Yahoo! News: World News

Lebanon to bury slain intelligence official
Confusion in Libya over fate of former Gaddafi spokesman
U.S. says no plans for one-on-one meeting with Iran on nuclear issue
West Bank vote held to help plug Palestinian democracy gap
Monti expects to see Italy recovery signs within months
Left makes gains in Czech Senate election
Putin flexes muscle in big test of Russia's nuclear arsenal
Five Colombian soldiers killed, first deadly clash amid peace talks
Sierra Leone opposition plans to review mining code, contracts
Kuwait opposition to boycott vote, calls for protests
Syria has long, tumultuous history in Lebanon
Lebanese on edge after car bomb linked to Syria
Nigeria military: Sect member at senator's home
Libyan turmoil persists year after Gadhafi death
UN envoy presses for Syria cease-fire in Damascus
London protesters bash Britain's austerity drive
Cuba's elections: Grassroots democracy or sham?
Rights group: Yemen security forces raid hospitals
Floods in France prompt evacuations in shrine town
Israeli naval vessels take control of Gaza boat
In town seen as pro-Qaddafi, settling of scores shifts into standoff with government
Breaking through the political echo chamber in Venezuela
Anxious Turks suspect US plot is behind Syria's implosion
Burma just opened up after 50 years. But where are all the tourists?

Lebanon to bury slain intelligence official

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 03:45 PM PDT

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's political opposition has called for a mass turnout at Sunday's funeral for slain intelligence officer Wissam al-Hassan, turning the ceremony into a political rally against Syrian authorities and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Hassan, who uncovered an alleged Syrian bomb plot inside Lebanon two months ago, was killed in a huge car bomb blast that also killed seven other people and wounded 80 in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district on Friday. ...

Confusion in Libya over fate of former Gaddafi spokesman

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 04:41 PM PDT

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan militias captured Muammar Gaddafi's chief spokesman on Saturday, the government said, but an audio clip posted on Facebook purporting to be the voice of Moussa Ibrahim denied his capture. There was no independent verification of the authenticity or timing of the Facebook post, dated October 20, a year to the day after the dictator's death. A statement from the prime minister's office said Ibrahim, who was the mouthpiece of the Gaddafi regime during last year's war, was caught in the town of Tarhouna, 70 km (40 miles) south of Tripoli. ...

U.S. says no plans for one-on-one meeting with Iran on nuclear issue

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 04:32 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Saturday denied a report in the New York Times that said the Obama administration had agreed to one-on-one talks with Iran on its nuclear program. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement the United States would continue to work with fellow permanent members of the U.N. Security Council to resolve the issue. "It's not true that the United States and Iran have agreed to one-on-one talks or any meeting after the American elections," the statement said. "We continue to work with the P-5 (five permanent members of the U.N. ...

West Bank vote held to help plug Palestinian democracy gap

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 01:03 PM PDT

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinians voted in elections in the Israeli-occupied West Bank for the first time in six years on Saturday, but their scant choice of candidates put them out of step with democratic revolutions elsewhere in the Arab world. The results of the local ballots were expected to reaffirm the Western-backed, mainly secular Fatah party, which runs a de facto government in the slivers of land not policed by Israel, in the face of a boycott by its Islamist arch-rival, Hamas. ...

Monti expects to see Italy recovery signs within months

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 01:14 PM PDT

CERNOBBIO, Italy (Reuters) - Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Saturday he expected it would be only a few more months before signs of recovery start to emerge in the recession-hit Italian economy. Addressing an agriculture conference in northern Italy, Monti spoke of "a few months, just a few months I hope that we have left before we start seeing clear signs of recovery." Italy has been in a recession since the middle of last year, weighed down by austerity measures passed by Monti's government to cut the country's massive debt, including tax hikes, spending cuts and a pension overhaul. ...

Left makes gains in Czech Senate election

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 01:21 PM PDT

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech left cemented its dominant position in the upper house of parliament in an election on Saturday, after fiscal tightening and sleaze scandals eroded support for the right. The vote adds to the woes of the centre-right cabinet of Prime Minister Petr Necas, which faces a crucial confidence vote in the lower house next week that could trigger an early election. "It is a clear message from voters for the government, a second within a single week, that it should end," said opposition Social Democrat leader Bohuslav Sobotka. ...

Putin flexes muscle in big test of Russia's nuclear arsenal

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 12:34 PM PDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin took a leading role in the latest tests of Russia's strategic nuclear arsenal, the most comprehensive since the 1991 Soviet collapse, the Kremlin said on Saturday. The exercises, held mostly on Friday, featured prominently in news reports on state television which seemed aimed to show Russians and the world that Putin is the hands-on chief of a resurgent power. ...

Five Colombian soldiers killed, first deadly clash amid peace talks

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 12:47 PM PDT

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Five Colombian soldiers were killed by FARC rebels in the first major incident since peace talks between the Andean country's government and guerrilla leaders began earlier this week, the army said on Saturday. The government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) started a peace process on Thursday in Norway aimed at finding a negotiated end to the five-decade-old conflict. The negotiations move to Cuba on November 15. ...

