Britney Spears news

• Tony Gwynn’s family sues tobacco industry over star’s death

  23-05-2016 23:56 via salon.com
  
  FILE - In this June 11, 2013 file photo, Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn watches batting practice during warmups prior to a baseball game between the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves in San Diego. Gwynn's widow and two children filed a lawsuit Monday, May 23, 2016, seeking to hold the tobacco industry accountable for the Hall of Famer's death. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File) (Credit: AP)
  SAN DIEGO (AP) — Tony Gwynn’s widow and two children filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to hold the to
  
  Read more

• Fed inspectors find sick, dead animals at pet dealer ranch

  23-05-2016 23:50 via salon.com
  Federal inspectors found sick and dead animals, inadequate sanitation, untrained employees performing euthanasia and other deficiencies at a Pennsylvania small-animal dealer that supplied major pet retailers like Petco and PetSmart.
  The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report on its January inspection of Holmes Chinchilla Ranch that said inspectors found dozens of animals in need of veterinary treatment for symptoms ranging from hair loss to eye abnormalities to lethargy.
  USDA spent sev
  
  Read more

• Review: ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass,’ a curious sequel

  23-05-2016 23:43 via salon.com
  
  “Alice Through the Looking Glass ,” like its predecessor, owes very little to Lewis Carroll.
  Textual adherence is somewhat beside the point when serving as a sequel to something that also cherry picked. But, lest you think that a six-year gap and the absence of Tim Burton in the director’s chair might have allowed for a return to the gleeful absurdity of Carroll, it doesn’t.
  Screenwriter Linda Woolverton (“Beauty and the Beast”) has again disposed of the sourc
  
  Read more

• News: The Weeknd Wins Big, Kesha Covers Bob Dylan, Madonna and Stevie Wonder Pay Tribute To Prince, and Rihanna Performs "Love on the Brain" at Billboard Music Awards

  23-05-2016 23:36
  
  Britney Spears - News: The Weeknd Wins Big, Kesha Covers Bob Dylan, Madonna and Stevie Wonder Pay Tribute To Prince, and Rihanna Performs "Love on the Brain" at Billboard Music Awards
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Bernie has pissed off Tommy Chong: Comedian not so high on getting disinvited from Sanders rally

  23-05-2016 23:32 via salon.com
  
  Tommy Chong (Credit: Reuters/Fred Prouser)
  Bernie Sanders is harshing Tommy Chong’s mellow.
  The comedian and cannabis activist says he was scheduled to introduce Sanders at a campaign rally Monday in East Los Angeles, but was unceremoniously disinvited hours before the event.
  “It’s lip service to get the votes, but they don’t want to endorse what I stand for and what I’ve stood for all my professional career,” Chong told The Hollywood Reporter. “It
  
  Read more

• Arizona city bars Satanic Temple prayer at council meeting

  23-05-2016 23:27 via salon.com
  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Officials say Scottsdale will bar the Satanic Temple from leading a scheduled prayer at a City Council meeting in July.
  City spokesman Kelly Corsette says Scottsdale informed the Satanic Temple’s Arizona chapter that only representatives from institutions that have a substantial connection to the Scottsdale community will be allowed to give the invocation.
  Scottsdale now is making other arrangements for the July 6 invocation.
  Satanic Temple spokesman Stu de H
  
  Read more

• 10 Things to Know for Tuesday

  23-05-2016 23:18 via salon.com
  
  Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Tuesday:
  1. SANDERS THINKS DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION COULD BE ‘MESSY’
  In an exclusive AP interview, the candidate pushes the party to adopt his progressive agenda, but adds “Democracy is not always nice and quiet and gentle.”
  2. OFFICER CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES IN FREDDIE GRAY CASE
  Edward Nero remains on desk duty and still faces a departmental probe that could result in disciplinar
  
  Read more

• New report says health facilities attacked in 19 countries

  23-05-2016 22:53 via salon.com
  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Deliberate or indiscriminate attacks have decimated health facilities, killed medical workers and patients, and deprived countless civilians of care in 19 countries during 2015 and the first three months of 2016, a coalition of more than 30 health and humanitarian organizations said in a new report released Monday.
  The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition said the attacks took place from Colombia across Africa and the Middle East to Asia, including Pakistan, Myan
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Facebook drops news outlet input in ‘trending topics’ review

