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'Warning blasts' over Pakistan mosque occupation
ISLAMABAD- Pakistani security forces fired a series of "warning blasts" before dawn near Islamabad's radical Red Mosque on Thursday, stepping up pressure on hundreds of militant students inside to surrender, a security official said.
There were about eight explosions at intervals of several minutes, witnesses said. Some gunfire also erupted but both the blasts and gunfire stopped after about 20 minutes.
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Freed BBC reporter describes Gaza captivity
GAZA - The BBC journalist freed 114 days after being kidnapped in Gaza said his ordeal was like "being buried alive".
Alan Johnston was freed on Wednesday after a deal between the ruling Hamas Islamists and the al Qaeda-inspired clan group that kidnapped him in March.
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UK terrorism threat level lowered
LONDON - The British government has lowered the terrorism threat level from the highest category and sources close to the investigation of last week's bomb plot said police believe they have caught the main suspects.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the decision to reduce the threat level to "severe" from "critical" meant there was no longer "intelligence to suggest an attack is expected imminently", although a "serious and real" threat remains.
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Al Gore's son busted for drugs in hybrid car
NEW YORK - Al Gore III, the 24-year-old son of the former Vice President managed to crank up his Toyota Prius to a paint-stripping 100 mph on the San Diego Freeway yesterday.
Even worse, when they pulled the young man over, they smelled marijuana and, on further investigation, found less than a small quantity of the illegal substance inside the car alongside a collection of other medications including Xanax, Vicodin and Adderall.
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