Nine US firefighters killed in store blaze
CHARLESTON, South Carolina - Nine firefighters died battling a blaze that raced through a furniture store and warehouse in Charleston, South Carolina, triggering a rolling ball of smoke and flames that destroyed the roof and pelted onlookers with hot ash.
The warehouse was packed with furniture and the blaze "rolled through it like a fireball" while the firefighters tried to put it out, said Pam Blevins, secretary to the Charleston city fire chief, Russell Thomas.
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Suspected al Qaeda bomber kills 78 in Baghdad
BAGHDAD - A suspected al Qaeda bomber killed 78 people when he rammed a truck into a Shi'ite mosque in Baghdad today, just hours after 10,000 US troops began an offensive against the Sunni Islamist group north of the capital.
The offensive around the city of Baquba in Diyala province is partly aimed at al Qaeda car bomb networks that cause carnage in Baghdad. It is one of the biggest military operations since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
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Bomb blast at Hells Angels' clubhouse
SYDNEY - A bomb has exploded outside a Hells Angels bikie gang clubhouse in Sydney, police say.
Police said the explosion caused damage to the door and awning of the shopfront premises at Petersham, in the city's inner-west.
The incident, which happened about midnight AEST (2am NZT), came as a national manhunt continued for Hells Angels gang member Christopher Wayne Hudson over a fatal shooting.
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Fiji agrees 'in principle' to elections, Clark sceptical
Fiji's military regime announced yesterday it has agreed "in principle" to hold elections and return the country to democracy by March 2009.
Helen Clark says, that is the latest possible date recommended by a joint working party of Fiji's interim government and the Pacific Islands Forum.
She says there is still plenty of time for Commodore Frank Bainimarama to make excuses and she sees no evidence he wants to give up his power.
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