Nine people have been killed and at least 16 injured - several of them seriously - after a van jumped the kerb in a northern suburb of Toronto and ran into a crowd of pedestrians, according to police.
A spokesperson for Toronto police said the white van left the road near Yonge Street and Finch Avenue West and continued down the sidewalk, striking various pedestrians. The driver fled the scene but was later arrested by police.
Travis Reinking had been on the run since the early hours of Sunday, after a customer at the restaurant he attacked wrestled him for his gun
Authorities have captured the gunman suspected of killing four during an attack on a Waffle House restaurant in Nashville on Sunday. The man was apprehended in a wooded area.
?€?Murder suspect Travis Reinking is in custody. Arrested moments ago,?€? the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department tweeted on Monday afternoon.
?€?You were right; I was wrong?€? - Serzh Sargsyan releases detained opposition leader and resigns
For 11 days, the opposition pressure mounted against Serzh Sargsyan, Armenia?€?s most powerful politician. But few expected he would go so quietly.
Sargsyan, the country?€?s prime minister and former president for a decade, resigned suddenly on Monday in a stunning concession to the country?€?s opposition, which had filled the former Soviet republic?€?s main square with tens of thousands of demonstrators demanding his exit.
Harrowing images of deadly bombing - the third to hit Yemeni civilians in recent days - emerge on social media
An airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition hit a wedding party in northern Yemen, killing at least 20 people, health officials said, as harrowing images emerged on social media of the deadly bombing, the third to hit Yemeni civilians since the weekend.
Khaled al-Nadhri, the top health official in the northern province of Hajja, told the Associated Press that most of the dead were women and children who were gathered in one of the tents set up for the wedding party in the district of Bani Qayis. He said the bride was among the dead.
Government rejects request for funds to expand scheme and plans stricter benefits rules
Europe?€?s first national government-backed experiment in giving citizens free cash will end next year after Finland decided not to extend its widely publicised basic income trial and to explore alternative welfare schemes instead.
Exclusive: In an open letter, the scientists say the proposed Ellis institute is essential to avoid brain drain to big tech firms
Leading scientists have drawn up plans for a vast multinational European institute devoted to world-class artificial intelligence (AI) research in a desperate bid to nurture and retain top talent in Europe.
The new institute would be set up for similar reasons as Cern, the particle physics lab near Geneva, which was created after the second world war to rebuild European physics and reverse the brain drain of the brightest and best scientists to the US.
London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign releases video rallying citizens abroad to return for 25 May
Irish emigrants are being urged in a new video to travel home to vote in favour of overturning the country?€?s constitutional ban on abortion in a referendum next month.
The London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign has released the two-minute video, filmed in six countries, to encourage Irish citizens abroad to exercise their right to vote in the historic referendum on 25 May.
Abdeslam found guilty of terrorism-related attempted murder over Brussels shootout
Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect in the 2015 Paris attacks, has been sentenced in Belgium to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of the attempted murder of police officers in a shootout in Brussels in March 2016.
Abdeslam?€?s accomplice, Sofien Ayari, was also given a 20-year sentence for his role in the shooting, which left four officers injured. Neither man appeared in court for the three-hour session at the Palais de Justice in Brussels, during which the verdict was read out.
Exclusive: complaint claims Israel maintains ?€?system of discriminatory measures?€?
Palestinian diplomats in Geneva have filed a complaint against Israel for what they say are breaches of its obligations under a UN anti-racism treaty, triggering what may be a lengthy and high-profile investigation.
The complaint, handed in by the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Khraishi, to the body that monitors the implementation of the UN convention, accuses Israel of policies and practices that have ?€?the common aim of displacing and replacing the Palestinian people, for the purpose of maintaining a colonial occupation?€?.
Two autopsies return no suggestion of foul play in the death of the 28-year-old Swedish dance music star
Police in Oman have declared there was no ?€?criminal suspicion?€? in the death of Swedish dance music star Avicii, who has died aged 28.
Avicii, whose real name is Tim Bergling, was found dead in Muscat on Friday 20 April, with few other details yet confirmed. Police have stated, however, that following two autopsies, no evidence of foul play has been found.
Members of the Yukpa group have crossed the border to escape the crisis at home, but unlike other migrants they have been deported twice and have repeatedly clashed with border officials
Late last year, 12-year-old Betania heard talk among her neighbors that there was a city not far away where they could find food.
