Batmobile discovered in alley

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Li Weilei's 2 ton, $11,000 Batmobile model was found by a police officer in a Shanghaie alley.

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Batman has hit the road — ditching Gotham to park his famous crime-fighting car in an alley in China!

A sleek and realistic recreation of the the Batmobile as depicted in the recent "Dark Knight" trilogy, was discovered at a secret lair in Shanghai by cops — who checked out the ride after curious passers-by flooded them with calls, one of the officers said, according to Europics.

"We have had a lot of inquiries, but I hate to disappoint fans. The vehicle is actually a life-size model of Batman's futuristic car," said Feng Dohan, a police officer who snapped photos of the car. "It is quite amazing, though, not the sort of vehicle you want to give a ticket to."

The jaw-dropping two-ton model — made with scrap metal by four die-hard fans — is 9 feet wide and features waist-high wheels — but no engine. So the Joker will get away.

Owner Li Weilei, 26, model car hobbyist and prop designer, built the elaborate Batman tribute with four pals.

"We've built a dozen Batman cars.Two of them are in Shanghai, while the rest are on display in other parts of the country," Li said.

He spent two months and roughly $11,000 to build the model.

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Serena, Venus beaten within hours of each other at French Open

PARIS  — Serena Williams lost in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday, her earliest exit at a major tournament since falling in the first round at Roland Garros two years ago.

Williams, the defending French Open champion and a 17-time major winner, lost to Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-2, 6-2.

The loss came a short time after older sister Venus Williams also was eliminated in the second round. Venus lost to Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The sisters would have met in the third round had they both won.

Serena struggled from the start against the 20-year-old Muguruza and finished the match with only eight winners and 29 unforced errors.

Muguruza was playing at the French Open for only the second time in her career. She lost in the second round last year, but reached the fourth round at the Australian Open in January.

Venus Williams won the first set, but couldn't finish off 19-year-old Anna Schmiedlova.Photo: AP

Venus Williams' loss was the eighth time in her last nine major tournaments that she has failed to win more than one match.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion won the first set and was up an early break in the second. But the 19-year-old Schmiedlova responded by taking eight of nine games and won 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Since reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2011, Williams has been eliminated in the first or second round at every Grand Slam tournament she has played except the 2013 Australian Open, where she reached the third round.

At 33 years old, Williams is far from her best. But the American has been having a solid season in 2014, winning a hard-court title in Dubai and reaching the final in Auckland.

Against Schmiedlova, the 29th-seeded Williams ended up with 47 unforced errors. Schmiedlova had only 20.

On another cool day in Paris, both Venus Williams and Schmiedlova were wearing an extra layer of clothing to keep warm.

Venus Williams won the last of her seven major titles at Wimbledon in 2008. She has never won the French Open, but lost to Serena in the 2002 final in their only meeting at Roland Garros.

Also Wednesday, 2012 French Open champion Maria Sharapova is scheduled to play, as are Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

No. 12 Flavia Pennetta of Italy also lost, while No. 18 Eugenie Bouchard of Canada won.

In the men's tournament, No. 18 Ernets Gulbis of Latvia, No. 27 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain and No. 29 Gilles Simon of France advanced to the third round.

One match that carried over from the first round ended quickly Wednesday with Steve Johnson of the United States advancing. The American saved two match points on Tuesday in the third set before completing a 4-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-3 win over Laurent Lokoli of France.

The match had been suspended because of darkness on Tuesday night with Johnson leading 3-1 in the fifth.

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Politicians propose gun violence restraining order

GOLETA, Calif. — Two California Assembly members proposed legislation that would create a gun violence restraining order that could be sought from a judge by law enforcement at the request of family members and friends.

"When someone is in crisis, the people closest to them are often the first to spot the warning signs, but almost nothing can now be done to get back their guns or prevent them from buying more," said Democratic Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner of Berkeley, who sponsored the measure with Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara.

Currently, therapists can tell authorities when they fear a client is at risk of committing a violent act. However, there is no prohibition on firearms ownership unless someone has been involuntarily committed for mental health treatment.

Another proposal involves establishing statewide protocols for law enforcement officers who are called to check on mentally troubled people.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, suggested that authorities should be required as part of such welfare visits to check whether a person has purchased weapons instead of just talking to the person.

Additional steps could include searching the individual's surroundings and talking to roommates, neighbors and relatives, he said.

