Yahoo! News: World News

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• Battle at Donetsk airport; new Ukraine leader says no talks with 'terrorists'
• Nigeria military says knows where girls are, rules out force
• Gunmen kill four soldiers southeast of Nigeria's Jos: official
• Sisi closes on presidency on final day of Egypt vote
• Eastern Libya oil rebel rejects new government
• Thai coup leader threatens crackdown if protests resume
• Top Asian News at 12:30 a.m. GMT
• Colombia's president heads to runoff in 2nd place
• Developing countries see swelling middle class
• Coach cuts 3 from Australia's World Cup squad
• Pope to hold first meeting with sexual abuse victims
• Murders in El Salvador spike to record high for May
• Ukraine launches airstrike on pro-Moscow rebels
• Nigerian defense chief says abducted girls located
• Pope ends delicate Mideast trip with peace call
• Pope to meet sex abuse victims at Vatican
• French Open watch: 'So what happened out there?'
• Blinded soldier, widow sue former Gitmo prisoner
• Venezuela announces debt deal with airlines
• Pope compares sexual abuse to "satanic Mass", says will meet victims
• Pope says favors celibacy for priests but door open to change
• Pope Francis says papal retirements could become normal in Church
• Puerto Rico woman propped up in chair for wake
• Pope to meet with sex abuse victims at Vatican
• Brazil begins World Cup preparations amid protests
• Pope to meet with sex abuse victims next month
• Search for Dutch tourists resumes in Panama
• Pope says 'no privileges' for bishops on abuse
• German fugitive detained in Dominican tourist town
• Germany's first far-right NPD deputy in European Parliament
• What to look for Tuesday at the French Open
• New homes for Mexican village after landslide
• Top Asian News at 10:00 p.m. GMT
• French Open at a glance
• Protesters clash with police over Spain squat eviction
• Protest over Jamaica university firing AIDS doctor

Battle at Donetsk airport; new Ukraine leader says no talks with 'terrorists' Posted: 26 May 2014 11:45 AM PDT By Alastair Macdonald and Yannis Behrakis KIEV/DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukraine launched air strikes and a paratrooper assault against pro-Russian rebels who seized an airport on Monday, as its newly elected leader rejected any talks with "terrorists" and said a robust military campaign in the east should be able to put down a separatist revolt in "a matter of hours". Ukrainians rallied overwhelmingly in Sunday's election behind Petro Poroshenko, a political veteran and billionaire owner of chocolate factories, hoping the burly 48-year-old can rescue the nation from the brink of bankruptcy, civil war and dismemberment by its former Soviet masters in the Kremlin. Monday's rapid military response to separatists who seized the airport in Donetsk was a defiant answer to Moscow, which said it was ready for dialogue with Poroshenko but demanded he first scale back the armed forces' campaign in the east. Even as the fighting was getting under way, Poroshenko held a news conference in Kiev where he said the government's military offensive needed to be "quicker and more effective".

Nigeria military says knows where girls are, rules out force Posted: 26 May 2014 02:27 PM PDT By Tim Cocks LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's military knows where the more than 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram are but has ruled out using force to rescue them, the state news agency quoted Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh as saying on Monday. Seven weeks since Boko Haram militants abducted more than 200 girls taking exams at secondary school in the remote northeastern village of Chibok, little is known of their whereabouts or what the military is doing to get them out. "The good news for the parents of the girls is that we know where they are, but we cannot tell you," Badeh was quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) as saying. Since the girls were captured, according to a Reuters count, at least 470 civilians have died violent deaths in various locations at the hands of Boko Haram, which says it is fighting to establish an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria.

Gunmen kill four soldiers southeast of Nigeria's Jos: official Posted: 26 May 2014 12:51 PM PDT Gunmen killed four Nigerian soldiers on Monday in an ambush on a military patrol in central Plateau state, about 180 km (110 miles) southeast of Jos, a local government official said. Islamist militant group Boko Haram has made inroads into Plateau state in the past month, setting off a bomb in Jos last Tuesday that killed 118 people. Bendel Nancwat, head of the local council that administers the village of Gida Bua, where the attack happened, said it was not known if the assailants were Boko Haram or just bandits.

Sisi closes on presidency on final day of Egypt vote Posted: 26 May 2014 02:12 PM PDT By Tom Perry and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO (Reuters) - Former army chief Abdel Fatah al-Sisi is expected to emerge from a second and final day of voting on Tuesday as Egypt's next president, with supporters seeing him as the man who can pull the Arab world's most populous nation back from the brink. Since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 raised hopes of new freedoms, the country of 85 million, where one in four Egyptians lives in poverty, has been convulsed by political, security and economic turmoil. The vote - with initial results expected hours after polls close at 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Tuesday evening - means Egypt will likely revert to rule by men from the military after Sisi toppled the country's first freely elected leader, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Former army chief Sisi faces only one challenger: the leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi.

