TOP STORIES
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AMMAN – Troops seized eastern suburbs of Damascus from rebels, opposition activists said, after two days of fighting only a few kilometres from the centre of power of President Bashar al-Assad.
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BRUSSELS – EU leaders will sign off on a permanent rescue fund for the euro zone at a summit on Monday and are expected to agree on a balanced budget rule in national legislation, with unresolved problems in Greece casting a shadow on the discussions.
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TEHRAN – Iran sent conflicting signals in a dispute with the West over its nuclear ambitions, vowing to stop oil exports soon to some countries but postponing a parliamentary debate on a proposed halt to crude sales tothe European Union.
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CAIRO – Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby headed to New York hoping to win support from the U.N. Security Council for a plan to end violence in Syria that calls on President Bashar al-Assad to step aside.
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BEIJING – China’s Premier Wen Jiabao said the nation’s government debt was at an “overall safe and controllable” level, that funding for key projects would be ensured and that applying the brakes to the problem would be done in a way toavoid systemic risks.
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OAKLAND, Calif. – Crews cleaned up Oakland’s historic City Hall from damage inflicted overnight during violent anti-Wall Street protests that resulted in about 400 arrests, marking one of the largest massarrests since nationwide protests began last year.
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CAIRO – Polls opened in an election for Egypt’s upper house of parliament, with Islamists seeking to repeat the success they enjoyed in elections for the lower house.
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DAWEI, Myanmar – Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called for changes to the military-drafted constitution, on her first political trip since ending a boycott of the country’s political system last year and announcing plans to run for parliament.
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BAGHDAD – Iraq’s Sunni-backed Iraqiya political bloc said it would end a boycott of parliament, easing the worst political crisis in Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s power-sharing government in a year.
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AMMAN – Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal made his first official visit to Jordan since the kingdom expelled him more than a decade ago and held talks with King Abdullah.
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HIALEAH – Republican Newt Gingrich struggled to haltsurging rival Mitt Romney’s momentum, accusing him of launching false attacks as polls showed Romney widening his lead two days before Florida’s presidential primary.
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JUBA/ADDIS ABABA – South Sudan has totally shut down oil outputin a row with Sudan over export transit fees and will only restart after the two reach a deal covering border security and the disputed Abyei region, its oil minister said.
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SYDNEY – An army officer who led a military revolt aimed at reinstating Papua New Guinea’s ousted prime minister appeared in court on mutiny charges, police said.
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