Yahoo! News: World News

Militants hold out as Kenya forces try to crush cross-border jihad
France expects U.N. council to agree on Syria arms measure
Kenya's Interior Ministry says forces take over mall, all hostages freed
Iran takes charm offensive to U.N., agrees to nuclear talks
Egyptian court bans Muslim Brotherhood
France says urgent action needed to aid Central African Republic
Tunisia's Marzouki wants Iran to help stop Syria's 'nightmare'
Spanish journalist abducted in Syria: newspaper
US edges closer to high-level talks with Iran
Malala, Gordon Brown back schooling for Syrian refugee children
Kenyan officials claim last push to end mall siege
Five bodies pulled from massive Mexico mudslide
Sudan police fire tear gas to end protest over fuel subsidies
New Syria dispute clouds UN assembly
Venezuela-to-France cocaine bust yields 9 arrests
Gunmen kill 10, including child, in northern Mexico
Fairfax consortium bids $4.7 billion to take BlackBerry private
Canada fast-tracks rail terror prosecution
US, Iran foreign ministers to hold first nuclear talks
Canada PM says Merkel win 'a great victory'
Former Guantanamo detainee in Canada court appearance
Air France in spotlight as nine held over record cocaine bust
Hezbollah head urges Saudi to review stand on Syria
Egypt court bans all Muslim Brotherhood activities
Hezbollah head hails army deployment in Beirut bastion
Illegal Spain-Melilla border entry bids double
Pro-democracy activist wins Swaziland parliament seat
U.S. examines Kenya information about foreign link to mall attack
Egypt Bans the Muslim Brotherhood, But the Islamists Are Not Finished
Shell defers Nigeria exports after pipeline 'sabotage'
Britain awaits 'concrete' steps by Iran: Hague
Six Britons likely dead in Kenya mall attack: London
Ailing BlackBerry agrees to $4.7 billion buyout
Romania minister under pressure over mine project
Obama says Kenyan mall attack a 'terrible outrage'

Militants hold out as Kenya forces try to crush cross-border jihad

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:35 PM PDT

By Duncan Miriri and James Macharia NAIROBI (Reuters) - Islamist fighters from Somalia's al Shabaab held out at a Nairobi shopping center after killing at least 62 people, surrounded by Kenyan forces trying to crush their group's cross-border jihad. President Barack Obama offered U.S. support as the raid went into its fourth day, saying he believed Kenya - the scene of one of al Qaeda's first major attacks and a neighbor of chaotic Somalia - would continue to be a regional pillar of stability. ...

France expects U.N. council to agree on Syria arms measure

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 03:51 PM PDT

By John Irish and Alexei Anishchuk UNITED NATIONS/SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - France's foreign minister said on Monday he expects the U.N. Security Council to agree on a resolution to enforce the chemical weapons deal with Syria and appeared to back off French calls for the measure to threaten force against President Bashar al-Assad. Syria's civil war is a top agenda item as world leaders gather this week for the annual U.N. General Assembly. Envoys from the five big U.N. powers - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - have been meeting to negotiate a resolution to back the U.S. ...

Kenya's Interior Ministry says forces take over mall, all hostages freed

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:29 PM PDT

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan officials said early on Tuesday that their forces were "in control" of a mall in the capital where Somalia's Islamist al Shabaab launched a raid that has killed at least 62 people. "Our forces are combing the mall floor by floor looking for anyone left behind. We believe all hostages have been released," the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government in The Office of the President said on its Twitter handle. (Reporting by James Macharia; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Iran takes charm offensive to U.N., agrees to nuclear talks

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:20 PM PDT

By David Brunnstrom and Arshad Mohammed UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran's new government took its diplomatic charm offensive to the United Nations on Monday and agreed to new talks on its nuclear program with top diplomats from six world powers, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The meeting bringing the top U.S. diplomat and new Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif around the same conference table will be highly unusual given the United States has not maintained diplomatic relations with Iran since 1980. The announcement of the talks planned for this week during the U.N. ...

Egyptian court bans Muslim Brotherhood

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 03:40 PM PDT

By Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court on Monday banned deposed President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood and ordered its funds seized, a crippling strike in the campaign to crush the Islamist movement. The case was brought by a lawyer from the leftist Tagammu party on the grounds of protecting Egyptians from violence. It was not stated if he was acting at the instigation of the army-backed government, which is mounting one of the fiercest crackdowns against the group in decades. ...

