Yahoo! News: World News

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• Ukraine, pro-Russian rebels reach ceasefire deal
• U.S. confirms death of al Shabaab leader Godane in Somalia strike
• Plane carrying Americans leaves for Dubai after being diverted to Iran
• Obama says key allies ready to join U.S. action in Iraq
• Turkey may play quiet role in U.S. coalition against Islamic State
• Exclusive: Islamic State guides Egyptian militants, expanding its influence
• Police detain US founder of Haiti orphanage
• Red Sox temporarily replace Uehara as closer
• Panama Canal expansion dredges up historical treasures
• Hollande counterpunches after weeks of body blows
• Mexico: $9.2B airport won't damage environment
• Two Cuban migrants dead, eight missing at sea, survivors say
• Americans flying from Afghan air base land briefly in Iran
• US OPEN SCENE: Bryans offer tips to fix US tennis
• Mexico police seek killers of elderly American
• Bosnia Muslim top cleric urges British hostage release
• Colombia deports 2 Venezuelan student activists
• Hurricane drenches Mexico; may help US Southwest
• Britain ready to commit 3,500 troops to new NATO force
• Seductive Nahuatl opera to premiere in Mexico City
• Argentina says good-bye to rock star Cerati
• Could be years before New Mexico nuclear waste dump fully reopens, official says
• Chilean poet Nicanor Parra turns 100
• Williams to face on Wozniacki in US Open final
• Escaped albino cobra gets new home at California zoo
• Ukraine truce takes hold as West lines up Russia sanctions
• EU slaps new sanctions on Russia, may suspend them if ceasefire holds
• US says Shebab chief killed in bombing raid in Somalia
• Estonia says security officer abducted to Russia
• In Puebla, New Jersey's Christie is a rock star
• Colorado town becomes Bud Light commercial set
• Sierra Leone to impose 4-day, countrywide anti-Ebola "lockdown"
• World's worst Ebola outbreak tests global response
• In war-ravaged eastern Ukraine, residents see little respite
• Fiery Wilshere slams critics
• NATO backs spearhead force to boost eastern defenses

Ukraine, pro-Russian rebels reach ceasefire deal Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:12 PM PDT By Andrei Makhovsky MINSK (Reuters) - Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels reached a ceasefire agreement on Friday, the first step toward ending fighting in eastern Ukraine that has caused the worst standoff between Moscow and the West since the Cold War ended. The ceasefire deal was struck in the Belarussian capital Minsk along with a deal allowing for prisoner exchanges, deliveries of humanitarian aid and the withdrawal of heavy weapons after five months of a conflict that has killed more than 2,600 people. ...

U.S. confirms death of al Shabaab leader Godane in Somalia strike Posted: 05 Sep 2014 01:07 PM PDT By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that Ahmed Abdi Godane, a leader of the al Shabaab Islamist group, was killed in a U.S. "We have confirmed that Ahmed Godane, the co-founder of al Shabaab, has been killed," Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon's press secretary, said in a statement. Since taking charge of al Shabaab in 2008, Godane had restyled the group as a global player in the al Qaeda network, carrying out bombings and suicide attacks in Somalia and elsewhere in the region, including the Sept. 21, 2013, attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed 67 people.

Plane carrying Americans leaves for Dubai after being diverted to Iran Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:39 PM PDT The plane had left Bagram for Dubai several hours late but failed to update its flight plan, the official said. Iranian officials first asked it to turn around and then to land at Bandar Abbas, Iran, when told it did not have enough fuel to return to Afghanistan, the official said. Fly Dubai confirmed in a statement its charter "is now en route to Dubai." Washington and Tehran have had an antagonistic relationship for decades. The United States cut diplomatic ties with Iran in April 1980, five months after Iranian students occupied the U.S.

Obama says key allies ready to join U.S. action in Iraq Posted: 05 Sep 2014 01:37 PM PDT President Barack Obama said key NATO allies stood ready to join the United States in military action to defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq as he vowed to 'take out' the leaders of a movement he said was a major threat to the West. Obama said the Washington would hunt down and dismantle the organization, which has seized swathes of Iraq and Syria, in the same way it had tackled al Qaeda since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States and was doing to al-Shabaab in Somalia.

Turkey may play quiet role in U.S. coalition against Islamic State Posted: 05 Sep 2014 02:58 PM PDT By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Turkey may find it hard to play a public role in the coalition the United States is building to strike at Islamic State targets in Iraq and possibly Syria for fear the militant group might retaliate against dozens of Turks held hostage. President Barack Obama has said he hopes to devise a regional strategy to try to counter IS, which has seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, but current and former U.S. officials say they expect Turkey to avoid any major public role. An ally in the U.S. ...

