29 February 2016

Russian police arrest woman seen waving child's head

Police and the Investigative Committee cars secure an area abound a subway station in Moscow on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016. Russian news agencies report that police have arrested a woman who was waving the severed head of a small child outside a Moscow subway station. The Investigative Committee released a statement saying a woman was arrested Monday on suspicion of killing a child aged 3 or 4 in an apartment near the metro station in northwestern Moscow and then setting the apartment on fire. The statement said the woman was believed to be the nanny.
Russian police on Monday arrested a woman who was seen waving the severed head of a small child outside a Moscow subway station. She is suspected of killing the child when it was in her care, officials said.
Videos posted on Russian news websites show a woman dressed all in black, holding the severed head and shouting "I am a terrorist" in Russian, although most of what she says is incomprehensible. In some of the videos the woman is tackled by men who appear to be police.

Oscars' backstage moments rival those on camera

Brie Larson is seen backstage after winning the award for best actress in a leading role for “Room” at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
While audiences around the world watch the glamorous Oscars proceedings on TV, a whole different array of memorable starry moments are happening off-camera.

Because the Academy Awards bring together so many top talents, the wings of the stage become an impromptu meeting place for stars across genres.
Here's a peek at the backstage celebrity spectacle:

List of 88th annual Academy Award winners

Alicia Vikander accepts the award for best actress in a supporting role for “The Danish Girl” at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
List of winners at Sunday's 88th annual Academy Awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Best Picture: "Spotlight."

Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant."

Actress: Brie Larson, "Room."

28 February 2016

Russian coal mine accident kills 36, including 5 rescuers

This Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 photo provided by Russian Emergency Situations Ministry press service on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016 shows rescuers from Kemerovo region arriving for help in Vorkuta, Russia. Russian officials say a total of 36 people are believed to have died at a coal mine where a methane gas leak triggered three explosions and the collapse of the mine. The Russian emergency services say the dead include five rescue workers and a mine worker who were killed when the third explosion rocked the Vorkutaugol mine in Russia's far north Komi region early Sunday.
A methane gas leak at a coal mine in Russia's far north triggered three explosions that ignited fires and partially collapsed the mine, killing 36 people, officials said Sunday.

The dead included five rescue workers and a mine worker who were killed early Sunday when the third explosion rocked the Severnaya mine in Vorkuta, a town north of the Arctic Circle in the Komi region, the emergency services said.

25 February 2016

Mumbai sets no-selfie zones as deaths linked to selfies rise

In this Feb. 22, 2016, photo, Indians take a selfie in Mumbai's coastline. India is home to the highest number of people who have died while taking photos of themselves, with 19 of the world’s 49 recorded selfie-linked deaths since 2014, according to San Francisco-based data service provider Priceonomics. The statistic may in part be due to India’s sheer size, with 1.25 billion citizens and one of the world’s fastest-growing smartphone markets.
Look around in any major Indian city, and you will find someone with an arm outstretched, mobile phone in hand, smiling widely and clicking away. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embraced the medium, posting pictures online he's snapped with various world leaders.
But the pursuit of the most epic selfie can have lethal consequences.

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt freed from jail in weapons case

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt centre, waves to his fans as he arrives at his residence in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016 . Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt walked free Thursday after completing his five-year prison sentence for illegal weapons possession in a case linked to the 1993 terror attack in India's financial capital Mumbai.
Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt said freedom was "the most amazing thing" after he left prison Thursday upon completing his five-year sentence for illegal weapons possession in a case linked to the 1993 terror attack in Mumbai.
Dutt's wife Maanyata and noted filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani greeted the actor as he came out of the prison gate in the western city of Pune. He saluted the Indian national flag at the prison building and thanked fans, including some who came in person to see him, for their support. "There is no easy walk to freedom, my friend," he told reporters before leaving in a chartered plane.

24 February 2016

China's top phone maker Xiaomi unveils new flagship handset

Vsitors attend the Mobile World Congress wireless show in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016.
China's leading smartphone maker, Xiaomi, unveiled Wednesday its new flagship device, the Mi 5, which it hopes will strengthen its hold on the world's biggest domestic market for handsets.
 

