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Mortar Bomb Used as Bell in Ugandan School

Anti-landmine activists in western Uganda were stunned to discover a primary school using an unexploded mortar bomb as a bell, the group's coordinator told Agence France Presse on Monday.

"It was a big shock. When we arrived at the school we even found one of the students striking it," Wilson Bwambale, coordinator of Anti-Mines Network Rwenzori, said.

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Fox News Twitter Account Hacked, Claims Obama Dead

Hackers broke into an official Twitter account operated by Fox News early Monday and posted a series of tweets that claimed President Barack Obama had been assassinated.

The Twitter feed for Fox News' political news -- @FoxNewspolitics -- sent out a series of "malicious and false tweets," starting around 2:00 am, Fox News confirmed in a statement. The posts had not been taken down hours later.

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Australian Pub Ejects Man for Wearing Turban

An Australian pub that has a no head wear policy was forced to apologize Monday after ejecting a Sikh man for refusing to take off his turban.

A staff member at the Royal English Hotel in Brisbane barred the man on Sunday.

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July 4: Fireworks to Hot Dog Eating Contests in U.S.

Whether it's with an explosion of colorful fireworks, a hometown parade or just one burger too many, people across the United States will celebrate Independence Day Monday — each in his own way.

Thousands will camp out near the Washington Monument, eagerly awaiting the festivities there, while others will throw on a Hawaiian shirt and shorts and head for the still-snowy slopes at resorts from California to Colorado. If you're in Boston, the annual Boston Pops concert is a must. But if you're in Akron, Ohio, the Rib, White & Blue Food Festival is enticing. And then, there are Nevada's casinos. They're promising a pyrotechnics extravaganza that could be a gambler's best bet.

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Jail Inmate: Lack of Porn Violates U.S. Constitution

A Michigan jail inmate says he's being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment because he can't have pornography.

In a handwritten lawsuit, 21-year-old Kyle Richards claims his civil rights are being violated at the Macomb County Jail. Richards says denying his request for erotic material subjects him to a "poor standard of living" and "sexual and sensory deprivation."

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Dead Body Went Unnoticed in Busy U.S. Pool for Days

Massachusetts officials have closed a busy public swimming pool after a woman's dead body went unnoticed in the water for two days as people continued to swim, the Boston Globe reported Friday.

The permit for the state-run swimming pool expired six months ago, and a city inspector who examined the site on Tuesday -- just hours before the body surfaced -- did not see the remains because the water was so murky, the newspaper reported.

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Karzai Tells Afghans to Ditch Lavish Weddings

President Hamid Karzai advised Afghans not to hold extravagant wedding parties saying in his weekly radio address to the nation on Friday that they were "against the national tradition."

Since the fall of the Taliban nearly a decade ago, marriage ceremonies in Afghan cities have often gone from being simple family affairs to lavish parties for up to 1,000 people in neon-clad wedding halls.

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Hungary Toasts Poland's EU Helm With Cask of Wine

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday gave his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk a 15-litre cask of wine to toast Poland's six-month European Union presidency.

"I have brought with me a cask of wine to drink to the success of the Polish presidency," Orban told reporters as he handed over leadership of the 27-nation bloc to Tusk, together with an EU flag.

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British Mother-in-Law's Email Rant is Internet Hit

A British woman's email rant at her future daughter-in-law became an Internet sensation on Thursday after she accused the bride-to-be of "uncouthness and lack of grace."

In a withering message entitled "your lack of manners", Carolyn Bourne took Heidi Withers to task over her failures of etiquette and recommended she attend a finishing school "with utmost haste."

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Putin's Blueberry Hill Remix Wows Russian Clubbers

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin caused jaws to drop last year when he gave an impromptu performance of the Fats Domino classic "Blueberry Hill" at a charity concert.

Now one of the country's best known DJs has remixed Putin's vocals into a six-minute dance track that he says is wowing clubbers around the country, even if he admits that Putin is "not a singer."

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