Otto Warmbier, Detained U.S. Student, Apologizes in North Korea

An American student detained in North Korea appeared in a government-arranged news conference in Pyongyang, the capital, on Monday, apologizing for what the country called an antistate crime: trying to steal a political banner. The student, Otto F. Warmbier, an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, was detained in North Korea in January while visiting the country on a tourist visa. While announcing his arrest, the state...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/wildcard/otto-warmbier-detained-us-student-apologizes-in-north-korea

Hong Kong Election Shows Growing Support for Independence Push

A candidate charged over Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year riots won an unexpectedly high number of votes in a by-election, raising the possibility that parties seeking independence from China may influence results of citywide legislative elections later this year. Edward Leung Tin-kei, a leader of the so-called localist group, Hong Kong Indigenous, secured about 15 percent of the vote in the Legislative Council’s New Territories East district on Sunday.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/geoleo/hong-kong-election-shows-growing-support-for-independence-push

Death and Politics: Did a Vicious Campaign Drive a Candidate to Suicide?

A Republican kingmaker, Ted Cruz's campaign manager and questions of faith hounded an "anti-corruption" crusader until his tragic end. By Andy Kroll.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/death-and-politics-did-a-vicious-campaign-drive-a-candidate-to-suicide

Airbnb guests shocked by decomposing corpse in garden

A group of friends who rented a house on Airbnb for a party weekend in a French town got a nasty surprise when they discovered the decomposing body of a woman in the garden. “Her body was found at the bottom of the property which opens out into a woods,” a police source said. Foul play is suspected.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/doodlegirl/airbnb-guests-shocked-by-decomposing-corpse-in-garden

Hackers did indeed cause Ukrainian power outage, US report concludes

A December outage in Ukraine that caused 225,000 customers to lose electricity was the work of hackers, a report prepared by US Department of Homeland Security officials has determined. The report published Thursday by the DHS Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team largely agrees with analysis provided last month by a member of the SANS industrial control systems team—that the December 23 outage was caused by external hackers.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/zritic/hackers-did-indeed-cause-ukrainian-power-outage-us-report-concludes

Nobody Can Believe We’re Here, But We’re Here

Trump is really, truly blowing up our politics. It was a long time coming. By Charles P. Pierce.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/nobody-can-believe-were-here-but-were-here

Nigeria government's audit removes nearly 24,000 non-existent workers

The Nigerian government has removed nearly 24,000 workers from its payroll after an audit revealed they did not exist, the Finance Ministry has said. The move has enabled a monthly saving of around $11,5m (£8m). The audit is part of an anti-corruption campaign by President Muhammadu Buhari, who took power last year.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/Pfennig88/nigeria-governments-audit-removes-nearly-24000-non-existent-workers

Swiss voters reject plan to expel foreigners for minor crimes

People in Switzerland have rejected a plan to automatically expel foreigners who commit minor crimes, results show. Some 59% of voters have said "No" to the proposal put forward by the right-wing Swiss People's Party. The vote happened amid growing unease at rising immigration and the problems which, the party says, come with it. But opponents said the law would create a two-tier justice system unfairly targeting foreigners...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/ticktack/swiss-voters-reject-plan-to-expel-foreigners-for-minor-crimes

Written Behind Bars, This 1850s Memoir Links Prisons To Plantations

The Life and the Adventures of a Haunted Convict is the earliest known prison memoir by an African-American writer. Written by Austin Reed in the 1850s, it was discovered at an estate sale in 2009.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/FivesandSevens/written-behind-bars-this-1850s-memoir-links-prisons-to-plantations

Till death do us pasta: Weddings legalised for NZ spaghetti church

New Zealanders can now tie the noodle knot in a legally recognised wedding ceremony featuring swords, noodles and pasta.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/kxh/till-death-do-us-pasta-weddings-legalised-for-nz-spaghetti-church

An Open Letter to the Republican Establishment

You are the captains of American industry, the titans of Wall Street, and the billionaires who for decades have been the backbone of the Republican Party.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/spaceghoti/an-open-letter-to-the-republican-establishment

In a Crazy Coincidence a Mother Born on a Leap Year Gives Birth on a Leap Year

In an extraordinary coincidence a mother born on a leap year gives birth on a leap year.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/jcscher/in-a-crazy-coincidence-a-mother-born-on-a-leap-year-gives-birth-on-a-leap-year

Robert Mugabe holds $1m birthday party in drought-hit Zimbabwe

President Robert Mugabe has come under fire for holding a lavish $1 million birthday party to celebrate his 92nd birthday in a drought-stricken town in Zimbabwe. Opponents said the event was "an affront to ordinary Zimbabweans" at a time when more than a quarter of the population are in need of food aid. Mugabe's birthday bashes have become an annual pilgrimage for loyalists but the decision to hold this year's party in Masvingo...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/dianep/robert-mugabe-holds-1m-birthday-party-in-drought-hit-zimbabwe