  23-05-2016 22:53 via salon.com
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Facebook says it is dropping its reliance on news outlets to help determine what gets posted as a “trending topic” on the giant social network, a move adopted after a backlash over a report saying it suppressed conservative views.
  Facebook’s General Counsel Colin Stretch outlined the change in a 12-page letter sent Monday to Republican Sen. John Thune, chairman of the commerce committee, which oversees the Internet and consumer protections.
  The move com
  
  Read more

• Man charged in Dallas shooting of Iraqi man convicted

  23-05-2016 22:41 via salon.com
  DALLAS (AP) — An 18-year-old man has been convicted of killing of an Iraqi man taking photos of his first snowfall in Texas.
  Nykerion Nealon was convicted of murder in the death of Ahmed Al-Jumaili.
  Al-Jumaili was outside his Dallas apartment complex taking pictures of snow with his wife and brother on the night of March 4, 2015, when he was shot.
  Police said at the time that Nealon told officers he had been hunting for people he thought had shot at his girlfriend’s nearby apartment
  
  Read more

• Official: Feds investigate Virginia gov’s campaign donations

  23-05-2016 22:38 via salon.com
  McLEAN, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is a subject of a federal investigation looking at donations to his gubernatorial campaign, according to a U.S. law enforcement official.
  The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation. CNN first reported the story Monday.
  Marc Elias, a lawyer for McAuliffe’s campaign, said Monday that the governor, a Democrat, is unaware of any investigation.
  “The Gover
  
  Read more

• Breyer says Supreme Court not diminished with only 8 members

  23-05-2016 22:33 via salon.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Stephen Breyer says the Supreme Court has not been diminished by having only eight members since the death of Antonin Scalia.
  Breyer made the comments Monday in response to questions at an awards ceremony for lawyers. He said he thinks Scalia would have made a difference in only four or five cases out of more than 70 the court will decide this term.
  He said it’s possible the court may be divided in a similar number of cases when the term ends in June.
  That c
  
  Read more

• 5 dead after skydiving tour plane crashes in Hawaii

  23-05-2016 22:32 via salon.com
  HONOLULU (AP) — Five people died after a skydiving tour plane crashed and caught fire in Hawaii, one of two plane crashes reported Monday in the islands.
  It happened about 9:30 a.m. on the island of Kauai, the county fire department said. The pilot, two skydive instructors and two tandem jumpers were believed to be on the plane.
  Four of them were pronounced dead at the crash site, just outside Port Allen Airport. One man was taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
  
  Read more

• Victims in Planned Parenthood attack say it was preventable

  23-05-2016 22:14 via salon.com
  DENVER (AP) — Victims of a mass shooting at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic say more should have been done to prevent the attack, given the history of violence against the reproductive health organization.
  A lawsuit filed Friday says the Colorado Springs clinic lacked armed security guards and adequate fencing during the November attack. Three people were killed and nine others injured.
  Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Whitney Phillips declined comment on the suit. She says the organiza
  
  Read more

• The Latest: Jury selection in actor trial to resume Tuesday

  23-05-2016 22:10 via salon.com
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on the murder trial of “The Shield” actor Michael Jace (all times local):
  5 p.m.
  The questioning of prospective jurors in the murder trial of an actor who played a police officer on the television series “The Shield” will resume Tuesday morning, with opening statements expected to begin later in the day.
  Jury selection began Monday, with a judge telling 70 prospective jurors about Michael Jace’s work as an actor and noting the cas
  
  Read more

• Leaders of 4 countries discuss settling Ukraine conflict

  23-05-2016 22:06 via salon.com
  MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says that the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine have spoken by telephone about ways to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
  A Kremlin statement said the participants in the call early Tuesday emphasized the need to observe a cease-fire and discussed raising the efficiency of a monitoring mission by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
  The Kremlin statement added that Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Ho
  
  Read more

• Head of TSA security operations removed from position

  23-05-2016 21:57 via salon.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee says the head of security operations at the Transportation Security Administration has been removed from the job.
  The House Oversight Committee posted on Twitter Tuesday that “Kelly Hoggan has been removed from his position.”
  The Associated Press has obtained a memo sent by TSA that does not mention Hoggan but names an acting replacement.
  It says, “Darby LaJoye will serve as the Acting Assistant Administrator of the Office of Security O
  
