TOMONEWS US

PSKOV, RUSSIA — Two teen lovers engaged in a shootout with Russian police for several hours before killing themselves, in a tragic drama that was broadcast live on social media. Katya Vlasova, 15, had run away from home with her boyfriend Denis Muravyov, also 15, after a fight with her family, according to Russian website Lenta.ru. The drama started when Katya’s mother refused to let her stay out late and escalated into a violent argument. At one point, Denis shot Katya’s mother in the hip with an air pistol. The teens then broke into a house and stole weapons belonging to Katya’s stepfather, who was in the special forces. The teens holed up in a cottage for three days until Monday, when the police arrived. They started broadcasting themselves on livestream app Periscope as police surrounded the house. They also posted photos of the standoff on Instagram. During the siege, the teens shot at police and a police van dozens of times, even as their parents begged them to surrender while the police tried to negotiate with the teens and did not fire back. When the police stormed the cottage, the teens were found dead with gunshot wounds under their chins. Some Russians who saw the video on the internet believe the teens had attempted to surrender. Denis and Katy posted a farewell message on Russian social networking service VK in which they said they were misunderstood by adults.

LONDON — British developers plan to build what they say will be the world's first suspended glass pool. HAL architects, developers Ballymore Group and designers Arup Associates have unveiled their plan to build a suspended glass pool bridging two luxury apartments, reports the CBC. The so-called sky pool will be suspended 10 stories high, or 35 metres above ground. In comparison, Big Ben, London's famous clock tower, stands at 96 metres high. Enclosed in 20 cm thick glass, the pool will be 25 metres long, 5 metres wide and 3 metres high, with a water depth of approximately 1.2 metres. The glass pool will connect two apartments of the Embassy Gardens development in southwest London's new Nine Elms quarter, writes Dezeen. "The experience of the pool will be truly unique, it will feel like floating through the air in central London," said Sean Mulryan, CEO of the Ballymore Group, told the Verge.

BALI, INDONESIA — A British tourist on a round-the-world trip cheated death when he was speared through the throat by a swordfish in waters off Indonesia. Alan Pope, 57, was snorkeling near the resort island of Bali in October last year when he had a close encounter with the swordfish in question. News of the incident has only just been reported this week. Pope told the Sun he noticed the water was quite choppy that day before he suddenly felt a great, thumping whack on the side of his head. Alan's wife Sharon said she saw her husband knocked down, coughing and spitting up blood. It then took 30 minutes for them to reach a small, nearby island. Unfortunately, the clinic there was only able to remove the top half of the swordfish's long, flat bill from the side of Pope's neck. Pope was transferred to a hospital in Bali with the rest of the swordfish's spear still deeply embedded in his skin. Six inches of the fish's harpoon remained there and doctors feared they might cut Pope's jugular vein if they removed it. However, 36 hours after the incident and following a three-hour operation, the swordfish spike was finally removed from Pope's neck. And after a couple days recovering in hospital, Pope and his wife Sharon were able to continue with their vacation. Pope even got a tattoo of a swordfish on his arm to remind him of his spiky brush with death.

BALTIMORE — A massively disgusting fatberg has been found lurking in the sewers of Baltimore. The lump of congealed fat, wet wipes and other stuff you shouldn’t flush down the toilet is growing and causing sewers to overflow. The Baltimore Department of Public Works said on Monday that it discovered the monstrosity earlier this month between Baltimore Penn Station and the 1700 block of Charles Street, the Baltimore Sun reported. So far, the fatberg has been responsible for a dry weather sewer outflow that discharged 1.2 millions gallons of sewage into the Jones Falls. The fatberg has mostly been scraped off and transported to a landfill. Apparently B-more has quite a few fatbergs lying around its sewers, although the other ones are smaller in size.

FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA — A Virginia woman hoping to get a big, juicy steak instead got a substantial helping of snake, with a side of venom. The Free-Lance Star reports that while walking through the foyer at Longhorn Steakhouse with her family, Rachel Myrick’s left foot got chomped on by an unlikely culprit. Thrice. Initially thinking she got stung by a bee or hornet, Myrick groped her foot and realized to her horror that there was an 8-inch copperhead snake attached to it. After quickly shaking it off, her boyfriend and son stomped on the snake to kill it. They then called 911, but left the dead snake on the floor so the EMTs could confirm what it was. Waiting for help was excruciating, as Myrick’s foot quickly began to swell. When the swelling later spread all the way to her hip and thigh, doctors gave her antivenin. She has since been released after spending over five days in the hospital, but says the recovery will take about three more months. Ouch. Copperhead bites aren’t fatal to humans, but they’re pretty painful. The restaurant still doesn’t know how the snake got in, but suspect it may slithered in from a retention pond down the hill. Probably wanted a nice, juicy steak, too.

This giant beast of a cat is, a 22-pound Himalayan named Lux - Lux has a history of violence and events at the home of Lee Palmer and his wife Tuesday night sent it over the edge. It was around 8 p.m. and the couple were in their apartment with their 7-month-old baby. Something happened and the cat struck out, clawing the infant’s face. Lee Palmer then made a big mistake and kicked the cat in the butt to shoo it away from his child. The mistake proved costly; Lux went bezerk and switched to attack mode. The family ran for the nearest bedroom and barricade themselves behind the door. Palmer then made 911 call requesting police assistance. Officers arrived and restrained the cat ending the standoff.

MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA — Apple gave Uber’s iPhone app access to a secret backdoor that potentially allows the company to record a user’s screen and access other personal information without his or her knowledge. According to Business Insider, Uber does not mention the backdoor is any consumer-facing information included with their app. Apple’s backdoor is so powerful, it rarely allows third-party companies to access the feature. Security researcher Will Strafach discovered the situation and told Business Insider, “granting such a sensitive entitlement to a third-party is unprecedented as far as I can tell, no other app developers have been able to convince Apple to grant them entitlements they’ve needed to let their apps utilize certain privileged system functionality.” There’s no evidence that Uber used the special iPhone feature. Uber told Business Insider the code was not being used and was a leftover from an earlier version of its Apple Watch app. A majority of iPhone apps use software to enable features like the camera or ApplePay known as “entitlements.” Many of these can be easily turned on by outside app creators. But certain entitlements are only used by Apple to allow optimal integration with the iPhone. Uber’s app was found to be the only app other than Apple’s own apps granted access to the entitlement, Strafach said in an email to Business Insider. Uber says the entitlement isn’t being used, and it is working with Apple to remove the API completely from the app.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA —Two Australia surfers are gaining the attention from investors around the world for their invention of a device that helps clean the ocean, according to Australia’s ABC News. ABC News reports that Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski, who are best friends, became frustrated over the amount of trash that was floating in the ocean. They decided to quit their jobs to come up with a sustainable solution to the problem of ocean pollution, and invented the Seabin. The Seabin is an automated rubbish bin designed to be mounted on marina docks to help clean the water. According to the duo’s company website, the Seabin, which is built from recycled materials, is mounted to a dock and connected to water pump that is powered by an source on the shore. The pump pulls water through the Seabin, thus bringing all the floating rubbish and debris in the water into a natural fibre bag inside the device before water is pumped back out. The floating debris is captured inside the Seabin, and water flows out through the bottom of the bin and pulled up into the pump on the dock. There is also an option to attach an oil and water separating device to the water pump to clean the water before it is returned to the ocean. "It essentially works as a similar concept to a skimmer box from your pool filter. But it's designed on a scale to work and essentially attract all that rubbish within a location within a marine harbour," said Seabin spokesperson Richard Talmage, as quoted by ABC News. ABC News reports that the duo designed a prototype of the bin in Perth before taking it to market in Mallorca in Spain, a marina capital of Europe. A crowdfunding effort has already raised $50,000 for commercial production of the Seabin, and a video of the device has attracted more than 10 million hits online.

