Libyan officials say the death toll from suicide bombings in an eastern town has reached at least 45.
	The deaths came in three suicide bombings in the town of Qubba. In the deadliest, an attacker driving an ambulance packed with explosives rammed into a gas station where motorists were lined up, army spokesman Mohammed Hegazi said.
	Two other bombers detonated vehicles next to the house of the parliament speaker and the security headquarters in Qubba, about 30 kilometers from Darna, a stronghold of Libya's Islamic State branch.
	Two security officials say at least 45 people were killed.
	They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Government spokesman Mohammed Bazaza put the toll at 42 but said it would likely rise.

Libyan officials : At least 45 killed in suicide bombings

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One year ago, Ihor Zastavnyi was shot three times and lost a leg while taking part in demonstrations that he hoped would lead to a better Ukraine.
	Today he faces a country that is racked by war, struggling with corruption and pleading to the world for financial help while still stinging from Russia's annexation Crimea.
	Yet, reflecting on the situation he still expresses a level of faith.
	"All this was not in vain. It's impossible even to think like this," he said.
	"When a person wants to give everything and devote himself to something, as did the Heavenly Hundred, it can't be for nothing," he said, referring to the term that Ukrainians have adopted for those who died during months of protests in 2013-14 that led to the ouster of Ukraine's Russia-friendly president Viktor Yanukovych.
	The grisliest day was a year ago today, when more than 50 people were killed by sniper fire on the capital's main square, known as Maidan.
	Various sources count the total number of Heavenly Hundreds .

Troubled Ukraine marks year since protest bloodbath in Kiev

Pope Francis has called for Ukraine's cease-fire to be respected amid fresh reports by the Ukrainian military that separatist rebels were still firing on government positions and that Russia was sending in more tanks.
	Francis delivered the plea for peace today during a meeting with Ukrainian bishops visiting Rome.
	He said he was praying for peace "and that all interested parties apply the agreements that were reached by common accord and that the principle of international law is respected."
	He said in particular he hoped that the cease-fire holds and that all commitments to prevent new violence are abided by.

Pope calls for Ukraine cease-fire to be respected

Police say a crowded bus overturned on a toll road on Indonesia's main island of Java and 16 people were killed.
	Java police Lt. Col. Pungki Bhuwana says about 50 other passengers were injured in the crash today on Jatingaleh turnpike near Semarang, the capital of Central Java province.
	The bus ran out of control and rolled over on a sharp bend, hitting a road divider before ending up on a gorge wall.
	It was carrying members of a Quran recitation group back from the Central Java town of Pekalongan to Bojonegoro in East Java.

Crowded bus overturns in western Indonesia, killing 16

A parliamentary report has accused the British government and European diplomats of "sleepwalking" into the Ukraine crisis.
	In a report published today, the House of Lords' EU Committee said it found a "catastrophic misreading" of mood by Europe ahead of the standoff between Russia and Western countries over Ukraine.
	The committee said Britain "has not been as active or as visible as it could have been" in trying to resolve the crisis, and that foreign ministries in Britain and other European countries were poorly equipped to draw up an "authoritative response."
	It also said that for too long the EU had been optimistic about Russia's democratic development, and as a result Europe failed to realize the depth of Russian hostility when the EU opened talks on Ukraine in 2013.

Parliament: UK, EU 'sleepwalked' into Ukraine crisis

Earth's past, present and future come together here on the northern peninsula of Antarctica, the wildest, most desolate and mysterious of its continents.
	Clues to answering humanity's most basic questions are locked in this continental freezer the size of the United States and half of Canada: Where did we come from? Are we alone in the universe? What's the fate of our warming planet?
	The first explorers set foot in Antarctica 194 years ago hunting 19th century riches of whale and seal oil and fur, turning tides red with blood. Since then, the fist-shaped continent has proven a treasure chest for scientists trying to determine everything from the creation of the cosmos to how high seas will rise with global warming.
	"It's a window out to the universe and in time," said Kelly Falkner, polar program chief for the U.S. National Science Foundation.
	For a dozen days in January, in the middle of the chilly Antarctic summer, The Associated Press followed scientists from different fields ..