Sound system that plays pop music, radio dramas and news of the odd defection is turned off in advance of summit with North
South Korea has stopped broadcasting propaganda across its border with North Korea for the first time in more than two years, in a gesture of goodwill just days before the countries?€? leaders are to meet in a historic summit.
The South Korean defence ministry said the broadcasts, which blare pop music and criticism of the North?€?s dynastic rule across the heavily armed border, fell silent at midnight on Sunday.
Accused Peter Madsen has changed his story so many times he has no credibility, court told
A Danish prosecutor has demanded a life sentence for the suspect in the killing of the Swedish journalist Kim Wall, saying he has changed his story so many times that his credibility is now ?€?not only low, it is non-existent?€?.
In his final arguments before Wednesday?€?s verdict, the prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen acknowledged that Denmark?€?s most severe punishment was handed down for the murder of a single person only in ?€?very special circumstances?€?.
One of three white officers threatens to break woman?€?s arm
Dispute at a Waffle House was over paying for utensils, mother says
Police in Alabama wrestled a black woman to the ground, leaving her topless, and threatened to break her arm after they were called to a Waffle House for what her mother said was a disputeover paying for plastic utensils.
Video shows Chikesia Clemons being forced to the ground and handcuffed by two officers while a third leans over her during the incident in the early hours of Sunday in the Mobile suburb of Saraland.
?€?Bicycle Day?€? on 19 April is the 75th anniversary of the day Albert Hofmann accidentally discovered LSD, changing his perceptions - and the city?€?s future
Seventy-five years ago, the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann experienced the world?€?s first full-blown LSD trip on his way home from his lab in Basel. Hofmann had been researching the ergot fungus, hoping to develop a drug to treat fatigue. Among the compounds he was analysing was lysergic acid - Lysergsäure-Diethylamid in German, also known as LSD. On Friday 16 April 1943, Hofmann left the lab feeling a little dizzy: ?€?I lay down and had these wonderful dreams - I saw every thought as an image,?€? he said in an interview for his 100th birthday. The chemist concluded that he had accidentally touched the substance, and was intrigued by its powerful effect.
Three days later, on 19 April, he returned to the lab and swallowed a tiny amount just to see what would happen: ?€?As it later turned out, it was five times too much and gave me a horror trip.?€? He asked an assistant to take him home by bicycle, and Basel transformed into a panorama of hellish and heavenly visions. The bike seemed to freeze to the spot; a friendly neighbour turned into an evil witch. Hours later, Hofmann felt wonderful. ?€?LSD called me, I didn?€?t seek it out,?€? he recalled. ?€?It came to me.?€?
For decades, Haifa has been Israel?€?s model of what a ?€?mixed?€? Jewish-Arab city could be. But as the country?€?s 70th anniversary nears, the strain is showing
Ben-Gurion Boulevard climbs from the bustling port on Haifa?€?s Mediterranean shore up Mount Carmel towards the famous Bahai shrine, its gleaming golden dome surrounded by lush terraced gardens. On the south side of the palm-lined road, on a spring lunchtime, the Fattoush restaurant is packed with customers chatting noisily in Arabic and Hebrew over Levantine and fusion salads, cardamom-flavoured coffee and exquisite Palestinian knafeh desserts.
Fashionable eateries like Fattoush are one reason why Israel?€?s third largest city and its biggest ?€?mixed?€? one, as officially classified, is held up as a model of Jewish-Arab coexistence. Not everyone agrees with the concept, of course, and the ?€?c?€? word is often qualified, placed in inverted commas, or simply dismissed as propaganda. Official figures say Arabs make up 14% of Haifa?€?s 280,000-strong population; unofficial estimates are closer to 18%, swelled by students and commuters from nearby Galilee. Public spaces, at least, are open to all. And the ever-present Israeli-Palestinian conflict is, usually, softer-edged than elsewhere in the country.
Australia is one of the most urbanised countries in the world, with a full 40% of its population living in either Melbourne or Sydney: large, sprawling, coastal cities with very different personalities. Factoring in the other state, territory and national capitals - Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Perth and Darwin - takes that share to two-thirds of the total population of nearly 25 million.
Each of these cities has its own character, typically a result of its geography or weather. There?€?s Perth, the westernmost city, closer to Bali than the east coast. Canberra, the flat, planned federal capital of fake lakes and roundabouts. Melbourne, with its changeable weather. Harbour-centric Sydney. Hobart, Australia?€?s second-oldest city. Brisbane, split by the river. Darwin, the largest city of the Northern Territory, changing character from wet season to dry. Post-industrial Adelaide.
