31 March 2016

Last 5 hostages on hijacked Egypt plane recall fear, photo

EgyptAir plane hijacking suspect Seif Eddin Mustafa flashes the victory sign as he leaves a court in a police car after a remand hearing as authorities investigate him on charges including hijacking, illegal possession of explosives and abduction in the Cypriot coastal town of Larnaca Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Mustafa described as "psychologically unstable" hijacked a flight Tuesday from Egypt to Cyprus and threatened to blow it up. His explosives turned out to be fake, and he surrendered with all passengers released unharmed after a bizarre six-hour standoff.
First the hijacker said the women could leave. All the children, too. Then the man in the suicide vest agreed that all Egyptians and others from Muslim backgrounds would be allowed to escape from the plane.

That left five Western men — at least one of whom thought they were about to die.
"We looked each other in the eyes and we said: Here we are. We're at the end of the line. It's over," recalled the Italian in the group, Andrea Banchetti, the day after an Egyptian man took control of a short EgyptAir flight to Cairo by donning a fake explosives belt and diverting it across the Mediterranean to Cyprus.

30 March 2016

Hijack drama ends in Cyprus with arrest of 'unstable' man

A bus carrying some passengers from the hijacked EgyptAir aircraft as it landed at Larnaca airport Tuesday, March 29, 2016. The EgyptAir plane was hijacked on Tuesday while flying from the Egyptian Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria to the capital, Cairo, and later landed in Cyprus where some of the women and children were allowed to get off the aircraft, according to Egyptian and Cypriot officials.
A man described as "psychologically unstable" hijacked a flight Tuesday from Egypt to Cyprus and threatened to blow it up. His explosives turned out to be fake, and he surrendered with all passengers released unharmed after a bizarre six-hour standoff.

As more became known about the motive of the 59-year-old Egyptian who was taken into custody, authorities characterized the commandeering of the EgyptAir jetliner not as an act of terrorism but more like a "family feud" with his former wife.

28 March 2016

Pakistani Taliban faction claims Easter park bombing

A Pakistani injured man from a bomb blast talks on his cell phone at a local hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, March, 27, 2016. A bomb blast in a park in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore has killed tens of people and wounded scores, a health official said.
A bombing on Easter Sunday killed 65 people in a park in the eastern city of Lahore that was crowded with Christians, including many children.

A breakaway Pakistani faction of the militant Taliban group claimed responsibility. Ahsanullah Ahsan, spokesman for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, told the Associated Press that a suicide bomber with the faction deliberately targeted the Christian community.

The explosion took place near the children's rides in Gulshan-e-Iqbal park local police chief Haider Ashraf said. He said the explosion appeared to have been a suicide bombing, but investigations were ongoing.

The Latest: Taliban attack on Pakistan park kills 65

Women comfort each other as they mourn over the death of a family member who was killed in a bomb blast, at a local hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, March, 27, 2016. A bomb blast in a park in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore has killed tens of people and wounded scores, a health official said.
The Latest on the bombing of a park in the Pakistani city of Lahore (all times local):

12.00 p.m.

A spokesman for Lahore rescue administration says that the Easter Sunday bomb attack on a park in the eastern Pakistani city has killed 65 people.

Deeba Shahnaz said Sunday that over 300 people were wounded in the bombing at Gulshan-e-Iqbal park, which was claimed by the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Pakistani Taliban.

27 March 2016

Pope at Easter recalls victims of 'blind, brutal terrorism'

Pope Francis, center, framed by flowers, walks with his pastoral staff as he arrives to celebrate the Easter mass in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, March 27, 2016.
Pope Francis tempered his Easter Sunday message of Christian hope with a denunciation of "blind" terrorism, recalling victims of attacks in Europe, Africa and elsewhere, as well as expressing dismay that people fleeing war or poverty are being denied welcome as European countries squabble over the refugee crisis.

Tens of thousands of people patiently endured long lines, backpack inspections and metal-detecting checks Sunday to enter St. Peter's Square. Under a brilliant sun, they listened to Francis deliver the traditional noon Easter speech from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.

25 March 2016

Dutch soccer great Johan Cruyff dies at age 68

In This June 19, 1974 file photo, Netherlands Johan Cruyff, left, dodges the tackle from Sweden's Kent Karlsson during a World Cup soccer match in Dortmund, Germany. Dutch soccer great Johan Cruyff, who revolutionized the game with the concept of 'Total Football,' died Thursday March 24, 2016. He was 68.
Johan Cruyff, a soccer star who brought a smile to the face of anyone who watched him play, died Thursday, aged 68.

