AFP 1900 GMT news advisory

News Editor: Olivia Hampton

Tel: +1 202 414 0541

-- TOP STORIES --

+ Israel's Netanyahu officially forms government

+ Pope Francis wants 'poor Church for the poor'

+ Swiss tourist gang-raped in India

+ Defeated Kenyan PM challenges election results

Israel-politics-government,Newseries

JERUSALEM

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu formally notifies President Shimon Peres that after 40 days of tortuous negotiations he has formed a new government and ensured himself a third term as prime minister.

600 words 2000 GMT by Steve Weizman. Graphic

We will also move: Israel-vote-Netanyahu,PROFILE

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VATICAN CITY

Pope Francis calls for "a poor Church for the poor" at an audience with the world's press, part of the new pontiff's outreach charaterized by an informal style unusual in the Vatican halls of power.

800 words 2000 GMT by Dario Thuburn. Graphic. Pictures. Video.

We have also moved: Vatican-religion-pope-media,SCENE

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BHOPAL, India

A Swiss tourist was gang-raped in central India in front of her husband, police say, renewing the focus on the issue of sexual violence against women in the South Asian nation.

650 words moved by Sanjay Sharma. Picture

Kenya-vote,WRAP

NAIROBI

Outgoing Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga lodges a formal legal challenge over the outcome of presidential elections that saw him defeated by his rival Uhuru Kenyatta.

600 words moved by Helen Vesperini. Picture. Video.

-- AMERICAS --

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OXON HILL, Maryland

Barack Obama is a closet Marxist; liberty, freedom and the American way are under attack; and the federal government is waging a campaign to indoctrinate families. Welcome to CPAC.

550 words 2000 GMT by Ivan Couronne. Picture.

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WASHINGTON

The United States is ready to abandon the final phase of its European missile defense system, a US official says, in a move that could revive arms control talks with Russia.

600 words moved by Dan De Luce

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NEW YORK

US Lieutenant Timothy McLaughlin's Iraq diary is not an introspective journal, but 10 years after the invasion its terse, staccato account of a young man's war holds a powerful charge.

700 words moved by Brigitte Dusseau. Picture. Video

-- AFRICA --

 

Zimbabwe-vote,WRAP

HARARE

Zimbabweans vote on a new constitution that would curb President Robert Mugabe's powers and pave the way for crucial elections in a country plagued by political violence.

850 words 1930 GMT by Susan Njanji-Matetakufa. Picture. Video.

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KHARTOUM

The African Union's Peace and Security Council arrives in Sudan on Sunday to meet African peacekeepers serving in the troubled Darfur region, official media says, after fresh government-rebel clashes.

500 words moved by Ian Timberlake

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KINSHASA

Hundreds of fighters from Congolese rebel group M23 take refuge in Rwanda after fighting with a rival faction led by Sultani Makenga.

550 words 2000 GMT

-- MIDDLE EAST --

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HALABJA, Iraq:

Hundreds of Iraqis commemorate 25 years since Saddam Hussein's forces gassed to death an estimated 5,000 Kurds in the town of Halabja, in what is thought to have been the worst ever chemical attack on civilians.

500 words moved by Mohamad Ali Harissi. Picture

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BAGHDAD

Ten years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and smashed Iraq's military, the country has become a major buyer of military equipment, spending billions to rebuild its armed forces.

600 words moved by W.G. Dunlop. Picture

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NICOSIA

President Nicos Anastasiades tries to appease Cypriots angry at having to pay from their bank deposits for a chunk of an EU bailout deal that his government signed to rescue the island's banks.

700 words 2000 GMT by Charlie Charalambous. Picture. File Video

Also moved: EU-finance-public-debt-Cyprus,lead-SCENE

-- ASIA --

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NEW DELHI

Italy warns its nationals in India to be "vigilant and cautious" amid a deepening diplomatic row over two Italian marines who skipped bail while facing trial for murder.

550 words moved by Penny MacRae

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MANILA

President Benigno Aquino opens a giant $1.2-billion casino to kick off the Philippines' high-stakes bid to join the likes of Macau and Las Vegas in an elite group of gaming destinations.

600 words moved by Cecil Morella. Picture

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