WorldNews

[attach=full]17805[/attach] LOS ANGELES (AP) — This much can be said about a six-way tie for the lead after the opening round at the Northern Trust Open. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17798[/attach] SYDNEY (AP) — Two powerful cyclones smashed into northern Australia on Friday, knocking out power to thousands, tearing roofs off houses and prompting coastal residents to flee their homes amid warnings the storms' violent winds and drenching rains could prove deadly. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17797[/attach] LOS ANGELES (AP) — Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh, among the top five players in the world a decade ago, were part of a six-way tie for the lead in the Northern Trust Open in what amounted to "throwback Thursday" at Riviera. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17796[/attach] Britain and the European Union are guilty of "sleepwalking" into a crisis in Ukraine, a scathing report from a British parliamentary committee said on Friday. The criticism from the EU Committee of the House of Lords -- which scrutinises the British government's EU policies -- comes as a ceasefire falters between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces. Kiev and the West accuse Russia of arming the insurgents and sending soldiers into Ukraine -- something Russian President Vladimir Putin denies. The committee "believes that the EU, and by implication the UK, was guilty of sleepwalking into this crisis," said committee chairman Christopher Tugendhat. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17795[/attach] BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A court on Thursday rejected a request from prosecutors for the jailing of a U.S. missionary to face charges of collaborating with Colombia's main leftist rebel group, ruling the evidence was not strong enough to warrant detention. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17794[/attach] An advertisement making light of the trial of South African athlete Oscar Pistorius received by far the most complaints ever in Britain, the advertising watchdog said on Friday. The advert for Irish betting company Paddy Power appeared during Pistorius' trial for murder last year and read "money back if he walks" -- a pun on the prospect of his release and the fact he is a double amputee. The advertisement appeared in a British newspaper during the trial in March, promoting Paddy Power's betting offers on whether Pistorius would be found guilty or not. The advert received 5,525 complaints, by far the highest number of objections ever received for an advertisement in Britain according to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Continue reading...

HAVANA (AP) — The minority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives and a delegation of fellow Democrats have met with Cuban Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the man currently expected to take power after President Raul Castro leaves office in 2018. Continue reading...

NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer appointed to lead negotiations between U.S. bondholders and Argentina over unpaid debts said Thursday the South American nation is not responding to requests to negotiate. Continue reading...

By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Wet winter storms that dropped up to a foot (30 cm) of rain on parts of California have modestly eased the state's ongoing drought over the past three months, U.S. drought experts said on Thursday. The portion of California in the most extreme categories of drought has dropped by about 13 percent since mid-November, said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska. The relief provided by two so-called atmospheric rivers is far from enough to make more than a dent in California's ongoing dry conditions, which are entering their fourth year. Part of the reason is that it was relatively warm during the most recent storms, which occurred in early February, leading to rain but not to the snow that is needed in California's Sierra Nevada mountains, which provides drinking water and protection from fire when it melts in the spring. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17789[/attach] WASHINGTON (AP) — The operation to retake Iraq's second largest city from Islamic State militants will likely begin in April or May and will involve about 12 Iraqi brigades, or between 20,000 and 25,000 troops, a senior U.S. military official said Thursday. Continue reading...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's nominee for U.S. attorney general is defending her office's handling of a money-laundering investigation involving British bank HSBC, saying the deal carried stern penalties even though no individual executives were prosecuted. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17778[/attach] TORONTO (AP) — A 3-year-old Toronto boy died Thursday after wandering away from an apartment building into bitterly cold weather overnight. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17777[/attach] The Malian government agreed a deal with six armed groups Thursday to cease hostilities as part of UN-sponsored peace talks aimed at ending the crisis in the country's north. The deal was signed in the presence of Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra, along with Mongi Hamdi, the head of the 9,300-strong UN peace mission in Mali (MINUSMA). The aim of the talks is to bring peace to northern Mali, which remains unstable despite French and international military intervention against Islamist rebels launched in 2013. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17776[/attach] Caroline Wozniacki overcame a persistent fever, a seed-beater, difficulties with her first serve, and a late night finish to reach the semi-finals of the Dubai Open for the fifth successive time on Thursday. The former world number one from Denmark's 7-5, 6-0 win over the world number 14 from Italy, Flavia Pennetta, confirmed the feeling that she is gradually edging her way back towards the summit, even though her standard was not always all she wanted. Wozniacki twice conceded early breaks of serve before repairing the damage, and was unable to force her advantage home when she was twice within two points of taking the first set. Once she had a set in the bag Wozniacki accelerated her progress encouragingly against an opponent who had dismissed the seventh-seeded Angelique Kerber the previous day. Continue reading...

NEW YORK (AP) — The PLO and Palestinian Authority should not be blamed for terror attacks in Israel that killed or wounded Americans in the early 2000s, the groups' lawyer told a New York City jury Thursday, but the victims' attorney insisted the organizations sanctioned the bloodshed. Continue reading...

Colombia's Constitutional Court has put stringent limits on adoption by gay couples, saying it would be allowed only if one partner is already the child's biological parent. "Adoption will only be allowed when it deals with the biological child of the same sex partner," read Wednesday's decision, which disappointed gay rights groups hoping for more expansive adoption rights. The constitutional court ruled several months ago that a lesbian woman could adopt her long-time partner's daughter, presaging Wednesday's decision, which applies to all gay couples in Colombia. In the case last August, the court allowed a woman to adopt the biological daughter of her longtime female partner, overruling Colombia's Family Welfare bureau, which had denied her adoption petition. Continue reading...

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A convicted drug trafficker and former captain of the Dominican Republic's army says he donated millions of dollars to former president Leonel Fernandez. Continue reading...

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Thursday that proposals put forward by the Greek government were a very encouraging sign that a solution could be found quickly in a standoff over an extension of Greece's bailout program. "I take the latest declarations and decisions of the Greek Prime Minister writing to Europe as a very encouraging sign that a solution is possible, and very quickly," Valls told parliament during a speech ahead of a no-confidence vote. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17767[/attach] WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer for a rabbi accused of videotaping women at a Jewish ritual bath says his client will plead guilty to more than 50 counts of voyeurism. Continue reading...

BEIRUT (AP) — Rebels in Syria have captured 32 soldiers and pro-government gunmen near the northern city of Aleppo, where fighting is raging as the two sides try to grab new territory ahead of a possible truce, activists said Thursday. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17766[/attach] LONDON (AP) — Freed Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste says it is too soon to celebrate because his two colleagues still face retrial in Egypt. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17764[/attach] Something happened in prison to Omar El-Hussein, the 22-year-old identified by police as the gunman who killed two people in a weekend shooting spree in Copenhagen. When he came out of prison he was totally nuts," said a taxi driver from the housing estate where El-Hussein lived and played as a child. Copenhagen's longstanding problem with criminal gangs means the authorities are now concerned that El-Hussein's journey from joining a gang in the immigrant community where he grew up, via prison into extremism could mirror a wider trend. Continue reading...

RIGA, Latvia (AP) — A top EU official says the 28-member bloc will provide armored cars and satellite imagery to monitor a cease-fire in Ukraine but is undecided whether to commit troops to a proposed U.N.-mandated peacekeeping mission. Continue reading...

[attach=full]17763[/attach] MILAN (AP) — At the start of the year, Roma appeared certain to push Juventus all the way in the Serie A title chase. Continue reading...

LONDON (AP) — Britain's defense minister has said Russia poses a "real and present danger" to European security, as Royal Air Force jets were scrambled to escort Russian warplanes off the British coast. Continue reading...