Yahoo! News: World News

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• South Korea vows fast response to North; U.S. positions destroyer
• Ghost of Chavez dominates Venezuela election campaign
• Kosovo and Serbia near accord to end ethnic partition
• China's anger at North Korea overcomes worry over U.S. stealth flights
• Sudan's Bashir orders release of all political prisoners
• U.S. accuses Egypt of stifling freedom of expression
• Dissident Cuban blogger gets warm reception from Miami exiles
• Gunmen attack Iraq's Akkas gasfield, three workers killed
• Central African Republic opposition says to boycott new government
• March was bloodiest month in Syria war: rights group
• Afghan teenager fatally stabs U.S. soldier
• UN to vote Tuesday on treaty regulating arms trade
• Pope visits St. Peter's tomb under Vatican
• 6,000 Syrians killed in March, deadliest month yet
• White House: No military moves seen in N. Korea
• NKorea's parliament meets amid nuclear tension
• India's rejection of drug patent could reverberate
• US blasts arrest warrant against Egypt satirist
• Iranian tourists in Egypt showcase warming ties
• French in Mali face Islamist insurgency of unknown strength
• Russia going back to Afghanistan? Kremlin confirms it could happen
• A man with one name is playing with shadow puppets on an Indonesian volcano
• Tit-for-tat kidnappings bring Syria's war into Lebanese backyards
• Reality check? North Korean parliamentary session shifts tone

South Korea vows fast response to North; U.S. positions destroyer Posted: 01 Apr 2013 03:24 PM PDT By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's new president vowed on Monday to strike back quickly if North Korea stages any attack, but the United States said it has seen no worrisome mobilization of armed forces by the North Koreans despite their bellicose rhetoric. "If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations," South Korean President Park Geun-hye told the defense minister and senior officials at a meeting on Monday. ...

Ghost of Chavez dominates Venezuela election campaign Posted: 01 Apr 2013 04:47 PM PDT By Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) - Weeks after his death, Venezuelan socialist leader Hugo Chavez still leads supporters in singing the national anthem. The late president's recorded voice booms over rallies for his protégé, acting President Nicolas Maduro, who stands under billboards of Chavez's face and waves to crowds carrying signs emblazoned with his name. Maduro, who is favored to win a snap election triggered by Chavez's death last month, rarely misses a chance to lionize the man many Venezuelans know as "El Comandante. ...

Kosovo and Serbia near accord to end ethnic partition Posted: 01 Apr 2013 05:06 AM PDT By Matt Robinson and Fatos Bytyci MITROVICA, Kosovo (Reuters) - It's a dangerous job being a municipal clerk in the Kosovan town of Mitrovica, where the Ibar river forms a natural barrier between Serbs and Albanians. Since Adrijana Hodzic began issuing the identification cards of mainly Albanian Kosovo to Serbs on the north side of the river, her deputy has been shot in the leg and hand grenades lobbed at the homes of her staff. "Sometimes I feel like we're fighting against everyone," said mother-of-two Hodzic, a Mitrovica native. ...

China's anger at North Korea overcomes worry over U.S. stealth flights Posted: 01 Apr 2013 02:02 PM PDT By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - A show of force by U.S. stealth jets over the Korean Peninsula after talk of war by Pyongyang has caused only minor concern in China, a measure of Beijing's belief that the North is to blame for the tensions and that hostilities are not imminent. The presence of U.S. forces in places like South Korea and Japan has long worried Beijing, feeding its fears that it is being surrounded and "contained" by Washington and its allies, especially following the U.S. strategic pivot to Asia. ...

Sudan's Bashir orders release of all political prisoners Posted: 01 Apr 2013 01:07 PM PDT By Khalid Abdelaziz KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Monday ordered the release of all political prisoners, a move cautiously welcomed by the opposition in the tightly-controlled African country. The announcement comes after Sudan and South Sudan agreed in March to end hostilities and resume cross-border oil flows after coming close to war a year ago. Khartoum had accused its southern neighbor of supporting rebels trying to topple Bashir. "I announce today my decision to release all political prisoners," Bashir told parliament. ...

U.S. accuses Egypt of stifling freedom of expression Posted: 01 Apr 2013 12:14 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday accused Egypt of muzzling freedom of speech after prosecutors questioned the most popular Egyptian television satirist over allegations he insulted President Mohamed Mursi and Islam. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also suggested the Egyptian authorities were selectively prosecuting those accused of insulting the government while ignoring or playing down attacks on anti-government demonstrators. ...

Dissident Cuban blogger gets warm reception from Miami exiles Posted: 01 Apr 2013 04:42 PM PDT By David Adams MIAMI (Reuters) - Cuba's best-known dissident, independent journalist and blogger Yoani Sanchez, received a hero's welcome on Monday from the Cuban-American exile community in Miami, her latest stop in an 80-day tour of more than a dozen countries. In was the largest and most politically unified reception in at least a decade for a dissident from the island by Miami's Cuban-American exile community, which has often clashed with opposition figures in Cuba over political tactics and goals. ...

