World News Headlines - Yahoo! News

1. Serb rightist wins presidency, backs EU path
   BELGRADE (Reuters) - Opposition leader Tomislav Nikolic, a former ultranationalist last in power when Serbia was bombed by NATO in 1999, declared victory in a presidential run-off on Sunday and pledged to keep the Balkan country moving towards the European Union. Based on an unofficial projection, Nikolic narrowly beat liberal incumbent Boris Tadic, who quickly conceded defeat after eight years as president. ...
2. NATO seeks unity on Afghan war despite French exit plan

   CHICAGO (Reuters) - NATO leaders charting a path out of Afghanistan sought on Sunday to dispel fears of a rush for the exits in the unpopular war even as France's new president vowed to stick by his pledge to withdraw French troops by year's end. President Barack Obama, who once called the Afghan conflict a "war of necessity" but is now looking for an orderly way out, hosted the NATO summit in his home town, Chicago, a day after major industrialized nations tackled a European debt crisis that threatens the global economy. ...

   
   
3. Putin to dominate new Russian government

   WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will unveil a government dominated by loyalists on Monday, leaving Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev limited scope to pursue his reform agenda and entrenching the Kremlin's grip over the economy's commanding heights. Medvedev, 46, named premier after Putin returned to the Kremlin on May 7, has pledged to launch pro-growth policies and a privatization drive to wean Russia's $1.7 billion economy off its dependence on oil. ...

   
   
4. Alleged perpetrator of mass beheadings in Mexico arrested
   MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican soldiers have arrested an alleged perpetrator of the massacre of 49 people whose corpses were decapitated, dismembered and dumped on a highway last week. Daniel Elizondo, alias "The Madman," a leader of the Zetas drug cartel, was detained in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, a spokesman for the army said Sunday. Elizondo headed the Zetas trafficking operations in Cadereyta, an industrial town on the outskirts of Monterrey, close to where the bodies were dumped, the official said. ...
5. Palestinian rivals set timetable for unity deal
   Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah agreed on Sunday on a new timetable for a power-sharing deal that envisions elections in about six months, officials from both sides said.
6. Profiles of Egypt's main presidential candidates

   Profiles of Egypt's main presidential candidates:

   
   
7. Explosion near U.N. ceasefire monitor chief's convoy: Reuters witness

   DOUMA, Syria (Reuters) - A roadside bomb exploded on Sunday about 150 meters (yards) from a United Nations convoy carrying the head of a Syria ceasefire monitoring mission and a senior U.N. official in the town of Douma, a Reuters witness said. Major General Robert Mood's car was stopped at an army checkpoint when the bomb detonated in an nearby alleyway and the convoy left, the Reuters journalist said, adding that there were no reports of casualties. United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous, who is visiting Syria, was also part of the convoy. ...

   
   
8. U.N. nuclear chief hopeful on Iran deal before Baghdad meet

   VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear supervisor flew to Tehran on Sunday voicing optimism he could reach a deal to investigate suspected atom bomb research - a possible breakthrough that Iran may hope could help ease Western sanctions pressure and deflect threats of war. "I really think this is the right time to reach agreement. Nothing is certain but I stay positive," Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said at Vienna airport, adding "good progress" had already been made. ...

   
   
9. Bomb explodes during UN visit in Syria

   A roadside bomb exploded in a restive suburb of the Syrian capital as senior U.N. officials toured the area on Sunday, the latest incident in which the unarmed observer mission has nearly been caught up in the country's bloodshed.

   
   
10. Former Yemen president hospitalized
    The party of Yemen's former president says the 69-year old Ali Abdullah Saleh has been admitted to a hospital for regular checkups and minor procedures.
11. Russia says West still considering military action on Iran

    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's deputy foreign minister said on Sunday that military action against Iran over its nuclear program was being considered in some Western countries. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was speaking to reporters on a plane on his way back from the G8 summit in Camp David, where the G8 leaders signaled their readiness to tap into emergency oil stockpiles quickly this summer if tougher new sanctions on Iran threatened to strain supplies. ...

    
    
12. Pakistan blocks Twitter over contentious tweets
    Pakistan blocked the social networking website Twitter for much of Sunday because it refused to remove tweets considered offensive to Islam, said one of the country's top telecommunications officials.
13. Lockerbie bomber Megrahi has died in Libya: brother

    TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the 1988 bombing of a PanAm flight over Lockerbie, died of cancer on Sunday aged 60, leaving many questions on the attack and its aftermath unanswered. Megrahi, who said he was not responsible for bringing the jumbo jet down on the Scottish town and killing 270 people, was found guilty in 2001 but was freed in 2009 and returned to Libya because he had terminal cancer and was not expected to live long. ...

    
    
14. Italy quake kills six, damages historic buildings

    SANT' AGOSTINO, Italy (Reuters) - A strong earthquake in northern Italy killed at least six people, injured dozens and damaged historic buildings including a famed mediaeval castle early on Sunday, waking terrified citizens and sending thousands running into the streets. The quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey recorded at magnitude 6.0, struck at 4:04 a.m. (0204 GMT) and was followed by a series of jolting aftershocks. At least two of them reached magnitude 5.1, sowing fresh panic, further damaging already weakened buildings and causing more structures to collapse. ...

    
    
15. Lawyer: Jailed Bahrain activist granted bail
    A court in Bahrain granted bail Sunday for a jailed rights activist, but he remained in detention to await another court hearing later this week, a defense lawyer said.
16. Former Israeli PM: Jerusalem must be partitioned

    Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday urged Israeli leaders to relinquish the idea of a unified Jerusalem if they truly want peace, contending in a pair of interviews that years of government neglect have kept the Jewish and Arab sectors irreparably divided.

    
    
17. Strong quake kills 4 in Italy cheese region

    A magnitude-6.0 earthquake shook several small towns in northeast Italy Sunday, killing four people, knocking down a clock tower and other centuries-old buildings and causing millions in losses to the region known for making Parmesan cheese.

    
    
18. Lone bomber, not mafia, sought for Italy school attack
    BRINDISI (Reuters) - A bomb attack which killed a teenage girl and wounded 10 other people in the southern Italian town of Brindisi was probably done by an individual operating alone, a senior official said on Sunday, playing down initial suspicions of mafia involvement. Saturday's attack on the Francesca Morvillo Falcone school, a vocational training institute named after the wife of a famed anti-mafia judge, horrified Italy and sparked speculation it was the work of southern Italy's organized crime gangs. ...
19. Jailed Israeli president freed briefly
    A prison spokeswoman says Israel's jailed former president has been freed for a few hours to attend his son's wedding.
20. Greeks' crisis is personal as well as political
    Like many Greeks left unemployed by their country's economic tailspin, Dimitris Spachos finds it easier to talk about his nation's problems than his own.