Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Strong solar storm heading for Earth
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:40 PM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A strong geomagnetic storm is racing from the Sun toward Earth, and its expected arrival on Thursday could affect power grids, airplane routes and space-based satellite navigation systems, U.S. space weather experts said. The storm, a big cloud of charged particles flung from the Sun at about 4.5 million miles per hour (7.2 million km per hour), was spawned by a pair of solar flares, scientists said. ...
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GM CEO sees European losses continuing for 1-2 years
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:34 PM PST
Reuters -  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - General Motors Co chief executive Dan Akerson said it may be two years before its European division is back in profit as the continent sheds over-capacity the same way the U.S. industry had to over the past half decade. The world's largest automaker has lost money in Europe for the last 12 years. "I think it'll be a good year or two before we can achieve profitability in Europe again," Akerson said at an on-stage interview conducted in San Francisco on Wednesday night. ...
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Bomb kills 4 Thai soldiers in Muslim south
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:20 PM PST
Reuters -  NARATHIWAT, Thailand (Reuters) - Four soldiers were killed and one was critically wounded when insurgents detonated a roadside bomb in Thailand's Muslim south, police said on Thursday. The attack took place late on Wednesday in Narathiwat, one of three mainly Muslim provinces bordering Malaysia, where a shadowy insurgency has claimed more than 5,000 lives since 2004, when a low-level separatist rebellion from the 1970s resurfaced. The soldiers were travelling in two vehicles and had been providing security during a Buddhist festival. ...
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China parliament unveils dissident detention powers
Wed,7 Mar 2012 09:59 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's parliament unveiled legislation on Thursday solidifying police powers to hold dissidents in secret criminal detention, prompting an outcry from artist Ai Weiwei and rights advocates caught in a surge of clandestine detentions last year. Others said, however, the ruling Communist Party had retreated from the most draconian part of new rules for another kind of secretive detention, called "residential surveillance", which were proposed last year. ...
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Justice Department may sue Apple, publishers on e-book pricing: WSJ
Wed,7 Mar 2012 09:44 PM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - The Justice Department has warned Apple and five of the biggest U.S. publishers that it plans to sue them, accusing them of colluding to raise the prices of electronic books, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. Several parties have held talks to settle the potential anti-trust case, the paper cited the people as saying. It added that a successful settlement could lead to cheaper e-books for consumers. However, not all publishers are in settlement discussions, the Journal said. ...
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Senate to tackle highway bill amendments, House struggles
Wed,7 Mar 2012 09:38 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate leaders struck a deal on Wednesday to move forward on stalled transportation legislation that now will include votes on a string of amendments, some controversial and unrelated to highway and transit construction. Majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said the chamber would begin slogging through 30 amendments on Thursday, and could wrap up work on the $109 billion proposal later in the day. ... Full Story | Top |
China cyber capability puts U.S. forces at risk: report
Wed,7 Mar 2012 09:11 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chinese cyberwarfare would pose a "genuine risk" to the U.S. military in a conflict, for instance over Taiwan or disputes in the South China Sea, according to a report prepared for the U.S. Congress. Operations against computer networks have become fundamental to Beijing's military and national development strategies over the past decade, said the 136-page analysis by Northrop Grumman Corp released on Thursday by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. ... Full Story | Top |
Berlin berates Athens for bureaucracy stopping investment: paper
Wed,7 Mar 2012 08:41 PM PST
Reuters -  BERLIN (Reuters) - Athens' failure to accept Germany's help on reducing bureaucracy and boosting private investment is disappointing, German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler was cited as saying by a newspaper on Thursday. Germany pledged last October to advise Greece on cutting red tape and attracting investment to help its economy get back on its feet and have a fighting chance to cope with its debt. The agreement was struck during Roesler's visit to Greece as head of a 70-strong delegation of German industry representatives seeking business in the country. ...
