NEWS BREAK FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Snapchat now lets you @-tag someone in your Story, creating a swipe up "more" option that shows the tagged person's name, handle, Bitmoji, and an Add button so you can follow them too. The feature could let friends call each other out in Stories, or promote their favorite influencers by making it easy for people to follow them. Snapchat now confirms to TechCrunch that "We're testing this" but refused to give more details. It's a case of Snapchat copying Instagram back after the Facebook-owned app added @ mentions to Stories back in November 2016, just a few months after Instagram cloned Snapchat's whole Stories feature. Not all users appear to have access to tagging right now, but it seems like a sensible thing to roll out. TechCrunch learned of the feature from Matt Rappaport after Dana Glidden spotted it. The news comes just after Cheddar reported Snapchat is laying of 120 employees in its engineering department in what appears to be a cost-cut...

A family is left in shock after a Michigan college student allegedly gunned down his mother and father in his Michigan dorm room Friday morning. James Eric Davis Jr., 19, allegedly shot and killed his mother and father inside of a residence hall at Central Michigan University before fleeing, leading to a manhunt. The 19-year-old was later arrested early Saturday morning after being spotted by a bystander on the north end of the campus. James Eric Davis Sr., 48, and Diva Jeenen Davis, 47, were reportedly on campus to pick up their son for spring break when they were killed, according to multiple reports.  James Davis Sr. was a police officer in Bellwood, Illinois, reports said. "The family is in shock and trying to piece everything together," a relative told CNN. It is not clear but prompted the shooting, but police said Davis Jr. had an encounter with police on Thursday evening before the shooting and was taken to a hospital for what officers believed was a bad rea...

50 Cent just posted a shocking picture that is clearly directed at his longtime, mortal enemy Rick Ross. The picture he posted is of Ivan Drago from "Rocky IV" -- the precise scene is when Drago is standing over Apollo Creed as Creed is dying. Drago says, "If he dies, he dies." The implication is clear ... at least to a swarm of people who have interpreted this as a direct shot at Rick. As you know, TMZ broke the story ... Rick is in the hospital hooked up to a machine that is performing heart and lung functions. 50 and Ross have had a longstanding, bitter feud. It got so bad, 50 once posted a sex tape of one of Rick's baby mamas ... which brought their war to a fever pitch. No word yet from Rick's camp, but we're guessing his people will respond.

Rapper Rick Ross has been hooked up to a machine that is taking over the function of his heart and lungs, TMZ is reporting. Ross was hospitalized early Thursday morning after he was found unresponsive in his Florida home by police and emergency teams, according to Billboard. An ambulance took the 42-year-old Florida native to a hospital, where he was treated for respiratory issues. Officials told the Blast they considered the call serious because Ross has a history of seizures, and a 911 caller said that Ross was just “nodding his head.” TMZ is reporting that Ross is being treated in the hospital’s cardiac unit. Doctors are reportedly treating him with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a form of life support in which blood is oxygenated outside of the body before it’s pumped back into it.

 The Herald recently reported Lynnwood resident, 19-year-old Brian Roberto Varela, could face charges of rape, manslaughter and homicide by controlled substance. According to police, the suspect allegedly bragged about sexually assaulting his victim as she died while overdosing on Percocet pills and liquid THC. It is reported Varela then attempted to cover up her death by hacking into her cellphone. During the incident, Varela is said to have sent a group message to friends that showed a “a semi-nude, unconscious young woman with swollen blue lips.” Court papers say the picture included the following caption: “LOL I think she od’d, still breathing.” According to The Herald , reports say Varela used a slang word for sex and suggested he’d been engaging in intercourse with her “to pass the time.” Police identified the young woman as Alyssa Mae Noceda, an 18-year-old Mariner High School student. Noceda’s mother says her daughter had gone to a party Saturday even...

