Phoenix declare Bankrupt!

Success doesn’t seem to have clouded French band Phoenix’s minds. While their 2009 album was titled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, tipping their hat to the famous composer, they named the follow-up simply Bankrupt! The title of the band’s fifth album, out tomorrow, is a nod to the beauty of failure, guitarist Christian Mazzalai says.

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Can Jerry Brown Solve California’s Perpetual Crisis?

Like his predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Governor Jerry Brown is struggling to keep the state afloat in an ocean of red ink. Facing a $26 billion deficit, he warns of “draconian” cuts to education and public safety if the state cannot raise revenue and has to adopt an all-cuts budget.

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Taiwan allows Dalai visit for typhoon victims

Taiwan said Thursday that it will allow a visit by the Dalai Lama to pray for the victims of the typhoon-battered island. Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou made the announcement Thursday while visiting a school in the southern part of the island, a government spokesman said. Typhoon Morakot slammed into Taiwan on August 8 and unleashed floods, mudslides and misery

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Obama: Latin America on equal footing with U.S.

President Barack Obama on Thursday embarks on a trip to Latin America, where the leader of the world’s lone superpower said he seeks to engage in talks with the region’s leaders as equals. “Times have changed,” President Barack Obama told CNN en Español on Wednesday. Referring to his planned meeting in Trinidad and Tobago with Brazilian President Lula, he said, “My relationship with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is one of two leaders who both have big countries, that we are trying to solve problems and create opportunities for our people, and we should be partners

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