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Cyprus Ex-Defense Minister Jailed 5 Years over Blast

Cyprus's former Defense Minister, Costas Papacostas, was sentenced to five years in jail on Friday in connection with a munitions dump blast at a naval base that killed 13 people.

The ailing 73-year-old was not in court for the sentencing, as he was taken ill after his conviction last month and has been in hospital since then.

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Spain Basks in Summer Jobs Boom

Spain basked in a summer jobs boom in July when the number of people registered as being unemployed dropped for the fifth month in a row, government figures showed Friday.

The number of jobless benefit claimants fell from the previous month by 64,866 people, or 1.36 percent, to 4.70 million in July, according to raw figures issued in a report by the Labor Ministry.

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Jumblat Slams Baabda Attack: Is it a Crime for the President to Defend the Army?

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat condemned on Friday the Baabda rocket attack, wondering if it was a crime for President Michel Suleiman to defend the constitution and Lebanon's “democracy and diversity despite their flaws.”

He asked in a statement: “Is it a crime for the president to pinpoint the difficulties facing the army, most notably the contradiction of the presence of legitimate and illegitimate weapons in Lebanon?”

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NGO: 12 Jihadists Killed in North Syria

Fresh clashes between Kurdish fighters and jihadists erupted in the majority Kurdish province of Hasakeh in northern Syria early on Friday, a monitoring group said.

At least 12 members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) were killed, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which added that 22 Kurdish fighters have been killed over the past few days.

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U.S. Official: China's Rights Record Getting Worse

Human rights conditions in China are worsening, a senior U.S. official said Friday, accusing Beijing of harassing activists' family members and repressing ethnic and religious minorities.

"We continue to see a deterioration in the overall human rights situation in China," said Uzra Zeya, acting assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.

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Iran's Rowhani Says Israel a 'Wound' on Muslim World

Iran held massive anti-Israel rallies Friday, with president-elect Hassan Rowhani calling the arch-foe Jewish state a "wound" on the Muslim world, drawing a sharp response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"In our region, a wound has for many years been sitting on the body of the Islamic world in the shadow of occupation of the holy land of Palestine and the dear Quds (Jerusalem)," Rowhani said in remarks broadcast on state television.

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African Union Says Zimbabwe Vote 'Free' and 'Credible'

Zimbabwe's vote was free and credible, the African Union's chief observer said Friday, despite problems reported over missing ballot papers and large numbers of people being turned away from polling stations.

"This election is free... credible," said former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, who is heading the AU monitoring mission.

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Top French Court Lifts Ban on Growing Monsanto GM Corn

A wrangle over growing genetically modified crops in France flared anew on Thursday as the country's top administrative court overturned a government ban on growing GM corn sold by the U.S. giant Monsanto.

In the second legal setback to French restrictions on MON810 corn in five years, the Council of State court said a moratorium imposed on the product since March 2012 failed to uphold European Union law.

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Indian Army Says it Killed 12 Militants in Kashmir

The Indian army said Friday it had killed 12 suspected militants in Kashmir in a forested area along the de facto border that divides the territory between India and Pakistan.

Five rebels were killed during a fierce gun battle with the army on Thursday in Hafrada forests, 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Srinagar, the main city of Indian Kashmir.

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Marshall Islands: Climate 'Catastrophe' Looms in Pacific

The Marshall Islands has warned of a Pacific "climate catastrophe" that will wipe it off the map without decisive action on global warming, saying the next 12 months are critical.

Tony de Brum, minister in assistance to the Marshall Islands' president, is in Australia making the case for a major climate declaration at the 16-member Pacific Islands Forum it will host in September which he has insisted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry must attend.

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