WorldNews

[attach=full]18850[/attach] By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - Queen Elizabeth joined army top brass and relatives of British soldiers who died in Afghanistan at a commemoration service at St Paul's Cathedral in London on Friday, marking the end of 13 years of British military operations in the country. Also among the congregation was Tony Blair, who as prime minister in 2001 took Britain into the U.S.-led coalition that invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government in response to the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Britain lost 453 servicemen and women in Afghanistan out of the 140,000 who served there over the years. The government says the long war stopped Afghanistan from being used as a safe haven for militants to plan attacks on British streets, and that Afghanistan is now a safer and more prosperous country than it was before. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18849[/attach] By Marton Dunai BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary expects to wrap up talks with the European Union soon about a fuel supply deal for the country's Paks nuclear plant, the government said on Friday, adding that the EU's concerns do not block a planned expansion of the facility. Hungary last year granted Russia's Rosatom a project to build two nuclear power blocks of 1,200 megawatts each at its Paks power plant, financed partly by a favorably priced Russian loan worth 10 billion euros ($10.6 billion). The deal drew criticism that Hungary was pulling closer to Russia at a time when the EU was putting pressure on Moscow to defuse a deepening conflict with Ukraine. Continue reading...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission declined to say what decision it had taken over a proposal by Hungary to buy nuclear fuel from Russia, citing confidentiality, but stressed it was not blocking construction of the plant at Paks. "No, we are not blocking the construction of Paks, this is just the fuel supply agreement that has been dealt with by the Commission," Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told a news conference on Friday. She said the European Union executive would publish details of its decision at a later stage. ... Continue reading...

[attach=full]18848[/attach] SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — On one side of the line that has divided two societies for so long, the words arrive as fast as globalization can bring them — English-based lingo like "shampoo," ''juice" and "self-service." To South Koreans, they are everyday language. To defectors from the insular North Korea, they mean absolutely nothing. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18822[/attach] The shattered wreck of a Japanese World War II battleship was shown lying on a Philippine seabed in startling detail Friday, as the first images emerged from the historic discovery by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. American billionaire and explorer Allen announced the find of the Musashi -- one of the most sophisticated battleships ever built -- in the Sibuyan Sea in the central Philippines eight days ago, after a high-tech mission lasting eight years. It also teaches us about the past and what happened," said Yannick Olson, captain of Allen's yacht, from where the mini-sub was being directed. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18821[/attach] WASHINGTON (AP) — Hardware Sales Inc. of Bellingham, Washington, does about 25 percent of its online business outside the United States. But going global can be frustrating. Overzealous Australian customs inspectors sometimes confiscate perfectly legal knives. Canada imposes duties that can double the cost of a hammer. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18820[/attach] Sao Paulo (AFP) - "Good day, my name is Mouaz." The Portuguese is rudimentary, but the effort is sincere. The young man at a Sao Paulo mosque left the horrors of the Syrian civil war for a new life in Brazil, and he's adapting as well as he can. Mouaz Tawakalna, a 28-year-old telecoms engineer, touched down just a week ago and speaks in Arabic, using a friend as translator. Sao Paulo's popular, bustling downtown Bras district is crammed with clothes shops and small restaurants. Continue reading...

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Sauber's legal dispute with Formula One driver Giedo van der Garde remains unresolved, with a further court hearing scheduled for Saturday. Continue reading...

Honduran military police arrested on Thursday Jose Miguel "Chepe" Handal, the alleged leader of a drug trafficking organization that coordinated the shipment of tons of Colombian cocaine via Mexican cartels to the United States. Handal, a prominent Honduran businessman, was taken into custody without a struggle in the northwestern city of San Pedro Sula near a hospital where his father was receiving treatment, President Juan Orlando Hernandez said in a television interview. Hernandez said Honduran judges would likely be in charge of the case because there has not yet been an extradition request from the United States. Since 2013, the U.S. government has identified Handal as a drug trafficking kingpin who supplied Colombian cocaine to Mexico's Sinaloa and rival Los Zetas cartels using clandestine airstrips as well as land-based routes into Guatemala, where the Mexican gangs have a presence. Continue reading...

HAMILTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and chose to bowl Friday in the Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh at Seddon Park. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18818[/attach] MEXICO CITY (AP) — A snowstorm disrupted traffic on one of central Mexico's most heavily traveled highways Thursday, initially causing an eight-hour closure and then another shutdown after a brief reopening because of slippery conditions. Continue reading...

Costa Rica's Turrialba volcano belched a column of gas and ash up to 3,280 feet (1 km) into the air on Thursday in its most powerful eruption in two decades, and local authorities started to evacuate residents from the surrounding area. Four explosions emanated from the volcano in central Costa Rica on Thursday, and ash reached parts of the capital San Jose some 30 miles (50 km) away, where the airport was closed. The last explosion was very strong," a spokesman for the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (Obsivori) said. Costa Rica's emergency services ordered the closure of access roads near the volcano, which is major tourist draw, and were evacuating a radius of just over a mile around the volcano. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18817[/attach] San Jose's international airport was forced to close and several villages were evacuated after clouds of ash from the newly active Turrialba volcano reached the Costa Rican capital, authorities said. Flights were suspended because of poor visibility at the airport, which is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the volcano, while pedestrians in the capital shielded their eyes to prevent ash going into them. Before now, an expulsion of ash and magma from the volcano in October was its most significant activity in over a century. Continue reading...

