Reuters: World News

Palestinian vote, Abbas threat might be a bluff

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:50:39 -0500

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Voter registration for a Palestinian election failed to get under way as scheduled on Tuesday, adding to signs that President Mahmoud Abbas might be bluffing about a make-or-break vote in January.

Two Koreas in brief naval clash, vessels hit

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:35:30 -0500

SEOUL (Reuters) - Navies from the rival Koreas exchanged gunfire for the first time in seven years on Tuesday, damaging vessels on both sides and raising tension just days before U.S. President Barack Obama travels to Asia.

Pakistani Taliban vow tough guerrilla war

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:26:30 -0500

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani Taliban militants vowed to fight a tough, protracted guerrilla war against the army on Tuesday as a suicide car-bomber killed up to 20 people in a northwestern town, police said.

Saudi warns Yemeni rebels to retreat from border

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:08:54 -0500

SANAA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it would continue its offensive against Yemeni rebels unless they retreated well away from its borders, after insurgents said they had seized more territory near the world's largest oil exporter.

Lethal Kalashnikov designer is now Russia's hero

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:02:03 -0500

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The designer of the Kalashnikov, sometimes called the world's most lethal weapon, was named a "Hero of Russia" on Tuesday by President Dmitry Medvedev who lauded him for creating "the brand every Russian is proud of."

U.S. says Iran shipped arms to Lebanese fighters

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:30:00 -0500

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States accused Iran in the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday of illicit arms deliveries to Lebanese guerrillas, endorsing charges by Israel after it seized a ship in the Mediterranean last week.

Britain offers land to help Cyprus talks, U.N. says

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:08:35 -0500

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Britain has offered to hand over almost half of its sovereign territory in Cyprus to facilitate a peace deal between the island's estranged Greek and Turkish Cypriots, the United Nations said Tuesday.

Prosecutors start grilling Taylor at U.N. trial

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:41:48 -0500

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Prosecutors challenged former Liberian President Charles Taylor over the circumstances of his departure from power as they opened their cross-examination on Tuesday at the first war crimes trial of an African leader.

Russia's Medvedev replaces Yeltsin-era governor

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:57:52 -0500

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Tuesday replaced the veteran governor of a Urals mountains region, one of the last of a generation of powerful regional heads who held sway before a return to centralized Kremlin rule.

Surprising rebel attack kills 9 Colombian soldiers

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:36:23 -0500

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Nine Colombian soldiers were killed when their post was attacked by Marxist FARC guerrillas in a southwestern part of the country used as a cocaine smuggling corridor by the rebels, officials said on Tuesday.