General news

• VIDEO: Implant lets paralysed man play video game

  13-04-2016 23:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A paralysed man has been able to perform complex movements with his hand, such as playing a video game or swiping a credit card by using the power of thought.
  
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• US health authorities confirm Zika causes birth defects

  13-04-2016 23:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The mosquito-borne Zika virus causes birth defects, including a syndrome in which babies are born with unusually small heads, US health authorities confirmed Wednesday after months of debate and uncertainty. "Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have concluded, after careful review of existing evidence, that Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects," said a statement from the federal agency. The decision was based in part on a series of s
  
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• S. Korea opposition wins surprise victory in parliamentary elections

  13-04-2016 23:47 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Korea's main opposition party won a surprise victory in Wednesday's general election, ending the conservative ruling party's 16-year parliamentary majority. The vote, clouded by North Korean nuclear threats and a slowing economy, dealt a blow to President Park Geun-Hye and raised hopes for an opposition victory in the 2017 presidential election. With almost all ballots counted, Park's Saenuri Party won 122 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, while the main opposition Minjoo Party wo
  
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• U.S. House panel cancels Thursday session on Puerto Rico debt bill

  13-04-2016 23:46 via news.yahoo.com
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. House of Representatives committee has canceled Thursday's work session on legislation aimed at helping Puerto Rico dig out of a debt crisis, according to congressional aides. The aides, who asked not to be identified, said on Wednesday the House Natural Resources Committee "markup" of the bill that had been set for Thursday was being postponed. They did not give a reason or say when it would be rescheduled. The panel had hoped to approve the legislation, sending it
  
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• U.S. health officials confirm Zika cause of severe birth defects

  13-04-2016 23:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. health officials have concluded that infection with the Zika virus in pregnant women is a cause of the birth defect microcephaly and other severe brain abnormalities in babies. "It is now clear, the CDC has concluded, that Zika virus does cause microcephaly," Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday.
  
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• Macedonian president's office ransacked

  13-04-2016 23:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Protests over the pardoning of top political figures embroiled in a wire-tapping scandal in Macedonia turn violent, with the president's office attacked.
  
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• VIDEO: Europe's migration crisis grows again

  13-04-2016 23:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Almost 19,000 migrants have reached Italy by sea in the three months to the end of March, nearly double the number for the same period last year.
  
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• Senators express disgust over sex crimes by UN peacekeepers

  13-04-2016 23:39 via news.yahoo.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday decried an epidemic of sex crimes committed by United Nations peacekeepers and called on the State Department to act more urgently to end the abuse by cutting off foreign aid to countries that won't hold their troops accountable.
  
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• House panel's bill strengthens privacy for older emails

  13-04-2016 23:39 via news.yahoo.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Judiciary Committee approved a bipartisan bill on Wednesday making it harder for government agencies to get their hands on Americans' older emails and other electronic data.
  
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• Lucky the Leprechaun voice actor dies in NY at age 93

  13-04-2016 23:38 via news.yahoo.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — The actor who gave a sprightly voice to cereal mascot Lucky the Leprechaun in TV commercials for three decades has died in New York. Arthur Anderson was 93.
  
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• CDC: Zika definitely causes severe birth defects

  13-04-2016 23:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Confirming the worst fears of many pregnant women in the United States and Latin America, U.S. health officials said Wednesday there is no longer any doubt the Zika virus causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and other severe brain defects.
  
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• Rare Bengal tiger cubs born to travelling circus in Nicaragua

  13-04-2016 23:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A trio of rare Bengal tiger cubs have become the stars of a Mexican circus in Nicaragua, one of the few Central American countries that still allow circuses to own live animals. The tigers -- one white, one orange and one golden -- were born three months ago to Paulina, a 200-kilogram (440-pound) female in the De Renato Circus, its owner, Renato Fuentes Townsend, told AFP. Bengal tigers are classed as an endangered species, and Fuentes said "it is the first case I've seen" of such varied colorin
  
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• Federal regulators investigating Wall St Journal's 'living wills' story

  13-04-2016 23:36 via news.yahoo.com
  The Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are investigating how The Wall Street Journal came to report that the two agencies were giving failing grades to some U.S. banks' "living wills" the day before the regulators officially announced their determinations. A spokesman for the Federal Reserve, Eric Kollig, confirmed on Wednesday the Fed has asked its inspector general, the central bank's internal watchdog, to check how the news outlet was able to report on Tuesday that at l
  
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• Zika Definitely Causes Birth Defects, CDC Says

  13-04-2016 23:34 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  There's no longer any doubt that the Zika virus causes birth defects, federal health officials said Wednesday.
  
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• Judge suggests he'll factor in Hastert lies for sentencing

  13-04-2016 23:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  CHICAGO (AP) — Dennis Hastert's lawyers have suggested that what occurred with a 14-year-old in a motel decades ago may not qualify as sexual abuse, while the judge in the former U.S. House speaker's hush-money case signaled Wednesday that he'll factor in Hastert's lies to investigators when he determines a sentence.
  