France says urgent action needed to aid Central African Republic

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:02 PM PDT

By John Irish NEW YORK (Reuters) - France's foreign minister said on Monday there was an urgent need to tackle the crisis in the Central African Republic and called for strengthening an African peacekeeping force. Speaking to reporters at the United Nations, Laurent Fabius warned that a lack of international response risked destabilizing the entire region. Land-locked, mineral-rich Central African Republic has slipped into chaos since northern Seleka rebels seized the capital Bangui and ousted President Francois Bozize in March. U.N. ...

Tunisia's Marzouki wants Iran to help stop Syria's 'nightmare'

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:57 PM PDT

By Daniel Bases NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki on Monday urged Iran to help broker a political solution to the devastating civil war in Syria that has killed more than 100,000 people. "We have to stop this; this is the main problem: find and reach a political solution. I hope Iran now with President (Hassan) Rouhani would help. We have to put the pressure on our friends all over the world, but the nightmare of the Syrian people must stop," Marzouki told Reuters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting. ...

Spanish journalist abducted in Syria: newspaper

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:49 PM PDT

MADRID (AFP) - A special correspondent in Syria for the Spanish newspaper El Periodico has been kidnapped in the war-torn country, the paper announced late Monday in its online edition.

US edges closer to high-level talks with Iran

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:37 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AP) — The Obama administration edged close to direct, high-level talks with Iran's new government on Monday, with Secretary of State John Kerry slated to meet his Iranian counterpart this week and the White House weighing the risks and rewards of an encounter between President Barack Obama and Iran's president, Hasan Rouhani.

Malala, Gordon Brown back schooling for Syrian refugee children

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:30 PM PDT

NEW YORK (AFP) - Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen shot by the Taliban for championing girls' education, lent her support Monday to an initiative to provide schooling for thousands of Syrian school children.

Kenyan officials claim last push to end mall siege

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:29 PM PDT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan security forces battled al-Qaida-linked terrorists in an upscale mall for a third day Monday in what they said was a final push to rescue the last few hostages in a siege that has left at least 62 people dead.

Five bodies pulled from massive Mexico mudslide

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:26 PM PDT

MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Rescuers have pulled five bodies from a massive mudslide that buried part of a village in southwestern Mexico, where 68 people were reported missing, the interior minister said Monday.

Sudan police fire tear gas to end protest over fuel subsidies

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:17 PM PDT

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese police fired tear gas on Monday to disperse people protesting in the capital Khartoum and two other cities against the canceling of petrol subsidies by veteran President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, witnesses said. Bashir, in power since 1989, has avoided an "Arab spring" uprising of the sort that has unseated other rulers in the region, but many in Sudan complain about soaring food prices, corruption, violent conflicts and high unemployment. The government almost doubled prices for fuel and cooking gas on Monday to bring its budget under control. ...

New Syria dispute clouds UN assembly

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:12 PM PDT

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Russia-US wrangling over a resolution to enforce the destruction of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons cast a shadow Monday over the start of the United Nations General Assembly.

Venezuela-to-France cocaine bust yields 9 arrests

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:08 PM PDT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The smuggling of 1.4 tons of cocaine in 31 suitcases on an Air France flight from Caracas to Paris has led to nine arrests on two continents, and Venezuela's top police official said Monday that he expected more arrests with airline workers suspected.

Gunmen kill 10, including child, in northern Mexico

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 04:03 PM PDT

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AFP) - Gunmen carrying assault rifles opened fire on a crowd celebrating in a house after an amateur baseball game in northern Mexico, killing 10 including a six-year-old girl, authorities said Monday.

Fairfax consortium bids $4.7 billion to take BlackBerry private

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 03:55 PM PDT

By Alastair Sharp and Andrea Hopkins TORONTO (Reuters) - Smartphone maker BlackBerry has agreed to go private in a $4.7 billion deal led by its biggest shareholder, allowing the on-the-go email pioneer to regroup away from public scrutiny after years of falling fortunes and slumping market share. The $9 a share tentative offer, from a consortium led by property and casualty insurer Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, will set a floor for any counteroffers that might emerge for Blackberry, which has been on the block since August. ...

Canada fast-tracks rail terror prosecution

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 03:31 PM PDT

TORONTO (AFP) - Canadian prosecutors on Monday moved to skip a preliminary hearing for two accused in an alleged plot to derail a passenger train, and proceed directly to trial.

