2013年6月14日星期五

Yahoo! News: World News

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yahoo! News: World News


U.S. considers no-fly zone after Syria crosses nerve gas 'red line'

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 03:07 PM PDT

By Parisa Hafezi and Erika Solomon ANKARA/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United States is considering a no-fly zone in Syria, potentially its first direct intervention into the two-year-old civil war, Western diplomats said on Friday, after the White House said Syria had crossed a "red line" by using nerve gas. After months of deliberation, President Barack Obama's administration said on Thursday it would now arm rebels, having obtained proof the Syrian government used chemical weapons against fighters trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. ...

Britain lobbies for nuclear export group to admit India

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:50 PM PDT

A policeman walks on a beach near Kudankulam nuclear power projectBy Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Britain has stepped up efforts to let India join an influential global body controlling nuclear exports, a move that would boost New Delhi's standing as an atomic power but which has faced resistance from China and other countries. The diplomatic tussle centers on whether emerging power India should be allowed into a key forum deciding rules for civilian nuclear trade, even though it has refused to join an international pact under which it would have to give up its nuclear weapons. ...


Erdogan makes conciliatory move to end Turkish protests

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 07:39 AM PDT

Pianist Martello of Germany is surrounded by anti-government protesters as he performs at Taksim square in centralBy Daren Butler and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told protesters on Friday he would put redevelopment plans for an Istanbul park on hold until a court rules, striking a markedly more conciliatory tone after two weeks of fierce anti-government demonstrations. Financial markets rose on hopes that environmentalists who oppose the construction on Gezi Park would be satisfied, but it remained unclear whether other protesters with a wide variety of grievances against Erdogan would go home. ...


Iran votes for new president, Khamenei slams U.S. doubts

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 12:10 PM PDT

Voter Zeynab shows the ink stain on her finger, to prove that she has voted, outside the Iranian consulate in central LondonBy Yeganeh Torbati and Zahra Hosseinian DUBAI (Reuters) - Millions of Iranians voted to choose a new president on Friday, urged by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to turn out in force to discredit suggestions by arch foe the United States that the election would be a sham. The 50 million eligible voters had a choice between six candidates to replace incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Having been vetted by Iran's electoral authorities, none is seen a challenge to the Islamic Republic's 34-year-old system of clerical rule. ...


Czech leader clings on after close aide charged with graft

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 11:42 AM PDT

Czech PM Necas addresses a parliamentary session in PragueBy Jana Mlcochova and Jan Korselt PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas was clinging to office on Friday after prosecutors accused a close aide of being at the center of a corrupt web of political favors and secret surveillance. The leader of a junior partner in the governing coalition told Reuters she had little confidence left in the prime minister, but that her party had not yet decided whether to withdraw its support. ...


Bulgarians protests over media magnate as security chief

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 12:24 PM PDT

By Tsvetelia Tsolova SOFIA (Reuters) - Thousands of people rallied on Friday to protest against the appointment of a media magnate as Bulgaria's new security chief in a show of discontent after disputed elections. Chanting "Mafia" and "resign", about 10,000 people rallied in a main square in front of government headquarters in the capital Sofia. Smaller protests were held in other cities. ...

NSA cyber spying on China not a surprise, but it's not ho-hum, either

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 04:48 PM PDT

International relations and leadership on global Internet policy, not US cyberespionage capability, are what will be compromised most as a result of revelations that the United States spies on computers used by civilians in Hong Kong and China.

Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 02:22 PM PDT

A military judge overseeing the court-martial of Maj. Nidal Hasan ruled Friday that the Army psychiatrist cannot argue in court that he killed 13 soldiers at Fort Hood in defense of Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, including leader Mullah Omar.

Hillary Clinton's next big thing? Early childhood project called 'Too Small.'

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:31 PM PDT

The people who will benefit most from Hillary Rodham Clinton's new life beyond the Beltway are too young to follow her on Twitter.

