Yahoo! News: World News

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• Syria "Scud-type" missile said to kill 20 in Aleppo
• Tunisian PM quits after failing to form new government
• French soldier killed in Mali, 20 rebels dead
• Italy politicians make final drive for votes before poll
• Militants kidnap French family in north Cameroon
• Israel's Netanyahu makes first move for new government
• Cyprus socialists sit on fence in runoff vote
• Guinea police clash with youths as strike begins
• Pressure mounts on Israel over Palestinian prisoner fast
• Bulgaria PM pledges power price cut to stop protests
• Pistorius: Lover caught in tragedy or killer?
• US ready to strike back against China cyberattacks
• Chavez back in Venezuela, stirs succession talk
• $50 million in diamonds stolen at Brussels airport
• In info age, Belgian diamond heist is a throwback
• US, Iran find common ground: Olympic wrestling
• UN: Drones killed more Afghan civilians in 2012
• Sunni protesters dig in as tensions flare in Iraq
• Tunisia PM resigns after cabinet initiative fails
• Pistorius' girlfriend cremated in private ceremony
• Forget feathers and beads: At Basel's carnival Fasnacht, it's all about politics
• Pakistan announces operation after bombing, but is it just for show?
• $50 million heist challenges Belgian diamond industry, Antwerp most to lose
• What's next for Chávez and Venezuela?
• Egypt's political elites and their estrangement from the poor
• Going green: Forget the McNugget eaters, target McDonald's itself
• Adopted toddler's alleged death-by-abuse in Texas inflames Russia
• Stunning reversal? Why 'big paper' just went green in Indonesia.
• Has the door shut on a diplomatic solution to Syria's conflict?

Syria "Scud-type" missile said to kill 20 in Aleppo Posted: 19 Feb 2013 10:05 AM PST AMMAN (Reuters) - A Syrian missile killed at least 20 people in a rebel-held district of Aleppo on Tuesday, opposition activists said, as the army turns to longer-range weapons after losing bases in the country's second-largest city. The use of what opposition activists said was a large missile of the same type as Russian-made Scuds against an Aleppo residential district came after rebels overran army bases over the past two months from which troops had fired artillery. ...

Tunisian PM quits after failing to form new government Posted: 19 Feb 2013 02:11 PM PST TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali resigned on Tuesday after failing to replace a government pulled apart by acrimony between his Islamist allies and their secular opponents. Jebali had threatened to quit if his plan for a non-partisan cabinet of technocrats to lead the north African country into early elections foundered. In the end it was his own party, Ennahda, that rejected the proposal, prolonging the political stand-off that has cast a shadow over Tunisia's fledgling democracy and deepened an economic crisis. ...

French soldier killed in Mali, 20 rebels dead Posted: 19 Feb 2013 12:24 PM PST PARIS/DAKAR (Reuters) - A French soldier and more than 20 Islamist rebels were killed during what appeared to be the first clashes in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountain range where militants have taken refuge in northern Mali, French officials said on Tuesday. Speaking on a visit to Athens, French President Francois Hollande said serious fighting had broken out and was continuing in the remote area that straddles the Mali-Algeria border, resulting in several casualties among the rebels and one French legionnaire. ...

Italy politicians make final drive for votes before poll Posted: 19 Feb 2013 12:50 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italy's politicians on Tuesday stepped up their campaigns in the last few days before next weekend's election with the outcome deeply uncertain and up to a third of voters still up for grabs. Opinion polls on party standings are banned in the last two weeks before the February 24-25 poll but one of Italy's leading pollsters, Renato Mannheimer, said 27.7 percent of Italians were still undecided or could abstain. This makes the final few days of campaigning crucial for an election which has the potential to again destabilize the euro zone. ...

Militants kidnap French family in north Cameroon Posted: 19 Feb 2013 11:41 AM PST YAOUNDE/DAKAR (Reuters) - Islamist militants from neighboring Nigeria abducted a French family of seven, including four children, in northern Cameroon on Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande said. The risk of attacks on French nationals and interests in Africa has risen since France sent forces into Mali last month to help oust Islamist rebels occupying the country's north. "They (French family) have been taken by a terrorist group that we know and that is in Nigeria," Hollande told reporters during a visit to Greece. ...