Eastern Libya oil rebel rejects new government Posted: 26 May 2014 03:14 PM PDT By Ulf Laessing and Ahmed Elumami TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The leader of the protesters occupying Libyan oil ports said on Monday he did not recognize Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq's new government and suggested a previously agreed deal to end his blockade could be in jeopardy. Ibrahim Jathran, who wants more autonomy from Tripoli for his eastern region, had agreed with Maiteeq's predecessor to steadily end the protests, which have cut the OPEC member country's oil exports after the ports fell under his control last summer. Libya's parliament, the General National Congress, has been paralyzed by infighting among pro- and anti-Islamist, tribal and regional factions vying for influence in the chaos that followed the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi. "If the parliament keeps with its decision on the new government, then we will take a different position than we have before." Keeping ports closed will be a blow to Maiteeq's new government, with the country's oil production down to 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) compared with 1.4 million bpd because of the Jathran blockade and other pipeline protests.

Thai coup leader threatens crackdown if protests resume Posted: 26 May 2014 11:39 AM PDT By Panarat Thepgumpanat and Paul Mooney BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Monday he had been formally endorsed by the king as head of a military council that will run the country, and warned he would use force if political protests flare up again. Among them, Italian-Thai Development Pcl, the country's largest construction firm, rose 0.5 percent even though the army has summoned its president, Premchai Karnasuta, to appear on Monday, along with 37 others including political associates and big business allies of Thaksin.

Top Asian News at 12:30 a.m. GMT Posted: 26 May 2014 05:32 PM PDT BANGKOK (AP) — Bolstered by an endorsement from Thailand's king, the nation's new military ruler issued a stark warning Monday to anyone opposed to last week's coup: don't cause trouble, don't criticize, don't protest — or else the nation could revert to the "old days" of turmoil and street violence. Speaking in his first public appearance since the coup, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha defended the army's takeover, saying he had to restore order after seven months of increasingly violent confrontations between the now-ousted government and demonstrators who had long urged the army to intervene.

Colombia's president heads to runoff in 2nd place Posted: 26 May 2014 05:32 PM PDT BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — He presides over one of Latin America's fastest-growing economies and has taken peace negotiations with Marxist rebels further than anyone in decades.

Developing countries see swelling middle class Posted: 26 May 2014 05:31 PM PDT Workers in developing countries are increasingly moving to better jobs and joining the middle class, but 839 million workers still earn less than $2.00 a day, the International Labour Organization said. "The developing countries are generally in a process of catching up with the advanced economies," ILO chief Guy Ryder told reporters in Geneva ahead of the release of the agency's annual World of Work Report on Tuesday. Between 1980 and 2011, per capita income in the developing countries like Senegal, Vietnam and Tunisia on average grew 3.3 percent each year, which is far faster than the 1.8 percent growth seen in advanced economies, the report said. Today, more than four in 10 workers in the such countries are considered to be in the so-called "developing middle class" -- meaning that they earn more than $4.00 a day -- up from fewer than two in 10 two decades ago, it said.

Coach cuts 3 from Australia's World Cup squad Posted: 26 May 2014 05:24 PM PDT SYDNEY (AP) — Coach Ange Postecoglou has cut three players from Australia's preliminary World Cup squad before leaving for Brazil.

Pope to hold first meeting with sexual abuse victims Posted: 26 May 2014 05:16 PM PDT By Philip Pullella ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Monday that he will have his first meeting with a group of sex abuse victims at the Vatican early next month and said he would show zero tolerance for anyone in the Catholic Church who abused children, including bishops."Sexual abuse is such an ugly crime ... because a priest who does this betrays the body of the Lord. "We must go ahead with zero tolerance," he said, adding that three bishops were currently under investigation. Francis said he would meet with eight victims and Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley of Boston, who is head of a commission set up to study ways of dealing with the crisis. The 77-year-old pontiff fielded questions on a range of topics, including Vatican finances, priestly celibacy, his concern for the environment, and whether he himself would one day retire like his predecessor Benedict XVI instead of serving for life.

