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Iraqi Officials Venture Into World of the Internet

Smiling shyly, Wassan Saleh admitted to being the face of a vast problem across Iraq's bureaucracy that officials are now trying to remedy: she had never used a computer.

Her participation in information technology (IT) classes at a Baghdad college is part of efforts by university professors to help modernize Iraq's civil service.

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Doing Diplomacy, 140 Characters at a Time

When Canada's ambassador to China posted photos of his car on the embassy's Twitter-like weibo page, the instant, mass response boosted his country's image in a way that surely stunned many diplomats.

Hundreds of Chinese netizens posted comments marveling that the Canadian envoy at the time -- David Mulroney -- was driving a relatively inexpensive car compared to the luxury vehicles favored by their own officials.

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Japan Firm Launches Real-Time Telephone Translation

Japan's biggest mobile operator said Monday it will launch a translation service that lets people chat over the telephone in several different languages.

The application for NTT DoCoMo subscribers will give two-way voice and text readouts of conversations between Japanese speakers and those talking in English, Chinese or Korean with a several-second delay, the firm said.

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Twitter 'to Remove Anti-Semitic Posts' After Legal Threat

Twitter, a day after saying it blocked a neo-Nazi account in Germany in a global first, made another major concession Friday by agreeing to remove anti-Semitic posts in France, a lawyer said.

The company did not immediately confirm the move, but the lawyer for a French Jewish student union said that after it threatened legal action, Twitter agreed to take down many of the offending tweets that have recently flooded the site.

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Taiwan Temple to Launch 'Divine Advice' App

A temple in southern Taiwan is to launch a smartphone app that allows the faithful to seek advice from the heavens while on the move, reports said Saturday.

"With the increasing popularity of smartphones, we will launch our own divination app next year," said Hung Yang-chen, website designer for Jhen Hai Temple in Pingtung county, according to Central News Agency.

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Apple Opens Biggest Asian Store in Beijing

Apple on Saturday opened its biggest Asian store yet in Beijing, with hordes of shoppers descending on the three-floor complex that highlights the growing importance of China to the U.S. tech giant.

The shop, on the major shopping street of Wangfujing in the heart of the capital, covers an area of 2,300 square meters (24,750 square feet), according to Chinese media reports.

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Telecom Ministry, Intel Sign MoU Providing Lebanese Youth with Tablets

Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui signed Friday a memorandum of understanding with Vice President of Intel Corporation for Sales and Marketing Group and general manager of Intel "World Ahead" John Davies to provide Lebanese students with 3G-equipped tablet computers, a press release said Friday.

During a ceremony, Sehnaoui described the project as a “national initiative to set grounds for a new system that helps find educational solutions and launch new job opportunities. It opens new horizons for the Lebanese youth and students.”

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Google, Samsung to Sell Chrome Laptop For $249

Google is dangling a low-priced laptop computer in front of consumers as rivals Microsoft and Apple prepare to release their latest gadgets.

The lightweight computer unveiled Thursday will sell for $249 and is being made in a partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., which also makes smartphones and tablet computers that run on Google's Android software.

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Myanmar Gives Green Light to Foreign Credit Cards

Myanmar has given approval for the introduction of Visa and other foreign credit cards, whose absence has been a long-standing headache for visitors to the former pariah state.

Visa, MasterCard, China UnionPay and Japan Credit Bureau have been granted permission by the finance ministry to enter the long-closed country, the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper announced on Friday.

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Britain Seeking 'Xbox Generation' Spies

Britain launched a new spy recruitment drive on Thursday aimed at "Xbox generation" youngsters without a university education but with social media and computer game skills to counter the threat of cyber attack.

Foreign Secretary William Hague launched the apprenticeship scheme in a speech at Bletchley Park in southern England, where Nazi Germany's Enigma codes were broken in World War II.

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