Antarctica: Mystery continent holds key to mankind's future

The winter's deep freeze has transformed Niagara Falls into an icy spectacle, encasing the trees around it into crystal shells and drawing tourists.
	The Niagara River keeps flowing below the ice cover, so the falls aren't completely frozen over. But the massive ice buildup near the brink has become a tourist magnet for the second straight year after several relatively mild winters.
	Visitors have been flocking to Niagara Falls State Park, next to the American Falls, one of three waterfalls that make up the natural attraction. The cold has created a thick coating of ice and snow on every surface near the falls, including railings, trees and boulders.
	Things aren't expected to thaw out soon: Temperatures dipped to -22 Celsius in Niagara Falls this morning.

'Frozen' Niagara Falls drawing tourists to winter spectacle

At least two people were killed and Somalia's deputy prime minister is among some officials who were wounded in a suicide bomb attack today on a hotel near the presidential palace in the capital, a Somali police official said.
	One person rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the gate of the hotel, and another suicide bomber then entered the hotel and blew himself up, Capt. Mohammed Hussein told The Associated Press.
	Al-Shabab, an Islamic insurgent group, claimed the responsibility for the attack, according to the group's radio station, Andulus.
	Two bloodied bodies were lying outside the hotel in central Mogadishu, as soldiers cordoned off the area and fired bullets into the air to disperse approaching crowds.
	Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arte was rushed to a hospital, and was among several other high-ranking government officials at the hotel at the time of the attack, Hussein said.
	"They don't care about life, humans and Muslims," said an elderly woman sobbing beside the 

Somali deputy PM wounded, 2 dead in hotel suicide bombings

A massive car bombing struck an eastern Libyan town under control of the country's internationally recognized government, killing at least 30 people today, an army spokesman said.
	However, there were conflicting reports on the blast in Qubba, located about 30 kilometers from the city of Darna, a stronghold of Libya's branch of the Islamic State group, which has been gaining a foothold in this North African nation, far from the battlefield of Iraq and Syria.
	According to army spokesman Mohammed Hegazi, the car bomb exploded next to a gas station in the town as motorists lined up to fill their tanks. The explosion also wounded scores of people, Hegazi told The Associated Press. He added that the gas station is close to the town's security headquarters.
	But a security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said that the gas station blast was only one in a string of attacks in Qubba on Friday. He said one other attack targeted 

Car bomb in eastern Libya kills at least 30, official says

Organizers of this Sunday's Tokyo Marathon have promised increased security following the slaying of two Japanese hostages by the Islamic State group.
	"We have held anti-terrorism drills and have worked closely with the police agency so we are confident of delivering a safe race," said race president Koji Sakurai.
	About 30,000 runners are expected to take part in the race through the streets of Tokyo. Police will be among those runners as part of new security measures.
	Islamist militants threatened Japanese people everywhere after the slaying of two Japanese hostages last month.
	The Tokyo race is one the World Marathon Majors along with Boston, Chicago, London, Berlin and New York.
	The Boston Marathon in 2013 was the target of a terrorist attack that killed three people.
	The Tokyo race will include 64 "Running Police" officers, aged in their 20s to 40s, who will watch for suspicious movements or behavior. They will wear white vests bearing the word "POLICE" and will each run ...

Tokyo Marathon ups security after Islamic State killings

Suspected insurgents in southern Thailand today detonated a car bomb that wounded 13 people and damaged buildings, police said.
	Two other bombs were defused.
	The bomb was hidden in a pickup truck that was parked in front of a karaoke bar in a commercial district in Narathiwat province, police Col Manit Yimsaai said. He said the explosion wounded two soldiers and 11 civilians, one of them seriously.
	Manit said the blast just after the lunch break also damaged rows of restaurants and shops in the predominantly Buddhist neighbourhood.
	He said the pickup was reported to have been stolen on Thailand's southern border with Malaysia and had been used in a previous rebel attack.
	Suspected militants also threw a pipe bomb at a restaurant 50 meters (yards) from the first explosion, but the improvised device did not go off and was defused, police said.
	Manit said an explosive ordnance disposal unit used water canon to successfully destroy another explosive device hidden in a motorcycle in .