From Melbourne?€?s overcrowding issues to Adelaide?€?s gutsy success story, here?€?s what you said about the state of Australia?€?s cities
?€?Growth is the conversation Melburnians are having - or want to have,?€? wrote Gay Alcorn in her feature on the city?€?s uncertain future, which launched Guardian Cities?€? Australian cities week. Melburnians went on to prove her right.
Gay?€?s piece sparked a passionate and informed response, with nearly 1,000 comments discussing Melbourne?€?s rapid growth and changing character. One long-time resident wrote: ?€?It is still a great place to live but is rapidly sleepwalking to a future where it will have lost so much and be unrecognisable.?€?
Report on the state of the world?€?s birds reveals a biodiversity crisis driven by intensive farming, with once-common species such as puffins and snowy owls now at risk
One in eight bird species is threatened with global extinction, and once widespread creatures such as the puffin, snowy owl and turtle dove are plummeting towards oblivion, according to the definitive study of global bird populations.
The State of the World?€?s Birds, a five-year compendium of population data from the best-studied group of animals on the planet, reveals a biodiversity crisis driven by the expansion and intensification of agriculture.
It would be churlish not to be struck by the Duchess of Cambridge?€?s serenity so soon after giving birth
The pressure of being royal, and living family life on a public stage, is never shown in more stark relief than it is on the steps of the Lindo Wing.
Whatever your views on the monarchy, it would be churlish not to be impressed by the grit shown, once again, by the Duchess of Cambridge as she smiled beatifically in high heels and freshly washed hair, just seven hours after giving birth.
TSB customer Nick Mays says he?€?s finally got online.....but is still planning take his business elsewhere.
Hallelujah!!! TSB online banking is back! Only 29 hours late! And too late to convince me NOT to switch bank accounts! Appalling service! #TSB#tsbdown#tsbfail
@TSB Any chance you?€?re gonna get this sorted by the morning? This is not acceptable I want access to my accounts
One TSB mortgage-holder got a rather nasty shock when she managed to log into her account:
@TSB@TSB_News why does my mortgage account say I am in arrears of $83,000 for a start my mortgage should be in GBP and I am also NOT in arrears! pic.twitter.com/6GcovVagTV
The taboo on chemical weapons doesn?€?t seem to apply to making and selling other instruments of mass destruction
Peter Beaumont says of chemical weapons that ?€?the idea that other weapons are equally deadly misses the point, which is that we have decided that this class of killing - like the wanton murder of civilians and shooting prisoners - is beyond the pale?€? (Poison gas has been taboo for a century. It must remain so, 19 April). However, he misses a wider context himself - that the world order is one in which stronger nations use their military and economic power to subdue weaker ones with impunity. As long as this is the case, less strong countries will use whatever means come to hand to try to level the playing field; much like a resistance movement does to a foreign occupier. We don?€?t, for instance, condemn the Maquis their second world war excesses in murdering captured German soldiers.
The obvious answer to stopping the use of chemical weapons is to strengthen global multilateral bodies like the UN, and give them greater powers to regulate and conciliate international disputes. Donald Trump wants to degrade the UN and starve it of funds. The US will no doubt have much greater ?€?success?€? in its anti-UN endeavour than its token strikes against supposed chemical weapons facilities in Syria will have in stopping the proliferation and further use of chemical weapons. Joe McCarthy Dublin, Ireland
As it changes its rules and outlook, I am confident that Zimbabwe can be welcomed not only into the Commonwealth but also the wider family of nations
- SB Moyo is Zimbabwe?€?s foreign affairs minister
Last week, on the sidelines of the meeting in London of the Commonwealth heads of government, I was invited to discuss my country Zimbabwe?€?s return to the organisation. As is well known, Zimbabwe left this club in 2003, but the country?€?s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has pledged to re-engage with the international community and normalise relations, particularly with those countries with which we have had hostile interactions.
The London meeting took place in the week that Zimbabwe celebrated the 38th anniversary of its independence. That we re-engage with the world while remembering our past is vitally important. Zimbabwe?€?s challenges emanate partly from the struggle that all countries, particularly those as young as we are, must go through as they seek to interpret and make sense of their history.
Trump nominee was approved after facing a potentially historic snub, with Senator Rand Paul switching position just before the vote
Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump?€?s nominee for secretary of state, was narrowly cleared by the Senate foreign relations committee on Monday after facing a potentially historic snub.