Family spokeswoman Carole Thate told The Associated Press that Cruyff died in Barcelona after a five-month battle with lung cancer.

Ranked alongside such global stars as Pele, Diego Maradona, Franz Beckenbauer and Lionel Messi, Cruyff was one of the best footballers of all time.

He learned his trade at Ajax Amsterdam before joining the great Barcelona, and played 48 times for the Netherlands, scoring 33 goals.

Cruyff was more famous for his silky skills than soccer statistics and was the embodiment of "Total Football," a soccer philosophy that embraced high speed skills and the ability to turn defense into attack in a flash.

22 March 2016

India has the most people without clean water, report says

Cans filled with drinking water are displayed for sale on a street in Allahabad, India, Tuesday, March 22, 2016. India has the world's highest number of people without access to clean water — imposing a major financial burden for some of the country's poorest people, according to a report released Tuesday.
India has the world's highest number of people without access to clean water — imposing a major financial burden for some of the country's poorest people, according to a report released Tuesday.

The international charity Water Aid says 75.8 million Indians — or 5 percent of the country's 1.25 billion population — are forced to either buy water at high rates or use supplies that are contaminated with sewage or chemicals. That accounts for more than a tenth of the 650 million people worldwide without clean water access — more than any single country in Africa or China, where 63 million have no access.

21 March 2016

Prince Harry spends night in a Nepali village home

In this handout photo provided by National News Agency of Nepal, Britain’s Prince Harry is welcomed by the villagers upon his arrival in Lamjung, Nepal, Monday, March 21, 2016.
Britain's Prince Harry stayed at the village home of a former Nepalese Gurkha soldier who had served in the British army Monday as the prince continues his tour of the Himalayan nation.

The prince flew to the Leurani village, northwest of the capital Kathmandu, Monday where he spend time with the villagers dancing and later feasting with the family of Mangali Tamang, 86-year-old widow of a former soldier.

19 March 2016

All 62 aboard Dubai airliner killed in crash in south Russia

This frame grab provided by Rostov-on-Don I General company from black and white CCTV footage shows road and behind line of trees fireball, believed to be a plane on fire, crashes to ground at the Rostov-on-Don airport, about 950 kilometers (600 miles) south of Moscow, Russia Saturday, March 19, 2016. An airliner coming from Dubai crashed early Saturday while landing in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said.
A Dubai airliner with 62 people on board crashed and caught fire early Saturday while landing in strong winds in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, killing all aboard, officials said.

A list published by Russia's Emergencies Ministry showed the Boeing 737-800 operated by FlyDubai was carrying 55 passengers, most of them Russian, and seven crew members, whose nationalities were not immediately known. The Emergencies Ministry said that all had been killed.

17 March 2016

Obama nominates Garland to high court, challenging GOP

In this March 14, 2016, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks at the Chief of Missions Conference at the State Department in Washington. Obama said Wednesday, March 16, he will reveal his Supreme Court nominee to fill the vacancy of the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
President Barack Obama nominated appeals court judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, thrusting a respected moderate jurist and former prosecutor into the center of an election-year clash over the future of the nation's highest court.

Obama cast the 63-year-old Garland as "a serious man and an exemplary judge" deserving of a full hearing and a Senate confirmation vote, despite Republican vows to deny him both. Standing in the White House Rose Garden with Garland, Obama argued the integrity of the court was at stake and appealed to the Senate to "play it straight" in filling the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

16 March 2016

Suu Kyi loyalist and friend elected Myanmar's president

National League for Democracy party (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrives in Manama's parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Myanmar's parliament votes Tuesday to pick the country's next president from a group of three final candidates, including a front runner who is a longtime confidant of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's parliament elected Htin Kyaw as the country's new president Tuesday in a watershed moment that ushers the longtime opposition party of Aung San Suu Kyi into government after 54 years of direct or indirect military rule.

The joint session of the two houses of parliament broke into thundering applause as the speaker Mann Win Khaing Than announced the result: "I hereby announce the president of Myanmar is Htin Kyaw, as he won the majority of votes." Immediately, the state-run Myanmar TV's camera zoomed in from above on a beaming Suu Kyi, sitting in the front row, clapping excitedly, for a live nationwide audience.

15 March 2016

Pope says Mother Teresa to be made a saint on Sept. 4

In this Sunday, June 29, 1997 filer, of Pope John Paul II greets Mother Teresa of Calcutta as they meet in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4 2016. Pope Francis set the canonization date on Tuesday March 15, 2016, paving the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful side.
Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4.

