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| December 18, 2008 | Thursday | Zilhaj 19, 1429 |
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Indian parliament approves tough anti-terror laws
NEW DELHI, Dec 17: The Indian parliament on Wednesday approved tougher anti-terrorism laws in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, including the setting up of an FBI-style agency to plug gaping holes exposed by the atrocity.... 
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Ban opposes US plea for UN-led operation: Lawlessness in Somalia
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17: UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday differed with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s view that a UN peacekeeping operation is needed in lawless Somalia at this time....
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Emergency lifted in BD after two years
DHAKA, Dec 17: Bangladesh’s army-backed government on Wednesday scrapped a state of emergency that had been in place for nearly two years and ramped up security across the country ahead of elections in 12 days....
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Iran, Turkey pound Kurd bases in Iraq
ARBIL (Iraq), Dec 17: Turkish warplanes and Iranian artillery pounded border areas of northern Iraq on Wednesday as they pressed an offensive against Kurdish rebels, an Iraqi Kurdish security forces spokesman said....
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Islamists not prime suspects in Paris store threat: minister
PARIS, Dec 17: France’s Defence Minister Herve Morin said on Wednesday that Islamist militants were not the prime suspects in a threat to blow up Parisian department stores....
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India can reduce hunger with political will: WFP
NEW DELHI, Dec 17: India can make a significant contribution to the global fight against malnourishment and hunger if it shows political will and makes its food distribution system more effective, the UN’s World Food Programme said....
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First complete face transplant in United States
CLEVELAND (USA), Dec 17: US surgeons have replaced 80 per cent of a woman’s face in what is considered the world’s first nearly complete facial transplant, the Cleveland Clinic has announced....
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Afghan security will improve in 2009: Nato
KABUL, Dec 17: A top Nato commander said Wednesday Afghanistan’s dire security situation will improve next year as more foreign troops arrive and the new US administration takes office....
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Obama named Time’s ‘Person of the Year’
WASHINGTON, Dec 17: Time magazine on Wednesday named US president-elect Barack Obama its 2008 “Person of the Year.” “For having the confidence to sketch an ambitious future in a gloomy hour,...
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Iraqi doctor jailed for 32 years over UK car bomb plots
LONDON, Dec 17: An Iraqi doctor was jailed for 32 years on Wednesday after being found guilty of planning car bomb attacks outside a nightclub in central London and at a packed Scottish airport a day later....
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UN council adopts resolution on ME
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 17: The UN Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution which endeavours to provide new momentum to US-sponsored Middle East negotiations at a time of transition in the peace process....
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Thackeray call for hanging Kasab backed by Muslim body
NEW DELHI, Dec 17: The All India Milli Council has supported an apparent demand of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray to hang without trial Ajmal Kasab, the sole arrested suspect in the Mumbai terror attacks....
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Obama ducks question about Illinois governor scandal
CHICAGO, Dec 17: The scandal surrounding the arrest of the corruption-tainted governor of Illinois continued to weigh on president-elect Barack Obama as he faced questions on Tuesday over the degree of contact his staff had with Rod Blagojevich....
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Rival cobblers claim credit for shoes hurled at Bush
BAGHDAD, Dec 17: Call it product placement. Across the Middle East, rival shoemakers have claimed it was they who created the footwear flung at US President George Bush by an angry Iraqi and immortalised by TV cameras....
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Suspicious letters sent to 15 US embassies
WASHINGTON, Dec 17: Fifteen US embassies in Europe have received letters containing a suspicious white substance and tests have shown 14 of them to be harmless, State Department spokesman Robert A....
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Egyptian offers daughter in marriage to shoe-thrower
CAIRO, Dec 17: An Egyptian man said on Wednesday he was offering his 20-year-old daughter in marriage to Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who threw his shoes at US President George Bush...
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How will Obama choose his diplomats?
PRESIDENT-elect Barack Obama has repeatedly stated his intention to change the culture of Washington. He promises to drive the money changers (the lobbyists) from the temple, to reduce the partisanship and...
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Iranians hit by Dubai property slide
TEHRAN: Habib Mostofi is one of thousands of Iranians who believed buying property in Dubai would be safer than Iran, isolated by the West over its disputed nuclear plans....
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US, China nurture cautious partnership
WASHINGTON: With the Six Party talks to denuclearise North Korea once again on the ropes and the world reeling from a deepening financial crisis, the United States is looking to China for help....
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UN aid Funding crisis feared
LONDON: The UN’s biggest humanitarian aid agencies, which house and feed over 100 million people, are facing a deep – and potentially long-term – crisis of funding as governments across the globe slash their aid budgets....
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Iceland sees its future in fish
REYKJAVIK (Iceland): For centuries, Icelanders earned a living from the sea, setting out in small boats to haul cod, haddock and herring from the North Atlantic waters....
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