General news

• Facts are up against fear ahead of Fukushima water release

  13-07-2023 23:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Locals struggle to believe the plant's treated radioactive water is safe to pump into the Pacific Ocean.
  
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• A surfboard-stealing otter is on the run

  13-07-2023 23:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  For weeks, Otter 841 has been stealing and damaging longboards. Now she is evading authorities.
  
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• Biden authorizes military to use up to 3,000 reserve troops to augment US forces in Europe

  13-07-2023 23:44 via foxnews.com
  
  President Biden on Thursday authorized the Pentagon to tap up to 3,000 reservists for deployment to Europe to augment U.S. troops there in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve.Biden’s order authorizes the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security to send active duty units and individual members who are assigned to a unit of the Selected Reserve or any member of the Individual Ready Reserve.  Units deployed are not to exceed more than 3,000 total members at one time,
  
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• WATCH: Watch this golden retriever overcome her fear of crossing a bridge

  13-07-2023 23:17 via abcnews.go.com
  
  We're so proud of this good girl.
  
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• Oppenheimer: Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt at London movie premiere

  13-07-2023 23:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are among the cast of the eagerly-awaited film.
  
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• WATCH: Video of injured dog learning to trust vet goes viral

  13-07-2023 23:02 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Veterinarian Dr. Thomas Hamilton shared a video on TikTok of one of his patients adorably cooperating with him despite hurting her dewclaw. The video has over 4.5 million views on TikTok.
  
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• Texas TikTok ban challenged by lawsuit from university faculty

  13-07-2023 23:01 via nbcnews.com
  
  A coalition representing faculty at Texas public universities is suing Gov.
  
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• Sound of Freedom: An unlikely - and controversial - summer movie hit

  13-07-2023 23:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Critics have linked Sound of Freedom to QAnon conspiracy theories - a charge the filmmakers deny.
  
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• IMF deposits $1.2B in first installment of Pakistan's bailout deal, alleviating default fears

  13-07-2023 22:56 via foxnews.com
  
  Pakistan’s finance minister on Thursday said the International Monetary Fund deposited a much-awaited first installment of $1.2 billion with the country’s central bank under a recently signed bailout deal aimed at helping Islamabad avoid defaulting on its debt repayments. The financial infusion — part of a $3 billion new bailout deal — comes ahead of parliamentary elections due later this year. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the development in a live address to th
  
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• Severe thunderstorm warning for parts of Vermont, New York, Vermont and Ohio Valley – live

  13-07-2023 22:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Latest storm warning comes just days after areas of Vermont and New York were hit with flash flooding, raising concerns over more damageMeterologist Ben Frechette from NBC5 reported that a tornado risk is going up slightly in north-eastern NewYork state:As some parts of the US are sweltering, Vermont was bracing for more rain on Thursday. Continue reading...
  
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• North Korea requests to speak at UN Security Council meeting called in response to latest missile launch

  13-07-2023 22:45 via foxnews.com
  
  The United Nations Security Council is calling an urgent meeting of member countries in the wake of North Korea's latest missile launch. In a rare move, the North Korean government is requesting an opportunity to speak when the council convenes. North Korea on Wednesday fired a submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile toward the East Sea, reigniting perennial tensions in the region. NORTH KOREA FIRES INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE TOWARD EAST SEA: SOUTH KOREA MILITARY The news c
  
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• Australia news live: cabinet set to appoint next Reserve Bank governor; Wong reassures Asean nations over Nato

  13-07-2023 22:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Speculation is mounting that a new central bank chief could be chosen today. Follow the day’s news liveGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastPenny Wong has met top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi for the second time in a year, at a meeting for south-east Asia’s foreign ministers, AAP reports.The foreign affairs minister, who is in Jakarta for the Asean foreign ministers’ meeting, said:We had a constructive discussion about the bilateral relationship
  
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• Founder of cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network arrested

  13-07-2023 22:37 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Alexander Mashinsky founded Celsius in 2018.
  
