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(Dec 12, 2012 4:42 PM) Bloomington South 107, Arlington 2. That wasn't a typo in the high school sports pages today, it was the final score of a girls basketball game, reports the Indianapolis Star. And now the Bloomington coach is under fire on social media and from Arlington coach Ebony Jackson: No, it's not OK but he will have to live with that, she says. If that's how they want to carry themselves, that's fine. For his part, Bloomington coach Larry Winters insists his team wasn't running up the score. I didn't tell my girls to stop shooting because that would have been more embarrassing (to Arlington), he says. We weren't trying to embarrass them. At Forbes, Bob Cook says Winters was in a no-win situation and explains the background: Arlington used to have a decent team, but that was before the state took it over because of bad academic performance and turned it over to a private company. When schools schedule each other, perhaps there should be a line in the contract that immediately voids the game if there is a change of control of the school, he suggests. In the meantime, the state is looking into establishing a mercy rule.
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(Apr 6, 2018 1:52 AM CDT) This is what a trade war looks like, and what we have warned against from the start, said National Retail Federation President Matthew Shay after President Trump threatened tariffs on another $100 billion in Chinese goods on Thursday. The White House says Trump has directed trade officials to identify products to be slapped with tariffs in light of China's unfair retaliation to his earlier round of proposed tariffs, the AP reports. Rather than remedy its misconduct, China has chosen to harm our farmers and manufacturers, Trump said in a statement, referring to Beijing's proposed tariffs on $50 billion on US imports. Shay warned that we are on a dangerous downward spiral that will hurt American families and urged Trump to stop playing a game of chicken with the US economy, reports Reuters. China warned that it would respond with more tariffs of its own, the Telegraph reports. China will follow suit to the end, not hesitate to pay any price, resolutely counterattack, and take new comprehensive measures in response, the country's Commerce Ministry said in a statement. The Wall Street Journal notes that if China slaps tariffs on another $100 billion in US goods, it will bring an end to the tit-for-tat tariff threats: The tariffs would cover $150 billion in goods but US exports to China only totalled $130 billion last year, compared to more than $500 billion in Chinese exports to the US. In his statement, Trump--who is being heavily criticized by some of his fellow Republicans over the confrontation with Beijing--left the door open to talks aimed at achieving free, fair, and reciprocal trade.
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(Dec 20, 2010 8:54 AM) Buddhism, Christianity, and Hinduism are accepted in Muslim-majority Malaysia, but the government has stepped up efforts to quash non-Sunni strains of Islam. More than 200 Shia Muslims have been arrested in a swoop on outlawed Islamic sects, and they are likely to be charged with following the teachings of a deviationist movement, which carries a penalty of up to two years in jail, AP reports. Authorities say the Shia doctrine--which permits the killing of Muslims from other sects who are regarded as infidels--is a threat to national security, but some Islamic scholars aren't happy with the crackdown. Malaysia is trying to become a country a la Taliban that only allows one school of thought, a prominent Muslim scholar said. Even though I personally don't agree with Shia teachings and even frequently criticize and debate with them, I cannot accept the approach of the allegedly democratic Malaysian government in denying the people's right to practice their faith.
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(Aug 21, 2015 7:35 AM CDT) It's your prerogative should you choose to live the next month of your life like it's your last, but the majority of us will live to see October, NASA says. The words of encouragement come after Internet rumors sparked fear that an asteroid strike, allegedly due between Sept. 15 and 28, would destroy Puerto Rico, the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the US and Mexico, and Central and South America, reports the Guardian. There is no scientific basis--not one shred of evidence--that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates, says the manager of NASA's near-Earth object office. If there were any object large enough to do that type of destruction in September, we would have seen something of it by now. Not only are we safe in September, but scientists say there's just a 0.01% chance of an asteroid hitting Earth within the next century. Of course, that fact didn't stop conspiracy theorists from spreading fear on numerous recent blogs and web postings, NASA says, leading to headlines like, Asteroid Impact Apocalypse 2015: Mass Anxiety As Conspiracy Theorists Predict Catastrophe, per CBS News. Interestingly, the closest of five upcoming asteroid approaches will occur today. But though an asteroid passed within 25,000 miles of us last year, the not-so-scary distance this time is 1 million miles. (See how Earth looks from that distance.)
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(Sep 28, 2015 5:40 PM CDT) The New York City Bureau of Fraud Investigation sent a letter last week announcing that Medicaid health benefits for Selma Cohen had been cut off because the woman had been declared dead. So you can imagine the surprise Cohen, 87, felt when she received the letter. I couldn't believe it, the Brooklyn woman tells the New York Daily News. At first I thought it was a joke or something. She called the bureau and was told to visit a local Medicaid office, where a clerk told her there had been a computer error--but that Cohen would have to apply for and receive a state ID in order to prove she is, in fact, alive. When you're dead, they don't send you checks, she says. Cohen, who had already paid her Medicaid premium through December but had to cancel a doctor's appointment when the doctor confirmed she was no longer covered by Medicaid, was extremely frustrated, noting that she didn't have time for the weeks-long process and was concerned she'd also stop receiving her Social Security benefits and food stamps. The cut-off would also prevent her from visiting doctors and paying for much-needed cancer medication, CBS New York reports. But as of Monday, Cohen's Medicaid benefits were reinstated after Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's office stepped in. Cohen will also be reimbursed for the time she had been deemed dead. (Medicaid recently paid more than $30,000 in an attempt to wean a newborn baby girl off heroin.)
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(Oct 26, 2008 11:12 PM CDT) Ryan Howard homered twice and drove in five runs, and the Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 10-2, in Game 4 of the World Series tonight in Philadelphia. The Fightin' Phils are one victory away from capturing the second World Series title in franchise history. They wouldn't be here without their big slugger. We just have to stay focused and hopefully come out with that 'W,' Howard said. With the Phillies leading 2-1 in the fourth and stranding runners at an alarming rate, Howard drove Andy Sonnanstine's 2-1 pitch into the left-field seats to put the Phillies ahead, 5-1. Howard knew it was gone when he made contact and paused to admire the shot before circling the bases. The towel-waving crowd roared, demanding a curtain call. If that wasn't enough, Howard went deep again in the eighth.
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(Sep 13, 2008 9:19 PM CDT) A Russian jet en route from Moscow crashed on approach to Perm near the Ural Mountains in central Russia early Sunday, killing all 88 people on board, AP reports. It was not immediately known what caused the Aeroflot to crash into scrub land dangerously close to houses--but officials suspect a technical problem, CNN reports. No one on the ground was injured, officials said. Victims included foreign nationals, with at least one passenger believed to be American. There was no indication of a terrorist attack. Russia and the former Soviet republics have some of the world's worst air traffic safety records.
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(May 9, 2018 2:37 PM CDT) Baleigh Bagshaw, 15, had just gotten home from school on Monday and called her mom to check in. Then, the unthinkable: While she was on the phone with her mother, she was brutally attacked while inside of her home. Her mother heard the attack going on and then the phone went dead, a Salt Lake City police sergeant tells Deseret News. Bagshaw's mother heard screaming and called a neighbor, who went to the house and called police. Police found the teen dead at the house, Fox 13 reports. After a manhunt, suspect Shaun French was taken into custody Wednesday in Colorado, KUTV reports. Police say he was lying in wait for the teen. French, 24, once lived in the same house as Bagshaw and her family, but did not live there when Bagshaw was murdered. Police say he and the teen had a consensual but illegal relationship, but it's not clear how long the relationship lasted or when French lived in the house. An arrest warrant charging him with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor was issued Tuesday; he has not yet been charged in Bagshaw's death. Police have not said how Bagshaw was killed or if weapons were involved, simply saying she died in a very violent attack. Says the police sergeant, I can't even guess what the mother would be going through right now. Our hearts and thoughts are with her. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for the family.
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(Oct 21, 2017 6:00 AM CDT) A judge on Friday tossed out a $417 million jury award to a woman who claimed she developed ovarian cancer by using Johnson & Johnson talc-based baby powder for feminine hygiene, the AP reports. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Maren Nelson granted the company's request for a new trial, saying there were errors and jury misconduct in the previous trial that ended with the award two months ago. Nelson also ruled that there wasn't convincing evidence that Johnson & Johnson acted with malice and the award for damages was excessive. The decision will be appealed even though Eva Echeverria has died, said her attorney, Mark Robinson Jr. We will continue to fight on behalf of all women who have been impacted by this dangerous product, he said in a statement.
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(Jan 5, 2009 1:37 PM) Twice before, the entertainment industry has tried to get people excited about watching 3D movies and sporting events in their own living rooms. The idea fizzled both times, but this time it has a chance, reports the Los Angeles Times. At this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, manufacturers are making their cases for another dimension. The iconic red-and-blue glasses are history, replaced by high-tech LCD lenses that filter a speedily flickering image to each eye. Although 3D TVs aren't yet manufactured to consistent standards, many people are probably 3D-capable without knowing it. With movies costing 15% more to produce in 3D, Hollywood is hoping consumers will shell out for the necessary accessories.
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(Mar 24, 2008 9:38 AM CDT) JPMorgan will quintuple its takeover offer for Bear Stearns, setting a new $10-per-share price today after a weekend of tense renegotiations. Bear shareholders had objected to the proposed $2 deal, saying the bank-saving bid was a heist. JPMorgan is also buying 95 million more shares of the bank, which will give it 39.5% ownership and improved odds of getting the deal accepted, the Wall Street Journal reports. The role of the Fed, which guaranteed the week-old deal, has also changed; now JPMorgan will bear the first $1 billion of potential losses in financing for Bear's most problematic assets, and the Fed will be responsible for the other $29 million. Shares of Bear have consistently traded well above $2 as investors anticipated the sweetened deal. JPMorgan stock has likewise skyrocketed since the news broke.
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(Jan 17, 2016 1:35 PM) If only David Bowie were here to see it. The legendary rocker just scored his first-ever No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with his newly released Blackstar, Billboard reports. Less than a week after Bowie died of cancer, his jazz-inspired record streaked to the top with 181,000 equivalent album units and knocked Adele's 25 down to No. 2. Nine other Bowie albums also debuted or re-entered the chart, including Best of Bowie (No. 4) and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (No. 21). His previous top-ranked album was The Next Day (hitting No. 2 in 2013). Blackstar is also topping the UK album chart, where Bowie's had nine other No .1 albums, Idolator reports.
