Yahoo! News: World News

---

• Warplane attacks on Damascus suburbs kill 60: activists
• U.S. troops punished over Koran burning, urination video
• Exclusive: New Egypt leader steps out on world stage seeking "balance"
• Exclusive: Venezuela refinery could restart Friday
• Exclusive: Colombia's ELN rebels offer peace talks, refuse ceasefire first
• Israeli court to rule on U.S. activist Corrie death
• Rich-poor divide scars Angola as it heads for polls
• Israel shells Gaza compounds after rocket attacks
• Gambia executes nine prisoners by firing squad: government
• Thousands of Kuwaitis protest electoral law move
• Colombia's president: talks held with FARC rebels
• Tango flourishes in finals of Argentine festival
• 10,000 Syrian refugees stuck at Turkish border
• Mexican sect faces down police in school fight
• Oil spill fouls Curacao shore, threatens flamingos
• South African adventurer shot in Peru
• Syria sectarian divide turns to fear and flight
• Syrian rebels claim to shoot down helicopter
• France would recognize Syrian opposition govt
• Egypt president names mainly Islamist adviser team

Warplane attacks on Damascus suburbs kill 60: activists Posted: 27 Aug 2012 03:52 PM PDT AMMAN/ALEPPO (Reuters) - Syrian fighter planes made rare sorties on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, killing at least 60 people in its eastern suburbs, the same day a Syrian military helicopter crashed while under rebel fire, activists said. They said aerial attacks by at least two fighter planes late on Monday had targeted the neighborhood of Zemalka and the more easterly suburb of Saqba where Free Syrian Army fighters had attacked and overrun several army roadblocks earlier in the day. ...

U.S. troops punished over Koran burning, urination video Posted: 27 Aug 2012 04:05 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Monday it was disciplining U.S. troops over two incidents that provoked outrage in Afghanistan early this year, one involving a video depicting Marines urinating on corpses and another over burned copies of the Koran. The administrative punishments -- which could include things like reduce rank or forfeiture of pay -- fell short of criminal prosecution, and it was unclear whether they would satisfy Afghan demands for justice. ...

Exclusive: New Egypt leader steps out on world stage seeking "balance" Posted: 27 Aug 2012 04:21 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's new Islamist president said on Monday he would pursue a "balanced" foreign policy, reassuring Israel its peace treaty was safe, hinting at a new approach to Iran and calling on Bashar al-Assad's allies to help lever the Syrian leader out. Mohamed Mursi, who was elected in June and consolidated his power this month by dismissing top military leaders, is seeking to introduce himself to a wider world ahead of a trip to Iran - the first by an Egyptian leader in three decades - and China. "Egypt is now a civilian state ... ...

Exclusive: Venezuela refinery could restart Friday Posted: 27 Aug 2012 03:53 PM PDT PARAGUANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's biggest refinery could restart operations on Friday and fires still burning in three storage tanks will be extinguished within two days, the country's energy minister told Reuters, following the country's worst oil industry accident. An explosion on Saturday at the Amuay refinery killed 48 people and pushed up U.S. fuel prices in markets that were already bullish because of a threat that Tropical Storm Isaac could disrupt refinery operations on the U.S. Gulf Coast. ...

Exclusive: Colombia's ELN rebels offer peace talks, refuse ceasefire first Posted: 27 Aug 2012 03:28 PM PDT BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's second-biggest guerrilla group says it is willing to hold unconditional peace talks to end five decades of war, but refuses to end its kidnapping, bomb attacks and extortion of foreign oil and mining companies before negotiations start. Nicolas Rodriguez, leader of the National Liberation Army, known as the ELN, told Reuters in a rare interview that he is open to negotiate an end to the bloodshed with President Juan Manuel Santos' conservative government. ...

Israeli court to rule on U.S. activist Corrie death Posted: 27 Aug 2012 03:36 PM PDT HAIFA, Israel (Reuters) - The family of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old pro-Palestinian activist whose killing by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza in 2003 drew international attention, will hear a court rule on Tuesday on their long-running civil lawsuit against Israel. Corrie's family filed the lawsuit in the northern Israeli city of Haifa in 2005, accusing Israel of intentionally and unlawfully killing their daughter and failing to conduct a full and credible investigation. ...

Rich-poor divide scars Angola as it heads for polls Posted: 27 Aug 2012 03:35 PM PDT HUAMBO, Angola (Reuters) - A four-lane avenue separates the shelled ruins of the art deco Ruacana Cinema from Huambo's shiny new Chinese-built railway station, a symbol of the leaps Angola has made to recover from a devastating 27-year civil war that ended a decade ago. As Angolans prepare to go to the polls on Friday for only the second time since the end of the war, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos's ruling MPLA party reminds them daily of the rewards of peace and boasts of its reconstruction achievements. ...

