Yahoo! News: World News

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• South Sudan talks start slowly as U.S. pulls out more staff
• Thirteen killed in Brotherhood clashes with police in Egypt
• Palestinian protesters greet Kerry's visit
• Violence in Central African Republic displaces nearly 1 million: U.N.
• Exclusive: U.S. waived laws to keep F-35 on track with China-made parts
• Explosions hit Syrian gas pipelines, electricity cut
• Earthquake of 5.9 magnitude hits off coast of Chile -USGS
• Rescued Antarctic passengers resume journey home
• Important library in north Lebanon torched: security source
• Rescued Antarctic passengers continue journey home
• Nine dead after attackers dressed as police enter Mexican prison
• Israel denies killing Buenos Aires bombers
• Spain seeks to mediate on Panama Canal expansion spat
• 5 Doctors Without Borders staffers seized in Syria
• North helps Northampton take top Premiership spot
• Dangerous cold sets in as heavy snow blankets U.S. northeast
• Blackberry sues company for violating keyboard patent
• Turkey's Gul urges judiciary to stay impartial in graft investigation
• Mexican police officers held over death of U.S. man in custody
• France mulls ban on comic, his double-edged salute
• 4 dead after Cambodian police fire on protesters
• Al-Qaida sweep in Iraq cities revives battleground
• Israel: Didn't kill men guilty of Argentine blast
• Brazil creates special riot force for World Cup
• Clashes kill 13 as Morsi backers rally in Egypt
• 1 dead as World War II bomb explodes in Germany
• South Sudan peace talks open as battles rage
• Israel Wakes Up to Ariel Sharon as Former Prime Minister Nears Death
• More unrest likely for gridlocked Lebanon
• Lebanon IDs commander of al-Qaida-linked group
• Nordic convoy heads for Syria on delayed chemical weapons mission
• Disney film 'Iron Man 3' hottest ticket of 2013: Rentrak
• Palestinian embassy must move after blast: Prague officials
• Syria rebels take on jihadists in fierce fighting
• Israeli denies it killed most of the AMIA bombers

South Sudan talks start slowly as U.S. pulls out more staff Posted: 03 Jan 2014 11:42 AM PST By Carl Odera and Aaron Maasho JUBA/ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - South Sudan's government and rebels finally began talks to end weeks of bloodletting on Friday after days of delay as the United States ordered out more of its embassy staff. However, there was no face-to-face meeting, and fighting was reported near the key town of Bor, suggesting that a halt to clashes between President Salva Kiir's SPLA government forces and rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar is still a long way off. "Both delegations are meeting the mediators separately," said Dina Mufti, a spokesman for Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry. "We hope to bring both sides into face-to-face talks soon." Meanwhile the SPLA said its troops were fighting rebels 24 km (14 miles) south of rebel-controlled Bor, the capital of the vast Jonglei state and site of an ethnic massacre in 1991.

Thirteen killed in Brotherhood clashes with police in Egypt Posted: 03 Jan 2014 01:14 PM PST By Maggie Fick CAIRO (Reuters) - Thirteen people were shot dead as supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood clashed with police across Egypt on Friday, defying an ever-widening state crackdown on the movement that ruled the country until six months ago. Islamists opposed to the army's overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi in July have been holding daily demonstrations, even since the army-backed government declared his Brotherhood a terrorist group last week, increasing the penalties for dissent. The government is using the new classification to detain hundreds of Brotherhood supporters. The crackdown has reduced but not entirely broken the ability of the Brotherhood to mobilize protests.

Palestinian protesters greet Kerry's visit Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:04 PM PST Palestinian protesters on Friday condemned the latest efforts by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to advance peace talks with Israel, using chants evoking the Arab uprisings and telling him to go home. Hours before Kerry was due to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a raucous crowd of several hundred took to the streets of Ramallah, the West Bank's de facto capital, chanting "Kerry, you coward, there's no place for you in Palestine!" Separately, an official close to Abbas dismissed Kerry's drive for a "framework agreement" as biased toward Israel. But Yasser Abed Rabbo, Abbas's deputy in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said the plan, still being finalized, "restricts Palestinian sovereignty on Palestinian land".