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• Russia jets make 'simulated attack' passes near US destroyer: U.S.

  13-04-2016 23:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Russian warplanes flew simulated attack passes near a U.S. guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea on Tuesday, the U.S. military said, with one official describing them as one of the most aggressive interactions in recent memory. A Russian KA-27 Helix helicopter also made seven passes around the USS Donald Cook, taking pictures. The nearest Russian territory was about 70 nautical miles away in its enclave of Kaliningrad, which sits between Lithuania
  
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• Brazil's Rousseff fights as impeachment noose tightens

  13-04-2016 23:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Brasília (AFP) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff vowed Wednesday to "fight to the last minute" after more allies abandoned her ahead of a crucial impeachment vote. On Wednesday one of Rousseff's last remaining coalition allies, the PSD party, also positioned itself against Rousseff.
  
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• Brazil's Rousseff pledges unity gov't as momentum for impeachment grows

  13-04-2016 23:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Anthony Boadle and Maria Carolina Marcello BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff pledged on Wednesday to form a government of national unity if she survives an impeachment vote in Congress this weekend, but the odds against her lengthened as even remaining allies wavered in their support. Rousseff is scrambling to shore up votes against impeachment as a stream of defections from her coalition make it increasingly likely she will lose Sunday’s ballot in the lower house o
  
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• Pennsylvania set to OK medical pot; Ohio could follow soon

  13-04-2016 23:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania is set to become the latest state to legalize medical marijuana as the Legislature sent a bill to the governor on Wednesday, after parents of children suffering from debilitating seizures circulated the Capitol urging lawmakers to act.
  
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• Long-stalled email privacy bill advances in Congress

  13-04-2016 23:25 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation that would require law enforcement to obtain a search warrant before asking technology companies to hand over old emails unanimously moved forward in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, notching a long-awaited win for technology companies and digital privacy advocates. The House Judiciary Committee voted 28-0 to approve the Email Privacy Act, which would update a decades-old law to mandate federal authorities get a warrant to access e
  
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• The Latest: Ringo Starr cancels in North Carolina over law

  13-04-2016 23:23 via news.yahoo.com
  COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Latest on legislation that critics say discriminates against transgender people by limiting their bathroom choices. Supporters say it protects privacy and safety. (all times local):
  
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• Slain NFL Star Was Shot 7 Times in the Back: Attorney

  13-04-2016 23:23 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Will Smith was intentionally gunned down by a "rageful" driver who ignored his wife's pleas to leave the couple alone, his family's lawyer said.
  
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• Fox says Megyn Kelly meets with Trump

  13-04-2016 23:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump met with Fox News Channel anchor Megyn Kelly on Wednesday, who he has been bad-mouthing on social media since he was angered by a question she asked him last summer.
  
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• Coyote found shot in head, starving delivers healthy pups

  13-04-2016 23:14 via news.yahoo.com
  SOLVANG, Calif. (AP) — First, rescuers realized the emaciated coyote they pulled from the bottom of an empty reservoir in Southern California was blind from being shot between the eyes. Then, X-rays showed the near-death animal was pregnant.
  
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• Bathroom access for transgender people debated across South

  13-04-2016 23:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Louisiana's governor issued an executive order Wednesday banning discrimination in state government based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and transgender people in South Carolina told state senators that a bill requiring them to use a public bathroom corresponding to their "biological sex" puts them in danger of harassment.
  
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• The Latest: Trump hires Wiley as political director

  13-04-2016 23:12 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Campaign 2016 ahead of the Democratic presidential debate on Thursday and the New York State primaries April 19 (All times Eastern Daylight Time):
  
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• Air bag danger: US counts 85M unrecalled Takata inflators

  13-04-2016 23:12 via news.yahoo.com
  
  DETROIT (AP) — About 85 million Takata air bag inflators that haven't been recalled are inside cars and trucks now being driven in the U.S. and would have to be replaced if the company can't prove they are safe, the government said Wednesday.
  
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• Feds: EPA fails to protect water from oilfield contamination

  13-04-2016 23:11 via news.yahoo.com
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is failing in its mandate to protect underground drinking water reserves from oilfield contamination, according to a federal review singling out lax EPA oversight in California, where the state routinely allowed oil companies to dump wastewater into some drinking water aquifers.
  
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• Woman charged with livestreaming alleged rape of teen friend

  13-04-2016 23:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A 17-year-old was raped by a man with whom she had been drinking and her 18-year-old female friend livestreamed the attack on the social media app Periscope, a prosecutor said Wednesday in announcing a rape and kidnapping indictment.
  
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• AP Source: Timberwolves opening up coaching search

  13-04-2016 23:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A person with knowledge of the situation tells The Associated Press that the Minnesota Timberwolves are opening up their search for a permanent head coach.
  
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• Scientists: Greenland ice sheet is melting freakishly early

  13-04-2016 23:03 via news.yahoo.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists say Greenland's massive ice sheet this week started melting freakishly early thanks to a weather system that brought unseasonably warm temperatures and rain.
  
