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IRS chief declines to identify employees involved in scandal

WASHINGTON - The outgoing head of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service angered Republican lawmakers on Friday by resisting their demands that he identify who at the tax-collection agency had inappropriately targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

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Enraged by kidnapping, Egyptian police block Gaza border

CAIRO - Egyptian police angered by the kidnapping of seven colleagues by Islamist gunmen kept a crossing into the Gaza Strip closed again on Saturday, stranding hundreds of Palestinian travelers, witnesses said. | Video

World, Egypt 9:55am EDT

Eight killed, 10 policemen kidnapped in Iraq's Sunni heartland

RAMADI, Iraq - Suspected Sunni Muslim militants killed four state-backed Sunni fighters in Iraq on Saturday, security sources said, apparently viewing them as collaborators with the Shi'ite-led government of a nation plagued by sectarian hatred. | Video

World, Iraq 8:35am EDT

Germany's Merkel visits Pope, urges tougher market controls

VATICAN CITY - German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Pope Francis on Saturday and, apparently responding to his criticism of a heartless "dictatorship of the economy", called for stronger regulation of financial markets.

World, Papacy in Transition 8:41am EDT

Afghan parliament fails to pass divisive women's law

KABUL - Afghanistan's parliament failed to pass a law on Saturday banning violence against women, a severe blow to progress made in women's rights in the conservative Muslim country since the Islamist Taliban was toppled over a decade ago.

World, Afghanistan 7:51am EDT

France's Hollande signs gay marriage law

PARIS - French President Francois Hollande has signed into law a bill allowing same-sex marriage, making France the 14th country to legalize gay weddings.

World, Lifestyle, France, Subjects, Gay Marriage 7:48am EDT

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Illinois Senate approves marijuana for medical uses

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois - The Illinois Senate on Friday voted to approve the use of marijuana for medical purposes, which if signed into law would make it the second-most-populous state in the nation after California to allow the drug's use for medical purposes.

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Armed Tuareg and Arab groups clash in northern Mali

BAMAKO - Fighting has broken out in northern Mali between Tuareg separatists and local Arab-led gunmen, only days after the African country won a $4.2 billion aid pledge to help it recover from a conflict with Islamists affiliated to al Qaeda.