Yahoo! News: World News

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• Power struggle on Baghdad streets as Maliki replaced but refuses to go
• Russia sending aid convoy to Ukraine despite Western warnings of 'invasion pretext'
• Israelis, Palestinians begin new talks to end Gaza war
• Yemeni president vows relentless fight against militants
• U.S. to monitor South China Sea for de-escalation after China rebuff
• FARC chief says Colombia peace deal unlikely this year
• Liberian doctors to get experimental Ebola drug
• Obama applauds nomination of new Iraqi PM as "step forward"
• Obama welcomes new Iraqi leaders as 'step forward'
• U.N. names panel to investigate war crimes in Gaza; Israel slams it
• Iraq's Yazidis who escaped Mount Sinjar haunted by horrors
• Egypt bars HRW head ahead of Rabaa killings report
• Britain awards BAE $584 million shipbuilding contract
• Russia says to send aid to Ukraine despite West's warnings
• 'Another World' star Charles Keating dies at 72
• U.S. begins direct arms shipments to Kurdish forces
• FBI opens probe after police shooting of black U.S. teen
• Maliki spurned as Iraq president nominates new PM
• Police investigate Rob Ford bomb threat
• Israel looking to technology to counter Gaza tunnels: army
• Mexico doctors remove woman's 130-pound tumor
• Haidar al-Abadi: from exile to Iraq PM designate
• Mexican president signs landmark energy reform into law
• Man linked to UN deaths agrees to be deported
• Gaza cease-fire takes hold as negotiators gather
• US fighters hit Islamic State checkpoints
• Iraq crisis deepens; U.S. directly arms Kurds
• Eight Chinese quarantined as panic grips Ebola-hit west Africa
• Pompeii: Dead city lives in ruins, in imagination
• Maryland man convicted of exporting to Iran
• Kuwait revokes more citizenships citing state security
• US printing company shuts down Argentina operation
• Western U.S. states brace for more lightning-sparked wildfires
• Clooney's fiancee Alamuddin rejects Gaza probe job

Power struggle on Baghdad streets as Maliki replaced but refuses to go Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:42 PM PDT By Michael Georgy and Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's president named a new prime minister to end Nuri al-Maliki's eight-year rule on Monday, but the veteran leader refused to go after deploying militias and special forces on the streets, creating a dangerous political showdown in Baghdad. Washington, which helped install Maliki following its 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, congratulated Haidar al-Abadi, a former Maliki lieutenant who was named by President Fouad Masoum to replace him. Maliki said in a televised speech the president's decision to name a replacement for him was a "dangerous violation" of the constitution and, flanked by political allies, he vowed "we will fix the mistake." Maliki's son-in-law, Hussein al-Maliki, called the move "illegal" and said it would be overturned in court.

Russia sending aid convoy to Ukraine despite Western warnings of 'invasion pretext' Posted: 11 Aug 2014 12:48 PM PDT By Adrian Croft and Sergei Karpukhin BRUSSELS/DONETSK (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Monday Russia is sending an aid convoy to eastern Ukraine despite urgent Western warnings against using humanitarian help as a pretext for an invasion. With Ukraine reporting Russia has massed 45,000 troops on its border, NATO said there was a "high probability" that Moscow could intervene militarily in the country's east, where Kiev's forces are closing in on pro-Russian separatists. ...

Israelis, Palestinians begin new talks to end Gaza war Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:38 PM PDT By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ori Lewis GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed indirect talks mediated by Egypt on Monday to end a month-old Gaza war, Egypt's state news agency said, after a new 72-hour truce held for a day. Israeli negotiators flew in and out of Cairo on Monday, an Egyptian official said, but no details were released on the talks. Hamas is demanding an end to Israeli and Egyptian blockades of the Gaza Strip and opening of a seaport in the enclave, a project Israel says should be dealt with only in any future talks on a permanent peace agreement with the Palestinians. A month of war has killed 1,938 Palestinians and 67 Israelis while devastating wide tracts of densely populated Gaza.

Yemeni president vows relentless fight against militants Posted: 11 Aug 2014 12:59 PM PDT The Yemeni president vowed on Monday a relentless fight against al Qaeda insurgents who killed 14 soldiers last week, as the army dispatched troops and warplanes to try and track down the militants. "Our battle with the forces of evil, terrorism, treachery, betrayal and sabotage is a fateful one," Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said in remarks reported by state news agency Saba. Yemen was shocked by the deaths last Friday of the 14 soldiers, who were traveling home from eastern Yemen on family leave when militants stopped their bus, seized them at gunpoint and executed them. Ansar al Sharia, an affiliate of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), said it carried out the killings in revenge for military operations against the group.

