Yahoo! News: World News

---

• Russia says U.N. report on Syria attack biased
• Analysis: Brazil and U.S., like star-crossed lovers, foiled again
• Looting hits Acapulco as Mexico storm death toll reaches 80
• Rouhani says Iran willing to forswear nuclear arms: TV interview
• U.N. says chemical arms report on Syria attack 'indisputable'
• Brazil presidential hopeful pulls away from Rousseff government
• Chemical weapon disposal will take a year, cost $1 billion: Assad
• Nigerian wins Muslim beauty pageant rival to Miss World
• Mexico floods kill 80, thousands stranded
• Snipers haunt Syrian Christian town of Maalula
• Iran 'never' to seek nuclear weapon: Rowhani
• France turns to crowdsourcing to fight Mali aid corruption
• Assad: Gov't did not conduct chemical attack
• Assad: Syria not in civil war, but attacked by Qaeda
• Brazil top court OKs appeals in corruption case
• Former Guantanamo prisoner killed in Syria after joining Islamist brigade
• Assad says will abide by chemical weapon agreement: Fox News
• U.S. war crimes ambassador: Assad ‘absolutely’ should be tried for war crimes
• Qaeda affiliate overruns Syrian town near Turkish border: activists
• Assad: We didn't bow to US threats
• Brazil's top court OKs retrials in landmark corruption case
• Assad pledges to destroy chemical arms
• Angolan police vow to clamp down on planned protest
• Egypt military court gives five Palestinians one-year jail sentence
• Fox News interviews Assad with help of U.S. ex-lawmaker Kucinich
• 6 killed as Canada bus strikes passenger train
• Berlusconi vows to stay in politics as ban approaches
• Iran's Sotoudeh freed, says will keep defending rights
• Mangroves bring wildlife back to Senegal coast
• Central African rebels kill with 'impunity': HRW
• Italy: Berlusconi insists he will stay in politics
• Iraqi envoy ducks Iran exiles questions in online chat
• NATO chief urges Europe to fill drone, aircraft gaps
• Six dead as Canada train smashes into bus
• Former Cypriot minister held in Greek graft trial

Russia says U.N. report on Syria attack biased Posted: 18 Sep 2013 03:20 PM PDT By Steve Gutterman and Oliver Holmes MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia denounced U.N. investigators' findings on a poison gas attack in Syria as preconceived and tainted by politics on Wednesday, stepping up its criticism of a report Western nations said proved President Bashar al-Assad's forces were responsible. Russia, which holds veto power in the U.N. Security Council, could cite doubts about proof of culpability in opposing future efforts by the United States, Britain and France to punish Syria for any violations of a deal to abandon chemical weapons. ...

Analysis: Brazil and U.S., like star-crossed lovers, foiled again Posted: 18 Sep 2013 12:53 PM PDT By Brian Winter SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Every time Brazil and the United States get to the altar, the roof of the church seems to collapse. In 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan traveled to Brazil for a dinner banquet meant to herald a new era in ties between the Americas' two biggest countries. But when Reagan raised his wine glass and toasted "the people of Bolivia," it seemed to confirm his hosts' worst fears: that the United States saw Brazil as just another poor country in its so-called backyard. This week, hopes for a breakthrough fell apart once again, in even more dramatic fashion. ...

Looting hits Acapulco as Mexico storm death toll reaches 80 Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:08 PM PDT By Luis Enrique Martinez and Alberto Fajardo ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) - Looting broke out in the flooded Mexican beach resort of Acapulco as the government struggled to reach tens of thousands of people cut off by flooding that had claimed at least 80 lives by Wednesday. Stores were ransacked by looters who carried off everything from televisions to Christmas decorations after floodwaters wreaked havoc in the Pacific port that has experienced some of the worst storm damage to hit Mexico in years. ...

Rouhani says Iran willing to forswear nuclear arms: TV interview Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:55 PM PDT By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed on Wednesday that his government will never develop nuclear weapons, his strongest signal yet that he may be seeking a diplomatic thaw with the West after decades of acrimony. In an interview with NBC News days before he travels to New York for a U.N. appearance, the new Iranian president also insisted that he has "complete authority" to negotiate a nuclear deal with the United States and other Western powers. ...

U.N. says chemical arms report on Syria attack 'indisputable' Posted: 18 Sep 2013 03:38 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations on Wednesday defended its report on a Syria gas attack that Russia deemed one-sided as envoys from the five big U.N. powers met for a second day of talks on a Western-drafted resolution on eradicating Syria's chemical arsenal. The United Nations said the conclusion by its chemical weapons experts that rockets loaded with sarin gas were used in an August 21 attack in a Damascus suburb should not be questioned. "The findings in that report are indisputable," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters. ...

Brazil presidential hopeful pulls away from Rousseff government Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:38 PM PDT By Maria Carolina Marcello BRASILIA (Reuters) - Eduardo Campos, one of Brazil's most popular state governors, came one step closer to a presidential bid on Wednesday when his party withdrew from President Dilma Rousseff's 17-party coalition government. The Brazilian Socialist Party decided to pull its two ministers from Rousseff's cabinet to give Campos freedom to run in elections in October 2014. ...