Exclusive: Islamic State guides Egyptian militants, expanding its influence Posted: 05 Sep 2014 06:05 AM PDT Islamic State, fighting to redraw the map of the Middle East, has been coaching Egypt's most dangerous militant group, complicating efforts to stabilize the biggest Arab nation. Confirmation that Islamic Sate, currently the most successful of the region's jihadi groups, is extending its influence to Egypt will sound alarm bells in Cairo, where the authorities are already facing a security challenge from home-grown militants. A senior commander from the Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which has killed hundreds of members of the Egyptian security forces over the last year, said Islamic State has provided instructions on how to operate more effectively. Only one person has contact with other cells." Militant groups and the Egyptian state are old foes.

Police detain US founder of Haiti orphanage Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:54 PM PDT PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A U.S. man who founded a boys' orphanage in Haiti in 1985 has been taken into police custody for suspicion of indecent assault and criminal conspiracy.

Red Sox temporarily replace Uehara as closer Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:38 PM PDT BOSTON (AP) — Koji Uehara has been removed temporarily from his closer's role with the Boston Red Sox.

Panama Canal expansion dredges up historical treasures Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:35 PM PDT Panama Canal expansion work has uncovered an unexpected trove of archeological and paleontological treasures, scientists said, as the massive construction project winds down. Experts hired by the Panama Canal Authority have identified remains of camels, crocodiles, the teeth of a giant shark, as well as bones of other animals millions of years old. "What we learned at school was that it formed three million years ago," said paleontology specialist Hortensia Broce of the Panama Canal Authority. Research will continue to study climate changes and the origins of the animals that migrated across the land bridge from one America to the other, said Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's Carlos Jaramillo, who called the new discoveries "a revolution."

Hollande counterpunches after weeks of body blows Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:29 PM PDT French President Francois Hollande launched a blistering counterattack Friday, saying he had no intention of throwing in the towel after weeks of political, economic and personal body blows that have seen him plumb new depths of unpopularity. For the first time, he hit back at the explosive claims penned by his former partner and first lady Valerie Trierweiler, the most damaging of which was that he secretly despised the poor, calling them the "toothless". Only one percent of French people said they had "total confidence" in Hollande "to resolve the problems France is currently facing". Hollande's loyal Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned before France departed on its long summer holiday that the "rentree" -- the return from the beach -- would be "difficult", but few could have seen the series of crises the president would have to endure.

Mexico: $9.2B airport won't damage environment Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:28 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — Building a $9.2 billion airport in the capital will help rehabilitate the surrounding area and it will not negatively impact the environment, as critics are charging, a top Mexican official said Friday.

Two Cuban migrants dead, eight missing at sea, survivors say Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:27 PM PDT By David Adams MIAMI (Reuters) - Two Cuban migrants died and as many as eight more are missing after a three-week odyssey at sea, according to relatives of 15 badly sunburned and dehydrated survivors of a boat rescued by the Mexican Navy this week. The Cubans, who face possible deportation back to Cuba, are receiving treatment at an immigration facility in the city of Merida, in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The rustic, homemade boat carrying 25 people left Manzanillo in eastern Cuba on Aug. 7, Jose Caballero, the husband of one of the survivors, told Reuters on Friday in a telephone interview from Austin, Texas. Caballero, who left Cuba by a similar route last December, said his wife, Mailin Perez, told him by phone from Mexico that the boat's motor broke down after two days and the passengers rigged a makeshift sail.

Americans flying from Afghan air base land briefly in Iran Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:27 PM PDT A charter plane carrying about 100 people including Americans was briefly diverted to Iran during a flight from Bagram air base in Afghanistan, US officials said Friday. After several hours on the ground, the plane had left again heading for its original destination of Dubai, deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said separately. Washington and Tehran have not had formal diplomatic relations for three decades, since the 1979 storming of the US embassy in Tehran and the subsequent 444-day hostage crisis.

US OPEN SCENE: Bryans offer tips to fix US tennis Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:24 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) — Bob and Mike Bryan have a few tips for fixing what ails American tennis.

Mexico police seek killers of elderly American Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:24 PM PDT TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Mexican authorities are seeking the killers of a 97-year-old woman who was found murdered this week, her body stored in the refrigerator of her home in Rosarito Beach, an upscale beach town near Tijuana.

Bosnia Muslim top cleric urges British hostage release Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:17 PM PDT Bosnia's most senior Muslim leader, Grand Mufti Husein Kavazovic on Friday urged the Islamic State to liberate a British hostage threatened with beheading by the jihadists. "Bearing in mind that the human life is sacred for Muslims, I call those who hold in detention David Haines to give up their threats and unconditionally leave this man to return to his family," Kavazovic said in a statement. Haines, taken hostage in Syria in March 2013, was threatened with death by IS militants during a video depicting the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff. The militant jihadist group said the journalist's killing, which came on the heels of its beheading last month of another US reporter, James Foley, was in retaliation for expanded US air strikes against its fighters in Iraq.