Erdogan quiets Istanbul with softer tone, but calm is likely to be brief

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:06 PM PDT

• A daily roundup of global reports

AP IMPACT: Commander of Nazi-led unit lives in US

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 03:43 PM PDT

People walk past the home in Minneapolis, Minn., where 94-year-old Michael Karkoc lives, Friday, June 14, 2013. Karkoc, a top commander of a Nazi SS-led unit accused of burning villages filled with women and children, lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States and has been living in Minnesota since shortly after World War II, according to evidence uncovered by The Associated Press. He told American authorities in 1949 that he had performed no military service during World War II, concealing his work as an officer and founding member of the SS-led Ukrainian Self Defense Legion and later as an officer in the SS Galician Division, according to records obtained by the AP through a Freedom of Information Act request. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Richard Sennott) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUTBERLIN (AP) — A top commander of a Nazi SS-led unit accused of burning villages filled with women and children lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States and has been living in Minnesota since shortly after World War II, according to evidence uncovered by The Associated Press.


Iran's battered reformers seek election rebound

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:54 PM PDT

Iranian women, queue, in a polling station to vote for the presidential and municipal councils elections, in the city of Qom, 78 miles (125 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 14, 2013. Iran's supreme leader delivered a salty rebuke to the U.S. Friday as Iranians lined up to vote in a presidential election that has suddenly become a showdown across the Islamic Republic's political divide: hard-liners looking to cement their control and re-energized reformists backing the lone moderate. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Reform-minded Iranians who have faced years of crackdowns looked Friday to claw back a bit of ground in a presidential election that gave them an unexpected hero and a chance to upend a vote that once appeared solidly in the hands of Tehran's ruling clerics.


Hezbollah says it will keep fighting in Syria

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:26 PM PDT

Hezbollah supporters raise their hands in salute as Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah speaks on a screen via a video link from a secret place, during a rally to mark the "wounded resistants day," in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, June 14, 2013. Nasrallah said his group will continue to fight in Syria BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah's leader vowed Friday that his militants would keep fighting in Syria "wherever needed" after the U.S. agreed to arm the rebels in the civil war, setting up a proxy fight between Iran and the West that threatens to engulf more of the Middle East.


By arming Syria rebels, US drawn into proxy war

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 12:17 PM PDT

In this citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, anti-Syrian regime protesters hold a banner and flash the victory sign during a demonstration in Hass town, Idlib province, northern Syria, Friday, June 14, 2013. The Syrian government on Friday dismissed U.S. charges that it used chemical weapons as "full of lies," accusing President Barack Obama of resorting to fabrications to justify his decision to arm Syrian rebels. The commander of the main rebel umbrella group welcomed the U.S. move. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)President Barack Obama's decision to begin arming Syria's rebels deepens U.S. involvement in a regional proxy war that is increasingly being fought along sectarian lines, pitting Sunni against Shiite Muslims, and threatening the stability of Syria's neighbors.


Tereshkova marks 50 years of her historic flight

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 11:06 AM PDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin awards cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, with the Order of Alexander Nevsky in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Friday, June 14, 2013. Putin met with Russian cosmonauts to mark the 50th anniversary of Tereshkova's flight. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service)MOSCOW (AP) — It was another Soviet first in space 50 years ago — putting a woman in orbit. And 26-year old Valentina Tereshkova carried her part with grace, shouting "Take off your hat, sky, I'm coming!" as she blasted off.


5 things to know about Iran's presidential vote

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 11:24 AM PDT

A little girl helps her mother with casting a ballot at a polling center during the presidential election in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 14, 2013. Iranian voters appeared to heed calls to cast ballots Friday in a presidential election that has suddenly become a showdown across Iran's political divide: Hard-liners looking to cement their control and re-energized reformists backing the lone moderate left in the race. (AP Photo/ Nabil al-Jurani)Iran holds its presidential election Friday. Here are five things you should know:


EU gets deal on trans-Atlantic trade pact mandate

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 03:59 PM PDT

French Foreign Trade Minister Nicole Bricq, left, talks with European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht, during the EU Trade ministers meeting in Luxembourg, Friday June 14, 2013. France enters a key meeting of European Union trade ministers bent on keeping its audiovisual industry out of trans-Atlantic free trade negotiations, a move that would delay any opening of sweeping talks with the United States. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)LUXEMBOURG (AP) — The European Union worked around French objections on Friday to agree on a free trade negotiating mandate for sweeping talks with the United States that President Barack Obama wants to officially open next week.


U.S. aid to Syria rebels likely to include mortars, RPGs: sources

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 03:01 PM PDT

By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is likely to send weaponry like rocket-propelled grenades and mortars to Syria's rebels after President Barack Obama approved arming the insurgents, sources said on Friday. A source in the Middle East who is familiar with U.S. dealings with the rebels told Reuters that weapon supplies would include automatic weapons, light mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, known as RPGs. ...

