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AMMAN - The United States and European Union called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down on Thursday and U.S. President Barack Obama accused him of "torturing and slaughtering" his own people in what U.N. officials said could be crimes against humanity.
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JERUSALEM - Gunmen killed seven people in southern Israel on Thursday in attacks along the Egyptian border and Israel responded with an air strike in the Gaza Strip that killed six Palestinians, including the leaders of a group it blamed for the violence.
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ZAWIYAH, Libya - Libyan rebels seized an oil refinery in the city of Zawiyah and took control of Sabratha further west on the main highway from Tripoli to Tunisia as NATO aircraft struck targets in the capital.
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NEW DELHI - India's beleaguered government caved in to popular fury over corruption on Thursday after thousands protested across the country, granting permission for a self-styled Gandhian crusader to stage a 15-day hunger strike in public.
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ISTANBUL - Turkey launched a second night of air strikes on Kurdish guerrilla targets in northern Iraq late on Thursday, as Ankara responded to a surge in activity by PKK separatists with its first military operation in the region for more than a year.
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BRASILIA - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff reached out to political allies on Thursday to stem a growing rebellion within her coalition after the resignation of a fourth minister pushed the government deeper into crisis.
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BEIJING - China and the United States share a responsibility for boosting global market confidence and the American economy remains fundamentally sound, the Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping told U.S. Vice President Joe Biden who is on a trust-building visit.
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BEIJING - A former Chinese official's manifesto for a new burst of reform mixing Mao, markets and guarded political relaxation has opened a rare window into ideas shaping the country's next generation of ?princeling" leaders.
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PORTSMOUTH - White House hopeful Rick Perry has hit New Hampshire hard since kicking off his bid for the Republican nomination, but the tough-talking Texan will struggle to win support in this early-voting state.
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CARACAS - Venezuela's surprise move to bring home its international bullion reserves from Western banks shines a spotlight on the country's heavy reliance on gold, and the risks it runs if prices were to fall.
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NEW YORK - News Corp's senior management is starting to think about what the company might do if James Murdoch stepped aside, sources inside and close to the global media empire said.
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HERAT, Afghanistan - A roadside blast killed 20 people and wounded at least 12 travelling in two minibuses in the western Afghan province of Herat on Thursday, provincial authorities said.
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KARACHI - A fresh wave of violence gripped Pakistan's commercial hub of Karachi on Thursday, with officials saying at least 39 people had been killed over two days in gang wars and political disputes, some after being tortured.
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