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Diving on Japanese WWII Sub Allowed

Australia will open up to divers the wreck of a Japanese mini submarine that famously attacked Sydney harbor during World War II, after winning support from Tokyo, authorities said Monday.

To mark the 70th anniversary of the event -- which sparked public hysteria in the city -- New South Wales Environment Minister Robyn Parker said controlled diving would be allowed.

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U.N. Fears Spread of Machu Picchu Town

The U.N.'s cultural arm UNESCO is calling for emergency measures to prevent the town that feeds tourists to Peru's archeological marvel Machu Picchu from becoming overrun.

The 15th century Incan city is perched on a mountain high above the town of Aguas Caliente, which has seen a boom in hotels and restaurants to accommodate an ever-growing number of visitors.

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Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th Anniversary Celebrated in San Francisco

Tens of thousands of people came to San Francisco's waterfront Sunday to mark the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, the distinctive orange vermilion structure that attracts some 10 million visitors each year.

The city hosted a massive celebration complete with music, dance vintage cars and motorcycles, as well as a fireworks display showcasing the iconic bridge at the entrance to the San Francisco Bay.

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Iraq Christian Heritage Sites Neglected

A stone's throw from Iraq's Shiite holy city of Najaf's airport, the remains of the celebrated ancient Christian city of Hira lie neglected and moldering, because funds for excavation have dried up.

Three sites, discovered five years ago, are unexplored and unkempt, and officials fear the uncompleted excavation could lead to their eventual demise.

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Socrates Acquitted in Ancient Trial Re-Run

Judges narrowly acquitted Socrates, the philosopher whose teachings earned him a death sentence in ancient Athens, in a retrial Friday billed as a lesson for modern times of revolution and crisis.

Socrates spoke himself at his trial in the fourth century BC, but this time in his absence, a panel of 10 U.S. and European judges heard pleas by top Greek and foreign lawyers at the event at the Onassis Foundation in Athens.

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Lithuania Tracks Holocaust War Crime Suspects

Lithuania has concluded the first phase of a study aimed at identifying over a thousand Lithuanians suspected of killing Jews in the Baltic state during Holocaust, a senior researcher said Friday.

Terese Birute Burauskaite, head of the Vilnius-based Genocide and Resistance Research Center, told Agence France Presse she will make a full list of suspected war criminals available to justice authorities.

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Police Arrest Head of Naples' Oldest Library for Book Theft

Italian police on Thursday arrested the director and the curator of the oldest library in Naples for stealing hundreds of books and manuscripts from their own collection.

"The Girolamini Library has been the victim of a criminal plot," said Naples public prosecutor Giovanni Mellilo.

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UAE Women Battle against Skimpy Dress

The UAE may be the Gulf's most liberal Arab state but two local women have caused a stir with an online campaign against the "repulsive" habit of Western women to reveal too much flesh in public.

Hanan al-Rayyes and Asma al-Muheiri say their "UAE Dress Code" campaign is designed to promote "respect for the country's culture" among foreigners and raise awareness about what locals consider appropriate dress and behavior.

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New York's Last French Church Fights to Survive

It has long served as the spiritual home of New York's French-speaking Catholics, but the Church of St. Vincent de Paul is nearing its end as the faithful grow fewer and the building lies in disrepair.

But Manhattan's last francophone parish, where French singer Edith Piaf got married in 1952, is resisting a decision taken five years ago by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York to shutter it for good.

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Tall Ships Lead the Way in New York's Fleet Week

A flotilla of tall ships from around the world sailed Wednesday into New York Harbor, kicking off annual Fleet Week celebrations and marking the bicentennial of the War of 1812.

The first masts visible over the horizon at the bay entrance early Wednesday belonged to the "Juan Sebastian de Elcano," a four-mast Spanish navy schooner.

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