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Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Taco Bell, Pizza Hut to nix 'artificial ingredients'

hi-taco-bell-9543283

Taco Bell and Pizza Hut say they’re getting rid of artificial colours and flavours, making them the latest big food companies scrambling to distance themselves from ingredients people might find unappetizing.

'You're f--ked,' Robert De Niro warns graduating NYU arts students

Robert De Niro

Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro gave New York University Tisch School of the Arts graduates a commencement speech they’ll never forget.

Danish radio station defends killing baby rabbit live on air

GERMANY/

A Danish radio station is defending a show during which the host killed a baby rabbit by hitting it with a bicycle pump, live on the air, saying it was intended to show the hypocrisy of animal lovers.

Heat wave in India kills more than 750 since April

INDIA-WEATHER Heat Wave May 26 2015 Allahabad

More than 750 people have died in southern India since the middle of April as soaring summer temperatures scorch the country. Resident are being urged to stay hydrated and remain indoors as much as possible.

Netanyahu offers to resume peace talks with settlement focus, official says

Midest Israel Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed resuming peace negotiations with the Palestinians but with the initial focus on identifying those Jewish settlements that Israel would keep and be allowed to expand, an Israeli official said on Tuesday.

Cable company Charter buying Time Warner Cable for $55.3B

Charter Time Warner Cable

Charter Communications will spend $55.33 billion to acquire Time Warner Cable in a cash-and-stock deal that would instantly create one of the largest TV and Internet providers in the U.S.

Walmart shooting in North Dakota leaves 2 dead

walmart-feature

Police say two people have died in a shooting at a Walmart store in North Dakota.

Non-human persons? Animal rights get legal leg up

chimpanzee-sanctuary-kentucky

Activists say chimpanzees are so similar to us they should be recognized under the law as “non-human persons,” not unlike corporations. Most U.S. courts seem to disagree, but animal rights lawyers see a glimmer of hope in recent Canadian rulings.

ISIS poses bigger threat after nearly a year of coalition bombing

Nic6455252

A quick look at a map of Iraq, Syria and Jordan — to take in ISIS’s most recent gains — and it’s obvious that nearly a year after airstrikes against it began, the group poses a more immediate risk to more people and more important cities in the region than ever.

Galapagos Islands volcano erupts for first time in 33 years

Ecuador Galapagos Volcano

Ecuador’s Galapagos National Park administration said the 1.7 kilometre-high Wolf volcano began spewing fire, smoke and lava before dawn Monday.

12 missing after Texas flooding sweeps away vacation home

APTOPIX Severe Weather

Recovery teams are set to resume looking for the 12 members of two families who authorities say are missing after a rain-swollen river in Central Texas carried a vacation home off its foundation, slamming it into a bridge downstream.

Cleveland reportedly agrees to settlement over police violations

Cleveland Police Shooting

The city of Cleveland has reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over a pattern of excessive force and civil rights violations by the police department, and the agreement could be announced as soon as Tuesday, a senior federal law enforcement official said.

Al-Shabaab attack leaves several Kenyan police officers dead

Kenya-Garissa

Several Kenyan police officers were killed in an attack Monday night by suspected Somali militants in the northeastern Garissa county, where 148 students were massacred last month, police said Tuesday.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Amazon.com moves away from tax-shifting in Europe

Smart Spending Avoiding Amazon

In a move that will put pressure on other U.S. tech companies, Amazon.com has begun paying tax on its retail sales in individual European countries, instead of funnelling all sales through low-tax Luxembourg.


Fake answers make online security questions less secure

Gmail app stock photo

Did you lie about your father’s middle name to make it harder for cybercriminals to get into your email account? Chances are that you actually made your account less secure.


Steph Curry returns to game after scary fall

steph-curry-052515-620

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry left Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Monday after a hard fall in the second quarter, but was able to return midway through the third quarter.

At least 38 dead in China seniors' home fire

CHINA-DISASTER/

A fire that swept through a rest home in central China killed 38 people and injured six, Chinese authorities said Tuesday.

Omar Sharif has Alzheimer's, according to agent

US People Omar Sharif 20150525

Legendary Lawrence of Arabia actor Omar Sharif is battling Alzheimer’s disease, his agent Steve Kenis confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday.

Why Burma's Rohingya Muslims are among the world's most persecuted people

Rohingya Muslims

Denied citizenship, forced into manual labour and forbidden to marry without permission, Burma’s Rohingya Muslims are often called one of the world’s most persecuted people. Now they’re turning to dangerous methods to change their fate.

