Yahoo! News: World News

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• Venezuelans vote on future of "Chavista" socialism
• Defiant North Korea readies mass parade for founder
• Kremlin criticises U.S. blacklist ahead of Obama adviser visit
• Al Qaeda adds urgency to search for Syrian peace
• Exclusive: Lion Air crash pilot felt jet "dragged" from sky
• Egypt to try Brotherhood members accused of torture
• EU's Ashton to visit Balkans as Serbia awaits talks verdict
• World military spending dips in 2012, first fall since 1998
• Iraq election candidates killed before local vote
• Chad says troops unsuited to guerrilla war, quitting Mali
• Venezuelans choose between Chavez heir, new path
• Investigators probe jet's crash into sea in Bali
• 16 killed in attack on Somali Supreme Court
• Despite tension, NKorea lets in tourists, athletes
• Head of Libyan Islamic extremist militia shot
• As US talks up diplomacy, NKorea takes hard line
• Anti-euro party a wildcard in German elections
• Hezbollah-backed Lebanese Shiites fight in Syria
• Brotherhood members face torture charge in Egypt
• Venezuela's choice: Chavez heir or fresh start
• In Morocco, activists struggle to keep protest fervor alive
• Venezuelans head to polls to choose Chávez successor
• Deadly day in Mogadishu shows weakened Somali militants not yet defeated

Venezuelans vote on future of "Chavista" socialism Posted: 14 Apr 2013 02:37 PM PDT By Daniel Wallis and Todd Benson CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelans went to the polls on Sunday to vote whether to honor Hugo Chavez's dying wish for a longtime loyalist to continue his self-proclaimed socialist revolution or hand power to a young challenger vowing business-friendly changes. Acting President Nicolas Maduro had a double-digit lead over opposition challenger Henrique Capriles in most polls heading into election day, buoyed by Chavez's public blessing before he died from cancer last month. But the gap narrowed in recent days, with one survey putting it at 7 percentage points. ...

Defiant North Korea readies mass parade for founder Posted: 14 Apr 2013 04:50 PM PDT By David Chance SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea prepared for the annual celebration of its founder's birth on Monday, having rejected talks with South Korea aimed at reducing tensions and reopening a joint industrial park between the two countries. The North has threatened for weeks to attack the United States, South Korea and Japan since new U.N. sanctions were imposed in response to its latest nuclear arms test in February. ...

Kremlin criticises U.S. blacklist ahead of Obama adviser visit Posted: 14 Apr 2013 01:11 PM PDT By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Sunday called a U.S. law barring Russians from the country over alleged rights abuses unacceptable interference in Russia's affairs, setting a tough tone before a visit by a senior White House adviser. Dmitry Peskov's remarks were the first comment from Putin's office after the U.S. administration named 18 Russians subject to visa bans and asset freezes over the Magnitsky Act legislation passed by Congress late last year. ...

Al Qaeda adds urgency to search for Syrian peace Posted: 14 Apr 2013 01:32 PM PDT By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - International powers will search for a peaceful settlement to Syria's civil war with fresh urgency at an Istanbul meeting after a rebel faction aligned itself with al Qaeda, diplomats and opposition sources said on Sunday. Saturday's meeting of 11 countries from the Friends of Syria alliance will come after the al-Nusra Front, among the strongest formations seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad, pledged allegiance to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri on April 10. "We will be meeting under the shadow of the advances of Nusra and other militants. ...

Exclusive: Lion Air crash pilot felt jet "dragged" from sky Posted: 14 Apr 2013 04:07 PM PDT By Tim Hepher PARIS (Reuters) - The pilot whose Indonesian jet slumped into the sea while trying to land in Bali has described how he felt it "dragged" down by wind while he struggled to regain control, a person familiar with the matter said. All 108 passengers and crew miraculously survived when the Boeing 737 passenger jet, operated by Indonesian budget carrier Lion Air, undershot the tourist island's main airport runway and belly-flopped in water on Saturday. ...

Egypt to try Brotherhood members accused of torture Posted: 14 Apr 2013 01:36 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Two Muslim Brotherhood members in northern Egypt have been ordered to stand trial on charges of detaining and torturing students during a protest against the president the group propelled to power. The charges are a rare acknowledgement of the alleged role that some of the president's supporters have had in attacks on his opponents. The U.S. State Department suggested this month that Egypt was selectively prosecuting those accused of insulting the government while ignoring or playing down attacks on anti-government demonstrators. ...

EU's Ashton to visit Balkans as Serbia awaits talks verdict Posted: 14 Apr 2013 03:35 PM PDT BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will visit the Western Balkans this week, when the European Commission is due to decide whether to recommend the start of EU membership talks with Serbia and possibly Macedonia. Ashton's trip will take her to Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia, an EU statement said on Sunday. It said further stops on the tour would be announced later, leaving open the possibility that Serbia could be included. "I travel to the Western Balkans to reinforce the EU's commitment to the European perspective for the countries in the region. ...

World military spending dips in 2012, first fall since 1998 Posted: 14 Apr 2013 03:04 PM PDT STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Global military spending dropped in 2012 for the first time in more than a decade thanks to deep cuts in the United States and Europe which made up for increases in countries such as China and Russia, a leading think-tank said on Monday. Big powers the United States and its European allies face tight budgets in an economic downturn and have scaled back involvement in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The world's second biggest economy China, however, is ramping up spending and registered 7.8 percent growth in 2012 from the year before, up 175 percent from 2003. ...

