Yahoo! News: World News

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• Ukrainians stage mass rally against Yanukovich's U-turn on Europe
• Biden on delicate mission to defuse tensions in East Asia
• Britain's Cameron flies to Beijing, pushing EU-China trade deal
• Insight: UK power price rises prompt questions of network owners, regulator
• 'Cyber-Hindus' - India's new breed of political activists
• Egypt tweaks roadmap, may see presidential vote held first
• 40,000 protest Mexico leader on inauguration anniversary
• Lennon's schoolyard mischief revealed by auctioned files
• Thousands take to the streets in Honduras to protest election result
• Egypt assembly raises doubt over vote timetable
• Egypt draft constitution opens way to presidential poll first
• Egypt police fire teargas to scatter Tahrir Square protesters
• Press body accuses Israel army of targeting journalists
• 20 Salafists arrested as Gaza group pushes into W.Bank
• At least seven dead in Italian textile factory fire
• Libya sends back 360 Egyptians arriving with forged visas: state media
• Nigerian hunger striker back in Britain despite losing asylum bid
• 7 killed in Chinese-run factory in Italy
• UN in Iraq worried about uptick in bodies found
• Two days of fighting kill 10 in Lebanon's Tripoli
• Egypt police clear protesters; constitution agreed
• Croats set constitutional bar to same-sex marriage
• Clashes rage as 100,000 Ukrainians demand EU pact
• Alleged Somali pirates taken to Seychelles for trial
• White House meets goals for HealthCare.gov, but more work ahead
• Croatia rejects gay marriage in referendum
• Svindal wins again in Lake Louise super-G
• Five killed in Italy garment factory fire
• Protests as Egypt army retains powers in draft charter
• Scotland mourns pub helicopter crash victims
• Canadian arrested on spying for China charges
• Israel's Herzog calls for 'brave' steps in peace talks
• Croatians vote against same-sex marriage
• Anti-gov't mass rally in Ukraine turns violent
• Karzai accuses U.S. of cutting Afghan military supplies

Ukrainians stage mass rally against Yanukovich's U-turn on Europe Posted: 01 Dec 2013 02:45 PM PST By Natalia Zinets and Richard Balmforth KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian opposition leaders called on Sunday for President Viktor Yanukovich and his government to resign at a huge pro-Europe rally of about 350,000 people, marred by violent clashes between protesters and riot police. In the biggest protest in the capital Kiev since the "Orange Revolution" of nine years ago, opposition leaders denounced Yanukovich for walking away from a pact offered by the European Union and swinging trade policy back toward Russia. "They stole the dream," heavyweight boxer-turned-opposition politician Vitaly Klitschko told crowds on Independence Square.

Biden on delicate mission to defuse tensions in East Asia Posted: 01 Dec 2013 02:29 PM PST By David Brunnstrom and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will try to strike a delicate balance of calming military tensions with China while supporting ally Japan against Beijing on a trip to Asia this week that is being overshadowed by a territorial dispute in the East China Sea. Aiming to counter criticism that the United States is neglecting Asia because it is distracted by domestic politics and the Middle East, the White House has long been planning a visit by Biden to Japan, China and South Korea.

Britain's Cameron flies to Beijing, pushing EU-China trade deal Posted: 01 Dec 2013 05:02 PM PST By Andrew Osborn BEIJING (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron flew into China saying he wanted to lay the ground for a multi-billion-dollar free trade deal between Beijing and the European Union, despite growing unease about his own country's membership of the bloc. On a three-day visit with a delegation of around 100 business people, the largest British mission of its kind ever, Cameron said he wanted his country to play an important role in China's expansion as the world's second biggest economy is talking about opening up its markets. "China's transformation is one of the defining facts of our lifetime," Cameron wrote in Caixin, a Chinese weekly news magazine, on the eve of the visit. They can choose to see China's rise as a threat or an opportunity.

Insight: UK power price rises prompt questions of network owners, regulator Posted: 01 Dec 2013 04:14 PM PST By Tom Bergin LONDON (Reuters) - In 2006, Britain's energy regulator reviewed how the gas and electricity market was functioning. Summarising its findings, it noted the possibility that its rules on pricing had been overly generous to the network owners. The report was one of many produced by regulator Ofgem, tasked by the government with overseeing an industry that was broken up and sold off by the state during the 1980s and 1990s. "The fact that network businesses .... have recently changed hands at a premium to the regulatory asset value (Ofgem's own valuation of the assets) suggests considerable appetite among the investment community and indicates, in hindsight, that past price control reviews could have been somewhat tighter than they were," Ofgem said in its 2006 report 'Financing Networks'.

