Whole house goes missing overnight
An entire house has disappeared overnight leaving police baffled as to its whereabouts. Brazen theft »
Cricket World Cup
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S. Africa family reunited with child snatched in 1997
A baby stolen from her sleeping mother's arms shortly after birth has been found by the family through an astonishing coincidence 17 years later, her biological family and South African police said Friday. A 50-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with kidnapping after pupils noticed a remarkable likeness between the 17-year-old and her younger biological sister who started attending the same school this year. DNA tests have confirmed that the older girl is the daughter of Celeste and Morne Nurse, who was snatched from Groote Schuur hospital as a three-day-old baby named Zephany in April 1997, local media reported.
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Google's Blogger reverses porn policy after user backlash
Apparently Google bloggers like to post porn. Just three days after saying sexually explicit material would be banned from public Blogger forum sites, Google is backing down. Faced with "a ton of feedback," Google said Friday that it instead will "step up enforcement" against commercial and illegal porn.
Associated Press -
The dress that broke the Internet
By some reckonings, Buzzfeed invented "viral," but its deputy news director, Jon Passatino, appeared truly surprised by just how many clicks the dress generated. Neetzan Zimmerman, formerly an editor at another viral content machine, Gawker, and widely considered an expert in virality, tweeted that the dress is a "viral singularity." It appears to have started with a Tumblr post of the photo, headlined "what colors are this dress," and spread from there as those who saw white-and-gold engaged in pitched battles with the blue-and-black camp.
CNBC -
Islamic State under pressure as Kurds seize Syrian town
Kurdish forces dealt a blow to Islamic State by capturing an important town on Friday in the latest stage of a powerful offensive in northeast Syria, a Kurdish militia spokesman said. Islamic State has been forced into retreat across parts of the strategic region, a land bridge between territory it controls in Syria and Iraq, even as its fighters have mounted new raids this week on Assyrian Christian villages, abducting more than 200 people. The capture of Tel Hamis was announced by the Kurdish YPG militia and confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the country's civil war.
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Co-hosts set for Cricket World Cup fireworks
One of the World Cup's biggest games pits high-flying New Zealand against four-time champions Australia at Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday in a match that could well be a dress rehearsal for the final. New Zealand are the team to beat in the tournament so far, with their eight-wicket thrashing of England last week their third win in as many pool matches after they defeated Sri Lanka and outlasted Scotland. Co-hosts Australia and New Zealand, staging the World Cup for only the second-time in the tournament's 40-year history, are both eyeing top position in Pool A so that they face a relatively weaker team in the quarter-finals.
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Japan police arrest teens for 'IS-inspired' killing
Japanese police on Friday arrested three teenagers on suspicion of killing a 13-year-old schoolboy, in a chilling murder some local media suggested was inspired by Islamist extremist executions. The brutalised and naked body of Ryota Uemura was found in undergrowth near a river last Friday. Low-crime Japan has been captivated by the killing, with media reporting every twist and turn in the investigation, including details of how the youngster's mobile phone was used to send a friend request on a messaging app around the time of his death.
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N. Korea vows 'merciless' war against US
North Korea vowed to wage a "merciless, sacred war" against the United States on Thursday, days before the launch of annual joint South Korea-US military exercises that have incensed Pyongyang. "Nuclear weapons are not a monopoly of the US," the ruling party's official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, warned in an editorial carried by the state KCNA news agency. North Korea "will wage a merciless sacred war against the US now that the latter has chosen confrontation", the Rodong Sinmun said.
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Zelda Williams: 'No Point' Asking Why Robin Williams Took His Own Life
Six months after Robin Williams took his own life, his daughter Zelda is opening up about what hers is like now that he's gone.
