Yahoo! News: World News

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• Rivals clash as Mursi deputy seeks end to Egypt crisis
• Israel pushes settlement plan ahead; EU summons envoy
• Eight dead in earthquake in eastern Iran
• Clinton says "desperate" Assad could use chemical arms
• NATO calls on North Korea to cancel rocket launch
• Three dead as cargo ship sinks off Dutch coast
• Tunisia calls protest strike against Islamic government
• Russia slams Hague court for freeing Croatian generals
• Japan opposition LDP on track to win solid election majority: poll
• Second night of Northern Irish riots ahead of Clinton visit
• Islamists battle opponents as Egypt crisis grows
• Syrian civil war spills over into Lebanon
• Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, dies at 104
• Death toll from Philippine typhoon nears 300
• As Netanyahu visits Europe, relations frayed
• Possible Wintour appointment gets London talking
• Cashing in on Gangnam Style's YouTube fame
• Aussies sorry for crank call to Kate's hospital
• Israel, Palestinians escalate settlement showdown
• Paraguayan farmers question probe into killings
• In Cairo, shooting, anger, and bracing for more confrontation
• Latin America: Region one of worst for corruption
• Egypt's post-Mubarak consensus is breaking
• A traditional Sinterklaas debate: Is 'Black Pete' racist?
• Showdown looms between Argentina's Kirchner and her biggest media critic
• Japan tunnel collapse ignites debate about infrastructure spending
• Exclusive: How a Chinese prisoner release reveals business as usual at 'black jail'
• Thai king's birthday marks time-out in Thailand's game of thrones
• Syria: first state with WMDs to topple?
• Can lessons from Iraq be applied to US-Iran tensions?
• And the most corrupt nation this year is....
• Egypt freedoms in balance during constitutional showdown

Rivals clash as Mursi deputy seeks end to Egypt crisis Posted: 05 Dec 2012 04:49 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamists battled with protesters outside Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's palace on Thursday, after his vice president suggested amendments could be agreed to the draft constitution that has divided the nation. Fires burned in the streets near the palace perimeter where opponents and supporters of Mursi threw stones and petrol bombs. Riot police tried to separate the two sides, but failed to halt fighting that extended from Wednesday into the early morning. ...

Israel pushes settlement plan ahead; EU summons envoy Posted: 05 Dec 2012 08:31 AM PST JERUSALEM/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Israel moved ahead with plans to build 3,000 settler homes in one of the most sensitive areas of the West Bank, as the European Union summoned Israel's envoy to add its voice to a storm of international protest. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday the global condemnation, some of it from the Jewish state's closest traditional allies, would not deter it from defending its "vital interests". ...

Eight dead in earthquake in eastern Iran Posted: 05 Dec 2012 02:39 PM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - An earthquake measuring 5.5 in magnitude struck eastern Iran on Wednesday, killing eight people and injuring 12 others as emergency teams scrambled to rescue others and treat the injured, Iranian media reported. People fled their homes as the quake struck and brought walls and buildings down. But others were left trapped under rubble in villages across the district of Zohan in South Khorasan province, Fars news agency said. "Eight people have been killed in the earthquake area and one person is missing. ...

Clinton says "desperate" Assad could use chemical arms Posted: 05 Dec 2012 11:08 AM PST BEIRUT/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Washington fears a "desperate" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could use chemical weapons as rebels bear down on Damascus, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday, repeating a vow to take swift action if he does. Rebels fighting to overthrow Assad said they had surrounded an air base near Damascus, a fresh sign the battle is closing in on the Syrian capital, a day after NATO agreed to send air defense missiles to Turkey. The Western military alliance's decision to send U.S. ...

NATO calls on North Korea to cancel rocket launch Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:00 AM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO on Wednesday called on North Korea to cancel plans for its second rocket launch of 2012, saying it would violate U.N. resolutions and could further destabilize the Korean peninsula. NATO ambassadors expressed "grave concern at North Korea's declared intent to launch a rocket using ballistic missile technology this month", an alliance statement said. "Such an act would be in direct violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874. It would risk exacerbating tensions in the region and further destabilizing the Korean peninsula," it said. ...