Staying with Xiaomi's strategy of undercutting global giants like Samsung and Apple, the Mi 5 aims to provide speedy processing and light weight at a relatively low cost.

Amnesty criticizes India for intolerance of dissent

Indian students shout slogans during a protest in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. Thousands of students and teachers are gathering in the heart of the Indian capital to protest the recent death of a student due to caste discrimination and the arrest of a student leader on sedition charges in New Delhi.
Amnesty International has joined a growing chorus accusing India of supporting a climate of intolerance by cracking down on dissent through arbitrary arrests, caste-based discrimination, extrajudicial killings and attacks on freedom of expression.

The rights group said in its annual global report, published Wednesday, that India's Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had failed to prevent hundreds of incidents of communal violence, usually involving members of the Hindu majority pitted against Muslims or other minorities. Instead, ruling party lawmakers and politicians were fueling religious tensions with provocative speeches and justifications for the violence, it said.

23 February 2016

Damage to India canal highlights Delhi's water vulnerability

Villagers walk next the Munak canal, near the village of Bindroli, India, Monday, Feb. 22, 2016. Fears of a water crisis in the Indian capital eased Monday with security forces securing a canal in Haryana, which provides 60 percent of its water needs.
Engineers were working to restore New Delhi's full water supply Tuesday after protesters damaged a key canal in a neighboring state and disrupted supplies over the weekend — highlighting the extreme water vulnerability faced by the Indian capital's 18 million residents.
Some supplies resumed to northern and central parts of New Delhi, and will hopefully reach western neighborhoods by Tuesday evening, said Delhi's water minister, Kapil Mishra. In the meantime, 70 water tankers have been sent to western areas of the city where taps have been dry for up to two days.

22 February 2016

Zuckerberg to press on with Internet access despite setback

In this March 2, 2015 file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during a conference at the Mobile World Congress, the world's largest mobile phone trade show in Barcelona, Spain. Zuckerberg likes to boast that his 3-year-old effort to connect the developing world to the Internet has reached millions of people in some of the world’s poorest nations. But a central element of his Internet.org campaign was controversial even before it was shut down in a key market this month. Indian regulators banned one of the pillars of the campaign, a service known as Free Basics, because it provided access only to certain pre-approved services - including Facebook - rather than the full Internet.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg vowed Monday to press on with his 3-year-old effort to bring the developing world online, even after Indian regulators banned one of the pillars of the campaign.
He said the banned service, Free Basics, was only one program in his Internet.org campaign, so he could proceed with other initiatives. Indian regulators banned Free Basics this month because it provided access only to certain pre-approved services — including Facebook — rather than the full Internet.

Protests that led to caste violence in north India near end

Indian military guard the Munak canal, near the village of Bindroli, in the northern state of Haryana, Monday, Feb. 22, 2016. Fears of a water crisis in the Indian capital eased Monday with security forces securing a canal in Haryana state, which provides 60 percent of its water needs.
Authorities in a north Indian state on Monday began lifting curfews in key towns and protesters gradually removed roadblocks after 12 people died in clashes during their demonstrations for government benefits.
Government forces also secured a canal in Haryana state, which provides 60 percent of New Delhi's water needs, easing fears of a shortage in the Indian capital. New Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said engineers were repairing portions of a reservoir damaged by protesters.

Protests that led to caste violence in north India near end

Indian military guard the Munak canal, near the village of Bindroli, in the northern state of Haryana, Monday, Feb. 22, 2016. Fears of a water crisis in the Indian capital eased Monday with security forces securing a canal in Haryana state, which provides 60 percent of its water needs.
Authorities in a north Indian state have begun lifting a curfew in key towns and protesters have removed roadblocks after clashes left 12 people dead during their demonstrations for government benefits.
Government forces also Monday secured a canal in Haryana state, which provides 60 percent of New Delhi's water needs, easing fears of a shortage. New Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said engineers were repairing portions of a reservoir damaged by protesters.

