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File - Ubisoft Closes XDefiant Servers and Studios

Illustration of the UBISOFT logo at the Paris Games Week, France's biggest video game trade show, on November 1, 2023. Barely six months after the launch of its XDefiant video game, the French giant has announced that it will be shutting down the online game's servers in June. “This decision also entails the closure of our San Francisco and Osaka production studios and the gradual reduction of our Sydney production site, with the departure of 143 people in San Francisco and 134 people in Osaka and Sydney,” Ubisoft detailed in a message sent to AFP on December 4, 2024. Photo by Tomas Stevens/ABACAPRESS.COM

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File - Ubisoft Closes XDefiant Servers and Studios

Illustration of the UBISOFT logo at the Paris Games Week, France's biggest video game trade show, on November 1, 2023. Barely six months after the launch of its XDefiant video game, the French giant has announced that it will be shutting down the online game's servers in June. “This decision also entails the closure of our San Francisco and Osaka production studios and the gradual reduction of our Sydney production site, with the departure of 143 people in San Francisco and 134 people in Osaka and Sydney,” Ubisoft detailed in a message sent to AFP on December 4, 2024. Photo by Tomas Stevens/ABACAPRESS.COM

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File - Ubisoft Closes XDefiant Servers and Studios

Inauguration of the new Ubisoft creation studio in Bordeaux in the presence of the first Deputy Mayor of Bordeaux, Virginie Calmels in Bordeaux, France on October 19, 2017. Barely six months after the launch of its XDefiant video game, the French giant has announced that it will be shutting down the online game's servers in June. “This decision also entails the closure of our San Francisco and Osaka production studios and the gradual reduction of our Sydney production site, with the departure of 143 people in San Francisco and 134 people in Osaka and Sydney,” Ubisoft detailed in a message sent to AFP on December 4, 2024. Photo by Thibaud Moritz/ABACAPRESS.COM

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File - Ubisoft Closes XDefiant Servers and Studios

Villeurbanne (69).Ubisoft Ivory Tower” video game development studio. Creators of the arcade racing game “The Crew 2” to be released on June 29, 2018 - Barely six months after the launch of its XDefiant video game, the French giant has announced that it will be shutting down the online game's servers in June. “This decision also entails the closure of our San Francisco and Osaka production studios and the gradual reduction of our Sydney production site, with the departure of 143 people in San Francisco and 134 people in Osaka and Sydney,” Ubisoft detailed in a message sent to AFP on December 4, 2024. Photo by Soudan/ANDBZ/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Prototype of Peace Statue in Nagasaki

A 15-centimeter-tall prototype of the Peace Statue in Nagasaki's Peace Park goes on public display on Nov. 9, 2024, at a prison in Isahaya in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Nagasaki. Sculptor Seibo Kitamura, the statue's creator, donated the prototype to the prison in 1959 to mourn the 134 prisoners and prison staff killed when the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki hit as they were at a prison unit located near Ground Zero.

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Prototype of Peace Statue in Nagasaki

A 15-centimeter-tall prototype of the Peace Statue in Nagasaki's Peace Park goes on public display on Nov. 9, 2024, at a prison in Isahaya in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Nagasaki. Sculptor Seibo Kitamura, the statue's creator, donated the prototype to the prison in 1959 to mourn the 134 prisoners and prison staff killed when the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki hit as they were at a prison unit located near Ground Zero.