Three dead as cargo ship sinks off Dutch coast Posted: 05 Dec 2012 03:33 PM PST AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - At least three crew members died when a cargo ship carrying cars sank after colliding with a container ship in the North Sea on Wednesday night, Dutch coastguards and media reports said. The coastguards mounted an air-and-sea rescue operation after the Baltic Ace, a car carrier sailing under a Bahamas flag, collided with the Corvus J, a container ship from Cyprus, off Rotterdam port, coastguard spokesman Peter Verburg said. ...

Tunisia calls protest strike against Islamic government Posted: 05 Dec 2012 03:55 PM PST TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's largest union called on Wednesday for a general protest strike next week against the Islamist-led government in an escalation of protests that resulted in violent clashes in the capital this week. On Tuesday, several hundred Islamists armed with knives and sticks charged a gathering of members of the UGTT union in the capital and broke office windows with stones. Police had to intervene to separate the two groups. ...

Russia slams Hague court for freeing Croatian generals Posted: 05 Dec 2012 04:01 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia sharply criticized the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on Wednesday over recent decisions to free two Croatian generals and a Kosovo Albanian former guerilla commander, describing the court as careless and ineffective. Last month, the most senior Croatian military officer convicted of war crimes during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, General Ante Gotovina, was freed on appeal in a decision that is straining already fraught relations between Croatia and its old enemy, Serbia. ...

Japan opposition LDP on track to win solid election majority: poll Posted: 05 Dec 2012 03:42 PM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's main opposition Liberal Democratic Party looks to be on course to win a solid majority in the December 16 parliamentary election and return to power for the first time since 2009, media polls showed on Thursday. The LDP calls for radical monetary easing by the Bank of Japan to beat persistent deflation and the strong yen. It also vows to stand tough against China on territorial issues over disputed islands in the East China Sea. ...

Second night of Northern Irish riots ahead of Clinton visit Posted: 05 Dec 2012 03:29 PM PST BELFAST (Reuters) - A number of police officers were injured in Northern Ireland on Wednesday in a second night of rioting this week, just two days before U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits to lend support to the province's fragile peace. Up to 1,600 pro-British loyalists, enraged at a decision by nationalist councilors to remove the Union Jack flag from above the entrance of Belfast City Council, battled again with police, 15 of whom were injured after the council decision on Monday. ...

Islamists battle opponents as Egypt crisis grows Posted: 05 Dec 2012 04:08 PM PST Egypt descended into political turmoil on Wednesday over the constitution drafted by Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi, and at least 211 people were wounded as supporters and opponents battled each other with firebombs, rocks and sticks outside the presidential palace.

Syrian civil war spills over into Lebanon Posted: 05 Dec 2012 02:09 PM PST The families of Lebanese men killed in Syria last week say their relatives were more interested in nice clothes and vacations than fighting a civil war. Yet Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime branded them foreign jihadists — and their deaths set off three days of new spillover violence.

Oscar Niemeyer, Brazilian architect, dies at 104 Posted: 05 Dec 2012 04:47 PM PST Architect Oscar Niemeyer, who recreated Brazil's sensuous curves in reinforced concrete and built the capital of Brasilia on the empty central plains as a symbol of the nation's future, died on Wednesday. He was 104.

Death toll from Philippine typhoon nears 300 Posted: 05 Dec 2012 08:34 AM PST Stunned parents searching for missing children examined a row of mud-stained bodies covered with banana leaves while survivors dried their soaked belongings on roadsides Wednesday, a day after a powerful typhoon killed nearly 300 people in the southern Philippines.

As Netanyahu visits Europe, relations frayed Posted: 05 Dec 2012 04:19 PM PST It was supposed to be an amicable meeting between close friends. Instead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Germany has been soured by Berlin's refusal to oppose a Palestinian U.N. statehood bid and anger throughout Europe over Israeli plans to expand settlements around Jerusalem.

Possible Wintour appointment gets London talking Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:34 AM PST Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John Quincy Adams ... and now Anna Wintour?

Cashing in on Gangnam Style's YouTube fame Posted: 05 Dec 2012 02:03 PM PST As "Gangnam Style" gallops toward 1 billion views on YouTube, the first Asian pop artist to capture a massive global audience has gotten richer click by click. So too has his agent and his grandmother. But the money from music sales isn't flowing in from the rapper's homeland South Korea or elsewhere in Asia.

Aussies sorry for crank call to Kate's hospital Posted: 05 Dec 2012 09:05 AM PST Two Australian radio disc jockeys apologized Wednesday after impersonating Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles in a prank call and getting a London hospital to tell them all about Kate Middleton's condition.

