YEREVAN (Reuters) – Armenians voted in a presidential election on Monday that is likely to hand incumbent Serzh Sarksyan a new five-year term, but the lack of any serious opposition and an assassination attemp t on one of his rivals cast a shadow over the election. Opinion polls suggest Sarksyan's victory is all but certain. He is on target to win more than 60 percent of the votes in the small, landlocked country in the South Caucasus, with the next of the other six candidates barely in double figures. … Rask extends point streak as Hitmen down Pats
Zane Jones scored twice and Victor Rask had three assists as the Calgary Hitmen downed the visiting Regina Pats 5-2 on Sunday in Western Hockey League action.
Rask extends point streak as Hitmen down Pats
Zane Jones scored twice and Victor Rask had three assists as the Calgary Hitmen downed the visiting Regina Pats 5-2 on Sunday in Western Hockey League action.
Future races canceled in wake of Pistorius charge
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- Oscar Pistorius' agent has canceled all future track races so the double-amputee Olympian can focus on the murder charge against him, underscoring the possibility the disabled sports icon might never again run competitively on his famous carbon fiber blades. 
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese shares jumped closer to a 33-month high as the yen slumped on Monday after Tokyo dodged direct criticism from G20 peers on t he aggressive reflation plans that have weakened the currency. The G20 opted not to single out Tokyo, but committed members to refrain from competitive devaluations and said monetary policy would be directed only at price stability and growth. Japan said this decision is a green light to pursue its expansionary policies. The dollar soared 0.7 percent to 94.17 yen inching closer to its highest since May 2010 of 94.465 hit on February 11. … 
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's Nikkei share average jumped 2.3 percent in early trade on Monday, with exporters and banks leading the pack after the yen softened on the G20's decision not to single out Japan for undertaking policies t hat have weakened its currency. The Nikkei added 254.32 points to 11,429.15, with financials and real estate contributing to the benchmark's gains as investors bet that the G20's apparent approval of Japan's reflationary policies will help spur economic recovery. The benchmark is now just 0.6 percent away from the 33-month high it struck on February 6 of 11,498,42. … 
CAIRO (Reuters) – The Egyptian pound will not collapse and its incremental depreciation has stabilized, a senior aide to Islamist President Mohamed Mursi said on Sunday. Essam Haddad, Mursi's deputy chief of staff and foreign policy adviser, told Reuters in an interview that he did not expect the pound to fall further after it lost more than 8 percent against the dollar since the start of the year. "I think it has reached a level of stability," he said. "So as long as it (depreciation) is going incrementally and in a way that is market-sensitive, then there is no harm in this," Haddad said. … 
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- President Rafael Correa, a dynamic leftist who has championed Ecuador's lower classes with generous social spending but faced wide rebuke as intolerant of dissent, coasted to a second re-election on Sunday. 
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- President Rafael Correa's main challenger has conceded defeat in Ecuador's presidential vote. 