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Italy hosts record-breaking number of tourists in 2023

STORY: Italy hosts record-breaking number of tourists in 2023 SHOOTING TIME: June 4, 2024 DATELINE: June 5, 2024 LENGTH: 00:00:47 LOCATION: Rome CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of tourists in Rome STORYLINE: Italy set an all-time record for tourist arrivals last year, with numbers surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time, the government's statistics entity reported Tuesday. ISTAT, the Italian Statistics Institute, said the country hosted more than 134 million tourists in 2023, amounting to a total of more than 450 million overnight stays. This represents 3 million more arrivals and 14.5 million more overnight stays than in 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting for increases of 2.3 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. Compared to 2022, the tourism figures rose by 13.4 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively. According to the data, the most popular Italian region for tourism last year was Veneto, famous for the canal city of Venice. Veneto attracted 21.1 mil

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

File photo dated April 8, 2024 shows Michelin CEO Florent Menegaux President de Michelin during a trilateral meeting on the European industrial policy in Meudon, outside Paris, France. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Jean-Bernard Vernier/JBV News/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

File photo dated December 5, 2023 shows Florent Menegaux, President of Group MIchelin at the Inauguration of Symbio factory gigafactory in Saint Fons near Lyon, France. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Julien Reynaud/APS-Medias/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

File photo dated December 10, 2021 shows Michelin Group CEO Florent Menegaux during a photo session at the Michelin headquarters in Clermont Ferrand, France. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Renaud Khanh/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

File photo dated May 04, 2020 shows Michelin logo in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by David Niviere/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

File photo dated February 12, 2019 shows Michelin CEO Florent Menegaux in Paris, France. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Vernier/JBV News/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

File photo dated February 12, 2019 shows Michelin CEO Florent Menegaux in Paris, France. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Vernier/JBV News/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

File photo dated June 17, 2009 shows a worker outside the Michelin plant in Noyelles-les-Seclin near Lille, north of France. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Mikael Libert/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

File photo dated September 16, 2016 shows Michelin campus in Cebazat, near Clermont-Ferrand, France. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Soudan E./ANDBZ/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

File photo dated March 18, 2005 shows Michelin logo in Marseille, France on March 18, 2005. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Gerald Holubowicz/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

Undated file photo shows MIchelin logo at his headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Lafabregue/ANDBZ/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

Undated file photo of Michelin logo at Michelin museum in Clermont-Ferrand, France. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Lafabregue/ANDBZ/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

File photo dated July 21, 2017 shows Cataroux Michelin plant in Clermont-Ferrand, France. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Cartier/ANDBZ/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

File photo dated March 18, 2005 shows Michelin logo in Marseille, France on March 18, 2005. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Gerald Holubowicz/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Michelin Rolls Out Its Own Global Living Wage

File photo dated June 17, 2009 shows a worker outside the Michelin plant in Noyelles-les-Seclin near Lille, north of France. After realizing that the minimum wage in its home country left some workers at breaking point, French tire-maker Michelin has taken matters into its own hands to give employees a hefty pay raise. Michelin is rolling out its own living wage to its 132,000 employees, the company said in a press release shared with Fortune and first reported by French publication Le Figaro. The 134-year-old group, which makes heavy-duty tires for construction and freight-handling companies, has set living wages for employees based on their location to correlate with living costs. The calculation for the living wage was also made based on what employees needed to provide for their family’s “essential needs.” Photo by Mikael Libert/ABACAPRESS.COM

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Iron-smelting plant opened in Kabul

STORY: Iron-smelting plant opened in Kabul SHOOTING TIME: March 26, 2024 DATELINE: March 27, 2024 LENGTH: 00:01:09 LOCATION: Kabul CATEGORY: ECONOMY/SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of the iron-smelting plant STORYLINE: An iron-smelting plant has been opened in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, as part of efforts to get the war-torn country towards achieving self-sufficiency, local television TOLOnews reported on Monday. "The opening of the iron-smelting factory is important for the economic growth and development of the country," the private media outlet quoted Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, acting deputy prime minister on economic affairs, as saying. Baradar also noted that the administration would continue to support the investment in Afghanistan as part of efforts to stand on its feet. Earlier, Nooruddin Azizi, acting minister of industry and commerce, stated that the country had achieved self-sufficiency in 134 domestic products and semi-self-sufficiency in another 100 items. Xinhua News Agenc

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U.S. House passes second massive spending package ahead of shutdown deadline

