This undated photo provided by the Des Moines Police Department shows Scott Michael Greene, of Urbandale, Iowa. Des Moines and Urbandale Police said in a statement Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, that they have... (Associated Press)

 This undated photo provided by the Des Moines Police Department shows Scott Michael Greene, of Urbandale, Iowa. Des Moines and Urbandale Police said in a statement Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, that they have identified Greene as a suspect in the killings early Wednesday morning of two Des Moines area police... (Associated Press)

 DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Latest on two officers in the Des Moines, Iowa, area who were killed in what authorities describe as ambush-style attacks (all times local):

 12:35 p.m.

 An Iowa college says two Des Moines-area police officers who were ambushed and killed were both graduates of its criminal justice program.

 Simpson College President Jay Simmons says the deaths of Des Moines Sgt. Anthony Beminio and Urbandale officer Justin Martin are tragic and the loss is "almost too much to bear."

 Police say a white man with a history of racial provocations and confrontations with police killed the two officers in separate incidents early Wednesday.

 Beminio graduated from Simpson College in Indianola in 2001 and played football.

 Martin graduated last year. Professor Fred Jones remembers him as a "kind, gentle, compassionate man" who went into police work because he wanted to serve the public. Martin had interned at the Urbandale Police Department during his senior year.

 Simpson's wrestling team will wear blue socks to honor the officers at its meet Thursday.

 ___

 12:30 p.m.

 Attorney General Loretta Lynch has strongly condemned the killings of two Des Moines area police officers.

 Lynch says the shootings early Wednesday are the latest in a "series of senseless attacks" and that "violence has no place in the United States of America."

 She says violence is "especially intolerable" when it's directed at law enforcement officers who risk their lives to protect the public.

 The shootings follow the fatal ambushes this summer of officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

 Lynch says the Justice Department is determined to give officers the tools they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.

 Scott Michael Greene is suspected in the fatal shootings of Urbandale officer Justin Martin and Des Moines Sgt. Anthony "Tony" Beminio. Greene surrendered late Wednesday morning to a state employee.

 ___

 11:45 a.m.

 Police have confirmed that weeks before a man was apprehended as a suspect in the killings of two Des Moines area police officers, he was removed from a high school football game because he displayed a Confederate flag during the national anthem.

 Urbandale Police Chief Ross McCarty told reporters that Urbandale officers removed Scott Michael Greene from the football game. McCarty says some spectators complained after Greene waved the flag in front of spectators who are minorities.

 Greene shot a video of the Oct. 14 incident that he posted online.

 He complained to officers that his constitutional rights were being violated because they were throwing him out, but police told him he was on private property and needed to leave.

 Greene is suspected in the shooting deaths of Urbandale officer Justin Martin and Des Moines Sgt. Anthony "Tony" Beminio.

 ___

 11:20 a.m.

 Police say a man suspected in the killings to two Des Moines area officers surrendered to a state Department of Natural Resources officer.

 Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek says Scott Michael Greene flagged down the officer Wednesday morning in rural Dallas County, west of Des Moines, and presented his identification.

 He was taken into custody and is now being treated at a Des Moines hospital.

 Greene is suspected in the shooting deaths of Urbandale officer Justin Martin, with the force since 2015, and Sgt. Anthony "Tony" Beminio, who joined the department in Des Moines in 2005.

 Martin was single. Beminio was married with children.

 Parizek says Greene is suspected in the killings but hasn't yet been charged.

 ___

 10:40 a.m.

 The 66-year-old mother of the suspect in the killing of two Iowa police officers was arrested two weeks ago accused of assaulting her son.

 A criminal complaint shows Patricia Greene yelled at her son, Scott Michael Greene, to remove his daughter's service dog from her house Oct. 17.

 The complaint says Scott Greene was wearing his deceased father's dog tags and that his mother tried to tear them from around his neck. Greene grabbed his mother's hand and she hit and scratched his face.

 Scott Greene showed an officer cellphone video of the confrontation.

 His mother was released on a $1,000 cash bond and a judge ordered that she have no contact with her son. She is due in court on the charge later this month.

 The complaint doesn't say why Greene's daughter has a service dog.

 ___

 9:40 a.m.

