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By Mark Felsenthal, Warren Strobel and Hamid Shalizi WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - The United States and the Taliban raised hopes on Tuesday for a negotiated peace in Afghanistan with commitments to meet this week after 12 years of bloody and costly war between American-led forces and the insurgents. The Taliban opened an office in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Tuesday to help restart talks and said it wanted a political solution that would bring about a just government and end foreign occupation of Afghanistan. U.S. ...

By Alison Wildey LONDON (Reuters) - Jamaica, sunlit home of the world's finest sprinters, was cast into shadow on Tuesday after confirmation that the Caribbean island's most successful female sprinter has failed a drugs test. Twice Olympic 200 metres champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, the first Jamaican to win a global 100 metres title, was provisionally suspended by the national federation after a positive test for a possible masking agent. ...

REUTERS - Factbox on twice Olympic 200 metres champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, who was suspended from competition on Tuesday after testing positive for a banned diuretic. Born on May 15, 1982 in Trelawny, the same parish as triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt. Married to fellow-Jamaican sprinter Omar Brown and lives in Florida. Personal best over 100 metres of 10.76 set in 2011 makes her the joint eighth-fastest woman of all time with American Evelyn Ashford and she is ranked in the top 10 over 200 with a quickest time of 21.74 from the 2008 Olympics. ...

By Todd Benson SAO PAULO (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday sought to defuse a massive protest movement sweeping Brazil, acknowledging the need for better public services and more responsive governance as demonstrations continued in some cities around the country. Speaking the morning after more than 200,000 Brazilians marched in over a half-dozen cities, Rousseff said her government remains committed to social change and is listening attentively to the many grievances expressed at the demonstrations. "Brazil woke up stronger today," Rousseff said in a televised speech in ...

RECIFE (Reuters) - Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi picked out Japan's Shinji Kagawa as the dangerman for his side ahead of their Confederations Cup match on Wednesday. "I only know three or four Japanese players and the most talked about is the one that plays for Manchester United, Kagawa, he is the star," De Rossi told reporters on Tuesday. "I think they are well organised and I think that means they will be dangerous." The Italians made a winning start on Sunday when goals from Andrea Pirlo and Mario Balotelli secured a 2-1 win over Mexico in Rio de Janeiro. ...

By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said that an assault it led earlier this month on one of the world's biggest cyber crime rings has freed at least 2 million PCs infected with a virus believed to have been used to steal more than $500 million from bank accounts worldwide. "We definitely have liberated at least 2 million PCs globally. That is a conservative estimate," Richard Domingues Boscovich, assistant general counsel with Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit, said in an interview on Tuesday. ...

REUTERS - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn promised Dell Inc shareholders that the company would buy back up to $16 billion of stock if they join his campaign to stop the computer maker from going private. Time is running out for Icahn. Next month, the company's shareholders will vote on whether to accept a $24.4 billion bid from the company's founder, Michael Dell, and private equity firm Silver Lake, and so far shareholders' reaction to two of Icahn's proposals has been mixed. Icahn has said repeatedly that Michael Dell's bid undervalues the company. ...

By Patricia Zengerle and Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the National Security Agency said U.S. surveillance programs had helped disrupt more than 50 possible attacks since September 11, 2001, as sympathetic members of Congress also defended the use of the top-secret spying operations. In the first public hearing dedicated to the programs since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden exposed them this month, members of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee showed little will on Tuesday to pursue significant reforms. Instead, both U.S. ...

