ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party has scored a resounding third consecutive election victory, but he will need to seek consensus to push ahead with a planned new constitution.
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AMMAN - Tanks and helicopters stormed the northwest Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour on Sunday, residents said, and state television said troops had taken full control and chased out remnants of "armed terrorist organisations".
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BENGHAZI/ZAWIYAH, Libya - Rebels fighting against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi say they were repulsed by his forces in a battle to retake the eastern oil town of Brega, suffering at least four dead.
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JAKARTA/CAIRO - French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde stretched her lead in the race for the IMF's top job on Sunday when Indonesia became the first big developing economy to back her publicly.
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WASHINGTON/LONDON - A major cyber attack on the IMF aimed to steal sensitive insider information, a cyber security expert said on Sunday, as the race to lead the body which oversees global financial system heated up.
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ADDIS ABABA/KHARTOUM - Sudan's president agreed to pull northern troops out of the disputed Abyei border region before the south secedes on July 9, diplomats said on Sunday, signalling possible progress in talks before the split.
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SANAA - Talks to resolve Yemen's political crisis have failed after the deputy to wounded President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to speak with groups demanding he cede power immediately, opposition figures said.
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TEHRAN - Iran's opposition website Sahamnews said security forces attacked pro-reform demonstrators gathering in Tehran on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the 2009 disputed presidential election.
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MANILA - A buoy, posts and building materials on an inhabited outcrop sound unremarkable, but they mark an escalation of a dispute over one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, resource wealth, and how Southeast Asia manages China's rise as a regional power.
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ROME - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, still stinging from heavy local election losses last month, risked another setback on Monday at the end of two days of voting on four Italian referendums.
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NEW DELHI - Three quarters of leading Indian companies have lost faith in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's second-term government, saying a governance crisis ranging from corruption scams to policy limbo will hit economic growth and their investment plans.
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CAIRO - Egypt arrested an Israeli man on Sunday suspected of spying and recruiting agents to destabilise Egypt and sow strife after President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down on Feb. 11, the prosecutor and judicial sources said.
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