Saturday, May 15, 2010 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday that its board has approved a loan package worth US$1.13 billion to be granted to Pakistan. The move came after the IMF reviewed Pakistan’s economic performance with a standby arrangment worth $11.3 billion aimed at improving the country’s balance of payments. According to a statement by the fund, disbursements have reached $7.27 billion from the plan. The IMF described Pakistan’s economic situation as having…

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Sunday, April 27, 2008 Police have arrested the owner of a mattress factory in Hay Hassini, Casablanca, Morocco which burned down in a disaster that claimed 55 lives. His son, who was the factory’s manager, was also arrested. Those killed — 35 of whom were women — were trapped inside by locked fire exits, which were barricaded to stop theft during working hours. “The people who died were either asphyxiated or burned,” commented a firefighter.…

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006 Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi peace activist who lives in the United States, was forced to change his T-Shirt, which bore an Arabic slogan, because it was found “offensive”. The incident took place in JFK airport in New York. The activist Jarrar reported in his blog RaedInTheMiddle that he had checked-in his bags and was issued a boarding pass. After waiting near the gate to board his jetBlue airlines flight, and after…

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Monday, June 8, 2009 Omar Bongo, the president of the western African country of Gabon, has died at a clinic in Barcelona, Spain, according to the Gabonese prime minister. Jean Eyeghe Ndong said that Bongo, the longest-serving leader of an African country, had died at the Quiron clinic on Monday, at the age of 73. “At 2:30 pm, the medical team informed me, as well as the officials and members of the family present, that…

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 London, UK — The Vodafone GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) Mobile Data Network within the UK was off the air for several hours, but Vodafone staff were unable to supply any details as to how or why this had happened. The incident seems to have originated within Southern England, but spread “nationwide” within a short period. Customers were therefore unable to access data services for a protracted period, including WAP browsing…

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Sunday, October 10, 2010 A United States federal court judge and Florida state court judge are enmeshed in a conflict against each other regarding a wrongful death lawsuit involving Scientology. A federal judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Steven Douglas Merryday, ordered Pinellas County Senior Circuit Judge Robert E. Beach not to intervene regarding appearance of an attorney in a federal court case involving Scientology. Lawyer Kennan Dandar…

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