A North Carolina-based firm says it employed the three military contractors who were shot to death earlier this week in Afghanistan.
	Praetorian Standard Inc of Fayetteville identified the men slain Thursday as Walter D Fisher of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Jason D Landphair of Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Mathew E Fineran of Summerville, South Carolina.
	The release issued yesterday by Thomas Lujan, an attorney for the company, says another employee, Bradley A James of Atlanta, was wounded but expected to survive.
	The company says it's meeting with the men's families.
	The Pentagon has said the three Defense Department contractors were killed at the Kabul airport by a man in an Afghan uniform.

3 men shot in Afghanistan worked for US firm

PTI Automatic

The president of Chile has sent legislation to Congress proposing to loosen the socially conservative South American nation's total ban on abortions.
	The bill introduced by President Michelle Bachelet would decriminalise abortions in three types of cases: malformation of a foetus, a pregnancy posing a threat to the life of a woman carrying a foetus, and conception caused by rape.
	Chile is one of the few countries in the world that does not allow abortion for any reason and Bachelet's proposal is likely to face an arduous debate in Congress, where several opposition legislators and even some members of the president's New Majority bloc have already announced they will fight the change.
	Bachelet announced last May that she would push such legislation. She noted that therapeutic abortions were allowed during the 1973-90 dictatorship of Gen Augusto Pinochet.
	According to figures released by the president, about 16,500 women are hospitalised each year in Chile due to life-threatening ..

Chile's president pushes to ease ban on all abortions

A series of bombings in and around the Iraqi capital killed 14 people today and a senior Kurdish commander died in clashes with Islamic State militants in northern Iraq.
	A bomb exploded near a sheep market Saturday morning in the town of Madain, about 20 kilometers (14 miles) southeast of Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 11, police officials said.
	A second blast struck near a string of car repair shops in central Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 10. Authorities said another explosion also struck an army patrol in the town of Taji, just north of Baghdad, killing two soldiers and wounding four.
	At night, a bomb blast near a cafe in Baghdad's district of Ameen killed two people and wounded nine others. Also, police said a bomb attached to a minibus exploded in Baghdad's southeastern district of Zafaraniya, killing three passengers and wounding six others.
	Medics confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on 	condition of anonymity because they were not ...

Officials say bombings kill 14 people around Iraq's capital

A NASA satellite lifted off today with the hope it will transmit data that will help the world do a better job of preparing for floods and droughts.
	The satellite is on a three-year mission to track the amount of water locked in soil, which may help residents in low-lying regions brace for floods or farmers get ready for drought conditions.
	The Delta 2 rocket carrying the Soil Moisture Active Passive or SMAP satellite launched shortly before sunrise from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California's central coast. As the rocket zoomed skyward, it gave off an orange glow.
	About an hour later, the satellite successfully separated from the rocket and began unfurling its solar panels to start generating power.
	NASA launch manager Tim Dunn said there were zero launch problems with the rocket, calling the Delta 2 a "workhorse." Once the satellite reaches the desired orbit 430 miles (692 kilometers) high, engineers will spend two weeks checking out the two instruments, which will measure ...

NASA launches Earth-observing satellite

A delegation from the European Union visiting Lebanon says the EU is providing 37 million euros (USD 42 million) to help the Arab country cope with more than a million Syrian refugees.
	Christos Stylianides, the European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, made the announcement today after meeting Prime Minister Tammam Salam in Beirut.
	Stylianides later traveled to the eastern Bekaa Valley to meet Syrian refugees living in small camps.
	He told reporters in the Bekaa: "Lebanon is not alone. The European Union stands by the government and the people of Lebanon."
	The UN refugees agency says Lebanon is hosting at least 1,150,000 Syrian refugees, a quarter the size of Lebanon's own population of 4.5 million.

EU providing Lebanon USD 42 million to aid Syrian refugees

A fire at one of Russia's largest public libraries has been raging for a day, threatening to destroy thousands of rare documents.
	The Institute for Scientific Information on Social Sciences in south-west Moscow went up in flames late Friday. The emergency situations ministry said Saturday that more than 200 firefighters have been trying to extinguish the blaze ever since.
	Yuri Pivovarov, the director of the institute which holds 10 million documents and texts, described the fire as a disaster. He said in remarks on Russian television the extent of the damage was still unclear but the main storage which contained rare medieval Slavic texts didn't seem to be affected.
	Pivovarov says only a fraction of the collection has been digitalized. It wasn't immediately clear how the blaze started.

Fire devastates major Russian library, threatens rare texts

The family of longtime actress Geraldine McEwan says she has died following treatment for a stroke. She was 82.
	McEwan was known for many roles including playing the famous Agatha Christie detective Miss Marple in 12 TV movies.
	Her son and daughter said in a statement that she died yesterday after suffering a severe stroke at the end of October. They thanked staff at London's Charing Cross Hospital for their work on her behalf.
	McEwan worked for many years in theater, television and films.

