Yahoo! News: World News

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• German Airbus crashes in French Alps with 150 dead, black box found
• Obama slows withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan
• Exclusive: Saudi Arabia moving military equipment to near Yemen border - U.S. officials
• U.S. removes dead Cubans, sunken ships from sanctions list
• Hadi forces check Houthi push towards Yemen's Aden
• Canada says it will bomb Islamic State 'safe havens' in Syria
• Ivory Coast names Catholic bishop to head reconciliation efforts
• French primary school principal admits pupil sex assaults
• Norwegian court ups jail term for mother who drowned infant
• Israeli minister warns French against 'bad accord' with Iran
• Obama expresses condolences for European plane crash
• Russia fails in benefits challenge for gay UN workers
• Egyptian president in Ethiopia to bury dispute over Nile dam
• Russian FM visits Cuba, calls for end to US trade embargo
• Attacks on Mexico journalists surge
• Tsarnaev blamed bad grades on loss of loved ones in Chechnya
• Israeli president to name PM-designate Wednesday
• Iran says no snap inspections of nuclear sites
• Grim deployment to debris-strewn crash site in French Alps
• Islamic State militants claim suicide bombing in Libya's Benghazi: statement
• Brazil's leader committed to austerity with social focus
• Russian bombers spark NATO scramble, protest in Baltic
• Uganda paid US PR firm 'to clean up image' after anti-gay bill
• Top Asian News at 11:00 p.m. GMT
• On Ukraine frontline, villagers scramble over bombed bridge
• Chaos in Yemen undercuts US war against AQAP
• Oman denies bail for rights activist: HRW
• 150 dead in plane crash in French Alps
• Plane crash kills 150 people in French Alps; Europe in shock
• British nationals likely in France plane crash: minister
• Yemen asks U.N. to back military action by 'willing countries'
• Burkina Faso probe begins into Sankara assassination
• Israel jails Gaza Hamas fighter for 15 years
• UN: Chile making strides but inequality remains high
• Jihadists, Islamists in new assault on Syria's Idlib: monitor
• Russia wants to be 'in step' with Cuba on US embargo
• El Salvador marks anniversary of Archbishop Romero's killing
• Bark beetles not adding to U.S. West's wildfire woes: study
• Utah's adoption of firing squads bucks global trend

German Airbus crashes in French Alps with 150 dead, black box found Posted: 24 Mar 2015 02:21 PM PDT By Jean-Francois Rosnoblet SEYNE-LES-ALPES, France (Reuters) - An Airbus operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline crashed into a mountainside in the French Alps on Tuesday, killing all 150 people on board including 16 schoolchildren. Germanwings confirmed its flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf went down with 144 passengers and six crew on board. One of the plane's black box recorders has been found at the crash site, about 100 km (65 miles) north of the Riviera city of Nice, and will be examined immediately, France's interior minister said. In Washington, the White House said the crash did not appear to have been caused by a terrorist attack, while Lufthansa said it was working on the assumption that the tragedy had been an accident, adding that any other theory would be speculation.

Obama slows withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan Posted: 24 Mar 2015 02:58 PM PDT By Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday granted Afghan requests to slow the drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and said he would maintain a force of 9,800 through the end of 2015 while sticking to a 2017 exit plan. Capping a day of VIP treatment for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the White House, Obama said the U.S. force would be kept at its current strength to train and assist Afghan forces, who took over responsibility for the fight against Taliban and other Islamic militants at the start of the year. Obama said the pace of the U.S. troop reduction in 2016 would be established later this year and the goal remained to consolidate U.S. forces in the country in a presence at the Kabul embassy at the end of 2016. "It was my assessment as commander in chief that it made sense for us to provide a few extra months for us to be able to help on things like logistics," Obama said during a joint news conference with Ghani at the White House.

Exclusive: Saudi Arabia moving military equipment to near Yemen border - U.S. officials Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:23 PM PDT By Mark Hosenball, Phil Stewart and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is moving heavy military equipment including artillery to areas near its border with Yemen, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, raising the risk that the Middle East's top oil power will be drawn into the worsening Yemeni conflict. The armor and artillery being moved by Saudi Arabia could be used for offensive or defensive purposes, two U.S. government sources said. One U.S. government source described the size of the Saudi buildup on Yemen's border as "significant" and said the Saudis could be preparing air strikes to defend Hadi if the Houthis attack his refuge in the southern seaport of Aden. Another U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington had acquired intelligence about the Saudi build-up.

U.S. removes dead Cubans, sunken ships from sanctions list Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:01 PM PDT By Daniel Trotta and Anna Yukhananov HAVANA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States removed 45 companies and individuals from a Cuba sanctions blacklist on Tuesday, most of them dead people, defunct companies or sunken ships. Among them was Amado Padron, a Cuban executed by a firing squad 26 years ago along with Arnaldo Ochoa, a decorated army general who was sentenced to death by Cuba's communist government after he was found to be connected to international drug trafficking. The U.S. ...