TOKYO (Reuters) – Former top financial bureaucrat Toshiro Muto is the leading candidate to become Japan's next central bank governor with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to pick a nominee as early as this week, sources close to the process told Reuters. The choice of Muto, 69, would suggest the Bank of Japan will intensify stimulus efforts to reflate the economy, which has struggled with deflation for years, but refrain from the more radical measures advocated by other candidates. Some policymakers and government officials worry that radical measures could unsettle markets. … 
QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa swept to a re-election victory on Sunday that allows him to strengthen state control over the OPEC nation's economy and gives a timely boost to Latin America's alliance of socialist leaders. Correa won 58 percent of the votes compared with 24 percent for runner-up Guillermo Lasso, according to preliminary results released by the electoral authority based on almost 30 percent of the votes counted. "Nobody can stop this revolution," a jubilant Correa told supporters from the balcony of the presidential palace, after claiming victory. … 
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli lawmakers announced plans on Sunday to investigate the 2010 jailhouse death of a reported Australian immigrant recruit to the Mossad spy age ncy. The statement by Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee followed calls by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a cabinet meeting to dim a growing media spotlight on the affair he saw as at risk of jeopardizing national security. … 
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minist er Shinzo Abe said on Monday the central bank's 2 percent inflation target aims not just to boost prices but to prevent them from rising well above that level. "The BOJ has pledged to keep ultra-easy monetary policy until its 2 percent goal is achieved," Abe told parliament. "The price goal also means the central bank will aim to keep prices stable at 2 percent," he said, adding that it is the BOJ's responsibility to unwind its ultra-loose policy at the right time if there are signs prices will rise to unwelcome levels well above 2 percent. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron arrives in India on Monda y to try to win new investment in the face of fierce global competition as a scandal engulfs an Anglo-Italian helicopter deal. Making his second visit to India as prime minister, Cameron's trip comes days after a similar trade mission by French President Francois Hollande, underlining how Europe's debt-stricken states are competing to tap into one of the world's fastest-growing economies. … 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters gathered on th e Washington's National Mall on Sunday calling on President Barack Obama to reject the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline proposal and honor his inaugural pledge to act on climate change. Organizers of the "Forward on Climate" event estimated that 35,000 people from 30 states turned out in cold, blustery conditions for what they said was the biggest climate rally in U.S. history. Police did not verify the crowd size. Protesters also marched around the nearby White House, chanting "Keystone pipeline? Shut it down. … 
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- Rafael Correa is celebrating his second re-election as Ecuador's president after an exit poll showed him leading by a wide margin. Official results have still not been released. 
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Arms sales by the 100 biggest weapons makers fell for the first time since the mid-90s in 2011 as economies slowed and military equipment purchases were reduced for operations in Afghanistan a nd Iraq, a leading think-tank said on Monday. Sales totaled $410 billion, a 5-percent fall adjusted for currency swings, from $411 billion in 2010, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which carries out independent research on international security, armaments and disarmament said in a statement. … 
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- Ecuadorean voters were expected to give a third term Sunday to President Rafael Correa, a polemical economist who has raised living standards for the lower classes and widened their social safety net while being widely criticized as intolerant of dissent. 
LONDON (AP) -- Few designers so consistently mix fashion with politics, or manage to secure her fans' adoration with the same looks almost every season. But Vivienne Westwood is not any designer. 
BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) -- Col. Fa raj el-Dersi, who defected to the rebel side from Moammar Gadhafi's police force, was gunned down late last year on the streets of Benghazi, and he bled to death in the arms of his teenage daughter. 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Danica Patrick has won the Daytona 500 pole, becoming the first woman to secure the top spot for any Sprint Cup race. 
BENGHAZI/TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Thousands took to the streets on Sunday to celebrate two years since the start of Libya's revolution and a national political leader promised to end the sense of neglect experienced by Benghazi, the country's second city. One thousand km (620 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, Benghazi was the cradle of the revolt that ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi, but many citizens feel that they are yet to see the fruits of their military struggle. … 
(Reuters) – British supermarket chain Wm Morrison said it has bought 49 stores from the administrators of failed DVD-rental chain Blockbuster but did not disclose the terms. Morrisons, UK's fourth-largest grocer, said it will convert the stores into small 'local' supermark ets under the M local name and hopes to have the stores up and running by the end of the summer. … 
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- His arms outstretched in a symbolic embrace, Pope Benedict XVI blessed tens of thousands of cheering people on Sunday in one of his last appearances as pontiff from his window overlooking St. Peter's Square. 
TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada's outgoing central bank governor, Mark Carney, said he looks forward to bringing an outsider's pers pective to the Bank of England, while also helping to spur reform across Europe. Carney, who will become governor of the Bank of England in July, said he was ready to face a more prying media culture, although he would "prefer" the way Canadian journalists respected personal privacy. "The value of me going there to the institution is to bring a different perspective," Carney told CTV News in an interview. … 
HAVANA (AP) -- Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez set off on a three-month, dozen-nation world tour Sunday, after a new law eliminated the exit permit that had been required of islanders for five decades and was denied to her around 20 times in recent years. 
