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AP - North Korea's next leader is burnishing his diplomatic skills in the wake of his father's death, welcoming a private South Korean mourning delegation as he strengthens his position at the top the country's ruling structure.

AP - Women returned to clean the blood from St. Theresa Catholic Church on Monday and one man wept uncontrollably amid its debris as a Nigerian Christian association demanded protection for its churches.

AP - The death toll from flash floods that swept away entire villages in the southern Philippines climbed to nearly 1,500 on Tuesday, as authorities widened their search for bodies.

AP - An al-Qaida front group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the wave of attacks that rocked Baghdad last Thursday and killed 69 people.

AP - Medical officials say five recovering drug addicts died and dozens of others were sickened by soy sausage served for Christmas dinner at a rehabilitation center in western Mexico.

AP - After days of punishing assaults, Syria's army began withdrawing tanks from the restive city of Homs on Tuesday just as a team of Arab League observers was on its way to the central city, according to activists and an Arab official.

AP - Wailing and sobbing, mourners beat their chests and dropped to their knees as North Korean President Kim Il Sung's hearse crawled through the streets of Pyongyang in 1994, draped with a red flag and bedecked with white magnolias.

AP - Britain's Prince Philip left the hospital Tuesday, after undergoing treatment for a blocked coronary artery.

AP - An Indian activist began a three-day hunger strike calling for Parliament to pass a tougher version of an anti-corruption bill than the one lawmakers started debating on Tuesday.

AP - Indian lawmakers fiercely debated sweeping anti-corruption legislation Tuesday while a protest leader began a three-day hunger strike demanding Parliament adopt his tougher proposals.

AP - A shy 8-year-old schoolgirl has unwittingly found herself on the front line of Israel's latest religious war.

AP - Syria's army suspended days of punishing attacks on the restive city of Homs and began withdrawing its tanks Tuesday just as Arab League monitors visited the area and met with local leaders, activists and officials said.