UPDATE 3-Cricket-South Africa leave NZ batting in disarray again

(Adds quotes)* New Zealand close day two on 47 for six* Hosts declare on 525 for eight* We are being outclassed, says Kiwis coachPORT ELIZABETH, South Africa, Jan 12 (Reuters) - New Zealand collapsed again against South Africa's pace attack when they staggered to 47 for six in their first innings in reply to the hosts' 525 for eight declared on the second day of the second test at St. George's Park...

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Tennis-Revised Australian Open men's singles draw

MELBOURNE, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Revised Australian Open men'ssingles draw after final qualifying (prefix denotes seeding;w-indicates wild card; q-denotes qualifier):1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (France)Ryan Harrison (U.S.) v Santiago Giraldo (Colombia)q-Arnau Bruges-Davi (Spain) v Felciano Lopez (Spain)Viktor Troicki (Serbia) v 31-Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic)20-Sam Querrey (U.S.)...

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Tennis-Revised Australian Open women's singles draw

MELBOURNE, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Revised Australian Openwomen's singles draw after final qualifying (prefix denotesseeding; w-indicates wild card; q-denotes qualifier):1-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) v Monica Niculescu (Romania)Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) v Karolina Pliskova (CzechRepublic)q-Luksika Kumkhum (Thailand) v Sofia Arvidsson (Sweden)Jamie Hampton (U.S.) v 31-Urszula Radwanska (Poland)21-Varvara...

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India's top cop calls for rape crackdown

nts and other AP reporting, Bikram Singh …more RELATED CONTENT  Enlarge PhotoIn this image taken from video …Enlarge PhotoStudents shout slogans during a …NEW DELHI (AP) — India's top law enforcement official said Friday that the country needs to crack down on crimes against women with "an iron hand" to prevent attacks such as the fatal gang rape of a student on a New Delhi bus last month.That...

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India rape victim's friend recounts ordeal

NEW DELHI (AP) — The companion of a woman who was gang-raped aboard a bus in New Delhi recounted in a television interview for the first time Friday how the pair was attacked for 2 1/2 hours before being thrown on the side of the road, where passersby ignored them and police debated jurisdiction issues before helping them.The Dec. 16 attack has outraged Indians and led to calls for tougher rape laws...

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India gang-rape victim's friend recounts attack

NEW DELHI (AP) — Passers-by refused to stop to help a naked, bleeding gang-rape victim after she was dumped from a bus onto a New Delhi street, and police delayed taking her to a hospital for 30 minutes, the woman's male companion said in an interview. It was his first public account of the gruesome attack that killed the 23-year-old student and prompted demands for reform of a law enforcement culture...

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AP Photos: Falconers hunting on outskirts of Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Like his ancestors, Iraqi-born falcon trainer Abu Badr al-Anazi swings the carcass of a pigeon to attract a falcon released a few hundred meters (yards) away. The bird of prey arcs over the desert outskirts of Dubai before sinking its talons into the lure.While the methods to develop top-quality hunting falcons date back to antiquity, its transition into a modern...

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Syrian interior minister leaves Beirut hospital

 Syria's interior minister, wounded in a Damascus bombing, headed home on a private jet Wednesday after treatment in Beirut, airport officials said, despite calls from some Lebanese to put him on trial for Syrian actions in their country.Mohammed al-Shaar's departure coincided with the defection of the commander of Syria's military police.Officials at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport...

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Iran ex-president's family sues radical critic

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Four children of an influential ex-Iranian president are suing a radical lawmaker for describing his family as a corrupt "octopus," heating up a struggle between hard-liners and moderates simmering since a contested 2009 election.The latest salvo has rekindled the bitterness between backers of the current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and moderates headed by the former leader,...

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Egypt's government sets priorities after charter

 Egypt's government set legislative priorities for parliament on Wednesday as it convened for the first time since a new constitution was passed, asking lawmakers to focus on setting rules for upcoming elections, regulating the media and fighting corruption.The official confirmation Tuesday that the Islamist-drafted constitution passed in a referendum ushered in a new chapter in Egypt's two-year...

