PHP - String could not be parsed as XML

I am currently using the following code:

<?php   
    $url = 'http://ift.tt/1tO4Qxj';
    $xml = new SimpleXMLElement(file_get_contents($url));
    foreach ($xml->item as $item) {
        $title = $item->title;
        $description = $item->description;
    }   
?>

Which returns the error:

Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'Exception' with message 'String could not be parsed as XML' in /homepages/34/d540957720/htdocs/newknowledge/cards/index.php:5 Stack trace: #0 /homepages/34/d540957720/htdocs/newknowledge/cards/index.php(5): SimpleXMLElement->__construct('<?xml version="...') #1 {main} thrown in /homepages/34/d540957720/htdocs/newknowledge/cards/index.php on line 5

If anybody has an idea how to fix this I would love to know. Thanks.