Yahoo Entertainment -
Paris Hilton sent car by fan
Paris Hilton has been sent a classic car by an obsessive fan.A man named Johnny delivered the Cadillac to the 34-year-old socialite's Beverly Hills gated community on Sunday (22.02.15) but when the security guard at the gate called the blonde beauty and
Bang Showbiz -
Gisele Bundchen Reveals Wedding Dress
Supermodel Gisele Bundchen has given the world a rare glimpse into her wedding day, sharing a snap of herself and husband Tom Brady on Instagram to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary. In the picture, which already has more than 168,000 likes, you can see Bundchen’s sequined wedding dress with a flared, fishtail hem. It’s one of the only photos of the dress in the public domain (and one of the only photos of NFL player Brady on his wedding day, in a tonal cream-hued three piece suit).
marie claire -
6 women accuse hot yoga founder of sex assaults, groping
A yoga guru who founded a rigorous routine of exercises practiced in steamy rooms around the world is facing lawsuits by six women who claim he sexually assaulted them. The most recent case, filed Feb. 13 in Los Angeles Superior Court, said Bikram Choudhury raped a Canadian woman who had shelled out $10,000 from her college fund for a nine-week class so she could teach the 26-pose technique to others. "Throughout the sexual abuse, defendant Bikram Choudhury offered multiple explanations and justifications for his behavior," the lawsuit said.
Associated Press -
Billionaire's 'secret' daughter gets $20 million
Looks like Olivia Mead will be able to afford her Mexican walking fish and jewelry-encrusted bass guitar-lots of them, in fact. Mead, the "secret daughter" of the late Australian billionaire Michael Wright, became a minor Web sensation in early February after demanding more from her father's estate, worth $3.1 billion Australian dollars ($2.4 billion). "The starting point in reaching that conclusion is the size of the estate," Master Craig Sanderson said in his judgment.
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Leonard Nimoy, famous as Mr. Spock on 'Star Trek,' dies
In 1975, Leonard Nimoy published an autobiography with the defiant title, "I Am Not Spock" — an attempt to show the world he had many more facets than the pointy-eared character that had come to define him. Nimoy had come to appreciate Mr. Spock's enduring legacy and the inspiration the man of logic provided the actor and his fans alike. "And if I'm not listening to Spock's voice, then I'm listening to the voices of those who know the Vulcan and consider him an old friend.
Associated Press -
Truckie 'avoids bridge toll with Bond-inspired device'
A truckie accused of using a James Bond-style retractable bumper to evade a $95 toll on the George Washington Bridge in New York City has been charged with using burglary tools, police said. Hauling a load of sweets across the bridge toward New York City on Wednesday, Pablo Ortega flipped a switch on his dashboard as he approached the toll gates over the Hudson River.
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Barker 'gutted' by Team NZ's treatment
Dean Barker's been dropped as Team NZ's helmsman and the former skipper says he's "gutted" at the way he's been treated.
NZ Newswire -
Stink bugs stopped dead in their tracks
New Zealand is well protected against a bug considered even worse than the Queensland fruit fly that's been found at the country's borders, say the Ministry for Primary Industries. The reassurance comes after Labour MP Damien O'Connor said 13 brown marmorated stink bugs have been found in New Zealand in the last six months. Labour said there was a risk the pest could be establishing itself here "while the Ministry for Primary Industries is tearing around looking for fruit flies".
NZ Newswire -
Young Spaniards moving to Germany get trapped in dismal jobs
Edur Ansa couldn't find work for a year after he got his nursing degree from Barcelona University. Like many other Spaniards, he started looking for work in Germany and ended up with a job at a private ...
Associated Press -
Russia's Khodorkovsky: Putin is a 'naked king' facing economic ruin
By Dmitry Zhdannikov LONDON (Reuters) - Former Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky said on Thursday Vladimir Putin was a "naked king" presiding over an economy that will weaken further,...
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$150K dress worn by Lupita Nyong'o at Oscars reported stolen
The theft of a $150,000 pearl-covered gown worn by Lupita Nyong'o at the Oscars doesn't surprise Hollywood stylists who have personally experienced the seedy side of red carpet fashion. Style expert and fashion commentator Mary Alice Stephenson has for years heard stories about similar stolen celebrity items. "It's not shocking to me that this would be taken out of her hotel room," said Stephenson, who once had a nabbed Fendi bag held for ransom.
Associated Press -
Bill Nighy 'got busted' smuggling Marmite
Bill Nighy "got busted" trying to sneak Marmite through airport security. The 65-year-old actor, who stars alongside Dame Judi Dench in 'The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel', has revealed his love of Marmite and Yorkshire Tea, both of which he tried to take with him to India when filming the new movie. "The problem is that I'm addicted to Yorkshire Tea, and for me, nothing else can really hit the spot.
Bang Showbiz