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• No campaign runs opposite claims on Indigenous voice across different social media pages

  13-07-2023 22:35 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Advance lobby group runs multiple Facebook pages that target different demographics, including one that purports to be a neutral news sourceFollow our Australia news live blog for the latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe no campaign in the Indigenous voice referendum is running three different social media strategies, each targeting different groups of Australians with apparently contradictory messages, a Guardian Australia investi
  
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• Hollywood actors announce strike in first joint action with writers in over 60 years

  13-07-2023 22:35 via theguardian.com
  
  Simultaneous strikes by WGA and Sag-Aftra are expected to halt the majority of Hollywood’s film and TV productionThe union representing Hollywood actors formally announced a strike on Thursday, expanding the standoff between Hollywood workers and studio executives over wages, AI technology and how to divide the profits of the new digital streaming era.The strike by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra) marks the first time in 63 years Holly
  
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• Israel foiled more than 50 attempted attacks by Iran worldwide: defense minister

  13-07-2023 22:30 via foxnews.com
  
  Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant revealed Thursday that Israel and other intelligence partners thwarted more than 50 attempts to attack Jewish and Israeli targets worldwide, all orchestrated by Iran. Most of them were at the last stages of execution and were stopped at the "last moment." In his visit to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, Iran's northern neighbor, Gallant accused Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei of overseeing a terrorist campaign "of unprecedented measure" targeting Is
  
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• Republicans attack FTC chair and big tech critic Lina Khan at House hearing

  13-07-2023 22:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Khan accused of giving herself ‘unchecked power’ by taking aggressive steps to regulate Twitter, Meta and GoogleLina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, faced a grueling four hours of questioning during a House judiciary committee oversight hearing on Thursday.Republicans criticized Khan – an outspoken critic of big tech – for “mismanagement” and for “politicizing” legal action against large companies such as Twitter and Google as head
  
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• LA sheriff’s office under scrutiny after deputy punches mother holding baby

  13-07-2023 22:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Officer is seen hitting woman twice in face as she holds her baby in video released by LA county sheriff Robert LunaFor the second time in a week, the Los Angeles sheriff’s department is facing scrutiny over a brutal force incident, this time after a deputy was caught on camera punching a mother twice in the face as she held her newborn baby.The LA county sheriff, Robert Luna, on Wednesday released footage of the July 2022 incident in Palmdale, north-east of the city of Los Angeles. Contin
  
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• Hollywood actors are going on strike. Here’s what that means

  13-07-2023 22:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Shooting for House of the Dragon, Andor and Gladiator 2 will be delayed and many award shows and premieres will be postponedAfter negotiations between studio representatives the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the US actors’ union Sag-Aftra (Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) failed to make a breakthrough, Hollywood actors are going on strike.The decision means that actors will be joining writers on the picket line
  
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• Mexican police rescue 20 children who were forced to work 12-hour days at resort

  13-07-2023 22:06 via foxnews.com
  
  Police in Mexico rescued 20 kids ranging in age from 1 to 17 from rented rooms in the resort town of Playa del Carmen, where they were forced to work 12 hours per day selling snacks and trinkets on the streets and beaches, authorities said Thursday. Prosecutors in the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo, where Playa del Carmen is located, said that the children and adolescents were from the largely indigenous and impoverished state of Chiapas. The children had been promised that they would be
  
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• French President Emmanuel Macron receives severed finger in mail, police place in fridge with snacks: report

  13-07-2023 22:01 via foxnews.com
  
  French President Emmanuel Macron received a severed human finger in the mail, according to news reports.  The parcel containing an amputated finger arrived at the Elysee Palace on Monday, The Evening Standard reported.  "The finger was initially put in a fridge where the police put their snacks," a source at the official presidential home told the newspaper. "This was to make sure it was preserved and could be analyzed as quickly as possible." FRENCH GOVERNMENT RECOMMENDS TIKTOK RESTRI
  
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• Cluster munitions from the US arrive in Ukraine

  13-07-2023 22:01 via theguardian.com
  
  The bombs, which open in air to deploy scores of deadly bomblets, are banned in 120 countries, but not in the US, Ukraine or RussiaCluster munitions provided by the United States have now arrived in Ukraine, the Pentagon confirmed on Thursday.The munitions – bombs that open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets – are seen by the US as a way to get Kyiv critically needed ammunition to help bolster its offensive and push through Russian frontlines. US leaders debated the th
  
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• WATCH: Puppies and mini pigs become newfound friends

  13-07-2023 21:58 via abcnews.go.com
  
  These goldendoodle puppies are free to play and roam with other animals on this Alabama farm.
  