Syrian rebel commander urges West to provide heavy weapons

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 02:56 PM PDT

(Reuters) - The commander of Syria's main rebel fighting force urged Western allies on Friday to supply anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles and to create a no-fly zone, saying if properly armed he could defeat President Bashar al-Assad's army within six months. Speaking a day after Washington said it would arm the rebels, Free Syrian Army (FSA) commander Salim Idriss told Reuters his forces urgently needed heavier weapons in the northern city of Aleppo, where Assad's government has said its troops are preparing a massive assault. ...

Greek PM offers to restart news broadcasts to defuse crisis

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 02:08 PM PDT

An employee stands at the reception hall in the Greek state television ERT headquarters in AthensBy Lefteris Papadimas ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras offered on Friday to hire a small number of workers to resume public broadcasts to stem an outcry over the shock closure of state broadcaster ERT and mend a rift in the ruling coalition. The proposal was dismissed as inadequate by one coalition partners, the Socialist PASOK party, which is demanding the immediate reopening of ERT's television and radio stations. There was no immediate comment by the third junior coalition partner, the Democratic Left party, which wants the broadcaster to reopen. ...


Second worker dies from Louisiana chemical plant explosion

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:38 PM PDT

A large fire burns at the Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar, LouisianaBy Kathy Finn NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - A second person died on Friday as a result of an explosion that rocked the Williams Olefins petrochemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana, and injured more than 100 workers a day earlier. Scott Thrower, 47, died as a result of injuries he suffered in the explosion, Louisiana State Police said. Zachary Green, 29, a plant operator who had worked at the facility since October, died on Thursday shortly after being hospitalized following the incident. Five people remained hospitalized in conditions ranging from critical to fair on Friday. ...


First flight of Airbus A350 reopens wide-body race

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:32 PM PDT

The Airbus A350 takes off successfully on its maiden flight at Blagnac airport near Toulouse, southwestern France, Friday, June 14, 2013.The Airbus A350 has taken off on its first flight, setting up major competition for Boeing after the U.S. aerospace company ran into problems with the lithium batteries of its 787 Dreamliner. Friday's flight from Toulouse is to last about four hours and marks a key step on the path to full certification. Airbus is promoting the plane as a fuel-saver at a time when jet fuel prices represent about half the cost of long-haul flights. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)PARIS (AP) — Airbus sent a new wide-body plane into the skies Friday that sets the stage for intensifying competition with U.S. rival Boeing - with consequences for jobs, airlines' investments and the reputations of the powerful plane makers.


Ecuador's Congress approves thorny media law

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:13 PM PDT

By Eduardo Garcia QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's Congress on Friday passed a law creating a state watchdog to regulate newspaper and television content, a move critics called a blow to free speech but the government hailed as a step toward more balanced media. The law represents a victory for socialist President Rafael Correa's in his six-year battle with the country's media during which he has sued several media outlets for libel and insulted reporters with epithets such as "wild beasts" and "rabid dogs. ...

Egypt's Brotherhood joins Sunni front over Syria

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:12 PM PDT

By Alastair Macdonald and Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Syria's president and his Shi'ite allies were denounced by leading Sunni Arab voices on Friday, including Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood, which had reached out across Islam's sectarian divide but has now called for jihad. The Brotherhood accused Shi'ites of being at the root of sectarian conflicts throughout history and threw its weight behind holy war - just months after a high-profile rapprochement with Iran, which backs Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's Hezbollah. ...

Assange: Britain loyal to U.S. in NSA leaker case

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:08 PM PDT

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange makes a speech from the balcony of Ecuador's Embassy, in central LondonBy Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said on Friday that Britain had prevented NSA leaker Edward Snowden from flying to London out of loyalty to its ally, the United States. In an interview given to Reuters and others ahead of the first anniversary of his seeking refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, Assange said he was concerned by reports that Britain had told airlines to stop Snowden from flying to London. ...


Greek PM raises stakes on broadcaster's closure

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:05 PM PDT

Jean-Paul Philippot, president of the Geneva, Switzerland-based European Broadcasting Union, speaks during a press conference at the Greek state television ERT headquarters in Athens, on Friday June 14, 2013. The head of Europe's public broadcasters is in Greece to support 2,600 fired state TV and radio staff and demanded that Greece's conservative government put the canceled signal back on the air within the day. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's prime minister has raised the stakes in a fight with key government allies over his decision to shut "sinful" state-run TV, offering a minor compromise while suggesting he would risk early elections unless they back him.