What Democrats Still Don’t Get About McGovern

The party took all the wrong lessons from his landslide loss to Richard Nixon in '72.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/FivesandSevens/what-democrats-still-dont-get-about-mcgovern

Hypersonic missiles could be operational in 2020s, general says

Hypersonic missiles could be here faster than you know it. By 2020, the Air Force is likely to have operational prototypes ready for a program of record and testing to develop an operational unit, said Maj. Gen. Thomas Masiello, the commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/grandsalami/hypersonic-missiles-could-be-operational-in-2020s-general-says

SpaceX calls last-second rocket abort

The California rocket company experiences a dramatic, last-second abort, as onboard computers shut down the engines on a Falcon 9 right at the moment of lift-off.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/sjvn/spacex-calls-last-second-rocket-abort

Kim Jong Il's bodyguard: 11 years serving North Korea

Sometimes, Lee Young Guk was mere feet away from Kim Jong Il. From the late 1970s till the late 1980s, Lee was a bodyguard for the then-future leader of North Korea and spent a decade in close proximity to the country's most powerful people. Today, Lee lives in the South Korean capital, Seoul, and travels the world to tell his story. On Tuesday, he was in Geneva at the Human Rights Summit. The 54-year-old has a clear mission...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/zyery/kim-jong-ils-bodyguard-11-years-serving-north-korea

NC Student's Attempt To Get Voter ID Shows Just How Bad Voter Suppression Has Become

Logan Graham, a student at North Carolina State University, recently wrote a column in the university’s newspaper, The Technician, expressing his outrage over the troubles he faced when he tried to get a voter ID as an out-of-state student after new, contentious voter ID laws were passed in North Carolina.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/spaceghoti/nc-students-attempt-to-get-voter-id-shows-just-how-bad-voter-suppression-has-become

Bernie Sanders calls back to America’s socialist roots

Before the Soviet Union and then the Cold War confused and conflated the issues and the terms used to describe them, democratic socialism was the largest political movement in the United States outside the Republican and Democratic parties. Dozens of socialist mayors and several socialist congressmen were elected to office.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/FivesandSevens/bernie-sanders-calls-back-to-americas-socialist-roots

Download All 36 of Jan Vermeer’s Beautifully Rare Paintings (Most in High Resolution)

Imagine the scene: you uncover a painting stored away in the closet of an elderly relative's home, coated in a blanket of dust so thick you can hardly make out anything but more dust underneath. You slide it out, begin to carefully brush it off, and find two piercing eyes peering out at you.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/FivesandSevens/download-all-36-of-jan-vermeers-beautifully-rare-paintings-most-in-stunning-high-resolution

History of science: When eugenics became law

Victoria Nourse reviews a study on a historic US misuse of biology, the case of Buck v. Bell. Adam Cohen's 'Imbeciles' relates a key chapter in this story. Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/nanno/history-of-science-when-eugenics-became-law

The Tunnels of Gaza’s Next War

By all accounts, Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is on a tunnel-building streak. Hamas has boasted of building fifty tunnels since the Israel–Gaza conflict of July, 2014, though Israel insists those numbers are exaggerated. But residents of kibbutzim that border Gaza are increasingly warning of clattering and drilling noises under their homes. “I’ve heard the sound of a hammer and chisel, and my neighbor says she can hear them...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/hiihii/the-tunnels-of-gazas-next-war

Former Tepco bosses charged Fukushima meltdown

First criminal action to be taken after 2011 disaster, in which three nuclear reactors went into meltdown after earthquake
Read more: http://snapzu.com/nanno/former-tepco-bosses-charged-fukushima-meltdown

How to level the playing field for working families

The Family and Medical Leave Act was a huge step forward for working families, but it’s not nearly enough.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/spaceghoti/how-to-level-the-playing-field-for-working-families

Maps of the Moon Mountains Once Thought to Be the Source of the Nile

The search for the source of the Nile captivated civilizations for centuries. For a long stretch of time from ancient Greece right up into the 19th century, the answer to that mysterious question was the Mountains of the Moon. This range of peaks wound up on a number of maps despite being entirely fictional.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/gladsdotter/maps-of-the-moon-mountains-once-thought-to-be-the-source-of-the-nile

A Spymaster Opens Up

Spymasters are supposed to be good at keeping their mouths shut, so it’s striking how many heads of the Central Intelligence Agency have published memoirs. They are no doubt driven by the same motives that lead other public figures to write autobiographies—money, narcissism, score-settling, concern for their place in history. Now, Michael Hayden, the former C.I.A. chief and N.S.A. director, has written a memoir about transparency and torture. By George Packer.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/gladsdotter/a-spymaster-opens-up

George Orwell’s master – and spymaster?

