WorldNews

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama is banning drones from national airspace immediately before, during and after next week's Summit of the Americas. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19834[/attach] Syria's government on Friday welcomed a nuclear deal between its key ally Iran and world powers, saying the framework agreement would "ease regional and international tensions". "Syria welcomes the statement produced by the discussions between Iran and the P5+1 group" of world powers, state media said, citing a foreign ministry source. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19833[/attach] From the far right to the radical left, populist parties across Europe are being courted by Russia's Vladimir Putin who aims to turn them into allies in his anti-EU campaign. The Front National (FN) in France, Syriza in Greece and Jobbik in Hungary may be the most famous ones but they are far from being alone. They are united in their objective to "challenge the EU", and this in turn aligns them with Russia's wish for a "weak and divided Europe", explains Hungarian political analyst Peter Kreko. In the longer term, the Kremlin banks on these parties' accession to power to change Europe and separate it from NATO and the United States. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19832[/attach] The bodies of the 148 students and security officers massacred by Somalia's Shebab Islamists in a Kenyan university were flown Friday to Nairobi and their desperate and grieving loved ones. The day-long siege of Garissa University was Kenya's deadliest attack since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi, and the bloodiest ever by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants. The Kenyan government, however, vowed that it would not be "intimidated". Many were forced to phone their parents to urge them to call for Kenyan troops to leave Somalia -- before shooting them anyway. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19831[/attach] NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. government bond prices jumped and the dollar dipped on Friday following news that U.S. employers added the fewest jobs in a month since December 2013. The stock market was closed in observance of Good Friday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19820[/attach] The Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility Friday for deadly attacks on army checkpoints in the Sinai Peninsula that killed 15 soldiers and two civilians. Jihadists launched simultaneous attacks Thursday on five checkpoints in the restive Sinai with assault rifles and grenade launchers, the deadliest in months against Egyptian security forces. "The lions of the Sinai Province early on Thursday launched wide scale simultaneous attacks against security checkpoints on the road between Rafah and Arish," in North Sinai, the group said in a tweet. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis -- Partisans of Jerusalem in English -- changed its name last year to Sinai Province after pledging allegiance to IS, which controls chunks of territory in Iraq and Syria. Continue reading...

CAIRO (AP) — The Islamic State's branch in Egypt has claimed responsibility for a wave of deadly attacks that killed 15 Egyptian soldiers and three civilians the previous day in volatile northern Sinai. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19819[/attach] Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered Iraqi forces to oppose vandalism in the city of Tikrit, retaken from the Islamic State group this week, and arrest those responsible, his office said Friday. Security and military forces were ordered to "deal with cases of vandalism" carried out by "gangs" seeking to tarnish the achievements of government forces and allied paramilitaries, a statement said. Abadi also called on "forces located in Tikrit to arrest everyone who carries out such acts, and preserve properties and facilities in Salaheddin province," of which Tikrit is the capital. Policemen from the rapid response forces have written graffiti on walls in Tikrit as well. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19818[/attach] British political parties scrambled to claim victory Friday after no clear winner emerged from the only seven-way leaders' debate before the general election. The debate saw Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron's method for balancing the budget come under attack from all corners. Meanwhile Labour main opposition leader Ed Miliband, his chief rival for the premiership, sought to improve an awkward media image with some well-rehearsed pieces to camera. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19817[/attach] US President Barack Obama, eager to resolve at least one intractable conflict in his final two years in office, has his eye on a major prize: reconciliation with Iran. "In Barack Obama's head, there's this fantasy of a grand bargain, an alliance with Iran, and of reconstructing the architecture of the region for a paradigm shift," said Joseph Bahout, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Center. "This is the fantasy of the Obama administration, but he knows it will never happen because Iran is a lot colder. "They'll take the nuclear deal, but everything will remain business as usual," he added. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19812[/attach] Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party has expelled former vice-president Joice Mujuru for allegedly plotting against elderly President Robert Mugabe, the party announced on Friday. Mujuru, 59, was accused of "plotting to unconstitutionally remove President Robert Mugabe from office", according to a statement from Simon Khaya-Moyo, spokesman for the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front. Mujuru was long considered a likely successor to Mugabe, who is 91 and first came to power in 1980, but she fell out with the veteran leader late last year and was sacked as vice-president in December. Her allies in government were also fired and expelled from ZANU-PF after Mugabe himself accused her of plotting to oust him. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19811[/attach] Piles of bodies and pools of blood running down the corridors: survivors of the Kenya university massacre described how laughing gunmen taunted their victims amid scenes of total carnage. Salias Omosa, an 20-year-old education student, said the victims were woken up at gunpoint in Thursday's pre-dawn attack, and Muslims and non-Muslims picked out by "how they were dressed". Omosa managed to escape amid the carnage at Garissa University, after seeing two of his friends executed by the Al-Qaeda-linked attackers, who he said were wearing masks and military-style uniforms. "I have seen many things, but nothing like that," said Reuben Nyaora, a clinical officer working for the aid agency International Rescue Committee (IRC). Continue reading...

