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Talking Trash: Jerusalem Bin Thanks You for Not Littering

If all you ask is for a simple thanks in return for not littering, this is the trash can for you.

A bin installed next to a bus stop in Jerusalem this week applauds those who use it. Drop a piece of trash in, and a recording of a child's voice says "Thank you very much!"

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North Korean Soldier in Blue Generates Buzz on Social Media

A North Korean soldier clad in a super-tight blue outfit in a state media photo has generated a buzz on social media, with some calling him "a superhero," "a captain DPRK," or "a rocket man."

He was among nearly 30 soldiers who posed for a photo with leader Kim Jong Un during an exhibition of weapons systems on Monday. North Korea published photos of the event the following day.

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A Bird Stars in Rare Feel-Good Tale about Afghan Evacuations

The mynah bird squawks from a new cage in the French ambassador's sunlit living room in Abu Dhabi, a far cry from its life as the pet of a young Afghan woman who has since found refuge in France.

Talkative, yellow-beaked "Juji" had a brief star turn on social media, its story of survival amid the frenzied evacuations from Taliban-run Afghanistan striking a nerve with a global audience.

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At Flooded Restaurant Near Bangkok, The Special Is a Splash

A flood-hit riverside restaurant in Thailand has become an unlikely dining hotspot after fun-loving foodies began flocking to its waterlogged deck to eat amid the lapping tide.

Now, instead of empty chairs and vacant tables, the Chaopraya Antique Café is as full as ever, offering an experience the canny owner calls "hot-pot surfing."

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Woman Who Survived Spanish Flu, World War Succumbs to COVID

She lived a life of adventure that spanned two continents. She fell in love with a World War II fighter pilot, barely escaped Europe ahead of Benito Mussolini's fascists, ground steel for the U.S. war effort and advocated for her disabled daughter in a far less enlightened time. She was, her daughter said, someone who didn't make a habit of giving up.

And then this month, at age 105, Primetta Giacopini's life ended the way it began — in a pandemic.

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Saudi Masters 'Live Art' of Python Crossbreeding in Palace Home

Saudi Faisal Malaikah's love for non-venomous snakes has evolved from having just one when he was five to ultimately crossbreeding dozens to produce "live art" in unique colors and patterns.

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At 101, She's Still Hauling Lobsters with No Plans to Stop

When Virginia Oliver started trapping lobster off Maine's rocky coast, World War II was more than a decade in the future, the electronic traffic signal was a recent invention and few women were harvesting lobsters.

Nearly a century later, at age 101, she's still doing it. The oldest lobster fisher in the state and possibly the oldest one in the world, Oliver still faithfully tends to her traps off Rockland, Maine, with her 78-year-old son Max.

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Spanish Newborns Switched Due to 'Human Error'

A 19-year-old woman is seeking millions of euros in damages after it emerged that she was accidentally swapped with another newborn at a Spanish hospital nearly two decades ago.

The babies were mixed up in 2002 after they were born five hours apart and placed in incubators at the San Millan de Logrono in northern Spain, due to a "one-off human error," regional health authorities said.

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In Norway, Peeing Toward Russia Will Get You Fined

A new sign posted at Norway's river border with Russia reminds tourists feeling nature's call that it's against the law to pee in the direction of Russia -- on pain of a hefty fine.

Written in English in black block letters, the sign posted on the banks of the Jakobselva river that separates Norway from Russia reads: "No Peeing Towards Russia".

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Al Capone's Favorite Gun, Personal Items Head to Auction

Al Capone is infamous for having been a ruthless mob boss, but one of his granddaughters says his softer side will shine through when the family auctions the Prohibition-era gangster's personal items — including diamond-encrusted jewelry with his initials, family photographs and his favorite handgun.

Capone's three granddaughters will also auction a letter he wrote to their father and his only child, Albert "Sonny" Capone, from Alcatraz, where the mobster served an 11-year sentence following his 1934 tax evasion conviction. In the letter written in pencil, Al Capone refers to Sonny as "son of my heart."

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