The feline who became a viral hit and sparked a frenzy of memes thanks to her iconic scowl has passed away, her owners have confirmed.

The cat, famous for its permanent angry expression, was seven years old and died from complications of a urinary tract infection.

Her real name was Tardar Sauce and she went viral in 2012 after an image of her iconic grumpy face was posted to Reddit and began circulating online. She soon became a meme and went on to have books published in her name, and even went on world tours meeting her fans.

Grumpy Cat has 8.5 million Facebook fans, 2.4 million Instagram followers and 1.5 million Twitter followers.

Owner Tabatha Bundesen explained that her distinct facial expression was a side-effect of feline dwarfism.

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Ireland’s taxpayers have had to give an unusual bail out to the Lord Mayor of Dublin after the politician twice exceeded his yearly beer allowance, quickly burning through around 13,000 pints of Guinness.

Lord Mayor Nial Ring’s official residence, the Mansion House, was supplied with 120 kegs (around 10,560 pints) of free beer when his term began last June as part of a long-standing tradition with the manufacturers of Guinness, Diageo.

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However Ring used up the first allowance by January – far outpacing the two lord mayors before him, the Dublin InQuirer reported. Upon request, Diageo agreed to supply an additional 30 kegs of free Guinness to the city center venue.

The second top-up then ran out in March and Dublin City Council was forced to spend €15,280 of taxpayers money to purchase an additional 71 kegs, the Times Ireland Edition reported on Wednesday. The latest restocking means the mayor is on track to serve about 24,000 pints during his one-year term in office.

The beer is served to guests at various social events throughout the year but Irish people appear less than impressed with the Lord Mayor’s rate of pint consumption.

When the story first hit the headlines earlier this year Ring said he’s simply more sociable than his predecessors and claimed that the Mansion House has played host to a “huge number” of “parties in the evening time,” before adding that “no one is falling out” of the government building.

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“I’ve had over 16,000 members of the public into the Mansion House and 8,000 at evening events. I want to say thank you to the people of Dublin,” he said to Ireland’s state broadcaster RTÉ.

Aside from the unprecedented beer spending, Dublin City Council has also reportedly spent almost €20,000 on wine, more than the two previous mayors spent during their terms combined. Thankfully, spirits aren’t served in the Mansion House.

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The US has refused to endorse a new global initiative to combat “violent extremism” online citing First Amendment concerns, even as US-based tech firms have joined France and New Zealand in embracing and defending the censorship.

“We continue to be proactive in our efforts to counter terrorist content online while also continuing to respect freedom of expression and freedom of the press,” the White House said in a statement on Wednesday, explaining that it was “not currently in a position to join the endorsement” even though it supported the pledge’s “overall goals.”

“We maintain that the best tool to defeat terrorist speech is productive speech and thus we emphasize the importance of promoting credible, alternative narratives as the primary means by which we can defeat terrorist messaging,” the statement added.

Focusing on the “unprecedented” cooperation between governments and corporations, New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern glossed over the US absence from the international agreement, insisting that Washington’s lukewarm response “demonstrates broad and unquestionable support for the call.”

French President Emmanuel Macron was less sanguine, vowing “we will do everything so that we are able to get a concrete and more formal commitment” from the US.

The “Christchurch Call,” unveiled Wednesday by Ardern and Macron, lays out comprehensive measures for restricting the spread of content deemed “violent extremist” or “terrorist.” While admitting that most countries already have laws governing such content, and most tech platforms already prohibit its sharing under their terms of usage, the proposal calls for closer cooperation between corporations, NGOs, and law enforcement, as well as between countries. 

Some “collaborative actions” recommended by the agreement include “investigating and prosecuting illegal online activity in regard to detected and/or removed terrorist and violent extremist content,” and “incident management teams” that can “broadly distribute information that is in the public interest” in response to “emerging or active events.”

Eighteen countries – including Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, and the UK – have signed on to the pledge, as have tech companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter. Facebook promised to ban users who violate its “most serious policies” from livestreaming and buying ads, while all five platforms pledged to develop tools, including AI and machine learning, to remove “extremist” content. 

“This isn’t about freedom of expression,” Ardern insisted last month in response to free speech concerns from New Zealanders, “this is about preventing violent extremism and terrorism online.”

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But the involvement of Macron has troubled some. One of his first acts as president was to make permanent an emergency law allowing individuals merely suspected of terrorist links to be placed under a form of house arrest for up to a year. Earlier this year, he pushed for social media platforms to ban users guilty of “hate speech” from their platforms for life, just a week after espousing a novel definition of hate speech that included anti-Zionism in its meaning. The Christchurch Call does not define what constitutes “extremism,” and its enforcement is entirely dependent on individual governments.

