WorldNews

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — A trial of six Azerbaijani citizens accused of fighting alongside the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq has begun in Azerbaijan's capital. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19645[/attach] Global powers are racing against the clock to nail down the final pieces of a framework deal aimed at stopping Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb by Tuesday's midnight deadline. Adding to the drama, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov left the crunch talks with Iran in Switzerland after a series of meetings, Russian media reported. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said major points of contention were Iran's "very ambitious" demands once a first "phase" of a deal lasting around 10 years expires. They want Iran to scale back its nuclear programme to give the world ample notice of any dash to make the bomb and end a crisis that has threatened to escalate dangerously for 12 years. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19644[/attach] An Egyptian court Monday commuted a three-year jail sentence given to three men for the brutal street killing of a dog that was recorded and went viral on the Internet. A Cairo appeals court accepted an appeal by the three defendants and reduced the sentence to three months for two of them and one month for the third, a court official told AFP. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19643[/attach] TORONTO (AP) — An Air Canada passenger plane landed so significantly short of the runway in Halifax that it hit a power line and knocked out power at the airport, the lead investigator said Monday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19641[/attach] Thousands of US and South Korean troops, backed by helicopters and jet fighters, staged a massive, amphibious landing drill on Monday -- the centrepiece of an annual military exercise condemned by North Korea. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19640[/attach] Barack Obama will make a long-awaited return to Kenya this July, visiting his father's homeland for the first time since becoming US president, the White House announced Monday. During the much-delayed visit, Obama will attend a summit to encourage entrepreneurship and meet the country's controversial leader Uhuru Kenyatta. Obama's late father was from a small village near the shores of Lake Victoria. He met Obama's white American mother in Hawaii, where they had a son before divorcing. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19639[/attach] ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan named Azhar Ali as captain for limited-overs cricket on Monday after ignoring the middle-order batsman for the Cricket World Cup, where it was eliminated in the quarterfinal. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19638[/attach] An American healthcare worker who contracted the dangerous Ebola virus while working in Sierra Leone has improved and is now listed in fair condition, hospital officials said Monday. The man, whose identity has not been revealed, "has improved from serious to fair condition," said a statement from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. In a statement released on Thursday, PIH co-founder Paul Farmer said that the man had, "in the opinion of some of the best doctors and nurses in the world, turned the corner," after his condition improved from critical to serious. The patient was evacuated from Sierra Leone on March 14 and brought to the NIH's Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland just outside Washington for treatment. Continue reading...

LONDON (AP) — Britain's Prince William has started his new job — working as air ambulance helicopter pilot. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19633[/attach] LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister David Cameron paid a courtesy call on Queen Elizabeth II, then launched a most uncourteous attack on his main political rival, as campaigning formally began Monday in the most unpredictable U.K. election in decades. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19632[/attach] SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Hundreds of Kashmiris in both India and Pakistan moved to higher ground Monday as rain-swollen rivers swamped parts of the disputed Himalayan region placed under an emergency flood alert just six months after some 600 people died in flooding that left the region in shambles. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19631[/attach] The Germanwings flight started like any other, the conversation in the cockpit normal, with co-pilot Andreas Lubitz offering no indication of the horror he would allegedly inflict. This is how Flight 4U 9525, which investigators believe Lubitz deliberately steered into a French mountainside, unfolded according to French prosecutors and Germany's Bild newspaper. There was nothing abnormal," French prosecutor Brice Robin told reporters on Thursday. - According to excerpts published by Bild on Sunday, during the conversation the captain said he didn't have time to go to the toilet before leaving Barcelona and Lubitz offered to take over at any time. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19630[/attach] MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A monthlong Philippine offensive against hard-line Muslim rebels ended Monday after 139 insurgents were killed, 12 others were captured and bomb-making strongholds were seized by troops, the military chief said. Continue reading...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's government Monday proposed two new laws that would reintroduce indefinite detention without trial and allow the seizure of passports of anyone suspected of supporting terror acts in an attempt to curb militant activities. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19621[/attach] PARIS (AP) — France's far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen says she was satisfied with her party's performance in local council elections, though it won just 62 of the 4,108 seats at stake. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19620[/attach] New Zealand may have been thrashed by Australia in the World Cup final but they dominate the International Cricket Council's team of the tournament released Monday with Brendon McCullum named captain. "McCullum was chosen as the captain following his aggressive, innovative and inspirational leadership during the 44-day tournament that was the cornerstone of his team’s progression to the final," the ICC said in a statement. The other New Zealanders in the line up are Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Martin Guptill, and Daniel Vettori. Continue reading...

SOHAG, Egypt (AP) — A senior Egyptian security official says 14 people have been killed and seven injured in a car crash involving three vehicles in the southern province of Sohag. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19619[/attach] Baghdad (AFP) - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Baghdad on Monday for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other top officials. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19618[/attach] HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stock markets were mostly higher Monday as investors digested Fed chief Janet Yellen's comments signaling U.S. interest rates were expected to rise sometime this year but when they did they would do so gradually. Chinese stocks soared on hopes for more economic stimulus measures. Continue reading...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Clippers have signed guard Lester Hudson to a 10-day contract. Continue reading...

SAUCIER, Miss. (AP) — David Frost survived a one-stroke penalty on the par-3 17th and won the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic on Sunday when Tom Lehman missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the last hole. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19616[/attach] MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — Denny Hamlin just needed a visit to Martinsville Speedway to get his racing team back on track. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19615[/attach] Two Saudi police officers were wounded in a drive-by shooting in Riyadh Sunday, a spokesman said, days after the Kingdom strengthened security measures as it leads air strikes on Yemen. "A security patrol was carrying out its duties in Riyadh when it came under fire from an unknown vehicle" in an attack that "left two policemen wounded," the spokesman said in a statement published on the official SPA news agency. The attack comes just days after Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef ordered that security measures be strengthened along borders and across the kingdom, as Riyadh leads air strikes against Iran-backed Shiite rebels in neighbouring Yemen. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19614[/attach] Sierra Leoneans were once again allowed to leave their homes Sunday evening after the government announced the end of a three-day nationwide lockdown aimed at preventing a resurgence of the deadly Ebola virus. During the curfew period -- which was ordered by President Ernest Bai Koroma and ran from 0600 GMT on Friday until 1800 GMT Sunday -- some 26,000 volunteers went door-to-door to check for sick people and raise awareness about the disease. Officials at the National Ebola Response Centre (NERC) said locals had overwhelmingly complied with the lockdown, the second time in six months the country's six million residents were told to stay indoors over Ebola concerns. "The campaign went well and we are pleased over the level of compliance," the head of NERC's Situation Room, Obi Sesay, told AFP. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19606[/attach] Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi, on a Yamaha, won a spectacular Grand Prix of Qatar on Sunday as he withstood a furious onslaught from fellow Italian Andrea Dovizioso over the final laps to take the opening race of the season. A see-saw battle saw the the lead change hands numerous times before the 36-year-old Rossi opened up a slight gap on the final two laps and held off the charging Dovizioso on his Ducati, who was looking for his first win in MotoGP. It was a stunning 109th victory for the iconic Rossi and his 197th podium as Italy swept the board with Andrea Iannone, also on a Ducati, coming home third. It was a first time Italy took the top three places since the Japanese MotoGP in 2006. Continue reading...