Pope Francis set the canonization date Tuesday, paving the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful side.

The announcement was expected after Francis in December approved a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa's intercession — the final hurdle to make her a saint. The actual date falls on the eve of the 19th anniversary of her death.

Booker Prize winning novelist Anita Brookner dies at 87

This is a Oct. 18, 1984 file photo of Booker prize-winning author and art historian Anita Brookner, who has died aged 87. A death notice in the Tuesday March 15, 2016 edition of The Times newspaper said that Brookner died peacefully in her sleep last Thursday . Brookner began her career as an art historian and wrote on that subject before turning to fiction, publishing her first novel in her 50s. Brookner wrote some 25 books and won the Booker Prize in 1984 for her novel “Hotel Du Lac.”
Anita Brookner, a Booker Prize-winning novelist who explored the emotional undercurrents of quiet lives, has died at 87.

A death notice in Tuesday's edition of The Times newspaper said Brookner died peacefully in her sleep on Thursday.

Born in London in 1928, the only child of Polish Jewish parents, Brookner began her career as an art historian — specializing in French art — and was the first woman to be named Slade Professor of Fine Art at Cambridge University.

Pope says Mother Teresa to be made a saint on Sept. 4

In this Sunday, June 29, 1997 filer, of Pope John Paul II greets Mother Teresa of Calcutta as they meet in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4 2016. Pope Francis set the canonization date on Tuesday March 15, 2016, paving the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful side.
Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4.

Pope Francis set the canonization date Tuesday, paving the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful side.

The announcement was expected after Francis in December approved a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa's intercession — the final hurdle to make her a saint. The actual date falls on the eve of the 19th anniversary of her death.

British mathematician Sir Andrew Wiles gets Abel math prize

British mathematician Sir Andrew J. Wiles has won the Abel Prize in math for cracking a centuries-old hypothesis.

Norway's Academy of Science and Letters said Tuesday he was given the annual award "for his stunning proof of (French mathematician Pierre de) Fermat's Last Theorem by way of the modularity conjecture for semi-stable elliptic curves, opening a new era in number theory."

It said in 1994, the 62-year-old cracked the theorem, which was "the most famous, and long-running, unsolved problem in the subject's history." It was first conjectured by de Fermat in 1637.

Wiles, who has honorary degrees from a string of British and American universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Columbia and Yale, will receive the 6 million kroner ($710,000) award at a ceremony on May 24 in Oslo. 

(AP)

European, Russian space agencies launch mission to Mars

The Proton-M rocket booster blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, March 14, 2016. Europe and Russia launched a joint mission Monday to explore the atmosphere of Mars and hunt for signs of life on the red planet. The unmanned ExoMars probe, a collaboration between the European Space Agency and Roscosmos, took off aboard a Russian rocket and is expected to reach Mars in October.
Europe and Russia launched a joint mission Monday to explore the atmosphere of Mars and hunt for signs of life on the red planet.

The unmanned ExoMars probe— a collaboration between the European Space Agency and Roscosmos — took off from a base in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian rocket.

14 March 2016

Palestinian teacher wins $1 million Global Teacher Prize

Palestinian primary school teacher Hanan al-Hroub reacts after she won the second annual Global Teacher Prize, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 13, 2016. Al-Hroub who encourages students to renounce violence won a $1 million prize for teaching excellence.
A Palestinian primary school teacher who grew up in a refugee camp and educates her students about non-violence won a $1 million prize for teaching excellence on Sunday, beating out 8,000 other applicants from around the world.

Hanan al-Hroub, a primary school teacher in the West Bank city of al-Bireh just outside Ramallah, was awarded the second annual Global Teacher Prize during a ceremony in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.


Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was on-hand to present the prize to al-Hroub, however her name was announced by Pope Francis in a video message after he talked about the importance of education and teachers, especially for children who grow up amid war.

12 March 2016

1,000-year-old Indian statues seized from NYC auction house

In this photo provided by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an Indian statue believed to be from the 8th and 10th centuries A.D. that authorities say was stolen and smuggled out of India is shown. The statue is one of two that were seized from Christies Auction House in New York on Friday, March 11, 2016. The antiquities were to be part of an auction on the week of March 14, entitled "The Lahiri Collection: Indian and Himalayan Art, Ancient and Modern." Christie's said in a statement it was working with authorities and would never knowingly offer a stolen work of art.
Two Indian statues that are more than 1,000 years old were seized Friday from Christie's auction house after investigators discovered they had been smuggled out of the country, eventually landing in New York.

The antiquities were to be part of an auction next week called "The Lahiri Collection: Indian and Himalayan Art, Ancient and Modern."