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(Feb 4, 2013 2:49 PM) The Justice Department and state prosecutors are filing a lawsuit against the Standard & Poor's Ratings Service for its apparent role in the 2008 financial meltdown, the New York Times reports. The civil suit will accuse S&P of rating mortgage bonds too highly before their value fell off a cliff, taking much of the economy with them. Justice had been seeking a settlement with S&P, but that fell apart after officials sought a 10-figure amount--at least $1 billion--which is more than the annual profit of S&P's parent company, McGraw-Hill. By filing a civil rather than criminal suit, the burden of proof will be less and odds of a prosecution higher. Why the feds are targeting S&P rather than rivals like Moody's Corp, Fitch Ratings, or Hearst Corp isn't clear, the Wall Street Journal reports--and S&P clearly isn't happy about it. A DOJ lawsuit would be entirely without factual or legal merit, said the firm. The agency also said it had lowered ratings on many mortgage-backed investments before the financial crisis. (None of this will likely satisfy activist Michael Moore, who wants the head of S&P arrested.)
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(Dec 14, 2010 11:13 AM) Sepp Blatter will probably think a bit longer before he speaks next time: The FIFA president is being criticized for an ill-advised joke he made while discussing the World Cup in Qatar. Blatter was asked about the potential problems inherent in hosting the competition in the Middle East for the first time: Islam prohibits drinking alcohol in public, and homosexuality is illegal--making public displays of affection another potential issue. Blatter jokingly offered gay fans this advice, I would say they should refrain from any sexual activities, the Telegraph reports. He did, however, continue, We are definitely living in a world of freedom and I'm sure when the World Cup will be in Qatar in 2022, there will be no problems ... I think there shall not be any discrimination against any human beings be it on this side or that side, be it left, right, or whatever.
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(May 29, 2008 7:08 AM CDT) Prestigious Oxford University is pleading poverty and has begun a campaign to raise funds to make it competitive with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton for academic talent, reports the Christian Science Monitor. The university--actually a collection of individual colleges--aims to raise $2.5 billion, but even that is chump change compared to Harvard's $34 billion endowment. The extent of endowments in the UK is minuscule in terms of what US universities are receiving, said one observer. If you look at the extent of the endowment which universities around the world have, Oxford and Cambridge are well down the list.
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(Mar 9, 2012 12:24 PM) The US government's $10 million L Prize was supposed to go to a manufacturer that developed an affordable low-energy light bulb, but the Philips LED bulb that won--now available for purchase--will set you back $50. LED bulbs similar to the L Prize winner can cost less than half that, the Washington Post notes. Indeed, the contest sought a bulb that would go for just $22 its first year on the market, and $8 by its third year. Following legislation signed by George W. Bush, traditional incandescent bulbs are gradually being banned: This year, it's the 100-watt bulb; next year, the 75-watt, and then the 60-watt. The prize was intended to create an affordable alternative to the 60-watt, the most commonly used bulb. Philips attributes the added cost to the fact that the bulb is so efficient, using just 10 watts, as well as effective. This is a Cadillac product, and that's why you have a premium on it, says a Home Depot rep.
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(Oct 14, 2016 4:54 PM CDT) Passengers and flight crews will be banned from bringing Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on airline flights under an emergency order issued Friday by the Department of Transportation, the AP reports. The order, which goes into effect on Saturday, says the phones may not be carried on board or packed in checked bags on flights to and from the US or within the country. The phones also can't be shipped as air cargo. Passengers caught attempting to travel with the phones will have the phones confiscated and may face fines, the department said. Samsung has recalled more than 2.5 million of the smartphones, citing a battery manufacturing error that can cause them to catch fire. The South Korean company discontinued the product earlier this week, less than two months after its August release. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says there have been nearly 100 reports of batteries in Note 7 phones overheating in the US. One fire erupted on a Southwest Airlines flight earlier this month. In another case, a family in Florida reported a Galaxy Note 7 phone left charging in their Jeep caught fire, destroying the vehicle. The Federal Aviation Administration had previously warned passengers not to pack the phones in their checked bags and to power them off and not charge them while on board planes. We recognize that banning these phones from airlines will inconvenience some passengers, but the safety of all those aboard an aircraft must take priority, transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said.
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(Oct 10, 2013 12:51 PM CDT) One reason Detroit is such a mess: lousy leaders. Witness former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who got sentenced today to 28 years in prison for a slew of corruption charges stemming from his tenure from 2002 into 2008. The 43-year-old appeared stunned at the severity of the sentence, reports the Detroit News, but the judge said it was necessary to send a message about politicians getting rich on the public dime. A man with the charisma and ability of Mr. Kilpatrick chose to use his talents on personal aggrandizement and enrichment when he had the potential to do so much for the city, declared Judge Nancy Edmunds, as per the AP. Prior to the sentence, Kilpatrick took the high road: I'm ready to go so the city can move on, he said. The people here are suffering, they're hurting. A great deal of that hurt I accept responsibility for. Kilpatrick has a long history of trouble, including a sexting scandal that led to his resignation from office.
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(Aug 9, 2020 5:45 AM CDT) The Japanese city of Nagasaki on Sunday marked its 75th anniversary of the US atomic bombing, with the mayor and dwindling survivors urging world leaders including their own to do more for a nuclear weapons ban, reports the AP. At 11:02am, the moment the B-29 bomber Bockscar dropped a 4.5-ton plutonium bomb dubbed Fat Man, Nagasaki survivors and other participants stood in a minute of silence to honor more than 70,000 dead. At the event at Nagasaki Peace Park, scaled down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Tomihisa Taue read a peace declaration in which he raised concern that nuclear states had in recent years retreated from disarmament efforts.
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(Nov 29, 2017 10:50 AM) Overuse may seem like a benign word, and that's kind of the problem. In its latest piece on health care waste, ProPublica defines overuse as an umbrella term for a type of waste that includes things like unnecessary tests or surgeries. And it kicks things off with an extreme example: that of Margaret O'Neill, whose 5-year-old was scheduled for an outpatient procedure at Children's Hospital Colorado that involved snipping a band of tissue under her tongue. The surgeon suggested that, as a treat, the girl's ears be pierced while she was under. O'Neill agreed, expecting it to be a sweet freebie. Then came the bill: $1,877.86 for operating room services tied to the piercing. She fought the bill, which insurance wouldn't cover, and ultimately prevailed. (The kicker: One hole was askew, so it was repierced at the mall for $30. ProPublica dishes up a bigger number: About $210 billion is spent annually on unneeded procedures or ones that are expensive when a cheaper one could do. It gives a long example involving a 34-year-old with a history of noncancerous breast cysts who needed to rule out cancer; doing so involved a mammogram and three ultrasounds, as well as draining her cysts and sending the clear fluid to pathology. Her bill was $2,361. She viewed a lot of it as unnecessary, but her efforts to fight it failed. Experts ProPublica spoke with had varying opinions, but in general they agreed fewer procedures would have sufficed. There are often multiple options for care, patients can't really shop by price, and it's often unclear what's discretionary. Says one doctor, It's sort of this perfect storm where no one is really evil but the net effect is predatory. Read the full piece here.
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(Oct 31, 2010 6:59 PM CDT) For the first time in more than five years, Tiger Woods is no longer golf's No. 1 player. Lee Westwood of England took the top ranking today after PGA champion Martin Kaymer failed to finish among the top two at the Andalucia Masters in Spain. Woods had been No. 1 since the week before the 2005 US Open, where he was runner-up. He won the British Open a month later and his ranking rarely has been threatened since. Woods has struggled through his worst season on and off the course. As much as this represents the end of Woods' reign, it also completes an amazing turnaround for Westwood, who had at one point sunk as low as No. 266. This is the 10th time Woods has lost the No. 1 ranking in his career, the longest of which was 26 weeks toward the end of the 2004 season, when Vijay Singh went on a great run. The HSBC Champions in Shanghai has assembled such a strong field that Westwood, Woods, Martin Kaymer, or Phil Mickelson could all be No. 1 by the end of the week.
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(Sep 26, 2015 8:52 AM CDT) A shipwreck that gave the world the deeply mysterious Antikythera mechanism is still yielding treasures--and teaching researchers about the lifestyles of the Greek and ancient. The latest finds at the ancient wreck dubbed the Titanic of the ancient world include a bone flute, a bronze armrest that may have come from a throne, glassware, fine ceramics, and a piece from an ancient board game. This shipwreck is far from exhausted, a marine archaeologist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution says in a press release. Every single dive on it delivers fabulous finds, and reveals how the '1%' lived in the time of Caesar. The wreck, which dates from around 65BC, was found by sponge divers off a Greek island in 1900 and Woods Hole says it is carrying out the first systematic excavation of the site, using information gathered by a robotic submersible last year, UPI reports. In fact, it's one of the biggest underwater archaeological projects in the world, notes New Scientist. The institute says that over the last month, good weather helped teams make more than 60 dives to the wreck's large debris field. We were very lucky this year, as we excavated many finds within their context, which gave us the opportunity to take full advantage of all the archaeological information they could provide, an institute archaeologist says. One key, as New Scientist explains, is that divers have discovered they need to dig deeper into the ocean floor. One of the last searches of the year using this technique yielded a wine jug, small bronze pieces, and possibly part of a cooking pot. But researchers say they think far more significant finds await when next year's expedition begins. There's obviously stuff down there, says one. We just weren't digging deep enough before. (A maintenance crew uncovered an 18th-century shipwreck under a Maryland bridge.)
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(Aug 17, 2019 1:15 PM CDT) Police arrested at least 13 people and seized metal poles, bear spray, and other weapons Saturday as hundreds of far-right protesters and anti-fascist counter-demonstrators swarmed downtown Portland, Oregon, the AP reports. Authorities closed bridges and streets to try to keep the rival groups apart. The city's mayor said the situation was potentially dangerous and volatile, and President Donald Trump tweeted Portland is being watched very closely. As of early afternoon, most of the right-wing groups had left the area via a downtown bridge. Police used officers on bikes and in riot gear to keep black-clad, helmet and mask-wearing anti-fascist protesters--known as antifa--from following them. But hundreds of people remained downtown and on nearby streets, and there were skirmishes throughout the day.
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(Jan 6, 2012 12:14 PM) Cheer up 99%; at least you're not getting audited. The IRS turned up the heat on the wealthy in 2011, auditing 12% of people earning a million dollars or more, according to figures released yesterday. That's up from 8% of millionaires in 2010 and 6% in 2009. By contrast, only 1% of people making $200,000 or less got a call from the tax man, the AP observes. The push is designed to assure that those at the lower end of the spectrum know that those at the higher end of the spectrum are subject to the same rules, an IRS deputy commissioner says, adding that it's unrelated to Barack Obama's push for higher taxes on the rich. We don't play politics. On another tax-related note: The IRS has pushed its filing deadline this year back to April 17, the Christian Science Monitor reports, because the 15th is a Sunday, and the 16th is Emancipation Day in DC.
