Yahoo! News: World News

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• Syrians brush off Assad speech as fighting rages
• Five accused in India rape case charged in court
• Chinese hold anti-censorship protest outside newspaper
• Extradited al Qaeda suspect pleads not guilty in U.S. court
• Obama to meet Afghan President Karzai on Friday: White House
• Malian Islamists move south toward government forces
• Kuwait sentences second man to jail for insulting emir: lawyer
• Northern Irish police clash with rioters for fifth night
• Bahrain upholds sentences of uprising leaders
• Hagel nomination unnerves some in Israel
• British explorer embarks on Antarctica adventure
• Google executive chairman arrives in North Korea
• Indian women hope brutal rape will spark change
• State of Palestine name change shows limitations
• Cuba to free doctors from onerous travel rules
• China newspaper dispute sparks petition, protest
• Depardieu: 'I'm French' despite Russian passport
• Gambia detains local AP reporter for second time
• Venezuela searches for lost plane with Missoni CEO
• Good Reads: Boomtown slum, democracy in progress, and 'rewilding' in the Netherlands
• In Egypt a new cabinet, but same old IMF problem
• Is Iran's presence in Latin America a threat? The White House says yes.
• Ghana inauguration goes on, while opposition plots court comeback
• UN estimate of Syria death toll highlights discrepancies in casualty reporting
• Is this the year that the eurocrisis ends?
• India gang rape: Why was everyone so slow to help?
• Assad speech resoundingly dismissed by opposition and allies

Syrians brush off Assad speech as fighting rages Posted: 07 Jan 2013 01:42 PM PST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Fighting raged across Syria on Monday with clashes reported just a few miles from where President Bashar al-Assad had unveiled a "peace plan" that Syrians on both sides said would do nothing to end the country's 21-month-old uprising. Hours after Assad addressed cheering loyalists at the Damascus Opera House on Sunday in his first public speech in months, fighting erupted near the road to the city's international airport, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The opposition-linked group said artillery hit the district of Aqraba, 3 miles from the Opera House. ...

Five accused in India rape case charged in court Posted: 07 Jan 2013 09:37 AM PST NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Five men accused of raping and murdering an Indian student were read the charges in a near-empty courtroom on Monday after the judge cleared out lawyers for bickering over whether the men deserved a defense. The 23-year-old physiotherapy student died two weeks after being gang-raped and beaten on a moving bus in New Delhi, then thrown bleeding onto the street. Protests followed, along with a fierce public debate over police failure to stem rampant violence against women. ...

Chinese hold anti-censorship protest outside newspaper Posted: 07 Jan 2013 10:54 AM PST GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Hundreds of supporters of one of China's most liberal newspapers demonstrated outside its headquarters on Monday, backing a strike by journalists against interference by the provincial propaganda chief. The rare anti-censorship protest happened in Guangzhou, capital of wealthy Guangdong, China's most liberal province and birthplace of the reforms, begun three decades ago, that propelled China to become the world's second-largest economy. ...

Extradited al Qaeda suspect pleads not guilty in U.S. court Posted: 07 Jan 2013 12:37 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Pakistani man accused of taking part in an international al Qaeda plot to attack targets in the United States and Europe pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges during his first U.S. court appearance Monday in New York. Abid Naseer, 26, was extradited on Thursday from Britain to Brooklyn, New York. He is facing up to life in prison on charges including providing material support to al Qaeda and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction in connection with an alleged plot to bomb a city center in Manchester, England. ...

Obama to meet Afghan President Karzai on Friday: White House Posted: 07 Jan 2013 04:18 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is slated to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday, the White House said in a statement, a meeting that comes as the United States tries to determine how quickly to draw down troops in Afghanistan after more than a dozen years of war. In 2014, the Afghan army and police will take over the country's security as U.S. combat forces withdraw. The two countries are trying to hammer out a deal on the nature of any U.S. troop presence after 2014. ...

Malian Islamists move south toward government forces Posted: 07 Jan 2013 01:47 PM PST BAMAKO (Reuters) - Islamist rebels in control of northern Mali pushed south, close to government positions on Monday, army sources said, raising fears of fresh clashes after months of tense standoff. Militants seized the northern two-thirds of the arid African nation in April, setting up what Western and regional powers fear could provide a haven for radicals to plot international attacks. Heavily armed Islamist groups in convoys of pick-up trucks had been reported in the Mopti region, where government troops have been stationed since the revolt, a Malian military official told Reuters. ...

Kuwait sentences second man to jail for insulting emir: lawyer Posted: 07 Jan 2013 02:14 PM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - A Kuwaiti court sentenced a man to two years in prison on Monday for insulting the country's ruler on Twitter, his lawyer said, the second person to be jailed for the offence in as many days. The U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state has clamped down in recent months on political activists who have been using social media websites to criticize the government and the ruling family. Kuwait has seen a series of opposition-organized protests, including one on Sunday night, since the ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, used emergency powers in October to change the voting system. ...

Northern Irish police clash with rioters for fifth night Posted: 07 Jan 2013 02:38 PM PST BELFAST (Reuters) - Police in Northern Ireland came under attack for a fifth straight night on Monday as the province's police chief urged politicians and parents to act to halt the riots on Belfast streets. The violence is some of the worst in the British-controlled province since a 1998 peace deal ended 30 years of conflict that pitted Catholics seeking union with Ireland against security forces and Protestants keen to remain British. ...

