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Two Dead after Helicopter Hits Crane, Crashes in London

Two people were killed after a helicopter hit a crane at a building site in central London and plunged to the ground in a ball of flames on Wednesday, police said.

Eyewitness reports said at least two cars were on fire at the scene of the crash near an apartment block under construction on the banks of the River Thames at Vauxhall, where a huge plume of smoke billowed into the sky.

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China-Taiwan Undersea Cable Set to Open

The first undersea fibre-optic cable between China and Taiwan is set to begin operating this week, official media reported Wednesday, the latest sign of closer links between the Cold War rivals.

Yang Yi, spokesman for Beijing's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said the cable would enhance communications and was "good news" for the two sides, the Xinhua news agency reported.

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Israel MPs Accuse Obama of 'Meddling' in Vote

Israeli MPs on Wednesday accused U.S. President Barack Obama of meddling in Israel's upcoming elections over an opinion piece purporting to outline his view of Benjamin Netanyahu's "self-defeating" policies.

The piece, which was published by the prominent Bloomberg columnist Jeffery Goldberg, made headlines across the Israeli press and sparked angry reactions from MPs from the Israeli prime minister's ruling rightwing Likud party.

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Cuba Struggles to Contain Fresh Cholera Outbreak

Cuba's second cholera outbreak in four months -- after 130 years without the disease -- has sickened more than 50 people and killed one in Havana, authorities and the family of the deceased said Tuesday.

The latest outbreak was from the same cholera strain found to have been introduced in Haiti by Nepalese U.N. peacekeepers, unleashing an epidemic in 2010 that has killed some 7,900 people.

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Money Does not Buy Happiness in China

China's super-rich suffer because of the pressures brought about by their fortunes and are less happy than ordinary millionaires, according to a survey by a leading wealth magazine.

"The richer you are, the less happy you are," concluded the poll of more than 500 Chinese millionaires by the Hurun Report, which compiles an annual list of China's richest people.

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Toll from Aleppo Blasts Rises to 87

The death toll from twin blasts that tore through the campus of Aleppo university has risen to 87, a watchdog said on Wednesday, making the attack one of the bloodiest in Syria's 22-month conflict.

No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts that rocked the university in Syria's northern commercial capital as students were sitting for their exams on Tuesday, but the government and rebels have blamed each other.

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Study: Some Migraines Tied to Women's Heart Risk

Women who suffer from migraines accompanied by visual disturbances such as flashes of light may be at increased risk of heart attacks and blood clots, researchers said Tuesday.

The study involved 27,860 women, of whom 1,435 had migraine with aura, as such disturbances are called.

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Australian Study Points to Potential Cure for AIDS

An Australian scientist said Wednesday he had discovered how to turn the HIV virus against itself to stop it progressing to AIDS, describing it as a major breakthrough in finding a cure for the disease.

David Harrich, from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, said he had successfully modified a protein in HIV that the virus needed to replicate and instead made it "potently" inhibit virus growth.

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Taiwan Confiscates 435 Dog Penises at Illegal Abattoir

Animal disease officials in Taiwan Wednesday said they had confiscated more than 400 dried dog penises, testicles and various internal organs in a raid on an illegal slaughterhouse.

The Animal Disease Control Center said a total of 435 penises were discovered in a fridge along with the other body parts, while 12 fresh dog corpses were also found in the raid at the slaughterhouse in western Yunlin county on Tuesday.

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Suicide Attack Targets Afghan Intel HQ in Kabul

A squad of suicide bombers attacked the national intelligence agency headquarters in heavily-fortified central Kabul Wednesday, killing at least two guards and wounding dozens of civilians, officials said.

Five attackers were killed in the brazen midday attack on the National Directorate of Security, which is playing an increasingly important role in the war against Taliban insurgents as NATO forces prepare to withdraw.

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