 Police say the suspect in the killings of two Des Moines area police officers is in custody.

 Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek says Scott Michael Greene was taken into custody without incident Wednesday morning in Dallas County, just west of Des Moines.

 Greene is suspected in the killing of a Des Moines police officer and an Urbandale police officer earlier Wednesday.

 ___

 9:15 a.m.

 The man wanted in connection with the killing of two Des Moines area police officers has a record of confrontation with police and others.

 Iowa court records show 46-year-old Scott Michael Greene, of Urbandale, was jailed and charged with interference with official acts after resisting Urbandale police officers trying to pat him down for a weapon on April 10, 2014. A complaint signed by an Urbandale officer says Greene resisted verbal commands, was hostile and combative. It says he was known to be armed. He entered a guilty plea and was fined.

 Two days later Urbandale police were called to answer a complaint of harassment at the apartment complex where Greene lived. The complaint says he threatened to kill another man during a confrontation in the parking lot. He was charged with harassment, pleaded guilty and received a suspended jail sentence and a year of probation.

 Records show he completed a court-ordered substance abuse and psychological evaluation.

 Des Moines police say Greene is a suspect in the shootings early Wednesday in Des Moines and the suburb of Urbandale.

 9 a.m.

 Police say a "series of leads and investigative tips" led them to identify a suspect in the killing of two Des Moines area police officers.

 Des Moines Sgt. Paul Parizek wouldn't give details about how investigators determined 46-year-old Scott Michael Greene, of Urbandale, was a suspect in the separate shootings early Wednesday in Des Moines and the suburb of Urbandale.

 Parizek says officers don't know where Greene is located.

 Police have closed long stretches of the roads, about two miles apart, where the officers were found in their cars.

 The Urbandale officer was dead at the scene and the Des Moines officer died at a hospital.

 ___

 7:40 a.m.

 Police say they have identified a suspect in the early morning killing of two Des Moines area police officers, warning he is likely armed and should be considered dangerous.

 Police said in a statement Wednesday that they are hunting for 46-year-old Scott Michael Greene, of Urbandale.

 He is described as white, 5 feet 11 inches tall, 180 pounds with brown hair and green eyes. He was last known to be driving a blue 2011 Ford F-150 pickup truck with Iowa license plates 780 YFR.

 The truck is equipped with a ladder rack.

 Investigators identified Greene as a suspect as they scrambled to respond to the killings of officers in Urbandale and Des Moines in separate shootings.

 ___

 5:10 a.m.

 Police in Des Moines, Iowa, say two officers who were killed in ambush-style attacks were both shot while they were sitting in their patrol cars.

 Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said Wednesday that authorities are developing suspect information but there was nothing that authorities were ready to share with the public.

 Parizek was emotional during a news conference. He says there is "clearly danger" right now for police officers in the area because the officers were gunned down while sitting in their cars doing nothing wrong. He says the department has doubled up its officers to better protect them.

 The first officer, an Urbandale officer, was shot about 1:06 a.m. About 20 minutes later, a Des Moines officer was found shot about 2 miles away.

 ___

 4:50 a.m.

 Authorities say two police officers in the Des Moines, Iowa, area were shot to death in ambush-style attacks about 2 miles apart.

 The Des Moines Police Department said in a news release that officers responded to a report of shots fired at about 1:06 a.m. and found an Urbandale Police Department officer who had been shot.

 Des Moines officers responded to help. About 20 minutes later, a Des Moines officer was found shot about 2 miles away. Both officers have died.

 The Des Moines Police Department said suspect information is being developed. The agency didn't immediately release any other information but said a news conference was planned for 5 a.m.

 Urbandale is a city in the Des Moines metro area.

 ___

 4:30 a.m.

 Police in Des Moines, Iowa, say two officers have been shot and killed in ambush-style attacks.

 The Des Moines Police Department said in a news release that the shootings took place early Wednesday. Officers responded to a report of shots fired at about 1:06 a.m. and found an Urbandale Police Department officer who had been shot.

 Des Moines officers responded to assist. About 20 minutes later, a Des Moines officer was found shot. Both officers have died.

 The Des Moines Police Department said suspect information is being developed. The agency didn't immediately release any other information but said a news conference was planned for 5 a.m. ||||| The interactive transcript could not be loaded.