US, Iran foreign ministers to hold first nuclear talks

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 03:29 PM PDT

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - In a stunning diplomatic breakthrough, the foreign ministers of arch rivals, the United States and Iran, will hold their first talks on Tehran's contested nuclear drive at a landmark meeting on Thursday.

Canada PM says Merkel win 'a great victory'

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 03:27 PM PDT

OTTAWA (AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Monday publicly congratulated German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her "historic" election win.

Former Guantanamo detainee in Canada court appearance

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 03:25 PM PDT

OTTAWA (AFP) - Former Guantanamo inmate Omar Khadr appeared in a Canadian court here Monday as his lawyers sought his transfer to a provincial prison.

Air France in spotlight as nine held over record cocaine bust

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 03:14 PM PDT

NANTERRE, France (AFP) - Nine people are being held in France and Venezuela in connection with the seizure of 1.3 tonnes of cocaine stashed in suitcases on an Air France flight, police said Monday.

Hezbollah head urges Saudi to review stand on Syria

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 03:10 PM PDT

BEIRUT (AFP) - The head of Lebanon's Shiite group Hezbollah, a staunch ally of Damascus, on Monday urged Saudi Arabia and other supporters of Syrian rebel forces to instead back a political settlement.

Egypt court bans all Muslim Brotherhood activities

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 03:01 PM PDT

CAIRO (AFP) - An Egyptian court on Monday banned the Muslim Brotherhood from operating and ordered its assets seized, in the latest blow to the Islamist movement of deposed president Mohamed Morsi.

Hezbollah head hails army deployment in Beirut bastion

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 03:00 PM PDT

BEIRUT (AFP) - Lebanon's army on Monday deployed in Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold taking over checkpoints in a deal struck with the Shiite group which has been accused of running a "state within a state."

Illegal Spain-Melilla border entry bids double

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:58 PM PDT

MADRID (AFP) - The number of people who have tried to illegally cross the border that separates the Spanish territory of Melilla from Morocco has nearly doubled this year but most fail to make it over, the interior ministry said Monday.

Pro-democracy activist wins Swaziland parliament seat

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:52 PM PDT

MBABANE (AFP) - A pro-democracy activist who won a seat in Swaziland's parliament in elections criticised by regional observers vowed on Monday to fight for reform in Africa's last absolute monarchy.

U.S. examines Kenya information about foreign link to mall attack

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:51 PM PDT

By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities are urgently looking into information given by the Kenyan government that residents of Western countries, including the United States, may have been among armed militants who attacked a Nairobi shopping mall over the weekend, killing at least 62 people, U.S. security sources said. Kenyan officials said their forces were "in control" of the mall and combing it floor by floor looking for anyone left behind. They said they believed all hostages had been freed. A U.S. ...

Egypt Bans the Muslim Brotherhood, But the Islamists Are Not Finished

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:49 PM PDT

When President Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power in February 2011, it kicked off an extended (and some would argue well-deserved) victory lap for the Muslim Brotherhood. After decades in the shadows—alternately tolerated and oppressed by a string of military-backed rulers—the venerable Islamist group could finally step into the political sunshine.

Shell defers Nigeria exports after pipeline 'sabotage'

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:47 PM PDT

LAGOS (AFP) - Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell's Nigerian subsidiary said Monday it has been forced to defer exports of 150,000 barrels of oil per day after thieves sabotaged its main pipeline.

Britain awaits 'concrete' steps by Iran: Hague

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:36 PM PDT

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The international community is waiting for "concrete steps" by Iran before moving to improve relations with the country's new government, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Monday.

Six Britons likely dead in Kenya mall attack: London

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:34 PM PDT

LONDON (AFP) - Six Britons are now believed to have been killed in an attack at a Nairobi shopping mall staged by Islamist militants, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said on Monday.

Ailing BlackBerry agrees to $4.7 billion buyout

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:31 PM PDT

OTTAWA (AFP) - Tech pioneer BlackBerry made a last roll of the dice Monday and agreed to a probable $4.7 billion buyout by a consortium planning to take the struggling smartphone maker private.

Romania minister under pressure over mine project

Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:27 PM PDT

BUCHAREST (AFP) - Romania's culture minister came under pressure to quit on Monday over his approval of a Canadian gold mine conservationists say threatens unique Roman ruins.