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'The Walking Dead' to Explore 'Monsters Inside'

Flesh-eating zombies aren't the only worry in the second season of "The Walking Dead."

Sarah Wayne Callies, who plays one of the survivors in the hit AMC zombie apocalypse saga, teased during a Friday panel at Comic-Con that "the most dangerous things out there are the monsters inside."

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Jazz Great Herbie Hancock a U.N. Culture Ambassador

Jazz great Herbie Hancock wants his music to build bridges between cultures, a mission that fits perfectly with his new role as a U.N. cultural ambassador promoting peace through culture and education.

The 71-year-old — imbued with boundless energy, curiosity and cool-cat poise — is a natural for the job. His "The Imagine Project" album is a multicultural potpourri featuring collaborations with musicians from 11 countries and seven languages. He founded The International Committee of Artists for Peace, too.

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Syria Accuses Saboteurs of Train Derailment

A passenger train has derailed and caught fire in central Syria, killing the driver and wounding several passengers, after "saboteurs" tore out part of the tracks, the state-run news agency, SANA, said.

The train with 480 passengers on board was traveling Saturday from the northeastern city of Aleppo to the capital Damascus.

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Poll Shows Chavez's Cancer not Affecting Popularity

A poll in Venezuela says President Hugo Chavez's public approval rating remains at 50 percent and has not significantly varied since his cancer diagnosis.

The Caracas polling firm Datanalisis surveyed 1,300 people earlier this month, giving the poll a margin error of about 2.5 percentage points.

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In 1st TV Remarks from Cuba, Chavez Says '1st Cycle' of Chemo Completed

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday he has finished his "first cycle" of chemotherapy in Cuba and will begin the second of various phases of treatment.

Chavez vowed to overcome his cancer, saying he is confident of winning re-election next year and staying in power for at least six more years. He spoke in a telephone call carried live on state television during a speech by his vice president, Elias Jaua.

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In Palestinian City, Diggers Uncover Biblical Ruin

Archaeologists unearthing a biblical ruin inside a Palestinian city in the West Bank are writing the latest chapter in a 100-year-old excavation that has been interrupted by two world wars and numerous rounds of Mideast upheaval.

Working on an urban lot that long served residents of Nablus as an unofficial dump for garbage and old car parts, Dutch and Palestinian archaeologists are learning more about the ancient city of Shekhem, and are preparing to open the site to the public as an archaeological park next year.

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Greece Says Second Bailout 'Great Relief'

Greece's finance minister expressed "great relief" Friday in the wake of a second European bailout for the country's crisis-hit economy, and markets rallied on the news.

But Evangelos Venizelos also promised to press ahead with unpopular cost-cutting measures aimed at generating a primary budget surplus, starting next year.

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Oops! Forklift Smashes $1M Worth of Australia Wine

An unsteady forklift dropped a container full of fine Australian wine worth more than $1 million, smashing most of the bottles. The winemaker says he's "gut-wrenched, shocked and numb" after the loss of his flagship shiraz.

Sparky Marquis of Mollydooker Wines lost a third of his Velvet Glove Shiraz production after the accident that destroyed all but one of the 462 cases bound for the United States.

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China Wins 8th Diving Gold Medal at Worlds

He Chong successfully defended his 3-meter title at the world championships, giving China its eighth gold medal although Qin Kai badly missed a dive that cost the Chinese another likely medal on Friday.

He totaled 554.30 points in the six-dive final, taking the lead in the fifth round when Qin dropped from first to fifth. Qin, the 2007 champion, finished fourth.

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Rodriguez Announces 'Sin City,' 'Machete' Sequels

Robert Rodriguez waited until Comic-Con to announce that he's planning sequels to "Sin City" and "Machete."

He says a script for "Sin City 2" is being refined, and he hopes for two sequels to last year's "Machete" — at least one of which will bring the blade-slinging star into space.

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