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BBC News with Nick Kelly.

Four former Columbian politicians have been flown to freedom in Venezuela. After more than six years as hostages of the Colombian rebel group, the FARC, arriving in the capital Caracas they were reunited with members of their families. They said that another high-profiled hostage, the French-Colombian politician, Ingrid Betancourt,  who's been in captivity for six years, was very sick. From Caracas James Ingham reports.

Relieved to be free, the four hostages climbed down from a plane at a Caracas's airport to be GREeted by family and friends. Their ordeal was over. Earlier, they have been picked up from the Colombian juggle by a Venezuelan delegation. As they left their captors behind, each one spoke on camera to thank President Hugo Chavez for his involvement in their release. One hostage said she had felt like the living dead during her captivity. Another said how the war made no sense and called for all sides to act now to find a political solution.( www.hxeN.com )

Scientists say they've found the potential keys producing crops that can survive drought. They have discovered a gene that controls both the amount of carbon dioxide the plant absorbs and the water vapor it releases into the atmosphere. Researchers in Finland and the United States think this could lead to a significant breakthough. Modifying the gene could boost food production in dry conditions and help regulate climate change. One of the leaders of the research team, professor Jakko Kangasjarvi, explained what they had discovered.

"We have found a gene that is in a encoding protein which is a central function in regulating the so-called guard cells with arsenic stomatals or with control of the gas it sends off plant leave with its environment. "

United States Supreme Court has heard closing arguments in an appeal by the giant oil company Exxon Mobile against in an award for damages of 2.5 billion dollars in connection with the worst oil spillage in US history. The company wants the award cancelled,  saying there had been no malicious intent on its part. The grounding of the tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1998 released more than 40 million litres of crude oil into the water.

The Italian anti-Mafia commission says crime organizations from Sicily are rebuilding networks in the United States, and moving into new areas such as online gambling. The commission said many American food distribution and construction companies were controlled by Mafia bosses with direct links to their Sicilian counterparts. It 's said that they also sought the top Sicilian Mafia man that was being sent to New York. (Www.hxen.com)

In Chile, 11 people were killed when a light aircraft crashed into a sports ground as mothers and children were taking part in an aerobics class. Six of the dead were on board the aircraft, a police training plane. All the others were killed in explosion which followed the impact.

World News from the BBC

There has been an upsurge in violence between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian health officials said a six-month-old baby was killed, and at least 7 people wounded in the Israeli air attack in Gaza. Aleem Maqbool reports.

Ten Palestinians and an Israeli were killed in a day which marked an upsurge in tit for tat violence. Among the dead, five Hamas militants whose cars were struck by an Israeli missile in southern Gaza. The response a volley of rockets fired from Gaza to the Israeli town of Sderot.The death of a man  there at two more retaliatory Israeli air raids. One attack targeted the Interior Ministry in Gaza now run by Hamas. But doctors say it was a baby in a neighboring building who died in that incident.

Turkey has refused to say when it will withdraw its troops from northern Iraq where they are trying to rule out Kurdish PKK rebels. The United States Defense secretary Robert Gates who has arrived in Ankara for talks said Washington wanted the operation to end in days, not weeks. Sarah Rainsford reports from Istanbul. 恒星 英语 学习 网

Turkey is coming under increasing pressure to end its cross-border operation as soon as possible. But in public at least it resisted to think. Iraq's foreign minister called the 6-day long incursion a violation of his country's sovereignty. But in Baghdad today, a senior Turkish envoy said troops would remain inside northern Iraq until the PKK threat there has been eliminated. The latest statement from the military suggests operations are intensifying.

And Russia's public health chief has disclosed that almost 90,000 Russians drank themselves to death in 2007. He warned that the excessive consumption of alcohol was causing more and more damage to the country. Two and a half million Russians are registered suffering from alcoholism. But the officials say the real figure is probably 5 millions and the sufferers are getting younger. Correspondents say it's unusual for Russia to make such an explicit official comments. BBC news