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Jobless Bulgarian Unearths Ancient Treasure

A jobless Bulgarian man scraping a living by hunting for scrap metal has uncovered a haul of Bronze Age treasure worth 1.5 million euros ($2 million).

The 42-year-old discovered the trove of jewelry, coins and tools potentially dating back 4,000 years among the roots of a tree in the northern town of Svichtov.

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Looters Plunder $8.5M from Ivory Coast Museum

Looters stormed Ivory Coast's national museum during the country's bloody political crisis earlier this year, plundering nearly $8.5 million worth of art including the institution's entire gold collection.

Five months later, the museum's gates still open and close at the posted hours, but empty display cases gather dust. A lone set of elephant tusks sits in the dark in the museum's main exposition room.

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Bikinis and Hijabs Contrast on Albanian Beach

September has seen devout Muslims again flocking to Albania's only "burqa beach" after the Ramadan holy month, where women bathe in full hijab -- a short distance from the "other" Albania where girls romp in scanty bikinis.

The contrast is not to everyone's liking but is a testament to Albania's centuries-old tradition of religious tolerance, which even survived nearly half a century of a communist rule that tried to stamp out all religion.

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U.S. Envoy Says Forty Percent of Men Visit Philippines for Sex

Forty percent of foreign men visiting the Philippines are sex tourists, the U.S. ambassador on Manila said on Thursday in comments that were quickly disputed by the government.

U.S. ambassador Harry Thomas told a forum of Filipino judges and officials that corrupt officials were involved in a very visible sex trade, and challenged the legal profession to eliminate the "scourge".

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Bullfighting No Longer a Male Bastion in Portugal

Seventeen-year-old Susana Frieza is making waves in Portugal as the founder of the only female group of "forcados", or bullfighters who aim to subdue their adversary with bare hands.

"You are always scared but you learn to control fear and then it becomes easy," said Frieza, a native of Benavente -- a little town in the center of the country, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Lisbon.

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Anger as GPS Drives Tourists to Hollywood Icon

It is one of the world's most iconic sights. But for local residents, the huge "Hollywood" sign on their hillside overlooking Los Angeles is a source of growing anger.

Travelers have long flocked to have their pictures taken with the vast sign behind them -- but with the advent of satellite navigation and Google Earth, they have begun to invade the Hollywood Hills neighborhood like never before.

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Crocodile Dundee Star Gulpilil Beats Wife with Broomstick

Prominent Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil, who appeared in numerous smash-hit films including "Crocodile Dundee" and "Australia", was Thursday jailed after beating his wife with a broomstick.

The 58-year-old was given a one-year sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of five months after being convicted of breaking wife Miriam Ashley's arm during a drunken attack in December.

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Runaway Steer Creates Chaos on Arizona Interstate

A runaway steer stopped traffic on a major highway, hurtled over a brick wall and damaged two police vehicles during a Tuesday morning chase that had four Arizona law enforcement agencies scrambling.

The male bovine escaped from a livestock trailer Tuesday morning on Interstate 8 just east of Yuma in southeastern Arizona, Yuma County sheriff's Capt. Eben Bratcher told The Associated Press.

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Dog Eating Carnival Banned in China

A dog eating carnival in China dating back more than 600 years has been banned after public outrage at the cruel way the animals are slaughtered, state media said Wednesday.

The dogs are killed and skinned in the streets of Qianxi township in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang during the festival, which is usually held in October, the official Xinhua news agency said.

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Turkish Morgue Ready for The Resurrection of The Dead

A local town council in central Turkey has built a morgue with a warning system in case dead bodies come back to life, Anatolia news agency reported Wednesday.

The municipality of Malatya province has equipped its new mortuary with refrigerators sensitive to movement inside, Anatolia said.

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