WorldNews

TALLINN (Reuters) - Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas claimed victory for his pro-NATO center-right Reform Party in Sunday's election after voting overshadowed by worries about relations to neighboring Russia. "The Reform Party is the 2015 winner of the parliamentary elections," Roivas said on ETV public television. His party leads on 27.7 percent of the vote, ahead of the opposition pro-Moscow Centre Party with 24.8 percent with almost all votes counted. (Reporting By David Mardiste, writing by Alister Doyle; Editing by Alistair Scrutton) Continue reading...

[attach=full]18270[/attach] In mid-January Cristina Fernandez was accused of conspiring to cover up Iran's alleged role in the truck-bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center. Prosecutor Alberto Nisman said Fernandez conspired to whitewash the bombing in order to complete a grains-for-oil deal with Tehran. Continue reading...

By Sebastien Malo NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dozens of protesters rallied in New York City on Sunday near the Russian permanent mission to the United Nations to denounce the murder of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, despite fear of reprisals to themselves or family members back in Russia. Many carried signs that read "Putin Plague of 21st Century" and "Stop Dictator Putin - Stop Murderers," referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is denounced as an autocrat by a small but vocal opposition. "I know a lot of people who are discouraged to come because they're scared that their pictures or names appearing in the news will cause problems for their relatives back in Russia," Dimitry Smelansky, a 50-year old engineer who traveled to New York from Boston to take part in the rally. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18269[/attach] PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain missed the chance to move top of the French league after wasting several good chances in a 0-0 draw away to Monaco on Sunday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18268[/attach] Tens of thousands of people marched in central Moscow on Sunday to honour the memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was gunned down near the Kremlin in the highest-profile assassination of Vladimir Putin's rule. A sea of grim-faced supporters, holding Russian flags and Nemtsov portraits, marched in the drizzle from a packed Moscow square to the bridge over the Moskva where the 55-year-old was shot in the back shortly before midnight Friday. In what appeared to be the largest opposition gathering since anti-Kremlin rallies in 2011-12 brought more than 100,000 people into the streets, marchers honoured Nemtsov's memory while condemning Moscow's stance on Ukraine. "Stop the war" in Ukraine, said others. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18263[/attach] The remains of two prominent anti-apartheid activists who were among the mentors of Nelson Mandela were flown back home Sunday nearly 40 years after they died in Russia. President Jacob Zuma led an official ceremony to receive the bodies of Moses Kotane and John Beaver Marks, whose bodies were exhumed from Russia's prestigious Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. Kotane, ex-general secretary of the South African Communist Party and a former executive committee member of the African National Congress (ANC), was one of 156 defendants in the notorious 1956 treason trial. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18262[/attach] Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will pay a state visit next week to Britain, receiving a lavish royal welcome that may provide some distraction from his domestic troubles. Pena Nieto will be welcomed Tuesday by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, where he and his wife Angelica Rivera will stay for two nights and be feted with a grand banquet. The visit, heralded by a show of British and Mexican flags this weekend on the Mall leading up to the palace, will also see the president meet with Prime Minister David Cameron and address both Houses of Parliament. On Thursday Pena Nieto will head to Aberdeen, the centre of the oil industry in Scotland, to sign an agreement with companies that extract oil from the North Sea. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18261[/attach] The ruling People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT) is expected to sweep parliamentary voting Sunday in the former Soviet republic in polling tainted by complaints of pressure from opposition parties. The tightly-controlled Central Asian state's election commission declared the vote valid at roughly 1000 GMT, when it said that almost 75 percent of the 4.3 million electorate had voted. The country's 62-year-old President Emomali Rakhmon, who chairs the PDPT, cast his vote early in the day but did not address the media. Muhiddin Kabiri, leader of the largest opposition party, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), told AFP that "total pressure" had been applied on its candidates, more than half of whom failed to get registered to stand in the parliamentary vote. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18260[/attach] DUBLIN (AP) — Ireland took control of its Six Nations destiny with a 19-9 victory Sunday over England that kept the unbeaten Irish on course for a Grand Slam and extended their winning streak to a team-record 10. Continue reading...

