The leader of a German organization against the perceived "Islamisation" of Europe has stepped down after online posts surfaced in which he used derogatory language to refer to refugees and posed looking like Adolf Hitler.
	Lutz Bachmann, co-founder of the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West, or PEGIDA, announced his departure on Facebook after German media published the comments where he called refugees "cattle" and "filthy," and a photo showing him with a Hitler mustache and hair combed over like the Nazi Fuehrer.
	Bachmann didn't comment directly on the picture, but apologized for the anti-refugee comments, which he made online in September, a month before the group staged its first protest.
	"I earnestly apologize to all citizens, who felt attacked by my postings," Bachmann said in a statement on the group's Facebook page.
	"They were ill-considered comments that I wouldn't make in this way today," he said, expressing regret for harming the movement, which has 

German anti-Islam leader resigns after Hitler, refugee posts

PTI Automatic

California health officials say the number of people in the state infected with measles is now up to 59.
	Health officials said yesterday that of the 59 cases, 42 have been linked to visits to Southern California Disney theme parks last month. Among those infected are five Disney employees.
	Most have not been vaccinated against measles.
	Measles is a highly contagious illness that can be easily spread through the air. Though the virus has been eradicated in the US since 2000, it can still enter through an infected traveler.
	A handful of other measles cases have been reported in four other states and Mexico.

Measles cases continue to spread in California

Conservators at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo say the blue and gold braided beard on a mask of famed pharaoh Tutankhamun has been hastily glued back on with epoxy after it was detached during a cleaning.
	The museum, which many archaeologists and restorers say is not run to professional standards, is one of the city's main tourist sites. Tutankhamun's mask and other contents of his tomb are its top exhibits.
	Conservators reached by telephone yesterday gave differing accounts of when the incident occurred last year, and whether the beard was knocked off by accident or removed because it was loose.
	They agree however that orders came from the top to fix it quickly and that an inappropriate adhesive was used. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Beard of Egypt's King Tut hastily glued back on with epoxy

Shiite rebels holding Yemen's president captive in his home reached a deal with the US-backed leader today to end a violent standoff in the capital, the country's state news agency reported.
	The agreement promised to give the rebel Houthi movement more say in the affairs of the Arab world's poorest country in exchange for the group removing its fighters from President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's home, the SABA news agency said.
	However, the late-night deal left unanswered who really controls the country and how much power is still held by Hadi, a key ally in US efforts to battle Yemen's local al-Qaida branch.
	In the deal, the Houthis also agreed to release a top aide to Hadi that they had kidnapped in recent days.
	SABA said the agreement included a clause that would answer the rebels' demands to amend the constitution and expand their representation in the parliament and in state institutions. It also included promises to ensure better representation for Yemen's southerners as well, 

Shiite rebels, Yemen's president reach deal to end standoff

Bacteria have been modified so that they die if they get out of human control, a potential step toward better management of genetically engineered organisms perhaps including crops, researchers say.
	Genetically altered microbes are used now in industry to produce fuels, medicines and other chemicals. The new technique might also reduce the risk of using them outdoors, such as for cleaning up toxic spills.
	Scientists from Harvard and Yale introduce the new approach in two papers released Wednesday by the journal Nature. They modified the DNA of the bacterium e. Coli so that it can't survive without particular amino acids the building blocks of proteins.
	Those amino acids are not found in nature, only in the lab. So if such a modified organism gets away from where humans supply the stuff, it will die.
	In an interview and a press conference, Ferren Isaacs of Yale and George Church of Harvard said they believed it would be possible, although challenging, to extend their technique to ..

Study: DNA trick cripples bacteria that escape confinement

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has claimed responsibility for the mass killings in the northeast Nigerian town of Baga and threatened more violence.
	As many as 2,000 civilians were killed and 3,700 homes and business were destroyed in the Jan. 3 attack on the town near Nigeria's border with Cameroon, said Amnesty International.
	The leader of Nigeria's Islamic extremists took responsibility for the killings in a video posted on YouTube Tuesday, the same day International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she is examining the allegations of mass killings and will prosecute those most responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Nigeria.
	"We are the ones who fought the people of Baga, and we have killed them with such a killing as He (Allah) commanded us in his book," Shekau says, according to a translation from Arabic provided by SITE Intelligence Group.
	The video shows weapons supposedly captured from a key military base at Baga.
	"This is just the ...

