Yahoo! News: World News

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• After Israeli backslapping, Obama faces Palestinian discontent
• Syrian enemies demand inquiry into "chemical" attack
• Asia's F-35 buyers forced to wait as China seeks edge
• Guatemalan survivors revisit horror of war in ex-dictator's trial
• U.S. seeks swift transfer of Congo warlord to Hague court
• Kurdish rebel to call ceasefire in Turkey's best peace hope
• Asylum seekers file most claims in decade: UNHCR
• Venezuela ends talks with U.S. over diplomat comment: minister
• Tribunal orders United Nations to pay $65,000 to whistleblower
• Italian president seeks way out of political stalemate
• Experts suspect North behind SKorea computer crash
• Cuban dissident blogger visits White House
• Obama pledges resolve against Iran's nuclear aims
• WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: 'Red lines' and entourages
• US, Karzai deal leaves most US commandos in Wardak
• Obama skeptical of Assad claim on chemical weapons
• Syria regime, rebels want probe of chemical attack
• AP INTERVIEW: Jordan's king warns of Syrian unrest
• Cypriot officials: Plan B drawn up to get bailout
• AP PHOTOS: A look back at 10 years of war in Iraq
• Is a leader from Texas a good fit for the Syrian opposition?
• For Israelis, Obama has finally arrived
• Tacit French support of separatists in Mali brings anger, charges of betrayal
• All signs point to no lethal chemical weapons attack in Syria
• Big question mark over what Cyprus can do to escape crisis
• Kremlin: No evidence of a crime in whistleblower's suspicious prison death
• Northern Nigerians adapt to life under the gun of Islamist militants
• South Korea cyberattack: whodunit?
• Obama arrives in a Middle East upended since his 2009 visit

After Israeli backslapping, Obama faces Palestinian discontent Posted: 20 Mar 2013 04:14 PM PDT By Crispian Balmer and Steve Holland JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Barack Obama faces a stony reception when he travels to the West Bank on Thursday for talks with Palestinian leaders who accuse him of letting Israel ride rough-shod over their dream of statehood. Obama has said he will not bring any new initiatives to try to revive long-dormant peace talks and has instead come to Israel and the Palestinian territories for simple consultations. ...

Syrian enemies demand inquiry into "chemical" attack Posted: 20 Mar 2013 10:49 AM PDT By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) - Both sides in Syria's conflict on Wednesday demanded an international inquiry into a deadly attack they each cite as evidence that the other has used chemical weapons. The deaths of 26 people in a rocket attack on a northern town on Tuesday have become the focus of a propaganda war between President Bashar al-Assad's supporters and opponents, who accuse each other of firing a missile laden with chemicals. ...

Asia's F-35 buyers forced to wait as China seeks edge Posted: 20 Mar 2013 02:15 PM PDT By Rob Taylor and David Lague CANBERRA/HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Pentagon's F-35 warplane is giving U.S. allies in Asia a headache as they look to replace ageing jets with a cutting edge aircraft now likely to be at least seven years late in offering a strategic deterrent to China. The $400 billion weapons project has suffered technical faults, delays, cost overruns and now U.S. budget cuts that could force Washington to scale back its own purchases. ...

Guatemalan survivors revisit horror of war in ex-dictator's trial Posted: 20 Mar 2013 04:42 PM PDT By Mike McDonald MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Survivors of Guatemala's bloody civil war relived the massacre of relatives as they testified on Wednesday against former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, who is accused of overseeing genocide during the 36-year conflict. Rios Montt, 86, the first ex-head of state to stand trial for crimes against humanity in his own country, was not prosecuted for years for alleged atrocities committed during his 1982-1983 rule because of his protected status as a congressman. ...

U.S. seeks swift transfer of Congo warlord to Hague court Posted: 20 Mar 2013 04:11 PM PDT By Jenny Clover KIGALI (Reuters) - The United States is seeking the swift transfer of a Congolese warlord from its embassy in Rwanda to a war crimes tribunal for a trial that could help eastern Democratic Republic of Congo inch towards peace. Bosco Ntaganda gave himself up to the U.S. Embassy in Kigali on Monday after a 15-year career that spanned a series of Rwandan-backed rebellions in eastern Congo. He asked to be sent to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague where he faces war crimes charges. ...

