President Barack Obama will make his first trip as president to Kenya, the country of his father's birth.
	The White House says Obama will visit Kenya in July for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which brings together business leaders, international organisations and governments. This will be the first time the summit takes place in sub-Saharan Africa.
	Obama visited Kenya as a US senator, but never as president. During a trip to other African countries last year, he said he was likely to visit Kenya before leaving the White House.
	The president's father came to the United States from Kenya for school and returned to his home country after his son's birth. The elder Obama died more than 30 years ago, though the president has other family still living in Kenya.

Obama to make first visit to Kenya as president

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Negotiations over Iran's nuclear program entered a critical phase today with differences still remaining less than two days before a deadline for the outline of an agreement.
	With the March 31 target fast approaching, the top diplomats from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and Iran were meeting to try to bridge remaining gaps and hammer out the framework deal that would be the basis for a final accord to be reached by the end of June.
	US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, have been meeting in the Swiss town of Lausanne since Thursday in an intense effort to reach a political understanding on terms that would curb Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
	Officials say the sides have made some progress, with Iran considering demands for further cuts to its uranium enrichment program but pushing back on how long it must limit technology it could use to make atomic arms.
	In addition to ...

Iran nuclear talks at crunch time

The president of Northeastern University is reacting angrily to the discovery of swastikas on campus.
	The Nazi symbol was found drawn on a dry-erase board in the common space of the International Village dorm at around 1:30 am yesterday.
	President Joseph Aoun said in an email to the campus community that "these actions are completely antithetical to the values of our university and all that we stand for." He called it a hateful act of anti-Semitism.
	Campus police are investigating.
	Northeastern dealt with a similar incident in November when swastikas were drawn on fliers publicizing a lecture by an Israeli military official.

Swastika graffiti found at Northeastern University

Incumbent leader Islam Karimov has won a Sunday's presidential election in Uzbekistan in a landslide, as expected, according to preliminary results released today.
	The Central Election Commission said in a statement published on its website that Karimov had garnered a 90.4 percent of the vote as nearly 91 percent of the vote were counted by late afternoon.
	Even before all of the ballots were counted, Russian President Vladimir Putin's office sent congratulations to the 77-year-old Karimov, who has led the former Soviet republic since 1990 and ruthlessly quashed all opposition to his rule.
	Uzbekistan relies heavily on Russia, where 3 million Uzbeks live and work escaping unemployment and extreme poverty of their home country.
	The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in a statement issued today criticised the vote as a foregone conclusion for lacking "genuine political alternatives."
	The OSCE also noted that Karimov was allowed to run despite the constitutional limit 

Uzbekistan's leader scores landslide re-election win

A Jerusalem district court has indicted a Palestinian from east Jerusalem on charges of traveling to Syria to join and fight with the Islamic State militant group.
	The Shin Bet security service says Khalil Khalil, born in 1990, had joined a gym at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem to physically prepare for the mission.
	The agency says he told his family he was going on a religious pilgrimage to Mecca, but instead, he and a friend flew to Istanbul in January and then traveled to a safe house in southern Turkey. From there, smugglers brought them to Syria.
	Khalil returned after a few weeks and was later arrested by the Shin Bet.
	It says about 40 Palestinians and Arab-Israeli citizens have gone to fight with militant groups in Syria.

Israel charges Palestinian for fighting with Islamic State

Iran's Revolution Guard says a US drone strike has killed two of its advisers in Iraq, though the US said today it has only struck militants in its campaign against the Islamic State group.
	The claim came as negotiators attempted to reach a deal on Iran's contested nuclear program, which hard-liners in the Islamic Republic have opposed as giving away too much to the West.
	The Guard said on its sepahnews.Ir website the strike happened March 23, just after the US-led coalition began airstrikes to support Iraqi forces trying to retake the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit. It identified the dead as Ali Yazdani and Hadi Jafari, saying they were buried yesterday.
	It called them advisers, without elaborating on whether Iran contacted Iraqi or US forces after the strike.
	The US-led coalition began a campaign of airstrikes and reconnaissance missions around Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown, on March 21.
	Reached by The Associated Press, the US Embassy in Baghdad said: "The international .

