Yahoo! News: World News

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• Hollande edges Sarkozy in French vote, Le Pen surges
• Merkel's FDP ally eyes poll comeback, doubts persist
• Egypt's Moussa promises army voice in key policy body
• Myanmar awaits EU sanction easing; Suu Kyi delays debut
• Afghanistan and U.S. agree on strategic pact text
• Violence persists in Syria as Annan urges truce compliance
• Former Iceland PM to learn if guilty in 2008 crisis
• Sri Lanka orders mosque move after Buddhist protest
• Sudan, South Sudan swap accusations of attacks, church raided
• Egypt cancels gas deal with Israel
• Sarkozy pledges to control immigration, save jobs
• US, Afghanistan reach deal on strategic pact
• Syria hotspot enjoys lull with UN monitors present
• Murdoch to be quizzed on his UK political sway
• Bahrain welcomes back F1 amid security crunch
• Iran says it recovered data from captured US drone
• Egypt terminates gas deal with Israel
• US praises Yemen crackdown on al-Qaida
• Iraqi premier starts talks in Iran
• Muslim mob burns Catholic church in Sudan capital

Hollande edges Sarkozy in French vote, Le Pen surges Posted: PARIS (Reuters) - Far-rightist Marine Le Pen threw France's presidential race wide open on Sunday by polling nearly 19 percent in the first round - votes that may tip a runoff between Socialist favorite Francois Hollande and conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy. Hollande led Sarkozy by 28.2 percent to 27.0 percent with more than four fifths of votes counted, the Interior Ministry said, meaning the two will meet head-to-head in a decider on May 6 that may be closer than pundits had been expected. Le Pen's record score of 18. ...

Merkel's FDP ally eyes poll comeback, doubts persist Posted: KARLSRUHE, Germany (Reuters) - Poll figures may be low and forecasts gloomy, but Martina Reuter felt certain things were looking up for her party - Germany's Free Democrats (FDP), the junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition. "At the moment there is a real mood of change ... There is a return to the old, fundamental values," the 50-year-old party member told Reuters at a weekend FDP congress in Karlsruhe, western Germany. Her comments were in tune with the atmosphere of determined bonhomie among the hundreds of delegates at the gathering. ...

Egypt's Moussa promises army voice in key policy body Posted: CAIRO (Reuters) - Ex-foreign minister Amr Moussa, a leading contender for Egypt's presidency, said on Sunday he would give the military a voice in key policies via a national security council, a move to reassure ruling generals about their status after a power transfer. Moussa, a self-described liberal nationalist whose main election rivals are Islamists, also said Egypt needed a president with lobbying skills to work effectively with the Islamist-dominated parliament and other institutions after decades of autocratic government. ...

Myanmar awaits EU sanction easing; Suu Kyi delays debut Posted: NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar's reformist rulers are looking forward to an eagerly awaited easing of European Union sanctions on Monday but celebrations will be muted over a political stalemate delaying Aung San Suu Kyi's historic parliamentary debut. A protest by Suu Kyi's party over a swearing-in vow for its would-be parliamentarians will dent an image of transformation the government wanted to show off on Monday, when the European Union is all but certain to become the first among Western powers to suspend in earnest sanctions that isolated Myanmar for two decades. ...

Afghanistan and U.S. agree on strategic pact text Posted: Afghanistan and the United States on Sunday agreed on a draft of a long-awaited deal that will define the scope and nature of a U.S. presence in the country for up to a decade after the pullout of most NATO combat troops in 2014. The U.S. Ambassador to Kabul, Ryan Crocker, and Afghan national security adviser, Rangin Spanta, initialed copies of the agreement, paving the way for President Barack Obama and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, to review it. ...

Violence persists in Syria as Annan urges truce compliance Posted: BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian soldiers stormed a town east of Damascus on Sunday and rebels bombed a military convoy in the north of the country as international mediator Kofi Annan urged both sides to work with an expanded team of U.N. ceasefire monitors. The group of unarmed military monitors has been operating in Syria for a week, overseeing a 10-day-old truce agreement that has curbed some of the violence but failed to bring a complete halt to 13 months of bloodshed. The U.N. ...