Violence in Central African Republic displaces nearly 1 million: U.N. Posted: 03 Jan 2014 09:07 AM PST By Paul-Marin Ngoupana BANGUI (Reuters) - Violence in Central African Republic has uprooted nearly a million people, a fifth of the population, and is hampering aid efforts, particularly in the capital Bangui, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday. A Muslim rebel group, the Seleka, unleashed a wave of killing and looting after seizing power in March, and the deployment of 1,600 French and nearly 4,000 African Union peacekeepers has done little to contain the tit-for-tat violence between religious communities. In the riverside capital alone, more than 510,000 people are displaced - equivalent to more than half the city's population, UNHCR said. "Insecurity and chaos around the site...prevents us from doing any distribution," UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told a news conference in Geneva.

Exclusive: U.S. waived laws to keep F-35 on track with China-made parts Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:45 PM PST By John Shiffman and Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon repeatedly waived laws banning Chinese-built components on U.S. weapons in order to keep the $392 billion Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter program on track in 2012 and 2013, even as U.S. officials were voicing concern about China's espionage and military buildup. According to Pentagon documents reviewed by Reuters, chief U.S. arms buyer Frank Kendall allowed two F-35 suppliers, Northrop Grumman Corp and Honeywell International Inc, to use Chinese magnets for the new warplane's radar system, landing gears and other hardware.

Explosions hit Syrian gas pipelines, electricity cut Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:34 PM PST Explosions hit two large Syrian gas pipelines on Friday near Damascus and the central city of Homs, cutting electricity supplies around the capital and in Mediterranean provinces, officials and activists said. Video uploaded by activists of the Damascus blast showed a bright glow on the horizon, beyond several unlit buildings. State news agency SANA quoted Oil Minister Suleiman al-Abbas as saying the fires from both explosions, which he blamed on rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad, were subsequently extinguished. The second explosion, near the border town of Tel Kalakh east of Homs, caused a fire which could be seen across the frontier in Lebanon, Lebanese media reported.

Earthquake of 5.9 magnitude hits off coast of Chile -USGS Posted: 03 Jan 2014 04:51 PM PST (Reuters) - A shallow earthquake of 5.9 magnitude struck off the coast of Chile on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. There were no immediate reports of damage. The quake's epicenter was located 71km (44 miles) southwest of Iquique, Chile, at a depth of 7.3 km (4.6 miles). (Reporting by Ken Wills; Editing by Toni Reinhold)

Rescued Antarctic passengers resume journey home Posted: 03 Jan 2014 04:10 PM PST CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian icebreaker carrying 52 passengers who were retrieved from an icebound ship in the Antarctic resumed its journey home on Saturday after it was halted for a second potential rescue operation.

Important library in north Lebanon torched: security source Posted: 03 Jan 2014 03:47 PM PST Tripoli (Lebanon) (AFP) - A decades-old library owned by a Greek Orthodox priest in north Lebanon's majority Sunni city of Tripoli was torched late Friday, a day after a sectarian scuffle, a security source said. "Unknown assailants torched the Saeh Library in Tripoli, destroying two thirds of some 80,000 books and manuscripts housed there," said the source, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. "After that, the library owner, Father Ibrahim Surouj, met with Islamic leaders in Tripoli.

Rescued Antarctic passengers continue journey home Posted: 03 Jan 2014 03:18 PM PST CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian icebreaker carrying 52 passengers who were retrieved from an icebound ship in the Antarctic has resumed its journey home after it was halted for a second potential rescue operation.

