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Australia's government plans to post video on YouTube and Facebook of the first group of asylum seekers sent to Malaysia under a pact between the countries to swap refugees, in an attempt to deter others from taking dangerous boat journeys to Australia.
Releasing video of the asylum seekers at Christmas Island — an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean — boarding a plane, and arriving in Malaysia will help raise awareness of Australia's new policy, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said Tuesday.
Full StoryPittsburgh police say a man tried to carjack a plainclothes officer near filming for the latest Batman movie — and allegedly told him it was part of the script.
Detective Robert DiGiacomo was in an unmarked vehicle around 7:15 p.m. Saturday, looking for a suspect in an assault. That's when police say a man opened the car door, sat down and told the officer to get out.
Full StoryFrom Syria to Libya and Egypt, the uprisings and unrest gripping the Arab world have cast a pall on the start of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month when the traditional focus on piety will likely be eclipsed by more unrest.
Food prices — part of the economic hardships that catalyzed the ouster of the Egyptian and Tunisian leaders — are still climbing. And protesters have shown little patience for conciliatory gestures by governments after decades of empty promises.
Full StoryTucked away in a small warehouse on a dead-end street, an Internet pioneer is building a bunker to protect an endangered species: the printed word.
Brewster Kahle, 50, founded the nonprofit Internet Archive in 1996 to save a copy of every Web page ever posted. Now the MIT-trained computer scientist and entrepreneur is expanding his effort to safeguard and share knowledge by trying to preserve a physical copy of every book ever published.
Full StoryDigital music service Spotify, which recently arrived in the U.S., has been sued by music and video streaming software maker PacketVideo for allegedly violating a patent it holds for digital music distribution.
In court documents filed this week in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California, PacketVideo said it believes Spotify's free and paid music-streaming service violates its patent for a "device for the distribution of music in digital form." The patent covers methods for streaming copyright-protected music from a central device over data networks.
Full StoryAmy Winehouse's album "Back To Black" has climbed back to top of the British album chart, eight days after the singer died in London.
The Grammy award-winning album was also No. 1 in 2006 when it was released. Also on Sunday, Winehouse's debut album "Frank" reached No. 5.
Full StoryBlue skies and strong ticket sales blessed this year's Newport Folk Festival, two days of veteran acts and up-and-comers from a variety of musical genres.
An estimated 10,000 people attended the long-running festival Sunday at Fort Adams State Park, and they were treated to performances from Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Wanda Jackson and more than a dozen other acts on three stages set around Newport's historic fort.
Full StorySome 30 Vietnamese children have been hospitalized after eating disinfectant accidentally mixed with milk during snack time at an unlicensed preschool.
Dr. Huynh Thi Nguyet Phuong of the General Hospital in Thuan An town in southern Binh Duong province says the 3-year-old children suffered Chloramine-B poisoning Friday. Three were seriously ill with vomiting and convulsions, but all were released by Monday.
Full StoryThe right-wing extremist who admitted killing dozens in Norway last week is unlikely to be declared legally insane because he appears to have been in control of his actions, the head of the panel that will review his psychiatric evaluation told The Associated Press.
The decision on Anders Behring Breivik's mental state will determine whether he can be held criminally liable and punished with a prison sentence or sent to a psychiatric ward for treatment.
Full StoryThe Philippines' largest Muslim guerrilla group has demanded the government halt any planned oil and gas explorations by foreign companies in vast southern areas they claim, warning Sunday that energy projects would complicate peace talks.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front refused to say what they would do if the government ignores their request.
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