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TRIPOLI - Explosions and gunfire rocked Tripoli through the night as opponents of Muammar Gaddafi rose up in the capital, declaring a final push to topple the Libyan leader after a six-month war reached the city's outskirts.
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CHENGDU - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday rejected claims that American power is on the wane and told a Chinese audience that his government would never default, near the end of a trip that has stressed interdependence between the world's two biggest economies.
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CAIRO - Egypt said on Saturday it would withdraw its ambassador from Israel, insisting the killing of five Egyptian security personnel while Israeli forces pursued gunmen across the border was a breach of its 1979 peace treaty with the Jewish state.
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AMMAN - Syrian forces fired heavy machineguns at a residential district in the central city of Homs on Saturday after protests against President Bashar al-Assad, who faces growing world isolation for his repression of five months of popular unrest.
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VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass - A vacationing U.S. President Barack Obama accused Congress on Saturday of holding back the U.S. economic recovery by blocking "common sense" measures he said would create jobs and help growth.
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NEW DELHI - At least 20,000 people gathered on Saturday to support an anti-corruption social activist who has galvanized much of India against the government with his hunger strike, amid signs from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of compromise to end the impasse.
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TEHRAN - Two Americans held in Iran for more than two years have been convicted as spies and sentenced to eight years' jail, Iranian TV reported on Saturday, a verdict that will further strain already very poor relations with Washington.
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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived in Russia on Saturday for his first visit in nearly a decade as the isolated state sought economic aid after heavy flooding exacerbated its chronic food shortages.
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ANKARA - Turkish warplanes backed by heavy artillery struck Kurdish guerrilla targets in northern Iraq overnight, the military said on Saturday, a third consecutive night of raids.
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MUMBAI/DUBAI - Somali pirates hijacked a chemical-oil tanker with 21 Indian sailors on board on Saturday from near an Omani port, although the exact location was unconfirmed.
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