Hadi forces check Houthi push towards Yemen's Aden Posted: 24 Mar 2015 09:38 AM PDT By Mohammed Mukhashef ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi drove Houthi fighters from two towns they had seized hours earlier on Tuesday, residents said, apparently checking an advance by the Shi'ite fighters towards his refuge in Aden. Fighting has spread across Yemen since last September when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and advanced into Sunni Muslim areas, raising the prospect that regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia could be sucked into the conflict. Hadi, a former general seen by the Shi'ite Muslim Houthis as a pawn of Sunni Gulf Arab monarchies and the West, has been holed up in Aden since he fled Sanaa in February. His forces have stationed tanks and artillery on a number of roads linking north and south Yemen.

Canada says it will bomb Islamic State 'safe havens' in Syria Posted: 24 Mar 2015 09:19 AM PDT By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will expand its military mission against Islamic State by launching air strikes against the militants' safe havens in Syria as well as Iraq, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday. Harper also said Canada plans to extend its six-month mission against Islamic State by a year, to the end of March 2016.

Ivory Coast names Catholic bishop to head reconciliation efforts Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:54 PM PDT ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara appointed a Catholic archbishop on Tuesday to head the West African nation's flagging post-war reconciliation efforts ahead of elections later this year, a senior official with the presidency said. The world's top cocoa grower is emerging from a decade-long political crisis that ended in a brief 2011 civil war that followed a presidential election in late 2010. The government created a Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CDVR) in the wake of the violence. ...

French primary school principal admits pupil sex assaults Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:52 PM PDT Lyon (AFP) - A primary school head teacher confessed Tuesday to having tricked blindfolded pupils into oral sex during a workshop on experiencing new tastes, according to prosecutors.

Norwegian court ups jail term for mother who drowned infant Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:42 PM PDT Oslo (AFP) - A Norwegian appeals court increased jail terms Tuesday for a Norwegian woman who drowned her infant and her British lover who gave her instructions via a webcam.

Israeli minister warns French against 'bad accord' with Iran Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:39 PM PDT Paris (AFP) - An Israeli cabinet minister visiting Paris warned Tuesday against concluding a "bad accord" on Iran's nuclear programme, telling French daily Le Monde his country shares France's wariness of trusting Tehran.

Obama expresses condolences for European plane crash Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:38 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is expressing condolences to Germany and Spain and the victims of a plane crash in the Alps.

Russia fails in benefits challenge for gay UN workers Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:37 PM PDT United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Russia failed Tuesday to block a United Nations decision to extend full spousal benefits to legally married gay UN employees.

Egyptian president in Ethiopia to bury dispute over Nile dam Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:33 PM PDT Addis Ababa (AFP) - The leaders of Egypt and Ethiopia promised Tuesday to boost cooperation on the Nile river and turn a page on a long-running row over Addis Ababa's controversial dam project.

Russian FM visits Cuba, calls for end to US trade embargo Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:26 PM PDT HAVANA (AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov has launched a tour of Latin America with a stop in Cuba, where he has called for an end to the U.S. embargo against the island nation.

Attacks on Mexico journalists surge Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:22 PM PDT Attacks on journalists in Mexico have surged during President Enrique Pena Nieto's first two years in power, with assaults reported every 26.7 hours, a press freedom group said Tuesday. Media workers endured an act of violence every 48.1 hours during the 2006-2012 presidency of Felipe Calderon, according to a report by Article 19. Since Pena Nieto took office in December 2012, 10 journalists have been murdered, possibly due to their work, while four others have vanished, and the crimes remain unsolved, the London-based organization said. "Fear, impunity and violence are things that are too common for the press in Mexico," Article 19 said.

Tsarnaev blamed bad grades on loss of loved ones in Chechnya Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:18 PM PDT BOSTON (AP) — Three months before he bombed the Boston Marathon, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told college officials he had been unable to concentrate on his studies because he had "lost too many" loved ones in Chechnya during the previous year, a school administrator testified Tuesday.

Israeli president to name PM-designate Wednesday Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:13 PM PDT Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to be tasked on Wednesday with forming the next coalition government as official results of the March 17 election are published.

Iran says no snap inspections of nuclear sites Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:10 PM PDT TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian official on Tuesday rebuked the chief of the U.N. atomic agency for demanding snap inspections of Iran's nuclear sites, saying the request hindered efforts to reach an agreement with world powers, state TV reported.

Grim deployment to debris-strewn crash site in French Alps Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:09 PM PDT Tiny pieces of debris scattered across a barren mountain pass deep in the French Alps presented a daunting task for investigators hunting clues to Tuesday's horrifying crash of a Germanwings airliner that killed 150 people. A small air field near the ski resort of Barcelonnette became a hastily assembled crisis centre for the rescue officials, investigators and government ministers in the hours after the mysterious crash of the Airbus A320.

