Syria bombards major cities, further undermining truce: activists

---

• Syria bombards major cities, further undermining truce: activists
• Al Qaeda's Zawahri calls for kidnap of Westerners
• Italy's Berlusconi sentenced to jail for tax fraud
• Police disperse east China chemical plant protesters
• Britain says opposed to strike on Iran "at this moment"
• Small fire breaks out near Khartoum arms factory
• Indicted Imam to receive new prosthetics in U.S. jail
• Muslim Rohingyas under "vicious" attack in Myanmar: rights group
• China starts formal criminal probe into politician Bo Xilai
• Ex-Soviet summit postponed amid worries over Putin's health
• FBI tip leads French police to wanted US mogul
• Sandy gone, Caribbean mourns 43 dead, cleans up
• Syria activists report clashes despite cease-fire
• Silvio Berlusconi convicted in Italy of tax fraud
• 6 decades later, probe to solve political murder
• Syrian toddler believed dead reunited with parents
• Kuwait's turmoil brings rare protest partnership
• Egypt activists try to stop holiday sex harassment
• Sandy leaves Bahamas after killing 43 in Caribbean
• Suicide attack kills 41 at Afghan mosque
• In Aleppo, Syria cease-fire was short-lived
• Buying bread and dodging snipers: 7 vignettes of life in war-torn Aleppo
• Good reads: Growth we missed, Berlin's awkward fit, and where kids know best
• Ukraine heads to the polls, with pro-Russian government in lead
• Ahoy Argentina: Crew of boat seized by creditors in Ghana arrives home
• The Eid holiday: What does it celebrate?
• Wanted in Brazil: more English speakers
• Shades of Iraq in Afghanistan? Problems with shoddy contracting work
• Holiday cease-fire in Syria pocked with bullets

Syria bombards major cities, further undermining truce: activists Posted: 27 Oct 2012 01:12 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian opposition activists reported a return to heavy government bombardment in major cities on Saturday, further undermining a truce intended to mark the Muslim Eid al-Adha religious holiday. Activists in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, the suburbs of Damascus and in Aleppo, where rebels hold roughly half of Syria's most populous city, said that mortar bombs were being fired into residential areas on Saturday morning. ...

Al Qaeda's Zawahri calls for kidnap of Westerners Posted: 26 Oct 2012 11:49 PM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has called on Muslims to kidnap Westerners, join Syria's rebellion and ensure Egypt implements sharia, SITE Monitoring reported, citing a two-part film posted on Islamist websites. "We are seeking, by the help of Allah, to capture others and to incite Muslims to capture the citizens of the countries that are fighting Muslims in order to release our captives," he said, praising the kidnapping of Warren Weinstein, a 71-year-old American aid worker in Pakistan last year. ...

Italy's Berlusconi sentenced to jail for tax fraud Posted: 26 Oct 2012 10:46 AM PDT MILAN (Reuters) - Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to four years in jail on Friday for tax fraud in connection with the purchase of broadcasting rights by his Mediaset television company. The 76-year-old billionaire media magnate, who was convicted three times during the 1990s in the first degree before being cleared by higher courts, has the right to appeal the ruling two more times before the sentence becomes definitive. That process is likely to be lengthy and he will not be jailed unless he loses the final appeal. ...

Police disperse east China chemical plant protesters Posted: 27 Oct 2012 12:47 AM PDT NINGBO, China (Reuters) - Police dispersed more than a thousand protesters in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo on Saturday who were demonstrating against plans to expand a petrochemical plant. The protests, which had turned violent on Friday, illustrate a major challenge for the leadership as it readies for its once-in-a-decade power transition, and tries to maintain social stability but also show it is listening to the complaints of ordinary people. Protesters had gathered early on Saturday in a central shopping street in Ningbo. ...

Britain says opposed to strike on Iran "at this moment" Posted: 26 Oct 2012 09:06 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday it was opposed to a military strike on Iran "at this moment" over its disputed nuclear program, arguing sanctions were having an effect and diplomacy should be given time. The comments followed a report by Britain's Guardian newspaper which said Britain had rebuffed U.S. plans to use its bases to support the build-up of troops in the Gulf, due to legal advice warning that a pre-emptive strike would be illegal. The legal advice says Iran currently does not represent a "clear and present threat", according to the Guardian, which cited unnamed sources. ...