U.S. to monitor South China Sea for de-escalation after China rebuff Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:19 PM PDT By Lesley Wroughton SYDNEY (Reuters) - The United States will monitor the South China Sea to see whether "de-escalatory steps" are being taken, a U.S. State Department official said on Monday, a day after China resisted pressure to rein in actions in the disputed waters. The official spoke as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Sydney for talks on regional security with Australian officials, that will also involve Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. A U.S. proposal for a freeze on provocative acts in the South China Sea got a cool response from China and some Southeast Asian nations at a regional meeting at the weekend, an apparent setback to U.S. efforts to thwart China's assertive moves. The U.S. official said the United States would follow up on those talks by assessing an ASEAN-China meeting due in a few weeks time on implementing a 2002 declaration on conduct in the South China Sea, something that "equates to the freeze." "We will also be monitoring the actual situation around the rocks, reefs, and shoals in the South China Sea," he said.

FARC chief says Colombia peace deal unlikely this year Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:14 PM PDT Colombia is unlikely to sign a peace accord with Marxist rebels this year as the remaining items on the negotiating agenda are complex and time consuming, FARC guerrilla leader Rodrigo Londono said. President Juan Manuel Santos had expressed hope that talks to end a half century of war with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could be concluded as soon as this year though he acknowledged they could run on longer. In an interview published on the rebels' website on Monday, Londono said there would not be time in the next four months to complete discussion on reparation to victims and how to bring a definitive end to the conflict. Of course we all want things to be concluded as soon as possible," said Londono, known by his nom de guerre of Timochenko.

Liberian doctors to get experimental Ebola drug Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:59 PM PDT MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — The Liberian government says it will receive doses of an experimental Ebola drug to treat doctors in the West African country.

Obama applauds nomination of new Iraqi PM as "step forward" Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:58 PM PDT By Jeff Mason CHILMARK Mass. (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday Iraq had taken "a promising step forward" in designating a new prime minister, vowing to step up support for a new Iraqi government in a widening conflict that his administration had hoped to avoid. Speaking to reporters in the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard, where he is vacationing with his family, Obama said Iraq had made important strides toward rebuffing fighters from the Islamic State, an al-Qaeda offshoot, since the United States authorized air strikes last week. "Today Iraq took a promising step forward in this critical effort," Obama said in brief remarks. Obama's comments and a congratulatory telephone call he made to Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi signal the administration's expectation, or hope, that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's 8-year-rule is all but over, even as Maliki shows no sign of relinquishing power.

Obama welcomes new Iraqi leaders as 'step forward' Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:55 PM PDT CHILMARK, Mass. (AP) — President Barack Obama welcomed new leadership in Iraq as "a promising step forward" Monday amid a political and security crisis in Baghdad, saying the only lasting solution is the formation of an inclusive government.

U.N. names panel to investigate war crimes in Gaza; Israel slams it Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:38 PM PDT By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations on Monday named experts to an international commission of inquiry into possible human rights violations and war crimes committed by both sides during Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Israel, however, dismissed the inquiry as a U.N. Human Rights Council "kangaroo court". William Schabas, a Canadian professor of international law, will head the panel whose other members are Doudou Diene, a Senegalese veteran U.N. human rights expert.

Iraq's Yazidis who escaped Mount Sinjar haunted by horrors Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:36 PM PDT By Isabel Coles DOHUK Iraq (Reuters) - Exhausted and terrorized, many of the Yazidis of northern Iraq who straggled into this Kurdish town after escaping the Islamic State deathtrap of Mount Sinjar recalled the agony of leaving relatives exposed on the mountain. Dakheel, 64, a shepherd who fled with family members into the rocky gullies above the sheep-grazing areas around Sinjar, left his 95-year-old mother when he set off on a grueling, risky walk to safety. He and several thousand others escaped in the last few days by climbing down the west side of the mountain, traversing the dry plain to the Syrian border and traveling north to cross back into Iraq's Kurdish region untouched by Islamic State gunmen. The Yazidis were just one of the communities fleeing their villages from advancing Islamic State fighters who drove looted armored vehicles and fired machine guns and raised their black flag over towns across northwest Iraq in recent weeks.

Egypt bars HRW head ahead of Rabaa killings report Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:22 PM PDT Egypt has barred the head of Human Rights Watch from entering the country ahead of the release of a report on a mass killing of protesters, HRW officials said Monday. Kenneth Roth, executive director of the New York-based NGO, and HRW Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson were held overnight in Cairo airport before being denied entry, Whitson wrote on Twitter. "It's official - shortest visit to Cairo ever - 12 hours before deportation for 'security reasons'- the new Egypt certainly 'transitioning'," Whitson wrote.