  Read more

• Pirates’ Vogelsong hit in head by pitch in win over Rockies

  23-05-2016 21:54 via salon.com
  PITTSBURGH (AP) — With reliever Ryan Vogelsong making a spot start Monday in a game rescheduled from the day before, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle knew that he was going need a few innings from his bullpen.
  Things took an unexpected turn, however, when Colorado Rockies starter Jordan Lyles hit Vogelsong in the head with a pitch in the bottom of the second inning of a game Pittsburgh went on to win 6-3.
  After loading the bases, Lyles was ahead in the count 2-0 when his 92 mph fast
  
  Read more

• Senate-USOC exchange concerns, plans about Zika virus in Rio

  23-05-2016 21:41 via salon.com
  A group of Democratic senators is concerned about how the Zika virus might affect American athletes at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro later this summer.
  Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., was one of 11 senators to sign a letter sent Monday to the U.S. Olympic Committee asking what steps it is taking to protect athletes against the spread of the mosquito-borne virus.
  The letter cited recent information from the Centers for Disease Control showing a link between the disease and a birth defect, microcep
  
  Read more

• Argentina and Brazil agree to mediate in Venezuela crisis

  23-05-2016 21:17 via salon.com
  
  BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Brazil’s acting foreign minister says his country will work with Argentina to help find a solution to Venezuela’s political crisis.
  Venezuela is facing a severe economic crisis, with the world’s highest inflation and shortages. Polls indicate most Venezuelans want President Nicolas Maduro out of office.
  Brazilian Foreign Minister Jose Serra met with Argentine President Mauricio Macri on Monday. It was Serra’s first state visit since be
  
  Read more

• Review: ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ satisfies in superhero summer

  23-05-2016 21:16 via salon.com
  It’s a bit of bad timing for “X-Men: Apocalypse” coming third in this summer’s superhero lineup.
  Director Bryan Singer invigorates his latest X-Men film with vintage 1980s charm in an origin story about how the mutant supergroup unites and divides in response to the villain Apocalypse. And while battles between heroes are an X-Men tradition, warring among the ranks has become a superhero trope this season, at play in both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and &ldq
  
  Read more

• Sanders: Democratic convention could be ‘messy’

  23-05-2016 21:10 via salon.com
  
  Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., poses for a photo after an interview with The Associated Press, Monday, May 23, 2016, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) (Credit: AP)
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bernie Sanders says the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia could be “messy” but that “democracy is not always nice and quiet and gentle.”
  Sanders said in an interview with The Associated Press Monday that his supporters hope to see a platf
  
  Read more

• Resignations sought after goatee blocks grad from ceremony

  23-05-2016 21:10 via salon.com
  
  AMITE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana chapter of the NAACP wants a school superintendent and three school board members to resign after a high school valedictorian was blocked from participating in graduation for refusing to shave his beard.
  At a Monday rally in support of Andrew Jones, the Tangipahoa chapter’s president, Patricia Morris, said Superintendent Mark Kolwe and board members Walter Daniels, Brett Duncan and Rose Dominguez should step down.
  Jones, a 4.0 student at Amite High Schoo
  
  Read more

• Clinton campaign declines invitation to California debate

  23-05-2016 21:09 via salon.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has declined an invitation from Fox News to participate in a debate with rival Bernie Sanders in California before that state’s June 7 primary.
  Clinton and Sanders are competing aggressively in California as primaries wrap up.
  But Clinton is close to getting the delegates she needs to seal the nomination. Sanders says he has a chance to pass her in pledged delegates, though he admits he faces tough odds. Then he w
  
  Read more

• Inmate: Drew Peterson admitted to killing missing wife

  23-05-2016 21:05 via salon.com
  CHESTER, Ill. (AP) — A prison inmate whom Drew Peterson allegedly enlisted to kill a state’s attorney says the former suburban Chicago police officer also admitted killing his missing fourth wife.
  The Chicago Tribune (trib.in/1TyJpih) reports Antonio Smith testified Monday that the ex-Bolingbrook sergeant referred to Stacy Peterson as a “dead woman” while discussing how to kill Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow.
  Peterson has never been charged in Stacy Pete
  
  Read more

• Kucherov’s excellence driving Lightning against Penguins

  23-05-2016 21:02 via salon.com
  TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The bigger the playoff moment, the more Nikita Kucherov shines.
  The young Russian has a knack for scoring when Tampa Bay needs it most, which is one of the reasons the Lightning are within one victory of reaching the Stanley Cup final for the second straight year.
  Kucherov has found the back of the net a NHL-leading 11 times in 15 games this postseason, seven of them in situations in which he’s either tied the score or given his team a lead.
  The 22-year-old’s
  