Former Iceland PM to learn if guilty in 2008 crisis Posted: REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - The only politician in the world to stand trial for their role in the 2008 financial crisis will learn their fate on Monday when a court in tiny Iceland rules on whether the island's former prime minister was grossly negligent or not. In a verdict that many fear will do little to heal the wounds of the meltdown, a court will decide whether former prime minister Geir Haarde, 61, was personally responsible for failing to rein in the country's banking sector before it imploded. Haarde, who faces four charges of gross negligence, has denied any guilt. ...

Sri Lanka orders mosque move after Buddhist protest Posted: COLOMBO (Reuters) - The Sri Lankan government ordered a mosque relocated on Sunday after Buddhist monks said the 50-year-old structure had been built illegally in an area sacred to Buddhists and threatened to demolish it. The monks in the island nation's central town of Dambulla protested against the mosque on Friday, stopping the Islamic prayers, and threatened violence if it was not removed. They also have asked that a Hindu temple in the area be removed. ...

Sudan, South Sudan swap accusations of attacks, church raided Posted: KHARTOUM/BENTIU, South Sudan (Reuters) - Sudan and newly-independent South Sudan accused each other of launching fresh attacks on their territories on Sunday as neither side showed any sign of bowing to global pressure to return to the negotiating table. South Sudan said Sudanese troops attacked settlements about 10km (6 miles) on its side of the border and carried out air raids in a range of areas including its oil-producing Unity state. ...

Egypt cancels gas deal with Israel Posted: JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Egyptian energy companies, citing a trade dispute, have terminated a deal to supply Israel with natural gas in a step that may further erode bilateral ties strained by a popular revolt that toppled Egypt's pro-Israeli leader last year. An Israeli partner in the business made the step public on Sunday but an Egyptian firm said the decision to cancel the deal had been made on Thursday. ...

Sarkozy pledges to control immigration, save jobs Posted: President Nicolas Sarkozy says the results of France's first round of presidential elections show the importance of controlling immigration and saving jobs.

US, Afghanistan reach deal on strategic pact Posted: Afghanistan and the U.S. agreed on a much-delayed strategic partnership deal Sunday that is meant to govern the U.S. role in Afghanistan as international forces draw down and for decades after, the two governments said.

Syria hotspot enjoys lull with UN monitors present Posted: The deployment of U.N. truce monitors brought a lull in shelling of the Syrian opposition stronghold of Homs for a second day Sunday while President Bashar Assad's troops kept up heavy attacks on other areas where observers were not present.

Murdoch to be quizzed on his UK political sway Posted: He was long considered one of the most important power brokers in British politics. Now, with his influence shriveled by Britain's phone hacking scandal, media mogul Rupert Murdoch is returning to the U.K. to face questions about his ties to the country's most senior politicians.

Bahrain welcomes back F1 amid security crunch Posted: Under heavy security, Bahrain's embattled leaders toasted the return Sunday of the coveted Formula One Grand Prix even as riot police used armored vehicles to virtually seal off opposition strongholds and fight hit-and-run clashes in the Arab Spring's longest-running street battles.

Iran says it recovered data from captured US drone Posted: Iran claimed Sunday that it had recovered data from an American spy drone that went down in Iran last year, including information that the aircraft was used to spy on Osama bin Laden weeks before he was killed. Iran also said it was building a copy of the drone.

Egypt terminates gas deal with Israel Posted: The head of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company said Sunday it has terminated its contract to ship gas to Israel because of violations of contractual obligations, a decision Israel said overshadows the peace agreement between the two countries.

US praises Yemen crackdown on al-Qaida Posted: The U.S. ambassador to Yemen said Sunday that a recent military shake-up has improved the fight against al-Qaida, which has taken advantage of internal turmoil to overrun parts of the country's south.

Iraqi premier starts talks in Iran Posted: Iraq's prime minister traveled to Tehran Sunday for top level talks, underlining the close ties between governments of the two countries.

Muslim mob burns Catholic church in Sudan capital Posted: A Muslim mob set ablaze a Catholic church frequented by Southern Sudanese in the capital Khartoum, witnesses and media reports said on Sunday.

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