STORY: U.S. House passes second massive spending package ahead of shutdown deadline SHOOTING TIME: March 22, 2024 DATELINE: March 23, 2024 LENGTH: 00:00:32 LOCATION: Washington D.C. CATEGORY: POLITICS SHOTLIST: 1. various of the U.S. House of Representatives voting on the bill STORYLINE: The U.S. House on Friday approved the second spending package aimed at funding part of the government agencies and programs until September, sending it to the Senate before the midnight deadline to prevent a partial shutdown. The lower chamber approved the package, which was unveiled early Thursday, in a vote of 286 to 134. The 1.2-trillion-U.S.-dollar package would provide funding for the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, State and the legislative branch through the fiscal year 2024, which ends Sept. 30. The proposed package would allocate approximately 62 billion dollars in overall discretionary funds for Homeland Security, which was the most contentious part of th

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Tamas Sulyok elected as Hungary's new president

STORY: Tamas Sulyok elected as Hungary's new president SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 26, 2024 DATELINE: Feb. 27, 2024 LENGTH: 00:02:05 LOCATION: Budapest CATEGORY: POLITICS SHOTLIST: 1. SOUNDBITE (Hungarian): TAMAS SULYOK, Hungarian President-Elect 2. various of Parliament exterior 3. various of voting result announcement STORYLINE: Hungarian lawmakers on Monday elected Tamas Sulyok, head of the Constitutional Court, as the country's new president. Out of the 199 lawmakers, 146 participated in the voting, with 134 votes in favor, five against and seven invalid. Most opposition lawmakers did not participate in the vote. The opposition parties failed to reach an agreement on a common candidate to challenge. Sulyok said last Thursday upon his nomination: SOUNDBITE (Hungarian): TAMAS SULYOK, Hungarian President-Elect "As a jurist, and in my role as the President of the Republic, my foremost commitment is to serve the public good and to embody the nation's unity, all the while upholding the fundamental values of the

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Solar, wind Australia's cheapest electricity options, nuclear most expensive: report

STORY: Solar, wind Australia's cheapest electricity options, nuclear most expensive: report SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 22, 2023 DATELINE: Dec. 23, 2023 LENGTH: 00:00:50 LOCATION: Canberra CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of solar panels 2. various of wind farm 3. various of electricity paper bill STORYLINE: Electricity generated by solar and onshore wind farms is the cheapest in Australia, a report from the national science agency has found. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) on Thursday published the draft of its annual GenCost report for 2023-24, forecasting the generation cost of electricity from various sources through to 2030. According to the report, a mix of wind and solar power in 2023 would generate electricity at a maximum cost of 134 Australian dollars (90.1 U.S. dollars) per megawatt hour (MWh), the lowest of any technology explored in the report. In 2030, the CSIRO projects that wind and solar generation will cost a maximum of 100 Australian dollars (67

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Smart platform helps earthworks in construction of China's Pinglu Canal

STORY: Smart platform helps earthworks in construction of China's Pinglu Canal DATELINE: Aug. 24, 2023 LENGTH: 00:00:58 LOCATION: NANNING, China CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of construction of the Pinglu Canal 2. various of the smart cloud platform 3. various of construction of the Pinglu Canal STORYLINE: Construction of China's new canal, the Pinglu Canal, started in May in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. So far, more than 50 million cubic meters of earth and stone have been dug. Some of the earth and stone have been recycled. A smart cloud platform has been adopted to manage the earthworks. The Pinglu Canal, stretching over 134 km with an estimated investment of 72.7 billion yuan (about 10.3 billion U.S. dollars), aims to link the Xijiang River, a major waterway in southwest China, with ports in the Beibu Gulf. Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nanning, China. (XHTV)

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China's ultra-large self-propelled dredger to be used in Pinglu Canal construction