'Cyber-Hindus' - India's new breed of political activists Posted: 01 Dec 2013 04:26 PM PST By Sruthi Gottipati and Mark Bergen NEW DELHI/BANGALORE, India (Reuters) - Four men chatting in a Delhi bar are not, by their own admission, natural drinking buddies. The young professionals in their 20s and 30s come from vastly different regions of India and varied backgrounds. They first "met" on Twitter, spotting each other on the micro-blogging site where they voiced a common desire - to see Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi become the next prime minister. After online introductions, they met face-to-face on their own initiative, and, finding they had plenty in common, gather monthly in the nation's capital to talk about life, work, and, most importantly, how to make a difference in India's upcoming election.

Egypt tweaks roadmap, may see presidential vote held first Posted: 01 Dec 2013 03:34 PM PST By Yasmine Saleh and Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's political transition was pitched into uncertainty on Sunday when a draft constitution was amended to allow a presidential election to be held before parliamentary polls, indicating a potential change in the army's roadmap. The roadmap unveiled when the military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July said a parliamentary election should take place before the presidential one. But the draft finalized on Sunday by the 50-member constituent assembly avoids saying which vote should happen first, leaving the decision up to President Adly Mansour, seen as a front for army rule since he was installed to head the interim administration. The draft also says the "election procedures" must start within six months of the constitution's ratification, meaning Egypt may not have an elected president and parliament until the second half of next year.

40,000 protest Mexico leader on inauguration anniversary Posted: 01 Dec 2013 04:30 PM PST Some 40,000 teachers, union members and anarchist activists took to Mexico City's streets Sunday in a demonstration on the first anniversary of President Enrique Pena Nieto's inauguration. The protesters joined a rally held by Pena Nieto's former rival Andres Lopez Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution. "We are here to avoid a big robbery," Lopez Obrador told the crowd. One group of protesters held a massive banner declaring "NO to the sale of Pemex," the state-owned energy company.

Lennon's schoolyard mischief revealed by auctioned files Posted: 01 Dec 2013 04:06 PM PST London (AFP) - School files detailing the adolescent wrongdoings of "class-clown" John Lennon fetched nearly £8,500 each in an online auction on Sunday.

Thousands take to the streets in Honduras to protest election result Posted: 01 Dec 2013 03:38 PM PST By Gustavo Palencia TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras' defeated leftist presidential candidate, the wife of ousted former leader Manuel Zelaya, led thousands of supporters onto the streets of Tegucigalpa on Sunday to protest an election result she has called fraudulent. The demonstration by a crowd estimated at several thousand people passed off peacefully, which analysts said offered some hope for political stability. The ruling National Party's Juan Hernandez, who is head of Congress, won last week's election with 36.8 percent of votes, according to the country's election tribunal. Xiomara Castro ran as the candidate of the Liberty and Refoundation Party (LIBRE) - a coalition of leftist politicians, unions and indigenous groups founded by her husband.

Egypt assembly raises doubt over vote timetable Posted: 01 Dec 2013 02:55 PM PST The assembly writing Egypt's new constitution voted on Sunday against an article that requires parliamentary elections to be held before presidential elections, raising uncertainty over the country's political transition timetable. Thirty-three members of the 50-member assembly named by interim President Adly Mansour voted against the article, meaning they will have to redraft it. Some members of the assembly had been calling for presidential elections to be held before parliamentary elections, citing the weak state of Egypt's secular political parties.

Egypt draft constitution opens way to presidential poll first Posted: 01 Dec 2013 02:55 PM PST A draft Egyptian constitution completed on Sunday opens the way for a presidential election to be held before parliamentary polls, potentially changing the transition plan outlined by the army when it ousted President Mohamed Mursi. The original plan said a parliamentary election should take place before the presidential one. But the draft constitution avoids stipulating which vote should happen first. The draft constitution says the "election procedures" must start within six months from the date of the constitution's ratification, meaning Egypt may not have an elected president or parliament until the second half of next year.