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(Dec 11, 2018 3:08 PM) A shooting in the French city of Strasbourg killed at least three people and wounded 11 others near a world-famous Christmas market Tuesday, sparking a broad lockdown and a search for the suspected gunman, who remained at large, the AP reports. French prosecutors said a terrorism investigation was opened, though authorities did not announce a motive for the bloodshed. The city is home to the European Parliament, which was locked down after the shooting. It was unclear if the market--which was the nucleus of an al-Qaeda-linked plot in 2000--was targeted. The prefect of the Strasbourg region said the suspect was previously flagged as a possible extremist. The gunman has been identified and has a criminal record, according to Interior Minister Christophe Castaner; one official says he was wounded by soldiers guarding the market. Gendarmes went to the suspect's home to arrest him earlier Tuesday, before the attack, but he wasn't there, Morisse said. They found explosive materials, he said. French military spokesman Col. Patrik Steiger said the shooter did not aim for the soldiers patrolling in and around the Christmas market, but targeted civilians instead. Several of the people wounded were in critical condition, the interior minister said. President Emmanuel Macron adjourned a meeting at the presidential palace Tuesday night to monitor the emergency, his office said, indicating the gravity of the attack. In multiple neighborhoods of Strasbourg, the French Interior Ministry urged the public to remain indoors. Local authorities tweeted for the public to avoid the area of the police station, close to the city's well-known Christmas market, which is set up around the city's cathedral during the holiday season and is a popular gathering place. (More on the thwarted 2000 plot here.)
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(Aug 23, 2017 3:11 PM CDT) Stocks pulled back on Wall Street, giving back some of their gains from a day earlier, the AP reports. Retailers and advertising companies had some of the steepest drops Wednesday as investors worried about their earnings. Lowe's sank 3.7% after reporting second-quarter earnings that were weaker than analysts expected. La-Z-Boy plunged 20%. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 8 points, or 0.4%, to 2,444. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 87 points, or 0.4%, to 21,812. The Nasdaq composite fell 19 points, or 0.3%, to 6,278.
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(Jul 16, 2008 11:39 AM CDT) Israel released five Lebanese prisoners and nearly 200 bodies today, the New York Times reports, completing a deal with Hezbollah that netted the Jewish state the bodies of two of its captured soldiers. The most notable prisoner was Samir Kuntar, who had spent more than three decades in Israeli prison for murdering a 4-year-old girl. He was 16 at the time. Kuntar has said he regrets nothing, and expects a hero's welcome in Lebanon. All five prisoners will be flown to Beirut for such a ceremony later today. The prisoners were released only after DNA testing confirmed that the bodies Hezbollah provided belonged to the missing men, whose capture in 2006 set off a war between Israel and Lebanon.
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(Jul 13, 2013 10:26 AM CDT) A 8-year-old boy is in the hospital after being buried beneath 11 feet of sand for three-plus hours yesterday, reports CBS. The northern Indiana child was playing on dunes at a park along the shore of Lake Michigan, when one apparently collapsed, covering him even as his family scrambled to pull him out. His family called 911; emergency responders were on the scene within 15 minutes, but it took heavy equipment and many rescuers digging by hand in the unstable sand before the top of the boy's head was found. A fire chief now tells the AP that an air pocket saved the boy. He has been taken to a Chicago-area hospital, but his condition is unknown. I have never heard of anything like this here or at other sand dune parks, a park ranger tells the AP. I've never heard of anything like this on a sand dune.
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(Jan 22, 2018 7:41 AM) Last year was another bumper year for the very richest people in the world and another step backward for billions of others, according to Oxfam's annual report on inequality ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The report estimates that the lowest-income 50% of the world, or around 3.7 billion people, saw no increase at all in their wealth, while some 82% of the wealth generated worldwide went to the 1%, CNN reports. The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system, warned Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International. Oxfam blames the continuing rise in inequality on tax evasion, erosion of workers' rights, and corporate influence on government policy, among other things, the BBC reports. The group says just 42 people in the world have as much wealth as the poorest 50%--though it has revised last year's estimate from eight people to 61, based on what it says was improved data. However you look at it, this is an unacceptable level of inequality, Oxfam chief executive Mark Goldring says. He says that business and political leaders often start out the annual meeting by making promises to address inequality, but tough talk fades away at the first resistance.
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(Jul 3, 2012 2:29 AM CDT) A Syrian general and 84 other soldiers have fled to Turkey in one of the largest mass defections since the Syrian uprising began. The group, which has joined some 2,000 other former members of the Syrian military in a refugee camp in southern Turkey, included a colonel, lieutenant colonel, and 12 other lower-ranking officers, reports the New York Times. The defections came as Syrian opposition figures met at a conference in Cairo, where the chief of the Arab League urged them to unite. There is an opportunity before the conference of Syrian opposition today that must be seized, and I say that this opportunity must not be wasted under any circumstance, he told some 250 opposition members. The sacrifices of the Syrian people are bigger than us, and more valuable than any narrow differences or factional disputes. Opponents of Bashar al-Assad's regime are a diverse group, including Marxists and Islamists. Infighting among them has prevented the movement from presenting a credible alternative to Assad's rule, AP notes.
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(Sep 5, 2012 9:41 AM CDT) The Price Is Right 40th anniversary special aired yesterday, and considering that it included contestants from the past four decades, you'd probably assume it would also have included the show's host of 35 years. But, nope, though Bob Barker was shown in a few clips, he wasn't actually invited to be on the show. Producers chose to ignore me, which is fine, the 88-year-old Barker tells the AP. They haven't even offered me a DVD. No comment from the producers, but Barker has a theory: He's an animal activist, and has scolded the show for giving away inappropriate prizes like tickets to Sea World and the Calgary Stampede, both of which are notorious for animal abuse, Barker says. While he hosted, Barker convinced the show to stop giving fur and leather clothing as prizes. Had I been the executive producer, he adds, they would not have even considered bringing me tickets to the Calgary Stampede of all things.
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(Nov 11, 2019 5:00 PM) Former Michigan State star and Detroit Lions receiver Charles Rogers has died at the age of 38. A woman who identified herself as Cathy Rogers, his mother, confirmed the death Monday in a phone call from the AP. Other details were not immediately known. Marshall Thomas, Rogers' former basketball coach at Saginaw High School in Michigan, told MLive.com that Rogers died Monday of liver failure and also had cancer. At Michigan State, Rogers was an All-American wide receiver who had 135 receptions for 2,821 yards in two seasons. He was college football's top receiver in 2002 and the second overall pick in the 2003 NFL draft. He scored twice in his NFL debut, but suffered a broken collarbone that ended his rookie season and suffered the same injury a year later. Rogers failed a drug test in 2005 and was cut entering the next season. He had 36 career receptions for 440 yards receiving and four touchdowns in 15 NFL games.
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(Jun 8, 2015 9:12 AM CDT) Oscar Pistorius is so desperate to get his life back on track that he already has a plan to work with disadvantaged youth when he gets out of prison, the Daily Mirror reports. Which could be soon: The South African commissioner of correctional services says the Paralympian will likely be freed on probation Aug. 21 from the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria, the BBC notes. Pistorius' release, recommended by a prison committee for good behavior, would come 10 months into his five-year sentence if the parole board approves, the AP reports; the BBC adds that under South African law, he's eligible for probation after serving one-sixth of his sentence (which would be 10 months) and would be kept under correctional supervision, or house arrest, during his probation period. Reeva Steenkamp's family isn't pleased with the news. As her family, we do not seek to avenge her death and we do not want Mr. Pistorius to suffer; that will not bring her back to us, they said in a statement, per the Mirror. However, a person found guilty of a crime must be held accountable for their actions. ... Incarceration of 10 months for taking a life is simply not enough. We fear that this will not send out the proper message and serve as the deterrent it should. His freedom may be short-lived, however: In November, prosecutors will appeal his murder acquittal in court, which could net Pistorius a minimum of 15 years if convicted, the Washington Post reports. (Wonder how his book is coming along.)
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(Dec 29, 2017 4:09 AM) Apple says it is sorry about secretly slowing down older models of iPhone--and to make sure there are no hard feelings, it will offer battery replacements at a reduced price. In a letter on its website, the company says it would never do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, but it decided to slow down the older phones in an update around a year ago to prevent unexpected shutdowns caused by aged lithium-ion batteries being unable to deliver heavy energy loads, TechCrunch reports. Apple says the cost of out-of-warranty batteries for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later will be reduced from $79 to $29 from the end of January until the end of 2018. The slowdown was not discovered until this month, when Geekbench charted the performance of older iPhones running different versions of iOS. Apple, which apologized to customers feeling let down, also says that early in 2018, it will issue an iOS software update with new features that give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone's battery, so they can see for themselves if its condition is affecting performance. Apple says that a fresh battery will enable the older models to run at normal speed, Business Insider reports. The company describes the steps as an effort to regain the trust of anyone who may have doubted Apple's intentions. (A lawsuit accuses Apple of trying to fraudulently induce owners to buy new iPhones.)
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(Jul 29, 2019 6:16 PM CDT) A sharp-eyed customer who picked up an unusual sketch at a Habitat for Humanity thrift shop in New York City is going to make a handsome profit. Turns out, the sketch (see it here) is by a renowned Austrian expressionist named Egon Schiele, and it could fetch up to $200,000 when it's eventually sold, reports the Art Newspaper. It's not clear how much the unidentified thrift shop customer paid, but the lucky person promises to give a portion of the proceeds back to Habitat for Humanity. The image is of a nude female in Schiele's distinctive style, which the Smithsonian describes as at once erotic and hideous. The artist, who died at 28 in 1918 in the Spanish flu epidemic, used tortured expressions, twisted limbs and voyeuristic angles regularly, explains the magazine. If you look at the way this girl is lying on her back, and you look at the foreshortening both on the rib cage and on her face, and the way you see that little nose pointing up--think about how difficult that is to do, Schiele expert Jane Kallir of the Galerie St. Etienne in New York City tells Art. There are very few people in the history of art who can draw like that. (Read about a much greater profit for a work of art.)
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(May 27, 2019 3:03 PM CDT) Two veterans who left high school early for the military in wartime joined the Class of 2019 in walking the stage Saturday to receive their diplomas, CNN reports. Joe Perricone, 95, was drafted in 1943 while in high school in Tampa. The Army veteran was honored at Hillsborough High School's graduation by this year's graduates. Bill William Arnold Craddock, 85, a Korean War veteran, left high school in Churchill, Tennessee, at 16 to join the Air Force. He received a GED but didn't ever walk a graduation stage. It means a lot to me, Craddock said. His advice for Volunteer High School graduates, including those of the Class of 1953: Study hard, be good, and learn all you can. Get the best education you can get.
