... World

• Anthrax suspected in parcel for US soldiers

Six American soldiers and a Turkish national are in quarantine in an Istanbul hospital after a suspicious powder was found at the city's main airport.

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• UN food agency concerned about world food shortage

One of the UN's food agencies has called a special meeting on rising food prices amid concerns over shortages.

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• Thirteen rescued in new Gulf oil rig blast

An oil platform exploded and burned off the Louisiana coast in the second such disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in less than five months.

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• Second round of Middle East peace talks agreed

The leaders of Israel and the Palestinians have concluded a productive first round of peace negotiations, US President Barack Obama’s special envoy for the Middle East said today.

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• Oil sheen spreading after new rig blast

A mile-long oil sheen spread from an offshore oil platform burning in the Gulf of Mexico today.

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• Second round of Middle East peace talks announced

The leaders of Israel and the Palestinians have concluded a productive first round of peace negotiations, US President Barack Obama’s special envoy for the Middle East said today.

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• Hague went public because of untrue internet claims

William Hague said today that he and his wife decided to go public with intimate details about their private life because they had “had enough” of untrue allegations circulating on the internet.

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• Police hold woman in connection with child deaths

A 41-year-old woman is being held by Dutch police on suspicion of killing three young children.

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• Dozens missing as landslide kills villagers

Rescuers were searching for 44 missing people today after a landslide hit a village in southern China and killed at least four.

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• Hague to end speculation on his private life

The British Foreign Secretary William Hague will try to draw a line under rumours about his private life today.

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• Florida fury over French railways Holocaust role

The French national railway’s bid to win America’s first high-speed rail contract will face the fury of Holocaust survivors today over the company’s role in transporting Jews to Nazi death camps.

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• Police shoot Discovery Channel gunman

Police tonight shot an armed man who took three hostages at the Discovery Channel network’s headquarters. All of hostages escaped safely.

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• Gunman takes hostage at Discovery Channel HQ

A gunman entered the headquarters of the Discovery Channel today and took at least one person hostage.

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• Puppy killing video shot in Bosnia

The sick internet video showing a girl apparently throwing live puppies into a raging river may have been filmed in Bosnia, it emerged today.

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• Hamas faces Palestinian crackdown after shootings

Scores of Hamas members were arrested in sweeps by Palestinian security throughout the West Bank overnight after the shooting of four Israelis on the eve of new Middle East peace talks.

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• BBC staff vote in favour of industrial action

The BBC is facing the threat of strikes after thousands of journalists, technicians and other staff voted massively in favour of industrial action in a row over pensions, it was announced today.

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• New round of Middle East talks begin today

The US prepared today to plunge into a new round of Middle East peacemaking, bringing Israeli and Palestinian leaders together for face-to-face talks for the first time in nearly two years.

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• Unprecedented challenge to save trapped Chilean miners

The effort to save 33 men trapped deep in a Chilean mine was an unprecedented challenge, experts said today.

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• Young boy killed in Thailand violence

A nine-year-old boy was shot dead as he got off a bus in Bangkok, and unknowingly stepped into the crossfire of rival high school gangs, police in Thailand said today.

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• Palestinian gunmen kill four on eve of talks

Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an Israeli car in the West Bank today and killed four passengers on the eve of a new round of Middle East peace talks in Washington.

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