Royal wedding: William and Kate pose for Testino photos

The portraits at St James's Palace - one casual, one formal - were taken by Mario Testino, whose previous subjects include Diana, Princess of Wales.

One picture shows the couple smiling in a suit and dress and the other sees the prince embracing his fiancee.

Mr Testino said the couple, who will marry on 29 April next year, were "brimming with happiness".

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Middle East countries hit by storms

Fierce winds and heavy rain and snow have lashed eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries for a second successive day.

The storms have sunk a ship off the Israeli coast, closed ports and disrupted shipping in the Suez Canal.

Flights have also been delayed to and from many airports in the region.

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Chilean miners welcomed to Manchester by Bobby Charlton

The men, trapped underground for two months, were freed in October.

Sir Bobby, whose father was a miner in Northumberland, told the Chileans: "You took it in your stride and the whole world was very proud of you."

Omar Reygadas said they were delighted to be at Old Trafford and jokingly challenged United to a game.

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Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci 'ahead' in election

exit poll suggests the party of Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci is ahead in the country's first parliamentary vote since declaring unilateral independence from Serbia.

The poll gave Mr Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) 31% of the vote.

Its main rival and ex-junior coalition partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), was second with 25%.

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Koran-protest pastor Terry Jones may be banned from UK

But Terry Jones, who threatened to burn copies of the Koran on this year's 9/11 anniversary, says he "definitely" plans to visit the UK and has no intention of breaking the law.

He has been invited to the UK to share his views on Islam with activists.

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Fees protester made 'contact' with Camilla says May

But she did not confirm reports the duchess was poked with a stick during student protests on Thursday.

The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Paul Stephenson, has spoken to Prince Charles about the incident.

Charlie Gilmour, son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, was arrested on Sunday following the protests.

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Iraq: Two suicide bomb attacks kill 13

Soldiers guarded the scene of the Ramadi blast, which left a crater
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Police in Iraq say two separate suicide attacks have left at least 13 people dead.

A suicide car bomb exploded near government offices in Ramadi in western Iraq's Anbar province, killing at least 11 people and injuring 40 more.

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Three killed, dozens hurt in Bangladesh clashes

At least three people were killed and dozens more injured when police in Bangladesh clashed with garment factory workers demanding better pay, police have said.

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Stockholm blasts: Sweden probes 'terrorist attack'

Two explosions in Sweden's capital Stockholm are being investigated as a "crime of terror", officials say.

A car blew up in a busy shopping area on Saturday afternoon, followed moments later by a second explosion nearby.

Witnesses said a man found dead after the second blast had been carrying an explosive device. Two people were hurt.

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Aid worker Linda Norgrove was killed by US grenade

Aid worker Linda Norgrove was killed by a grenade thrown by a US special forces soldier sent to rescue her, a joint US-UK investigation has found.

Ms Norgrove, 36, from Lewis, Scotland, was taken hostage in Afghanistan in September. She died on 8 October.

It had been thought she was killed by her captors.

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Thousands of railway passengers had to spend the night in trains in Germany

Heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures have been causing another day of disruption to northern Europe and its transport network.

Thousands of railway passengers had to spend the night in trains in Germany as snow paralysed many high-speed inter-city routes.

Flights were disrupted in the UK, France, the Netherlands and Germany.

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Grameen founder Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh aid probe

Norway says it is examining reports that Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus allegedly diverted millions of dollars of aid money from a bank.

International Development Minister Erik Solheim said that it was "totally unacceptable that aid is used for other purposes than intended".

A documentary maker has alleged that cash was diverted from Professor Yunus' Grameen Bank to other parts of Grameen.

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Israeli fire near Haifa kills dozens prison guards

About 40 people have died in a forest fire that is raging out of control in northern Israel, police have said.

BBC Persian's Mohammad Manzarpour said the area has had little rain in recent months.

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Arsenic-loving bacteria may help in hunt for alien life

The first organism able to substitute one of the six chemical elements crucial to life has been found.

The bacterium, found in a California lake, uses the usually poisonous element arsenic in place of phosphorus.

The find, described in Science, gives weight to the long-standing idea that life on other planets may have a radically different chemical makeup.

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Russia PM Vladimir Putin thanks Fifa for World Cup vote

Russian PM Vladimir Putin has thanked Fifa "from the bottom of my heart" for choosing Russia to be the host of the 2018 World Cup.

Arriving in Zurich, Mr Putin said the competition would be held to the highest standards.

He said it had been a "difficult decision" not to come for the result earlier in the day.

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