Migrant crisis: Life and death on a Spanish rescue boat in Mediterranean

A photographer spent 29 days on board a Spanish rescue boat off the coast of Libya

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Russia's Putin softens pension reforms after outcry

The Russian leader says the retirement age for women will go up by five years instead of by eight.

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Numbers of elderly in 24-hour care set to double by 2035

The social care system is "at breaking point", a local government official warns.

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Solihull murders: Man held over mum and daughter deaths

A man, 21, is arrested on suspicion of murdering a mother and her 22-year-old daughter in Solihull.

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Homebase future in doubt as creditors meet

If landlords do not approve a rescue deal for the DIY chain, it is likely to go into administration.

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Frank Field: Labour MP says anti-Semitism is 'more than tolerated' in party

Frank Field says he backed Jeremy Corbyn for leader to be "inclusive", but the party is now intolerant.

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Coca-Cola to buy Costa chain for £3.9bn

The UK's biggest coffee chain is being sold by owner Whitbread, which also owns Premier Inns.

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Theresa May shows off dance moves in Kenya

Theresa May danced with a group of scouts during a visit to the UN offices in Nairobi, Kenya.

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Astronauts tackle air leak on International Space Station

A "micro-fracture" from a possible collision with a rock fragment sets off alerts on the ISS.

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Trump threatens to pull US out of World Trade Organization

The US president says he will abandon the global trade body "if they don't shape up".

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Man with dwarfism describes street abuse

Eugene Grant is regularly abused by people as he walks around Newcastle.

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New asthma treatment set for wider NHS distribution

The new 'melting muscle' treatment has proved to be safe and effective, health experts say.

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Breakdancing 'helped man escape gang culture'

Paco Box said he carried a gun and robbed people to fund his former lifestyle.

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Dominic Raab prepares for six-hour Brexit talks in Brussels

The Brexit secretary will meet the EU's chief negotiator as work on a divorce deal continues.

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Stéphane Pauwels arrest: Football presenter charged over armed robbery

One of Belgium's top football TV presenters is charged with being an accomplice to an armed robbery.

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The Papers: MP quits 'nasty' Labour and Grenfell fraud

Many of Friday's papers lead on the resignation of Frank Field over Labour's anti-Semitism row.

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News Daily: Labour culture 'appalling' and Trump threatens WTO

Your morning briefing for Friday 31 August 2018.

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Five back-to-school sleeping tips for kids

It's back-to-school time. Here are five top tips for getting your kids back into a school-friendly bedtime routine.

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Quiz: Who went wild about Harry?

It's the weekly news quiz - have you been paying attention to what's been going on in the world over the past seven days?

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The first cyclist to 'Everest' on Everest

JJ Zhou took on a fiendish cycling challenge on the world's highest mountain.

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McCain and Biden's long friendship

The Arizona senator and the former vice-president shared a decades-long friendship.

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Why a plane is dropping trout into a lake from above

A mountain lake is being re-stocked with trout from the air by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

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Giant Sadiq Khan bikini-clad balloon to fly over London

The 29ft giant inflatable, bought by protesters, shows the London mayor wearing a yellow bikini.

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Errant swan captured on M5

Worried motorists called the police after spotting the bird on the hard shoulder.

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Imran Khan mocked for helicopter home-to-work commute

People are unimpressed the Pakistan prime minister takes a helicopter to work despite his austerity policies.

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High suicide risk for 'men in construction'

The suicide rate among low-skilled male labourers is three times higher than the national average for men, according to figures by the ONS.

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Sharing a one-night stand with Crohn's Disease

Philip's date was going well until Crohn's Disease turned up the morning after the night before.

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Mum, how should I talk to my son about you?

When she gave birth to her son Teddy, Robyn Hollingworth wanted to share the news with her own mum

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Why were there so many serial killers in the 1980s?

One historian suggests in a new book that the ravages of World War Two might have contributed.

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'My robot makes me feel like I haven't been forgotten'

How internet-connected robots are helping combat the scourge of isolation and loneliness.

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How the Hogwarts Express was saved from a Welsh scrapyard

The real-life story of the Hogwarts Express is almost as magical as the engine itself.

