WorldNews

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...

[attach=full]20076[/attach] A white policeman in South Carolina has been charged with murder after video emerged showing him repeatedly shooting a fleeing and apparently unarmed black man in the back. The shooting comes in the wake of a series of similar incidents that have provoked outrage and protests in the United States, including the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Walter Scott, 50, was shot Saturday in the city of North Charleston after a scuffle that began with his being stopped for a broken tail light in his car, local media said. South Carolina state police arrested officer Michael Slager, 33, and charged him with murder on Tuesday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20075[/attach] The head of London's British Museum will step down at the end of this year and is to work on a major new cultural project in Berlin, it said Wednesday. Neil MacGregor, who has been in charge since 2002, will leave in December to work on part-time projects including advising German Culture Minister Monika Gruetters on the development of the Humboldt Forum. MacGregor organised a popular exhibition on German history last year at the British Museum, which is the most visited tourist attraction in Britain. The Humboldt Forum, a new museum due to open in 2019, is described by Gruetters as "our most ambitious cultural project" and will be housed in a former imperial palace in Berlin. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20074[/attach] By Aaron Sheldrick TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is considering evaporating or storing underground tritium-laced water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant as an alternative to releasing it into the ocean, Tokyo Electric Power Co's chief decommissioning officer told Reuters on Wednesday. The removal of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of water containing tritium, a relatively harmless radioactive isotope left behind in treated water is one of many issues facing Tokyo Electric as it tries to cleanup the wrecked plant. Tokyo Electric wants to release the tritium laced water to the ocean, a common practice at normally operating nuclear plants around the world, but is struggling to get approval from local fisherman, who are concerned about the impact on consumer confidence and have little faith in the company. With the release to the ocean stalled, the government task force overseeing the cleanup is looking at letting the water evaporate or storing it underground, chief decommissioning officer Naohiro Masuda, told Reuters at the close of a seminar on decommissioning. Continue reading...

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The leaders of three Estonian political parties have signed a deal to form a center-right coalition government, with Prime Minister Taavi Roivas remaining in his post. Continue reading...

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Dutch journalist has gone on trial in Turkey on charges of engaging in propaganda on behalf of the banned Kurdish rebel group on social media. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20065[/attach] Syria said it is ready to offer Palestinians its firepower to support their battle with the Islamic State group in a refugee camp devastated by clashes and aerial attacks. In the capital, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad met with a delegation from the Palestine Liberation Organisation headed by Ahmad Majdalani. The "Syrian government had used all its efforts to present humanitarian and medical aid to Palestinian refugees and ... it had helped them exit Yarmuk safely," Meqdad said. "Syria and the PLO are determined to fight terrorism, which has reached Palestinian camps in Syria, notably Yarmuk," he said, quoted by the official SANA news agency. Continue reading...

[attach=full]20064[/attach] TOKYO (AP) — Asian stocks were mostly higher Wednesday after Japan's central bank maintained its expansively easy monetary policy. Continue reading...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's tourism minister has been replaced just as his father-in-law, the mayor of Caracas, is being charged with conspiring against the socialist government. Continue reading...