Yahoo! News: World News

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• Lebanon kidnap fans fear of Syria spillover
• Israel suspects rocket fire caused explosions near Egypt border
• Britain warns Ecuador it could enter embassy to get Assange
• U.S., Japan said discussing missile-defense ship upgrades
• Zuma urges Zimbabwe political reforms ahead of polls
• About 60 dead in Congo mine accident: radio report
• Organisation of Islamic Cooperation suspends Syria
• Iraq car bombs, blast kill 9, wound 34: sources
• China demands Japan release activists over island protest
• Gunmen attack Pakistan air base: air force
• Thousands line up for right to work legally in US
• Israeli military: Blasts heard in southern city
• UN panel concludes war crimes perpetrated in Syria
• Roma trapped in misery as France demolishes camps
• Cayman's imperiled blue iguanas on the rebound
• Syrian warplanes bomb rebel-held town, 8 killed
• Grenades at Afghan mosque, bicycle bomb injure 23
• Global activists gear up for Pussy Riot rallies
• Buckingham Palace: Prince Philip taken to hospital
• Mexico's monarch butterfly reserve stops logging

Lebanon kidnap fans fear of Syria spillover Posted: 15 Aug 2012 03:21 PM PDT BEIRUT/ALEPPO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has told citizens to leave Lebanon after a mass kidnapping in retaliation for events in Syria raised fears that violence may be spilling across a region riven by sectarian rancor and great power rivalries. On a day when Lebanese captives held by Syrian rebels were among the wounded in a deadly air strike by government forces, citizens of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, key backers of the mainly Sunni Muslim insurgency, were seized along with about 20 Syrians by Beirut Shi'ites in an area run by Iranian-backed Hezbollah. ...

Israel suspects rocket fire caused explosions near Egypt border Posted: 15 Aug 2012 04:39 PM PDT JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Two explosions shook a southern Israeli city near Egypt on Wednesday, and the military suspected a cross-border rocket attack though searches have thus far turned up no evidence. The blasts took place in the town of Eilat after darkness fell. Tensions have been running high in neighboring Sinai where Egyptian troops have mounted a sweep after a deadly August 5 attack on a security post by militants who then stormed Israel's border. There were no reported casualties in Wednesday's incident. ...

Britain warns Ecuador it could enter embassy to get Assange Posted: 15 Aug 2012 04:27 PM PDT QUITO/LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Wednesday warned Ecuador that it could raid its London embassy if Quito does not hand over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been taking refuge at the mission since mid-June. In Quito, the Ecuadorean government said that any such action would be considered a violation of its sovereignty a "hostile and intolerable act." "Under British law we can give them a weeks' notice before entering the premises and the embassy will no longer have diplomatic protection," a Foreign Office spokesman said. "But that decision has not yet been taken. ...

U.S., Japan said discussing missile-defense ship upgrades Posted: 15 Aug 2012 03:24 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Japan are discussing system upgrades for a pair of Japanese destroyers to boost defenses against a ballistic missile attack, an executive at the Pentagon's top contractor said Wednesday. The potential multimillion-dollar updates to two Atago-class guided-missile destroyers would provide cutting-edge "Aegis" ballistic missile defenses equivalent to those being added to U.S. Navy ships, said Nick Bucci, who heads such maritime programs at Lockheed Martin Corp. ...

Zuma urges Zimbabwe political reforms ahead of polls Posted: 15 Aug 2012 04:46 PM PDT HARARE (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday urged Zimbabwe's rival leaders to speed up political reforms seen as critical to avoiding another violent and disputed election, but President Robert Mugabe signaled he would not be pushed into endorsing a new constitution already accepted by his foes. Speaking to journalists after a series of meetings with Mugabe and his rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Zuma said there was some progress on a new constitution, but minor hitches remained. ...

About 60 dead in Congo mine accident: radio report Posted: 15 Aug 2012 03:55 PM PDT KINSHASA (Reuters) - About 60 miners died when a shaft in which they were working collapsed in a remote part of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN-backed radio station said on Wednesday. The miners were 100 meters underground when the accident occurred on Monday in Mambasa territory in Orientale Province, Radio Okapi reported on its website. Authorities in the Central African nation were not immediately available to comment. Mining companies AngloGold Ashanti and Randgold operate in the region, which is known to be rich in tin and gold. ...

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation suspends Syria Posted: 15 Aug 2012 04:53 PM PDT MECCA (Reuters) - The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation suspended Syria's membership early on Thursday at a summit of Muslim leaders in Mecca, citing President Bashar al-Assad's violent suppression of the Syrian revolt. "The conference decides to suspend the Syrian Arab Republic membership in the OIC and all its subsidiary organs, specialized and affiliated institutions," the closing statement said. The move had been approved on Monday at a preliminary meeting of OIC foreign ministers and was agreed on the summit's second night despite opposition from Iran. ...

