31 January 2017
UK pardons thousands convicted under past anti-gay laws
Thousands of men convicted under now-abolished anti-homosexuality laws
in Britain have been pardoned posthumously under a law enacted on
Tuesday, and many more still alive can now apply to have their criminal
convictions wiped out.
Announcing the new law, the Ministry of Justice said the pardons apply automatically to deceased men who were convicted for consensual same-sex relations before homosexuality was decriminalized several decades ago. Men living with convictions can apply to the government to have their names cleared.
Miss France crowned Miss Universe in Philippines
A
24-year-old dental student from France won the Miss Universe crown
Monday in a pageant held in the Philippines, saying her triumph will
make the beauty contest more popular in Europe and help her efforts to
put more underprivileged children in school.
Iris Mittenaere from Lille city in northern France buried her face in her hands in shock and joy as the outgoing winner from the Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach, crowned her and the crowd erupted in cheers at the packed Mall of Asia Arena by Manila Bay.
30 January 2017
Walgreens slashes offer for Rite Aid, pushes back deadline
Walgreens substantially lowered its offering price for drugstore rival
Rite Aid and, facing resistance from U.S. regulators, raised the number
of stores it would be willing to unload to ease monopoly concerns.
The companies initially expected to sell no more than 500 stores, but that was pushed to 1,200 under the new terms announced Monday.
29 January 2017
Federer beats Nadal in epic Aussie final to win 18th major
So here was Roger Federer, down a break in the fifth set in a Grand Slam
final. Across the net was his nemesis, Rafael Nadal, the left-handed
Spaniard he hadn't been able to beat in a major final in almost a
decade.
The 35-year-old father of four was back in his first tour-level tournament after six months off letting his injured left knee recover, and he hadn't won any of the big four events in tennis since Wimbledon 2012. Nadal was returning from injury, too, and somehow the pair had renewed the Roger-Rafa rivalry in a throwback Australian Open final that transcended sport.
US judge bars deportations under Trump travel ban
A federal judge issued an emergency order Saturday night temporarily
barring the U.S. from deporting people from nations subject to President
Donald Trump's travel ban, saying travelers who had been detained had a strong argument that their legal rights had been violated.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement early Sunday that said the court order would not affect the overall implementation of the White House order and the court order affected a small number of travelers who were inconvenienced by security procedures upon their return.
'Perry Mason' actress Barbara Hale dies at 94
Barbara Hale, a movie actress who found her most famous role on
television as steadfast secretary Della Street in the long-running
"Perry Mason" series, has died. She was 94.
Hale was surrounded by family when she died Thursday at her Los Angeles area home, said Jaqueline Stander, an agent for Hale's son, actor William Katt ("The Greatest American Hero," ''Carrie").
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Barbara Hale,
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Los Angeles,
movie,
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television series,
U.S.
Knights of Malta: Pope writes to stress order's sovereignty
Pope Francis
has reassured the Knights of Malta, an ancient Catholic lay order,
about its sovereignty, even as a special papal delegate will work to
ensure the "spiritual renewal" of its members, after revelations its
charity component had distributed condoms.
The order's Sovereign Council in Rome on Saturday accepted the resignation of Grand Master Fra' Matthew Festing, who had sacked the order's foreign minister, Albrecht von Boeselager. The minister was removed as grand chancellor following revelations that condoms were distributed in Myanmar under his watch.
Tags:
Catholic,
Church,
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dispute,
Grand Master,
Knights of Malta,
Matthew Festing,
Pope,
Pope Francis,
Religion,
Vatican
28 January 2017
Many Clouds, winner of 2015 Grand National, dies after race
Many Clouds, the winner of Britain's 2015 Grand National, collapsed and
died after producing one final stunning victory on Saturday.
At Cheltenham, Many Clouds shocked Thistlecrack to win the Cotswold Chase by a head before falling after the winning post. He was treated by veterinary staff before his death was confirmed.
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2015 Grand National,
England,
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London,
Many Clouds,
race,
Sports
Oscar-nominated Emmanuelle Riva dies in Paris, age 89
Emmanuelle
Riva, a French star of screen and stage who was nominated for an
Academy Award for best actress in 2013, has died. She was 89.