The proposal was named after the New Zealand city in which an Australian gunman murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques back in March while live-streaming the attack on Facebook. In the aftermath of the attack, the government struggled to keep the footage from resurfacing on the web, imposing unprecedented restrictions on sharing and hosting the video including fines and even jail time.

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Washington has suspended all US-based cargo and passenger air services between the US and Venezuela, citing “safety and security” conditions in the Latin American country amid attempts to oust the government in Caracas.

The move was announced by the US Department of Transportation on Wednesday. The decision was made with “the approval of the Secretary of State” and in cooperation with the Homeland Security Department, the DOT said in a statement.

From now on, all flights to and from Venezuela operated by both US air carriers and foreign companies are suspended due to conditions around the country’s airports “that threaten the safety or security of passengers, aircraft, or crew.”

The decision is yet another – largely symbolic – jab at the Venezuelan authorities, since the air service between the two countries was largely non-existent already. American Airlines was the last major US carrier to suspend flights to and from Venezuela, back in March. Others have halted their flights over the past two years.

The blanket ban on air service follows a decision of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), announced earlier this month, which prohibited US-certified aircraft operators and pilots from flying below 26,000 feet (8 kilometers) over the territory of Venezuela, citing “safety and security” reasons as well.

In January, the Trump administration recognized opposition politician Juan Guaido as “interim president” of Venezuela and called for President Nicolas Maduro to resign. Repeated attempts by Guaido to seize power have failed, however, and his latest bid involves inviting the US Southern Command to invade Venezuela.

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The pullout of non-emergency government staff from Iraq is not a “prelude” to an attack but a precaution, Senator Marco Rubio has explained on his Twitter. Many users, however, perceive it to be laying the groundwork for war.

Rubio took a break from tweeting non-stop in support of the US regime-change activities in Venezuela on Wednesday, shifting his efforts towards another potential flashpoint – Iran.

The senator took to his social media of choice and tried hard to explain why US activities in the Middle East are not actually preparations for war with Tehran. In fact, it’s the Iranians who are seeking to harm Americans, the senator claimed, assuring his followers that Washington won’t start a war, but “it will win one that Iran starts.”

Rubio issued a whole thread on why the US State Department’s decision to pull out “non-emergency” diplomatic staff from Iraq should not be perceived as preparation for war. The senator claimed that Tehran is plotting to inflict “mass casualties” on US citizens, using “proxy forces” in Iraq and Yemen, citing “clear and persistent evidence, supported by observable movements on the ground.”

Sadly, Rubio did not provide any actual proof for such an accusation, backing it up only with further allegations. He claimed that Iran spent “years” on building such an attack capability…

…As well as honed its internet trolling skills to further influence those, who distrust the US authorities.

The alleged preparations for attacks on Americans might have been provoked by the recent US designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, Rubio explained. All in all, “Iran need to know that if they are attacked a UNITED States of America will respond decisively,” the senator concluded.

The Twitter crowd was largely unconvinced by the senator’s claims. The mere fact that the top cheerleader of the US-backed coup in Venezuela has now shifted his attention towards Iran prompted many to demand actual proof for the alleged activities attributed to Tehran.

Many users pointed out that the whole anti-Iran hysteria looks exactly like the pre-Iraqi war one – just without brandishing any shady test tubes in the UN.

Others encouraged Rubio to take part in the war personally, or, at least, send his own children into it instead of just talking tough on Twitter.

Some users, however, looked deeper into the whole warmongering and suggested that it might be a re-election strategy of Donald Trump, invoking ironically his old tweets accusing then-President Barack Obama of the very same thing.

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The US’ reckless maximum pressure campaign against Tehran and nations dealing with it is deeply provocative and hurts international relations, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said, warning against a major “crisis.”

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Wednesday, Van der Bellen slammed the US sanctions against Iran by saying that such policies “do not help international relations” and only erode the system of global treaties.

READ MORE: US orders all non-emergency personnel to leave Iraq

“The fact that the US withdrew from the Iranian nuclear deal undermines trust in this agreement in general,” he told journalists.

The Austrian leader also admitted that Europe has so far failed to “come up with a mechanism that would help companies effectively circumvent” the US restrictions. He also said that creating such an instrument is a “very laborious” task.

Van der Bellen then warned the US against going down its chosen path by saying that any additional pressure Washington puts on Iran “is going to undermine political relations” on the international arena “even further.”

If America continues to put pressure on Iran, the whole situation risks spilling into another major crisis “as it happened in Iraq some years ago,” the president warned, without elaborating.

Van der Bellen’s words came amid growing fears that a military conflict could potentially break out between the US and Iran. These concerns were further fueled by the US decision to recall all non-essential personnel from its embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and a consulate in Iraq’s northern town of Erbil. The developments have prompted Germany and the Netherlands to temporarily suspend its missions aimed at training the Iraqi forces.

