Kerry presses Egypt on economic reform, says aid depends on it

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi in Addis AbabaBy Arshad Mohammed ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Secretary of State John Kerry urged Egypt to act swiftly on economic reforms to secure a $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan, saying the measures were needed to get further aid from the U.S. Congress, an American official said. Kerry met Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi for about an hour on the sidelines of an African Union summit on Saturday, discussing Syria's civil war, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, human rights in Egypt and the country's faltering economy, the official said. …

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France rules out Iran taking part in Syrian peace talks

By John Irish ABU DHABI (Reuters) – France’s foreign minister on Saturday ruled out Iran taking part in a proposed Syria peace conference, saying Tehran was involved in the conflict and had no desire for peace. Laurent Fabius will host Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at a dinner on Monday to discuss how to nudge Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian opposition into the talks in Geneva. …

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