XIANGYANG, CHINA — China power companies are using drones that emit flames to burn down the trash stuck on power lines. The fire-spewing drone emits flames via a one-meter-long tube. It uses liquefied petroleum gas for fuel. The drone can be operated by maintenance workers remotely. The power company said this method is not only more efficient, it can also reduce the risk of maintenance workers being electrocuted by high-voltage lines. China’s power company claims flames can burn trash stuck to wires within 15 minutes, which isn’t long enough a duration to damage the aluminium-coated power wires. Therefore this method does pose any risks to the power grids.

SOMEWHERE, EARTH — An X-ray image showing the hand of a woman who got her finger sliced before getting stuck in an immersion blender was posted to Figure 1. Figure 1 is a website where doctors can share medical images. A nurse who uploaded the image said an unidentified 34-year-old woman was in the process of making falafel when a chickpea got stuck in one of the blades. The woman then attempted to dislodge the chickpea. The only problem is the woman didn’t turn the blender off, so once the chickpea was out, the blades started spinning. Her finger then got stuck after the blade became embedded in her flesh. Luckily for the woman, the only injury she received was a torn nail.

NORTH KOREA — A new graphic shows the effects an atmospheric burst would have if North Korea were to carry out a nuclear test over the Pacific Ocean. The simulation of the radioactive cloud spreading for two weeks across the globe was posted by Lassina Zerbo, head of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, on Twitter. The graphic did not include any supporting data such as nuclear payload or height of detonation, the Telegraph reported. Experts say the explosion, fire and radiation created from a hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific Ocean could have catastrophic effects. Aquatic life in the immediate blast zone would be killed instantly, while radioactive isotopes — with the help of wind — could impact other organisms and humans thousands of miles away.

Darren Chick’s long lost pet parrot Nigel was recently returned to him after he disappeared from his home in Torrance, California back in 2010. The African grey parrot originally spoke with Chick’s polished British accent but returned with a Spanish vocabulary. Julissa Sperling, owner of Happy Tails Dog Spa, found the bird and was charmed by its ability to speak Spanish. Sperling contacted a local veterinarian who traced the microchipped bird back to its original owner. The Spanish speaking parrot initially bit Chick and kept mentioning some guy named Larry. How Nigel survived and picked up Spanish remains a mystery as does the identity of the Spanish speaking Larry.

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Human Ken doll Rodrigo Alves had some trouble with Dubai immigration, after his plastic features got called out by the facial recognition software. The Sun reports that body-obsessed Alves has been on a quest for plastic perfection. Over the years, he’s blown half a million dollars to get nipped and tucked more than 50 times. With so much surgery and so little time, even his official documents can’t keep up. So while jet setting to Dubai recently, he got detained for looking nothing like his passport photo. He had to wait three hours before being let into the country, though apparently that’s not the first time it’s happened. Doctors have warned the 34-year-old not to get anything else fixed, but it seems Ken might be holding out for one last bang before he retires. Claiming he doesn’t want to end up a saggy old man, Alves says he’ll pull a Caitlyn Jenner and get a sex change in his 50s. So while his chicken and eggs are the only real part of him left, they need to go because Barbie’s comin’. But really, the more important concern is... what kind of barbie will he be?

