaving the event, a spokeswoman for Crufts operators The Kennel Club said. Co-owner Dee Milligan-Bott wrote on her Facebook page that Jagger had been killed by being fed cubed beef with poison "stitched into the meat".
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| Alex Cejka wins Puerto Rico Open in 5-man playoff Posted: 08 Mar 2015 04:43 PM PDT  RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico (AP) — Alex Cejka won the Puerto Rico Open on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title, making a 15-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a five-man playoff.
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| Forecasters warn of possible Australia cyclone Posted: 08 Mar 2015 04:35 PM PDT A low pressure system off northeastern Australia holds up to a 50 percent chance of intensifying to cyclone strength over the next two days and slamming into a region devastated two weeks ago by Cyclone Marcia, according to meteorologists. "This low is expected to deepen during the next few days and has a moderate potential to develop into a tropical cyclone on Tuesday or Wednesday," Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Monday. Insurance Australia Group is facing 3,500 claims totaling up to A$90 million ($70 million) from damage caused by Marcia. |
| Top Asian News at 11:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 08 Mar 2015 04:32 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The first comprehensive report into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 revealed Sunday that the battery of the locator beacon for the plane's data recorder had expired more than a year before the jet vanished on March 8, 2014. The report came as Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the hunt for the plane would not end even if the scouring of the current search area off Australia's west coast comes up empty. |
| Shared Belief won't run in the Dubai World Cup Posted: 08 Mar 2015 04:28 PM PDT ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — Shared Belief won't run in the $10 million Dubai World Cup this month. |
| Roma draws 0-0 at Chievo, Mattiello breaks his leg Posted: 08 Mar 2015 04:27 PM PDT  MILAN (AP) — Roma was held 0-0 Sunday at Chievo Verona as the capital side's title hopes took another blow in a Serie A match which was marred by a gruesome injury to youngster Federico Mattiello.
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| Jordan's King Abdullah, Queen Rania to visit Morocco on Tuesday Posted: 08 Mar 2015 04:27 PM PDT  Jordan's King Abdullah II and his wife Queen Rania will begin a two-day visit to Morocco on Tuesday at the invitation of King Mohammed VI, the Moroccan royal palace announced. The Jordanian royal visit will end on Thursday. Both countries are involved in a US-led coalition battling against Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria. The two nations are the only Arab monarchies who do not belong to the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council, closed to outsiders since its creation in 1981.
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| Record-breaking Messi scores 3 to help Barcelona go top Posted: 08 Mar 2015 04:26 PM PDT  Lionel Messi is back to upstaging Cristiano Ronaldo again.
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| 2 Brazilian policemen killed, 5 injured in Rio slums Posted: 08 Mar 2015 04:03 PM PDT RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Two Brazilian police officers were killed and five others injured in separate attacks over the weekend in the violent slums of Rio de Janeiro. |
| Andrew Landry wins first Web.com Tour title Posted: 08 Mar 2015 04:00 PM PDT CARTAGENA, Colombia (AP) — Andrew Landry won the Karibana Championship by five strokes Sunday at TPC Cartagena for his first Web.com Tour title. |
| Canada and Kurds disagree over soldier's death in Iraq Posted: 08 Mar 2015 03:27 PM PDT  IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Canadian and Kurdish officials on Sunday offered conflicting accounts of the death of a Canadian soldier in a friendly fighting incident in Iraq, with the Kurds saying he was on the front lines directing airstrikes and Canada's defense minister saying he had returned to an observation post further back.
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| Thousands march on Selma, Alabama bridge to mark 'Bloody Sunday' Posted: 08 Mar 2015 03:19 PM PDT  By Tami Chappelle SELMA, Ala. (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people paraded across a Selma, Alabama bridge on Sunday to commemorate the 1965 "Bloody Sunday" march, not waiting for dignitaries who had planned to lead them in marking the 50th anniversary of a turning point in the U.S. civil rights movement. Bloody Sunday on March 7, 1965, took its name from the beating that roughly 600 peaceful civil rights activists sustained at the hands of white state troopers and police who attacked them with batons and sprayed them with tear gas. President Barack Obama visited Selma on Saturday and declared the work of the U.S. civil rights movement advanced but unfinished in the face of ongoing racial tensions. "Fifty years from Bloody Sunday, our march is not yet finished, but we're getting closer," said Obama, the first black president of the United States.
