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French-Backed Malian Troops Reclaim Two Key Towns from Rebels

French-backed Malian troops Friday wrested two key central towns from Islamist rebels as hostage-takers in neighboring Algeria said they wanted to negotiate an end to France's military intervention.

As the dramatic hostage siege unfolded in Algeria -- where extremists took hundreds captive in a gas field to retaliate for the week-old French operation in Mali, sparking a deadly commando raid -- fighting has continued unabated on the ground in Mali.

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Algeria under Fire over Deadly Raid as Fears Mount for Foreign Hostages

Algeria came under mounting international criticism on Friday as fears grew for dozens of foreign hostages still unaccounted for after a deadly commando raid against their Islamist captors at a desert gas field.

Algerian Communications Minister Mohamed Said said Thursday's air and ground assault freed a "large number" of hostages, but Algerian news reports said nearly 600 of those rescued were Algerian workers but just a handful were among the 41 foreigners reported seized.

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Fighter Jets Escort U.S. Plane after Hijack Warning

Two F-15 fighter jets escorted an Alaska Airlines flight into Seattle's main airport Thursday after an anonymous caller told the FBI that a male passenger could be a hijacker, authorities said.

The Boeing 737 was escorted until it landed without incident in Seattle at about 7:00 pm (0300 GMT Friday), the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which monitors U.S. and Canadian airspace, said in a statement.

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Pakistan's Karachi Shuts Down after Politician Killed

Shops, businesses and schools shut Friday across Pakistan's financial capital Karachi, braced for further unrest after the murder of a politician and a night of sporadic shootings.

Manzar Imam, 42, a lawmaker from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a coalition partner in the federal government and the dominant political party in Karachi, was shot with three of his guards in a drive-by shooting on Thursday.

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Eleven Dead in Jakarta Floods

Eleven people have died in flood-related incidents in Jakarta, and more than 18,000 people were forced to leave their homes, Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency said Friday.

"Floods are occurring still and since January 15 11 people have died, five of whom from electrocution," said agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

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Eight Dead in Small Plane Crash in Mexico

A small private airplane crashed shortly after take-off in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas on Thursday, killing at least eight people and sending a plume of black smoke over the airport, officials said.

Luis Manuel Garcia, an official at the Chiapas civil protection service, told reporters preliminary reports indicated that three adults, three minors and the pilot and co-pilot died in the incident at Tuxtla Gutierrez airport.

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Report: S. Korea to Deploy Israeli-made Guided Missiles at Sea Border

South Korea plans to deploy Israeli-made precision guided missiles near its tense sea border with North Korea next month, including an island shelled by the North in 2010, a report said Friday.

The South will deploy 50 to 60 Spike anti-tank missiles to two border islands on the Yellow Sea to guard against potential attacks from the North, the Chosun Ilbo daily cited a Seoul military official as saying.

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White House Says Iran under Pressure from Sanctions

The White House said Thursday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's latest warnings on the state of Iran's economy, proved the "profound impact" of nuclear sanctions.

Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that Tehran needed to tailor the economy to subvert Western sanctions, saying the current approach would be a "losing strategy."

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South Sudan Says Pulling Back from Contested Border

South Sudan said Thursday it had started withdrawing troops from its contested border with Sudan, as part of an agreement to demilitarize the flashpoint area that sparked a major conflict last year.

After months of talks, the two former civil war foes agreed to set up a "Safe Demilitarized Border Zone" (SDBZ) along the largely undefined border as part of a raft of deals signed in September during African Union-brokered negotiations that had so far failed to bear fruit.

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U.S., Somalia Launch New Era of Diplomatic Ties

The United States and Somalia on Thursday launched a new era of diplomatic relations, as Washington recognized the African nation's government for the first time since 1991.

"Today is a milestone. It is not the end of the journey, but it is an important milestone towards that end," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said after talks with new Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud.

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