WorldNews

[attach=full]17972[/attach] Three jailed Mauritanian anti-slavery activists went on hunger strike Monday to protest their treatment by prison authorities, their campaign group said in a statement. Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid, the runner-up in 2014 presidential elections, is serving two years in the central Aleg prison, along with aide Bilal Ramdane and Djiby Sow, a civic and cultural rights campaigner. Continue reading...

A homemade bomb hidden inside a Bahraini village mosque exploded after a suspect apprehended by police led authorities to it, the ministry of interior said on Monday. Seven people suspected of involvement in deadly bombings targeting Bahrain's security forces were apprehended, the public prosecutor's office said on its Twitter page on Monday. Bahrain, which is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, was swept by unrest during the 2011 "Arab Spring" uprisings when the majority Shi'ites demanded political reforms. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17964[/attach] A US jury on Monday found Palestinian authorities liable for six attacks in Jerusalem that killed and injured Americans, awarding victims and their families more than $218 million in damages. Under the US anti-terrorism act, the damages are automatically tripled, meaning that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) are liable to pay more than $650 million. The jury reached its verdict following two half-days of deliberations, ending a landmark trial under US district judge George Daniels in New York that lasted more than five weeks. The bombings and shootings were carried out by Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- blacklisted as terrorist organizations in the United States -- during the second Palestinian uprising against Israel. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17963[/attach] Pro-Russian forces massing near Ukraine's port city of Mariupol are continuing to attack government troop positions, Kiev said on Monday, fuelling concerns for the fate of a UN-backed ceasefire. Continued hostilities meant a pull-back of heavy weapons could not go ahead as agreed, Ukrainian officials said. "As Ukrainian positions are still being fired upon there can be no talk yet of a withdrawal of arms," military spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov wrote in a statement on Facebook on Monday. Ukraine's currency, the hryvnia, plummeted some 10 percent on Monday because of the instability. Continue reading...

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine delayed a promised pullback of heavy weapons from the front line Monday, blaming continuing attacks from separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17962[/attach] Athens postponed late Monday sending a list of proposed reforms aimed at obtaining a four-month extension of its bailout lifeline until Tuesday morning, a Greek government source said. "The list of reforms will be sent tomorrow (Tuesday) morning to the finance ministers of the Eurogroup," the source said hours before a midnight (2300 GMT) deadline agreed on Friday to send the proposals expires. The source added that the measures would include all the promises made by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's hard-left Syriza party before its sweeping election victory in January. The finance ministers of the 19-nation eurozone need to approve the measures before they agree to extend the terms of Greece's 240-billion-euro ($270-billion) bailout programme, which otherwise will expire on Saturday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17950[/attach] MALE, Maldives (AP) — Police on Monday dragged the Maldives' former president into a court, which ordered his detention while he is tried over his decision to arrest a top judge three years ago. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17949[/attach] GUINGAMP, France (AP) — The coaches went to their club president with a modest request: could he buy them a hut, locker or something to store their footballs and equipment? Continue reading...

NEW YORK (AP) — Keurig said Monday that it will pay about $624 million to buy back its shares owned by Italian coffee company Luigi Lavazza SpA. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17948[/attach] SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's Shiite rebels on Monday threatened to arrest and try for treason the prime minister and all Cabinet members if they fail to return to work, as thousands took to the streets in the capital, Sanaa, to denounce the rebels and show support for the country's embattled president. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17947[/attach] MADRID (AP) — U.N. human rights experts on Monday urged Spain's Senate to reject two proposed bills, saying they threaten fundamental rights and freedoms. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17946[/attach] More than a month after jihadist gunmen massacred much of the Charlie Hebdo editorial team, those who survived are slowly trying to return to a semblance of normality. "We needed a break, a rest... There were those who needed to work again straight away, like me, and those who wanted to take more time," says Gerard Biard, the paper's new chief editor. Charlie Hebdo has a long history of courting controversy, lampooning political and religious figures of all stripes. "Je Suis Charlie" was the slogan taken up around the world to express solidarity with the weekly. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17945[/attach] It is the early hours of the morning and bars in the Liberian capital are packed as revellers drink, sing and rejoice their first night of freedom with the Ebola curfew lifted. In Monrovia, people feel like celebrating -- in their thousands -- and the night air is alive with music and laughter. Liberia and its neighbours Guinea and Sierra Leone have registered almost 9,500 Ebola deaths since December 2013, although the real picture could be far worse as it is feared many cases have not been reported. Panicked by the intense spread of the epidemic, Liberia imposed the curfew on August 6, initially from 9:00 pm to 6:00 am but subsequently relaxed, applying from midnight until 6:00 am. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17944[/attach] In Middle East this week, the Islamic State group extended its reach by releasing a video shot in Libya showing militants beheading of 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt, many from the same village. Continue reading...