Nine dead after attackers dressed as police enter Mexican prison Posted: 03 Jan 2014 02:52 PM PST Nine people were killed during a gunfight at a prison in Mexico's violent Guerrero state, after a gang dressed as police officers gained entry on Friday, authorities said. A prison guard and one of the alleged gunmen remained hospitalized with gunshot wounds. Prison unrest is common in Mexico, where the government's human rights agency has drawn attention to the killing of dozens of inmates and prison guards as well as the presence of criminal gangs attempting to take over correctional facilities. Guerrero, along Mexico's southwestern coast, is one of the country's most violent states.

Israel denies killing Buenos Aires bombers Posted: 03 Jan 2014 02:34 PM PST Israeli officials Friday denied claims by a former envoy that Israel had killed most of those behind bombings at its embassy and Jewish charity offices in Argentina in the 1990s, media said. News website Ynet quoted foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor describing as "complete nonsense," the allegation by Itzhak Aviran, Israel's ambassador to Argentina from 1993 to 2000. The July 1994 bombing of the Argentine Jewish Charities Federation (AMIA) building in Buenos Aires killed 85 people. Hundreds were hurt in a bombing Argentina says was masterminded by Iran.

Spain seeks to mediate on Panama Canal expansion spat Posted: 03 Jan 2014 02:34 PM PST By Sarah White and Elida Moreno MADRID/PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Spain stepped in on Friday to try to resolve a cost dispute over the expansion of Panama's canal, which has triggered a sell-off in the shares of Sacyr SA, the Spanish builder leading the project. Spain's Public Works minister, Ana Pastor, and Sacyr Chairman Manuel Manrique are due to travel to Panama on the weekend, Panama's president, Ricardo Martinelli, said. A Spanish-Italian consortium working on the project, which would widen the canal so that ships three times larger than at present could use it, has asked Panama to pay for $1.6 billion in cost overruns on the $3.2 billion plan to build a third set of locks for the canal.

5 Doctors Without Borders staffers seized in Syria Posted: 03 Jan 2014 02:29 PM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Five staffers of the international aid organization Doctors Without Borders have been taken in for questioning in northern Syria, the group said Friday.

North helps Northampton take top Premiership spot Posted: 03 Jan 2014 02:24 PM PST Northampton surged to the top of the English Premiership on Friday as Wales wing George North inspired a 23-9 win over Harlequins at Franklin's Gardens. After a hard-fought first half ended level at 6-6 following two penalties apiece from Northampton's Stephen Myler and Quins' Nick Evans, it was time for North to take over. North provided the stand-out moment four minutes into the second half when he caught a poor clearance and raced along the touchline and into the left corner for a superb individual try, bumping off a tackle from opposite number Charlie Walker in the process. Ben Botica's penalty for the visitors made for a tense finish but Myler added a penalty and then a conversation after Dylan Hartley's try.

Dangerous cold sets in as heavy snow blankets U.S. northeast Posted: 03 Jan 2014 02:03 PM PST By Scott Malone and Victoria Cavaliere BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - People across the northeastern United States on Friday dug out after a heavy snowfall that grounded flights, closed schools and government offices, caused at least three deaths and left the region in the grip of dangerously low temperatures. Boston was hard-hit by the first major winter storm of 2014, getting nearly 18 inches of snow, while some towns north of New England's largest city saw close to 2 feet of accumulation. Major cities from Washington, D.C., to Portland, Maine, were slammed, with New York's Manhattan island getting 6 inches of snow and parts of the borough of Queens seeing more than 10 inches of fresh powder. Embarrass, Minnesota notched a reading of -36 degrees Fahrenheit (-38 Celsius) that stood as the lowest temperature recorded in the United States outside Alaska on Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Blackberry sues company for violating keyboard patent Posted: 03 Jan 2014 01:58 PM PST Montreal (AFP) - Blackberry Ltd. said Friday it had filed a suit in a California court against Los Angeles firm Typo Products for violating its patents with a Blackberry-like keyboard made for Apple's iPhone.

