WorldNews

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The U.S. Embassy in Jordan warned Wednesday of a potential threat of attacks against "high-end malls" in Jordan's capital, as the kingdom takes part in airstrikes targeting the extremist Islamic State group. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18048[/attach] Japan's education minister possibly received illegal funds, a weekly magazine said in a report to be published on Thursday, just days after the farm minister resigned over similar allegations. The issue could prove a new headache for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who last year had two ministers quit over funding scandals. It might especially sting because Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura, whose ministry is also in charge of preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is considered close to Abe. The magazine also said some of the fees collected from members of the groups appeared to have been funneled to the branch of Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo that Shimomura heads. Continue reading...

LONDON (AP) — Financial markets were subdued Wednesday ahead of another round of testimony from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and as the uncertainty over the future of Greece dissipated following confirmation by the country's creditors that it should have its bailout extended by four months. Continue reading...

LOME, Togo (AP) — Togo's government says presidential elections will take place April 15 after delays and amid opposition to the president's possible nomination for another term. Continue reading...

MOSCOW (AP) — The chairman of the Russian Security Council says Western sanctions are threatening the country's oil and gas industry. Continue reading...

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's military said on Wednesday none of its troops had been killed at the front in the last 24 hours and only one had been wounded, with a spokesman describing it as the first day with no fatalities in "at least several weeks". A ceasefire came into effect on Feb 15 but last week saw heavy fighting with separatist rebels advancing to seize a major town in one of the biggest battles of the war. (editing by John Stonestreet) Continue reading...

[attach=full]18042[/attach] Unidentified drones flew over Paris for a second night in a row, police said Wednesday in the latest mystery appearance of unmanned aircraft over the French capital at a time of high security. The latest sightings follow a series of drone spottings at French atomic plants last year and, more recently, over the presidential palace and a bay in Brittany that houses nuclear submarines. Authorities have been left scratching their heads as they remain unable to catch any of the operators or determine whether the flyovers are malicious in nature, at a time of high vigilance after last month's deadly Paris attacks. A police source told AFP that witnesses and security forces reported at least five incidents overnight Tuesday to Wednesday over central Paris. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18041[/attach] The hard work for Greece's new anti-austerity government began Wednesday after it secured an extension to its lifeline financial bailout with promises to implement ambitious reforms and stick to its financial commitments. First though a number of parliaments in the 19-nation eurozone, not least Greece's and sceptical powerhouse Germany, need to approve the four-month breathing space greenlighted by finance ministers on Tuesday. Greece's new programme aims to tackle tax evasion and corruption and save money with an efficiency drive throughout government including eliminating politicians' perks and slashing red tape. Already on Tuesday the plans received a cool response from the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which together with the European Commission hold the lion's share of Greece's 320 billion euros in debts. Continue reading...

NEW YORK (AP) — Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and a bevy of Chinese artists celebrated the Year of the Sheep at the New York Philharmonic's fourth annual Chinese New Year concert. Continue reading...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched large-scale naval and air defense drills near a strategic Gulf waterway on Wednesday in which dozens of speedboats swarmed a replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier while missiles fired from the coast struck mock-up American aircraft. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18040[/attach] BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — After a four-wicket victory over a more-fancied West Indies to open its Cricket World Cup campaign, Ireland was aiming for second win over a team it was favored to beat. Continue reading...

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Ireland skipper William Porterfield won the toss Wednesday and sent United Arab Emirates in to bat in the World Cup Pool B match at the Gabba. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18031[/attach] BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The war was over, disastrously for Argentina, and thousands poured into the streets of Buenos Aires to express anger at the military junta that had led the country into conflict over the Falklands Islands. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18030[/attach] Despite defeat by Barcelona, Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini said his side would take confidence from their second-half reaction into the return leg of their Champions League last 16 tie. A first-half brace from Luis Suarez helped Barcelona to a 2-1 win in Tuesday's first leg at the Etihad Stadium, but Sergio Aguero's 69th-minute goal and a stoppage-time penalty blunder by Lionel Messi gave City hope. City lost Gael Clichy to a red card -- echoing the dismissals of Martin Demichelis and Pablo Zabaleta during last season's 4-1 aggregate loss to Barcelona at the same stage of the competition -- but Pellegrini expressed belief that they would turn the tie around at Camp Nou next month. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18029[/attach] Police arrested the driver of a truck that got stuck on train tracks in California, causing a crash with a commuter train in which 28 people were hurt. The stranded vehicle exploded into a fireball after being hit by the four passenger cars and the locomotive pushing the Los Angeles-bound Metrolink train, officials said. Three passenger coaches came to rest on their side after flying off the rails near Oxnard, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Los Angeles, a spokesman for Metrolink said. Oxnard assistant police chief Jason Benites told reporters the driver, Jose Sanchez Ramirez, tried to make a right turn across the track when his truck got stuck. Continue reading...

SYDNEY (AP) — Athens Olympic silver medalist kayaker Nathan Baggaley pleaded guilty to manufacturing methamphetamine when he appeared in a Sydney court on Wednesday. Continue reading...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic congressman Steve Cohen says he is skipping Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress. Continue reading...

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro signed a deal Tuesday with Trinidad & Tobago for joint exploration of natural gas in waters between both nations. Continue reading...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — European river cruise giant Viking, already gaining a high profile in the United States with its sponsorship of popular PBS television shows, announced Tuesday that it will make New Orleans its first North American home port for Mississippi River cruises expected to begin by late 2017. Continue reading...

NEW YORK (AP) — Identified only by four-digit numbers to conceal their identities, five British Security Service officers testified Tuesday at the U.S. trial of a terrorism suspect charged with plotting to bomb a shopping mall in Manchester, England. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18025[/attach] MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Luis Suarez finally emerged from Lionel Messi's shadow at Barcelona by scoring twice in a 2-1 win over Manchester City on Tuesday, putting the Spanish club within sight of the Champions League quarterfinals for an eighth straight year. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18013[/attach] Spies working for Britain's MI5 intelligence agency donned wigs and makeup Tuesday to testify against a Pakistani Al-Qaeda suspect on trial in New York for allegedly plotting to blow up a British shopping center. Five surveillance officers, identified by four-digit numbers, detailed how they followed the defendant, Abid Naseer, in March and April 2009 in the cities of Manchester and Liverpool in northern England. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18012[/attach] The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross spoke out Tuesday against "politicising" the issue of humanitarian assistance for war-torn eastern Ukraine. "Humanitarian assistance has been highly politicised, this is not the first time that we are experiencing this, we have experienced it in the context of the Syrian crisis," he told reporters in Moscow. Continue reading...

By Aaron Ross KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congolese government forces launched strikes against Rwandan Hutu rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, military officials said, in the first combat since last month's announcement of a campaign to stamp out the group. The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), whose ranks include former soldiers and Hutu militiamen responsible for Rwanda's 1994 genocide, have been at the center of nearly two decades of violence in eastern Congo. Another officer with the Congolese army, known as the FARDC, said the assault, launched early in the morning, had captured all the FDLR's strongholds in the area. "The FARDC launched a large attack in the Moyen Plateau of Mulenge ... It was a well-planned operation," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Continue reading...

[attach=full]18011[/attach] PRAGUE (AP) — A gunman opened fire inside a small-town restaurant in eastern Czech Republic Tuesday, killing eight people and seriously wounding a waitress before he fatally shot himself, officials said. It was the worst shooting attack in the young country's history. Continue reading...