"There is a lot we can do to prevent these kinds of horrific events in the future," said Steinberg, who has spent much of his time in the Legislature addressing mental health concerns.

State senators spent 35 minutes at the state Capitol eulogizing the students killed in the weekend violence and expressing frustration that such rampages continue despite previous efforts to end the problem.

Charlie Wang and Jinshuang "Jane" Liu, parents of Isla Vista rampage victim Weihan "David" Wang, acknowledge the crowd of 20,000 people gathered at UCSB to honor the six victims killed by Elliot Rodger.Photo: ZUMAPRESS.com

The rampage came hours after Rodger emailed a lengthy manifesto to his parents, therapists and others, and a month after sheriff's deputies had visited him on a welfare check after his parents became concerned about his postings on YouTube.

At Tuesday's memorial, Martinez also read statements from the families of two other slain students, Cheng Yuan Hong and Weihan Wang, both 20, in which they asked for prayers or blessings for the families of the victims and the killer.

"May we together create a peaceful world and let hatred be gone with the wind," the Hong family statement said.

UC President Janet Napolitano paid tribute to the victims, saying "each of the victims left a mark on the world" and "as long as we hold them in our hearts, they are not gone."

"All died much too young, but it's important that we do not let the arithmetic of this atrocity define them," she said.

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Maya Angelou dead at 86

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May 28, 2014 | 9:37am

WINSTON-SALEM, NC — Author and poet Maya Angelou has died at age 86 in North Carolina, local media reported on Wednesday, citing her agent and a local official.

Angelou provided eloquent commentary on race, gender and living life to its fullest in poems and memoirs such as "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," which brought her wide acclaim after its 1970 publication.

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Amazon breaks silence in contract dispute with Hachette

Amazon is digging in for a long battle with Hachette over a contract dispute that led the online retailer to curtail sales of some of the publisher's books.

In a statement on Tuesday, Amazon said Hachette, a unit of French media company Lagardere SCA, has operated in "good faith" but the two sides remain at odds. The comments, the first by Amazon since the dispute became public in early May, didn't disclose details of the disagreement between the pair.

"Though we remain hopeful and are working hard to come to a resolution as soon as possible, we are not optimistic that this will be resolved soon," Amazon said in a statement posted online.

Hachette didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment outside of regular business hours.

Amazon has been buying fewer print books from Hachette and last week removed an option to pre-order Hachette titles that will be published in the future. These include "The Silkworm," an upcoming novel written by author of the Harry Potter series JK Rowling, under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

In recent weeks, authors and other publishing insiders have criticized Amazon for unfairly wielding its power as a major retailer to gain an edge in contract talks.

"What I don't understand about this particular battle tactic is how it is in the best interest of Amazon customers," author James Patterson said in a May 13 post on his Facebook page.

In a letter to authors posted on May 23 on the website of the Authors Guild, a group for book authors, Hachette chief executive Michael Pietsch said the publisher was looking for a solution "that preserves our ability to survive and thrive as a strong author-centric publishing company."

Amazon said customers looking to buy one of the affected titles should "purchase a new or used version from one of our third-party sellers or from one of our competitors."

The company said it would put up half the money for a fund to help offset the loss in royalties to Hachette authors as a result of the disagreement if Hachette pays for the other half.

Amazon has a record of being involved in combative negotiations. In 2010, the company blocked consumers from buying works published by Macmillan in a dispute over the price of e-books.

"When we negotiate with suppliers, we are doing so on behalf of customers," Amazon said in its statement. "Negotiating for acceptable terms is an essential business practice that is critical to keeping service and value high for customers in the medium and long term."

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Cooper Union administrators hit with suit for instituting tuition

Cooper Union alumni slapped the school with a lawsuit Tuesday over the East Village institution's controversial decision to charge tuition — while calling out school officials for approving extravagant expenses like personal bodyguards and $10,000 blinds for their new president.

The Committee to Save Cooper Union accuses administrators of squandering funds by allowing President Jamshed Bharucha to ­indulge "in luxuries that a school dedicated to free tuition and allegedly strapped for cash could not afford," the suit says.

"President Bharucha spent over $350,000 on his inauguration celebration — $50,000 of which went to pay celebrity guest speaker ­Fareed Zakaria," a foreign-policy author, according to court papers.

"And over $23,000 for expensive furnishings for the president's house, including almost $10,000 on new blinds and over $8,000 for a custom buffet."

He also shelled out cash for private security and personal bodyguards, the suit says.