Small fire breaks out near Khartoum arms factory Posted: 26 Oct 2012 01:17 PM PDT KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A small fire broke out on Friday near Sudan's biggest arms factory in the capital Khartoum, a witness and state media said, two days after Sudan accused Israel of bombing the site. Sudan, which analysts say is used as an arms-smuggling route to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip via neighboring Egypt, said on Wednesday an Israeli air strike had caused a huge explosion and fire at the plant. Israel has declined to comment. ...

Indicted Imam to receive new prosthetics in U.S. jail Posted: 26 Oct 2012 04:37 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - A radical Islamist cleric facing U.S. terrorism charges will be outfitted with new prosthetics after authorities refused to allow him to wear metal hooks in place of his missing hands when he is outside of his jail cell, his lawyer said on Friday. The Egyptian-born preacher, Abu Hamza al-Masri, who is missing both hands and his right eye, appeared in Manhattan federal court for the third time since his October 6 extradition to the United States from Britain as prosecutors and lawyers discussed procedure with the judge. ...

Muslim Rohingyas under "vicious" attack in Myanmar: rights group Posted: 26 Oct 2012 11:13 PM PDT SITTWE, Myanmar (Reuters) - A human rights group expressed concern for the safety of thousands of Muslims on Saturday after revealing satellite images of a once-thriving coastal community reduced to ashes during a week of violence in western Myanmar. The images released by the New York-based Human Rights Watch show "near total destruction" of a predominantly Rohingya Muslim part of Kyaukpyu, one of several areas in Rakhine state where battles between Rohingyas and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists threaten to derail the former Burma's fragile democratic transition. ...

China starts formal criminal probe into politician Bo Xilai Posted: 26 Oct 2012 09:59 AM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - China moved quickly on Friday to announce it had formally begun a criminal probe into disgraced former senior politician Bo Xilai, hours after expelling him from the largely rubber stamp parliament and so removing his immunity from prosecution. The announcements pave the way for Bo, once a contender for top leadership in the world's second largest economy, to face trial and likely a long jail sentence on accusations of corruption and abuse of power. ...

Ex-Soviet summit postponed amid worries over Putin's health Posted: 26 Oct 2012 10:13 AM PDT MOSCOW/MINSK (Reuters) - A summit of leaders of ex-Soviet states scheduled for the start of November has been postponed, an official said on Friday, amid talk that Russian President Vladimir Putin is suffering from back trouble. The Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a loose group created as the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, said earlier this month the summit was due to take place in Turkmenistan on November 2. "The (new) dates are being confirmed. They are being agreed with all the presidents," said CIS spokeswoman Vera Yakubovskaya. ...

FBI tip leads French police to wanted US mogul Posted: 27 Oct 2012 01:02 AM PDT An FBI tip helped French police track down and arrest an 87-year-old real-estate developer and his wife wanted by U.S. authorities — more than a year after the couple quietly settled near an Alpine lake, French officials said Friday.

Sandy gone, Caribbean mourns 43 dead, cleans up Posted: 26 Oct 2012 10:09 PM PDT Hurricane Sandy is swirling off toward the U.S. East Coast, leaving the Caribbean to mourn the storm-related deaths of at least 43 people and clean up wrecked homes, felled power lines and fallen tree branches.

Syria activists report clashes despite cease-fire Posted: 27 Oct 2012 12:42 AM PDT Activists say Syrian troops have shelled rebel-held areas and clashed with anti-government gunmen in several parts of the country despite an internationally mediated cease-fire.

Silvio Berlusconi convicted in Italy of tax fraud Posted: 26 Oct 2012 12:45 PM PDT Just two days after announcing he won't run in spring elections, former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to four years in prison Friday in a verdict that could see him barred from public office for five years.

6 decades later, probe to solve political murder Posted: 27 Oct 2012 12:07 AM PDT The story goes that when Prince Baudouin took the oath to succeed his father after years of tumult over the monarchy, Communist leader Julien Lahaut shouted from the crowd: "Long Live the Republic!"

