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German Chancellor Will Face Difficult Talks On Visit To Hungary This Month
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives in Budapest shortly - and further visits by foreign dignitaries will give Hungary unusual prominence this month.
Russian President Vladimir Putin follows on 17 February, the Turkish, Georgian and Nato leaders soon after.
"That's just the way life here is," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the BBC. Hungary has long had to balance East with West.
Critics hope Ms Merkel will chide Mr Orban for his authoritarian policies.
But he will be hoping for praise from a fellow conservative leader.
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Judge Sergio Mattarella Elected As Italy's President
Italy's parliament has elected constitutional court judge Sergio Mattarella as the country's president.
Mr Mattarella, 73, will succeed Giorgio Napolitano, 89, who stood down earlier this month citing "signs of fatigue".
The result, confirmed on a third day of voting, will be seen as a boost for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who nominated Mr Mattarella.
Italy's president is largely a ceremonial role, but includes the power to appoint a prime minister.
That power is one quite frequently invoked in Italy, where politics is famously volatile.
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Podemos Hold Mass Rally In Madrid
Tens of thousands of people have massed in central Madrid for a rally organised by radical Spanish leftists Podemos.
The "March for Change" is one of the party's first outdoor mass rallies, as it looks to build on the recent victory of its close allies Syriza in Greece.
Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias told the crowd a "wind of change" was starting to blow through Europe.
Podemos has surged ahead in opinion polls, and has vowed to write off part of Spain's debt if it comes to power.
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Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Not To Be Handed Back To Cuba
The US says it will not hand back the Guantanamo Bay naval base as part of efforts to improve relations with Cuba.
Cuban President Raul Castro included the demand in a speech on Wednesday, calling also for the US trade embargo to be lifted.
US President Barack Obama "does believe that the prison at Guantanamo Bay should be closed down... but not the naval base", the White House said.
The land on which the base stands was leased to the US by Cuba in 1903.
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Kidnapped Libyan Samir Salem Kamal Released
The Libyan representative to the oil producers' organisation Opec has been released, more than two weeks after being kidnapped.
Samir Salem Kamal had been seized after leaving work in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on 15 January.
His family said he was in good health considering the situation, but shaken up by his ordeal.
They said the identities of his kidnappers - and their motives - remained unclear.
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Nationality Of 72 Citizens Revoked By Bahraini Government
The government of Bahrain has revoked the nationality of 72 citizens on grounds of damaging national security, the state BNA news agency has reported.
It says that the measures have been implemented in part to "preserve security and stability and fight the danger of terrorist threats".
Correspondents say it is the largest number of Bahrainis to be stripped of their nationality since 2013.
At that time a law was introduced to punish people convicted of terrorism.
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President Of Egypt Talks Of Difficult Battle With Militants
Egypt faces a long and difficult battle with militants, the country's president has said, in his first remarks since a deadly attack in the Sinai region.
Abdul Fatah al-Sisi spoke a day after a group linked to Islamic State said it killed at least 32 soldiers and police.
"This battle will be difficult, strong, evil and will take a long time," he said in comments broadcast on state TV.
Mr Sisi cut short a visit to an African Union summit to return to Egypt in the wake of the Sinai attack.
On Saturday morning he chaired a meeting of the country's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf).
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US Military: IS Expert In Chemical Weapons Killed
A chemical weapons expert with the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Iraq has been killed in a coalition airstrike, the US military has said.
Abu Malik's training provided IS with "expertise to pursue a chemical weapons capability", a statement said.
He served as a chemical weapons engineer under former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, before joining al-Qaeda in Iraq and then IS, the US said.
The US-led coalition has carried out nearly 2,000 strikes against IS.
Mr Malik was killed in a raid near Mosul on 24 January, according to the US.
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Canadian Prime Minister Changes Bill On Terrorism
Encouraging terror attacks against Canada will become a crime under legislation proposed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The measure will also expand the powers of the country's spy agency, allowing it to take direct action to stop attacks.
Work began on the bill after two attacks days apart last year.
It is expected to be passed by Mr Harper's Conservative majority in Parliament.
Under current law it is a crime to make a specific threat. The new measure would make it crime to call for a terror attack against the country or Canadians generally, including online.
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Boy Of Three Shoots Both Parents In Albuquerque
A three-year-old American boy has shot his mother and father with the same bullet after pulling a gun from her handbag, police say.
The incident took place in a motel room on Saturday afternoon in Albuquerque in the state of New Mexico.
The toddler was apparently reaching for an iPod.
The bullet passed through his father's buttock and hit his mother, who is eight months pregnant, in the arm. Both parents are said to be recovering.
The boy's two-year-old sister, who was also in the room at the America's Best Value Inn, was unhurt.
Traumatised
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