Yahoo! News: World News

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• Nightclub fire kills 233 in Brazil
• Russia set to start posthumous trial of whistleblower Magnitsky
• Russia says Assad's prospects fading
• Venezuela transfers inmates from prison after riot kills 58
• Berlusconi defends Mussolini, draws outrage from political left
• Argentina, Iran to form "truth commission" for 1994 bombing
• Violence flares at Dominican opposition party office, eight injured
• Israel's comatose ex-leader Sharon shows signs of consciousness
• Fragile economy, other global woes dominated Davos
• Deadly smoke, lone blocked exit: 230 die in Brazil
• A look at notable deadly nightclub fires
• Egypt declares state of emergency in 3 provinces
• French, Mali forces head toward Timbuktu
• Court rulings dim outlook for Guantanamo trials
• Inmates moved after bloody Venezuela prison clash
• UN humanitarian chief in Syria for talks
• Holocaust items put on display for remembrance day
• Berlusconi defends Mussolini for backing Hitler
• Dozens killed over soccer riot sentences in Morsi's Egypt
• In reversal, Spain woos investment from Latin America

Nightclub fire kills 233 in Brazil Posted: 27 Jan 2013 04:44 PM PST SANTA MARIA, Brazil (Reuters) - A nightclub fire killed at least 233 people in southern Brazil on Sunday when a band's pyrotechnics show set the building ablaze and fleeing partygoers stampeded toward blocked exits in the ensuing panic. Most of those who died were suffocated by toxic fumes that rapidly filled the crowded club after sparks from pyrotechnics used by the band for visual effects set fire to soundproofing on the ceiling, local fire officials said. "Smoke filled the place instantly, the heat became unbearable," survivor Murilo Tiescher, a medical student, told GloboNews TV. ...

Russia set to start posthumous trial of whistleblower Magnitsky Posted: 27 Jan 2013 03:22 PM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia prepared to put whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky on trial more than three years after his death, with a preliminary hearing set for Monday in a move relatives and rights groups called politically motivated and a travesty of justice. Magnitsky's death in a Moscow jail has harmed Russia's image abroad and badly strained relations with the United States. His mother and her lawyer said they refused to participate. "I think it is inhuman to try a dead man," Magnitsky's mother Natalya told Reuters by telephone. ...

Russia says Assad's prospects fading Posted: 27 Jan 2013 08:54 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said the chances of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad staying in power were growing "smaller and smaller", as fighting on Sunday in southwestern Damascus shut a main highway from the capital. Assad has long counted Moscow as an ally and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's remarks were the most vocal Russian statement yet that his days may now be numbered, although they come after predictions from France, an avowed enemy, and from neighboring Jordan that the Syrian president's downfall is not imminent. ...

Venezuela transfers inmates from prison after riot kills 58 Posted: 27 Jan 2013 05:01 PM PST URIBANA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities transferred inmates out of a prison on Sunday following a bloody riot two days earlier that killed 58 people and again highlighted chaos in the country's jails. It was the fourth high-profile incident in 18 months in a penal system that has experienced repeated fatal clashes and shootouts. Venezuela's prisons house three times the number of inmates they were designed to hold. ...

Berlusconi defends Mussolini, draws outrage from political left Posted: 27 Jan 2013 10:49 AM PST ROME (Reuters) - Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi triggered outrage from Italy's political left on Sunday with comments defending fascist wartime leader Benito Mussolini at a ceremony commemorating victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Speaking at the margins of the event in Milan, Berlusconi said Mussolini had been wrong to follow Nazi Germany's lead in passing anti-Jewish laws but that he had in other respects been a good leader. ...

Argentina, Iran to form "truth commission" for 1994 bombing Posted: 27 Jan 2013 11:51 AM PST BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina said on Sunday it had agreed with Iran to establish a "truth commission" in a bid to resolve the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center that Argentine courts accuse the Iran of sponsoring. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez agreed to open talks with Tehran on the attack last year in a sharp change in diplomatic policy that irked Israel and drew criticism from Jewish leaders in Buenos Aires and the United States. Fernandez said foreign ministers from Argentina and Iran had signed a memorandum of understanding during a meeting in Ethiopia. ...

Violence flares at Dominican opposition party office, eight injured Posted: 27 Jan 2013 03:32 PM PST SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - At least eight people were injured, mostly by gunfire, during a dispute between rival factions competing for control of the Dominican Republic's leading opposition party, officials said on Sunday. The incident occurred at the headquarters of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) in the capital, Santo Domingo, in the wake of a party decision to expel former President Hipolito Mejia and three other senior members from its ranks. Police intervened after a confrontation between Mejia supporters and security guards at the offices, according to witnesses and authorities. ...

