Yahoo! News: World News

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• Fiercest fighting yet reported inside Damascus
• New York Post eyes shielding Murdoch talks over chimp cartoon
• Egyptian officials plan talks to free U.S. hostages
• Back in Russia flood zone, Putin tries to protect image
• Iran renews Hormuz closure threats
• Alleged ringleader of Mexico City airport shootout captured
• South African elected first female AU Commission head
• Peru's Humala approval rating suffers as conflicts flare
• Ally of North Korea leader relieved of party posts: KCNA
• Egyptians pelt Clinton motorcade with tomatoes
• Red Cross declares Syrian conflict to be civil war
• Clinton's calls fall flat in Egypt political fight
• Where's my Windsurfer? Athletes bring tons of bags
• French party to sue Madonna over swastika image
• Polish rescuers of Jews celebrated as heroes
• Iran parliamentarians call for nuclear ships
• Honduran seizures raise fear of wider conflicts
• Iraq warns Turkey over separate Kurdish oil deal
• Radical Islamists in Mali enlist new militia
• Floods in Japan kill 26, thousands remain cut off

Fiercest fighting yet reported inside Damascus Posted: 15 Jul 2012 04:00 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Opposition fighters battled Syrian government forces in Damascus into the early hours of Monday in what residents described as the fiercest fighting yet inside the capital. Activists said the fighting spread from the south of the city to a second area as night fell. At least five people were killed and dozens wounded, locals said. The spread of fighting came as U.N. peace mediator Kofi Annan was due to fly to Moscow for a two-day visit in which he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin who has resisted Western calls to increase pressure on Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. ...

New York Post eyes shielding Murdoch talks over chimp cartoon Posted: 15 Jul 2012 01:38 PM PDT (Reuters) - The New York Post is seeking to keep its top editor from having to answer questions in a bias lawsuit about his discussions with media mogul Rupert Murdoch over a published cartoon that appeared to liken President Barack Obama to a chimpanzee. Calling the February 2009 cartoon "quintessential political speech entitled to the strongest protections of the First Amendment," the newspaper in a court filing late Friday night also said the discussions were irrelevant to the lawsuit brought by Sandra Guzman, a former associate editor. ...

Egyptian officials plan talks to free U.S. hostages Posted: 15 Jul 2012 01:29 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian officials are preparing for negotiations to secure the release of two Americans abducted in the mountainous Sinai region and enlisting Bedouin tribal leaders as mediators, a security source said on Sunday. U.S. officials have also said they are working with Egyptian authorities to broker a release of the Americans. A Bedouin tribesman, Germy Abu Masouh, said he had kidnapped a U.S. pastor, an American woman and their Egyptian tour guide in central Sinai on Friday to protest the jailing of his uncle on drug charges, according to one security source. ...

Back in Russia flood zone, Putin tries to protect image Posted: 15 Jul 2012 03:08 PM PDT KRYMSK, Russia (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin flew to southern Russia on Sunday for the second time in eight days to meet survivors of deadly floods, determined to dispel an image of leading a weak state two months after returning to the presidency. Dressed casually in a blue-and-white check shirt, Putin chatted with residents of the town of Krymsk whose homes were damaged in floods that killed 171 people in Russia's traditional "bread basket" area known as the Kuban on July 7. ...

Iran renews Hormuz closure threats Posted: 15 Jul 2012 10:18 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran renewed threats on Sunday to close the Strait of Hormuz unless sanctions against it were revoked, though it remains unclear how Tehran could shut down the vital oil shipping channel given the significant American military presence there. The Iranian parliament is considering a bill calling for the strait to be closed. The assembly has little control over national defense and foreign policy decisions and, while the bill would be largely symbolic, it would indicate the legislature's support behind any leadership decision to close the strait. ...

Alleged ringleader of Mexico City airport shootout captured Posted: 15 Jul 2012 11:50 AM PDT MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican federal police announced on Sunday the capture of the alleged ringleader of a group of police officers implicated in a drugs-related, deadly shootout with other officers in Mexico City's international airport last month. A shackled Bogard Lugo, one of three officers suspected of involvement in the killing of three fellow federal police on June 25 in an airport food court, was presented at a press conference at police headquarters. ...

