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Egypt's Morsi to Announce Cabinet Reshuffle

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi will "soon" announce a cabinet reshuffle, he said in an interview to air on Saturday, but it is unlikely to meet opposition demands for an overhaul of the government.

Morsi, under strong pressure from his opposition to sack Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, said: "There will be ministerial changes soon and they will affect several ministries," the official MENA news agency reported.

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Saudi King Replaces Deputy Defense Minister

The Saudi deputy defense minister, Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz who played a key role in the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait, has been dismissed, state news agency SPA reported Saturday.

The move is the latest in a reshuffle of princes holding government posts in the OPEC kingpin where the monarch's age and frequent hospitalization have raised concerns over its future leadership.

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Egypt Court Cancels Mubarak Detention in One Case

An Egyptian court cancelled on Saturday a detention order against ousted president Hosni Mubarak pending a corruption trial but he will remain in custody on other charges, his lawyer said.

Mubarak, held in a south Cairo prison, has been charged in three cases, one for overseeing the killings of protesters during the early 2011 uprising against his regime, and two corruption cases.

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Egypt Police Arrest 39 in Cairo Clashes

Egyptian police made 39 arrests after clashes between Islamists and opponents that saw both sides use firearms in central Cairo, leaving more than 100 people injured, officials said on Saturday.

A judicial source said prosecutors have begun questioning the suspects, as the health ministry said Friday's violence had injured 105 people.

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Syrian Opposition Says Russia 'Out of Step' with History

Syria's main opposition National Coalition said on Saturday that Russia was "out of step" with history for backing President Bashar Assad's regime and was isolating itself on the international scene.

"Russia is keeping up a foreign policy that only looks at things from a narrow military perspective, and which does not understand the profound historic changes caused by the Arab Spring," the Coalition said.

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Dozens Killed in Battle near Damascus, Says NGO

At least 69 people, many of them rebels, have been killed in a four-day battle pitting Syrian insurgents against government forces in Jdaidet al-Fadl near Damascus, a monitoring group said on Saturday.

"Regime troops are trying to seize total control of the town of Jdaidet al-Fadl" southwest of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

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'Qaida' Gunmen Kill Yemen Intelligence Officer

Suspected al-Qaida militants shot dead a Yemeni intelligence officer overnight in Mukalla, capital of the southeastern Hadramawt province, a security official told Agence France Presse on Saturday.

"al-Qaida gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on the officer Ibrahim Bameshel as we was on his way back home, killing him immediately," the official said, adding that the assailants had fled.

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10 Jordan Police Hurt in Clash with Syria Refugees

Ten policemen were injured in a clash with demonstrators in the Syrian refugee camp of Zaatari in northern Jordan, a security official said on Saturday.

The source, declining to be named, said two of the policemen were in serious condition after the clash on Friday night.

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U.S. Set to Boost 'Non-Lethal' Military Aid to Syria Rebels

The United States is set to boost its support for Syria's rebels at a meeting of the opposition's main foreign backers Saturday and could for the first time agree to supply non-lethal military gear.

But Washington is expected to stop short of agreeing to rebel demands for arms as the 11-nation core group of the "Friends of Syria" hold talks in Istanbul with key figures in the opposition battling President Bashar Assad.

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Iraq Holds First Polls since U.S. Pullout as Attacks Spike

Iraqis voted on Saturday in the country's first polls since U.S. troops departed, a key test of its stability in the face of a spike in attacks that has claimed more than 100 lives.

But the credibility of the provincial elections has come into question, with attacks on candidates leaving 14 dead and a third of Iraq's provinces -- all of them mainly Sunni Arab or Kurdish -- not even voting.

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