Yahoo! News: World News

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• Internet outage seen in North Korea amid U.S. hacking dispute
• U.S. leads 22 more air strikes against Islamic State: task force
• Ukraine peace talks may be held in Minsk on Dec. 24 and 26: Poroshenko
• At U.N. council, U.S. calls life in North Korea 'living nightmare'
• Bombs in north Nigeria bus station, market kill 27
• Record number at Germany's anti-immigrant rally
• Iraqi Yazidi girls abducted by IS endured horror
• Thai farm workers may not get any of $8.7M award
• Marathon bombing suspect's lawyers invoke McVeigh
• Six killed as lorry ploughs into Glasgow Christmas shoppers
• Top Asian News at 12:30 a.m. GMT
• Wife of Cuban agent freed from US expecting baby
• Sex slavery pushes Iraq IS victims to suicide: Amnesty
• Vantage Energy fined nearly $1 million for environmental violations
• London man charged in Indiana child porn case
• Annual 'King Tide' hits West Coast, but no major flooding reported
• Death of Joe Cocker, 'greatest soul voice of Britain'
• Chelsea beats Stoke 2-0 in Premier League
• UN Security Council takes up N. Korea's human rights
• Ten injured in van attack on French Christmas market
• Australia names 23-man squad for Asian Cup
• TripAdvisor fined $600,000 by Italian anti-trust
• N.Korea's Internet collapses after Sony hack
• BMW to replace air bags nationwide, joining other automakers
• Mystery of Freeman's missing bodysuit likely solved
• UN Security Council debates North Korea rights abuse
• US fines Israeli bank $270 mn in tax evasion case
• North Korea experiencing severe Internet outages
• Cuba says it has a right to grant asylum to US fugitives
• Chelsea sink Stoke to secure top spot at Christmas
• Embattled New York mayor calls for end to protests
• British singer Joe Cocker dies of lung cancer
• U.S. at U.N. calls North Korea 'living nightmare;' China overruled
• Dozens injured in 3 separate attacks in France
• Argentina: Court grants orangutan basic rights
• Prosecutor wants ex-I.Coast president and ally tried together
• NKorea accuses UN of discussing its rights, not US torture
• WHO gets green light to deliver medicine to Aleppo, other areas
• French power company to pay $772M to US in bribery case
• Neureuther wins night slalom; Hirscher only 7th

Internet outage seen in North Korea amid U.S. hacking dispute Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:42 PM PST By Lesley Wroughton and Megha Rajagopalan WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea, at the center of a confrontation with the United States over the hacking of Sony pictures, itself experienced Internet outages on Monday, a U.S. company that monitors Internet infrastructure said. New Hampshire-based Dyn Research said the reason for the disruptions was not known but could range from technological glitches to a hacking attack. Several U.S. officials close to the investigations of the attack on Sony Pictures said the U.S. government was not involved in any cyber action against Pyongyang. U.S. ...

U.S. leads 22 more air strikes against Islamic State: task force Posted: 22 Dec 2014 06:45 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition conducted 12 air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria on Monday and 10 strikes Iraq, the U.S. military said in a statement. In Iraq, the strikes hit near the strategic northern Iraqi town of Sinjar as well as near Asad, Tal Afar, Ramdi, Mosul and Falluja, the Combined Joint Task Force said. They destroyed six units of Islamic State fighters as well as a weapons factory, numerous buildings and several vehicles, it said. ...

Ukraine peace talks may be held in Minsk on Dec. 24 and 26: Poroshenko Posted: 22 Dec 2014 11:34 AM PST KIEV (Reuters) - A fresh round of peace talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will be held in the Belarussian capital on Dec. 24 and 26, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement on Monday. The dates were discussed in a phone conversation between French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russia's Vladimir Putin. ...

At U.N. council, U.S. calls life in North Korea 'living nightmare' Posted: 22 Dec 2014 04:01 PM PST By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and other Western members of the U.N. Security Council on Monday slammed North Korea's human rights record after voting to overrule China's objections and add alleged grave abuses by the hermit state to the council's agenda. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power described life in North Korea as a "living nightmare" and dismissed as absurd Pyongyang's demand for a joint U.S.-North Korean investigation of the hacking of Sony Pictures and threats of retaliation if the United States refused. ...

Bombs in north Nigeria bus station, market kill 27 Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:16 PM PST By Isaac Abrak and Lanre Ola ABUJA/MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Two bomb attacks at a bus station and a market in north Nigeria on Monday killed at least 27 people and wounded around 60, officials said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for either attack. Boko Haram insurgents have repeatedly set off bombs targeting civilians, especially in the northeast where they are trying to carve out an Islamic state. The first one, in the city of Gombe, involved two explosions in quick succession. ...

