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| January 21, 2009 | Wednesday | Muharram 23, 1430 |
2m throng US capital to see history
WASHINGTON, Jan 20: More than two million people crammed onto the National Mall and along the inauguration parade route on Tuesday to celebrate the swearing-in of the first black U.S....
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Chief justice leads Obama to stumble oath
WASHINGTON, Jan 20: Barack Obama took the 35-word oath of office on Tuesday to become the United States’ 44th president even if he may have been led to utter the historic words in the wrong order....
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Karzai blames West for civilian deaths: Allies accused of not doing enough
KABUL, Jan 20: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday accused his western allies of not doing enough to stop civilian deaths in the ‘war on terror’ or cut opium production in areas patrolled by foreign troops....
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Saudi sues US to remove ‘terrorist’ label
RIYADH, Jan 20: A Saudi businessman who was designated a terrorist by the United States after the Sept 11 attacks has sued the US Treasury to remove the label and access frozen assets, his lawyers said on Tuesday....
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Extradition of LTTE leader to India opposed
COLOMBO, Jan 20: Nationalist political parties in Sri Lanka are demanding that LTTE chieftain Vellupillai Prabhakaran be tried in Sri Lanka for assassinations he masterminded instead of extraditing him to India as requested by New Delhi....
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Record ransom paid for Greek shipping tycoon
ATHENS, Jan 20: Kidnappers released Greek shipping magnate Pericles Panagopoulos on Tuesday for a record ransom which reports said could be as high as 100 million euros ($130 million)....
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Turkey blackmailing EU: German minister
BERLIN, Jan 20: Turkey is blackmailing the European Union over the proposed Nabucco gas pipeline, which would bypass Russia by bringing Caspian Sea gas to Europe, German Economy Minister Michael Glos said on Tuesday....
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‘Afghanistan, Iraq blighting UK troops’ marriages’
LONDON, Jan 20: Britain’s Defence Secretary John Hutton said on Tuesday that relentless army deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq were putting ‘very substantial strain’ on British forces, including soldiers’ marriages....
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‘Ancestors’ hopes realised’
“WE woke up at three (am) but it’s worth it. I think it’s history on its way. We just want to be there celebrating.” — Mary Lloyd on the National Mall...
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Kennedy collapses
WASHINGTON. Jan 20: Senator Edward Kennedy collapsed during the inaugural luncheon for President Barack Obama and was taken to a Washington hospital....
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Security threat under probe
WASHINGTON, Jan 20: The United States police has launched investigation into a potential threat involving a Somali insurgent group in connection with the inauguration of Barack Obama as US president, authorities said on Tuesday....
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Bush, Rumsfeld be tried for torture: UN rapporteur
BERLIN, Jan 20: The UN’s special torture rapporteur called on the US on Tuesday to pursue former president George Bush and defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld for torture and bad treatment of Guantanamo prisoners....
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Obama too handsome for good satire: caricaturist
BRUSSELS, Jan 20: US President Barack Obama is too good looking to provide inspiration for cartoons in the same way George W. Bush served as fodder for some of their most biting commentary, a caricaturist on said on Tuesday....
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Bush leaves note for Obama in Oval Office
WASHINGTON, Jan 20: Continuing a White House ritual, President George W. Bush left a note in the Oval Office for President-elect Barack Obama, wishing him well as he takes the reins of the executive branch....
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Last-minute ride on Branson’s jet
AMSTERDAM, Jan 20: Two Dutch college students hitched a last-minute ride to Washington on the private jet of British entrepreneur Richard Branson in the hope of joining the crowds hailing Barack Obama, a Dutch news agency reported....
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Kenyans slaughter bulls, goats for feasts
NAIROBI, Jan 20: Bulls and goats were slaughtered for feasts, dancers put on traditional costumes and giant movie screens were erected so everyone could see events a continent away....
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Literary luminaries gather for Jaipur book fair
NEW DELHI: India’s biggest literature festival kicks off this week in the historic “Pink City” of Jaipur in a celebration of the runaway success of Indian English writing....
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Hong Kong’s economic growth spluttering on filthy air
HONG KONG: When Teena Goulet moved to Hong Kong in 1995 she thought she would never leave, but five years after moving here, the keen outdoorswoman developed a chronic cough....
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Posturing and laughter as victims rot
BEIRUT: The front page of the Beirut daily As-Safir said it all the other day. Across the top was a terrible photograph of the bloated body of a Palestinian man newly...
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Hopes of change dashed in Kenya
NAIROBI: Hopes that a bloody election crisis would shock Kenya into a new political era have been dashed by a wave of corruption scandals and squabbling among members of the unwieldy coalition government....
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