WorldNews

[attach=full]19055[/attach] MOSCOW/ANKARA (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the "Turkish Stream" gas project during a phone call, the Kremlin said in a statement on Tuesday, as Moscow continues to push for its new undersea pipeline to Europe. Facing objections from the European Union, Russia in December abandoned its $40 billion South Stream project which would have passed under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and carried up to 63 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas annually to Europe. It has now pinned its hopes on Turkey, hoping to construct a "Turkish Stream" pipeline with the same capacity to an as-yet unbuilt hub on the Turkey-Greece border by the end of 2016. Turkish officials have said the plans are unlikely to progress as quickly as Russia would like, given Ankara's concerns about overdependence on Russian energy. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19054[/attach] WASHINGTON (AP) — Donning green in the Oval Office, President Barack Obama promoted U.S.-Irish ties on St. Patrick's Day as proof of America's immigrant-friendly tradition. He and Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny urged Congress to follow Obama's lead on immigration. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19053[/attach] Tel Aviv (AFP) - Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog said Wednesday he is still in the race to form Israel's next government after exit polls showed a last-minute surge by the rightwing Likud, leaving the two parties neck-and-neck. Continue reading...

WASHINGTON (AP) — An unarmed U.S. Predator drone aircraft went down in Syria, but it's not clear whether it was shot down as claimed by the Syrian government, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Continue reading...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The Cricket World Cup has had a charmed run with the weather but new contingencies will come into play if rain disrupts any of the match in the knockout rounds which start on Wednesday. Continue reading...

By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - British lawmakers called on the U.S. government on Tuesday to release the last British resident being held at Guantanamo Bay, describing his treatment as "inhuman". Shaker Aamer, a Saudi married to a Briton with children living in London, has been held at Guantanamo for 13 years despite his lawyers saying he was cleared by U.S. authorities for release in 2007, and has not been charged with any crime. Prime Minister David Cameron lobbied U.S. President Barack Obama for Aamer's release during a visit to Washington in January and was told a review of his case would be prioritized. "The case of Shaker Aamer is one of the worst cases of a miscarriage of justice in the last three decades at least ... He has endured harsh, and brutal and inhuman treatment," opposition Labour lawmaker John McDonnell told a debate in parliament that saw members of all major political parties criticize Aamer's treatment and call for his release. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19044[/attach] THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Ikea has a message for people wanting to converge on its stores for giant games of hide and seek: Go play someplace else. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19043[/attach] LONDON (AP) — A toxic mix of misuse of power and official silence has become Britain's shame as the country faces up to a growing web of evidence that the abuse of vulnerable children by powerful men was covered up for decades. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19042[/attach] NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are mostly lower in afternoon trading on Tuesday as oil prices continue to slump and investors wait for clues from the Federal Reserve about when it will raise interest rates. The Fed will make a statement after a two-day policy meeting ends Wednesday. Nine of the 10 industry sectors of the Standard and Poor's 500 index dropped, led by a 1 percent fall in raw-material companies. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19041[/attach] JERUSALEM (AP) — Israelis are casting their ballots in national elections widely seen as a test of faith in long-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Polls have forecast a close race, with Netanyahu focused on security issues while challenger Isaac Herzog of the center-left Zionist Union running on social and economic issues. These are the latest developments: Continue reading...

[attach=full]19034[/attach] ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has called for joint talks with leaders of Germany, France and the European Union executive to try and resolve the crisis surrounding the country's bailout negotiations. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19033[/attach] Pope Francis on Tuesday hailed the bravery of Nigerian priests who have stood strong in the face of Boko Haram violence and worked to build bridges with the Muslim community. "I wish here to express my heartfelt thanks to you, because in the midst of so many trials and sufferings the Church in Nigeria does not cease to witness to hospitality, mercy and forgiveness," he said. Boko Haram has seized swathes of territory in Nigeria's northeast in an Islamist insurgency that began in 2009 and has killed more than 13,000 people, displaced 1.5 million, and destroyed churches and mosques. Boko Haram's violence has intensified over the six-year conflict, with attacks into Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Continue reading...

