SINGAPORE/LONDON - Evidence of a weakening Chinese economy,
poor data from Japan and Britain and a grim corporate outlook
reinforced fears on Tuesday of a prolonged recession fostered by
the worst financial crisis in 80 years.
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WASHINGTON - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama visited the
White House on Monday for his first post-election meeting with
President George W. Bush, a strikingly symbolic moment in the
transition of power.
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SEOUL - South Korea's intelligence agency on Tuesday
rejected a Japanese television report that North Korean leader
Kim Jong-il had suffered a second stroke, with the South playing
down further speculation about Kim's hold on power.
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NAIROBI - Somali pirates have hijacked a second ship
chartered by chemical tanker shipping group Stolt-Nielsen , a
regional maritime official said on Tuesday.
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BAGHDAD - Two roadside bombs exploded in a crowd of part
time labourers in central Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least
two people and wounding 17, police said.
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CAIRO - Egypt is working to defer any indictment of Sudanese
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir by the International Criminal
Court on charges of orchestrating war crimes in Darfur, Foreign
Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said.
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HARARE - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe vowed on Monday
to form a unity government as soon as possible, despite growing
signs that a power-sharing deal with opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai is unravelling.
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GOMA, Congo - Congolese rebel chief Laurent Nkunda said on
Monday he would fight African peacekeeping troops if they
attacked him, as concerns grew that east Congo's conflict could
suck in neighbouring armies.
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VIENNA - U.N. investigators have found traces of uranium at
a Syrian site Washington says was a secret nuclear reactor
almost built before Israel bombed the target last year,
diplomats said on Monday.
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BEIJING - Workers at a diesel engine factory in eastern
China were in talks with local officials on Tuesday after days
of protests over job security at the troubled plant, as a
slowing economy stokes growing unrest.