Yahoo! News: World News

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• Egypt starts amending constitution despite political divisions
• Syrian Islamist rebel leader freed after clashes among rival rebels
• Japan's Abe has chance to show true colors after big election win
• Woman jailed in Dubai after reporting rape hopes to warn others
• EU weighs sanctions against military wing of Hezbollah
• Portuguese president says government should stay to tackle crisis
• Gunmen kill eight at graduation party in Venezuela
• Red Cross talking to Colombian rebels about release of U.S. captive
• US drops unarmed bombs on Great Barrier Reef
• Militant attacks on north Sinai city kill 5
• Sex scandals cloud Zimbabwe PM's election campaign
• Militant attacks on north Sinai city kill 2
• Briton kidnapped in Nigeria's Lagos released
• Factbox: Japan PM Abe scorecard: What to watch for after election
• Halting Egypt's wheat imports was Mursi's biggest mistake: minister
• Philippe becomes king of Belgium
• Nineteen Colombian soldiers killed in clashes with FARC rebels
• Bombs, shootings kill 13 in Iraq
• Gunmen kidnap Iranian diplomat in Yemen capital
• Gunmen kill five Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq
• Mortar shells hit market in Syria, killing 20
• Iran's top leader urges caution in dealing with US
• Mortar shells hit market in Syria, killing 18
• Sukhoi jet has belly landing in Iceland
• Egypt begins work on amending constitution
• Analysis: Resumption of Mideast talks not assured
• Netanyahu sees Mursi fall as sign of political Islam's weakness
• Tina Turner celebrates her wedding in Switzerland
• Activists: Kurds free al-Qaida-linked commander
• Kidnapped Mali election workers freed in north: official
• Attacks kill 13 in Iraq
• Pope's Brazil trip spurs security, protest worries
• Gunmen abduct Iranian embassy worker in Yemeni capital
• Japan's ruling bloc wins upper house elections
• Seven injured in explosion at Pemex pipeline in Mexico

Egypt starts amending constitution despite political divisions Posted: 21 Jul 2013 01:35 PM PDT By Maggie Fick and Noah Browning CAIRO (Reuters) - A panel of legal experts started work on Sunday to revise Egypt's Islamist-tinged constitution, a vital first step on the road to fresh elections ordered by the army following its removal of Mohamed Mursi as president. Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, which has accused the army of orchestrating a military coup and denounced plans to revise the constitution, staged fresh rallies on Sunday to maintain pressure on the new, interim government. ...

Syrian Islamist rebel leader freed after clashes among rival rebels Posted: 21 Jul 2013 01:50 PM PDT By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - The local commander of a Syrian rebel group affiliated to al Qaeda was freed on Sunday after being held by Kurdish forces in a power struggle between rival organizations fighting President Bashar al-Assad, activists said. However, the pro-opposition activists gave conflicting reports of how the Islamist brigade commander in the Syrian town of Tel Abyad near the Turkish border had come to be free. ...

Japan's Abe has chance to show true colors after big election win Posted: 21 Jul 2013 02:15 PM PDT By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition scored a decisive victory in an election on Sunday -- so big that there are suspicions he will lose interest in difficult economic reforms and pursue his nationalist agenda instead. The victory in the vote for parliament's upper house gives Abe a stronger mandate for his prescription for reviving the stagnant economy. Ironically perhaps, it could also give lawmakers in his own party, some of whom have little appetite for painful but vital reforms, more clout to resist change. ...

Woman jailed in Dubai after reporting rape hopes to warn others Posted: 21 Jul 2013 01:04 PM PDT By Amena Bakr DUBAI (Reuters) - A Norwegian interior designer jailed in Dubai for illicit sex after she reported being raped says she has no regrets about coming forward if her warning will protect others from a similar fate. A court on July 17 sentenced Marte Deborah Dalelv to 16 months in prison for having sex outside marriage, drinking and making false statements. She says a male colleague pulled her into his hotel room and raped her after she asked him to help her find her own room when they had had a few drinks. ...