STORY: China's ultra-large self-propelled dredger to be used in Pinglu Canal construction DATELINE: July 12, 2023 LENGTH: 00:02:01 LOCATION: NANNING, China CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Tian Jing Hao dredger 2. various of staff introducing the vessel STORYLINE: China's ultra-large self-propelled cutter-suction dredger Tian Jing Hao, or Sky Whale, will be used in the waterway construction of China's new canal, the Pinglu Canal, in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. On July 11, China's 19th Maritime Day, the Qinzhou Maritime Safety Administration and Tian Jing Hao at Qinzhou Port in the Beibu Gulf of Guangxi jointly carried out activities. Since it was put into operation in 2010, the Tian Jing Hao has played an important role in the construction of major ports along China's domestic coast and major national strategic projects. The Pinglu Canal, stretching over 134 km with an estimated investment of 72.7 billion yuan (about 10.3 billion U.S. dollars), aims to link the Xijiang River

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Cambodia records stable population of rare vultures at 131: official

STORY: Cambodia records stable population of rare vultures at 131: official DATELINE: June 15, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:35 LOCATION: Phnom Penh CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT SHOTLIST: 1. various of rare vultures in Stung Treng province STORYLINE: The population of critically endangered vultures in Cambodia is stable with 131 birds recorded in a census last week, Neth Pheaktra, secretary of state at the Ministry of Environment, said on Wednesday. "According to the results of a vulture census on June 9, a total of 131 vultures were recorded in Cambodia," he said in a news release. "This number is similar to the census results in June 2022, with 134 vultures recorded." The Southeast Asian country is home to three vulture species, namely red-headed, white-rumped, and slender-billed vultures, all of which are included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as critically endangered. Pheaktra said the census last week registered 12 red-headed, 77 white-rumped, and 42 slender-billed vultures.

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Japan's unemployment rate increases 2.6 pct in February

STORY: Japan's unemployment rate increases 2.6 pct in February DATELINE: March 31, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:03 LOCATION: Tokyo CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of street views in Tokyo STORYLINE: Japan's unemployment rate increased in February from a month earlier, the government said in a report on Friday. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the jobless rate rose by 2.6 percent in February from 2.4 percent in January. Separately, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said the job availability ratio dropped 0.01 points to 1.34. This equates to there being 134 job openings for every 100 people seeking work. Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Tokyo. (XHTV)

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Schools reopen in Pakistan 28 days after massacre

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Photo taken Jan. 10, 2015, shows an army-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan, at which 150 people, including 134 students, were killed in a deadly attack by militants the previous month. Schools and other educational institutions opened across Pakistan on Jan. 12, 28 days after the attack.

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Horse riders ascend steps of Hokkaido shrine

HAKODATE, Japan - Members of a riding club in Hakodate, Hokkaido, northern Japan, ride up 134 steps on Hokkaido-bred "dosanko" horses in the precincts of the Hakodate Hachimangu shrine in front of worshippers at an annual event on Jan. 2, 2015.

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Remains of 134 WWII Japanese soldiers cremated in Papua

JAYAPURA, Indonesia - Family members of Japanese soldiers who died in New Guinea during World War II pray while the remains of 134 such soldiers are cremated in Puay, a small village on the outskirts of Jayapura, the provincial capital of Papua, in Indonesia, on March 18, 2013. Indonesian forensic experts have confirmed the remains, made up of more than 9,000 bone fragments, belonged to Japanese soldiers who died during the war.

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Gratitude to Swedish family

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Yoshiaki Kurado (L), the great-grandson of a Japanese marathoner who received help from a Swedish family after failing to complete the 1912 Stockholm Olympic race due to ill health, and a descendent of the family shake hands in the suburb of Stockholm on July 134, 2012. Kurado visited the family to express gratitude for the act of kindness 100 years ago.

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Osaka Station City opens

OSAKA, Japan - Photo taken on May 4, 2011, shows Osaka Station City, which is composed of the new JR Osaka Station (C), North Gate Building (L) and South Gate Building (R), both commercial buildings, which opened for operation the same day. The facility, which includes two department stores, has a total store dimension of 134 thousand square meters, the largest in the country.

