SHANGHAI – U.S. President Barack Obama faces tensions with  China over trade and Tibet on his first visit to the emerging  superpower for a summit that will grapple with economic  imbalances and the future of the yuan.
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SINGAPORE – U.S. President Barack Obama said yesterday time  was running out for diplomacy in a dispute over Iran’s nuclear  programme, but a top Iranian official said it was up to the West  to show it sincerely wanted a deal.
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WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday  urged Afghan President Hamid Karzai to “do better” if he wanted  U.S. support, and that included creating a major crimes tribunal  and anti-corruption commission.
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JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said  yesterday there was no alternative to negotiations to secure  peace and that any unilateral moves by the Palestinians would  unravel past agreements.
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SINGAPORE – The Russian and U.S. presidents said yesterday  they hoped to strike a new deal for arms cuts by the end of the  year.
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UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations is quietly preparing an  exit strategy for its troops in the Democratic Republic of  Congo, the biggest U.N. peacekeeping mission in the world,  diplomats and officials said.
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ROME – Silvio Berlusconi’s personal, political and legal  problems are mounting, leading the Italian prime minister’s  media and political allies to speak of a plot against him and a  risk of early elections.
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SINGAPORE – U.S. President Barack Obama called for the  release of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when he  met the country’s prime minister at a meeting with other  Southeast Asian leaders in Singapore yesterday.
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BANGKOK – Thousands of Thais gathered in central Bangkok yesterday to protest at remarks made about the monarchy by fugitive  ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.