WorldNews

[attach=full]19131[/attach] BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of international travelers were stranded Thursday as a strike by Lufthansa pilots was extended to long-haul flights, and Germany's largest airline said it was preparing for even more cancellations on Friday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19130[/attach] The United States is deeply disturbed by reports that Syrian government forces attacked the town of Sarmin using chlorine as a weapon on March 16, Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement on Thursday. "While we cannot yet confirm details, if true, this would be only the latest tragic example of the Assad regime's atrocities against the Syrian people, which the entire international community must condemn." A group monitoring the Syrian civil war said on Tuesday that government forces carried out a poison gas attack that killed six people in the northwest, and medics have posted videos of children suffering what they said was suffocation. Kerry has been getting tough on Syria in recent days after raising concerns among Middle East allies that the United States is open to negotiating with Assad, who has been fighting Islamist and other rebels since 2011. The State Department has said the United States is seeking a negotiated political settlement but one that excludes Assad. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19129[/attach] PARMA, Italy (AP) — Crisis-hit Serie A club Parma was declared bankrupt by an Italian court Thursday with debts of more than 200 million euros ($220 million). Continue reading...

[attach=full]19128[/attach] Beirut (AFP) - The Islamic State jihadist group on Thursday claimed responsibility for an attack on Tunisia's national museum that killed at least 21 people. Continue reading...

BRUSSELS (AP) — Switzerland has signed a preliminary agreement with the European Union that will make it much harder for the 28-nation bloc's citizens to evade taxes by hiding money in Swiss vaults. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19127[/attach] MERIBEL, France (AP) — Lindsey Vonn won the World Cup super-G title for the fifth time after winning the last race in the discipline on Thursday at the season-ending finals. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19126[/attach] FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — After the disappointment of the Champions League, the Bundesliga returns with a pair of matches that could decide who will be in the elite competition next season. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19125[/attach] DETROIT (AP) — Honda is adding nearly 105,000 vehicles to its growing U.S. recall of driver's side air bag inflators that can explode with too much force. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19124[/attach] By Luke Baker JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The day before Israel's election, with polls showing he could lose, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the Palestinians would never have their own state on his watch. It was a sweeping statement that flew in the face of his own past commitments and 25 years of international efforts to arrive at a two-state solution to the conflict: Israel and an independent Palestine living side-by-side. France and Germany called on the new government to stick to the two-state goal and the European Union counseled calm at a "crucial moment". The United Nations said the only way for Israel to remain democratic was to stick to the peace process, which sees two states as the final objective. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19120[/attach] Britain's economy is set for faster-than-expected growth this year, the coalition government predicted Wednesday as it vowed to move from austerity to prosperity in its last budget before elections. Finance minister George Osborne hiked Britain's 2015 growth forecast to 2.5 percent in the coalition's final budget before May's general election, up from a prior estimate of 2.4 percent after 2.6-percent expansion last year, and cut his deficit forecasts. To cheers and jeers from rowdy lawmakers, and with 50 days to go until election day on May 7, there were voter-friendly sweeteners too with tax cuts on beer, cider and spirits, while a fuel duty rise was axed following a slump in world oil prices. There was also a reward for savers -- who have long been punished by Britain's record-low interest rates -- with the introduction of a new personal savings allowance under which the first £1,000 ( $1,466, 1,381 euros) in interest will be tax free. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19119[/attach] MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Rohit Sharma smashed an authoritative century to help India recover from a slow start and reach 302-6 in its World Cup quarterfinal against Bangladesh on Thursday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19118[/attach] Two men were killed and more than ten were wounded after gunmen opened fire in a pub in a suspected gang-related attack in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, police said. "Two died and between ten and fifteen were wounded," police spokesman Bjoer Blixte told AFP, adding that up to four of those injured were in a serious but stable condition. "We are assuming that this is gang-related and not a terrorist attack," he said. Sweden and neighbouring Denmark have a longstanding problem with criminal gangs, including Hells Angels, Bandidos and several immigrant groups which battle for control of the local drug trade. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19117[/attach] BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's Supreme Court announced Thursday that former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will stand trial for her role in overseeing a rice subsidy program spearheaded by her ousted government that lost billions of dollars, a move likely to deepen the long-running political crisis in the military-ruled nation. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19116[/attach] Two British people were "caught up" in a gun attack on Tunisia's national museum that killed 17 foreign tourists, a spokesman for the Foreign Office said on Thursday. The Foreign Office did not clarify whether the two British people had been hurt in the attack in the capital Tunis. "We can confirm that two British nationals were caught up in the shootings in Tunis on Wednesday and that we are providing consular assistance," the Foreign Office spokesman said. Prime Minister David Cameron has condemned the attack, writing on Twitter "Appalled by sickening terrorist attack in Tunis - my thoughts are with those affected. Continue reading...