21 February 2016

Deadly north India protests lead to New Delhi water shortage

Indian army soldiers conduct a flag march past damaged buildings at Rohtak, a day after being rocked by violence in Haryana state, India, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Hundreds of army and paramilitary soldiers on Saturday tried to quell protests by angry mobs demanding government benefits in the northern Indian state, with at least four people killed in clashes between security forces and protesters, officials said.
Authorities in India's capital have closed schools and taken other measures to combat water supply problems caused by violent protests in a neighboring state that have left at least 12 people dead.
Thousands of members of an underprivileged community who are protesting to demand government benefits have damaged equipment that brings water from the Munak canal in Haryana state to New Delhi, depleting the capital's water supply. New Delhi, a city of more than 16 million people, gets about 60 percent of its water from Haryana state.

6 dead in Kashmir standoff between Indian forces and rebels

Indian army soldiers arrive at the site of a gun battle, on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Islamic militants fired automatic rifles at a convoy of Indian paramilitary soldiers in the Indian portion of Kashmir on Saturday, before taking refuge in a nearby government building, police said.
A handful of rebels holed up in a building in the Indian portion of Kashmir exchanged fire with government forces for the second straight day Sunday in a standoff that has left five soldiers and one civilian dead.
The rebels, numbering two to three, fired guns and grenades from the government building where they have been hiding since Saturday, said paramilitary spokesman Bhavesh Chaudhary.

5 dead in Kashmir standoff between Indian forces and rebels

An Indian army soldiers watches from distance as he takes position behind a wall near the site of a gun battle, on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Islamic militants fired automatic rifles at a convoy of Indian paramilitary soldiers in the Indian portion of Kashmir on Saturday, before taking refuge in a nearby government building, police said.
A handful of rebels holed up in a building in the Indian portion of Kashmir exchanged fire with government forces for the second straight day Sunday, raising the number of dead to four soldiers and one civilian. Another 13 paramilitary troops have been wounded in the standoff.
The rebels, numbering two to three, fired guns and grenades early Sunday as Indian commandos tried to storm the government building where they have been hiding since Saturday, said paramilitary spokesman Bhavesh Chaudhary.

6 dead in protests for caste benefits in northern India

Protesters vandalize and damage vehicles during a pro caste quota protest in Rohtak, 70 kilometers (45 miles) west of New Delhi, India, Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. India's paramilitary forces shot and killed one person on Friday as protests for government benefits turned violent in northern India, police said. Thousands of people belonging to the Jat agricultural community were protesting in Rohtak and other towns in Haryana state, to demand an increase in their caste quota benefits, which include guaranteed government jobs or university spots.
Hundreds of Indian security forces imposed a curfew and were ordered to fire without warning in a bid to quell protests by members of an underprivileged community demanding government benefits in a northern state, where at least six people have died in clashes, officials said.

The violence raged for a second straight day Saturday and protesters burned several railroad stations and attacked shops and vehicles in several towns in Haryana state, said police officer Y.P. Singhal.

Umberto Eco, author of 'The Name of the Rose,' dead at 84

In this Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 file photo, Italian writer Umberto Eco is seen prior to a press conference at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Eco, best known for the international best-seller “The Name of the Rose,” died Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. He was 84.
Umberto Eco catapulted to global literary fame three decades ago with "The Name of the Rose," a novel in which professorial erudition underpinned a medieval thriller that sold some 30 million copies in more than 40 languages.
The Italian author and academic who became one of Italy's best-known cultural exports and keenest cultural critics, died at home in Milan on Friday evening after a battle with cancer, according to a family member who asked not to be identified.
His death was earlier confirmed by his American publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

18 February 2016

Protests against India student leader's arrest spread

Students, teachers and supporters of four leftist student organizations walk in a procession protesting against the arrest of a student union leader of New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016. Dozens of lawyers, many with links to India's ruling nationalist party, clashed Wednesday with protesters demanding the release of the student leader arrested under India's colonial-era sedition laws.
A protest that rocked a New Delhi university this week spread across India on Thursday, with students and teachers in at least 10 cities demanding the release of a student leader arrested on sedition charges and accused of being anti-Indian.

The protesters were outraged by nationally televised scenes of Kanhaiya Kumar, the student union president at Jawaharlal Nehru University, being kicked and punched while he was escorted to a court hearing Wednesday, renewing allegations that the Hindu nationalist governing party is intolerant.

