Yahoo! News: World News

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• Death toll from TransAsia plane crash in Taiwan rises to 31
• Gunmen kill 12 Libyans, foreigners at oilfield raid
• Boko Haram kill more than 100 in Cameroon: local leader
• Troops kill eight in highway battles in northern Mexico
• Ukrainian president calls for NATO states to provide weapons
• Suppression of Islamic State more realistic than elimination: UK lawmakers
• Taiwanese plane with 53 passengers crashes in Taipei river
• Clashes leave 9 dead near Mexican border cities
• Top Asian News at 1:00 a.m. GMT
• Guatemala announces customs union with Honduras
• Tens of thousands 'going hungry in drought-hit Madagascar'
• Australia state poll, reef risks cast shadow over India coal ventures
• Lawyers: Evidence shows Saudi Arabia aided 9/11 hijackers
• Argentine president's tweets on Chinese accent cause furor
• 2 Cuban baseball players abandon team in Puerto Rico
• Russia seeks UN resolution to prevent terrorist ransom money
• Al-Azhar: top Sunni Muslim body condemns IS
• UN to set up inquiry of peacekeeper's death in south Lebanon
• ECB steps up financial pressure on Greece to reach deal
• IS defeats in north Iraq reveal evidence of atrocities
• Tijuana authorities find body of boy who fell into sewer
• Disneyland measles outbreak isn't largest in recent memory
• UK anti-Semitic incidents hit record in 2014, says charity
• UN Security Council condemns killing of Spanish peacekeeper
• Ex-Senegal president ready to 'give life' to see son cleared
• Bastia beats Monaco to reach League Cup final
• Argentine president risks China row after Twitter gibes
• UN experts urge Bahrain to release jailed opposition chief
• Wanted militant's DNA believed found among dead in Philippine raid -FBI
• Hungary PM: strong diplomatic ties with Russia, Germany a priority
• Egypt says Suez Canal project on track, tolls unchanged
• Pentagon nominee vows to resolve Jordan arms sales delays
• Dems give Israeli ambassador earful over Netanyahu speech
• Cuban immigrant gets 6 years for theft of drugs worth $50M
• Mike Hussey to work with Proteas at Cricket World Cup
• Simon advances to quarterfinals in Montpellier
• Yemen parties still haggling as Shiite deadline passes
• EU leaders caution debt deal with Greece still far off

Death toll from TransAsia plane crash in Taiwan rises to 31 Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:59 PM PST The death toll from a TransAsia Airways plane that crashed into a Taipei river shortly after taking off has risen to 31, Taiwanese officials said on Thursday, and could rise further with 12 people still missing. TransAsia Flight GE235, carrying 58 passengers and crew, lurched between buildings, clipped an overpass with its port-side wing and crashed upside down into the shallow river shortly taking off from a downtown Taipei airport on Wednesday. Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said 15 people survived.

Gunmen kill 12 Libyans, foreigners at oilfield raid Posted: 04 Feb 2015 12:25 PM PST By Feras Bosalum and Ayman al-Warfalli TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Gunmen killed 12 people, among them two Filipino and two Ghanaian nationals, after storming a remote, Libyan oilfield, a Libyan official said on Wednesday. "Most were beheaded or killed by gunfire," said Abdelhakim Maazab, commander of a security force in charge of protecting the al-Mabrook oilfield, some 170 km (105 miles) south of the Mediterranean city of Sirte. A French diplomatic source in Paris and another Libyan official said Islamic State militants were behind the attack, which took place on Tuesday night. The violence followed an assault on a hotel in Tripoli last week that killed nine people, including five foreigners, underscoring the deteriorating security situation in Libya more than three years after the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi.

