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Syrian Bishop Says 30,000 Christians Have Fled Aleppo

The Chaldean Catholic bishop of Aleppo, Antoine Audo, said on Thursday that up to 30,000 Christians have fled the Syrian city and spoke of his concern about two priests kidnapped weeks ago.

Audo, who was in Rome as a representative of the Caritas-Syria charity for a meeting of regional humanitarian organizations, told Agence France Presse that the situation in the war-ravaged city was "painful".

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U.S. Welcomes Kurdish Rebels Ceasefire Call

The United States on Thursday welcomed a call from the jailed rebel leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) urging his fighters to lay down their arms as a "positive step."

"This violence has claimed too many lives and too many futures, and must end," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

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Egypt's Brotherhood Gets NGO Status

Egypt has granted the Muslim Brotherhood non-governmental organization status, a minister said on Thursday, a day after judges said the Islamist movement had no legal standing.

The once banned movement, now in power, has come under increased scrutiny by the opposition and the largely hostile media, who say it is a secretive group with too much influence over President Mohamed Morsi, a former Brotherhood leader.

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U.N. to Launch Probe into North Korea Rights Abuses

The United Nations on Thursday said it will for the first time establish a commission of inquiry into grave human rights violations in North Korea that may amount to crimes against humanity.

The U.N.'s Human Rights Council passed a resolution to establish a commission to probe "the systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea... with a view to ensuring full accountability, in particular where these violations may amount to crimes against humanity".

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42 Dead in Damascus Mosque Suicide Attack on pro-Regime Cleric, Opposition Calls it 'Crime'

A suicide bomb attack on a mosque in central Damascus on Thursday killed 42 people, including a prominent pro-regime Sunni cleric and his grandson, and wounded 84 others, Syria's health ministry said as the opposition's chief condemned the bombing as a "crime".

"The number of those martyred in the terrorist suicide attack in the Iman Mosque rises to 42 martyrs with 84 injured," a bulletin on state television said, citing the ministry.

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Gaza Hardline Islamists Claim Rocket Attack

A hardline Islamist group claimed a rocket attack against southern Israel on Thursday, in a statement that condemned a historic visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to the region.

In a statement headlined "The demolition of Sderot by rocket bombardment in reaction to the visit of the dog Obama," the Salafist Aknaf Bayt al-Maqdis group said it was responsible for an attack launched from Gaza.

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Cyprus Convicts Hizbullah Man over anti-Israel Plot

A Cypriot court on Thursday found guilty a self-confessed Hizbullah militant who had been accused of involvement in a plot to attack Israeli interests on the Mediterranean island.

Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, a dual Lebanese and Swedish citizen arrested in the port of Limassol in July last year, was found guilty on five counts -- including participating in a criminal organization, taking part in a criminal act and money laundering.

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Syria's Ragda Sparks Cairo Melee with Assad Ode

Syrian actress Ragda sparked a melee in a Cairo poetry convention after she praised Syria's President Bashar Assad, angering an Islamist in the crowd, witnesses said.

The actress, who lives in Cairo, read a poem praising the dictator and condemning the Muslim Brotherhood, the ruling movement in Egypt whose Syrian branch opposes Assad, during the convention on Wednesday.

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Major Hyperrealist Painting Show Opens in Madrid

An exhibition of 50 paintings by hyperrealist artists whose works depict shop windows, camper vans, street views and other everyday scenes in such painstaking detail that they resemble photographs opens Friday in Madrid.

The "Hyperrealism 1967-2012" show at the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum explores the evolution of the style from its beginnings in the late 1960s in the United States to its most recent incarnations in Europe.

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Syria Rebels Gain Ground in Golan Heights

Syrian rebels have gained ground in the Golan Heights, which is partly occupied by Israel, launching coordinated attacks in the area and in nearby Daraa province, a watchdog said on Thursday.

"It appears that the rebels launched coordinated attacks on multiple parts of the Golan, taking control of areas and villages in the province of Quneitra," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence France Presse.

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