2012年3月8日星期四

Yahoo! News: World News

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yahoo! News: World News


Powers urge Iran to open site to nuclear inspectors

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VIENNA (Reuters) - Six world powers demanded Iran keep its promise to let international inspectors visit a military installation where the U.N. nuclear watchdog believes explosives tests geared to developing atomic bombs may have taken place. The joint call demonstrated unusual unity among the powers on Iran before a planned revival of high-level talks as well as widening disquiet about the nature of Tehran's nuclear ambitions, with Israel threatening last-ditch military action. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei welcomed comments by U.S. ...

Israel asks U.S. for arms that could aid Iran strike

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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has asked the United States for advanced "bunker-buster" bombs and refueling planes that could improve its ability to attack Iran's underground nuclear sites, an Israeli official said on Thursday. "Such a request was made" around the time of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week, the official said, confirming media reports. ...

UK and Italian hostages killed in Nigeria

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LONDON (Reuters) - A Briton and an Italian held hostage in Nigeria were killed by their captors before they could be freed by a rescue mission, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday. Cameron said he had authorized the failed operation, conducted with the Nigerian government, after being told the men's lives were in "imminent and growing danger". Cameron said Briton Chris McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara had been taken hostage in Northern Nigeria in May 2011. "Preparations were made to mount an operation to attempt to rescue Chris and Franco. ...

Obama, Karzai note progress on long-term deal: White House

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai noted progress on Thursday in long-stalled efforts to broker an agreement guiding U.S.-Afghan relations after most foreign troops withdraw, the White House said. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the two leaders spoke in a video call. "The leaders noted progress toward concluding a strategic partnership that reinforces Afghan sovereignty while addressing the practical requirements of transition," Carney said, referring to the deal that would lay out U.S. ...

Exclusive: Gaddafi hid arms in Libyan embassies across globe

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TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The administration of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was running a covert program to conceal weapons in Libyan embassies across the globe, a senior official in the new government said on Thursday. The weapons included handguns, grenades and bomb-making materials and were shipped using the diplomatic bag. They may have been intended for use in assassinations on Libyan dissidents abroad, or for operations against the embassies' host countries. ...

Analysis: Amid Iran war of words, Palestinians are forgotten

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RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - A monumental wooden chair erected in Ramallah to symbolize the Palestinians' sought-after United Nations seat collapsed this week after months of wind and rain. Bulldozers quietly took away the shattered remains by night. Its collapse and stealthy removal could well serve as an emblem of Palestinian hopes for statehood. For the first time in years, meetings this week between U.S. and Israeli leaders were largely silent on the long-stalled peace process. ...

Bin Laden widows charged with illegal stay in Pakistan

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ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have brought charges against Osama bin Laden's three widows for illegally entering and living in the country, the interior minister said on Thursday. The al Qaeda leader was killed in a secret raid by U.S. Special Forces in the garrison town of Abbottabad in May last year after a decade-long manhunt. His three wives and an undisclosed number of children were among the 16 people detained by Pakistani authorities after the raid. "They (the wives) were presented before the court. ...

U.S. adds Vatican to money-laundering 'concern' list

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VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican has for the first time appeared on the State Department's list of money-laundering centers but the tiny city-state is not rated as a high-risk country. The 2012 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report was made public on Wednesday and Washington's list of 190 countries classifies them in three categories: of primary concern, of concern and monitored. The Vatican is in the second category, grouped with 67 other nations including Poland, Egypt, Ireland, Hungary and Chile. ...

Venezuelan journalist in eye of Chavez cancer storm

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CARACAS (Reuters) - Derided as a "liar" and "clown" by President Hugo Chavez's allies, a bespectacled 66-year-old journalist has defied the verbal barrage to become a must-read for anyone tracking the Venezuelan leader's cancer. Veteran reporter and gossip-columnist Nelson Bocaranda broke the stunning news in mid-2011 that Chavez, the country's all-dominant socialist leader, had the disease. ...

Four more generals defect from Syrian army: rebels

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BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) - Four more high-ranking officers have defected from the Syrian armed forces and joined the year-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule, two rebel groups said on Thursday. The men fled over the past three days to a camp for Syrian army deserters in southern Turkey, according to Lieutenant Khaled al-Hamoud, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army (FSA). He told Reuters by telephone from Turkey the desertions bring to seven the number of brigadier generals who have defected. ...

Syrian official defects, calls regime sinking ship

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Syria's deputy oil minister appeared tense as he looked at the camera and announced in a video that he has defected from President Bashar Assad's regime, acknowledging he expects government forces to "burn my home" and "persecute my family."

Dad-son talk, celebrity tweets key to viral video

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The young American boy sums up what his father does for a living: "You stop the bad guys from being mean."

Japanese town haunted by loss a year after tsunami

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The squat 71-year-old fisherman turns his ruddy, weathered face toward the top of the hillside cemetery. With a heavy heart, he climbs steadily past row after row of tall tombstones, a bucket of water in each hand.

A modern Falkland Islands, transformed by war

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Falkland Islanders are still bristling over the invasion by Argentina 30 years ago, but they're not complaining about its aftermath.

British, Italian hostages killed in Nigeria

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Two Europeans held hostage in Nigeria by kidnappers claiming ties to al-Qaida were killed before rescuers could free them, authorities said Thursday.

World powers stress diplomacy in Iran standoff

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Three days of protracted negotiations held under the specter of war highlighted the diplomatic difficulties ahead for nations intent on ensuring that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons.

Police shootings prompt outrage in Jamaica

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Security personnel armed with M16s and machine guns manned roadblocks and detained dozens of young men Thursday as part of a crackdown in a Jamaican ghetto where a 13-year-old girl, two elderly men and three others were killed during reported shootouts between police and gunmen.

French kidnap convict sparks debate in Mexico

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A recommendation that Mexico release a French woman serving a 60-year kidnapping sentence sparked a heated debate Thursday about whether the Frenchwoman should be retried or released, and whether that would be fair to the victims in the case.

Deadline ends on Greek bond swap deal

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Greece government officials and world markets appeared confident that a high number of private investors would participate in a in a major Greek debt reduction deal as the deadline to do so passed Thursday night.

Double-amputee in Cuba sets sights on London games

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Damian Lopez was 13 when he tried to untangle his kite from electrical wires dangling over a street corner and accidentally touched a high-voltage cable.
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