Yahoo! News: World News

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• U.S. extends embassy closings, lawmakers say threat serious
• Two soldiers, militant killed in Tunisia turmoil
• Egypt mediation gathers pace but Brotherhood leaders face trial
• Thirty killed in heavy fighting in Syrian mountains
• Islamist militants attack Somali capital, plan more before Ramadan ends
• White House: U.S. willing to engage with Iran on nuclear concerns
• Bombs damage two shrines in Egypt's Sinai
• US posts in Muslim world will remain closed
• New Iranian president vows support for Assad
• Moroccan king revokes pardon of Spanish pedophile
• Turkish court to announce verdicts in Ergenekon conspiracy case
• Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize winner barred from entering Egypt
• Morocco's king retracts pedophile's pardon
• Random shooting, bombings kill 15 across Iraq
• US posts in 19 cities will remain closed
• Tighter security at some US missions over al-Qaida
• Whistleblowers pay price even as China vows to fight corruption
• Egypt says clock ticking on sit-in standoff
• Spain studies measures to pressure Gibraltar
• US posts in 19 countries will remain closed
• Random shooting, bombings kill 12 across Iraq
• Czech purge provokes cabinet legitimacy row before confidence vote
• Peter Capaldi named as next 'Doctor Who' star
• Security tightens around shuttered Yemen embassies after militant warning
• Berlusconi tells thousands he is innocent
• Berlusconi backs government at rally against tax conviction
• Syria's war splits nation into 3 distinct regions
• Official: HSBC drops dozens of London missions
• Egyptian Brotherhood leaders to face trial for inciting murder
• African leaders want disputed Somali city annexed
• Tunisian soldier killed, seven wounded in landmine by Algeria border
• Morocco's king responds to protests over pardon
• Senior U.S. senator says Putin acting like 'schoolyard bully'
• Terror threat: Senator cites increased 'chatter'
• Iran's new president Rouhani takes oath of office

U.S. extends embassy closings, lawmakers say threat serious Posted: 04 Aug 2013 03:40 PM PDT By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States extended embassy closures by a week in the Middle East and Africa as a precaution on Sunday after an al Qaeda threat that U.S. lawmakers said was the most serious in years. The State Department said 19 U.S. embassies and consulates would be closed through Saturday "out of an abundance of caution" and that a number of them would have been closed anyway for most of the week due to the Eid celebration at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The United States initially closed 21 U.S. diplomatic posts for the day on Sunday. ...

Two soldiers, militant killed in Tunisia turmoil Posted: 04 Aug 2013 04:10 PM PDT By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian police shot dead an Islamist militant in Tunis and two soldiers were killed in a blast near the Algerian border on Sunday, as the government grappled with growing security and political crises. There has been a surge in Islamist militant attacks over the past two weeks in the North African country, and on Friday security forces launched heavy air and artillery strikes on militant hideouts in the Mount Chaambi area near the Algerian border. ...

Egypt mediation gathers pace but Brotherhood leaders face trial Posted: 04 Aug 2013 03:43 PM PDT By Angus MacSwan and Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army-installed government said on Sunday it would give mediation a chance to resolve the crisis brought on by the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, but warned that time was limited. At the same time, a Cairo court announced that the leader of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood and two other top officials will face trial in three weeks' time for crimes including incitement to murder during protests in the days before he was toppled. ...

Thirty killed in heavy fighting in Syrian mountains Posted: 04 Aug 2013 04:37 PM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels battled forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the Jabal Akrad mountains overlooking the Mediterranean on Sunday and a monitoring group said at least 30 people were killed. Video footage showed fighters identified as members of an al Qaeda-linked Islamist brigade waving from the roof of an army tower in the village of Barouda, one of several Alawite villages attacked by the rebels on Sunday. ...

Islamist militants attack Somali capital, plan more before Ramadan ends Posted: 04 Aug 2013 01:14 PM PDT By Abdi Sheikh MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Islamist militants set off several explosions in the Somali capital on Sunday, their spokesman said, demonstrating the rebels' ability to attack the heart of government-controlled areas despite security gains. The guerilla-style attacks were typical of al Shabaab rebels who have waged a six-year campaign to impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law on the country. The militants had fired five mortar shells and hurled several grenades, wounding at least two women, senior police officer Abdiqadir Mohamud said. ...

White House: U.S. willing to engage with Iran on nuclear concerns Posted: 04 Aug 2013 07:47 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Sunday it is prepared to work with the new government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to address concerns about Iran's nuclear program if Iran will engage seriously on the issue. "The inauguration of President Rouhani presents an opportunity for Iran to act quickly to resolve the international community's deep concerns over Iran's nuclear program," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. ...

Bombs damage two shrines in Egypt's Sinai Posted: 04 Aug 2013 04:39 PM PDT ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Two Islamic shrines were damaged by bomb attacks in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, the state news agency said, in a region where Islamist militants have stepped up attacks against the state since the army deposed President Mohamed Mursi. One of the shrines targeted was near the North Sinai town of Bir el-Abd, and the other was in the area of el-Maghara farther south. Both were badly damaged. ...