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• Russia warplanes 'buzz' US Navy ship

  13-04-2016 23:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Russian jets make a "simulated attack" on a US missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea, coming within 9m (30ft) of it, a US official says.
  
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• Congressman says DC subway system won't get federal bailout

  13-04-2016 23:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington area's struggling subway system won't get a federal bailout, House Republicans said Thursday as they blamed the Metro system's recent series of crises on poor management rather than a lack of funding.
  
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• Uber discloses info it gave government

  13-04-2016 22:58 via edition.cnn.com
  
  If you thought that Uber ride was between you, the driver and your smartphone that may not have been the case.
  
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• Syria peace talks to tackle political transition as violence surges

  13-04-2016 22:58 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Talks to end Syria's five-year conflict resumed in Geneva Wednesday, with the UN mediator vowing to tackle the thorny issue of a political transition, as surging violence threatened a fragile truce. Adding to the tensions, Syrians in government-controlled areas voted Wednesday in parliamentary elections not recognised by the United Nations or by President Bashar al-Assad's main opponents. In Geneva, UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said he planned to engage the parties in concrete discussions a
  
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• Louisiana Governor Bars LGBT Discrimination

  13-04-2016 22:56 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Gov. John Bel Edwards signed an executive order Wednesday barring state discrimination against gay Louisianans.
  
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• China trade data boosts dollar, banks lead stocks higher

  13-04-2016 22:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rallied and major stock markets rose on Wednesday after JPMorgan's results beat lowered expectations and upbeat Chinese trade data offered hope Asia's biggest economy is stabilizing. Wall Street gained after JPMorgan Chase's first quarter earnings fell nearly 7 percent but beat expectations. "It's a positive that (JPMorgan) earnings were well received," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.
  
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• Factbox: U.S. regulators find deficiencies in 'living wills' of big banks

  13-04-2016 22:54 via news.yahoo.com
  (Reuters) - U.S. federal regulators said five out of the eight biggest U.S. banks do not have credible plans to operate without relying on taxpayer money in case of a bankruptcy and gave them until Oct. 1 to make amends or risk sanctions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve jointly failed the plans, commonly called "living wills", of Bank of America Corp , Bank of New York Mellon Corp , J.P. Morgan Chase & Co , State Street Corp and Wells Fargo & Co . ...
  
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• Man's anti-Trump signs celebrate Pittsburgh icons, customs

  13-04-2016 22:47 via news.yahoo.com
  PITTSBURGH (AP) — A doctor showed his displeasure with Donald Trump's campaign stop Wednesday in Pittsburgh by posting signs playfully suggesting the Republican presidential candidate doesn't respect city icons and customs.
  
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• Strong earthquake shakes Myanmar

  13-04-2016 22:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A strong earthquake has struck Myanmar, the US Geological Survey says, with shaking felt in north-east India, Bangladesh and Nepal.
  
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• Champions League: Barcelona crashes out

  13-04-2016 22:42 via edition.cnn.com
  
  Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League Wednesday after being stunned by Atletico Madrid at the quarterfinal stage.Podcast favorites: Blindsided: How ISIS Shook The World | Bernie gets the Axe | Guns in America
  
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• Photos: Lindsay Lohan Steps Out Wearing a Giant Ring

  13-04-2016 22:30 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Life and Times of Lindsay Lohan
  
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• Pilot school sued over Germanwings crash

  13-04-2016 22:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Families of victims killed when a co-pilot crashed his Germanwings plane into the French Alps are suing the flight school where he trained.
  
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• Russian War Planes Fly Close to U.S. Navy Destroyer

  13-04-2016 22:08 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Two Russian attack planes flew dangerously close to a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea on Monday and Tuesday defense officials said.
  
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• Faces of a divided island

  13-04-2016 22:06 via edition.cnn.com
  
  The anti-immigrant rhetoric on the radio, in shops and in the streets is familiar:
  
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• VIDEO: US Navy video captures Russian flyby

  13-04-2016 21:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two Russian warplanes zoomed past the USS Donald Cook earlier week while the American destroyer was patrolling in the Baltic Sea.
  
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• Career Highlights: Kobe Bryant's 20 Years in the NBA

  13-04-2016 21:53 via feeds.nbcnews.com
  
  Kobe Bryant's legendary career ends Wednesday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
  
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• Rousseff will fight 'to last minute'

  13-04-2016 21:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil says she will fight impeachment to "the last minute of the second half" as two allies desert her.
  
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• Report: Chicago police have 'no regard' for minority lives

  13-04-2016 21:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  CHICAGO (AP) — Police in Chicago have "no regard for the sanctity of life when it comes to people of color" and have alienated blacks and Hispanics for decades by using excessive force and honoring a code of silence, a task force declared Wednesday in a report that seeks sweeping changes to the nation's third-largest police force.
  
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• Sanders defends decision to speak at Vatican amid NY contest

  13-04-2016 21:35 via news.yahoo.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — Bernie Sanders said Wednesday he would regret refusing an invitation to attend a Vatican conference this week that takes him off the campaign trail just days before the critical New York presidential primary.
  
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