Record number at Germany's anti-immigrant rally Posted: 22 Dec 2014 01:40 PM PST By Oliver Ellrodt DRESDEN, Germany (Reuters) - More than 17,000 people took part in Germany's largest anti-immigrant rally to date on Monday in the eastern city of Dresden, gathering to sing Christmas carols and listen to speakers complain about immigrants and asylum-seekers. The rally by a fast-growing grass-roots movement calling itself PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, was its 10th and largest so far. ...

Iraqi Yazidi girls abducted by IS endured horror Posted: 22 Dec 2014 04:43 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Women and girls from Iraq's Yazidi minority endured horrors at the hands of Islamic State group extremists after they were taken as slaves when last summer, leaving them deeply traumatized, an international watchdog group said in a report issued on Tuesday.

Thai farm workers may not get any of $8.7M award Posted: 22 Dec 2014 04:43 PM PST HONOLULU (AP) — A federal judge is ordering a California-based labor contractor to pay $8.7 million in damages to Thai workers who were exploited while working at Hawaii farms.

Marathon bombing suspect's lawyers invoke McVeigh Posted: 22 Dec 2014 04:35 PM PST BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev seeking to have his trial moved out of Massachusetts again drew parallels Monday between the media coverage of their client's case to the coverage received by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Six killed as lorry ploughs into Glasgow Christmas shoppers Posted: 22 Dec 2014 04:34 PM PST London (AFP) - Six people were killed and eight others injured in Glasgow, Scotland on Monday when a bin lorry ploughed into crowds of Christmas shoppers in what appeared to be a tragic accident.

Top Asian News at 12:30 a.m. GMT Posted: 22 Dec 2014 04:32 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — North Korea experienced sweeping and progressively worse Internet outages extending into Monday, with one computer expert saying the country's online access is "totally down." The White House and the State Department declined to say whether the U.S. government was responsible. President Barack Obama said Friday the U.S. government expected to respond to the hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., which he described as an expensive act of "cyber vandalism" that he blamed on North Korea. Obama did not say how the U.S. might respond, and it was not immediately clear if the Internet connectivity problems represented the retribution. The U.S. government regards its offensive cyber operations as highly classified.

Wife of Cuban agent freed from US expecting baby Posted: 22 Dec 2014 04:21 PM PST HAVANA (AP) — Cuba is celebrating the return of three intelligence agents imprisoned in the United States for more than a decade, and the joyful but puzzling news that one of their wives is expecting just two weeks from now.

Sex slavery pushes Iraq IS victims to suicide: Amnesty Posted: 22 Dec 2014 04:11 PM PST Women and girls from Iraq's Yazidi religious minority forced into sexual slavery by the Islamic State jihadist group have committed suicide or tried to, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. IS militants have overrun swathes of Iraq since June, declared a cross-border caliphate also encompassing parts of neighbouring Syria, and carried out a litany of abuses in both countries. The group has targeted Yazidis and other minorities in north Iraq in a campaign that rights group Amnesty said amounted to ethnic cleansing, murdering civilians and enslaving others for a fate that some captives consider even worse than death. "Many of those held as sexual slaves are children -- girls aged 14, 15 or even younger," Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser, said in a statement.

Vantage Energy fined nearly $1 million for environmental violations Posted: 22 Dec 2014 04:05 PM PST (Reuters) - Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection(DEP) on Monday said it imposed a $999,900 fine on U.S. oil and natural gas company Vantage Energy Inc, one of the largest given to a driller by DEP this year, for several environmental regulations violations. The company is indicted with charges of violating waste disposal regulations, which has impacted streams, wetlands, soils, surface water and groundwater around the company's Porter Street shale oil well pad in Franklin Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania, the DEP said in a statement. ...

London man charged in Indiana child porn case Posted: 22 Dec 2014 04:03 PM PST INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A 35-year-old London man wanted in Indiana since 2011 on child pornography charges made his initial court appearance Monday after being extradited.

Annual 'King Tide' hits West Coast, but no major flooding reported Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:52 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. West Coast faced its highest tides of the year on Monday but there were no reports of significant flooding, after a weekend that saw rising tides combine with high waves to cause minor inundations in parts of California, meteorologists said. The King Tide phenomenon is associated with the winter solstice that occurred on Sunday, when the resulting alignment of the sun, moon and Earth causes tides to rise to their highest level of the year, Carol Smith of the National Weather Service said. At Los Angeles-area shores, Monday morning's tide rose to 6. ...