By Jeff Mason BERLIN (Reuters) - In the city where John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan gave defiant Cold War speeches, President Barack Obama will call on Wednesday for a renewed spirit of activism by the West in tackling 21st century challenges from nuclear proliferation to climate change. Fresh from a two day summit with Group of Eight leaders in Northern Ireland, Obama concludes his short European sojourn with a trip to Berlin, the German capital that he last visited as a presidential candidate in 2008. A lot has changed since then. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Six awarding-winning writers are among a group of 12 poets, authors and academics vying for the 2013 Warwick Prize for Writing with themes ranging from the Australian war effort in France to opium sellers in 19th century India. The prize, handed out every two years since 2009, was set up as an international, cross-disciplinary award to recognise excellence in the English language in any genre or form. Organisers said in a statement that this year's longlist of nominees, unveiled on Wednesday, demonstrated the uniqueness of the award. ...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose to a one-week high on Wednesday, helped by a second-straight day of gains on Wall Street as investors bet that the Federal Reserve would temper worries about an imminent roll back of its stimulus programme. The Nikkei rose 2.0 percent to 13,265.53, while the Topix gained 2.1 percent to 1,108.60. (Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

By Paul Casciato LONDON (Reuters) - Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky's expressionist masterpiece "Studie zu Improvisation 3, 1909" was the highlight and leading indicator for a flat Christie's London Impressionist and modern art sale on Tuesday. The painting fell short of its top estimate and a record for the artist at auction when it sold for just more than $21 million, the world's largest auctioneers said on Tuesday. The early 20th century artist's vibrantly coloured painting of a knight on horseback was the highlight of the sale and had a top estimate of $24.19 million. ...

By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Kanye West pushes the boundaries of hip hop with his latest album "Yeezus," using aggressive electro-dance music beats to channel his anger and win over critics, who have called the record "daring" and "ambitious." "Yeezus," the 36-year-old rapper's seventh solo studio album, has also sped to the top of the iTunes digital music chart upon its release on Tuesday, led by the single "Black Skinhead. ...

Los Angeles, June 19 (IANS) Singer Katy Perry says she has not communicated with her ex-husband Russell Brand post receiving a text from him asking for divorce.

Beijing, June 19 (IANS) US General Motors Co. is set to recall about 231,000 older SUVs over fire risks and has urged owners to park them outside garages until they are repaired, a media report said.

Washington, June 19 (IANS) The US has decided to hold direct peace talks with the Taliban, senior White House officials have announced. The first meet is due to take place in the coming days in Qatar's capital, where the Taliban have opened their first official overseas office, BBC reported.

Los Angeles, June 19 (IANS) Singer Will.i.am doesn't have a home despite purchasing properties for several close family members and paying off their mortgages.

New Delhi, June 18 (IANS) A sex racket was busted here after two Uzbek women who were held hostage for five months in a house and were repeatedly sexually abused by customers, escaped, police Tuesday said. A woman pimp has been arrested.

New Delhi, June 18 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday met L.K. Advani to get the BJP patriarch's backing for his new role as head of the BJP's campaign committee, an elevation that has split the NDA.

London, June 18 (IANS) G8 leaders Tuesday condemned any use of chemical weapons in Syria, and that they were deeply concerned by the growing threat from terrorism and extremism in the Middle East country.

Mumbai, June 18 (IANS) Bollywood actor Prateik Babbar, who will be seen in "Issaq" soon, said that he is lucky to have landed his role in the film as it had everything in it.

New Delhi, June 18 (IANS) A 21-year-old class 12 student, who had been missing for five days, was found dead in the Yamuna river here, police said Tuesday. Victim's family alleged murder while police contended it was suicide.

Islamabad, June 18 (IANS) A member of the provincial assembly of Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was among 29 people killed in a suicide bombing Tuesday, media reports said. Over 50 people were injured.

Thiruvananthapuram, June 18 (IANS) Kerala's business capital, Kochi will host the prestigious the World Economic Forum's India meet Nov 8-9, said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Tuesday.

New Delhi, June 18 (IANS) A total of 163 people were rescued Tuesday from flood-affected areas caused by torrential rains in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, disaster management officials said.

Kolkata, June 18 (IANS) People protested on the streets of Kolkata, women government staff took out a march at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's seat of power, while the web users poured scorn on her Tuesday, a day after she shouted back at demonstrators in a village while on a visit to the house of a gangrape-murder victim.