Critics of Burundi's president face intimidation, opposition politician says

Burundi

Burundi is not ready for parliamentary or presidential elections next month because the government is curtailing freedoms including preventing the opposition from campaigning, a leading opposition candidate said, as protests over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term continued in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.

Vatican Bank profit makes miraculous comeback, rising twentyfold to $93M

Vatican Bank Jean-Baptiste de Franssu

The Vatican bank said Monday its profit soared by more than 20 times last year as it recovered from a trading loss and continued its reform away from its scandal-marred past.

Mass gatherings: From North Korean parades to Guinness World Records

North Korean singers Daegu Universiade Games 2003

From world records to military parades, here’s a look at a dozen examples of humans coming together en masse.

10 killed in Mexican tornado

MEXICO-TORNADO/

A tornado raged through a Mexico border city early Monday, destroying homes, flinging cars like matchsticks and ripping an infant from its mother’s arms. At least 10 people were killed, authorities said.

Driverless corridor could move goods from Canada to Mexico without truckers

World Premiere Freightliner Inspiration Truck

Trucks could haul cargo from Canada through the United States to Mexico and back navigate border crossings without the need for passports, visas or even a driver to steer them if a proposed driverless trucking corridor becomes a reality.

Qatar World Cup sponsors must help labourers, or have 'blood on their hands,' say activists

Mideast Qatar FIFA Sponsors

Amid allegations of human rights abuses, activists are pressuring corporate sponsors to push for changes to the work and living conditions of 1.5 million South Asian labourers building venues for the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

Air France flight to NYC gets fighter escort after anonymous threat

AIR-FRANCE-KLM-STRIKE/

An Air France flight from Paris was escorted by U.S. fighter jets to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday after an anonymous threat was made against the flight, according to WABC television.

As new debt payment looms, Greece denies need for restricting cash movements

Greece Bailout

The Greek government on Monday ruled out imposing capital controls that would restrict the movement of money, despite fears that it is close to leaving the euro.

Iraq, Iran critical of U.S. comments after fall of Ramadi to ISIS

MIDEAST-CRISIS/IRAQ

Iraq and Iran pushed back Monday against U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter’s criticisms over the fall of Ramadi to the Islamic State group, with an Iranian general going as far as saying America had “no will” to fight the extremists.

Free speech on the run, even in the home of the brave: Neil Macdonald

Cda France Toronto 20150111

Constitutionally protected speech, no matter how offensive, is a glorious and uniquely American invention, Neil Macdonald writes. But these days it seems to be under attack from thought police everywhere, even in the U.S.

AdBlock Plus mobile browser could devastate publishers

Advertisement

Ad blocking companies are moving into the mobile market, which could devastate websites dependent on ad revenue. Experts say there’s a simple solution, however: make less annoying ads, and people won’t need ad blockers.

Ehud Olmert, ex-Israeli PM, sentenced to 8 months in prison in corruption case

ISRAEL-OLMERT/

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was sentenced Monday to eight months in prison for unlawfully accepting money from a U.S. supporter, capping the dramatic downfall of a man who only years earlier led the country and hoped to bring about a historic peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Yemen peace conference sponsored by UN is cancelled

Mideast Yemen

A United Nations-sponsored peace conference that was to take place at the end of the month has been indefinitely postponed, senior Yemeni politicians said.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Inquiry begins into gunman and events of Sydney siege in Australia

Man Monis

The man who took 18 people hostage at a Sydney cafe last year was educated and erratic, secretive about his own life and public about his many grievances, and a self-obsessed fabulist who grew increasingly defiant as he edged closer to launching his deadly attack, lawyers told an inquest Monday.

Malaysia finds 139 mass graves in camps abandoned by traffickers

ASIA-MIGRANTS/

Malaysian authorities say they have discovered 139 suspected graves in a series of abandoned camps used by human traffickers on the border with Thailand where Rohingya Muslims fleeing Burma have been held.

Cannes Film Festival: Dheepan wins Palme d'Or

FILMFESTIVAL-CANNES/

Jacques Audiard’s immigrant drama Dheepan has won the Palme d’Or, the top honour of the Cannes Film Festival.


Juan Pablo Montoya wins Indy 500 with late charge

Juan-Pablo Montoya

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya came from the back of field to win the 99th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Montoya’s Penske Racing team mate Australian Will Power was second and American Charlie Kimball was third.