Ralph Goodale, Canada?€?s public safety minister, has described the incident as a ?€?horrific attack?€? and thanked brave local police officers for their response.
Grateful for the brave and professional response of @TorontoPolice and other first responders to the horrific attack at Yonge and Finch. Canadians are appalled at what happened. The victims and their families have our deepest condolences.
Both private and public sector employers in China frequently specified ?€?men only?€? or ?€?men preferred?€? in job ads
Recruitment ads for Chinese internet giant Alibaba advertise a key perk: the company?€?s beautiful women.
A post first published in 2013 and still available on the company?€?s official Weibo account as of January, featured photos of female Alibaba employees in suggestive poses. ?€?They want to be your coworkers. Do you want that too??€? the ad said. A 2012 recruitment video showed a female employee pole dancing, and a montage of female employees saying, ?€?I love tech boys.?€?
In a Bogotá district where violence often dominates headlines, the paper La Esquina is flying off the shelves, covering everything from recipes to plastic surgery tips
In the streets of Bogotá?€?s infamous red light district, something new and colourful has begun appearing, pasted up between the graffiti on the walls.
Monica Quiroz, biting off strips of thick adhesive tape, is sticking up the laminated, fluorescent pages of this month?€?s edition of a newspaper written for and by local sex workers.
UN data suggests that the world?€?s population will hit 11 billion by 2100, with the fastest rises being recorded in Africa and Asia
How many people are there in the world?
We don?€?t know for sure as all figures are estimates, but UN data suggests there were about a billion people in 1800, 2 billion in 1927, 5 billion in 1987 and just over 7.5 billion today.
Taps in capital city of Maputo being turned off every other day as climate change exacerbates southern African drought
In the township of Chamanculo, in Maputo, Mozambique, a network of household taps made the community water pump obsolete years ago, freeing residents from the daily burden of lugging massive jerrycans of water long distances.
But a water crisis, partly caused by an ongoing drought affecting much of southern Africa, is already reversing progress in this coastal city. An emergency ?€?orange alert?€?, declared last February by the country?€?s disaster management council after failed rains, has triggered such strict water rationing across the capital city that the taps are turned off every other day and irrigation is banned.
A handful of recent convictions show troops are starting to be held to account, while the military are listed for the first time on a UN armed forces blacklist
The three young men went out to get firewood and never returned. Their families spent days worrying, then heard gunshots crackling in the distance.
Hours later, they found the mutilated bodies, hastily buried five miles from their homes at the Maihkawng internal displacement camp in Myanmar?€?s conflict-torn Kachin state.
Index on Censorship honours a young collective sharing their experiences on social media of life in a land plagued by violence, corruption and poverty
In the midst of the Democratic Republic of the Congo?€?s dangerous political crisis, the main media outlets have split almost entirely into pro-government and pro-opposition camps, most concentrated in the capital, Kinshasa.
Information has become as factionalised as politics, an echo chamber of competing narratives. Into that vacuum, however, a group of young Congolese bloggers has attempted to inject an alternative voice.
North Korean leader?€?s surprise freeze should be seen more as diplomatic manoeuvre than step towards giving up warheads
Rockets, satellites, missiles and atoms pepper the landscape in Pyongyang. They are the anchors of funfair rides, feature in extravagant floral tributes to the country?€?s ?€?dear?€? and ?€?supreme?€? leaders from the Kim dynasty, and appear on stamps, apartment buildings and school walls.
These celebrations of the country?€?s weapons programme serve as a constant reminder to residents and visitors of how critical North Korea?€?s nuclear project has been to its national identity and security.
Two-thirds of young people think abortion should be legal in all or most cases - a glimmer of good news in a time of few wins
The Week in Patriarchy is a weekly roundup of what?€?s happening in the world of feminism and sexism. If you?€?re not already receiving it by email, make sure to subscribe.
A win for security, but real acid test of Pyongyang?€?s intentions is whether it will give up the weapons it has already built
North Korea has announced it will cease testing nuclear devices and missiles, and promised to shut down its primary nuclear test site at Punggye-ri. If this is genuine, it is a serious step forward, but we should greet it with cautious optimism.
We have been on the cusp of a breakthrough with North Korea before, only to be disappointed. There will be a lot of questions. But there is no need to be recalcitrantly hawkish about this. Within the limits of North Korea?€?s strained credibility, this is a win for allied security.
