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| November 18, 2008 | Tuesday | Ziqa'ad 19, 1429 |
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Israel to release 250 Palestinian prisoners
JERUSALEM, Nov 17: Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday 250 Palestinian prisoners would be freed in a goodwill gesture towards Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who in turn urged Israel to maintain the Gaza truce.... 
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Bangladesh polls may be delayed, say officials
DHAKA, Nov 17: Bangladesh’s parliamentary election, scheduled for Dec 18, may be put off for a few days to attract a major party that has yet to agree to participate, analysts and officials said on Monday....
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Lankan troops just 30km from LTTE stronghold
COLOMBO, Nov 17: Sri Lankan troops on Monday captured three more strategic towns from Tamil Tiger rebels following fierce fighting in the north of the island, the army chief said....
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Indian troops kill child, mother in BD
DHAKA, Nov 17: Three Bangladeshis including a mother and child were shot dead by Indian troops along the border between the two countries, triggering a protest by Dhaka, Bangladesh’s border force said on Monday....
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Basque leader caught on France-Spain border
MADRID, Nov 17: The suspected military leader of Basque separatist group ETA has been arrested in France, Spanish and French authorities said on Monday....
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Bangladesh, Myanmar fail to resolve crisis
DHAKA, Nov 17: The two-day maritime boundary delimitation talks between Bangladesh and Myanmar ended inconclusively on Monday as both sides refused to change their stance on the method to mark the...
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Britons think children act like animals: poll
LONDON, Nov 17: More than 50 per cent of Britons think the country’s children are beginning to behave like animals and many believe they are increasingly a danger to adults and each other, according to a poll released on Monday....
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Bahrain prince sues Michael Jackson
LONDON, Nov 17: A son of the king of Bahrain took pop star Michael Jackson to court on Monday for reneging on an agreement to record a new album and write an autobiography....
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N-report on Syria not conclusive, says IAEA
DUBAI, Nov 17: UN atomic watchdog head Mohamed ElBaradei said on Monday that a report on Syrian nuclear activity is “not conclusive” and he called for more cooperation from both Syria and Israel....
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Aborigines oppose renaming of Mount Niggerhead
SYDNEY, Nov 17: An Australian aboriginal group has opposed a plan to re-name Mount Niggerhead, a rocky outcrop in the northeast, saying the new name was just as offensive, local media reported on Monday....
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China rules out troops for Afghanistan
BEIJING, Nov 17: China has no intention of sending troops to Afghanistan, state media said on Monday, downplaying recent reports quoting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as saying Beijing could do so....
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DR Congo rebels claim new territorial advance
GOMA (DR Congo), Nov 17: Congolese rebel forces said Monday they had taken new territory and threatened more attacks against government troops as a UN envoy warned against expecting quick results from a peace mission....
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Obama vows to build US ‘moral stature’
WASHINGTON, Nov 17: US president-elect Barack Obama vowed to pull troops out of Iraq, crush Al Qaeda and shut down the Guantanamo Bay camp as part of a dramatic foreign policy break with George Bush....
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Japan PM’s political woes deepen
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso’s political troubles deepened on Monday as a poll showed his approval rating has dropped below 30 percent and the opposition threatened to boycott parliamentary proceedings....
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‘Meh’: new word for indifference
LONDON: “Meh”, a word which indicates a lack of interest or enthusiasm, became the latest addition to the Collins English Dictionary on Monday. The word, which beat hundreds of other suggestions...
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California fires wane but danger persists
LOS ANGELES, Nov 17: Winds eased on Monday but high temperatures continue to pose challenges for firefighters in Southern California, where wildfires have charred more than 55 square miles and destroyed around 1,000 homes....
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French court reverses virgin ruling
DOUAI (France), Nov 17: A French appeal court overturned on Monday a ruling that annulled the marriage of a Muslim couple after the husband discovered his bride was not a virgin, the husband’s lawyer said....
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Iran denies spies’ arrest report
TEHRAN, Nov 17: Iran denied on Monday a report that it had detained 10 spies who had entered the country illegally from Pakistan....
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French MP kills mistress, shoots himself dead
THIONVILLE (France): A French member of parliament, distraught over losing his post of mayor in elections, shot his mistress dead on Monday before turning the gun on himself, police said....
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Rs 10,000 for four samosas
NEW DELHI: A Dutch couple on a visit to the eastern Indian state of Bihar paid Rs10,000 ($204) for four samosas, a snack that usually does not cost more than a few rupees....
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Floods under Antarctic ice speed glaciers into sea: study
PARIS, Nov 17: Scientists unveiled on Sunday the first direct evidence that massive floods deep below Antarctica’s ice cover are accelerating the flow of glaciers into the sea....
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Interpreters in Iraq upset over mask ban
BAGHDAD: The US military has barred Iraqi interpreters working with American troops in Baghdad from wearing ski masks to disguise themselves, prompting some to resign and others to bare their faces even though they fear it could get them killed....
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Kenyan seafarers — unnoticed victims of piracy
MOMBASA (Kenya): The pirates pretended to be fishermen who’d run out of fuel. But when their fiberglass speedboat reached the South Korean tuna vessel, the “fishermen” pulled machine guns from under their shirts....
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No home comforts for India’s construction site children
NEW DELHI: It’s not unusual in cities across India to see giggling children chasing each other around piles of sand or playing with shovels as their mothers keep an eye on them from nearby....
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History says keep mum, like the Queen
LONDON: The nineteenth century economist and writer Walter Bagehot’s book, The English Constitution, published in 1867, is still regarded as the classic exposition of constitutional monarchy....
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Why Einstein needs rehabilitation
Quantum physics is the branch of science most irresistible to raiders from other disciplines who don’t quite understand it. The catalogue of literary-metaphorical abuses of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, for example, must run to thousands of entries....
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