Reuters World News Highlights

 CAIRO – Under fierce pressure from street protests, Egypt’s  army chief promised yesterday to hand over to a civilian  president by July and made a conditional offer for an immediate  end to army rule.
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 MADRID – The election of a new conservative government  failed to curb mounting market pressure on Spain yesterday with  Madrid forced to pay the highest interest in 14 years on a sale  of government debt.
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 TEHRAN – Grudgingly admired in the past by the West for its  negotiating skills and by the Iranian nation for its  uncompromising stance, Iran’s leadership may have misjudged  recent confrontational tactics in its nuclear standoff with big  powers, analysts say.
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 MANCHESTER – President Barack Obama challenged the U.S.  Congress yesterday to vote next week to save an expiring  payroll tax cut, a day after a high-profile effort to tackle  huge U.S. deficits collapsed in acrimony.