Earlier, the Iraqi ambassador to Moscow said that Baghdad would not let the US use the Iraqi territory in the event of a war against Iran, adding that it is not interested in another “devastating” conflict in the region.

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Washington has deployed the USS ‘Abraham Lincoln’ Carrier Strike Group, as well as B-52 bombers, to “send a message” to Iran while constantly citing an allegedly increased threat from Tehran and criticizing those of its allies who doubted the claim.

US President Donald Trump has recently dismissed a New York Times report of a plan to send “120,000 troops” to the Middle East as “fake news,” saying that it would “hopefully” not be necessary. He added, however, that if it did come to a hot conflict, “we’d send a hell of a lot more troops than that.”

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A new report gives a fascinating insight into the future of food five, 30 and 150 years from now as the world adapts to technological advancements and a changing environment. Just don’t read it over lunch.

The 34-page report, commissioned by British supermarket Sainsbury’s, paints a picture of grocery shopping in 2025, 2050 and 2196 and aims to show the potential of food for the next 150 years.

It envisions mainstream dinners consisting of jellyfish and insects with a glass of algae milk, or perhaps some lab-grown meat and, eventually, maybe even a patch or intravenous drip that gives you all the nutrients you need. Sounds tasty.

READ MORE: Hunger games: Ukrainians spend half of their income on food, highest in Europe

Food pharmacy

Food as medicine isn’t exactly a modern thought, however the report speculates that the importance of diet on health, and foods with healing properties will come to the forefront in the next five years.

Bio-fortified foods like so-called ‘Super Mushrooms’ and salmon who have been fed a “bespoke diet” will offer customers specifically formulated extra nutrients. Specific diets for the elderly to prevent dementia and loss of brain function will be the norm by 2025, for example.

Planet-friendly food

The report notes that the future of food will see a huge increase in vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian (part-time vegetarian) eaters, as well as customers who want to purchase ‘planet-friendly food.’

It claims a quarter of all British people will be vegetarian by 2025 (up from one in eight today). The report says that food is the easiest way for people to reduce their global footprint, so a more plant-based diet is inevitable as the modern world moves away from meat consumption.

To supplement the nutritional gap and plate space the report says mushroom-based products, algae milk, seaweed caviar and protein-rich insects will be just some of the plant-based substitutes that will be in our fridge

It also foresees digital advancements like apps to calculate your daily environmental footprint and the introduction of carbon footprint numbers on menus – much like calories are today.

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Lab-grown aisle

The supermarket also expects to introduce a “lab-grown” aisle, where customers can pick up cultured-meats and kits to grow meat at home. “Meat, as we know it today, could instead start to become a luxury product,” the report notes.

The experts say that the need for printed meat is inevitable thanks to a growing population that’s expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. The average European eats 80kg of meat per year, while North Americans and Australians eat over 110kg per year.

By 2050 people will be 3D-printing their meat in the supermarket. Customers can watch their meat be created through the plexi glass of the in-store ‘artisan’ factory, which will be entirely run by robots – the only humans will be those walking between the small conveyor belts for quality control.

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Expanding the fish counter

As with everything on the planet these days, the fast-growing population is threatening the livelihood of ecosystems around the world. Marine life is no different and soon fish eaters may have to get creative.

Sainsbury’s says the shift toward ‘cultured meat’ will force even more toward the ocean for more authentic protein. The threat of sustainability to our oceans will soon force fish counters to embrace more “invasive species” like jellyfish, seaweed, porgy/bream, dogfish, lionfish and barramundi.

The future of food

By 2169, 150 years from now, it’s likely that we’ll be consuming our key nutrients through implants while nutrition patches and drips could replace our day-to-day intake.

Robotic farmers will be resuscitating the desert, attempting to rebalance the earth and reverse climate change, the report predicts. Wearable tech will advance to microchip implants that monitor our well-being and, through artificial intelligence, work out exactly what nutrients we need at each moment.

”The connected world of 2169 could see our AI personal nutrition advisors shop, prepare and tailor meals to optimise our health, ensuring that we only use exactly what we need, with food waste a thing of the past,” the report reads.

Enjoy that steak while you still can.

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NASA has released photos of the Israeli Beresheet spacecraft’s impact site on the Moon’s surface. The lander smashed into the celestial surface during a botched landing attempt last month.

Black and white photos include ‘before’ and ‘after’ images of the crash area at the Sea of Serenity, where the maiden Moon mission by SpaceIL crashed on April 11 after suffering engine failure.

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The image snapped by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on April 22, just 56 miles (90 kilometers) above the surface, shows what the space agency referred to as a “dark smudge” roughly 10 meters wide that was not visible in the photo of the same location taken in 2016.

