Yahoo! News: World News

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• Putin turned Russia election hacks in Trump's favor: U.S. officials
• Assad video says taking of Aleppo is historic moment
• EU agrees to extend Russia sanctions until mid-2017 in a signal to Trump
• Traces of explosives found in Egyptair crash: investigators
• Brazil prosecutors hit ex-president Lula with more corruption charges
• Top Asian News 12:55 a.m. GMT
• EU agrees on approach to Brexit talks, PM May left out in cold
• EU to seek summit with Turkey next month
• United are on the move, says Ibrahimovic
• China says justice ministry official probed for suspected graft
• UN: Threat of a hacking attack on nuclear plants is growing
• The Latest: Trump taps Israel adviser for ambassador post
• British company fine increased for misleading Australians
• Thousands leave Aleppo under rebel withdrawal deal
• Chapman, Yankees finalize $86 million, 5-year contract
• Pope invites Colombia's Santos and Uribe to Vatican
• EU to make new diplomatic push for aid to reach Aleppo
• Kerry accuses Assad government of 'massacre' in Aleppo
• EU rebuffs legislature's bid for bigger role in Brexit talks
• UN divided over US measure on South Sudan
• Pope Francis seeks to unite Colombians divided by peace deal
• UK 'doesn't see a future' for Assad in Syria: defence minister
• EU, Netherlands find compromise to enact Ukraine deal
• Greece approves pension handout defying eurozone
• Ecuador sends troops to Chinese copper exploration project after protest
• Mexico plans to catch, protect last few vaquita porpoises
• Andretti, Steinbrenners team up with teenager Colton Herta
• Russia casts shadow over European Union summit
• US claims antiquities looted by IS to block their resale
• Mexico braces for fresh flood of Central American asylum seekers
• EU presses Russia on Syria and Ukraine
• White House points finger at Putin over election hack
• Colombia's president, opposition rival to meet with Pope Francis
• Rudy Giuliani meets head of Poland's ruling party in Warsaw
• EU plans possible summit with Turkey in coming months: Tusk
• EPA seeks to fine chemical giant nearly $5M for Hawaii case
• Fijian man found guilty of trying to sell devices to China

Putin turned Russia election hacks in Trump's favor: U.S. officials Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:02 PM PST Russian President Vladimir Putin supervised his intelligence agencies' hacking of the U.S. presidential election and turned it from a general attempt to discredit American democracy to an effort to help Donald Trump, three U.S. officials said on Thursday. U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusion that Russia tried to influence the election by hacking people and institutions, including Democratic Party bodies, has angered President-elect Trump, who says he won the Nov. 8 vote fairly.

Assad video says taking of Aleppo is historic moment Posted: 15 Dec 2016 08:15 AM PST Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday the world would be different after what he called the "liberation of Aleppo", describing it as a historic moment. The writing did not start today, it started six years ago when the crisis and war started against Syria," Assad said in a video statement published on the Syrian presidency's Twitter account. An operation to evacuate thousands of civilians and fighters from the last rebel bastion in Aleppo began on Thursday, part of a ceasefire deal that would end years of fighting for the city and mark a major victory for Assad.

EU agrees to extend Russia sanctions until mid-2017 in a signal to Trump Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:36 PM PST By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to extend economic sanctions against Russia over the turmoil in Ukraine until mid-2017, though some wanted a longer timespan over fear U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would ease pressure on Moscow. The decision was expected and the formal process to extend the sanctions on Russia's defense, energy and financial sectors will take place early next week. "Some of our colleagues would prefer maybe 12 months but ... what is possible is maintaining our current format, it means six months," European Council President Donald Tusk said.

Traces of explosives found in Egyptair crash: investigators Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:41 PM PST By Lin Noueihed and Tim Hepher CAIRO/PARIS (Reuters) - Egyptian investigators said on Thursday traces of explosives had been found on the remains of victims of an Egyptair flight that crashed en route from Paris to Cairo, but French officials warned against drawing conclusions on the cause of the crash. Egypt's investigation committee issued a statement saying the coroner had found traces of explosives on the remains of some victims. "The technical investigation committee ... places itself and its expertise at the disposal of prosecutors," it said.