In his last days Orwell was visited in hospital by a selection of friends who were all involved in a covert CIA project: CCF, the Congress for Cultural Freedom. Its aim was to provide a counterweight to Marxist intellectual and cultural supremacy in Europe. The project, in which the IRD (Information Research Department) also played a part, would lead to the setting up of Encounter magazine and the CIA’s acquisition of the film rights to Orwell’s "Animal Farm."
Read more: http://snapzu.com/gladsdotter/george-orwells-master-and-spymaster

Ground control bids farewell to Philae comet lander

Mission scientists have decided to give up trying to contact the comet lander Philae. The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission dropped the robot onto Comet 67P in November 2014. But after a troubled landing and 60 hours of operation, there has largely been radio silence from Philae. The German Aerospace Center (DLR), which led the consortium behind Philae, said the lander is probably now covered in dust and too cold to function.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/ppp/ground-control-bids-farewell-to-philae-comet-lander

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Donald Trump

Our main story was about Donald Trump. We can't believe we're saying that either.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver-donald-trump

A Chilean Ex-Soldier Guiltily Recalls His Unit’s Atrocities

Guillermo Padilla says he was part of a commando unit in 1973 that tortured and executed suspected opponents of General Augusto Pinochet. By Pascale Bonnefoy.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/a-chilean-ex-soldier-guiltily-recalls-his-units-atrocities

'Shawshank' fugitive captured after 56 years on the run to be released

The man known to many simply as the “Shawshank fugitive” for his 56 years on the run from an infamous Ohio correctional facility was cleared for release by a parole board this week. Frank Freshwaters, 79, escaped from the Ohio State Reformatory in 1959, after serving two years for parole violation in a manslaughter case. The reformatory was later immortalized as the filming location for the 1994 drama The Shawshank Redemption...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/hedman/shawshank-fugitive-captured-after-56-years-on-the-run-to-be-released

Tech CEO Whitman calls Trump 'unfit' to be president

Meg Whitman, the head of technology firm Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (HPE.N), said on Sunday that Donald Trump was "unfit" for the U.S. presidency, and criticized New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose failed presidential bid she supported, for endorsing him. But, later in the day, Trump picked up another high-profile endorsement, from U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a leading conservative. Trump's insurgent campaign...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/TNY/tech-ceo-whitman-calls-trump-unfit-to-be-president

Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Wins An Oscar For Best Actor

With his fifth nomination, Leonardo DiCaprio has finally earned an Oscar for his role in The Revenant.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/picklefingers/leonardo-dicaprio-finally-wins-an-oscar-for-best-actor

Prince William County officer killed on first day on street

A Virginia police officer was killed while responding to a domestic-related shooting a day after she was sworn in, authorities said. Prince William County police officer Ashley Guindon was killed Saturday night in Lake Ridge. She was sworn in Friday. Two other officers were injured in the shooting, authorities said. One was in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds and another officer was stable, according to Corey Stewart, chairman of the board of county supervisors.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/tukka/prince-william-county-officer-killed-on-first-day-on-street

'The bad $50s are rampant right now': Counterfeiting on the rise

Organised crime syndicates are flooding Australia with counterfeit $50 banknotes, costing businesses and consumers millions of dollars. More than 33,000 fake $50 notes were removed from circulation in 2014-15, triple the number detected just two years ago, government figures show. But this likely represents only a fraction of the amount of bogus money flowing through the economy amid a massive spike in the number of...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/roxxy/the-bad-50s-are-rampant-right-now-counterfeiting-on-the-rise

JOHN MCAFEE: The NSA's back door has given every US secret to our enemies

Deng Xiaoping, in 1979 - his second year as supreme leader of China - perceived a fundamental truth that has yet to be fully grasped by most Western leaders: Software, if properly weaponized, could be far more destructive than any nuclear arsenal. Under Deng’s leadership, China began one of the most ambitious and sophisticated meta- software development programs ever undertaken.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/manix/john-mcafee-the-nsas-back-door-has-given-every-us-secret-to-our-enemies

MAP shows what continent REALLY thinks of EU

EUROPE is turning against Brussels with anti-EU feeling spreading through the Continent - as our exclusive map today reveals.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/Appaloosa/map-shows-what-continent-really-thinks-of-eu