Israel's Netanyahu makes first move for new government Posted: 19 Feb 2013 11:59 AM PST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a first step in forming a new government on Tuesday, announcing a coalition deal with former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and naming her to handle efforts to renew stalled diplomacy with the Palestinians. Netanyahu's choice of Livni, a moderate voice for a government led by his right-wing Likud party, seemed a positive signal ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit next month on a push to resume peace talks deadlocked since 2010. ...

Cyprus socialists sit on fence in runoff vote Posted: 19 Feb 2013 12:43 PM PST NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus's socialist party sat on the fence on Tuesday for upcoming elections closely watched by investors as the island teeters on the brink of default, saying it could not back either candidate in a presidential runoff scheduled for February 24. Sunday's vote pits Nicos Anastasiades, a conservative in favor of a swift bailout deal with international lenders, against Communist-backed Stavros Malas, who supports a bailout but with fewer austerity measures. ...

Guinea police clash with youths as strike begins Posted: 19 Feb 2013 11:15 AM PST CONAKRY (Reuters) - Security forces clashed with youths throwing stones in Guinea's capital on Tuesday as opponents of President Alpha Conde began a nationwide strike to demand a corruption-free election. The strike began a day after street protests by opposition groups who say preparations have been flawed for the May 12 parliamentary vote, the first in a decade and a test of Conde's democratic credentials after the West African state emerged from two years of violent military rule. ...

Pressure mounts on Israel over Palestinian prisoner fast Posted: 19 Feb 2013 12:09 PM PST RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails declared a one-day fast on Tuesday in solidarity with four inmates whose hunger strike has fuelled anti-Israel protests in the occupied West Bank. Samer al-Issawi, one of the four Palestinians who have been on hunger strike, has been refusing food, intermittently, for more than 200 days. His lawyer says his health has deteriorated. Gaunt and using a wheelchair, Issawi appeared on Tuesday before a Jerusalem civil court, which deferred releasing him for at least another month. ...

Bulgaria PM pledges power price cut to stop protests Posted: 19 Feb 2013 11:32 AM PST SOFIA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boiko Borisov sought to calm protests on Tuesday by promising to slash electricity prices and punish foreign-owned power companies, setting Bulgaria on a collision course with EU partner the Czech Republic. A day after sacking his finance minister, Borisov said the distribution license of central Europe's largest listed company, Czech-based CEZ will be revoked, and other firms fined after the latest round of increasingly violent protests. ...

Pistorius: Lover caught in tragedy or killer? Posted: 19 Feb 2013 02:53 PM PST PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Oscar Pistorius portrayed himself as a lover caught in tragedy, wielding a pistol and frightened as he stood only on his stumps, then killed his girlfriend after mistaking her for an intruder on Valentine's Day.

US ready to strike back against China cyberattacks Posted: 19 Feb 2013 04:29 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — As public evidence mounts that the Chinese military is responsible for stealing massive amounts of U.S. government data and corporate trade secrets, the Obama administration is eyeing fines and other trade actions it may take against Beijing or any other country guilty of cyberespionage.

Chavez back in Venezuela, stirs succession talk Posted: 19 Feb 2013 04:23 PM PST CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Hugo Chavez's sudden return to Venezuela after more than two months of cancer treatments in Cuba has fanned speculation that the president could be preparing to relinquish power and make way for a successor and a new election.

$50 million in diamonds stolen at Brussels airport Posted: 19 Feb 2013 12:59 PM PST BRUSSELS (AP) — When the armored car set off for the Brussels airport carrying $50 million worth of precious stones from Antwerp's diamond district, eight gunmen knew all about it.

In info age, Belgian diamond heist is a throwback Posted: 19 Feb 2013 01:00 PM PST LONDON (AP) — At a time when many robberies take place at the click of a mouse, a group of jewel thieves has shown there's still a potential payoff for old-fashioned criminals willing to use disguises, planning and pluck to nab their loot.