Iraq election candidates killed before local vote Posted: 14 Apr 2013 01:21 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two Iraqi Sunni Muslim candidates were killed less than a week before local elections that will be a test of the country's political stability after U.S. troops left more than a year ago. The election on Saturday to select provincial council members will measure Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's political muscle against Shi'ite and Sunni rivals before the parliamentary election in 2014. ...

Chad says troops unsuited to guerrilla war, quitting Mali Posted: 14 Apr 2013 02:27 PM PDT By David Lewis DAKAR (Reuters) - Chad will withdraw its troops from Mali where they risk being bogged down in guerrilla war after helping to drive Islamists from northern towns, President Idriss Deby said in comments broadcast on Sunday. His words came days after a suicide bomber killed three Chadian troops in the northern town of Kidal, demonstrating how al Qaeda-linked Islamists are still able to strike in the heavily-defended towns they once controlled. ...

Venezuelans choose between Chavez heir, new path Posted: 14 Apr 2013 04:57 PM PDT CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Voters chose Sunday between the hand-picked successor who campaigned to carry on Hugo Chavez's self-styled socialist revolution and an emboldened second-time challenger who warned that the late president's regime has Venezuela on the road to ruin.

Investigators probe jet's crash into sea in Bali Posted: 14 Apr 2013 11:59 AM PDT BALI, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian investigators on Sunday began working to determine what caused a new Lion Air passenger jet to miss a runway while landing on the resort island of Bali, crashing into the sea without causing any fatalities among the 108 on board.

16 killed in attack on Somali Supreme Court Posted: 14 Apr 2013 10:21 AM PDT MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A barrage of bullets and two car bomb blasts rattled Mogadishu on Sunday when nine al-Shabab Islamic extremists stormed Somalia's main court complex, officials said, in a two-hour attack that shows the country's most dangerous militant group may be down but not defeated.

Despite tension, NKorea lets in tourists, athletes Posted: 14 Apr 2013 08:41 AM PDT PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Despite North Korea's warnings that the threat of war on the Korean Peninsula is so high it cannot guarantee the safety of foreign residents, it literally trotted out athletes from around the world on Sunday for a marathon through the streets of its capital — suggesting its concerns of an imminent military crisis might not be as dire as its official pronouncements proclaim.

Head of Libyan Islamic extremist militia shot Posted: 14 Apr 2013 02:31 PM PDT TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A security official says the leader of an Islamic extremist militia in Libya suspected of involvement in an attack in Benghazi that killed the U.S. ambassador has been shot.

As US talks up diplomacy, NKorea takes hard line Posted: 14 Apr 2013 12:18 PM PDT TOKYO (AP) — The United States and Japan opened the door Sunday to new nuclear talks with North Korea if the saber-rattling country lowered tensions and honored past agreements, even as it rejected South Korea's latest offer of dialogue as a "crafty trick."

Anti-euro party a wildcard in German elections Posted: 14 Apr 2013 10:09 AM PDT BERLIN (AP) — The leader of a new anti-euro party called Sunday for Germany to leave the common currency, telling an inaugural convention that the euro forces German taxpayers to rescue bankrupt southern European countries whose people denounce them as Nazis for their efforts.

Hezbollah-backed Lebanese Shiites fight in Syria Posted: 14 Apr 2013 12:58 PM PDT AL QASR, Lebanon (AP) — Masked men in camouflage toting Kalashnikov rifles fan out through a dusty olive grove, part of a group of Hezbollah-backed fighters from Lebanon who are patrolling both sides of a porous border stretch with Syria.

Brotherhood members face torture charge in Egypt Posted: 14 Apr 2013 01:19 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — Two Muslim Brotherhood officials have been sent to trial on charges of kidnapping and torturing three men during protests in November following Islamist President Mohammed Morsi's decrees, since rescinded, that granted him near absolute powers.

Venezuela's choice: Chavez heir or fresh start Posted: 14 Apr 2013 09:25 AM PDT CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Voters who kept Hugo Chavez in office for 14 years were deciding Sunday whether to elect the devoted lieutenant he chose to carry on the revolution that endeared him to the poor but that many Venezuelans believe is ruining the nation.

In Morocco, activists struggle to keep protest fervor alive Posted: 14 Apr 2013 02:17 PM PDT Avenue Mohammed V, a wide street that runs directly through Rabat's centre-ville and past Morocco's parliamentary headquarters, is the site of nearly daily protests against the country's government.

Venezuelans head to polls to choose Chávez successor Posted: 14 Apr 2013 02:10 PM PDT In the wee hours of Sunday morning, Caraqueños were awakened by the sound of fireworks and blaring bugles, prompting voters to get to the polls and pick their successor to the late President Hugo Chávez.

Deadly day in Mogadishu shows weakened Somali militants not yet defeated Posted: 14 Apr 2013 10:40 AM PDT Al Shabab militants killed 19 people Sunday in bomb attacks that targeted Mogadishu's main court complex and an aid convoy, underscoring the fact that Somalia's weakened Al Qaeda-allied militia has not yet been beaten.

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