Islamic State militants claim suicide bombing in Libya's Benghazi: statement Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:08 PM PDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Militants claiming loyalty to Islamic State said they were responsible for a suicide bombing in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Tuesday, a statement said on Twitter. The militants posted pictures on social media of the attack and the alleged suicide bomber. The bombing killed seven people, army and medical sources have said. (Reporting by Feras Bosalum; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Brazil's leader committed to austerity with social focus Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:08 PM PDT Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said on Tuesday her government is firmly committed to fiscal adjustment but will not sacrifice social programs to balance its overdrawn public accounts. "The government knows that the adjustment is fundamental for Brazil, but that does not mean that social policies will not be maintained," Rousseff said. She made the comment after extending for another four years a generous formula for calculating minimum wage increases, a move aimed at appeasing disgruntled labor unions. Rousseff's government has adopted unpopular austerity measures to reduce Brazil's gaping fiscal deficit and save the country's coveted investment grade rating from credit agencies.

Russian bombers spark NATO scramble, protest in Baltic Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:06 PM PDT NATO jets were scrambled Tuesday to escort Russian fighters and nuclear-capable bombers flying near the Baltic states and Sweden with their transponders switched off, sparking protests over the danger they posed to civil aviation. Lithuania's defence ministry spokeswoman Asta Galdikaite said NATO air policing aircraft identified two Tu-22 type bombers and two SU-27 jets. The Swedish military also confirmed the aircraft showed up on their ground radar. "The flights conducted with switched-off on-board transponders are among other things a risk to civil aviation as such flights are not visible on civil air traffic control radars," she told AFP.

Uganda paid US PR firm 'to clean up image' after anti-gay bill Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:02 PM PDT A row over a law banning homosexuality in Uganda has been reignited after it emerged that the government paid a US public relations firm to offset negative publicity, a report said Monday. Uganda's Observer newspaper said the government had spent 614 million shillings ($206,000, 174,000 euros) "to prop up Uganda's image" after it was "tarnished by the Anti-Homosexuality Act". It said that many MPs in the east African nation's parliament, where support is strong for tough anti-gay legislation, were now refusing to approve the government's payment to Scribe Strategies and Advisors, a Washington-based lobbying firm. "It's quite unbelievable that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could use this money to clear Uganda's image, yet us as Ugandans we are against this issue of homosexuality," Florence Nebanda, one of several reportedly furious MPs, was quoted as saying.

Top Asian News at 11:00 p.m. GMT Posted: 24 Mar 2015 04:02 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that the U.S. will slow its military withdrawal from Afghanistan, maintaining 9,800 troops in the country through the end of 2015 instead of cutting the number by about half as originally planned. "Afghanistan remains a very dangerous place," Obama said in explaining his decision at a press conference after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's first visit to the White House since his election six months ago. Obama added that the size of the U.S. troop presence for 2016 will be decided later this year.

On Ukraine frontline, villagers scramble over bombed bridge Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:58 PM PDT Having trudged 15 kilometres, 75-year-old Stanislav faces a daunting climb as he leaves the war-torn eastern Ukrainian village of Stanytsya Luganska, whose bridge was wrecked by a bomb blast last week. The only way to reach the other side of the bridge from the collapsed section of road is to clip on safety ropes dangled down by pro-Russian rebel fighters and then clamber up a precarious metal ladder. He then grabs the ladder to head home to the rebel-held city of Lugansk, which lies on the other side of the bridge. A kilometre away from the bridge, Stanytsya Luganska is under the control of the Ukrainian army.

Chaos in Yemen undercuts US war against AQAP Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:57 PM PDT Washington (AFP) - Yemen's descent into chaos has undermined the US campaign against Al-Qaeda there, forcing Washington to abandon a strategy once touted as a model for counter-terrorism efforts.

Oman denies bail for rights activist: HRW Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:57 PM PDT Human Rights Watch criticised Oman Tuesday for refusing to grant a rights activist bail pending an appeal of his conviction using the Internet to sow unrest in the normally stable sultanate. Blogger Saeed Jaddad, 48, was jailed this month for three years on charges of undermining the status and prestige of the state, inciting rallies via social media ahead of the anniversary of February 2011 protests and calling for what could undermine public order. He was also fined 1,000 rials ($2,600/2,385 euros), HRW said. Jaddad's family paid the fine and posted bail, but "the court refused to release him citing separate charges before another court for his online activities," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and Africa director.

