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

Google is designing the seats, interior moldings, and even the lighting inside its self-driving car

Will Google's self-driving car come with Corinthian leather bucket seats, fuzzy upholstery, or moon roofs? It's still early, as the robo-cars are currently just prototypes, but Google is already hard at work trying to answer some of those questions, judging by a recent job posting. The company is seeking an Automotive Interiors Engineering Lead who can weigh in on industrial design concepts and define all the car's "interior systems."
Read more: http://snapzu.com/Apolatia/google-is-designing-the-seats-interior-moldings-and-even-the-lighting-inside-its-self-driving-car

90-Year-Old Woman Chooses Epic Road Trip With Family Over Cancer Treatment

She told her doc, “I’m 90-years-old, I’m hitting the road”
Read more: http://snapzu.com/CatLady/90-year-old-woman-chooses-epic-road-trip-with-family-over-cancer-treatment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

'Prison Break' revival season to be filmed in Vancouver

Another revival season of a hit television series will be filming in Vancouver: Production for Fox Broadcasting Company’s Prison Break‘s so-called ‘limited event series’ is slated to occur in the city, with Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell reprising their original roles in the series, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It is unclear whether Miller and Purcell’s ongoing roles in the CW’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow was a factor in...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/ppp/prison-break-revival-season-to-be-filmed-in-vancouver

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

Raspberry Pi 3 rolls out with faster CPU, on-board Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth

More than 8,000,000 Raspberry Pi units have shipped out since the cool little computer launched four years ago. The latest release, Raspberry Pi 3, offers a 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU, making it almost 10x as fast as the original Pi.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/kxh/raspberry-pi-3-rolls-out-with-faster-cpu-on-board-wi-fi-and-bluetooth

'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

Get Excited for Geneva 2016: Supercars

Over the years, the Geneva Motor Show has been the place to reveal the world's fastest and most extreme road cars. Iconic vehicles like the Jaguar XK120, Lotus Carlton, Ferrari F50, Aston Martin One-77 and nigh-on every generation of Porsche 911 GT3 have all made their inaugural showings to the press and public within walking distance of the shores of Lake Geneva. Appropriately, then, Geneva 2016 is dominated...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/zobo/get-excited-for-geneva-2016-supercars

All Def Digital Rolls Out the Black Carpet

Russell Simmons’s new-media company hosts its own movie-awards show, a D.I.Y. response to the #OscarsSoWhite campaign.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/imokruok/all-def-digital-rolls-out-the-black-carpet

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

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

Far-right icon Jean-Marie Le Pen tweets support for Trump

The founder and former leader of France's far-right National Front party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, has expressed his support for controversial Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential race.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/lostwonder/france-24-far-right-icon-jean-marie-le-pen-tweets-support-for-trump

'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

The Plan to Give Every Cellphone User Free Data

More than half the people on the planet still don’t have Internet access. But figuring out how to get them online is as much of a political challenge as it is a technological one. That was a lesson Facebook recently learned in India, where the company’s Free Basics program was effectively banned by regulators earlier this month. The idea behind Free Basics is to offer a stripped-down version of the mobile web so people...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/sauce/the-plan-to-give-every-cellphone-user-free-data

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

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

Mark Zuckerberg Is ‘Obsessed’ With Livestreaming, Making Live a Top Priority at Facebook

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has taken a heightened interest in livestreaming over the past few months, redirecting internal resources to help build out the company’s Live product that lets people broadcast video to friends on the service, according to sources. The engineering and product teams that work on video at Facebook have made Live their top priority, for example. According to one source, Zuckerberg is “obsessed” with getting Live to work.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/bkool/mark-zuckerberg-is-obsessed-with-livestreaming-making-live-a-top-priority-at-facebook

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

A world where everyone has a robot: why 2040 could blow your mind

In March 2001, futurist Ray Kurzweil published an essay arguing that humans found it hard to comprehend their own future. It was clear from history, he argued, that technological change is exponential — even though most of us are unable to see it — and that in a few decades, the world would be unrecognizably different. “We won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century — it will be more like 20,000 years of progress...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/doodlegirl/a-world-where-everyone-has-a-robot-why-2040-could-blow-your-mind

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

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

Chinese ISPs Caught Injecting Ads and Malware into Web Pages

China has gained a considerable global attention when it comes to their Internet policies in the past years; whether it's introducing its own search engine dubbed "Baidu," Great Firewall of China, its homebrew China Operating System (COP) and many more. Along with the developments, China has long been criticized for suspected backdoors in its products: Xiaomi and Star N9500 smartphones are top examples. Now...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/aj0690/chinese-isps-caught-injecting-ads-and-malware-into-web-pages

