A plaza in this Arizona town will light up with candles today in memory of a hometown woman taken hostage by Islamic State militants.
	Kayla Mueller's death was confirmed earlier this month by her family and the US government. The Islamic State group claimed she died in a Jordanian airstrike, but the Pentagon rejected that, saying it doesn't know how she was killed.
	Local churches and community groups organised the candlelight memorial to reflect on Mueller's life and work as an international aid worker.
	It will feature a song Mueller's mother used to sing to her as a child, "He Who Began a Good Work in You," and the choir from Tri-City Prep College High School, where Mueller graduated in 2007.
	Mueller's friends will be accepting canned food and money to support the needy.
	From Prescott, Mueller helped raise awareness of HIV and AIDS, and volunteered for the overnight shift at a women's shelter.
	She protested genocide in Darfur while she attended Northern Arizona University in ...

Memorial to honor US woman held hostage by Islamic State

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Lance Armstrong pleaded guilty to careless driving for hitting two parked cars with his SUV in Aspen, a crash his girlfriend originally tried to take the blame for, a prosecutor confirmed today.
	Armstrong entered his plea by mail on Friday under a plea agreement with prosecutors, closing the case and avoiding a court appearance. Two other charges, failing to report an accident and speeding too fast for conditions, were dismissed under the agreement, which was first reported by the Aspen Daily News.
	Court records show Armstrong paid USD 238.50 to cover court fees and a USD 150 traffic fine.
	Armstrong's girlfriend, Anna Hansen, initially told police she had been driving home from an Aspen Art Museum party December 28 when she lost control of Armstrong's GMC Yukon on icy roads, hitting the cars.
	She said she drove because "Lance had a little bit to drink," according to police reports.
	Detectives later interviewed Hansen, who eventually told them Armstrong was driving but the couple .

Lance Armstrong pleads guilty to careless driving in Aspen

A former prisoner at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from Australia today won a legal challenge to his terrorism conviction before a military court.
	The US Court of Military Commission Review struck down the March 2007 conviction of David Hicks -- who took part in an attack on Indian forces -- in a unanimous ruling that reverses what had been one of the government's few successes in prosecuting prisoners at Guantanamo.
	Attorney Wells Dixon said he immediately called Hicks' attorney in Australia, where it was the middle of the night, to pass on the news to his client.
"David is aware of the decision and he is thrilled," Dixon said. "He is free to live his life without this conviction hanging over his head."
	Hicks, 39, pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorism. It was a plea bargain in which all but nine months of his seven-year sentence was suspended and he was allowed to return home by the end of that year.
	In 2014, an appeal's court ruled that material ..

Court nixes Guantanamo conviction of Australian ex-detainee

Pope Francis walked in a solemn Ash Wednesday procession between churches on Rome's ancient Aventine Hill, calling on people to humbly remember their human limits as faithful began their annual penitential Lenten period.
	Francis, carrying his pastoral staff, chanted prayers along with other participants during the few minutes' walk down the street.
	He wore a purple cloak, in keeping with the somber Lenten mood as Catholics spiritually prepare for Easter, which falls on April 5 this year.
	The pope lowered his head so a prelate could dab ashes on his head during the ceremony inside St Sabina's Basilica, a church which dates to the early 5th century.
	The ashes symbolise mortality.
	Then Francis, along with other churchmen, sprinkled ashes on the foreheads of other faithful, motioning the sign of the cross with their fingers as they did so.
	The ritual of the ashes was a "reminder of the truth of human existence," Francis said in his homily. "We are limited creatures, sinners always ..

Pope walks in Ash Wednesday procession between Rome churches

Military chiefs from 26 nations involved in the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group began a two-day meeting in Saudi Arabia today, Saudi media reported.
	The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the meeting was aimed at giving military leaders an opportunity to exchange views about the fight against the extremist group, which controls large parts of Iraq and Syria.
	The head of the US military's Central Command, Gen Lloyd Austin, was taking part in the meeting and earlier met with Interior Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
	The Arab countries of Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have taken part in coalition air raids on the IS group.
	Qatar and Kuwait have provided bases for coalition partners. Other nations taking part include Canada, France, Germany, the UK, Australia and the Netherlands.
	The SPA said the military chiefs would also discuss the civil war in Syria, where more than 220,000 people have ...

