WorldNews

[attach=full]19908[/attach] Libya's Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni said his government would run its own oil sales and deposit revenues abroad in a bid to divert proceeds away from a rival, self-declared administration in Tripoli. The fighting has worsened as militants loyal to Islamic State have become involved and exploited the chaos to carry out a series of high profile attacks. Prime Minister Thinni announced late on Saturday that he had authorized his government's oil corporation to open a separate bank account in the United Arab Emirates for oil revenues, and to seek independent oil sales. Until now oil sales and revenues have gone through Libya's central bank and the National Oil Corporation in Tripoli, which says it wants to stay out of the conflict between the two governments. Continue reading...

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia avoided arrest on corruption charges Sunday after a court granted her bail. Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadder approved Zia's request for bail when she surrendered to court in the capital, Dhaka. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19907[/attach] Authorities in Kenya said Sunday they have identified one of the four dead Shebab gunmen who massacred nearly 150 people at Garissa University as an ethnic-Somali Kenyan national and law graduate. The spokesman said Abdullahi's father, a local official in the northeastern county of Mandera, had "reported to the authorities that his son had gone missing and suspected the boy had gone to Somalia". Continue reading...

[attach=full]19906[/attach] A bomb exploded near a police checkpoint on bridge in an affluent Cairo neighbourhood on Sunday, killing an officer, Egyptian police officials said. The bomb had been placed next to the checkpoint on a side of the May 15 bridge located in the neighbourhood of Zamalek, the officials said. A police official said the bomb went off as the driver of a minivan pulled over to ask the police officer a question, likely for directions. Militants have repeatedly set off bombs in Cairo targeting police checkpoints and vehicles. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19904[/attach] KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was granted a furlough Sunday to attend his father's funeral, soon after he began a five-year prison sentence on sodomy charges that he says are politically motivated. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19903[/attach] Chile's President Michelle Bachelet visited the flood-hit north of the country where at least 25 people died and 125 others are still missing, vowing to "rebuild" the stricken region. "We stand with you, as we have from the beginning, and we will rebuild," Bachelet said Saturday as she toured the region. According to a tally released Friday by the National Emergency Office, about 2,700 victims of the flooding are being housed in emergency accommodation and as many as 30,000 people have been affected. Bachelet said government officials were looking into the risk of disease outbreaks and were committed to providing support to victims. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19902[/attach] SANAA (Reuters) - Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition bombed Yemen's capital Sanaa overnight, residents said, on the eleventh day of a campaign against Iran-allied Houthi forces opposed to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The raids came despite calls by Russia and the Red Cross on Saturday for a pause to allow urgent humanitarian aid deliveries and evacuation of civilians. Residents reported explosions at bases housing army units loyal to the Houthis, while air strikes also hit areas along Yemen's border with Saudi Arabia. ... Continue reading...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Kekuta Manneh and Octavio Rivero scored second-half goals to lift Vancouver over the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 Saturday night, keeping the Whitecaps perfect in Major League Soccer. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19901[/attach] A super typhoon dissolved into a tropical depression and made landfall in the Philippines Sunday, forecasters said, easing fears after thousands of residents fled remote coastal villages to avoid potential giant waves. Maysak, which began as a Super Typhoon in the Pacific Ocean, reached the northeast coast of the main island of Luzon at 8:00 am (0000 GMT) with winds of 55 kilometres (34 miles) an hour, chief state weather forecaster Esperanza Cayanan said. "As of now, most of our fears have melted away," she told a news conference shortly after the depression reached Dinapigue, a remote town on Luzon's northeast coast, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) from Manila. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19896[/attach] Pope Francis condemned indifference and "complicit silence" to jihadist attacks on Christians as he presided over Easter ceremonies in the wake of a massacre of nearly 150 people at a Kenyan university by Shebab Islamists. The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics brought up the extremist persecution of Christians as the holiest ceremonies of the Church calendar reached a climax Sunday, when believers celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The Vatican has increasingly voiced frustration that attacks on Christians in places such as Iraq, Libya, Pakistan and Nigeria have not been more strongly condemned by Muslim authorities and Western governments. Continue reading...