Car bomb hits insurgency-plagued southern Thailand; 13 hurt

Britain's electronic spying agency, working with the US National Security Agency, hacked into the networks of a Dutch company to steal codes that allow both governments to seamlessly eavesdrop on mobile phones worldwide, according to the documents given to journalists by Edward z.
	A story about the documents posted yesterday on the website The Intercept offered no details on how the intelligence agencies employed the eavesdropping capability, providing no evidence, for example, that they misused it to spy on people who weren't valid intelligence targets.
	But the surreptitious operation against the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phone data chips is bound to stoke anger around the world.
	It fuels an impression that the NSA and its British counterpart will do whatever they deem necessary to further their surveillance prowess, even if it means stealing information from law-abiding Western companies.
	The targeted company, Netherlands-based Gemalto, makes "subscriber identity ...

Snowden leak: NSA helped British steal cell phone codes

A Ukrainian military spokesman says separatist rebels fired on Ukrainian positions nearly 50 times over the past day, despite a cease-fire that was called into effect five days ago.
	Lt. Col. Anatoliy Stelmakh said today that the village of Kurakhovo, west of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, was hit by fire from Grad rockets and that the village of Berdyansk near the port city of Mariupol was hit by artillery and mortar fire during the night.
	After Ukrainian forces withdrew this week from the city of Debaltseve, concern has risen about whether rebels would aim to take Mariupol. The city lies on the Sea of Azov between mainland Russia and the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula.

Ukraine says rebel attacks continue despite cease-fire

Two of the most powerful members of the UN Security Council are rejecting Libya's call to lift a UN arms embargo so it can defend itself against the Islamic State group, said that the chaotic country needs a national unity government first.
	Libya's foreign minister told an emergency council meeting Wednesday that lifting the embargo is necessary as the militant group establishes a presence in northern Africa and moves closer to Europe. Alarm soared after a video released over the weekend showed the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians there.
	"If we fail to have arms provided to us, this can only play into the hands of extremists," Mohammed al Dairi said. But the United States and Britain are openly worried about allowing more weapons into a country that has two separate governments, multiple militant groups and a high risk of weapons falling into unwanted hands.
	Both countries, as permanent members of the 15-seat council, can use their veto to block any proposed action.
	"The 

US, Britain say Libya needs government before weapons

The minority leader of the US 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.
	Cuban state media say Rep. Nancy Pelosi and eight colleagues yesterday discussed Cuban economic reforms, US-Cuba relations and congressional efforts to lift the U.S. Trade embargo on Cuba. A spokesman for Pelosi says her office has no immediate comment on the meeting.
	US officials say Pelosi's delegation is the first to meet with Diaz-Canel. Some previous delegations have met with Castro.
	The meeting ended a two-day trip to Cuba by the delegation that included meetings with Cuban diplomatic, agriculture and trade officials, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Cuba and private businesspeople.

US Democrat delegation meets with Cuban vice president

Two powerful cyclones smashed into northern Australia today, knocking out power to thousands, tearing roofs and doors off houses and prompting coastal residents to flee their homes, but appeared to have spared the region earlier predictions of a "calamity."
	The twin storms, dubbed the "cyclone sandwich" by locals, struck within hours of each other, about 2,500 kilometers apart.
	Cyclone Lam hit a sparsely populated stretch of the Northern Territory, while the more powerful and potentially dangerous Cyclone Marcia crossed over small towns along the east coast of Queensland state, packing wind gusts up to 285 kilometers an hour.
	Despite the storms' ferocious winds and drenching rains, no injuries had been reported by this afternoon, and both systems were steadily weakening as they moved over land.
	"We are very, very thankful that we have avoided the worst of what could have been an absolute catastrophe," Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
	Marcia was originally predicted .