Boko Haram leader claims massacre in Baga, threatens more

Indonesia's top accident investigator said today that there are no indications of foul play in last month's crash of an AirAsia jetliner carrying 162 people.
	AirAsia Flight 8501 plunged into the Java Sea on December 28 shortly after the pilots asked to climb from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet to avoid threatening clouds, but were denied permission because of heavy air traffic. No distress signal was received. The plane was en route from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, to Singapore.
	"There is no sign of sabotage in the AirAsia crash," National Transportation Safety Committee head Tatang Kurniadi told reporters.
	He said investigators have downloaded all of the data from the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder and are analysing them along with advisers from Airbus, the plane's manufacturer.
	One of the committee's investigators, Nurcahyo Utomo, said yesterday that no voices have been detected on the cockpit voice recorder other than those of the pilot ...

Indonesia investigator: No signs of sabotage in plane crash

The Kenyan government is considering a request by the Chinese government to repatriate 76 Chinese nationals arrested in Kenya for hacking, an official said today.
	China made a formal request to extradite its nationals, the foreign affairs ministry's political and diplomatic secretary Ben Ogutu said on a live TV talk show.
	During an official trip to Kenya earlier this month, China's Foreign Affairs minister Wang Yi asked for the extradition of 37 of the suspects, who have been charged in court. Yi made the remark while answering questions from journalists, saying the crimes were perpetrated against Chinese nationals in China and not Kenyans. Edwin Limo, a spokesman at Kenya's foreign affairs ministry, confirmed that the formal request was for all the Chinese suspects.
	Activists have asked the government not to bow to China's pressure for extradition. The two countries have signed billion dollar contracts on trade and development of infrastructure in Kenya.
	Limo said Kenya is a ...

Kenya gov't considers request to repatriate Chinese hackers

Shiite rebels in control of Yemen's capital now hold the country's president "captive" at his home, his aides said today, putting in question who actually rules the Arab world's most-impoverished nation.
	President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi "cannot leave his house" after Houthi rebels removed his guards and deployed their own fighters there today, one aide said.
	Another described the country being at the "point of no return." Hadi can't resign as president as the Houthis have threatened to prosecute him, that aide said. The two aides spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren't authorised to speak to journalists.
	The embattled Hadi, a top US ally in the war against al-Qaida in Yemen, appears to have run out of options to continue governing the country, months after the Houthis began a blitz across the country in September.
	It also raises the danger of al-Qaida in Yemen, which claimed the recent attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and failed assaults on the US ...

Aides: Rebels hold Yemen's president 'captive' at his house

Russia's foreign minister said today that talks with his counterparts from Ukraine, France and Germany will focus on pulling back heavy weapons from a redrawn frontline in east Ukraine.
	Sergey Lavrov, who was set to attend the talks in Berlin later today, said the withdrawal of artillery should help end a recent escalation of fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists.
	As diplomats readied for talks, clashes were raging for control over a much fought-over checkpoint in Ukraine's Luhansk region. Ukraine's Defense Ministry said checkpoint 31 had been abandoned but that operations were underway to retake it.
	Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's office said he would cut short a visit to the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos to monitor developments at the checkpoint.
	"Due to the complexity of the situation (in eastern Ukraine), the president has decided to shorten his visit to Switzerland and will tomorrow return to Ukraine," ...

Russian FM says Ukraine peace talks to focus on frontline

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said today that Israel will be punished for killing one of its generals in an airstrike in Syria that also killed six Lebanese Hezbollah fighters.
	Nasser Soltani, a senior Guard commander, said "Israel will certainly pay for what it did." He spoke during a ceremony Wednesday for Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, who will be buried in his hometown of Sirjan in southeastern Iran on Thursday.
	Iran has repeatedly vowed to retaliate against any attacks by Israel or Western powers in recent years. It is unlikely to respond militarily, but may step up the support it already provides to armed groups like the Palestinian Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah movements.
	State TV said Allahdadi was "martyred while performing his advisory mission" in Syria.
	Iran and Hezbollah, close allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad, blamed Israel for Sunday's airstrike in the Golan Heights. Israel, which is believed to be behind a number of airstrikes in Syria in recent years, ...

