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MAKHACHKALA, Russia (Reuters) - Two car bombs killed at least three people and wounded dozens of others on Monday in Dagestan, a turbulent province in Russia's North Caucasus region where armed groups are waging an Islamist insurgency. Car bombs, suicide bombings and firefights are common in Dagestan, at the centre of an insurgency rooted in two post-Soviet wars against separatist rebels in neighbouring Chechnya. ...

SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday it is crucial for Syrian opposition envoys to engage in peace talks without setting preconditions, apparently referring to demands for President Bashar al-Assad's removal. Lavrov also reiterated that Iran must be invited to the conference that Russia and the United States are trying to organise to seek a resolution to the more than two-year-old conflict that has killed at least 80,000 people. Days after U.N. ...

By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - Radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada could be deported to Jordan to face trial on terrorism charges within weeks, a British court heard on Monday, and it ruled he should remain in jail in the meantime to prevent him from absconding. Abu Qatada's deportation to Jordan, which the British government has been trying to achieve for eight years, is expected to take place within weeks when Jordan ratifies a new treaty with Britain, according to evidence shown to the court. ...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A gunman shot dead four people execution-style in a bank in Israel on Monday after being refused an overdraft and cash from its automatic teller machine. The assailant, identified by media reports as a former paramilitary border policeman, killed himself after police raided the Bank Hapoalim branch in the southern city of Beersheba to free his hostages. "It appears that we are talking about a lone individual who came to the bank in the morning hours, sought cover for a debt, a loan, and did not get it," Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said on Army Radio. ...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Threatening slogans were daubed on Monday outside the doorway of an Israeli activist in a Jewish women's prayer group seeking equal rights of worship for women at Jerusalem's holy Western Wall. "Your time is up," read one of several slogans spray painted in black in the apartment building where Peggy Cidor, a board member of the Women of Wall movement lives. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said it was "the first incident of its type in which one of the Women of the Wall houses are directly targeted". ...

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius, who is charged with murdering his girlfriend, will not compete in any events this year, local media reported on Monday. The sprinter's agent had previously said August's world championships in Moscow were "on the radar" after Pistorius' bail conditions were relaxed on March 28 and the 26-year-old was granted permission to travel abroad. But the double amputee, nicknamed 'Blade Runner', will not return to the track in 2013 according to his coach, Ampie Louw. ...

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has spoken out in defence of his captain Iker Casillas and confirmed that the Real Madrid goalkeeper will be part of the world and European champions' squad at next month's Confederations Cup in Brazil. Casillas has been warming the bench at Real since returning from a broken hand after he fell out with coach Jose Mourinho but Del Bosque said he had faith in his captain, who turned 32 on Monday, and he would be travelling to the warm-up tournament for next year's World Cup. ...

MADRID (Reuters) - Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has convened a news conference for later on Monday amid speculation the La Liga club are poised to announce the departure of coach Jose Mourinho. Perez will appear at the Bernabeu stadium at 8 p.m. local time (1800 GMT), Real said on their website (www.realmadrid.com) without giving further details. The world's richest club by income, Real will end this season without major silverware following Friday's defeat by city rivals Atletico Madrid in the King's Cup final. ...

By Natasha Baker TORONTO (Reuters) - A new app launched on Monday aims to bring William Shakespeare's sonnets to the masses with the help of short films starring stage actors performing them in front of New York landmarks. The Sonnet Project is a free app for the iPhone and iPad that showcases the bard's poetry through films of up to two minutes and performances by Tony-Award winning actors Joanna Gleason and Cady Huffman, among others. "Shakespeare gets a bad rap. ...

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Britain launched a research programme on Monday that should eventually allow all cancer patients to have access to the kind of genetic analysis that led Hollywood star Angelina Jolie to decide to undergo a double mastectomy. The project, involving the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London, the U.S. gene sequencing firm Illumina , geneticists and cancer doctors, aims to find a way to allow more cancer genes be tested in more people. Researchers announcing the 2. ...

By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than 60 people were killed in a series of car bomb explosions targeting Shi'ite Muslims across Iraq on Monday, police and medics said, part of the worst sectarian violence since U.S. troops pulled out in December 2011. The attacks brought the number killed in sectarian clashes in the past week to over 200, and tensions between Shi'ites, who now lead Iraq, and minority Sunni Muslims have reached a point where some fear a return to all-out civil conflict. No group claimed responsibility for the bombings. ...

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - The central United States braced for another round of violent weather on Monday after high winds, hail, and tornadoes struck the region over the weekend, killing one man and injuring more than 20 people. Severe storms were expected to pummel several states, with northwest Arkansas, far southeast Kansas, southern Missouri, most of Oklahoma and northern Texas facing the greatest risk, according to the National Weather Service. "A very moist atmosphere will become quite unstable again today," the weather service said. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday that "no option is off the table" over the possible arming of Syrian rebels and said it would press the European Union to make further changes to its weapons embargo. In a statement to parliament, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the EU should rethink its embargo on sending weapons to Syria, even if it holds back from making an immediate decision on whether to arm the opposition to Assad. ...

Amman, May 20 (IANS/AKI) Three Syrian refugees, including a 10-year-old boy, have died in Jordan, the country's official Petra news agency said Monday.

Guwahati, May 20 (IANS) At least ten youths have been arrested for impersonation, allegedly appearing in Combined Entrance Examination (CEE) for medical and engineering courses on behalf of other students, Assam Police said Monday.

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming Monday said it was disappointing that spot fixing has overshadowed the Indian Premier League (IPL) but hoped that the tournament would finish on a winning note.

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) Moving the Supreme Court for SIT probe into spot fixing scandal involving medium pacer S. Sreesanth and two other players of Rajasthan Royals, a public interest litigation Monday demanded that the semi-finals and final of the IPL should be put on hold till the probe is done.

Riyadh, May 20 (IANS/AKI) A convicted Syrian drug trafficker has been beheaded in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi interior ministry said in a statement Monday.

Ghaziabad, May 20 (IANS) Murdered teenager Aarushi's father and accused Rajesh Talwar Monday answered 231 questions in a court here and denied the allegations of his involvement in the crime while claiming that the CBI was influencing witnesses.

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) Delhi Police Monday appealed to the spectators and general public to lodge their complaints if they felt "cheated" while watching the three Indian Premiere League (IPL) matches which were spot-fixed.

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) A Delhi court acquitted three men facing charges of abducting and gang-raping a woman after the victim denied that the accused raped her.

Washington, May 20 (IANS) An 18-year-old Indian-origin girl in the US has developed a potentially revolutionary device that can charge a mobile phone in just 20 seconds, a media report said.

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) Three Tibetan activists Monday defied security and managed to stage a small protest here near the Taj Palace Hotel where Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is staying, police said. Another group of 300 Tibetans held a march elsewhere.

Bangalore, May 20 (IANS) Indian IT bellwether Infosys Ltd Monday said it would appeal against the notice of the income tax department demanding Rs.577 crore as outstanding dues for fiscal 2008-09.

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Monday ordered the demolition of all unauthorised structures on the flood plains and river beds of Yamuna and Hindon rivers in Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, officials said.

London, May 20 (IANS) People who begin drinking alcohol during puberty are more likely to become addicts, a German study has said.