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Osaka Station City opens

OSAKA, Japan - Visitors enter Osaka Station City, a commercial complex which is composed of the new JR Osaka Station and two commercial buildings, on May 4, 2011, the opening day of the facility. The facility, which includes two department stores, has a total store dimension of 134 thousand square meters, the largest in the country.

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Japan's Fudo shares lead at Women's British Open

SUNNINGDALE, England - Japan's Yuri Fudo acknowledges fans after finishing a second round of the Women's British Open with a 10-under-par 134 at Sunningdale Golf Club in England on Aug. 1. Fudo, a six-time money title winner on the Japan LPGA tour, matched South Korea's Shin Ji Yai.

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Dosanko horses ridden to New Year's prayers at Hokkaido shrine

HAKODATE, Japan - Dressed in traditional Japanese warrior costume, riders astride Hokkaido-bred Dosanko horses ascend the Hakodate Hachimangu shrine on Jan. 2 to offer New Year prayers for the safety of man and horse. Reputedly strong in leg, the five Dosanko horses taking part in the annual event climb up the 134 stone steps of the Shinto shrine in less than 1 minute. According to Shigeru Ikeda, owner of the Dosanko Farm horse-riding club in Hakodate, there are about 1,000 Dosanko horses in Hokkaido today, while an estimated 100,000 Dosanko roamed free in Hokkaido in the late 19th century.

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Beethoven manuscript sells for 1.1 million pounds

LONDON, Britain - An anonymous telephone buyer secured Ludwig van Beethoven's Grosse Fuge in B flat major in the composer's version for piano four-hands, Op. 134 (file photo) for 1,128,000 pounds ($1,949,635) at London-based auctioneers, Sotheby's, on Dec. 1.

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Plane crashes, another missing in Russia

MOSCOW, Russia - A Tu-134 airliner of Volga-AviaExpress (same type shown in file photo) with some 40 people aboard crashed and another plane, a Tu-154, carrying about 50 people went missing in Russia on Aug. 24, with authorities suggesting that terrorism may be involved, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

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Dollar firm, touches 134 yen in Tokyo deals

TOKYO, Japan - The U.S. dollar firms against the yen in Tokyo on Jan. 23, touching the 134 yen level for the first time in 39 months after continuing a dollar-buying momentum that began following talks between Japanese and U.S. finance ministers the previous day.

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Tiger kicks the bunker

GOTEMBA, Japan - Tiger Woods kicks the sands Nov. 16, 2001 after failing to carry the ball close to the 14th hole during the second round of the EMC World Cup at the Taiheiyo Club Gotemba Course. Woods and David Duval teamed up to move to 10-under 134 for a tie for fourth with Denmark and Spain.

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Toyota's 1st commercial complex to open in Gifu

YANAIZU, Japan - Toyota Motor Corp. will open a commercial complex (shown in this photo) Nov. 10 in Yanaizu, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, combining auto dealerships and shopping malls. The Colorful Town Gifu, occupying 134,000 square meters, is the first of its kind opened by Toyota.

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Obuchi grateful for defeat of no-confidence motion

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi (R) expresses his appreciation to members of the House of Representatives on Aug. 11 after a no-confidence motion against his cabinet was rejected at a plenary session, by 354 votes to 134. Standing to his left are Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka.

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Gov't ordered to pay 170 mil. yen for Atsugi base noise

TOKYO, Japan - Plaintiffs walk into the Tokyo High Court on July 23 to hear a ruling on their case, in which they sought compensation for their suffering caused by aircraft noise at U.S. Atsugi Naval Air Facility in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The court ordered the government to pay about 170 million yen in damages to 134 residents who live near the base.

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Japan rolls up record points in rugby qualifier

The Japanese team celebrates after rolling up a record 134 points Tuesday Oct. 27 to crush Taiwan 134-6 in the second qualifying match at Singapore's National Stadium for next year's rugby World Cup.Japan, which romped 40-12 over South Korea last Saturday, surrendered the first points to Taiwan immediately after the start of the game.

