Men are silhouetted against a video screen with a Twitter logo.Dado Ruvic/Reuters
BREAKING NEWS
It's a worst-case scenario brought to real life through social media: A woman in Vancouver, Wash., who routinely posts updates on local news and traffic under the handle @ScanCouver, may have unwittingly reported on the death of her own husband. Caran Johnson recently live-tweeted on the news of a major car accident in the area. As the day went on, Johnson reported that the accident involved a fatality and she was concerned that her husband never arrived home from work. Her final tweet: "It's him. He died."
Source: Gawker
BLOND AMBITION
The hottest new talent in the Middle East is a young blond singer from Massachusetts? The Arab world is abuzz over the possibility that 23-year-old Jennifer Grout may win the top prize in the reality-TV competition Arabs Got Talent, which broadcasts out of a Dubai location and airs its third-season finale this weekend. A former music student at Montreal's McGill University, Grout has made it to the final rounds with her soulful interpretations of Arabic songs. "When I'm performing, I'm in a different element," she said.
Source: CNN
OLD SCHOOL
The discovery of the oldest DNA evidence in recorded history has given scientists more questions than answers. A research team recently uncovered ancient human DNA from a fossil estimated to date back more than 400,000 years, which quadruples the previous record of 100,000 years. The fossil was originally believed to have come from a forerunner of Neanderthals, but DNA analysis has the experts now suggesting it came from a long-extinct race called Denisovans. "Right now, we've basically generated a big question mark," geneticist Matthias Meyer said.
Source: The New York Times
POUTINE PARADE
Which fast-food chain will claim the lofty title of serving Canada's best poutine? McDonald's has announced that it will begin serving the dish in outlets coast to coast, but the company is not the first one to gauge Canadians' appetite for the high-calorie merger of cheese curds and gravy-covered French fries. Wendy's rolled out its own version last year along with a "poutition" to have poutine declared the "National Dish of Canada." Earlier this year, Pizza Hut unleashed its own poutine pizza topped with traditional ingredients along with steak and mozzarella.
Source: Eater.com
TRUE ROMANCE
Olympic diver Tom Daley has revealed the identity of his boyfriend. Daley, 19, says he made the first move in his relationship with Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, best known for writing the 2008 biopic Milk. During an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, Daley shared details of how the pair first met: "I typed 'call me' in his notes with a smiley face on this phone and the next day he texted," Daley said. "He makes me feel safe and happy. Right now I couldn't be happier."
Source: Huffington Post U.K.
KATIE CONTROVERSY
Talk host Katie Couric is being accused of handing her daytime show over to anti-vaccination alarmists. Wednesday's edition of Katie asked the question: "The HPV vaccine is considered a life-saving cancer preventer, but is it a potentially deadly dose for girls?" Guests included a mother whose daughter died of unknown causes 18 days after getting the HPV vaccination and Dr. Diane Harper, a leading proponent in the anti-vaccination movement. Only one guest, Dr. Mallika Marshall, was on hand to argue the case in favour of HPV vaccinations.
Source: Slate