US posts in Muslim world will remain closed Posted: 04 Aug 2013 03:28 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. diplomatic posts in 19 cities in the Muslim world will be closed at least through the end of this week, the State Department said Sunday, citing "an abundance of caution."

New Iranian president vows support for Assad Posted: 04 Aug 2013 03:13 PM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — Iran's new president expressed his country's support to Syria's embattled leader Bashar Assad's regime Sunday, saying no force in the world will be able to shake their decades-old alliance.

Moroccan king revokes pardon of Spanish pedophile Posted: 04 Aug 2013 03:09 PM PDT RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco's king on Sunday revoked his pardon of a Spanish pedophile, after hundreds rioted in front of parliament on Friday to protest the decision. The pedophile, identified by the Spanish Foreign Ministry as Daniel Galvan Vina, has been serving a 30-year sentence for raping and filming at least 11 children aged 4 to 15. A statement from the palace carried by the state news agency on Sunday said the king revoked the pardon, taking into consideration the gravity of the crimes committed. ...

Turkish court to announce verdicts in Ergenekon conspiracy case Posted: 04 Aug 2013 03:07 PM PDT By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court will pass judgment on Monday on nearly 300 defendants accused of plotting to topple the government in a battleground case in the decade-long conflict between Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey's secularist establishment. Security forces set up barricades around the courthouse in the Silivri jail complex, west of Istanbul, to tighten security after the defendants' supporters vowed to hold a demonstration against the five-year trial that has exposed deep divisions in Turkish society. ...

Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize winner barred from entering Egypt Posted: 04 Aug 2013 03:01 PM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian authorities barred Yemeni Nobel Peace laureate Tawakul Karman - a supporter of deposed president Mohamed Mursi - from entering the country on Sunday and put her on a flight back to Dubai, security sources said. State news agency MENA said Karman, who had previously announced her solidarity with supporters of Mursi, overthrown by the army a month ago, was on a list of people who were not allowed to enter Egypt. A spokesman for Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood said Karman had recently joined demonstrations in Cairo demanding the former leader be reinstated. ...

Morocco's king retracts pedophile's pardon Posted: 04 Aug 2013 02:35 PM PDT RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco's king rescinded his pardon of a Spanish pedophile on Sunday after an unusual bout of protests in the case. It was the first time in recent memory that a Moroccan sovereign had reversed a pardon.

Random shooting, bombings kill 15 across Iraq Posted: 04 Aug 2013 02:24 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of attacks across Iraq on Sunday killed 15 people, including a random shooting and the killing of a judge, authorities said.

US posts in 19 cities will remain closed Posted: 04 Aug 2013 02:23 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says U.S. diplomatic posts in 19 cities in the Muslim world will be closed through Saturday "out of an abundance of caution."

Tighter security at some US missions over al-Qaida Posted: 04 Aug 2013 02:16 PM PDT SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Security forces closed roads, put up extra blast walls and increased patrols Sunday near some of the more than 20 U.S. diplomatic missions in the Muslim world that Washington had ordered closed for the weekend following warnings of a possible al-Qaida attack.

Whistleblowers pay price even as China vows to fight corruption Posted: 04 Aug 2013 02:12 PM PDT By Sui-Lee Wee HUIZHOU, China (Reuters) - Chinese bloggers trying to expose corruption say they are coming under increasing physical and verbal attack over their reports, in what anti-graft activists describe as another blow to efforts to make Chinese officials more accountable. At least six self-styled whistleblowers have been assaulted or harassed in recent months, according to media reports, Internet postings and several of the bloggers who spoke to Reuters. Two unidentified men stabbed blogger Li Jianxin in the face and splashed acid on his back on July 8. ...

Egypt says clock ticking on sit-in standoff Posted: 04 Aug 2013 02:05 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's highest security body warned Sunday that the clock is ticking for a peaceful end to the standoff over sit-ins by supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, suggesting that authorities will break up the protests unless mediation efforts produce results soon.

Spain studies measures to pressure Gibraltar Posted: 04 Aug 2013 02:01 PM PDT By Dominique Searle MADRID/GIBRALTAR (Reuters) - Spain is studying retaliatory measures against the British territory of Gibraltar in an escalating dispute over fishing grounds, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said in an interview published on Sunday. "The party is over," Garcia-Margallo told ABC newspaper, referring to years of softer policy on Gibraltar under the previous Socialist government. The minister said Spain was mulling a 50-euro border-crossing fee and tax investigations of thousands of Gibraltarians who own property in Spain. ...

US posts in 19 countries will remain closed Posted: 04 Aug 2013 01:57 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says U.S. diplomatic posts in 19 countries in the Muslim world will be closed through Saturday "out of an abundance of caution."

Random shooting, bombings kill 12 across Iraq Posted: 04 Aug 2013 01:53 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of attacks across Iraq on Sunday killed 12 people, including a random shooting and the killing of a judge, authorities said.

