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Jihadists Lock Down Syria's Raqa, Send in Arms

Activists in Raqa, a stronghold of the Islamic State (IS), said Monday the jihadists have locked down the Syrian city and are shipping in new weapons, including missiles from Iraq.

"All roads leading in and out of Raqa city have been closed. Nobody can enter or leave Raqa at all right now," said Hadi Salameh, speaking to Agence France Presse via the Internet.

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3 Israeli Teens Found Dead, Netanyahu Says Hamas to Pay for 'Cold Blood' Murder

Israel on Monday confirmed finding the bodies of three teenagers who disappeared in the southern West Bank on June 12, blaming the Palestinian Hamas movement for their kidnapping and murder.

"During the search for Eyal Ifrach, Gilad Shaer and Naftali Frankel, the IDF discovered 3 bodies near Hebron," the Israeli army said in a statement on Twitter.

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Jordan Urges World Help to Face Regional Turmoil

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday appealed for international support to help his country deal with regional turmoil after jihadists in neighboring Iraq and Syria declared an "Islamic caliphate".

"It is important that the international community continue to support Jordan to deal challenges and developments in the region," a palace statement quoted the king as telling a Japanese parliamentary delegation.

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Iraq Jihadists 'Selling Oil to Assad', Says France

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Monday that jihadists spearheading a militant offensive in Iraq have sold oil from captured areas to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Fabius said the sale was evidence of the "confusing" nature of the escalating conflict in the Middle East in which Assad and the jihadists are in theory on opposing sides.

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Jihadists Declare 'Caliphate' as Iraqi Forces Try to Push Back Expansion

Ruthless jihadists spearheading a Sunni militant offensive in Iraq have declared an "Islamic caliphate" and ordered Muslims worldwide to pledge allegiance to their chief, in a spectacular bid to extend their authority.

Iraqi forces meanwhile pressed a counter-offensive Monday against executed dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, one of a string of towns and cities overrun by jihadist-led fighters in a swift advance that left more than 1,000 people dead, displaced hundreds of thousands and piled pressure on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

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Rebel Fire Kills 14 in Syria's Idlib

Rebel mortar shells pounded Syria's northwestern city of Idlib on Monday, killing 14 people, state television said, a day after 27 people died in regime air raids on a nearby opposition-held area.

"Fourteen people were killed and more than 50 others wounded by mortars launched by the terrorists (rebels) on several areas of Idlib city," said the state channel.

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Netanyahu Warns Hamas as Israel-Gaza Tensions Soar

Israel issued a brusque warning to Hamas on Monday, demanding it prevent rocket fire from Gaza as fears grew of a new confrontation around the coastal Palestinian enclave.

The military said an estimated 14 rockets slammed into Israel early in the morning, although the last struck at around 8.20 am (0520 GMT). Nobody was hurt.

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2 Egypt Officers Killed Defusing Bombs near Presidential Palace, Sisi Vows 'Retribution'

Two Egyptian police officers were killed defusing bombs near the presidential palace in Cairo Monday, almost a year to the day after a military takeover unleashed a wave of repression and militant attacks.

An Islamist militant group, one of several that have spearheaded attacks since President Mohammed Morsi's ouster on July 3 last year, warned several days ago that it had planted bombs in the vicinity of the east Cairo palace.

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Iraq PM Re-Election Bid in Tatters amid Militant Offensive

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's days in office may be numbered, his reputation battered by a militant offensive and increasingly vocal charges of sectarianism as deputies begin choosing a new government.

The incumbent may have won by far the most seats and personal votes in April 30 polls, but events since then have left him increasingly isolated, as pressure piles on Iraqi leaders to swiftly form a government to help see off the jihadist-led advance.

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African Immigrants in Israel on Mass Hunger Strike

Hundreds of illegal African immigrants began a hunger strike on Monday after Israeli police forcibly broke up a sit-in they were staging along the Egyptian border.

Around 1,000 Africans, mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, had marched Friday to the border and set up a makeshift camp to protest against their "inhuman and unlimited" detention at Holot facility.

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