Colombia deports 2 Venezuelan student activists Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:11 PM PDT BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia has deported two Venezuelan student activists, drawing criticism on both sides of the border by groups who fear they'll be unjustly prosecuted for their political views.

Hurricane drenches Mexico; may help US Southwest Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:07 PM PDT LOS CABOS, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Norbert dumped heavy rains and prompted evacuations as it marched up the coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula on Friday. Forecasters said the storm may help bring weekend precipitation to the parched U.S. Southwest.

Britain ready to commit 3,500 troops to new NATO force Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:04 PM PDT Britain said on Friday it could contribute 3,500 troops to a NATO rapid response force defending against new threats like the Ukraine crisis and Islamic militants in Syria and Iraq. Prime Minister David Cameron said the alliance, set up in 1949 to protect Western Europe from the Soviet Union, had to show that its Article 5 collective security guarantee was still valid. Underlining Cameron's pledge to beef up European defence capability, he also said Britain would put into service a second aircraft carrier, The Prince of Wales, which the government had previously considered selling or holding in reserve due to budget constraints. "As Russia tramples illegally over Ukraine, we must reassure our Eastern European members that we will always uphold our Article 5 commitments," Cameron told the second day of a NATO summit in Wales.

Seductive Nahuatl opera to premiere in Mexico City Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:04 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — Three young women surround a muscular, shirtless man, laughing, hugging and caressing his neck as he rocks his head back in pleasure.

Argentina says good-bye to rock star Cerati Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:02 PM PDT BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Hundreds of tearful fans crowded outside a Buenos Aires cemetery on Friday as close friends and relatives of Gustavo Cerati said their final good-bye to the Argentine rock star.

Could be years before New Mexico nuclear waste dump fully reopens, official says Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:01 PM PDT It may be years before an underground nuclear waste dump in New Mexico shuttered by a radiation leak is fully operational, and costs for decontamination and other activities to restore the facility are not yet clear, U.S. Energy Department officials said. A recovery plan is being crafted for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad but details are not expected to be finalized for some weeks, Dana Bryson, deputy manager of the Energy Department field office that oversees the federal dump told a public meeting on Thursday evening. He said the primary issue tied to a Feb. 14 radiation accident at the plant, managed by contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership LLC, was that requirements for disposal were not met in materials shipped to the facility.

Chilean poet Nicanor Parra turns 100 Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:01 PM PDT SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile celebrated the 100th birthday of poet Nicanor Parra on Friday, with ceremonies nationwide for the man considered one of the greatest Latin American poets of his time.

Williams to face on Wozniacki in US Open final Posted: 05 Sep 2014 04:00 PM PDT Serena Williams will fight for an 18th Grand Slam title against Caroline Wozniacki after sweeping past Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6-3 on Friday to reach the US Open final. World number one Williams, winner of the past two titles at Flushing Meadows and five overall, will try to match Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova on 18 career major titles when she faces her good friend Wozniacki on Sunday. The 10th-seeded Dane was leading 7-6 (7/1) 4-3 when China's Peng Shuai dramatically retired from their semi-final with heat related illness. Peng was taken from the court in a wheelchair as Wozniacki, leading 7-6 (7/1), 4-3, was declared the victor.

Escaped albino cobra gets new home at California zoo Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:51 PM PDT By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A venomous albino cobra that somehow got loose in a suburban Los Angeles neighborhood and attacked a dog, putting residents on edge, has been given a new home at the San Diego Zoo, a spokeswoman there said on Friday. The all-white specimen of a species called a monocled cobra, which is illegal to possess in California without a special permit, was captured on Thursday near where it was last seen when it scuffled with the dog in the community of Thousand Oaks. The snake was initially taken to the Los Angeles Zoo and later transferred to the San Diego Zoo. "We don't have the anti-venom for this type of cobra and the San Diego Zoo does," Los Angeles Zoo spokeswoman April Spurlock said in explaining the move.

Ukraine truce takes hold as West lines up Russia sanctions Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:50 PM PDT Ukraine and pro-Kremlin insurgents appeared to be observing a truce on Saturday that could stem five months of bloodshed but still failed to head off fresh Western sanctions against Russia and is unlikely to quell the separatist drive in the east. The 12-point pact signed on Friday in the Belarussian capital Minsk is the first to be backed by both the Kremlin and Kiev since bands of Russian-speaking militias seized a string of government buildings across Ukraine's industrial heartland in early April.

