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Russia Warns against Further Iran Sanctions

Russia reinforced its position on Iran's nuclear program Monday, stressing that it did not back increasing “sanction pressure” on Tehran, after weekend talks between Iran and world powers.

The foreign ministry said in a statement that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed Iran with visiting Israeli National Security Council director Yaakov Amidror and warned against further sanctions against Tehran.

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U.S. Says Syria Violence Threatens U.N. Observer Force

The United States warned Monday that heightened violence in Syria threatens the sending of a full U.N. ceasefire observer mission as it voiced fear that a ceasefire is "eroding."

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said new attacks by government forces "call into question the wisdom and viability" of sending the full 200 international monitors.

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British al-Qaida Plotter to Testify in U.S. Trial

A Briton convicted of involvement in an al-Qaida airline shoebombing attempt is to give evidence in the U.S. trial of a man accused of plotting to bomb New York's subway, prosecutors said Monday.

Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Saajid Muhammad Badat -- who was jailed for 13 years in 2005 -- had entered into an agreement to testify in a New York Court against Adis Medunjanin in a trial starting Monday.

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U.S. Says Haqqani Militants behind Afghan Attack

The Pentagon said Monday a major attack on Afghan government buildings, military bases and foreign embassies was likely carried out by Haqqani militants who operate from sanctuaries in neighboring Pakistan.

"Initial indications are that the Haqqani network was involved in this set of attacks that occurred yesterday in Kabul," press secretary George Little said of Sunday's assault.

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S. Sudan Seizure of Key Oilfield Raises Questions

Questions are being raised in Sudan over how easily South Sudanese forces marched in and seized Khartoum's main oilfield, worsening an economy already mired in crisis.

Analysts say the South's invasion of the Heglig area last Tuesday has put Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein under scrutiny.

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Official Injured, Wife Killed in Caucasus Bomb Attack

A car bomb in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan on Monday seriously wounded an officer with the Russian FSB security service and killed his wife, investigators said.

"An explosive device blew up under a Ford Focus at in the morning in Makhachkala," Yegor Balashov, a spokesman for regional investigators, told Agence France Presse, referring to Dagestan's regional capital.

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Israel Holds 47 Pro-Palestinian Activists Pending Expulsion

Israeli authorities were on Monday holding 47 foreigners pending deportation, out of 79 barred from entering the Jewish state because of their links to a pro-Palestinian campaign, an official said.

"There are 47 people still awaiting deportation, including 37 French nationals, eight Britons, an Italian and a Canadian," immigration official Sabine Haddad told Agence France Presse.

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U.N. Hardens N. Korea Sanctions over Rocket Launch

The U.N. Security Council on Monday tightened sanctions on North Korea over its failed rocket launch and warned of new action if the isolated state stages a new nuclear test.

The 15-member council -- including the North's closest ally China and nuclear-armed Pakistan -- "strongly condemned" the launch in a statement which highlighted "grave security concerns" in Asia.

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U.N. Rights Panel on Syria Slams Post-Ceasefire Violence

The U.N.-appointed panel tasked with investigating rights abuses in Syria on Monday voiced concern over reports of post-ceasefire shelling by government forces.

The Commission of Inquiry on Syria said it had received accounts that the Khaldieh neighborhood and other districts of Homs had been bombarded since Thursday.

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Sadr Movement Visits Alleged Hizbullah Prisoner in Baghdad

A delegation from Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's movement on Monday visited a suspected Hizbullah member being held in a Baghdad jail, the movement said.

"A delegation made up of three of Moqtada al-Sadr's advisers met today in a Baghdad prison with Ali Moussa Daqdouq," an official of the Sadr movement told Agence France Presse in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.

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