Brazil prosecutors hit ex-president Lula with more corruption charges Posted: 15 Dec 2016 02:42 PM PST By Brad Brooks SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Prosecutors on Thursday charged former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, his wife and a former finance minister with more corruption charges in the investigation of graft at state-run oil company Petrobras. It is up to federal judge Sergio Moro to decide if the new charges will result in another trial for Lula, who is already accused in Moro's court in southern Brazil with separate corruption charges.

Top Asian News 12:55 a.m. GMT Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:55 PM PST NAGATO, Japan (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin spent much of their first round of talks at a hot springs resort in western Japan on Thursday discussing a territorial dispute that has divided their countries for 70 years. For Putin, the summit meeting in Nagato city marks his first official visit to a G-7 country since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Abe invited Putin even though the G-7 nations, including Japan, still have sanctions on Russia. The talks will move to Tokyo on Friday. Abe said the two leaders talked for three hours, spending about half of the time on the dispute over four islands seized by the former Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II, and a peace treaty officially ending the two countries' wartime hostilities.

EU agrees on approach to Brexit talks, PM May left out in cold Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:54 PM PST By Elizabeth Piper and Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders agreed their plan for Brexit negotiations on Thursday, pledging to move swiftly and stick together to ensure Britain does not cherry pick a sweet deal that might inspire others to unstitch the bloc. Prime Minister Theresa May left before the other 27 leaders met briefly to formalize their plan for how to run Brexit talks.

EU to seek summit with Turkey next month Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:54 PM PST BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union will seek to hold a summit meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the first half of next year to discuss the testy relations between the two, the 28-nation bloc's president said Thursday.

United are on the move, says Ibrahimovic Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:52 PM PST In-form Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes the club's luck has finally turned ahead of their clash with West Bromwich Albion. United manager Jose Mourinho recently lamented his side were playing much better than results and their position in the Premier League suggested. United have beaten Tottenham (1-0) and Crystal Palace (2-1) in the past week and are now in sixth place, although they are 13 points behind leaders Chelsea.

China says justice ministry official probed for suspected graft Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:51 PM PST A senior official at China's justice ministry is under investigation for suspected graft, the ruling Communist Party's anti-corruption watchdog said on Friday. In a brief statement, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Lu Enguang, head of the ministry's political affairs department, was suspected of "serious discipline violations", using the usual euphemism for graft. Chinese President Xi Jinping is leading an aggressive campaign against official corruption that is tearing down once-untouchable Party, military and business leaders and rolling up their powerful networks of relatives and allies.

UN: Threat of a hacking attack on nuclear plants is growing Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:46 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The "nightmare scenario" is rising for a hacking attack on a nuclear power plant's computer system that causes the uncontrolled release of radiation, the United Nations' deputy chief warned Thursday.

The Latest: Trump taps Israel adviser for ambassador post Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:42 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):

British company fine increased for misleading Australians Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:40 PM PST SYDNEY (AP) — An Australian court ordered a British consumer goods company on Friday to pay 6 million Australian dollars ($4.4 million) in penalties for misleading consumers about the effectiveness of a popular painkiller.

Thousands leave Aleppo under rebel withdrawal deal Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:39 PM PST Thousands of civilians and rebels left Aleppo on Thursday under an evacuation deal that will allow Syria's regime to take full control of the city after years of fighting. The withdrawal began a month to the day after Syrian government forces launched a major offensive to retake all of Aleppo, and will hand the regime its biggest victory in more than five years of civil war. In a video message to Syrians, President Bashar al-Assad said the "liberation" of Aleppo was "history in the making".

Chapman, Yankees finalize $86 million, 5-year contract Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:36 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Hard-throwing reliever Aroldis Chapman completed his return to New York when the Yankees finalized his $86 million, five-year contract on Thursday.

Pope invites Colombia's Santos and Uribe to Vatican Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:29 PM PST Pope Francis has invited President Juan Manuel Santos and his predecessor Alvaro Uribe to the Vatican on Friday, Colombian officials said, in an apparent bid to strengthen the government's peace accord with FARC rebels. Uribe led opposition to the agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), ratified last month after an earlier version was voted down in a referendum in October. "The Vatican has organized an audience of the Pope, Santos and Uribe," a spokesman for the Colombian presidency said Thursday of the meeting apparently aimed at reconciling the two former allies.

