Sydney first major city to mark Earth Hour 2009 SYDNEY - The floodlit cream shells of the famed Opera House dimmed Saturday as Sydney became the world's first major city to plunge itself into darkness for the second worldwide Earth Hour, a global campaign to highlight the threat of climate change. China's jobless migrants go home early for holiday GUANGZHOU, China - Some hefted their luggage on bamboo shoulder poles. Others carried their things in plastic buckets. All were migrant workers hurrying to get home Thursday before China's Lunar New Year festival -- a holiday that triggers one of the world's biggest annual migrations of humans. China blocks access to New York Times Web site BEIJING - China has blocked access to the New York Times Web site, the newspaper said Saturday, days after the central government defended its right to censor online content it deems illegal.
'Green' film festival opens in Tokyo TOKYO (AFP) - The Tokyo International Film Festival opened on Saturday with an environmental theme as filmmakers from around the world greeted Japanese movie fans on a ceremonial "green carpet."