Yahoo! News: World News

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• Obama, Iran's Rouhani hold historic phone call
• U.N. Security Council set to vote on Syria chemical arms resolution
• Italian PM to call confidence vote as government nears collapse
• Germany's left wants grassroots blessing before joining Merkel
• Gambian president says gays a threat to human existence
• Jesse Jackson arrives in Cuba on mission of reconciliation
• Chemical weapons watchdog to begin Syria inspections next week
• Obama and Iran's Rouhani hold historic phone call
• Iran makes payments on old loans to World Bank
• Chemical arms watchdog agrees Syria plan, U.N. set to vote
• Eight held over Nairobi mall attack, al Shabaab issues new threat
• China wins $2 billion oil deal in Uganda
• World poised to seal Syria chemical weapons deal
• Germany's Social Democrats agree to talks with Merkel
• Obama warns gov't shutdown would wreak economic havoc
• Sudanese police fire teargas as crowd demands Bashir resign
• Spanish parents charged in killing of China-adopted girl
• Serbia bans gay pride march again; EU criticizes decision
• Fresh protests erupt in Sudan after Friday prayers
• Syria rebels struggle to rally practical backing on U.N. stage
• Obama call was 'totally unexpected' for Iran's Rouhani: source
• Italian PM to seek confidence vote in parliament: minister
• Tribal warfare in Sudan's Darfur kills 51: leader
• French motorists top league of unpaid fines in London
• Nigeria Islamists release video of French hostage
• Building collapse kills 13 in Mumbai, more feared trapped
• Building collapse kills 13 in India's Mumbai, more feared trapped
• Kenyan anti-tank rocket ended Westgate siege: soldiers
• Obama speaks by phone to Iran's Rouhani, sees chance for progress
• Former bin Laden associate facing U.S. charges seeks UK spy evidence
• Mali rebels suspend talks with government
• Greenpeace to appeal Russia detention of activists
• Serbia bans gay pride march again, citing right-wing threat
• Bombs targeting Sunni worshippers kill six in Baghdad
• Egypt's Nour Party rejects move against religious parties

Obama, Iran's Rouhani hold historic phone call Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:29 PM PDT By Jeff Mason and Louis Charbonneau WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke by telephone on Friday, the highest-level contact between the two countries in three decades and a sign that both sides are serious about reaching a pact on Tehran's nuclear program. Obama, who pledged as a presidential candidate in 2007 his willingness to have direct contact with U.S. adversaries, had hoped to cross paths with Rouhani at the U.N. General Assembly, but the Iranian side decided an encounter was too complicated. ...

U.N. Security Council set to vote on Syria chemical arms resolution Posted: 27 Sep 2013 04:07 PM PDT By John Irish and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is set to adopt a resolution on Friday on eradicating Syria's chemical arsenal after Russia and the United States overcame a bitter deadlock to avert U.S. military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government. Amid newfound unity of the veto-wielding council members - Russia, China, France, the United States and Britain - French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he hoped a date would also be agreed on Friday for so-called Geneva 2 peace talks on Syria. ...

Italian PM to call confidence vote as government nears collapse Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:25 PM PDT By Francesca Piscioneri and Giuseppe Fonte ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta will call a confidence vote in parliament after a showdown with center-right partners in his fragile coalition scuppered a vital package of budget measures on Friday and took his government to the brink of collapse. Letta flew back from a visit to New York with coalition unity already in tatters after a threat by center-right lawmakers to walk out over former premier Silvio Berlusconi's battle against a conviction for tax fraud. ...

Germany's left wants grassroots blessing before joining Merkel Posted: 27 Sep 2013 02:05 PM PDT By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's opposition Social Democrats decided on Friday to put any decision to join a 'grand coalition' with Angela Merkel to a vote of its 472,000 grassroots members, an unwieldy process that could complicate the creation of a new government. But an extraordinary meeting on Friday of 200 party leaders also gave embattled chairman Sigmar Gabriel a green light to begin exploratory talks with Chancellor Merkel's victorious conservatives to see if there is scope for full-fledged talks. ...

