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Ahmadinejad: Iran to Launch Several Satellites

Iran plans to launch several home-built satellites by March 2012, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday after the unveiling of four new prototypes.

"I think from the end of this (Iranian) year (to March 20) and through the next year, we will see many launches" of domestically-built satellites, Ahmadinejad said at a ceremony in Tehran.

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Egypt Protesters Hold Square Saying Concessions Not Enough

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak came under fresh pressure Monday to step down immediately as opponents said concessions made in landmark talks were not enough to halt a revolt against his 30-year reign.

As a winter sun began to peep through a chill morning mist, thousands of demonstrators emerged from under blankets and tarpaulins in central Cairo's Tahrir Square, which over two weeks has begun to resemble a tented camp.

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Tunisia Suspends Ben Ali's Party amid New Violence

Tunisia's interim government moved Sunday to ban the country's former ruling party as fresh violence left one youth dead in the country's south during protests against the remnants of the old regime.

In Tunis, the interior minister announced the suspension of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's Constitutional Democratic Assembly (RCD) as a first step towards its dissolution.

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Egypt Youth Groups Form Coalition, Insist on Mubarak Exit

Some of the main groups behind Egypt's opposition revolt formed a coalition on Sunday, insisting they will not end their occupation of Tahrir Square until President Hosni Mubarak leaves office.

A statement by the "unified leadership of the youth of the rage revolution" vowed not to end their protest in the central Cairo square until seven demands are met -- chief among them "the resignation of the president."

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Egypt Opposition Dismisses as 'Insufficient' Govt Reform Offer

Opponents of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's embattled regime on Sunday dismissed as insufficient an offer to include them in political reform plans and renewed their demand that he step down.

In a landmark concession, Vice President Omar Suleiman agreed to sit down with the groups, which included the banned Muslim Brotherhood, but the talks produced no immediate breakthrough in the two-week-old standoff.

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Young Kuwaitis Call for Anti-Government Protest

A Kuwaiti youth group called Sunday for a mass rally outside parliament on Tuesday to protest the government's "undemocratic practices" and to press for its ouster.

The group, Fifth Fence, said it is using Twitter to urge people to gather in large numbers for the protest.

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Algerian Forces Kill Senior Islamic Militant

Algerian forces have killed a senior Islamic militant linked with two attacks in 2007 in the capital Algiers that left dozens dead, local media reported on Sunday.

Kamel Bourihane, also known as Abou Hafs, was ambushed by the Algerian army on Friday while travelling in a vehicle in the Bouira region, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of Algiers, the El-Khabar newspaper reported.

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Muslim Brotherhood Joins Egypt Crisis Talks

The embattled regime of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak launched landmark talks Sunday with opposition groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood and street protesters who seized Cairo's central square.

As global pressure mounted for newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman to negotiate a peaceful transition to more democratic rule, the government took the historic step of meeting with its most long-standing and powerful foes.

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Iraq's Maliki Pledges Not to Seek Third Term

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged not to seek a third term in an interview with AFP Saturday, and said he would try to pass a constitutional amendment limiting his successors to two terms.

"The constitution does not prevent a third, fourth or fifth term, but I have personally decided not to seek another term after this one," he said.

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Fox News: Egypt VP Target of Murder Attempt, 2 Bodyguards Killed

A failed assassination attempt on Egypt's vice president, Omar Suleiman, in recent days left two of his bodyguards dead, sources told Fox News.

Such an attempt on the life of Suleiman would mark an alarming turn in the uprising against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak, who only recently named Suleiman as vice president in an effort to quell the unrest and possibly line up a successor, Fox News said.

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