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• Fighting focused on outskirts of Qaeda-held Jaar

• Yemen, backed by U.S. drones, fighting militants in south

• Fears of al Qaeda rise near key shipping routes (Updates toll of fighting)

ADEN, Yemen, May 19 (Reuters) - At least 22 al Qaeda-linked militants and 12 Yemeni soldiers were killed in clashes and air strikes overnight during a new U.S.-backed offensive against insurgents in the south of the country, officials said on Saturday.

• Some 1,200 S.Sudanese refugees arrive each month

• Swampy conditions bad for health, U.N. says

• Refugee matters "not popular" among locals - U.N.

By Katy Migiro

NAIROBI, May 18 (AlertNet) - When Nyajany Kutil left Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp to return home to South Sudan in 2008, she did not imagine that war would force her back across the border again so soon.

• Climate chief says clear targets need to be agreed on

• Sees 'no sense' in May 31 fund meeting if board undecided

By Nina Chestney

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Countries which agreed to sign a deal in 2015 to cut greenhouse gas emissions should set milestones this year to ensure the necessary work is done on time, the United Nations' climate chief said on Wednesday.

15 May 2012 18:29

(Adds Palestinian official's comment)

By Dan Williams

TEL AVIV, May 15 (Reuters) - Israel said on Tuesday it had set up a mechanism to get aid to the Palestinians in the event of a major earthquake.

A 5.5-magnitude quake rattled Israel and the occupied West Bank on Friday, reminding residents of their vulnerability to the Syria-African Rift, a northern extension of Africa's Rift Valley.

• UN-backed peace plan calls for unhindered aid delivery

• Damascus wants Syrian Arab Red Crescent to oversee aid

• OCHA wants to jointly manage aid to ensure neutrality

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS, May 14 (Reuters) - Damascus wants to manage the delivery of all humanitarian aid to a million people in need of assistance as a result of the 14-month-old conflict in Syria, but the United Nations insists on having some control, envoys say.

TRIPOLI, May 13 (Reuters) - Libya has extended the deadline for voters to register for national elections by a week to spur more participation amid calls for a boycott by a self-styled autonomous council in the east and threats of similar action by Tripoli civic activists.

The free election, set to take place on June 19, will be a novelty for Libyans as it will be the first since the fall in a popular uprising last year of Muammar Gaddafi, who banned the ballot box during his maverick 42-year dictatorship.

12 May 2012 22:35

By Noe Torres

SANTIAGO XALITZINTLA, Mexico, May 12 (Reuters) - Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano spewed out huge clouds of ash and fiery rock overnight, closing a local airport on Saturday and frightening nearby villagers, already on edge after weeks of increased activity.

Popocatepetl, 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Mexico City, shook with tremors that belched out four large plumes of ash on Friday night and Saturday morning, the National Center for Disaster Prevention said in a statement on Saturday.

• Kinshasa hunts former rebel commander Ntaganda

• 7,000 refugees at overstretched Rwanda transit camp

• Region plagued by myriad rebel groups after 1998-2003 war

By Graham Holliday

GISENYI, Rwanda, May 10 (Reuters) - Nyiraba Herekeza hopes to get to a hospital soon. Ten days ago she was shot in the head as she fled fighting between Congolese government troops and rebels near her home in Gicanga, North Kivu.

The bullet is still lodged inside her right eye socket.

09 May 2012 16:16

By Mustafa Andalib and Mirwais Harooni

GHAZNI/KABUL, Afghanistan, May 9 (Reuters) - Headmaster Abdul Rahman was heading to work when a man he believes was a member of the Taliban accosted him and warned him to shut his high school in eastern Afghanistan or face the consequences.

Rahman agreed and his school, which teaches girls and boys, became one of more than 100 mixed or girls' schools that have closed in Ghazni province in recent weeks, in what the Ministry of Education says is a Taliban campaign against educating girls.