When asked about Wales-Ireland rugby tests, Warren Gatland, who coaches the former and used to coach the latter, said "it is like playing against your brother in the back yard." Continue reading...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Germany's Commerzbank AG is paying $1.45 billion in agreements with U.S. and New York authorities for alleged violations of U.S. sanctions against countries including Iran and lapses in prevention of money laundering. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18809[/attach] Italy's cabinet on Thursday adopted Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's school reform bill, which he said would see 100,000 substitute teachers given permanent contracts and extra funds designated for teacher development. "The school reform is the most important for the country, we are proud of it," Renzi told journalists, brushing off criticism that he has watered down a project which initially promised to make the system more meritocratic. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18808[/attach] Villa Unión (Argentina) (AFP) - The surviving cast and crew of the ill-fated reality show "Dropped" wander aimlessly around their hotel, waiting to testify on the accident that killed their friends and colleagues, then return home to France. The hotel, the Picas Negras, is a star attraction in Villa Union, a small town at the edge of Route 76 in Argentina's remote, mountainous northwest. None are very keen to talk about the twin helicopter crash that killed Olympic champion swimmer Camille Muffat, renowned sailor Florence Arthaud and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine, as well as five French TV crew members and two Argentine pilots. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18807[/attach] Manchester United defender Jonny Evans' decision to spit at Newcastle's Papiss Cisse during a recent Premier League clash was branded "simply disgusting" by an Football Association regulatory commission. The Northern Ireland international and Newcastle's Senegal striker Cisse were both charged after spitting at each other during Manchester United's 1-0 victory at St James' Park on March 4 in an incident missed by referee Anthony Taylor. The three members of the regulatory commission accepted 27-year-old Evans was the only person who could know his intent, but stated: "It is clear that Mr Evans is looking directly and indeed aggressively at Mr Cisse. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18806[/attach] Iceland on Thursday announced it was dropping its bid to join the European Union in line with pledges made two years ago by its then new eurosceptic government. Iceland first applied for EU membership in 2009 but Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson said in a statement that the centre-right government had informed current EU president Latvia and the European Commission of its decision to annul the application. "Iceland's interests are better served outside the European Union," the minister wrote on his website. Iceland first applied for EU membership under a leftist government in 2009, when the country was badly shaken by an economic crisis that saw the Icelandic krona lose almost half its value, making eurozone membership an attractive prospect. Continue reading...

By Serena Maria Daniels DETROIT (Reuters) - A Palestinian activist was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Thursday for immigration fraud for failing to tell U.S. authorities that she had been imprisoned in Israel for a 1969 supermarket bombing that killed two people. Rasmieh Yousef Odeh, 67, also will be deported after serving her sentence as a result of last year's conviction in a Detroit federal court of unlawful procurement of naturalization. Before sentencing, Odeh had told U.S. District Court Judge Gershwin Drain, "I'm not a terrorist. I'm not a bad woman." But Drain said the offense is about lying to federal immigration official and under oath, and denied defense claims that the prosecution was political. Continue reading...

By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European countries will carry out by June deeper checks on EU citizens entering the passport-free Schengen area, based on a set of "common risk indicators" aimed at singling out fighters returning from war zones and other dangerous people. European Union home affairs ministers agreed on Thursday to enhance controls at the borders of the Schengen area following a call by EU leaders for stricter checks after the Islamist attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Border control authorities will use the risk indicators "when conducting systematic checks on persons," said EU home affairs commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos. "The list is being finalised with Interpol in the coming weeks and will be implemented with the support of Frontex (the EU border control agency)," Avramopoulos told a press conference. Continue reading...

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — Egypt's president approved a package of amendments to investment laws on Thursday, aimed at enticing foreign investors on the eve of a major economic conference that will bring together hundreds of business executives and foreign leaders. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18798[/attach] GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli authorities allowed the import of Gaza produce on Thursday for the first time since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007, a move that will aid the Palestinian strip's battered economy and help pious Jews observe a biblical farming sabbatical. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18797[/attach] MOSCOW (AP) — Russia accused Ukraine Thursday of dragging its feet on implementing last month's peace deal, citing a wide range of areas in which Kiev is allegedly failing to meet its obligations. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18792[/attach] Israelis vote next week in an election seen as a referendum on the tenure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who could lose but still secure a new term in power. Netanyahu, 65, called for the March 17 vote late last year as his coalition government teetered on the brink of collapse. It will be Israel's third election since 2009 and the premier's biggest challenge after six years at the helm. "Netanyahu is the big question here, after having been in power for so long," said political analyst Tamir Sheafer. Continue reading...