16 February 2016

Indian Kashmir begins bird census at Himalayan wetlands

Migratory birds fly above wetlands in Hokersar,16 kilometers (10 miles) north of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. Waterbirds cover tens of thousands of kilometers every year during their annual migratory cycle. Every year International Waterbird Census (IWC) is conducted to monitor the population of theses birds around the world.
A meticulous counting of waterbirds began Tuesday in the wetlands and marshes of India's portion of the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which attracts species migrating from as far as northern Europe and Japan.

More than 100 wildlife officials and volunteers were performing the region's second formal census, after scientists for years criticized less formal counts as unreliable.

15 February 2016

The Latest: Pope's helicopter overflew Teotihuacan pyramids

In this photo taken on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, Pope Francis waves to people as he arrives to the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. Francis will celebrate Mass at the Basilica, considered the largest and most important Marian shrine in the world.
The latest on Pope Francis' visit to Mexico (all times local):

9:30 p.m.
Pope Francis got a brief glimpse of pre-Hispanic culture Sunday, the day before he flies to the southern state of Chiapas to celebrate Mexico's indigenous peoples.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi says that before arriving in the Mexico City suburb of Ecatepec for a Mass, the pope's helicopter flew over the pyramids of Teotihuacan about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of the capital.

'The Revenant' and DiCaprio are winners at BAFTA film awards

In this photo taken Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, set builder Charlie Wright works on a giant replica of the BAFTA trophy which will be displayed during the forthcoming BAFTA awards ceremony on Sunday, Feb 14th, in London.
The U.K. film industry showered Valentine's Day love on "The Revenant" Sunday, awarding the endurance epic five prizes, including best picture and best actor, at the British Academy Film Awards.
Leonardo DiCaprio cemented his Oscar-favorite status by taking the best-actor trophy for playing a bear-battling fur trapper in a brutally wild American West. Alejandro G. Inarritu was named best director for what he called a "human and tender story," and "The Revenant" also won prizes for cinematography and sound.

List of winners at the 2016 British Academy Film Awards

Leonardo DiCaprio attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House on February 14, 2016 in London, England.
Winners of the 2016 British Academy Film Awards, presented Sunday:

Film — "The Revenant"
British Film — "Brooklyn"
Director — Alejando G. Inarritu, "The Revenant"
Actor — Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant"

50 Latvian couples get hitched in midair, literally

This image taken from Associated Press television shows ahot air balloon with couples about to be wed in Jekabpils, Latvia Sunday Feb. 14, 2016. Latvian couples tied the knot in the air on Valentine’s Day hoping to set a world record in the number of simultaneous weddings in hot air balloons. Fifty couples in 30 balloons rose into the sky Sunday during the Love Cup festival near the southeastern city of Jekabpils, watched by thousands of spectators but the balloons were hitched to cars because it was snowing at the time, impeding them from rising higher than some 15 meters.
Latvian couples have tied the knot in the air on Valentine's Day hoping to set a world record in the number of simultaneous weddings in hot air balloons.

Fifty couples in 30 balloons rose into the sky Sunday during the Love Cup festival near the southeastern city of Jekabpils, watched by thousands of spectators but the balloons were hitched to cars because it was snowing at the time, impeding them from rising higher than some 15 meters.

14 February 2016

Hong Kong hosts Valentine's Day with 25,000 LED roses

A woman takes a selfie in front of the LED lights roses at the “Light Rose Garden” in Hong Kong, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. “Light Rose Garden" is originated from South Korea, an art installation project featuring 25,000 white roses made of LED lights for Valentine’s Day.
It's like a romantic scene out of one of South Korea's sappy soap dramas — tens of thousands of illuminated roses forming an impressive backdrop for the lead actor and actress to declare their love for each other.
The Light Rose Garden, a public art installation featuring a sea of white roses made with light-emitting diode, or LED, is also a perfect venue for Valentine's Day in Hong Kong.