EU weighs sanctions against military wing of Hezbollah Posted: 21 Jul 2013 03:33 PM PDT By Justyna Pawlak and Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union governments could decide to blacklist the military wing of Hezbollah on Monday, in a major policy reversal fuelled by concerns over the Lebanese militant movement's activities in Europe. Britain has sought to persuade its EU peers since May to put the Shi'ite Muslim group's military wing on the bloc's terrorism list, citing evidence that it was behind a deadly bus bombing in Bulgaria last year. ...

Portuguese president says government should stay to tackle crisis Posted: 21 Jul 2013 03:21 PM PDT By Andrei Khalip and Sergio Goncalves LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's President Anibal Cavaco Silva on Sunday ruled out a snap election and said he wanted the centre-right coalition government to stay in place to keep an international bailout on track. Political turmoil had threatened to derail Portugal's planned exit from the EU/IMF bailout in mid-2014, especially after "national salvation" talks between the two coalition parties and the opposition Socialists collapsed on Friday. ...

Gunmen kill eight at graduation party in Venezuela Posted: 21 Jul 2013 04:43 PM PDT CARACAS (Reuters) - Gunmen stormed a graduation party at a home in Venezuela's central Bolivar state and killed eight people, including six teenagers, the country's public prosecutor said on Sunday. The Attorney General's office said in a statement that several armed men opened fire repeatedly on the revelers on Saturday in Caicara del Orinoco, a town on the southern bank of the Orinoco River. The South American country suffers one of the world's worst homicide rates and shootings are common. But it is rare for there to be such a high number of fatalities in one incident. ...

Red Cross talking to Colombian rebels about release of U.S. captive Posted: 21 Jul 2013 04:42 PM PDT By Peter Murphy and Monica Garcia BOGOTA (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross is talking to Colombia's FARC rebels about handing over a former U.S. marine seized by the Marxist group in a jungle region after he set out on a solitary trek despite police warnings about its dangers. Kevin Scott Sutay, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, was captured on June 20 as he walked, apparently alone, toward El Retorno in Colombia's dangerous southeast, an area with little infrastructure and dense jungle canopy that provides cover for rebel fighters. ...

US drops unarmed bombs on Great Barrier Reef Posted: 21 Jul 2013 04:20 PM PDT CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Two U.S. fighter jets dropped four unarmed bombs into Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park last week when a training exercise went wrong, the U.S. Navy said, angering environmentalists.

Militant attacks on north Sinai city kill 5 Posted: 21 Jul 2013 03:56 PM PDT El-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Coordinated day and nighttime attacks Sunday by emboldened militants in Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula targeted different areas in the main city of el-Arish and a border town, killing one civilian and four security officers, according to officials.

Sex scandals cloud Zimbabwe PM's election campaign Posted: 21 Jul 2013 03:17 PM PDT By Cris Chinaka MUTARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's sole television station, state-owned and tightly controlled by President Robert Mugabe, is targeting the private life of his arch rival Morgan Tsvangirai with "attack ads" aimed at discrediting him before July 31 elections. In the adverts, three former lovers reveal how they were dumped by Tsvangirai, 61, before Mugabe's ZANU-PF party chimes in to tell voters that the prime minister is unfit for office. ...

Militant attacks on north Sinai city kill 2 Posted: 21 Jul 2013 02:49 PM PDT El-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Security officials say militants in Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula have launched a coordinated attack on three locations in the main city of el-Arish, killing a soldier and a 25-year-old woman.

Briton kidnapped in Nigeria's Lagos released Posted: 21 Jul 2013 02:42 PM PDT ABUJA (Reuters) - A British national kidnapped last week shortly after arriving at Nigeria's Lagos airport has been released, the British High Commission said on Sunday. The man was kidnapped on July 16 by gunmen who attacked his four-wheel-drive car after it left the airport's international terminal heading for a residential area of Lagos, security sources told Reuters. His Nigerian driver was shot in the hand. "We can confirm the release of a British national today in Nigeria, following his abduction on 16 July," a statement from the British High Commission said, giving no further details. ...

Factbox: Japan PM Abe scorecard: What to watch for after election Posted: 21 Jul 2013 02:15 PM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cemented his hold on power in an election on Sunday, ending six years of parliamentary deadlock with a big win in the upper house. Here are some key issues and dates to watch, to see whether Abe is using his mandate to keep campaign promises for economic reform. - SALES TAX: Abe's government says it will use April-June GDP data, due August 12, to help judge whether to proceed next April with the planned first phase of doubling the consumption tax to 10 percent over two years. ...

