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Amnesty Says 14 Bahrain Protesters Freed on Bail

Fourteen protesters, including 12 women, serving a six-month prison sentence in Bahrain have been freed on bail ahead of a final decision on their sentence by the court of cassation, Amnesty International said.

The 12 women and two men were each given six-month sentences in October for taking part in an "illegal gathering," "incitement to hatred of the regime," "assaulting policewomen" and "participating in illegal marches," Amnesty said in a statement received by Agence France Presse on Friday.

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Iran Blames Foreign Interference for Region's Problems

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out against foreign interference in the region following talks in Pakistan on Friday designed to help chart a political solution in Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for action rather than words after the three-way summit hosted by President Asif Ali Zardari, as Kabul seeks to enlist Islamabad's assistance in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table.

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39 Dead as Homs Hit with 'Heaviest Shelling' and Thousands Rally for Assad Ouster

Thousands of Syrians rallied Friday to demand President Bashar al-Assad's ouster, as the embattled leader's forces unleashed their heaviest pounding yet of Homs in a brutal bid to crush dissent and killed 39 people across the country, monitors said.

The 39 victims included 12 dissident soldiers who were summarily executed at the hands of regime troops in the southern province of Daraa, the cradle of the revolution, the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said.

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Amnesty Says U.N. Vote Sent 'Clear' Message to Syria

Amnesty International said the resolution passed by the U.N. General Assembly condemning the Syrian regime for its deadly crackdown on dissent sends "a clear and unequivocal message" that the violence must end.

In a strongly worded resolution adopted by a 137-12 vote on Thursday, U.N. member states demanded that President Bashar Assad's regime stop attacking civilian demonstrators and start pulling its troops back to barracks.

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U.N. General Assembly Votes 137 to 12 to Condemn Syrian Regime

The U.N. General Assembly voted 137 to 12 on Thursday to approve a resolution calling for an immediate halt to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's violent crackdown on dissent.

China, Russia and Iran were among the nations that opposed the text.

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Top Russian MP to Visit Syria Next Week for Talks on Crisis

The head of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee is to visit Syria next week for talks with its leadership amid concern over the growing bloodshed, he announced on Thursday.

Alexei Pushkov, the head of the international affairs committee of the State Duma lower house, told the Interfax news agency that his visit was aimed at reporting back to parliament about the situation inside the country.

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Ban Urges Regime, Opposition to End Violence in Syria

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called on Thursday for all sides to end the deadly violence in Syria and urged the international community to find a common response to the 11-month-old crisis.

"What is important at this time is that first the Syrian authorities must stop killing their own people," Ban told journalists on a visit to Vienna.

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Syria Arrests Iconic Blogger Ghazzawi, Rights Activist Darwish

Security forces on Thursday arrested blogger Razan Ghazzawi, icon of the 11-month uprising in Syria, along with rights activist Mazen Darwish and 12 others, opposition figures said.

Human rights lawyer Anwar Bunni said Ghazzawi was arrested in an early afternoon raid on the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, which is located in central Damascus and is headed by Darwish.

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Energy Tops Agenda as Netanyahu Visits Cyprus

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks in Nicosia Thursday with Cypriot leaders on energy cooperation and economic ties, during a landmark visit to the east Mediterranean island.

"I came here to develop our bilateral ties, economic ties, and our ties in the field of energy," he said after talks at the presidential palace in Nicosia with President Demetris Christofias.

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West Bank Car Torched in Latest 'Price Tag' Hate Crime

Vandals believed to be Jewish extremists set light to a car in a village in the northern West Bank on Thursday, Israeli police said.

The incident took place in Nabi Elyas village, just outside the northern town of Qalqilya, with the words "price tag" scrawled near the burnt out car.

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