WorldNews

[attach=full]19305[/attach] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to be tasked with forming the next coalition government this week after winning on Monday a clear majority of support from newly elected MPs. Netanyahu's surprise victory in last week's snap election has paved the way for the likely emergence of a new rightwing religious government that may complicate efforts to resurrect the peace process and pose further challenges for Israel's troubled ties with Washington. The Israeli leader is expected to be formally handed the task of building a coalition government on Wednesday after securing the backing of a solid majority of MPs in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament. Backing for Netanyahu to stay in the post came during two days of talks between President Reuven Rivlin and representatives of the 10 parties elected to parliament who told him whom they would recommend as prime minister. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19304[/attach] WASHINGTON (AP) — Afghanistan's president kicked off his Washington visit Monday by thanking U.S. troops and taxpayers for their sacrifices in nearly 14 years of war. He pledged that his impoverished country will not remain a burden to the West. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19303[/attach] SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's Shiite rebels, backed by supporters of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have largely seized the third-largest city after capturing the capital Sanaa in September, effectively splitting the country in half and hindering U.S. efforts to combat a powerful local al-Qaida affiliate. Continue reading...

The European Commission urged Greece on Monday to take real action and make progress towards implementing reforms that could unblock more loans to Athens, stressing that political will, even if strong, was not enough at this stage. We are expecting it now," Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a news briefing. Continue reading...

Lee Kuan Yew, the autocratic founder of modern Singapore who died Monday, never shrank from expressing his views bluntly. He was known as much for his tough talk as a pithy turn of phrase in campaign speeches, press interviews and parliamentary debates. Here are some of his oft-quoted comments: Continue reading...

BRUSSELS (AP) — The U.N. envoy to Libya is cautiously optimistic that candidates to run a government uniting all the conflict-torn country's political factions could be named this week. Continue reading...

Greece's financial aid program is set to be changed to accommodate its new government, a senior European Central Bank official said on Monday, noting that the bank stood ready to support the country. "There is a clear willingness and good faith on all sides to step up the efforts and deliver within this framework ... taken in the Eurogroup," ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure said at a news conference in Montenegro, referring to an agreement with euro zone member states in February. "The three institutions, including the ECB, are committed to support this as much as we can." "It is understood that the program will be amended to reflect the new priorities of the Greek government ... to make sure than any change of the program reaches an equivalent outcome in terms of ... fiscal stability," he said. Continue reading...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister has secured a majority of backers in the new parliament and will now be tasked with forming the next government. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19297[/attach] NEW YORK (AP) — An ultra-Orthodox Jewish community shattered by the deaths of seven siblings in a house fire held their funerals a day after a hot plate left on for the Sabbath is believed to have caused the blaze. Continue reading...

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets rose Monday following Wall Street's gains amid expectations global central banks will hold off raising interest rates. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19296[/attach] Yemen is nearing "the edge of civil war", the UN envoy to the country warned as the Security Council voiced unanimous support for its embattled leader and Shiite militia seized the airport in a key city. The impoverished country has descended into chaos in recent months, with the militia, known as Huthis seizing control of capital Sanaa and forcing President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee to the main southern city of Aden. The UN Security Council held an emergency session Sunday as unrest mounted, including suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State group that killed 142 people in Sanaa on Friday. "(Recent events) seem to be leading Yemen to the edge of a civil war," UN envoy Jamal Benomar told the meeting on Sunday by video link from Qatar, warning that without immediate action "the country will slide further into further violence and dislocation". Continue reading...

BEIJING (AP) — China's biggest state-owned chemical company announced plans Monday to acquire Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli, adding to a string of high-profile Chinese corporate purchases in Europe. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19295[/attach] Kim Hyo-Joo, fired up after a bogey at the 10th, birdied five of her last eight holes to win the LPGA Founders Cup by three strokes from Stacy Lewis. "In the morning, I wasn't concentrating on winning because I was playing with Stacy Lewis and as a rookie, I just felt that by playing with her, I would learn a lot from her," Kim said. Sweden's Anna Nordqvist joined the group with a sparkling 64, American Austin Ernst and South Korea's Kim Sei-Young both posted 65s, while South Korean Choi Na-Yeon posted a 66 for 273. After a birdie at the second, Kim gave the stroke back with a bogey at the par-three fourth, but was one-under for the round with a two-stroke lead at the turn after a birdie at the ninth. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19292[/attach] BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Luis Suarez scored Barcelona's winning goal as it beat fierce rival Real Madrid 2-1 in the Spanish league on Sunday, while Steven Gerrard was sent off in Liverpool's 2-1 loss to Manchester United in England. Continue reading...

