2 Americans dead in Istanbul suicide bombing attack

The White House says two Americans were among those killed in a suicide attack in Istanbul. An Israeli diplomat in Istanbul says they held dual Israeli citizenship.

Israeli media named one of the victims as 60-year-old Simha Dimri, a mother of four. Her husband was wounded in the attack, according to reports.

Ned Price, a spokesman for the National Security Council, in a statement Saturday condemned the "heinous attack" and said the U.S. remains steadfast in support of Turkey, its NATO ally.

He says the U.S. remains in close touch with Turkish authorities. He offered thoughts and prayers to the families of those who were killed or wounded.

Price says these repeated acts of terrorism in Turkey must come to an end.

An Iranian citizen was also killed in Saturday's attack on Istanbul's main pedestrian shopping street that killed at least five people, including the suicide bomber.

It was the sixth suicide bombing in Turkey in the past year.

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Seven people killed in plane crash near Campo de Marte Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil

The accident happened at around 3:30 p.m. local time on Saturday when the plane, believed to be a Comp Air 9 aircraft, went down at the edges of a neighborhood in Case Verde district, just outside Campo de Marte Airport.

Airport operator Infraero said a total of six people were on board the aircraft when it tried to land at the airport, which serves mostly small planes and helicopters. The aircraft belonged to businessman Roger Agnelli, who previously served as the president of mining company Vale.

Emergency services said at least five people were killed in Saturday's accident, but it is still unclear whether Roger Agnelli was actually on board the aircraft at the time of the accident. At least one person on the ground has been injured.

Video from the area of the crash showed thick black smoke rising from the residential area, and photos from the scene showed that at least one building had been damaged by the accident. The Folha newspaper reported that one person who lived in the building had been taken to hospital in unknown condition.

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Centers for Disease Control Warns of Zika Risk Ahead of Obama's Cuba Trip

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has added Cuba to its list of countries and territories where Zika virus is spreading after a local case was confirmed.

The first case of local transmission of Zika virus in the country was confirmed Tuesday: State media reported a 21-year-old Havana woman who had not traveled outside of Cuba was diagnosed after suffering symptoms of Zika, NBC News reported.

Cuba was one of a handful of countries that had previously only reported cases contracted while traveling abroad.

The CDC advises that pregnant women should postpone trips to countries with active Zika virus transmission, and that women planning to become pregnant should speak to their doctor before the trip. Sexual transmission of Zika virus has increasingly been reported, and CDC has also said men who travel to countries affected by Zika should use protection if having sex with a partner who is or may become pregnant.

Cuba's addition to CDC's list of travel notices comes as President Obama has lifted many of the restrictions on Americans wishing to travel there.

While tourism is still banned — and will be until Congress acts — the barriers to entry are falling rapidly. U.S. airlines are planning to offer commercial flights by the fall. Americans need only fill out a form that says their trip is for educational purposes, and not tourism.

In a recent survey by TripAdvisor, 62% of U.S. respondents said they were interested in booking a trip to Cuba, and 25% said they plan to take a trip in the next 12 months.

Eleven percent said they are more interested in booking a trip knowing President Obama is visiting the country March 20-22.

Prior to the confirmed local case, Cuba had already assigned resources to combating Zika: More than 9,000 soldiers, police and university students are part of an effort to eliminate mosquitoes through fumigation and reducing standing water.

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5 dead including Israeli in suicide car bombing in Istanbul

Four people were killed in a suicide bombing attack on Istanbul's main pedestrian shopping street Saturday-- the sixth suicide bombing in Turkey in the past year.

Several foreigners were among 36 people wounded, according to the health ministry.

The attacker was deterred from an initial target by police and detonated the bomb "out of fear", an official said, according to Sky News.

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Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam to oppose extradition to France

Salah Abdeslam, the last surviving terrorist believed responsible for the November 13, 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, is said to be cooperating with police in Belgium, and his legal team is opposing his extradition to France, Yahoo News is reporting.