Riva died Friday afternoon in a Paris clinic after a long illness, her agent, Anne Alvares Correa, told The Associated Press.
Riva was Oscar-nominated for her role in "Amour, " Michael Haneke's brutal depiction of an aging couple.
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Amour,
Cinema,
Emmanuelle Riva,
film,
France,
French,
Hiroshima Mon Amour,
Paris,
Riva
23: Serena Williams sets major record with win over Venus
Serena Williams held up a Grand Slam winner's trophy for the 23rd time,
celebrating her unrivalled place in history, and received a
congratulatory letter and a pair of custom-made shoes from Michael
Jordan, the name most synonymous with No. 23.
Venus Williams got to watch from close range again, and shed tears more of joy than regret after being beaten in a major final for the seventh time by her record-breaking younger sister.
Trump orders strict new refugee screening, citing terrorists
President Donald Trump on Friday barred all refugees from entering the United States for four months — and those from war-ravaged Syria indefinitely — declaring the ban necessary to prevent "radical Islamic terrorists" from entering the nation.
The order immediately suspended a program that last year resettled to the U.S. roughly 85,000 people displaced by war, political oppression, hunger and religious prejudice. Trump indefinitely blocked all those fleeing Syria, where a civil war has displaced millions of people, and imposed a 90-day ban on entry to the U.S. from seven Muslim majority nations.
Knights of Malta insist on sovereignty amid papal takeover
The Knights of Malta is still insisting on its sovereignty in its showdown with the Vatican, even after Pope Francis
effectively took control of the ancient religious order and announced a
papal delegate would govern it through a "process of renewal."
The Knights' current grand master, Fra' Matthew Festing, was at work Friday at the order's swanky Rome palazzo near the Spanish Steps, pending a meeting of his governing council to either accept or reject his resignation.
Tags:
Catholic,
Church,
condom,
dispute,
Grand Master,
Knights of Malta,
Matthew Festing,
Pope,
Pope Francis,
Religion,
Vatican
27 January 2017
'Mannix' star Mike Connors dies at 91
Mike Connors, who starred as a hard-hitting private eye on the long-running television series "Mannix," has died. He was 91.
The actor died surrounded by family Thursday afternoon at a Los Angeles hospital from complications of leukemia that had been diagnosed a week earlier, said his son-in-law, Mike Condon.
"Mannix" ran for eight years on CBS beginning in 1967. Viewers were intrigued by the tall, smartly dressed, well-spoken detective who could mix it up with the burliest of thugs and leap on the hood of a racing car to prevent an escape. Episodes normally climaxed with a brawl that left the culprits bruised and beaten.
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Connors,
Joe Mannix,
Krekor Ohanian,
Mannix,
Mike Connors,
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U.S.
Throngs cheer new president's triumphant return to Gambia
President Adama Barrow returned triumphantly to Gambia on Thursday,
nearly two months after winning an election disputed by the country's
longtime dictator, to the cheers of hundreds of thousands who jammed the
roads in welcome.
"That's my president!" the crowds cried, eager to see Barrow fulfill the promise of democratic reforms and newfound freedoms in this tiny West African nation.
26 January 2017
Pope takes over Knights of Malta after condom dispute
Pope Francis
on Wednesday seized control of the Knights of Malta, and action that
amounts to one sovereign country annexing another, if on a very small
scale.
Here's what led to the takeover and what it means for the Knights, the Vatican and the Catholic Church.
Here's what led to the takeover and what it means for the Knights, the Vatican and the Catholic Church.
WHO ARE THEY?
The Knights of Malta is an ancient lay Catholic religious order that runs hospitals and clinics around the world. It counts 3,500 members and 100,000 staff and volunteers who lend first aid in war zones, natural disasters and conflict areas; members also make regular pilgrimages bringing the sick to Catholic shrines.
Tags:
Catholic,
Church,
condom,
dispute,
Grand Master,
Knights of Malta,
Matthew Festing,
Pope,
Pope Francis,
Religion,
Vatican
24 January 2017
Trump moves to pull US out of big Asia trade deal
Charting a new American course abroad, President Donald Trump
withdrew the United States from the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership
on Monday, using one of his first actions in office to reject a
centerpiece of Barack Obama's attempts to counter China and deepen U.S. ties in Asia.