Gambian president says gays a threat to human existence Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:01 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Gambia's president warned the United Nations General Assembly on Friday that gays were a threat to human existence, along with excessive greed and obsession with world domination, and criticized other countries for regarding homosexuality as a human right. "Those who promote homosexuality want to put an end to human existence," Gambian President Yahya Jammeh told the gathering of world leaders in New York. "It is becoming an epidemic and we Muslims and Africans will fight to end this behavior. ...

Jesse Jackson arrives in Cuba on mission of reconciliation Posted: 27 Sep 2013 04:20 PM PDT HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S. civil rights activist Jesse Jackson arrived in Cuba on Friday where he said he hoped to facilitate improved relations with the United States and see imprisoned U.S. contractor Alan Gross. Jackson is on a private visit to the communist-run island being hosted by the Roman Catholic Church. He has visited Cuba a number of times and met with former President Fidel Castro. "The church is concerned about peace ... and Cuba's relations with the United States and the rest of the Caribbean. I hope we can facilitate that," he said. ...

Chemical weapons watchdog to begin Syria inspections next week Posted: 27 Sep 2013 04:47 PM PDT By Anthony Deutsch AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Experts from the world's chemical weapons watchdog will begin inspecting Syria's stockpile of toxic munitions by Tuesday, according to an agreement passed in The Hague on Friday. The agreement enables the U.N. Security Council to vote later on Friday on a draft resolution on eradicating Syria's chemical arsenal. The decision adopted by the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OPCW, called on members to make cash donations to fund Syria's fast-tracked destruction operation. ...

Obama and Iran's Rouhani hold historic phone call Posted: 27 Sep 2013 04:31 PM PDT Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani spoke by phone Friday in the historic, first direct contact between leaders of their estranged nations since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iran makes payments on old loans to World Bank Posted: 27 Sep 2013 04:03 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran resumed payments on old loans to the World Bank, the bank said on Friday, just as the country held the highest level conversation with the United States in more than three decades. The poverty-fighting World Bank, which did not provide a reason for the resumption of payments, announced in July that Iran had not made any payments for more than half a year, a possible sign of the strain on the sanctions-hit Iranian economy. ...

Chemical arms watchdog agrees Syria plan, U.N. set to vote Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:58 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Executive Council on Friday adopted a decision on a plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, enabling the U.N. Security Council to vote shortly on a draft resolution. "White smoke in the Hague," British U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant announced on his Twitter feed. "OPCW decision adopted by consensus. UNSC (Security Council) can vote at 2000 (EDT)." The OPCW, the international chemical weapons watchdog based in The Hague, confirmed the decision. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau)

Eight held over Nairobi mall attack, al Shabaab issues new threat Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:55 PM PDT By James Macharia and Matthew Mpoke Bigg NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan authorities are holding eight people in connection with an attack by Islamist militants on a Nairobi shopping mall and have released three others after the assault that killed 67 civilians and soldiers, the interior minister said on Friday. Somali Islamist group al Shabaab said Saturday's attack, which ended after a four-day siege by soldiers and police, was "just the premiere of Act 1" and suggested it would be followed by other actions by its "warriors". ...

China wins $2 billion oil deal in Uganda Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:51 PM PDT Kampala (AFP) - China's state-owned CNOOC has secured a $2-billion deal to develop a petroleum field in Uganda and help propel the east African nation into the club of oil-producing countries, an official said Friday.

World poised to seal Syria chemical weapons deal Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:39 PM PDT The Hague (AFP) - Inspectors will next week begin the process of eradicating Syria's chemical arsenal, with the global watchdog and the UN poised to approve a US-Russian roadmap hailed by US President Barack Obama as a "huge victory" for the world.

Germany's Social Democrats agree to talks with Merkel Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:33 PM PDT Berlin (AFP) - Germany's Social Democrats said Friday they will begin talks with Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, who are trying to put together a "grand coalition" with their election rivals.

Obama warns gov't shutdown would wreak economic havoc Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:28 PM PDT Washington (AFP) - With the US government less than 100 hours from a crippling shutdown, President Barack Obama on Friday warned Republicans to stop appeasing "extremists" and pass a budget or risk economic chaos.

