British troops begin Iraq withdrawal

British troops began their formal withdrawal from southern Iraq Tuesday, "marking the beginning of the end of the UK’s six-year combat mission in Iraq," the Ministry of Defence announced. Ballesteros has spoken publicly for the first time since being diagnosed with the disease last October after collapsing at Madrid’s Barajas airport.

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Russia announces major arms buildup

Russia is planning a "comprehensive rearmament" of its military, President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday. The announcement comes amid concerns in Moscow over the performance of its forces during last year’s invasion of Georgia, an expert on the Russian military told CNN.

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Pakistan TV station reportedly blocked in parts of country

Pakistani television station GEO-TV has been shut down in locations across the country, according to the station’s managing director. Government officials have instructed cable operators to remove the channel from the airwaves or push it farther down in the channel order, Azhar Abbas said Saturday. The channel signal has been blocked in certain areas, but other cable operators are still carrying it

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Abu Ghraib now a humane prison, Iraq officials say

The notorious Iraq prison once called Abu Ghraib has reopened under Iraqi government control. And the Ministry of Justice has launched a public-relations campaign to show it has changed since the days when prisoners were tortured there — first under Saddam Hussein, and later by American troops.

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Bishop who denied Holocaust ordered to leave Argentina

Bishop Richard Williamson, who last month denied the existence of the Holocaust in an interview with Swedish television, was ordered Thursday to leave Argentina within 10 days, the Ministry of Interior said. “The bishop has repeatedly forged the true motive for his stay in the country, having declared that he is an employee of ‘La Tradicion’ Civil Society when, in reality, his true activity was as priest and seminary director of the Society of Saint Pius X in the neighborhood of Moreno,” Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo said in a written statement. Williamson and three other bishops who belong to the Society of Saint Pius X were excommunicated in 1988

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