January 27, 2006	Friday	Zilhaj 26, 1426

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Cold wave claims 60 lives in Europe WARSAW, Jan 26: Europe’s Arctic cold front loosened its deadly grip on Thursday, but not before claiming at least 60 more victims overnight in Ukraine, Poland and half-a-dozen other countries battered by a week of deep-freezer temperatures....		Bush refuses to release lobbyist’s photos WASHINGTON, Jan 26: President George Bush sought to distance himself from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff on Thursday, saying “I don’t know him,” and refused to release photographs in which he appeared with Abramoff....
Georgia without gas, electricity TBILISI, Jan 26: Most of Georgia was without electricity on Thursday when its power network went down, leaving the tiny state, already short of gas after its pipeline from Russia was blown up, shivering in sub-zero temperatures....		US companies asked to compensate S. Koreans: Victims of Agent Orange SEOUL, Jan 26: A South Korean appeals court on Thursday ordered two US chemical firms to pay 63.1 billion won ($65.2 million) in damages to 20,000 of the country’s Vietnam war veterans for exposure to defoliants such as Agent Orange....
Israel tried to kill Osama in 1996: paper TEL AVIV, Jan 26: Israel’s Mossad spy service and a foreign counterpart enlisted a confidante of Osama bin Laden to kill the Al Qaeda leader in 1996 but the plan fell apart over a political dispute, a newspaper said on Thursday....		Hamas leader Ismail Haniya — a pragmatic radical GAZA CITY, Jan 26: Ismail Haniya, touted as a possible Palestinian premier should Hamas form a government, is a radical politician who sees no contradiction between running a militia and joining parliament....
Nicole Kidman named UN Ambassador NEW YORK, Jan 26: The United Nations Development Fund for Women on Thursday appointed Nicole Kidman, an Academy Award winning actress, as Goodwill Ambassador to help the organisation improve women’s lives....		S. Arabia recalls envoy from Denmark RIYADH, Jan 26: Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it had recalled its ambassador to Denmark, saying the government had not taken enough action over newspaper cartoons seen as mocking Islam....
Extra-solar planet discovered SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 26: A frigid planet five times the size of Earth has been discovered by an international team of scientists, a US laboratory announced on Wednesday....		210m-year-old crocodile fossil found WASHINGTON, Jan 26: A toothless, two-legged crocodile ancestor that walked upright and had a beak instead of teeth was discovered in the basement of New York’s American Museum of Natural History, according to a report published on Wednesday....
Refusal of US visa to scholar challenged NEW YORK, Jan 26: Citing the case of a prominent Muslim scholar who has been barred from the United States, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday...		Congregation DHAKA, Jan 26: A three-day religious congregation that attracts the faithful from across the world begins near Dhaka on Friday. Organised by the World Tablighi Jamaat, the congregation, known as Bishaw...
US military stretched to breaking point: Pentagon report WASHINGTON: The US army is being stretched, by its deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan, into a “thin green line” in danger of breaking before the insurgents are defeated, claims a report commissioned by the Pentagon....		Germany’s oaks could die out BERLIN: Germany’s once magnificent forests are feeling the effects of climate change, with one in every two oak trees officially sick, researchers say. A report says the state of the Germany’s...
Formation of govt: big test for Hamas GAZA CITY: Hamas, which has scored a dramatic victory in the Palestinian election, is the main Palestinian Islamist movement and has long sought the destruction of Israel....		Hamas win: likely scenarios Below are answers to some questions arising out of Hamas’s victory:...
Germany paid millions to get its hostage freed BERLIN: Spare a thought for the hard-pressed officials at Germany’s foreign ministry. Less than a month after the release of Susanne Osthoff, a German aid worker kidnapped in Iraq, the German...		Interest in nuclear energy on the rise PARIS: Nuclear power, the long-time foe of the environmental movement, is returning to favour in many countries where issues of energy dependency and the rising cost of fossil fuels are driving policy changes....