By Kieran Guilbert LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Afghan women and girls uprooted by violence and living in camps in major cities are most vulnerable to abuse by male family members, who treat them like prisoners and sell them "like animals" into marriage, aid agencies said on Monday. Living in makeshift settlements, they face hunger and psychological trauma, and are denied access to education and healthcare, said a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and The Liaison Office, an Afghanistan-based peace organization. Afghanistan continues to be beset by violence from the Taliban and other militants, which has left more than 800,000 people homeless within the country, according to NRC. More than half of the women and girls interviewed by NRC said they were not allowed by the men in their families to visit friends or other family members, while many said they were fearful of abusive husbands or drug-addicted fathers. Continue reading...

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian insurgents captured several government airmen after their helicopter crashed in a rebel-held area of northwestern Syria on Sunday, activists said. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19291[/attach] The leaders of debt-wracked Greece and economic powerhouse Germany meet in Berlin Monday after weeks of bad feeling over Athens' debt woes, bitter wartime memories and an offensive hand gesture. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will receive Greece's radical left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who has blamed her insistence on tough austerity for his country's "humanitarian crisis" of poverty and mass unemployment. Spain's economy minister Luis de Guindos turned the screw on Athens another notch Sunday by insisting that it will not receive any money until it implements all its proposed reforms. Merkel also insists that if cash-strapped Greece wants more bailout loans, of which Germany stumps up the biggest share, it must accept the bitter medicine of cuts and reforms. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19290[/attach] BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Luis Suarez scored the winning goal to give Barcelona a 2-1 win over title rival Real Madrid on Sunday in a back-and-forth "clasico" between the Spanish league's main title rivals. Continue reading...

MADRID (AP) — Two fledgling parties that have shaken up Spain's political scene made significant inroads in their first regional bids for power in Andalusia's election Sunday, suggesting they could threaten the nation's traditional two-party system in other votes due later this year. Continue reading...

Sierra Leone's main opposition party has called for an indefinite campaign of civil disobedience if the country's sacked vice president is not reinstated within a week, a party leader said on Sunday. Sulaiman Banja Tejan-Sie, Secretary General of the Sierra Leone People's Party, told Reuters that party members would embark on peaceful demonstrations, civil disobedience and strikes across the West African nation from March 30. He said the opposition party had instructed its lawyers to challenge the dismissal of Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana in court, calling it unconstitutional. President Ernest Bai Koroma sacked Sam-Sumana last week saying he had abandoned his duties by requesting asylum at the U.S. Embassy in Freetown. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19278[/attach] Islamist rebels captured four crew members of a regime helicopter which crashed in Idlib province of northwest Syria on Sunday, while a fifth serviceman was killed, a monitor said. "A regime helicopter was forced to land in the region of Jabal al-Zawiya in the northwest, which is a bastion of (Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate) Al-Nusra Front," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP. Abdel Rahman said the Al-Nusra Front held two of the servicemen, including the helicopter's pilot. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19277[/attach] CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A nightclub bouncer who reportedly became a terror group leader. A man who tweeted a photo of his young son clutching a severed head. A teenager who is believed to have turned suicide bomber, and others suspected of attempting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State movement. All of them, Australian. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19276[/attach] ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Zach Johnson made the second albatross in two days at the Arnold Palmer Invitational by holing a 5-iron from 207 yards on the par-5 16th hole Sunday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19272[/attach] HULL, England (AP) — Loic Remy made an immediate impact after coming off the bench Sunday to ensure Chelsea avoided another setback in its pursuit of the Premier League title by clinching a 3-2 victory at Hull. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19271[/attach] WASHINGTON (AP) — Having the leader of Iran's elite Quds Force direct Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State group is complicating the U.S. mission against terrorism and contributing to destabilization in Iraq, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency said Sunday. Continue reading...