  Read more

• Mexican authorities exhume bodies from unmarked common grave

  23-05-2016 20:54 via salon.com
  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican officials on Monday began exhuming the remains of more than 100 unidentified people buried by authorities in a common grave in the central state of Morelos, state prosecutors said.
  The exhumations began after noon in the Las Cruces site in Cuautla township. Blue-smocked investigators worked under a yellow tent as families of missing persons and representatives of the National Human Rights Commission looked on.
  Shoddy practices at the gravesite for unidentified de
  
  Read more

• Baby girl dead after being left in car

  23-05-2016 20:49 via salon.com
  HIALEAH, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say an infant is dead after being left inside her parents’ car.
  The Miami Herald (http://goo.gl/1TzCCX) reports that the 11-month-old girl was found Monday afternoon.
  Hialeah police say the girl was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
  The car had been parked in a gated community. It wasn’t immediately clear how long the girl was left in the vehicle, but police say it might have been several hours.
  No criminal charges were
  
  Read more

• Restaurateur, LGBT pioneer dead; estranged husband arrested

  23-05-2016 20:48 via salon.com
  
  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The estranged husband of a well-known Salt Lake City restaurateur and LGBT pioneer who died in a house fire over the weekend has been arrested on suspicion of murder and arson, authorities said.
  Craig Crawford, 47, was booked after the blaze on Sunday killed 72-year-old John Williams, the owner of the popular Market Street Grill and other restaurants.
  The fire occurred less than three weeks after Williams filed for divorce from Crawford and sought a temporary restrain
  
  Read more

• Maybe they shouldn’t ask Justin Bieber back: “I don’t feel good,” he says, when performing during “hollow” awards shows

  23-05-2016 20:36 via salon.com
  
  (Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
  In a lengthily captioned Instagram post Monday, pop singer Justin Bieber explained his awards show existential crisis, writing “I don’t feel good when I’m there nor after.”
  Bieber performed recent hits, “Company” and “Sorry,” at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday.
  “I try to think of it as a celebration but can’t help feeling like people are rating and grading my performance,” the gr
  
  Read more

• It’s bigger than Kim Davis: What makes “sincerely held religious beliefs” so special?

  23-05-2016 20:13 via salon.com
  
  Kim Davis (Credit: AP/Susan Walsh)
  A bill introduced in the Oklahoma state senate on Thursday says a student with a “sincerely held religious belief” can force his or her school to provide restrooms “designated for the exclusive use of that student’s sex” (“as identified at birth by that individual’s anatomy”).
  In other words, if your school follows the Obama administration’s directive to allow children to use the bathroom that matches their
  
  Read more

• “I’ve always made more money in bad markets than in good markets”: Donald Trump explains why he was “excited” about the 2008 economic crash

  23-05-2016 20:09 via salon.com
  
  (Credit: AP/Julie Jacobson)
  Mitt Romney’s style of vulture capitalism cost him the 2012 election. The multi-millionaire who helped create Bain Capital, a private equity firm that makes its money buying functional U.S. companies and rendering them dysfunctional for a turnover profit, became the face of corporatist greed that has so infected American politics for decades. His taped “47 percent” remarks to a closed door fundraiser were just the icing on an alre
  
  Read more

• Mets’ Duda out long term with stress fracture in lower back

  23-05-2016 19:34 via salon.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — New York Mets manager Terry Collins expects first baseman Lucas Duda to be out at least four to six weeks and maybe longer with a stress fracture in his lower back.
  The Mets placed Duda on the 15-day disabled list Monday with the back problem that had been bothering him for some time. Collins gave no official timetable on Duda’s absence, but said the 30-year-old won’t be able to do baseball-related activities for some time.
  “We’re looking at a fair
  
  Read more

• Toyota adding 1.6 million vehicles to Takata air bag recall

  23-05-2016 19:28 via salon.com
  DETROIT (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling nearly 1.6 million vehicles in the U.S. to replace potentially faulty front passenger air bag inflators made by Takata Corp. of Japan.
  The recall includes Toyota, Scion and Lexus models from the 2006-2011 model years.
  The air bags can deploy with too much force and spew shrapnel into the vehicle. They are responsible for at least 11 deaths worldwide.
  The U.S. government said earlier this month that it was expanding and accelerating the ongoing
  
