Yahoo! News: World News

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• Venezuela's top court endorses Chavez inauguration delay
• Freed Iranians arrive in Damascus after prisoner swap
• Afghans say total U.S. pullout would trigger disaster
• India lashes Pakistan after deadly Kashmir encounter
• Preacher alarms many in Egypt with calls for Islamist vice police
• Seized Argentine naval ship gets jubilant homecoming
• Egypt says Palestinian rivals agree to enact unity deal
• Prosecutor questions former Haitian President Aristide
• U.N. envoy says Assad can't be in Syrian transition
• UK man sentenced in Texas for bid to sell weapons parts to Iran
• Iranians freed in major prisoner swap in Syria
• Venezuela court: Chavez swearing-in can be delayed
• Tech delegation pressing NKorea Internet openness
• Officials: Possible 5th killing by Mexico dog pack
• Hamas flagship university grooms Hebrew teachers
• Berlusconi rips magistrates over divorce deal
• Winter storm batters Mideast, 8 dead
• Tattooed artist runs for Czech president
• Zorb ride in Russian mountains proves deadly
• Giant squid captured on video in ocean depths
• Europe's recession puts Italian women's workplace gains on ice
• Interest in Jordan's parliamentary elections goes up in smoke
• China says it will end prison labor camps. Will there be real reform?
• Is the postponement of Chávez's inauguration in Venezuela legal?
• Japan to boost military budget amid regional tensions
• The 'Brotherhoodization' of Egypt and its unions

Venezuela's top court endorses Chavez inauguration delay Posted: 09 Jan 2013 03:27 PM PST CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's top court endorsed the postponement of Hugo Chavez's inauguration this week and ruled on Wednesday that the cancer-stricken president and his deputy would continue in their roles, despite a cacophony of opposition complaints. Critics had argued the 58-year-old's absence from his own swearing-in ceremony on January 10 meant a caretaker president must be appointed. Chavez has not been seen in public nor heard from in almost a month following surgery in Cuba. ...

Freed Iranians arrive in Damascus after prisoner swap Posted: 09 Jan 2013 07:15 AM PST DAMASCUS/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Forty-eight Iranians freed by Syrian rebels in exchange for more than 2,000 civilian prisoners held by the Syrian government arrived in central Damascus on Wednesday, a Reuters witness reported. The Syrian government has not referred to the prisoner swap and the whereabouts of the civilian prisoners was not immediately known. Opposition groups accuse it of detaining tens of thousands of political prisoners during his 12 years in office and say those numbers have spiked sharply during the 21-month-old civil war. ...

Afghans say total U.S. pullout would trigger disaster Posted: 09 Jan 2013 02:54 PM PST KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan lawmakers said on Wednesday disaster and civil war would follow if Washington pushed ahead with a suggestion to withdraw all its troops from the country after 2014. The White House said a day earlier it was considering the so-called "zero option" of a complete pullout - despite earlier recommendations from the top military commander in Afghanistan to keep soldiers there to help the government. ...

India lashes Pakistan after deadly Kashmir encounter Posted: 09 Jan 2013 12:10 PM PST JAMMU, India (Reuters) - India denounced Pakistan on Wednesday over a firefight in the disputed territory of Kashmir in which two Indian soldiers were killed, but the nuclear-armed rivals both appeared determined to prevent the clash escalating into a full diplomatic crisis. India summoned Pakistan's envoy in New Delhi to lodge a "strong protest", accusing a group of Pakistani soldiers it said had crossed the heavily militarized Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir of "barbaric and inhuman" behavior. ...

Preacher alarms many in Egypt with calls for Islamist vice police Posted: 09 Jan 2013 06:07 AM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Many Egyptian viewers were horrified when preacher Hisham el-Ashry recently popped up on primetime television to say women must cover up for their own protection and advocated the introduction of religious police. That an obscure preacher could get publicity for such views was seen as another example of the confused political scene in Egypt since the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak gave birth to a cacophony of feuding voices. ...

Seized Argentine naval ship gets jubilant homecoming Posted: 09 Jan 2013 04:01 PM PST MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (Reuters) - An Argentine navy ship was given a triumphant homecoming on Wednesday three months after it was seized in Ghana on behalf of a hedge fund suing over defaulted government bonds. The ARA Libertad, a tall sailing ship used as a training vessel, was detained in the West African nation on October 2 due to a court order obtained by NML Capital Ltd as it fights to get full repayment for the bonds in the courts. Argentina's government, which calls funds like NML "vultures," asked a U.N. ...

Egypt says Palestinian rivals agree to enact unity deal Posted: 09 Jan 2013 04:48 PM PST CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) - An Egyptian official said the leaders of the Palestinian Hamas and Fatah factions had agreed at talks in Cairo on Wednesday to implement a long-delayed reconciliation pact, although it was unclear if the deal would extend beyond holding more talks. President Mahmoud Abbas of the secular Fatah movement based in the West Bank and Khaled Meshaal of the Islamist Hamas group that controls the Gaza Strip met face-to-face for the first time in over a year to discuss how to implement their 2011 deal. ...

Prosecutor questions former Haitian President Aristide Posted: 09 Jan 2013 03:22 PM PST PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - A prosecutor questioned former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Wednesday over accusations he used homeless children to elicit donations that were later used to help fund his political career. Aristide, who has not been charged with a crime, answered questions from prosecutor Lucmane Delille at his home on the outskirts of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. Several thousand Aristide supporters marched to his residence in a show of support for the ex-leader. Some said the investigation was politically motivated. ...

