Journalist jailed for criticizing Sri Lanka’s military

A Sri Lankan court sentenced a journalist Monday to serve 20 years in prison for articles that criticized the military, according to the Asian Human Rights Commission. “The AHRC is not surprised by this judgment because at the very inception of this case, the AHRC pointed out that this is purely a political case,” the commission said in a statement.

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Three Months From a Climate Summit, Agreement Far Off

If you happened on Friday morning to walk into the Temple of Earth in Beijing — the nearly 500-year-old monument where Chinese emperors once prayed for good harvests — you would have noticed a steady drip. The environmental group Greenpeace placed ice sculptures of 100 children — made of the glacial meltwater that feeds China’s great rivers — inside the temple, to symbolize the risk that climate change and disappearing ice poses to the more than 1 billion people in Asia threatened by water shortages.

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Surveillance video shows Florida couple, gunmen

Dark, grainy surveillance camera images from inside the home of a slain Florida couple show the moments before their deaths as gunmen dressed in black storm their house. The images, taken at the home of Byrd and Melanie Billings, were shown Thursday to representatives from several news organizations

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Chris Brown sentenced for Rihanna assault

Pop singer Chris Brown was sentenced Tuesday to serve five years probation and more than 1,400 hours in "labor-oriented service" for assaulting his pop star girlfriend, Rihanna. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg said in the sentencing she wants to see Brown conduct “actual physical labor, as opposed to some type of community service.” The sentencing was delayed earlier this month because documents detailing Brown’s proposed community service plan in Virginia, where he maintains a legal residence and wants to serve his sentence, had not arrived in time for Schnegg to review them. Brown’s probation will be overseen by the state of California, the judge said

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Kourtney Kardashian agonized over whether to keep baby

Kourtney Kardashian’s unplanned pregnancy forced the shocked reality TV star to make one of the most difficult decisions in her life: Would she have the baby or terminate the pregnancy? “I definitely thought about it long and hard, about if I wanted to keep the baby or not, and I wasn’t thinking about adoption,” Kardashian, 30, who was shooting E!’s “Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami” at the time, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I do think every woman should have the right to do what they want, but I don’t think it’s talked through enough

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Man carries assault rifle to Obama protest — and it’s legal

A man toting an assault rifle was among a dozen protesters carrying weapons while demonstrating outside President Barack Obama’s speech to veterans on Monday, but no laws were broken. It was the second instance in recent days in which unconcealed weapons have appeared near presidential events Video from the protest in Phoenix, Arizona, shows the man standing with other protesters, with the rifle slung over his right shoulder. Phoenix police said authorities monitored about a dozen people carrying weapons while peacefully demonstrating.

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‘District 9’ determined not to stick to formula

Science fiction flicks featuring aliens can be a little formulaic: Aliens invade American territory, mass destruction ensues, and nine times out of 10, Will Smith rides to the rescue But the alien-infested “District 9,” opening in theaters Friday, takes things in a different direction — if the producer may say so himself. “It’s utterly original,” producer Peter Jackson — yes, “Lord of the Rings” helmsman Peter Jackson — told Entertainment Weekly. “In an industry that’s looking to make movies out of every obscure TV show, or sequels, or video games, you look at ‘District 9’ and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen,” he said.

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