  Read more

• Any Cabrera, veteran AP LatAm editor, reporter, dies at 60

  23-05-2016 19:28 via salon.com
  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Any Cabrera, a veteran AP journalist who covered many of Latin America’s biggest stories during 33 years as a reporter and editor, died suddenly Monday morning at her home in Mexico City.
  Cabrera, 60, was the news editor of the AP’s Spanish-language news service, based in Mexico City. She worked with reporters across Latin America as well as some in Spain and the United States.
  Medical investigators believe Cabrera died of a heart attack. A friend who found h
  
  Read more

• Broadway’s attendance up, but box office doesn’t keep pace

  23-05-2016 19:26 via salon.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — Broadway’s attendance figures hit a record high this season, but box office revenue ticked upward only slightly.
  The Broadway League said Monday that box offices reported a record total gross of $1.37 billion — up 0.6 percent from the previous season. The trade association for theater owners, operators and producers said attendance was up 1.6 percent to 13.3 million ticket buyers.
  The number of playing weeks — Broadway’s occupancy rate — was up
  
  Read more

• After Sandy victims complain, FEMA tweaks flood program

  23-05-2016 19:13 via salon.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — After learning some hard lessons from Superstorm Sandy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency says it’s reforming the way it handles appeals from disgruntled policyholders in the National Flood Insurance Program.
  The 2012 storm killed people in several states but hit New Jersey and New York the hardest. Thousands of homeowners complained they were shortchanged by the companies that process flood insurance claims for the federal government. Many wound up waging protr
  
  Read more

• Trump adds Virgin Islands delegates; nomination within reach

  23-05-2016 19:11 via salon.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has added eight delegates from the U.S. Virgin Islands, pulling him within 68 delegates of clinching the Republican nomination for president.
  John Canegata (can-eh-GAH-ta) is a Trump delegate. He is also chairman of the U.S. territory’s Republican Party.
  Canegata says eight of the territory’s nine delegates have pledged to support Trump. The last one is uncommitted.
  There is a dispute over which Republican delegates from the Virgin Islands will be
  
  Read more

• Column: Hornish doesn’t regret how career quietly faded

  23-05-2016 19:09 via salon.com
  
  CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Some drivers fear the end of their career. They hang on long past their prime, trying to find a ride, any ride, in every desperate attempt at another shot at a checkered flag.
  Not Sam Hornish Jr.
  He’s a father of three, devoted to his young family, and should he never race again, semi-retirement at 36 is just fine with him.
  It’s easy to forget that Hornish was one of the greatest American open-wheel drivers of his generation after his failed move to NASCA
  
  Read more

• Indiana court hears woman’s appeal of feticide conviction

  23-05-2016 18:59 via salon.com
  INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A judge on Indiana’s Court of Appeals pointedly questioned an attorney for the state Monday on whether there was evidence a woman found guilty of neglect and feticide in a self-induced abortion knew she had given birth to a live child.
  Judge Nancy Vaidik noted during the hearing on Purvi Patel’s bid to have the charges thrown out that no evidence was presented at trial that the 35-year-old northern Indiana woman knew she had delivered a live child. Such evid
  
  Read more

• Police smile at ‘Cops Suck’ tattoo across man’s knuckles

  23-05-2016 18:55 via salon.com
  BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A police officer in Maine is getting a laugh out of a man’s tattoo that says, “Cops Suck.”
  The Bangor Police Department on Monday posted a Facebook photo of the man holding out his fists with letters tattooed on his knuckles next to a smiling officer. The photo has more than 3,700 likes.
  The police department has received attention for using humor in its social media presence.
  Police note the man apparently had a problem with authority earlier in his
  
  Read more

• World’s first surviving septuplets graduate high school

  23-05-2016 18:41 via salon.com
  CARLISLE, Iowa (AP) — The world’s first surviving septuplets have graduated from their Iowa high school.
  Alexis, Brandon, Joel, Kelsey, Kenny, Natalie and Nathan McCaughey all crossed the stage Sunday as part of Carlisle High School’s class of 2016.
  The septuplets were born Nov. 19, 1997, ranging in weight from 2 pounds, 5 ounces to 3 pounds, 4 ounces. Their mother had taken a fertility drug.
  KCCI-TV in Des Moines reports that the septuplets are going on separate paths followin
  