School spokesman Justin Harmon declined to comment on the perks on Bharucha's behalf because they are at issue in ongoing litigation.

The group wants the court to block the $19,500 tuition fees scheduled to go into effect this coming fall.

The alumni accuse the previously tuition-free university's board of trustees of violating founder Peter Cooper's vision for "a perpetual course of free ­lectures and instruction."

In the Manhattan Supreme Court suit, they also take administrators to task for squandering funds by building an extravagant new engineering building, depleting the school's endowment through risky hedge-fund investments and paying past President George Campbell a $1.3 million salary.

The six plaintiffs include two alumni-professors, Michael Essl and Toby Cumberbatch.

Students had staged a months-long sit in at Bharucha's office last year to protest the institution of tuition.

Cooper Union, founded in 1859, went tuition free in the early 1900s.

On the suit in general, Harmon said, "We are disappointed that the Committee to Save Cooper Union would choose costly litigation over constructive conversation."

He added, "The decision to charge tuition was tremendously difficult, and every member of the Cooper Union community feels the profound effect it has had, but our first responsibility is to the students, faculty and to the future of Cooper Union."

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Wandering toddler found safe after apartment escape

An wandering 2-year-old was found safe and sound after getting out of his parents' Brooklyn apartment and going for a walk up the street Tuesday evening.

‎The tot's mother, Kaya, said her son managed to open the front door of their apartment on Foster Avenue in East Flatbush.

"My son, Dawson, he is just very smart," Kaya said. "He pulls things, he twists things," she said, explaining that the door had a faulty lock that has since been replaced.

Little Dawson walked out of the building and was spotted by neighbors standing in the intersection of Foster and Troy avenues just after 8 p.m., authorities said.

A good Samaritan pulled the wayward tyke out of the busy street, and ‎tried to identify him.

"The baby was standing in the middle of the crosswalk, and there was a green light. He was dead in the middle, just looking left and right," said the man, who identified himself as Kevin.

Another neighbor called authorities, who said Dawson was in good health.

Dawson was reunited with his concerned parents‎ about an hour-and-a-half after going missing.

"I'm just happy I found my son," said Kaya.

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China cracks down on social media, instant messaging services

BEIJING — China is targeting popular smartphone-based instant messaging services in a monthlong campaign to crack down on the spreading of rumors and what it calls infiltration of hostile forces, in the latest move restricting online freedom of expression.

Such services incorporate social media functions that allow users to post photos and updates to their friends, or follow the feeds of companies, social groups or celebrities, and — more worryingly for the government — intellectuals, journalists and activists who comment on politics, law and society. They also post news reports shunned by mainstream media.

Some accounts attract hundreds of thousands of followers.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the crackdown on people spreading rumors and information related to violence, terrorism and pornography started Tuesday and would target public accounts on services including WeChat, run by Tencent Holdings Ltd, which has surged in popularity in the last two years.

People can subscribe to feeds from public accounts without first exchanging greeting messages, as must be done with private ones, which typically link friends and acquaintances.

Tencent and other companies did not answer calls or immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

Earlier this year, the ruling Communist Party announced the creation of an Internet security group led by President Xi Jinping. Observers say authorities are wary of millions of Chinese with Internet access getting ideas that might threaten the Communist Party system.

Noting that such services had become popular online communication channels, Xinhua said: "Some people have used them to distribute illegal and harmful information, seriously undermining public interests and order in cyberspace."

"We will firmly fight against infiltration from hostile forces at home and abroad," Xinhua quoted a statement from the Cabinet's Internet Information Office as saying.

This is China's first major campaign covering mobile phone messaging platforms, said Mark Natkin, managing director of Marbridge Consulting, a Beijing-based internet and mobile research company.

The timing of the crackdown suggests it may be a response to discussions about recent deadly attacks in China's western region of Xinjiang, the U.S. indictment of five Chinese military officers for cyberspying, or the continuing government campaign against corruption.

"Anytime we see a tenser environment on fronts like those, there tends to be a corresponding clampdown on various communications tools," he said.

The communist government encourages Internet use for education and business but operates an extensive monitoring system. Operators of social media are required to enforce censorship rules against material deemed subversive or obscene.

In March, WeChat removed at least 40 accounts with content about political, economic and legal issues.

Web-based microblogs, known in Chinese as "weibo," once enjoyed explosive growth in China but have come under increasing pressure. A new legal interpretation allows the government to jail microbloggers who post false information that has been reposted 500 times or viewed 5,000 times.