Iran Guard vows to punish Israel for general killed in Syria

Four men with ties to one of the gunmen responsible for three days of terror in the Paris region are the first to be charged in connection with the attacks that left 20 people dead, including three attackers, the Paris prosecutor said today.
	Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said that four men were handed preliminary charges overnight of association with terrorism. They are suspected of providing logistical support to Amedy Coulibaly, who shot a policewoman to death on the outskirts of Paris and then killed four hostages at a kosher supermarket. The four were jailed until a further investigation.
	The attacks started with the Jan. 7 massacre at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
	Three of the four had criminal records; at least one met Coulibaly in prison, Molins said.
	He said that authorities in France are working with other countries to search for other possible accomplices. Molins said investigators are trying to uncover who was responsible for the posthumous video of ...

France issues first charges against 4 in terror attacks

A volcanic eruption in Tonga has created a new island although one scientist said today it could soon disappear.
	The volcano has been erupting for a month in the ocean about 40 miles northwest of the capital, Nuku'alofa.
	Last week it disrupted international air travel to the Pacific archipelago for several days.
	New Zealand volcanologist Nico Fournier said he traveled by boat to within about a mile of the new island on Saturday to take a closer look.
	He said it's made mainly of loose scoria and its dimensions are about 1.1 miles by 0.9 miles, and that it rises about 109 yards above the sea.
	"It's quite an exciting site, you get to see the birth of an island," he said. "Visually it was quite spectacular, but there was no big sound coming with it, no boom. It was a bit eerie."
	He said that once the volcano stops erupting, it will likely take the ocean no more than a few months to erode the island entirely. He said it would need to be made of lava or something more durable to ...

Volcanic eruption in Tonga creates new island

A man shot and fatally wounded a doctor inside a leading Boston hospital before killing himself.
	Authorities said Stephen Pasceri, 55, entered Brigham and Women's Hospital sometime before 11 a.M. Yesterday and specifically requested the doctor.
	Pasceri, of Millbury, Massachusetts, shot the doctor twice just outside an examination room on the second floor of the Carl J. And Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center; he then turned the gun on himself, police said.
	Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said officers conducting a room-by-room search found the gunman dead in an exam room with the weapon.
	Hospital officials yesterday identified the physician as Dr. Michael J. Davidson, director of Endovascular Cardiac Surgery.
	"Dr. Davidson was a wonderful and inspiring cardiac surgeon who devoted his career to saving lives and improving the quality of life of every patient he cared for," said a statement issued by the hospital, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School. "It is truly 

Doctor fatally shot inside US hospital; gunman kills himself

A high-profile Malaysian fugitive detained in Australia has created a diplomatic problem for the Australian government which cannot by law extradite someone who could face capital punishment.
	Sirul Azhar Umar, a former policeman, has been sentenced to death for the murder of a Mongolian woman in 2006 after her yearlong affair with a friend of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak ended in a messy disagreement.
	The Australian government confirmed today that Sirul was detained a day earlier.
	Don Rothwell, an Australian National University expert on international law, says if Sirul was extradited, Malaysia would first have to ensure he would not be executed.
	Malaysian Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told the Bernama news agency that Malaysia would consider bringing legal action against Australia if Sirul was not returned.

Australia detains Malaysian killer but won't allow execution

Five Russian race-walkers, including three Olympic gold medallists, were banned by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency.
     Bans of three years, two months were handed to Olympic champion Sergei Kirdyapkin and Olga Kaniskina, as well as 2011 world champ Sergei Bakulin yesterday. All three doping cases backdated to late 2012.
     The dates mean Kirdyapkin remains eligible to defend his men's 50-kilometer title at the 2016 Olympics.
     Valery Borchin, an Olympic gold medallist in 2008, was banned for eight years from October 2012 for a second doping offense, while Vladimir Kanaykin was banned for life for a repeat offense.
     The bans do not affect any Olympic medals, although five world championship gold medals and a silver medal from 2009 and 2011 may be re-awarded.
     The world championship results affected are Kaniskina's 20K wins from 2009 and 2011, Borchin's 20K wins in 2009 and 2011, and Kirdyapkin's win in the 50K in 2009. In addition, Kanaykin could lose his 20K silver medal 

