Yahoo! News: World News

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• Alleged chemical attack kills 25 in northern Syria
• Al Qaeda in Africa says beheads French hostage: agency
• Bombs kill nearly 60 on Iraq invasion anniversary
• Blasts outside Turkish ministry, party office before ceasefire
• Anti-Obama protesters scuffle with Palestinian police
• U.S. working out transfer of Congo war suspect to ICC
• U.N. arms embargoes don't work, arms treaty needed: rights group
• Italian president seeks way out of political stalemate
• As scandal swirls, Spain probes king's businesswoman friend
• Guatemalan trial of ex-dictator Rios Montt begins
• Pope Francis: Protect the poor and the Earth
• Commander: Contingency plans under way for Syria
• Congo warlord Bosco Ntaganda remains at US Embassy
• Bombings in Iraq kill 65 a decade after invasion
• Bergoglio OK'd slain priest sainthood cases
• Abuse victims want pope to open Argentina files
• Cyberwar manual lays down rules for online attacks
• Rebels pick US citizen as Syrian prime minister
• Cyprus in limbo after rejecting bank seizures plan
• AP Analysis: In Mideast, partial deal tantalizes
• Latin America makes strides: Former Guatemalan dictator faces genocide trial
• China steps up to support Africa's development
• Bad reason to invade Iraq No. 3: 'We can trust Ahmed Chalabi'
• Why Spain isn't likely to catch anti-establishment bug
• In Iraq, a tyrant was toppled - and then no one was in charge
• Nuclear talks: Iran unmoved by world powers' latest proposal
• Will surrender of Congo warlord 'The Terminator' boost the standing of the ICC?
• Cyprus bailout plan puts eurocrisis back on the front page
• Why Russia is unhappy about the Cyprus bailout tax
• Cypriot bailout tax could have unintended casualty: trust in Europe's banks
• Pope's first mass: 'protect each person, especially the poorest'
• Iraq 10 years on: The blast that changed a reporter's view of war
• Bombs rock Baghdad, ten years after Iraq invasion announced
• Thomas Friedman, Iraq war booster

Alleged chemical attack kills 25 in northern Syria Posted: 19 Mar 2013 04:44 PM PDT By Oliver Holmes and Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's government and rebels accused each other of launching a deadly chemical attack near the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday in what would, if confirmed, be the first use of such weapons in the two-year conflict. U.S. President Barack Obama, who has resisted overt military intervention in Syria, has warned President Bashar al-Assad that any use of chemical weapons would be a "red line". There has, however, been no suggestion of rebels possessing such arms. ...

Al Qaeda in Africa says beheads French hostage: agency Posted: 19 Mar 2013 04:34 PM PDT DAKAR (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's North African arm said it had beheaded a French hostage in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali, Mauritania's ANI news agency reported on Tuesday, citing a spokesman for the group. In what ANI reported was a telephone call to the agency, which has close links to Islamist militants, the spokesman said Philippe Verdon had been beheaded on March 10 "in response to the French military intervention in the north of Mali", ANI reported. Verdon was one of two French hostages kidnapped in the northern Mali town of Hombori in November 2011. ...

Bombs kill nearly 60 on Iraq invasion anniversary Posted: 19 Mar 2013 02:30 PM PDT By Patrick Markey and Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than a dozen car bombs and suicide blasts tore through Shi'ite Muslim districts in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and other areas on Tuesday, killing nearly 60 people on the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. Sunni Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda are regaining ground in Iraq, invigorated by the war next door in Syria and have stepped up attacks on Shi'ite targets in an attempt to provoke a wider sectarian confrontation. ...

Blasts outside Turkish ministry, party office before ceasefire Posted: 19 Mar 2013 03:23 PM PDT ANKARA (Reuters) - Two devices exploded outside Turkey's justice ministry and offices of the ruling AK Party in the capital Ankara on Tuesday, days ahead of an expected ceasefire with Kurdish militants. Turkish television stations showed footage of police cordoning off streets and ambulances arriving. CNN Turk said at least two people were wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. ...

Anti-Obama protesters scuffle with Palestinian police Posted: 19 Mar 2013 11:31 AM PDT By Noah Browning RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian police scuffled on Tuesday with scores of demonstrators protesting against the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama to the occupied West Bank later this week. Dozens of officers and plainclothes policemen prevented the crowd from reaching the main offices of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Palestinians' de facto capital Ramallah, leading to shoving, but no serious injuries. Palestinians are skeptical of Obama's visit, which U.S. officials have said will not seek an immediate revival of peace talks with Israel. ...