Sudanese police fire teargas as crowd demands Bashir resign Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:27 PM PDT By Khalid Abdelaziz and Ulf Laessing KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Police fired teargas on Friday to disperse thousands of Sudanese demanding that President Omar Hassan al-Bashir step down, a day after clashes in which rights groups accused security forces of shooting dead at least 50 people. Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 coup, has not faced the sort of Arab Spring uprising that unseated autocratic rulers from Tunisia to Yemen since 2011, but anger has risen over corruption and rising inflation in the vast African country. ...

Spanish parents charged in killing of China-adopted girl Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:18 PM PDT Madrid (AFP) - A Spanish judge on Friday jailed a 44-year-old mother and her ex-husband on charges of killing their Chinese-born, 12-year-old adopted daughter, whose mysterious death has gripped the country.

Serbia bans gay pride march again; EU criticizes decision Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:16 PM PDT By Aleksandar Vasovic BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's government banned a weekend gay pride march for the third consecutive year on Friday, citing the threat of violence from right-wing hooligans, in a move that sparked protests by gay activists and criticism from the European Union. Denying that the government had given in to right-wing threats, Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said on state television that the ban on Saturday's event was a public safety matter. The last gay pride march in 2010 triggered a day of rioting and arson by nationalists in the capital Belgrade. ...

Fresh protests erupt in Sudan after Friday prayers Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:06 PM PDT Khartoum (AFP) - Sudanese flooded the streets after Friday prayers in a fifth day of protests against fuel price hikes that have seen dozens killed, hundreds arrested and calls for the government's ouster.

Syria rebels struggle to rally practical backing on U.N. stage Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:05 PM PDT By Asma Alsharif and John Irish UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - International opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reaffirmed support for the country's opposition coalition at the U.N. General Assembly this week, but with rebel forces splitting and delivery of weapons slow, the coalition looks increasingly marginalized. After weeks of frustration as the international community turned its attention to negotiating a deal to rid Assad of his chemical weapons, the Syrian National Coalition, or SNC, had hoped to use the annual meeting to push its cause. "We came to the U.N. ...

Obama call was 'totally unexpected' for Iran's Rouhani: source Posted: 27 Sep 2013 03:02 PM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's telephone call to new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was "totally unexpected," a source close to Rouhani told Reuters on Saturday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said that the U.S. had reached out on Friday after the positive meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry a day earlier. (Reporting by Marcus George in Dubai, writing by Louis Charbonneau)

Italian PM to seek confidence vote in parliament: minister Posted: 27 Sep 2013 02:42 PM PDT ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta plans to call a confidence vote in parliament after failing to secure backing for a vital package of fiscal measures at a cabinet meeting on Friday, his regional affairs minister said. Letta said in a statement after the meeting that he was not willing to go on without clear support from the parties in his coalition, as divisions with center-right partners drove the government close to collapse. ...

Tribal warfare in Sudan's Darfur kills 51: leader Posted: 27 Sep 2013 02:34 PM PDT Khartoum (AFP) - Two Arab tribes which have been battling off-and-on for months in Sudan's Darfur region have resumed fighting, leaving dozens dead, one of their leaders said on Friday.

French motorists top league of unpaid fines in London Posted: 27 Sep 2013 02:17 PM PDT London (AFP) - Foreign motorists owe almost £2.8 million ($4.5 million, 3.3 million euros) in unpaid parking fines in central London, a local authority said on Friday, with French drivers responsible for more than one third of the total.

Nigeria Islamists release video of French hostage Posted: 27 Sep 2013 02:10 PM PDT Lagos (AFP) - Nigerian Islamist group Ansaru on Friday released a video of a French national kidnapped in December, the SITE jihadi tracking website said.

Building collapse kills 13 in Mumbai, more feared trapped Posted: 27 Sep 2013 01:55 PM PDT By Rajendra Jadhav MUMBAI (Reuters) - A five-storey apartment block collapsed on Friday in Mumbai, killing at least thirteen people. Rescuers worked into the night to pull out survivors and casualties from the concrete rubble. City authorities said 46 people were rescued by evening. It was not clear how many more were still in the rubble. Employees of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (BMC) were housed in the building. A neighbour in the next block said she heard a loud cracking sound as the building caved in. ...

