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| December 31, 2008 | Wednesday | Muharram 02,1430 |
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Guinea junta names civilian as premier
CONAKRY, Dec 30: The new military junta in Guinea on Tuesday named banker Kabine Komara as prime minister and met with representatives of foreign governments which condemned the coup in the mineral-rich African state.... 
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62 journalists killed in 2008, says watchdog
PARIS, Dec 30: The number of journalists, bloggers and media workers killed because of their work fell to 62 this year from 106 in 2007, the media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders said on Tuesday....
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Anti-govt protesters end siege of Thai ministry building
BANGKOK, Dec 30: Anti-government protesters abandoned their siege of Thailand’s Foreign Ministry building on Tuesday, easing a standoff that threatened to reignite a long-running political crisis....
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Sri Lankan president reaches out to Tamils
COLOMBO, Dec 30: Breaking new ground in political communication, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Tuesday addressed the people of the war-afflicted Tamil-speaking northern district of Jaffna in the Tamil language...
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Watches worth $5m stolen in Singapore
SINGAPORE, Dec 30: More than five million US dollars’ worth of watches have been stolen from a Singapore shop, the dealer said, in a rare crime of such magnitude in one of Asia’s safest cities....
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Topless tanning sparks row in Australia
SYDNEY, Dec 30: Topless tanning on Australia’s iconic beaches could soon be outlawed if a conservative lawmaker wins a battle to force women to keep their tops under wraps....
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Israel mulls brief truce, but warns assault could last weeks
GAZA CITY, Dec 30: Israel on Tuesday mulled a proposed 48-hour truce as world leaders stepped up calls for an end to the violence and warplanes pummelled Hamas targets in the battered Gaza Strip for a fourth day....
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Bush puts onus for ‘ceasefire’ on Hamas
CRAWFORD (USA), Dec 30: President George Bush on Tuesday urged Palestinian leaders to boost efforts to end the violence in the Gaza Strip by working towards a truce respected by Hamas militants....
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NGO’s bid to help Gazans scuttled
TYRE (Lebanon), Dec 30: An Israeli naval vessel collided on Tuesday with a boat carrying activists and medical supplies that was trying to break the blockade of Gaza, forcing it to head to port in Lebanon....
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US backs Afghan plan for engaging tribes
KABUL, Dec 30: The United States backs a proposed Afghan government plan to engage tribal elders in the war against the resurgent Taliban, a move seen by critics as reviving militias, its top envoy said on Tuesday....
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Gambian court sentences British couple
BANJUL, Dec 30: A British missionary couple working in the tiny west African state of Gambia have been sentenced to one-year prison terms with hard labour....
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Fossilised dinosaur bones found
BEIJING, Dec 30: Palaeontologists in east China have dug up what they believe is one of the world’s largest group of fossilised dinosaur bones, including the remains of an enormous “platypus,” state press said on Tuesday....
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Lebanon caves vie to be an official wonder of nature
BEIRUT: Lebanese are lobbying for a majestic cave complex to be named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World in an online competition that has drawn natural attractions from across the globe....
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Cheetah skull sheds light on evolution
The fossilised skull of a big cat unearthed in north-west China has been identified as the most primitive cheetah ever found. The skull, which is between 2.16m...
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Why bombing Ashkelon is the most tragic irony
BEIRUT: How easy it is to snap off the history of the Palestinians, to delete the narrative of their tragedy, to avoid a grotesque irony about Gaza which – in any...
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Revisiting Tchaikovsky
KLIN (Russia)/LONDON: A wobbly table in a blue wooden house overlooking silver birch trees is witnessing the worldwide revival of interest in the work of an often underrated 19th-century Russian composer....
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