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Australian man pleads guilty over collar-bomb hoax
Wed,7 Mar 2012 08:31 PM PST
Reuters -  SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian man arrested in the United States and accused of clamping a fake bomb around the neck of a Sydney teenager pleaded guilty to the charges on Thursday, in a surprise conclusion to a case that has dominated Australian media. The case sparked an international man-hunt and led to a tense 10 hours for teenager Madeleine Pulver after a man broke into her family's luxury Sydney home last August and strapped what he said was a bomb around her neck, leaving a note demanding money. The collar bomb was later found to be fake. ...
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Syria's deputy oil minister defects from Assad
Wed,7 Mar 2012 08:02 PM PST
Reuters -  AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian Deputy Oil Minister Abdo Hussameldin has announced his defection on YouTube, becoming the first high-ranking civilian official to abandon President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against his rule erupted a year ago. "I Abdo Hussameldin, deputy oil and mineral wealth minister in Syria, announce my defection from the regime, resignation from my position and withdrawal from the Baath Party," Hussameldin said in the video, the authenticity of which could not be immediately confirmed. ...
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Cuba to skip regional summit, averting diplomatic flap
Wed,7 Mar 2012 07:07 PM PST
Reuters - HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba has decided not to attend an upcoming hemispheric summit following talks with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, averting a diplomatic showdown with U.S. leaders who had insisted Cuba not attend, Santos told reporters. Santos flew to the Caribbean island on Wednesday to discuss the summit with Cuban President Raul Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is recovering from cancer surgery. ... Full Story | Top |
Former central bank chief killed in Haiti
Wed,7 Mar 2012 06:29 PM PST
Reuters - PORT-AU-PRINCE/MIAMI (Reuters) - A Haitian banker whose son is cooperating with authorities in a major bribery investigation involving former Haitian government officials has been shot and killed, police said on Wednesday. Venel Joseph was shot on his way home in the capital, Port-au-Prince, late on Tuesday, said police spokesman Gary Desrosiers. Authorities are investigating the circumstances of the shooting, he said. Joseph served as the governor of Haiti's central bank under former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. ... Full Story | Top |
Colombia says Chavez will head home early next week
Wed,7 Mar 2012 05:30 PM PST
Reuters -  CARACAS (Reuters) - - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Wednesday Venezuela's Hugo Chavez will return home next week from Cuba where he is recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. The two presidents were meeting in Havana to discuss a regional summit and bilateral trade. "We found him in good health, happy, in high spirits. He told me his recovery is going well," Santos told reporters as he left the island. "He said we would stay a few more days and he thinks he will return to Venezuela at the beginning of next week. ...
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Syria's deputy oil minister defects: YouTube video
Wed,7 Mar 2012 05:03 PM PST
Reuters - AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian Deputy Oil Minister Abdo Hussameldin announced his defection on Thursday, becoming the highest ranking civilian official to abandon President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against his rule erupted a year ago. "I Abdo Hussameldin, deputy oil and mineral wealth minister in Syria, announce my defection from the regime, resignation from my position and withdrawal from the Baath Party. I join the revolution of this dignified people," Hussameldin said in a YouTube video. The authenticity of the video could not be immediately confirmed. ... Full Story | Top |
EU moves to help free Italian sailors held in India
Wed,7 Mar 2012 05:01 PM PST
Reuters -  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said on Wednesday it was intervening to seek a resolution to the dispute between Italy and India after two Italian marines were detained for allegedly shooting dead two Indian fishermen they believed to be pirates. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, in a phone call to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday, said it is still not clear who actually shot the fishermen, and repeated that India had no jurisdiction over the matter because it occurred in international waters. ...
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Romney camp tells rivals: You can't catch him
Wed,7 Mar 2012 04:53 PM PST
Reuters -  BOSTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's campaign told his Republican presidential rivals on Wednesday they could not catch him and pushed them to quit the race even though he failed to deliver a knockout blow in the biggest round of nominating contests. Romney won six of the 10 "Super Tuesday" states, including a narrow victory in Ohio's marquee match-up, expanding his lead in delegates and solidifying his front-runner status in the race to find the Republican challenger to President Barack Obama in the November 6 election. ...