Chemical weapon disposal will take a year, cost $1 billion: Assad Posted: 18 Sep 2013 05:03 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday it would cost about $1 billion to get rid of Syria's chemical weapons under a plan agreed to by Russia and the United States last week. In an interview on the Fox News television channel, Assad said his government would dispose of its chemical weapons arsenal but insisted that his forces were not responsible for a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus on August 21. Getting rid of his chemical weapons stockpile would likely take about a year, Assad said. ...

Nigerian wins Muslim beauty pageant rival to Miss World Posted: 18 Sep 2013 05:03 PM PDT A Nigerian woman tearfully prayed and recited Koranic verses as she won a beauty pageant exclusively for Muslim women in the Indonesian capital Wednesday, a riposte to the Miss World contest that has sparked hardline anger.

Mexico floods kill 80, thousands stranded Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:53 PM PDT ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — The toll from devastating twin storms climbed to 80 on Wednesday as isolated areas reported deaths and damage to the outside world, and Mexican officials said that a massive landslide in the mountains north of the resort of Acapulco could drive the number of confirmed dead even higher.

Snipers haunt Syrian Christian town of Maalula Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:49 PM PDT "Maalula, city of culture and history, welcomes you," reads a sign at the entrance to Syria's best known Christian town. But any semblance of welcome evaporates once inside Maalula.

Iran 'never' to seek nuclear weapon: Rowhani Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:45 PM PDT Iran will never seek nuclear weapons, newly elected President Hassan Rowhani vowed Wednesday, as he reached out to longtime enemy the United States.

France turns to crowdsourcing to fight Mali aid corruption Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:35 PM PDT France is enlisting the help of Malians to police its aid projects in the west African country with an innovative crowdsourcing project asking people to report corruption by text or online.

Assad: Gov't did not conduct chemical attack Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:35 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad says a U.N. report that found "clear and convincing evidence" of a sarin nerve gas attack in Syria last month is "unrealistic" and denies his regime orchestrated the attack that killed hundreds.

Assad: Syria not in civil war, but attacked by Qaeda Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:30 PM PDT Bashar al-Assad insisted Wednesday that Syria is not gripped by civil war but has been attacked by tens of thousands of foreign jihadist fighters allied to Al-Qaeda.

Brazil top court OKs appeals in corruption case Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:28 PM PDT RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Brazilian Supreme Court on Wednesday accepted the appeals of a dozen former political and business leaders found guilty in the nation's biggest corruption trial, paving the way for new trials and dealing a blow to those who hailed the earlier convictions as a turning point against impunity.

Former Guantanamo prisoner killed in Syria after joining Islamist brigade Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:27 PM PDT By David Adams (Reuters) - A former prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base died fighting for anti-government rebels in Syria, according to an Islamist opposition group which posted a video of his funeral on YouTube. Moroccan-born Mohammed al Alami, who was released in 2006, is the first former Guantanamo detainee to die in battle in the Syrian civil war, analysts say. The video, first reported by The Miami Herald, was posted by Harakat Sham al-Islam, one of the Islamist brigades fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. ...

Assad says will abide by chemical weapon agreement: Fox News Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:19 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that his government would abide by an agreement to dispose of Syria's chemical weapons and hand them over to whatever nation was willing to take them. Assad, in an interview on Fox News channel, said that his government was bound to dispose of its arsenal of deadly chemical weapons but insisted that his forces were not responsible for a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus on August 21. (Reporting By Patrick Rucker; Editing by Philip Barbara)

U.S. war crimes ambassador: Assad ‘absolutely’ should be tried for war crimes Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:14 PM PDT U.S. is already looking to set up the court, compile evidence.

Qaeda affiliate overruns Syrian town near Turkish border: activists Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:06 PM PDT By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) - A rebel group affiliated with al Qaeda overran a Syrian town near the border with Turkey on Wednesday after fighting broke out with units of the Arab- and Western-backed Free Syrian Army, opposition activists said. Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant stormed the town of Azaz, 5 km (2 miles) from the Syrian-Turkish border and killed at least five Free Syrian Army members, they said. The fighting was the most severe since tensions mounted earlier this year between the rebel factions fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. ...

Assad: We didn't bow to US threats Posted: 18 Sep 2013 04:05 PM PDT Syrian President Bashar al-Assad insisted Wednesday that his decision to destroy his stockpiles of chemical weapons was not forced upon him by the threat of US strikes.

Brazil's top court OKs retrials in landmark corruption case Posted: 18 Sep 2013 03:53 PM PDT By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's top court voted narrowly on Wednesday to allow retrials in the country's biggest-ever political corruption case, a decision seen by many as a major setback for efforts to hold Brazilian officials accountable for wrongdoing. The ruling could save Jose Dirceu, the political leader in the so-called "mensalão" or monthly payment scandal, from going to prison. Dirceu was chief of staff to former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when a scheme to pay legislators a regular allowance in exchange for support was uncovered in 2005. ...

Assad pledges to destroy chemical arms Posted: 18 Sep 2013 03:50 PM PDT Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad pledged to destroy his stockpile of chemical arms but warned it would take a year to do so, in an interview with Fox News broadcast Wednesday.

