Yahoo! Buzz: Top World Stories

China rattled by aftershocks of 7.9 quake

Sat, 17 May 2008 00:16:41 PDT

YINGXIU, China - A powerful aftershock knocked out roads and communications in some of the most earthquake-ravaged parts of central China yesterday as emergency crews rescued more than 30 people who had survived up to 100 hours trapped in the ruins.

In Myanmar, the official death toll from cyclone rises to nearly 78,000

Sat, 17 May 2008 00:02:00 PDT

The official death toll nearly doubled to 78,000 from Myanmar's killer cyclone as heavy rains on Friday lashed much of the area stricken two weeks ago, further hampering relief efforts.

Obama, McCain grow closer on Iraq as election nears

Sat, 17 May 2008 03:57:15 PDT

AFP - After starting out with radically opposing views, White House hopefuls Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama appear to be moving closer together on Iraq as the election draws nearer.

The New Middle East

Sat, 17 May 2008 01:45:48 PDT

Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon dominate the bad news headlines from our region, but a new Middle East is quietly taking shape in the Gulf, in places like Qatar, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. That's the theme of a special report in the magazine this week. In reporting for the project over the last six months, I spent some time with two extraordinary women whose work and views exemplify important, positive changes that are taking place. One of them is Sheika Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned, wife of the Emir of Qatar, and chairperson of the private Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. The other is Yasemin Saib, a 34-year-old Saudi woman, who runs her own film production company in Dubai. Please read the articles but I'll attach here some pictures and quotes to give you an idea of what we're talking about. Sheika Mozah, with her husband, Qatar's Emir / TOM STODDART / REPORTAGE/GETTY "The gender gap is not due to Islam. In the golden age of Islam, women were participating in every aspect of their societies. Look at the men. They are also oppressed. This is the problem: politics, the political agendas that some people are using to suppress their citizens, and traditions that existed even before Islam. Those traditions can play to the interests of some politicians." --Sheika Mozah Yasemin Saib, on her Harley in Dubai / BALAZS GARDI / VII "I love fasting during Ramadan, I love praying in the mosque, I love being part of a Muslim community. In Dubai, I can be an Arab and a Muslim. And I can also have all the Western amenities, all the freedoms I need to be an independent, self-sufficient woman." --Yasemin Saib --By Scott MacLeod/Cairo

Lebanese leaders aim to end political crisis

Sat, 17 May 2008 02:56:44 PDT

AP - Leaders of Lebanon's U.S.-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition met behind closed doors in Qatar on Saturday for the highest-level talks so far in the country's 18-month-long political crisis, which turned violent a week ago.

Latin America-Europe summit pledges to fight poverty, food prices

Fri, 16 May 2008 23:28:07 PDT

European and Latin American leaders have pledged to fight poverty, global warming and high food prices, presenting a show of ...

Taliban Release Pakistani Envoy

Sat, 17 May 2008 01:57:44 PDT

Suspected Taliban militants have released Pakistan’s envoy to Afghanistan more than three months after he was kidnapped in Pakistan’s Khyber tribal region.

The Bin Latest anti-Israel rant

Fri, 16 May 2008 23:34:00 PDT

Osama Bin Laden issued his third audio speech of the year yesterday, this time ridiculing Israel's 60th anniversary. He has long claimed that the plight of Palestinians motivates his followers.

Industry groups giving less to McCain

Sat, 17 May 2008 00:01:44 PDT

WASHINGTON - Some of the industries that bankrolled President Bush's record-setting 2004 campaign fund-raising are giving little to the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain.

Foes to fight gay marriage

Sat, 17 May 2008 00:16:41 PDT

SAN FRANCISCO - Even as same-sex couples across California make plans to tie the knot, foes of gay marriage are redoubling efforts to make sure those wedding bells never ring.

Pentagon ready to construct huge prison in Afghanistan

Fri, 16 May 2008 22:30:00 PDT

The Pentagon is proceeding with plans to build a new, 40-acre detention complex on the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan, officials said, in a stark acknowledgment that the U.S. is likely to continue to hold prisoners overseas for years to come.

Report: 6 Kurdish rebels killed in Turkey

Sat, 17 May 2008 02:59:25 PDT

AP - Turkey's state-run news agency says six Kurdish rebels have been killed in a clash with soldiers in eastern Turkey.

Marine must serve 4 years for assaulting girl in Japan

Fri, 16 May 2008 22:30:00 PDT

A U.S. court-martial sentenced a Marine to four years in prison Friday for sexually abusing a 14-year-old Japanese girl in February, ending a case that had deepened anger over the American military presence in Japan.

Burma's Propaganda Machine

Fri, 16 May 2008 22:15:00 PDT

The junta is trying to mask the tragic inefficiency of the aid efforts even as the population grows increasingly desperate

Islamist fighters seize town in Somalia

Sat, 17 May 2008 00:24:28 PDT

Islamist fighters in Somalia have seized a town that is a major agricultural center, forcing hundreds of refugees to flee, a ...