EU slaps new sanctions on Russia, may suspend them if ceasefire holds Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:40 PM PDT By Robin Emmott and Sabine Siebold BRUSSELS/NEWPORT Wales (Reuters) - The European Union slapped new economic sanctions on Russia on Friday, but said they could be suspended if Moscow withdraws its troops from Ukraine and observes a ceasefire. Some provisions will make it harder for Russian state-owned firms to raise finance in the EU. Diplomats expect them to hit, among others, the oil company Rosneft and units of Gazprom, though not the gas firm itself, a main supplier to the EU. ...

US says Shebab chief killed in bombing raid in Somalia Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:36 PM PDT The United States said Friday it had killed the chief of Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab militants in a bombing raid in Somalia, touting it as a model for an assault on Islamic State jihadists. The Pentagon confirmed that Ahmed Abdi Godane perished in the attack on Monday in which US drones and manned aircraft rained Hellfire missiles and laser-guided bombs on a gathering of Shebab commanders. Godane had boasted that Shebab was behind the siege at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi last year, which killed at least 67 shoppers, staff and security personnel. President Barack Obama, speaking in Wales after the NATO summit, seized on the results of the strike to give definition to his separate effort to combat another radical Muslim extremist group, Islamic State (IS), following days of criticism over his anti-terror strategy.

Estonia says security officer abducted to Russia Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:31 PM PDT TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Estonia said Friday that a security service officer was abducted by unknown gunmen and taken across the border to Russia, but Russia said the man was detained on its territory and suspected of being a spy.

In Puebla, New Jersey's Christie is a rock star Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:30 PM PDT PUEBLA, Mexico (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was greeted like a rock star on the final day of his trade mission to Mexico. But the three-day trip is unlikely to change perceptions that the Republican governor needs to establish his foreign policy credentials before he jumps into a potential presidential run.

Colorado town becomes Bud Light commercial set Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:23 PM PDT CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. (AP) — Up for whatever? For some in the tiny and tony Colorado resort town of Crested Butte, that would be a no.

Sierra Leone to impose 4-day, countrywide anti-Ebola "lockdown" Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:23 PM PDT Sierra Leone will impose a four-day, countrywide "lockdown" starting Sept. 18, an escalation of efforts to halt the spread of Ebola across the West African country, a senior official in the president's office said on Friday. The move underscores the radical steps West African nations are being pushed to take, over six months into an outbreak that is the worst on record and shows no sign of easing having already killed over 2,100 people since March. Citizens will not be allowed to leave their homes between Sept. 18-21 in a bid to prevent the disease from spreading further and allow health workers to identify cases in the early stages of the illness, said Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, a presidential adviser on the country's Ebola task force. Kargbo said 21,000 people would be recruited to enforce the lockdown.

World's worst Ebola outbreak tests global response Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:23 PM PDT (Reuters) - International agencies and governments are struggling to contain the world's worst epidemic of the Ebola hemorrhagic virus, which has killed over 1,900 people in West Africa. March 22 - Guinea confirms that a previously unidentified hemorrhagic fever, which killed over 50 people in its southeast Forest Region, is the Ebola virus. March 30 - Liberia reports two Ebola cases; April 1 - Noting the spread, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warns it is "unprecedented", but a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman calls it "relatively small still".

In war-ravaged eastern Ukraine, residents see little respite Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:23 PM PDT After weeks holed up in a dank college basement, residents of the small eastern Ukrainian town of Yasinuvata say they have little faith that the ceasefire declared Friday will actually halt the fighting that has devastated their lives. Just as the truce between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels was being announced, terrified civilians rushed to a shelter as the roar of bombardments sounded nearby. "No electricity... no lights, look how people live here," said Natalia as she gave a tour of the site where residents have been camped out for about two months, the stench strong in the airless basement. Natalia said it was the pro-Kremlin separatists fighting back after a bombardment by Ukrainian forces about two hours earlier.

Fiery Wilshere slams critics Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:13 PM PDT London (AFP) - England midfielder Jack Wilshere has hit back at the 'reckless' critics who claim the Arsenal star is failing to make the most of his talent.

NATO backs spearhead force to boost eastern defenses Posted: 05 Sep 2014 03:12 PM PDT By Adrian Croft and Michael Holden NEWPORT Wales (Reuters) - NATO approved wide-ranging plans on Friday to boost its defenses in eastern Europe, aiming to reassure allies nervous about Russia's intervention in Ukraine that the U.S.-led alliance will shield them from any attack. The plan, adopted at a summit in Wales, includes creating a "spearhead" rapid reaction force and pre-positioning supplies and equipment in east European countries so they can be reinforced within days in a crisis. The initiative was intended to provide assurances to former Soviet bloc states that have joined the U.S. ...

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