Just months after she struck a plea deal to avoid time behind bars, the fiancee of Marion "Suge" Knight was sentenced to three years in jail Friday for a probation violation linked to the former rap mogul's pending murder trial. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Douglas Sortino ruled that Toi-Lin Kelly, 37, helped Knight violate a court order limiting his jailhouse phone communications by aiding him in arranging interviews with the producers of a BET documentary about Death Row Records, the record label he founded in the early 1990s. Sortino also found that she was indirectly communicating with Knight through a private investigator, violating the terms of probation he granted her in October. "To me it's pretty blatant, and frankly, jaw-dropping," Sortino said, adding that Kelly had basically slapped him in the face after he granted her probation. Prosecutors last year accused Kelly of selling surveillance footage connected to Knight'...

A California woman has been charged after she attempted suicide by driving her car the wrong way on the freeway, allegedly killing a young father. Grace Ward, 28, who suffered a broken leg in the crash that killed Ryan Folson, has been charged with second-degree murder. Ward was reportedly driving on Interstate 5  in Redding on Jan. 7., when she crossed into oncoming traffic in an alleged suicide attempt. Folsom, a 29-year-old father of two, was reportedly on his way to a Sacramento hospital to interview for a residency program when Ward’s vehicle struck his. Three other cars were reportedly able to swerve out of the way before Ward's car struck Folsom’s vehicle, reports said. “She intentionally was driving and swerving towards them,” Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett said. Folsom and Ward were both taken to Mercy Medical Center in Redding where  Folsom died. Folsom is survived by his pregnant wife and two children. A GoFundMe account rai...

Turkey said eight of its troops were killed Saturday in Ankara's military operation against a Syrian Kurdish militia, the deadliest day in the two-week-old offensive in the enclave of Afrin, while in another part of Syria, al-Qaida-linked militants downed a Russian fighter jet, then shot and killed the pilot. In a statement late Saturday, the Turkish military said five soldiers were killed after their tank in Syria came under attack near Afrin. The soldiers could not be saved despite all attempts, it said. Earlier in the day, three Turkish soldiers were reported killed in the Afrin offensive — one was killed in the area of the tank attack, another in northern Syria and the third on the Turkish side of the border in what Ankara said was an attack by Syrian Kurdish militiamen. The total death toll for Turkish troops since the operation, codenamed Olive Branch, started on Jan. 20 now stands at 13. Bilginsoy reported from Istanbul. Associated Press writers Jim Heintz...

Director Zack Snyder is clearly a big fan of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. Its influence is all over Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – most of all, in the thick-set, grey Batsuit worn by Ben Affleck in the movie. However, at a very early stage of the production, the plan was for Batman to look quite different. Concept artist Jerad S. Marantz has shared a design for the Dark Knight’s outfit that’s a world away from the stripped-back costume seen in the finished film. This suit is a heavily armoured model with a chrome, metallic colour scheme. Also, fans will note the comic book accurate white eyes. Marantz explained in his caption that the design was only entertained for about a week before the decision was made to go back to basics and produce a “classic Batman,” as the artist puts it.     “Believe it or not This was a very early pass on the #batmanvssuperman#batsuit . Before we got the note to do a classic #Batman I was exploring futuristic and ...

YouTube has been making efforts to improve its transparency, which is why anyone viewing news broadcasts on the platform may notice a change starting today. If a news video has received any public funding or government support, YouTube will show a notice below the video. This only applies to videos that are uploaded by news organizations. The feature starts rolling out today for US users only, and YouTube cautions that there may be bumps in the road to its implementation: "We don't expect it to be perfect," the release said. Eventually, the company plans to expand this feature. In the meantime, users can use the "send feedback" option to flag imperfect implementation. As the landscape between online news and ads becomes more muddled, increasing transparency is an important step to take. Both Twitter and Facebook have put regulations into place that require people who run political ads to disclose who is behind them. It's good that YouTube is takin...