Trump's move on trade aimed to fulfill a central campaign promise even as he appeared to be fixated on re-litigating the 2016 election.
Trump undoes parts of Obama agenda with executive actions
President Donald Trump
signed three executive memorandums on Monday, kicking off his first
full week in the White House by undoing parts of his predecessor's
agenda and renewing a longtime Republican priority on abortion funding.
Trump signed a memorandum that freezes hiring for some federal government workers, a notice to abandon the proposed Pacific Rim trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and another executive action to reinstate a ban on providing federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option.
Federal judge swats Aetna-Humana insurer combo
A federal judge has rejected health insurer Aetna's bid to buy rival
Humana on grounds that the deal would hurt competition in hundreds of
Medicare Advantage markets, ultimately affecting the price consumers pay
for coverage.
U.S. District Judge John Bates said in an opinion filed Monday that federal regulation would probably be "insufficient to prevent the merged firm from raising prices or reducing benefits," and neither new competitors nor an Aetna plan to sell some of the combined company's business to another insurer, Molina Healthcare Inc., would be enough to ease competitive concerns.
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American,
business,
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company,
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health,
health care,
health insurance,
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Humana,
Judge,
Medicare,
reject,
rejected,
U.S.
Amnesty urges Egypt to investigate Sinai killings by police
Egypt
must launch an independent and thorough investigation into the recent
killing of 10 men by security forces in the Sinai Peninsula, Amnesty
International said on Monday.
The government announced earlier this month that the 10 had been killed in a shootout in the northern Sinai city of al-Arish. But in a Monday statement, the London-based advocacy group repeated what the families of the slain men already claim — that at least six of them had already been in police custody for weeks before their deaths.
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attack,
Cairo,
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investigate,
investigation,
killed,
militant,
security,
shooting,
Sinai,
Sinai Peninsula
22 January 2017
At least 32 killed, 50 injured as train derails in India
An overnight passenger train derailed in southern India, killing at
least 32 people and injuring 50 others in the latest accident to hit the
country's massive, disaster-prone rail network.
Seven coaches of the Hirakand Express were thrown off the tracks around midnight Saturday, some landing on a goods train that was on a parallel track, said Divisional Railway manager Chandralekha Mukherji.
Over 1 million join anti-Trump women's marches worldwide
In a global exclamation of defiance and solidarity, more than 1 million
people rallied at women's marches in the nation's capital and cities
around the world Saturday to send President Donald Trump an emphatic message on his first full day in office that they won't let his agenda go unchallenged.
"Welcome to your first day, we will not go away!" marchers in Washington chanted.
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march,
president,
President Donald Trump,
protest,
Trump,
U.S.,
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woman,
women,
women's march
21 January 2017
Bomb blast kill 22, wounds at least 50 in northwest Pakistan
A bomb exploded Saturday in a market in a northwest tribal region
bordering Afghanistan, killing 22 people and wounding at least 50,
officials said.
Dr. Sabir Hussain at the main hospital in Parachinar, the capital of Pakistan's Kurram tribal region, said two more wounded victims died in the hospital, increasing the death toll.
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Bomb blast,
bomb explosion,
Kurram,
Lashker-e-Jhangvi,
market,
Pakistan,
Parachinar,
Shiite
Trump takes charge, assertive but untested 45th US president
Pledging emphatically to empower America's "forgotten men and women," Donald Trump
was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States Friday, taking
command of a riven nation facing an unpredictable era under his
assertive but untested leadership.
Under cloudy, threatening skies at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, Trump painted a bleak picture of the America he now leads, declaring as he had throughout the election campaign that it is beset by crime, poverty and a lack of bold action. The billionaire businessman and reality television star — the first president who had never held political office or high military rank — promised to stir a "new national pride" and protect America from the "ravages" of countries he says have stolen U.S. jobs.
20 January 2017
'NCIS: Los Angeles' star Miguel Ferrer dies at 61
Miguel Ferrer, who brought stern authority to his featured role on CBS'
hit "NCIS: Los Angeles" and, before that, to NBC crime drama "Crossing
Jordan," has died.