150 dead in plane crash in French Alps Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:54 PM PDT A plane operated by the budget carrier of Germany's Lufthansa crashed in a remote area of the French Alps Tuesday, killing all 150 on board in the worst aviation disaster on French soil in decades. The accident's cause remains a mystery but authorities have recovered a black box from the Airbus A320 at the crash site, where rescue efforts were being hampered by the mountainous terrain. Local MP Christophe Castaner, who flew over the site, said on Twitter: "Horrendous images in this mountain scenery.

Plane crash kills 150 people in French Alps; Europe in shock Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:51 PM PDT SEYNE-LES-ALPES, France (AP) — A black box recovered from the scene and pulverized pieces of debris strewn across Alpine mountainsides held clues to what caused a German jetliner to take an unexplained eight-minute dive Tuesday midway through a flight from Spain to Germany, apparently killing all 150 people on board.

British nationals likely in France plane crash: minister Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:51 PM PDT London (AFP) - British nationals were likely on board the Germanwings plane that crashed in France on Tuesday killing all 150 on board, Britain's foreign minister said.

Yemen asks U.N. to back military action by 'willing countries' Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:47 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Yemen asked the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to back military action by "willing countries" to combat an advance by Shi'ite Muslim Houthi militia, according to a letter from President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi seen by Reuters. Hadi wants the 15-member body to adopt a resolution to authorize "willing countries that wish to help Yemen to provide immediate support for the legitimate authority by all means and measures to protect Yemen and deter the Houthi aggression." Hadi said he has asked the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council comprised of Gulf Arab states "to provide immediately all means necessary, including military intervention, to protect Yemen and its people." Violence has been spreading across the country on the Arabian peninsula since last year when Iran-backed Houthi militia seized the capital Sanaa and effectively removed Hadi, who seeks to return from the southern port city of Aden.

Burkina Faso probe begins into Sankara assassination Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:43 PM PDT Burkina Faso has begun an investigation into the 1987 assassination of former president Thomas Sankara, whose family has long called for a probe of his death, an official said Tuesday. Sankara's relatives have been told that the case of the popular Marxist revolutionary was being pursued by an investigating magistrate from a military tribunal, their lawyer Benewende Sankara, who is no relation, said Tuesday. The government ordered in March that Sankara's body be exhumed in an effort to identify the remains of the late leader, slain in a putsch that saw his former friend and protege Blaise Compaore take power. A pan-Africanist revolutionary, Sankara transformed what was then the former French colony of Upper Volta into Burkina Faso, which means "Land of the Upright Men".

Israel jails Gaza Hamas fighter for 15 years Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:36 PM PDT A transcript of proceedings in the Beersheba district court, in southern Israel, said that Mohammed Abu Zaraj, born in 1991, was one of a squad of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, lying in ambush for advancing Israeli troops on July 27.

UN: Chile making strides but inequality remains high Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:31 PM PDT SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile has made "extraordinary progress" in economic growth and poverty reduction, but high rates of inequality persist, the U.N. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights said Tuesday.

Jihadists, Islamists in new assault on Syria's Idlib: monitor Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:30 PM PDT Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate and Islamist factions launched a multi-front offensive Tuesday against the regime-held northwestern city of Idlib, a monitor and activists said. At least 31 regime and rebel forces were killed in the fighting by late Tuesday evening, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Another 11 fighters from Ahrar al-Sham, an Islamist group that has regularly coordinated with Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, were also killed, Abdel Rahman said. Earlier state television reported fighting around the city, saying regime forces had killed a number of opposition fighters without giving further details.

Russia wants to be 'in step' with Cuba on US embargo Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:27 PM PDT Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Cuba on Tuesday, saying he was meeting officials there to develop a joint position on the US embargo on the communist island. Lavrov, the first Russian cabinet member to visit Cuba since Washington and Havana announced they would set aside their Cold War enmity and renew diplomatic ties, met Cuban Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas at the start of a four-country Latin American tour. "During the visit we intend to discuss regional and international matters... and generally get in step, especially regarding the blockade that continues on Cuba," Lavrov told Cuban state television.

El Salvador marks anniversary of Archbishop Romero's killing Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:21 PM PDT SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Thousands of Salvadorans attended special Masses and marched in a pilgrimage through the capital to mark the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, ahead of his beatification later this year.

Bark beetles not adding to U.S. West's wildfire woes: study Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:19 PM PDT By Daniel Wallis DENVER (Reuters) - Forests in Western U.S. states that have been ravaged by mountain pine beetles are no more likely to be consumed by wildfires than forests unaffected by the insects, a new study by scientists in Colorado has found. Warmer than usual winters in recent years have allowed the tree-killing beetles to survive the cold months and leave behind stands of dry wood that experts had feared could help fuel early season wildfires. ...

Utah's adoption of firing squads bucks global trend Posted: 24 Mar 2015 03:18 PM PDT Utah's decision to reintroduce the firing squad as an execution method if lethal injections drugs are unavailable bucks an international trend.

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