Iraq car bombs, blast kill 9, wound 34: sources Posted: 15 Aug 2012 11:14 AM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two car bombs and a third blast killed at least nine people in Iraq on Wednesday, officials and security sources said, the latest in a spate of attacks raising fears of a return to widespread violence. The first bomb hit a commercial district in the town of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, just after locals had gathered to break their Ramadan fast, said the sources. Two people were killed and nine injured in the town in the central province of Diyala, police and hospital sources said. ...

China demands Japan release activists over island protest Posted: 15 Aug 2012 01:13 PM PDT HONG KONG/TOKYO (Reuters) - China demanded Japan immediately and unconditionally free 14 Chinese activists held over a protest landing on disputed islands on Wednesday, as tensions between Tokyo and its neighbors flared on the anniversary of the end of World War Two. The landing by the activists on an island chain in the East China Sea and their detention by Japan's coast guard came on a day of regional diplomatic jousting, underscoring how history dogs Japan's ties with China and South Korea. ...

Gunmen attack Pakistan air base: air force Posted: 15 Aug 2012 04:50 PM PDT ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistan air force official said gunmen attacked and entered an air force base in central Pakistan early on Thursday, calling the attackers "terrorists". Security guards and the attackers were exchanging intense gunfire nearly three hours after the assault began at Minhas base in Punjab province, the official said. "Terrorists" is the term Pakistani authorities use to describe militant groups such as the Taliban who are seeking to topple the U.S.-backed government. (Reporting by Sheree Sardar; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by John Mair)

Thousands line up for right to work legally in US Posted: 15 Aug 2012 04:51 PM PDT Nathaly Uribe has all the papers she needs to get a work permit — something the 17-year-old daughter of a construction worker only dreamed of growing up as an illegal immigrant in the United States.

Israeli military: Blasts heard in southern city Posted: 15 Aug 2012 02:23 PM PDT The Israeli military says explosions have been heard in the southern city of Eilat, and it's suspected that rockets were fired from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

UN panel concludes war crimes perpetrated in Syria Posted: 15 Aug 2012 12:33 PM PDT The killings took place under a late spring sun. The squads poured into the Syrian village of Houla on foot and in vehicles: cars, minivans and pickups mounted with machine guns.

Roma trapped in misery as France demolishes camps Posted: 15 Aug 2012 09:45 AM PDT The camps weren't much to begin with: They had no electricity or running water. Grocery carts served as makeshift grills. Rats ran rampant and fleas gnawed on young and old alike.

Cayman's imperiled blue iguanas on the rebound Posted: 15 Aug 2012 09:35 AM PDT The blue iguana has lived on the rocky shores of Grand Cayman for at least a couple of million years, preening like a miniature turquoise dragon as it soaked in the sun or sheltered inside crevices. Yet having survived everything from tropical hurricanes to ice ages, it was driven to near-extinction by dogs, cats and cars.

Syrian warplanes bomb rebel-held town, 8 killed Posted: 15 Aug 2012 11:03 AM PDT The Syrian fighter jets swooped in low over the rebel-held town of Azaz Wednesday in two bombing runs that sent panicked civilians fleeing for cover and reduced homes to rubble. Associated Press reporters who witnessed the air raids near the Turkish border saw at least eight dead including a baby and dozens wounded, most of them women and children.

Grenades at Afghan mosque, bicycle bomb injure 23 Posted: 15 Aug 2012 11:24 AM PDT Nearly two dozen Afghan civilians were wounded on Wednesday when two grenades exploded inside a mosque compound and a bicycle bomb blew up in a city market, officials said.

Global activists gear up for Pussy Riot rallies Posted: 15 Aug 2012 11:48 AM PDT The global campaign to free Pussy Riot is gaining speed: Supporters of the punk provocateur band are mobilizing this week in at least two dozen cities worldwide to hold simultaneous demonstrations an hour before a Russian court rules on whether its members will be sent to prison.

Buckingham Palace: Prince Philip taken to hospital Posted: 15 Aug 2012 10:13 AM PDT Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, was admitted to hospital Wednesday with a recurrence of the bladder infection he suffered earlier this summer, Buckingham Palace said.

Mexico's monarch butterfly reserve stops logging Posted: 15 Aug 2012 10:03 AM PDT Researchers in Mexico say illegal logging has practically been eliminated in the wintering grounds of the Monarch butterfly.

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