WorldNews

By Lizbeth Diaz MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A woman has died at the age of 127 in western Mexico, a government agency that verified her age said on Friday. Leandra Becerra was born in the northern border state of Tamaulipas on Aug. 31, 1887, and died on Thursday morning at her home in Zapopan in the western state of Jalisco, Mexico's National System for Integral Family Development, or DIF, said. Becerra has not been included on lists of the world's oldest people because she had not previously had official documentation. Her grandson, 70-year-old Samuel Alvear, said she simply stopped breathing, having developed problems with her lungs a few months ago. Continue reading...

MEXICO CITY (AP) — About 40 buses blocked one of the main highways leading north out of Mexico City in a protest over the latest killing aboard a bus by thieves. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19200[/attach] The UN podium has been the scene of countless speeches both passionate and dull, but the audience was not world leaders but children, and they mobbed the speaker. Pop star Pharrell Williams -- best known for his viral hit "Happy" -- addressed the UN General Assembly on the "International Day of Happiness" as he raised his voice on the dangers of climate change. UN security guards rushed into the crowd in fear of a stampede as an official took the microphone to urge everyone to step back. Williams has been working with former US vice president Al Gore to organize global concerts in June to build public pressure for a UN-backed agreement on climate change at a conference late this year in Paris. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19197[/attach] Ten people were killed in a gunfight in western Mexico when suspected gang members ambushed a police convoy in one of the deadliest attacks on security forces since Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto took office in December 2012. Five members of Mexico's new militarized police, or gendarmerie, were killed in the shootout on Thursday night in Ocotlan, Jalisco state, and eight others were wounded, the National Security Commission said in a statement on Friday. At least 10 vehicles took part in the attack on police, with the assailants firing with high-powered rifles before being beaten back, the security commission said. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19196[/attach] A gang ambush on federal police in western Mexico killed five officers, three suspects and two bystanders in the deadliest day for the country's new gendarmerie. The attack took place late Thursday as the seven vehicles carrying the paramilitary gendarmerie officers were on patrol in Ocotlan, Jalisco state, federal police said. It was the deadliest shooting for the gendarmerie, a 5,000-strong unit modeled after European military-like police forces that President Enrique Pena Nieto launched last year to protect key economic sectors from organized crime. Continue reading...

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A moderate 5.3-magnitude earthquake shook central Mexico on Friday, causing buildings to sway in the capital and sending hundreds of people into the streets. There was no immediate word of damage or casualties. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19195[/attach] By Emmanuel Braun DAMASAK, Nigeria (Reuters) - Soldiers from Niger and Chad who liberated the Nigerian town of Damasak from Boko Haram militants have discovered the bodies of at least 70 people, many with their throats slit, scattered under a bridge, a Reuters witness said. Boko Haram has killed thousands of people in a six-year insurgency aimed at establishing an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria. Damasak was seized by the Islamist group in November but recaptured by troops from Niger and Chad on Saturday as part of a multinational effort to wipe out the militants. Continue reading...

By Jeb Blount RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil's state-run Petrobras said on Friday it shut its P-58 offshore oil production ship after the country's petroleum regulator ANP found irregularities on board the vessel, one of the company's most important offshore production systems. The shutdown comes a little more than a month after a deadly explosion on a Petrobras offshore oil and natural gas production ship operated by BW Offshore Ltd, a Norwegian-listed production vessel operator. Workers on the FPSO say production began with many systems incomplete, forcing workers to finish construction on the high-seas instead of a shipyard. "We have been complaining about safety problems since production started, but with other production unit accidents, the ANP finally decided to inspect the production units," Davidson Lomba told Reuters in a telephone interview. Continue reading...

By Barbara Lewis and Vladimir Soldatkin BRUSSELS/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission will hold a new round of gas supply talks next month in pursuit of a deal that could help to defuse wider tensions between Moscow and Kiev. A preliminary meeting in Brussels on Friday had never been expected to yield major progress, with the two sides still far apart as they jostle for position in the negotiations while European Union officials have set a target date of June for a new accord on how much Ukraine should pay Moscow for its gas. Speaking after the talks, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Russia would be willing to consider a discount, but a take-or-pay clause that requires Kiev to buy a certain amount of gas whether it needs it or not would apply from April 1. Continue reading...

