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Interior Ministry: Hamas Executes 3 for Murder

The Hamas government in Gaza executed three men convicted of murder on Tuesday morning, the interior ministry said.

"Based on religious law and our religion and what is stipulated in Palestinian law... three men convicted of intentional murder were executed on Tuesday morning in accordance with a court order sentencing them to death by hanging after their conviction," the Hamas interior ministry said in a statement.

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Kuwait’s Opposition Presses for Reform, Multi-party System

The Kuwaiti opposition pressed for a multi-party system as part of a host of political and constitutional reforms to achieve a full parliamentary system and an elected government.

In a joint statement issued Monday night and titled a "declaration to the nation," the Islamist and nationalist opposition also called for legalizing political parties, reforming the judiciary and fighting corruption.

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Syrian Consulate Burned in Arson Attack in Kazakhstan

The Syrian consulate in Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty has been seriously damaged by a fire which staff blamed on an arson attack linked to the conflict raging in the country, a report said Tuesday.

Kazakh private KTK television said the entire third floor of the building where the consul's office was situated and documents held had burned down entirely along with all the archives.

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Top Syrian Defector: Assad Will Use Chemical Weapons

Syrian President Bashar Assad will use chemical weapons against opposition forces and may have already deployed them, Nawaf Fares, the first Syrian ambassador to defect, told the BBC on Monday.

Fares, the most prominent politician to defect since the uprising against Assad began, insisted that the president's days were numbered but warned he would be prepared "to eradicate the entire Syrian people" to remain in power.

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Russia Blocks Security Council Statement on Syria Massacre

Russia on Monday blocked a proposed U.N. Security Council statement on mass killings in the Syrian village of Treimsa, diplomats said amid worsening deadlock over international action on the conflict.

Russian envoys opposed the statement saying it was not clear what had happened, council diplomats told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.

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U.S. Expedites Deployment of Two Carriers in Troubled Mideast

Amid tensions over Iran and Syria, the United States has brought forward the deployment of an aircraft carrier to the Middle East to shorten the time when a sole carrier is in the region.

Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters on Monday that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week approved a request for the USS John-Stennis strike group to be deployed four months earlier than scheduled.

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EU Plans New Syria Sanctions

European Union foreign ministers plan to adopt fresh sanctions against President Bashar Assad's regime at talks next week, EU diplomats told Agence France Presse on Monday.

Several sources said on condition of anonymity that the EU's 27 foreign ministers would add to an existing EU blacklist of 129 people and 49 entities, or firms, when they meet in Brussels on Monday.

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'Soldiers of the Prophet' Fight Syrian Army from the Hills

The 15 fighters who call themselves "Soldiers of the Prophet Mohammed" are not afraid of dying at the hands of the troops of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Their charismatic leader Abu Saeed says that for one month now, the army has laid siege to the rebels in the Wastani mountains overlooking the town of Jisr al-Shughour in the northwestern province of Idlib.

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U.N. Says Damascus Blocking Aid Efforts

The Damascus regime is guilty of "tremendous political obstruction" that is preventing aid reaching an estimated 850,000 people in need in Syria, a top U.N. relief official said on Monday.

Launching an appeal to help Syrians both at home and abroad, U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) director of operations John Ging accused the regime of blocking visas for some aid workers.

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UK's Hague in Libya to Strengthen Bilateral Ties

British Foreign Secretary William Hague met Libyan officials on Monday to discuss bilateral cooperation and the progress of a probe into the 1984 murder of a British policewoman.

"I believe there is a very strong prospect for relations between the United Kingdom and Libya," Hague told reporters in Tripoli in what marked his fourth visit to the North African nation.

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