Egypt police fire teargas to scatter Tahrir Square protesters Posted: 01 Dec 2013 02:55 PM PST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces fired teargas to disperse protesters demonstrating against the army-backed government in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday, witnesses said. Several hundred people had chanted "down down with military rule" and one protester had hung a picture of ousted President Mohamed Mursi from a lamppost before the teargas volleys began. (Reporting by Yasmine Saleh; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Press body accuses Israel army of targeting journalists Posted: 01 Dec 2013 02:40 PM PST The Foreign Press Association on Sunday accused the Israeli army of "deliberately targeting" journalists after soldiers fired rubber bullets and threw stun grenades at photojournalists clearly identified as press. In a statement, the Tel Aviv-based group, which represents journalists of all foreign media, including AFP, said troops had directly targeted a group of photographers covering skirmishes at Qalandia crossing between Jerusalem and Ramallah. "On Friday afternoon, Israeli forces threw stun grenades at FPA photojournalists as they were leaving Qalandia. The FPA members had put their hands in the air, indicating to the forces that they were leaving at which point the grenades were thrown from close quarters directly at their backs," it said.

20 Salafists arrested as Gaza group pushes into W.Bank Posted: 01 Dec 2013 02:37 PM PST Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinian security forces arrested 20 Salafists, a senior source said Sunday after a Gaza-based group affiliated with Al-Qaeda confirmed it was operating in the West Bank for the first time. But the Ramallah-based source denied that any of those arrested in a series of recent raids in the northern part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank had ties to the global jihadist group set up by the late Osama Bin-Laden. Some Salafists advocate Al-Qaeda's brand of global jihad while others are not involved in militancy. "There are no Al-Qaeda affiliated groups operating in the West Bank, but there are a few Salafist jihadist groups," he said.

At least seven dead in Italian textile factory fire Posted: 01 Dec 2013 02:34 PM PST By James Mackenzie ROME (Reuters) - At least seven people died and three were injured when a Chinese-owned clothing factory in an industrial zone in the Italian town of Prato burned down on Sunday, killing workers trapped in an improvised dormitory built onsite. "This is a disgrace for all of us, because we have to recognize this reality for what it is: the biggest concentration of illegal employment in northern and central Italy," said Enrico Rossi, president of the region of Tuscany. "No one can say they are surprised at this because everyone has known for years that, in the area between Florence and Prato, hundreds if not thousands of people are living and working in conditions of near-slavery," Roberto Pistonina, secretary general of the Florence and Prato section of the CISL trade union, said on his Facebook page. Prato, a town with one of the highest concentrations of Chinese immigrants in Italy, has at least 15,000 legally registered in a total population of under 200,000, with more than 4,000 Chinese-owned businesses, according to official data.

Libya sends back 360 Egyptians arriving with forged visas: state media Posted: 01 Dec 2013 02:25 PM PST TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya has deported 360 Egyptians who arrived on two flights with forged visas, state news agency Lana said on Sunday. The Egyptians landed at Misrata airport in central Libya and were sent back to Egypt on the same planes, the agency added, without giving any more details. Libya, facing turmoil two years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, has been trying to clamp down on a trade in forged visas for workers from Egypt or other neighboring countries looking to come to the country. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing; Editing by David Evans)

Nigerian hunger striker back in Britain despite losing asylum bid Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:56 PM PST A Nigerian asylum seeker believed to be near death from a hunger strike is back in Britain despite losing his bid to stay in the country, as his flight was turned back, his lawyers said on Sunday. Isa Muazu, 45, from the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, was returned to an immigration removal centre near London's Heathrow Airport after it was reported that Nigerian authorities refused to allow his plane to land. Muazu entered Britain in July 2007 on a visitor's visa but did not leave when it expired in January 2008. He said he sought asylum after members of Boko Haram Islamists threatened to kill him unless he joined them.

7 killed in Chinese-run factory in Italy Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:56 PM PST MILAN (AP) — A fire early Sunday swept through an illegal, makeshift dormitory in a Chinese-run garment factory in Tuscany, killing seven, firefighters said.

UN in Iraq worried about uptick in bodies found Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:48 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — The number of Iraqis slain "execution-style" surged last month, the U.N. said Sunday, raising fears of a return of the death squads that killed thousands during the darkest days of sectarian violence that followed the U.S.-led invasion.

