Gerald and Lily Chow of Hong Kong sued Mark Zimny, a college admissions consultant and former Harvard professor, when their two sons didn’t get into an Ivy League university. The Chows say they gave Zimny more than $2 million to get their kids into elite schools by any means necessary.
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A farmer sits on his parched land in the village of Gauribidanur in India’s southern Karnataka state on May 26, as a brutal heat wave continued to blister the country, claiming at least 1,100 lives and causing roads to melt in New Delhi. Pre-monsoon showers were forecast to soon provide relief to the south, where temperatures in some areas neared […]
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Color commentary, after Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price used the F-word 77 times in a five-minute rant berating sportswriters for reporting that a player was injured. “Does every f—ing team that we f—ing play have to know every f—ing guy that’s here?” Price complained. “It’s a f—ing disgrace.”
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American men are weighing in at an average of 196 pounds—16 pounds more than in 1990, a new Gallup survey has found.The average weight for women jumped 14 pounds—to 156 pounds— over the same period. Gallup estimates 62 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese.
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52: Number of unprovoked shark attacks in the U.S. last year (compared with 20 elsewhere in the world). None were fatal. 28: Number of attacks in Florida, the most of any state. Runners-up were Hawaii (seven), South Carolina (five), California (four) and North Carolina (four). 65%: Percentage of attacks involving surfers (or people doing other board sports); 32% involved swimmers. The rest involved […]
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Some addicts hooked on opioids such as OxyContin and Percocet turn to heroin when they lose access to prescription pills. Heroin, far cheaper than pills, is available through networks that source it from Mexico and Colombia.
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The Dutch city of Utrecht will give unconditional monthly payments of about $1,000 to select citizens starting in January 2016 to see whether “basic income” can work as a means of welfare. Various other governments have resorted to unusual handouts to achieve certain ends: DUBAI City officials tried to boost public transport in November by raffling off prizes, including 8.8-lb. […]
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An Icelandic public broadcast station aired 24 hours of live sheep birthing, part of its “slow TV” campaign, which also featured chess, knitting, and wood-burning.
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“In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.” – Margaret Thatcher
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A British accent is the most attractive in the world, according to a poll of 11,000 people in 24 cities around the world. An American accent came in second, followed by Irish and Australian. French, once considered the language of love, finished in fifth place.
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