[attach=full]19810[/attach] Well-wishers hailed Iran's nuclear negotiators as they returned to Tehran Friday from reaching a potentially historic framework deal with world powers, but Israel warned it was a "very dangerous" step. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened security chiefs to prepare Israel's response, Iranians awaited the first reaction from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran and six world powers agreed the outlines of the deal aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear drive on Thursday -- in a major breakthrough in the 12-year standoff between Iran and the West. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19809[/attach] SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines (AP) — Screaming in pain, Filipino devotees had themselves nailed to wooden crosses to mimic the suffering of Jesus Christ on Good Friday in Asia's largest Roman Catholic nation. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19808[/attach] Israel warned Friday that Iran's framework accord with world powers on its controversial nuclear programme was "very dangerous," accusing Tehran of seeking an atomic weapon. "This framework (agreement) is a step in a very, very dangerous direction," government spokesman Mark Regev told journalists, adding that Iran's "single goal" behind the accord was to build a nuclear bomb. "Not only does it leave Iran with an expensive nuclear infrastructure but it fails to shut down even a single Iranian nuclear installation. It leaves Iran with thousands of centrifuges to continue to enrich uranium," Regev said. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19807[/attach] Devotees in the fervently Catholic Philippines marked Good Friday by being nailed to crosses and whipping their backs bloody, in extreme acts of devotion that attracted thousands of spectators. The annual ritual in scorching hot farmlands just outside of Manila is one of many colourful outpourings of faith in the Southeast Asian nation, where 80 percent of its 100 million people are Catholics. As the flagellants made an excruciatingly slow barefoot march to the hill in San Juan, a rural district of San Fernando north of Manila where the crucifixions were to take place, some of them stopped at times to lay face down on the hot pavement and let children flog them with twigs. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19806[/attach] HUGO CHAVEZ OIL BELT, Venezuela (AP) — You can't miss it, rising off the main highway, a mountain of toxic soot towering over the flat, sunbaked scrubland of eastern Venezuela. Continue reading...

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Australia scrumhalf Will Genia has signed a three-year contract with French Top 14 side Stade Francais. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19805[/attach] LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Capping exhausting and contentious talks, Iran and world powers sealed a breakthrough agreement Thursday outlining limits on Iran's nuclear program to keep it from being able to produce atomic weapons. The Islamic Republic was promised an end to years of crippling economic sanctions, but only if negotiators transform the plan into a comprehensive pact. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19804[/attach] Russian ships docked at what was once a secret Norwegian naval base in the Arctic have prompted concern from the NATO country's former top military leaders, anxious about its resurgent eastern neighbour roaming nearby. Norway's jagged Arctic coastline has regained its strategic importance since tensions between Russia and NATO members have spiked to levels not seen since the fall of the Soviet Union. The rocky relations have led some to criticise the shutting down of Olavsvern Naval Base, a massive complex burrowed into a mountain near the northern town of Tromsoe, that has been closed since 2009. Shuttering it was driven by the then seemingly reduced threat from Moscow and its massive Northern Fleet based on Russia's nearby Kola Peninsula. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19796[/attach] The framework nuclear deal agreed with Iran would jeopardise Israel's existence if implemented, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman quoted him as saying to US President Barack Obama on Friday. "PM Netanyahu to Pres Obama: A deal based on this framework would threaten the survival of Israel," Mark Regev wrote on his official Twitter account. Regev quoted the Israeli premier as saying in the telephone conversation that the deal as it appears to be emerging "would not block Iran's path to the bomb. "It would increase the risks of nuclear proliferation and the risks of a horrific war," he added. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19795[/attach] MEXICO CITY (AP) — Somebody is systematically poisoning the dogs of Hermosillo, an industrial city in northern Mexico, and not just strays: At least 64 dogs, all with owners, have died of a similar poison since mid-March. More stray animals have probably been killed, but had no one to file a complaint, authorities say. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19794[/attach] British Prime Minister David Cameron and his austerity policies came under attack on Thursday from six other party leaders in the only full debate before next month's general election. The Conservative party head struggled to convince viewers in an unprecedented seven-leader live television contest that underscored the fragmentation of the electorate. "My plan is about basically one word: security," Cameron said in his concluding remarks. His main rival, Ed Miliband of the left-leaning opposition Labour Party, sought to shake off a socially awkward media image and define himself as a real alternative to Cameron. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19793[/attach] JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the international community's framework nuclear agreement with Iran early Friday, putting him on a collision course with the United States and other close allies as the world tries to close in on a final deal in the coming months. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19792[/attach] Mexican authorities launched an investigation Thursday into what caused an explosion and fire on an oil platform operated by state firm Pemex that killed four workers and injured several others. It deployed officials from the Criminal Investigation Agency, some specializing in fires, explosives and mechanical engineering. The ASEA agency, which is in charge of safety in the energy industry, said its own staff began to work after water was poured overnight to cool down the Abkatun A-Permanente platform on the Gulf of Mexico. Pemex said it managed to avoid an oil spill. Continue reading...