US-led coalition against Islamic State meets in Saudi Arabia

Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today vowed to return to politics following his stunning defeat in last month's presidential election and said he may contest for prime minister later this year.
	Rajapaksa told a rally of tens of thousands of supporters urging him to return that he is unable to ignore their wishes.
	Rajapaksa was defeated by former ally Maithripala Sirisena in the January 8 election.
	His supporters say Rajapaksa, who ended a decades-long civil war during his nine-year rule, must return because the new government has endangered the country's unity by being lenient toward ethnic minority Tamils.
	"What we are experiencing today is not a defeat but a result of a conspiracy," he said in a message read out at the rally. "I say firmly that I am in anyway unable to ignore the wishes of those of you who think about the country and are committed for the country."
	Rajapaksa's supporters asked him to contest for prime minister in elections likely to be held in ...

Sri Lanka's ex-President Rajapaksa vows political return

Palestinian officials laid the cornerstone today for the rebuilding of a Gaza residential high-rise flattened in last summer's war between the Islamic militant group Hamas and Israel.
	The ceremony by Gaza's public works minister was a symbolic move to boost the spirits of the nearly 500 residents of Zafer 4 Tower, which was hit by two bombs from the air during fighting in August.
	The high-rise was evacuated after Israeli warnings and before it was destroyed. One of the residents, 32-year-old Ahmed Tanira, said he left the building with his wife, two children, mother and aunt at the time, thinking that the Israelis may hit a specific apartment -- not topple the entire, 11-story building.
	Hundreds of buildings were damaged in the 50-day war, which killed about 2,200 Palestinians and 72 Israelis.
	"It was a very big shock," he recalled. He said the cornerstone ceremony was "a glimpse of hope."
	Tanira said he had just bought and moved into the apartment, 40 days before the war erupted 

Palestinians lay cornerstone for rebuilding Gaza high-rise

Greece says it will present to its creditors by tomorrow a proposal aimed to save bailout talks from collapse, as time is running out for a deal that would keep the country solvent and within the euro currency bloc.
	Germany, the main European creditor, was quick to say it was deeply skeptical, while the European Commission said it would like to see precisely what the proposal entailed.
	Greek government spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis said Athens' plan would involve extending the 240 billion euro international loan agreement that has kept the country afloat since 2010  but, apparently, without the required spending cuts and tax hikes.
	"We believe the terms of the bailout cannot continue by any means," Sakellaridis told private Antenna TV. Officials said the proposal would be sent by late tomorrow.
	Greek shares closed 1 per cent up in afternoon trading, after days of losses, and the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.5 per cent.
	The budget measures have become a major sticking point at this 

Greece to present creditors with proposal, Germany skeptical

One of six Bosnian immigrants accused of funneling money and military supplies to terror groups in Iraq and Syria faces a hearing today to determine if she must remain jailed until trial.
	Sedina Unkic Hodzic of Missouri and her husband, Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, are accused of using Facebook, PayPal, Western Union and the US Postal Service to coordinate shipments of money and supplies to groups including Islamic State and Nusra Front, an al-Qaida-affiliated rebel group. They have pleaded not guilty.
	A detention hearing for Ramiz Hodzic is Friday.
	Last week, a federal judge in Chicago refused to release Mediha Medy Salkicevic of Illinois. Detention hearings are pending for Armin Harcevic, Jasminka Ramic and Nihad Rosic.

US woman accused of supplying terrorists faces hearing

Nine people burned to death when the bus they were riding on hit a light post and burst into flames, police said today.
	Police inspector Danielle Peres said the crash occurred Wednesday morning when the driver lost control of the bus on a rain-soaked road in the Rio de Janeiro district of Sao Goncalo.
	She said the vehicle then hit the light post, loosening a power transformer that then fell on the bus and exploded, "causing the fire that destroyed the vehicle."
	Another nine people who survived the crash were rushed to nearby hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, she said. Peres said police were trying to determine if the bus driver was speeding when the accident occurred.
	"I heard a loud explosion and I ran out of my house to see what had happened," the website of the O Globo newspaper quoted Miguel Barbosa as saying. He said that employees of a nearby gasoline station helped him rescue four passengers.
	"But unfortunately most of the other passengers were unable to get ...

