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Syrian Opposition Urges U.N. Meeting over Massacre

Syria's main opposition bloc urged the U.N. Security Council on Saturday to convene an emergency meeting to examine what it called an army massacre near Homs, where it said 110 people were killed.

"More than 110 people were killed (half of whom are children) by the Syrian regime's forces" in the village of Houla, the Syrian National Council said in a statement.

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Syrian Army Tanks in Aleppo after Massive Demos

Army tanks were deployed on Friday in Syria's second city Aleppo for the first time since an uprising against the regime erupted 14 months ago, a monitoring group said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the tanks rumbled through the Kalasse and Bustan al-Kasr neighborhoods of the northern city, where thousands of people attended a funeral.

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Block ex-PM Shafiq, Egypt's Abul Fotouh Says

Egyptian Islamist candidate Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh on Friday urged his supporters to "confront the corrupt regime," in an implicit appeal against Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafiq.

His statement came after figures showing that Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi and Shafiq appeared to have won the first round of Egypt's presidential vote, setting them up for a run-off.

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Syria Helicopters 'Hit Rebel Positions' near Turkey

Helicopter gunships on Friday fired on rebel positions in the Latakia area of northwestern Syria, near the Turkish border, wounding at least 20 people, a monitoring group said.

"This is the first time that this area, known as the Mountain of the Kurds, has been the target of air strikes," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.

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Russian Bikers Freed from Iraq Prison

Four Russian bikers who were arrested in Iraq last weekend and complained of beatings by security forces have been freed and are in Russian custody, a top official said Friday.

"The bikers arrested in Iraq are already in the Russian embassy," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin wrote on his Twitter blog. "Their bikes have not yet been returned. Thank you everyone who helped out."

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U.S. Official in Israel after Iran Nuclear Talks

The head of the U.S. delegation to nuclear talks with Iran arrived in Israel on Friday to brief officials after a meeting in Baghdad that achieved little other than arranging more talks.

Wendy Sherman's visit is the latest in a series of meetings between U.S. and Israeli officials over Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran insists is peaceful but much of the international community suspects is a cover for attempts to obtain nuclear weapons.

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Guards Deployed in Tel Aviv after Race Riots

A contingent of border guards has been sent in to help maintain law and order in Tel Aviv neighborhoods rocked by race riots, a police spokesman said on Friday.

"A unit of border guards comprising 60 men, including 40 police officers, has been deployed in south Tel Aviv to ensure order," Micky Rosenfeld told Agence France Presse.

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More than 70 Killed in Syria ahead of Annan Return

More than 70 people were killed across Syria on Friday, monitors said, as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets and tanks were deployed in the country's second largest city.

The latest flare-up of violence came as Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria who brokered a repeatedly-violated ceasefire last month, finalised plans to return to Damascus.

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Islamist, ex-PM in Egypt Run-Off

Egypt looks set for a run-off presidential vote between the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi and Mubarak-era minister Ahmed Shafiq, pitting the Islamists who helped oust a dictator against his last premier.

A run-off between Shafiq and Mursi will further polarize a nation that rose up against president Hosni Mubarak's authoritarianism 15 months ago but has since suffered a spike in violence and a declining economy.

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U.S. Mulls Arms Transfer Nod for Syrian Rebels

As one diplomatic effort after another fails to end more than a year of brutal violence in Syria, the Obama administration is preparing a plan that would essentially give U.S. nods of approval to arms transfers from Arab nations to some Syrian opposition fighters.

The effort, U.S. officials told The Associated Press, would vet members of the Free Syrian Army and other groups to determine whether they are suitable recipients of munitions to fight the Assad government and to ensure that weapons don't wind up in the hands of al-Qaida-linked terrorists or Hizbullah that could target Israel.

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