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| Lima nets 2 as Benfica beats Arouca 3-1 to protect lead Posted: 08 Mar 2015 03:16 PM PDT LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Lima scored two goals to lead Benfica to 3-1 comeback win at 10-man Arouca and protect its lead in the Portuguese league on Sunday. |
| Messi's record-setting treble gives Barca lead in Spain Posted: 08 Mar 2015 03:14 PM PDT  BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lionel Messi scored a record-setting hat trick to help Barcelona rout Rayo Vallecano 6-1 and take the lead of the Spanish league on Sunday.
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| Militants attack UN as Mali hunts jihadist nightclub killers Posted: 08 Mar 2015 02:58 PM PDT  A peacekeeper and two children died Sunday as militants shelled a UN base in northern Mali, heightening security fears as police hunted jihadists who launched a deadly Bamako nightclub assault. Mali's premier and president visited eight people who were being treated in hospital overnight, including two Swiss weapons experts advising the Malian government.
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| One dead, 11 wounded in series of attacks in Egypt Posted: 08 Mar 2015 02:52 PM PDT A series of bombings killed one person and injured nine in Egypt's second city of Alexandria on Sunday and an attack by unidentified gunmen in another province wounded two others, security and medical sources said. Egypt is facing an Islamist insurgency that has killed hundreds of police officers and soldiers since the army removed Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in 2013 following mass protests against his rule. Most militant attacks take place in the remote but strategic Sinai Peninsula, but attacks in cities, particularly near police stations, have also increased. Sunday's first blast killed one person and wounded five others outside a supermarket in the Seyouf district of eastern Alexandria, Magdy Hegazy, undersecretary at the health ministry said. |
| Netanyahu says Israel will not cede land to Palestinians Posted: 08 Mar 2015 02:44 PM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel will not cede any territory due to the current climate in the Middle East, appearing to rule out the establishment of a Palestinian state.
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| Panathinaikos beats PAOK 4-3 in Greek league Posted: 08 Mar 2015 02:43 PM PDT  ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Marcus Berg scored a hat trick and had assist to help Panathinaikos beat PAOK 4-3 in the Greek league Sunday.
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| Mali: 3 dead in rocket attack on UN base in Kidal in north Posted: 08 Mar 2015 02:29 PM PDT  BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Three people including a U.N. soldier were killed and 14 wounded in a rocket attack early Sunday on a U.N. base in Mali's northeastern city of Kidal, the United Nations mission in Mali said.
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| Putin describes secret operation to seize Crimea Posted: 08 Mar 2015 02:28 PM PDT  President Vladimir Putin has revealed the moment he says he gave the secret order for Russia's annexation of Crimea and described how Russian troops were ready to fight to rescue Ukraine's deposed, pro-Moscow president. In a trailer shown Sunday for an upcoming documentary on state-run Rossiya-1 television called "Homeward bound", Putin openly discusses Moscow's controversial grabbing of Crimea a year ago. Putin recounts an all-night meeting with security services chiefs to discuss how to extricate deposed president Viktor Yanukovych, who had fled a pro-Western street revolt in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
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| Finchem says he 'whiffed' by not protesting Ryder Cup change Posted: 08 Mar 2015 02:27 PM PDT  DORAL, Fla. (AP) — PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said Sunday he "whiffed" when the PGA of America told him about changes to Ryder Cup qualifying by not protesting that the fall start to the season would not count toward the standings.
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| Swiss firm sells camouflage nets to sanctions-hit Russia Posted: 08 Mar 2015 02:10 PM PDT  Geneva (AFP) - Russia has acquired high-tech camouflage netting from Switzerland for a record 85 million euros, having placed the order before Bern imposed sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine conflict, reports said Sunday.
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| UN condemns 'heinous' Mali attack on peacekeepers Posted: 08 Mar 2015 02:04 PM PDT  The UN Security Council strongly condemned the "heinous" attack on a UN peacekeeping base in northern Mali on Sunday, warning that those responsible will be held accountable. In a statement by its 15 members, the Security Council called on the Malian government to swiftly investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice. The council "stressed that those responsible for the attack shall be held accountable," and underlined that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes. The top UN body called on all sides to refrain from actions that could jeopardize peace efforts and reiterated a threat to impose sanctions against those who resume hostilities in Mali.
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| German woman fighter dead in Kurd-IS clashes in Syria Posted: 08 Mar 2015 02:02 PM PDT  A young German woman has been killed fighting alongside Kurdish forces against Islamic State group jihadists in northeast Syria, a monitoring group said on Sunday. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman said the woman in her 20s was "killed in the past few hours" in a battle since Saturday for the Kurdish-held town of Tal Tamr in Hasakeh province. The German, whose name was not immediately available, would be the third Westerner killed among Kurdish ranks in Syria. Briton Konstandinos Erik Scurfield and Australian Ashley Johnston both died in clashes elsewhere in Hasakeh.