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• Italian judge clears janitor of groping high school girl because it was ‘just a few seconds’

  13-07-2023 21:57 via foxnews.com
  
  An Italian janitor has been cleared of groping a high school girl after a judge determined that the janitor had only touched her for a "few seconds" and did not have "libidinous or lusty intent."  The incident took place at a high school in Rome last year and lasted around "five to 10 seconds," according to the ruling. Court documents cite the high school girl as saying the janitor came up behind her, put his hand in her underwear and slightly lifted her in the air as she pulled up her
  
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• WATCH: Watch this baby snow leopard get burped like a baby

  13-07-2023 21:55 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Kansas posted this video of a baby snow leopard being burped on TikTok, where it received over 26 million views.
  
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• US regulators approve first over-the-counter contraceptive pill

  13-07-2023 21:06 via theguardian.com
  
  No age restriction on sales for Perrigo’s once-a-day Opill, which will be available in stores and online early next yearThe US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first over-the-counter contraceptive pill, allowing millions of women and girls in the country to buy contraception without a prescription at a time when some states have sought to restrict access to birth control and abortion.FDA officials said on Thursday it cleared Perrigo’s Opill – an every day, pr
  
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• Use of Kingspan insulation on towers near Grenfell angers residents

  13-07-2023 20:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Council orders contractor to immediately remove material made by firm implicated in 2017 disasterMaterials made by a company implicated in the Grenfell Tower disaster have been installed on a pair of nearby council tower blocks during fire safety works, in a move met with outrage in the west London community.Insulation made by Kingspan, the firm that provided some of the combustible foam on the tower, which went up in flames on 14 June 2017 killing 72 people, was discovered last week on the Adai
  
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• Rishi Sunak changes declaration again over private jet travel expenses

  13-07-2023 20:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Questions continue to be raised about £38,500 for travel to Tory events, now declared to be from millionaire Akhil TripathiRishi Sunak has changed his expenses declaration over the funding of private jet travel to Tory events after questions were raised about why they were recorded as coming from a small company linked to a multimillionaire businessman.Sunak’s latest declaration now names the donor of £38,500 to pay for air travel by the prime minister and staff as Akhil Tripat
  
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• Marshall Islands calls for US to pay more compensation over nuclear tests

  13-07-2023 20:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Pacific nation plagued by environmental effects of 67 bomb tests between 1946 and 1958, including Castle Bravo detonation in 1954The foreign minister of the Marshall Islands has called for more US compensation over the legacy of massive US nuclear testing to enable the renewal of a strategic agreement governing bilateral relations.Marshall Islanders are still plagued by health and environmental effects of 67 nuclear bomb tests from 1946 to 1958, which included Castle Bravo at Bikini Atoll in 195
  
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• Average long-term US mortgage rate surged to nearly 7% this week, highest in months

  13-07-2023 20:31 via abcnews.go.com
  
  The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to just under 7%, the highest level since November and the latest setback for homebuyers already grappling with a tough housing market constrained by a dearth of homes for sale
  
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• Chicago aquarium welcomes its first rockhopper penguin chick in 8 years

  13-07-2023 20:25 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Chicago's Shedd Aquarium has welcomed the first southern rockhopper penguin chick to join its colony in eight years
  
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• Rishi Sunak driving doctors out of NHS with pay offer, say union leaders

  13-07-2023 20:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Public service workers in England offered 5%-7% rises but departments must fund them from existing budgetsHealth union leaders have reacted furiously to a warning from Rishi Sunak that his offer of a 6% pay rise this year was final and that “no amount of strikes” would change his mind, as they began their longest walkout yet in England.The British Medical Association said the government was “driving doctors away” from the health service and had missed an opportunity to pu
  
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• WATCH: Prepare for cuteness overload in the form of puppy yoga

  13-07-2023 20:14 via abcnews.go.com
  
  Puppy yoga is the only kind of exercise we want to do from here on out!
  