13 February 2016

Facebook nude-painting case can face trial in France

In this Nov. 6, 2007 file photo, the Facebook logo is displayed at a Facebook announcement in New York. Facebook lost a crucial legal battle Friday Feb. 12, 2016 as a Paris court ruled the social network can be sued in France over its decision to remove the account of a French user who posted a photo of a famous 19th-century nude painting.
If you post a 19th-century nude painting on Facebook, is it art or impermissible nudity? That question is now cleared for trial in France, after an appeals court there ruled that an aggrieved user can sue the social network over the issue.
Five years ago, Facebook suspended the account of Frederic Durand-Baissas, a 57-year-old Parisian teacher and art lover, without prior notice. That was the day he posted a photo of Gustave Courbet's 1866 painting "The Origin of the World," which depicts female genitalia.

12 February 2016

Coke suspends bottling at plant at center of water dispute

An Indian pedestrian crosses a road near roadside kiosk with a Coca-cola advertisement in New Delhi, India, Friday, Feb. 12, 2016. Coca-Cola suspended bottling at three plants in India, including one in the parched northwest where farmers have been protesting the company's use of dwindling groundwater reserves.
Coca-Cola suspended bottling at three plants in India, including one in the parched northwest where farmers have been protesting the company's use of dwindling groundwater reserves.
Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, which is a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Co. based in Atlanta, said it was reorganizing operations across its 24 franchise bottling plants in India according to market demand and factory upgrades.

Einstein's right again: Scientists detect ripples in gravity

Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Co-Founder Rainer Weiss, left, and Kip Thorne, right, accompanied by Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Exectutive Director David Reitze, bottom, hug on stage during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, to announce that scientists have detected gravitational ripples, just as Einstein predicted a century ago.
It was just a tiny, almost imperceptible "chirp," but it simultaneously opened humanity's ears to the music of the cosmos and proved Einstein right again.
In what is being hailed as one of the biggest eureka moments in the history of physics, scientists announced Thursday that they have finally detected gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space and time that Einstein predicted a century ago.

10 February 2016

India launches campaign for deworming millions of children

An Indian schoolchild takes a deworming tablet in Hyderabad, India, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016 as part of a massive national deworming campaign to prevent parasitic worms from infecting their bodies and impairing their mental and physical development. The campaign is targeting 270 million children across the country.
Millions of Indian children are getting deworming treatment in a massive national campaign to prevent parasitic worms from infecting them and impairing their mental and physical development.
In a village on the outskirts of the Indian capital, the children washed their hands and lined up to chew the deworming tablets given to them by their teachers and health workers before opening their bags for studies on Wednesday morning.

Elephant rampages in east Indian town, smashing homes

A wild elephant that strayed into the town stands after authorities shot it with a tranquilizer gun at Siliguri in West Bengal state, India, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016. The elephant had wandered from the Baikunthapur forest on Wednesday, crossing roads and a small river before entering the town. The panicked elephant ran amok, trampling parked cars and motorbikes before it was tranquilized.
A wild elephant rampaged through an east Indian town on Wednesday, smashing cars and homes and sending panicked people running before the animal was tranquilized to be returned to the forest.
As the frightened elephant ran amok, trampling parked cars and motorbikes, crowds of people gathered to watch from balconies and roof tops. Some followed from a distance as the elephant moved through the streets.

8 February 2016

Coldplay's latest video criticized for portrayal of India

Coldplay singer Chris Martin performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 50 football game Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, in Santa Clara, Calif.
British rock band Coldplay's latest music video has triggered a debate in India over its portrayal of the country with critics accusing its producers of showing stereotypical images of India with Hindu holy men, peacocks and colorful festivals.
Coldplay featured Beyonce in their Super Bowl half-time show Sunday, but they didn't perform their new collaboration, "Hymn for the Weekend."

Chinese visit temples, fairs to ring in Year of the Monkey

A lion dance performer looks out from the mouth of the lion head at Ditan Park to mark the first day of Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. Millions of Chinese began celebrating the Lunar New Year, which marks the Year of the Monkey on the Chinese zodiac.
Chinese flocked to temples and fairs to pray for good health and fortune on Monday, the first day of the Lunar New Year.
In Beijing, hundreds of thousands of people visited traditional fairs held in parks, as well as Buddhist and Taoist temples offering singing and dance performances and open-air markets selling handicrafts.

