Yahoo! News: World News

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• Rome protest turns up heat on new PM Letta
• Gunmen kill senior woman member of Pakistani party led by Imran Khan
• North Korea fires three short-range missiles
• Syria's Assad: Little chance peace talks would succeed - newspaper
• Thirteen killed, 10 police kidnapped in Iraq violence
• Church must help the poorest, not dissect theology, pope says
• Did the Associated Press blow an Al Qaeda informant's cover?
• Collision closes New York area train route as NTSB investigates
• The South welcomes 'crazy ants.' Hail the latest invader
• IRS scandal becomes Republican battering ram against Obamacare
• Assad: Syria transition talks are internal matter
• Attacks kill 16 in Iraq, 8 police kidnapped
• Afghan lawmakers block law on women's rights
• Denmark's de Forest wins Eurovision song contest
• French president signs gay marriage into law
• SKorea says NKorea fires 3 short-range missiles
• Reporter remembers fear in Videla's Argentina
• Pope leads pep rally at Vatican, meets with Merkel
• Regional force boosts troop numbers in Central African Republic
• 20 flights without bags after Egypt airport strike
• Member of Pakistani cricket star's party killed
• Suspected US drone in Yemen kills 4 militants
• France detains suspect in Toulouse killings investigation
• Syria's Assad says he won't step down
• Israel warns against Russian arms supply to Syria
• Syria state TV: Powerful blast rattles Damascus
• Russia's Karjakin wins Norway chess tournament
• Hot off the press: Seen and heard in Cannes
• Blasts rock Libya's capital and eastern city
• Armed groups bomb Libyan military posts in Benghazi
• AP PHOTOS: Palestinians in Egypt exiled, forgotten
• Ivory Coast arrests militia chief accused over massacre
• Plane catches fire landing in Moscow; no injuries
• Ivory Coast army arrests militia leader
• Taxes on some wealthy French top 100 pct of income: paper

Rome protest turns up heat on new PM Letta Posted: 18 May 2013 08:58 AM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of people protested in Rome on Saturday against austerity policies and high unemployment, urging new Prime Minister Enrico Letta to focus on creating jobs to help pull the country out of recession. "We hope that this government will finally start listening to us because we are losing our patience," said Enzo Bernardis, who joined the sea of protesters waving red flags and calling for more workers' rights and better contracts. ...

Gunmen kill senior woman member of Pakistani party led by Imran Khan Posted: 18 May 2013 04:34 PM PDT By Katharine Houreld ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Gunmen killed a senior female politician from a reformist party in Pakistan on Saturday night, the latest violent incident in a bloody election campaign and one that set off a war of words between two major opposition parties. Around 150 people were killed in the run-up to national elections held last week, which handed a landslide victory to opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his PML-N party. It marked the first time an elected government replaced another one in a nation that has been run by military leaders for more than half its history. ...

North Korea fires three short-range missiles Posted: 18 May 2013 10:14 AM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired three short-range missiles from its east coast on Saturday, South Korea's Defence Ministry said, prompting Western powers to urge Pyongyang to exercise restraint. Launches by the North of short-range missiles are not uncommon but, after recent warnings from the communist state of impending nuclear war, such actions raise concerns about the region's security. "North Korea fired short-range guided missiles twice in the morning and once in the afternoon off its east coast," an official at the South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman's office said by telephone. ...

Syria's Assad: Little chance peace talks would succeed - newspaper Posted: 18 May 2013 03:13 PM PDT LIMA (Reuters) - Proposed peace talks for Syria would not curb "terrorism" in the country and it is unrealistic to think they would succeed, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published in an Argentine newspaper on Saturday. Speaking in Syria with the newspaper Clarin, Assad said he was doubtful that mediation the United States and Russia have proposed could settle a deadly conflict that has convulsed the country for two years. "There is confusion in the world between a political solution and terrorism. They think a political conference will halt terrorists in the country. ...

Thirteen killed, 10 police kidnapped in Iraq violence Posted: 18 May 2013 11:29 AM PDT RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - Suspected Sunni Muslim militants killed four state-backed Sunni fighters in Iraq on Saturday, security sources said, apparently viewing them as collaborators with the Shi'ite-led government of a nation plagued by sectarian hatred. Sunni-Shi'ite tensions in Iraq have been amplified by the conflict between mostly Sunni rebels and President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite-dominated forces in neighboring Syria. ...