PayPal COO Bill Ready contends eBay’s decision to ditch the company and use Adyen to process payments moving forward is actually good for PayPal.  On Wednesday, eBay announced it plans to use smaller European competitor Adyen to process payments on the back-end once its original partnership with PayPal runs out in 2020 — news that initially sent PayPal stock down as much as 8.8% in one day.   Under the original terms of the agreement, eBay uses PayPal as its primary payments provider, meaning that the majority of transactions processed on eBay were processed through PayPal. In exchange, PayPal was restricted in how it works with other marketplaces that compete with eBay. While PayPal was free to work with marketplaces that rival eBay, PayPal couldn’t offer the same degree of services to other marketplaces. But come July 2020, that will change. Under the new terms PayPal and eBay agreed upon, which will last until 2023, PayPal will be free to work with other ma...

The parents of a Kentucky teenager who was fatally shot in a mass shooting at her high school this week said their daughter called them as the violent scene unfolded in the background. Bailey Holt, 15, was one of two students killed at Marshall County High School in western Kentucky on Tuesday after a classmate allegedly opened fire, killing them both and injuring at least 18 others, authorities said. "She called me and all I could hear was voices, chaos in the background," Bailey's mother, Secret Holt, told ABC affiliate WKRN on Wednesday. "She couldn't say anything and I tried to call her name over and over and over and she never responded." "We rushed to the high school, and they wouldn't let us get through," she said. Secret Holt said she knew something was wrong when she didn't see her daughter on any of the buses that were used to transport the surviving students to a nearby school. "We waited and waited for h...

A man has been arrested after an eight-year-old girl was stabbed to death near Walsall, West Midlands police said. Officers were called to an address in Brownhills at about 9.15pm on Saturday and found the girl, named by police as Mylee Billingham, with serious injuries. She was taken to hospital and died a short time later. A 54-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He was treated in hospital for a stab wound to his stomach. Police said on Sunday morning that he was in a stable condition and would be questioned in due course. A neighbour, Graham Greatrex, 74, told how he helped comfort Mylee’s mother after the schoolgirl was discovered badly wounded. He said: “I just offered her a warm drink because it was a bitterly cold night. “She was in shock.” On Sunday the home was being searched by forensics experts. The house is believed to belong to the local authority and is one of a row of terraced bungalows in the street. Greatrex said that a man had live...

Cristiano Ronaldo netted a late brace in Real Madrid's 7-1 demolition of Deportivo La Coruna, only to leave the field covered in blood and peering into a mobile phone. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was a picture of frustration, passing up simple chances as Gareth Bale turned the match emphatically in Madrid's favour on the back of Adrian Lopez's 23rd-minute opener for Depor. Ronaldo made it 5-1 by converting Casemiro's cross from close range and a brave header from Lucas Vazquez's centre gave him a sixth LaLiga goal of the campaign. It came at a price, as Fabian Schar's boot left the 32-year-old with a nasty cut above his left eye. Looking like a prize-fighter rather than a prize-winning forward, Ronaldo was led from the field by Madrid's doctor and borrowed a phone that seemingly belonged to the medic to inspect the damage – surely an act more concerned with surgery than selfies. After the match, head coach ZInedine Zidane confirme...

California mom from hell Louise Turpin wanted to add a 14th child to her brood — so she could land a TV reality show and make money, according to a new report. “She used to say how they would be perfect for TV and would often ­mention they would be bigger than the reality show ‘Kate Plus 8,’ ” her half-brother Billy Lambert told UK’s The Mirror. “She thought the world would be fascinated by their lives,” he continued. She and her husband “thought it would make them millions and household names. They didn’t care about the kids – it was all about them.” Indeed, the Turpin family has captured the world’s morbid curiosity — but only after it was revealed Louise and husband David ritually abused their 13 kids for years — beating them, withholding food and education and shackling them to their beds for weeks or months on end as a sick punishment for infractions as minor as washing their hands above the wrists, authorities said. Investigators said Louise seemed confused as to why there ...

