Afghans killed in anti-NATO protests

In addition to the four deaths, five others are wounded during the demonstration3 NATO service members are killed in separate incidents1,680 NATO troops have died in Afghanistan since 2001, at least 1,577 of them AmericanKabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Four people were shot dead Friday in an anti-NATO demonstration in southern Afghanistan during an exchange of gunfire that took place amid a protest over civilian casualties, police said.The violence erupted in Qalat -- the provincial capital of the country's southern border province of Zabul -- and left three civilians and one police officer dead, according to the provincial police chief, Abdul Elham.Five others were injured in the firefight, he said.Elham did not offer details regarding the previous civilian casualties, which allegedly occurred...

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Major oil pipeline explodes in Iran

NEW: Firefighters work throughout the day to contain the blaze, state media saysThe blast and fire are under investigationIran is the world's fourth largest oil producerTehran, Iran (CNN) -- One of the longest oil pipelines in Iran exploded Friday and burned for 10 hours before firefighters were able to extinguish it, Iranian media reported.Authorities are investigating the cause of the blast in the western town of Qale Naar, Iran's state-run Press TV reported.Hundreds of firefighters responded at the scene, working through the day to contain the blaze."The production of oil in the southern oil fields is still continuing at full capacity and the output of the oil wells is transferred to other pipelines," said Hormoz Ghalavand, executive director of the National Iranian South Oil Company.Ghalavand...

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Activists: 15 dead in Syria's Hama

Death toll rises in Hama, SyriaNEW: Tribal leaders in northeastern city of Deir Ezzor prepare for battleSyrian state TV airs video of HamaDemonstrations rage in Homs and DamascusHuman rights experts cite "systematic use of excessive force"(CNN) -- Violence raged in the Syrian city of Hama as approximately a dozen people died and anti-government protests unfolded across the restive country.Hama endured steady shelling and bombing Friday morning while the government's military offensive continued in full swing, said a resident whom CNN has not identified for his safety. The man said casualties had occurred, but couldn't say how many.Elsewhere, opposition members said thousands kicked off marches across the country after Muslim prayers, as they have every Friday for weeks, demanding political...

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Reports: Ukraine ex-PM in custody

Ukraine's former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko talks to press in front of a court building in Kiev before being arrested.NEW: Russia says gas contracts with Ukraine were legalTymoshenko is accused of abuse of power in negotiating gas contractsShe says the charges are politically motivatedSupporters take to the streets after judge agrees with motion for her arrestMoscow (CNN) -- Dozens of angry supporters of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko took to the streets in the country's capital Kiev following a court decision to take her into custody on Friday, Ukrainian media reported.Judge Rodion Kireyev, presiding in the case of former...

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S&P rethinks downgrade plan, source says

Error in deserializing body of reply message for operation 'Translate'. The maximum string content length quota (8192) has been exceeded while reading XML data. This quota may be increased by changing the MaxStringContentLength property on the XmlDictionaryReaderQuotas object used when creating the XML reader. Line 1, position 8888. A trader working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange just after the opening bell on August 5, 2011.G7 finance ministers may meet "in a few days," Berlusconi saysMarkets are demanding action, not more words, investment manager saysObama talks with German, French leadersEuropean stock indices all finish down;...

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