7 February 2016

Storms may brew, but in N. Korea pride over new satellite

North Koreans applaud as they watch an electronic screen announcing the launch of a satellite on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, at the Pyongyang Railway Station in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea on Sunday defied international warnings and launched a long-range rocket that the United Nations and others call a cover for a banned test of technology for a missile that could strike the U.S. mainland.
Hours after the rest of the world already knew, North Korea's state media triumphantly announced in a special news bulletin to the nation Sunday it had successfully launched a satellite into orbit, calling it a major milestone in the nation's history and the "greatest gift of loyalty" to the country's young leader, Kim Jong Un.
In a possible hint of what might lie ahead, however, North Korea's state media implored the nation on the eve of the launch to be prepared for whatever "violent storm" may be coming.

Taiwan rescuers find signs of life in quake rubble

A baby boy is rescued from a collapsed building after an earthquake in Tainan, Taiwan, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016. A powerful, shallow earthquake struck southern Taiwan before dawn Saturday.
Rescuers on Sunday found signs of life within the remains of a high-rise residential building that collapsed in a powerful, shallow earthquake in southern Taiwan that killed at least 19 people, as families anxiously waited on site.
The emergency center in Tainan, the worst-hit city, said Sunday that 171 people had been rescued from the building following the magnitude-6.4 quake that struck at dawn Saturday.

6 February 2016

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, 6th man on moon, dies in Florida

In a Sept. 5, 2007 file photo, former astronaut Edgar Mitchell arrives for the premiere of the "In the Shadow of the Moon," at the Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History in New York. Apollo 14 astronaut Mitchell, who became the sixth man on the moon when he and Alan Shepard helped NASA recover from Apollo 13's "successful failure" and later devoted his life to exploring the mind, physics and unexplained phenomena such as psychics and aliens, died Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, at a West Palm Beach, Florida, hospice after a short illness. He was 85.
Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who became the sixth man on the moon when he and Alan Shepard helped NASA recover from Apollo 13's "successful failure" and later devoted his life to exploring physics, the mind, and unexplained phenomena such as psychics and aliens, has died in Florida. He was 85.
Mitchell died Thursday night at a West Palm Beach hospice after a short illness, his daughter, Kimberly Mitchell, said. Mitchell's passing coincides with the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 14 mission from Jan. 31-Feb. 9, 1971.

4 February 2016

Assange to accept arrest if UN panel rules against him

In this Dec. 5, 2011 file photo, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange makes a statement to media gathered outside the High Court in London. Assange said Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, on WikiLeaks Twitter account that he will accept arrest by British police if a U.N. working group on arbitrary detention decides that the three years he has spent holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy does not amount to illegal detention.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he will accept arrest by British police if a U.N. working group investigating his claims decides that the three years he has spent inside the Ecuadorean Embassy doesn't amount to illegal detention.
Writing on WikiLeaks' Twitter account, Assange said if the U.N. panel finds he has lost his case against the United Kingdom and Sweden then he will turn himself in to police at noon on Friday.

1 February 2016

Djokovic names his 2016 goal the Djoker Slam

Novak Djokovic of Serbia gestures as he answers questions at a press conference after defeating Andy Murray of Britain in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, early Monday, Feb. 1, 2016.
Novak Djokovic has a new goal for the year. He calls it the Djoker Slam.
The No. 1-ranked player has one thing missing from his fast-growing collection of 11 Grand Slam trophies.
"The French Open. It's the one I never won," Djokovic said early Monday, after winning his record sixth Australian Open, but already casting an eye toward Paris. "I'll try to put myself in a position to get that trophy."

For Brazil's rich and poor, disparate response to Zika

In this Jan. 29, 2016 photo, Tainara Lourenco smiles as she chats with neighbors from the entrance of home at a slum in Recife, Brazil. Unemployed and five months pregnant, 21-year-old Lourenco lives in a slum at the epicenter of Brazil’s tandem Zika and microcephaly outbreaks, the state of Pernambuco.
Two Brazilian women, two pregnancies, one nightmare. But two very different stories.
Regina de Lima and Tainara Lourenco became pregnant at a scary moment — the dawn of an extraordinary Zika outbreak, as authorities came to suspect that the virus was causing an alarming spike in a rare birth defect called microcephaly. Both have reason to fear for the health of their unborn offspring.
But that is where the similarities end.