Gunmen attack Iraq's Akkas gasfield, three workers killed Posted: 01 Apr 2013 02:30 PM PDT By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked a contracting company in Iraq's Akkas gasfield on Monday, killing at least three local workers and kidnapping two more before burning their camp in the remote western desert. Akkas, operated by Korea Gas Company (KOGAS) in Anbar province near the Syrian border, is still not producing gas. But the attack is another indication of increased insurgent presence along the frontier where Syria's war is spilling into Iraq. ...

Central African Republic opposition says to boycott new government Posted: 01 Apr 2013 01:18 PM PDT By Ange Aboa BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's opposition said on Monday it would not participate in a caretaker government nominated by the country's self-proclaimed president, claiming it has been stacked with rebel sympathizers. The move will complicate a planned transition back to civilian rule in the resource-rich former French colony after fighters from the Seleka rebel coalition stormed the capital on March 24 and ousted President Francois Bozize. ...

March was bloodiest month in Syria war: rights group Posted: 01 Apr 2013 09:20 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - March was the bloodiest month yet in Syria's two-year conflict, with more than 6,000 people killed, a third of them civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday. The group opposes President Bashar al-Assad but has monitored human rights violations on both sides of a revolt that began as peaceful protests but is now a brutal war between forces loyal to Assad and an array of rebel militias. The Britain-based Observatory, which has a network of sources across Syria, has documented 62,554 dead in the conflict, said Rami Abdelrahman, the head of the group. ...

Afghan teenager fatally stabs U.S. soldier Posted: 01 Apr 2013 04:31 PM PDT KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan teenager fatally stabbed an American soldier in the neck as he played with children in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Monday, as the U.S. death toll rose sharply last month with an uptick in fighting due to warmer weather.

UN to vote Tuesday on treaty regulating arms trade Posted: 01 Apr 2013 02:57 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote Tuesday on what would be the first U.N. treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar international arms trade after Iran, North Korea and Syria blocked its adoption by consensus.

Pope visits St. Peter's tomb under Vatican Posted: 01 Apr 2013 02:32 PM PDT VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday took an emotional, close-up look at the tomb of Peter, the church's first pontiff, buried beneath St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican said.

6,000 Syrians killed in March, deadliest month yet Posted: 01 Apr 2013 01:03 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — March was the bloodiest month yet in Syria's 2-year-old conflict with more than 6,000 documented deaths, a leading anti-regime activist group said Monday, blaming the increase on heavier shelling and more violent clashes.

White House: No military moves seen in N. Korea Posted: 01 Apr 2013 12:42 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says that despite bellicose rhetoric from North Korea the Obama administration has not seen changes in the regime's military posture.

NKorea's parliament meets amid nuclear tension Posted: 01 Apr 2013 11:49 AM PDT SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — After weeks of war-like rhetoric, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gathered legislators Monday for an annual spring parliamentary session taking place one day after top party officials adopted a statement declaring building nuclear weapons and the economy the nation's top priorities.

India's rejection of drug patent could reverberate Posted: 01 Apr 2013 03:53 PM PDT The India Supreme Court's rejection of a patent for an improved version of a costly cancer drug by Novartis AG could have big implications for the world's largest drugmakers.

US blasts arrest warrant against Egypt satirist Posted: 01 Apr 2013 03:14 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — The U.S. State Department said Monday that arrest warrants and the investigation of a popular Egyptian satirist and other critics of Egypt's Islamist president highlight a "disturbing trend" of growing restrictions on freedom of expression in the country.

Iranian tourists in Egypt showcase warming ties Posted: 01 Apr 2013 02:02 PM PDT LUXOR, Egypt (AP) — More than 50 Iranian tourists arrived by boat to the ancient city of Luxor on Monday as part of a rare visit that showcases how much ties between the two countries have warmed since Islamist President Mohammed Morsi came to power last year.

French in Mali face Islamist insurgency of unknown strength Posted: 01 Apr 2013 10:51 AM PDT Handfuls of Islamist radicals are slipping in and out of towns in northern Mali on hit and run operations, putting a question mark over France's aspirations to neatly wrap up its military intervention soon.

Russia going back to Afghanistan? Kremlin confirms it could happen Posted: 01 Apr 2013 08:35 AM PDT Almost a quarter century after Soviet troops left Afghanistan in defeat, Russia may return to the country by establishing "maintenance bases" for Russian-made military equipment after NATO winds down its operations there next year, defense ministry officials have confirmed.

A man with one name is playing with shadow puppets on an Indonesian volcano Posted: 01 Apr 2013 06:50 AM PDT I've returned to Indonesia after a decade away. The country was where I became a reporter, and in many ways was where I was cursed (and blessed) with a certain estrangement from the country that spawned me.

Tit-for-tat kidnappings bring Syria's war into Lebanese backyards Posted: 01 Apr 2013 06:21 AM PDT A spate of tit-for-tat kidnappings in the northern Bekaa Valley has drawn fears of a sectarian conflict breaking out in an area where the Lebanese state carries little weight and tribal law prevails.

Reality check? North Korean parliamentary session shifts tone Posted: 01 Apr 2013 06:07 AM PDT • A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

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