Sierra Leone opposition plans to review mining code, contracts

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 12:51 PM PDT

FREETOWN (Reuters) - Sierra Leone's main opposition party plans to introduce a raft of reforms to the mining and oil sectors if it wins elections next month, according to its election program released on Saturday. The Sierra Leone People's Party's (SLPP) presidential candidate, former junta leader Julius Maada Bio, hopes to dislodge incumbent Ernest Bai Koroma's All People's Congress government in the November 17 poll. The SLPP's manifesto proposes a review of all existing mining and oil deals as well as the law that governs the mining sector, according to a copy obtained by Reuters. ...

Kuwait opposition to boycott vote, calls for protests

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 12:30 PM PDT

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Opposition groups in Kuwait say they will boycott December 1 parliamentary elections, calling changes to the voting system announced by the government on Saturday a "coup against the constitution". Kuwait has been torn by a power struggle between the government, controlled by the ruling Al-Sabah family, and the elected parliament. The turmoil has blocked development plans and paralyzed the political system. ...

Syria has long, tumultuous history in Lebanon

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 01:10 PM PDT

Syria has a long and tumultuous history of meddling into Lebanese affairs. For much of the past 30 years, the seven-times-smaller Lebanon has lived under Syrian military and political domination. Damascus has often stirred tensions within Lebanon's explosive sectarian mix of Christians and Muslims to advance its regional interests, including during the country's 15-year civil war that ended in 1990. Syria's powerful allies in Lebanon include the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Important milestones affecting the Syria-Lebanon relationship:

Lebanese on edge after car bomb linked to Syria

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 02:14 PM PDT

Lebanese protesters erected flaming roadblocks and gunmen roamed the streets Saturday in a city on edge after the assassination of a top security official in a powerful car bomb the prime minister linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria.

Nigeria military: Sect member at senator's home

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 02:04 PM PDT

Nigeria's military arrested a member of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram at the home of a prominent senator, as ongoing violence blamed on the sect in a nearby city has killed at least 23 people in recent days, officials said.

Libyan turmoil persists year after Gadhafi death

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 04:03 PM PDT

On the anniversary of the capture and killing of Moammar Gadhafi, Libya is still grappling with the legacy of his four decades of rule as the interim government and the dictator's former spokesman engaged in a war of words amid the ongoing chaos.

UN envoy presses for Syria cease-fire in Damascus

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 09:23 AM PDT

The international envoy to the Syria conflict pressed his call for a cease-fire with Syrian officials during a visit to Damascus on Saturday while violence continued throughout the country unabated.

London protesters bash Britain's austerity drive

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 09:32 AM PDT

Tens of thousands of demonstrators descended on the British capital Saturday in a noisy but peaceful protest at a government austerity drive aimed at slashing the nation's debt.

Cuba's elections: Grassroots democracy or sham?

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 02:53 PM PDT

There are no flashy television ads or campaign signs spiked into front yards. And candidates definitely don't tour the island shaking hands and kissing babies.

Rights group: Yemen security forces raid hospitals

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 02:09 PM PDT

Yemeni security forces have raided hospitals in Aden in search of suspected militants, threatening health care in the southern port city, an international rights group said Saturday.

Floods in France prompt evacuations in shrine town

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 01:12 PM PDT

Pilgrims trek by the millions each year to the Roman Catholic shrine in Lourdes, many looking to drink its spring waters reputed for their healing powers. This time, visitors were fleeing a different kind of water — floodwaters — in the southwestern French town.

Israeli naval vessels take control of Gaza boat

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 01:19 PM PDT

Israeli troops on Saturday commandeered a Gaza-bound ship that tried to break through Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled seaside strip, the military said. European lawmakers and other pro-Palestinian activists aboard did not resist, and the Finnish-flagged vessel was diverted to an Israeli port.

In town seen as pro-Qaddafi, settling of scores shifts into standoff with government

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 12:20 PM PDT

A year to the day after Muammar Qaddafi was killed, a town long tarred as sympathetic to him is under attack by government-aligned militias in what many Libyans describe as settling unfinished business. Libya's government wants the town of Bani Walid, southeast of Tripoli, to hand over suspects accused of kidnapping a militiaman from the city of Misurata credited with having helped run Qaddafi down last year. In recent days a tense standoff has turned violent. For many in Bani Walid, the affair confirms their longstanding complaints of persecution in post-Qaddafi Libya. ...

Breaking through the political echo chamber in Venezuela

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 11:48 AM PDT

• David Smilde is the moderator of WOLA's blog: Venezuelan Politics and Human Rights. The views expressed are the author's own.

Anxious Turks suspect US plot is behind Syria's implosion

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 07:50 AM PDT

In an empty coffee house in Antakya, local tradesman Ahmet Sari's face crumples in anger as he speaks about Syria.

Burma just opened up after 50 years. But where are all the tourists?

Posted: 20 Oct 2012 06:00 AM PDT

It has got the beaches and temples and culture to easily rival those of popular tourist destinations Thailand and Malaysia.