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Defending champion Ajax handed PSV its first home defeat of the season Sunday, beating the league leader 3-1 to cut the Eindhoven club's advantage at the top of the Eredivisie to 11 points. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18253[/attach] RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi visited Saudi Arabia on Sunday for his first policy meeting with the country's king ahead of a conference aimed at shoring up financial support from wealthy Gulf states for Egypt's battered economy. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18252[/attach] Syria's exiled opposition praised France on Sunday for maintaining its "exemplary" opposition to President Bashar al-Assad after a group of French lawmakers made a controversial visit to Damascus this week. "The position of France has always been exemplary, and your country has consistently held to the side of the Syrian people against any attempt to rehabilitate the regime in Damascus under false protenses," the group's leader, Khaled Khoja, wrote in a letter to the French government. His letter followed an unofficial trip by French lawmakers to the Syrian capital last week, during which they met with Assad and other senior officials. The trip reignited debate in Europe over whether it was time to rebuild diplomatic ties with the Syrian regime in order to counter the greater threat from jihadist groups such as the Islamic State. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18251[/attach] LONDON (AP) — Newly published emails suggest the man who became known as "Jihadi John" had suicidal thoughts before leaving Britain for Syria. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18250[/attach] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed to Washington Sunday on what he said was a "historic" mission to try to stop a nuclear deal with Iran, an AFP correspondent reported. The controversial 48-hour visit will see the Israeli leader addressing a joint session of the US Congress in a bid to garner last-minute support to halt an emerging world deal with Iran over its nuclear programme, in a move which has infuriated the White House. "I'm going to Washington on a fateful, even historic, mission," he told reporters on the tarmac at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv shortly before his plane took off. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18249[/attach] BERLIN (AP) — German authorities say two people who were detained in connection with an anti-terror raid in the city Bremen have been released. Continue reading...

By Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladeshis gathered on Sunday to pay tribute to a U.S. blogger and critic of religious extremism who was killed in Dhaka, in the latest of a series of attacks on writers in the Muslim-majority nation. Avijit Roy, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin, was hacked to death by machete-wielding assailants on Thursday after a book fair. His wife and fellow blogger Rafida Ahmed suffered head injuries and lost a finger and remains in hospital in a serious condition. People from all walks gathered with flowers at the Dhaka University premises on Sunday to pay their respect to Avijit, who came to his native city in mid-February and was due to go back to the United States. Continue reading...

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — Marcel Hirscher of Austria holds a big lead after the first run of Sunday's World Cup giant slalom, while three-time world champion Ted Ligety is almost three seconds behind. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18241[/attach] ALONG THE SERBIA-HUNGARY BORDER (AP) — Exhausted, hungry and cold, they have been walking for miles. What little they have is carried in plastic bags. They camp in abandoned homes, followed by stray dogs hoping to snag a morsel. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18240[/attach] CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on the government on Sunday to amend laws related to a long-awaited March-April parliamentary poll within one month, after a court ruled that an article in the legislation was unconstitutional. "The president issued directives to the government to quickly make the necessary legislative changes to the laws organizing the election process," a statement from the presidency said. (Reporting By Ahmed Tolba; Editing by Andrew Heavens) Continue reading...

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Estonians are voting for a new Parliament in an election dominated by economic issues and security concerns due to Russia's intervention in Ukraine. Continue reading...

ASAHIKAWA, Japan (AP) — Zan Kosir of Slovenia won his second straight World Cup parallel slalom snowboard event on Sunday to maintain first place in the overall standings. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18239[/attach] President Nicolas Maduro plans to limit the US diplomatic presence in Venezuela and require American tourists to obtain visas, in a sign of growing tensions between the two countries. Maduro has intensified in recent months his allegations of coup and assassination plans -- often purportedly backed by the United States -- as he faces a deep economic crisis and a sharp drop in popularity. "In order to protect our country... I have decided to implement a system of compulsory visas for all Americans entering Venezuela," he told supporters. Under the new measures, Venezuela will start charging tourists the same visa fees the United States asks of Venezuelans, though it was unclear when the plan would be implemented. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18238[/attach] The gunning-down of Russian opposition leader Boris Y. Nemtsov has some pundits consumed with the whodunit. “The biggest theory which dumbfounded me is the notion that Nemtsov’s own party ordered his murder because that’s just absolutely ridiculous and I can’t even believe it’s being dignified,” Knight says. Ms. Knight has a PhD degree in Russian politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Continue reading...

[attach=full]18237[/attach] China's population of wild giant pandas jumped nearly 17 percent over a decade -- state media reported, citing an official survey -- with conservation measures credited as being behind the increase. The investigation by the State Forestry Administration (SFA) found that by the end of 2013 China had 1,864 giant pandas alive in the wild, marking an increase of 268 individuals, or 16.8 percent, the official Xinhua news agency reported Saturday. The SFA said conservation efforts led to the increase, according to Xinhua. Besides population, panda habitat also increased 11.8 percent to 2.58 million hectares compared with the 2003 survey, Xinhua said. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18236[/attach] SYDNEY (AP) — Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia will lead a trial to enhance the tracking of aircraft over remote oceans, allowing planes to be more easily found should they vanish like Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australia's transport minister said Sunday. Continue reading...