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(Sep 14, 2018 1:11 AM CDT) The death toll has risen to 11 with another 44 people hospitalized after a man allegedly drove an SUV deliberately into a crowd in central China before jumping out and attacking victims with a dagger and shovel, local authorities in China say The Hengyang city government says the suspect in the case had previous convictions for crimes including drug trafficking, theft and assault and, acting alone, had sought to get revenge on society. That appeared to rule out terrorism, although vehicles have previously been used in attacks blamed on militant Muslim separatists, the AP reports. Police identified the suspect as 54-year-old Yang Zanyun from Hengdong county in the largely agricultural province of Hunan. Tuesday night's attack happened in a public square where people typically gather to dance in groups or enjoy the cool evening breezes. The SUV apparently appeared without warning, jumping the curb before plowing into the crowd. China has experienced violent attacks in public places in recent years, including bombings and arson of buses and buildings. Occasionally, the attacks are attributed to militant separatists, though such incidents have become less common in recent years amid a stifling security crackdown.
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(Sep 30, 2011 12:30 PM CDT) With a current 92% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, 50/50 gets praise for its blend of comedy and drama about a young man diagnosed with cancer.
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(Feb 19, 2014 1:01 PM) Brian O'Callaghan and his wife, Jennfer, badly wanted a second child. Working with Catholic Charities, in October they adopted a South Korean toddler with special needs, whom they named Madoc Hyeonsu O'Callaghan, according to this obituary. On February 3, the 3-year-old died, with injuries police say were consistent with being beaten, the Washington Post reports. O'Callaghan, a former Marine who served in Kosovo and Iraq and works at the NSA, has been charged with his murder, and prosecutors have an awful story: They say he beat his son on January 31 or the next day, didn't help him for hours as he cleaned up bodily fluids around the home, and eventually took him to the hospital on February 1. This is an absolutely horrific crime on an absolutely innocent young victim, says a State's attorney. Basically this child was beaten to death from head to toe. O'Callaghan, who appeared in court yesterday, says the boy slipped in the shower and hit his shoulder on January 31, while his wife was out of town, and that the next day everything seemed fine until the toddler went down for a nap in the afternoon and O'Callaghan noticed pink stains on the bedding and mucus coming from his son's nose. An hour later, he says, the boy was unresponsive and his condition had worsened (the AP reports that the toddler was vomiting); he washed him off in the bathtub before taking him to the hospital. A detective says O'Callaghan had no explanation for the injuries shown on the boy's autopsy--including a skull fracture, brain swelling, bruising on the forehead, and blunt impact to the back from a linear and triangular shaped object. But O'Callaghan's attorney says a CT scan contradicted the autopsy, showing no skull fractures. He adds that his client has the unwavering support of his family. Says O'Callaghan's grandfather, I find it impossible to believe, because he's worked so hard to get this baby. He was so loving with him.
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(May 24, 2010 6:20 PM CDT) David Byrne has sued Charlie Crist for $1 million, saying the Florida governor used the Talking Heads song Road to Nowhere in an ad without permission. Crist, who was then running in the Republican Senate primary, used the song in an attack ad targeting Marco Rubio. I was pretty upset by that, Byrne tells Billboard. Crist is hardly the first politician to run afoul of a musician, and he has a ways to go before he matches John McCain, who in the course of his 2008 presidential campaign managed to cross the Foo Fighters, Chuck Berry, and most notably Jackson Browne, who sued. Says Byrne's lawyer: I was fairly astonished that this soon after the settlement of Browne vs. McCain, yet another politician with national aspirations is doing this again.
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(Jun 17, 2013 3:25 PM CDT) Norway's idea of reality television is a little different from America's, according to the Wall Street Journal. Hit shows in recent years include: the view from a camera mounted on top of a train on a 7-hour journey; 18 hours of salmon swimming upstream; a 30-hour nonstop interview with a local author; and a 134-hour live broadcast of a ferry traveling along the country's coastline. Well, sure, you're thinking, Stoners and old people probably love that stuff. Nope. Half of the country's population--that's 2.5 million Norwegians--tuned in for the ferry show, reports the Journal. Why is excruciatingly slow-moving TV so popular? A Norwegian media professor says it offers an escape from the crazy media world. One Olso resident who watched the 30-hour interview live says it's about taking it easy. You can actually just stop life and sit in a chair for 30 hours talking, not just run around stressing, working, sleeping, eating, stressing, working, sleeping, eating, he says. Coming next to Norwegian screens, the Journal reports: A live knitting show. And before you judge, remember that millions of Americans regularly tune in to watch the Kardashians.
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(Jun 23, 2013 8:19 AM CDT) China has two little bundles of giant panda joy on the ground, twin cubs who were born yesterday to Haizi at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan province. One cub is female, notes the AP, and weighs in at a not-so-hefty 2.79 ounces. Mama bear is still hanging onto her sibling; the two were born 10 minutes apart. Pandas are notoriously horrible at procreation, though China's breeding programs enjoy some success.
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(Feb 26, 2013 1:19 AM) A hot air balloon flying over Egypt's ancient city of Luxor caught fire and crashed into a sugar cane field early today, killing at least 19 foreign tourists, a security official says. The casualties included French, British, and Japanese nationals, as well as nine tourists from Hong Kong. Three survivors of the crash--two tourists and one Egyptian--were taken to a local hospital; one UK resident later died there, add the BBC. According to the Egyptian security official, the balloon was carrying at least 20 tourists over Luxor when it caught fire, triggering an explosion in its gas canister that caused it to plunge at least a thousand feet to the ground.
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(Aug 14, 2017 12:48 PM CDT) Nic and Trees Elderhorst, both 91, died holding hands and surrounded by family and friends in the Netherlands after 65 years of marriage. What makes their story stand out: The couple died through a double euthanasia. Though the Netherlands was the first country to legalize euthanasia 15 years ago, the Telegraph reports that a double euthanasia such as this is rare. The couple came to the decision as their health was deteriorating; Nic had a stroke in 2012 and found his mobility reduced, while Trees had difficulty walking and was suffering from dementia. Were Nic to die first, the family says, Trees would have ended up in a nursing home. Something which she desperately did not want. Dying together was their deepest wish, says one daughter. Adds another, They gave each other a big kiss and passed away confidently holding hands. According to their own wish. They died June 4, the Independent reports, but the double euthanasia is just now making headlines. Dutch law requires that patients show hopeless and unbearable suffering in order for a euthanasia request to be granted, and a rep from the Dutch Association of Voluntarily Life Ending says it's uncommon for both members of a couple to meet the requirements at the same time. The Elderhorsts were assessed for six months at an end of life clinic before their request was granted. (A judge ruled in June that arthritis may qualify a woman for euthanasia.)
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(Apr 25, 2016 8:46 AM CDT) Police in San Diego say a couple whose 3-day-old baby was mauled to death by the family dog made two unsuccessful 911 calls before getting frustrated and driving the boy to the hospital themselves, the AP reports. Police Lt. Scott Wahl told KNSD-TV Saturday that the parents waited 28 seconds before hanging up their first call, then tried again and waited 34 seconds before giving up. Police say the couple was in bed with the baby Thursday night when the dog was startled and attacked the baby; the child was declared dead at the hospital. Cops say the family has their condolences and that they, too, are frustrated by slow 911 response times. They say their operators are understaffed and that 73 calls came in during the half-hour span when the parents called. The dog, a 2-year-old Great Dane-terrier mix named Polo who had no past reports of aggressiveness, was taken by the San Diego Department of Animal Services for a 10-day quarantine to ensure it's not rabid, KFMB reports. Polo will be put down after that time if the baby's parents don't come to take him back, per a DAS rep. (A 9-year-old was killed by his sister's pit bulls.)
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(May 26, 2011 12:53 PM CDT) He's been heading toward a presidential run for two years now, and Rick Santorum will make it official next month, reports Politico. The conservative former senator is set announce his 2012 candidacy from his home state of Pennsylvania on June 6. Then he heads for Iowa, where Mike Huckabee's decision to sit this election out should help him, and later New Hampshire. Santorum made headlines earlier this month for making the not-so-wise political assertion that John McCain doesn't understand torture.
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(Oct 6, 2009 6:20 PM CDT) The recession will help the world achieve something this year few laws have been able to: cut the output of greenhouse gases. Emissions will be down 3% mainly due to lower industrial activity, the International Energy Agency said today, with countries also helping by switching to alternative energy sources. Because of the financial crisis, many industries have the chance to move away from unsustainable power, an IEA official tells the Guardian. If we get a good result at the Copenhagen climate talks, then they could be turned to sustainable energy.
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(Feb 23, 2017 9:05 AM) Fox News is mourning its second loss in one week: Alan Colmes has died at age 66, the network announced Thursday, per Mediaite. Colmes was generally known as the liberal on the network (as this headline at the Washington Examiner notes), once paired as a counterpoint to Sean Hannity on the long-running Hannity & Colmes show. He was one of the nicest, kindest, and most generous people, Hannity said on Fox in a tribute. The news comes just days after the death of longtime Fox host Brenda Buttner. In a statement, Colmes' widow says he died after a brief illness without elaborating, and she remembers him as a great guy, brilliant, hysterical, and moral, notes Fox Insider. A familiar sentiment is quickly emerging, as in this tweet from conservative Ann Coulter: Nooooooooooo! Very sad. He was a good guy. Always surprised people that way. And this one from fellow conservative Jonah Goldberg: Whoa. Alan Colmes died. We sparred a bunch, but decent guy. RIP.
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(Jul 2, 2012 6:16 AM CDT) And then there were three: Florida will join Wisconsin and Louisiana in refusing to implement two features of the Affordable Care Act, said Gov. Rick Scott yesterday, stating that Florida does not have the money to expand Medicaid or to create a private insurance exchange, reports Reuters. The Medicaid expansion would cost the state $1.9 billion annually and cause insurance premiums to rise, said Scott, though the Orlando Sentinel notes that the expansion is not slated to kick in until 2014 and any additional expenses would be covered by the federal government for the first three years. Florida's Medicaid program currently covers around 3.3 million families; the Sentinel reports that the expansion would add another 2 million people over the next six years. Florida economists peg the cost to the state of doing so at about half of what Scott quoted--$1 billion. If there is any part of the law that requires action before November, Florida will comply, but he is committed to repealing the law before it ever takes effect, said a spokesman for Scott. The fact that all three states opting out have Republican governors has led some political analysts to say the announcements are more about politics than policy. State Democrats noted that Florida's heath-care groups would be more than happy to file lawsuits to force the state to comply with the Affordable Care Act.
