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Bahrain Policewoman Denies Torturing Journalist

A Bahrain policewoman pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of torturing a female journalist during last year's crackdown on anti-government protests, lawyers said.

The officer, Lieutenant Sara al-Mousa, denied torturing Nazeeha Saeed, who is the Bahrain correspondent of France 24 and Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya, and was not in court, the lawyers said.

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Dozens of Protesters Camp Out in Cairo's Tahrir

Dozens of protesters remained in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square on Wednesday after camping out following a mass demonstration against verdicts handed down in ex-president Hosni Mubarak's murder trial.

Fresh protests were expected in both Cairo and the port city of Alexandria later in the day, to mark the second anniversary of the killing of Khaled Said, a young Egyptian beaten to death in police custody in 2010.

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Netanyahu Complains of 'Inadequate' World Pressure on Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said international pressure on Iran aimed at curbing its nuclear ambitions is "inadequate", in comments published in a German newspaper Wednesday.

Netanyahu told the Bild daily that although sanctions affected Iran and its economy, they did not halt its nuclear program.

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Assad Tasks Riad Hijab with Forming Syrian Government

Syrian President Bashar Assad appointed on Wednesday agriculture minister Riad Hijab as the strife-torn country's new premier and tasked him with forming a government, state television reported.

"President Assad issued a decree asking Riad Hijab to form a new government," the television said.

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Clashes Rock Syrian Capital as Rebels Go On Offensive

Armed rebels went on the offensive in and around Damascus during the night, battling regime forces at an intelligence headquarters and at several checkpoints, a watchdog said on Wednesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had no immediate details of casualties from the latest clashes but its earlier figures show at least 168 soldiers killed in the past week, including 76 at the weekend, as the Syrian conflict becomes more bloody despite a U.N.-brokered ceasefire.

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Crowds Flock to Tahrir to Protest Mubarak Verdicts

Crowds of Egyptians flocked to Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square on Tuesday for a mass demonstration to protest against verdicts handed down in ex-president Hosni Mubarak's murder trial.

Marchers prepared to leave from several mosques around the capital led by the runners-up in last months’ presidential election first round -- Hamdeen Sabbahi, Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh and Khaled Ali-- to join thousands already in the square.

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Mubarak Suffers 'Emotional Breakdown' in Prison

Ex-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak suffered an "emotional breakdown" in prison on Tuesday, days after he was sentenced to life over the death of protesters last year, a senior interior ministry official said.

The ailing 84-year-old's "health deteriorated while in prison," the official told Agance France Press without describing the nature of the breakdown.

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Saudi Says it's Time Russia Changed Stance on Syria

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal said Tuesday that it is time for Russia to change its stance on Syria and work to ensure a peaceful transfer of power.

"The time has come for Russia to change its stance from supporting the Syrian regime to working to stop the killing and (supporting) a peaceful transition of power," Prince Saud told reporters after a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Jeddah.

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U.S. Urges China, Russia to be 'Part of Solution' in Syria

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Russia and China Tuesday to be "part of the solution" to the crisis in Syria and warned that any hope for peace depended on a political transition.

"We believe there is a way forward and we are ready to pursue that. And we invite the Russians and the Chinese to be part of the solution," she said at a news conference in the Georgian Black Sea city.

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Bahrain Opposition Activists Tell Court of 'Torture'

Three leading Bahraini opposition activists, facing up to life in jail on charges of plotting to overthrow the monarchy, told their trial on Tuesday of how they were tortured in custody, their lawyers said.

The three - Shiite clerics Abduljalil Muqdad and Saeed Mirza Mahroos, and the Sunni head of the secular Waed group, Ibrahim Sharif - all demanded that they be freed.

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