Czech purge provokes cabinet legitimacy row before confidence vote Posted: 04 Aug 2013 12:55 PM PDT By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - The new Czech cabinet has embarked on a bureaucratic purge, provoking the kind of conflict over democratic legitimacy that is dividing a number of central and eastern European countries two decades after the fall of communism. Since coming to power, the cabinet led by a close ally of President Milos Zeman has cleared out dozens of officials from government departments and state institutions, drawing accusations that it is exceeding its mandate before a parliamentary vote of confidence this week it may well lose. ...

Peter Capaldi named as next 'Doctor Who' star Posted: 04 Aug 2013 12:45 PM PDT LONDON (AP) — Peter Capaldi is going from spin doctor to "Doctor Who."

Security tightens around shuttered Yemen embassies after militant warning Posted: 04 Aug 2013 12:34 PM PDT By Mohammed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) - Soldiers blocked roads outside Western embassies in Sanaa on Sunday, after a U.S. warning of a possible major militant attack in the Middle East prompted the closure of many missions in Yemen and U.S. missions in several other Arab states. Security in Yemen, home to one of the most active wings of al Qaeda, is a global concern as the impoverished Arab Peninsula state shares a long border with Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally and the world's top oil exporter. While Washington has not disclosed the origin of the threat, the U.S. ...

Berlusconi tells thousands he is innocent Posted: 04 Aug 2013 11:51 AM PDT ROME (AP) — Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi pledged his support for Italy's fragile coalition government to a gathering of thousands of supporters on Sunday, but he remained defiant in the face of a supreme court ruling confirming his tax fraud conviction and four-year prison sentence, declaring: "I am innocent."

Berlusconi backs government at rally against tax conviction Posted: 04 Aug 2013 11:46 AM PDT By Naomi O'Leary ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of Silvio Berlusconi protested in Rome on Sunday against a tax fraud conviction that has rocked Italy's fragile coalition, but the center-right leader said the government must continue. Addressing the 2,000-strong crowd, a subdued Berlusconi again bitterly attacked what he calls leftist judges and insisted he was innocent, but said he would continue to support the shaky coalition of his center-right People of Freedom (PDL) party with the center-left Democratic Party (PD) of Prime Minister Enrico Letta. ...

Syria's war splits nation into 3 distinct regions Posted: 04 Aug 2013 11:36 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — More than two years into Syria's civil war, the once highly-centralized authoritarian state has effectively split into three distinct parts, each boasting its own flags, security agencies and judicial system.

Official: HSBC drops dozens of London missions Posted: 04 Aug 2013 10:38 AM PDT LONDON (AP) — HSBC bank has told dozens of foreign missions in London that will close their bank accounts, an official said Sunday, news that has sent diplomats across the capital scrambling to find a new place to put their money.

Egyptian Brotherhood leaders to face trial for inciting murder Posted: 04 Aug 2013 10:04 AM PDT CAIRO (Reuters) - The leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and his deputy will face trial in three weeks' time for crimes including incitement to murder during protests in the days before the overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi, a Cairo court announced on Sunday. The move showed the army-backed interim government was pushing ahead with a crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Mursi belongs, while international envoys try to help resolve the political crisis brought on by his removal by the army on July 3. ...

African leaders want disputed Somali city annexed Posted: 04 Aug 2013 10:03 AM PDT KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — The Somali city of Kismayo "should be handed over" to the central government, regional leaders said at the end of a summit Sunday, a decision that puts pressure on Kenyan troops who face charges of backing a powerful militia in the disputed port city.

Tunisian soldier killed, seven wounded in landmine by Algeria border Posted: 04 Aug 2013 09:57 AM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - One Tunisian soldier was killed and seven others wounded on Sunday by a landmine near the Algerian border, where security forces have been hunting Islamist militants, an army source said. "The landmine was planted by Islamist extremists. It exploded when their tank rolled over it in a security sweep in Mount Chaambi," he said, referring to a remote border area where militants killed eight troops last Monday in one of the deadliest attack against Tunisian security forces in decades. (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Morocco's king responds to protests over pardon Posted: 04 Aug 2013 09:51 AM PDT RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco's King Mohamed VI says he would not have pardoned a Spanish man convicted of raping 11 children if he had been aware of his crimes.

Senior U.S. senator says Putin acting like 'schoolyard bully' Posted: 04 Aug 2013 09:50 AM PDT By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Democratic senator said on Sunday that the U.S.-Russia relationship had become "poisonous" and urged President Barack Obama to consider moving next month's Group of 20 summit away from the Russian city of St. Petersburg. Charles Schumer, the U.S. Senate's third ranking Democrat and a close Obama ally, accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to antagonize the United States by granting American fugitive Edward Snowden asylum for one year. ...

Terror threat: Senator cites increased 'chatter' Posted: 04 Aug 2013 09:42 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The weekend closure of nearly two dozen U.S. diplomatic posts in the Muslim world resulted from the gravest terrorist threat seen in years, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday.

Iran's new president Rouhani takes oath of office Posted: 04 Aug 2013 09:30 AM PDT TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's new president on Sunday called on the West to abandon the "language of sanctions" in dealing with the Islamic Republic over its contentious nuclear program, hoping to ease the economic pressures now grinding its people.

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