WorldNews

[attach=full]20121[/attach] Oil prices rose more than a percent on Thursday, clawing back part of the 6 percent slump in the previous session that was triggered by a shock jump in U.S. crude inventories and record Saudi output, although analysts said sentiment remained bearish. A 10.95 million-barrel surge in U.S. crude stockpiles to 482.4 million last week, the biggest gain in 14 years, and Saudi oil production of 10.3 million barrels a day in March had battered crude futures on Wednesday. "Total U.S. crude stocks continued to fly far above 5-year highs, setting new records every week," Societe Generale analysts said in a note. Cushing, the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate contracts, is now filled to 85 percent of its total working capacity of 70.1 million barrels, the bank said. Continue reading...

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's Cumhuriyet newspaper says two of its journalists have been charged with "openly insulting the people's religious values" for featuring French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's cover with the image of the Prophet Muhammad in their columns. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20120[/attach] SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has deported an American woman who frequently visited the country over the past 20 years, accusing her of engaging in "plot-breeding and propaganda." Continue reading...

[attach=full]20119[/attach] A man who recorded chilling video of a white police officer gunning down a black man said that the shooting followed a struggle in which the cop had gained control of the situation. The now widely-distributed video of South Carolina officer Michael Slager shooting Walter Scott repeatedly in the back was recorded by 23-year-old Feidin Santana. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20118[/attach] A Japanese research team said on Thursday it had developed a field test for Ebola that gives results in just over 11 minutes -- down from the 90-minute test used now. The breakthrough by Nagasaki University's Institute of Tropical Medicine will allow medics to move much more quickly in treating people with the haemorrhagic fever, Professor Jiro Yasuda told AFP. The test hinges on what the researchers have called a "primer", a substance that amplifies only those genes specific to the Ebola virus found in a blood sample or other bodily fluid. Currently, a method called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, is used to detect the Ebola virus. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20111[/attach] CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Eugenie Bouchard knew she was pointed to bigger things at the Family Circle Cup last spring. After the top-seeded Bouchard fell to unseeded American Lauren Davis in her opening match this time around, the Canadian star isn't sure where she's heading. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20110[/attach] CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A senior U.S. diplomat was in Venezuela on Wednesday for talks with President Nicolas Maduro ahead of a regional summit in which tensions between Caracas and Washington threatened to overshadow a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations. Continue reading...

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge refused on Wednesday to throw out a U.S. jury's verdict finding that a large Jordan-based bank was responsible for terror attacks in Israel that killed or wounded Americans. Continue reading...

Schools and teachers were attacked, no girls were in secondary school and only 4 percent attended primary. In 1999 India had almost 17 million children out of school and around 8 girls for every 10 boys in school. The number of out-of-school children has fallen to just over a million, universal primary education has been achieved and this year India is predicted to be the only country in South and West Asia to have an equal number of girls and boys in both primary and secondary education. NEPAL: Nepal has achieved universal pre-primary and primary education, despite a relatively recent conflict in which schools were targets. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20109[/attach] SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — A former general linked to human rights abuses during El Salvador's civil war in the 1980s was deported by the U.S. on Wednesday and flown to his home country, where officials said he faces no charges or restrictions on his movements. Continue reading...

EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Military officials say 11 civilians and two soldiers have been killed in three attacks in Egypt's restive northern Sinai. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20106[/attach] AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Kevin Streelman beat Camilo Villegas on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff Wednesday to win the Par 3 tournament on the last day to relax at Augusta National. Continue reading...

A new poll conducted in Cuba found that 80 percent of Cubans have a highly favorable view of President Barack Obama, while 97 percent feel that the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States will be good for Cuba. The opinion survey released Wednesday is the most extensive conducted inside Cuba by an independent research firm since 1959, according to its sponsors, Miami-based Spanish language network Univision News and The Washington Post newspaper. It is also the first study of its kind since last December's announcement of joint efforts to normalize diplomatic and economic relations between Cuba and the United States. Almost 80 percent were dissatisfied with the Cuban economy, and 64 percent said the thaw with Washington could change Cuba's economic system. Continue reading...

Canadian armed forces conducted their first air strike in Syria since the government expanded the scope of its military mission against Islamic State last month, Canada's Defense Department said on Wednesday. "This first air strike under the expanded mandate demonstrates our government's firm resolve to tackle the threat of terrorism against Canada and to promote international security and stability," Defense Minister Jason Kenney said in a statement. Two Canadian CF-18s were involved in the air strike against an Islamic State garrison near Ar-Raqqah, Syria, the government said. Continue reading...