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Yemen Qaeda-linked group demands prisoner release
Wed,7 Mar 2012 04:52 PM PST
Reuters -  ADEN (Reuters) - An al Qaeda-linked group in Yemen has threatened the lives of 73 government troops it says it has captured, demanding the authorities release its fellow Islamist fighters from jail in exchange for the soldiers' safety. The threat from the Ansar al-Sharia group (Partisans of Islamic Law), whose precise ties to al Qaeda remain unclear, was delivered via a text message sent to Reuters on Wednesday, and followed a fierce fire fight in the south of the country on Sunday between government troops and militants that left at least 110 government troops dead. ...
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Apple lifts lid on 4G iPad, keeps prices
Wed,7 Mar 2012 03:02 PM PST
Reuters -  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc took the wraps off a faster 4G-equipped iPad starting at $629, hoping the latest version of its tablet can safeguard its dominance over rivals ranging from Amazon.com Inc to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Chief Executive Tim Cook, presiding over his second major product launch after debuting with 2011's voice-enabled iPhone 4S, introduced the highly anticipated third iteration of the tablet, which is available for pre-orders from Wednesday and will hit store shelves March 16. ...
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Russia accuses Libya of training Syrian rebels
Wed,7 Mar 2012 02:29 PM PST
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia accused Libya during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday of running a training center for Syrian rebels and arming the fighters in their battle to overthrow the country's President Bashar al-Assad. "We have received information that in Libya, with the support of the authorities, there is a special training center for the Syrian revolutionaries and people are sent to Syria to attack the legal government," Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, told the U.N. Security Council. "This is completely unacceptable ... ... Full Story | Top |
British journalists held in Libya treated well - jailer
Wed,7 Mar 2012 02:22 PM PST
Reuters -  TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Two British journalists held in Libya on suspicion of spying have their own room, access to telephones and are fed meals of chicken and pasta, but they will be kept where they are for several more weeks, the head of the militia holding them said. Nicholas Davies-Jones and Gareth Montgomery-Johnson, who were working for Iran's English-language Press TV, were detained on February 22 by the Swehli brigade, one of the dozens of militias which last year helped force out Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. ...
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Mexican judge seeks to free jailed French woman
Wed,7 Mar 2012 02:20 PM PST
Reuters -  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican Supreme Court judge has proposed freeing a French woman serving a 60-year prison sentence for kidnapping, though his motion needs the backing of at least two others on a five-member panel determining her fate. Judge Arturo Zaldivar said in his motion that Florence Cassez, 37, was denied her rights, not given a fair trial, and that witness statements used to convict her of kidnapping and other crimes in 2008 were unreliable. The case has caused tension between France and Mexico. ...
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Six powers seek unified Iran stance at U.N. meeting
Wed,7 Mar 2012 01:45 PM PST
Reuters - VIENNA (Reuters) - Six world powers that are poised to restart stalled talks with Iran sought on Wednesday to agree a unified stance on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, diplomats at the United Nations' nuclear agency said. The United States and its Western allies - which have led international pressure on Tehran - initially pursued a resolution by the U.N. agency's board of governors to rebuke Iran over what they see as its failure to answer mounting concerns of a disguised bid to develop nuclear arms capability. That includes Iran's refusal, during talks in Tehran this year, to grant ... Full Story | Top |
Syrian district Baba Amr "pretty devastated": U.N. aid chief
Wed,7 Mar 2012 01:44 PM PST
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, who is currently visiting Syria, described the Baba Amr district of the battered city of Homs as devastated by the recent shelling and almost devoid of people, a spokeswoman for Amos' office said on Wednesday. "She (Amos) said that security was obviously an issue, and they heard gunfire while they were there," said Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "The parts of Baba Amr that they saw, she said they were pretty devastated. ... Full Story | Top |
Slovaks set to dump centre-right after graft scandal
Wed,7 Mar 2012 12:43 PM PST
Reuters - BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovakia's centre-right coalition leaders face electoral humiliation on Saturday at the hands of voters angry at a major corruption scandal, returning to power a left-wing, pro-European party that promises to tax the rich. If opinion polls for the parliamentary election are correct, the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) is within a whisker of failing to reach the 5 percent threshold needed to send MPs to parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
Romney camp tells rivals: You can't catch him
Wed,7 Mar 2012 11:32 AM PST
Reuters - BOSTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney's campaign told his Republican presidential rivals on Wednesday they could not catch him and nudged them to quit the race even though he failed to deliver a knockout blow in the biggest round of nominating contests. Romney won six of the 10 "Super Tuesday" states, including a narrow victory in Ohio's marquee match-up, expanding his lead in delegates and solidifying his frontrunner status in the race to find the Republican challenger to President Barack Obama in the November 6 election. ...
