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An explosion has ripped through an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico dumping 13 people into the water, one of whom was injured, the US Coast Guard says.
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In a scientific first, a pilotless NASA aircraft is set to overfly Hurricane Earl in a bid to gather data about the potentially deadly storm bearing down on the US east coast.
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Hamas said its militants would continue attacking Israelis and denounced peace talks between Israel and the West Bank-based Palestinian government due to start in Washington.
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Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has questioned Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's judgement in making a $1 billion offer to rebuild the Royal Hobart Hospital, describing it as "almost reckless".
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British prime minister David Cameron backed foreign secretary William Hague after the top diplomat's aide resigned over "malicious" rumours that they had an inappropriate relationship.
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An Afghan official said that 10 election campaigners had been killed in an airstrike by international forces in the relatively peaceful north of the country.
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US fast food giant Burger King said it would no longer buy palm oil from Sinar Mas or its subsidiaries after Greenpeace campaigned against the Indonesian group's land-clearing practices.
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Stephen Hawking says God no longer has any place in theories on the creation of the Universe due to a series of developments in physics.
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The head of Rio Tinto's Iron Ore division says he trusts Prime Minister Julia Gillard will stick to her promise of a 30 per cent mining tax despite Labor's deal with the Greens.
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A two-year-old Indonesian boy who smoked about 40 cigarettes a day has kicked the habit after receiving intensive specialist care, a child welfare official said.
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A man is in a serious condition after being bitten by a horse at Seymour in central Victoria on Thursday afternoon.
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A new report from the Nature Conservancy has found that mammal species in northern Australia are in rapid decline and many are at risk of becoming extinct within the next decade.
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The German husband of ailing 93-year-old Hollywood actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor said he wanted to preserve her body by plastination after she dies, the Bild newspaper reported.
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Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Andrew Forrest has met with key independent MP Rob Oakeshott this afternoon and says they have agreed on a plan to hold a "taxation summit".
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Julia Gillard attacks the Coalition's economic credentials as Labor edges closer to forming the next Federal Government with the support of independent Andrew Wilkie.
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The three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of a betting scandal request their release from the squad and maintain their innonence.
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Investors in the Clem7 toll road project have turned their attention to legal action over grossly over-estimated traffic forecasts.
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A retired Chinese coal miner has found an underground solution to the country's sky-high housing costs, by carving out a new home beneath the shack he lives in, state media reported.
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Ants travelling along a familiar route use their photographic memory to calculate how to stay on track, British researchers say.
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A Gold Coast surgeon has been ordered to retire permanently from medical practice.
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A controversial annual dolphin hunt that was depicted in an Oscar-winning documentary has begun in Japan.
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Animal experts have used explosives to euthanase an ill humpback whale that washed up onto a sandbar off WA's south-west coast.
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The remains of the four people killed in Tuesday's plane crash in PNG have been recovered from the crash site.
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John Mitchell will take the reins of South Africa-based Super 15 franchise Golden Lions after being granted an early release from the Western Force.
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Local shares have backed up a 2 per cent jump yesterday with a 0.8 per cent rise, after Wall St surged last night.
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AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of UTC (Greenwich Mean Time)
