Yahoo! News: World News

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• Syrian spokesman flees country, diplomat says
• Israel says will stick with settlement plan despite condemnation
• Congo back in charge of Goma, U.N. fingers Rwanda again
• Russia, China urge North Korea to drop rocket launch plan
• Egypt judicial council to oversee referendum
• UK's Prince William and wife Kate expecting a baby
• Trafficked maids to order: The darker side of richer India
• Obama urges Russia to work with U.S. to extend arms pact
• South African women rights at risk as Zuma woos tribal chiefs
• Child servants a blot on Haiti's abolitionist past
• Will and Kate expecting a baby, UK palace confirms
• Israel feels heat from allies over settlements
• Egypt's crisis widens with planned march, strikes
• UN pulling staff from Syria, violence near capital
• Obama warns Syria against using chemical weapons
• Thousands flee as typhoon blows into Philippines
• China moves to right wrongs in city Bo once ruled
• Amnesty details 'horrific' abuses in south Yemen
• Bangladesh fire victims want old jobs back
• Pope joins tweeting masses with Pontifex handle
• The pope joins the twitterverse as @pontifex
• Egypt's constitution hangs in balance as judges face off against Morsi
• Rebel gains in Syria embolden Lebanese Sunnis
• Troubling uptick in violence in São Paulo's slums
• Has Israel's settlement expansion crossed a 'red line'?
• China's leadership change is disturbing the corridors of power

Syrian spokesman flees country, diplomat says Posted: 03 Dec 2012 03:19 PM PST CAIRO/BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian foreign ministry spokesman, who was the most public face of Bashar al-Assad's government as it battled a 20-month-old uprising, has fled the country, a diplomat in the region said on Monday. Jihad al-Makdissi, who is in his 40s, previously worked at the Syrian embassy in London and returned to Damascus a year ago to serve as spokesman for the ministry, defending the government's crackdown on the revolt against Assad's rule. He had little influence in a system largely run by the security apparatus and the military. ...

Israel says will stick with settlement plan despite condemnation Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:32 AM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel rejected concerted criticism from the United States and Europe on Monday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to expand settlement building after the United Nations' de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood. Washington urged Israel to reconsider its plan to erect 3,000 more homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying the move hindered peace efforts with the Palestinians. Britain, France, Spain, Sweden and Denmark summoned the Israeli ambassadors in their capitals to give similar messages. ...

Congo back in charge of Goma, U.N. fingers Rwanda again Posted: 03 Dec 2012 03:47 PM PST GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Congo's government re-established control over the eastern city of Goma on Monday after rebels withdrew, and U.N. experts made new allegations that Rwandan soldiers took part in the insurgents' capture of the city. The M23 rebel movement pulled its fighters out of the North Kivu provincial capital in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Saturday after seizing it from fleeing U.N.-backed government forces and holding it for 11 days. ...

Russia, China urge North Korea to drop rocket launch plan Posted: 03 Dec 2012 01:00 PM PST MOSCOW/BEIJING (Reuters) - Russia and China urged North Korea on Monday not to go ahead with a plan for its second rocket launch of 2012, with Moscow saying any such move would violate restrictions imposed by the U.N. Security Council. North Korea's state news agency on Saturday announced the decision to launch another space satellite and reportedly told neighbors it would take a path similar to that planned for a failed rocket launch in April. "We urgently appeal to the government (of North Korea) to reconsider the decision to launch a rocket," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a ...

Egypt judicial council to oversee referendum Posted: 03 Dec 2012 09:01 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Supreme Judicial Council has cleared the way for a referendum on a new constitution which President Mohamed Mursi hopes will end a political crisis that has split the country. Some judges had called for their colleagues to shun the December 15 plebiscite, which must be supervised by the judiciary like all elections in Egypt. But the council's decision suggests enough officials can be mobilized to oversee the vote. ...

UK's Prince William and wife Kate expecting a baby Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:23 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine are expecting a baby, destined to be the country's future monarch, although the mother-to-be is in hospital with a type of very acute morning sickness that sometimes indicates twins. "Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby," the prince's office said in a statement on Monday, adding that Queen Elizabeth and the royal family were delighted. ...

Trafficked maids to order: The darker side of richer India Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:03 PM PST NEW DELHI, Dec 4 (TrustLaw) - Inside the crumbling housing estates of Shivaji Enclave, amid the boys playing cricket and housewives chatting from their balconies, winding staircases lead to places where lies a darker side to India's economic boom. Three months ago, police rescued Theresa Kerketa from one of these tiny two-roomed flats. For four years, she was kept here by a placement agency for domestic maids, in between stints as a virtual slave to Delhi's middle-class homes. ...

Obama urges Russia to work with U.S. to extend arms pact Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:11 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Russia on Tuesday to work with the United States to "update" a decades-old agreement on dismantling nuclear and chemicals weapons that is set to expire in mid-2013. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in October that Moscow intended to end the 1992 agreement, the latest sign that the much-vaunted "reset" in relations between the Cold War-era foes may be running out of steam. ...

South African women rights at risk as Zuma woos tribal chiefs Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:05 PM PST AMAHLUBI, South Africa, Dec 4 (TrustLaw) - Pregnant and bereaved, Thandiwe Zondi considered killing herself and her five daughters when she was evicted from her marital home. Under customary Zulu law, only males can inherit land. But Zondi had borne no sons when her husband, a chief, died of natural causes, so his successor moved into her house and turfed the family out. She appealed to a traditional court of tribal leaders - but they sided with the new chief. ...