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(May 22, 2013 1:36 PM CDT) The IRS official at the center of the storm over the agency's targeting of conservative groups told Congress today that she had done nothing wrong in the episode, and then invoked her constitutional right to refuse to answer lawmakers' questions, as expected. In one of the most electric moments since the IRS controversy erupted nearly two weeks ago, Lois Lerner defended herself during a 9-minute-long appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. I have done nothing wrong, said Lerner, sitting next to three other witnesses and reading from a written statement. I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations and I have not provided false information to this or any other committee. Lerner then said she would invoke her Fifth Amendment right to avoid incriminating herself. After Oversight committee Chairman Darrell Issa asked her to reconsider, Lerner said, I will not answer any questions or testify about the subject matter of this committee's meeting. She was excused and escorted out nine minutes after she began speaking. Issa and other members of the committee were not pleased with Lerner's decision to not testify. Even before she spoke, Rep. Stephen Lynch warned the witnesses that their refusal to cooperate would result in the eventual appointment of a special prosecutor to examine the case. There will be hell to pay if that's the route we choose to go down, he said.
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(Jun 1, 2015 6:00 AM CDT) Maybe they'll name this one East? (We were going to go with South, but apparently that's the joke everyone else is making.) Yes, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are expecting Baby No. 2, a little sister or brother for 23-month-old daughter North. I just got the blood test back, and I am pregnant! Kim said to sister Khloe in a preview clip after last night's episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, the New York Daily News reports. Kardashian has previously said this season of the family reality circus would include a focus on her attempts to get pregnant, E! notes. Despite the fact that most people seem to think the next Kimye spawn should be named South, the Washington Post notes that Twitter has weighed in with other possibilities, including the aforementioned East West and the similarly predictable West West, Wild West, Wild Wild West, or North By North West. Meanwhile, though Kardashian's family presumably already offered her their well wishes in person much earlier, they're now starting to weigh in publicly: Congratulations!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to meet your new little love bug!!!!! Sooooo happy for you guys!!!!!!!!!! wrote Kris Jenner on Instagram. (Click to hear Kim talk about trying for a second baby.)
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(Jun 7, 2016 9:08 AM CDT) An eBay sale of a 1970 US quarter may at first glance appear routine, but a closer look reveals what its seller calls one of the most fascinating and intriguing proof mint errors ever discovered --and a sky-high price to match. Woman's World says AOL.com first brought notice to this numismatist's dream, a 46-year-old US coin that was actually formed over a 1941 Canadian quarter. Eagle eyes will spot a faint upside-down 1941 mark on the back of the quarter, right above where the word dollar appears; a blown-up photo on the eBay page points out the hard-to-see 1941. Mike Byers, the eBay seller who's trying to dump the coin (and an expert at finding such currency flaws), reveals the backstory for this particular sample, which he has listed on eBay for $35,000. His terms of sale explain he sometimes accepts offers below list, though it depends on whether it is a unique piece, as he elsewhere asserts this coin is. It turns out the 1941-turned-1970 quarter was part of a collection containing a small group of press mistakes, originally checked out and released by the Secret Service to the state of California, which then auctioned off the entire collection. But while Country Living encourages everyone to rummage through their couch cushions and piggy banks in the hopes of finding a coin like this, the website Snopes suggests that would be a wasted effort: It confirms the odd quarter to be legit, but notes that as a proof coin, it never entered circulation. It's not clear why the quarter was struck over a Canadian one in the first place. More typical mistakes often include off-center and double-strike samples--when a planchet (the round metal disk that's struck to become a coin) doesn't eject properly and gets struck more than once. (Uzbekistan boasts the world's least valuable coin--worth just 1/1999th of a penny.)
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(Nov 24, 2018 5:00 AM) It was billed as golf's first pay-per-view broadcast: Phil Mickelson vs. Tiger Woods in a $9 million made-for-TV match Friday in Las Vegas. Only 700 invited guests were allowed to watch, and what they saw was Mickelson win on the 22nd hole. Mickelson was 1 up after 16 holes at Shadow Creek Golf Club, but Woods tied it with birdie from the fringe of the green on the par-3 17th. Both birdied the par-5 18th and then parred the first playoff hole before it went to the par-3 extra hole--which was pitch shots off the practice putting green--that they kept playing until there was a winner. Mickelson made a 4-foot birdie putt on his third attempt at the 93-yard hole. The BBC called it a suitably extraordinary finish to an event which, although lacking quality as a sporting spectacle, had promised to show golf as it had never been seen before.
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(Sep 2, 2011 10:20 AM CDT) Religious rioting in the troubled central Nigeria city of Jos has killed at least 21 people in recent days, as authorities seem to be unable to curb the rising violence. An AP journalist counted the bodies awaiting burial at the city's central mosque today. Doctors at a university hospital collected at least 12 bodies bearing gunshot and machete wounds; another 82 people were wounded in fighting in the city, said a hospital boss. It is unclear if the 12 dead at the hospital were included among the dead collected at the mosque. The violence began Monday in Jos, on the volatile dividing line between Nigeria's largely Christian south and Muslim north. A group of rioters attacked Muslims praying over the end of Ramadan in a primarily Christian neighborhood, using knives, machetes, and bows and arrows, officials said. Though army and police units moved into the affected neighborhood, the violence spilled into other neighborhoods as the unrest continued throughout the week. Days earlier, a UN building in Nigeria was bombed.
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(Oct 12, 2020 6:00 PM CDT) A Black man who was led by a rope by two white officers on horseback in Galveston last year is suing the Texas city and its police department for $1 million, saying he suffered humiliation and fear during his arrest. A lawsuit filed last week in Galveston County district court on behalf of Donald Neely, 44, alleges the officers' conduct was extreme and outrageous, both physically injuring Neely and causing him emotional distress, according to court documents. Photos of the August 2019 encounter showed Neely being led by the officers on a rope linked to handcuffs--reminiscent of pictures showing slaves in chains.
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(Feb 1, 2010 1:03 AM) It's been 10 years since an Air France Concorde, once the pride of passenger aviation, took off from a Paris airport in flames before crashing into a nearby hotel. Investigations in the years that followed found that the accident was caused by a piece of titanium that had fallen off a Continental Airlines DC-10. Now Continental and two former employees will finally answer charges of involuntary manslaughter in a trial that starts tomorrow near Paris. At at least three explanations for the crash will be examined, though Air France lawyer Fernand Garnault tells Time he is convinced the blame lies solely with Continental. It is clear that a piece from a Continental plane fell on the runway. It is clear that the origin of the accident was this, says Garnault, a leading aviation lawyer.
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(Oct 5, 2016 5:03 PM CDT) High up in a corner of a 300-year-old house in Scotland, unnoticed, hung a painting by a Renaissance master worth more than $25 million. It's getting a lot more attention now. The Guardian reports the painting by Raphael, famous Italian artist and ninja turtle namesake, was discovered by art historian Dr. Bendor Grosvenor at Scotland's Haddo House. He was there to look at other works, but the painting of the Madonna drew his eye despite being obscured by discolored varnish. I thought, crikey, it looks like a Raphael, Grosvenor says. The 500-year-old painting was purchased in the early 19th century as a legit Raphael, but it was later credited to Innocenzo da Imola, according to the BBC. Restoration and further examination of the painting showed it almost certainly is the work of Raphael. Grosvenor tells the Guardian it's simply too good to be by Innocenzo. The painting still needs to be verified by Raphael scholars, Smithsonian reports. But if it's confirmed, it would be Scotland's only publicly owned work by the great artist. Finding a possible Raphael is about as exciting as it gets, Grosvenor tells the BBC. The painting has since been moved to a more prominent dining room location in Haddo House, which is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and open for tours. There are not many places where you can experience the work of one of the Renaissance's giants in a dining room, Smithsonian quotes a press release from the National Trust. (A rare work by Renaissance master was found in Kansas City.)
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(Nov 17, 2009 5:13 PM) The North Carolina woman accused of selling her 5-year-old girl into sexual slavery--the girl's body was found yesterday--is pregnant. Antoinette Davis, 25, is being isolated from other prisoners as a result, reports WTVD. She has not entered a plea to charges of human trafficking, prostitution, and child abuse. Police say she sold young Shaniya to a man for sexual servitude. Volunteers found Shaniya's body yesterday, and the man remains in custody, though not yet charged.
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(Apr 2, 2010 4:34 PM CDT) A 15-year-old New Jersey girl is under arrest after allegedly taking her 7-year-old stepsister to an apartment where the younger child was gang-raped by as many as seven men as her sister not only watched but got paid by those who did it. We're talking about a kid who told her sister to go into an apartment and let people rape her, said a police captain in Trenton, the state capital. It's unfathomable. The teen has been charged with aggravated sexual assault, promoting prostitution, and other crimes. Her name was not released because of her age, but the county prosecutor plans to ask the court to try her as an adult. She allegedly took the 7-year-old to a party Sunday and left her alone while she headed to a back bedroom to sell sex to several men. The older girl then handed her sister money and encouraged her to let the men touch her. It went from touching to straight out assault and rape, said the captain. They threatened to kill her if she screamed or told anyone.
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(Dec 19, 2008 11:27 AM) U2's hotly anticipated new album is finally on the horizon: No Line on the Horizon is set for release March 3, E! Online reports. The band delayed the release to polish the songs and add two tracks. Although U2 worked with its usual suspects, guitarist the Edge says the new release doesn't sound like anything we've done before.
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(NoneDate) Gary Moore, a former guitarist for Thin Lizzy, died this morning in a Spain hotel room. He was 58 years old. Moore was originally a member of the band Skid Row with Phil Lynott; Lynott later asked him to join Thin Lizzy as the band's new guitarist. After leaving Thin Lizzy, Moore went on to have a successful solo career. I still can't believe it, another former Thin Lizzy member tells the BBC. He was so robust, he wasn't a rock casualty, he was a healthy guy. Read the full article.
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(Jan 17, 2008 3:38 PM) VH1 programming VP Michael Hirschorn--the brains behind Flavor of Love and other hit shows that turned around the once-sleepy network--is leaving to start a new company centered on unscripted programming. The Hollywood Reporter writes that Ish Entertainment has secured a first-look deal with MTV Networks' Music Group, which encompasses Country Music Television and Logo in addition to MTV and VH1. VH1 moved programming executives Jeff Olde and Ben Zurier up the ladder, and also announced a raft of new shows today. Among the programming set for production: a reality game show to hire an assistant for rapper/impresario/juggernaut P. Diddy; Celebracadabra, a celebrity magician competition, and ego trip's Miss Rap Supreme, a search for the next great female MC.
