| 18 January 2004 | Sunday | 25 Ziqa'ad 1424 |
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Iran's election chiefthreatens to quit
TEHRAN, Jan 17: The man in charge of organizing next month's Iranian parliamentary elections vowed on Saturday he would quit unless conservatives rescinded a massive blacklist of candidates ... 
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French Muslims hold demos against scarf ban: Protests in Europe, ME
PARIS, Jan 17: Thousands of Muslim women, flanked by their menfolk, demonstrated in France, Britain and the Middle East on Saturday against a looming ban on headscarves in French state schools. ...
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UN team to assess Sistani's call for polls
BAGHDAD, Jan 17: A United Nations mission is to arrive in Iraq shortly to study demands for rapid elections issued by a senior Shia leader, a Western official linked to the mission said on Saturday. ...
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S. Arabia given details about Al Qaeda: Iran
RIYADH, Jan 17: The Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Hasan Rowhani, said in an interview with the Saudi daily Al Riyadh that Tehran has provided Saudi Arabia with exact and precise information about the Al Qaeda network. ...
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Israeli envoy kicked out of museum after vandalizing art
STOCKHOLM, Jan 17: Israel's ambassador to Sweden was kicked out of Stockholm's Museum of National Antiquities after he destroyed an artwork featuring a picture of a Palestinian suicide bomber ...
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US accepts ICRC plea on Guantanamo prisoners
WASHINGTON, Jan 17: The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday the Pentagon had agreed to accelerate the process of reviewing prisoners for possible release from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ...
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Indian govt starts poll preparations
NEW DELHI, Jan 17: The Indian government announced on Saturday that an interim budget would be presented to parliament on Feb 3 in the clearest indication yet that the countdown to early elections has started. ...
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Hubble to be abandoned, says Nasa
CAPE CANAVERAL, Jan 17: Nasa announced on Friday it would cancel a space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, a decision that dictates an early demise for the most storied science programme in the space agency's history. ...
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Spirit takes a look at Mars soil
PASADENA, Jan 17: The Mars rover, Spirit, began its scientific mission in earnest on Friday, stretching out its robotic arm for the first microscopic look at the surface of another planet. ...
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Japanese troops arrive in Kuwait
CAMP VIRGINIA, Jan 17: An advance unit of 39 Japanese ground troops arrived in Kuwait on Saturday to set the stage for humanitarian operations into Iraq, the unit's commander told reporters at this US military camp. ...
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Democratic race tightens in Iowa
DES MOINES, Jan 17: Democrat John Kerry slipped and Howard Dean gained ground in Iowa in a tightening four-way presidential race ahead of Monday's state caucuses, according to a poll released on Saturday. ...
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BD journalists hold strike
DHAKA, Jan 17: A dawn-to-dusk general strike, called by journalists in Khulna to condemn the murder of one of their colleagues, passed off peacefullyon Saturday. ...
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Vietnam's bird flu toll rises to four
HANOI, Jan 17: The number of Vietnam's confirmed bird flu deaths has risen by one to four, the World Health Organization said, while a hospital in the country's south said on Saturday it had two very sick patients with bird flu symptoms. ...
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World War Two aerial photographs on the Internet
LONDON: More than five million detailed aerial photographs from World War Two go onto the Internet from Monday, giving the public their first views of some of the most dramatic and grisly moments of the conflict. ...
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From Saddam to 'Bremer dinar'
BAGHDAD: Over the past month the capture of Saddam Hussein has become the stuff of dinner party conversations, cafe debates and drunken speculation across the Middle East. ...
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US court ruling seen as aiding Tamil rebels
BERKELEY: A US court ruling could ease efforts to raise funds for the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, where the rebels are bolstering civil projects amid a cease-fire with government forces. ...
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Afghan film goes global
KABUL: Afghan Film is a dingy mid-century block in a small compound in central Kabul. It is in a security zone. Outside, a fat German soldier in a scarlet beret directs traffic away from a road accident. ...
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Eyebrows raised at Cheney's trip with judge
WASHINGTON: Vice-President Dick Cheney and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spent part of last week duck hunting together at a private camp in south Louisiana just three weeks ...
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