Yahoo! News: World News

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• Italians head to polls in crucial vote for euro zone
• Tens of thousands in Spain protest economic policy, corruption
• Cyprus votes for president as clock ticks on bailout deal
• Iran says it has brought down a foreign spy drone
• Kurdish militant leader signals Turkish prisoners may be freed
• UK downgrade pressures reluctant Osborne to change course
• Yemen security chief escapes gunmen as three die in south
• France's Hollande hails quality meat at farm show
• More fighting erupts in Sudan's Darfur region
• Palestinians demand inquiry into death in an Israeli jail
• Q&A: Why investors are wary of Italy's elections
• Grief besets family of Pistorius' slain girlfriend
• Egypt opposition leader calls for election boycott
• Mali radicals recruited child soldiers at schools
• Ex-Canada ambassador slighted by Affleck's "Argo"
• Talk of peace with Pakistan Taliban angers victims
• Battle for Syria's Aleppo airport intensifies
• Iran says it has captured a foreign 'enemy drone'
• President's personal life hits French stage
• Kurdish leader calls talks 'historic step'
• Israeli Oscar contenders force citizens to confront uncomfortable questions
• Academy Awards: When 'No' gets a 'Yes!' in Chile

Italians head to polls in crucial vote for euro zone Posted: 23 Feb 2013 04:03 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Italians vote on Sunday in one of the most closely watched elections in years with markets nervous about whether it will produce a strong government to pull Italy out of recession and help resolve the euro zone debt crisis. A huge final rally by anti-establishment-comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo on Friday before a campaigning ban kicked in has highlighted public anger at traditional parties and added to uncertainty about the election outcome. Polling booths will open between 02:00 am-04:00 pm EST on Sunday and 01:00 am-09:00 am EST on Monday. ...

Tens of thousands in Spain protest economic policy, corruption Posted: 23 Feb 2013 01:56 PM PST MADRID (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched through cities across the country on Saturday to protest deep austerity, the privatization of public services and political corruption. Gathering under the banner of the "Citizen Tide", students, doctors, unionists, young families and pensioners staged rowdy but non-violent demonstrations as a near five-year economic slump shows no sign of recovery and mass unemployment rises. "I'm here to add my voice. They're cutting where they shouldn't cut; health, education ... basic services. ...

Cyprus votes for president as clock ticks on bailout deal Posted: 23 Feb 2013 04:06 PM PST NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cypriots vote in a runoff on Sunday to elect a president who must clinch a bailout deal so the island nation can avoid a financial meltdown that would revive the euro zone crisis. Conservative leader Nicos Anastasiades, who favors hammering out a quick deal with foreign lenders, is favored to win against Communist-backed rival Stavros Malas, who is more wary of the austerity terms accompanying any rescue. ...

Iran says it has brought down a foreign spy drone Posted: 23 Feb 2013 04:12 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards have brought down a foreign surveillance drone during a military exercise, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said on Saturday. "We have managed to bring down a drone of the enemy. This has happened before in our country," the agency quoted war games spokesman General Hamid Sarkheli as saying in Kerman, southeast Iran, where the military exercise is taking place. The agency gave no details on who the drone belonged to. In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said he had seen the reports. ...

Kurdish militant leader signals Turkish prisoners may be freed Posted: 23 Feb 2013 12:54 PM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The jailed leader of Turkey's Kurdish rebellion on Saturday signaled that his followers could release captives and further a fledgling peace process that may be the best hope in years of ending the decades-long conflict. The call by Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the autonomy-seeking Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), came after a rare meeting with members of parliament's only pro-Kurdish party at his prison on an island in the Sea of Marmara south of Istanbul. ...

UK downgrade pressures reluctant Osborne to change course Posted: 23 Feb 2013 04:07 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's finance minister insisted on Saturday he would not change course after the loss of the country's 'AAA' credit rating but George Osborne is facing pressure to do just that as his bet on austerity falters ahead of the 2015 election. Moody's dealt Britain its first sovereign rating downgrade on Friday, saying the $2.5 trillion economy faced years more sluggish growth and debt would continue to rise until 2016. ...

Yemen security chief escapes gunmen as three die in south Posted: 23 Feb 2013 09:55 AM PST ADEN (Reuters) - A Yemeni security chief survived an assassination attempt on Saturday in the south of the country, where three people were killed in clashes between his forces and separatists. The Defence Ministry said Abdulwahab al-Wali, head of the central security forces, escaped the attack by unknown gunmen in the town of Mukalla, but two of his bodyguards were wounded. Southern Yemen, which was an independent state until 1990, is troubled by both separatist unrest and an insurgency led by Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda, a source of concern to Gulf states and the West. ...

France's Hollande hails quality meat at farm show Posted: 23 Feb 2013 11:26 AM PST PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande sang the praises of local produce at the annual French farm show, where the horse meat scandal added to French cattle breeders' downbeat mood. Hollande, who was long the head of the rural Correze region, spent hours talking to livestock farmers, who worry that the discovery of horse meat in lasagnas and other processed foods labeled as beef-based will cast another cloud over their sector. "We need to promote French quality, French production and French cattle breeding," Hollande told reporters at Europe's largest farm show. ...