On Friday, the 26-year-old Abdeslam, along with other accomplices, were arrested in a bloody gun battle with Belgian police, according to Fox News.

Belgian police, following up on information from tips and earlier raids, caught up with Abdeslam in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek. Abdeslam was shot in the leg but will recover from his wounds.

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Passenger Boeing 738 from Dubai crashes in Rostov-on-Don

Flydubai flight FZ981 has crashed in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don killing all 62 passengers and crew on board. The flight was en route from Dubai and crashed during a landing approach.

Air-traffic control and local emergency services confirmed that the Boeing 737-800 jet crashed near the runway during a second approach in conditions of poor visibility.

“According to preliminary data, the Boeing 738 crashed in poor visibility conditions, some 50-100 meters left of the runway,” the source said.

“The plane, according to preliminary data, crashed during the second approach,” the source told Interfax.

All crew and passengers on board the plane were killed in the crash, according to the regional Emergencies Ministry. According to preliminary reports there were 62 people on board, including seven crew members.

“During the landing approach a Boeing-737 crashed. It had 55 passengers on board. All of them died,” a regional spokesman told TASS.

Another source told RIA that all passengers on board were Russians, while the flight crew consisted of foreigners.

CCTV camera footage posted on YouTube claims to have captured the moment of the explosion as the aircraft impacted the ground. However, its authenticity could not be immediately verified.

Emergency crews are working at the scene of the crash and have already put out the fire, according to a TASS source.

The airport is to remain closed until at least 9:00am Moscow time. As a result at least six flights have been delayed, two of which were supposed to leave for St. Petersburg, while the others were due to arrive in Moscow. The inbound flights are getting rerouted to Krasnodar.

According to a LifeNews source, the plane failed to land at the first approach and was forced to make a reentry. However, at this point the aircraft's tail allegedly hit the ground. The Boeing then crashed and caught fire.

Flydubai confirmed that they are aware of an “incident involving our flight FZ981 from Dubai to Rostov On Don.”

“We are investigating further details and will publish an update once more information is available,” the airline added.

The Emergencies Ministry has opened up a hotline while a team of psychologists has been sent to help the grieving relatives.

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Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith quits Cameron's Cabinet

The Work and Pensions Secretary who has held the position since 2010 made the announcement on Friday evening amid a Conservative row over the Budget.

The former Conservative leader said that plans to cut the benefits paid to the disabled by more than £1 billion were a "compromise too far" and said that welfare for pensioners should be cut instead.

The planned cuts are to hit Personal Independence Payments, expected to affect 640,000 people.

Mr Duncan Smith said the cuts were "not defensible" within a Budget that "benefits higher earning taxpayers".

He said he is proud of reforms made over the last five years, but that the latest cuts were a "compromise too far".

In a letter he wrote: "I am unable to watch passively whilst certain policies are enacted in order to meet the fiscal self-imposed restraints that I believe are more and more perceived as distinctly political rather than in the national economic interest.

"I have for some time and rather reluctantly come to believe that the latest changes to benefits to the disabled and the context in which they’ve been made are a compromise too far.

"While they are defensible in narrow terms, given the continuing deficit, they are not defensible in the way they were placed within a Budget that benefits higher earning taxpayers.

"They should have instead been part of a wider process to engage others in finding the best way to better focus resources on those most in need."

The MP for Chingford continued: "Those reforms have helped to generate record rates of employment and in particular a substantial reduction in workless households.

"Throughout these years, because of the perilous public finances we inherited from the last Labour administration, difficult cuts have been necessary.

"I have found some of these cuts easier to justify than others but aware of the economic situation and determined to be a team player I have accepted their necessity."

Tory MPs are openly rebelling over the plans to slash £1.2billion from Personal Independence Payments (PIP) by removing weekly payments from people who need 'aids and appliances' to help them dress and use the toilet.

Labour has demanded the Government abandon the plans and promised to force a Commons vote.

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