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| April 19, 2008 | Saturday | Rabi-us-Sani 12, 1429 |
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Israel plans 100 new homes in W. Bank settlements
JERUSALEM, April 18: The Israeli government on Friday published construction bids for 100 homes in two Jewish settlements, one of them deep in the West Bank, in violation of its pledge to freeze settlement expansion.... 
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World faces food emergency, warns Rice
WASHINGTON, April 18: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has joined other world leaders in warning that the current food crisis can lead to social instability across the globe....
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Torch relay evokes memory of Australian hoax
SYDNEY, April 18: The arrival of the troubled Olympic torch relay in Australia next week will revive memories of a 1956 stunt in which a hoax runner fooled crowds with a homemade torch topped by flaming pants....
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Dutch general’s soldier son killed in Afghan blast
KABUL, April 18: The son of the Netherlands’ new military chief was one of two Dutch Nato soldiers killed by a bomb in southern Afghanistan on Friday, officials said....
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Putin denies he plans to marry young gymnast
PORTO ROTONDO (Russia): April 18: President Vladimir Putin on Friday denied he planned to divorce his 50-year-old wife Lyudmila to marry an Olympic champion gymnast, telling journalists to keep their “snotty noses” out of his private life....
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Malaysia to overhaul judicial system
KUALA LUMPUR, April 18: Malaysia will set up a judicial appointments commission to select judges in an overhaul of its crisis-hit justice system, reports said on Friday....
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Carter meets Hamas chief in Damascus
DAMASCUS, April 18: Former US president Jimmy Carter met exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in the Syrian capital on Friday despite strong opposition from Israel and the White House....
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Pranab due in Riyadh today
RIYADH, April 18: After deferring his trip to Riyadh at least three times, Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is finally scheduled to arrive in Saudi Arab on Saturday on a two-day visit....
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US to televise Gitmo trials to 9/11 families
GUANTANAMO Bay: The US military will televise the Guantanamo trial of accused Sept 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five other suspects so relatives of those killed in the attacks can watch on the US mainland....
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Novelist Waugh’s home up for sale
LONDON: The West Country home where novelist Evelyn Waugh wrote two books during the last 10 years of his life has been put up for sale....
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Dense smoke shrouds Argentine capital
BUENOS AIRES: A dense cloud of smoke caused by grass fires shrouded the Argentine capital on Friday, forcing officials to suspend flights and close highways....
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China imposes new visa restrictions
HONG KONG:: China has imposed further curbs on visitors, just weeks after it stopped issuing multiple-entry visas, Hong Kong travel agents said on Friday, sparking concern among the business community....
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Man sentenced for staring at woman on train
LECCO (Italy): An Italian man was given a suspended jail sentence for staring too intensely at a woman sitting in front of him on a train....
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Quake rattles US Midwest
CHICAGO: A 5.2 magnitude earthquake centred in southeast Illinois startled residents in several central US states before dawn on Friday, but media reports indicated there were no injuries and only minor damage....
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Whoever wins White House, US troops will quit Iraq anyway
BAGHDAD: Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama say they want to withdraw US troops from Iraq as soon as possible. Republican John McCain says he will keep them there as long as necessary....
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Turkish writers find no relief in free-speech reform
ISTANBUL: Publisher Ragip Zarakolu reckons he may still end up in jail for “insulting Turkishness”, even after Turkey changes a law notorious for limiting free speech....
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‘Some rivets on Titanic were substandard, caused it to sink faster’
NEW YORK: The tragic sinking of the Titanic nearly a century ago can be blamed on low-grade rivets that the ship’s builders used on some parts of the ill-fated liner, two experts on metals conclude in a new book....
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Climate change is a security concern, too
PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday told the world’s biggest carbon polluters that global warming was becoming a driver of hunger, unrest and conflict, with the war in Darfur a concrete example....
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Why Zimbabwe, Tibet get all the attention
LONDON: There is no question that the struggle over land and power in Zimbabwe has brought the country to a grim pass. Nearly a decade after the takeover of white-owned farms...
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Britons fear race violence could erupt: poll
LONDON: Almost two out of three Britons fear race tensions could spill over into violence and half the population want immigrants to be encouraged to leave, a poll showed on Friday....
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