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AMMAN - Syrian security forces shot dead at least 30 demonstrators on Friday during protests that broke out across the country in defiance of a military crackdown which has killed hundreds of people, a rights activist said.
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WASHINGTON - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly told President Barack Obama on Friday his vision of how to achieve Middle East peace was unrealistic, exposing a deep divide that could doom any U.S. bid to revive peace talks.
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NEW YORK/WASHINGTON - Fallen IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn left jail on bail on Friday and was whisked to a safe house off Wall Street where he will be held under round-the-clock armed guard.
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TRIPOLI/BRUSSELS - NATO's bombing campaign in Libya has crippled the government's ability to attack rebels fighting to topple Muammar Gaddafi and effectively forced the leader into hiding, the alliance said on Friday.
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SANAA - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has agreed to sign a Gulf-brokered power transition, called on Friday for early elections to prevent bloodshed as three months of protests raged on in the fractious country.
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PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistan's Taliban said on Friday it had attacked a U.S. consulate convoy in the volatile northwestern city of Peshawar, the latest assault in a surge of violence since U.S. forces killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden this month.
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MADRID - Tens of thousands of Spaniards angry over unemployment protested for a sixth day on Friday, ahead of Sunday's local elections in which the ruling Socialists are expected to suffer heavy losses.
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NEW DELHI - An Indian court sent the daughter of a key government ally on Friday to jail pending trial on charges she handled a ${esc.dollar}47 million bribe in the country's biggest corruption case.
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BEIJING - China has agreed to speed up the delivery of 50 fighter jets to Pakistan, a Pakistani government minister confirmed on Friday, as Islamabad tries to deepen ties with Beijing as an alternative to increasingly fragile relations with the United States.
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JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's ANC was poised to sweep to victory in local elections but gains by the main opposition DA indicate growing anger at the ruling party, which has been in power since apartheid ended 17 years ago.
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SEOUL - North Korea's iron ruler Kim Jong-il made a surprise visit to China on Friday, South Korean media reported, amid a series of confusing reports about who was involved and the purpose of the trip.
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PARIS/CHICAGO - Drought from Paris, France to Paris, Texas has farmers and grain dealers looking upwards. The farmers are looking to the skies for rain and the dealers are wondering where rising grain prices are going to stop.
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