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Syria minister leaves Beirut for fear of arrest

 Syria's wounded interior minister rushed home from a Beirut hospital on Wednesday for fear he would be arrested after some Lebanese called to put him on trial for his role in a 1986 crackdown by Syrian troops in Lebanon.In another blow to President Bashar Assad, his commander of military police defected.The defector, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal, is one of the most senior members of...

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Venezuela VP hopes Chavez can be sworn in Jan. 10

 Venezuela's vice president said on Wednesday that the government is still aiming for President Hugo Chavez to be sworn in for a new term as scheduled next month, saying his condition has been improving after his cancer surgery in Cuba.Vice President Nicolas Maduro declined to speculate when asked about scenarios if the ailing president is unable to take the oath of office on Jan. 10. He took...

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YPF, Chevron sign Argentina shale pact

Argentina's cash-strapped state energy company signed a partnership deal Wednesday with Chevron Corp. for a "massive development" of the South American country's vast nonconventional oil and gas resources.YPF President Miguel Galuccio and Chevron's Latin America and Africa chief, Ali Moshiri, signed a letter of intent to start on a shale pilot project by drilling more than 100 wells within 12 months...

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Venezuela VP: Chavez conscious and recovering

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is conscious and progressively recovering more than a week after cancer surgery in Cuba, his vice president said Thursday.In a televised address, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Chavez was receiving treatment for a respiratory infection and has been with his family resting."He's well. He's conscious," Maduro said during the speech in central Guarico state. "He's...

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Venezuela court could decide on Chavez swearing-in

The president of Venezuela's Supreme Court said Thursday that it could decide whether it's constitutional to postpone the date of ailing President Hugo Chavez's swearing-in as he recovers from cancer surgery in Cuba.Supreme Court President Luisa Estella Morales also said the matter has not yet been brought before the court. Chavez is due to be sworn in for another six-year term on Jan. 10, but complications...

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Ecuador Central Bank president resigns over degree

 Ecuador's Central Bank president has resigned after acknowledging that he presented a fake academic degree 22 years ago — a scandal that prompted the country's leader to call for him to face justice.Central Bank President Pedro Delgado, who is a cousin of Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, apologized to the nation, the government and his family on Wednesday at a news conference."With honesty,...

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Egyptians vote on Islamist-backed constitution

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptians voted on Saturday in the second and final phase of a referendum on an Islamist-backed constitution that has polarized the nation, with little indication that the expected passage of the charter will end the political crisis in which the country is mired.Islamist President Mohammed Morsi is likely to emerge from a bruising month-long battle with a narrow victory for the constitution...

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Russia welcomes any offer to give Assad refuge

BEIRUT (AP) — Russia would welcome any country's offer of safe haven for Syrian President Bashar Assad, but has no plans to make one of its own, Moscow's foreign minister said in the latest comments to suggest a growing distance between the two allies.Sergey Lavrov's remarks on Friday night were among the clearest signs yet that Russia could be preparing for a Syria without Assad, as rebel pressure...

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Bombing kills 4, wounds 11 in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) — An explosion at a shop selling CDs killed 4 people in a town northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Saturday.Police officials say a bomb hidden in a plastic bag exploded near the shop Saturday afternoon in the town of Qazaniyah. Eleven people were wounded in the attack, and the shop was completely destroyed. Qazaniyah is 180 kilometers (110 miles) northeast of Baghdad.A medic in...

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Egypt's disputed charter headed toward approval

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamist-backed constitution headed toward likely approval in a final round of voting on Saturday, but the deep divisions it has opened up threaten to fuel continued turmoil.Passage is a victory for Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, but a costly one. The bruising battle over the past month stripped away hope that the long-awaited constitution would bring a national consensus...

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