Nobel prize in literature 2018 cancelled after sexual assault scandal
Decision follows string of sexual assault allegations made against husband of former member of the Swedish Academy
The Swedish Academy announced on Friday morning that there would be no Nobel laureate for literature selected in 2018, as it attempts to come to terms with controversy over its links to a man accused of sexual assault.
For the first time since 1949, the secretive jury that hands out the world’s most prestigious literary award will not unveil a winner this autumn, instead revealing two winners in 2019. The decision, announced at 9am Swedish time following a meeting on Thursday, comes after a string of sexual assault allegations made against the French photographer Jean-Claude Arnault, the husband of academy member and poet Katarina Frostenson.
Los Angeles sues drug companies for 'driving opioid epidemic'
Lawsuit accuses companies of 'borrowing from the tobacco industry's playbook'
Jeremy B White San Francisco
Los Angeles has sued a group of pharmaceutical companies for fuelling a rise in opioid addiction with “deceptive marketing and sale” tactics.
The lawsuit, filed by Los Angeles city attorney Mike Feuer in a California district court, accuses the companies of “borrowing from the tobacco industry’s playbook” to exaggerate the benefits of opioid use and downplay the risks.
“Manufacturers and distributors of these highly addictive and potentially fatal drugs must be held accountable for driving the opioid epidemic and the significant impacts of their reckless and irresponsible business practices”, Mr Feuer said in a statement.
Venezuela seizes control of private bank Banesco, arrests top executives
The Venezuelan government blames Banesco executives for exacerbating the country's hyperinflation and collapse of the national currency. Banesco's chief denounced the move as "disproportionate" and "unjust."
The government of Venezuela announced on Thursday the arrest of 11 executives of the nation's leading private bank, Banesco, for alleged "attacks" against the country's struggling currency.
Shortly after the arrests, the government announced that the state would intervene in the bank's activities for a period of 90 days, in order to "guarantee the full functioning and continuation of its services."
Maduro's government explained that the takeover was necessary to "protect the people" and "clean up" all the illicit activity that was taking place in the bank.
ETA disbanding brings formal end to decades of violence
Basque separatist group ETA waged its worst years of violence just as Spain celebrated its newfound freedom following the 1975 death of longtime dictator Francisco Franco.
A euphoric, hedonistic time famously depicted in Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's films, that period was also marked by scenes of devastation as car bombs went off and fathers, mothers, husbands or wives were murdered.
Attacks
Founded in 1959, ETA targeted police officers, politicians and representatives of state firms, but also civilians in its campaign of bombings and shootings to create an independent state in northern Spain and southwest France.
It left at least 829 people dead.
Mount Kilauea: Hawaii emergency declared over volcano eruption
Mount Kilauea volcano has erupted near a residential area on Hawaii's largest island, prompting a local state of emergency and the mandatory evacuation of 1,700 local residents.
Extremely high levels of dangerous sulphur dioxide gas have been detected in the evacuation area, the Civil Defense Agency tweeted.
Community centres have been opened to provide shelter.
The eruption follows a series of strong earthquakes over recent days.
A volcanic crater vent - known as Puu Oo - collapsed earlier this week, sending lava down the mountain's slopes towards populated areas.
THE TOWN OF Banff on the northeastern coast of Scotland is a peaceful place, with just 4,000 residents and a picturesque bay that flows into the open sea. Fifty miles from the nearest big city, the air is fresh and the pace of life is slow. But for one young man, the town’s seaside location offered no contentment. He was stockpiling weapons and planning an act of terrorism.
Connor Ward lived in a gray, semi-detached apartment building a short walk from Banff’s marina, where dozens of small boats are docked and fishermen depart each day on a hunt for mackerel or sea trout. Inside his home, 25-year-old Ward was plugged into a different kind of world. He was reading neo-Nazi propaganda on the internet about an imminent race war.
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