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Police Take Control of Rio Slum  - Rio de Janeiro’s infamous Rocinha slum was taken over Sunday by a special police unit equipped with armored military vehicles and helicopters in an attempt to stop the area’s characteristic violence and drug trafficking activities. The crackdown comes as authorities attempt to prepare Rio for the upcoming 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Officials are counting on those events to signal Brazil's arrival as a global economic, political and cultural power.(Photo: REUTERS/Sergio Moraes)

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Niger Offers Amnesty to Gadhafi’s Son - Niger's president, Mahamadou Issoufou, has made his allegiance to the late Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi, no secret. He is now offering amnesty to one of Gadhafi's sons, Saadi Gadhafi, and extended the offer to all "Libyan refugees."(Photo: REUTERS/Chip East)

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Cuba Predicts Tourism Boom in 2012 - Cuba is reporting that the number of tourist arrivals have increased by 7.9 percent over the last year, and 2012 arrivals look to show even further growth.Earlier this year, U.S. travel to Cuba was made easier when the Obama administration revived the practice of issuing “people-to-people” licenses, which greatly expand travel opportunities for Cuba-bound visitors.(Photo: REUTERS/Desmond Boylan)

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Mugabe Sings to Win Young Zimbabwe Voters - Who says you can’t teach an old leader new tricks? Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe, 87, has released a catchy new single in efforts to court the country's young voters. The song preaches Black economic empowerment and talks about Zimbabwe's former white rulers.(Photo: REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)

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Uganda Jails Gay Activist’s Killer - Uganda sentenced the killer of slain gay rights activist David Kato to 30 years in prison Thursday.   Enoch Nsubuga admitted to beating Kato to death with a hammer outside his home in January. Nsubuga alleged that he was defending himself against sexual advances by Kato. The attack came after Kato’s name and address was published in a local newspaper, along with other men and women accused of being homosexual, under the headline, “Hang Them.”(Photo: MARC HOFER/AFP/Getty Images)

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Liberian Activist Leymah Gbowee Speaks Out - After election-related violence shook Liberia’s capital on Nov. 7, leaving one person dead, Liberian activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee vowed to take action. “I knew I had to continue doing what I do best: building peace ... I had to get a few of my sisters to work with me and engage very angry men from all sides of the conflict. We had to lead the way to peace and reconciliation — just as we did in the past,” she wrote. (Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)

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Israel Extradites Man for Attacking African-American - Israel has decided to extradite a man who is accused of the 2008 beating of a Black man in Brooklyn, New York.According to reports, an unidentified man on a bike sprayed African-American Andrew Charles with mace while the accused, Yitzchak Shuchat, 28, jumped from an SUV, beat Charles with a wooden club and sped off. (Photo: NY Daily News/NYPD)

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Cell Phones Drive Africa’s Tech Boom - A new report shows that Africa is the fastest-growing mobile market in the world, second to Asia. Given a 20 percent rate of growth each year for the past five years, the GSM report predicts that there will be a record of more than 735 million subscribers in Africa by the end of 2012.(Photo: REUTERS/Tom Kirkwood)

Photo By Photo: REUTERS/Tom Kirkwood/Files

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South Africa’s ANC Suspends Julius Malema - South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, suspended its controversial youth leader Thursday for five years after a disciplinary committee found him guilty of sowing divisions.(Photo: REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko)

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Egypt Closes Pyramid to Prevent Rituals - Egypt decided to close the Great Pyramid outside Cairo amid rumors that groups were planning to perform special rituals on Nov. 11 at 11:11 a.m.The head of Egypt's antiquities authority denied the motive behind the Great Pyramid’s closure, however, saying that the pyramid was closed for "necessary maintenance.”(Photo: REUTERS/Jamal Saidi)

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Usain Bolt Named Athlete of the Year - Jamaican runner Usain Bolt was named Athlete of the Year by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Saturday, alongside Australian Sally Pearson. (Photo: Frederic Nebinger/Getty Images)

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Sudanese Rebels Seek to Oust Bashir - Earlier this year, when South Sudan broke away from the northern half of the country, many hoped that lasting peace would finally be attainable — but now rebels in the region of Darfur and northern border states are calling for the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir’s government. (Photo: Liu Jin-Pool/Getty Images)

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Winning All Over the World - African-American teen chess champs Justus Williams, Joshua Colas and James Black Jr. are all set to compete in the World Youth Chess Championship later this month in Brazil.(Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for HBO)