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War crimes prosecutor demands 28 years for Serb nationalist
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:26 AM PST
Reuters -  THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The prosecutor of the U.N's Yugoslavia war crimes court demanded on Wednesday a 28-year prison term for a Serbian nationalist leader indicted for murder, persecution and torture of non-Serbs during the 1990s Balkan wars. Vojislav Seselj, a Serbian Radical Party leader, is accused of instigating "murder, extermination, persecution, torture and cruel treatment" of non-Serbs as part of efforts to create a "Greater Serbia" during the break-up of the former Yugoslavia at the end of the Cold War. ...
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U.N. aid chief visits Syria's stricken Baba Amr area
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:15 AM PST
Reuters -  AMMAN (Reuters) - The U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos accompanied a Syrian Arab Red Crescent team on Wednesday into a former rebel-held district of Homs where dissidents have reported bloody reprisals by President Bashar al-Assad's forces. "She went in with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to Baba Amr," an International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman said. The Red Crescent team found that most residents had fled the district, where rebels had resisted a 26-day army siege until March 1, ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said in Geneva. ...
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Six British soldiers killed in Afghan blast
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:15 AM PST
Reuters - LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Six British soldiers were killed when their armored vehicle was hit by an explosion in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, British military officials said on Wednesday, taking the British toll to 404 since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban. The soldiers, five from the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, were on a mounted patrol on Tuesday when their Warrior Armored Fighting Vehicle was struck, the British Ministry of Defense said. ... Full Story | Top |
EU moves to help free Italian sailors held in India
Wed,7 Mar 2012 10:06 AM PST
Reuters - BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said on Wednesday it was intervening to seek a resolution to the dispute between Italy and India after two Italian marines were detained for allegedly shooting dead two Indian fishermen they believed to be pirates. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, in a phone call to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday, said it is still not clear who actually shot the fishermen, and repeated that India had no jurisdiction over the matter because it occurred in international waters. ... Full Story | Top |
Aid workers find Baba Amr empty after UN talks in Damascus
Wed,7 Mar 2012 09:39 AM PST
Reuters - GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos and a convoy from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent were allowed into the devastated Homs district of Baba Amr on Wednesday but found that the majority of civilians had fled, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. Amos, who was denied entry to Syria last week, is in the country on a three-day mission to try to persuade authorities to grant unhindered access for aid workers to deliver life-saving assistance to civilians. ... Full Story | Top |
U.N. aid chief Amos enters Baba Amr with Red Crescent
Wed,7 Mar 2012 08:57 AM PST
Reuters - GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos accompanied the Syrian Arab Red Crescent on Wednesday into the Homs district of Baba Amr, from which most residents had fled, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. "She went in with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to Baba Amr," ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan told Reuters in Geneva. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid convoy found that most residents of the district, where rebels resisted bombardment by government forces for several weeks, had fled. ... Full Story | Top |
Slovaks set to dump centre-right after graft scandal
Wed,7 Mar 2012 08:44 AM PST
Reuters - BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovakia's centre-right coalition leaders face electoral humiliation on Saturday at the hands of voters angry at a major corruption scandal, returning to power a left-wing, pro-European party that promises to tax the rich. If opinion polls for the parliamentary election are correct, the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) is within a whisker of failing to reach the 5 percent threshold needed to send MPs to parliament. ... Full Story | Top |
France says Iran "two-faced", skeptical talks can succeed
Wed,7 Mar 2012 08:42 AM PST
Reuters -  PARIS (Reuters) - France voiced skepticism on Wednesday that a planned revival of talks between six world powers and Iran would succeed, saying Tehran still did not seem sincerely willing to negotiate on the future of its contested nuclear program. The EU's foreign policy chief, who represents the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany in dealings with Iran, said on Tuesday they had accepted Iran's offer to return to talks after a standstill of a year that has seen a drift towards conflict in the oil-rich Gulf. The talks could dampen what U.S. ...
