S.Korea tightens rules to curb illegal whale hunting Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:08 AM PST SEOUL, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - South Korea said Sunday it will tighten rules on whaling and the processing of whale meat amid international pressure to curb illegal hunting of the endangered giant mammals. read more  
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Hong Kong democracy icon Szeto Wah dies at 79 Posted: 02 Jan 2011 12:07 AM PST HONG KONG, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - One of Hong Kong's most influential democracy campaigners, Szeto Wah, has died at 79. read more  
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Russians advised to celebrate dry New Year holiday Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:59 PM PST MOSCOW, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Russia's chief sanitary doctor advised the country's partying masses on Sunday to stay away from alcohol during the government-mandated 10-day New Year's holiday break. read more  
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Lawyer slams Israel 'cover-up' of tear gas death Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:58 PM PST JERUSALEM, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - The lawyer of the family of a Palestinian woman who died after being tear-gassed by Israeli troops at a West Bank protest accused the military on Sunday of a cover-up. read more  
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Afghan envoys head to Pakistan for new stage in peace talks Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:57 PM PST KABUL, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Afghan efforts to broker peace with the Taliban enter a new phase this week with the first scheduled visit of envoys to Islamabad, part of a growing recognition that the process hinges on Pakistan. read more  
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Taiwan set to lift ban on solo Chinese tourists Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:55 PM PST TAIPEI, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Taiwan is expected to lift its decades-old ban on visits by individual Chinese tourists from April in yet another sign of the island's fast-warming ties with China, officials and local media said Sunday. read more  
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Brazil's new president spends first full day in office Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:54 PM PST BRASILIA, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff began her first full day in office Sunday after pledging to build on the policies of her hugely popular predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. read more  
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S.Korea battles spread of foot-and-mouth, bird flu Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:52 PM PST SEOUL, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - South Korea on Sunday reported seven new cases of foot-and-mouth disease as the country battles its worst outbreak of the highly contagious virus and its first avian influenza outbreak in more than two years. read more  
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US ambassador to China hints at presidential bid: report Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:50 PM PST WASHINGTON, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Jon Huntsman, the US ambassador to China, has hinted he is considering running for the Republican presidential nomination in comments made to Newsweek. read more  
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Floods ‘of biblical proportions’ hit Australia’s northeast Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:23 PM PST GLADSTONE, Jan 2 — Large parts of Australia's coastal northeast were flooded today in a spreading environmental disaster as thousands of residents fled their homes to avoid the runoff from a Christmas deluge. Queensland State Treasurer Andrew Fraser described the floods as a "disaster of biblical proportions" and said the ultimate cost would ...  
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Japanese emperor greets New Year well wishers Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:34 PM PST TOKYO, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Japan's Emperor Akihito appeared before tens of thousands of people at the imperial palace on Sunday, calling for world peace and wishing them a happy new year. read more  
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Cathay makes pay offer to pilots: report Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:26 PM PST HONG KONG, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Cathay Pacific has offered its pilots pay rises of up to 12 percent after they threatened to work to rule over Christmas, a report said Sunday. read more  
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US to deploy new intelligence drone in Afghanistan: report Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:25 PM PST WASHINGTON, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - The US military plans to to deploy a new intelligence drone in Afghanistan, which military experts say will allow US troops to monitor much larger operational theaters than before, The Washington Post reported Sunday. read more  
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Cuban cardinal confident of release of political prisoners Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:23 PM PST HAVANA, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - A top Cuban religious leader expressed confidence Saturday that many Cuban political prisoners remaining in jails will be released by the county's communist government "in coming months." read more  
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Catastrophic Australian floods claim first victim Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:21 PM PST BUNDABERG, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Devastating floods in northeastern Australia claimed their first victim Sunday, with the body of a missing woman recovered as the surging waters continued to rise and a fresh storm loomed. read more  
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Israelis raid Gaza twice after rockets fired Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:18 PM PST GAZA CITY, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - Israeli warplanes carried out two raids on the Gaza Strip early Sunday, wounding two people, Palestinian emergency services said. read more  
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China to explore Mars with Russia this year Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:17 PM PST BEIJING, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - China's first Mars probe is expected to be launched in October this year in a joint operation with Russia after a two-year delay, state media reported Sunday. read more  
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Beijing traffic rules turn car showrooms into ghost towns Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:16 PM PST BEIJING, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - For the past year, car showrooms in Beijing have been heaving with people keen to buy their slice of the country's new middle-class dream. But now they are deserted. read more  
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Spanish downturn ends immigrants' dream of better life Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:11 PM PST MADRID, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - After losing her job as a maid several months ago, 26-year-old Magaly Baez is preparing to return to Paraguay with her husband, an unemployed waiter, and their nine-month-old baby. read more  
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Spain holds Europe's fate in its hands in 2011: analysts Posted: 01 Jan 2011 11:09 PM PST MADRID, Sunday 2 January 2011 (AFP) - For financial markets the doomsday scenario in 2011 starts with Spain buckling under its debt and unleashing a Europe-wide crisis that dwarfs anything seen so far in Greece or Ireland. read more  
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