Iran says US drone kills 2 advisers in Iraq; US denies claim

Spanish police say they have arrested 12 people suspected of belonging to an anarchist group with terrorist aims.
	A police statement said those detained today were members of an organisation called Coordinated Anarchists Groups, and are suspected of sabotage offenses and planting explosive devices.
	There were no immediate details on any actions carried out by the group.
	The statement said 14 others were arrested for resisting police carrying out the operation.
	The arrests were made in Madrid, Barcelona, Palencia and Granada.

Police arrest 26 in crackdown on anarchist group

A pair of strong earthquakes struck off the South Pacific nations of Tonga and Samoa today, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning was issued.
	The US Geological Survey said the first quake had a magnitude of 6.4 and a depth of 11 kilometres, striking 109 kilometers northeast of Tonga's Hihifo district Monday night.
	It was followed 30 minutes later by a magnitude-6.5 quake that had a depth of 15 kilometres and struck 99 kilometres northeast of Hihifo.
	Leveni Aho, Director of Tonga's National Emergency Management Office, said his staff was trying to make contact with officials on the islands near the epicenter, but had not received any reports of damage.
	No tremors were felt on Tonga's main island, located about 600 kilometres south of Hihifo, he said.
	"I think if there was anything significant, it would have been reported by now," Aho said.
	In Samoa, the quakes were felt throughout most of the islands, and lasted less than a minute, said .

Strong quakes hit off South Pacific nations of Tonga, Samoa

A pair of car bombings in a Baghdad suburb today killed at least 11 people and wounded dozens, officials said, hours after the arrival of the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, for talks with the Iraqi officials.
	Shortly before noon, the two explosive-laden cars went off simultaneously in a commercial area of the Shiite-dominated Husseiniyah district in northeastern Baghdad, a police officer said.
	Two policemen were among the dead. At least 26 people were wounded in the attack, he added.
	A medical official confirmed the casualty figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media.
	The UN mission in Iraq, known as UNAMI, announced Ban's arrival on its Twitter account, but gave no details on the talks.
	He met with Iraqi President Fuad Masum, Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and parliament speaker Salim al-Jubouri. Ban is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
	The attack and the visit come as Iraqi ...

Iraq: Twin car bombings in Baghdad kill at least 11

A French police official says European investigators are focusing on the psychological state of the 27-year-old German co-pilot who deliberately smashed an Airbus carrying 150 people into an Alpine mountainside.
	Returning today from a meeting with counterparts in Germany, judicial police investigator Jean-Pierre Michel told The Associated Press that authorities want to find out "what could have destabilized Andreas Lubitz, or driven him to such an act."
	Lubitz was the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525, which slammed into a mountain near Le Vernet, France, last week en route from Barcelona, Spain, to Duesseldorf, Germany.
	Germanwings chief operating officer Oliver Wagner was meeting with relatives of the victims Monday in the southeastern French city of Marseille.
	He said a total of 325 family members have come to France.

Investigators focus on German co-pilot's mental state

Syrian President Bashar Assad says the Islamic State group has been expanding since a US-led coalition began its airstrikes on the group in Iraq and Syria last year.
	In an interview with CBS News aired Sunday night, Assad said IS has been gaining more recruits with some estimates showing "1,000 recruits every month in Syria."
	Assad, using an alternative acronym for the IS group, said in the interview: "If you want to talk in terms of ISIS, actually ISIS has expanded since the beginning of the strikes."
	Assad added that IS has established a presence in Libya and that militant groups in Egypt and Yemen have claimed allegiance or loyalty to the group.
	The Islamic militant group controls about a third of Iraq and Syria in a self-declared caliphate.