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 This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| The suspect for the deadly ambush shootings of two Iowa police officers appears to have previously clashed with cops in a recent video — after he brought a Confederate flag to a high school sports game.

 Scott Michael Greene, 46, is the lone suspect for the Wednesday morning slayings of Urbandale Police Officer Justin Martin and Des Moines Police Sgt. Tony Beminio. He turned himself in after an hours-long manhunt.

 Authorities released little information about Greene, and did not reveal a motive for the massacre.

 But Greene has a history of police confrontations, and might have even filmed one just last month.

 Two Iowa cops killed in 'ambush-style attacks,' suspect caught

 There is a YouTube page in his name, with videos apparently filmed in Iowa and featuring a man resembling Greene.

 One video, posted Oct. 16, shows a man arguing with Urbandale police officers for 10 minutes outside of an athletic event at the city's high school. It is titled “Police Abuse, Civil Rights Violation at Urbandale High School 10/14/16.”

 The man filming the video, who is never seen on camera, accuses the officers of grabbing and shoving him as they order him off the property for creating a disturbance.

 The man says black people in the stadium stands assaulted him and stole a flag from him.

 An officer says it was a Confederate flag, and that the man should have expected trouble for waving it while “standing in front of several African-American people.”

 An officer asks the man if he knows a student in the game, or just came to wave the flag.

 “Well, I was using my constitutional rights,” the man replies.

 “I was peacefully protesting.”

 In a comment under the video, the man said he was “offended by the blacks sitting through our anthem.”

 Scott Michael Greene. (Des Moines Police Department )

 “Thousands more whites fought and died for their freedom. However this is not about the Armed forces, they are cop haters,” the user wrote.

 The man sent this video to the local news station WHO-TV, hoping they would do a story about it.

 “He said, ‘I have a story about someone’s civil liberties being violated and I have this video,” assignment editor Amanda Vizcarra told the Daily News.

 She said he sent the clip during the station’s overnight shift, and no one there gave it serious consideration.

 “It’s just him recording officers at a football game,” Vizcarra said.

 “We didn’t do anything with it.”

 An image from a YouTube video posted by a user in Iowa named Scott Greene, showing a man with a Confederate Flag near black spectators at a football game. (Scott Greene/via YouTube)

 The user posted another video, called “Civil Rights Violation at Urbandale High School 10/14/16,” which shows a man resembling Greene holding a Confederate Flag at a sports game. Black spectators behind him look clearly outraged.

 The school's stadium is at an intersection where Greene allegedly shot one of the officers on Wednesday.

 The YouTube account also features a video posted just two days ago, showing high school cheerleaders dancing at a gymnasium event.

 Police did not immediately confirm whether Greene is man behind the videos, or if the clips have any connection to the killings.

 “We don’t know if it’s a relevant piece to our current investigation,” Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said in an afternoon press conference.

 But cops confirmed Greene has a daughter at Urbandale High School — and that officers booted him from a football game there Oct. 14.

 Officers on the scene of one of the deadly police shootings Wednesday morning. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

 Police also issued trespass warnings to Greene for the school, and he threw back “indirect” threats of legal action, Urbandale Police Chief Ross McCarty said.

 Greene had at least one previous brushup with police, and faced legal action for it.

 He was charged with misdemeanor interference in 2014 for resisting an officer's attempt to pat him down for weapons, according to the Des Moines Register.

 An officer described Greene as "noncompliant, hostile, combative" in a complaint and said Greene "made furtive movements toward his pockets."

 Greene eventually pleaded guilty to the charge.

 Two days after his 2014 police encounter, Greene called a man the N-word and threatened to kill him, according to another complaint. He pleaded guilty to a harassment charge and was sentenced to one year of probation.

 Greene also faced assault and criminal mischief charges in 2001, but they were dismissed, court records show.

 Just two weeks ago, Greene's 66-year-old mother was arrested for allegedly assaulting him. Police said the two got into a fight when the mother ordered Greene to remove his daughter's service dog from her home.