South African elected first female AU Commission head Posted: 15 Jul 2012 03:36 PM PDT ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - South African Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was elected on Sunday to become the first female head of the African Union (AU) Commission, ending a bruising leadership battle that had threatened to divide and weaken the organization. Cheers broke out at the AU's soaring, Chinese-built steel and glass headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa as supporters of the ex-wife of South African President Jacob Zuma celebrated her victory over incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon. ...

Peru's Humala approval rating suffers as conflicts flare Posted: 15 Jul 2012 02:50 PM PDT LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian President Ollanta Humala's approval rating fell to a fresh low in July, a year since he took office as concern grows over his handling of increasingly violent social conflicts, an opinion poll showed on Sunday. Humala's popularity fell 5 percentage points for a second consecutive month to 40 percent, while the number of respondents who said they disapproved of his administration rose to 51 percent, according to the Ipso Apollo survey. ...

Ally of North Korea leader relieved of party posts: KCNA Posted: 15 Jul 2012 04:50 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - A high-ranking North Korean military official who has been a close ally of the reclusive state's new leader has been relieved of his political posts due to illness, the country's official news media said on Monday. Ri Yong-ho was relieved of all his posts in the ruling Workers' Party Korea at a politburo meeting on Sunday, including a powerful position as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the North's official KCNA news agency said. ...

Egyptians pelt Clinton motorcade with tomatoes Posted: 15 Jul 2012 01:39 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's motorcade on Sunday during her first visit to Egypt since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. A tomato struck an Egyptian official in the face, and shoes and a water bottle landed near the armored cars carrying Clinton's delegation in the port city of Alexandria. A senior state department official said that neither Clinton nor her vehicle, which were around the corner from the incident, were struck by any of the projectiles. ...

Red Cross declares Syrian conflict to be civil war Posted: 15 Jul 2012 01:27 PM PDT Syria's 16-month bloodbath crossed an important symbolic threshold Sunday as the international Red Cross formally declared the conflict a civil war, a status with implications for potential war crimes prosecutions.

Clinton's calls fall flat in Egypt political fight Posted: 15 Jul 2012 04:49 PM PDT The head of Egypt's military took a tough line Sunday on the Muslim Brotherhood, warning that he won't let the fundamentalist group dominate the country, only hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged him to work with Egypt's elected Islamist leaders.

Where's my Windsurfer? Athletes bring tons of bags Posted: 15 Jul 2012 12:14 PM PDT Kenneth Andreasen, the head coach for the U.S. Olympic sailing team, is not a man who travels lightly. He's already sent 10 shipping containers full of sailboats, motor boats, masts, sails, trailers and other marine equipment to the Olympic sailing center at Weymouth.

French party to sue Madonna over swastika image Posted: 15 Jul 2012 08:19 AM PDT France's far-right National Front said Sunday that it plans to sue Madonna after the singer showed a video at a Paris concert that contained an image of the party's leader with a swastika on her forehead.

Polish rescuers of Jews celebrated as heroes Posted: 15 Jul 2012 12:47 PM PDT For decades, nobody really talked about them: the thousands of Poles, mostly Roman Catholics, who risked their lives during World War II to save Jewish friends, neighbors and even strangers.

Iran parliamentarians call for nuclear ships Posted: 15 Jul 2012 11:47 AM PDT A Iranian parliamentary committee has approved a bill requiring the government to design nuclear-powered merchant ships and provide them with nuclear fuel, an Iranian news agency reported Sunday.

Honduran seizures raise fear of wider conflicts Posted: 15 Jul 2012 11:11 AM PDT As La Confianza stirs to life at daybreak, farmers ride bicycles or buses to lush green fields of African palm trees, where they harvest high-hanging fruit using poles tipped with hooked knives.

Iraq warns Turkey over separate Kurdish oil deal Posted: 15 Jul 2012 11:06 AM PDT Baghdad warned Turkey on Sunday that its separate oil deal with Iraq's northern self-ruled Kurdish region could damage trade relations, the latest sign of tension between the two neighbors.

Radical Islamists in Mali enlist new militia Posted: 15 Jul 2012 09:22 AM PDT Al-Qaida-linked radical Islamists in northern Mali have enlisted new fighters from a tribal militia to strengthen their grip on the region, according to a witness and the group, amid growing international concern that Mali could become a lawless launch pad for terrorist activities.

Floods in Japan kill 26, thousands remain cut off Posted: 15 Jul 2012 02:29 PM PDT Thousands of people in southern Japan remained cut off Sunday by floods and mudslides triggered by torrential rains that have killed at least 26 people, local authorities said.

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