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TBILISI (Reuters) - The United States will defend its allies against Iranian aggression, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday, a day after Iran test fired nine missiles it said could hit Israeli and U.S. bases.

GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas arrested seven Palestinians who fired rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, a militant faction said, in the first such detentions since the Islamist group and Israel agreed a truce last month.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's new parliament convened on Thursday after a six-week delay, with an embattled president hoping to push through his pro-business reforms and an emboldened opposition planning a fight over a key U.S. beef deal.

William Kemble-Diaz is a senior real estate correspondent and editor of www.reutersrealestate.com, who has worked for Reuters as a financial journalist since 2001. His mother emigrated to London in 1961 to work, like other Spanish migrants at the time, in Britain's hotel trade, where she met his father. She now lives in Valencia. In the following story, William tells how his father's remains in a Spanish cemetery were removed without the family's knowledge.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Wednesday Iran's missile tests proved a need for direct U.S. talks with Tehran while Republican John McCain emphasized sanctions and an anti-missile shield.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict arrives in Sydney on Sunday as the headline "rock star" act in the Catholic Church's World Youth Day -- its version of Woodstock, five days of peace, love and Christianity.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson complained on Tuesday that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama can seem to be "talking down to black people" at times and should broaden his message.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush won final congressional approval on Wednesday of a bill granting liability protection to telecommunication companies that took part in the warrantless domestic spying program he began after the September 11 attacks.

TUZLA, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey is jockeying to be Europe's biggest shipbuilder, but a spate of deaths shows the need for sector reform and the cost of spectacular growth on the fringe of the European Union.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - A small, influential Islamist party in Indonesia is alarming moderates who fear this secular but predominantly Muslim country may head for wider use of sharia law and become less tolerant of other religions and cultures.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - The only man convicted in connection with the 1985 Air India bombings was granted bail on Wednesday as he awaits trial for allegedly lying to a Canadian court that he knew nothing about the plot.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. civil rights leader Jesse Jackson complained on Tuesday that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama can seem to be "talking down to black people" at times and should broaden his message.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wants a successful end to long-running world trade talks, but will closely review any deal reached by the Bush administration, an Obama adviser said on Wednesday.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's government is under new pressure to tackle rampant police incompetence after a damning report by human rights investigators blamed police commanders for a fatal disco raid that killed 12 people.

LIMA (Reuters) - Thousands of Peruvians protested on Wednesday to denounce President Alan Garcia's free-market policies, which they say have failed to benefit the poor during six years of booming economic growth.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans said on Wednesday they are working with Democrats to come up with compromise energy legislation that would tackle record gasoline prices and open more offshore areas to oil drilling.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Medicare bill opposed by the White House won final congressional approval on Wednesday with the help of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who returned to the Senate floor for the first time since brain surgery last month.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday condemned the attack on its consulate in Istanbul and a State Department spokesman said he could neither confirm nor rule out al Qaeda involvement.

VIENNA (Reuters) - India on Wednesday submitted a draft nuclear safeguards accord to International Atomic Energy Agency governors for approval, the IAEA said, a crucial step towards launching a U.S.-Indian nuclear cooperation deal.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A row about whether Barack Obama is welcome at Berlin's most famous landmark erupted on Wednesday between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier.