Albert Wagner 
MANCHESTER, England – British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has finally got his hands on Manchester United after securing a stake of up to 25 per cent in the Premier League club. Ratcliffe’s interest in sports — and soccer in particular — is long-standing. The 71-year-old owner of petrochemicals giant has been a United fan … Read more
Quebec provincial police are again pausing a search for a four-year-old girl who fell into a river north of Quebec City after today’s efforts failed to locate her. Rescuers have been searching for the girl since she went through a fence while sledding and fell in the Mistassibi River, around 242 kilometres northwest … Read more
Not long after presents are unwrapped and Canadians gather to celebrate the holiday season, a rare full moon will appear, shining the brightest on Boxing Day. The special phenomenon is also called the full Cold Moon or Long Night Moon. A Christmas full moon normally happens every 19 years or so, according … Read more
The Chicks are taking time this weekend to pay tribute to their late former founding member Laura Lynch. Members of the band previously known as The Dixie Chicks posted a statement Saturday to their official Instagram page, where they shared video of Lynch singing and playing with the band, writing they “are shocked … Read more
Beijing recorded its longest cold wave since records began in 1951 as the biting temperatures and snowfall experienced in the Chinese capital and elsewhere began to ease. The temperature recorded at Beijing’s Nanjiao weather station rose to above zero degrees Celsius Sunday afternoon for the first time in days, state media Beijing Daily … Read more
A mystery donation of rare Air Jordans left at an Oregon homeless shelter earlier this year led to more than $50,000 in auction proceeds returning to the organization. It all started in April, when a pair of gold shoes were anonymously dropped down a donation chute at the Burnside shelter of the Portland … Read more
In the nicest possible way, Britons have always been a bit silly about animals. “Keeping pets, for the English, is not so much a leisure activity as it is an entire way of life,” wrote the anthropologist Kate Fox in Watching the English, nearly 20 years ago. Our dogs, in particular, have been an acceptable … Read more
Brazil’s federal police said one of the country’s top criminal leaders surrendered Sunday after negotiations with local authorities. Luiz Antonio da Silva Braga, better known as Zinho, is the top leader of the largest militia group in the state of Rio de Janeiro. He had 12 arrest warrants issued against him, federal police … Read more
BEIJING – The death toll from China’s most powerful earthquake in years has risen to 149, with two people still missing after the tremor hit northwestern parts of the country last week. The 6.2-magnitude quake struck a remote mountainous area between Gansu and Qinghai provinces on Dec. 18, reducing homes to rubble and … Read more
RIO DE JANEIRO – FIFA warned Brazil on Sunday it could suspend its national teams and clubs from international competitions if an intervention by its soccer body leads to the election of a new president in January. FIFA said in a letter to a Brazilian soccer executive that the country’s soccer body CBF … Read more