EU to make new diplomatic push for aid to reach Aleppo Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:26 PM PST By Robin Emmott and Jean-Baptiste Vey BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European leaders promised to send food and medicine to people trapped in the devastated city of Aleppo, with France's president calling for a U.N. resolution to support the EU response that Russia could not refuse. EU aid trucks have been waiting to go into the rebel strongholds of eastern Aleppo since early October and are Europe's only tangible assistance in a conflict that has left it marginalized, unable to agree sanctions to pressure Moscow. At an EU summit where German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the conflict was "shameful" and regretted the failure of EU diplomacy, French President Francois Hollande said Paris was working on a United Nations Security Council resolution to secure humanitarian aid corridors.

Kerry accuses Assad government of 'massacre' in Aleppo Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:26 PM PST By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government of carrying out "nothing short of a massacre" in Aleppo, where thousands on Thursday were evacuated under a ceasefire deal from the last rebel enclave in a city besieged by fighting for years. Kerry vigorously defended U.S. diplomatic efforts to end the war - all of which have been futile - and in which Assad, backed by Russia, Iran and Shi'ite militias, has gained the upper hand in the latest turn of the nearly six-year-old conflict.

EU rebuffs legislature's bid for bigger role in Brexit talks Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:25 PM PST BRUSSELS (AP) — The leaders of 27 European Union countries on Thursday rebuffed a bid by the EU legislature for a much bigger role in talks on Britain's exit from the bloc, an argument that detracted from efforts to show a united stand in the negotiations.

UN divided over US measure on South Sudan Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:18 PM PST The UN Security Council on Thursday decided to extend for one day the mandate of the peacekeeping mission in South Sudan to allow more time for negotiations on a new measure to bolster its mandate. Talks on a US-drafted text have been bogged down for nearly a week over provisions on sanctions, the deployment of drones and UN support for a new war crimes court set up by the African Union. The mandate of the UNMISS mission expired on Thursday, forcing the council to take action to keep peace operations running.

Pope Francis seeks to unite Colombians divided by peace deal Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:17 PM PST BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Pope Francis is doing his part to unite Colombians divided by a peace deal with leftist rebels by sponsoring a surprise meeting between President Juan Manuel Santos and his harshest critic.

UK 'doesn't see a future' for Assad in Syria: defence minister Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:08 PM PST Bashar al-Assad has no future as president of Syria even if he overpowers rebel fighters in the stricken city of Aleppo, British defence minister Michael Fallon said on Thursday. "We don't see a future for President Assad in Syria, even if he defeats the opposition in Aleppo," Fallon told a London press conference.

EU, Netherlands find compromise to enact Ukraine deal Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:06 PM PST BRUSSELS (AP) — The Netherlands won a concession from European Union leaders Thursday that could pave for the Dutch to approve, and the EU to finally ratify, an agreement on closer ties with Ukraine, regarded as a landmark deal to counter Russian influence.

Greece approves pension handout defying eurozone Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:04 PM PST The handout measure, announced by under-pressure leftist Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last week, earmarks 617 million euros ($656 million) for a one-off payment to poor pensioners. Athens says the pension handout will come out of a one-billion-euro tax surplus, but European creditors on Thursday said the Greek move raised "significant concerns on both process and substance" regarding the country's bailout obligations. In the joint statement, representatives from the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the European rescue fund said they would now decide whether to uphold a Eurogroup decision granting Greece short-term debt relief earlier this month.

Ecuador sends troops to Chinese copper exploration project after protest Posted: 15 Dec 2016 04:03 PM PST QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador on Thursday dispatched soldiers and police officers to an isolated jungle area after a violent protest against a Chinese copper exploration project left one policeman dead and several other security officials injured amid conflicts between mining companies and indigenous communities. President Rafael Correa declared a 30-day state of emergency in the Morona Santiago province, home to the Panantza-San Carlos exploration project operated by the ExplorCobres company. His government says "illegally-armed groups" protested against the project on Wednesday. ...