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Trump threatens to 'get involved' in law enforcement investigations into his own campaign - USA TODAY

USA TODAY

Trump threatens to 'get involved' in law enforcement investigations into his own campaign USA TODAY President Donald Trump is once again threatening to intervene in the Justice Department if they fail to take the actions he's demanding. At a rally in Indiana, Trump also continued his attacks on democrats and the media. (Aug. 30) AP. Ap Trump A Usa In. Trump threatens DOJ, FBI to 'start doing their job' or he'll 'get involved' during Indiana rallyFox News Trump rallies for Senate candidate Mike Braun in Indiana as it happenedCBS News all 391 news articles »

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At McCain's Memorial, Tears, Laughs and Allusions to the Man Not Invited - New York Times

New York Times

At McCain's Memorial, Tears, Laughs and Allusions to the Man Not Invited New York Times PHOENIX — Senator John McCain was remembered Thursday at a memorial service that evoked the one-time prisoner of war's unbreakable will, the Arizona senator's devotion to his adopted state and the maverick Republican's willingness to break with his ... Joe Biden's McCain eulogy just explained exactly what's wrong with American politicsCNN 'All politics is personal': Biden recalls his bond with McCain in a bipartisan timeWashington Post The quotes from Sen. John McCain's Arizona memorial that define his legacyUSA TODAY NPR -AZCentral.com -PBS NewsHour all 3,116 news articles »

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7 dead in New Mexico bus-truck crash, state police say - CNN

CNN

7 dead in New Mexico bus-truck crash, state police say CNN (CNN) At least seven people were killed in northwestern New Mexico when a tractor-trailer crashed head-on with a nearly packed Greyhound bus, officials said. "We do expect that number to rise," New Mexico State Police spokesman Officer Ray Wilson said ... The Latest: Police say 7 killed in New Mexico crashYahoo News NM Greyhound crash: At least 7 dead in LA-bound bus accidentKABC-TV Greyhound Bus, Semi-Truck Crash Head-On In New Mexico; At Least 4 KilledNPR CBS News -PEOPLE.com -KOB all 446 news articles »

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The next iPhones, Apple Watch leak as Apple preps for Sept. 12 event - USA TODAY

USA TODAY

The next iPhones, Apple Watch leak as Apple preps for Sept. 12 event USA TODAY Apple may be preparing to announce new iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches on Sept. 12, but it looks like someone has decided to share the images of the new products a bit early. Just hours after Apple sent out media invitations to its next big event ... Apple Accidentally Reveals Radical New iPhone XSForbes A notorious Apple blog may have just published a leaked photo of the new iPhoneBusiness Insider Two theories about Apple's mysterious eventFast Company ZDNet -Motley Fool -The Boston Globe -Telegraph.co.uk all 591 news articles »

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Asian-American Students Suing Harvard Over Affirmative Action Win Justice Dept. Support - New York Times

New York Times

Asian-American Students Suing Harvard Over Affirmative Action Win Justice Dept. Support New York Times The Johnston gate frames the entrance to Harvard Yard.CreditCreditHadley Green for The New York Times. By Katie Benner. Aug. 30, 2018. 阅读简体中文版閱讀繁體中文版. WASHINGTON — The Justice Department lent its support on Thursday to students ... Justice Department criticizes Harvard admissions in case alleging bias against Asian AmericansWashington Post Justice Department Says Harvard Hurts Asian Americans' Admissions Prospects With 'Personal Rating'Wall Street Journal Harvard admissions 'may be infected with racial bias,' DOJ saysThe Boston Globe Inside Higher Ed -NPR -CNN -Forbes all 292 news articles »

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Carl Bernstein: Trump attacks 'degenerate' Watergate reporter - BBC News

BBC News

Carl Bernstein: Trump attacks 'degenerate' Watergate reporter BBC News US President Donald Trump is waging a war of words with legendary Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein over a story about his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen. On Wednesday, the president called Mr Bernstein a "sloppy" and "degenerate fool" who invented stories. Will Trump Pardon Manafort?New York Times CNN doesn't intend to reveal other source in bombshell Michael Cohen story as Trump rages at networkBusiness Insider CNN Hits Back At President Trump After He Attacks Its ReportersHuffPost Washington Post -NBCNews.com -Twitter -CNN all 380 news articles »

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US, Canada make late-night push for NAFTA; no deal yet - Reuters

