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Syrian peace envoy Kofi Annan heads to Moscow on Saturday to gauge how far Russia is willing to push its key Arab ally after it finally joined a UN call on regime forces to pull back from protest cities. Annan will meet President Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday before flying to China, the other UN Security Council member . التفاصيل

Iraq detained 22 policemen on Saturday after 19 inmates, including two men on death row, escaped from a prison in the northern city of Kirkuk a day earlier, the local police chief said. "We are investigating 22 policemen who have been detained, to find out about the escape of the terrorists," Kirkuk provincial police chief Jamal Taher Bakr told AFP, . التفاصيل

India is planning a fresh tax demand on Vodafone in the wake of the Supreme Court's dismissal of a $2.2-billion bill imposed on the British mobile phone giant, a government official said Thursday. New Delhi intends to issue the claim after parliament passes retroactive legislation allowing authorities to tax capital gains by foreign companies on Ind . التفاصيل

Egypt's Coptic Christians were preparing on Tuesday to bury Pope Shenuda III, who died at the weekend at the age of 88, leaving behind his flock of decades full of anxiety over rising Islamism. A solemn funeral service was scheduled to begin at 11:00 AM (0900 GMT) in Cairo's St Mark's Cathedral before the body is flown to St Bishoy monastery in the . التفاصيل

Apple scheduled an announcement Monday on plans for its huge cash balance, estimated to be at least $97 billion from sales of its hugely successful gadgets like the iPad and iPhone. An Apple statement said chief executive Tim Cook and chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer would hold a conference call at 6:00 am Pacific time (1300 GMT) "to announ . التفاصيل

The Syrian army has seized full control of Idlib following a four-day assault and rebel troops have fled, an activist in the northwest city told AFP on Wednesday. "Since last night there has been no more fighting," said Noureddin al-Abdo, reached by telephone from Beirut. "The (rebel) Free Syrian Army (FSA) has withdrawn and regime forces have storme . التفاصيل

Japan issued a tsunami warning on Wednesday after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck off its northeastern coast, warning of a wave as high as 50 centimetres (20 inches). The meteorological agency gave the tsunami warning after the tremor hit some 210 kilometres (130 miles) off the northern island of Hokkaido. But US monitors said there was no Pacific . التفاصيل