Arafat hopes talks with Barak will push peace
Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat hopes his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak today will ``begin a new chapter'' in efforts to achieve a bilateral peace settlement.

New attempts to save N Ireland peace deal
Northern Ireland's politicians today launched fresh efforts to break an impasse over the handover of guerrilla arms and save the province's peace accord before next Thursday's deadline.

US wants talks with Taliban on bin Laden
The United States wants to hold talks with Afghanistan's ruling Taliban on how to bring Saudi millionaire and suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden to justice, a US official said on Friday.

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