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AMMAN - Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad shot dead at least nine civilians on Sunday in a sweep on the coastal town on Jabla, the Syrian human rights organisation Sawasiah said.
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BENGHAZI, Libya - Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi bombarded Misrata on Sunday, a day after rebels celebrated the pullback of government troops from the western Libyan city, a rebel spokesman said.
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SANAA - Yemen's veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh has struck a defiant tone in an interview, a day after his government said he had accepted a Gulf Arab plan to hand over power within weeks.
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CAIRO - Egypt's public prosecutor ordered on Sunday that ousted President Hosni Mubarak be transferred to a Cairo prison hospital pending a corruption and murder probe after a doctor declared him well enough to travel.
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JUBA, Sudan - At least 55 fighters were killed when south Sudan's army clashed with a rebel militia, a state minister said on Sunday, the latest in a wave of violence across the territory ahead of its independence in July.
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NABLUS - A Palestinian policeman shot dead an Israeli and wounded four others after they entered a holy site in a West Bank city without permission on Sunday, the Israeli military said.
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CASABLANCA, Morocco - Thousands took to the streets of Morocco on Sunday in peaceful demonstrations to demand sweeping reforms and an end to political detention, the third day of mass protests since they began in February.
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PESHAWAR, Pakistan - The main supply route for NATO troops in Afghanistan was temporarily closed on Sunday after thousands of people blocked a key highway in Pakistan to protest against U.S. drone strikes, officials said.
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MOGADISHU - Somalia's U.N.-backed government said on Sunday it planned to postpone elections to next year, saying it had to tackle insecurity first, further deepening its dispute with parliament.
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ROME/PARIS - Italy and France will discuss changing the regulations governing Europe's border-free travel when President Nicolas Sarkozy visits Rome on Tuesday seeking to ease tensions over north African immigration.
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SEOUL - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter goes to North Korea this week to press it to show it is sincere about returning to aid-for-disarmament talks, but the chances of Pyongyang's giving up its nuclear programme appear more remote than ever.
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