“The dark tone suggests a surface roughened by the hard landing, which is less reflective than a clean, smooth surface,” NASA said, noting that its cameras “could not detect whether Beresheet formed a surface crater upon impact.”

Beresheet, Hebrew for the biblical phrase “in the beginning,” would have been the first Israeli and first privately-funded spacecraft to land on the moon. To date, only Russia, the US, and China have managed to perform controlled ‘soft’ landings on the lunar surface. Despite the crash, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged state support for a new Israeli moon mission.

The cancellation of The Jeremy Kyle Show is a typical British middle-class moral panic that treats working-class people as children – too stupid to even be allowed to participate in (or watch!) a daytime TV program.

Having looked down on what is a parochial watered-down Jerry Springer Show clone for its entire 14 year run, this week the UK’s officials and cultural elite got their chance to concoct a fatal media storm.

After over 3,000 shows and what must be well over 10,000 guests who aired their family feuds, questionable paternities and definite drug addictions in public, a 63-year-old man, Steve Dymond, committed suicide shortly after appearing on the program, where he failed a lie detector test when grilled about cheating on his fiancee.

Apart from the statistically surprising fact that such an incident has happened only now, it is quite distasteful to see Dymond’s suicide used as a pawn to push an agenda.

As all those blaming the show for insensitively handling mental health issues must themselves know, suicide is rarely a single-factor issue, and frequently the victim is not thinking clearly in their final days. “TV show made innocent man kill himself” is ironically the same kind of simplistic, finger-pointing approach to complex situations that Kyle himself stands accused of.

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And even if it was somehow possible to definitively prove that his appearance on the show pushed Dymond over the edge, it doesn’t actually make his death Kyle’s fault. Otherwise, we’d have to jail every person blamed in every parting note.

So without the coercion-to-death charge what we are left with is a more generalized accusation of exploitation and humiliation of the featured guests – who are predominantly working-class – for the sake of entertainment.

Allow me to let you in on a secret that the experienced media personalities piling in on Jeremy Kyle know as well as I do: all non-professional participation on TV is a form of exploitation by the content makers, and can lead to potential humiliation. And it’s all for your entertainment.

When you agree to appear in anything from a soundbite to a lifelong documentary you become a tool in the hands of those who write, film and edit the program.

This is true for talk shows, game shows with inept contestants, political discussion programs, singing contests where you can hit the wrong note, children’s TV, humor panels featuring jokes that fall flat, local station reports, reality TV where you agree to live in a video-surveilled house with strangers, or let someone cohabit with your wife, and even those shows where you get to bid on antiques or talk about your family history. They all use you, and any can result in a YouTube clip that will haunt you – or worse.

In most cases the people involved are aware of this, and see it as a quid-pro-quo arrangement: I will give you my time, myself even, in exchange for money, local (or global) fame, or even a chance to state my political views.

What critics of the Jeremy Kyle Show are claiming is that its participants are too stupid to have made that calculation. Uniquely, they should have been barred from television for their own good, despite voluntarily choosing to take part.

Is this view based on a thorough behind-the-scenes look at the screening of the applicants for the show, the quality of mental healthcare they received from its four dedicated staff, their behavior before and after?

Or is this just a snobbish disgust from people who would be embarrassed to be caught even watching a single broadcast, saying “Oh these common people with their tawdry lives washing their laundry in public, they must be getting roped into it.”

It appears to be the latter. Because the critics aren’t just worried about participants, they think the entire enterprise is a social harm – throughout the commentary shines through a vicarious desire to save the poor even from watching something that sets its sights so low, and possibly even corrupts them (does real life corrupt?).

Now I agree that the Jeremy Kyle Show is not aspirational, nor does it rank high on the educational totem pole of public broadcasting.

But unless they plan to set up a commission that will give counselling to each person who appears on TV – every aspiring pop star, every teenager talking about his exam results –  bourgeois tastemakers are just expressing patronizing prejudice dressed up as concern.

And they should not have forced shut a show that was watched by millions on vague moral grounds, particularly as it became a quaint relic in a post-YouTube world where far more genuinely disturbing content is available in one search request.

By Igor Ogorodnev

Igor Ogorodnev is a Russian-British journalist, who has worked at RT since 2007 as a correspondent, editor and writer.

Ahead of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that it is their collective duty to “find ways for further development.”

“During my meetings in Russia, a number of important topics will be discussed. For some of them we can agree, for others we can disagree, but when it comes to national interests, our duty is to find ways for further development,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter.

He is due to meet with the Russian leaders in Sochi on Tuesday to discuss a wide range of issues. The US secretary of state canceled a planned meeting in Moscow to discuss escalating tensions between the US and Iran with European leaders in Brussels.

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