Bahrain upholds sentences of uprising leaders Posted: 07 Jan 2013 01:56 PM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain's highest court upheld on Monday the prison sentences of 13 leaders of a 2011 uprising, a defense lawyer said, in a ruling that could stir further unrest in the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state. The case has drawn international criticism from rights groups and come under scrutiny from U.S. officials keen for acquittals to help restore calm in a country that it counts as a regional partner against Iran. Bahrain, where the U.S. ...

Hagel nomination unnerves some in Israel Posted: 07 Jan 2013 01:56 PM PST JERUSALEM (AP) — President Barack Obama's nomination of Chuck Hagel as the next U.S. secretary of defense is causing jitters in Israel, where some circles view the former Nebraska senator as unsympathetic or even hostile.

British explorer embarks on Antarctica adventure Posted: 07 Jan 2013 11:46 AM PST JOHANNESBURG (AP) — It's a six-month expedition in almost constant darkness, in the coldest place on the planet, with no chance of rescue if things go wrong. British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes calls it one of the last remaining polar challenges: crossing Antarctica during the region's winter.

Google executive chairman arrives in North Korea Posted: 07 Jan 2013 11:31 AM PST PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Google's chairman wants a firsthand look at North Korea's economy and social media landscape during his private visit Monday to the communist nation, his delegation said, despite misgivings in Washington over the timing of the trip.

Indian women hope brutal rape will spark change Posted: 06 Jan 2013 11:46 PM PST NEW DELHI (AP) — Preeti Singh worries each time her 20-year-old daughter has a late night at the hospital where she's a medical student. If her daughter has to stay late, Singh tells her to wait for daylight to come home.

State of Palestine name change shows limitations Posted: 07 Jan 2013 01:57 PM PST RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — With U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state in his pocket, President Mahmoud Abbas wants official documents to carry a new emblem: "State of Palestine."

Cuba to free doctors from onerous travel rules Posted: 07 Jan 2013 02:26 PM PST HAVANA (AP) — Cuba is eliminating longstanding restrictions on health care professionals' overseas travel as part of a broader migration reform that takes effect next week, an island doctor told The Associated Press on Monday.

China newspaper dispute sparks petition, protest Posted: 07 Jan 2013 11:36 AM PST BEIJING (AP) — A dispute over censorship at a Chinese newspaper known for edgy reporting evolved Monday into a political challenge for China's new leadership as prominent scholars demanded a censor's dismissal and hundreds of protesters called for democratic reforms.

Depardieu: 'I'm French' despite Russian passport Posted: 07 Jan 2013 01:23 PM PST PARIS (AP) — Actor Gerard Depardieu denied in an interview aired Monday that he accepted a Russian passport to escape the taxman in France, and said that while he may also seek Belgian nationality, he is still French.

Gambia detains local AP reporter for second time Posted: 07 Jan 2013 02:47 PM PST JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A Gambian journalist who contributes to The Associated Press was held by security officials Monday night, according to the Gambian Press Union.

Venezuela searches for lost plane with Missoni CEO Posted: 07 Jan 2013 04:15 PM PST CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Hundreds of rescuers fanned out for a fourth day in planes, helicopters and boats off Venezuela on Monday, looking for a missing plane carrying Italian fashion executive Vittorio Missoni and five other people.

Good Reads: Boomtown slum, democracy in progress, and 'rewilding' in the Netherlands Posted: 07 Jan 2013 01:51 PM PST The image of an African shantytown does not usually conjure up hope for economic prosperity. But Kibera, one of Nairobi's slums and arguably Africa's largest slum, is exactly that for the Kenyans who call it home. In The Economist, a writer chronicled a day in Kibera, describing the slum's ebbs and flows, capturing its entrepreneurial spirit. People from all over Kenya leave their towns and villages for a chance to find work in Kibera's "thriving economic machine."

In Egypt a new cabinet, but same old IMF problem Posted: 07 Jan 2013 12:05 PM PST A senior International Monetary Fund official visited Cairo to discuss the type of concessions Egypt would be willing to make in exchange for a $4.8 billion loan that the government hopes will stem the precipitous decline of the Egyptian pound.

Is Iran's presence in Latin America a threat? The White House says yes. Posted: 07 Jan 2013 11:08 AM PST When the United states government signed into law the Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act, the US was quickly criticized for being stuck in the past.

Ghana inauguration goes on, while opposition plots court comeback Posted: 07 Jan 2013 10:30 AM PST The inauguration of Ghana's president John Dramani Mahama on Monday was packed with visiting heads of state and foreign dignitaries, but perhaps the most important guests to take a seat in Accra's expansive Independence Square were the robed judges of the country's Supreme Court.

UN estimate of Syria death toll highlights discrepancies in casualty reporting Posted: 07 Jan 2013 09:48 AM PST A new United Nations-sponsored report that estimates more than 60,000 people have died in Syria's political violence has touched off a new dispute that underscores how little is truly known about the toll from a civil war just weeks from beginning its third year.

Is this the year that the eurocrisis ends? Posted: 07 Jan 2013 09:13 AM PST The eurozone crisis is over – that is, if you choose to believe Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission.

India gang rape: Why was everyone so slow to help? Posted: 07 Jan 2013 08:33 AM PST One of the many disturbing factors in the recent gang rape and torture of a young woman on a Delhi bus, that prompted widespread protests about the treatment of women, was that for almost 30 minutes no one stopped to help her and her friend as they lie badly beaten on the side of the road.

Assad speech resoundingly dismissed by opposition and allies Posted: 07 Jan 2013 05:40 AM PST • A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

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