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| Pilots set for first round-the-world solar flight Posted: 08 Mar 2015 01:59 PM PDT  The first attempt to fly around the world in a plane using solar energy will be launched Monday in Abu Dhabi, its pilots said, in a landmark journey aimed at promoting green energy. The takeoff of Solar Impulse 2, which was delayed on Saturday due to high winds, would cap 13 years of research and testing by Swiss pilots Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard. "This project is a human project, it is a human challenge," Borschberg, co-founder and chief executive of Solar Impulse who will fly the plane on the first leg, told reporters on Sunday. It will take off from Abu Dhabi on Monday at 6:30 am (0230 GMT), landing first in Muscat, Oman.
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| Chechen confesses involvement in murder of Russia's Nemtsov Posted: 08 Mar 2015 01:46 PM PDT  A Russian court on Sunday charged two men with the murder of opposition activist Boris Nemtsov, including a former police officer from Chechnya who confessed to his involvement in what investigators said was a contract killing. Four others denied any connection to the killing of Nemtsov, who was shot four times in the back on February 27 while walking with his girlfriend along a bridge near the Kremlin in a brazen assassination that has sent shivers through the country's opposition. Interfax news agency quoted a law enforcement source as saying that a sixth suspect threw a grenade at police who came to arrest him in the Chechen capital Grozny and killed himself with another grenade Saturday. In Moscow, heavily armed masked police marched the five handcuffed suspects through hallways packed with journalists and into two separate courtrooms where they were ordered to be held for around two months pending the investigation.
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| Lawyer says no proof Kuwaiti-born man is 'Jihadi John' Posted: 08 Mar 2015 01:43 PM PDT  KUWAIT CITY (AP) — The former lawyer for the father of Mohammed Emwazi, unmasked as "Jihadi John" last month, says there is no evidence proving the masked Islamic State militant is his client's son.
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| Lawyer for father of 'Jihadi John' quits the case Posted: 08 Mar 2015 01:42 PM PDT  The Kuwaiti lawyer representing the father of alleged Islamic State group executioner "Jihadi John" said Sunday after filing lawsuits for his client that he has now withdrawn from the case. Jassem Emwazi, the father of Mohammed Emwazi who is thought to be the knife-wielding IS executioner, hired Hashash last week to file cases against those allegedly spreading false rumours about his son and the family. In the statement, the lawyer said Jassem Emwazi is a "British national who has no relation with Kuwait" except that he visits the Gulf state to see his mother. Hashash reiterated that "so far, Western security agencies have not provided any evidence to prove that Mohammed Emwazi is Jihadi John", who is accused of killing several Western hostages.
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| Murray seals British Davis Cup win over USA Posted: 08 Mar 2015 01:27 PM PDT  Andy Murray sealed a Davis Cup quarter-final berth for Great Britain with a straight-sets victory over American number one John Isner in Glasgow on Sunday. Murray's 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 7-6 (7/4) triumph at home repeated Britain's win over the 32-time champions in San Diego last year and set up a last eight clash against France, at a venue to be decided in July. The 27-year-old had put Britain on their way by taking two sets inside 46 minutes in a 6-1, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory against Donald Young on Friday. Teammate James Ward, ranked 111th in the world, then fought from two sets down to shock world number 20 Isner before Murray's brother Jamie and Dom Ingol took two sets before falling to Mike and Bob Bryan, the top doubles team of all time.
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| Goffin wins last singles as Belgium beats Switzerland 3-2 Posted: 08 Mar 2015 01:26 PM PDT LIEGE, Belgium (AP) — David Goffin shook off a back injury to beat Adrien Bossel 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 and lead Belgium into the Davis Cup quarterfinals with a 3-2 win over defending champion Switzerland on Sunday. |
| Young Belgian woman held after returning from Syria Posted: 08 Mar 2015 01:23 PM PDT  A young Belgian woman was detained at the country's Charleroi airport on Sunday after being intercepted by Turkish authorities as she sought to return from Syria with her four-year-old son, officials said. The woman, who left Belgium with her child and partner last year to go to Syria, was taken in for questioning upon her return, federal prosecutors said, adding that the police wanted to talk to her about her eight-month stay in the war-ravaged country. It will then be up to an investigating judge to decide whether to take the case further, amid mounting fears in Europe over young people travelling to Syria to join jihadist groups. Turkish authorities stopped the Belgian family on Thursday after they crossed the border from Syria.
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