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The U.S. Coast Guard has lost track of a Kurdish tanker carrying $100 million in disputed oil off the coast of Texas, the Independent reports. Headed for Galveston, the United Kalavyrvta was anchored at least 60 miles off-shore when it vanished from radar screens. The ship's haul fell under legal dispute when Iraq filed a lawsuit in U.S. courts, urging American officials to grab the ship's oil in Galveston because it belongs to Iraq, not the Kurdish National Government.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The 15-year-old girl whose marathon case of hiccups made international news earlier this year has apparently run away from home, police said Monday.

Wanted tyrant of Liberia vanishes from Nigerian haven By David Blair, Africa Correspondent and Katharine Houreld in Lagos (Filed: 29/03/2006) The Nigerian government was accused of allowing Charles Taylor, Africa's most notorious fallen tyrant, to escape justice after he vanished from his grace-and-favour residence yesterday. Taylor, 58, the former Liberian dictator, had been living in the city of Calabar despite being the subject of an Interpol arrest warrant and an indictment on 17 counts of war crimes. Charles Taylor took refuge in Nigeria when he was deposed The Baptist lay preacher, who devastated Liberia and led a brutal rebel army...

'Worst GM pollution incident' vanishes By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 09/08/2005) What was billed by the media as the world's worst incident of pollution by genetically-engineered crops, one that provoked a row among scientists, has vanished, says a study published today. Four years ago, researchers reported finding cobs of genetically modified maize in Oaxaca, Mexico, suggesting that GM maize (corn) from the US had invaded a traditional maize variety. In a country whose culture and identity are linked to maize - the crop was developed there thousands of years ago - the thought of GM varieties that could contaminate...

DULUTH, Ga. — Local police are investigating the disappearance of a Georgia woman who is supposed to get married on Saturday. Jennifer Wilbanks has not been seen since she went jogging in Duluth, Ga., Tuesday night, Gwinnett County police said. Wilbanks, 32, described as 5-foot-8, 120 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, was last seen in the downtown Duluth area at 8:30 p.m. She was wearing a gray sweatshirt, blue sweatpants and blue New Balance running shoes. Her fiancé, John Mason, said Wilbanks left the house around 8:30 p.m. for her jog "in good spirits" and said she would...

Sars hero vanishes in Beijing anniversary swoop By Richard Spencer in Beijing (Filed: 04/06/2004) A retired Chinese surgeon who exposed a cover-up over last year's Sars epidemic and demanded the truth about the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown has vanished on the 15th anniversary of the Beijing massacre. Jiang Yanyong, 72, who is also an army colonel, and his wife have not been seen since early on Tuesday, say his children. He is thought to be among hundreds of government critics temporarily "disappeared" before today's anniversary of the bloody military crackdown on student-led democracy protests. The Chinese authorities have stepped up...

LAKE JACKSON, Texas (AP) - A stolen single-engine airplane flew through power lines, blacking out about 11,000 customers, and then crashed, and the pilot vanished. The FBI joined the investigation and planned to question the owners of other aircraft based at the Brazoria County Airport, said Louis Jones, the county aviation director. Investigators believe the thief broke into 16 hangars early Sunday before finding a Cessna 172 he was able to commandeer, Jones said. After taking off, the plane severed a series of power lines about two miles southeast of the airport, cutting power to customers in the Lake Jackson...

Michael Jackson vanishes after being unmasked in court battle over concerts By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles 15 November 2002 First they saw him – perhaps a little too much of him – and then they didn't. Michael Jackson staged a disappearing act yesterday, failing to appear for a second day of testimony in a court case following a torrent of publicity over his freakish appearance. The case, a contract dispute between the 44-year-old star and a concert promoter, might have passed unnoticed were it not for photographs of Jackson taken on Wednesday in the court in central California. The...