Syrian toddler believed dead reunited with parents Posted: 26 Oct 2012 07:35 PM PDT No one knows how long little Bushr Al Tawashi wandered alone in the rubble of his home in the Syrian capital before rebel fighters found the toddler and handed him over to another family to look after.

Kuwait's turmoil brings rare protest partnership Posted: 27 Oct 2012 12:05 AM PDT For Kuwait's embattled rulers, clashes earlier this week with anti-government protesters were more than just a sign tensions may be mounting. The crowds themselves showed the widening nature of the Gulf nation's political crisis: Stirrings of a rare alliance of convenience between liberals and Islamists against Kuwait's Western-backed leadership.

Egypt activists try to stop holiday sex harassment Posted: 26 Oct 2012 01:14 PM PDT A group of Egyptian men had a mission for this year's Eid al-Adha, Islam's biggest holiday, which began Friday. They wanted to make some effort to stop sexual harassment of women, which in past years has spiked in Cairo during the holiday celebrations with the crowds of rowdy men in the streets.

Sandy leaves Bahamas after killing 43 in Caribbean Posted: 26 Oct 2012 08:30 PM PDT Hurricane Sandy spun away from the Bahamas late Friday after causing 43 deaths across the Caribbean, churning northward toward the U.S. East Coast, where it threatens to join with winter weather fronts to create a super storm.

Suicide attack kills 41 at Afghan mosque Posted: 26 Oct 2012 09:36 AM PDT A suicide bomber detonated explosives outside a mosque packed with senior regional officials in northern Afghanistan on a major Muslim holiday Friday, killing 41 people. The officials escaped unhurt, and many of the dead were soldiers and police.

In Aleppo, Syria cease-fire was short-lived Posted: 26 Oct 2012 12:25 PM PDT Regime and rebel forces engaged in clashes in Syria's largest city today, breaking a cease-fire agreement only hours after it got underway.

Buying bread and dodging snipers: 7 vignettes of life in war-torn Aleppo Posted: 26 Oct 2012 11:05 AM PDT As rebels and the Syrian government battle for control of Aleppo, residents tap caution – and dark humor – to survive.

Good reads: Growth we missed, Berlin's awkward fit, and where kids know best Posted: 26 Oct 2012 09:46 AM PDT Some five years after the dawn of the Great Recession, the global economic landscape is still sorting itself out. In a casual survey of the world horizon, Foreign Policy magazine takes stock of winners so far.

Ukraine heads to the polls, with pro-Russian government in lead Posted: 26 Oct 2012 10:17 AM PDT Ukrainians will vote a new parliament Sunday, in the first elections since President Viktor Yanukovych took sweeping steps to realign the country with Moscow, downgrade the State Rada, or parliament, consolidate power in the hands of the president, and introduce radical changes to the way parliamentarians are elected.

Ahoy Argentina: Crew of boat seized by creditors in Ghana arrives home Posted: 26 Oct 2012 10:01 AM PDT One would have expected crew members of the Libertad, an Argentine ship impounded in Ghana for the past three weeks, to be delighted to return home following its government-ordered evacuation.

The Eid holiday: What does it celebrate? Posted: 26 Oct 2012 09:35 AM PDT The Syrian cease-fire pegged to the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha has put the annual observance in the spotlight, bringing it to non-Muslims attention for reasons that have nothing to do with the holiday. But the "Feast of the Sacrifice" is one of the most important holidays on the Muslim calendar, actually trumping the better known festival holiday Eid al-Fitr in importance.

Wanted in Brazil: more English speakers Posted: 26 Oct 2012 08:52 AM PDT Each day a group of seven comes to this small classroom in downtown Rio de Janeiro on lunch break. The energetic young teacher, Natália Correa, runs a drill of simple English sentences by snapping her fingers and clapping her hands to keep up a fast call-and-response beat.

Shades of Iraq in Afghanistan? Problems with shoddy contracting work Posted: 26 Oct 2012 06:13 AM PDT SIGAR, the US government body assigned to audit and oversee US spending on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, has released the latest in a series of reports detailing contractor failings with minimal accountability in Afghanistan.

Holiday cease-fire in Syria pocked with bullets Posted: 26 Oct 2012 06:06 AM PDT • A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

You are subscribed to email updates from World News Headlines - Yahoo! News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610