Boko Haram kill more than 100 in Cameroon: local leader Posted: 04 Feb 2015 02:40 PM PST By Madjiasra Nako and Matthew Mpoke Bigg YAOUNDE/ACCRA (Reuters) - Boko Haram fighters have killed more than 100 people in the north Cameroon town of Fotokol, murdering residents inside their homes and a mosque, a local civic leader said on Wednesday. The massacre comes amid a major regional offensive against the Islamic group, which has kidnapped hundreds and killed thousands in neighbouring northern Nigeria and has mounted increasingly bloody cross-border raids. "Boko Haram entered Fotokol through Gambaru early in the morning and they killed more than 100 people in the mosque, in the houses and they burned property," said the civic leader Abatchou Abatcha, reached by telephone. Many of the dead were found with their throats slit, according to Cameroon's L'Oeil du Sahel newspaper.

Troops kill eight in highway battles in northern Mexico Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:42 PM PST Mexican federal troops killed eight alleged gang members on Wednesday in battles along a highway near the U.S. border in the northern state of Tamaulipas, a region plagued by a bloody dispute between the Gulf and the Zetas drug cartels. The gunmen were killed in separate battles after they hijacked buses and used them to block a highway between the cities of Matamoros and Reynosa, opposite the Texas border towns of Brownsville and McAllen, a federal and state police task force said. Residents rely on reports from social media to find out about frequent gun battles, which can rage for hours. Tamaulipas state led the country in kidnappings in 2014, with 264 cases compared with 211 in 2013.

Ukrainian president calls for NATO states to provide weapons Posted: 04 Feb 2015 05:16 PM PST Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called on NATO states to send weapons to his country, saying in a newspaper interview that civilian deaths and the growing conflict should provide the Western alliance with enough reason to come to Ukraine's aid. The United States is reconsidering whether to provide weapons to Ukraine in its fight against Russian-backed separatists, senior administration officials said on Monday, but added that no decision had been made. "The escalation of the conflict that's happening today, the increasing number of civilian casualties, especially after the terrorist attacks in Volnovakha and Donetsk as well as the bombardment of Mariupol... should move the alliance to provide Ukraine with more support," Poroshenko said in an advance copy of an interview to be published in Germany's Die Welt on Thursday. Poroshenko stressed that Ukraine wanted peace but that even peace must be defended so Kiev needed a strong army and new, modern weapons.

Suppression of Islamic State more realistic than elimination: UK lawmakers Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:07 PM PST By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - Containing Islamic State may be a more realistic strategy than defeating it, a committee of British lawmakers said, calling on Britain to play a greater role in the fight against the militants in Iraq and Syria. Britain has so far taken part in U.S.-led air strikes against the Islamist group in Iraq, but not Syria. Parliament's defense committee said in a report released on Thursday that these actions were "strikingly modest", with on average less than one air strike a day, and said it was "surprised and deeply concerned" Britain was not doing more. The Iraqi security forces are weak and lack resources, the committee said, while the country's communities are divided and regional powers remain deeply suspicious of each other.

Taiwanese plane with 53 passengers crashes in Taipei river Posted: 04 Feb 2015 05:07 PM PST TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A Taiwanese commercial flight with 53 passengers aboard clipped a bridge shortly after takeoff and crashed into a river in the island's capital of Taipei on Wednesday morning.

Clashes leave 9 dead near Mexican border cities Posted: 04 Feb 2015 05:03 PM PST CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) — The U.S. Consulate in Matamoros on Wednesday warned that gun battles between Mexican government forces and gunmen on roads between that border city and Reynosa were likely to continue. The death toll from fighting in the area stood at nine.

Top Asian News at 1:00 a.m. GMT Posted: 04 Feb 2015 05:02 PM PST TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Rescuers used a crane to hoist the fuselage of a wrecked TransAsia Airways plane from a shallow river in Taiwan's capital late Wednesday as they searched into the night for 17 people missing in a crash that killed at least 26 others. Flight 235 with 58 people aboard — most of them travelers from China — banked sharply on its side shortly after takeoff from Taipei, clipped a highway bridge and then careened into the Keelung River.