US, Iran find common ground: Olympic wrestling Posted: 19 Feb 2013 12:33 PM PST TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The caretakers of the Olympics may have inadvertently accomplished what has eluded diplomats: Galvanizing Iran and the U.S. on a common goal.

UN: Drones killed more Afghan civilians in 2012 Posted: 19 Feb 2013 11:59 AM PST KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The number of U.S. drone strikes in Afghanistan rose sharply last year compared with 2011, the United Nations said Tuesday. The increase was a sign that unmanned aircraft are taking a greater role as Americans try to streamline the fight against insurgents while preparing to withdraw combat forces in less than two years.

Sunni protesters dig in as tensions flare in Iraq Posted: 19 Feb 2013 12:04 PM PST RAMADI, Iraq (AP) — Sunni protesters are camped out in dozens of tents festooned with tribal banners on the edge of this one-time Iraqi insurgent stronghold. They are digging in and growing more organized, vowing to keep up their demonstrations against a Shiite-led government they feel has left them behind.

Tunisia PM resigns after cabinet initiative fails Posted: 19 Feb 2013 01:23 PM PST TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia's prime minister announced his resignation Tuesday following a failed effort to form a technocratic government to see the country out of its political crisis.

Pistorius' girlfriend cremated in private ceremony Posted: 19 Feb 2013 11:56 AM PST JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Reeva Steenkamp's coffin was draped in a white cloth and carried by six pallbearers at a private funeral Tuesday, just a few hours before Oscar Pistorius said in a court affidavit that he mistakenly killed his girlfriend by shooting her through a bathroom door.

Forget feathers and beads: At Basel's carnival Fasnacht, it's all about politics Posted: 19 Feb 2013 01:54 PM PST New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, Venice: All play host to the annual glittering, colorful, and wild extravaganza known as Carnival. But in Basel, Switzerland, the world's only Protestant masque, celebrations take on a new twist – they get downright political.

Pakistan announces operation after bombing, but is it just for show? Posted: 19 Feb 2013 01:29 PM PST In an apparent effort to end three days of country-wide protests, the Pakistani government ordered an operation today against the perpetrators of a bomb blast Saturday that killed at least 89 people in Quetta.

$50 million heist challenges Belgian diamond industry, Antwerp most to lose Posted: 19 Feb 2013 12:45 PM PST Only "a few minutes": That is all the time that thieves needed to steal an estimated $50 million worth of diamonds from Brussels Airport in Belgium.

What's next for Chávez and Venezuela? Posted: 19 Feb 2013 12:36 PM PST Fireworks and tweets reverberated through Caracas early yesterday morning, alerting Venezuelans that their president had unexpectedly returned home after spending two months convalescing in a Havana hospital.

Egypt's political elites and their estrangement from the poor Posted: 19 Feb 2013 09:28 AM PST Egypt's political elite continue to fail their people. They are failing to empathize, they are failing to speak to the public that makes them feel they're being listened to, and they're failing to craft approaches to turn around a dangerously listing economy.

Going green: Forget the McNugget eaters, target McDonald's itself Posted: 19 Feb 2013 09:04 AM PST In the 1990s, getting people to say they cared about disappearing rain forests and the homeless orangutans and tigers they were leaving behind wasn't that hard for activist groups like Greenpeace.

Adopted toddler's alleged death-by-abuse in Texas inflames Russia Posted: 19 Feb 2013 08:44 AM PST The alleged death-by-abuse of a 3-year old adopted Russian boy in Texas has triggered a fresh uproar in Russia, which recently passed a law banning all US adoptions amid claims that Russian children who go to the US are not adequately protected by the law and may be singled out for special mistreatment.

Stunning reversal? Why 'big paper' just went green in Indonesia. Posted: 19 Feb 2013 08:34 AM PST It's all around you, all the time. Tidily rolled up next to the toilet when you wake up in the morning, handed to you at the corner cafe with your morning coffee, all over your desk at work, and surrounding much of the food you buy at the grocery store before heading home.

Has the door shut on a diplomatic solution to Syria's conflict? Posted: 19 Feb 2013 06:01 AM PST • A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

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