WorldNews

[attach=full]18983[/attach] The Minsk agreement to end fighting in eastern Ukraine is the biggest chance to solve Ukraine crisis peacefully and European leaders should not declare it has failed, Austria's foreign minister said on Monday. Minsk is the biggest chance for a peaceful solution," Austria's foreign minister Sebastian Kurz said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. In February the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France agreed a deal to end fighting in eastern Ukraine at talks in Minsk, Belarus. Continue reading...

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is debating ways to back peace talks in Libya but is unlikely to launch any security mission until stability returns to the conflict-torn country. Continue reading...

The U.S. Olympic Committee is downplaying recent polling results regarding Boston's bid for the 2024 Games. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18982[/attach] WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Vanuatu's president was rushing back to his country on Monday in the wake of what he dubbed a "monster" cyclone whose damage was still unknown beyond the devastation in the South Pacific archipelago's capital city. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18976[/attach] West Indies believe Chris Gayle will have a major impact on Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand even if he's only half fit. Gayle missed Sunday's six-wicket win over the United Arab Emirates in Napier, which secured the West Indies' place in the last eight, after failing to shrug off his latest back problem. In his absence, Johnson Charles, originally summoned to replace Darren Bravo, seized his opportunity to impress with a fine innings of 55. Obviously, he's a key player for us, and his fitness is key going into the quarter-final," said captain Jason Holder. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18975[/attach] SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff faced the biggest challenge yet of her young and turbulent second term, as hundreds of thousands of protesters took to streets in more than 150 cities to demand her impeachment and an end to corruption. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18974[/attach] LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The United States and Iran are plunging back into negotiations in an effort to end a decades-long standoff that has raised the specter of an Iranian nuclear arsenal, a new atomic arms race in the Middle East and even a U.S. or Israeli military intervention. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18973[/attach] MEXICO CITY (AP) — Once upon a time, Mexican marijuana was the gold standard for U.S. pot smokers. But in the new world of legal markets and gourmet weed, aficionados here are looking to the United States and Europe for the good stuff. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18972[/attach] Australia detailed on Monday how it will ban dumping of all dredge soil in the Great Barrier Reef as it looks to step up protection of the world's largest reef and avoid having it listed by UNESCO as "in danger". UNESCO's World Heritage Committee is due to decide in June whether to put the reef on its "in danger" list because its corals have been badly damaged and some of its animal species, including dugong and large green turtles, are threatened. Such a listing could lead to restrictions on shipping and port expansions that could hit Australia's trade in commodities and energy. The Queensland state government also plans to ban dredge dumping in a further 3,000 sq km of sea, including port areas, so the whole of the World Heritage area, about the size of Germany, would be covered. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18966[/attach] LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The United States and Iran plunged back into negotiations Sunday, hoping to end once and for all a decades-long standoff that has raised the specter of an Iranian nuclear arsenal, a new atomic arms race in the Middle East and even a U.S. or Israeli military intervention. Two weeks out from a deadline for a framework accord, some officials said the awesomeness of the diplomatic task meant negotiators would likely settle for an announcement that they've made enough progress to justify further talks. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18965[/attach] (Reuters) - Tony Blair is relinquishing his post as the envoy for the Middle East Quartet to take a different role in the peace negotiations, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing people it said were familiar with the matter. Blair, at the helm of the Quartet for nearly eight years, intends to reshape his role in the Quartet and remain part of the peace process, the report said.(http://on.ft.com/1Bmvqj4) The former prime minister of the UK met U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and spoke to Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, to discuss a possible job change, the paper said. His role is likely to be more regional and he will continue to work on the Palestinian economy, the source added. The Middle East Quartet, comprising the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, has been seeking to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 2002. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18964[/attach] Police charged a young African-American man on Sunday in connection with the shooting in Ferguson last week that wounded two police officers and rekindled tension in the racially troubled Missouri city. Jeffrey Williams, 20, is charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and shooting a firearm from a motor vehicle causing injury, St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch told reporters, after an intense four-day manhunt. "It's possible at this point that he was firing shots at someone other than the police, but struck the police officers," McCulloch said, adding that Williams had acknowledged firing gunshots and that the investigation was ongoing. Ferguson has been in the global spotlight since a white policeman fatally shot unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August, igniting sometimes violent protests in major American cities and prompting an impassioned debate about policing and race relations. Continue reading...

PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain's star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be suspended after losing his temper following the champions' 3-2 loss at Bordeaux in the French league on Sunday. Continue reading...

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Guam schools were closed Monday but University of Guam classes were scheduled to resume as Tropical Storm Bavi moved away from the region. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18955[/attach] WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — After a turbulent passage through pool play and an anxious wait for qualification to be confirmed, two-time champions the West Indies can now relax and turn their attention to a Cricket World Cup quarterfinal against New Zealand. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18954[/attach] Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to put the country's nuclear forces on alert as he sought to annex Crimea last year after the fall of a Moscow-backed government in Kiev. In a nearly three-hour documentary aired on state TV in Russia on Sunday a year after the takeover of the Black Sea Peninsula from Ukraine, Putin showed the lengths he was willing to go to in order to protect Russian-speaking citizens of the province he considered a historic slice of Russia. The documentary, "Homeward Bound", features interviews with Putin and reconstructions in which the Russian leader presents himself as the saviour of Crimea, forced to deploy elite troops to prevent a war with "nationalists" who took power in Kiev. From extracting and saving fallen president Viktor Yanukovych's life to orchestrating a military intervention, Putin was personally involved step-by-step in the events that were seen by the West as an illegal occupation. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18953[/attach] MANCHESTER, England (AP) — England will be without a representative in the Champions League quarterfinals for the second time in three years if Arsenal and Manchester City fail to mount improbable comebacks away from home in last-16 second legs this week. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18952[/attach] Britain insisted Sunday that President Bashar al-Assad had no place in Syria's future, after the United States conceded it would have to negotiate with him to end the country's civil war. "Assad has no place in Syria's future," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said, in response to the comments by US Secretary of State John Kerry. British officials pointed to a statement by deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, who denied that Kerry's comments represented a shift in US policy on Syria. Continue reading...

France's far-right National Front is set to win more votes than any other party in the first round of local elections next Sunday, a poll showed, with the governing Socialist party coming a very distant third. The survey by pollster Ifop for Le Figaro daily sees the National Front (FN) scoring 30 percent of the votes. It puts the mainstream conservative UMP - led by ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy - and its center-right UDI ally just behind with 29 percent. Francois Hollande's Socialists are forecast to win only 19 percent of the vote. Continue reading...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Key campaign issues in Israel's March 17 parliamentary election: Continue reading...

[attach=full]18948[/attach] GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Rock star Rod Stewart handed over the Scottish League Cup to Celtic players after his beloved club won its first title under manager Ronny Deila on Sunday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18947[/attach] ROME (AP) — France beat Italy 29-0 in a turgid, error-strewn match in the Six Nations on Sunday, with little at stake for either side apart from pride. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18946[/attach] MILAN (AP) — Fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have defended their comments in support of traditional families with a mother and a father, saying they are not intended to judge the choices made by others. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18945[/attach] Iran has launched a smartphone app for all the speeches made by its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the past quarter of a century, his website announced Sunday. Khamenei.ir is available for mobile devices powered by Android or Apple's operating system, initially only in Farsi, the website said. Browsers will be able to access speeches made by Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader since 1989, as well as his messages and pictures. The speeches have been classified by year and users can type in key words to find specific content. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18938[/attach] By Christopher McCall and Lincoln Feast SYDNEY (Reuters) - The first aid teams to reach Vanuatu reported widespread devastation on Sunday as authorities declared a state of emergency after a "monster" cyclone tore through the Pacific island nation. Aid workers described the situation as catastrophic. Aid workers were particularly worried about the southern island of Tanna. An official with the Australian Red Cross told Reuters an aircraft had managed to land there and aid workers confirmed there was "widespread destruction". Continue reading...