 The mother could not be reached for comment and her voicemail box was full on Wednesday. ||||| CLOSE Scott Michael Greene was described as combative in a previous encounter with police. USA TODAY NETWORK

 Scott Michael Greene (Photo: Des Moines Police)

 An Urbandale man accused of gunning down two police officers Wednesday had a history of abrasive and racially charged run-ins with police and school officials.

 Scott Michael Greene, 46, was kicked out of Urbandale High School’s football stadium on Oct. 14 after he claimed that spectators stole a Confederate flag he brought to a football game.

 And in April 2014, he faced a harassment charge after he called a man the N-word and threatened to kill him.

 “Most of our officers have some understanding of Mr. Greene,” Urbandale Police Chief Ross McCarty told reporters at a news conference Wednesday. “They’ve taken trips to his house or delivered service to him.”

 Dallas County sheriff's deputies and Iowa State Patrol officers took Greene into custody around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, two hours after police officials identified him as the lone suspect in the shooting deaths of Urbandale Officer Justin Martin and Des Moines police Sgt. Anthony Beminio.

 FBI spokeswoman Sandy Breault confirmed Wednesday that federal agents are assisting local Des Moines area investigators in combing through evidence to get a picture of what motivated the attacks.

 Breault said agents are “scouring” social media pages purportedly connected to Greene, including a Facebook page that includes “friends” who are Iraqi, Nigerian or Saudi nationals.

 Strange behavior

 Greene lived with his mother in a modest tan home in the 3400 block of 70th Street. People in the neighborhood said he left a less-than-favorable impression.

 He seemed “eager” to make strange remarks that seemed aimed at getting people to engage him in conversation, said Bart Brandon, who has lived for nine years in a neighboring house.

 At least one court document suggests Greene struggled with a mental health issue. A probation officer who oversaw Greene following the harassment arrest wrote in a June 2015 report that he received a mental health evaluation and was taking recommended medications.

 Phyllis Nace, a neighbor living across the street from Greene and his mother, said Greene spiraled into a depression after his Vietnam veteran father died from cancer in 2010. His 66-year-old mother, Patricia Greene, has been trying to support him, Nace said.

 “It kind of spun Scott where he went into depression over a number of losses all in the same month,” Nace said. “He’s been trying to work through it.”

 CLOSE Urbandale police Chief Ross McCarty said that his department had previous run-ins with shooting suspect Scott Michael Greene, including some in which he made indirect threats to the Urbandale schools. Rodney White/The Register

 Discord at home

 Patricia Greene moved out of the house after a recent fight with her son that resulted in a serious misdemeanor domestic abuse charge filed against her, said Brandon, a next-door neighbor.

 According to a criminal complaint, Scott Greene called police on Oct. 16 to report that his mother slapped him in the face around 5:15 p.m. Greene told two Urbandale police officers that he and his mother were fighting earlier in the day over a service dog belonging to Greene’s daughter that he kept in the house, according to the complaint.

 Greene ended the argument by going to his bedroom downstairs, but his mother reportedly later yelled at him. At one point, Patricia Greene tried to grab a necklace her son wore that included his father’s dog tags, telling him, “You don’t deserve these,” according to the complaint.

 Greene told police that his mother slapped him during the scuffle. The contact left an abrasion on his face that the officers saw, according to the complaint. In addition to the criminal charge, a restraining order was issued blocking Patricia Greene from having contact with her son, court records show.

 Patricia Greene has not entered a plea to the charge of domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury. Attempts to contact her Wednesday were unsuccessful. She is scheduled for an arraignment Nov. 30.

 In a 2007 bankruptcy filing, Greene was listed as a father to a 17-year-old son, a 16-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old daughter.

 Little is known at this point about Greene's employment history. John Stenberg, owner and CEO of Pigott, confirmed Wednesday that Greene worked at the Ingersoll Avenue furniture store from June 2006 through August 2013. Brandon said Greene told him this year that he was working at a hardware store.

 MORE COVERAGE:

 Football game disruption

 No criminal charges were filed against Scott Greene stemming from the Oct. 14 incident when he was kicked out of the Urbandale football game, but he was given a warning for trespassing.

 YouTube videos from a person identifying himself as Scott Greene show a confrontation between him and Urbandale police officers outside Frerichs Field in Urbandale last month.