Israel's comatose ex-leader Sharon shows signs of consciousness Posted: 27 Jan 2013 01:50 PM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Seven years after suffering a massive stroke comatose ex- Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has surprised his doctors by displaying "a certain degree of consciousness," an expert who examined him using an MRI scan said on Sunday. The results of tests conducted by a joint Israeli-American team did not mean the former general and right-wing politician turned peacemaker was about to wake up from the coma he has been in since a January 2006 stroke. ...

Fragile economy, other global woes dominated Davos Posted: 27 Jan 2013 04:49 PM PST DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The fragile state of the world economy, along with the relentless turmoil in Syria and the rocky fallout from the Arab Spring, dominated discussions during this year's annual gathering of the global elite at Davos, leaving many participants uneasy about what lies ahead as they left for home Sunday.

Deadly smoke, lone blocked exit: 230 die in Brazil Posted: 27 Jan 2013 04:59 PM PST SANTA MARIA, Brazil (AP) — A fast-moving fire roared through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, within seconds filling the space with flames and a thick, toxic smoke that killed more than 230 panicked partygoers who gasped for breath and fought in a stampede to escape.

A look at notable deadly nightclub fires Posted: 27 Jan 2013 12:18 PM PST A fire that swept through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday and killed more than 230 people appears to be the deadliest in more a decade. Here is a look at some of the biggest nightclub fires in the past century:

Egypt declares state of emergency in 3 provinces Posted: 27 Jan 2013 02:07 PM PST CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's president declared a state of emergency and curfew in three Suez Canal provinces hit hardest by a weekend wave of unrest that left more than 50 dead, using tactics of the ousted regime to get a grip on discontent over his Islamist policies and the slow pace of change.

French, Mali forces head toward Timbuktu Posted: 27 Jan 2013 02:07 PM PST SEVARE, Mali (AP) — French and Malian forces pushed toward the fabled desert town of Timbuktu on Sunday, as the two-week-long French mission gathered momentum against the Islamist extremists who have ruled the north for more than nine months.

Court rulings dim outlook for Guantanamo trials Posted: 27 Jan 2013 11:07 AM PST GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — A civilian appeals court has now reversed the verdicts of the only two Guantanamo Bay prisoners convicted in trials by military tribunal, casting a shadow over proceedings set to resume this week at the U.S. base in Cuba for the men accused in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

Inmates moved after bloody Venezuela prison clash Posted: 27 Jan 2013 05:09 PM PST CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan authorities finished evacuating more than 2,000 inmates on Sunday from a prison where the government said 58 people were killed in one of the deadliest prison clashes in the nation's history.

UN humanitarian chief in Syria for talks Posted: 27 Jan 2013 11:08 AM PST DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The United Nations humanitarian chief was in Damascus on Sunday for talks with Syrian officials about the nation's conflict, which has forced millions of people from their homes, destroyed the country's cities and created food and fuel shortages.

Holocaust items put on display for remembrance day Posted: 27 Jan 2013 11:39 AM PST JERUSALEM (AP) — When Stella Knobel's family fled World War II Poland in 1939, the only thing the 7-year-old girl could take with her was her teddy bear. For the next six years, the stuffed animal never left her side as the family wandered through the Soviet Union, to Iran and finally the Holy Land.

Berlusconi defends Mussolini for backing Hitler Posted: 27 Jan 2013 10:18 AM PST ROME (AP) — Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi praised Benito Mussolini for "having done good" despite the Fascist dictator's anti-Jewish laws, immediately sparking expressions of outrage as Europe on Sunday held Holocaust remembrances.

Dozens killed over soccer riot sentences in Morsi's Egypt Posted: 27 Jan 2013 09:30 AM PST Violence continued in the city of Port Said today when three people were killed and hundreds wounded during the funeral for some of the at least 35 people who were killed in rioting there yesterday. The violence began after a court sentenced 21 people to death for a deadly soccer riot last year.

In reversal, Spain woos investment from Latin America Posted: 27 Jan 2013 07:02 AM PST European leaders, smarting from high unemployment and dismal approval ratings at home, spent the weekend meeting their Latin American counterparts in Santiago, Chile. One item on the agenda: urging their newly wealthy cousins in South America to invest in the old continent.

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