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France says Iran 'two-faced', skeptical talks can succeed
Wed,7 Mar 2012 07:26 AM PST
Reuters - PARIS (Reuters) - France voiced skepticism on Wednesday that a planned revival of talks between six world powers and Iran would succeed, saying Tehran still did not seem sincerely willing to negotiate on the future of its contested nuclear program. The EU's foreign policy chief, who represents the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany in dealings with Iran, said on Tuesday they had accepted Iran's offer to return to talks after a standstill of a year that has seen a drift towards conflict in the oil-rich Gulf. The talks could dampen what U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Yemen Qaeda-linked group demands prisoner release
Wed,7 Mar 2012 06:57 AM PST
Reuters - ADEN (Reuters) - An al Qaeda-linked group in Yemen has threatened the lives of 73 government troops it says it has captured, demanding the authorities release its fellow Islamist fighters from jail in exchange for the soldiers' safety. The threat from the Ansar al-Sharia group (Partisans of Islamic Law), whose precise ties to al Qaeda remain unclear, was delivered via a text message sent to Reuters on Wednesday, and followed a fierce fire fight in the south of the country on Sunday between government troops and militants that left at least 110 government troops dead. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. hands pirate suspects to Seychelles for trial
Wed,7 Mar 2012 06:56 AM PST
Reuters - VICTORIA (Reuters) - The United States has handed over 15 suspected Somali pirates to Seychelles to stand trial, a move the Indian Ocean archipelago says is a clear signal of its determination to fight maritime attacks. Finding a suitable place to try suspected pirates detained by foreign navies patrolling the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean has proved difficult on several occasions, and the gunmen are sometimes released. ... Full Story | Top |
Norway mass killer charged with terrorism
Wed,7 Mar 2012 06:48 AM PST
Reuters -  OSLO (Reuters) - The Norwegian anti-Islam militant whose bomb attack and shooting massacre shocked this small country last summer was charged on Wednesday with terrorism and the premeditated murder of 77 people as officials prepared for a trial to start next month. Prosecutors said they would initially seek a sentence of psychiatric care for the admitted killer but might demand 21 years in prison - Norway's nominal maximum - if an initial diagnosis of psychosis is contradicted by a second opinion. ...
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German outcry over shop name linked to Norway killer
Wed,7 Mar 2012 06:48 AM PST
Reuters - BERLIN (Reuters) - A clothing company popular among neo-Nazis has provoked protests in Germany by calling one of its shops "Brevik," similar to the name of Norwegian mass murderer and anti-immigration militant Anders Behring Breivik. Mediatex apologized on Wednesday for causing offence, saying the shop was named after a Norwegian town and had nothing to do with Breivik who has admitted responsibility for a bomb and gun massacre in Norway in July. ... Full Story | Top |
Gazans seethe over taxes and blackouts
Wed,7 Mar 2012 06:22 AM PST
Reuters -  GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian Islamist group Hamas faces growing discontent in its Gaza stronghold because of renewed tax hikes and the mismanagement of a power crisis that has led to lengthy blackouts across the enclave. Traders who import goods from Israel and the West Bank say Hamas authorities have introduced additional fees beyond the usual tax they collect, putting their businesses at risk and threatening the livelihoods of thousands of workers. Hamas says the increase in levies is meant to protect homegrown products. ...
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UNESCO to rebuke Syria but keep it in rights committee
Wed,7 Mar 2012 05:57 AM PST
Reuters - PARIS (Reuters) - U.N. cultural agency UNESCO is set to condemn Syria at its executive board meeting on Wednesday but fall short of Western and Arab hopes of expelling it from its human rights committee, according to a draft resolution obtained by Reuters. The U.N. Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) executive board, which includes the United States, France and Russia, elected Syria to two panels in November, including one that judges human rights violations. A group of Western and Arab nations had sought the expulsion of Syria from the U.N. ... Full Story | Top |
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