Kurdish rebel to call ceasefire in Turkey's best peace hope Posted: 20 Mar 2013 04:17 PM PDT By Ayla Jean Yackley DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan is set to call on his fighters to halt hostilities with Turkey on Thursday in a peace process which marks the best hope yet of ending a conflict that has killed 40,000 and handicapped the country for decades. In the mainly Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir, hundreds of thousands will gather at Newroz celebrations marking the Kurdish new year to hear what Ocalan has said will be a "historic call". ...

Asylum seekers file most claims in decade: UNHCR Posted: 20 Mar 2013 04:07 PM PDT By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Nearly half a million people sought asylum in the developed world last year, a 10-year high, with the sharpest rise in requests from Syrians fleeing war and persecution, the United Nations said on Thursday. In all, 479,300 asylum applications were lodged in 44 industrialized countries, a rise of 8 percent on the previous year, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in its annual report, entitled Asylum Trends 2012. "This is the highest annual total since 2003, continuing a trend of increases in every year but one since 2006," it said. ...

Venezuela ends talks with U.S. over diplomat comment: minister Posted: 20 Mar 2013 02:39 PM PDT By Mario Naranjo CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela has cut off an informal channel of communication with the United States because of comments by a State Department official about next month's presidential election, the foreign minister said on Wednesday. The OPEC nation established contact last year with Roberta Jacobson, the senior U.S. diplomat for Latin America, to improve bilateral ties after years of tensions. But Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said that was now on hold after Jacobson's recent statements about the April 14 election to replace the late president, Hugo Chavez. ...

Tribunal orders United Nations to pay $65,000 to whistleblower Posted: 20 Mar 2013 03:57 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. whistleblower has been awarded 2 percent of the $3.2 million he wanted by a tribunal that found U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and the U.N. Ethics Office failed to properly review claims he suffered retaliation for alleging U.N. corruption in Kosovo. The whistleblower, American James Wasserstrom, described the award of $65,000 as disappointing and said on Wednesday it sends the wrong message to other U.N. staff contemplating speaking out. Wasserstrom had headed a U.N. ...

Italian president seeks way out of political stalemate Posted: 20 Mar 2013 01:14 PM PDT By James Mackenzie and Gavin Jones ROME (Reuters) - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano completed a first day of consultations with political leaders on Wednesday to try to find a way of forming a government after the deadlocked election last month left no party with a majority in parliament. Napolitano was due to meet the largest parties on Thursday. Italy's political stalemate and the prospect of months of 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. ...

Experts suspect North behind SKorea computer crash Posted: 20 Mar 2013 03:35 PM PDT SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A cyberattack caused computer networks at major South Korean banks and top TV broadcasters to crash simultaneously Wednesday, paralyzing bank machines across the country and prompting speculation of North Korean involvement.

Cuban dissident blogger visits White House Posted: 20 Mar 2013 02:00 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — One of Cuba's best-known dissidents has visited the White House after trying for nearly a decade to obtain government permission to travel outside the communist island.

Obama pledges resolve against Iran's nuclear aims Posted: 20 Mar 2013 01:58 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — Eager to reassure an anxious ally, President Barack Obama on Wednesday affirmed Israel's sovereign right to defend itself from any threat and vowed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. He said containment of a nuclear-armed Iran was not an option and said the United States would do whatever it takes to prevent Iran from getting "the world's worst weapons."

WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: 'Red lines' and entourages Posted: 20 Mar 2013 01:32 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — Red lines. When it comes to the Middle East, President Barack Obama is encountering them everywhere. They are painted on the ground as directional markers for visiting dignitaries, and they are in Obama's and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's foreign policy rhetoric as not-to-be-crossed warnings to Syria and Iran.