Britain awards BAE $584 million shipbuilding contract Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:20 PM PDT Defence company BAE Systems is to build three ships for Britain's navy in a deal worth £348 million ($584 million, 436 million euros), the contractor said on Tuesday. BAE said the three 'Offshore Patrol Vessels' would be used to combat terrorism, piracy and smuggling in the waters around Britain as well as protecting the country's interests abroad. "This is a significant contract award which marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for the UK shipbuilding sector," said Mick Ord, managing director at BAE Systems naval ships. BAE described the ships as "globally deployable and capable of ocean patrol" as they will have a maximum speed of 24 knots, a range of 5,500 nautical miles and a flight deck capable of landing large Merlin helicopters.

Russia says to send aid to Ukraine despite West's warnings Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:15 PM PDT Russia said Monday it would dispatch a humanitarian convoy to conflict-torn east Ukraine despite fierce warnings from the West that Moscow not act alone as a cover for sending in troops. Russia insisted its military would not be involved in the convoy, but Kiev said Moscow could only play a role as part of a broader Red Cross mission. Russian President Vladimir Putin told European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso that Moscow "is sending a humanitarian convoy to Ukraine in cooperation with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross."

'Another World' star Charles Keating dies at 72 Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:13 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shakespearean actor and soap opera star Charles Keating has died at the age of 72.

U.S. begins direct arms shipments to Kurdish forces Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:11 PM PDT By Mark Hosenball and Missy Ryan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is directly supplying weapons to Peshmerga fighters from Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region to help them fight Sunni militants, in a deepening of America's military involvement in Iraq, U.S. officials said on Monday. The Kurdish fighters are struggling to stem advances by militants from the Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot. The officials said the weapons were supplied by the Central Intelligence Agency but that the Pentagon may soon start arming the Kurdish fighters, who regained control of two strategic towns in northern Iraq on Sunday with help from U.S. airstrikes. Weapons have also been shipped in three deliveries from the Iraqi government in Baghdad to Arbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, consisting mostly of AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition, the U.S. officials said.

FBI opens probe after police shooting of black U.S. teen Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:09 PM PDT The FBI opened a civil rights investigation on Monday after the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager led to rioting in a Missouri suburb and stirred racial tensions. The family of Michael Brown demanded "justice for our son" as witnesses and police gave conflicting versions of how the 18-year-old was shot in broad daylight on Saturday, two days before he was to start college. "We think it will be very clear, when all of this is over, what really happened and how this child was executed," Brown's lawyer Benjamin Crump told reporters as the teenager's grieving mother broke down in tears. Looters targeted more than a dozen businesses in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson overnight Sunday after a vigil on the sidewalk where Brown died erupted into clashes with police armed with tear gas and clubs.

Maliki spurned as Iraq president nominates new PM Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:59 PM PDT Iraq moved closer to ending Nuri al-Maliki's stubborn grip on power Monday when his own political clan spurned him for another prime minister called to save the country from breakup. The much-awaited political breakthrough in Baghdad came as Kurdish troops backed by US warplanes battled to turn the tide on two months of jihadist expansion in the north. "The country is in your hands," President Fuad Masum told Haidar al-Abadi after accepting his nomination by parliament's Shiite bloc, in a move immediately welcomed by the United States. Abadi, long considered a close Maliki ally, has 30 days to form a government, amid hopes that a broad-based cabinet could serve as a foundation for healing Iraq's deep sectarian divides.

Police investigate Rob Ford bomb threat Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:55 PM PDT TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford went public with a bomb threat Monday that said City Hall will be blown up if he does not resign in 24 hours.

Israel looking to technology to counter Gaza tunnels: army Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:49 PM PDT By Dan Williams and Ori Lewis JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel is preparing to build a network of sensors to try to detect tunnel building into its territory from the Gaza Strip, but it could take months to prove the technology works, a senior army officer said on Monday. In the meantime, the army might re-invade the Palestinian enclave to destroy any tunnels it discovers or that it thinks are under construction, another official said, looking to calm the fears of Israelis living close to the Gaza border. Israeli ground forces plowed into Gaza last month to demolish a warren of underground passages that Hamas Islamists had dug to infiltrate the border. After more than a decade of failed attempts to develop ways to reveal the infiltration tunnels, an army officer said the military was preparing to place sensors around Gaza's perimeter.

Mexico doctors remove woman's 130-pound tumor Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:43 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican doctors say they have removed a 130-pound (60-kilogram) tumor from the body of a 51-year-old woman who had been unable to leave her home for two years.