Comedian Anne Meara, mother of Ben Stiller, dead at 85

PREMIERE

Actress Anne Meara, who gained fame as half of the comedy team Stiller & Meara and went on to star in TV and film, has died. She was 85.


Arrest made after suspicious car, pressure cooker found near U.S. Capitol

USA-SECURITY/CAPITOL

A U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman says a bomb squad has safely destroyed a pressure cooker found in a “suspicious” vehicle left unattended near the Capitol building and that the vehicle’s owner has been arrested.

Poland elects Andrzej Duda president in major upset

Poland Presidential Election

Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski conceded defeat in the county’s presidential election Sunday after an exit poll showed him trailing Andrzej Duda, a previously little-known right-wing politician.

2 dead, thousands flee as storms ravage Texas, Oklahoma

Severe-Weather

Record rainfall was wreaking havoc across a swath of the U.S. Midwest on Sunday, causing flash floods in normally dry riverbeds, spawning tornadoes and forcing at least 2,000 people to flee.

Roger Federer upset by fan's selfie attempt

Selfie kid- Federer

Roger Federer is fuming that a kid got on centre court to snap selfies with him on Sunday at the French Open and is demanding better security. “This should never happen on the Philippe Chatrier court,” the 2009 French Open champion said. “I’m not happy about it. Obviously not one second I’m happy about it.”


California woman with extreme anorexia turns to crowdfunding for help

Anorexia Rachael Farrokh and Rob Edmondson

A California woman suffering from an extreme case of anorexia has turned to crowdfunding to pay the medical bills required to save her life.

Canadian diplomat's son set to seek bail in Florida double-murder case

Consul Son Bail 20150524

A Canadian teenager caught up in a double killing in Florida will ask a judge on Wednesday to grant him bail pending a trial that could lead to his life-long imprisonment.

Mathematician who inspired the film A Beautiful Mind dead after car crash

John Nash

Mathematician John Nash, the Nobel Prize winner who inspired the film A Beautiful Mind, has been killed in a car accident along with his wife in New Jersey. He was 86.

Nepal landslide blocks river, thousands evacuated from nearby towns, villages

Nepal landslide

Thousands of people fled villages and towns along a mountain river in northwest Nepal on Sunday after it was blocked by a landslide that could burst and cause flash floods, officials said.

Ireland's same-sex marriage support called a 'reality check' for Catholic Church


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Ireland’s citizens have voted in a landslide to legalize gay marriage, electoral officials announced Saturday — a stunningly lopsided result that illustrates what Catholic leaders and rights activists alike called a “social revolution.”

'Will I be next?' protesters ask after Ohio patrolman acquitted in fatal shooting

Cleveland Police Shooting

Police in riot gear made more than a dozen arrests as crowds protested the acquittal of a white Ohio patrolman who fired through the windshield of a suspect’s car at the end of a 137-shot barrage that killed the two unarmed black occupants.

Mass graves discovered in camps abandoned by human traffickers in Malaysia

Indonesia Rohingya Boat People

Malaysian authorities said Sunday that they have discovered a series of graves in more than a dozen abandoned camps used by human traffickers on the border with Thailand, where Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar have been held.

Anti-Semitism reveals dark side of generous Swedish immigration

Siavosh Derakhti

Malmö, Sweden’s tiny Jewish community is facing increasingly blatant anti-Semitism. The Jewish community centre has been under armed guard, a rabbi has been attacked on the street, and few want to talk about it, writes Karin Wells.

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Putin's signature puts 'undesirable' law into effect

Putin

President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law Saturday giving Russian prosecutors the power to declare foreign and international organizations “undesirable” and shut them down.

Women activists denied bid to walk across DMZ dividing Koreas

North Korea DMZ Crossing

International women activists have been denied an attempt to walk across the Demilitarized Zone dividing North and South Korea, but allowed to cross by bus.

Eurovision Song Contest 2015

MUSIC-EUROVISION/

About 200 million people worldwide are expected to watch on TV as the 27 finalists battle it out musically.

Assassinated Salvadoran archbishop beatified, 1st step toward sainthood

Romero beatification

Oscar Romero was beatified by Roman Catholic officials Saturday in an emotional ceremony elevating the once-controversial archbishop to the ranks of the blessed 35 years after his assassination.

Sweden wins 60th Eurovision Song Contest

Austria Eurovision Song Competition

Sweden won the 60th Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, finishing ahead of Russia, whose contestant received some boos as the Ukraine conflict spilled over into the continent’s largest songfest.