CBS said Ferrer died Thursday of cancer at his Los Angeles home. He was 61.
He had played assistant director Owen Granger on "NCIS: Los Angeles" since 2012. Before that, he played the chief medical examiner and gruff-but-supportive boss to series star Jill Hennessy for the six seasons of "Crossing Jordan."
Iran shocked by deadly fire, collapse of Tehran high-rise
A
historic high-rise building in the heart of Iran's capital caught fire
and later collapsed Thursday, killing at least 30 firefighters and
leaving their stunned colleagues and bystanders weeping in the streets.
The disaster at the 17-story Plasco building, inadvertently shown live on state television, came after authorities said they repeatedly warned tenants about blocking stairwells with fabric from cramped garment workshops on its upper floors.
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LODD,
Plasco,
Plasco building,
Tehran
19 January 2017
S. Koreans' ties with Samsung are lifelong, often conflicted
The family smartphones? An assortment of Samsung Galaxies. The
flat-screen TV that illuminates the living room? A Samsung SUHD, with
the brand name sparkling on the nameplate. The maker of the digital
toilet seat? You guessed it: Samsung.
It's difficult for people outside South Korea to fully grasp what Samsung, a truly global brand, means inside its home country, where it is far more than just another big company. It is seen variously as both a talisman and a millstone, as national savior and greedy business behemoth. Those diverse views only intensified Thursday when a court rejected prosecutors' request to arrest Samsung heir and Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong in the corruption scandal surrounding impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
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bribery,
bribery case,
case,
Lee,
Lee Jae-yong,
Park Geun-hye,
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Samsung Electronics,
scandal,
Seoul,
South Korea,
South Korean
Court denies a request to arrest Samsung's de facto head
A Seoul court on Thursday denied a request to arrest one of South
Korea's most powerful men, the heir to the Samsung Electronics
juggernaut, in a setback to prosecutors investigating an
influence-peddling scandal that toppled South Korea's president.
The Seoul Central District Court said that a judge concluded that there was not enough justification to detain the 48-year-old billionaire Samsung vice chairman, Lee Jae-yong, at this stage.
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bribery,
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Lee Jae-yong,
Park Geun-hye,
Samsung,
Samsung Electronics,
scandal,
Seoul,
South Korea,
South Korean
Death toll in Mali suicide blast rises to at least 60
A suicide bomber in an explosives-laden vehicle penetrated a camp in
northern Mali on Wednesday, killing at least 60 people and wounding 115
soldiers and former fighters who are trying to stabilize the region. The
attack marked a significant setback for peace efforts.
Suspicion quickly fell on the Islamic extremist groups operating in the area which oppose the 2015 peace agreement that brought the parties together. A Mauritanian news agency that frequently receives communications from extremist groups, Alakhbar, said a group linked to al-Qaida's North Africa branch, al-Mourabitoun, had claimed responsibility.
18 January 2017
New Silk Road? 1st China-London freight train arrives
The first direct freight train service from China to Britain arrived in
London Wednesday, another leg in Beijing's plans for closer trade ties
with Europe along a modern-day Silk Road.
The 18-day trip saw dozens of containers packed mainly with clothes and household goods transported from the city of Yiwu in eastern China to a freight terminal in Barking in east London, via Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland and western Europe.
Australia defends end of MH370 hunt; investigation continues
Australia's Transport Minister Darren Chester said on Wednesday that
experts will continue analyzing data and scrutinizing debris washing
ashore from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in a bid to narrow down where
it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. But Chester declined to specify
what kind of breakthrough would convince officials to resume the search
for the missing airliner that was suspended this week after almost
three years.
"When we get some information or data or a breakthrough that leads us to a specific location, the experts will know it when they see it," he told reporters in the southern city of Melbourne.
Nigerian air force bombs refugee camp, more than 100 dead
A Nigerian air force fighter jet on a mission against Boko Haram
extremists mistakenly bombed a refugee camp on Tuesday, killing more
than 100 refugees and aid workers and wounding 200, a government
official and doctors said.
Military commander Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor confirmed an accidental bombardment in the northeastern town of Rann, near the border with Cameroon, saying "some" civilians were killed.