Israel shells Gaza compounds after rocket attacks Posted: 27 Aug 2012 03:31 PM PDT GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces shelled two compounds run by the Hamas government's security services in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, wounding two Palestinians, Hamas said. Israel described the targets as weapons manufacturing and storage sites and said they were hit in retaliation for recent short-range rocket salvoes launches from the coastal enclave into the Jewish state. Two such salvoes, on Sunday and Monday, caused no casualties and were claimed by ultra-conservative Salafi Islamists who have a presence in Gaza and the neighboring Egyptian Sinai. ...

Gambia executes nine prisoners by firing squad: government Posted: 27 Aug 2012 03:54 PM PDT BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambia said on Monday it had executed nine prisoners, prompting critics to call for sanctions on the president whose plans to clear the country's death row by mid-September had already drawn a flurry of international condemnation. Six civilians and three members of the military were executed by firing squad on Sunday after their appeal processes had been exhausted, the interior ministry said in a statement. It named the prisoners and said they had been found guilty of a variety of crimes, all involving murder. ...

Thousands of Kuwaitis protest electoral law move Posted: 27 Aug 2012 01:42 PM PDT KUWAIT (Reuters) - Thousands of Kuwaitis took part in a rally late on Monday to protest any changes to the electoral law which they said could harm the prospects of opposition lawmakers in upcoming elections. While the major oil exporter has not experienced the kind of mass popular uprisings that have swept the Arab region since last year, tensions have grown between the cabinet, opposition lawmakers and youth activists. ...

Colombia's president: talks held with FARC rebels Posted: 27 Aug 2012 05:25 PM PDT Colombia's president says his government has held exploratory talks with the country's main leftist rebel group in hopes of ending a half-century-old conflict.

Tango flourishes in finals of Argentine festival Posted: 27 Aug 2012 04:51 PM PDT Couples from around the world are competing in the finals of Argentina's annual tango competition, the highlight of a two-week festival which this year honored Astor Piazzolla, the legendary composer who revived the genre and infuriated purists by blending tango with rock music in the 1970s.

10,000 Syrian refugees stuck at Turkish border Posted: 27 Aug 2012 03:55 PM PDT Some 10,000 Syrian refugees are waiting on the Syrian side of the border as Turkey rushes to build more camps to accommodate the influx and carries out more stringent security checks on the newcomers, Turkish officials said Monday.

Mexican sect faces down police in school fight Posted: 27 Aug 2012 04:45 PM PDT Mexican authorities were unable Monday to overcome the resistance of an apocalyptic religious sect in western Mexico that has refused to allow public school teachers to hold classes in their town of Nueva Jerusalen, or New Jerusalem.

Oil spill fouls Curacao shore, threatens flamingos Posted: 27 Aug 2012 04:49 PM PDT An extensive fuel spill has fouled a stretch of shoreline and oiled pink flamingos and other wildlife in a nature preserve in Curacao, conservationists and residents of the tiny Dutch Caribbean island said Monday.

South African adventurer shot in Peru Posted: 27 Aug 2012 04:53 PM PDT A young South African adventurer seeking to follow the Amazon River from its origin to its mouth was in stable condition in a Lima hospital Monday after being shot and robbed by a pair of youths while on a Peruvian tributary, authorities said.

Syria sectarian divide turns to fear and flight Posted: 27 Aug 2012 02:00 PM PDT Abu Qais, a Sunni Muslim in Syria's capital Damascus, says six members of his extended family have been killed by gunmen who belong to the minority Alawite sect of President Bashar Assad.

Syrian rebels claim to shoot down helicopter Posted: 27 Aug 2012 12:20 PM PDT A Syrian military helicopter crashed in a ball of fire Monday after apparently being hit during clashes between government forces and rebels in the capital Damascus, activists said, in a sign of the fighters' growing abilities as they struggle to topple President Bashar Assad's regime.

France would recognize Syrian opposition govt Posted: 27 Aug 2012 02:36 PM PDT French President Francois Hollande urged Syria's divided opposition on Monday to form a provisional government, promising that France would recognize it in hope of accelerating the departure of President Bashar Assad's regime as the violence escalates in the Arab country.

Egypt president names mainly Islamist adviser team Posted: 27 Aug 2012 01:24 PM PDT Egypt's Islamist president Mohammed Morsi on Monday named a team of 21 advisers and aides that includes three women and two Christians and a large number of Islamist-leaning figures, backing off campaign promises to appoint a Christian and a woman as vice presidents.

You are subscribed to email updates from World News Headlines - Yahoo! News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610