Church must help the poorest, not dissect theology, pope says Posted: 18 May 2013 02:16 PM PDT By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis shared personal moments with 200,000 people on Saturday, telling them he sometimes nods off while praying at the end of a long day and that it "breaks my heart" that the death of a homeless person is not news. Francis, who has made straight talk and simplicity a hallmark of his papacy, made his unscripted comments in answers to questions by four people at a huge international gathering of Catholic associations in St. Peter's Square. ...

Did the Associated Press blow an Al Qaeda informant's cover? Posted: 18 May 2013 01:46 PM PDT How bad was the Justice Department's going after the phone records of Associated Press writers and editors?

Collision closes New York area train route as NTSB investigates Posted: 18 May 2013 01:08 PM PDT A commuter rail collision Friday injured more than 60 people and left behind a scene of damage that has caused a prominent railroad line near New York City to be partially closed.

The South welcomes 'crazy ants.' Hail the latest invader Posted: 18 May 2013 12:41 PM PDT The South is being invaded – again. This time it's erratic but troublesome "crazy ants" from South America marching – actually, hitching rides – across the South, setting up massive colonies, and relieving other occupying ant armies, including fire ants, of their duties.

IRS scandal becomes Republican battering ram against Obamacare Posted: 18 May 2013 12:21 PM PDT Now playing in a political theater near you: The IRS scandal meets Obamacare.

Assad: Syria transition talks are internal matter Posted: 18 May 2013 01:55 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won't step down before elections and that the United States has no right to interfere in his country's politics, raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the country's civil war.

Attacks kill 16 in Iraq, 8 police kidnapped Posted: 18 May 2013 10:20 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A string of attacks killed at least 16 people in Iraq on Saturday, while gunmen abducted eight policemen guarding a post on the country's main highway to Jordan and Syria, the latest in a wave of violence to grip the country.

Afghan lawmakers block law on women's rights Posted: 18 May 2013 08:25 AM PDT KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Conservative religious lawmakers in Afghanistan blocked legislation on Saturday aimed at strengthening provisions for women's freedoms, arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles and encourage disobedience.

Denmark's de Forest wins Eurovision song contest Posted: 18 May 2013 04:55 PM PDT MALMO, Sweden (AP) — Denmark's Emmelie de Forest has won this year's Eurovision Song Contest with her ethno-inspired flute and drum tune "Only Teardrops," despite tough competition from spectacular stage shows by performers from Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

French president signs gay marriage into law Posted: 18 May 2013 12:16 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — France will see its first gay weddings within days, after French President Francois Hollande signed a law Saturday authorizing marriage and adoption by same-sex couples and ending months of nationwide protests and wrenching debate.

SKorea says NKorea fires 3 short-range missiles Posted: 18 May 2013 11:38 AM PDT SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired three short-range guided missiles into its eastern waters on Saturday, a South Korean official said. It routinely tests such missiles, but the latest launches came during a period of tentative diplomacy aimed at easing tensions.

Reporter remembers fear in Videla's Argentina Posted: 18 May 2013 04:54 PM PDT BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — It was just about a day after Argentine strongman Jorge Rafael Videla had seized power in March of 1976, and the bloodletting was already beginning.

Pope leads pep rally at Vatican, meets with Merkel Posted: 18 May 2013 04:24 PM PDT VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis lamented that investment losses by banks trigger more alarm in the economic crisis than the struggle of people to feed their families, as he led a huge rally Saturday to invigorate the church's moral conscience, hours after he held talks at the Vatican about the economic crisis with Germany's leader.

Regional force boosts troop numbers in Central African Republic Posted: 18 May 2013 03:15 PM PDT LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - African military chiefs agreed on Saturday to more than double the size of a regional peacekeeping force deployed in Central African Republic, where authorities have struggled to contain violence after a rebel takeover. Thousands of fighters from the Seleka rebel coalition led by Michel Djotodia marched into the capital Bangui on March 24, forcing President Francois Bozize to flee to neighboring Cameroon. Djotodia, a former civil servant, was later named interim president by parliament and asked to lead the country to elections within 18 months. ...

20 flights without bags after Egypt airport strike Posted: 18 May 2013 02:13 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian officials say baggage handlers in Cairo's airport have gone on strike to protest a colleague's death, leaving passengers on 20 international flights from Europe and Arab countries waiting several hours for luggage.

Member of Pakistani cricket star's party killed Posted: 18 May 2013 01:58 PM PDT KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Police say gunmen on a motorcycle have shot and killed a senior member of a leading Pakistani political party.