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Boko Haram,
bombing,
camp,
civilian,
dead,
militant,
mistake,
mistakenly,
Nigeria,
Nigerian air force,
Rann,
refugee,
refugee camp
17 January 2017
Gene Cernan, last astronaut to walk on the moon, dies at 82
Former astronaut Gene Cernan, who as the last person to walk on the moon
returned to Earth with a message of "peace and hope for all mankind,"
died on Monday, his family said. He was 82.
Cernan was with his relatives when he died at a Houston hospital following ongoing heath issues, family spokeswoman Melissa Wren told The Associated Press. His family said his devotion to lunar exploration never waned.
"Even at the age of 82, Gene was passionate about sharing his desire to see the continued human exploration of space and encouraged our nation's leaders and young people to not let him remain the last man to walk on the Moon," his family said in a statement released by NASA.
16 January 2017
Eyewear giant to emerge from tie-up of Luxottica, Essilor
A new European eyewear giant worth more than 50 billion euros ($52.5
billion) is set to emerge as Italy's Luxottica — owner of Ray-Ban and
Oakley glasses — merges with French lens manufacturer Essilor.
Essilor International SA said Monday it had reached a share exchange deal with Luxottica's main shareholder, Delfin, to create a combined company making both frames and lenses.
Shares jumped in both Luxottica, which is based in Milan, and Essilor, headquartered near Paris.
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eyewear,
France,
French,
Italian,
Italy,
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merge,
ophthalmic,
ophthalmic lenses,
Ophthalmology,
optical,
Ray-Ban,
spectacle,
spectacles,
Sunglasses
Kyrgyzstan: Cargo plane crash kills 37, destroys village
A Turkish cargo plane crashed Monday in a residential area just outside
the main airport in Kyrgyzstan, destroying half of a village and killing
at least 37 people in the plane and on the ground, the Emergency
Situations Ministry said.
The Boeing 747 crashed at 7:40 a.m. local time while approaching Manas airport, south of the capital, Bishkek, in this Central Asian nation.
South Korea seeks arrest of Samsung scion in graft scandal
In a departure from the leniency typically given South Korean big
businesses, prosecutors on Monday requested the arrest of the de facto
head of Samsung Electronics, the country's most valuable company, in an
influence-peddling scandal that has toppled the country's president.
Lee Jae-yong, the 48-year-old vice chairman at Samsung Electronics, faces allegations of embezzlement, of lying under oath during a parliamentary hearing and of offering a bribe of 43 billion won ($36 million) to a long-time friend of impeached President Park Geun-hye, according to Lee Kyu-chul, a spokesman for a special prosecutors' team investigating the political scandal.
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case,
Lee,
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Park Geun-hye,
Samsung,
Samsung Electronics,
scandal,
Seoul,
South Korea,
South Korean
Death toll at 26 inmates from latest Brazil prison violence
Twenty-six inmates were killed in eruptions of violence inside two
prisons in northern Brazil, officials said Sunday as they quelled the
latest in a string of jail disturbances across the country in which more
than 100 people died within two weeks.
The state security office for Rio Grande do Norte state had reported earlier in the day that there were 27 deaths, but later lowered that by one. It also said all bodies had now been counted.
Bahrain executes 3 over police bombing, triggering protests
Bahrain on Sunday carried out its first executions since an Arab Spring
uprising rocked the country in 2011, putting to death three men found
guilty of a deadly bomb attack on police.
The executions of the Shiite men drew swift condemnation from human rights groups and sparked intense protests by opponents of the Sunni-ruled government, who see the charges as politically motivated. Activists allege that testimony used against the condemned men was obtained through torture.
15 January 2017
Gadget mountain rising in Asia threatens health, environment
The waste from discarded electronic gadgets and electrical appliances
has reached severe levels in East Asia, posing a growing threat to
health and the environment unless safe disposal becomes the norm.
China was the biggest culprit with its electronic waste more than doubling, according to a new study by the United Nations University. But nearly every country in the region had massive increases between 2010 and 2015, including those least equipped to deal with the growing mountain of discarded smartphones, computers, TVs, air conditioners and other goods.
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disposal,
East Asia,
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electronic gadgets,
electronic waste,
Environment,
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