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• Pilot says he jumped into the ocean to survive New Zealand’s volcanic eruption during testimony

  13-07-2023 20:06 via foxnews.com
  
  A helicopter pilot said in court on Thursday he and two of his passengers had escaped serious injury by jumping into the ocean when a New Zealand volcano erupted in 2019, killing 22. Another two of pilot Brian Depauw’s joy flight passengers did not make it to the water, were engulfed by a cloud of hot ash from the White Island eruption, and suffered serious burns. Belgian-born Depauw, who speaks with an Irish accent, testified at the Auckland District Court on Thursday in the trial of thre
  
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• After 125 years, Puerto Rico remains in a peculiar political limbo under US control

  13-07-2023 20:06 via foxnews.com
  
  In the 125 years since U.S. troops invaded Puerto Rico on July 25, 1898, during the Spanish-American War, the U.S. government has controlled the island militarily, politically and economically – with no end in sight or, for Puerto Rico, a clear path to statehood. That has been an issue of contention for many Puerto Ricans living on the island and stateside. As I have documented in my 2017 book "Puerto Rico: What Everyone Needs to Know," the island of nearly 3.3 million people has a peculia
  
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• Hungarian bookstore fined for selling LGBTQ+ novel in youth section

  13-07-2023 20:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Heartstopper by Alice Oseman was on shelves for young people and did not have closed packaging as required by controversial lawA government office in Hungary has levied a hefty fine against a national bookseller over a LGBTQ+ graphic novel series, saying it violated a contentious law that prohibits the depiction of homosexuality to minors.The bookseller, Líra Könyv, is Hungary’s second-largest bookstore chain. It was fined 12m forints ($36,000 or £27,400) for placing Hear
  
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• Biden says ‘no real prospect’ of Putin using nuclear weapons – as it happened

  13-07-2023 20:05 via theguardian.com
  
  US president plays down worries during Finland visit when asked about whether Russian president could escalate action in Ukraine. This live blog is now closedBiden ‘serious’ on prisoner swap for US reporter Evan GershkovichPavlo Kyrylenko, Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, has posted an operational update listing a number of settlements that suffered bombardment and “massive artillery shelling” damaging houses and residential buildings. He stated that “In total,
  
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• United Nations group urges Cambodia to release Cambodian-American human rights activist

  13-07-2023 20:04 via foxnews.com
  
  A United Nations expert group is calling for the immediate release of a Cambodian-American human rights activist, saying an investigation it conducted has concluded she was being "arbitrarily detained in violation of international law." The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in a judgment late Wednesday that while attorney Theary Seng had been convicted of conspiracy to commit treason and other charges last year, she was in reality being punished for "making two posts on Fa
  
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• Why this summer has been so very hot

  13-07-2023 20:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Experts are predicting that the developing El Niño is likely to make 2023 the world's hottest year.
  
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• Congolese opposition member fatally shot in Kinshasa, party calls for investigation

  13-07-2023 19:58 via foxnews.com
  
  A member of the Congolese opposition was shot dead in the capital, Kinshasa, and his body riddled with bullets, his party said Thursday. Cherubin Okende, a former transport minister and now a member of Together for the Republic, an opposition party, was found dead in his car Thursday morning, said party leader Mbazi Kasongo. His body was taken to a morgue and the circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear. Okende's killing comes amid rising tensions between President Felix Tshisekedi's r
  
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• Biden jokes Prigozhin should watch what he eats after Russian rebellion

  13-07-2023 19:58 via foxnews.com
  
  President Biden said Thursday he has no idea where Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is, but joked that the Wagner chief should watch what he eats wherever he is.  "If I were he, I'd be careful what I ate," Biden told reporters at a press conference in Helsinki. "I'd be keeping my eye on my menu."  The president's remarks came in response to a reporter's question on whether disarray among Russian generals could precipitate more drastic action from Russian President Vladimi
  
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• Southern Europe prepares for heat wave Cerberus, expects temperatures to reach 113 degrees Fahrenheit