British actress Geraldine McEwan dies at age 82

The daughter of late singer and entertainer Whitney Houston was found unresponsive in a bathtub today and taken to a hospital in the north Atlanta suburbs, police said.
	Bobbi Kristina Brown was found by her husband, Nick Gordon, and a friend and given cardiopulmonary resuscitation, said Officer Lisa Holland, a spokeswoman for the Roswell Police Department.
	When police arrived, they gave Brown additional care until she was taken alive to North Fulton Hospital.
	The incident remains under investigation, police said. Brown is the daughter of Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown. A representative for the family did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
	Whitney Houston was found dead in a hotel bathtub on Feb. 11, 2012, in Beverly Hills, California. The 48-year-old Houston had struggled for years with cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her behavior had become erratic.
	Authorities examining Houston's death found a dozen prescription drug bottles in the hotel suite. They ...

Whitney Houston's daughter found unresponsive in tub

More than 2 million Toyota, Chrysler and Honda vehicles are being recalled for faulty air bags that may inflate while the car is running.
	The recall includes some Acura MDX, Dodge Viper, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Honda Odyssey, Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Corolla and Toyota Avalon models made in the early 2000s.
	The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the recall is being implemented after carmakers' original attempts to fix the defects didn't work in some vehicles.
	The agency says about 1 million Toyota and Honda vehicles involved in the new recalls are also subject to a separate recall related to defective Takata air bags that could deploy with enough force to cause injury or death.
	There have been no reports of deaths or injuries related to the additional models being recalled.

Automakers recall more than 2M vehicles for faulty air bags

Police in Switzerland say four people are dead after an avalanche hit a group of skiers in the southeast of the country.
	Police in Graubuenden canton (state) say the avalanche on the slopes of the Piz Vilan mountain Saturday afternoon swept away seven members of a nine-strong group of skiers.
	Rescuers recovered three bodies and four seriously injured people, who were flown to hospitals in St Gallen, Zurich and Chur. Police say a fourth person later died at a hospital.
	There was no immediate word on what triggered the avalanche.

Swiss police: 4 dead after avalanche hits group of skiers

Danish police say four children and an adult have died in a fire which devastated a villa in southern Denmark.
	Soeren Ravn-Nielsen of the South Zealand and Lolland- Falster Police says another person has been hospitalized with burn wounds but was not in a life-threatening condition.
	Ravn-Nielsen said today the cause of the Friday evening blaze in Nakskov, 155 kilometers (96 miles) south of Copenhagen, was not immediately established but foul play was not suspected.
	Details of the victims were not immediately released.

4 children, 1 adult die in Denmark fire

Outgoing heavy-caliber fire boomed incessantly, shaking the ground and rattling windows around the besieged town.
	Residents of Debaltseve, seemingly inured to the racket, listened impassively as they mustered at the town hall on Saturday to be evacuated with as many belongings as they could carry.
	The government-held town has been without power, water and gas for at least 10 days, prompting many to flee from an intense artillery duel between government and Russian-backed separatist forces.
	Almost every one of the largely deserted streets in the center showed signs of having been struck by projectiles.
	A month of relative quiet in eastern Ukraine was shattered in early January by full-blown fighting as the separatists attempted to claw back additional territory from government hands. Rebel leaders accused Ukraine of mobilizing its forces in advance of an imminent offensive.
	Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on Saturday that 1,000 residents have been evacuated in the .

Civilians flee east Ukraine town as fighting intensifies

Chinese state media say authorities in Tibet are offering up to 300,000 yuan (USD 50,000) for tips on terrorism activities there, although there has been little public knowledge of terrorism recently in the Himalayan region where Tibetan Buddhism prevails.
	The Xinhua News Agency said today that the new rules by the Tibetan Autonomous Region's police department encourage member of the public to report any suspected terror activity, such as plotting attacks, promoting religious extremism, and transporting controlled weapons, for cash rewards.
	More than 130 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 in protest of Beijing's strict control over the region and their religion.
	Tibet also borders the Xinjiang region, where attacks blamed on Muslim separatists have left hundreds dead in the past two years.

China offers up to USD 50K in cash for terror tips in Tibet

The Islamic State group has acknowledged for the first time that its fighters have been defeated in the Syrian town of Kobani and vowed to attack the town again.
	In a video released by the pro-IS Aamaq News Agency yesterday, two fighters said the airstrikes by the US-led coalition were the main reason why IS fighters were forced to withdraw from Kobani.
	On Monday, activists and Kurdish officials said the town was almost cleared of IS fighters, who once held nearly half of the town.
	One IS fighter vowed to defeat the main Kurdish militia in Syria, the People's Protection Units known as the YPG, calling them "rats."
	The failure to capture Kobani was a major blow to the extremists. Their hopes for an easy victory dissolved into a costly siege under withering airstrikes by coalition forces and an assault by Kurdish militiamen.
	"A while ago we retreated a bit from Ayn al-Islam because of the bombardment and the killing of some brothers," said one masked fighter, using the group's ...

