Reuters World News Highlights

STOCKHOLM – Police said yesterday they were treating bomb  blasts in Stockholm as an act of terrorism by a lone attacker  that followed an emailed threat referring to Sweden’s troops in  Afghanistan and to cartoons of Mohammad.

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BEIJING – China will ratchet up efforts to quell inflation  in 2011 while pushing forward economic restructuring to help  sustain robust growth, state media said on Sunday after the  close of an annual policy-setting conference.

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TOKYO – Executives of Japan’s ruling party were expected to  meet today to decide whether a parliamentary ethics panel  should summon powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa to testify on a funding  scandal, risking deepening a rift in the party as the  government struggles with a weak economy and divided  parliament.

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – An insurgent attack in south  Afghanistan killed at least six foreign troops and two Afghan  soldiers yesterday, officials said, days before Washington is  due to complete a review of its war strategy.

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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s tax deal with  Republicans will likely win grudging passage in the U.S.  Congress, backers and critics agreed yesterday, after Obama  clashed with liberals in his own party who branded it a  giveaway to the rich.

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PRISTINA – Prime Minister Hashim Thaci claimed victory in  Kosovo’s first general election since independence yesterday  after exit polls put his PDK party well ahead.

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ROME – Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s hopes of  surviving a crucial no confidence motion in parliament hung by  a thread yesterday as political commentators predicted the  outcome could be decided by as little as a single vote.

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RAMALLAH – Neither Israeli nor Palestinian officials showed  any enthusiasm yesterday for a U.S. proposal of a return to  indirect peace talks after the swift collapse of face-to-face  negotiations.