Reuters

US, Canada make late-night push for NAFTA; no deal yet Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top NAFTA negotiators from Canada and the United States wrapped up a third day of two-way talks on Thursday, agreeing to meet the next day to resolve final differences before a deadline, with Mexican counterparts on standby to ... US-Canada Trade Talks Take On 'Intense Rhythm'Wall Street Journal What Happened This Week in the World Economy and What It MeansBloomberg Friday is not the real deadline for 'NAFTA 2.0'The Boston Globe Foreign Policy -NPR -Voice of America -The Guardian all 998 news articles »

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Canadian mom, daughter camping in California are found after reported missing by woman's boyfriend - Fox News

Fox News

Canadian mom, daughter camping in California are found after reported missing by woman's boyfriend Fox News Police have found a young Canadian mother and her daughter, who were reported missing by the woman's concerned boyfriend after setting out for a camping trip in Northern California. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Department announced that Audrey ... Missing woman, daughter from Canada found safeSFGate Canadian mom, daughter reported missing in CaliforniaCBC.ca all 98 news articles »

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Donald Trump & Michael Cohen Tried To Buy Stories From David Pecker, Reports Say - Elite Daily

Elite Daily

Donald Trump & Michael Cohen Tried To Buy Stories From David Pecker, Reports Say Elite Daily This year is truly proving itself to be the era of "show me the receipts," but it looks like two familiar faces are taking it to the next level. According to reports from The New York Times, Donald Trump and Michael Cohen tried to buy stories from ... and more »

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Alex Jones Fails To Stop Sandy Hook Parents' Defamation Case - HuffPost

HuffPost

Alex Jones Fails To Stop Sandy Hook Parents' Defamation Case HuffPost Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has failed to shut down a defamation lawsuit brought against him by the parents of a Sandy Hook victim. Judge Scott Jenkins of the 53rd District Court ruled in Austin, Texas, on Thursday that the Infowars host must face ... Sandy Hook Parents' Defamation Lawsuit Against Alex Jones Can Continue, Judge RulesTIME all 60 news articles »

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The Impact of Preprocessing on Deep Representations for Iris Recognition on Unconstrained Environments. (arXiv:1808.10032v1 [cs.CV])

The use of iris as a biometric trait is widely used because of its high level of distinction and uniqueness. Nowadays, one of the major research challenges relies on the recognition of iris images obtained in visible spectrum under unconstrained environments. In this scenario, the acquired iris are affected by capture distance, rotation, blur, motion blur, low contrast and specular reflection, creating noises that disturb the iris recognition systems. Besides delineating the iris region, usually preprocessing techniques such as normalization and segmentation of noisy iris images are employed to minimize these problems. But these techniques inevitably run into some errors. In this context, we propose the use of deep representations, more specifically, architectures based on VGG and ResNet-50 networks, for dealing with the images using (and not) iris segmentation and normalization. We use transfer learning from the face domain and also propose a specific data augmentation technique for iris images. Our results show that the approach using non-normalized and only circle-delimited iris images reaches a new state of the art in the official protocol of the NICE.II competition, a subset of the UBIRIS database, one of the most challenging databases on unconstrained environments, reporting an average Equal Error Rate (EER) of 13.98% which represents an absolute reduction of about 5%.

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Use of Source Code Similarity Metrics in Software Defect Prediction. (arXiv:1808.10033v1 [cs.SE])

In recent years, defect prediction has received a great deal of attention in the empirical software engineering world. Predicting software defects before the maintenance phase is very important not only to decrease the maintenance costs but also increase the overall quality of a software product. There are different types of product, process, and developer based software metrics proposed so far to measure the defectiveness of a software system. This paper suggests to use a novel set of software metrics which are based on the similarities detected among the source code files in a software project. To find source code similarities among different files of a software system, plagiarism and clone detection techniques are used. Two simple similarity metrics are calculated for each file, considering its overall similarity to the defective and non defective files in the project. Using these similarity metrics, we predict whether a specific file is defective or not. Our experiments on 10 open source data sets show that depending on the amount of detected similarity, proposed metrics could achieve significantly better performance compared to the existing static code metrics in terms of the area under the curve (AUC).

