Yahoo! News: World News

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• Violence flares in Cairo as Egyptians vote
• Iran warns against Patriot deployment on Syria frontier
• Iran, other countries horrified by Connecticut massacre
• Nigerian governor, ex-security head die in air crash
• Nine dead as Taliban attack airport in North West Pakistan
• Hungary government, central bank in "alliance" from 2013
• Nelson Mandela had gallstones removed, recovering: South Africa
• Russia opposition leaders held as protesters defy police
• Lieberman to run in Israeli election despite graft charge
• Japan heads to polls, conservative LDP seen returning to power
• Egyptians take quarrel over charter to the polls
• Israeli election downplays Palestinian issue
• Conservative party favored as Japan voting begins
• Mexico's Mayas face Dec. 21 with ancestral calm
• Iran warns Turkey over NATO's missile system
• Egypt's ousted president slips, hits his head
• Nigeria governor, 5 others die in helicopter crash
• Militants attack airport in NW Pakistan; 9 killed
• With Chavez stricken, elections become crucial
• Syrian FM blames West for nation's suffering
• Egyptians go to polls on controversial constitution
• On election's eve, Japan's conservatives appear poised for dramatic comeback

Violence flares in Cairo as Egyptians vote Posted: 15 Dec 2012 02:19 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamists attacked the offices of an Egyptian opposition party newspaper on Saturday, security sources said, as people voted on a new constitution intended to pull the country out of a growing political crisis. The newspaper of the Wafd party in Cairo was targeted with petrol bombs and birdshot, the sources said, in the latest of a series of violent incidents surrounding a divisive referendum designed to pave the way to national elections next year. The attack came as officials began counting votes after polling stations closed at 11 p.m. (1600 ET). ...

Iran warns against Patriot deployment on Syria frontier Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:00 AM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iran's army chief of staff warned NATO on Saturday that stationing Patriot anti-missile batteries on Turkey's border with Syria was setting the stage for world war. General Hassan Firouzabadi, whose country has been a staunch supporter of President Bashar al-Assad throughout the 21-month uprising against his rule, called on the Western military alliance to reverse its decision to deploy the defense system. "Each one of these Patriots is a black mark on the world map, and is meant to cause a world war," Firouzabadi said, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency. ...

Iran, other countries horrified by Connecticut massacre Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:03 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - International leaders on Saturday expressed horror at the Connecticut elementary school massacre, with Iran - at odds with the United States - calling the incident tragic and Pope Benedict conveying "heartfelt grief." Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, died in Friday's shooting spree in the town of Newtown, Connecticut, including 20 children and six adults killed at the school and one adult killed at a nearby site, police said. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast described the killings as "tragic," according to Iran's official news agency IRNA. ...

Nigerian governor, ex-security head die in air crash Posted: 15 Dec 2012 02:10 PM PST YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - The governor of Nigeria's volatile Kaduna state and a former national security adviser were among six killed when a helicopter crashed in the southerly oil-producing Bayelsa state on Saturday, officials said. The helicopter wobbled in the sky before nose-diving into a forest in Ogbia Creek at around 3:30 p.m. (0930 ET), a local resident who witnessed the crash told Reuters. "By the time we got to the scene it was in flames," said Hitler Adunion, a local community leader. "We tried to put them out but it was difficult. We saw the roasted bodies of those inside. ...

Nine dead as Taliban attack airport in North West Pakistan Posted: 15 Dec 2012 12:28 PM PST PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Taliban suicide squad staged an audacious car bomb, rocket and gun attack on the airport in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Saturday and Pakistani security officials said at least nine people, including five attackers, were killed. The night raid was the biggest assault on a high-profile military facility since gunmen stormed an air base in the eastern province of Punjab in August and underscored the resilience and reach of Pakistan's Taliban insurgency. ...

Hungary government, central bank in "alliance" from 2013 Posted: 15 Dec 2012 02:41 PM PST BUDAPEST (Reuters) - A leadership change at Hungary's central bank next year will allow the government to build a strategic alliance with the bank to boost the economy, Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy said on Saturday. Matolcsy, a member of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government that has often clashed with the bank over policy, also said the bank would have to focus on helping growth and employment as well as curbing inflation. ...

Nelson Mandela had gallstones removed, recovering: South Africa Posted: 15 Dec 2012 06:17 AM PST JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela, the 94-year-old former South African president and Nobel Peace laureate hospitalized with a lung infection, has successfully undergone a procedure to have gallstones removed, the government said on Saturday. "The former president underwent a procedure via endoscopy to have gallstones removed. The procedure was successful and Madiba is recovering," President Jacob Zuma's office said in a statement, using Mandela's clan name. ...

