Yahoo! News: Top Stories
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                  as of Fri, 24 Feb 2006 13:15:23 GMT

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AP - Religious leaders summoned Iraq's Shiites and Sunnis to joint
 prayer services Friday amid an extraordinary daytime curfew aimed at
 halting a wave of sectarian violence that has killed nearly 130 people
 since the bombing of one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines.

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AP - A United Arab Emirates company has volunteered to postpone its
 takeover of significant operations at six major U.S. seaports, giving
 the White House more time to convince skeptical lawmakers the deal
 poses no increased risks from terrorism.

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AP - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of emergency
 Friday, saying she had quashed a coup plot, and the military confined
 troops to their camps to keep them from joining growing protests
 against her rule.

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AP - A man accused of holding nine people hostage at gunpoint inside a
 National Labor Relations Board office was in FBI custody early Friday,
 after a seven-hour standoff ended peacefully when he released his
 captives unharmed, police said.

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The Christian Science Monitor - Cooler heads are beginning to prevail. A
 week that began with veto threats from President Bush and sharp
 language aimed right back from Republicans has turned to sober
 briefings and a consideration of the facts.

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AP - With only 10 more potential jurors to question, lawyers for
 al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui are worried the jury pool
 contains so many people connected to Sept. 11 victims that it will be
 biased against him.

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AP - A top-level Hamas delegation will travel to Moscow next week for
 meetings with Russian officials, a Hamas official said Friday, part of
 the militant group's efforts to gain international legitimacy after
 sweeping a Palestinian parliamentary election.

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AP - In the final countdown to the city's first Mardi Gras celebration
 after Hurricane Katrina, there are parades and parties -- but also
 sobering reminders of loss.

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AP - Now there are 20. "American Idol" booted four contestants Thursday
 night -- two men and two women -- in the show's first elimination round
 of the new season.

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AP - No Russian sweep, no American streak. Shizuka Arakawa put Japan, of
 all countries, on top of the figure skating world.

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Reuters - An emergency curfew for Friday's Muslim day of prayer helped
 quell sectarian violence that has killed some 200 people around
 Baghdad, keeping much of the Iraqi capital deserted as leaders work to
 avert civil war.

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Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush, under political pressure to
 cancel a deal for a state-owned Arab company to operate terminals at
 six U.S. ports, won a breathing space on Friday when the company
 announced a delay in implementing the U.S. takeover.

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Reuters - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared emergency rule in
 the Philippines on Friday after the military said it foiled a coup
 attempt, but analysts criticized the move as unwarranted and
 potentially damaging to the economy.

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Reuters - An explosion was heard at Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq oil facility
 on Friday, Al Arabiya television reported.

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Reuters - Russia and China stepped up their efforts on Friday to
 persuade Iran to accept a compromise proposal over its nuclear program
 that may avert the threat of U.N. sanctions against the Islamic
 Republic.

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AFP - Philippine President Gloria Arroyo proclaimed a national emergency
 and ordered the arrest of military officers and civilians allegedly
 involved in a new plot to overthrow her government.

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AFP - Nigerian separatist militants released pictures of nine foreign
 oil workers held hostage for the past week in the creeks of the Niger
 Delta and firmly denied reports that they were negotiating to release
 them.

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AFP - A United Arab Emirates company has agreed to postpone its plans to
 take over management of six US ports after the proposed deal ignited
 harsh criticism from both Democrats and Republicans on national
 security grounds.

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AFP - A total of 51 people were killed and more than 100 hurt when a
 fire swept through a locked textile factory crowded with night-shift
 workers in southern Bangladesh.

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AFP - European steel giant Arcelor has won initial approval to buy a
 38.41-percent stake in China's Laiwu Steel for 2.09 billion yuan (258
 million dollars), a source close to the deal said.

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