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Rioting in Poland sparked by the death of a teenager, who apparently choked to death while trying to swallow a drug packet as narcotics officers tried to stop him, has left eight people injured and 21 detained, authorities said Tuesday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19032[/attach] Israelis voted Tuesday in a close-fought election pitting the centre left against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is fighting for his political survival after six years in power. The last polls published on Friday indicated a narrow win for the centre-left Zionist Union, with the outcome likely to determine the prospects for new Middle East peace talks and Israel's troubled relations with its US ally. In a last-ditch appeal to the far-right ahead of the vote, Netanyahu ruled out the establishment of a Palestinian state if reelected, effectively reneging on his 2009 endorsement of a two-state solution. With smaller rightwing and religious parties likely to win more seats than the left, experts say Netanyahu has a better chance of piecing together a majority of at least 61 seats needed to win backing for a coalition. Continue reading...

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden said on Tuesday a Swedish man died in the huge cyclone that tore across the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. A Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman said the man, aged around 80 and who had emigrated from Sweden, had been found dead. The ministry estimates fewer than 10 Swedes live in Vanuatu. The official death toll on Tuesday had reached 11, less heavy than initially feared. However, with relief workers still battling to reach many of the islands, officials have said the toll is likely to rise. (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Alison Williams) Continue reading...

MIAMI (AP) — An associate sociology professor at Penn State University faces disorderly conduct charges after being removed from an American Airlines flight. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19031[/attach] Six people, including three young children, were killed in an alleged regime gas attack late Monday in northwestern Syria, a monitoring group and activists said. "Three children, their mother and father, and their grandmother suffocated to death after regime barrel bomb attacks" on their village in the province of Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Sarmin's local coordinating committee, an activist group, said chlorine gas had been used and published photos of a chaotic field hospital where disoriented victims coughed and held gas masks over their faces. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19030[/attach] LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — In an unusually upbeat assessment, Iran's top nuclear official said Tuesday his government's main disagreements with the U.S. and its negotiating partners have been resolved and expressed optimism about meeting a late March deadline for a framework deal. Continue reading...

The survivors of Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu are desperate for water, food and safe shelter, the Red Cross said on Tuesday as it launched an emergency appeal for 3.9 million Swiss francs ($3.8 million). The United Nations said on Tuesday the official death toll from the cyclone was 11, revising down its earlier figure of 24, but many officials anticipate that number would rise once they are able to more thoroughly inspect the outer islands of the scattered archipelago. "We are extremely concerned for the safety and well-being of many communities affected by the cyclone, particularly in the more remote regions of the country that are only accessible by boat," said Aurélia Balpe, regional head of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The typhoon left some 3,300 people homeless, and officials anticipate that the number will rise once they are able to land on Vanuatu's outer islands. Continue reading...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An American helicopter mechanic whose Facebook post complaining about his employer in the United Arab Emirates got him arrested in the Mideast nation said Tuesday he has been told the company is seeking to dismiss the charges against him. Continue reading...

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government said Tuesday that four Filipino nurses reported to have been kidnapped from a Libyan hospital by militants from an Islamic State group affiliate were actually taken to a safe place by a friend and were not abducted. Continue reading...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Former England international Dimitri Mascarenhas has been appointed bowling coach of the New Zealand cricket team, replacing Shane Bond who will leave the role after the current World Cup. Continue reading...

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal is adding more medical staff at Mount Everest's base camp and working to speed up rescue efforts, officials said Tuesday, in steps to boost safety after 16 local guides were killed by an avalanche last year in the deadliest disaster ever on the world's highest peak. Continue reading...

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A Roman Catholic archbishop in Australia was charged Tuesday with covering up for a pedophile priest during the 1970s. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19025[/attach] BEIJING (AP) — The vice chairman of China's biggest state-owned energy company has become the latest prominent executive targeted by Communist Party investigators in a spreading anti-corruption campaign. Continue reading...