Syrian president says IS is expanding despite airstrikes

Iraqi officials say a pair of car bombings in a Baghdad suburb has killed at least nine people.
	A police officer says the two explosive-laden cars went off simultaneously today in a commercial area of the Shiite-dominated Husseiniyah district in northeastern Baghdad.
	At least 20 people were wounded in that attack.
	A medical official the confirmed casualty figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to brief the media.
	The attack comes as Iraqi government forces, backed by airstrikes from the US-led international coalition, are battling Islamic State militants to recapture the city of Tikrit, north of Baghdad.
	The extremist group occupies large areas in northern and western Iraq captured during a lightning blitz last summer.

Iraq: Twin car bombings in Baghdad kill at least 9

From a lush suburban valley near bustling Barcelona, three generations of a well-heeled family set off last week for a fun trip to Manchester, England: 12-year-old Emma Solera Pardo, her mother Emma Pardo Vidal, and grandmother Emma Vidal Bardan.
	They were on their way to pick up the youngest Emma's teen brother as he finished a semester abroad to hone his English, do some sightseeing and then head home together.
	But the Germanwings flight 9525 taking them to Duesseldorf for a connecting flight to Britain slammed into the French Alps. Prosecutors say co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked the pilot out of the cockpit and aimed the aircraft down in an eight-minute descent until it hit the ground and disintegrated.
	Juan Pardo Yanez, little Emma's grandfather, the father of her mother and the former husband of the eldest Emma, was virtually speechless after returning from a trip for relatives of the 150 crash victims to the accident zone in Seyne-Les- Alpes, France, where investigators ...

Spain: 3 generations, all named Emma, die in France crash

Authorities shifted their focus to what caused the Manhattan apartment building collapse and the possibility that someone may have improperly tapped a gas line serving one of the buildings, after two bodies were pulled from the rubble.
	The names of the two men found yesterday were not immediately released. Authorities believe they are the two men reported missing after Thursday's explosion and fire that leveled three buildings and injured 22 people, including four critically.
	They were identified as Moises Lucon, 26, who worked inside a ground floor sushi restaurant, and Nicholas Figueroa, 23, a bowling alley worker who had been there on a date.
	A spokesman for the Figueroa family confirmed to reporters at the city Medical Examiner's office yesterday that Figueroa's body was pulled from the wreckage.
	"There's reason to believe so far that there may have been inappropriate tampering with the gas lines within the building, but until we get full evidence we can't conclude that," ...

Focus shifts to cause of NYC explosion after 2 bodies found

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was today found guilty of fraud and breach of trust in a retrial on corruption charges, three years after being acquitted.
	Olmert's lawyers said they would likely appeal the ruling by the Jerusalem District Court. He'll be sentenced at a later court hearing.
	Olmert was acquitted in 2012 of a series of charges that included accepting cash-stuffed envelopes from US businessman Morris Talansky when Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem and a Cabinet minister before he became prime minister.
	The verdict was seen as a major victory for Olmert.
	But Olmert's former office manager and confidant Shula Zaken later became a state's witness, offering tape recordings of conversations with Olmert about receiving cash, leading to a retrial.
	A panel of judges at the Jerusalem District Court found that Olmert had used the money for personal reasons without reporting it.

Former Israeli premier Olmert found guilty in bribery case

Australian players sheltered behind dark glasses today at a public reception the day after their victory over New Zealand in the final of the Cricket World Cup.
     Captain Michael Clarke carried the World Cup trophy and, as the players mounted the stage in front of thousands of fans at open-air Federation Square, they smiled wanly and waved to the crowd.
     Clarke was asked what the over-riding emotion was on the day after Australia had achieved its fifth World Cup and he grinned and said: "We're all a bit hung over to be honest."
     It had been a late night. Australian newspapers and websites ran photographs Monday of coach Darren Lehmann and players, still in team uniform, holding the trophy on a hotel balcony as the sun rose over Melbourne.