Angolan police vow to clamp down on planned protest Posted: 18 Sep 2013 03:48 PM PDT LUANDA (Reuters) - Angolan police vowed on Wednesday to use force if necessary to crack down on an anti-government youth protest planned for Thursday in Luanda, at which they expect activists to distribute posters that incite violence and disturb public order. "We will repress, I repeat, vehemently repress, all acts that go against order and public security, and we will use force if it is necessary," Aristofanes dos Santos, spokesman for Angolan police said on state television, TPA. ...

Egypt military court gives five Palestinians one-year jail sentence Posted: 18 Sep 2013 03:46 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian military court on Wednesday sentenced five Palestinian fishermen to a year in jail for illegally crossing into Egypt's territorial waters, Egyptian security sources said. "The court had arrested five Palestinians recently for crossing without permits to the Egyptian waters in North Sinai (that borders Israel and the Palestinian Gaza enclave)," one security source said. The source said each of the fishermen was also fined 500 Egyptian pounds ($72.53). It was not clear when the incident took place, according to another security source in Sinai. ...

Fox News interviews Assad with help of U.S. ex-lawmaker Kucinich Posted: 18 Sep 2013 03:29 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fox News will broadcast an interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday evening, the television network said, a session that former U.S. lawmaker Dennis Kucinich helped secure. Kucinich, a liberal Democrat and eight-term congressman who is now a commentator for Fox News, was present for the interview on Tuesday in Damascus along with Fox senior correspondent Greg Palkot, the network said in a statement. It was Assad's second question and answer session with an American network this month. ...

6 killed as Canada bus strikes passenger train Posted: 18 Sep 2013 03:26 PM PDT OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Passengers screamed "Stop! Stop!" seconds before their bus crashed through a crossing barrier and into a commuter train during morning rush hour in Canada's capital on Wednesday, killing six people and injuring 34.

Berlusconi vows to stay in politics as ban approaches Posted: 18 Sep 2013 03:20 PM PDT By Barry Moody ROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi defiantly vowed to stay at the center of Italian politics on Wednesday despite his expected expulsion from parliament over a fraud conviction, and accused leftist judges of plotting against him to pervert democracy. In a long-awaited television address shortly before a Senate committee took a first step towards expelling him, the media magnate made no mention of his previous threats to bring down the left-right coalition government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta because of the conviction. ...

Iran's Sotoudeh freed, says will keep defending rights Posted: 18 Sep 2013 03:16 PM PDT Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and several political prisoners were freed on Wednesday, a week before President Hassan Rowhani's highly anticipated appearance before the UN General Assembly.

Mangroves bring wildlife back to Senegal coast Posted: 18 Sep 2013 03:07 PM PDT Crabs scuttle among mangrove roots in a dense riverbank forest in southern Senegal, where a major reforestation project is reviving wildlife and boosting the west African country's lukewarm economy.

Central African rebels kill with 'impunity': HRW Posted: 18 Sep 2013 02:57 PM PDT A rebel group that helped overthrow Central African Republic's president shoots, loots and rapes with "complete impunity," Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.

Italy: Berlusconi insists he will stay in politics Posted: 18 Sep 2013 02:56 PM PDT ROME (AP) — Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi vowed on Wednesday to stay in politics to keep leftists from power in an impassioned appearance shortly before some of his fellow senators dealt him a setback in his battle to keep his Senate seat despite his tax fraud conviction.

Iraqi envoy ducks Iran exiles questions in online chat Posted: 18 Sep 2013 02:49 PM PDT Iraq's new ambassador to the United States Wednesday repeatedly dodged questions about a mass killing at an Iraqi camp hosting Iranian exiles during his first online Twitter chat since taking up his post in July.

NATO chief urges Europe to fill drone, aircraft gaps Posted: 18 Sep 2013 02:41 PM PDT By Adrian Croft BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will urge Europe on Thursday to step up its commitment to defense by buying more surveillance drones, transport and tanker aircraft and strengthening its fragmented defence industry. Senior U.S. officials, and Rasmussen himself, have expressed growing concern that defence cuts pushed through by cash-strapped European governments have created a big gulf between U.S. and European military capabilities and risk weakening NATO. ...

Six dead as Canada train smashes into bus Posted: 18 Sep 2013 02:40 PM PDT Screaming commuters were thrown from a double-decker bus when it ploughed into a passenger train at an Ottawa suburban crossing Wednesday, leaving six dead and scores injured.

Former Cypriot minister held in Greek graft trial Posted: 18 Sep 2013 02:18 PM PDT ATHENS (Reuters) - A former Cypriot minister was ordered detained on Wednesday by a Greek prosecutor pending his trial in relation to a graft investigation against a once-powerful Greek politician facing corruption charges in Athens. Dinos Michaelides, who once served as a Cyprus interior minister and was extradited from the island in the past week, faces charges of aiding money laundering by Akis Tsohatzopoulos, a Socialist politician who served in Greece's PASOK administration as defense minister from 1996 to 2001. ...

You are subscribed to email updates from World News Headlines - Yahoo! News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610