Guatemala announces customs union with Honduras Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:58 PM PST GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The government of Guatemala has announced that it will eliminate customs duties with its neighbor Honduras in June.

Tens of thousands 'going hungry in drought-hit Madagascar' Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:54 PM PST A prolonged drought has left tens of thousands of people struggling to find food in southern Madagascar, authorities in the Indian Ocean island nation warned Wednesday. Local district leaders said more than 100 people had already starved to death, but the National Bureau for Disaster and Risk Management stressed it was still verifying the figure. A reported 98 people died the Bekily district alone, where local lawmaker Jean Daniel appealed to the media for help on Tuesday, warning that the food scarcity had also displaced nearly 3,000 residents since the start of the year. The bureau's executive secretary Ludovic Christian Lomotsy told AFP that the drought began in November and that teams had been sent to the affected areas to assess the scale of the problem.

Australia state poll, reef risks cast shadow over India coal ventures Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:49 PM PST By Sonali Paul MELBOURNE (Reuters) - A shock state election result in Australia's coal-rich Queensland state and heightened pressure to protect the Great Barrier Reef have thrown new doubts over plans by Indian firms to build two huge mines. Queensland saw a voter backlash against the conservative government's plan to sell A$37 billion ($29 billion) of assets to cut debt and fund coal infrastructure at the election. This included money for a rail line and port planned by India's Adani Enterprises for what would be Australia's biggest coal complex, in the Galilee Basin, a remote outback area.

Lawyers: Evidence shows Saudi Arabia aided 9/11 hijackers Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:44 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks say they have new evidence that agents of Saudi Arabia "directly and knowingly" helped the hijackers, including sworn testimony from the so-called 20th hijacker and from three principals of the U.S. government's two primary probes of the attacks.

Argentine president's tweets on Chinese accent cause furor Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:38 PM PST BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Embattled Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, while on a state visit to China seeking badly needed investment, caused a furor Wednesday by joking about her hosts' accents on Twitter.

2 Cuban baseball players abandon team in Puerto Rico Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:32 PM PST SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Two Cuban baseball players in Puerto Rico for the Caribbean Series apparently have abandoned their team mid-tournament, Cuba's team said Wednesday.

Russia seeks UN resolution to prevent terrorist ransom money Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:31 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia is pressing for adoption of a new U.N. resolution aimed at preventing terrorists from collecting ransom payments or money from the illegal sale of oil or antiquities.

Al-Azhar: top Sunni Muslim body condemns IS Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:25 PM PST Al-Azhar, the prestigious seat of Islamic learning that is based in Cairo but respected by Sunni Muslims across the world, has steadfastly condemned gruesome executions claimed by the Islamic State group. The millennium-old institution has emerged as a leading theological centre of Sunni Islam, the main branch of the religion, and shows a will to promote moderate Islam and dialogue with Christians. It was swift in denouncing the immolation of a Jordanian fighter pilot by IS, which claims to have established an Islamic caliphate and imposes an extreme version of Islamic law in territories it controls in Iraq and Syria. The group, accused by the United Nations of carrying out ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, has regularly claimed to have carried out beheadings and kidnappings in Syria and Iraq.

UN to set up inquiry of peacekeeper's death in south Lebanon Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:19 PM PST The United Nations will set up a board of inquiry to investigate the death a week ago of a Spanish peacekeeper during an exchange of fire on the Israeli-Lebanon border, a senior UN official said Wednesday. The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned "in the strongest terms" the killing of the peacekeeper and said it awaited the results of a fact-finding report by the UN force in south Lebanon, UNIFIL, on the incident. "We are straight away launching a board of inquiry to look into the wider aspects of all of this," said the official, who asked not to be named.

ECB steps up financial pressure on Greece to reach deal Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:17 PM PST FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank added pressure on the Greek government Wednesday by withdrawing a key borrowing option for the country's banks as it struggles to avoid defaulting on its debts and crashing out of the euro currency union.

