Deadly accident
At least one person died and 23 were injured in an accident Wednesday between a car, truck and bus near Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The country is known for its accidents due to the poor condition of vehicles and roads.
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Pledge to help
Donors, including the U.S. and the World Bank, pledged more than $21 billion for Afghanistan on Thursday at a meeting in Paris — and this time they want their money spent better in a poor country where the president is barely in charge.
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Investigation
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday in Brussels he has invited Afghanistan and Pakistan to be part of a U.S. investigation into an airstrike that Pakistani officials say killed 11 of their troops.
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Attack or accident?
An explosion flattened a house in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing seven people. After blaming Israel and unleashing a barrage of rockets and mortar shells, Hamas suggested the blast was accidental, not an Israeli attack.
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No deal
New U.S. proposals have failed to overcome Iraqi opposition to a proposed security pact, two lawmakers said Thursday in Baghdad, and a senior government official expressed doubt an agreement could be reached before the U.S. election in November.
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Parents protest
Hundreds of grieving parents blocked the road into a flattened town Thursday in Beichuan County, China, as police sought to quell a rising wave of public anger over schools that collapsed in an earthquake a month ago and killed thousands of children.
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Art heist
Heavily armed robbers Thursday stole two engravings by Pablo Picasso from an art museum in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, a museum official said.
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FROM NEWS SERVICES
