WorldNews

[attach=full]19749[/attach] SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A Dominican Republic resort long known as an exclusive Caribbean hideaway, where at least three former U.S. presidents have played golf, is one of the main settings in the corruption scandal enveloping Sen. Bob Menendez. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19748[/attach] Eight firefighting vessels with water cannon battled a blaze on a Mexican offshore oil platform for hours, an inferno that killed four workers and forced 300 to be evacuated. An explosion and fire erupted at 3:40 am the Abkatun A-Permanente platform operated by the Pemex state-run firm on the Gulf of Mexico's Campeche Sound, the ASEA energy safety agency said. Some 16 hours later, Pemex reported that the fire was finally extinguished off the coast of eastern Campeche state. Some 300 workers were taken to other platforms in the area, while the injured were transported to Pemex's general hospital in Ciudad de Carmen. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19742[/attach] RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) — When Judy Rankin won at Mission Hills in 1976, the tournament now called the ANA Inspiration was the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner's Circle. Continue reading...

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Heavily armed Jamaican soldiers and police took positions around the U.S. Embassy on Wednesday after a man hurled a "suspicious package" over the building's wall. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19741[/attach] Rebels backed by Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate seized control Wednesday of the last border crossing with Jordan that had been under regime control, dealing a major blow to President Bashar al-Assad. "Armed groups, joined today by Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, took over the Nasib border point from regime soldiers" on the Syrian side of the frontier, said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. A coalition of rebel groups had launched the offensive Tuesday, and Al-Nusra joined them late Wednesday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19740[/attach] Iran's foreign minister Wednesday told world powers to "seize the moment" and drop "excessive demands" as marathon high-stakes nuclear talks headed into another long bruising night of hard bargaining. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius arrived back in Switzerland to rejoin the negotiations saying the talks were in the final stretch. Fabius was re-joining US Secretary of State John Kerry and their counterparts from Germany and Britain. "Iran has shown its readiness to engage with dignity and it's time for our negotiating partners to seize the moment," Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters late on a seventh day of talks in Lausanne. Continue reading...

NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) — Two Coast Guard Academy cadets from the Republic of Georgia who died in a car crash last month had lived the dream of many young people in their country by attending school in the United States, a fellow cadet said Wednesday at a memorial ceremony at the Connecticut school. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19733[/attach] Lisbon's Socialist mayor Antonio Costa, tipped to succeed centre-right Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, stepped down Wednesday to fight Portugal's parliamentary elections this autumn. "It is time to open a new chapter for the Lisbon town hall as for the country as a whole," said Costa, who has held the mayor's post since 2007. The Socialist Party, seen as favourites to win this year's elections, last year installed Costa, 53, as its prime ministerial candidate. The Socialist Party won the European elections last May, however the main opposition party has been shaken by a corruption scandal involving former prime minister Jose Socrates. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19732[/attach] RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio de Janeiro's pledge to clean up the blighted waters where the 2016 Olympic sailing events are to be held has suffered another setback: A prominent Brazilian sailing and environmental organization declined a city contract to help clean up sewage- and trash-filled Guanabara Bay. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19731[/attach] Cynthia Lennon, the British first wife of The Beatles' songwriter John Lennon, has died aged 75, the couple's son Julian said Wednesday. "Her son Julian Lennon was at her bedside throughout. Julian Lennon wrote and sang a song of tribute to his mother that was posted on the site with a montage of family snapshots and footage. Cynthia met John Lennon at an art class in the British city of Liverpool when she was 18 and the couple married in 1962. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19730[/attach] MIAMI (AP) — One teenage son of a Miami-based Canadian diplomat was killed and a younger son is under arrest after they were involved in an alleged drug deal that turned into a gun battle, according to police records and the diplomat's ex-husband. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19729[/attach] LONDON (AP) — Cynthia Lennon, the first wife of former Beatles guitarist John Lennon, died of cancer Wednesday at her home in Spain. She was 75. Continue reading...

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican immigration authorities have cancelled the immigration documents of 21 women found working as exotic dancers in a Cancun club. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19726[/attach] US House Speaker John Boehner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Wednesday the "strong" ties between their nations, amid tensions between Netanyahu and the Obama administration. "In this violent and unstable region, where states are imploding and fanaticism is exploding, one thing remains rock solid -– our friendship, our alliance, our partnership," he said. Continue reading...

TORONTO (AP) — Al-Jazeera English journalist Mohamed Fahmy, who remains in Egypt on bail while awaiting trial on terror charges, said Wednesday Canada is refusing to issue him a new passport. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19725[/attach] President-elect Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday vowed to rid Nigeria of "terror" after his historic election victory marking the first democratic transfer of power in Africa's most populous nation. "I assure you that Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will and commitment to rid this nation of terror and bring back peace," he said in an acceptance speech after his dramatic win. Boko Haram, whose rampage through northeastern Nigeria has left more than 13,000 people dead in six years, is Buhari's most pressing security problem. He also promised to address a culture of political impunity and the "evil" of rampant corruption but said there would be no witch-hunt and his beaten opponent Goodluck Jonathan had "nothing to fear". Continue reading...

[attach=full]19724[/attach] LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling is putting off contract talks with the club until the end of the season, saying "it has never been about money." Continue reading...

U.S. stocks moved lower in early trading Wednesday, extending losses from the day before. A report indicating that U.S. businesses slowed their pace of hiring last month weighed on the market. Oil prices rose. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19718[/attach] LONDON (AP) — A couple from northern England has defied the odds — again — by winning a million pounds ($1.5 million) in the lottery for a second time. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19717[/attach] CAIRO (AP) — The extremist Islamic State group, which controls a third of both Iraq and Syria in its self-declared caliphate, found itself driven out of the city of Tikrit on Wednesday by an allied Iraqi force backed by U.S.-led airstrikes. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19716[/attach] Jordan on Wednesday closed its main border crossing with Syria amid fierce clashes between rebels and pro-regime forces for control of the post. "The 'Jaber' border post has been temporarily closed to travellers and goods," Interior Minister Hussein Majali told AFP. A monitoring group said earlier that heavy fighting had erupted Wednesday when Syrian rebels including Islamists launched an attack on the border crossing, known as the Nasib post on the Syrian side. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels had besieged the post and were facing air raids and rocket fire from regime forces. Continue reading...

ROME (AP) — Italy and the Holy See signed an accord Wednesday to cooperate on fiscal matters, as the Vatican works to improve transparency after a string of financial scandals. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19711[/attach] Sanaa (AFP) - At least 37 people were killed when a dairy in western Yemen was bombed overnight, an official said Wednesday after a seventh night of Saudi-led air strikes against Shiite rebels. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19710[/attach] ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari said Wednesday it was time "to heal wounds," a day after Nigeria's president conceded defeat in a bitterly fought election. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19709[/attach] The head of Libya's rival government has rejected his sacking by the Tripoli-based parliament, suggesting he retains the support of powerful militia allies. Libya has had two governments and parliaments since Tripoli was seized in August by the Islamist-backed Fajr Libya militia coalition and the internationally recognised government fled to the country's far east. On Tuesday lawmakers in the Tripoli-based General National Congress (GNC) voted to sack prime minister Omar al-Hassi, accusing him of failing to tackle corruption. "I will accept this decision only if my main partners in this government, the brave revolutionaries, accept it too, and we will preserve our constitutional right to object," he said. Continue reading...