Mexico plans to catch, protect last few vaquita porpoises Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:52 PM PST MEXICO CITY (AP) — So few of Mexico's vaquita porpoises remain that the international committee to protect the endangered species is preparing to catch and enclose as many as it can in a last-ditch effort to save them from extinction, experts said Thursday.

Andretti, Steinbrenners team up with teenager Colton Herta Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:51 PM PST INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Teenage racer Colton Herta might have been the feature attraction of just about any other major driver announcement.

Russia casts shadow over European Union summit Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:51 PM PST BRUSSELS (AP) — Russia had no seat at the European Union's table Thursday but it cast a shadow over the summit as a target for criticism of its role in the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine.

US claims antiquities looted by IS to block their resale Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:48 PM PST The United States filed suit in court Thursday to recover an ancient serpentine ring and gold coins trafficked by the Islamic State group in a move aimed at preventing stolen Syrian and Iraqi antiquities from disappearing into collectors' hands. The US attorney filed a forfeiture claim in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the antiquities, thought to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The antiquities, including a neo-Assyrian stele, were identified from cell-phone pictures and other electronic media seized from powerful IS commander Abu Sayyaf, who was killed in a US Special Operations raid in eastern Syria in May 2015.

Mexico braces for fresh flood of Central American asylum seekers Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:47 PM PST By Gabriel Stargardter MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico expects a sharp increase in people seeking asylum from Central America next year, fleeing gang warfare and poverty in their home countries, a senior official said on Thursday. There has been a steady surge of Central Americans applying for asylum in Mexico since 2015. Cinthia Perez, a director of Mexico's refugee agency COMAR, said in an interview that she is receiving about 9 percent more applications each month.

EU presses Russia on Syria and Ukraine Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:40 PM PST European Union leaders piled pressure on Russia on Thursday, urging the Kremlin to protect civilians in Syria while taking steps to save a historic cooperation pact with Ukraine and extending sanctions against Moscow. At the final summit of one of the most turbulent years in the EU's six-decade history, the bloc's 28 leaders also discussed preparations for Britain to become the first nation to leave the bloc. EU President Donald Tusk said they had agreed to push Syria, Russia and Iran using "all diplomatic means necessary" to open humanitarian corridors under international supervision for civilians in Aleppo.

White House points finger at Putin over election hack Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:37 PM PST The White House on Thursday pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin's direct involvement in cyber attacks designed to impact the US election, dramatically upping the stakes in a dispute between the world's leading nuclear powers. Publicly accusing Putin puts the White House under even greater pressure to respond forcefully to interference that may have swayed a tight November election between Republican President-elect Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton. Obama will hold a news conference Friday at 2:15 pm (1915 GMT) before leaving for a vacation in Hawaii.

Colombia's president, opposition rival to meet with Pope Francis Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:27 PM PST Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos and right-wing opposition leader Alvaro Uribe will meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday, in a bid to build consensus on a peace deal with the Andean country's Marxist FARC rebels, the government said. Uribe, a former president and current senator, has been the deal's harshest critic, arguing penalties for human rights violations by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels are not stiff enough. "The Vatican proposed this meeting to President Santos and he accepted," Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo told journalists.

Rudy Giuliani meets head of Poland's ruling party in Warsaw Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:26 PM PST WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The head of Poland's governing party says he met with Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who is now a close adviser to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

EU plans possible summit with Turkey in coming months: Tusk Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:17 PM PST The heads of European Union institutions were given a mandate to plan a possible summit meeting with Turkish leaders in the coming months at an EU summit on Thursday, summit chair Donald Tusk told a news conference. "We have a mandate to organize this kind of summit in the next months," Tusk said, adding that no date had been set. The EU would be represented by Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

EPA seeks to fine chemical giant nearly $5M for Hawaii case Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:16 PM PST HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it's seeking nearly $5 million in fines against a unit of the Swiss chemical giant Syngenta for the company's alleged violations of pesticide regulations in Hawaii.

Fijian man found guilty of trying to sell devices to China Posted: 15 Dec 2016 03:06 PM PST SEATTLE (AP) — A jury has found a Fijian man guilty of coming to the U.S. to buy devices used in aircraft, satellites and missiles so he could sell them to China, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act.

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