Bus crash sparks fire on bus, kills 9

Setting off fireworks to celebrate Chinese New Year may be a centuries-old tradition, but the country's authorities are urging people to light fewer of them this week as cities fight a losing battle against relentless, toxic air pollution.
	Dozens of cites in China have outright banned lighting fireworks today and tomorrow, while others have reduced the number of fireworks vendors allowed to operate.
	In Beijing, people received text messages from their phone companies advising against setting off fireworks while local government-run media repeated the warnings in newspapers and on websites.
	Still, the state-run China Daily warned today that Beijing's clear skies would become heavily polluted by the night due to fireworks, reaching the highest level possible on a scale measuring air pollution.

China urges fewer fireworks during New Year celebrations

The Vatican did something it has never done before by giving a group of US gay and lesbian Catholics VIP seats at Pope Francis' weekly general audience.
	But in a sign that the welcome wasn't all it could have been, the New Ways Ministry pilgrims were identified on the Vatican's list of attendees only as a "group of lay people accompanied by a Sister of Loreto."
	And not even that got announced at today's audience: When a monsignor read out the different groups of pilgrims attending the audience, he skipped that reference altogether. Francis didn't mention them either.
	New Ways Ministry officials were nevertheless pleased that they had been invited to sit up front by Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, the prefect of the papal household who dispenses the coveted reserved tickets.

Gay Catholics get Vatican welcome, but no papal shout-out

Danish police say the gunman behind weekend shootings at a free speech seminar and a synagogue in Copenhagen used an assault rifle and two hand guns in the attacks.
	Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, 22, was killed in firefight with police early Sunday after a shooting spree that authorities say may have been inspired by the terror attacks in Paris last month.
	The Copenhagen Police confirmed his identity late yesterday, after several media, including The Associated Press, had already confirmed it through sources.
	In the first attack, El-Hussein killed a Danish filmmaker outside the building hosting the free speech seminar Saturday with a single shot from a M95 assault rifle, police spokesman Joergen Skov said.
	El-Hussein then sprayed the entrance with 27 bullets, wounding three police officers inside.
	That type of weapon was used by the Danish military between 1995 and 2010, said Rene Gyldensten, a spokesman for the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization. It is also used 

Copenhagen gunman used assault rifle, 2 handguns in attacks

Ukraine has pulled most of its troops out of Debaltseve, the epicentre of recent fighting in war-torn eastern Ukraine, the president confirmed today.
	The Russia-backed separatists reported taking hundreds of soldiers captive as they continued their onslaught on the strategic railroad junction.
	Associated Press reporters saw several dozen Ukrainian troops retreating with their weapons from Debaltseve today morning, covered in dirt and looking exhausted.
	Some were driving to the nearby town of Artemivsk in trucks while several others, unshaven and visibly upset, were on foot. One soldier spoke of heavy government losses, while another said they had not been able to get food for days because of the rebel shelling.
	"We're very happy to be here," the hungry soldier told the AP. "We were praying all the time and already said goodbye to our lives a hundred times."
	The army has withdrawn out 80 per cent of its troops from the town and two more columns have yet to leave, Ukrainian ...

Ukraine troops withdrawing from embattled Debaltseve

Iran is concerned by a Russian cybersecurity firm's report suggesting a new family of malicious programs and worms is infecting computers there and elsewhere in the world, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said today.
	Without naming the United States as the source of the malware, the report by Kaspersky Lab said one of the programs has elements in common with the so-called Stuxnet worm, which the New York Times and Washington Post have said was developed by the US and Israeli governments to disrupt Iranian nuclear facilities.
	Speaking to journalists, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham suggested countries affected should talk about fighting the malware.
	"The Islamic Republic of Iran pays great attention to this matter because we are one of the targets of (cyber) espionage," she said.
	A news website for the country's parliament quoted Mohammad Reza Mohseni Sani, the head of parliamentary committee on internal security, as saying the US has entered in to cyber war to prove its .

Iran spokeswoman says it concerned by cybersecurity report

The chief political commentator for The Daily Telegraph has resigned over the British newspaper's coverage of the HSBC scandal, alleging it was part of a pattern to downplay critical coverage of the bank in order to preserve lucrative advertising contracts.
	Peter Oborne accused the newspaper of carrying out a form of "fraud on its readers" by providing such limited coverage of leaked records showing that the bank helped wealthy clients avoid paying taxes.
	Oborne alleges in an article on the website Open Democracy that readers "needed a microscope" to find the Telegraph coverage.
	The Telegraph countered that the "the distinction between advertising and our award-winning editorial operation has always been fundamental to our business. We utterly refute any allegation to the contrary."
	HSBC declined comment.