Suspected US drone in Yemen kills 4 militants Posted: 18 May 2013 01:21 PM PDT SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A suspected U.S. drone strike killed four al-Qaida militants Saturday in a southern Yemeni province once overrun by the group, according to security officials.

France detains suspect in Toulouse killings investigation Posted: 18 May 2013 12:28 PM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - French anti-terror judges ordered the detention on Saturday of a man on suspicions he aided an al Qaeda-inspired gunman prepare for a shooting spree last year, a judicial source said. Mohamed Merah killed four Jews and three soldiers in and around the southern city of Toulouse in March 2012 before he was shot dead by police. Anti-terror judges have put the unnamed 25-year-old detained man under formal investigation to determine whether he helped Merah steal a scooter that was used in the shootings. ...

Syria's Assad says he won't step down Posted: 18 May 2013 12:22 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won't step down and will instead "face the storm," raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the country's civil war.

Israel warns against Russian arms supply to Syria Posted: 18 May 2013 11:58 AM PDT By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Saturday that advanced weapons supplied by Russia to war-torn Syria could end up in the wrong hands and be used against the Jewish state. A Russian shipment of Yakhont anti-ship missiles to Syria was condemned by the United States on Friday and Israel is also alarmed by the prospect of Russia supplying S-300 advanced air defense missile systems to Damascus. ...

Syria state TV: Powerful blast rattles Damascus Posted: 18 May 2013 11:56 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian state TV says a powerful explosion has hit the nation's capital, causing an unknown number of casualties.

Russia's Karjakin wins Norway chess tournament Posted: 18 May 2013 11:54 AM PDT STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Russia's Sergey Karjakin won the €100,000 ($130,000) Norway chess championship on Saturday after drawing against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.

Hot off the press: Seen and heard in Cannes Posted: 18 May 2013 11:44 AM PDT CANNES, France (AP) — Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival:

Blasts rock Libya's capital and eastern city Posted: 18 May 2013 11:28 AM PDT TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan officials say explosions went off in the capital Tripoli and the restive eastern city of Benghazi, but no casualties were reported.

Armed groups bomb Libyan military posts in Benghazi Posted: 18 May 2013 10:54 AM PDT BENGHAZI (Reuters) - Armed groups attacked military posts in Libya's second city Benghazi with bombs and a rocket-propelled grenade, an army commander said on Saturday. Nearly two years after the uprising that ended Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule, the government still exerts little control over the armed brigades that helped overthrow him. Oil-producer Libya is largely split into fiefdoms of such brigades that are competing for influence. No one was hurt in the four overnight attacks on three Benghazi army posts, said the military commander, Hamed Belkhair. ...

AP PHOTOS: Palestinians in Egypt exiled, forgotten Posted: 18 May 2013 10:48 AM PDT GEZIRAT AL-FADEL, Egypt (AP) — In 1948, Suleiman Mamoudi fled by foot with his parents and other families from their village of Bir el-Sabae in Palestine. The 28-year-old and his family walked west for several hundred miles, crossing the Sinai Peninsula before settling in an area around 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Cairo.

Ivory Coast arrests militia chief accused over massacre Posted: 18 May 2013 10:46 AM PDT By Joe Bavier ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Authorities in Ivory Coast on Saturday arrested a militia leader accused of participating in one of the worst massacres committed during the West African nation's post-election violence in 2011, a military official and witness said. Some 3,000 people were killed in the brief armed conflict that broke out after incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo refused to acknowledge defeat at the hands of his rival Alassane Ouattara in a run-off poll in late 2010. ...

Plane catches fire landing in Moscow; no injuries Posted: 18 May 2013 10:45 AM PDT MOSCOW (AP) — Part of an airliner carrying more than 130 people caught fire as it was landing in Moscow, and passengers evacuated the plane by jumping off one of its wings and shooting down an evacuation slide.

Ivory Coast army arrests militia leader Posted: 18 May 2013 10:32 AM PDT ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — A militia leader accused of grave crimes during Ivory Coast's 2010-11 postelection violence was taken into custody Saturday not far from the national park where his forces had been illegally occupying in the country's volatile western region, officials said.

Taxes on some wealthy French top 100 pct of income: paper Posted: 18 May 2013 10:16 AM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - More than 8,000 French households' tax bills topped 100 percent of their income last year, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Saturday, citing Finance Ministry data. The newspaper said that the exceptionally high level of taxation was due to a one-off levy last year on 2011 incomes for households with assets of more than 1.3 million euros ($1.67 million). ...

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