 CLOSE Urbandale school officials confirmed there was an “incident” involving Scott Michael Greene at a football game in mid-October. Greene is accused of fatally shooting two metro-area police officers Nov. 2, 2016. The Register

 One video showed Greene confronting officers and questioning why he was being asked to leave school property.

 Greene said several “African-American” people behind him stole his Confederate flag. The officers told him that holding the Confederate flag is in violation of an Urbandale school district code.

 “It was almost like a mugging,” Greene said in the video. “I had my property and I was holding it, and they stole it from me.”

 In a comment posted online with the YouTube video, an individual who said he was Scott Greene said: “I was offended by the blacks sitting through our anthem. Thousands more whites fought and died for their freedom. However, this is not about the armed forces, they are cop-haters.”

 Thwarting a burglary

 More recently, Greene told people in his Urbandale neighborhood that he helped thwart a burglary at Ye Olde Guitar Shoppe early the morning of Oct. 27, Brandon said.

 Greene told his neighbor that he was walking a dog sometime before 5 a.m. when he noticed a strange vehicle near the store, across the street from his mother’s house, and called 911.

 Brandon said it was strange when Greene knocked on his door around 6 a.m. to eagerly tell him about the burglary and his role in stopping it.

 “To me he seemed like he was kind of enjoying being the good guy,” Brandon said. “He clearly didn’t have any problems calling law enforcement, so I don’t understand why he all of a sudden is against law enforcement.”

 Store owner Paul Wilson confirmed the burglary, and he said Martin, the slain Urbandale officer, responded to the call. The young officer was "as good as gold" in helping through the situation, he said.

 Wilson said someone broke into his safe and appeared to be preparing to steal inventory before police arrived.

 Greene arrived in the store later in the morning to talk with Wilson and “sympathize,” he said.

 Greene said he wished he was able to confront the suspect, then showed him a baton, Wilson said.

 “He whacks out this telescoping baton and said, ‘Well, first I’ll break their collarbone, and if that doesn’t work they get to meet Mr. 9mm,’” Wilson said, referring to a handgun. “That’s not normal.’

 “He was talking about how he was armed all the time and he was a stress victim from the military,” the store owner continued. “I didn’t have a good feeling about having the guy around.”

 Col. Greg Hapgood of the Iowa National Guard said his branch of the military shows no record of Greene’s service. Hapgood said he doesn’t believe Greene had served in any branch of the military but deferred confirmation to the National Archives, which did not respond to a request Wednesday.

 Resisting a pat-down

 Greene was charged with a simple misdemeanor count of interference with official acts on April 10, 2014, when he resisted an attempt by officers to pat him down for weapons at an Urbandale residence on Colby Parkway, according to a criminal complaint.

 The officers wanted to search Greene after noticing that he had a pouch on his belt that resembled a holster.

 Greene was “non-compliant, hostile, combative and made furtive movements toward his pockets” before the arrest, Officer Chris Greenfield wrote in the complaint. Greenfield also noted that Greene was "known to go armed."

 Greene pleaded guilty to the charge about two weeks later.

 Two days later, Greene reportedly threatened to kill a man in the parking lot of the same apartment complex and was charged with first-degree harassment, according to another complaint.

 In that incident, Greene was accused of approaching a man in the parking lot and shining a flashlight in his eyes.

 Greene, who lived in the apartments, called the man the N-word and told the man “I will kill you, (expletive) kill you,” according to the complaint. Greene pleaded guilty to a lesser harassment charge on June 30, 2014, and was sentenced to one year of probation.

 Read or Share this story: http://dmreg.co/2eUwqeh

Summary: – Police say the man suspected of killing two Iowa officers early Wednesday has what the AP calls "a history of racial provocations and confrontations with police." The Des Moines Register reports court records show 46-year-old Scott Greene was charged with resisting a pat down in April 2014 after an officer believed they saw a holster on Greene's belt. Greene pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Two days after that incident, Greene was charged with harassment after he confronted a man in the parking lot of his apartment complex, called the man a racial slur, and threatened to kill him. Greene was sentenced to probation. He was given a mental health evaluation in June 2015. In an incident just last month, Greene was kicked out of a high-school football game after he displayed a confederate flag in front of a number of black spectators during the national anthem. A man who appears to be Greene recorded two officers after he was removed from the stadium and posted the video on YouTube, the New York Daily News reports. The man in the video says he was "using my constitutional rights" and that he was upset by "blacks sitting through our anthem." He accuses officers of violating his rights. He tried and failed to get a TV news station to run the video. "It's just him recording two officers at a football game," a station editor says. "We didn't do anything with it." Police have not released a motive in the killing of officers Justin Martin and Tony Beminio. Greene turned himself in in connection with the killings.