IS defeats in north Iraq reveal evidence of atrocities Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:11 PM PST Dirt-covered skulls and bones scattered among ragged clothing in a ditch in north Iraq are all that remain of some two dozen people believed to have been murdered by the Islamic State group. The recently discovered site is not unique, and more evidence of IS atrocities will likely emerge as areas retaken from the jihadists by Kurdish forces are searched, a task made more difficult by explosives they left behind. "Three mass graves have been confirmed -- two in the Hardan area and the other in Sinuni," said Myaser Haji Saleh, the local official responsible for the Sinjar district in the northern province of Nineveh, where the sites are located. "But we believe that the biggest graves are in the centre of the Sinjar district and areas that are now under (IS) control," Saleh said.

Tijuana authorities find body of boy who fell into sewer Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:09 PM PST TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — A 2-year-old boy who fell into an open manhole in Tijuana, Mexico, has been found dead in the sewer system miles from where he disappeared.

Disneyland measles outbreak isn't largest in recent memory Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:03 PM PST LOS ANGELES (AP) — The largest U.S. measles outbreak in recent history isn't the one that started in December at Disneyland. It happened months earlier in Ohio's Amish country, where 383 people fell ill after unvaccinated Amish missionaries traveled to the Philippines and returned with the virus.

UK anti-Semitic incidents hit record in 2014, says charity Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:02 PM PST LONDON (AP) — The number of anti-Semitic incidents in Britain hit a record high last year, with reactions to the conflict in Israel and Gaza last summer the biggest factor accounting for the jump, a charity said Thursday.

UN Security Council condemns killing of Spanish peacekeeper Posted: 04 Feb 2015 04:00 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday condemned "in the strongest terms" last week's killing of a Spanish peacekeeper in southern Lebanon.

Ex-Senegal president ready to 'give life' to see son cleared Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:58 PM PST Former Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade told thousands of opposition supporters Wednesday that he was prepared to "give his life" to prevent his son being convicted of corruption charges. Karim Wade has been on trial since July 2014, accused of illegally acquiring companies and real estate worth almost $240 million (180 million euros) during his time as a minister and an adviser to his father. Abdoulaye Wade called on current President Macky Sall to allow his son to stand trial in the High Court rather than before a special corruption tribunal known as the CREI that is hosting the proceedings. Leading officials of Wade's former ruling Democratic Party of Senegal (PDS) are either standing trial alongside Karim Wade or in prison on similar charges.

Bastia beats Monaco to reach League Cup final Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:57 PM PST MONACO (AP) — Bastia ended Monaco's 13 matches unbeaten run and set up a League Cup final with title holders Paris Saint-Germain with a 7-6 win on penalties on Wednesday.

Argentine president risks China row after Twitter gibes Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:53 PM PST Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner has risked offending her Chinese hosts, appearing to poke fun on Twitter at their difficulty pronouncing the letters "L" and "R" in Spanish. She was referring to La Campora, her party's youth organization, led by her son. The 61-year-old, Argentina's first elected woman president, is a lawyer and former lawmaker who succeeded her husband, the late president Nestor Kirchner.

UN experts urge Bahrain to release jailed opposition chief Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:35 PM PST Geneva (AFP) - United Nations rights experts urged Bahrain Wednesday to free Shiite opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman, on trial for allegedly trying to overthrow the country's Sunni regime.

Wanted militant's DNA believed found among dead in Philippine raid -FBI Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:33 PM PST By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI believes it has identified body matter collected at the scene of a deadly raid in the Philippines last week as belonging to one of its "most wanted terrorists," Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan. The DNA sample showed a link with a known relative of bin Hir's, said David Bowdich, assistant director in charge of the Los Angeles field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Although analysts cannot prove with certainty the sample provided by the Philippines belonged to bin Hir or that it came from a deceased person, Bowdich said results "do support" it came from bin Hir. The brother, Rahmat bin Hir, is in U.S. custody in a California prison after his arrest in 2007 for conspiracy to provide "material support to terrorists." The link between siblings, which match in 50 percent of their DNA, comes close to confirming the sample belonged to the wanted Islamic militant, but does not provide "absolute identification," said Bowdich.

