All rescued as helicopter ditches
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All 18 people aboard a helicopter which ditched in the North Sea have survived and have been rescued from two life-rafts, the coastguard has said. Read more
Bernanke vows to do all he can to revive economy (AP)
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WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pledged anew Wednesday to do everything in his power to lift the country out of recession, while defending the extraordinary steps the Fed has taken to fight the worst credit and financial crisis since the 1930s. The central bank has slashed a key interest rate to record lows [...]
Pope tells Nancy Pelosi life must be protected (AP)
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AP – U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, right foreground, reacts as she reviews the honor guard with Italian … Play Video Barack Obama Video:Obama unveils mortgage relief plan KTVK 3TV Phoenix Play Video Barack Obama Video:Obama Outlines Mortgage Plan ABC News Play Video Barack Obama Video:Obama unveils $75 billion mortgage relief plan AP VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict [...]
Minister’s husband took bribe
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David Mills, the estranged husband of Tessa Jowell, the British Olympics Minister, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail yesterday for accepting a $600,000 bribe from the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, to give false evidence in corruption trials. Read more
Snake Charmers Hold Protest in India
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CALCUTTA, India (Feb. 17) – Nearly 1,000 snake charmers held a protest in eastern India Tuesday, playing their flutes as they marched through the streets demanding the right to perform with live snakes. Read more
Father-of-two batters his wife to death then jumps in front of train
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Father-of-two batters his wife to death then jumps in front of train Innocent father ‘killed by almighty blow after supermarket queue-jumping row’ Father of toddler who drowned in sea ‘let go of buggy handles to kiss mistress’ Pensioner faces jail for refusing to pay council tax after travellers next door ‘commit 250 crimes’ ‘Distracted’ woman [...]
Anxious house owners next in line for bailout
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MESA – In one neighbourhood in this Arizona city, every block has at least two for-sale signs out front. Many homes have broken porch lights and crispy brown lawns. One house has graffiti on the door. Read more
No Red Around Valentine's Day
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Why the Valentine’s Day party poopers? Valentine’s Day = St. Valentine = not an Islamic holiday. Plus, as an Islamic scholar told the Saudi Gazette, “As Muslims we shouldn’t celebrate a non-Muslim celebration especially this one that encourages immoral relations between unmarried men and women.” So in Saudi Arabia, the religious police — agents of [...]
No Red Around Valentine's Day
admin @ February 18, 2009 # No Comment Yet
Why the Valentine’s Day party poopers? Valentine’s Day = St. Valentine = not an Islamic holiday. Plus, as an Islamic scholar told the Saudi Gazette, “As Muslims we shouldn’t celebrate a non-Muslim celebration especially this one that encourages immoral relations between unmarried men and women.” So in Saudi Arabia, the religious police — agents of [...]
Saudi King Shakes Up Establishment
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Important changes in Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah, who previously embraced Western culture with his 2005 chips-and-cookie stop at a Texas convenience store, has shaken up the status quo with the dismissal of officials including the head of the religious police (tasked with knocking around couples and making sure no cutesy hearts are sold each Valentine’s [...]
Israel Demands Hamas Free Captured Soldier
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Israel says it will not open Gaza border crossings until Hamas frees soldier Gilad Schalit, captured by the militant group nearly three years ago. Israel’s security cabinet [...]
Coldplay urge Take That to join charity gig
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Rex Features Chris Martin has urged Take That to join them on stage at the War Child charity concert. The Coldplay singer admitted that he hoped the reformed boyband would perform with them at tonight’s event, to raise awareness for marginalised children in conflict zones. “ItÂ’s going to be a big party. And if the [...]
Boris Berezovski: “Before crisis Vladimir Putin’s fortune made at least $40 bln”
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I am confident that Vladimir Putin’s fortune is not less than the fortune of Roman Abramovich. I say this because Abramovich and Putin are business partners. As for a definite amount, I think before the world financial and economic crisis Vladimir Putin’s fortune was at least about $40 bln said Russian enterpreneur and political figure [...]
BRITISH, FRENCH NUCLEAR SUBS COLLIDE IN ATLANTIC
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LONDON – Nuclear-armed submarines from Britain and France collided in the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month, authorities acknowledged Monday – touching off new concerns about the safety of the world’s deep sea missile fleets. Read more
Political battle brewing over census 10-year head count
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Last week’s dustup over the withdrawal of Commerce Secretary-designate Judd Gregg focused a flashlight (if not a spotlight) on the U.S. Census Bureau and the potential for politicizing the nation’s decennial headcount. Read more
Allen Stanford: the fall of a Texan billionaire who loved cricket
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 Stanford (centre): he don’t like money, he loves it To British eyes, Allen Stanford’s feather ruffling began with the million-dollar-a-man winner-takes-all cricket tournament staged in his own cricket stadium on Antigua. At first he was hailed as the saviour of English cricket, then he advertised the Twenty20 bash by arriving at Lords [...]
In Embarrassment for Italy’s Berlusconi, British Lawyer Convicted of Taking Bribe
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LONDON, Feb. 17 — An Italian court convicted a British lawyer Tuesday of accepting a $600,000 bribe in exchange for false testimony in corruption trials involving Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Read more
Clinton Vows to Reach Out to Islamic World
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TOKYO, Feb. 17 — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday the Obama administration will make “a concerted effort” to restore the image of the United States in the Islamic world and will seek to “enlist the help of Muslims around the world against the extremists.” Read more
Congo Rejects Direct Talks With Rebel Leader
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GOMA, Congo, Nov. 4 — Congo’s government on Tuesday rejected a rebel leader’s demand for direct talks to resolve a conflict that has left hundreds of thousands of people hungry and homeless in a mineral-rich eastern province. Read more
Obama’s Prime-Time Talkathon
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In a prime-time debut for the new Oval Office occupant and a press corps often accused of being too enamored of him, President Obama faced journalistic skepticism from the opening question. Read more