LOS ANGELES — A future in which self-driving vehicles travel our roads is edging closer as automakers introduce an ever-increasing range of innovations to their cars.Today’s cars are smarter than ever and some are capable of driving by themselves for long stretches, the Globe and Mail reported. The use of radar, sonar and camera technology has seen cars make great advances in recent years, with even standard models now offering assistance to help drivers stay in their lane, avoid accidents and warn of blind-spot obstacles. Some cars, like the BMW 7 Series can even be parked from outside the vehicle, simply by pressing a key fob. This animation explains how the technology present in today’s cars is paving the way for a future where fully autonomous self-driving cars are a reality.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA — A Google self-driving car finally was the cause of a crash on Valentine’s Day after driving more than 1.3 million miles since 2009, reported Wired. No one was hurt and the damage was minimal, but the crash shows that companies developing the technology still have a ways to go before autonomous vehicles are actually commonplace. In mid-February, as it was driving on a three-lane road in Mountain View, California, a Google self-driving car trying to merge into the center lane hit a public bus. The car had expected the bus to yield. In a statement issued on Monday, Google says it “bears some responsibility” in last month’s crash, reported Reuters. In the same statement, Google says it has reviewed the crash and made some changes in their cars’ software to prevent similar incidents. Unlike human drivers who can react quickly to unexpected behavior or obstacles on the road, autonomous vehicles aren’t always able to do that yet. This is just one of the few important wrinkles Google and other tech companies testing autonomous vehicles need to smooth out. Another flaw with Google’s cars is that they require the roads they’re traveling on to be precisely mapped out, otherwise the vehicle is unsure of how to behave. These maps are extremely detailed digitizations of the physical world, where things like even the height of every single curb is measured out. However, in general the technology is well-developed and companies have been running tests on the cars for years. Before February’s incident, Google reported that its driverless cars had only been involved in 17 accidents, all of which were caused by human error. What allows self-driving cars to be such “careful” drivers is the combination of GPS systems, cameras and various sensors that tell the cars where they’re going, how to get there and what’s around them at all times. The autonomous vehicles use GPS to match their position with customized Google maps. This allows the cars to select a starting point and an end point, as well as to choose the best routes to take. Radars in the front and back of the cars keep track of other vehicles on the road. The LIDAR sensor rotates 360 degrees and detects the distance between the autonomous vehicles and surrounding objects. A video camera behind the front windshield is able to read road signs and traffic lights.

THE FRIENDLY SKIES — The world’s greediest and biggest airlines raked in around $44.6 billion in passenger fees and commissions last year. Some budget airlines get over half their total revenue from charges for bags, food, entertainment and other extras — aka — things that used to come with your flight. Airlines around the world are increasingly making more and more money from fees, frequent flier programs and commissions for directing customers to hotels and car rental companies, according to a new study from IdeaWorksCompany, the LA Times reported. The $44.6 billion bamboozled by the 66 biggest airlines was a 10% increase over 2015, according to the study. Over the past 10 years, airlines have increasingly turned to charging you for stuff that used to come with your flight. The biggest airlines made an estimated 9.7% of their revenue from B.S. charges. Budget airlines derived an even bigger chunk of their cash from fees and commissions. For example, Spirit Airlines was at 46.7% while Frontier Airlines was at 42.4%.Spirit actually charges you for almost 40 different extras, such as 2 buck to print a boarding pass at an airport kiosk and up to $50 to choose a seat. Word is, Spirit is looking into getting passengers to pay extra for engines and even pilots. Okay, maybe not. But who knows.

MAUI, HAWAII — A team of scientists have finally returned to civilization after completing a NASA-funded isolation experiment to simulate life on Mars. NASA reports that the six-person HI-SEAS Mission V crew lived in a dome on the Mars-like landscape of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano for eight months. The dome was equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, common area, and six individual bedrooms. Though not confined to the inside, the crew were required to don spacesuits whenever they went outside. While in the habitat, the crew conducted scientific research, equipment testing, and resource tracking. They also had to learn to prepare food using dehydrated and shelf-stable ingredients. Communications with the outside were subject to a delay of 20 minutes — the same amount of time it takes for signals to reach Mars from Earth. To better understand the psychological impacts of a long-term space mission, they were fitted with sensors that gauged their moods and monitored interactions with other members. The mission is the fifth in a series of six studies designed to help NASA select crews that can do well on an expedition to the red planet. The sixth and final HI-SEAS mission will also last for eight months and is slated to begin in January 2018.