Israel, Palestinians escalate settlement showdown Posted: 05 Dec 2012 12:42 PM PST Palestinians and Israelis hardened their positions Wednesday over a contentious new settlement push around Jerusalem, with Israel going full throttle on plans to develop the area and the Palestinians trying to block it through an appeal to the U.N. Security Council.

Paraguayan farmers question probe into killings Posted: 05 Dec 2012 12:32 PM PST Lucia Aguero stood with the other farmers in the standoff. About 300 of them had occupied the rich politician's land that they insisted wasn't legally his. On the other side of the clearing were some 200 riot police. She watched as the two negotiators walked up to each other and began talking.

In Cairo, shooting, anger, and bracing for more confrontation Posted: 05 Dec 2012 02:14 PM PST Sherif Azer, one of the original Tahrir Square activists who helped sweep Hosni Mubarak from power in February 2011, is matter-of-fact, as if what is happening today in Cairo was somehow inevitable.

Latin America: Region one of worst for corruption Posted: 05 Dec 2012 11:33 AM PST Latin American economies may have weathered the global recession better than most, reduced poverty, and grown the middle class, but across most of the region corruption remains as entrenched as ever. That's the message of Transparency International's latest Corruption Perception Index. This year, two-thirds of the region's 32 countries fall in the bottom half of the list, among the world's most corrupt nations.

Egypt's post-Mubarak consensus is breaking Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:14 AM PST Yesterday, tens of thousands of anti-Muslim Brotherhood protesters swept up to the gates of the presidential palace in Cairo, furious about a proposed Constitution that was written with limited, if any, input from the revolutionary political groups that spearheaded the protests that drove Hosni Mubarak from power in Feb. 2011.

A traditional Sinterklaas debate: Is 'Black Pete' racist? Posted: 05 Dec 2012 10:04 AM PST Tonight, as is the tradition on Dec. 5 in The Netherlands and Belgium, many children will receive gifts from Sinterklaas, or St. Nicholas. But there's another, more recent tradition that accompanies the holiday as well: the debate over Sinterklaas's traditional helper, Zwarte Piet, or "Black Pete."

Showdown looms between Argentina's Kirchner and her biggest media critic Posted: 05 Dec 2012 09:53 AM PST President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's battle with the press is set to intensify this week as Argentina implements a polemic media law that her administration says encourages a plurality of voices and that opponents call an assault on free speech and democracy.

Japan tunnel collapse ignites debate about infrastructure spending Posted: 05 Dec 2012 08:52 AM PST Japan has ordered immediate inspections of dozens of road and highway tunnels after the ceiling of a major tunnel near Tokyo collapsed on Sunday, killing nine people. The tragedy has prompted questions about the state of Japan's huge network of roads and tunnels, as well as about related public spending as the country prepares for a general election on Dec. 16.

Exclusive: How a Chinese prisoner release reveals business as usual at 'black jail' Posted: 05 Dec 2012 08:15 AM PST Late on Tuesday evening, a Chinese human rights group posted an extraordinary report on its website: 70,000 inmates of Beijing's "black jails" – illegal detention centers for troublesome protesters – had just been freed.

Thai king's birthday marks time-out in Thailand's game of thrones Posted: 05 Dec 2012 08:09 AM PST Hundreds of thousands of Thais lined the streets of Bangkok on Wednesday to see King Bhumibol Adulyadej make a rare public speech to mark his 85th birthday.

Syria: first state with WMDs to topple? Posted: 05 Dec 2012 07:27 AM PST International attention has once again turned to Syria's chemical weapons supply following new information that may indicate President Bashar al-Assad's military is preparing to use the weapons.

Can lessons from Iraq be applied to US-Iran tensions? Posted: 05 Dec 2012 06:57 AM PST More than nine years after US forces invaded Iraq, the CIA's declassified analysis of mistakes over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction is rich with lessons that apply to Iran, as talk of another war simmers.

And the most corrupt nation this year is.... Posted: 05 Dec 2012 06:34 AM PST • A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Egypt freedoms in balance during constitutional showdown Posted: 04 Dec 2012 03:33 PM PST "You are reading this message because Egypt Independent objects to continued restrictions on media liberties, especially after hundreds of Egyptians gave their lives for freedom and dignity."

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