On his show Wednesday night, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart pointedly mocked a Senate hearing on Apple’s questionable tax practices. The tech giant pays a lower corporate tax rate than Walmart and uses offshore tax havens to avoid paying tens of billions in taxes. Apple CEO Tim Cook...
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Jon Stewart exposes ridiculous fawning over Apple at Senate hearing
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WATCH LIVE: Rescue operation begins as Washington state bridge collapses
The Skagit River Bridge in Washington state collapsed on Thursday evening, dumping several vehicles into the water. Watch live coverage, courtesy of MSNBC, below:
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Jon Stewart rips Obama for aggressive investigation of whistle-blowers instead of bankers
On his show Thursday night, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart blasted the Obama administration for aggressively investigating whistle-blowers who talked to the press. He noted that while federal prosecutors had come down hard on hackers and “potheads,” the Obama administration tip-toed...
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EU to ban three harmful bee pesticides from December
The European Commission said Friday that it will ban for two years beginning in December three pesticides blamed for killing the bees that pollinate food and fruit crops. The decision to ban the insecticides, made by chemicals giants Bayer and Syngenta, “marks another milestone towards...
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Tokyo denies ‘ghosts’ keeping PM out of residence
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet on Friday formally denied months-long rumours that the premier had not moved into his official residence over fears the mansion is haunted. The conservative leader took office in December but has yet to move into the 11-room brick home in central...
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N. Korean envoy stresses dialogue in China talks
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s special envoy told a top Chinese defence official Friday that his country wants to solve problems on the Korean peninsula through dialogue, Beijing’s state media said. The comments by Kim’s emissary Choe Ryong-Hae were reported by the official...
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Germany must spread cost of energy shift fairly: IEA
The International Energy Agency said Friday that Germany must shield its consumers from paying too much of the cost of its ambitious switch from nuclear power and fossil fuels toward renewable energy. The IEA also said Europe’s biggest economy should make greater use of natural gas to smoothe...
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Washington state bridge collapse plunges cars and people into river
A bridge carrying a freeway over a river in the northwestern US state of Washington partially collapsed Thursday, sending cars and people plunging into the water below, police said. At least three people were fished out but there were no reports of serious injuries or fatalities in the incident,...
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Pakistan remains opposed to drones after Obama speech
The Pakistan government Friday repeated its view that US drone strikes in its territory were illegal, after President Barack Obama laid out new guidelines for their use. The US president mounted a firm defence of his covert drone war as legal and just in a major speech on counterterrorism policy on...
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At the movies, violence is the new sex
Sex may be a turn-off for Hollywood audiences but violence is all over the big screen, as filmmakers seek to capture the youth market, industry figures at the Cannes film festival said on Friday. With online porn readily available, sex scenes are no longer prized by producers who look to action...
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Colbert: If atheists can go to heaven, I want my Catholicism refunded
Thursday night on “The Colbert Report,” host Stephen Colbert marveled at the announcement by Pope Francis that there are good atheists who are loved by God. “The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the...
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Ohio school district considers teaching creationism and ‘Agenda 21′ conspiracies
The American Civil Liberties Union this week warned school officials in Ohio not to adopt policies that advanced creationism in the classroom. “It’s the job of families, not public schools to educate children on spiritual values,” said ACLU of Ohio staff attorney Drew Dennis. “It...
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Hackers attack official Saudi websites
Cyber hackers attacked several official Saudi websites on Saturday, posting an Algerian flag on their homepages that later vanished, local media reported. The website of the information ministry was among the hacked sites, according to state news broadcaster Al-Ekhbariya and newspapers. The...
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The Wire creator David Simon eviscerates the dystopia creating war on drugs
David Simon surged into the American mainstream with a bleak vision of the devastation wrought by drugs on his home town of Baltimore – The Wire, hailed by many as the greatest television drama of all time. But what keeps him there is his apocalyptic and unrelenting heresy over the failed...
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Documentary on Khmer Rouge atrocities wins top award at Cannes
A documentary on relatives wiped out in the Khmer Rouge’s tyrannical grip on Cambodia in the 1970s earned Cambodian-French director Rithy Panh a major prize at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. Entitled “L’Image Manquante” — “The Missing Picture” in...
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Florida squatter found with more than a dozen dead cats in freezer
A foreclosure eviction in Tampa, Florida yielded a grisly find for authorities on Thursday, as they found not only a squatter on the property, but dozens of dead and diseased cats. WPEC-TV reported on Saturday that 66-year-old James Hopkins was discovered on the premises, which belonged to another...
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Top chefs say Latin America will become culinary superpower
The world’s top chefs say it’s only a matter of time before Latin America, home to Brazil’s black bean stew “feijoada,” Peru’s refreshing raw fish “ceviche” and Mexico’s street tacos, cooks its way into gastronomy’s elite. Spanish pastry...
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Syrian opposition say kidnapped bishops are ‘in good health’
Two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria last month are “in good health,” though there is no news on their whereabouts, an opposition official told reporters Saturday in Istanbul. “Two or three days ago, a doctor visited the two bishops. They are in good health,” said Abdul...
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Three more suspects and suspects’ friend arrested in London ‘beheading’ case
Police in London, England arrested three more men on Saturday in connection with the May 22 fatal attack on a British soldier, while counter-terrorism authorities also picked up a friend of one of the suspects on separate terrorism-related charges. The Huffington Post UK reported that three...
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Scientist slams Stanford for ‘outrageous’ fertility patent
Decision to approve patent for embryo cell data could make IVF fertility treatments prohibitively expensive, says expert A fresh international row has erupted over granting US patents to processes which many scientists believe are basic aspects of human physiology. Jacques Cohen, one of the...
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