U.S. working out transfer of Congo war suspect to ICC Posted: 19 Mar 2013 11:11 AM PDT By Jenny Clover KIGALI (Reuters) - The U.S. Embassy in Rwanda was on Tuesday working out the logistics of transferring a Congolese warlord to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a day after Bosco Ntaganda walked off the street to face war crimes charges. Ntaganda stunned embassy staff in Kigali when he gave himself up, a seemingly meek end to a 15-year long career that saw him fight as a rebel and government soldier on both sides of the Rwanda-Congo border. He specifically asked to be transferred to the Hague-based tribunal, the U.S. State Department said. ...

U.N. arms embargoes don't work, arms treaty needed: rights group Posted: 19 Mar 2013 04:19 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. arms embargoes inevitably fail because international arms trade is a virtual free-for-all due to the lack of regulation for the $70 billion global weapons commerce, the rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday. "The United Nations Security Council arms embargoes are always flouted and circumvented and violated because the system of state regulation around the world is not strict enough," Brian Wood, Amnesty's head of arms control and human rights said on the sidelines of a U.N. arms treaty drafting conference. ...

Italian president seeks way out of political stalemate Posted: 19 Mar 2013 04:11 PM PDT By James Mackenzie ROME (Reuters) - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano starts consultations with political leaders on Wednesday to see if any of them has a chance of forming a government after last month's election left no party with a majority in parliament. Italy's political stalemate and the prospect of months of political uncertainty has created alarm across Europe just as the standoff over bank deposits in Cyprus reawakened fears that the euro zone debt crisis could flare up again. ...

As scandal swirls, Spain probes king's businesswoman friend Posted: 19 Mar 2013 11:25 AM PDT By Fiona Ortiz MADRID (Reuters) - The head of Spanish intelligence was quizzed behind closed doors in parliament on Tuesday over whether public money had been spent on a woman whose friendship with King Juan Carlos has fueled talk of scandal and abdication. Members of the parliamentary committee which oversees security spending and Felix Sanz of the National Intelligence Centre were bound by official secrecy not to reveal the content of the hearing, which lasted for some two hours in Madrid. ...

Guatemalan trial of ex-dictator Rios Montt begins Posted: 19 Mar 2013 03:04 PM PDT By Mike McDonald GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - The trial of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity opened on Tuesday, the first time a country has prosecuted an ex-head of state in a national court on such charges. For decades, Rios Montt was not prosecuted for alleged atrocities committed during his 1982-1983 rule in a particularly bloody phase of the country's long civil war, protected as a congressman by a law that grants immunity to public officials. ...

Pope Francis: Protect the poor and the Earth Posted: 19 Mar 2013 04:47 PM PDT VATICAN CITY (AP) — After a week marked by acts of simplicity and openness, Pope Francis finally let his words do the talking as he officially began his stewardship of the Catholic Church on Tuesday.

Commander: Contingency plans under way for Syria Posted: 19 Mar 2013 04:43 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Tuesday that several NATO countries are working on contingency plans for possible military action to end the two-year civil war in Syria as President Bashar Assad's regime accused U.S.-backed Syrian rebels of using chemical weapons.

Congo warlord Bosco Ntaganda remains at US Embassy Posted: 19 Mar 2013 01:22 PM PDT KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Wanted on an international warrant for alleged war crimes, Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda lived openly in Congo for years, playing tennis at exclusive clubs and dining at lakeside restaurants in full view of foreign diplomats and U.N. peacekeepers.

Bombings in Iraq kill 65 a decade after invasion Posted: 19 Mar 2013 12:47 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Insurgents sent a bloody message on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, carrying out a wave of bombings across the country Tuesday that killed at least 65 people in the deadliest day in Iraq this year.

Bergoglio OK'd slain priest sainthood cases Posted: 19 Mar 2013 03:05 PM PDT BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Before he became Pope Francis, Argentina's Catholic leader took the first steps toward granting sainthood status to priests and other Catholics who were murdered in July 1976 as Argentina's dictatorship was killing thousands of so-called "subversives."

Abuse victims want pope to open Argentina files Posted: 19 Mar 2013 03:58 PM PDT BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Activists against abuse by Roman Catholic clergy urged Pope Francis on Tuesday to apologize for what they called the Argentine church's protection of two priests who were eventually convicted of sexually assaulting children.

Cyberwar manual lays down rules for online attacks Posted: 19 Mar 2013 02:40 PM PDT LONDON (AP) — Even cyberwar has rules, and one group of experts is putting out a manual to prove it.

Rebels pick US citizen as Syrian prime minister Posted: 19 Mar 2013 02:22 PM PDT ISTANBUL (AP) — The man chosen to head the Syrian opposition's new interim government is a Syrian-born American citizen who has spent decades in the United States working for technology companies and advocating for various Muslim causes.

Cyprus in limbo after rejecting bank seizures plan Posted: 19 Mar 2013 03:08 PM PDT NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Lawmakers in Cyprus decisively rejected a plan on Tuesday to seize up to 10 percent of people's bank deposits in order to secure an international bailout and prevent a collapse of the country's banks.

