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ZHONGSHAN, China: Tropical storm Fengshen struck China's southeastern coast Wednesday, bringing new torrential downpours to a region reeling from heavy rains and deadly flooding since early June. The storm, which also packed high winds, made landfall in Guangdong province early in the morning, closing schools and disrupting air traffic across the region and in neighboring Macau and Hong Kong, Xinhua news agency reported. More than 13,000 ships returned to Guangzhou's bustling port in advance of the storm, the agency said.
-- AFP
BEIJING: China re-opened Tibet to foreign tourists Wednesday after claiming victory over the worst unrest there in decades-which led Beijing to all but seal off the area from the outside world. China's crackdown in the wake of violent protests in Tibet in March drew international condemnation, and led to demonstrations in several countries that disrupted the Olympic torch relay ahead of the Beijing Games in August.
-- AFP
TEHRAN: Iran's Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani said on Wednesday the West should seriously heed International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei's warnings and prevent provoking Iran, the Press TV satellite channel reported. "You have reached the final minutes of your defeated game," Larijani said. In the wake of Israeli military exercises that may have been meant to show its ability to hit Iran's nuclear sites, ElBaradei has warned that a military strike on Iran could turn the Mideast into a "ball of fire."
-- Xinhua
HARARE: Zimbabwe's leader Robert Mugabe said he was open to negotiations but vowed to press on with a presidential run-off vote marred by deadly violence, as his rival called Wednesday for international military force. "Other people can say what they want, but the elections are ours and we are a sovereign state," Mugabe told a rally in Banket, north of Harare, Tuesday in his first public comments about his opponent's withdrawal from the run-off. "We will proceed with our election."
-- AFP
JERUSALEM: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered on Wednesday to seal all the crossings on the border of Gaza Strip for goods transfer in response to Tuesday's Qassam rocket attacks by Palestinian militants. Barak told Xinhua that the Sufa crossing, the Nahal Oz fuel terminal, the Karni crossing and the Kerem Shalom crossing for the transfer of food, medicine and humanitarian equipment were closed since early Wednesday morning. It was unclear when the transfer of goods into Gaza would be resumed.
-- Xinhua
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