Turkey's Gul urges judiciary to stay impartial in graft investigation Posted: 03 Jan 2014 01:36 PM PST By Nick Tattersall ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul urged the judiciary to remain impartial as it pursues a corruption investigation shaking the government, warning on Friday of grave economic consequences if confidence in the country's institutions is eroded. In his most exhaustive comments on the graft scandal so far, Gul said the existence of a "state within the state" would not be tolerated, an apparent reference to the movement of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers are influential in Turkey's police and judiciary. The corruption investigation, which has led to the resignation of three ministers, poses the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in his 11 years as leader.

Mexican police officers held over death of U.S. man in custody Posted: 03 Jan 2014 01:25 PM PST Six Mexican police officers have been arrested on suspicion of killing a U.S. citizen in their custody near the beach resort of Cancun, authorities said on Friday. Yeudi Estrada, 28, was found dead on arrival at police headquarters in the resort of Playa del Carmen on Wednesday evening after his arrest, local prosecutors said. "The final finding revealed that he died of asphyxia by strangulation," said the attorney general's office of Quintana Roo state, which lies on Mexico's Caribbean coastline and is home to popular tourist destinations, including Cancun.

France mulls ban on comic, his double-edged salute Posted: 03 Jan 2014 01:24 PM PST PARIS (AP) — It's caught on like a dance move — one hand pointing downward, the other touching the shoulder with an arm across the chest. But for many, the gesture popularized by a French comic is hateful and anti-Semitic.

4 dead after Cambodian police fire on protesters Posted: 03 Jan 2014 01:16 PM PST PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — At least four people were killed Friday when police outside Cambodia's capital opened fire to break up a protest by striking garment workers demanding a doubling of the minimum wage, police and human rights workers said.

Al-Qaida sweep in Iraq cities revives battleground Posted: 03 Jan 2014 01:03 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Two Iraqi cities that were strongholds of Sunni insurgents during the U.S. war in the country are battlegrounds once more after al-Qaida militants largely took them over, fending off government forces that have been besieging them for days.

Israel: Didn't kill men guilty of Argentine blast Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:57 PM PST BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Israel is denying a claim by its former ambassador to Argentina that Israelis killed most of those responsible for the South American county's worst terrorist attack.

Brazil creates special riot force for World Cup Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:32 PM PST SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil has given special training for more than 10,000 members of an elite federal security force to help better control demonstrations expected during the World Cup later this year, the Justice Ministry and a top security official said Friday.

Clashes kill 13 as Morsi backers rally in Egypt Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:25 PM PST At least 13 people died in clashes Friday across Egypt as police dispersed thousands of protesters demanding the reinstatement of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, the health ministry said. The protests came after an Islamist alliance that backs Morsi called for demonstrations ahead of a new hearing on Wednesday in a trial of the ousted president. Police moved in swiftly to disperse the rallies, after warning they would not tolerate protests by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood following its designation as a terrorist group last week. The ministry did not say whether the dead were protesters, police or bystanders.

1 dead as World War II bomb explodes in Germany Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:25 PM PST BERLIN (AP) — A World War II bomb or mine exploded in a western German town on Friday, killing the driver of a bulldozer and wounding 13 other people, police said.

South Sudan peace talks open as battles rage Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:20 PM PST South Sudan's army battled rebels for control of a key oil town Friday as the warring parties prepared for direct talks to end the raging conflict that has taken the world's youngest nation to the brink of civil war. Fighting intensified as the army moved on the rebel-held town of Bor, even as government and rebel negotiating teams gathered at a luxury hotel in neighbouring Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. "We have enough forces who will defeat the rebels within 24 hours," army spokesman Philip Aguer said in South Sudan, with reports of heavy battles involving tanks and artillery on the outskirts of Bor, a dusty oil town that has already exchanged hands three times since fighting began. Rebel leader and former vice president Riek Machar told Britain's Telegraph newspaper that his forces would hold back from attacking Juba in the hope of achieving a "negotiated settlement".