Divided UN heads for a retreat to remote corner of Sweden with the hope of thawing tensions
The incessant trilling of the larks was still the dominant sound at Backåkra, a traditional ?€?fyrlängad?€? - a four-sided, half-timber farmhouse, overlooking a sun-bathed coastal heath sprinkled with purple flowers.
But this peaceful, secluded corner of Österlen, the southeastern corner of the Swedish county of Skåne, will on Saturday be crawling with specialist security officers, diplomats and journalists as the UN security council meets for its annual retreat.
Police in Canada said at least nine people died when a van left the road and ran into a crowd of pedestrians in the northern suburbs of Toronto. The driver fled the scene but was later arrested by police, who cordoned off several city blocks. At least 16 people were injured.
Armenia?€?s prime minister, Serzh Sargsyan, has resigned after days of protests in the country?€?s capital, Yerevan. Demonstrations began after Sargsyan took the role of prime minister immediately after two terms as president. Protesters accused him of stealing power
James Shaw Jr, who wrestled a gun from a man who killed four people in a Nashville Waffle House, broke down in tears during a press conference. Police, who are still hunting a suspect, say he prevented further loss of life
The Stonewall chief executive, Ruth Hunt, talks to Owen Jones about her shock at the level of vitriol directed at transgender men and women. She says the scale of abuse in the UK has contributed to high levels of self-harm, mental illness and suicidal thoughts in trans communities
New Zealand prime minister proposes a toast to the future of the Commonwealth at a dinner hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. In it she said the group of nations was uniquely placed to offer a strong voice on issues such as climate change, clean oceans and democracy. She then quoted a whakatauk? (proverb): 'What is the most important thing in the world? The people, the people, the people'.
A little history was made in Washington on Thursday - little in the form of a newborn who became the first baby to appear on the floor of the US Senate during a vote. A swaddled 11-day-old Maile Pearl Bowlsbey arrived on the floor of the chamber, carried by her mother, Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth. Oblivious to the momentous occasion, however, little Maile 'slept through the whole thing'.
Ri Sol-ju, the wife of North Korea's leader, made her first public appearance as first lady last weekend at a ballet performance by a visiting Chinese troupe. Kim Jong-un's decision to give his wife the title is widely seen as a major boost to her status before summits with South Korea and the US
I wrote this tool some months ago while developing on the xPresso publishing system (NO), and has done some rewriting this week to implement further functionality.
The Codificator now provides: - automatic code wrapping in DC board format - conversion of regular HTML-formatted text to DC board formatted text - link extraction from HTML to DC board format - auto fetch of webpages, with on-select conversion of content to DC board format.
It won't boil your coffee or knit you a warm sweater for the winter, but it may help you to be more efficient when you're online discussing politics.
**** Bug fix, new release **** Bug in bbsFunctions.php, xAuth.php and some language fixed. For fix of existing installation, download the package, then extract progs/bbsFunctions.php and progs/xAuth.php to replace your current versions. **** Bug fix, new release ****
AnoBBS is a opensource 3DES-encrypted Bulletin Board where users encrypt their messages before submit with a common known phrase, using javascript. The server does not know the key, so this is end-to-end encryption where the key is never submitted. The technology used is Ajax and PHP, the forum files are stored as XML. Below is a list of the basic functionality: - user authentication - topic list and topic view - three userlevels; admin, moderator and user - post threads - post and edit replies - print or save threads - edit, delete and lock threads (mod) - edit forumdata and users (admin) - save BBS (admin) - delete BBS (admin)
The BBS is very simple to install and even simpler to use. It requires only a standard php distro on the server and a javascript enable browser to function.
**** Bug fix, new release **** Bug in cFunctions.php fixed. For fix of existing installation, download the package, then extract progs/cFunctions.php to replace your current versions. **** Bug fix, new release ****
AnoChat is an opensource 3DES-encrypted chat where users encrypt their messages before submit with a common known phrase, using javascript. The server does not know the key, so this is end-to-end encryption where the key is never submitted. The technology used is JX, similar to Ajax. The chat is very simple to install and even simpler to use. It requires only a standard php distro on the server and a javascript enabled browser to function.
Large number of US citizens demonstrated against the war in Iraq (and the possible war in Iran) during this October weekend. Massive turnout in Boston and San Fransisco, and also in Chicago, LA and DC people took to the streets. The message was: NO more war in Iraq! NO to a war with Iran!