Turkish PM urges protesters to leave Gezi Park

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:05 PM PDT

A musician plays the piano as a protester holds an umbrella to protect him from the rain under the monument of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern Turkey, at Taksim Square in Istanbul Friday, June 14, 2013. Five people, including a police officer, have died and over 5,000 protesters and 600 police have been reported injured in clashes around the country. A meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and representatives of anti-government protesters ended early Friday without a clear resolution on how to end the occupation of a central Istanbul park that has become a flashpoint for the largest political crisis of his 10-year rule. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's prime minister on Friday urged a small delegation of protesters to persuade hundreds of others occupying an Istanbul park to withdraw.


Italian island jail hosts high-end vineyard

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:04 PM PDT

The penal colony where more than 40 prisoners work on agriculture is pictured on Gorgona island JBy Barry Moody GORGONA ISLAND, Italy (Reuters) - High on a hillside overlooking the azure sea on a small Mediterranean island, two brawny men toil under the sun in a vineyard that has just released a 50-euro ($66) wine destined for the tables of top restaurants. This is not an exclusive wine estate or secluded retreat for the rich, despite the tranquil beauty. It is, rather, the residence of men serving long sentences for some of Italy's most notorious and brutal crimes, on an island named after monstrous sisters in Greek mythology with snakes for hair. ...


The Syrian War: Israel and U.S. Coordinating How to Target Assad’s Arsenal

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 12:57 PM PDT

52 days after an Israeli general publicly declared that Syria has used chemical weapons against rebels, the Obama administration reached the same conclusion, and used the finding to justify announcing it would send small arms to the side of the victims. "I will not say 'We told you so,' only, okay, the proof is there, so there's no more question about it," says Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor, taking with a smile the easy part of the equation now laid before Israel. ...

Libyan army colonel killed in attack on brigade

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 12:41 PM PDT

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A Libyan army colonel was killed in an ambush on his brigade in the country's south on Friday, the unit's spokesman said, in the latest incident of violence in the North African country.

Critic of Russia's Putin raises stakes with Moscow race

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 12:37 PM PDT

Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny addresses supporters during a protest rally in MoscowMOSCOW (Reuters) - A prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, won an opposition party's backing on Friday in a Moscow mayoral election, raising the stakes in a trial that may put him behind bars for a decade. Alexei Navalny, 37, the most prominent leader of a wave of street protests against Putin's 13-year rule that erupted in late 2011, would be barred from the September 8 election if he is convicted in an ongoing trial. ...


Less US urgency at G-8 in call for European growth

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 12:36 PM PDT

FILE - In this May 19, 2012, file photo, President Barack Obama, third from left, participates in a luncheon at the G-8 Summit at Camp David, Md. A year after Obama made an emphatic pitch to Europe's economic powers to focus more on economic growth than austerity, much of the eurozone remains mired in or near recession. Obama's appeals have had mixed results in softening the demands on some of the most debt-ridden European nations to cut their spending. From left are, French President Francois Hollande, Benin President Yayi Boni, Ghanaian President John Atta Mills, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Eleni Gabre Madhin, CEO of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo. ( AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — When leaders of the nation's biggest economies gathered at the presidential retreat of Camp David last year, European elections had rattled the continent with a rejection of austerity measures. President Barack Obama was himself seeking re-election. The sense of urgency was palpable as Obama made an emphatic pitch for Europe's powers to focus more on economic growth.


U.N. rights forum condemns Hezbollah role in Syria

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 12:13 PM PDT

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday condemned the use of all foreign fighters in Syria's civil war, including Lebanese Hezbollah militants backing the government, but stopped short of calling for a halt to the flow of arms. The Geneva forum adopted a resolution brought by Arab and Western powers, urging all parties to refrain from contributing to a further escalation of a conflict in which at least 93,000 people had been killed by the end of April. ...

Russia: U.S. claims of Syrian chemical arms use unconvincing

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 12:08 PM PDT

By Alexei Anishchuk MOSCOW (Reuters) - Information that the United States has given Russia about suspected use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces "does not look convincing", President Vladimir Putin's senior foreign policy adviser said on Friday. Yuri Ushakov said more U.S. military support for Assad's opponents would undermine joint efforts to bring together Syrian government and opposition representatives for peace talks. ...
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