A French high-speed train collided with a truck today, killing the lorry driver and causing minor injuries to a dozen rail passengers.

A new case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain has been found in a wild duck in a part of south-eastern France already hit by the disease, authorities said today.

The US government is getting ready for the possible arrival of bird flu, and has held “significant planning sessions” in case of an outbreak, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said yesterday in Berlin.

France reported 11 new cases of H5N1 bird flu in wild birds today in an area already hit by the lethal virus.

The French government confirmed today that the H5N1 bird flu virus struck a turkey farm, in the European Union’s first outbreak of the lethal strain in commercial poultry.

A SUSPECTED outbreak of H5N1 bird flu has been detected in a turkey farm in eastern France which, if confirmed, would be the first time farm birds have been infected in Europe.

French authorities sealed off a turkey farm today that vets suspect may have been infected by the deadly bird flu virus, testing the dead poultry and slaughtering the rest, the Agriculture Ministry said.

A second case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed in a wild duck in France, Agriculture Ministry officials said today.

BUFFER zones with restricted movement for people and animals will be among the precautions taken in the event of an outbreak of avian flu in Ireland.

US soldiers carried out a pre-dawn raid on a remote Iraqi village near the Iranian border, but failed to capture a top fugitive suspected of plotting guerrilla attacks on American forces.