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Dorsey ‘square’ with merchant advances

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is going from micro-blogging to micro-banking.

Dorsey's startup Square, which processes payments for businesses, is launching a cash-advance program for merchants called Square Capital.

Business owners will pay Square a cut of future sales, plus a fee, in exchange for a lump sum up front. The program is geared toward merchants who either can't get a bank loan or can't get one fast enough.

The move is part of Dorsey's effort to grow the company's payments processing service, Square Register, which acts as an electronic cash register and bookkeeper.

Businesses that sign up for the service share their sales data with Square, which can analyze how long it will likely take them to repay the lump sum, plus a fee.

Most of the cash advances will amount to less than $10,000 a pop and come with a fee of between 10 percent and 14 percent. Square estimates most of its cash advances will be repaid within 10 months, but there's no set deadline.
Square has already advanced tens of millions of dollars to thousands of merchants since launching a pilot program last year. Dorsey told The Post that the goal is to advance "hundreds of millions as quickly as we can."

New York's Cafe Grumpy opened its sixth location in Grand Central Station in May thanks to funding from Square Capital, said owner Caroline Bell.

"I don't think we would have been able to open without it, or it would have taken a lot longer," Bell said.

Square has been branching out as losses mount in its core card-reader business. The Square Reader attaches to an iPhone and is used to process payments at more than 30,000 retail locations.

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Friend say UCSB killer was hooked on creatine supplement

A friend of "virgin killer" Elliot Rodger has revealed he was addicted to a muscle-building supplement, which could have triggered his anger before his shooting rampage.

Chris Akin, a friend of Rodger, told the Mirror that the Isla Vista murderer started taking the supplement Creatine after a mutual friend died in a bodybuilding accident, while trying to lift a 550 lbs weight.

Akin, who used to Skype regularly with Rodger, 22, said he observed a change in his attitude after he began allegedly taking the drug daily.

Akin, who lives in Chicago, told the Mirror Rodger was trying to build muscle mass to attract girls and get over his grief from losing his close friend.

While not illegal or a steroid, Creatine, an organic acid which is "typically bought in flavored powders and mixed with liquid — increases the body's ability to produce energy rapidly. With more energy, you can train harder and more often, producing faster results," Men'sHealth.com reports. It can also be bought and consumed in a tablet form.

Side effects of Creatine can include "weight gain, muscle cramps, muscle strains and pulls, stomach upset, diarrhea, dizziness, high blood pressure, liver dysfunction, and kidney damage, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.

It is also understood it can cause mood swings and depression. Bodybuilders have reported getting angry easily and hyper in online forums on the Bodybuilding.com website where Rodger regularly contributed while he was alive.

The more I dwell on this the more I realize that it may have set him off and made him turn to Creatine to drown his feelings. - Chris Akin, a friend of Elliot Rodger

Akin said he was bullied on the website for being a loner and having a lack of women in his life.

Akin claimed Rodger's mass shooting rampage, death, supplement use and online bullying were linked to Rodger killing six and injuring 13 before committing suicide.

Rodger explained his deadly act in a near 140-page manifesto and chilling videos posted to YouTube where he shared his fury over still being a virgin.

"The more I dwell on this the more I realize that it may have set him off and made him turn to Creatine to drown his feelings," Akin said.

"He wasn't very different at first, but after a while it seemed like he was getting into dark places emotionally," he added.

"I could notice the anger and changes every time we spoke on Skype," he said.

In his manifesto, Rodger described a "day of retribution", on which he planned to "wage a war against all women and the men they are attracted to".

"If I can't have it, I will destroy it. I will destroy all women because I can never have them. I will make them all suffer for rejecting me," he wrote.

The 22-year-old student stabbed dead three male roommates in a coastal enclave in Santa Barbara County, California, before driving through his university campus on a shooting spree, killing two sorority sisters and another male student and injuring at least eight people.

Isla Vista, CA, the scene of a shooting spree by lone gunman Elliot Rodger.Photo: Splash News

As disturbing details about Rodger's misogynistic manifesto surfaced, a conversation began on Twitter over the underlying cause of gender-based violence that women experience every day.

Soon, the hashtag Yes All Women was trending in many countries, with more than 1 million short messages posted and re-tweeted as women shared their experiences and pain from sexual violence and societal inequality.

This article originally appeared on News.com.au.

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