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| January 01, 2009 | Thursday | Muharram 03, 1430 |
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China, Vietnam settle border dispute after 30 years
HANOI, Dec 31: Communist China and Vietnam on Wednesday said they had settled their long disputed land border, only hours before a deadline was due to expire and nearly 30 years after they fought a border war.... 
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Nato seeks airspace deal with Russia: Flights to Afghanistan
BRUSSELS, Dec 31: Nato is seeking to seal an agreement with Moscow to allow the military alliance to fly equipment over Russian airspace to Afghanistan, an official said on Wednesday....
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Thai political crisis shows no sign of resolution in 2009
BANGKOK, Dec 31: Supporters of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra vowed on Wednesday to resume their street campaign for fresh elections in 2009, suggesting no respite from the country’s political crisis as a recession looms....
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Ethiopian troops set to leave Somalia in 5 days
MOGADISHU, Dec 31: Ethiopian troops propping up Somalia’s western-backed government are primed to withdraw in the next five days, officials said on Wednesday, potentially leaving a dangerous power vacuum in the Horn of Africa nation....
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Arab states cancel new year festivities: Solidarity with Gaza
CAIRO, Dec 31: Several Arab states have cancelled planned New Year celebrations in solidarity with Palestinians in the Islamist-run Gaza Strip who suffered a fifth straight day of Israeli bombardment on Wednesday....
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Iranian newspaper closed for Gaza article
TEHRAN, Dec 31: A newspaper close to former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been closed down for publishing an article the authorities said was sympathetic to Israel, the official IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday....
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Two Titanic passengers’ letters to be auctioned
NEW YORK, Dec 31: Two letters from Titanic passengers are to be auctioned in New York this month, one of them featuring an excited description of the doomed ship just moments before setting sail....
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Italian store torched in Iran
TEHRAN, Dec 31: A branch of Italian clothing retailer Benetton was set on fire in Iran amid angry protests against the Israeli onslaught on the Hamas-ruled Gaza, media reports said on Wednesday....
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Actor Dillon held for speeding
BOSTON, Dec 31: Hollywood actor Matt Dillon was arrested and charged with driving at an excessive speed after police clocked him travelling at 106 miles per hour on a Vermont interstate highway....
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France summons Iran envoy
PARIS, Dec 31: France, acting in the name of the European Union, has summoned Iran’s ambassador to Paris to protest about the treatment of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, the French Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday....
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Norway plans to outlaw soliciting of sex
OSLO, Dec 31: As Norway rings in the new year it will introduce a new law making the purchase — but not the sale — of sex a criminal act, threatening even to put Norwegians who buy sex abroad behind bars....
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Warning for fireworks fans in Italy
ROME, Dec 31: Men in Naples will have to make do without sex if they insist on going out to play with fireworks this New Year’s Eve....
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India criticises Israeli airstrikes
NEW DELHI, Dec 31: India on Wednesday urged Israel to halt the air strikes that have killed at least 390 Palestinians and injured thousands in the Gaza Strip....
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US will keep working for Cuban freedom: White House
CRAWFORD (USA), Dec 31: The United States remains committed to seeking freedom for the Cuban people, a White House spokesman said on Wednesday, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Americas’ only communist regime....
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Cuba to mark 50 years of revolution
HAVANA, Dec 31: Against a backdrop of economic gloom and the frail health of former leader Fidel Castro, Cuba will mark on Thursday the 50th anniversary of the revolution that turned...
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Republican views of Robert Burns revealed
In the late 18th century, it was a dangerous idea, a political view that could entail deportation to the penal colonies. But the revered Scots poet Robert Burns was openly discussing...
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The self-delusion that plagues both sides in this conflict
During the second Palestinian “intifada”, I was sitting in the offices of Hizbollah’s Al-Manar television station in Beirut, watching news footage of a militiaman’s funeral in Gaza....
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Welcome to US’s hall of shame
WASHINGTON: In at least one obvious way, 2008 was a pretty good year in my country. We made history in electing an African-American president. I and 67 million of my fellow...
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Armenians, Georgians in unholy row over disputed church
TBILISI: Amidst the rambling homes and cobble-stoned streets of the Georgian capital Tbilisi’s old town, two stone churches stand side-by-side, sharing a snow-covered courtyard....
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