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Polish Video Game 'The Witcher' Enchants World

Poland's new ambassador is a scar-faced hit man armed with two swords and potions against monsters and dragons. His name is Geralt, hero of a Polish role-playing video game bewitching the world.

"The Witcher" is the brainchild of Warsaw-based CD Project Red, one of a growing number of cutting-edge Polish IT firms out to dominate global gaming.

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Reddit Wrangles Reins from Users at a Risk

Reddit became one of the most visited websites in the world on the backs of users devoted to the online bulletin board where people could post just about anything.

Reddit benefits from a free workforce of volunteers who moderate discussion forums known as "subreddits," on topics running a gamut from science and religion to white supremacy and woman-bashing.

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S. Korea Intelligence Official Dead in Hacking Scandal

A South Korean intelligence official has been found dead in an apparent suicide amid a growing political scandal over a covert hacking program used by the country's spy agency, police said Sunday.

The 45-year-old from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) was discovered dead in his car Saturday on a mountain road in Yongin, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Seoul.

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Yahoo Spinning off Alibaba Stake to 'Aabaco Holdings'

Yahoo on Friday formally notified U.S. regulators that it is spinning off its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to an independent new company called Aabaco Holdings.

Aabaco will wind up owning approximately 384 million shares of Alibaba Group, representing an interest of about 15 percent, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Google Self-driving Car Involved in First Injury Accident

Google Inc. revealed Thursday that one of its self-driving car prototypes was involved in an injury accident for the first time.

In the collision, a Lexus SUV that the tech giant outfitted with sensors and cameras was rear-ended in Google's home city of Mountain View, where more than 20 prototypes have been self-maneuvering through traffic.

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Samsung Wins Approval for Key Merger after Bitter Fight

South Korea's dominant Samsung conglomerate -- run by the country's wealthiest family -- secured shareholder approval Friday for the crucial merger of two affiliates, seeing off a formidable challenge from investor activists led by a combative US hedge fund.

The victory, following a bitterly contested proxy battle, will come as an enormous relief to the Samsung Group's founding Lee family as it seeks to restructure the multi-headed corporation ahead of a generational transfer of power from ailing patriarch Lee Kun-Hee.

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Mobile Search, YouTube Pump up Google Earnings

Google shares soared on Thursday after the Internet titan beat second quarter earnings expectations by riding hot growth of mobile search and advertising on YouTube.

The Silicon Valley-based company said that second-quarter net income climbed two percent to $3.4 billion on an 11 percent rise in revenue to $17.7 billion.

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Italian Surveillance Firm's Breach Puts Spies in Hot Seat

A dramatic breach at an Italian surveillance company has laid bare the details of government cyberattacks worldwide, putting intelligence chiefs in the hot seat from Cyprus to South Korea. The massive leak has already led to one spymaster's resignation — and pulled back the curtain on espionage in the iPhone age.

More than 1 million emails released online in the wake of the July 5 breach show that Hacking Team sold its spy software to the FBI and to Russian intelligence. It worked with authoritarian governments in the Middle East and pitched to police departments in the American suburbs. It even tried to sell to the Vatican — all while devising a malicious Bible app to infect religiously minded targets.

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Apple Updates iPod Touch amid Declining Sales

Although the iPod's popularity has waned, Apple is updating its music player for the first time in nearly three years by giving the flagship Touch model a faster processor and better cameras.

The new iPod Touch also enables Apple Music, a $10-a-month service that offers unlimited playback of millions of songs. Apple Music launched June 30 as music fans increasingly embrace subscriptions over pay-per-song services such as Apple's industry-leading iTunes.

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Drones and Phones to Tackle Indonesian Eid Road Chaos

From drones to smartphone apps, Indonesia is harnessing technology to tackle traffic chaos during the annual mass exodus before the Muslim Eid holiday, when the potholed roads of overpopulated Java become clogged with millions of slow-moving cars and crashes are frequent.

Cities in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country empty every year at the end of the holy month of Ramadan as people head to villages to celebrate Eid with their families. 

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