IRAN-NUCLEAR TALKS

GENEVA â€" Officials say the U.S. and Iran are shaping the contours of a deal that could allow Iran to progressively ramp up its nuclear program over the last few years of its duration. Western officials cite long-awaited progress on many elements that would have to go into a comprehensive deal being negotiated Monday. 

BRITAIN-SYRIA-MISSING GIRLS

LONDON â€" The families of three British schoolgirls believed to have fled to Syria to join the Islamic State extremist group have issued emotional public appeals urging them to come home as police searched for them in Turkey. The girls, all 15 to 16 years old, disappeared from their homes Tuesday. Authorities said they boarded a plane to Turkey. 

NORWAY-OIL PAINS

STAVANGER, Norway â€" Losing his job on a Norwegian oil rig meant more to Kristoffer Sandberg than saying goodbye to a high salary and convenient work shifts. It has caused a shift down in lifestyle and expectations, something an increasing number of people in this small oil-rich country are struggling to come to terms with. After a decade of an oil and gas boom, plunging energy prices are shaking the Norwegians out of a Utopian reverie. UPCOMING: 

EU-BRITAIN-LOBBYING-STING

LONDON â€" Two former senior British government ministers have denied wrongdoing after being caught in a hidden-camera sting appearing to offer access to politicians and diplomats in return for cash. Jack Straw, who was foreign secretary under Labour Party Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Conservative former Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, were secretly filmed by reporters posing as representatives of a fictional Hong Kong-based communications agency. The reporters said they were seeking top U.K. politicians to join the firm's advisory board. 

UKRAINE

KIEV, Ukraine â€" A Ukrainian military spokesman says continuing attacks from rebels are delaying Ukrainian forces' pullback of heavy weapons from the front line in the country's east. Under a peace agreement reached on Feb. 12, both sides are to withdraw their heavy weapons anywhere from 25 to 70 kilometers to create a buffer zone. Ukrainian officials said Sunday that they were planning to begin. 

VATICAN-ARMENIANS

VATICAN CITY â€" Pope Francis has given a gift of sorts to Armenian Catholics commemorating the 100th anniversary of the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, declaring a revered 10th-century mystic and poet, St. Gregory of Narek, a doctor of the church. The Vatican said Monday that Francis had agreed to bestow one of the highest church honors on Gregory after the decision was taken by the Vatican's saint-making office. The designation, however, clearly reflects a desire of Francis, who as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was particularly close to the Armenian community in Buenos Aires.