  13-07-2023 19:56 via foxnews.com
  
  Tourists in central Athens huddled under mist machines, and zoo animals in Madrid were fed fruit popsicles and chunks of frozen food, as southern Europeans braced for a heat wave Thursday, with a warning of severe conditions coming from the European Union’s space agency. The high-pressure system, which crossed the Mediterranean from north Africa has been named Cerberus, after the three-headed dog in ancient Greek mythology who guarded the gates to the underworld. Emergency measures –
  
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• Argentina launches probe into potential crimes against humanity in Venezuela

  13-07-2023 19:56 via foxnews.com
  
  A prosecutor in Argentina has launched an investigation into potential crimes against humanity in Venezuela following a criminal complaint filed by the Clooney Foundation for Justice. Federal prosecutor Carlos Stornelli noted that the complaint pointed to the responsibility of several high-ranking members of the Venezuelan National Guard in human rights abuses during 2014 street protests against the government of President Nicolás Maduro. The move by the foundation set up by actor George
  
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• Who has been offered what? A breakdown of public sector pay deal

  13-07-2023 19:55 via theguardian.com
  
  The government has offered rises of between 5% and 7% to workers including teachers and doctorsUK politics live – latest updatesMillions of public sector workers ranging from teachers to prison offers are in line for pay rises of between 5% and 7% as part of a government offer that could head off some strikes.Before the announcement, ministers had stressed the need for “discipline” at a time of rising inflation. Rishi Sunak said pay increases could not “fuel the fire&rdqu
  
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• Russian lawmakers approve bill further restricting transgender rights

  13-07-2023 19:55 via foxnews.com
  
  Russian lawmakers on Thursday approved a toughened version of a bill that outlaws gender transitioning procedures, with added clauses that annul marriages in which one person has "changed gender" and bar transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents. The bill received swift, unanimous approval of Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, in its key second reading, and lawmakers scheduled the third and final reading for Friday. There is little doubt that the bill, a crippl
  
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• Sweden high court rejects extradition requests from Turkey, citing lack of criminality under Swedish law

  13-07-2023 19:54 via foxnews.com
  
  Sweden’s highest court rejected extradition requests Thursday for two men wanted by Turkey, saying the Scandinavian country does not criminalize the act they are accused of committing. The men, who are refugees in Sweden but otherwise were not identified, cannot be sent to Turkey because "the requirement of dual criminality is not met," the Swedish Supreme Court said in a statement. Turkey wants the men because it says they have joined the movement of United States-based Muslim cleric Feth
  
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• Drone shows great white sharks swimming under surfers

  13-07-2023 19:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A handful of sharks lurked below the surface while surfers caught waves in California.
  
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• Dutch man's sentencing delayed as judges seek more information from Canada in cyberbullying case

  13-07-2023 19:50 via foxnews.com
  
  Judges in Amsterdam said Thursday they need more information from Canadian authorities as they consider the sentence of a Dutch man convicted in Canada last year of crimes, including extortion and harassment of Canadian teenager Amanda Todd. The ruling delayed legal moves to convert Aydin Coban's 13-year Canadian sentence into a Dutch prison term in the notorious case of online extortion. Coban blackmailed the 15-year-old to expose herself in front of a webcam. She took her own life in 2012 afte
  
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• Mexican cartel attack forces police to suspend search for kidnapping victims

  13-07-2023 19:47 via foxnews.com
  
  A drug cartel bomb attack that allegedly used a fake report of a mass grave to lure police into a deadly trap has had devastating collateral damage: It has led some authorities to abandon the volunteers who search for Mexico’s 110,000 missing people. Most of the searchers are distraught mothers looking for the bodies of the thousands of victims of kidnapping gangs and drug cartels, who dump their bodies in clandestine graves. A day after Tuesday’s attack that killed four police offic
  
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• Tourists, residents in Italy stranded in heat due to major train strike affecting the country

  13-07-2023 19:33 via foxnews.com
  
  Commuters and tourists alike were stranded by a major train strike across Italy on a sweltering Thursday, with cancellations affecting even high-speed lines that are usually guaranteed during Italy's frequent work stoppages. Transport Minister Matteo Salvini signed a decree ordering the two-day strike be cut in half, but even that truncated stoppage forced the cancellation of service up and down the peninsula on a weekday, at the height of Italy's booming high tourist season. At Milan’s ma
  
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