Daily Telegraph commentator resigns over HSBC coverage

Poland says it will pay 230,000 euros (USD 262,000) in compensation to two terror suspects held at a CIA secret prison that Poland agreed to host from 2002-2003.
	Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna made the statement today after the European Court of Human Rights rejected Poland's appeal of its earlier ruling.
	The court ruled in July that Poland violated the rights of two terror suspects Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah by allowing the CIA to imprison them and by failing to stop the "torture and inhuman or degrading treatment" of the inmates. The two suspects sued Poland and the court ordered Poland to pay compensation.
	Schetyna said Poland will abide by the ruling because "we are a law-abiding country," but questioned how the money would be used.

Poland to pay USD 262,000 to inmates held at secret CIA prison

A judicial official in Egypt has denied that the country's toppled Islamist president and a deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood have been referred to a military tribunal.
	The official said late yesterday that prosecutors initially named ousted President Mohammed Morsi and Khairat el-Shater, a senior leader of the Brotherhood, as defendants in a trial over violence in August 2013 in the city of Suez. The official says that announcement was made in error, as military prosecutors did not charge Morsi or el-Shater among the 199 defendants.
	The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to brief journalists.
	The violence came after the military's July 2013 ouster of Morsi, who was immediately detained. Authorities later detained el-Shater.
	The Suez violence killed 31 people.

Official denies Egypt's Morsi referred to military tribunal

Turkish lawmakers and media reports say five legislators were hurt in a brawl that broke out in Parliament, during which chairs allegedly were hurled and lawmakers were attacked with the speaker's gavel and bell.
	The state-run Anadolu Agency said the fighting erupted early today as opposition legislators attempted to delay the start of a debate on a contentious security bill that would give police greater search and arrest powers.
	The fighting took place during a closed-door session after opposition parties submitted several unrelated motions in their bid to obstruct the bill.
	Ertugrul Kurkcu of the pro-Kurdish party said stenographers' chairs were thrown and two legislators were hit with the gavel and bell.
	Two of the legislators were hospitalized while Kurkcu and two others were treated at Parliament's infirmary.

5 legislators hurt in Turkish Parliament brawl

A former North Dakota college football player has been given probation for stalking billionaire David Geffen.
	Jamie Ralph Kuntz, 21, pleaded no contest February 9 to one misdemeanor count of stalking and was ordered to stay 180 meters away from Geffen for 10 years, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles district attorney.
	Kuntz was charged with felony stalking and five counts of violating a restraining order to stay away from Geffen's homes in Beverly Hills, California, and Malibu, California, after being convicted of trespassing on the entertainment mogul's property.
	Defense lawyer David Wohl said Kuntz got into trouble for showing up at Geffen's homes after their short-term relationship ended.
	Wohl said he thought Kuntz would have prevailed at trial, but had already been in jail more than three months because he couldn't afford the USD 150,000 bail and didn't want to spend more time awaiting his day in court.
	"It's celebrity justice in reverse," Wohl said. "The ...

Ex-college football player admits stalking Hollywood mogul

A soft-spoken beagle really raised a ruckus. Wagging her tail a mile a minute, Miss P became America's top dog by winning best in show in a big surprise at the Westminster Kennel Club.
	At 4, Miss P is a grand-niece of Uno in 2008, the immensely popular hound barked and bayed his way to becoming the only previous beagle to win at the most prominent U.S. Dog show.
	Miss P, however, didn't let out a peep in the ring.
	"She is a princess," handler Will Alexander said. A quiet one, too. Not your normal, everyday, vocal beagle, as most owners can attest.
	Instead, it was the packed crowd at Madison Square Garden that seemed to loudly gasp when judge David Merriam picked her in a dog show world shocker.
	Only a half-hour after her win did the 15-inch Miss P, a breed known as "big beagles," start making a noise. And that was only because her people were giving her treats.
	The best-of-seven final ring was full of favorites. Matisse, a Portuguese water dog that's a cousin of President Barack .

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