HELSINKI (AP) — Apple says it's investing 1.7 billion euros ($1.92 billion) in data centers in Denmark and Ireland that will be powered by renewable energy, its largest such project in Europe to date. Continue reading...

Libya's internationally recognized government has said it will end all contracts with companies from Turkey, a country it has accused of supporting a rival administration. The government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni did not spell out its reasons for the decision, posted on a cabinet website late on Sunday. A Turkish official said the government was evaluating the situation in the north African oil producer, where Turkish businesses have traditionally had a strong presence. "The council of ministers ... decided to review all contracts with foreign companies in all areas and exclude Turkish firms from operating in Libya," the cabinet statement said. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17935[/attach] Novak Djokovic may have chosen an ideal place to clarify how to make use of what, he suggests, has become the happiest phase of his life. The world number one returns to the ATP tour at one of the world's most popular tournaments, the Dubai Open, starting on Monday, after capturing his eighth Grand Slam title in Australia last month and his first as a father and a husband. "Everything has been going in such a positive direction in my life, so I try to live these moments with, you know, all my heart," said Djokovic, who will try to ride these powerful emotions towards further success and perhaps to tennis greatness. Winning the title a fifth time in Dubai next week, as he is favourite to do, should be a particularly pleasing experience at what the players have voted the best 500 category tournament for 10 of the last 11 years. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17934[/attach] CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — West Indies skipper Jason Holder put a positive spin on Chris Gayle's batting slump so far at the World Cup, saying the big-hitting batsman has the full confidence of his team. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17933[/attach] The death toll in a ferry accident in central Bangladesh soared to 69 on Monday, after emergency workers recovered more bodies from the wreckage of an overcrowded boat that sank after colliding with a cargo vessel. It is the second deadly boat accident in a fortnight in Bangladesh, which is heavily reliant on ferries for transport but has a poor safety record. "This morning the bodies were found in the boat after it was raised and dragged to the shore," police inspector Abdul Muktadir told AFP after a salvage vessel raised the sunken ferry from the water. Government administrator Rashida Ferdous said most of the estimated 150 people on board had been accounted for. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17932[/attach] Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito has made a call to remember Japan's wartime past and the horrors of World War Two - remarks that come as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks to recast his country's wartime history in a less apologetic tone. Abe's government has made requests for changes in accounts of wartime history that it sees as incorrect and damaging to Japan's image, sparking criticism from U.S. scholars. "I myself did not experience the war ... but I think that it is important today, when memories of the war are fading, to look back humbly on the past and correctly pass on the tragic experiences and history Japan pursued from the generation which experienced the war to those without direct knowledge," Naruhito told a news conference ahead of his 55th birthday on Monday. Naruhito's grandfather, Emperor Hirohito, was once revered as divine but transformed after Japan's defeat to promote peace and democracy. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17931[/attach] London (AFP) - Eddie Redmayne -- the latest British actor to crack Hollywood -- is set to see his profile go cosmic after clinching the Oscar for his poignant and physically challenging portrayal of astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. Continue reading...

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian police have detained more than 100 football fans ahead of a high-profile match in the Rio de Janeiro state championship Sunday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17923[/attach] LONDON (AP) — Fashionistas struggled to stay dry and composed Sunday as driving wind and rain hit London Fashion Week, but the miserable weather wasn't the only thing that caused some to lose their cool. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17922[/attach] LONDON (AP) — Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho made a surprise appearance on a British soccer television show on Sunday, to query the standard of refereeing he has seen this season. Continue reading...

LONDON (AP) — A former policeman is one of the Chelsea fans being sought by officers investigating an alleged racist incident in Paris, his solicitor said Sunday in a statement that apologized to the victim. Continue reading...