Halting Egypt's wheat imports was Mursi's biggest mistake: minister Posted: 21 Jul 2013 02:00 PM PDT By Maggie Fick and Ehab Farouk CAIRO (Reuters) - The biggest mistake deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi made was stopping wheat imports, Egypt's new minister of supplies said, pledging to ensure that supplies of a strategic good like wheat do not reach the critically low levels they did during Mursi's year in office. Mohamed Abu Shadi, a 62-year-old former police general with a doctorate in economics, said Mursi's government made "incorrect calculations" regarding Egypt's wheat stocks. ...

Philippe becomes king of Belgium Posted: 21 Jul 2013 01:54 PM PDT BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgians shouted "Long live the king" Sunday to welcome their new monarch to the throne on a sunny national holiday. But several legislators from northern Flanders boycotted King Philippe I's coronation, highlighting longstanding feuding between the nation's Dutch-speaking Flemings and Francophones — the biggest challenge the new monarch will face.

Nineteen Colombian soldiers killed in clashes with FARC rebels Posted: 21 Jul 2013 01:24 PM PDT By Monica Garcia TAME, Colombia (Reuters) - Nineteen Colombian soldiers were killed in clashes blamed on the country's Marxist FARC guerrillas, defense ministry sources said on Sunday, the heaviest casualties the armed forces have suffered since the government began peace talks late last year. In the bloodier of the two separate attacks on Saturday, 15 soldiers were killed on a road linking two townships in Arauca province near the Venezuelan border, when they fired explosives at troops protecting an oil pipeline under construction. ...

Bombs, shootings kill 13 in Iraq Posted: 21 Jul 2013 01:15 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Bombings and shootings in Iraq killed 13 people on Sunday, as the death toll from a coordinated wave of late-night car bombings and other attacks the day before jumped past 70, authorities said.

Gunmen kidnap Iranian diplomat in Yemen capital Posted: 21 Jul 2013 12:56 PM PDT SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Gunmen on Sunday kidnapped an Iranian diplomat who was driving his car in the capital, Sanaa, a Yemeni official said. Iran condemned the abduction.

Gunmen kill five Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq Posted: 21 Jul 2013 12:55 PM PDT KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - Gunmen killed five members of the Kurdish security forces at a checkpoint in northern Iraq on Sunday, bringing the day's death toll from bombings and shootings across the whole country to 14. The attacks are the latest in a campaign of violence that has raised fears of a return to full-blown sectarian conflict in a country where Kurds, Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims have yet to find a stable way of sharing power. The checkpoint attack took place in al-Zad, a town near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. ...

Mortar shells hit market in Syria, killing 20 Posted: 21 Jul 2013 12:40 PM PDT AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Government troops fired mortar rounds that slammed into a main market in a town in northern Syria on Sunday, killing at least 20 civilians, activist groups said.

Iran's top leader urges caution in dealing with US Posted: 21 Jul 2013 12:28 PM PDT TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's top leader said Sunday he has not prohibited talks with the U.S. but urged caution with any possible dialogue, describing the American government as untrustworthy.

Mortar shells hit market in Syria, killing 18 Posted: 21 Jul 2013 12:15 PM PDT AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Government troops fired mortar rounds that slammed into a main market in a town in northern Syria on Sunday, killing at least 18 civilians, activist groups said.

Sukhoi jet has belly landing in Iceland Posted: 21 Jul 2013 11:48 AM PDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Sukhoi Superjet made a belly landing during a test flight on Sunday at Iceland's Keflavik airport in Reykjavik, according to a statement by its Russian manufacturer. The Superjet program hit uncertainty last year after one of its planes crashed in Indonesia during a promotional flight, in which 45 people were killed. At the final stage of a test flight to evaluate the Sukhoi Superjet 100's automatic landing system on Sunday, the aircraft "touched the runway with retracted landing gear," Sukhoi Civil Aircraft said in a statement. ...