Murders in El Salvador spike to record high for May Posted: 26 May 2014 05:04 PM PDT Murders in El Salvador shot up in May, surpassing previous homicide rates in one of the world's deadliest countries and pushing the president to claim criminal groups were trying to destabilize the government. With 356 homicides so far in May compared with 174 in the same month last year, the murder rate has surpassed the highs seen in early 2012 before a truce between the country's powerful street gangs, according to Miguel Fortin, head of the prosecutor's office forensic unit. The truce between the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and rival gang Barrio 18 helped cut the Central American country's murder rate in mid-2013 to around five per day, a 10-year low, from an early 2012 high of 14 per day, one of the world's highest. Mauricio Funes, the outgoing president of the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) that was formed by ex-guerrillas from the country's civil war, said at least some of the violence had been caused by groups with "political motivations." "They want to give the impression that there is a failed state that is incapable of facing crime," Funes said on Monday in the final week of his administration.

Ukraine launches airstrike on pro-Moscow rebels Posted: 26 May 2014 04:49 PM PDT DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's president-elect said Monday he wants to begin talks with Moscow and end a pro-Russia insurgency in the east, but the rebels escalated the conflict by occupying a major airport, and the government in Kiev responded with an airstrike.

Nigerian defense chief says abducted girls located Posted: 26 May 2014 04:42 PM PDT ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's military has located nearly 300 school girls abducted by Islamic extremists but fears using force to try to free them could get them killed, the country's chief of defense said Monday.

Pope ends delicate Mideast trip with peace call Posted: 26 May 2014 04:41 PM PDT JERUSALEM (AP) — Pope Francis wrapped up his Mideast pilgrimage Monday with a balancing act of symbolic and spontaneous gestures to press his call for peace between Israel and the Palestinians and friendship between Jews and Muslims in the land of Jesus' birth.

Pope to meet sex abuse victims at Vatican Posted: 26 May 2014 04:39 PM PDT ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis announced Monday he would meet soon with a group of sex abuse victims at the Vatican and declared "zero tolerance" for any member of the clergy who would violate a child.

French Open watch: 'So what happened out there?' Posted: 26 May 2014 04:39 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — Poor Nicolas Mahut. Probably was deflating enough that he lost his first-round match at the French Open. Then the Frenchman went to his news conference.

Blinded soldier, widow sue former Gitmo prisoner Posted: 26 May 2014 04:32 PM PDT SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An American soldier blinded in Afghanistan and the widow of another soldier killed there have filed a $44.7 million wrongful death and injury lawsuit against a Canadian man who was held at Guantanamo Bay and pleaded guilty to committing war crimes when he was 15.

Venezuela announces debt deal with airlines Posted: 26 May 2014 04:25 PM PDT CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's cash-strapped government has agreed to pay part of $4 billion owed to foreign airlines and may soon allow them to aggressively raise airfares as it works to head off more carriers from leaving the country.

Pope compares sexual abuse to "satanic Mass", says will meet victims Posted: 26 May 2014 04:21 PM PDT Pope Francis on Monday branded sexual abuse of children by priests a crime comparable to a "satanic Mass" and said he would show zero tolerance for anyone in the Catholic Church who abused children, including bishops. Asked about whether he would move against bishops who were accused of sexual abuse, he said "there will be no daddy's boys" and no privileges, adding that three bishops were currently under investigation. "Sexual abuse is such an ugly crime ... because a priest who does this betrays the body of the Lord. It is like a satanic Mass," he said in some of the toughest language he has used on a crisis which has rocked the Church for more than a decade." We must go ahead with zero tolerance" he said.

Pope says favors celibacy for priests but door open to change Posted: 26 May 2014 04:21 PM PDT Pope Francis on Monday said he believed that Roman Catholic priests should be celibate but the rule was not an unchangeable dogma, and "the door is always open" to change. Francis made similar comments when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires but his remarks to reporters on a plane returning from a Middle East trip were the first he has made since becoming pope. "Celibacy is not a dogma," he said in answer to a question about whether the Catholic Church could some day allow priests to marry as they can in some other Christian Churches.

Pope Francis says papal retirements could become normal in Church Posted: 26 May 2014 04:18 PM PDT Pope Francis said on Monday he would be open to retiring eventually like his predecessor, Benedict XVI, instead of ruling for life, adding that the concept of a "pope emeritus" could someday become normal in the Church "I will do what the Lord tells me to do," he told reporters on the plane returning from a trip to the Middle East, when asked if he someday would retire if his health did not permit him to rule the 1.2 billion-member Church properly. "I think that Benedict XVI is not a unique case.

Puerto Rico woman propped up in chair for wake Posted: 26 May 2014 04:17 PM PDT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An 80-year-old Puerto Rican woman has been memorialized at her wake sitting in her favorite rocking chair and wearing her old wedding gown.

Pope to meet with sex abuse victims at Vatican Posted: 26 May 2014 04:16 PM PDT ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis announced Monday he would meet soon with a group of sex abuse victims at the Vatican and declared "zero tolerance" for any member of the clergy who would violate a child.