Islamic State fighters admit defeat in Syrian town of Kobani

A helium-filled balloon piloted by an American and a Russian landed safely off the coast of Mexico early today after an audacious, nearly trip across the Pacific Ocean that shattered two long-standing records for ballooning.
	The pilots landed 4 miles (6 kms) offshore in Baja California about 300 miles north of the popular beach destination of Cabo San Lucas, greeted by a team of balloon enthusiasts who assisted with the landing.
	The pilots came in low and dropped thick trailing ropes into the ocean to help slow the balloon before setting down in a controlled water landing.
	Mission Control in Albuquerque was packed with balloon team members and the pilots' families, as all eyes focused on a giant screen showing a map of the coast and the balloon's location as it descended. They exchanged hugs and smiled with relief after it touched down.
	"We're really pleased with the distance numbers we have here and very pleased with the duration numbers," said Steve Shope, mission control ...

Pilots in helium-filled balloon land safely in Mexico

South African youths recently swept through an intersection in the heart of Soweto township, breaking into immigrant-owned shops and grabbing whatever they could soda, a loaf of bread, sometimes even the shelves.
	Nearly 40 years ago, at the same intersection, young blacks marched to protest the white racist rulers of the time, drawing a bloody crackdown that shocked the world.
	The recent looting and unrest that hit Soweto and other areas around Johannesburg was not as bloody as the anti-apartheid demonstrations and the ensuing bloodshed in 1976.
	But it alarmed a nation built on the ideals of racial reconciliation and underscored that, two decades after apartheid was replaced by the promise of a "rainbow nation," many South Africans remain marginalized by a lack of economic opportunity.
	Resentment against foreigners stoked the looting and rioting in late January that killed six people and forced many shopkeepers to flee.
	Joyce Piliso-Seroke, 81, was arrested in 1976 for trying to .

South Africa riots raise worry about anti-foreign sentiment

An official close to Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi says he is refusing to reconsider his resignation "at gunpoint."
	A delegation of representatives from different political parties met with Hadi at his home today, where he is being held under house arrest by Shiite rebels known as Houthis. The official said the gunmen are searching everyone entering and exiting the house.
	Hadi resigned earlier this month after the Houthis, who have controlled the capital for months, began directly besieging his home.
	The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to reporters, said Hadi was willing to participate in a national dialogue session provided that it took place outside of the rebel-controlled capital.

Official: Yemen president refuses to reconsider resignation

Slovak officials say two passengers have been killed in a crash of a Czech bus heading for the city of Uzhorod in Ukraine.
	Andrej Hirjak of Slovakia's rescue service says the accident occurred shortly after 4 a.M. (local time) today near the town of Spissky Ctvrtok in eastern Slovakia, which was hit by heavy snow overnight.
	Health Minister Viliam Cislak says 31 people, including the driver, were injured. There were 42 passengers on board. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.

2 passengers killed in bus crash in eastern Slovakia

Members of the Islamic State group have acknowledged for the first time that they were defeated in the Syrian town of Kobani.
	In a video released by the pro-IS Aamaq News Agency late yesterday, two fighters said airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition were the main reason why they were forced to withdraw from Kobani.
	On Monday, activists and Kurdish officials said the town was cleared of IS fighters, who once held nearly half of the town.
	The failure to capture Kobani was a major blow to the extremists, whose hopes for an easy victory dissolved into a costly siege under withering airstrikes by coalition forces and an assault by Kurdish militiamen.

IS fighters acknowledge defeat in Syrian town of Kobani

A series of bombings in and around the Iraqi capital killed nine people today and a senior Kurdish commander died in clashes with Islamic State militants in northern Iraq.
	A bomb exploded near a sheep market Saturday morning in the town of Madain, about 20 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 11, police officials said.
	A second blast struck near a string of car repair shops in central Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 10.
	Authorities said another explosion also struck an army patrol in the town of Taji, just north of Baghdad, killing two soldiers and wounding four.
	Medics confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.
	Meanwhile, two Kurdish security officers said Saturday that Kurdish Brig. Gen. Hussein Mansour was killed Friday night by a sniper shot near the oil rich city of Kirkuk during clashes between IS fighters and Kurdish security forces, known ...

Officials say bombings kill 9 people around Iraq's capital

An African Union official says African leaders have agreed to send 7,500 troops to fight the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria.
	The head of the African Union's Peace and Security Council, Samil Chergui, said today the move came after the council urged heads of state to endorse the deployment of troops from five West African countries to fight the terror group.
	African leaders who are members of the 54-nation African Union are meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa for a two-day summit that ends today.
	UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon earlier said he support the AU's move to send a force to fight Boko Haram.
	Boko Haram is increasing its attacks as Nigeria prepares for February 14 elections. Thousands have been killed in the 5-year insurgency.

AP

AP

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