WorldNews

By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Embarrassed at failing to predict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's election victory, Israeli pollsters said on Wednesday they were blindsided by reticent rightist voters and may have unwittingly prodded waverers to back the incumbent. Netanyahu's Likud won 30 of parliament's 120 seats in Tuesday's ballot, against 24 for the center-left Zionist Union - upsetting opinion surveys that as recently as Friday gave the challenger a four-seat lead. Exit polls also proved unreliable. Israel's top three television stations, airing first returns as voting booths closed, found the parties close or tied. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19074[/attach] VILA NOVA DE GAIA, Portugal (AP) — A rusting yellow production line dangles from the ceiling of the cavernous Valadares factory, the long racks of ceramic sinks and toilets whose manufacture once provided jobs for 1,500 people gathering dust in the dim light from high windows. Continue reading...

Tunisian security forces were surrounding two militants holed up inside the Bardo Museum that shares grounds with the country's parliament on Wednesday, an interior ministry spokesman said. He said security forces were still verifying local media reports that the militants had taken tourists hostage during an attack on the parliament building. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19073[/attach] MERIBEL, France (AP) — Lindsey Vonn won the World Cup downhill title for the seventh time after winning the last race in the discipline on Wednesday at the season-ending finals. Continue reading...

BERLIN (AP) — Hundreds of flights have been canceled in a strike by Lufthansa pilots at the German airline's short- and medium-haul operations — the latest in a string of walkouts. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19068[/attach] SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Prosecutors on Wednesday made Serbia's first arrests of people suspected of carrying out killings in the Srebrenica massacre, The Associated Press has learned. It is a milestone in healing the wounds of Europe's worst civilian slaughter since World War II. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19067[/attach] Violent protests broke out ahead of Wednesday's inauguration of the European Central Bank's new headquarters, with cars set on fire, windows smashed and stones thrown by anti-capitalist activists hours before a massive rally. Already seven police cars have been set alight and at least two officers have been injured, a police spokeswoman told AFP. Water cannons have been used to disperse groups of protesters near the security zone erected around the 185-metre (605-foot), 1.3-billion-euro ($1.4-billion) new skyscraper in the east of the city. A number of violent incidents had been reported around the city, centred around the new building itself, but also Frankfurt's venerable Alte Oper concert hall and the financial district, she said. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19066[/attach] ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Australia opener Aaron Finch said one of his side's biggest strengths is that it doesn't fear failure, even as it prepares to play Pakistan in a tough World Cup quarterfinal on Friday and close in on a fifth title. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19065[/attach] SHCHASLYVE, Ukraine (AP) — The tormentors stuck scotch tape to his eyes and locked him in a dank room. For 11 days, Andrei Schekun said, they beat him, shocked him with electrodes and scalded him with burning metallic plates. Continue reading...

TEMECULA, California (AP) — Andy Fraser, who co-wrote the rousing rock anthem "All Right Now" when he was the teenage bassist for the British rock band Free, has died in California at age 62. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19059[/attach] MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican station executive says the host of the country's top-rated national news radio program probably won't be re-instated. Continue reading...

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Chinese boat Dongfeng Race Team led the Volvo Ocean Race fleet out of Auckland's harbor for the fifth leg to Brazil on Wednesday after Cyclone Pam delayed the start for three days. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19058[/attach] JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A strong undersea earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia on Wednesday, but there are no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning was issued. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19057[/attach] JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to fend off a strong challenge from the country's opposition leader in parliamentary elections Tuesday, emerging from an acrimonious campaign in a slightly better position to form Israel's next government. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19055[/attach] MOSCOW/ANKARA (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the "Turkish Stream" gas project during a phone call, the Kremlin said in a statement on Tuesday, as Moscow continues to push for its new undersea pipeline to Europe. Facing objections from the European Union, Russia in December abandoned its $40 billion South Stream project which would have passed under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and carried up to 63 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas annually to Europe. It has now pinned its hopes on Turkey, hoping to construct a "Turkish Stream" pipeline with the same capacity to an as-yet unbuilt hub on the Turkey-Greece border by the end of 2016. Turkish officials have said the plans are unlikely to progress as quickly as Russia would like, given Ankara's concerns about overdependence on Russian energy. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19054[/attach] WASHINGTON (AP) — Donning green in the Oval Office, President Barack Obama promoted U.S.-Irish ties on St. Patrick's Day as proof of America's immigrant-friendly tradition. He and Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny urged Congress to follow Obama's lead on immigration. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19053[/attach] Tel Aviv (AFP) - Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog said Wednesday he is still in the race to form Israel's next government after exit polls showed a last-minute surge by the rightwing Likud, leaving the two parties neck-and-neck. Continue reading...

WASHINGTON (AP) — An unarmed U.S. Predator drone aircraft went down in Syria, but it's not clear whether it was shot down as claimed by the Syrian government, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Continue reading...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The Cricket World Cup has had a charmed run with the weather but new contingencies will come into play if rain disrupts any of the match in the knockout rounds which start on Wednesday. Continue reading...

By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - British lawmakers called on the U.S. government on Tuesday to release the last British resident being held at Guantanamo Bay, describing his treatment as "inhuman". Shaker Aamer, a Saudi married to a Briton with children living in London, has been held at Guantanamo for 13 years despite his lawyers saying he was cleared by U.S. authorities for release in 2007, and has not been charged with any crime. Prime Minister David Cameron lobbied U.S. President Barack Obama for Aamer's release during a visit to Washington in January and was told a review of his case would be prioritized. "The case of Shaker Aamer is one of the worst cases of a miscarriage of justice in the last three decades at least ... He has endured harsh, and brutal and inhuman treatment," opposition Labour lawmaker John McDonnell told a debate in parliament that saw members of all major political parties criticize Aamer's treatment and call for his release. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19044[/attach] THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Ikea has a message for people wanting to converge on its stores for giant games of hide and seek: Go play someplace else. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19043[/attach] LONDON (AP) — A toxic mix of misuse of power and official silence has become Britain's shame as the country faces up to a growing web of evidence that the abuse of vulnerable children by powerful men was covered up for decades. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19042[/attach] NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are mostly lower in afternoon trading on Tuesday as oil prices continue to slump and investors wait for clues from the Federal Reserve about when it will raise interest rates. The Fed will make a statement after a two-day policy meeting ends Wednesday. Nine of the 10 industry sectors of the Standard and Poor's 500 index dropped, led by a 1 percent fall in raw-material companies. Continue reading...

[attach=full]19041[/attach] JERUSALEM (AP) — Israelis are casting their ballots in national elections widely seen as a test of faith in long-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Polls have forecast a close race, with Netanyahu focused on security issues while challenger Isaac Herzog of the center-left Zionist Union running on social and economic issues. These are the latest developments: Continue reading...

[attach=full]19034[/attach] ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has called for joint talks with leaders of Germany, France and the European Union executive to try and resolve the crisis surrounding the country's bailout negotiations. Continue reading...