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Italy’s New PM Rushes to Launch Radical Reforms to Save Italy

Prime Minister Mario Monti, who has won overwhelming support from the Senate, rushed to firm up ambitious proposals to revitalize the economy Friday as Italy's lower house prepared to vote.

The premier is unlikely to meet opposition in the second confidence vote on his new technocrat government after unveiling a series of bold measures to lift Rome out of the eurozone crisis and to win Europe's support.

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Tens of Thousands Stage Anti-Military Rally in Cairo

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday for a mass rally aimed at pushing Egypt's military rulers to cede power 10 months after an uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak.

As general elections draw near -- the first polls since Mubarak was ousted in February -- protesters are demanding more control over the constitution the new parliament is set to draft and a shift to civilian rule.

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China, U.S. Set to Clash over Maritime Dispute

President Barack Obama on Friday hailed the East Asia Summit as the top forum for tackling the region's seething maritime row with China, setting a course for confrontation with Beijing.

The Chinese government has testily declared the South China Sea dispute off-limits at Saturday's talks, to be attended by Obama, China's Premier Wen Jiabao, and 16 other nations including several with claims over the waterway.

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France Says Time has Come to Increase Sanctions against Syria

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Friday that the "time has come to increase sanctions" against the Syrian regime.

"The situation is no longer sustainable," and "the ongoing repression is unacceptable," Juppe told reporters during a visit to Ankara.

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Bomb Kills Four Afghan Children

Four Afghan children were killed on Friday when a bomb exploded as they played near their home in the warring country's troubled east, which borders Pakistan, officials said.

The blast in Nangarhar province is the latest reminder of the high death toll suffered by civilians in the current war since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban from power.

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Analysis: Risk of Civil War Looms in Syria

The risk of civil war looms large over Syria as army defectors increasingly take aim at regime forces and diplomacy fails to resolve the escalating crisis, experts say.

"We are moving down that track and the longer the international community and the Arab League delay (action), the sooner we will be there," said Salman Shaikh, head of the Brookings Doha Center.

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Syria Forces Kill 20, Including 4 Children, in Friday Protests

Syrian security forces on Friday shot dead 20 civilians, including four children, in the regions of Hama, Daraa, Homs and Reef Damascus, the Local Coordination Committees said, on the eve of an Arab League deadline for Syria to stop its lethal crackdown on protesters and as Turkey warned of the risk of civil war.

The latest bloodletting came as thousands of protesters took to the streets in defiance of massive security deployments to urge nations to expel Syrian ambassadors, activists said.

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Obama Sends Clinton to Myanmar to Probe Reforms

President Barack Obama said Friday he would send Hillary Clinton on the first trip to Myanmar by a U.S. secretary of state for 50 years to see if Washington can "empower" a nascent reform process.

Obama said in Indonesia that he made the decision after speaking directly for the first time with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and noted "flickers of progress" from the Myanmar government but said that more needed to be done.

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EU Powers Seek U.N. Action against Syria Amid Arab Support

European nations said Thursday they have key Arab support for a U.N. resolution condemning human rights abuses by the Syrian government.

Diplomats from Germany, France and Britain tabled the resolution at the U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee on Thursday for a vote expected next Tuesday, officials said.

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21-Year-Old Charged With Trying to Assassinate Obama

A 21-year-old Hispanic man arrested after shots were fired near the White House was charged Thursday with attempting to assassinate President Barack Obama, a justice department official said.

Oscar Ortega-Hernandez was arrested by Pennsylvania state police on Wednesday following last week's shooting incident. Obama and his wife Michelle were in California at the time of the incident, and no one was injured.

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