2 strong cyclones hit remote parts of northern Australia

After finding his scoring touch in Germany, Cristiano Ronaldo is ready to renew his scintillating duel with Lionel Messi in the Spanish league.
     Ronaldo ended a rare three-game slump without a goal to help Real Madrid win 2-0 at Schalke in the Champions League.
     "It is clear that Cristiano Ronaldo lives to score goals," Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "It's never a problem for us when he doesn't score for a couple of games. But he, of course, minds. I believe we are back on the right track."
     Madrid leads Barcelona by one point in the league before visiting a modest Elche side on Sunday.
     Barcelona hosts Malaga on Saturday, three days before it travels to play Manchester City in the Champions League.
     Not so long ago Ronaldo was running away with the Spanish league's individual scoring title for the season.
     Through 15 matches, Ronaldo had already tallied the impressive haul of 25 goals, while Messi - his closest chaser - was far behind with 13.
     Since ..

Messi challenges Ronaldo in race for Spain's top scorer

Out of his comfort zone, and being quizzed on football politics at Wembley Stadium rather than playing there, Luis Figo made his pitch to run the world game.
     Despite little experience of FIFA, beyond playing in World Cups and winning its 2001 player of the year award, Figo believes he is equipped to clean up soccer's scandal-scarred governing body.
     "FIFA deserves something different," Figo said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Something has to change with the image right now of the organisation."
     Press the former Portugal winger, though, to go beyond generalisations to explain why Sepp Blatter's 17-year reign should end and he is more guarded.
     In the four-candidate vote in May, the 78-year-old Blatter is seeking a fifth four-year term after reversing his previous decision to step aside in May.
     "Mr. Blatter has done in all these years very positive things to football," Figo said in an executive box overlooking the pitch at England's national stadium. 

Figo proposes expanded World Cup, spreading more FIFA cash

June Fairchild, who appeared in more than a dozen movies including Cheech and Chong's drug movie "Up in Smoke" before real addictions left her homeless in Los Angeles, has died.
	She was 68.
	Her friend, Dawna Sodders, told the Los Angeles Times that Fairchild died of liver cancer on Tuesday at a convalescent home.
	Fairfield's work included 1974's "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" starring Clint Eastwood, and as an Ajax-snorting druggie in "Up in Smoke."
	Fairchild once dated Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night and is credited with suggesting the group's name.
	Drugs and alcohol derailed her career in the 1970s. The Times said she spent time in rehab and jail and was robbed and raped while living on the street before going clean.

Actress-turned-addict June Fairchild dies at 68

A man who was previously charged with lying to the FBI is now facing additional counts alleging he tried to provide support to the Islamic State group.
	A federal grand jury indicted 19-year-old Hamza Ahmed on one count of conspiring to provide material support to the terror group and one count of attempting to provide material support.
	Court documents say Ahmed and three others took a bus from Minnesota to New York City in November and planned to travel overseas but were stopped. Ahmed was arrested this month and is in custody after a judge said comments he posted on Twitter amounted to threats.
	Authorities say a handful of Minnesotans have travelled to Syria to fight with militants.
	A message left with Ahmed's attorney yesterday wasn't immediately returned yesterday.

US man accused of conspiracy to support Islamic State

Last month was the second warmest January on record globally, behind 2007, with temperatures 0.77 Celsius above the average for the 20th century, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
	Meteorologists calculated that the United States in January was 1.6 Celsius warmer than normal, making it the 24th warmest January since 1880, even though there were record snowfalls in parts of the US northeast.
	China had its warmest January since that nation started keeping records in 1961 with last month 1.9 degrees Celsius warmer than normal.
	Some areas in southern Siberia and far eastern Russia were more than 5 degrees Celsius warmer than normal for January.
	Parts of Norway were 5 to 7 degrees Celsius warmer than normal, while Eastern Austria was 3.8 degrees Celsius warmer than normal.
	Northern Australia, eastern Canada, and parts of the southern and eastern United States were cooler than normal, but not too much cooler.

AP

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