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(Mar 12, 2010 2:58 AM) At least 11 Siberian tigers have starved to death in a Chinese zoo run by an owner strapped for cash. The tigers require 20 pounds of meat a day, but zoo operators only provided the big cats with a chicken carcass every couple of days. Two of the tigers, apparently driven by hunger, attacked a zoo keeper late last year and were shot to death. Earlier, 4 tigers ate a cage mate, and 6 tigers died in a single day. The Chinese government has stepped in to support the privately owned Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo in Shenyang, which still has some 20 tigers. Wildlife experts esitmate only some 450 Siberian tigers still exist in the wild, reports the Telegraph.
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(Jul 2, 2020 3:39 AM CDT) The murder of a popular singer has caused unrest in Ethiopia and at least 80 deaths, authorities say. Hachalu Hundessa, whose songs focused on the rights of the Oromo ethnic group, was shot dead while driving Monday, the BBC reports. Authorities say more than 70 civilians and at least three police officers, were killed after protests spread from the capital, Addis Ababa, to the surrounding Oromia region, reports Reuters. Hundessa's songs became anthems in the protests that led to a change of government in 2018. The motive for the killing is unclear, though authorities say three suspects were arrested Wednesday night. Tensions have also been raised by the arrest this week of Oromo activist Jawar Mohammed and dozens of his supporters, the AP reports. Human Rights Watch warns that the arrests could make a volatile situation even worse, and that the country's shutdown of the Internet since Tuesday has made it impossible to access information on those killed and injured in the protests. MPR reports that hundreds of members of the Oromo community in Minneapolis blocked Interstate 94 for hours in a protest Wednesday.
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(Jun 30, 2009 1:42 PM CDT) Venus and Serena Williams are one round away from meeting in another Wimbledon final. Five-time champion Venus overpowered Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-2 today, and two-time winner Serena followed her into the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Victoria Azarenka. No. 3-seeded Venus will next face top-ranked Dinara Safina; No. 2 Serena will face No. 4 Elena Dementieva for a chance to take her elder sister's crown. It's the first time since 2006 that all four top-seeded women reached the semifinals at a Grand Slam tournament. The Williams sisters overwhelmed their opponents today with breathtaking displays of power tennis, showing why they have dominated on the grass of the All England Club for most of the past decade. Do I feel invincible? Venus said. I'd like to say yes, but I really do work at it.
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(Apr 16, 2008 3:46 PM CDT) President Bush set 2025 as the target date by which the US should stop the growth of greenhouse emissions from coal power plants, the AP reports. The goal is for those plant emissions to peak in 10 to 15 years, then begin declining. Bush called for legislation to introduce incentives for the development of green technology. All responsible approaches depend on accelerating the development and deployment of new technologies, Bush said. The White House wants Congress to enact climate change legislation, fearing the regulatory train wreck if existing laws, such as the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act, were instead used to enforce emissions controls.
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(Jun 20, 2015 5:30 PM CDT) A Cincinnati man killed a police officer yesterday while friends were reading about his suicide-by-cop plan in texts and commenting about it on his Facebook page, CNN reports. Trepierre Hummons, 21, called 911 twice about an armed man in the area, and when police responded, he opened fire. He shot and killed 48-year-old officer Sonny Kim, a married father of three and celebrated karate instructor, WLWT reports. An officer responding to the scene shot and killed Hummons. I love every last one of y'all to whoever has been in my life. ... You're the real mvp, Hummons wrote on Facebook. But no one told police about his messages: That didn't happen in this case, unfortunately, and we lost one of our best police officers, says Police Chief Jeffery Blackwell.
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(Feb 22, 2011 1:13 AM) An Alaskan state lawmaker opted to spend 12 hours on a ferry home instead of submitting to what she described as an invasive TSA search at a Seattle airport. Sharon Cissna, a Democrat, says she was told she would have to be patted down after a body scan displayed the scars from her breast cancer, AP reports. TSA regulations state that officers will need to see and touch your prosthetic device, cast, or support brace as part of the screening process. Facing the agent I began to remember what my husband and I'd decided after the previous intensive physical search. That I never had to submit to that horror again! Cissna said. It would be difficult, we agreed, but I had the choice to say no, this twisted policy did not have to be the price of flying to Juneau.
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(Dec 7, 2017 12:53 AM) A judge has sentenced a Volkswagen senior manager to seven years in prison for covering up a scheme to evade pollution limits on US diesel vehicles, calling it an astonishing fraud on American consumers. Oliver Schmidt, who is the second person to be sent to prison over the scandal, was dispatched to the US from Germany in 2015 to meet with suspicious California regulators, the AP reports. But he didn't disclose rogue software that had long fooled authorities into believing that VW was meeting emissions rules on nearly 600,000 vehicles. He also misled American investigators and destroyed documents. US District Judge Sean Cox called Schmid, former general manager of VW's US engineering and environmental office, a key conspirator in the deception.
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(Sep 6, 2016 7:40 AM CDT) National security is the theme of Election 2016 this week, with an NBC-MSNBC forum on that topic Wednesday night and lots of apparent new support on that front for Donald Trump. The New York Times reports that 88 retired military figures--described by retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn as a group of national security professionals --have placed their John Hancocks on an open letter set to be released Tuesday and endorsing the GOP nominee. The 2016 election affords the American people an urgently needed opportunity to make a long-overdue course correction in our national security posture and policy, which can only be done by someone who hasn't been complicit in the hollowing out of our military, notes the letter, which was coordinated by Holocaust survivor and Army veteran Maj. Gen. Sidney Shachnow and the Navy's Rear Adm. Charles Williams. The letter seems to be Trump's way to blunt the edge, as the Times puts it, of possible support for Hillary Clinton from foreign policy aces who have already rejected him. The signatories, who seem to support Trump's past and present stances on a variety of issues, include everyone from a retired Air Force lieutenant general who happens to be an Obama birther to an ex-Army official known for making inflammatory remarks about Islam. We support Donald Trump and his commitment to rebuild our military, to secure our borders, to defeat our Islamic supremacist adversaries, and restore law and order domestically, the letter says. We urge our fellow Americans to do the same. In a campaign statement, Trump called the endorsements a great honor, per Politico. (Trump's foreign policy speech in August did not get rave reviews.)
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(Dec 28, 2010 5:10 PM) Gasoline prices will hit $5 per gallon within the next year, the former president of Shell Oil predicts. John Hofmeister says oil demand will ramp up as developed economies approach a full recovery from the shocks of 2008 and developing economies increase their demand. I'm predicting actually the worst outcome over the next two years which takes us to 2012 with higher gasoline prices, Hofmeister tells Platts Energy Week. But his opinion is not the consensus: a chief analyst with the Oil Price Information Service tells CNN that $5-a-gallon is coming, but that the recovery in America and Europe will be sluggish enough to keep oil prices below that threshold in the next 12 months. That wolf is out there and it's going to be at the door, says analyst Tom Kloza. I agree with Hofmeister that we'll see those numbers at some point this decade but not yet. Click here for more.
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(Jul 17, 2018 4:25 AM CDT) Over 3,000 miles from the trenches and battlefields of the Western Front, where many hundreds of thousands had already died, residents of Orleans, Mass., were enjoying a typical summer morning on July 21, 1918, waiting for the fog to lift off the shore. Then suddenly, a German U-156 submarine broke the surface and brought World War I home. Orleans became the only part of the United States to be shelled by the enemy. For a brief moment, over there had become over here, the AP reports. Just after 10:30am, the heavy thump of something hitting land signaled the first attack on American soil in 100 years. Nobody was killed and the shells fired at the town landed in a marsh, but a tugboat was badly damaged and three of the four barges it was towing sank.
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(Feb 21, 2017 12:30 PM) It may rhyme with dud, but it packs a deadly wallop: A dzud (pronounced 'ZUHD) is an extreme weather phenomenon unique to Mongolia that's characterized by a summer drought and then a prolonged winter of heavy snow and temperatures of minus 40 to minus 59 degrees Fahrenheit. A dzud typically happens once every 12 years, but it has struck for the second consecutive year this winter, and it's putting the livelihoods of more than 150,000 nomadic herders and family members at risk. The dzud last year killed more than 1 million livestock, which are the only source of food, transport, and outside income for almost half of Mongolia's population of 3 million, the Red Cross said last week, as it launched an emergency appeal. More than 40,000 cows and other livestock have already died this time, a figure that's expected to jump in the freezing months ahead and into spring when animals are still weak. Many herder families will lose their livestock and livelihoods and will have no choice but to migrate to the slum areas on the outskirts of [the capital, Ulaanbaatar] and other urban centers where they will face great social and economic hardship, said the head of the Beijing office of the International Federation of Red Cross. The Red Cross said 70% of the country is covered by snow, and 157,000 people belonging to herder households in 17 of Mongolia's 21 provinces are at risk. The agency appealed for $650,000 to help 2,740 of the most at-risk families, reports the AP.
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(Aug 10, 2014 11:57 AM CDT) A week after 6-year-old Washington state girl Jenise Wright went missing, authorities have charged a 17-year-old male who lived in her neighborhood with her murder and sexual assault, reports the Seattle Times. The teenager isn't yet being named, but faces charges including second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, and child rape. There's a lot of grief, says a sheriff's spokesman. The suspect was identified via forensic evidence, and as KOMO notes, dozens of residents of the trailer park in which Jenise lived voluntarily submitted DNA samples. She was found dead in a nearby wooded area earlier this week.
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(Dec 7, 2018 2:39 PM) At least 12 people, including two children, were killed Friday when police engaged in a shootout with bank robbers, according to authorities in northeastern Brazil, per the AP. The two attempted heists in the state of Ceara began around 2:30am in the downtown area of the city of Milagres. Robbers at one bank took several people hostage when police surrounded the area, according to a police statement. A firefight broke out, leaving several dead. Authorities have yet to identify the dead.
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(Apr 12, 2020 2:00 PM CDT) A major California labor union that claimed to have discovered a stockpile of 39 million masks for health care workers fighting the coronavirus was duped in an elaborate scam uncovered by FBI investigators, the AP reports. Investigators stumbled onto the scheme while looking into whether they could intercept the masks for the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Defense Production Act, the US attorney's office said Friday. The federal government has been quietly seizing supplies across the country as the outbreak spreads. But in this case, there was no warehouse, and there were no masks to seize, the LA Times reports. US Attorney Scott Brady told the Times that investigators tracked the tip back to a Pittsburgh businessman.
