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NICOSIA - Cyprus is set to restrict the flow of cash from the island and may curb the use of Cypriot credit cards abroad as it tries to avert a run on its banks after agreeing a tough rescue package with international lenders.
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DOHA - A Syrian opposition bloc recognised by the Arab League as the sole representative for Syria opened its first embassy in Qatar on Wednesday in a diplomatic blow to President Bashar al-Assad.
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SEOUL - Reclusive North Korea is to cut the last channel of communications with the South because war could break out at "any moment", it said on Wednesday, days of after warning the United States and South Korea of nuclear attack.
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WASHINGTON - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday indicated interest in striking down a law that denies federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples.
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CAIRO - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi said on Wednesday parliamentary elections could be delayed until October, a postponement which could give his cash-strapped administration breathing space to negotiate an IMF deal.
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MOSCOW - Russian prosecutors portrayed a dead anti-corruption lawyer as a money-hungry schemer who used mentally disabled people to avoid paying taxes, in a case that has highlighted human rights concerns following Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency.
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LONDON - The euro zone's awkward handling of Cyprus's bailout puts extra pressure on the bloc's downgrade-threatened sovereign ratings and shows policymakers overestimate their ability to contain the crisis, credit agency Moody's said.
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ROME - Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement on Wednesday flatly rejected overtures from centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who is trying to muster the numbers to form a government after last month's deadlocked general election.
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KABUL - Afghanistan is shocked by Pakistan's "complacency" in the nascent Afghan peace process and is ready to work without Islamabad's help on reconciliation, Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin told Reuters on Wednesday.
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NAIROBI - Kenya's Supreme Court hears a petition on Wednesday challenging the victory by Uhuru Kenyatta in this month's presidential election, a case that will test Kenyan democracy five years after a disputed vote ignited tribal violence.
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LONDON - New research has nearly doubled the number of genetic variations implicated in breast, prostate and ovarian cancer, offering fresh avenues for screening at-risk patients and, potentially, developing better drugs.
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