News

It’s hard not to think about Fridays without the infamous Rebecca Black song playing in your head.

The video for “Friday” hit Youtube in March of 2011 and quickly went viral. The song amassed millions of views, countless parodies, and made Rebecca Black a household name.

Yet her instant rise to fame came at a cost. Rebecca left her high school after being bullied by classmates. The internet was no kinder to her, amounting her nasally, auto-tuned voice and tedious lyrics to the worst song ever made.

May 21st, 2011 was supposed to be the end of the world. Almost seven months later we’re still here.

So who cried wolf? Radio preacher and Evangelist Harold Camping. He claims to have calculated the date of the rapture through numbers and dates found in the Christian bible.

About 5-thousand billboards were posted all around the U.S. announcing the end of the world. Many of his followers gave away their entire life savings before the alleged doomsday.

Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch saw the foundations of his News Corp empire shaken to the core this year. British tabloid News of the World was found to have been hacking the voicemails of celebrities, royals and even kidnapping victims and relatives of dead soldiers. The practice went on for over a decade. Private investigators were hired by the paper to dig up dirt.

Read by: Aisha Samu

Stories by: Aisha Samu, Nikita Smith, Tara Brockwell, Katie McGroarty, and Niki Mohrdar.

Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi

Remember the hungry and the homeless this holiday season as well as your empty beer cans.

A non-profit organization is campaigning for Quebecers to reimburse their empty cans over tossing them in the bin.  Consignéco says that Quebecers lose twenty one million dollars worth of beer cans in the garbage and recycling bin each year.

President Barak Obama says that the US and Iraq will enjoy a normal relationship between sovereign nations after American troops have left at the end of this year.

Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki met in Washington to discuss Iraq’s future as troops are beginning to leave.

It was confirmed that no troops or bases would remain.

The Russian government has announced on Facebook yesterday it will investigate the official reports on the conduct of polls, after being accused of electoral fraud by the public.

The statement was released following the massive anti-government protest that took place two days ago.

The message has been met with contempt by the public.

Environment Minister Peter Kent said a new global climate agreement could be reached by 2015. This comes after a UN summit in Durban, South Africa. 

Parties at the conference agreed to begin negotiations on a new accord.

This would place all participating countries under the same binding commitments to control greenhouse gases.

2011 is almost over, but Adele’s year keeps getting better. She made Billboard history on Friday by setting a new record.

She is the first female artist with a top album, top single and top artist title in the same year. 

Scouts Canada apologized on Thursday to former scouts who were molested by volunteer leaders.

They have recently hired the consulting firm KPMG to investigate records of leaders who were accused of sexual abuse.

The investigation should be finished by early January followed by a public announcement of what has been uncovered.

Scouts Canada is now making a greater effort to check if any of the volunteers possess criminal records.

They have also promised to strengthen their child protection policies.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad denies responsibility for the bloody crackdown on protesters in his country.  He passed the blame for the violence onto thugs and religious extremists. Protecting the public was his sole motivation according to an interview with ABC reporter Barbara Walters.

Read by Katie McGroarty.

Produced by Sofia Gay.

Stories by Dominique Daoust, Sabrina Daniel and Shaun Malley.