Two days of fighting kill 10 in Lebanon's Tripoli Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:39 PM PST Tripoli (Lebanon) (AFP) - Ten people, including a woman and an off-duty soldier, have been killed in two days of sectarian clashes in northern Lebanon linked to the war in neighbouring Syria, a security source said Sunday. Also on Sunday, an explosion caused a three-storey building in the Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen to collapse, said the security source and an official from the area. According to Abdel Latif Saleh, spokesman for the Arab Democratic Party, which supports Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, "the blast came after militiamen from (the Sunni, anti-Assad) Bab el-Tebbaneh neighbourhood planted explosives in the building." The fighting pits residents of the city's Alawite Jabal Mohsen district against Sunni residents of the neighbouring Bab el-Tebbaneh.

Egypt police clear protesters; constitution agreed Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:39 PM PST CAIRO (AP) — Police fired tear gas to drive hundreds of supporters of Egypt's ousted Islamist president from Cairo's famed Tahrir Square on Sunday, as a panel tasked with amending the constitution adopted during his time in office agreed on changes to the text.

Croats set constitutional bar to same-sex marriage Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:39 PM PST By Zoran Radosavljevic ZAGREB (Reuters) - Croats voted overwhelmingly in favor of defining marriage in the constitution as a "union of man and woman" on Sunday, a move initiated by Roman Catholic groups but criticized by opponents as discrimination against homosexuals. The Church wholeheartedly backed the initiative, which sought to define marriage in the constitution rather than law so that its status can only be changed by a two-thirds majority in parliament. "I am happy because, from now on, no future government will be able to legalize gay marriages," said Zeljka Markic, leader of "In the Name of the Family". Ballet dancer Sanja Grgic said: "I have nothing against gay people, I have many gay friends, but I voted in favor because I think children should grow up in a family that has a mother and a father." Opponents noted that Croatia now shares its constitutional definition of marriage with Belarus, Poland, Moldova, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia, where intolerance of same-sex unions is widespread.

Clashes rage as 100,000 Ukrainians demand EU pact Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:38 PM PST Dozens of police and protesters were injured Sunday in clashes that broke out as more than 100,000 outraged Ukrainians swarmed Kiev in a call for early elections meant to punish authorities for rejecting a historic EU pact. Defying a protest ban, the energetic crowd chanted "Revolution!" and "Down with the gang" as it drove dozens of helmeted police off Kiev's iconic Independence Square. AFP reporters saw security forces outside President Viktor Yanukovych's seat of power fire dozens of stun grenades and smoke bombs at masked demonstrators who were pelting police with stones and Molotov cocktails. Kiev police spokeswoman Olga Bilyk said by telephone that around 100 officers were wounded in the clashes.

Alleged Somali pirates taken to Seychelles for trial Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:29 PM PST Victoria (Seychelles) (AFP) - Nine alleged Somali pirates arrested by the Danish navy in early November have been transferred to the Seychelles for trial, police in the archipelago nation said Sunday. The Seychelles national police force said authorities in the Indian Ocean country had agreed to accept the transfer of the nine suspected pirates after they were captured on the high seas by the Danish navy, which was taking part in the European Union's Atalanta anti-piracy operations. The suspects, aged between 14 and 35, were handed over to Seychelles authorities on Saturday, it said.

White House meets goals for HealthCare.gov, but more work ahead Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:25 PM PST Two months after the disastrous launch of a website that is a key component of President Barack Obama's healthcare law, administration officials said on Sunday they had met their goal of getting the HealthCare.gov site running smoothly but warned that it needs more fixes. Obama adviser Jeffrey Zients said a five-week emergency "tech surge" had doubled the capacity of the online health insurance portal that is crucial to helping millions of people shop for insurance plans, while making it more responsive and less prone to errors. The administration said the effort's key improvement was to increase HealthCare.gov's capacity to 50,000 simultaneous users, which would allow the site to handle at least 800,000 users per day.

Croatia rejects gay marriage in referendum Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:22 PM PST A strong majority in staunchly Catholic Croatia voted Sunday to outlaw same-sex marriage in a referendum sought by a Church-backed group but strongly opposed by rights groups, nearly complete official results showed. A total of 65.76 percent of voters said they wanted to amend the constitution to include a definition of marriage as a "union between a woman and a man", according to results from almost 99 percent of polling stations released by the electoral commission. Croatia's current constitution does not define marriage. Passions ran high in Croatia ahead of the vote, with the Church-backed "yes" camp citing the defence of traditional family values and their opponents accusing them of discrimination against gays.