Hungary PM: strong diplomatic ties with Russia, Germany a priority Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:31 PM PST Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday that his main foreign policy goal was maintaining good ties with Russia and Germany, adding that the United States was an important partner but not the central focus of foreign policy. A maverick leader whose warm relations with Moscow have irked European and American partners at a time of escalating conflicts in Ukraine, Orban said he sought Hungarian interests first, even in alliances such as the European Union or NATO. His Fidesz party, holding a commanding Parliament majority since 2010, supported sanctions against Russia but Orban has said the EU was "shooting itself in the foot" with them. "If we want sustained security, calm and peace for Hungary, then we have to calculate with two powers that are present in Central Europe forcefully and on the long run, Germany and Russia," he told TV news channel Hir TV.

Egypt says Suez Canal project on track, tolls unchanged Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:26 PM PST ISMAILIA, Egypt (AP) — Transit tolls at Egypt's Suez Canal will stay largely at their current prices this year, the authority said Wednesday, as development of a second parallel waterway proceeds on schedule.

Pentagon nominee vows to resolve Jordan arms sales delays Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:25 PM PST By Andrea Shalal and Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's nominee for defense secretary on Wednesday vowed to cut through "red tape" slowing U.S. arms deliveries to Jordan, which plans to step up its fight against Islamic State after the killing of a captured Jordanian pilot. Ashton Carter, a former No. 2 Pentagon official, told the Senate Armed Services Committee it was important for Jordan to be able to acquire the weapons it needed, and he would work to address concerns raised by King Abdullah during a meeting with committee members on Tuesday. "We need partners on the ground to beat ISIS," Carter told the committee during a hearing on his nomination, adding that Jordan need help in fighting a "savage and nasty" foe.

Dems give Israeli ambassador earful over Netanyahu speech Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:24 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sometimes heated meeting with Israel's ambassador to the U.S., several House Democrats expressed anger Wednesday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's acceptance of a Republican invitation to address Congress next month.

Cuban immigrant gets 6 years for theft of drugs worth $50M Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:17 PM PST NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (AP) — A Cuban immigrant was sentenced Wednesday to more than six years in prison for his role in the 2010 nighttime heist of a Connecticut warehouse in which the robbers filled a tractor-trailer with more than $50 million worth of pharmaceutical drugs.

Mike Hussey to work with Proteas at Cricket World Cup Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:13 PM PST SYDNEY (AP) — Cricket Australia has confirmed former Australia batsman Mike Hussey will work with South Africa in a consultancy role during the Cricket World Cup.

Simon advances to quarterfinals in Montpellier Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:11 PM PST MONTPELLIER, France (AP) — Second-seeded Gilles Simon advanced to the quarterfinals of the Open Sud de France by defeating fellow Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday.

Yemen parties still haggling as Shiite deadline passes Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:10 PM PST Parties were still discussing a possible solution to Yemen's political crisis on Wednesday afternoon as a deadline set by Shiite militia in control of the capital was expiring, sources said. On Sunday, the so-called Huthi militia set a three-day deadline for the parties to resolve the power vacuum in Yemen since the president and prime minister offered to resign last month. The deadline was set in a statement issued at the end of a three-day meeting in Sanaa attended by the party of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh but boycotted by the other major political movements.

EU leaders caution debt deal with Greece still far off Posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:05 PM PST PARIS (AP) — European Union leaders cautioned Wednesday that talks with Greece over its demands to ease its bailout loans will be tough, though the country's new prime minister was upbeat about a possible solution.

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