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In the United Kingdom, PRS for Music has announced that the total royalties that artists in the music industry receive has decreased by 1%. This is the first time that such a decline has ever occurred. The company has reported that the total was £611.2 million (US$977.8 million, €693.9 million) in 2010, a decrease of overall annual revenue of 1%, or £7 million (US$11.2 million, €7.9 million), from 2009. PRS for Music has claimed that this fall was due to lower sales of Compact Discs and DVDs, as well as digital copyright infringement. The col

New York City officials plan to dispute the Census Bureau's data, after it was discovered that the 2010 Census reported only minimal growth in New York City and in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. On Sunday, NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg stated "[t]hat can't be possible," and announced that the city would formally challenge the bureau's findings. NY Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer also expressed interest in the alleged error. "These are high growth areas w/large immigrant populations. It's crucial that #NYC get the federal

An explosion at a weapons factory in Yemen killed dozens of people yesterday. According to estimates, over one hundred people may have died in the blast. According to the BBC, at least 78 people were killed, while The Independent reported that over one hundred people had been killed. The explosion occurred in the southern town of Ja`ar, located in the province of Abyan. Local media reported that forces loyal to Al-Qaeda had raided the factory on Sunday. They added that residents were forced to gather supplies from the factory, when a cigarett

Robert Gibbs, the former press secretary for the U.S. White House, has been said to be in talks with Facebook about possible future employment as a manager for the communications aspect of the company. According to an anonymous source close to the company, Gibbs is being pressed to quickly accept the job, in which Mr. Gibbs may receive millions of dollars in both salary and initial stock options for a planned public offering of Facebook Inc. in 2012. Both Facebook and Gibbs have declined to comment. Mr. Gibbs, who has worked for the Obama a

Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister of Italy, has announced he will call US actor George Clooney to testify at his trial. Berlusconi is accused of having sex with an underage prostitute, Karima El Mahroug, during a party at his villa near Milan. He has denies the charges. The Italian PM is further accused of abusing his power by intervening in a theft that Ms. Mahroug was involved in. Berlusconi attempted to evade the charges by using a recently overturned law that would leave him immune to prosecution. Mr. Clooney and his partner, Elisabet

Hundreds of thousands of people joined marches in London on Saturday against public sector cuts by the British government. One union estimated up to half a million people travelled from across the country to demonstrate as the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition implements wide-ranging spending cuts. According to reports, a small group of protesters dressed in black threw paint and smoke bombs at the Oxford Street branch of Topshop, and demonstrators in Piccadilly threw smoke bombs at the Ritz Hotel. The protests have targeted the governme

The driver of a taxicab was charged on Saturday by Wiltshire Police with the murder of Sian O'Callaghan, a 22-year-old woman. 47-year-old male Christopher Halliwell was arrested on Thursday. Personal assistant Sian O'Callaghan disappeared after departing from a nightclub, called Suju, in Swindon, England on March 19, 2011. She was never seen publicly again. The remains of her body were discovered during examinations taking place near Uffington, Oxfordshire on Thursday; the discovery was announced on Saturday. Christopher Halliwell is expecte

Sunday morning showed Trafalgar Square, London damaged during the night by demonstrators. Bottles, cans, and placards littered the concrete ground of one of the most iconic landmarks in London. Demonstrators livid at government cuts had sprayed graffiti on the four bronze lions. "No-one rules if no-one obeys," one message, next to the symbol of anarchy, read. On the steps leading up to the National Gallery lay placards, dropped by demonstrators the night before. Hours earlier the square was an arena for running battles between the anarchist pr

Phase two of Nottingham, England's Express Transit system (NET) received a boost last Thursday, when it was announced that the Government had approved both of the proposed additional lines to extend the network further into the Nottinghamshire area. Construction of the two lines, which will take the system to Chilwell and Clifton, could begin before the end of the year. The plans were originally turned down on cost grounds, but following successful negotiations between Nottingham City Council and the two companies bidding to construct the line

An ambitious project to bring a unique tram-train service to Sheffield and Rotherham, in the United Kingdom, is back on track, following the announcement of a £150,000 Government grant on Thursday. The plans, which were originally to see tram-train operation on a trial basis over the Penistone line during 2010, have been on the cards since 2008, but were shelved during 2009 to allow alternative proposals to be drawn up. The current plans will now see the vehicles operating along a currently-freight-only line between Rotherham and Meadowhall, be

According to judicial spokesman Edwin Escobar, Alvaro Colom, president of Guatemala, and Sandra Torres, the first lady, have applied for a divorce. It is said that the couple, who have been married for eight years, have done so so that Torres can apply for presidency. The couple applied for divorce on March 11, Escobar said. He says the couple have given mutual consent and did not reveal the names of their lawyers. Presidential spokesman Giusseppe Calvinisti has denied having any information about the planned divorce. Before Escobar made the

Social networking website MySpace lost over ten million users between January and February 2011, according to comScore. In February 2011, the Internet website had less than 63 million users, down from a previous total of approximately 73 million. In the same month, 2.3 million individuals were on the site in the United Kingdom. In the space of one year, MySpace has also suffered a number of user losses approaching fifty million. Earlier this year, MySpace announced their intentions to eliminate five hundred jobs around the world, which equates