WorldNews

MEXICO CITY (AP) — It's a bird. It's a plane. Actually, it was a balloon. Continue reading...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The Argentine government says it plans to declassify all documents related to the investigation into the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people Continue reading...

[attach=full]18860[/attach] ARE, Sweden (AP) — In what's starting to look like a repeat of last season, Anna Fenninger of Austria is back in the overall lead of the World Cup standings after winning a giant slalom race Friday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18859[/attach] Leggy models in striking designer clothes strutted down a catwalk in front of Iraq's high society Friday for the first edition of the Baghdad Fashion Show. "This is an attempt, within the current political and security situation to support the government and the people," Iraqi designer and organiser Sinan Kamel said. "The most important message we address to the world today is that Iraq is still alive," the 35-year-old said at the launch of the glitzy event at Baghdad's Royal Tulip hotel. The hotel is still best known to Iraqis as the Rasheed, an imposing structure which was built under Saddam Hussein and stands on the edge of the fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad. Continue reading...

NEW YORK (AP) — Three men accused in a plot to travel from the U.S. to Syria to join forces with the Islamic State group pleaded not guilty Friday to terrorism charges in federal court. Continue reading...

Romanian prosecutors said on Friday they had launched a probe into Finance Minister Darius Valcov, accusing him of favouring a company for a public works contract in exchange for about 2 million euros while in his former post as a mayor. Valcov had urged a committee awarding the contract to bend the rules in favor of the company, a statement by the prosecutors said. Valcov told reporters he had not been charged but declined to answer any other questions while leaving the anti-corruption agency's office in Bucharest. "Anti-corruption prosecutors have started a criminal investigation against Darius Valcov, mayor of Slatina at the time and currently finance minister, in connection with charges of abuse of power," the statement said. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18855[/attach] VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has marked the second anniversary of his surprise election by predicting that he won't be pope for long. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18854[/attach] The US military has carried out an air strike against a senior al-Shebab militant in Somalia and is still reviewing the results of the operation, the Pentagon said Friday. The operation, which did not involve US troops on the ground, took place on Thursday on a road south of Mogadishu and focused on "a high-value target," spokesman Colonel Steven Warren told reporters. Continue reading...

BEIRUT (AP) — A spokesman for Syria's main Kurdish force called on the U.S.-led coalition on Friday to attack Islamic State group positions in northeastern Syria where the jihadis are on the offensive. Continue reading...

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rican officials have closed the country's principle airport in the capital of San Jose after the eruption of the Turrialba volcano filled the sky with ash. Continue reading...

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic says his country's close ties with Russia are not hampering Belgrade's chairmanship over the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe which has a key monitoring role in Ukraine. Continue reading...

The United Nations opened a new round of consultations with Libyan politicians on Friday on ending the country's crisis, but the internationally recognized Libyan parliament was absent after seeking a delay. Western leaders support the U.N. talks as the only way to end the turmoil in Libya, where two rival governments and armed factions are battling for control and Islamist militants have gained ground in the chaos. The goal is to achieve a unity government and a lasting ceasefire and put Libya's democratic transition back on track. In the meantime, fighting continues between forces of the recognized government based in eastern Libya and the rival administration of an armed group that seized control of the capital Tripoli last August. Continue reading...

[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...