Israel Wakes Up to Ariel Sharon as Former Prime Minister Nears Death Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:11 PM PST Both admired and reviled as Israel's signature warrior during 58 of his first 72 years of life, Sharon in his coma has been more remembered for his only term as prime minister, five years marked first by restraint, then by actions both bold and unexpected, starting with the decision to pull Israeli troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip in 2005. "I think there are two Sharons," says Efraim Inbar, a political scientist at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan.

More unrest likely for gridlocked Lebanon Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:10 PM PST Politically paralysed by deep divisions exacerbated by the war in neighbouring Syria, Lebanon is likely to see a continuing cycle of political violence, analysts say. On Thursday, four people were killed in a bomb blast in a southern Beirut stronghold of the powerful Shiite Hezbollah movement, a key ally of Damascus, less than a week after the assassination of a prominent Sunni critic of the Syrian regime. The attacks were the latest in a string of incidents linked to the Syrian conflict that have strained Lebanon's fragile multi-sectarian political system. "I expect an escalation of the deterioration in the security situation," said Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University in Beirut (AUB).

Lebanon IDs commander of al-Qaida-linked group Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:07 PM PST BEIRUT (AP) — DNA tests confirmed that a man in government custody is the alleged leader of an al-Qaida-linked group that has conducted attacks across the Middle East before shifting its focus to Syria's civil war, Lebanese authorities said Friday.

Nordic convoy heads for Syria on delayed chemical weapons mission Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:06 PM PST Four Norwegian and Danish vessels, which are due to ship hundreds of tonnes of deadly chemicals out of Syria, headed for international waters off the Syrian coast on Friday, a Norwegian military spokesman said. The operation has missed its December 31 target date but, Lars Magne Hovtun said, the ships have now left the Cypriot port of Limassol, about 160 miles west of Latakia port where they are due to collect their chemical cargo. "The four ships have now set a course toward a holding area in international water outside Syria, so we are most ready to enter the port of Latakia when the order arrives," he said. The original deadline was missed because of poor weather, logistical delays and the conflict inside Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad's forces have fought to clear rebels from roads along which the chemicals will be transported.

Disney film 'Iron Man 3' hottest ticket of 2013: Rentrak Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:03 PM PST (Reuters) - Walt Disney's film "Iron Man 3" was the hottest film of 2013, with ticket sales of $409 million in the North American market, one of four Disney films among the year's top-selling movies, according to Rentrak. "Iron Man 3," which stars Robert Downey Jr. as industrialist Tony Stark and his alter ego inside the super-charged metal suit, finished just ahead of Lions Gate Entertainment's dystopian action film "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," which had ticket sales of $398.4 million, the entertainment research service said.

Palestinian embassy must move after blast: Prague officials Posted: 03 Jan 2014 12:02 PM PST The Prague district hosting the embassy of the Palestinian Authority wants it moved after the ambassador was killed in a mysterious New Year's day explosion on the premises, local officials said Friday. "We asked the Czech foreign ministry for the embassy to be moved out of our district," Petr Hejl, senior councillor of Prague's Suchdol district told AFP. A ministry statement also said Friday that Czech and Palestinian authorities had agreed to cooperate fully in the probe "so that mutual relations between the Czech Republic and Palestine are not damaged in any way." Czech police have ruled out terrorism and homicide, while Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki described the blast as "an accident".

Syria rebels take on jihadists in fierce fighting Posted: 03 Jan 2014 11:57 AM PST Syrian rebels in opposition-held areas were engaged in fierce battles with Al-Qaeda-linked elements Friday in what activists say is growing resistance to the jihadists' brutal grip in many places. Elsewhere in northern Syria, an unidentified group seized five people working for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) from a house, the Paris-based humanitarian organisation said. Protesters turned out in rebel areas chanting the strongest slogans yet against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as tensions soar between the opposition and the Al-Qaeda affiliate. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fierce fighting between rebels and ISIL in flashpoints of Aleppo city and province.

Israeli denies it killed most of the AMIA bombers Posted: 03 Jan 2014 11:49 AM PST BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Israel is denying a claim by its former ambassador to Argentina that Israelis killed most of those responsible for the South American county's worst terrorist attack.

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