ANGOLA, AFRICA — The largest diamond discovered in Angola, Africa was announced Monday, Feb. 15. The 404.2 carat gem was mined by Lulo Diamond Project, a partnership between Australia's Lucapa Diamond Company Limited; Endiama E.P., Angola's national diamond company; and private investor Rosas & Pétalas. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the diamond, found in Angola, could be worth more than $20 million in Australian currency, or $14.3 million USD. And according to the announcement by Lucapa, New York-based diamond retailer Yehuda tested the new diamond's color and clarity and categorized it as a Type IIa stone, meaning it's virtually flawless. It is the largest found at the Lulo mine in Angola, where the project commenced in August 2015. The Lulo Diamond Project explores a 1,148 square-mile plot of land in central Angola and the area has so far produced more than 60 "large special diamonds," the company said. It is the 27th largest recorded diamond in the world, the first being a 3,106 carat gem, called the "Cullinan." It weighed in at 1.3 pounds and was discovered in South Africa in 1905. That stone was cut to adorn the royal scepter, one of Britain's crown jewels, and is on display at the Tower of London. The second largest weighed 1,111 carats and was found in November 2014 in Botswana.

A design for a 3D-printed cast has been dubbed one of the finalists for the 2013 James Dyson Award. The cast, called the Cortex Exoskeleton and designed by Jake Evill, is meant to be more flexible and convenient than traditional orthopedic plaster casts. The technology aims at providing more structured support for broken limbs while also remaining lighter and more durable than currently used casts made of plaster or polyurethane. Traditional casts are generally problematic in that they are susceptible to water, so wearers have trouble bathing, which can lead to hygiene issues. Such casts are also itchy, uncomfortable and inconvenient. The Cortex Exoskeleton would be created using 3D printing technology to ensure that it fits well over a broken limb, with an extra membrane structure around the point of injury. Newly printed Cortex casts would be left unfastened so that it can snaps shut around the affected limb. The waterproof nature of the material and its design allows washing to be possible without taking the cast off. It is also thin enough for clothing to fit over it. According to Evill, his design addresses the growing issue of medical waste and a rising number of fractures and breaks. The winner of the James Dyson Award will be announced within a week.

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS — Dutch startup company MX3D has announced plans to build the world’s first 3-D printed bridge across an Amsterdam canal. The company hopes the technique could become standard on future construction projects. The company has invented robotic printers that weld steel structures using 3-D technology. The process involves robotic arm printers “walking” across the canal as it slides along the bridge’s edges, allowing the structure that has already been printed to support the weight of the robots. The robotic arms work by heating metal to 1,500 degrees Celsius (around 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit) and welding the structure drop-by-drop, according to MX3D. A computer program plots the design of the structure. Company representatives hope the bridge in Amsterdam will pave the way for using the same technique on construction sites, especially those involving dangerous processes such as construction on high buildings.

A Florida teen ended up in the emergency room after attempting to kiss a snake Saturday night, according to an Orlando Sentinel report.The snake, a water moccasin, also known as a cottonmouth, had been captured, illegally, as cottonmouths are venomous and potentially deadly, by Austin Lane Hatfield, 18, some time last week. The teen kept the deadly creature in a pillowcase in his girlfriend's Wimaumau bedroom, according to WSBTV. When it escaped, the Orlando Sentinel reports, Hatfield was bitten. That isn't quite the entire story, though. According to various local reports, including WSBTV, Hatfield, for some reason, had practiced kissing the reptile on its head. A strange and dangerous stunt he again attempted Saturday night. It ended poorly. The snake bit him right on the lip, causing the teen's face to immediately begin to swell. Hatfield was taken to the emergency room where doctors were luckily able to administer antivenom in time to save his life and prevent the swelling from closing off his airway. Despite making it out alive, though, Hatfield isn't out of the woods quite yet and could face charges for illegally euthanizing and possessing the snake.

