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Media: China Tests First Stealth Combat Drone

China has tested its first stealth combat drone, state media said Friday, citing online photos of an aircraft resembling a shrunken U.S. B2 bomber and hailing the advance toward Western-level technology.

The test flight of the "Sharp Sword" unmanned aircraft is another step in China's years-long military build-up, with its defense spending now the second highest in the world and growing by double-digit percentages each year.

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U.S. Urges Global Help for Stricken Central Africa

The United States is calling for deeper international involvement to halt violence in Central African Republic, amid growing alarm that the impoverished nation is on the brink of a possible genocide.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday unveiled $40 million in new funding to help the country, with the bulk of the aid going to support the African Union-led peacekeeping mission known as MISCA.

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U.S. Lawmakers to Visit European Officials on Surveillance

U.S. lawmakers will launch a "goodwill" mission to Europe next week to smooth ties frayed by revelations of American espionage on Europeans allegedly including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy and two members of the House of Representatives will visit Berlin on Monday and Brussels Tuesday to address the transatlantic partnership as well as concerns about National Security Agency surveillance activities.

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Syria Refugees Scramble to Prepare for Lebanon Winter

In Lebanon's Bekaa valley, the sun is still shining. But soon temperatures will dip and snow will blanket fields that house hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.

Their shelters are little more than wooden frames covered with tarpaulins or, in some cases, plastic sacks sewn into patchwork quilt roofs.

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Morocco Dismisses Rights Criticism as King Visits U.S.

A senior Moroccan official rejected recent criticism of the country's human rights record on Thursday ahead of King Mohammed VI's upcoming visit to the United States.

And in an exclusive interview to Agence France Presse, Morocco's Deputy Foreign Minister Mbarka Bouaida renewed opposition to a U.S. plan to broaden the U.N. mission to the Western Sahara.

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U.S. to Mark 50th Anniversary of Kennedy Assassination

The United States will on Friday mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a dark turning point in the nation's history and a day many still remember vividly.

Church bells will toll. Flags will be lowered. Wreaths will be laid. Children will sing.

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UK's Hague: Ukraine's Suspension of EU Talks Is 'Missed Opportunity'

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday that Ukraine's decision to suspend talks on a historic agreement with the EU was a "missed opportunity" but said London remained committed to the country's future ties with Europe.

"This is a missed opportunity," Hague said in a statement, but added: "The door remains open and signature is in Ukraine's hands."

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Czech President Taps Leftist to Lead Cabinet Talks

President Milos Zeman on Thursday tapped Social Democrat leader Bohuslav Sobotka to form a government, likely a coalition as his leftist party fell far short of scoring an independent majority in October snap elections.

"If all goes well, I could even present the president with a proposed new government by the end of the year," Sobotka told reporters after the announcement.

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Democrats Change Senate Rules, Limit Filibuster

The U.S. Senate took the potentially explosive step Thursday of changing its rules to allow executive and lower court nominees to be approved by a simple majority vote.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid invoked the move, known in Washington as the "nuclear option," to end what he considered long-standing abuses of blocking procedures that for more than two centuries have required a 60-vote threshold -- instead of a simple majority vote -- to overcome.

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U.S.: Post-2014 Afghan Troop Presence Not Decided

The United States said Thursday it had not yet decided whether to station troops in Afghanistan after 2014 on an anti-terrorism and training mission, despite a draft security pact with Kabul.

"We have not yet determined whether a troop presence will continue in Afghanistan," said Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman.

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