  Read more

• Draymond, Westbrook swap barbs over fouls, kicks

  23-05-2016 18:41 via salon.com
  
  OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Draymond Green knows who is responsible for his kick to the groin of Thunder center Steven Adams: Russell Westbrook and the rest of the NBA stars who get to the foul line with a whole lot of salesmanship.
  Green’s kick felled the 7-foot, 255-pound Adams during the second quarter of Golden State’s Game 3 loss to Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals on Sunday night. Westbrook later said Green kicked Adams intentionally — and that didn’t g
  
  Read more

• Bill addressing Oklahoma sodomy ruling heads to governor

  23-05-2016 18:41 via salon.com
  
  OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A measured aimed at fixing a loophole in Oklahoma’s forcible sodomy law has received final legislative approval.
  The Senate voted 39-5 on Monday to approve the bill that was introduced after criminal charges were dropped against a 17-year-old boy accused of forcing a heavily intoxicated girl to perform oral sex. The bill now heads to the governor’s desk.
  Oklahoma’s highest criminal court upheld the dismissal of charges, saying in a unanimous ruling ea
  
  Read more

• 2015 was a corporate buyout bonanza; here comes the sequel

  23-05-2016 18:41 via salon.com
  
  After 2015’s blistering global buyout pace, this year is shaping up to be quite the sequel with Bayer’s $62 billion attempt to buy Monsanto and create a global seed giant.
  The proposed deal between German drug and chemical maker and Monsanto is the sixth-largest cross-border acquisition ever, according to financial markets platform Dealogic.
  There has been more than $494 billion in cross-border deals already in 2016, the third highest of all time, Dealogic said. The biggest year for
  
  Read more

• Authorities across nation probe threats against schools

  23-05-2016 18:28 via salon.com
  DENVER (AP) — Media outlets across the country, from New England to Wisconsin and California, as well as in the United Kingdom are reporting school evacuations because of threats.
  Authorities in Colorado and New Hampshire say the threats led to the evacuation of schools.
  A spokeswoman for the Colorado Division of Emergency Management, Micki Trost, says the threats made Monday appear to be related to the ones made at schools across the country. In Colorado, an elementary school in the Denve
  
  Read more

• VA Secretary McDonald compares health-care lines to Disney

  23-05-2016 18:21 via salon.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are criticizing Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald after he compared wait times to receive VA health care to the hours people wait for rides at Disney theme parks.
  McDonald has told reporters on Monday that the VA should not use wait times as a measure of success because Disney doesn’t either.
  House Speaker Paul Ryan said McDonald’s “flippant comments” during a Christian Science Monitor breakfast “shows just how seriously
  
  Read more

• Decades after death in WWII, a son of New Orleans comes home

  23-05-2016 18:21 via salon.com
  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — More than seven decades after being killed during World War II, Pvt. Earl Joseph Keating finally came home to his native New Orleans after his remains were discovered on the Pacific island where he died in 1942.
  It’s a journey long in the making.
  Keating’s nephew, Nadau “du Treil” Michael Keating Jr., was only 6 months old when his 28-year-old uncle was killed Dec. 5, 1942. The private died at a place that came to be known as the Huggins Roadblock
  
  Read more

• Council eyes easing punishments for public urination, litter

  23-05-2016 18:06 via salon.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — The City Council is poised to pass a series of criminal justice reforms that would sharply curtail the punishments for low-level offenses such as littering and peeing in public, an overhaul intended to help unclog the courts and jails of the nation’s largest city.
  The Criminal Justice Reform Act would alter the penalties for certain offenses, including possessing an open container of alcohol in public. Though the offenses would remain illegal, the legislation would st
  
  Read more

• Van Gaal’s legacy: Big spending, dull games, accent on youth

  23-05-2016 18:05 via salon.com
  MANCHESTER, England (AP) — So, after $375 million in transfers, two seasons of often mind-numbing soccer, one trophy and countless references to his “process” and “philosophy,” Louis van Gaal is no longer manager of Manchester United. The English Premier League club announced his departure on Monday evening.
  After David Moyes’ ill-fated 10-month tenure in the 2013-14 season, post-Alex Ferguson, United needed an experienced, larger-than-life coach to bring stab
  
  Read more

Follow @NewsBSpears on Twitter!