The best African American figure skater in history is now bankrupt and living in a trailer

Debi Thomas, the best African American figure skater in the history of the sport, couldn’t find her figure skates. She looked around the darkened trailer, perched along a river in a town so broke even the bars have closed, and sighed. The mobile home where she lives with her fiance and his two young boys was cluttered with dishes, stacks of documents, a Christmas tree still standing weeks past the holiday.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/capoti/the-best-african-american-figure-skater-in-history-is-now-bankrupt-and-living-in-a-trailer

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

Graphene ‘moth eyes’ could create indoor solar cells

Researchers studied moths' eyes to create the most light-absorbent material ever created. By Anthony Cuthbertson.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/graphene-moth-eyes-could-create-indoor-solar-cells

Switzerland votes on expelling foreigners for minor crimes

Voters will be asked if foreign national guilty of two minor crimes, such as traffic offences, in 10 years, should be expelled
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/switzerland-votes-on-expelling-foreigners-for-minor-crimes

CDC Sees Birth Defects in Pregnant US Travelers With Zika

Today, the CDC released some of the first evidence of a connection between Zika and microcephaly in Americans who contracted the virus while they were traveling. By Katie M. Palmer .
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/cdc-sees-birth-defects-in-pregnant-us-travelers-with-zika

Exit Polls: 8 In 10 Black Voters Backed Clinton In South Carolina

Hillary Clinton sailed to a commanding victory over Bernie Sanders in Saturday's South Carolina primary, drawing overwhelming support from the state's black Democrats and putting her in strong position as the race barrels toward Super Tuesday's crucial contests.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/spaceghoti/exit-polls-8-in-10-black-voters-backed-clinton-in-south-carolina

File-Sharing Site's PayPal Account Returns After EFF Intervention

The EFF has successfully intervened in a dispute between classic file-sharing service Soulseek and PayPal. In 2015 and after 14 years of business together PayPal nuked Soulseek's ability to receive donations, apparently over copyright concerns. While Soulseek is now a PayPal customer once more, others in the same sphere may not be so lucky.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/geoleo/file-sharing-sites-paypal-account-returns-after-eff-intervention

The first Boeing 727 ever made will soon take its last flight

More than 50 years after its maiden voyage, the very first Boeing 727 will take its very last flight on Tuesday, March 1, weather permitting. The 727 will fly from Paine Field to Boeing Field International, both in Washington state. From there, the plane will go on permanent display at the adjacent Museum of Flight, where it will help kick off Boeing's centennial celebration at the museum.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/wildcard/the-first-boeing-727-ever-made-will-soon-take-its-last-flight

YouTube CEO says 'we're listening' to growing criticisms of complaint system

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki tonight tweeted out a message of thanks to the YouTube community at large, vowing that the company is "listening" to recent feedback from creators, who've taken issue with the site's complaint system. A growing number of popular YouTubers have criticized the company's way of handling copyright violations and, in turn, the appeals process about those notices. Channels impacted by the complaints system can lose out on monetization...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/gottlieb/youtube-ceo-says-were-listening-to-growing-criticisms-of-complaint-system

Maybe It’s Time to Take Animal Feelings Seriously

Dogs can read human emotions. So, it appears, can horses. Whales have regional accents. Ravens have demonstrated that they might be able to guess at the thoughts of other ravens — something scientists call “theory of mind,” which has long been considered a uniquely human ability. All of these findings have been published within the past several weeks, and taken together they suggest that many of the traits and abilities we believe...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/zyery/maybe-its-time-to-take-animal-feelings-seriously

Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim erupts in violence; three stabbed

Three people were stabbed and several arrested when a Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim erupted in violence Saturday, police said.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/66bnats/ku-klux-klan-rally-in-anaheim-erupts-in-violence-three-stabbed

Donald Trump just said if he's elected president Amazon will have problems

Jeff Bezos may want to get that rocket ready. Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner, attacked the Amazon founder and CEO during an appearance in Texas on Friday, saying that if he becomes president, Amazon is "going to have such problems." Trump accused Bezos of buying the Washington Post so Amazon would benefit from the "political influence" of the newspaper.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/zyery/donald-trump-just-said-if-hes-elected-president-amazon-will-have-problems

63,756 Reasons Racism Is Still Alive in South Carolina

That’s the number of minority registered voters who could be blocked from the polls by the state’s new voter ID law.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/spaceghoti/63756-reasons-racism-is-still-alive-in-south-carolina