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(Feb 26, 2010 2:16 PM) New York doesn't want the trial of accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed to take place in lower Manhattan, so bring the proceedings to the nation's capital, writes Thomas Penfield Jackson. After all, KSM's crimes were committed against the entire nation, so a trial in Washington is only fitting, contends Jackson, a retired federal judge who presided in DC. Jackson worries that New York's demurral may result in an inappropriate military trial for KSM. His crimes were civil, he writes in the Washington Post. His weapons were four stolen commercial aircraft, and he was not captured on a battlefield. Terrorists should be convicted as the common criminals they are. There is no more appropriate forum than the DC federal district court.
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(Mar 16, 2018 6:10 PM CDT) Missouri is defending a prison sentence for a man who committed robbery and other crimes on a single day when he was 16 and now isn't eligible for parole until he's 112 years old, the AP reports. State Attorney General Josh Hawley says in a US Supreme Court filing that defendant Bobby Bostic's 241-year sentence for 18 crimes does not violate the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Hawley says a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that outlawed life sentences for people under 18 who didn't kill anyone applies only to a sentence for one crime. The former St. Louis judge who sentenced Bostic disagrees. She now believes the term is unjust and is backing Bostic's high-court appeal. There's no timetable for when the justices will decide whether to hear his case. Now 39, Bostic has been in prison for more than 20 years.
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(Jun 17, 2010 9:52 AM CDT) While other congressmen were heaping abuse on BP CEO Tony Hayward in this morning's hearings, one Republican abruptly shifted gears in his opening remarks and apologized to the man in the hot seat. Rep. Joe Barton told Hayward he was ashamed of the pressure the White House put on BP to create the $20 billion escrow fund to cover losses to victims of the spill. I think it's a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would call a shakedown, the Texan said. In this case a $20 billion shakedown. Barton said the administration has no authority to ask for this $20 billion slush fund and that litigation provides adequate due process for awarding damages. I apologize, he said to Hayward. I do not want to live in a country where every time a corporation does something wrong, it's subject to a political process that amounts to a shakedown. Later, Dem Rep. Ed Markey begged to differ, noting that litigation by victims of the Exxon Valdez spill took years to be settled, and criminal charges in the 1984 Bhopal disaster in India more than a quarter century. Read more in the Guardian's live blog.
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(Jun 7, 2009 10:46 AM CDT) The fans at Roland Garros got what they were cheering for today: not a nail-bitingly close French Open finals match, but a definitive win by Roger Federer. After years of falling just short on clay, Federer finally can claim a career Grand Slam with his 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 triumph over Sweden's Robin Soderling, MSNBC reports. Federer has now drawn even with Pete Sampras with 14 Grand Slam tournament wins. Under a light rain and a torrent of Roger, Roger! chants from the stands, he maintained a dominating serve against the upstart who toppled world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. Federer is the fifth man to win all four Grand Slam tournaments.
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(Feb 16, 2009 7:42 AM) The state of Michigan, French officials, and an American diver are battling over a wreck discovered at the bottom of Lake Michigan that's believed to be a French ship laden with furs and muskets on a mission for King Louis XIV. The Griffin, launched by famous French explorer La Salle on orders from the Sun King, went down in a storm in 1679. Michigan claims the wreck belongs to the state, but that claim is being challenged in court. An early French ship goes down operating with the permission of the French king. There's a good chance there's skeletal remains, said the US diver who discovered the wreck and wants rights to the site. Do you really think the people of Michigan own those skeletons? The French are arguing that the public expedition, summoned by the king, remains the property of the French state.
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(Jul 27, 2008 7:03 PM CDT) Latest Batman flick The Dark Knight grossed $300 million in just 10 days--turning the 16 days Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest took on its head to set a new record. The dark tale, driven by Heath Ledger's strong performance, took in another $75.6 million in its second weekend to push its total upwards of $314 million. Our audience is expanding, like you would expect with terrific word-of-mouth and strong reviews, said a Warner Bros. exec, who expects the movie to rake in another $100 million in the next 8 days. To do $300 (million) plus in 10 days, we just couldn't have predicted it.
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(Jan 6, 2015 11:19 AM) It feels like something out of a sci-fi movie--a luxury car that can drive itself 550 miles, from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas. But this is not a movie: Over two days, an Audi A7 Sportback (nicknamed Jack ) made the trip with little human help, its journey aided by GPS and radar sensors that feed data to an onboard computer. This system ensures the car changes lanes, overtakes vehicles, and accelerates, steers, and brakes safely, CNET explains. The car isn't completely independent, though--the autopilot only works up to 70mph and doesn't function in urban areas, reports Popular Mechanics. When a human needs to take the wheel, the car lets off a warning; if there's no response, it pulls over to the shoulder and comes to a stop with flashers on. Jack's journey was completed last night, according to Business Insider. However, there's bound to be debate about this Piloted Driving technology breeding even more inattentive drivers, notes CNBC, and state regulators need to get on board before such cars become mainstream. But industry insiders say the public is ready. Why not? If it can make driving on the highway safer and pay attention if you're not, a lot of people will find that appealing, one tells CNBC. And that's the point--to make driving safer, an Audi engineer says. The A7's solo trip is part of the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show. You can see its journey on Twitter @Audi and the hashtag #DrivingNotDriving.
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(Mar 8, 2013 4:52 PM) It is not your typical lost-hiker story: For one thing, it was a group of 40 hikers who could not find their way down a remote mountain in Kentucky as night fell and freezing temperatures set in, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader. Luckily, they still had phone reception. The group of 37 students and three staffers from La Salle University in Pennsylvania called for help about 7pm yesterday, and rescuers got them off the trail about 3:45am. All were checked out for hypothermia, and only one was admitted to a local hospital. She is expected to be out tomorrow. It's pretty rough country back in there, one rescuer tells the AP of the Bad Branch Nature Preserve. The main treatment provided by hospital staffers was, yep, chicken soup. The other thing was loaning them cellphones so that they could call their parents, says a hospital official. That was an emotional time. The students are in the area to build houses for Project Appalachia.
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(Apr 23, 2010 2:42 AM CDT) A stash of 20th-century artworks hidden for generations because of war and legal wrangling is finally seeing the light of day. The 140 artworks, including works by Picasso, Derain, and Renoir, had been placed in a Paris bank vault by influential art dealer Ambroise Vollard's assistant after Vollard's death in 1939. The Jewish assistant died at the hands of the Nazis and the stash wasn't uncovered until the bank unsealed the vault in 1979 after storage fees went unpaid for 40 years. Legal battles between the estates of Vollard and the assistant kept the works under wraps until recently. An exec at Sotheby's auction house, which will be selling the collection off later this year, says seeing the array of works is like looking into a lost world. The gem of the collection, Andre Derain's Arbres a Collioure--described as a knock-you-off-your-seat explosion of color by the Guardian--is expected to fetch up to $26 million.
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(Oct 4, 2016 7:57 AM CDT) For the first time in 45 years, Americans who support the death penalty can't count themselves among the majority. Just 49% of Americans polled from late August to early September said they supported capital punishment for people guilty of murder, while 42% said they opposed it, according to the Pew Research Center. Recent botched executions by lethal injection may be responsible for the drop in support from March 2015, when 56% of Americans backed the death penalty, reports Business Insider. But support has actually fallen across the political spectrum since the mid-1990s, when support reached 80% as violent crime and murder rates rose, per the Washington Post. Some 57% of white Americans now support the death penalty, compared to 29% of blacks and 36% of Hispanics, according to the poll of 1,201 adults. Men, older Americans, and those without a college degree are also more likely to support the death penalty. But just 34% of Democrats support capital punishment, compared to 71% two decades ago, reports the New York Times. Some 72% of Republicans support it, down from 87%, and 44% of independents support it, down from 57%. As support has fallen, so have the number of executions. There have been just 15 so far this year, including 12 in Texas and Georgia. (Ohio is set to resume executions after a three-year break.)
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(May 8, 2014 11:59 AM CDT) It's a dismal milestone: The number of police officers who have lost their lives to 9/11-related illnesses has passed the number who died in the attacks themselves. The AP reports that 71 officers have now died from the former, compared to 60 in the latter group. The news comes as the 13 officers (named here) who died from cancers attributed to their work at Ground Zero had their names added Tuesday to the New York State Police Officers' Memorial in Albany. The Journal News recounted the heroics of one of them: Charles Wassil, a Marine, NYPD officer, and Peekskill detective who spent a week searching for survivors among the rubble. He died in 2013 from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that surfaced just three months after the attacks. (Meanwhile, in a somewhat controversial move, unidentified remains of 9/11 victims will be moved on Saturday.)
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(Oct 6, 2020 5:00 AM CDT) A Texas library apparently failed, for quite some time, to notice its printer was running out of toner at a suspiciously fast pace. A former employee of the Austin Public Library is accused of fraudulently buying $1.3 million worth of printer toner, which he then allegedly stole and re-sold online, KENS 5 reports. Randall Whited was an accounting associate at the time; according to a city audit report, he took advantage of poor purchasing reviews by his supervisors as well as several other purchasing and budget-related shortcomings, such as having a role in the approval of his own purchases and insufficient oversight of the Library's budget. He is now charged with theft, the Austin American-Statesman reports. After receiving a tip about the allegations against Whited in March of last year, the city says it discovered Whited had been engaging in the scheme since 2007--a period of time over which, the auditor's office estimates, the library would only have needed about $150,000 worth of toner. The auditor found surveillance video showing Whited, who frequently showed up to work early, taking printer toner from his office to the parking garage where he had parked his car. In August of last year, faced with being terminated over an unrelated issue, the city says Whited resigned his post. The auditor's office submitted its report--which also accuses Whited of using a library credit card to buy thousands of dollars worth of electronics, video games, VR headsets, a drone, and more for his own personal use--to the city's police department.
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(Apr 15, 2017 8:35 AM CDT) There was panic at Penn Station Friday evening after police used a Taser on what they said was a belligerent suspect in the Amtrak waiting area. Passengers at the New York City station, which was already overcrowded due to a train stalled in a tunnel, thought they had heard gunshots and fled, CNN reports. It turned into a stampede as other people saw the fleeing passengers and joined the mass exit around 6:30pm, leaving bags and other belongings scattered around the underground station, NBC 4 reports. Witnesses who got off a train as the panic began say they saw a wave of screaming, falling people. Shoppers fled for the exits in nearby Macy's after rumors of a shooter spread there. Anna Renzi, 24, tells the New York Daily News she was waiting with her family for a delayed train to DC at Haagen-Dazs when crowds ran by. I thought I heard someone yell 'shooter,' that's why I threw my nephew behind a counter and jumped over and they just had us hide in the storage closet because I had the kids, she says. The employees were so awesome, they just had us hid there until it was safe to come out. The FDNY says fire crews who had just finished dealing with the stalled train stayed to help police deal with people injured in the stampede. The department says none of the 16 people treated had life-threatening injuries.