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A bus carrying Fenerbahce players was shot at on a highway in northern Turkey on Saturday, the region's governor said. The bus driver was wounded and hospitalized. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19895[/attach] At least four people were killed Saturday when suspected Boko Haram fighters raided a local market in a village near the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, security sources said. Scores of Boko Haram gunmen stormed Kayamla village, 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) from Maiduguri, capital of restive Borno state, and opened fire on a weekly market, killing four traders, a senior security official in Maiduguri told AFP. Continue reading...

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Jonas scored twice as Benfica beat Nacional 3-1 to extend its lead of the Portuguese league on Saturday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19894[/attach] LONDON (AP) — With a seven-point lead and a game in hand, Chelsea's title triumph seems assured. What made the English Premier League action so thrilling on Saturday were the wonder goals. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19888[/attach] PARIS (AP) — Lyon kept the heat on Paris Saint-Germain in a close-fought French title race thanks to beating Guingamp 3-1 with a goal each from strike duo Nabil Fekir and Alexandre Lacazette on Saturday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19887[/attach] Hundreds rallied Saturday in the Gaza Strip in support of thousands of fellow Palestinians trapped in Syria's Yarmuk camp, which has been largely overrun by jihadist fighters. Hundreds, many waving Hamas flags, took to the streets in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis in a march organised by the militant Islamic movement, the de facto power in the coastal enclave. He called on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA to use all the influence at its disposal. "Reports of kidnappings, beheadings and mass killings are coming out from Yarmuk, which is under a brutal campaign of murder and occupation at the hands of the terrorist group of Daesh and its allies," he said. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19886[/attach] VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis presided over the solemn Easter Vigil service Saturday night amid mounting Vatican concern for modern-day Christian martyrs whose deaths have dominated this Easter season. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19885[/attach] A massive statue of a "Transformers" style robot has gone on display in Ankara not, as some of residents suspected, as an elaborate April Fool's joke but erected by the city's mayor. The mass of metal and polyester, which now towers over a busy road junction in the centre of the Turkish capital, went up on Thursday to promote the new Anka theme park, which mayor Melih Gokcek is having built despite a court injunction over complaints it breaks city planning rules, local press reported. Gokcek, who has been mayor of this city of five million people since 1994, is one of the more colourful members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Turkish prosecutors last month launched an investigation into both him and Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc after the two politicians traded angry accusations as a row within the ruling party widened. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19884[/attach] LONDON (AP) — Chelsea responded to conceding from Charlie Adam's ultra long-range strike and losing Diego Costa to a hamstring injury by beating Stoke 2-1, moving seven points clear at the top of the Premier League on Saturday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19881[/attach] BERLIN (AP) — Robert Lewandowski struck on his first return to Borussia Dortmund as Bayern Munich defeated his former side 1-0 in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Continue reading...

YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Militants of the Urhobo minority ethnic group blew up a natural gas pipeline in Nigeria's Delta state in the early hours on Friday, a Nigerian official said on Saturday. "The Urhobo militants who carried out the attack have claimed responsibility," said Isa Ado, spokesman for the Pulo Shield taskforce, made up of members of various Nigerian security forces investigating oil theft in Nigeria's oil-producing delta region. ... Continue reading...

[attach=full]19880[/attach] Saudi Arabian special forces are involved in the military operation against Shiite Huthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen, a Saudi adviser said Saturday. A Saudi-led coalition began air strikes on March 26 against the Iran-backed rebels, but says it has no plans for now to deploy ground forces. Army special forces supplied weapons and communications equipment to militia loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in the main southern city of Aden, the adviser told AFP. Naval special forces provided "coordination and guidance" to enable the loyalist fighters to launch a counter-attack on the rebels. Continue reading...

CAIRO (AP) — The head of an Egyptian human rights organization said Saturday he is being held in a central Cairo police station following a police raid on the group's online radio station. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19879[/attach] BAGHDAD (AP) — Islamic State extremists at Iraq's ancient city of Hatra destroyed the archaeological site by smashing sledgehammers into its walls and shooting Kalashnikov assault rifles at priceless statues, a new militant video purportedly from the group shows. Continue reading...

SWANSEA, Wales (AP) — Bafetimbi Gomis scored twice, including a spectacular overhead strike, as Swansea beat 10-man Hull 3-1 in the Premier League on Saturday, dragging the visitors closer to the relegation scrap. Continue reading...