AP Analysis: In Mideast, partial deal tantalizes Posted: 19 Mar 2013 01:20 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — As the U.S. president prepares to reinsert himself in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, his best hope may be to set aside grand hopes for a final agreement and make do with a partial deal.

Latin America makes strides: Former Guatemalan dictator faces genocide trial Posted: 19 Mar 2013 01:25 PM PDT Many Latin American societies still fitfully seek justice for the torture, murder, or disappearance of hundreds of thousands of civilians that took place during the military dictatorships, leftist insurrections, and grinding civil wars that ended decades ago.

China steps up to support Africa's development Posted: 19 Mar 2013 01:23 PM PDT One week into his tenure as China's president, Xi Jinping is already stressing his country's ties to the African continent and the interconnected future of the world's developing economies, in what may be an effort to highlight China's growing economic clout.

Bad reason to invade Iraq No. 3: 'We can trust Ahmed Chalabi' Posted: 19 Mar 2013 01:15 PM PDT I covered the Iraq war from the summer of 2003 until 2008, and saw at first hand the consequences of the decision to invade. Skeptical of the wisdom of the war before the invasion, living and working in Iraq solidified that into certainty. I'll be putting out some of my thoughts on the war in a series of posts in the next few days. Click here for bad reason No. 1 and bad reason No. 2.

Why Spain isn't likely to catch anti-establishment bug Posted: 19 Mar 2013 12:33 PM PDT In the aftermath of Italy's vote and the resulting political stalemate, some markets and European capitals have been worried that Spain could catch the anti-establishment bug.

In Iraq, a tyrant was toppled - and then no one was in charge Posted: 19 Mar 2013 12:25 PM PDT Former Monitor Staff Photographer Andy Nelson covered the invasion of Iraq. Despite the excitement of the roll to Baghdad and the toppling of a regime, he saw troubling glimpses of Iraq's future in his first days in the country. Below, he recalls stumbling across a factory to make improvised bombs with the Marines he was traveling with, and what that portended for the coming years. Monitor reporter Scott Peterson has also marked the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq with some reflections of his own.

Nuclear talks: Iran unmoved by world powers' latest proposal Posted: 19 Mar 2013 11:41 AM PDT Behind closed doors in Istanbul yesterday, six world powers gave Iran more details on their latest proposal to limit Iran's most sensitive nuclear work – an offer Iran says still has "no balance" because it asks Iran to give up more than it gets in return.

Will surrender of Congo warlord 'The Terminator' boost the standing of the ICC? Posted: 19 Mar 2013 11:26 AM PDT The surprise surrender of a Congolese warlord after seven years on the run is a welcome boost for the International Criminal Court, after a slump in its support amid snail-paced trials and failed cases, legal analysts and rights advocates said Tuesday.

Cyprus bailout plan puts eurocrisis back on the front page Posted: 19 Mar 2013 10:59 AM PDT The tiny divided sun-dappled Mediterranean island of Cyprus rarely rides above the radar in European thinking – but is now suddenly raising a five-alarm panic in the European Union, just as financial crisis talk there was starting to abate.

Why Russia is unhappy about the Cyprus bailout tax Posted: 19 Mar 2013 10:06 AM PDT Russia is threatening to retaliate against the European Union's controversial bail-out plan for the tiny island state of Cyprus, which would impose almost unprecedented taxes on local bank depositors – almost a third of whom are rich Russians.

Cypriot bailout tax could have unintended casualty: trust in Europe's banks Posted: 19 Mar 2013 08:59 AM PDT Europe continued to struggle Tuesday to explain a controversial plan to bail out the troubled Cypriot economy, one that is undermining the continent's most prized – but scarce – asset: trust.

Pope's first mass: 'protect each person, especially the poorest' Posted: 19 Mar 2013 06:12 AM PDT With traditional pomp and ceremony, the Catholic Church celebrated the official start of the papacy of Pope Francis on Tuesday, with a giant open-air mass in St. Peter's Square.

Iraq 10 years on: The blast that changed a reporter's view of war Posted: 19 Mar 2013 08:06 AM PDT Scott Peterson has covered Iraq for the Monitor for more than a decade. This article, which first appeared in March 18 edition of The Christian Science Monitor weekly, is a personal reflection about the day in 2005 when he glimpsed the grim, medium term future for the country's people. A year later he visited with a family who'd lost their home and three family members in the attack and chronicled their struggle to recover – an example of tens of thousands Iraqi families that have gone through the same.

Bombs rock Baghdad, ten years after Iraq invasion announced Posted: 19 Mar 2013 05:45 AM PDT • A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Thomas Friedman, Iraq war booster Posted: 18 Mar 2013 03:04 PM PDT At the end of May 2003, America was on the verge of one of its longest-running, most expensive wars in Iraq. Yet Iraq war boosters were feeling vindicated by the swift march on Baghdad, which had fallen within weeks, and the swift collapse of the regime.

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