Death of Joe Cocker, 'greatest soul voice of Britain' Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:49 PM PST New York (AFP) - Legendary singer Joe Cocker, whose intense, gritty voice won him wide acclaim that spanned both rock and blues, has died at age 70, his agent said Monday.

Chelsea beats Stoke 2-0 in Premier League Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:42 PM PST STOKE, England (AP) — John Terry scored his first league goal of the season to help Chelsea beat Stoke 2-0 Monday and restore its three-point lead atop the Premier League.

UN Security Council takes up N. Korea's human rights Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:36 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council took up the issue of North Korea's bleak human rights situation for the first time Monday, a groundbreaking step toward possibly holding the nuclear-armed but desperately poor country and leader Kim Jong Un accountable for alleged crimes against humanity. North Korea quickly denounced the move.

Ten injured in van attack on French Christmas market Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:34 PM PST A driver ploughed into a Christmas market in western France Monday, injuring 10 people before stabbing himself, a day after a man shouting "Allahu Akbar" ran down pedestrians in another French city. At least four people were badly hurt in the latest incident in the city of Nantes, the third attack in three days by individuals against civilians or security forces in France, sparking fears of possible copycat action. Authorities were quick to stress there were no apparent terrorist motives in the Christmas market attack. He too had yelled "Allahu Akbar".

Australia names 23-man squad for Asian Cup Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:33 PM PST SYDNEY (AP) — Coach Ange Postecoglou has included 16 of the 23 players he took to this year's World Cup in his final 23-man squad for next month's Asian Cup.

TripAdvisor fined $600,000 by Italian anti-trust Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:31 PM PST MILAN (AP) — Italy's antitrust authority has fined travel planning website TripAdvisor 500,000 euros ($600,000) following complaints of improper business practices lodged by a national hoteliers' association and a consumer protection agency.

N.Korea's Internet collapses after Sony hack Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:31 PM PST North Korea's Internet went completely dark Monday after hours of instability, cyber experts said, suggesting the country's network could be under attack following the hacking of Sony Pictures. "North Korea is completely off the Internet," Earl Zmijewski, vice president of data analytics at respected cyber security firm Dyn Research, told AFP. Pyongyang's connection woes came after US President Barack Obama vowed to retaliate for what the FBI said was North Korea's cyber assault on the Hollywood studio. While US officials refused to confirm whether Washington has already taken action against Pyongyang, they did call for compensation for Sony which -- following threats against movie-goers -- pulled the Christmas Day debut of comedy "The Interview," which lampoons North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

BMW to replace air bags nationwide, joining other automakers Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:24 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — BMW has agreed to demands from the government to replace driver's-side air bags across the entire U.S.

Mystery of Freeman's missing bodysuit likely solved Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:16 PM PST SYDNEY (AP) — The bodysuit worn by Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman when she lit the flame at the opening of the 2000 Sydney Olympics may have been recovered 14 years after it disappeared from her dressing room.

UN Security Council debates North Korea rights abuse Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:16 PM PST The United States on Monday slammed North Korea as a "living nightmare" for its citizens at the first-ever UN Security Council meeting on Pyongyang's dismal rights record, held despite opposition from China. The unprecedented talks at the 15-member council opened after China, Pyongyang's ally, failed to block the meeting, which convened even as North Korea faces US accusations of staging a cyber attack on a Hollywood Studio.

US fines Israeli bank $270 mn in tax evasion case Posted: 22 Dec 2014 03:11 PM PST Israel's Bank Leumi Group has admitted to helping US taxpayers hide assets and agreed to pay a $270 million fine to settle a criminal probe, the Department of Justice announced Monday. From at least 2000 until early 2011, Leumi sent private bankers from Israel and elsewhere to meet with US taxpayers and help them conceal assets at Leumi locations in Israel, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Leumi, a unit of Bank Leumi le-Israel, also helped US taxpayers prepare and present false tax returns, prosecutors said. "The Bank Leumi Group recognized that the writing is on the wall for offshore banking, and cooperating with the government's investigation was the only way to proceed," said Deputy Attorney General James Cole.

North Korea experiencing severe Internet outages Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:54 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — North Korea experienced sweeping and progressively worse Internet outages extending into Monday, with one computer expert saying the country's online access is "totally down." The White House and the State Department declined to say whether the U.S. government was responsible.

Cuba says it has a right to grant asylum to US fugitives Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:52 PM PST HAVANA (AP) — Cuba said Monday that it has a right to grant asylum to U.S. fugitives, the clearest sign yet that the communist government has no intention of extraditing America's most-wanted woman despite the warming of bilateral ties.

