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Ivory Coast - Rebels Seize Town From Government - NYTimes.com : "Rebels who control the northern Ivory Coast have seized a town in the west, in government-controlled territory, and said Friday that they were still advancing, raising the prospect of a return to civil war. The town, Zouan-Hounien, is near the border with Liberia. Loyalists of Laurent Gbagbo, the strongman clinging to power after an election most of the world says he lost, confirmed that the town fell and said they would fight to take it back. United Nations officials have warned that clashes this week in Abidjan and the west have pushed the country closer to open war. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Jailed Christian convert is freed in Afghanistan : "An Afghan man who was jailed for nine months for converting to Christianity has been released after an intense campaign by international diplomatic missions and Christian activists, an official said Friday. Sayed Mussa, a 46-year-old father of six, left a Kabul jail earlier this week and was taken to see Afghan prosecutors, who did not have enough evidence to charge him, said Gen. Abdul Qayum Safi, director of the detention center. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Libya's Qaddafi offers $400 per family as rebels close in on Tripoli - CSMonitor.com : "In an attempt to appease the masses – possibly inspired by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, who promised his subject $36 billion in benefits to stave off any potential revolutionaries – Libya's besieged leader on Friday pledged a 150 percent increase in some government workers' wages and promised to give every family $400. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Afghan Probe Confirms: NATO Killed 65 in Kunar Offensive -- News from Antiwar.com : "NATO denied the killings at the time and insisted again today that their own investigation showed no civilians at all were killed or wounded. The claim follows an embarrassing week of soundbites, in which top US commanders first suggested that local parents were burning their children and blaming NATO, and later claimed that the local parents just burn their children all the time for the heck of it. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

At Least 23 Killed as Iraq Cracks Down on Huge Protests -- News from Antiwar.com : "It is noteworthy that the Obama Administration has been entirely mum on the Iraqi crackdown, particularly as the US still has some 50,000 troops in Iraq to back up the Maliki-led regime. One can at least be relieved that the US troops were not directly involved in any of today’s crackdowns, but if the protests in Iraq continue to escalate as they have elsewhere in the region, one wonders how long it will be before the regime requests their help in “controlling” the upsurge of pro-democracy protesters. - Sent using Google Toolbar"