from cs updates on arXiv.org https://ift.tt/2LKnXXU
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Theoretical Linear Convergence of Unfolded ISTA and its Practical Weights and Thresholds. (arXiv:1808.10038v1 [cs.LG])

In recent years, unfolding iterative algorithms as neural networks has become an empirical success in solving sparse recovery problems. However, its theoretical understanding is still immature, which prevents us from fully utilizing the power of neural networks. In this work, we study unfolded ISTA (Iterative Shrinkage Thresholding Algorithm) for sparse signal recovery. We introduce a weight structure that is necessary for asymptotic convergence to the true sparse signal. With this structure, unfolded ISTA can attain a linear convergence, which is better than the sublinear convergence of ISTA/FISTA in general cases. Furthermore, we propose to incorporate thresholding in the network to perform support selection, which is easy to implement and able to boost the convergence rate both theoretically and empirically. Extensive simulations, including sparse vector recovery and a compressive sensing experiment on real image data, corroborate our theoretical results and demonstrate their practical usefulness.

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AAD: Adaptive Anomaly Detection through traffic surveillance videos. (arXiv:1808.10044v1 [cs.CV])

Anomaly detection through video analysis is of great importance to detect any anomalous vehicle/human behavior at a traffic intersection. While most existing works use neural networks and conventional machine learning methods based on provided dataset, we will use object recognition (Faster R-CNN) to identify objects labels and their corresponding location in the video scene as the first step to implement anomaly detection. Then, the optical flow will be utilized to identify adaptive traffic flows in each region of the frame. Basically, we propose an alternative method for unusual activity detection using an adaptive anomaly detection framework. Compared to the baseline method described in the reference paper, our method is more efficient and yields the comparable accuracy.

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Differentially Private Change-Point Detection. (arXiv:1808.10056v1 [math.ST])

The change-point detection problem seeks to identify distributional changes at an unknown change-point k* in a stream of data. This problem appears in many important practical settings involving personal data, including biosurveillance, fault detection, finance, signal detection, and security systems. The field of differential privacy offers data analysis tools that provide powerful worst-case privacy guarantees. We study the statistical problem of change-point detection through the lens of differential privacy. We give private algorithms for both online and offline change-point detection, analyze these algorithms theoretically, and provide empirical validation of our results.

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Zero-Shot Adaptive Transfer for Conversational Language Understanding. (arXiv:1808.10059v1 [cs.CL])

Conversational agents such as Alexa and Google Assistant constantly need to increase their language understanding capabilities by adding new domains. A massive amount of labeled data is required for training each new domain. While domain adaptation approaches alleviate the annotation cost, prior approaches suffer from increased training time and suboptimal concept alignments. To tackle this, we introduce a novel Zero-Shot Adaptive Transfer method for slot tagging that utilizes the slot description for transferring reusable concepts across domains, and enjoys efficient training without any explicit concept alignments. Extensive experimentation over a dataset of 10 domains relevant to our commercial personal digital assistant shows that our model outperforms previous state-of-the-art systems by a large margin, and achieves an even higher improvement in the low data regime.

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Timelines for In-Code Discovery of Zero-Day Vulnerabilities and Supply-Chain Attacks. (arXiv:1808.10062v1 [cs.CR])

Zero-day vulnerabilities can be accidentally or maliciously placed in code and can remain in place for years. In this study, we address an aspect of their longevity by considering the likelihood that they will be discovered in the code across versions. We approximate well-disguised vulnerabilities as only being discoverable if the relevant lines of code are explicitly examined, and obvious vulnerabilities as being discoverable if any part of the relevant file is examined. We analyze the version-to-version changes in three types of open source software (Mozilla Firefox, GNU/Linus, and glibc) to understand the rate at which the various pieces of code are amended and find that much of the revision behavior can be captured with a simple intuitive model. We use that model and the data from over a billion unique lines of code in 87 different versions of software to specify the bounds for in-code discoverability of vulnerabilities - from expertly hidden to obviously observable.

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Configuration Space Singularities of The Delta Manipulator. (arXiv:1808.10064v1 [cs.RO])

We investigate the configuration space of the Delta-Manipulator, identify 24 points in the configuration space, where the Jacobian of the Constraint Equations looses rank and show, that these are not manifold points of the Real Algebraic Set, which is defined by the Constraint Equations.