Three Japanese citizens were killed in an attack on Tunisia's national museum and not five as Tunisia said, Japanese government officials said on Thursday. Earlier, Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid said five Japanese were among 19 people killed when gunman wearing military uniforms stormed the museum on Wednesday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said earlier Japan strongly condemned terrorism and the government was gathering information about the attack in Tunisia. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19107[/attach] LONDON (AP) — American tennis player Wayne Odesnik was banned Wednesday for 15 years after a second doping violation, a sanction that essentially ends his career and was widely applauded by several top players. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19106[/attach] Gunmen stormed Tunisia's national museum, killing 17 tourists of various nationalities and two Tunisians in an attack that raised fears for the birthplace of the Arab Spring. The brazen daylight assault sparked panic at the nearby parliament and the National Bardo Museum itself, a magnet for the tourists who contribute so much to the economy. The gunmen, dressed in military uniforms, opened fire on the tourists as they got off a bus then chased them inside the museum, said Prime Minister Habib Essid. Among the dead were five Japanese, four Italians, a Colombian mother and child and one each from Australia, France, Poland and Spain, Essid announced on television in what he said was a definitive toll. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19105[/attach] Fourth seeded Andy Murray, trying to rebound from a subpar 2014, defeated Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3 in the fourth round of the Indian Wells ATP Masters. The 27-year-old Scot's game is gathering steam as he cruised into the quarter-finals of the joint WTA and ATP hardcourt event with a 90-minute victory on Wednesday. Murray moves on to face Spain's Feliciano Lopez who upset fifth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) on centre court. His best finish is runner-up in 2009, when he lost to Rafael Nadal in the final. Continue reading...

NEW YORK (AP) — Henrik Lundqvist is back with the New York Rangers, though it could be some time still before he is ready for a game. Continue reading...

By Maria Caspani UNITED NATIONS (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The Ebola epidemic in West Africa exacerbated violence against women and rolled back access to reproductive healthcare in the region, ministers from Guinea and Liberia said on Wednesday. In Guinea, data indicates a 4.5 percent increase in cases of gender-based violence since before the epidemic including twice as many rapes, Sanaba Kaba, the country's minister of social action, women and children, said on a panel at the United Nations 59th Commission on the Status of Women. Liberia also saw more cases of gender-based violence as a result of the outbreak, said Julia Duncan Cassell, minister of gender and development in that country. Continue reading...

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia's soccer federation wants its friendly match in Nigeria scheduled for March 26 to be postponed because of the African nation's internal conflict. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19099[/attach] Russia and pro-Moscow rebels on Wednesday condemned Ukraine for ratifying two bills on greater autonomy for the separatist east, saying they violated a peace deal and threatened a shaky month-long truce. The latest wrangling over the east Ukraine peace plan came as Moscow celebrated the one-year anniversary of the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, a key moment in the crisis that shattered ties with Kiev and the West. President Petro Poroshenko late Wednesday signed into law two bills giving the rebel-held east more self-rule, a key part of a February peace deal aimed at ending over months of fighting in which more than 6,000 people have died. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19098[/attach] DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Carlos Tevez scored two and set up another as Juventus beat Borussia Dortmund 3-0 away to reach the Champions League quarterfinals with a 5-1 aggregate victory on Wednesday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19097[/attach] Celtic booked a place in the last four of the Scottish Cup with a 4-0 win over Dundee United in their quarter-final replay on Wednesday as both sides had a man sent off. United arrived in Glasgow without a win at Celtic Park in nearly 23 years and never looked like changing that statistic or avenging last Sunday's League Cup final defeat after falling behind in the 17th minute to a header from Jason Denayer. Leigh Griffiths volleyed home a second in the 57th minute before Kris Commons rounded off the scoring with a calm finish in the 79th minute. The red mist descended in the final minutes as Celtic striker Anthony Stokes was sent off in the 87th minute for lashing out at Paul Paton following a challenge before Ryan McGowan was given a straight red for a hefty challenge on substitute Liam Henderson a minute later. Continue reading...

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Officials say the Pakistan government has stayed the execution of a man whose family alleges he was only 14 when he was sentenced to death. Continue reading...