US, Karzai deal leaves most US commandos in Wardak Posted: 20 Mar 2013 12:03 PM PDT KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's president on Wednesday relented in his demand for all U.S. special operations forces to withdraw from a strategic province east of the capital, agreeing to a compromise calling for the pullout of one team implicated in abuse allegations that the Americans have rejected.

Obama skeptical of Assad claim on chemical weapons Posted: 20 Mar 2013 02:22 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the United States is investigating whether chemical weapons have been deployed in Syria, but he's "deeply skeptical" of claims by Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime that rebel forces were behind such an attack.

Syria regime, rebels want probe of chemical attack Posted: 20 Mar 2013 01:00 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's government and rebels on Wednesday both demanded an international investigation into an alleged chemical weapons attack, as the country's feared arsenal became the latest propaganda tool in the 2-year-old civil war.

AP INTERVIEW: Jordan's king warns of Syrian unrest Posted: 20 Mar 2013 02:48 PM PDT AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan is struggling under the burden of a half-million refugees from the Syrian civil war — a conflict that King Abdullah II fears could create a regional base for extremists and terrorists who are already "establishing firm footholds in some areas."

Cypriot officials: Plan B drawn up to get bailout Posted: 20 Mar 2013 01:56 PM PDT NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus' government has drawn up a new plan to raise funds needed for the country to secure a crucial international bailout, three top government officials said Wednesday.

AP PHOTOS: A look back at 10 years of war in Iraq Posted: 20 Mar 2013 04:34 AM PDT The images remain fresh even as the memories fade — the blinding flash of "shock and awe" bombing, the square-jawed confidence of an American president leading his people into war, the cowering prisoner trembling on the ground in the face of a small piece of American power.

Is a leader from Texas a good fit for the Syrian opposition? Posted: 20 Mar 2013 02:19 PM PDT A former information technology executive who spent decades living in the US has taken the helm of the Syrian opposition. Although Syrians may be skeptical of Ghassan Hitto because of his long absence from the country, his potential to bring in international aid appears to be what is winning him support for now.

For Israelis, Obama has finally arrived Posted: 20 Mar 2013 02:00 PM PDT Like Jerry McGuire, who won his wife back with a simple "hello," President Obama seemed to capture the hearts of Israelis with the first word of his speech upon touching down at Ben Gurion airport: Shalom.

Tacit French support of separatists in Mali brings anger, charges of betrayal Posted: 20 Mar 2013 01:18 PM PDT As the war to rid Mali of Islamic rebels winds down, frustrations are building over a French military now widely seen as siding with a controversial ethnic faction that had previously cooperated with Al Qaeda.

All signs point to no lethal chemical weapons attack in Syria Posted: 20 Mar 2013 10:09 AM PDT An alleged chemical weapons attack near Aleppo yesterday, for which the Syrian regime and the opposition traded accusations of responsibility, almost certainly did not feature a lethal agent proscribed under international convention, say chemical weapons experts after considering the available evidence.

Big question mark over what Cyprus can do to escape crisis Posted: 20 Mar 2013 10:49 AM PDT Cyprus is today looking at a "Plan B" to save itself from a catastrophic banking default, though it appears that hopes for an immediate loan from Moscow, explored by Cypriot officials today, will not be forthcoming.

Kremlin: No evidence of a crime in whistleblower's suspicious prison death Posted: 20 Mar 2013 10:05 AM PDT The Kremlin's Investigative Committee, Russia's top law enforcement body, has ended its inquiry into the 2009 prison death of whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, saying it can find no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the way his life ended.

Northern Nigerians adapt to life under the gun of Islamist militants Posted: 20 Mar 2013 09:02 AM PDT Two suicide bombers attacked a bus station in a mostly-Christian suburb of Kano, Nigeria on Monday, killing at least 41 and injuring an additional 44.

South Korea cyberattack: whodunit? Posted: 20 Mar 2013 06:15 AM PDT • A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Obama arrives in a Middle East upended since his 2009 visit Posted: 20 Mar 2013 05:55 AM PDT President Obama landed today in Israel to great fanfare, emphasizing in a short speech the allies' shared history ahead of a two-day tour that will pay respect not only to the modern nation but also the Jewish people's historic presence here.

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