| State of the Union 2018: Democrats choose Joseph Kennedy III to respond to Donald Trump's speech Posted: 29 Jan 2018 12:28 PM PST  Democrats have chosen Congressman Joseph Kennedy III as the person to respond to US President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech next week. Mr Kennedy, from Massachusetts, is the grandson of late Senator Robert F Kennedy and great-nephew of late President John F Kennedy.
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| 13 Genius Ways To Use Ground Lamb Posted: 29 Jan 2018 11:48 AM PST ![13 Genius Ways To Use Ground Lamb]( "13 Genius Ways To Use Ground Lamb")
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| Belgium's exploding wild boar population must go on the pill, demands exasperated mayor Posted: 29 Jan 2018 09:20 AM PST  Belgium's exploding wild boar population is causing so much havoc that local politicians have demanded the rampaging beasts be put on the pill. With the potentially dangerous animals straying closer and closer to family homes, one local mayor has demanded the sex-mad boar be given contraceptives to curb their numbers. Wild boar were extinct for 50 years in Flanders but, since their reintroduction in 2006, the population has grown apace and wreaked havoc. The feral hogs are blamed for spreading disease, causing car accidents and agricultural damage. Maurice Webers is the socialist mayor of Beringen in Limberg, a north-eastern province of Belgium that has been plagued by the porcine menace. He demanded that special feeding zones for the boar be created and for contraceptives to be mixed into the food in what he called "an elegant and animal-friendly solution". "I have already suggested several times to the competent authorities that they plan feeding sites," he told the VRT TV channel, "but I have not yet received a reply." About | Wild boar "For the moment, there are really a lot of wild boars coming near the houses. That's why I would like to take steps to limit the number of boars," Mr Webers added. But the mayor's plan suffers from one major drawbacks, Thomas Scheppers of the Flemish Institute for Forest and Nature Studies said. "If you mix the pill with food, you don't know if the wild boar will eat the right amount. And we want to avoid that," he said before pointing out other animals could also eat the contraceptive food. British researchers are studying boar contraception and favour injections. "This method is more respectful of animals than having them killed by hunters," said Mr Scheppers. "We look forward to the results of the British study." The Flemish landscape changed over the 50 years boar were extinct in Flanders, turning into a densely packed mosaic of agricultural and urban areas, which has led to frequent clashes with humans. In the Limberg region in November, on a single highway and in a single evening, 14 wild boar were struck by traffic. While the drivers were unhurt, the animals were not so lucky. Wildlife fences along the motorway have proved useless against the plague with wily boar crawling underneath them. The Natuurhelpcentrum animal shelter gets a call every week about a boar being killed somewhere in Limberg. "There are now too many of them. Some hunters have a great responsibility here, because they released the first wild boars in Limburg. Now we have the problems. It is a matter of time until the first death," said Sil Jannssen of the Natuurhelpcentrum. Boar are causing such widespread damage to crops in Belgium that academics are using drones and computer algorithms to calculate the cost to farmers. The feral pigs either root up grassland, leaving soil strewn around, or roll over in cornfields breaking them at the stem. The University of Antwerp estimates the cost of compensating farmers costs hundreds of thousands of euros a year but Belgium has not monitored the damage to agriculture – until now. Anneleen Rutten, a PHD student at Antwerp university, has pioneered a drone-based method to estimate the cost in a fast, standardised and accurate way. Traditionally such damage is estimated by teams of flat-footed experts trudging through fields rather than the far zippier and cheaper drones. "I connect my smartphone to the remote controller of my drone which allows me to see the camera visualisation of the drone," said Ms Rutten, who is yet to catch a boar in the act on one of her unmanned flights. The damage is obvious on the drone's camera, which picks up the holes in cornfields and the uprooted soil on grassland. The drone snaps a flurry of photographs which are combined into a large single image of the field. That image is fed into a computer and an algorithm, shown to be about 94 percent accurate, evaluates the damage. While attacks on humans are rare, two aggressive wild boar attacked and injured several people in the small German town of Heide in October, tearing through the town centre in an hours-long rampage. Four people were injured, and one man's fingertip was torn off, according to police reports.
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| Japan raps Coincheck, orders broader checks after $530 million cryptocurrency theft Posted: 29 Jan 2018 08:17 AM PST ![Japan raps Coincheck, orders broader checks after $530 million cryptocurrency theft]( "Japan raps Coincheck, orders broader checks after $530 million cryptocurrency theft") Japanese authorities said on Monday they would investigate all cryptocurrency exchanges in the country for security gaps and ordered Coincheck to raise its standards after hackers stole $530 million of digital money from the Tokyo-based exchange. The theft - one of the world's biggest cyberheists - highlights the vulnerabilities in trading an asset that policymakers are struggling to regulate, as well as the broader risks for Japan as it aims to leverage the fintech industry to stimulate economic growth. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) on Monday ordered improvements to operations at Coincheck, which on Friday suspended trading in all cryptocurrencies except bitcoin after hackers stole 58 billion yen ($534 million) of NEM coins, among the most popular digital currencies in the world.
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| 'Fog' of Ukraine's war: Russian's death in Syria sheds light on secret mission Posted: 29 Jan 2018 06:35 AM PST !['Fog' of Ukraine's war: Russian's death in Syria sheds light on secret mission]( "'Fog' of Ukraine's war: Russian's death in Syria sheds light on secret mission") By Maria Tsvetkova MOSCOW/Donetsk, Ukraine (Reuters) - In the fall of 2015, pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine were introduced to a moustachioed new commander who, like his predecessors, went by the codename Tuman - "fog" in Russian. When he was killed while on official assignment to Syria two years later, it turns out that this name was also fake, a deception to hide Russia's central role in a conflict that Moscow and the rebels maintain was entirely homegrown. In fact, Valery Asapov was a Russian general working undercover.
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| Blue Ivy Tells Beyoncé And Jay-Z To Quiet Down At The Grammys Posted: 29 Jan 2018 04:11 AM PST  Beyoncé and Jay-Z have reached dizzying heights of fame, but they're not too big to be brought down a notch or two by their daughter, Blue Ivy.
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| Five shot dead, one wounded at western Pennsylvania car wash Posted: 29 Jan 2018 03:23 AM PST ![Five shot dead, one wounded at western Pennsylvania car wash]( "Five shot dead, one wounded at western Pennsylvania car wash") Shots rang out about 2:40 a.m. at Ed's Car Wash in Melcroft, about 53 miles (85 km) southeast of Pittsburgh, police said. Pittsburgh television station WPXI reported the dead as three men and two women, but state police declined to confirm that information. "There is no continued threat to the community," a police spokesman said.
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| Home-Schooling Advocates Brace for Regulation Debate After 13 Siblings Were Found Shackled Posted: 29 Jan 2018 12:36 AM PST  In the absence of federal guidelines, oversight varies widely by state
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| Parents outraged after school police handcuffed 7-year-old boy Posted: 28 Jan 2018 10:18 PM PST  A mother and father are demanding answers after their 7-year-old son was placed in handcuffs at school.
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| Joy Villa Wears Anti-Abortion Dress to Grammys, Complete With Hand-Painted Fetus Posted: 28 Jan 2018 09:01 PM PST  The Trump supporter is turning heads with her fashion choices once again.
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