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Russia Ready to Host Syria Opposition-Government Talks

Russia is ready to host talks between the Syrian opposition and President Bashar Assad in a bid to end the country's conflict, its U.N. envoy said Wednesday.

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin made the offer as he stepped up Russian attacks on the United States and European countries for saying they will seek to increase pressure on Assad outside of the U.N. Security Council.

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Syrians in Iraq Tell of Shells 'Like Rain' and Nightly Hell

Having fled a city where shells fell "like rain" and children died in front of them, Syrian refugees spoke of the hell that would erupt every night as troops sought to retake their border town.

Wearing a dirt-covered dishdasha, or traditional Arab robe, his face pale from exhaustion, Ahmed Saleh Hanoush sat on the floor of a school-turned-dormitory for refugees, fighting back tears.

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Syria Fears Send Israelis Running for Gas Masks

"You've got to be prepared for anything with what's going on in Syria," said Benny Rahamim, one of a growing number of Israelis picking up gas masks as fears grow over Syria's chemical weapons.

Rahamim, 36, was visiting a mall in the dormitory town of Mevasseret Tzion, just outside Jerusalem, one of many locations nationwide where the postal service runs distribution centers for gas masks.

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Iran Hosts High-Level Syria Economic Team

A high-level Syrian economic delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Omar Ghalawanji arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to boost cooperation between the two allies faced with Western economic sanctions.

Iran's official news agency IRNA said the visiting team included the ministers of oil, electricity, health, water and housing.

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Syria Opposition Planning Post-Assad Transition in Berlin

Up to 50 members of the Syrian opposition are working in Berlin on plans for a political transition after a possible ouster of President Bashar Assad, a German think tank backing them said Wednesday.

The respected German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) confirmed a media report that it was working with the group of former generals, economists and legal experts on what could become a new constitution.

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Ban Urges World to Act Now to Stop Syria 'Slaughter'

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged the world "to stop the slaughter in Syria" as dozens of international observers pulled out from the country.

"I make a plea to the world: 'Do not delay... Act now to stop the slaughter in Syria'," the U.N. secretary-general told parliament in Bosnia, the Balkans country that suffered a genocide in Srebrenica in 1995.

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Amnesty Warns on 'Summary Executions' by Syria Regime, Rebels

Amnesty International warned on Wednesday about disturbing reports of "summary executions" by Syrian troops and rebels, calling them "serious violations of international law."

In a statement, the rights watchdog cited reports from media and local activists on instances in which both Syrian government troops and rebel forces have carried out summary killings.

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Two Charged in Sudan Protest 'Terrorist' Case

Two alleged anti-regime activists in Sudan face up to 10 years' prison after a judge charged them on Wednesday in a terrorism-linked conspiracy over Arab Spring-style discontent sparked by inflation.

Rudwan Daoud and Ahmed Ali each face several accusations but the most serious is involvement with a terrorist or criminal organization, their lawyer Khaled Awad said outside the court.

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Paris Suit against Tech Firm Accused of Aiding Syrian Regime

Human rights groups filed a complaint in Paris Wednesday to urge the judiciary to probe the alleged involvement of French firm Qosmos in supplying Syria's regime with surveillance equipment.

While France condemns President Bashar Assad's violent crackdown, it is vital that full information be released "on the involvement of French companies in supplying surveillance equipment to the Syrian regime," said Patrick Baudouin of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

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Bangladesh Arrests Four over Saudi Diplomat Death

Police in Bangladesh said Wednesday they had arrested four people over the mugging death of a Saudi Arabian diplomat in the capital in March.

Khalaf al-Ali, 45, the head of Saudi citizen affairs at the embassy in Dhaka, was shot while taking a late-night walk near his home in the city's Gulshan area. He was rushed to a local hospital where he died three hours later.

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