| 20 February 2004 | Friday | 28 Zilhaj 1424 |
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Afghan boys demobilized
KABUL, Feb 19: Some 159 child soldiers have been demobilized in northern Afghanistan, a United Nations official said on Thursday. The children were among 536 young people identified as possible former or current soldiers in Kunduz province ... 
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Firebrand Shia leader warns of revolt in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Feb 19: Controversial young Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr brandished on Thursday the threat of revolt against the US-led occupation if the country is not ruled by Islamic law. "We warn and advise everybody that the Iraqi people ...
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Iraqi women's resistance
LONDON: Iraqi family law is the most progressive in the Middle East. Divorce cases are heard only in the civil courts (effectively outlawing the "repudiation" religious divorce); ...
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Political misfires worry Bush supporters
WASHINGTON, Feb 19: Since the beginning of 2004, President George W. Bush has suffered one political misfire after another, prompting some Republicans to wonder anxiously when the White House political machine will get in gear. ...
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Bush bends science for political ends
LONDON: The Bush administration is guilty of misrepresenting scientific knowledge and misleading the public, a group of America's most senior scientists claimed on Wednesday. ...
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Cannibalism in Congo: UN begins investigation
KIGALI, Feb 19: The United Nations has launched an investigation into reports of cannibalism by Rwandan Hutu rebels hiding in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a spokesman said on Thursday. ...
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Group urges UN to focus on young victims of conflicts
UNITED NATIONS: Children caught up in one of Latin America's longest running military conflicts, in Colombia, are dying violently at a rate of about seven per day, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict. ...
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Polls uncertain in Lanka's conflict areas
COLOMBO, Feb 19: Sri Lanka's election chief has said he is still undecided about conducting the April parliamentary polls in the rebel-held areas in the north and east despite the no-conflict situation prevailing there for about 2 years. ...
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Barrier hearing could be seen on net
THE HAGUE, Feb 19: Live video footage of the world court's hearings into the legality of the security barrier Israel is building along the West Bank will be broadcast on the Internet, the International Court of Justice said on Thursday. ...
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Serb parties agree on minority govt
BELGRADE, Feb 19: A member of a long-awaited new Serbian ruling coalition said on Thursday its members had finalised a cabinet lineup. "Everything is agreed upon," said Velimir Ilic ...
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Colombian drug money launderer held
MADRID, Feb 19: Spanish police said on Thursday they had arrested an alleged member of Colombia's defunct Cali cartel wanted by the United States for money laundering. ...
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Bird flu kills cat in Thailand
BANGKOK, Feb 19: A domestic cat has died of bird flu in Thailand in one of the first known cases of the disease outside birds and humans, a veterinary official said Thursday. ...
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Newsman's murder Ukraine rejects IFJ, NUJ demands
KIEV, Feb 19: Ukrainian prosecutors on Thursday turned down a request for an independent oversight of a government analysis of an audiotape that alleged President Leonid Kuchma had a role in the murder of a dissident journalist in 2000. ...
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Putin defends Afghan war veterans
MOSCOW, Feb 19: Russian President Vladimir Putin stood up on Thursday for the veterans of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, saying they should be proud of their service. ...
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Belarus climbs down in gas dispute with Russia
MINSK, Feb 19: Russia turned the gas taps back on Thursday after Belarus backed down in a major diplomatic row that saw Minsk recall its ambassador and sparked protests from other countries deprived of energy supplies. ...
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Denktash concerned over Greek Cypriot behaviour
NICOSIA, Feb 19: Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said on Thursday that rival Greek Cypriots, buoyed by imminent membership of the European Union, seemed unwilling to make concessions in last-ditch talks to re-unite the island. ...
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Lebanon's best export is culture
BEIRUT: Lebanon is a small country, yet the services it has rendered to humanity throughout the ages greatly exceed its physical dimensions. ...
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The treacherous game of wider Europe
LONDON: A year ago, the French press was proclaiming a "Paris-Berlin- Moscow axis" against the Iraq war. Now Le Monde headlines a "Berlin-London-Paris axis" ...
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