Hanukkah festivities begin with candle lighting

JERUSALEM (AP) — Jews around the world ushered in the eight-day Hanukkah festival Saturday evening, lighting the first candles of ceremonial lamps that symbolize triumph over oppression.In Israel, families gathered after sundown for the lighting, eating traditional snacks of potato pancakes and doughnuts and exchanging gifts.Local officials lit candles set up in public places, while families displayed...

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Egypt panel recommends referendum be held on time

CAIRO (AP) — A national dialogue committee said a referendum on a disputed draft constitution will be held on schedule, but President Mohammed Morsi has agreed to rescind the near-absolute power he had granted himself.The statement came after a meeting that was boycotted by the main opposition leaders who are calling for the Dec. 15 vote to be canceled.Morsi had called for the dialogue to try to...

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Syrian rebels get new leadership in bid to unite

BEIRUT (AP) — Rebel commanders from across Syria  have joined forces under a united command they hope will increase coordination between diverse fighting groups and streamline the pathway for arms essential to their struggle against President Bashar Assad.While many of the brigades involved in the fighting are decidedly Islamist in outlook and some have boasted about executing captured soldiers,...

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Egypt's military returns to the political fray

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's powerful military, sidelined last summer by the newly elected Islamist president, edged back Saturday into a political fray boiling over with tensions between secular forces and a government determined to pass a constitution enshrining a central role for religion.A military statement warning of "disastrous" consequences should the standoff continue was widely interpreted as pushing...

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Yemen: 8 soldiers killed in ambush

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Eight Yemeni soldiers including a senior officer were killed in an ambush by militants while visiting a main oil pipeline that had been destroyed in an earlier attack, the defense ministry said.In a statement, the ministry called the Saturday attack in Marib province a "terrorist ambush," confirming that the chief-of-staff for Yemen's central military region was killed.Security...

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