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) -- Cyprus' election will go into a runoff for a new president to lead the country through its severe financial crisis, after no candidate won an outright majority in Sunday's vote. 
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Iran's supreme leader is supposed to be many things in the eyes of his followers: Spiritual mentor, protector of the Islamic Revolution, a moral compass above the regular fray. 
BAMAKO (Reuters) – French and Malian troops secured the north Mali town of Bourem on Sunday, tightening their control over areas where Islamist insurgents have been launching guerrilla att acks to harass the French-led military operation. "Bourem is a bastion of Islamists," said a military official from an African military contingent called AFISMA. African troops in this contingent are being deployed behind the French forward lines in the five-week-old intervention by Paris in its former Sahel colony. … 
NICOSIA (Reuters) – Conservative leader Nicos Anastasiades grabbed a commanding lead in Cyprus& #039;s presidential election but failed to avoid a run-off next week, in a setback to investor hopes for a swift deal to save the island nation from bankruptcy. A financial crash in Cyprus could reignite the euro zone debt crisis and investors are keen to see Anastasiades, the strongest advocate of an international rescue deal likely to come with harsh conditions, clinch victory and secure a bailout. … 
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict asked the faithful to pray for him and for the next pope, in his penultimate Sunday address to a crowd ed St. Peter's Square before becoming the first pontiff in centuries to resign. The crowd chanted "Long live the pope!," waved banners and broke into sustained applause as he spoke from his window. The 85-year-old Benedict, who will abdicate on February 28, thanked them in several languages. Speaking in Spanish, he told the crowd which the Vatican said numbered more than 50,000: "I beg you to continue praying for me and for the next pope". … 
SOFIA (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Bulgarians protested in more than 20 cities against high el ectricity bills on Sunday, piling pressure on the government after a week of persistent demonstrations. Protesters chanting "It will be the same every day until we win", paralyzed city centers and demanded the resignation of the cabinet and the re-nationalization of power distributors. Demonstrators hurled eggs and bottles, burned their electricity bills and attacked power firms' offices in cities across the country. … 
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba's best-known dissident, blogger Yoani Sanchez, checked in without incident at Havana's international airport on Sunday on her way to Brazil, the first stop on an 80-day-tour of a dozen countries. She was sent off with hugs by a small group of family members and friends. Sanchez was granted a passport two weeks ago under Cuba's sweeping immigration reform that went into effect this year, after being denied permission to travel more than 20 times over the past five years. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – Italian defense group Finmeccanica's subsidiary AgustaWestland denied on Saturday that India had cancelled a $750 million order for a dozen helicopte rs and said authorities had asked for "clarifications" within a week's time. On Friday, the Indian defense ministry said it had begun the procedure to cancel the order. "The Indian Ministry of Defense has not cancelled the contract but has given notice requesting information within seven days," AgustaWestland said in a statement. "AgustaWestland is preparing its answer to timely meet the Indian authorities' request. … 
AMMAN (Reuters) – At least one Hezbollah guerrilla and five Syria n rebels have been killed in fighting in Syrian territory on the border with Lebanon, nearby Lebanese residents and Syrian opposition sources said on Sunday. Hadi al-Abdallah of the Syrian Revolution General Commission said fighting broke out on Saturday after Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, who are in control of eight Syrian border villages, tried to expand their sphere by moving into three adjacent Sunni villages that were in the hands of the rebel Syrian Free Army. … 
SOFIA (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Bulgarians protested in more than 20 cities against high electricity bills on Sunda y, piling pressure on the government after a week of persistent demonstrations. Protesters chanting "It will be the same every day until we win," paralyzed city centers and demanded the resignation of the cabinet and the re-nationalization of power distributors. Electricity prices are politically sensitive in the European Union's poorest member since power bills bite off a big chunk of monthly incomes, especially during the winter. … 
DUBAI (Reuters) – Days before his overthrow, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak recei ved a senior visitor from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of several Gulf monarchies long supportive of the most Arab populous country and its veteran strongman. What transpired between Mubarak and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan is not known, beyond the fact that a letter from UAE ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan was delivered. … 