U.N. envoy says Assad can't be in Syrian transition Posted: 09 Jan 2013 04:33 PM PST CAIRO/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The U.N. peace envoy for Syria said on Wednesday that Bashar al-Assad could have no place in a transitional government to end civil war, the closest he has come to calling directly for the embattled president to quit. A peace plan agreed by major powers in Geneva last year envisages an interim administration. "Surely he would not be a member of that government," U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi told Reuters in an interview in Cairo. ...

UK man sentenced in Texas for bid to sell weapons parts to Iran Posted: 09 Jan 2013 03:10 PM PST SAN ANTONIO/EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - A British businessman was sentenced in Texas on Wednesday to nearly three years in prison for selling weapons parts to Iran in violation of international sanctions. Christopher Tappin, 66, was sentenced to 33 months in a federal prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of aiding the illegal export of defense articles from 2005 to 2007. The sentence was the result of a plea agreement that prohibits Tappin from appealing his conviction or his sentence. ...

Iranians freed in major prisoner swap in Syria Posted: 09 Jan 2013 12:56 PM PST DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Rebels freed 48 Iranians on Wednesday in exchange for more than 2,000 prisoners, including women and children, held by Syrian authorities — a deal struck after rare negotiations involving regional powers Turkey, Qatar and Iran.

Venezuela court: Chavez swearing-in can be delayed Posted: 09 Jan 2013 04:13 PM PST CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's Supreme Court chief on Wednesday endorsed putting off President Hugo Chavez's inauguration, siding with the government in a heated dispute with the opposition while the ailing leader struggles with complications a month after cancer surgery in Cuba.

Tech delegation pressing NKorea Internet openness Posted: 09 Jan 2013 04:57 PM PST PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — A private delegation including Google's Eric Schmidt is urging North Korea to allow more open Internet access and cellphones to benefit its citizens, the mission's leader said in the country with some of the world's tightest controls on information.

Officials: Possible 5th killing by Mexico dog pack Posted: 09 Jan 2013 03:03 PM PST MEXICO CITY (AP) — A 15-year-old girl found fatally bitten by dogs outside a Mexico City park in mid-December may have been the first victim of a feral pack suspected of killing at least four other people over the last month, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Hamas flagship university grooms Hebrew teachers Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:03 PM PST GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas' flagship university in Gaza has a new diploma on offer — Hebrew, the official language of its arch-foe Israel.

Berlusconi rips magistrates over divorce deal Posted: 09 Jan 2013 10:53 AM PST ROME (AP) — Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi has infuriated Italy's legal establishment by blasting a group of female magistrates as "feminist" and "communist" for what he said was a €200,000- ($260,000-) a-day divorce settlement.

Winter storm batters Mideast, 8 dead Posted: 09 Jan 2013 11:23 AM PST AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The fiercest winter storm to hit the Mideast in years brought a rare foot of snow to Jordan on Wednesday, caused fatal accidents in Lebanon and the West Bank, and disrupted traffic on the Suez Canal in Egypt. At least eight people died across the region.

Tattooed artist runs for Czech president Posted: 09 Jan 2013 09:13 AM PST PRAGUE (AP) — He's tattooed from head to toe, a warrior-like mix of blue, green and red.

Zorb ride in Russian mountains proves deadly Posted: 09 Jan 2013 08:24 AM PST MOSCOW (AP) — It was supposed to be a thrilling ride down a ski slope inside a giant inflatable ball that is to be one of the symbols of next year's Winter Olympics; it ended in tragedy for the two Russian men inside.

Giant squid captured on video in ocean depths Posted: 09 Jan 2013 08:45 AM PST TOKYO (AP) — After years of searching, scientists and broadcasters say they have captured video images of a giant squid in its natural habitat deep in the ocean for the first time.

Europe's recession puts Italian women's workplace gains on ice Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:50 PM PST When Greta Lauri was in college, she thought that by playing by the rules she could achieve what she considered a normal life: a family and a fulfilling job using her degree in foreign languages.

Interest in Jordan's parliamentary elections goes up in smoke Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:30 PM PST Jordan is less than two weeks away from a parliamentary election, but the vote has been overshadowed by the government's recent fuel price hikes and decision to lower cigarette prices.

China says it will end prison labor camps. Will there be real reform? Posted: 09 Jan 2013 09:06 AM PST China appears poised to end an inglorious history of labor camps, and the practice of "re-education through labor."

Is the postponement of Chávez's inauguration in Venezuela legal? Posted: 09 Jan 2013 08:41 AM PST Hugo Chávez won a fourth term as president of Venezuela in October, and tomorrow, Jan. 10, was his scheduled inauguration. But the leader, who has been in office since 1999, is unable to appear before the nation to assume office. He has been in Cuba since his December cancer surgery there, and is facing a recovery deemed "complicated" by his government. Venezuela has been thrown into uncertainty as government allies and opposition figures face off over who should become president on Thursday, what the Constitution dictates, and what is against the law.

Japan to boost military budget amid regional tensions Posted: 09 Jan 2013 06:14 AM PST Japan's Defense Ministry will request a second boost to its military budget, according to reports, just a day after the government announced the first Defense budget increase in 10 years. The boosts, although relatively modest compared with Japan's overall defense spending, coincide with increasing tensions in the Asia Pacific region.

The 'Brotherhoodization' of Egypt and its unions Posted: 09 Jan 2013 06:03 AM PST Issandr El Amrani, the main writer behind The Arabist, has been posting occasional links and thoughts on the Brotherhoodization of Egyptian institutions, real and imagined, since the election of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi as president.

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