Egypt's public prosecutor referred a further 379 alleged members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood to court on Wednesday over sit-ins in August 2013 that were broken up by security forces who killed hundreds of protesters. The 379 are accused of causing the deaths of two policemen at al-Nahda Square in Giza, one of two sites where supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi gathered in the weeks following his overthrow by the military. The government accuses the Brotherhood of fomenting an Islamist insurgency since Mursi's removal. Security forces have killed hundreds and detained thousands of members of the group, which says it is committed to political change through peaceful means only. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20095[/attach] Warring forces in the Central African Republic have agreed to a ceasefire deal after months of negotiations mediated by Kenya, Nairobi announced on Wednesday. The deal was signed between Joachim Kokate, a representative of the mainly Christian anti-balaka rebels, and ex-president Michel Djotodia of the predominantly Muslim ex-Seleka movement, the Kenyan presidency said in a statement. "There will be many who will try to bring divisions amongst you for their personal benefit," President Uhuru Kenyatta said in the statement. An earlier ceasefire deal in January had called for the replacement of CAR's interim government led by President Catherine Samba-Panza and was never recognised by Bangui. Continue reading...

Russia is considering soon giving Greece funds based on future profits Athens could earn from shipping Russian gas to Europe as part of an extension of the Turkish Stream pipeline, a Greek government official said on Wednesday. The extension to Turkish Stream, which has yet to be finalised and would take Russian gas from Turkey to Europe via Greece, might also mean Athens would pay less for Russian gas, the official said. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras voiced interest in the project in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday. Tsipras' government, at loggerheads with its euro zone and International Monetary Fund creditors, risks running out of money within weeks unless it can reach a new cash-for-reform deal. Continue reading...

South Africa's University of Cape Town decided on Wednesday to remove a contentious statue of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes which has triggered angry protests from students. The students insist the statue is a symbol of the institutional racism they say prevails in South Africa two decades after the end of white-minority rule which marginalized blacks. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20094[/attach] Much-needed aid was trickling into Yemen on Wednesday as rebels fought fresh battles with pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led air campaign set to enter its third week. Washington said it had deepened its involvement in the air war on Iran-backed rebels and voiced fears Al-Qaeda was exploiting the power vacuum. The World Health Organization meanwhile said more than 640 people had died and over 2,200 been injured in the violence since March 19, calling the humanitarian situation "critical". Aid groups have been struggling to get help into the country, where a Saudi-led coalition last month launched air strikes against Shiite Huthi rebels challenging President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20093[/attach] MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on Mexico's violent and growing Jalisco New Generation cartel a day after the gang mounted a bloody ambush that killed 15 Mexican police officers. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20082[/attach] Syria said Wednesday a military operation was needed to expel jihadists who have overrun large parts of a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus, trapping thousands of civilians inside. The Islamic State group's advances in the Yarmuk camp have sparked international concern for the civilians, who have already endured repeated bombardment and an army siege of more than 18 months. The European Union has announced additional aid for residents of the camp, saying their suffering was reaching "intolerable levels" and the UN Security Council has urged a humanitarian corridor into the district. Syria's Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar on Wednesday said the crisis required a military operation. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20081[/attach] The African Cup of Nations will return to familiar territory in 2017 after Gabon was chosen as host Wednesday to replace Libya, sending the tournament back to the country that co-hosted it just three years ago. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20080[/attach] By Magdalena Mis LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - United Nations officials warned on Wednesday of a potential "slaughter of innocents" unless aid and assistance reached a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria where thousands of civilians are trapped up in a vicious battle. Some 18,000 civilians, including 3,500 children, are caught in the camp outside Damascus just a few miles from President Bashar al-Assad's palace. The Yarmouk camp, which was home to half a million Palestinians before the conflict began in 2011, has been held by anti-Assad insurgents and besieged by government troops since the early days of the war and many have already fled. "The level of inhumanity that Yarmouk has descended to is frankly unimaginable," Chris Gunness, a spokesman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a Skype interview from Jerusalem. Continue reading...

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — President Michelle Bachelet says the corruption scandals that have rocked Chile have caused a crisis of confidence, but could also be an opportunity for change. Continue reading...

TOKYO (AP) — A Japan Airlines domestic flight returned safely to Tokyo on Wednesday after the pilot shut down an engine due to unspecified trouble while en route to Hokkaido in northern Japan. Continue reading...