Building collapse kills 13 in India's Mumbai, more feared trapped Posted: 27 Sep 2013 01:52 PM PDT By Rajendra Jadhav MUMBAI (Reuters) - A five-storey apartment block collapsed on Friday in the Indian financial center of Mumbai, killing at least thirteen people. Rescuers worked into the night to pull out survivors and casualties from the concrete rubble. City authorities said 46 people were rescued by evening. It was not clear how many more were still in the rubble. Employees of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, also known as the BMC, were housed in the building. A neighbor in the next block said she heard a loud cracking sound as the building caved in. ...

Kenyan anti-tank rocket ended Westgate siege: soldiers Posted: 27 Sep 2013 01:44 PM PDT Nairobi (AFP) - The final stand of Islamist fighters who laid siege to Kenya's Westgate mall ended when Kenyan soldiers fired an anti-tank shell that sparked a fierce fire, soldiers who fought in the battle told AFP.

Obama speaks by phone to Iran's Rouhani, sees chance for progress Posted: 27 Sep 2013 01:30 PM PDT By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke by phone on Friday, the highest-level contact between the two countries since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and a sign that both sides are serious about reaching a pact on Iran's nuclear program. Obama had hoped to meet with Rouhani earlier this week while both men were in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, but Iran decided a meeting would be too complicated. "I reiterated to President Rouhani what I said in New York. ...

Former bin Laden associate facing U.S. charges seeks UK spy evidence Posted: 27 Sep 2013 01:20 PM PDT By Mark Hosenball and Karen Freifeld WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former London-based associate of Osama bin Laden facing U.S. terrorism charges has asked a judge for authorization to seek testimony from an officer of Britain's internal spy agency, MI5, which his lawyers claim might prove his innocence. Lawyers for Khalid Al Fawwaz filed papers in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday seeking a court order requiring testimony from a MI5 officer with whom Fawwaz claims he was in regular contact with during four years he lived in London in the 1990s. ...

Mali rebels suspend talks with government Posted: 27 Sep 2013 12:45 PM PDT Ouagadougou (AFP) - Tuareg and Arab rebels, who control northern Mali, announced Thursday the suspension of negotiations with the Bamako government, dealing a blow to hopes of a durable peace.

Greenpeace to appeal Russia detention of activists Posted: 27 Sep 2013 12:40 PM PDT Moscow (AFP) - Greenpeace on Friday vowed to appeal and not give in to intimidation after a Russian court ruled to detain all 30 crew members of a ship involved in a high seas protest against Arctic oil drilling.

Serbia bans gay pride march again, citing right-wing threat Posted: 27 Sep 2013 12:38 PM PDT By Aleksandar Vasovic BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia's government banned gay activists from marching in Belgrade for the third year running on Friday, citing a threat to public safety from right-wing hooligans but risking EU condemnation before the expected start of accession talks. The last Gay Pride march in 2010 triggered a day of rioting by right-wing nationalists in the capital, Belgrade. Western ambassadors had heaped pressure on Serbia to allow this year's event to go ahead on Saturday, as a litmus test of the Balkan country's commitment to tolerance and diversity. ...

Bombs targeting Sunni worshippers kill six in Baghdad Posted: 27 Sep 2013 12:26 PM PDT Baghdad (AFP) - Two bombs exploded near Sunni mosques in the Iraqi capital as worshippers left after Friday prayers, killing six people, while seven more died in attacks targeting security forces, officials said.

Egypt's Nour Party rejects move against religious parties Posted: 27 Sep 2013 12:01 PM PDT By Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's second biggest Islamist party, Nour, on Friday rejected proposed changes to the constitution that would outlaw parties founded on religious grounds, and called the move a "sword drawn" against Islamists. The proposal, made during meetings of the constitutional committee this week but not yet formally approved, came days after a Cairo court separately banned the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's dominant Islamist force. ...

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