WorldNews

BEIRUT (AP) — A former Lebanese pop star turned wanted Islamic militant denied in an interview broadcast Sunday that he took part in deadly clashes with the military and said he wants to return to his "normal, natural life" with his friends and family. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18602[/attach] Yemen's defence minister was to resume his duties from second city Aden on Sunday after defecting from the Shiite militia which controls the capital, a source in the president's office said. General Mahmud Subaihi's overnight escape from Sanaa follows that of Western-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has called on ministers to join him in the southern port city to reestablish the government. The minister reached Aden unharmed but at least one of his guards was killed in a firefight with Huthi militiamen during the escape, a military source told AFP. The militia had named Subaihi head of a new security committee when they completed their seizure of power in Sanaa in February. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18601[/attach] Anarchists occupied Greece's ruling party headquarters on Sunday in support of hunger strikers protesting against conditions in the country's maximum-security jails. A group of 50 anarchists burst into the offices of the radical left-wing Syriza party in downtown Athens on Sunday, forcing staff to leave the building, party officials said. "I was inside my office giving my first official interview to a radio station," the party's new spokeswoman Rania Svigou told AFP. Continue reading...

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Security and local officials say at least 12 people have been killed in violent clashes between al-Qaida militants and Shiite Houthi rebels in the central province of Bayda. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18600[/attach] WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Thousands of Warsaw residents have taken their first rides on the Polish capital's second subway line, just over a year later than expected. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18599[/attach] Zambian President Edgar Lungu collapsed on the podium while presiding over a Women's Day celebration in Lusaka on Sunday -- less than two months after the 58-year-old took over from a leader who died in office. Lungu was rushed to a military hospital, but the presidency later issued a statement saying he was receiving treatment for malaria but there was no need for concern. Lungu came to power in January after the death in office of president Michael Sata in October. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18598[/attach] BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Three people were killed and 14 wounded in a rocket attack early Sunday on a U.N. base in Mali's northeastern city of Kidal, said the United Nations mission in Mali. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18597[/attach] By Julien Toyer, Inmaculada Sanz and Carlos Ruano MADRID (Reuters) - Europe must stop its austerity policies or watch far-right movements continue to grow and pose a real danger to democracy, said Pablo Iglesias, leader of Spain's Podemos party that like Greece's Syriza aims to offer a leftist alternative. In an interview with Reuters, the 36-year-old whose Podemos ('We Can') party is leading some election polls, also said any coalition between Spain's centre-right and centre-left would only prolong what he called the country's economic disaster. Spain is emerging from a seven-year economic slump as one of the euro zone's fastest growing nations. A weariness with austerity has made voters across Europe susceptible to the rhetoric of anti-immigrant right-wing parties that are playing to their discontent with suggestions that the European Union has let them down. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18596[/attach] One Ukrainian serviceman has been killed and three wounded as a result of fighting in separatist eastern territories in the past 24 hours despite a ceasefire deal, Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on Sunday. Attacks have fallen significantly in the past two weeks, but accusations of continued violence on both sides show the fragility of the peace accord agreed in Minsk last month, which calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the frontline. The serviceman who was killed died at the hands of a sniper," Lysenko said in a televised briefing. Continue reading...

LONDON (AP) — Team Sky has given its backing to sporting director Servais Knaven after allegations of past doping against the Dutchman were published in a British newspaper. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18595[/attach] CAIRO (AP) — The retrial of two Al-Jazeera English journalists who face terror-related charges in Egypt has been postponed to March 19. Continue reading...

BEIJING (AP) — China's imports shrank in February for a second month in a new sign of weakness in the world's second-largest economy. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18591[/attach] NAPIER, New Zealand (AP) — Daniel Vettori passed 300 wickets in one-day internationals as New Zealand cruised to a six-wicket win over Afghanistan in their Cricket World Cup match on Sunday, extending the co-hosts' perfect record in the tournament to five wins from five games. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18590[/attach] NAPIER, New Zealand (AP) — In the hurly burly of a World Cup campaign, Daniel Vettori does not have the time to reflect on his achievement of becoming the first New Zealander to take 300 wickets in one-day internationals. Continue reading...

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's defense minister arrived at dawn Sunday at his house outside the southern port city of Aden after fleeing the rebel-held capital, security officials said. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18589[/attach] BEIJING (AP) — China's foreign minister renewed calls Sunday for senior Japanese leaders to abandon any attempt to water down their nation's guilt over its World War II aggression against China and others. Continue reading...

In a forceful speech in Selma, Alabama on the 50th anniversary of the brutal repression of a peaceful protest, America's first black president denounced new attempts to restrict voting rights. "We gather here to celebrate them," he declared, standing on the spot where Alabama state troopers launched an assault on the marchers in scenes that shocked America. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18584[/attach] LONDON (AP) — Novak Djokovic shrugged off a sore finger and joined with Nenad Zimonjic in polishing off Croatia to send Serbia into the Davis Cup quarterfinals on Saturday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18583[/attach] A former French interior minister was on Saturday charged with tax evasion and forgery in connection with a probe into allegations that former Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi helped finance Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election campaign. Investigators discovered a 500,000-euro ($540,000) transfer in Claude Gueant's bank account during a raid in February 2013. Gueant, who was Sarkozy's right-hand man for a decade, claimed the money was the proceeds of the sale of two 17th-century Flemish paintings to a Malaysian lawyer. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18582[/attach] Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in an audio message published online on Saturday, after three bombs wreaked havoc in northeast Nigeria, killing 58 and wounding scores. "We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims, Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim al-Husseini al-Qurashi," Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said, referring to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The eight-minute speech, in which Shekau was not shown, was published on a Twitter account used by Boko Haram and subtitled in English, French and Arabic. Not only did Shekau announce last year that the captured town of Gwoza in Borno state was part of a caliphate but in recent weeks Boko Haram videos have increasingly resembled IS group propaganda. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18581[/attach] LONDON (AP) — Aston Villa's win over West Bromwich Albion in a heated FA Cup quarterfinal was marred by crowd trouble on Saturday, with seats thrown by visiting fans and home supporters invading the field during and after the game. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18577[/attach] HAVANA (AP) — Colombia's government and the country's biggest rebel movement announced an agreement Saturday to begin a pilot program for removing land mines as part of efforts to lower the intensity of a conflict that has lasted a half century. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18576[/attach] Western Stormers went top of the Super 15 table Saturday after an ultimately comfortable 29-13 victory over fellow South Africans Coastal Sharks in Cape Town. In a game of two halves at Newlands stadium, there was nothing between the teams after a frenetic opening half which finished 13-10 in favour of the Stormers. Victory took the Stormers from third to first in the combined southern hemisphere inter-provincial championship standings. The Cape Town outfit have 16 points after four rounds, the Australian ACT Brumbies 15 and the New Zealand Wellington Hurricanes 14. Continue reading...

Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram pledged allegiance on Saturday to Islamic State, which rules a self-declared caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, according to an audio clip posted online. The symbolic move highlights increased coordination between jihadi movements across north Africa and the Middle East and prompted an appeal from Nigeria's government for greater international help in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency. Boko Haram has killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds during its six-year campaign to carve out an Islamist state in northern Nigeria. The pledge of allegiance was attributed to Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau. Continue reading...

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Authorities in Jamaica have charged a man with murder and arson following a fire that killed two teenagers and a young girl. Continue reading...