Egypt begins work on amending constitution Posted: 21 Jul 2013 11:38 AM PDT CAIRO (AP) — The panel tasked with amending Egypt's constitution following the army's ouster of President Mohammed Morsi began its work Sunday as the military-backed interim leadership forged ahead with its fast-track transition plan aimed at bringing the country back to democratic rule.

Analysis: Resumption of Mideast talks not assured Posted: 21 Jul 2013 10:59 AM PDT RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Disagreements that blocked Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for the past five years have not been fully resolved, despite U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's recent announcement of progress, and there's no clear path to a resumption of talks.

Netanyahu sees Mursi fall as sign of political Islam's weakness Posted: 21 Jul 2013 10:36 AM PDT BERLIN (Reuters) - In rare remarks on Egypt's government crisis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested that the fall of the president, Mohamed Mursi, demonstrates the weaknesses of political Islamist movements. "I believe that over the long haul these radical Islamic regimes are going to fail because they don't offer the adequate enfranchisement that you need to develop a country economically, politically and culturally," Netanyahu told the German weekly Welt am Sonntag. ...

Tina Turner celebrates her wedding in Switzerland Posted: 21 Jul 2013 10:01 AM PDT GENEVA (AP) — Tina Turner is celebrating her wedding to Erwin Bach with a party at her Swiss lakeside estate near Zurich.

Activists: Kurds free al-Qaida-linked commander Posted: 21 Jul 2013 10:00 AM PDT AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Kurdish rebels freed the local commander of an al-Qaida-linked group in a town near Syria's northern border with Turkey in return for 300 Kurdish civilians detained by the group, as part of an agreement to end rebel infighting that erupted a day earlier in the region, activists said Sunday.

Kidnapped Mali election workers freed in north: official Posted: 21 Jul 2013 10:00 AM PDT By Adama Diarra BAMAKO (Reuters) - Gunmen have freed four election workers and a deputy mayor a day after they were kidnapped in Mali's remote northern town of Tessalit, a local official said on Sunday. An unexploded bomb was later discovered in the market of Kidal, another major northern town, adding to security concerns over a vote next week that some fear could lead to further instability, after a coup and Islamist uprising, due to poor preparations. "The five hostages were picked up this morning by French soldiers outside the town. ...

Attacks kill 13 in Iraq Posted: 21 Jul 2013 09:46 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Bombings and shootings in Iraq killed 13 people on Sunday, as the death toll from a coordinated wave of late-night car bombings and other attacks the day before jumped past 70, authorities said.

Pope's Brazil trip spurs security, protest worries Posted: 21 Jul 2013 09:35 AM PDT RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Since taking the helm of the world's biggest church in March, Pope Francis has waded into massive crowds with minimal protection to hug children and wash the feet of the faithful. He has surrounded himself with everyday worshippers at every turn, winning acclaim that he's breaking down barriers between the Vatican and the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

Gunmen abduct Iranian embassy worker in Yemeni capital Posted: 21 Jul 2013 09:12 AM PDT SANAA (Reuters) - Armed men kidnapped an employee of the Iranian embassy in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Sunday, police sources said, the latest in a series of abductions of foreigners in the lawless Arab country. The Iranian man was travelling through the diplomatic quarter in southern Sanaa when gunmen blocked the road, forced him to get out of his vehicle and took him to an unknown location, the sources told Reuters. It was not immediately clear who carried out the kidnapping, they said. ...

Japan's ruling bloc wins upper house elections Posted: 21 Jul 2013 08:54 AM PDT TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition won a comfortable majority in the upper house of parliament in elections Sunday, giving it control of both chambers and a mandate to press ahead with difficult economic reforms.

Seven injured in explosion at Pemex pipeline in Mexico Posted: 21 Jul 2013 08:44 AM PDT MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - At least seven people were injured by an explosion after an attempt to illegally tap a pipeline belonging to the Mexican state oil monopoly Pemex near Mexico City, officials said on Sunday. The early morning blast at the crude oil pipeline occurred in Tonanitla about 40 km (25 miles) north of the capital, and was now under control, Pemex said on its Twitter account. The government of the state of Mexico, a populous region that borders much of the capital, said seven people were injured by the explosion. Five were police and two worked for the fire brigade. ...

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