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Taiwan Names Civilian to Head Defense Ministry after Soldier's Death

Taiwan on Monday named a civilian to head up a defense ministry that is struggling to attract recruits and facing protests over the heat-stroke death of a soldier while he was confined in a military brig.

Andrew Yang, 58, had previously been deputy defense minister and replaces Kao Hua-chu, who resigned on Monday. Premier Jiang Yi-huah announced the appointment without elaborating on the reasons for Kao's departure.

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Cambodian Opposition Rejects Hun Sen Election Win

Cambodia's opposition on Monday rejected the claim of victory by the ruling party of strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen in weekend elections, alleging widespread irregularities.

The newly united opposition made significant gains in Sunday's polls, which independent poll monitors also criticized as flawed.

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Seoul Sends Final Offer for Dialogue with North Korea

South Korea sent its "final" proposal Monday for talks with North Korea over the fate of a shuttered joint industrial zone, officials said.

The offer came after six recent rounds of talks aimed at reviving the Seoul-invested Kaesong complex -- suspended since April -- produced little progress.

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Southern Italy Coach Crash Kills 38

A coach carrying pilgrims plunged off a motorway flyover in southern Italy, killing at least 38 people in the worst such accident in western Europe in the last decade.

Local prosecutors on Monday launched an investigation into possible manslaughter over Sunday evening's accident near the town of Avellino on the main highway between Naples and Bari.

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Seven People Drown Off France's South Coast

Seven men drowned Sunday off France's Mediterranean coast due to a combination of high winds and strong currents, police and rescue services said.

One woman remained in hospital in a coma on Sunday evening, they added.

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1,500 S.Africa Police Have Criminal Records

Almost 1,500 of South Africa's police officers have themselves committed crimes in a nation where security forces are notorious for brutality and corruption, according to an audit released Sunday.

"The audit established that 1,448 members have criminal offences," Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced in a statement.

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Turkey Land Feud Leaves Eight Dead

A gun battle that erupted between two families in southeastern Turkey over disputed land has left eight people dead, the Dogan news agency reported Sunday.

The rival families from the villages of Baskoy and Karatepe, in a Kurdish area near Diyarbakir, clashed on Saturday after the meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk fast during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

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Next World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland in 2016

Pope Francis announced here Sunday that the next World Youth Day (WYD), the Catholic youth fest, will be held in the Polish city of Krakow in 2016.

"Dear young friends, we have an appointment for the next World Youth Day in 2016 in Krakow, Poland," he said at the end of a mass attended by three million pilgrims on Rio's Copacabana beach.

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Nigeria Islamists Kill 20 Civilians in North

Suspected members of Nigeria's Islamist group Boko Haram shot dead more than 20 civilians when a vigilante group attacked them in the northern Borno state, a military spokesman said Sunday.

"The suspected sect members came armed and fired sporadic shots that killed over twenty innocent civilians," Haruna Mohammed Sani, spokesman for the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) said.

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Italy Top Court to Shape Berlusconi's Political Fate

Italy's Supreme Court meets Tuesday to examine a fraud trial against Silvio Berlusconi which could see him ousted from politics and risks upsetting the country's fragile coalition government.

The court will rule on whether to uphold a tax fraud conviction against the former premier and confirm the one-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office, which would effectively end his 20-year political career.

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