WorldNews

[attach=full]18749[/attach] BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi soldiers and allied Shiite militiamen swept into the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit on Wednesday, launching a two-front offensive to squeeze extremists out of Saddam Hussein's hometown in a major test of the troops' resolve. Continue reading...

The United Nations aviation body's governing council elected Fang Liu, a veteran of China's aviation authority, as its new secretary general on Wednesday, the first woman to hold the position in the agency's 70-year history. Liu, who has worked at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) since 2007, is director of its Bureau of Administration and Services. She ran against candidates from Australia, India and the United Arab Emirates. Liu will start her three-year term on Aug. 1, replacing Raymond Benjamin of France. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18748[/attach] A former Chechen police officer was likely tortured into confessing to the murder of Russian opposition activist Boris Nemtsov, a member of the Kremlin's human rights council said Wednesday, prompting a spat with investigators. The statement from a body close to President Vladimir Putin and often criticised as window-dressing for authorities angered Russia's powerful Investigative Committee who accused it of meddling in their probe and threatened to investigate its motives. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18747[/attach] Nigeria said on Wednesday that 36 towns had been retaken from Boko Haram since the start of a four-nation military offensive, voicing hope that the operation could lead to the group's "total defeat". "It is hoped that the unfolding regional cooperation will hasten the total defeat and extermination of Boko Haram in Nigeria and the sub-region," he added. Speaking at the Atlantic Council think-tank in Washington, the head of Nigeria's National Intelligence Agency, Ayodele Oke, said the militants still controlled four local government areas. He said he was optimistic that in a matter of weeks Boko Haram would no longer be in control of any territory, even if the government admits that bombings and gun attacks are likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Continue reading...

SAINT-POURCAIN-SUR-SIOULE, France (AP) — Michael Matthews of Australia took charge of the week-long Paris-Nice race after sprinting to victory in the third stage on Wednesday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18746[/attach] BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union lawmakers have condemned the killing of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov and expressed increasing concern at worsening pressure from Moscow on opposition groups. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18745[/attach] A measles outbreak linked to a flareup of the virus in the United States has spiked in neighboring Canada's Quebec province to 119 cases, health officials said Wednesday. Infection disease specialist Johanne Desilets said the virus spread further among children and adults who have not been vaccinated and are members of large families. "You have to realize that measles are highly contagious. If one person has measles in a family of 10, everybody will be exposed and will probably get it," she said. Continue reading...

GAUHATI, India (AP) — A crude bomb exploded Wednesday in a crowded market in northeastern India, killing at least three people and injuring 15 others, police said. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18744[/attach] The United States and European Union have asked Zimbabwean authorities to investigate the disappearance of a journalist-turned activist who has been staging sit-ins in the capital demanding that President Robert Mugabe resigns. Itai Dzamara was on Monday forcibly taken by five unidentified men and bundled into an unmarked truck near his home in the capital Harare, according to his family. The EU and U.S. said in separate statements that they were concerned with Dzamara's abduction and disappearance. "If he is being held in state custody, it is vital that his fundamental human rights and freedoms as guaranteed by Zimbabwe's constitution be honored," the U.S. embassy said. Continue reading...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's central bank said Wednesday that the ringgit, which has plunged 14.4 percent against the U.S. dollar since September, was sharply undervalued but ruled out reintroducing capital controls. Continue reading...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government must pay compensation to widows and children of Indonesian men summarily executed in their country's war for independence, according to a court ruling Wednesday that could open the door to many more claims. Continue reading...

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cypriots from both sides of the east Mediterranean island's ethnic divide are banding together to oppose plans to build a nuclear power station on nearby Turkey's southern coast. Continue reading...

By Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - The wife of an American blogger and critic of religious extremism who was hacked to death in Dhaka last month said that police stood nearby when the couple were attacked on a university campus in the Bangladesh capital. Avijit Roy, an engineer of Bangladeshi origin, was killed by machete-wielding assailants when returning from a book fair. His wife, Rafida Bonya Ahmed, suffered head injuries and lost a finger. "While Avijit and I were being ruthlessly attacked, the local police stood close by and did not act," Rafida told Reuters. Continue reading...

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania's prime minister has appeared before a court to give evidence in a probe into allegations of voter fraud during a referendum to impeach the former president. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18736[/attach] LIMA, Peru (AP) — Teresa de Jesus Tello never thought she would be incarcerated in a Peruvian prison at age 82. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18735[/attach] WASHINGTON (AP) — The death last week of a Canadian soldier, reportedly killed by friendly fire from Kurdish troops near the northern village of Bashiq, has put the spotlight once again on the dangers that U.S. troops could face in Iraq. Continue reading...

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — Civil protection authorities say an explosion inside an asphalt plant in northern Mexico has killed three workers and gravely injured three more. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18734[/attach] VILLA CASTELLI, Argentina (AP) — The two helicopters had just taken off and were flying in tandem over some of Argentina's most rugged terrain, carrying well-known French athletes and others who were participating in the popular TV reality show "Dropped." Continue reading...

[attach=full]18733[/attach] A quarter-century after Lithuania's split from the Soviet Union, the architect of the Baltic state's independence Vytautas Landsbergis has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin's brand of imperialism risks new wars in Europe. Russia didn't want to be an aggressive empire... he treated our freedom favourably," Landsbergis told AFP of the reform-minded Yeltsin who was president 1991-99. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18731[/attach] Italy's top court on Tuesday definitively cleared Silvio Berlusconi of charges that he paid for sex with an underage dancer and then abused his position as prime minister to cover it up. After nine hours of deliberations, the judges at the Court of Cassation delivered a ruling that brings to an end a lengthy legal saga which lifted the lid on the "bunga bunga" sex parties the billionaire tycoon and former prime minister organised in his Milan villa. It also leaves the 78-year-old, who served three terms as premier, free to resume a central role in politics at the helm of his centre-right Forza Italia party. Berlusconi has just finished serving a community service order for corporate tax fraud and remains embroiled in several other legal cases. Continue reading...

By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's largest iron ore export terminal Port Hedland is likely to escape the worst of a tropical cyclone that is forming off the country's northwest coast, the weather bureau said on Wednesday. A tropical low is expected to form a cyclone over the next few hours and is on track to strike the coast on Thursday, just to the west of Port Hedland, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said. Tropical cyclones are frequent at this time of year and can disrupt loading operations at the port. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18730[/attach] GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Gunmen shot and killed two journalists and wounded a third Tuesday as they walked in a park in southern Guatemala, the editor of Prensa Libre newspaper said. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18729[/attach] NEW YORK (AP) — The son of the president of Suriname received leniency Tuesday from a judge who ordered him to serve over 16 years in prison, about half of the 30-to-life term the U.S. government sought after he admitted that he offered a home base in his South American country to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18728[/attach] Billionaire tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, whose acquittal for paying for sex with a minor was confirmed Tuesday, has been plagued by over 20 years of legal woes since he first entered Italy's political scene in 1993. The majority of trials have either ended in guilty verdicts being overturned or charges expiring under statute of limitations rules which critics say his lawyers have skilfully exploited. 1994: Berlusconi is accused of bribing tax police and is sentenced to 33 months in prison. 1995: He is accused of buying a football player for his club AC Milan with a slush fund. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18717[/attach] RENO, Nev. (AP) — The FBI is investigating an apparent attempt to firebomb a fast-food restaurant in Reno because of the possibility it could have been an act of domestic terrorism after the initials of an animal rights group were found scrawled on a drive-thru sign, local fire officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Continue reading...