Three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart struck and killed a fellow sprint-car racer, 20-year-old Kevin Ward, who was confronting Stewart on the dirt track of the Empire Super Sprints in Canandaigua, New York on Saturday. The altercation began when Stewart pushed Ward into the wall on lap 14 of 25. Ward’s back right tire was flattened as his car spun around one-and-a-half times. Race officials put up the yellow caution flag, warning drivers to slow down to about 40 miles per hour. Rather than wait for race stewards, Ward stepped out of his vehicle onto the dirt track to confront Stewart. While taunting Stewart, Ward was clipped by Stewart’s back right tire and tossed to the edge of the track, rolling to a stop about 25 feet from the first impact. The sprint-car is designed with a top-wing that helps it remain stabilized around corners. Consequently, the top-wing hinders the driver’s view. With Ward also walking onto the track wearing black, it’s a stretch to say Stewart is wholly responsible. Although, he did appear to hit the throttle before the accident. Former racer and worker on car 45 Mark Tychoniewicz defended Stewart on Facebook saying the driver of car 45 saw Ward at the last second and barely missed him and noted that Stewart had even less time to react. Paramedics rushed Ward to Thompson Hospital where he was pronounced dead 45 minutes after the accident. Stewart decided to not race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Cheez-It 355 on Sunday.

EL MONTE, CALIFORNIA — A California man’s post-gym downtime turned horrifying fast, after his leg began spasming intensely. Angel Bermudez wrote on Facebook that he was sitting in his car when the painful cramps started. He went on to film the ordeal, which lasted at least 50 seconds, and put it up online, where it has since gotten at least 14 million views. Muscle cramping is a common issue with people who work out or play sports. But what exactly causes it? According to Scientific American, skeletal muscles like those in the leg and arms move in response to signals from the brain. If this process malfunctions or becomes hyperactive, it can lead to painful and prolonged contractions, otherwise known as muscle cramps.Cramps are sometimes caused by muscle strain, either by overusing a particular muscle or holding a position for too long. Other factors that may contribute to cramping are heat, dehydration, and electrolyte imbalance. Experts suggest stretching both as a way to soothe cramps and as a means to prevent them. Individuals are also advised to keep hydrated and replenish their electrolytes when doing any strenuous activity.

KIMBERLEY, CANADA — The Traverse family has a new hero after their little dog Sid saved the family from becoming a midnight snack for a hungry grizzly bear. The Traverse family was sleeping on Sunday night when Sid started barking like crazy around 4:30 a.m. “The dog just started going crazy, and so my wife Niki got up to investigate,” said Mark Traverse. “She started screaming and ran right back to the bedroom. She said ‘we’ve got a bear in the house.’” Apparently the adult male grizzly broke into the house through an open kitchen window. His 13-year-old son was also asleep in the house, so Traverse had to act quickly so he loaded his rifle, which he keeps in the bedroom. “I got up and got the key, and loaded the gun, and then I went out to see what was happening.”“I flicked the light on and the bear walked out right in front of me and I thought ‘holy cow, it’s a grizzly.” Traverse said. The bear was looking in the cupboard for food, but moved towards Traverse when it saw him. “I shot at it, and it took another step towards me, so I shot it again and it hit the floor - and so I shot it one more time, and then it stopped moving.” They called the local provincial wildlife office, and a conservation officer went to the house to collect the bear and investigate the incident. The initial assessment was that the bear was not healthy. It was fairly skinny and didn’t have a good hide. As for Sid, he’s getting a special dinner. “He’ll definitely be eating with the family tonight,” Traverse said.

HOUSTON — A 19-month-old girl died in Houston on Monday evening after her siblings locked her inside an oven and turned it on. Court records obtained by ABC affiliate KTRK show the mother of the children, identified as Raquel Thompson, left the baby, two 3-year-olds and a 5-year-old home alone while she went out to buy pizza and pick up a prescription. The baby's two 3-year-old siblings told authorities that one of them took their younger sister, J'Zyra Thompson, into the kitchen and placed her inside the oven. The other turned it on. They said the baby kicked the oven's door while she was trapped inside. The 5-year-old was reportedly asleep in a different room. When the mother returned home, she found the three children in the kitchen. The baby was on the floor with multiple burns. She performed CPR on her but could not save her. The surviving children are currently in foster care. Neighbors told KNOE News it was not uncommon to see the children unsupervised. Thompson, who has an older child who lives with his father and who is pregnant with her current boyfriend's child, was released after questioning, as was her boyfriend. Court filings cited by KTRK indicate criminal charges are expected.