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Erdogan Condemns Anti-Islam Movie: Assad Regime Nearing 'Inevitable End'

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad was nearing its "inevitable" end despite violence threatening the entire region.

"Assad's regime is approaching its inevitable end," Erdogan said in comments translated into Russian at a conference in the Ukrainian Black Sea resort of Yalta.

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Syrian Army Jets and Helicopters Batter Aleppo

Regime forces used fighter jets and helicopter gunships to pound the city and province of Aleppo on Friday, a day after violence killed at least 125 people across Syria, a watchdog said.

The fighter jets bombarded the rebel-held towns of Al-Bab and Marea near Aleppo city, while fierce battles raged around the military airport at Minnigh, also in Aleppo province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

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Fresh Clashes at U.S. Embassy in Cairo Over Insult Film

Fresh clashes between police and protesters, angry over a film apparently made in the United States that mocks Islam, erupted on Friday outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo, an Agence France Presse reporter said.

The protesters, many in their teens and moving around in small clusters, pelted police with stones who responded by firing tear gas.

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Benghazi Airport Reopens after Shutting Air Space over Security Fears

The international airport in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi reopened on Friday after a closure of several hours due to security concerns, an aviation source said.

"The civil aviation office has ordered the reopening of the airport after the security conditions were assured," the source said, asking not to be named.

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Netanyahu Denies Meddling in U.S. Election

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied accusations he is interfering in the U.S. presidential vote by pushing President Barack Obama to take a tougher stand on Iran's nuclear program.

In newspaper interviews published on Friday ahead of the Jewish new year, Netanyahu dismissed accusations that he is trying to paint Obama as weak on Iran in order to boost support for Republican candidate Mitt Romney.

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Putin Fears 'Chaos' after U.S. Mission Killings

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday the Middle East was at risk of descending into "chaos" following a deadly attack on the U.S. mission in Libya and incidents in Egypt and Yemen.

"We are afraid that the region may descend into chaos, which is essentially what is happening already," he said in comments broadcast on state television from his summer residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

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Saudi Condemns Anti-Islam Film, Attacks on U.S. Missions

Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, on Thursday condemned the release of an amateur movie mocking Islam and the deadly attacks against U.S. missions over the film.

The kingdom "condemned the violent reactions in several countries against U.S. interests," the official news agency SPA said, and "the production by an irresponsible group in the United States of a film insulting the Prophet Mohammed."

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Envoy Brahimi Says Syria Crisis 'Getting Worse'

Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said on Thursday the deadly conflict in Syria was getting worse as he arrived on his first official trip aimed at ending nearly 18 months of violence.

"We came to Syria to hold meetings with our Syrian brothers because there is a big crisis, and I think it is getting worse," the official SANA news agency quoted the U.N. and Arab League envoy as saying on arrival at Damascus airport.

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Libya Makes 'Arrests' in Deadly U.S. Consulate Attack

Libya has made several arrests over an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed the ambassador and three other U.S. nationals, the deputy interior minister told AFP on Thursday.

"The interior and justice ministries have begun their investigations and evidence gathering and some people have been arrested," Wanis al-Sharef said.

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Protests against Anti-Islam Film in Gaza, Tel Aviv

Several hundred Palestinians in the Gaza Strip protested on Thursday against an anti-Muslim film that has sparked deadly riots in Libya and Yemen.

The protest, called by the ruling Hamas government's ministry of religious endowments, comes after two days of demonstrations that have left four U.S. embassy staff including the ambassador dead in Libya and a protester shot dead in Yemen.

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