WorldNews

[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...

BERLIN (AP) — The U.N.'s human rights chief said Wednesday his office has received reports that Boko Haram fighters retreating from advancing military forces in Nigeria murdered women and girls they had taken as "wives," along with other captives. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19708[/attach] Nigeria's president-elect Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday called elections that will lead to the country's first democratic change of power "historic" in a victory speech. "Our country has now joined the community of nations that have used the ballot box to peacefully change an incumbent president in a free and fair election," he said at the headquarters of his All Progressives Congress party in Nigeria's capital Abuja. He also praised the "statesmanship" of the country's outgoing leader Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat in a vote that saw an incumbent lose for the time in the nation's history. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19706[/attach] NEW YORK (AP) — Toyota is turning to a sporty hatchback and a low-cost sedan to restore some hipness — and sales — to its youth-oriented Scion brand. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19705[/attach] TOKYO (AP) — Japanese businesses remain wary over the outlook for the world's No. 3 economy and generally plan to reduce capital investment, according to a central bank survey released Wednesday. Continue reading...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Mills has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending a 14-year international career. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19704[/attach] Lausanne (AFP) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that he hopes to finalise on Wednesday a framework nuclear agreement with world powers. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19703[/attach] A parliamentary candidate for Britain's UK Independence Party was replaced on Tuesday after writing that Israel should "kidnap" US President Barack Obama in a Facebook post. The post by Jeremy Zeid was a response to the declassifying of documents on Israel's secret nuclear programme, and was written last week as he prepared to run for a seat in Britain's general election on May 7. "Once Obama is out of office, the Israelis should move to extradite the bastard or 'do an Eichmann' on him, and lock him up for leaking state secrets," Zeid wrote in the Facebook post, according to a screenshot. "Just kidnap the bugger, like they did to Eichmann," he added in a comment, referring to the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, who was captured in Argentina in 1960 and put on trial in Israel. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19698[/attach] Egypt's president on Tuesday urged Shiite rebels in Yemen to "back off" for the sake of their country, saying Cairo is participating in a military campaign there for Gulf Arab security. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's remarks come two days after an Arab summit in Egypt that decided the Saudi-led air strikes against the Huthi rebels should continue until they surrender. "The stability of Yemen and the safety of its people hangs from your necks," Sisi said in a televised speech to military and police officers. Egypt had said it is taking part in the campaign with its air force and navy, and has pledged to commit ground troops if they are needed. Continue reading...