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(Mar 29, 2012 10:16 AM CDT) With Circuit City now long gone, everything should be coming up roses for Best Buy, right? No such luck. America's biggest electronics retailer today announced that it will be shuttering 50 of its big-box stores after posting a fiscal fourth quarter loss that was due partly to restructuring charges. It has other big changes planned: a new compensation model for employees tied in part to customer service; 100 new Best Buy Mobile stores; $800 million in cost cuts in three years; and a goal to increase online revenue 15%. Writing for CNET, Larry Dignan sums up Best Buy's problem thusly: It can't be the showroom for electronic sales online. Best Buy's biggest foe is, of course, Amazon, and Dignan believes the only way to keep up in an e-commerce world is to improve customer service. Best Buy appears to have gotten the memo: It plans to bulk up its loyalty programs (sample perk: free Geek Squad house call for Reward Zone Silver members), switch to free shipping, and make returns easier. But Dignan still sees two issues: The company is selling more Apple products, which return less of a profit for Best Buy, and, well, there's still Amazon.
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(Mar 14, 2018 6:59 PM CDT) We're putting a for sale sign on everything, the Wall Street Journal quotes CEO David Brandon as telling Toys R Us employees Wednesday. The company, which started as a baby furniture store following WWII, will be closing or selling its over 700 US stores, putting up to 33,000 jobs at risk. NPR reports the writing has been on the wall for Toys R Us for some time, despite accounting for around 20% of all US toy sales in 2017. The toy-seller has been unable to put much of a dent in the nearly $8 billion of debt it largely acquired in a 2005 buyout, according to the Washington Post. It filed for bankruptcy in September and announced it was closing 182 stores in January. The last six months have been pure hell, the Journal quotes Brandon as saying. Toys R Us has been hurt by competitors with better deals like Amazon and Walmart, and Brandon says sales during the most recent holiday season were no short of devastating. Brandon says shoppers who failed to support Toys R Us in the past year will all live to regret what's happening here. A group of toy makers--to which Toys R Us owed over $21 million when it filed for bankruptcy--is seeking to buy up to 400 stores to continue operating under the Toys R Us name. Brandon says all anyone has to do is offer one dollar more than what liquidation firms are offering. Employers were told store closures would be spread out over months. Toys R Us will reportedly pay employees at least 60 days of salary and benefits.
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(Nov 22, 2011 12:29 PM) A California teen will go to prison for 21 years for shooting his gay classmate to death in a middle school computer lab in 2008. The plea deal was reached yesterday; in Brandon McInerney's first trial, the jury deadlocked. In order to avoid a second trial, McInerney, now 17, pleaded guilty to second-degree and voluntary manslaughter, and prosecutors agreed not to pursue another trial--which could have potentially landed McInerney a life sentence. The father of victim Larry King said the family supports the deal, but still places blame at the feet of school officials. Administrators were aware of growing conflicts between King, who liked to flirt with boys, and male students on campus; teachers were asked in a memo to report any safety concerns. But the teachers who testified said when they attempted to report tension, they were rebuffed by school leaders, the Los Angeles Times reports. King's mother, Dawn, also revealed yesterday that she had asked officials for help containing Larry's behavior just days before his death, because she feared something serious was going to happen --but she was also turned away.
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(Dec 24, 2020 6:24 AM) Britain has tightened lockdowns in response to a worrying new coronavirus variant--but unless it does more, 2021 may be an even deadlier year for the country than 2020, according to a new study. Researchers at the Center for Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimate that the B117 variant, which carries a set of 23 mutations, is 56% more transmissible than other strains, Bloomberg reports. They say that while there is no sign B117 is deadlier than other strains of COVID-19, infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are likely to surge unless the British government takes steps including closing schools and increasing the vaccination rate tenfold from the current 200,000 a week. Britain's Office for National Statistics said Friday that there has been a sharp rise in positive tests in London and the southeast of England, where the variant was first detected, the BBC reports. The ONS estimates two-thirds of people testing positive in the region could have the new variant. The variant has also been detected in countries including Denmark and Singapore, which reported its first B117 case Friday. Unfortunately, this is another twist in the plot, Alessandro Vespignani, director of the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University in Boston, tells the New York Times. While we were all rejoicing for the vaccine, there is the possibility of a change of epidemiological context that makes our next few months much more complex and more perilous to navigate, he says. (BioNTech says it is highly likely that its vaccine will deal with the variant.)
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(Oct 24, 2008 4:16 PM CDT) YouTube is abandoning its 10-minute video limit to show movies and full-length TV episodes, starting with Star Trek, MacGyver, and Beverly Hills, 90210. The Google-owned juggernaut is responding to competition from Hulu and other sites, reports USA Today. It's also adding pre-roll advertisements that play before a video rather than embedded links that allowed users uninterrupted viewing. Although Google says YouTube is profitable, one analyst says advertisers prefer network-owned sites. If you're an advertiser, where will you put your money? he says. In front of content you're not sure about, or behind a series like 30 Rock, a known brand? Still, YouTube remains by far the most popular video site, with 5.3 billion views in September to second-place Yahoo's 264,266.
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(May 26, 2014 11:18 AM CDT) Most people today probably associate Memorial Day with barbeques and sales, but EJ Dionne Jr. takes a look at its history in the Washington Post and concludes that it's a peculiarly appropriate holiday for our times. Memorial Day began as Decoration Day, honoring those who died in the Civil War. There were bitter debates about whether it started in the North or South, which persisted until 1966, when President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, NY, the holiday's official birthplace. Only after World War I did the day come to honor all American war dead. Seen one way, the Memorial Day story traces a heartening journey of a divided nation coming back together, Dionne writes. But let's not forget its Civil War roots. The political conflicts of that era bear eerie similarities to our own. No, we're not dealing with anything as important as slavery, but there are stark regional differences over federal and judicial power, the constitution, and patriotism. Memorial Day should remind us to conduct these debates responsibly, and that politics can have dire consequences. Click for his full column.
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(Aug 4, 2020 8:17 PM CDT) The death toll from the massive explosion that shook Lebanon's capital Tuesday now stands at more than 70--and with scenes of utter devastation for blocks surrounding the Beirut port area, the toll appears certain to rise. The country's health minister says the blast, which caused a mushroom cloud and was heard as far away as Cyprus, 150 miles across the Mediterranean, injured at least 4,000 people, the BBC reports. Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi told reporters that the blast was apparently caused by the detonation of more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored in a port warehouse since 2014, when it was seized from a cargo ship, reports the AP. Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab vowed that those responsible for the catastrophe will pay the price. Other countries in the region--even longtime adversary Israel--have offered humanitarian aid, with Qatar promising to send field hospitals, the Guardian reports. It's not clear what caused the detonation, but witnesses said a fire in a nearby building spread to the warehouse just before the huge explosion. Germany's geosciences center says the blast, which damaged buildings across the city, hit with the force of a 3.5-magnitude earthquake. President Trump offered his condolences, for what he described as an attack, CBS reports. He said he had spoken to some of our great generals, who told him they thought it was a bomb of some kind.
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(May 2, 2012 10:38 AM CDT) Clashes broke out in Cairo this morning between protesters railing against Egypt's ruling military council and people that those protesters described as thugs, leaving 11 dead and more than 160 wounded. Reuters reports that the military's supporters were armed, and the New York Times says that security forces did nothing for hours to stop the fighting. The incident prompted two top candidates in the upcoming presidential election to suspend their campaigns in solidarity, and pushed back the first planned presidential debate. Our brothers are being slaughtered, said a spokesman for a group supporting one of those candidates, and there has been a complete failure by the military council or the security forces to protect them. The violence sprung out of a rally outside the Ministry of Defense that was originally in support of disqualified hardline conservative candidate Hazem Abu Ismail, but grew into a broader protest against military rule.
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(Apr 8, 2008 12:02 AM CDT) Advanced Micro Devices will shed 10% of its workforce this year and predicts a 15% first-quarter revenue drop, down to $1.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports. Slumping desktop sales and the company's line of defective chips and have hurt AMD, which will lay off workers worldwide at all levels within the company, a spokesman told the San Jose Mercury News today. The Silicon Valley-based company took on heavy debt in 2006 by acquiring ATI Technologies Inc., then rolled out a line of defective chips in a bid to compete with Intel. Since then, Wall Street has waited for AMD to announce cost-cutting plans, perhaps by outsourcing manufacturing. Company stock traded today at $6.34, an 11-cent increase, but fell to $6.22 after-hours following the announced layoffs.
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(Oct 23, 2019 3:49 AM CDT) Heartbreaking news from Alabama: The body of kidnapped 3-year-old Kamille McKinney has been found, more than a week after her father pleaded for people to please bring me my Cupcake back home. Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith says the body of Kamille, who was last seen at an outdoor birthday party Oct. 12, was found in a dumpster at a landfill, NBC reports. Police say they plan to charge Patrick Stallworth and his girlfriend, Derick Brown, with kidnapping and capital murder. The suspects are not connected to Kamille's family, Smith says. Brown and Stallworth were arrested within 24 hours of the abduction. After the arrests, Stallworth was charged with seven counts of possession of child pornography, reports AL.com. Police say none of the images found on his phone were of Kamille. Stallworth, who had been freed on bail, was arrested again Tuesday night, WBRC reports. After he was first arrested, police said his Toyota SUV matched the description given by children who said a man had been handing out candy the night of the kidnapping. Brown remained in custody for a probation violation from a previous kidnapping involving her children. We believe that this was something they thought about and acted upon. They saw an opportunity to take a young child and they did, Smith told reporters. Tonight our entire city is mourning. Kamille is gone, said Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin. Ripped away from her family. The pain her family is enduring is unimaginable.
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(Jun 14, 2008 6:22 AM CDT) Two intrepid explorers using sonar and a remote-controlled submersible have discovered what may be the oldest shipwreck in the Great Lakes, the AP reports. HMS Ontario, a British warship carrying as many as 130, sank in a storm in Lake Ontario in 1780. Since 1781, when six sailors' bodies washed ashore, there had been no sign of the 80-foot sloop before the find announced yesterday. The Ontario, whose location has not been revealed, was found by Dan Scoville, who developed the submersible, and Jim Kennard, who has been searching for the ship for 35 years. One expert marveled at video of the find, showing the wreck to be remarkably well preserved by the deep, cold water. If it wasn't for the zebra mussels, she looks like she only sunk last week.
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