Thirteen malnourished siblings, ranging in age from 2 to 29, were rescued by police in California from a house where some of them had been chained to beds, and their parents have been charged with torture, officials said on Monday. Police made the discovery after a 17-year-old girl escaped the house in Perris, about 70 miles (113 km) east of Los Angeles, and used a cellular phone she had found in the house to call them, the Riverside County Sheriff's Office said in a statement released online. "Deputies located what they believed to be 12 children inside the house, but were shocked to discover that seven of them were actually adults," police said in a statement. "The victims appeared to be malnourished and very dirty." The girl, who officers had initially thought was about 10 years old, contacted police on Sunday after escaping. The children's parents, David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, were arrested and each charged with...

Police are appealing for information after a woman in her 30s was kidnapped and driven to an Essex cemetery and gang raped in broad daylight. The victim told police she was approached by a man in Jackson Road, Clacton, Essex, before she was hauled into his car with two other men on Sunday afternoon. The three men then drove the woman to the St Osyth Cemetery in Clay Lane, some four miles away from where she was kidnapped. She was then raped by the three men, sometime between 3pm and 4pm. Police are scouring the ground for forensic evidence while the victim is being supported by specially trained officers. Essex Police are now appealing for any witnesses to the horrific crime. Detective Inspector Greg Wood, of Essex Police’s Public Protection Investigation Unit, said: “We are continuing to make extensive enquiries into this serious offence, including house to house enquiries and reviewing CCTV footage. “We are currently treating this as an isolated incident but we understand t...

Islamist militants Boko Haram on Monday released a new video purporting to show at least 14 of the Chibok schoolgirls whose mass kidnapping nearly four years ago became a symbol of NIgeria's brutal conflict. But despite a concerted global campaign for their release, and talks between the government and the militants, the girls shown in the recording vowed not to return to their parents. The 20-minute-long video is the first since May last year, when another woman who also claimed to be among the 219 seized from the town in Borno state said she wanted to stay. Both videos will compound the suffering of the girls' families and friends but also indicate the extent to which they may have become influenced by their captors. All of those who were shown on camera were wearing black or blue hijabs and at least three were carrying babies. One of the students, her face covered by a veil, said: "We are the Chibok girls that you cry for us to return to you. By the g...

A theater chain is getting an early jump on bringing director Christopher Nolan’s 2008 worldwide blockbuster The Dark Knight back to the big screen to celebrate the film’s 10th anniversary. The Dark Knight, of course, was the middle film in Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, which began with 2005’s Batman Begins and concluded in 2012 with The Dark Knight Rises. Starring Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Batman Begins marked a major turning point in the genre of comic book movies since Nolan took a gritty, real world approach to his films with little room for any fantasy elements. The pinnacle of the trilogy from both a critical and box office standpoint came with The Dark Knight, where Batman met his ultimate nemesis The Joker (Heath Ledger). Ledger’s tragic death after filming sadly added a haunting yet deeply impactful element to the film, which not only went on to capture an astounding $534.8 million in ticket sales domestically, but another $469.7 million overseas to cross t...

For all his success in designing world-changing technology, Bill Gates has set surprisingly strict rules for how his kids can use that technology, the billionaire philanthropist has said in multiple interviews. "You're always looking at how it can be used in a great way — homework and staying in touch with friends — and also where it has gotten to excess," Gates told the Mirror in April 2017. Each of Gates' three kids — ages 15, 18, and 21 — has grown up in a home that forbade cell phones until age 14, banned cell-phone use at the dinner table, and set limits on how close to bedtime kids could use their phones. Gates told the Mirror his kids routinely complained that other kids were getting phones much earlier, but the pleas did nothing to change the policy. In a separate interview with Matt Lauer, then at the Today Show, Gates said he doesn't go as far as keeping the passwords to his kids' Facebook accounts, but that online safety is "a very...