Paris Leftist murdered: Thousands turned out to protest the killing of an anti-fascism activist by skinheads in Paris last week. Clement Meric, 19, was out shopping with friends when he exchanged words with the skinheads, who beat him to death with brass knuckles. Five suspects under investigation were linked to a far-right movement called the Third Way; the government said […]
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■ A cat that ran for the U.S. Senate in Virginia received about 7,000 write-in votes in last week’s election, according to his owners. That means Hank, who hails from Springfield, Va., can claim third place behind Democratic victor Tim Kaine and Republican also-ran George Allen.The human candidates were separated by 180,000 votes, which means that Hank did not affect […]
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of the blood test for concussions. The handheld device is used to detect concussions or mild traumatic brain injuries in place of a CT SCAN. Banyan Brain Trauma Indicator is used to diagnose brain lesions, but the lesions are not common in most concussions. The tests are very encouraging but […]
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Awe-inspiring experiences, such as viewing works of art or overlooking a scenic vista, may have physical as well as mental health benefits, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, found that the positive emotions triggered by these encounters can have an immune-boosting, anti-inflammatory effect that helps protect the body from heart disease, depression, autoimmune conditions, […]
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As the world’s largest land mammals, elephants should suffer one of the highest cancer rates—they simply have far more cells that could potentially mutate and become malignant. But new research reveals that elephants rarely get cancer—and the reason why may help in the search for human treatments. Only about 4.8 percent of elephants die from cancer, compared with up to […]
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It was in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age that the modern concept of celebrity was born, said George Packer. But if the worship of gaudy wealth and fame began in The Great Gatsby era, we’ve taken it to new, “perverse” heights in 21st-century America. Today, celebrity demigods dominate every field: There are celebrity chefs, bankers, computer engineers, chief executives, hip-hop […]
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New Horizons has found a more distant world out beyond Pluto about 1 billion miles away from the sun on its travels through the Kuiper Belt. This new world may be an icy relic left over from the formation of the planet Pluto. Right now, NASA is calling it 2014 MU69 and will eventually give a proper name. 2014 MU69 […]
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Russian orphanages are a scandal, said Jennifer Rankin. State institutions house nearly 400,000 children, a population larger than many cities. But less than one third of these children are actually orphans. Many “fall into the system when their parents, often fighting a losing battle with alcohol or drugs,” lose their parental rights. Even more of them—nearly half the total—have disabilities, […]
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While filming a music video on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, Jon Bon Jovi stepped into the role of a compassionate hero, heroically saving a woman who was about to jump off the bridge in Nashville, Tennessee. In the surveillance footage released by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department below, you can see Bon Jovi approaching a 62-year-old woman on the […]
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Prison officials in Tennessee say an inmate escaped from jail by smearing himself in grease and squeezing between the bars of his cell. Kristopher White, 23, is 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds, yet he managed to writhe his way between bars that were only four and a half inches apart. White then scaled a barbed-wire fence and led police on a […]
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