Bleary-eyed Australians celebrate World Cup win

The front-page headline of New Zealand's largest newspaper reads "You've done us proud," and that seems to sum up the nation's mood after the Black Caps thrilled and inspired during eight straight World Cup victories before losing to Australia in the final.
     The New Zealand Herald today dedicated its first five pages exclusively to cricket coverage, including some advice on how to cope with losing.
     Yet the loss didn't have the same sting for New Zealanders as previous losses in its favored sport of rugby. When current world champions the All Blacks have lost in previous rugby World Cup campaigns, it has elicited a kind of collective national mourning.
     But the cricket team's runaway success this year came as a pleasant surprise to fans who have suffered through decades of inconsistent and disappointing results. A few months ago, few people anywhere would have picked the Black Caps to be contesting the final.
     Still, losing to Australia in any kind of sporting event is 

New Zealand reacts to World Cup loss: 'You've done us proud'

Organizers of a soccer match in the US capital apologized to El Salvador today for playing the wrong national anthem before an exhibition game against Argentina.
	Salvadoran team members looked confused when what was supposed to their anthem blared from loudspeakers at FedEx Field last night. Several slowly dropped their hands from their chests. Many of the Salvadorans in the crowd whistled in disgust.
	CMS Sports expressed regret over the "unfortunate incident" and took "full responsibility for this honest mistake." The company did not say which music was played in place of El Salvador's anthem.
	"This was not done with malicious intentions," it added, saying it would take steps to prevent this from happening again.
	Salvadoran coach Albert Roca made no reference to the anthem mix-up after the match. Messages were not immediately returned from the Salvadoran Embassy in Washington and CONCACAF, the regional soccer body for North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Apology for wrong anthem for El Salvador before game in US

Boko Haram fighters attacked poll stations in northeast Nigeria and a governor demanded elections be canceled in an oil-rich southern state today as the count started for a presidential election too close to call.
	Two electoral workers were killed yesterday in Boko Haram's campaign to disrupt the elections, chairman Attahiru Jega of the Independent National Electoral Commission told reporters.
	Voting continued in certain areas today after technical glitches with new biometric card readers prevented some people from casting ballots yesterday.
	The high-stakes contest to govern Africa's richest and most populous nation has come down to a critically close contest between President Goodluck Jonathan, a 57-year-old Christian from the south, and former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari, 72, from the predominantly Muslim north. Results are expected by late yesterday.
	If there is no clear winner, a runoff must be held.
	Suspected Boko Haram extremists attacked polling stations and ...

Nigerians vote Sunday despite violence, technical hitches

The West African countries hit hardest by Ebola are ramping up efforts to eradicate the deadly disease using lockdowns, restrictions on burials and a warning to survivors about the potential dangers of unprotected sex.
	The region's Ebola outbreak has killed more than 10,000 people since cases were first recorded more than a year ago, with most of the dead coming from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
	Sierra Leone, which has seen the most cases, imposed a three-day lockdown that officials hoped would help the country get "total control" over Ebola. The lockdown was expected to conclude today.
	Neighboring Guinea could soon be holding its own lockdowns after President Alpha Conde announced that emergency steps would be "reinforced" for a 45-day period in five districts in the west of the country.
	All burials in the affected areas will need to be secured by Red Cross or security forces, and all dead bodies will be systematically tested, Conde said in an address on state television ...

3 West African countries increase fight to end Ebola

According to current and former intelligence officials, the National Security Agency considered abandoning its secret programme to collect and store American calling records in the months before leaker Edward Snowden revealed the practice.
	Some officials believed the costs outweighed the programme's counterterrorism benefits.
	Even after the leak and the collective surprise around the world, NSA leaders strongly defended the phone records program to Congress and the public, but without disclosing the internal debate.
	The behind-the-scenes NSA concerns, which haven't been reported before, could be relevant as Congress decides whether to renew or modify the phone records collection when the law authorizing it expires in June.

AP

AP

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