Haidar al-Abadi: from exile to Iraq PM designate Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:35 PM PDT Haidar al-Abadi, who was nominated Monday as Iraq's next premier, is a former exile and long-serving MP who was close to Nuri al-Maliki until he took his job. "The country is in your hands," President Fuad Masum told Abadi after accepting his nomination by parliament's Shiite alliance in a move slammed by Maliki, who insists he is being robbed of a third term. Abadi was communications minister in the interim government set up after the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and is a member of Maliki's Dawa party. "Up until recently, he's been a Maliki surrogate," said Kirk Sowell, the Amman-based publisher of the Inside Iraqi Politics newsletter.

Mexican president signs landmark energy reform into law Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:27 PM PDT Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Monday signed a package of laws that will serve as a rule book for comprehensive energy reform designed to lure billions of dollars in investment to the country's ailing oil, gas and electricity sectors. Pena Nieto has made the energy overhaul the top economic priority of his administration, which aims to boost slumping growth in the world's 15th biggest economy. The reform ends the decades-long monopoly enjoyed by Mexico's two state-owned energy behemoths, national oil company Pemex [PEMX.UL] and electricity utility CFE [COMFEL.UL]. It opens up new opportunities for investment across the industry.

Man linked to UN deaths agrees to be deported Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:17 PM PDT DETROIT (AP) — A man suspected in the deaths of two United Nations peacekeepers in 1980 admitted Monday that he entered the United States without proper documentation and agreed to return to his native Lebanon.

Gaza cease-fire takes hold as negotiators gather Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:16 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — As a new temporary truce took hold, negotiators from Israel and the Hamas militant group resumed indirect talks Monday to reach a long-term cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

US fighters hit Islamic State checkpoints Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:10 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. fighter jets have carried out airstrikes on four checkpoints manned by Sunni militants in northwest Iraq near where thousands of minority Yazidi refugees have been trapped on a mountain to escape violence.

Iraq crisis deepens; U.S. directly arms Kurds Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:10 PM PDT Iraq's president snubbed incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and picked another politician to form the next government Monday, setting up a fierce political power struggle even as the country battles extremists in the north and west.

Eight Chinese quarantined as panic grips Ebola-hit west Africa Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:07 PM PDT Eight Chinese medical workers have been placed in quarantine in Sierra Leone, as health experts grappled Monday with ethical questions over the use of experimental drugs to combat the killer Ebola virus. Gripped by panic, west African nations battling the tropical disease ramped up drastic containment measures that have caused transport chaos, price hikes and food shortages. The World Health Organization scrambled to draft guidelines for the use of experimental medicines at a meeting in Geneva as the death toll from the worst Ebola outbreak in history neared 1,000. There is currently no available cure or vaccine for Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses known to man, which the WHO has declared a global public health emergency.

Pompeii: Dead city lives in ruins, in imagination Posted: 11 Aug 2014 02:56 PM PDT POMPEII, Italy (AP) — Pompeii is the city of the long goodbye.

Maryland man convicted of exporting to Iran Posted: 11 Aug 2014 02:56 PM PDT GREENBELT, Maryland (AP) — A Maryland man has been convicted on charges of exporting American manufactured industrial products to Iran.

Kuwait revokes more citizenships citing state security Posted: 11 Aug 2014 02:50 PM PDT Kuwait has revoked the citizenship of 10 people, including activists, the government said Monday in the second such move in less than a month as part of a crackdown on dissent. The cabinet said the decision was based on a provision in the nationality law that allows citizenship to be revoked of those who threaten Kuwait's security, social order or economy. On July 21, Kuwait revoked the citizenship of several people, including the owner of a pro-opposition television station and newspaper, Ahmad Jabr al-Shammari, and former Islamist opposition MP Abdullah al-Barghash along with his family members. "No government has the right to strip away its people's citizenship simply because it disapproves of them, their opinions, or their actions," said HRW's Joe Stork.

US printing company shuts down Argentina operation Posted: 11 Aug 2014 02:45 PM PDT BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A global printing company based in the U.S. shuttered its plant Monday in Argentina amid tough economic times in the South American country.

Western U.S. states brace for more lightning-sparked wildfires Posted: 11 Aug 2014 02:43 PM PDT By Courtney Sherwood PORTLAND Ore. (Reuters) - Dozens of new wildfires could break out across U.S. west coast states on Monday and into Tuesday, officials warned, just as crews begin to get a handle on conflagrations that have burned more than 500,000 acres in California, Washington and Oregon. The National Weather Service said on Monday that dry thunderstorms, which bring lightning but little rain, are likely to spark new fires across a tinder-dry region that has been suffering severe drought.

Clooney's fiancee Alamuddin rejects Gaza probe job Posted: 11 Aug 2014 02:35 PM PDT GENEVA (AP) — The British-Lebanese lawyer Amal Alamuddin, who is engaged to George Clooney, on Monday pulled out of an appointment to serve on a U.N. commission on possible violations of the rules of war in Gaza.

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