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A polynomial-time algorithm for median-closed semilinear constraints. (arXiv:1808.10068v1 [cs.CC])

A subset of Q^n is called semilinear (or piecewise linear) if it is Boolean combination of linear half-spaces. We study the computational complexity of the constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) over the rationals when all the constraints are semilinear. When the sets are convex the CSP is polynomial-time equivalent to linear programming. A semilinear relation is convex if and only if it is preserved by taking averages. Our main result is a polynomial-time algorithm for the CSP of semilinear constraints that are preserved by applying medians. We also prove that this class is maximally tractable in the sense that any larger class of semilinear relations has an NP-hard CSP. To illustrate, our class contains all relations that can be expressed by linear inequalities with at most two variables (so-called TVPI constraints), but it also contains many non-convex relations, for example constraints of the form x in S for arbitrary finite subset S of Q, or more generally disjunctive constraints of the form x < c or y < d for constants c and d.

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IOTA Feasibility and Perspectives for Enabling Vehicular Applications. (arXiv:1808.10069v1 [cs.CR])

The emergence of distributed ledger technologies in the vehicular applications' arena is decisively contributing to their improvement and shaping of the public opinion about their future. The Tangle is a technology at its infancy, but showing enormous potential to become a key solution by addressing several of the blockchain's limitations. This paper focuses the use of the Tangle to improve the security of both in-vehicle and off-vehicle functions in vehicular applications. To this end, key operational performance parameters are identified, evaluated and discussed with emphasis on their limitations and potential impact in future vehicular applications.

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Super-Resolution for Hyperspectral and Multispectral Image Fusion Accounting for Seasonal Spectral Variability. (arXiv:1808.10072v1 [cs.CV])

Image fusion combines data from different heterogeneous sources to obtain more precise information about an underlying scene. Hyperspectral-multispectral (HS-MS) image fusion is currently attracting great interest in remote sensing since it allows the generation of high spatial resolution HS images, circumventing the main limitation of this imaging modality. Existing HS-MS fusion algorithms, however, neglect the spectral variability often existing between images acquired at different time instants. This time difference causes variations in spectral signatures of the underlying constituent materials due to different acquisition and seasonal conditions. This paper introduces a novel HS-MS image fusion strategy that combines an unmixing-based formulation with an explicit parametric model for typical spectral variability between the two images. Simulations with synthetic and real data show that the proposed strategy leads to a significant performance improvement under spectral variability and state-of-the-art performance otherwise.

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Heat suspend team executive amid federal investigation

A Miami Heat executive is under federal investigation, suspected of taking $13.4 million in sponsorship money from the Sacramento Kings, his former employer.

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U.S. Coast Guard responding to oil spill near Corpus Christi, Texas

The U.S. Coast Guard said about 1,176 gallons of oil was spilled from an overloaded barge moored at Flint Hills east dock near Corpus Christi, Texas Thursday evening.

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Trump vows to fight censorship of conservatives by social media firms

President Donald Trump told a campaign-style rally in Indiana on Thursday that his administration is standing up for free-speech rights, warning that large social media companies could not be allowed to "control what we can and cannot see."

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Seven dead in New Mexico after bus collides with truck

Seven people were killed in New Mexico on Thursday after a Greyhound passenger bus collided head-on with a semi-trailer truck that jumped a highway median strip, state police said.

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California looks to adopt Obama-style net neutrality rules

California lawmakers moved on Thursday toward imposing the nation's strictest net neutrality laws on internet providers, flying in the face of sweeping new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules seen as a win for the companies.

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U.S. man charged in 'enemy of the people' threats to Boston Globe

Federal authorities have charged a California man with threatening to kill Boston Globe employees for the newspaper's role leading this month's defense of press freedoms by hundreds of U.S. news organizations against attacks by President Donald Trump.

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U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones loses bid to stop defamation lawsuit

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones lost a bid to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against him by the parents of a boy killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre, according to court documents released on Thursday.

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First Yellowstone-area grizzly hunt in 40 years blocked by federal judge

A federal judge in Montana on Thursday issued a court order temporarily blocking the first trophy hunts of Yellowstone-area grizzly bears in more than 40 years, siding with native American groups and environmentalists seeking to restore the animals' protected status.

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