Svindal wins again in Lake Louise super-G Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:20 PM PST Lake Louise (Canada) (AFP) - Aksel Lund Svindal won the men's alpine World Cup super-G at Lake Louise on Sunday on an Olympic course the Norwegian has made his own. Svindal clocked 1min 28.53sec to beat Austrian duo Matthias Mayer and Georg Streitberger by 0.24sec and 0.38sec respectively. Svindal notched his 22nd World Cup victory, surpassing Kjetil Andre Aamodt's Norwegian record. Svindal notched his sixth win in Lake Louise, five of those coming in the super-G, which he also won here in 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2012.

Five killed in Italy garment factory fire Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:04 PM PST At least five people were killed and two others seriously injured Sunday when a fire broke out in a Chinese-run garment factory in Italy's Tuscany region, regional authorities said. Firefighters were called to the scene after a passer-by spotted the blaze at around 0600 GMT in the textile town of Prato, just north of Florence in central Italy, according to local television. Vincenzo Bennardo, who heads the town's firefighter service, told journalists that beyond the five bodies retrieved, "the remains found suggest that two others" died in the blaze. The nationalities of the deceased have not been made public but local media reported that they are all Chinese nationals.

Protests as Egypt army retains powers in draft charter Posted: 01 Dec 2013 12:56 PM PST Egypt's constitution-drafting panel approved a charter Sunday that preserves the military's wide-ranging powers, including the ability to try civilians, as police fired tear gas to disperse Islamists in Tahrir Square. The charter will be submitted to a popular referendum early next year that has been billed as the first stage in a "democratic transition" promised by the military-installed authorities following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July. The charter approved by the 50-member panel allows the military to prosecute civilians in some cases, appoint the defence minister and keep its budget beyond any civilian scrutiny -- powers held by the legislature, executive and judiciary of most democracies. More than 2,000 pro-Morsi university students meanwhile gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square in the biggest Islamist demonstration there since Morsi's ouster.

Scotland mourns pub helicopter crash victims Posted: 01 Dec 2013 12:48 PM PST Glasgow (AFP) - Candles were lit Sunday as Scotland remembered those who were killed when a police helicopter plunged through the roof of a Glasgow pub, while rescuers toiled to salvage bodies from the wreckage.

Canadian arrested on spying for China charges Posted: 01 Dec 2013 12:45 PM PST Montreal (AFP) - A Canadian naval engineer was arrested and charged for taking steps to transmit sensitive information to China related to shipbuilding procurement strategy, police said Sunday.

Israel's Herzog calls for 'brave' steps in peace talks Posted: 01 Dec 2013 12:42 PM PST Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog said Sunday he would push the government to take "brave" steps in US-brokered peace negotiations, after holding talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. The meeting at the West Bank headquarters of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority was the first of its kind since Herzog was elected head of the opposition Labour Party at the end of November. Israel and the Palestinians returned to the negotiating table in July after a nearly three-year hiatus, and following an intense diplomatic push by US Secretary of State John Kerry. But the negotiations have faltered amid Israeli announcements of new settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, lands demanded by the Palestinians as part of their future state.

Croatians vote against same-sex marriage Posted: 01 Dec 2013 12:39 PM PST ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A majority of Croatians voted in a referendum Sunday to ban gay marriages in what is a major victory for the Catholic Church-backed conservatives in the European Union's newest nation.

Anti-gov't mass rally in Ukraine turns violent Posted: 01 Dec 2013 12:35 PM PST KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A protest by about 300,000 Ukrainians angered by their government's decision to freeze integration with the West turned violent Sunday, when a group of demonstrators besieged the president's office and police drove them back with truncheons, tear gas and flash grenades. Dozens of people were injured.

Karzai accuses U.S. of cutting Afghan military supplies Posted: 01 Dec 2013 12:14 PM PST By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai accused his U.S. ally on Sunday of withholding military supplies to press him to sign a bilateral security deal that will shape the U.S. military presence after most foreign troops leave in 2014. "The cutting of fuel supplies and support services to the Afghan army and police is being used as a means of pressure to ensure Afghanistan ... signs the Bilateral Security Agreement," a statement from Karzai's palace said. Karzai said last week he might refuse to sign the deal until after Afghanistan's presidential election in April 2014. "There has been no stoppage in the delivery of requested fuel and we continue to process all orders as soon as they are received," the NATO-led force in Afghanistan said in a statement.

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