PRISTINA (Reuters) – Kosovo marked five years since it seceded from Serbia on Sunday, with flag-filled streets, a military parade and growing signs of progress in EU-mediated talks to regulate relations between the Balkan neighbors. Majority-Albanian Kosovo declared independence in 2008 with the backing of the Western powers which waged a NATO air war in 1999 to wrest control of the territory from late Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic. … 
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel's former foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, pleaded not guilty on Sunday to charges of fraud and breach of trust at the start of a trial that has put the ultranationalist's political career into doubt. The allegations led Lieberman, a key ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to resign from cabinet two months ago. As head of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu faction, he joined forces with Netanyahu's right-wing Likud in last month's general election. The joint list came first in the ballot but with fewer parliamentary seats than forecast. … 
ROME (Reuters) – Caretaker Prime Minister Mario Monti, leading a centrist bloc in Italy's national election, appealed to his main rivals on Sunday to ag ree to a television debate before next week's vote. The former economics professor and European commissioner has struggled during his first-ever political campaign, and polls show him in fourth place and with no momentum. … 
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- The family of Reeva Steenkamp says her body is back in her hometown of Port Elizabeth and a private funeral has been planned for Tuesday. 
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – An Islamist militia linked to the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and kicked out of the city by locals is back openly manning checkpoints and building up support promising mu ch-needed security. Heavily bearded youths from Ansar al-Sharia control the western entrance into Libya's second biggest metropolis, patrol a hospital and check cars and trucks passing through another checkpoint in the south. Witnesses say the group's members were at the scene of the September 11 attack that killed the U.S. … 
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed on Sunday for the public spotlight on Israel's Mossad spy agency to be turned off after news of the jailhouse suicide of a reported Australian recruit. The affair was kept under wraps for two years until it emerged last week with an Australian television expose that identified the dead man as 34-year-old Ben Zygier, a possible Mossad operative detained on suspicion of security offences. … 
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's chief of staff says the White House hasn't proposed "anything to Capitol Hill yet" on immigration even as a leading Republic an criticizes a reported draft proposal regarding illegal immigrants. 
PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) – France said on Sunday managers at French firm Spanghero were responsible for passing off horsemeat as beef, while Britain said it would investigate claims tha t warnings about horsemeat entering the food chain were raised in 2011 but ignored. Revelations that some beef dishes actually contained horsemeat has caused a scandal across Europe, leading to products being removed from sale and police investigations. … 
PARIS (Reuters) – French President Francois Hollande's approval rating slipped to 37 percent in February as pessimism about the economy overtook satisfaction with his military intervention against Islami st rebels in Mali, a poll showed on Sunday. The IFOP survey published in weekly paper JDD showed that Hollande's backing had dropped by one percentage point since the previous month, giving him the same popularity rate as that of Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. … 
ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Egypt's armed forces, for decades at the center of power, will avoid involvement in politics but could have a role if things became "complicated", the chief of staff said on Sunday. It also expects rival political groups to solve disputes by dialogue, Major General Sedki Sobhi told Reuters The military ran Egypt for six decades from the end of the colonial era and through an interim period after the overthrow of former air force chief and president Hosni Mubarak two years ago. … 
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran will never shut down its Fordow uranium enrichment plant, a senior legislator was quoted as saying on Sunday, brushing off a demand from world powers who fear Tehran is working to develop an atomic weapons capability. The Islamic republic, which insists its nucl ear program is purely peaceful, started building the plant inside a mountain in secret as early as 2006, to protect it from air strikes. …