Russia opposition leaders held as protesters defy police Posted: 15 Dec 2012 08:08 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian riot police detained four opposition leaders and broke up a crowd of about 2,000 people who went ahead with a banned rally on Saturday to demand an end to Vladimir Putin's 13-year rule. The opposition chose a symbolic location, in front of the Soviet KGB security police's former headquarters, for the rally marking a year of protests against Putin, and said the police intervention showed the limits on dissent under the president. ...

Lieberman to run in Israeli election despite graft charge Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:13 AM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Avigdor Lieberman confirmed on Saturday that he would run in next month's Israeli election, despite a corruption charge that prompted him to resign from the post of foreign minister. Authorities have said Lieberman will be charged over alleged irregularities in the promotion of an Israeli diplomat who leaked information to him about a police investigation into his activities. ...

Japan heads to polls, conservative LDP seen returning to power Posted: 15 Dec 2012 10:06 AM PST TOKYO (Reuters) - Voters were expected to return Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to power in an election on Sunday after a three year hiatus, giving ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a chance to push his hawkish security agenda and radical economic recipe. An LDP win would usher in a government committed to a tough stance in a territorial row with China, a pro-nuclear power energy policy despite last year's Fukushima disaster and a potentially risky prescription for hyper-easy monetary policy and big fiscal spending to beat deflation and tame a strong yen. ...

Egyptians take quarrel over charter to the polls Posted: 15 Dec 2012 01:09 PM PST Egyptians took their quarrel over a draft constitution to polling stations Saturday after weeks of violent turmoil between the newly empowered Islamists and the mostly liberal opposition over the future identity of the nation.

Israeli election downplays Palestinian issue Posted: 15 Dec 2012 12:16 PM PST Peacemaking with the Palestinians, once the main issue by far in Israeli politics, has been strikingly absent from the campaign for next month's general election. After years of public frustration with failed peace efforts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's badly divided challengers are trying instead to tap the economic angst of the middle class and a widespread resentment of perks enjoyed by fervently devout Jews.

Conservative party favored as Japan voting begins Posted: 15 Dec 2012 04:41 PM PST Japanese were voting Sunday in parliamentary elections that were expected to put the once-dominant conservatives back in power after a three-year break — and bring in a more nationalistic government amid tensions with Japan's big neighbor, China.

Mexico's Mayas face Dec. 21 with ancestral calm Posted: 15 Dec 2012 02:18 PM PST Amid a worldwide frenzy of advertisers and new-agers preparing for a Maya apocalypse, one group is approaching Dec. 21 with calm and equanimity — the people whose ancestors supposedly made the prediction in the first place.

Iran warns Turkey over NATO's missile system Posted: 15 Dec 2012 01:26 PM PST A top Iranian military commander warned Turkey on Saturday against stationing NATO anti-missile systems on its territory, saying such a move risks conflict with Syria.

Egypt's ousted president slips, hits his head Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:23 AM PST An Egyptian security official says ousted president Hosni Mubarak has slipped in the bathroom in the prison where is serving a life sentence, hitting his head.

Nigeria governor, 5 others die in helicopter crash Posted: 15 Dec 2012 02:01 PM PST A navy helicopter crashed Saturday in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, killing a state governor and five other people, in the latest air disaster to hit Africa's most populous nation, officials said.

Militants attack airport in NW Pakistan; 9 killed Posted: 15 Dec 2012 11:11 AM PST Suicide bombers armed with rockets attacked the military side of a Pakistani airport in the northwestern city of Peshawar Saturday, killing four civilians and wounding more than 30, officials said. Five militants also were killed.

With Chavez stricken, elections become crucial Posted: 15 Dec 2012 02:07 PM PST Hugo Chavez's cancer has upended politics in Venezuela, transforming Sunday's nationwide elections for state governors and legislators into a test of his legacy that could chart the country's future in the uncertain months ahead.

Syrian FM blames West for nation's suffering Posted: 15 Dec 2012 09:52 AM PST Syria's foreign minister blamed the suffering of his country's people on U.S. and European sanctions imposed on his country, telling a top U.N. official Saturday that the international body should condemn these measures and work toward lifting them.

Egyptians go to polls on controversial constitution Posted: 15 Dec 2012 08:22 AM PST With their nation's future at stake, Egyptians lined up Saturday to vote on a draft constitution after weeks of turmoil that have left them deeply divided between Islamist supporters of the charter and those who fear it will usher in religious rule.

On election's eve, Japan's conservatives appear poised for dramatic comeback Posted: 15 Dec 2012 06:03 AM PST Japan's political carousel is about to revolve yet again. By late on Sunday evening, the world's third biggest economy is expected to install its seventh prime minister in six years, with polls predicting a dramatic comeback by the conservative opposition and its hawkish leader, Shinzo Abe.

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