National / International News

Japanese scientists have unveiled some of the latest advancements in robotic technologies which they hope will help clean up the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

In early 2012, experiments that made H5N1 bird flu more contagious caused an uproar. People feared that mutant viruses could escape the lab and kill people. To prevent a repeat, the government has unveiled a policy describing how scientists should study dangerous pathogens and toxins.

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In early 2012, experiments that made H5N1 bird flu more contagious caused an uproar. People feared that mutant viruses could escape the lab and kill people. To prevent a repeat, the government has unveiled a policy describing how scientists should study dangerous pathogens and toxins.

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When I was a kid growing up in the last century and there was a new song I liked, I’d wait by the radio to catch it. But that equation has changed, says Camy Jun, a 20-year-old sophomore at Chapman College.

“At home listening to music, I’ll either listen to YouTube or iTunes and I listen to the radio when I’m in the car, but never outside of that,” says Jun.

And when Jun hears a song on the radio she likes, she goes to YouTube to find it. And that’s also where she discovers new music.

“Everybody always knew that there was a lot of consumption and that Youtube is a phenomenal venue to break new artist and break new songs,” said Robert Kyncl, the head of global content at YouTube. He says YouTube’s been part of the music hit-making ecosystem for quite a while now.

“We are part of the ecosytem, we shouldn’t be isolated and sit out there on an island,” Kyncl said.

Billboard has been including data from major streaming music sites like Spotify and Rhapsody but it just started including YouTube today. And that’s put the "Harlem Shake" -- a song that’s also become a popular video meme on YouTube -- to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. "Harlem Shake" is the first song by a virtual unknown to hit the top of the charts.

Andrea Domanick is an entertainment writer at the Las Vegas Sun. She says if artists want a song to be a hit, it’s almost essential to have it on YouTube.

“There’s been maybe one or two occasions where I have not been able to find a song I wanted to listen to on YouTube and it’s been incredibly frustrating,” said Domanick. “And I remember thinking, what, why, how does this person not have this song up? Do they not want people to hear their music?”

Domanick says YouTube is basically the new radio, and it’s about time Billboard acknowledged it.

Rwanda's army admits it is holding more than 280 soldiers accused of desertion on an island in Lake Kivu for re-education.

Google has unveiled its first touchscreen-enabled laptop, the Chromebook Pixel.

With the rise of smart phones and tablet computers, are the days of the games console coming to an end?

The blasts took place near government and military buildings in one of the deadliest days in the capital since the uprising began almost two years ago.

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The US ambassador to Britain tells BBC Scotland that his country will not take sides in the Scottish independence referendum debate.

The birds are roaming the town of Albany on the east side of San Francisco Bay. They're messy, they're loud and they can be aggressive. And if you don't think they can be scary, check how freaked out one California TV producer got when she encountered just one turkey in another town.

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Financier Nat Rothschild loses his bid to oust the current board of Indonesian coal miner Bumi, the company he helped to found.

The government must act now to ensure enough affordable homes are being built, campaign groups say, after figures showed an 11% fall in housing starts in England in 2012.

Are British juries becoming less intelligent?

Armed raiders escape with what police describe as a "large amount of cash" after a security van was attacked outside a Newcastle casino.

Tighter controls should be put on the painkiller tramadol according to the UK's official drugs advisers.

Laura Trott, Dani King and Elinor Barker win Britain's first gold medal of the World Track Championships in Belarus.

Corporate tax credits improved its profits, but those were tempered by the payroll tax increase on its customers.

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Former BBC Newsnight editor Peter Rippon, who 'stepped aside' during the Jimmy Savile scandal, is appointed to a new role overseeing the development of the online news archive.

Burgers containing horse meat are discovered at three agricultural campuses in Northern Ireland, the agriculture minister confirms.

Protesters who staged a seven day sit-in at a Nottinghamshire power station say they are being sued for about £5m.