Brazil begins World Cup preparations amid protests Posted: 26 May 2014 04:15 PM PDT SAO PAULO (AP) — The Brazil squad's preparations for a World Cup on home soil got underway Monday amid chants of protests instead of support.

Pope to meet with sex abuse victims next month Posted: 26 May 2014 03:55 PM PDT ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis announced Monday he would meet with a group of sex abuse victims next month at the Vatican and declared "zero tolerance" for any member of the clergy who would violate a child.

Search for Dutch tourists resumes in Panama Posted: 26 May 2014 03:50 PM PDT PANAMA CITY (AP) — A search for two female Dutch tourists who went missing in Panama almost two months ago is resuming.

Pope says 'no privileges' for bishops on abuse Posted: 26 May 2014 03:46 PM PDT ABOARD PAPAL PLANE (Undefined) (AFP) - Pope Francis on Monday warned there were "no privileges" for bishops when it came to child sex crimes and said he would hold a special mass with victims next week in the Vatican. "Three bishops are being investigated," Francis told reporters on his return flight from the Middle East when asked about the thousands of scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church. There are no privileges. At a UN hearing earlier this year, Vatican officials revealed that 3,420 abuse cases had been handled over the past decade by the Catholic Church's Canon Law prosecutors.

German fugitive detained in Dominican tourist town Posted: 26 May 2014 03:38 PM PDT SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Interpol agents in the Dominican Republic have taken into custody a suspected German fugitive in a popular tourist town of the Caribbean country.

Germany's first far-right NPD deputy in European Parliament Posted: 26 May 2014 03:31 PM PDT Udo Voigt, the first member of Germany's far-right anti-immigrant party to enter the European Parliament, has faced legal action in the past with comments such as Hitler was "a great man". The son of a Nazi SA assault division member, Voigt, 62, was the chief candidate for the extremist National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), which scored one percent in the German vote for the EU-wide election Sunday. And in 2011 the NPD stirred controversy again, with posters depicting Voigt, on his motorbike, wearing a black leather jacket, with the motto "Gas geben" (Step on It) or literally "give gas" in what some saw as a reference to gas chambers where millions of Jews perished in Nazi extermination camps. Despite its meagre score in Sunday's elections, the NPD has benefited from the recent scrapping of a three-percent threshold for European elections in Germany, enabling it to now send a lawmaker to the European Parliament.

What to look for Tuesday at the French Open Posted: 26 May 2014 03:17 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — Here are five things to look for Tuesday at the French Open:

New homes for Mexican village after landslide Posted: 26 May 2014 03:17 PM PDT Mexico's government presented on Monday 125 new homes to residents of a southwestern mountain village that was buried by a massive landslide that killed 71 people last year. President Enrique Pena Nieto visited La Pintada, a coffee-growing village in Guerrero state, to unveil the two-story cement houses in the hamlet of 400 people whose wooden homes were crushed in September 2013. La Pintada became a tragic symbol of the devastation brought by twin hurricanes Ingrid and Manuel that pummelled Mexico's east and west coasts last year. "I am very moved to see the faces of the men and women who went through tough times, and today are still standing, and committed to moving forward," Pena Nieto told townspeople as he inaugurated a memorial park.

Top Asian News at 10:00 p.m. GMT Posted: 26 May 2014 03:02 PM PDT BANGKOK (AP) — Bolstered by an endorsement from Thailand's king, the nation's new military ruler issued a stark warning Monday to anyone opposed to last week's coup: don't cause trouble, don't criticize, don't protest — or else the nation could revert to the "old days" of turmoil and street violence. Speaking in his first public appearance since the coup, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha defended the army's takeover, saying he had to restore order after seven months of increasingly violent confrontations between the now-ousted government and demonstrators who had long urged the army to intervene.

French Open at a glance Posted: 26 May 2014 02:55 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — A look at the French Open on Monday:

Protesters clash with police over Spain squat eviction Posted: 26 May 2014 02:54 PM PDT Police clashed with protesters who burned bins and vehicles in Barcelona on Monday as anger boiled over at the eviction of activists from a well-known squat. Officers made several arrests as hooded youths smashed windows and hurled stones at police and journalists in the streets of the northeastern city. A police spokesman told AFP there had been arrests but could not confirm how many.

Protest over Jamaica university firing AIDS doctor Posted: 26 May 2014 02:49 PM PDT KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Religious activists, students and colleagues gathered outside Jamaica's biggest university Monday to protest the firing of an HIV expert who testified on behalf of church groups defending an anti-sodomy law.

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