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Yen plunges in Tokyo

The yen temporarily plunges below 134 to the dollar on theTokyo foreign exchange market in the morning of Jan. 6, its lowest level in five years and eight months.

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Malaysia's wholesale, retail trade sales grow 23.9 pct in September

STORY: Malaysia's wholesale, retail trade sales grow 23.9 pct in September DATELINE: Nov. 10, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:32 LOCATION: Kuala Lumpur CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various shots of street views of Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur 2. various shots of customers choosing bags in store 3. various shots of locals doing grocery shopping in a supermarket STORYLINE: Malaysia's wholesale and retail trade sales value rose 23.9 percent year-on-year to 134 billion ringgit (28.41 billion U.S. dollars) in September, official data showed Wednesday. The positive growth was contributed by all sub-sectors, namely motor vehicles which surged 51 percent, retail trade that jumped 30 percent, and wholesale trade which climbed 13.3 percent, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said in a statement. In terms of volume index, wholesale and retail trade grew 18.4 percent year-on-year to 146 points. The growth was supported by the increase in motor vehicles at 43.9 percent, retail trade at 27.1 percent, and wholesale trade at 3.

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618 killed in two-month rain-related incidents in Pakistan

STORY: 618 killed in two-month rain-related incidents in Pakistan DATELINE: Aug. 16, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:38 LOCATION: Islamabad CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of affected areas in Pakistan where heavy monsoon rains wreaked havoc STORYLINE: At least 618 people were killed and 982 others injured in separate rain-triggered accidents across Pakistan over the last two months, the country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Monday. Revealing the data of the cumulative losses incurred to human life and property from June 14 to August 14, the authority said that the killed people included 230 children and 134 women who were mainly living in the areas where heavy monsoon rains wreaked havoc. A total of 103 districts with a population of 1,087,654 were affected by the rains, the NDMA said, adding that 10,464 people stranded due to rain and flash floods have been rescued. The report said that 15,205 people are living in relief camps set up by the authority in the flood-hit distr

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Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as president of Sri Lanka

STORY: Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as president of Sri Lanka DATELINE: July 21, 2022 LENGTH: 00:00:53 LOCATION: Colombo CATEGORY: POLITICS SHOTLIST: 1. various of the ceremony STORYLINE: Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the president of Sri Lanka on Thursday in the parliament before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya. Wickremesinghe was elected as the president in an election held in parliament on Wednesday, during which Wickremesinghe got 134 votes from parliamentarians. Out of 225 parliamentarians, 223 voted in the ballot and there were four invalid votes. An official from the President's Office told Xinhua that Wickremesinghe will appoint a new prime minister and cabinet in the coming days. On Wednesday, Wickremesinghe invited all political parties to join hands with him and work together to overcome the economic crisis and bring in a new political change. Sri Lanka is in the mid of severe economic turmoil and has sought assistance from the International Monetary Fund and friend

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Ranil Wickremesinghe elected as new president of Sri Lanka

STORY: Ranil Wickremesinghe elected as new president of Sri Lanka DATELINE: July 20, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:32 LOCATION: Colombo CATEGORY: POLITICS SHOTLIST: 1. STANDUP (English): GUO XINHUI, Xinhua correspondent STORYLINE: STANDUP (English): GUO XINHUI, Xinhua correspondent "Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected as the new president of Sri Lanka on Wednesday. After winning the election, Wickremesinghe addressed the parliament, calling on all legislators to unite and work together with him to lead Sri Lanka out of the current economic crisis. Wickremesinghe got 134 votes in a secret ballot that took place in parliament. Out of 225 parliamentarians, 223 voted in the ballot and there were four invalid votes. Another two candidates got 82 votes and three votes, respectively. Ranil Wickremesinghe has declared a nationwide state of emergency with effect from Monday. A special gazette notice said the state of emergency was declared in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and t