3 Russian Olympic champion race walkers banned for doping

Two al-Qaeda members from Yemen befriended an American recruit and helped him join the terrorist group, clearing the way for the New York native to hatch a plot against the Long Island Rail Road, prosecutors have said.
	Saddiq Al-Abbadi and Ali Alvi were detained in Saudi Arabia before being brought to the United States on charges they conspired to kill Americans and provide material support to al-Qaeda by fighting against US forces in Afghanistan, prosecutors said.
	The charges stem from information supplied to investigators by Long Island native Bryant Neil Vinas, who was captured in 2008.
	"There is no escape from the reach of our law for violent terrorists, especially if they target our military," US Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement.
	"Al-Abbadi and Alvi may have operated in the mountains of Afghanistan, but now they face justice in a courtroom in Brooklyn."
	Alvi, 30, was to appear yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn. Al-Abbadi, 36, had an appearance Sunday.
	The ...

2 from Yemen charged in US with conspiracy to kill Americans

A confidential UN report says Iran is honoring its commitment not to expand atomic activities that could be used to make weapons while it negotiates with six world powers on a nuclear deal.
	The International Atomic Energy Agency report was obtained by The Associated Press shortly after its release Tuesday.
	Its findings could be used by the White House to argue that Iran is negotiating seriously, in the US administration's push against new sanctions on the Islamic Republic being floated by a bipartisan group of US senators.
	President Barack Obama has warned that such action could scuttle the talks. Negotiators seek a framework agreement by March, followed by a comprehensive deal in June reducing Iran's ability to make nuclear arms in exchange for sanctions relief.
	Iran denies wanting nuclear weapons.

UN: Iran honors pledge to temporarily freeze nuke program

A cancer-causing component of oil has been detected in the drinking water supply of a city just downstream from a crude oil spill that entered the Yellowstone River.
	Elevated levels of benzene were found in water samples taken from a treatment plant that serves about 6,000 people in an agricultural community in Montana near the North Dakota border, officials said.
	Scientists from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the benzene levels are above those recommended for long-term consumption but don't pose a short-term health hazard.
	Truckloads of bottled water were coming in Tuesday, and residents were warned not to drink or cook with water from their taps.
	Some residents criticized the timing of the Monday advisory, which came more than two days after 50,000 gallons of oil spilled from a break in 12-inch pipeline owned by Wyoming-based Bridger Pipeline Co. It emerged as a concern over the response to the Saturday accident.
	Adding to the frustrations was ...

Cancer-causing agent found in water after US pipeline spill

A New Yorker who sent USD 67,000 to al-Qaida and pledged his support to the terror group was sentenced today to 15 years in prison by a judge who cited the defendant's remorse and medical problems that make his incarceration more difficult than others'.
	Wesam El-Hanafi, who was born in Brooklyn, said he'd spent the nearly five years since his arrest reflecting on his actions.
	"I didn't just make the wrong choices. I made the worst choices," El-Hanafi, 39, said as he apologized. "I regret my actions. I'm embarrassed by what I did."
	Assistant US Attorney John Cronan said El-Hanafi from 2007 to late 2009 "worked tirelessly to support al-Qaida" by contributing tens of thousands of dollars, by sending a remote-control toy car whose components could be used in an explosive device and by providing technical advice about computers, including encryption software so information could be transmitted without being detected.
	Cronan said El-Hanafi also directed his co-defendant at al-Qaida's ...

American who sent USD 67K to al-Qaida gets 15 years in prison

A British jihadi who faked his own death in an apparent bid to make it easier to return to England unnoticed faces prison after pleading guilty to terrorism offenses.
	Imran Khawaja was arrested when he tried to return to Britain last year after attending a terrorist training camp in Syria and being photographed holding a man's severed head.
	His guilty plea at the Old Bailey courthouse last month could not be reported until today when reporting restrictions were lifted.
	He had admitted preparation of terrorist acts, attending a terrorism training camp, receiving weapons training and possessing a firearm for terrorism use.
	The court was shown a smartphone photograph of Khawaja, 27, in combat gear and a balaclava sitting on a tank with a rifle, and other incriminating photographs of his time in Syria, including one that showed him at a training camp carrying an assault rifle.
	Khawaja, from Southall, west London, had asked his taxi-driver cousin Tahir Bhatti, 44, to pick him up in ...

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