Iran election: Reformists win all 30 Tehran seats

Allies of Iran’s reformist President Hassan Rouhani win a landslide victory in Tehran, in the first elections since the nuclear deal with world powers.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/iran-election-reformists-win-all-30-tehran-seats

Sick of Political Parties, Unaffiliated Voters Are Changing Politics

More voters identify as independent than Republican or Democrat. And they're changing the political system around the country.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/sick-of-political-parties-unaffiliated-voters-are-changing-politics

California Highway Patrol needed nearly four hours to catch a runaway ‘unicorn’

When a caller reported a “unicorn-like” animal galloping down an open Central Valley road, the California Highway Patrol suspected someone was high on hallucinogenic drugs.By Brittny Mejia.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/california-highway-patrol-needed-nearly-four-hours-to-catch-a-runaway-unicorn

Congresswoman quits Democratic National Committee, endorses Bernie Sanders

Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Tulsi Gabbard resigned from her post on Sunday to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, following months of rising tensions within the group.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/congresswoman-quits-democratic-national-committee-endorses-bernie-sanders

The 6 Most Unique Co-Working Spaces in the World

Why work in a coffee shop when you can freelance while traveling the world?
Read more: http://snapzu.com/sjvn/the-6-most-unique-co-working-spaces-in-the-world-the-freelancer-by-contently

Saudi man gets 10 years, 2,000 lashes over atheist tweets

A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a man to 10 years in prison and 2,000 lashes for expressing his atheism in hundreds of Twitter posts. Al-Watan online daily said Saturday that religious police in charge of monitoring social networks found more than 600 tweets denying the existence of God, ridiculing Quranic verses, accusing all prophets of lies and saying their teachings fueled hostilities.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/lexi6/saudi-man-gets-10-years-2000-lashes-over-atheist-tweets

Thousands March in Central London to Oppose Nuclear Arms

Thousands have marched through London to oppose the renewal of Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system in what demonstrators describe as the biggest such rally in a generation. Waving placards and banners, the protesters offered their opposition Saturday ahead of a final government decision on whether to replace the current generation of submarines that carry the nuclear warheads.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/distant/thousands-march-in-central-london-to-oppose-nuclear-arms

Embarrassed Americans underreport credit card debt by $415 billion

It’s not uncommon to fudge some of life’s most sensitive numbers, such as age or weight. But according to a NerdWallet study, consumers aren’t just fibbing a little when it comes to their credit card balances. In fact, government data show them reporting a total of $415 billion less than they actually owe. As of December 2013, lenders reported about $683 billion in outstanding credit card debt, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/zyery/embarrassed-americans-underreport-credit-card-debt-by-415-billion

Flower Sack Dresses From the Flour Mills

In times gone by, amidst widespread poverty, the Flour Mills realized that some women were using sacks to make clothes for their children. In response, the Flour Mills started using flowered fabric…
Read more: http://snapzu.com/CatLady/flower-sack-dresses-from-the-flour-mills

Dispatch from Jaipur Literary Festival 2016: The Greatest Literary Show on Earth

The JLF brings together writers from all over the world for readings, lectures, discussions and celebration at the Diggi Palace in Jaipur, India. The festival has grown from 200 to more than 3 million attendees in nine short years. This year’s speakers included international heavy hitters like Margaret Atwood, Marlon James, Thomas Piketty, Stephen Fry, Aleksandar Hemon, Colm Tóibín, sharing the stage with Indian literary giants like Ruskin Bond and Gulzar.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/gladsdotter/dispatch-from-jaipur-literary-festival-2016-the-greatest-literary-show-on-earth

Hillary Clinton, ‘Smart Power’ and a Dictator’s Fall

The president was wary about intervening, but Mrs. Clinton was persuasive. In the end, the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi left Libya a failed state and a haven for terrorists. An in-depth look at the perils of intervention. *Open in privacy/incognito mode*
Read more: http://snapzu.com/FivesandSevens/hillary-clinton-smart-power-and-a-dictators-fall

Trump Won't Condemn KKK, Says He 'Knows Nothing About White Supremacists'

On CNN's State of the Union, the Republican front-runner was asked if he'd distance himself from the support of former KKK grand wizard David Duke. Trump refused four times, saying, "I don't know."
Read more: http://snapzu.com/FivesandSevens/trump-wont-condemn-kkk-says-he-knows-nothing-about-white-supremacists

U.S. Duty-Free Limit for Online Shopping Puts Canada in the Shade

Americans are now allowed to spend more than 40 times as much as their northern neighbours without paying duty on products shipped from abroad as a result of a law signed by President Barack Obama last week.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/jcscher/us-duty-free-limit-for-online-shopping-puts-canada-in-the-shade