Chelsea sink Stoke to secure top spot at Christmas Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:40 PM PST Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Chelsea ensured they will spend Christmas Day on top of the Premier League as goals from John Terry and Cesc Fabregas gave the leaders a gritty 2-0 victory at Stoke on Monday. It was not the most fluent performance from Jose Mourinho's side but, at a venue where Arsenal recently lost 3-2, it was the result and not the performance which mattered most and the Blues now sit three points clear of second placed Manchester City heading into the hectic festive programme. City's win over Crystal Palace on Saturday had drawn them level on points with Chelsea, but this was an emphatic response from the west Londoners as they bid to wrestle the title from the Eastlands outfit. The only concern for Chelsea was a late injury to Belgium playmaker Eden, Hazard, who was replaced after getting a kick to his foot following a challenge by Jon Walters.

Embattled New York mayor calls for end to protests Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:38 PM PST Embattled Mayor Bill de Blasio urged New Yorkers to put aside politics and protests Monday to mourn two murdered police officers as he sought to fend off furious criticism of his conduct. Wenjian Liu, 32, and Rafael Ramos, 40, were shot in the head through the window of their patrol car in broad daylight in Brooklyn on Saturday following weeks of anti-police protests. Police named the shooter as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, whom officers said had a clear anti-police bias, and who shot himself dead on a subway station platform just minutes after the murders. "I think it's a time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests and put aside all of those things we'll talk about in due time," de Blasio told a police charity lunch.

British singer Joe Cocker dies of lung cancer Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:37 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Cocker, the raspy-voiced British singer known for his frenzied cover of "With a Little Help From My Friends," the teary ballad "You Are So Beautiful" and a contorted performing style uncannily parodied by John Belushi on "Saturday Night Live," has died. He was 70.

U.S. at U.N. calls North Korea 'living nightmare;' China overruled Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:35 PM PST By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and other Western members of the U.N. Security Council on Monday slammed North Korea's human rights record after voting to over-rule China's objections and add the hermit state to the council's agenda. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power described life in North Korea as a "living nightmare" and dismissed as absurd Pyongyang's demand for a joint U.S.-North Korean investigation of the hacking of Sony Pictures and threats of retaliation if the United States refused. ...

Dozens injured in 3 separate attacks in France Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:30 PM PST PARIS (AP) — French authorities urged calm after a series of attacks across the country left dozens of people injured, and said there was no evidence the violent acts were connected by any terrorist motive.

Argentina: Court grants orangutan basic rights Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:21 PM PST BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — An orangutan that has lived 20 years at the Buenos Aires zoo is entitled to some legal rights enjoyed by humans, an Argentine court has ruled, a decision the ape's attorney called unprecedented and a ticket to greater freedom.

Prosecutor wants ex-I.Coast president and ally tried together Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:17 PM PST The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor asked judges Monday to combine the trials of former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo and his close ally Charles Ble Goude because their cases alleging post-election violence are nearly identical. "They shared a common plan or purpose and acted jointly to implement this plan, which led to the attack against the civilian population," the top prosecutor at The Hague-based court, Fatou Bensouda, wrote in a filing. "It is in the interests of justice and judicial economy to join the cases against Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ble Goude," said Bensouda's petition. Gbagbo is alleged to have fomented a campaign of violence in a vain attempt to stay in power after being defeated in his bid for reelection by Ivory Coast's current President Alassane Ouattara.

NKorea accuses UN of discussing its rights, not US torture Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:14 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A North Korean diplomat is accusing Western nations on the United Nations Security Council of "turning a blind eye" to acts of torture and spying by the United States and focusing only on human rights violations in his country.

WHO gets green light to deliver medicine to Aleppo, other areas Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:14 PM PST Damascus has agreed to allow deliveries of desperately needed medical supplies to opposition-held parts of Aleppo and two other hard-to-reach areas, the World Health Organization said Monday. "We have gotten all of the approval letters, we are ready to deliver," the UN agency's Syria representative Elizabeth Hoff told AFP. The Syrian government and other parties to the conflict had agreed to allow and facilitate deliveries of medicine for chronic diseases, vaccines, intravenous fluids and surgical supplies to opposition-controlled areas in Aleppo governorate, the besieged Damascus district of Muadamiya, and the flashpoint Eastern Ghouta region near the capital. Deliveries would likely first be made to opposition-controlled areas in Aleppo governorate, Hoff said.

French power company to pay $772M to US in bribery case Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:09 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — A French power and transportation company has agreed to pay $772 million to resolve allegations that it bribed high-ranking foreign government officials for lucrative projects, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday.

Neureuther wins night slalom; Hirscher only 7th Posted: 22 Dec 2014 02:08 PM PST MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, Italy (AP) — Felix Neureuther took advantage of soft snow conditions to win a World Cup slalom race Monday night and take the lead in the discipline standings from Austrian rival Marcel Hirscher, who finished only seventh.

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