Students at Washington’s Howard University complain about mold, rats

Officials at Howard University on Thursday met with students who have been complaining about rats, mold, high tuition and other issues at the school, one of the oldest historically black U.S. colleges

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Syria’s ailing water network could spark epidemics: Red Cross

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – Syria's water network, heavily damaged by bombs and shelling, is at risk of collapse as its civil war drags on, increasing the threat of deadly typhoid or cholera outbreaks, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday. Millions of people in Aleppo and Damascus are cut off from water supplies for days at a time, a tactic used by all warring sides to exert control in divided cities, the ICRC said. ICRC aid workers have helped water boards and engineers to maintain and repair aging pumping stations throughout Syria since the conflict began in March 2011

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Disney unboxes the Force to drive buzz for ‘Star Wars’ toys

By Piya Sinha-Roy and Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – When technology and geek culture enthusiast Chris Pirillo purchased his iPhone 6 last year, he rushed home to broadcast himself unboxing the item live on YouTube. The video has garnered nearly 50,000 views and is part of the growing craze of 'unboxing' that is a centerpiece of a live global Walt Disney event, starting on Wednesday evening in Australia, to unveil new toys from its December movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” The goal? The Disney event, to be live-streamed online, is the most high-profile embrace to date of unboxing, where people film themselves opening and trying out new toys and gadgets

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Founder of British online retailer ASOS steps down as CEO

By James Davey LONDON (Reuters) – Nick Robertson, the founder of British online fashion retailer ASOS, has stepped down as chief executive after 15 years in which he transformed the internet start-up into a retail powerhouse with millions of fans around the world. ASOS, popular with Internet savvy twentysomethings and high-profile supporters such as British singer Rita Ora and U.S.

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Online advertising shines in sputtering Thai economy

By Khettiya Jittapong BANGKOK, (Reuters) – Unfazed by Thailand’s faltering economy, businesses are penciling in bigger budgets for digital advertising as they target Thai consumers via smartphone apps, social networking forums and video-sharing websites. Digital advertising spending this year is forecast to jump by two-thirds to a record 9.9 billion baht ($277.47 million) in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, according to the Digital Advertising Association (Thailand) (DAAT)

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Kanye West gets political action committee, presidential jokes go viral

Images of Kanye West's face on Mount Rushmore and a potential White House takeover by the Kardashian reality TV clan fired up social media on Monday, a day after the rapper virtually hijacked a rambunctious MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) show as he declared he planned to run for U.S. president in 2020. West, who is married to Kim Kardashian, sparked dozens of satirical memes on social media after his rambling, 13-minute speech on Sunday – when he admitted he had “rolled up a little something earlier in the night – while accepting the Video Vanguard award for lifetime achievement

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Dating site eHarmony aims to mix work with pleasure

As a marriage counselor years ago, Neil Clark Warren saw first-hand how incompatibility led to unhappy matches. “(The career market) is such a big market that we do expect it to grow faster than our core product,” the octogenarian clinical psychologist and eHarmony CEO said in an interview. The market is dominated by Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp, owner of Match.com as well as other sites for the lovelorn.

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Ashley Madison parent CEO quits after huge infidelity data hack

By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) – The chief executive of infidelity website Ashley Madison's parent company Avid Life Media has left, just over a week after hackers leaked data about millions of its clients in a massive cyber assault. Avid Life said on Friday the departure of Noel Biderman was by “mutual agreement” and its existing senior management team would take over until a new CEO is appointed. On Aug.

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Russia’s MTS teams up with Google to promote mobile Internet

Russia's biggest mobile phone operator MTS said on Friday it had teamed up with Google Inc to help grow the use of mobile Internet and will get a share of the search site's advertising revenues in Russia. Under a strategic agreement, MTS will feature Google's voice search in its ad campaigns and retail stores, and a relevant application will be pre-installed on the main screen of Google's Android-based smartphones sold in the MTS retail chain.

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