Seattle man walking to Brazil for World Cup struck and killed on highway in Oregon

42-year-old Richard Swanson had just left two weeks ago on May 1 from his home in Seattle, Washington, on what was meant to be a year-long journey walking 10,000 miles through 11 countries, passing through the US, Central America and into South America to arrive in Brazil in time for the World Cup in June 2014. On Wednesday, as he walked along the shoulder of US 101 in Lincoln City, Oregon, he was struck from behind by a truck and died of his injuries. The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with authorities.

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Two bombs at Boston Marathon cause at least two deaths and many serious injuries; more devices present

Two bombs killed at least two and injured dozens other at the finish line of the famous and heavily-attended Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, on the east coast of the USA.

At approximately 2:45p local time, about 4 hours and 9 minutes after the start of the race according to the clock at the finish line, there were two explosions, blowing out storefront windows, severing limbs and causing the deaths of at least two people. Two more unexploded devices were found and dismantled or exploded by police. Race winners had finished about two hours earlier, but there were still many racers running and crossing the finishing line. Runners not yet in the area were diverted according to an emergency plan, and the rest of the race was cancelled. The time of the detonation was within minutes of peak finishing time of 2012's marathon.

A third explosion also occurred at Boston's JFK Library and Museum and was being treated as related. 

About half a million people line the raceway to see the race of some 20,000 people, and many go to the finish line to watch their friends and family finish, making the area where the bombs exploded very densely populated.

Authorities indicate that at least one of the bombs seems to have been homemade. No claim has yet been made for the bombing.

Sinkhole Swallows Man in Florida

A frightening thing happened recently in Florida. A 37-year-old man was in his bed when a giant sinkhole opened up underneath his bedroom and swallowed him with it. He screamed out for his brother, who ran to the bedroom and saw that everything was gone - his brother's bed, dresser, tv…and his brother. The sinkhole is currently about 20-30 ft wide and appears to be about 30 ft deep, but it could be more, and still expanding - workers still haven't been able to determine the boundaries of the chasm.

After rescuers responded to the scene, monitoring equipment did not detect any signs of life so it became not a rescue operation but a recovery one, which was also called off because the area was too unstable to continue, as the hole may continue getting bigger and deeper, as it could possibly take the whole house down with it - and possibly neighboring ones as well, which have now been evacuated

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A quick look back at the big news in 2012 (for us Yanks, anyway)

We're already two weeks into 2013 and it's shaping up to be a good year. 

For one, the world - shocker - did not in fact end on December 21, 2012. All this promise of rapture and end times in 2012 (not least of which being the possible election of Mittens and his Binders Full of Women), I can't help but feel like we partied like it was Y2K. 

Nevermind, onward to 2013 and all the conspiracy theories and controversies this year will hold in store for us. In the States, at least, it seems guns and mental illness will be taking center stage for at least the first part of the year. 

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Deaf Belgian Twin Brothers Choose Euthanasia Over Blindness

Marc and Eddy Verbessem, 45, were born deaf. They were inseperable all their lives, living and working together, and used a sign language that only they and their family could understand.

When they were told they were also both about to go blind due to a genetic form of glaucoma and would no longer be able to see each other in addition to other health problems (Eddy had a deformed spine and heart issues), they decided they preferred to die than lose their ability to communicate with each other and maintain their independence.

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20 Children, 7 Adults, Killed in Shooting at Elementary School in Connecticut, USA

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A gunman shot and killed at least 20 young schoolchildren and 6 adults, including the school's principal, today at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a Kindergarten-4th Grade school in Newtown, Connecticut, USA, before killing himself in one of the classrooms.

The gunman has been identified as the 20-year-old son of one of the teachers at the school, and a federal law enforcement source said the man had headed directly for his mother's classroom, indicating his mother may have been his primary target - but noted that "the shooter came armed with clear intention of mass killing." 

There were reports that another body, possibly a family member, had been found at an off-campus location connected with the shooter. Details were still emerging about the shooting, the gunman, and the circumstances of the incident by Friday evening on the East Coast.

Update [Sunday 12/16/12]:

Reports on the Friday of the shooting initially indicated that the gunman was the 24-year-old son of one of the female teachers at the school, and a federal law enforcement source said the shooter had headed directly for his mother's classroom, indicating his mother may have been his primary target, but that "the shooter came armed with clear intention of mass killing."  

However, it was later established that the gunman had shot his mother at their home before driving to the school and going on his rampage, and was in fact 20 years old, and had been misidentified as his older brother. 

Let's all think of the cabs

The world can be a dangerous place, especially when you drive a taxi. Case in point: there have recently been an inordinate number of reports of cabbies getting robbed at knifepoint and at gunpoint. I heard about a story just this morning wherein a cabbie was robbed and assaulted. Perhaps the moon is in a particular phase at the moment...

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US Military Lifts 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy

If you are a man and liked another man, you were supposed to hide it, if you were in the American Army. If you were found to be gay, you could be dismissed from service but all that was only until today. The draconian 18 year 'don't ask, don't tell' policy has officially come to an end, and Barack Obama has declared that it’s a symbolic moment which assures that every American citizen is treated equally.

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Plucky Pilots

Michael Trapp, a 42-year-old pilot from New York has shown the world what a can of well-consumed Man-Up looks like by surviving 17 hours floating in Lake Huron, Michigan. He, too, encountered airplane trouble and when the engine stopped running, had to stall his plane into the water.

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My Heart Will Go On...

A woman in Russia died at her own funeral this week. Weird but true.

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