By Wiktor Szary and Kacper Pempel WARSAW (Reuters) - Spurred by the war in Ukraine, growing numbers of Poles are joining volunteer paramilitary groups to get basic military training and prepare to defend their homeland from what some see as a looming Russian invasion. The Polish government has kept its distance from the unofficial civilian militias but, with anxieties about Moscow's intentions growing, the professional military is now looking for ways to harness the volunteer groups. There are an estimated 120 such groups in Poland, with total membership around 10,000. Eight hundred members gathered on Friday in Warsaw at a meeting organized by the Defense Ministry, the first time they have been given official recognition. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19188[/attach] UN envoy to Libya Bernardino Leon urged rival Libyan lawmakers to try to nail down a political agreement by the weekend as they began three days of "decisive" talks Friday. As the talks got under way in Morocco, the Libyan government said loyalist forces had launched an offensive to "liberate" Tripoli, seized by Islamist-backed militia seized last summer. The announcement came as the Fajr Libya militia that controls Tripoli said it had clashed with a group of gunmen who infiltrated Aziziya, 35 kilometres (22 miles) south of Tripoli, and captured a number of them. Fajr Libya is an alliance of militias, including Islamists, who have installed a government in Tripoli opposed to the internationally recognised legislature and cabinet based in the east. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19187[/attach] Michael Carrick has signed a one-year extension with Manchester United, ending speculation over whether the England midfielder would remain at Old Trafford when his current deal expired in the close-season. Carrick had a clause in his deal that gave the Premier League team an option to activate a one-year extension at any point, a move United boss Louis van Gaal has now approved after several impressive performances from the 33-year-old in recent weeks. "He is important," said van Gaal of Carrick on Friday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19186[/attach] A British judge on Friday barred five teenage girls from travelling abroad amid concerns they would go to Syria to join Islamist fighters, in the second such ruling this week. High Court judge Anthony Hayden made the girls from east London -- two aged 15 and three aged 16 -- "wards of court", a legal move that prevents them leaving England and Wales. In a ruling prompted by an application by the local authority, Tower Hamlets in east London, Hayden said that despite signs the teens were becoming more radical, their relatives were not cooperating with social services. Earlier this week, Hayden imposed a similar ruling on a 16-year-old boy amid fears he would follow his three brothers in joining Al-Qaeda linked fighters in Syria. Continue reading...

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — A patient has tested positive for Ebola in Liberia's capital, officials said Friday, deflating hopes that the country had beaten the disease after weeks with no new cases. Continue reading...

By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army is sending a field artillery battalion of about 400 soldiers and multiple-launch rocket systems to South Korea, a move the Pentagon said on Friday was part of a reorganization of the service and unrelated to any tensions on the peninsula. Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said a battalion from the 20th Field Artillery would deploy from Fort Hood, Texas, in June for a nine-month rotation at Camp Casey in South Korea as part of the 210th Field Artillery Brigade. ... Continue reading...

[attach=full]19175[/attach] Multiple suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 142 people Friday at Shiite mosques in Yemen's capital -- one of the strife-torn country's deadliest ever jihadist attacks. The killings were the first claimed by IS in Yemen and represent a strong show of force by the group in a country where rival Al-Qaeda is the most prominent jihadist organisation. Charred bodies and pools of blood were seen at the scene of the blasts, which targeted supporters of the Huthi Shiite militia that has seized control of the capital Sanaa. One suicide bomber struck inside Badr mosque in southern Sanaa while another targeted worshippers as they fled outside, witnesses said. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19174[/attach] Shyrokyne (Ukraine) (AFP) - Three pro-Russian separatists have been killed in fresh clashes near the strategic Ukrainian-held port of Mariupol despite a shaky truce aimed at ending nearly a year of fighting, rebels said on Friday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19173[/attach] SVALBARD, Norway (AP) — A solar eclipse briefly darkened the sky over northern Europe on Friday, and millions used sun viewers ranging from a welder's mask to a dental X-ray to watch the cosmic phenomenon. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19172[/attach] KYOTO, Japan (AP) — U.S. first lady Michelle Obama was treated to a serene classical Noh performance and then tried taiko drums as she ended her visit to Japan on Friday with a taste of traditional culture in Kyoto, one of the country's ancient capitals. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19171[/attach] LONGYEARBYEN, Norway (AP) — For the best view of the solar spectacle of the year, Svalbard eclipsed the Faeroe Islands. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19170[/attach] VERSAILLES, France (AP) — A symphony of popping Champagne corks echoed across the Versailles Palace, as chefs from around the world celebrated the delights of French gastronomy in the first worldwide "Good France" event. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19169[/attach] German rail operator Deutsche Bahn and Canadian train maker Bombardier said Friday they have agreed to settle out of court two years of legal battles over allegedly defective trains. "Deutsche Bahn and Bombardier Transportation have agreed to an out-of-court settlement with regard to a number of projects, allowing both sides to settle the long-running disputes amicably," the companies said in a joint statement. In March 2013, Deutsche Bahn sued Bombardier over "serious defects" in trains used on the suburban S-Bahn rail network in Berlin. "In the past months, we've worked hard to reach a compromise solution to an extremely complex and difficult situation that is acceptable for both sides," said Deutsche Bahn board member Gerd Becht. Continue reading...

TOKYO (AP) — For hamburger aficionados who want the smell even when they can't get a bite, Burger King is putting the scent into a limited-edition fragrance. Continue reading...

By Stephen Coates PORT VILA (Reuters) - The sprinkling of fairy lights on the roadside was the only sign of life as darkness descended and a curfew began in Vanuatu's shattered capital, Port Vila, in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam this week. Ignoring calls to stay at home, men were gathering among the debris of blasted trees and twisted corrugated iron to swap news of the storm over a drink of kava, a mildly intoxicating brew that is deeply embedded in the social fabric of Pacific islanders. Vanuatu escaped the worst with only 11 people confirmed dead. The tourism sector will be affected ... Kava will also be affected," Prime Minister Joe Natuman told Reuters in Port Vila. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19165[/attach] BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are looking to back U.N.-brokered efforts to form a national unity government in conflict-torn Libya that may include a mission to help provide security. Continue reading...