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Israeli Forces Raid Offices of West Bank NGOs

Israeli forces raided the offices of three Palestinian non-government organizations overnight, confiscating computers and other material, one of the groups said on Tuesday.

"At 3:00 am this morning, 11 December 2012, the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights office was raided by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)," the Addameer group said on its website.

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NGO: Syria Rebels Attack Military School North of Aleppo

Fierce clashes raged between Syrian troops and rebels around a major infantry academy at the northern entrance of Aleppo, as insurgents attempted to storm the school compound on Tuesday, a watchdog said.

The sprawling military school, located close to the town of Muslimiyeh near the Hanadarat Palestinian refugee camp, houses approximately 3,000 soldiers, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

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Egypt Army Calls for Talks as Rival Protests Throng Cairo

Egypt's powerful army called for President Mohamed Morsi and the secular opposition to meet to resolve a deepening crisis over a constitutional referendum that sparked rival mass protests on Tuesday.

General Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, the country's armed forces chief and defense minister, made the appeal "for the sake of Egypt" for all political groups and movements to meet on Wednesday at a Cairo military sports complex, according to a statement posted on the military's official Facebook page.

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Yemeni Offensive on Qaida Kills 24

A major offensive launched by Yemeni army against al-Qaida following the assassination of a top officer has killed at least 24 people, including 17 soldiers, a military official said.

"Troops backed by air forces launched a wide operation in the region of Wadi Abida," targeting al-Qaida hideouts, a military official said on condition of anonymity.

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Lieberman: EU's Jewish Policy 'Like 1930s'

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman criticized Europe on Tuesday, saying its treatment of the Jewish state was comparable to policies during the Holocaust.

Lieberman said Europe had turned a blind eye to a speech by Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal this week, in which he said the Palestinians would not "cede an inch" of historic Palestine, which includes much of modern Israel.

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Algerian President Urges 'Dynamic' Ties with France

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika told Agence France Presse in an exclusive interview that Algeria wants "strong and dynamic" relations with France, ahead of a visit to Algiers by French President Francois Hollande.

Algeria "favors a strong and dynamic relationship with France, based on the depth of links and the many interests which unite our two countries," Bouteflika said in a written reply to questions from AFP.

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U.S. to Declare Syrian Jihadists a 'Terrorist' Group

The United States will declare the Al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group battling to overthrow Syria's President Bashar Assad, a "foreign terrorist organization," documents showed Tuesday.

The State Department has not formally announced the move to blacklist the group, but posted the declaration in the Federal Register, in a document that described the Al-Nusra Front as an alias of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

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Clinton Cancels Morocco Trip Due to Illness

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has canceled a planned trip to Morocco due to a stomach virus, her office said Monday.

"Since she's still under the weather, we'll be staying put this week instead of heading to North Africa and the Middle East as originally planned," said Philippe Reines, a Clinton aide.

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EU Edges Closer to Syrian Opposition

The European Union edged closer Monday to the newly-formed Syrian opposition, welcoming its leader and deeming his group to be "legitimate representatives" of the Syrian people.

EU foreign ministers said they had welcomed the opportunity to meet Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib for an exchange of views as the bloody conflict in Syria shows no sign of ending and with the death toll above 42,000.

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Trial of Gadhafi's Last Premier Opens in Libya

The trial of Moammar Gadhafi's last prime minister al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, accused of aiding the state to kill civilians and financial crimes, opened in a Libyan court on Monday.

A judge read out the charges against Mahmoudi which included "abusing public funds" and "committing acts aiming to unjustly kill people" during the 2011 uprising that toppled Gadhafi.

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