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Pope Given Whopper Easter Egg

A pleased-looking Pope Benedict XVI was presented with a colorful, two-meter high Easter egg weighing 250 kilograms on Wednesday, as Catholics and other Christians prepare to celebrate Easter, the Agence France Presse reported Thursday.

The egg, made by Italian chocolate maker Tosca, was unveiled in a Vatican courtyard. The brilliant yellow and blue wrapper was decorated with the pope's coat of arms, wreathes of flowers and doves -- the symbol of peace.

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Sinai Rocket Hits Israel Resort Town

A rocket fired from the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula exploded in the Israeli Red Sea resort town of Eilat early on Thursday but caused no injuries or damage, a senior police official said.

Public radio said police in Eilat had been put on the highest state of alert following the blast.

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Lebanese Man Named Senegal’s Minister of Ecology

Well-known ecologist of Lebanese origin Ali Haidar, who has been heavily involved in the protection of the marine environment, was named minister of ecology in Senegal.

The announcement of President Macky Sall's new government was made late Wednesday, two days after his inauguration ceremony.

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Romney Rounds on Obama with Three-Primary Win

Mitt Romney went on the attack Wednesday against U.S. President Barack Obama, a day after taking command of the race to be the Republican contender in November elections with a triple primary win.

In a speech to newspaper editors here, Romney blamed Obama for failing to turn around the U.S. economy quickly enough and took a page from his own critics by accusing the president of hiding his true intentions from voters.

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Clinton Warns Iran Time Not 'Infinite' for Talks

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday warned Iran that time was not "infinite" for diplomacy and that "all options remain on the table" after a dispute over the venue of talks.

Clinton said that the European Union would look into setting a time and place for long-moribund talks on Iran's nuclear program but vowed that the United States would maintain "strong pressure" to address concerns.

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Russia Denounces 'Arrogant' U.S. Envoy Comments

Russia on Wednesday denounced as "arrogant" a vow by the U.S. ambassador that NATO would deploy a missile defense shield in Europe despite the Kremlin's stiff resistance to the plan.

"Yesterday, our colleague the U.S. ambassador very arrogantly declared that there will be no changes in missile defense," the Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on a visit to Azerbaijan.

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Islamist Site Threatens Strike 'at Heart of Berlin'

A statement posted Wednesday on an Islamist website used by al-Qaida threatened a strike at the "heart of Berlin" unless Germany releases a jailed female militant.

"This is a special message to the old lady of Germany (Chancellor Angela) Merkel... you should learn from what happened in France," said the unsigned statement on one of the group's main sites.

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U.S. Sets Stage for Trial of 9/11 Mastermind, Four Others

The United States Wednesday unveiled charges against the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, along with four alleged plotters, vowing to seek the death penalty in a long-delayed military trial.

The announcement set the stage for a much-awaited trial of Mohammed and the other accused conspirators, who have been held for years at the U.S.-run prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, amid a legal and political battle in the United States over how and where to prosecute them.

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Ankara Summons Iran Envoy over Syria Conference Remarks

Turkey's foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador Wednesday over remarks by a top official in Tehran denouncing an international conference on the Syria crisis held in Istanbul.

The move came as Iran said it no longer wanted Turkey to host nuclear talks, and followed comments reportedly made by Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani critical of Ankara for staging the "Friends of Syria" conference.

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2 Dead as Fresh Fighting Erupts in West Libya

Fresh fighting erupted in western Libya on Wednesday, killing at least two people near the border with Tunisia, a hospital official said.

"The situation is once again critical," said Shukri al-Arabi, who runs the only hospital of Zuwarah, a coastal town 100 kilometers (120 miles) west of Tripoli.

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