Both are made from sandstone. One statue called "Stele of Rishabhanata" depicts a cross-legged teacher flanked by standing attendants. It is valued at about $150,000 and dates from the 10th century. The second is a rare representation of an equestrian deity, Revanta, worth $300,000 from the 8th century.

10 March 2016

Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos dies at age 71

Acclaimed Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos has died at age 71.

The eight-time Grammy Award-winner worked over the decades with well-known musicians such as Milton Nascimento.

Vasconcelos died of lung cancer on Wednesday in the northeastern city of Recife where he was born.

He was a master of the single-string percussion instrument known in Portuguese as the berimbao.

The American jazz magazine DownBeat named Vasconcelos percussionist of the year every year from 1983 to 1991.

He started learning music with his musician father and by the time he was 12 he was playing a drum kit, performing at bars with local groups.

Nana rose to national prominence after he moved to Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s and started playing with Nascimento. 

(AP)

9 March 2016

Prayers, cheers as total eclipse darkens swath of Asia

A total solar eclipse is seen in Belitung, Indonesia, Wednesday, March 9, 2016. A total solar eclipse was witnessed along a narrow path that stretched across Indonesia while in other parts of Asia a partial eclipse was visible.
People gazed at the sky in wonder and cheered while others knelt in prayer as a total eclipse of the sun unfolded over Indonesia on Wednesday, briefly plunging cities into darkness and startling wildlife.

The rare astronomical phenomenon was witnessed along a narrow path that stretched across 12 Indonesian provinces encompassing three time zones and about 40 million people. A partial eclipse was visible in other parts of the Indonesian archipelago, a swath of Asia and in northern Australia.

Prayers, cheers as total eclipse darkens swathe of Indonesia

A partial solar eclipse is seen at Serangan village in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, March 9, 2016. People gazed at the sky in wonder and cheered while others knelt in prayer as a total eclipse of the sun unfolded over Indonesia on Wednesday.
People gazed at the sky in wonder and cheered while others knelt in prayer as a total eclipse of the sun unfolded over Indonesia on Wednesday.

The rare astronomical phenomenon was witnessed along a narrow path that stretched across 12 provinces encompassing three time zones and about 40 million people. In other parts of the Indonesian archipelago and Asia, a partial eclipse was visible.

On day celebrating women, reminder of lingering gender gap

Indian women listen to a speaker during a protest on International Women's Day in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, March 8, 2016. Activists were demanding that the Women's Reservation Bill, which would reserve Indian legislative seats for women, be passed by the Parliament among other demands.
International Women's Day on Tuesday celebrated women and their accomplishments, but it also offered a stark reminder of the gender divides in rights, representation and pay.

The day carried the theme "Pledge for Parity" — a phrase and hashtag born out of the World Economic Forum's recent projection that the progress on achieving global gender parity is slowing.

Google's home page on Tuesday featured a video of women and girls dreaming and doing big things. Twitter and Facebook feeds filled with quotes from inspirational women and calls to action.

7 March 2016

Inventor of modern email, Ray Tomlinson, dies

An undated photo provided by Raytheon BBN Technologies shows Raymond Tomlinson. Tomlinson, the inventor of modern email and selector of the "@" symbol, has died. Raytheon Co., his employer, on Sunday, March 6, 2016, confirmed his death; the details were not immediately available.
Raymond Tomlinson, the inventor of modern email and a technological leader, has died, his employer said Sunday.

Tomlinson died Saturday, the Raytheon Co. said; the details were not immediately available.

Email existed in a limited capacity before Tomlinson in that electronic messages could be shared amid multiple people within a limited framework. But until his invention in 1971 of the first network person-to-person email, there was no way to send something to a specific person at a specific address.

2 March 2016

Afghan official: Indian consulate attack kills 2, wounds 19

An Afghan security forces stands near to site of a suicide attack on the Indian consulate in the city of Jalalabad east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 2, 2016. An Afghan official says two civilians have been killed and 19 wounded in an attempted car bomb attack on the Indian consulate in the eastern city of Jalalabad. An official at the Indian embassy in Kabul, Anil Kumar, says all consulate staff are safe.
At least two civilians have been killed in an attempted car bomb attack on the Indian consulate in the eastern city of Jalalabad, an Afghan official said on Wednesday.

Another 19 civilians were wounded in the suicide bombing. He says all five attackers were killed, said Attaullah Khogyani, the spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, where Jalalabad is the capital.

An official at the Indian embassy in Kabul, Anil Kumar, said all consulate staff members are safe.