Child servants a blot on Haiti's abolitionist past Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:02 PM PST PORT-AU-PRINCE, Dec 4 (TrustLaw) - Dayana Denois was always the last to go to bed and the first to wake up. By dawn, she had washed the dishes and clothes, cleaned and swept the floor and emptied the chamber pots. "I didn't know what resting meant. Even when I was sick, I'd never get a break," Denois said, recalling the years she spent living with her aunt in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince. "She didn't care if I was tired or not. She kept telling me to do things. She beat me with electric cables, shouted at me, punched and slapped me on the face," the 12-year-old said. ...

Will and Kate expecting a baby, UK palace confirms Posted: 03 Dec 2012 02:55 PM PST Britain doesn't have to wait any longer: Prince William's wife, Kate, is pregnant.

Israel feels heat from allies over settlements Posted: 03 Dec 2012 01:11 PM PST Israel rejected a wave of American and European condemnations Monday over plans to build thousands of new homes in West Bank settlements, vowing to press forward with the construction in the face of widespread international opposition.

Egypt's crisis widens with planned march, strikes Posted: 03 Dec 2012 12:14 PM PST Egypt's political crisis is widening, with plans for a huge march and a general strike Tuesday to protest the hurried drafting of a new constitution and decrees by President Mohammed Morsi that gave him nearly unrestricted powers.

UN pulling staff from Syria, violence near capital Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:55 PM PST Fighting between rebels and government forces raged near the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday, forcing an inbound commercial jet to turn back while the U.N. said it was withdrawing staff because of deteriorating security conditions.

Obama warns Syria against using chemical weapons Posted: 03 Dec 2012 02:26 PM PST President Barack Obama warned Syria on Monday that the use of chemical weapons would be "totally unacceptable" and that the country's leaders would be held accountable.

Thousands flee as typhoon blows into Philippines Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:13 PM PST Thousands of villagers fled from their homes as a strong typhoon roared closer to the southern Philippines, prompting authorities to suspend sea travel in high-risk areas and halt gold-mining in a mountain town notorious for deadly landslides.

China moves to right wrongs in city Bo once ruled Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:15 PM PST With China's new leaders freshly installed in power, authorities are turning their attention to tying up loose ends in the sprawling, scandal-ridden city once ruled by populist politician Bo Xilai before his downfall buffeted the leadership transition.

Amnesty details 'horrific' abuses in south Yemen Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:30 PM PST Al-Qaida committed "horrific" rights abuses during its 16 months in power in southern Yemen, Amnesty International charged in a report released Tuesday, documenting the beheading of an alleged sorcerer, crucifixion of a man accused spying and amputation of a man's hand for stealing.

Bangladesh fire victims want old jobs back Posted: 03 Dec 2012 01:27 AM PST As 112 of her co-workers died in a garment-factory fire, Dipa Akter got out by jumping from the third floor through a hole made by breaking apart an exhaust fan. Her left leg is wrapped in bandages and she has trouble walking.

Pope joins tweeting masses with Pontifex handle Posted: 03 Dec 2012 02:18 PM PST Benedict XVI, the pope known for his hefty volumes of theology and lengthy encyclicals, is now trying brevity — spreading the faith through his own Twitter account.

The pope joins the twitterverse as @pontifex Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:16 AM PST After centuries of issuing theology-heavy treatises and ponderous papal bulls, the Vatican on Monday announced that the pope was embracing the most succinct of communications – Twitter.

Egypt's constitution hangs in balance as judges face off against Morsi Posted: 03 Dec 2012 10:16 AM PST On Sunday, Egypt's highest court suspended its work in protest over perceived pressure after Islamist demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse. Later in the day, the national judges union followed up by calling on its members not to monitor the referendum to pass the Constitution into force.

Rebel gains in Syria embolden Lebanese Sunnis Posted: 03 Dec 2012 08:04 AM PST Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's increasingly tenuous hold on power is emboldening Sunnis in neighboring Lebanon to escalate their opposition to Hezbollah, the powerful militant Shiite movement and ally of Mr. Assad.

Troubling uptick in violence in São Paulo's slums Posted: 03 Dec 2012 07:20 AM PST Rodrigo Marcos Silva Vieira's mother asked his father not to go to work that night. Neighbors were warning of an informal police curfew in their poor neighborhood of Jardim Carumbé on the northern edge of São Paulo, and she thought better of defying it. "But my father said there was nothing to worry about, and Rodrigo went to help him," remembers Mr. Vieira's sister Beatriz Silva Vieira. But around 1:30 am on Nov. 6, a motorbike with two men pulled up outside the small bar where Vieira and his father worked, and the passenger indiscriminately fired more than 20 shots into the establishment. ...

Has Israel's settlement expansion crossed a 'red line'? Posted: 03 Dec 2012 06:17 AM PST Israel's plan to move forward with controversial settlements in eastern Jerusalem – which it took in apparent retaliation for the Palestinian Authority's recent, successful pursuit of recognition as a United Nations nonmember observer state – is prompting an angry response, and likely "real action," from Europe.

China's leadership change is disturbing the corridors of power Posted: 03 Dec 2012 05:34 AM PST As China-watchers worldwide debate whether the new Communist Party leaders here will be able to push through the sort of political and economic changes that almost everyone agrees the country needs, a little noticed but possibly revolutionary reform appears to already be underway.

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