More fighting erupts in Sudan's Darfur region Posted: 23 Feb 2013 11:10 AM PST KHARTOUM (Reuters) - New fighting erupted between Arab tribes in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, tribal leaders said on Saturday, threatening to displace more people after clashes last month killed more than 100 and forced around 130,000 to flee. Law and order has collapsed in swathes of the arid western region since mainly non-Arab tribes revolted against the Arab government in Khartoum in 2003, accusing it of neglect. Violence has ebbed since 2004 but picked up again in recent months. ...

Palestinians demand inquiry into death in an Israeli jail Posted: 23 Feb 2013 10:51 AM PST RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian officials on Saturday demanded an international investigation into the death of a Palestinian detainee who died in an Israeli jail hours earlier. A spokeswoman for Israel's Prison Authority said that the detainee, 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat, had apparently died of cardiac arrest. An emergency service team had tried to resuscitate him but failed, she said. ...

Q&A: Why investors are wary of Italy's elections Posted: 23 Feb 2013 04:29 PM PST FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Investors are keeping a wary eye on Italy as the country heads to the polls Sunday and Monday to elect a new parliament. They fear that a new government and prime minister could weaken or scrap the economic reforms and budget cuts begun by outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti during his 15 months in office and hurt Italy's chances of recovering from a decade of low growth.

Grief besets family of Pistorius' slain girlfriend Posted: 23 Feb 2013 08:14 AM PST JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Far from the courtroom drama that has gripped South Africa, the family of Oscar Pistorius' slain girlfriend has struggled with its own private deluge of grief, frustration and bewilderment.

Egypt opposition leader calls for election boycott Posted: 23 Feb 2013 11:08 AM PST CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei called Saturday for a boycott of parliamentary elections, drawing immediate criticism from some within his movement who said it was a hasty decision.

Mali radicals recruited child soldiers at schools Posted: 23 Feb 2013 08:18 AM PST GAO, Mali (AP) — The radical Islamic fighters showed up at Mohamed Salia's Quranic school, armed with weapons and demanding to address his students.

Ex-Canada ambassador slighted by Affleck's "Argo" Posted: 23 Feb 2013 11:01 AM PST TORONTO (AP) — The former Canadian ambassador to Iran who protected Americans at great personal risk during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis says it will reflect poorly on Ben Affleck if he doesn't say a few words about Canada's role should the director's film "Argo" win the Oscar for best picture Sunday.

Talk of peace with Pakistan Taliban angers victims Posted: 23 Feb 2013 05:54 AM PST PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Hazratullah Khan, who lost his right leg below the knee in a car bombing, answers immediately when asked whether the Pakistani government should hold peace talks with Taliban leaders responsible for attacks like the one that maimed him.

Battle for Syria's Aleppo airport intensifies Posted: 23 Feb 2013 11:06 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — The battle for Syria's second-largest airport intensified Saturday as government troops tried to reverse recent strategic gains the rebels have made in the northeast in their quest to topple President Bashar Assad.

Iran says it has captured a foreign 'enemy drone' Posted: 23 Feb 2013 01:52 PM PST TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said Saturday that it had captured a foreign unmanned aircraft during a military exercise in southern Iran.

President's personal life hits French stage Posted: 23 Feb 2013 07:36 AM PST PARIS (AP) — A vow to keep his private life out of the public eye helped sweep Francois Hollande to power last year as France's president, attracting voters tired of his flashy predecessor's amorous exploits. Now, the words of the one-time dull Socialist are back to bite him in a new play.

Kurdish leader calls talks 'historic step' Posted: 23 Feb 2013 09:56 AM PST ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has called talks with Turkish officials aiming to halt a decades-long conflict a historic step and urged all sides involved to show "care and sensitivity."

Israeli Oscar contenders force citizens to confront uncomfortable questions Posted: 23 Feb 2013 06:00 AM PST A former spy chief is making gripping statements about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but at Jerusalem's chic Cinamatheque, two university students can't keep their eyes on the screen. One sends text messages and checks Facebook; the other shifts uneasily."I felt uncomfortable in my chair," says one of them, Shay Amiran, a former combat soldier, after the screening of Oscar-nominated "The Gatekeepers." He especially bristled at a comparison between Israel and Nazi Germany during World War II. ...

Academy Awards: When 'No' gets a 'Yes!' in Chile Posted: 23 Feb 2013 05:00 AM PST When you click on the website of CinemaChile, the promoter of Chilean films around the world, you see a close-up of Mexican actor Gael García Bernal looking over his shoulder, a huge rainbow blurred out in the background. No one familiar with Chilean film needs the tiny caption. It's from the movie "No," released in 2012, now representing Chile at the Academy Awards as the country's first-ever Oscar nomination.

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