The peace deal was reached after more than 30 years of conflict

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The Northern Ireland peace talks have ended with an historic agreement.

The accord - dubbed the Good Friday Agreement - was reached after nearly two years of talks and 30 years of conflict.

Negotiations on the final day dragged on more than 17 hours after the deadline for an agreement passed.

The agreement is a triumph for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Republic of Ireland's leader, Bertie Ahern, who have succeeded where all their predecessors failed.

Speaking at a news conference after the deal was announced Tony Blair said he hoped it marked a new beginning.

"Today I hope that the burden of history can at long last start to be lifted from our shoulders," Mr Blair said.

"I see a great opportunity for us to start a healing process."David Trimble,the Ulster Unionist leader said.

Bertie Ahern said he hoped a line could now be drawn under the "bloody past" .

The proposals in the agreement include plans for a Northern Ireland Assembly, new cross-border institutions involving the Irish Republic and a body linking devolved assemblies across the UK with Westminster and Dublin.

A copy of the proposals will be posted to every household in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic and then put to a referendum in May.

The chairman of the talks, former US Senator George Mitchell, paid tribute to all those who had taken part.

But Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said there was still a huge gap of distrust between nationalists and unionists.

"It must be bridged on the basis of equality. We are here reaching out the hand of friendship," he said.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble added: "I see a great opportunity for us to start a healing process."

The peace agreement was also welcomed by the UDP and PUP parties, which represent loyalist paramilitary groups.

The earthquake razed entire villages to the ground

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The Up to 4,000 people are thought to have died in a massive earthquake in southern Iran. The quake centred on the town of Ghir, where almost 1,000 people were feared dead.

The nearby city of Jahrom was also hit, and thetremorswere also felt in the ancient city of Shiraz, 100 miles (160 km) away.

Ghir, a busy farming town of about 7,000 people, is reported to have been destroyed, along with up to 60 of the surrounding villages.

Victims trapped

General Mohammad Fazelli, in charge of rescue and relief operations, said it was feared there are many more people buried under the debris.

When asked how many, he remarked, "God knows."

The governor-general of the area, Manucher Pirouz, said, "The earthquake was so devastating and has levelled so many homes in as many as 30 villages that it will take days to find out the death toll."

Mr Pirouz flew to the area by helicopter shortly after the first earthquake, and spoke of the damage he had seen during a two-hour flight over theepicentre.

"There was not a single dwelling above the ground," he said. He described survivors staggering among the ruins. "One cried out for his children, another for his father, another for her mother," he said.

Buried

The quake hit early this morning, when many of those living in the remote, rural area were already on their way out to the fields.

It's thought most of those who died were the women and children left behind at home and buried under the ruins of their houses.

Smaller tremors have continued to shake the region for most of the day, causing panic among survivors.

Most of those not killed by the quake are camping out on the open plains, staying near their villages to help with the rescue effort.

Planes have been flying into the stricken area all day dropping food, blankets and medical supplies to survivors. Doctors and medical supplies are also being flown in.

Tehran University measured the initial shock at 7.1 on the Richter scale, making it one of the strongest in Iran's history.

It comes four years after Iran's worst earthquake of recent years, when about 20,000 died in the northern province of Khorassan.

tremor:a shaking or vibrating movement, as of the earth(震動，地震)

epicenter: the point of the earth's surface directly above the focus of an
earthquake(震中)