Shanghai's Crackdown on... Pajamas

 As Beijing restricts online dissent and Urumqi clamps down on separatists , Shanghai is cracking down on... (wait for it)... pajama-wearing in public.

 The wearing of colorful, boldly-printed pajamas in public has been popular in the city for years, and well-documented on Flickr as well as National Geographic.

 But with the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai just three months away, city officials have launched a public etiquette clampdown targeting the unseemly practice.

 The South China Morning Post reports that the city's Qiba neigborhood "has mobilized neighborhood committee officials and volunteers since July to talk people out of the habit of wearing pajamas in public."

 The article also consults Chinese sociologist Zhang Jiehai, who says pajama-wearing in public began "as a matter of practicality because people lived in cramped conditions with no clear line between public space and private place."

 Private pajama parties, anyone?

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Summary: – Shanghai wants to look its best when it hosts the 2010 World Expo in a few months, so it's spreading the word to residents: Pajamas are for inside the house. Concerned about the popular habit of wearing boldly colored PJs on city streets, officials have launched a public campaign to discourage the practice. Boing Boing notes that the trend has been immortalized on Flickr and in National Geographic. The fashion statement began "as a matter of practicality because people lived in cramped conditions with no clear line between public space and private place," a Chinese sociologist tells the South China Morning Post.


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 MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Cardi B's Bodak Yellow has been at the top of the charts for weeks, and now, a Raleigh Egypt High teacher is using it to motivate students to succeed.

 Candous Brown said she wants her students to succeed, so it hurt her when some students misbehaved during a field trip a couple weeks ago.

 "A couple of them had displayed some behavior that was not befitting of seniors," said Brown.

 Her former students challenged her to make a change through music.

 "I was in my car, and I was like I'm still kind of heated about their behavior," she said.

 So Brown took a hit song her students love and scribbled down her own lyrics encouraging seniors to be a better role model.

 "That's how you're supposed to run the school came about. You are the leaders. You're the ones that supposed to set the bar," said Brown.

 She recorded herself singing the song and posted it to Facbeook.

 It spread fast.

 "I saw it on Facebook, and I was like this is my teachers singing in this video?" said senior Kayln Grandberry.

 The video is now viewed more than 20,000 times.

 Students quickly memorized the lyrics.

 "And now when they see each other, they tell each other you're supposed to run the school. You're supposed to be the leaders, so they can keep each other in check with it," said Brown.

 They even performed Brown's song at a recent pep rally.

 "I've seen a change from the week I was upset with them until now. Now, they know," said Brown.

 She plans on making more songs. Students said they can't wait. ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video

 MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An English teacher at Raleigh-Egypt High School in Memphis didn't let a few snow days keep her from helping students with their class assignment.

 Candous Brown took to Facebook Wednesday morning for a live teaching session with about 40 of her students.

 It was Brown's first shot at Facebook live and she says after the initial jitters it was like a walk in the park.

 "This is my first time going live. I've never done this before. Hopefully y'all can hear me," Brown said on Facebook Live.

 Wednesday Brown kicked off her Facebook English class from her Millington home.

 Brown's students have been on "snow break" since Tuesday and needed some help with a class assignment.

 "A couple of kids had sent a message saying they were trying to do their work while the break was still on. and that they were confused about some of the questions. and they requested a lesson live over Facebook," Brown said.

 Pretty soon there were 40 students taking part in the Facebook class.

 Brown made it clear up front they shouldn't be fooled by her kitty-kat pajamas and that she was still very much in charge.

 "I'm not about to play this game about not having a pencil and you better have your book," Brown said.

 Brown says her students are reading "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond and had what are called "text-dependent questions."

 "The text-dependent actually help them progress through the test to make sure they understand any probing questions they may have about the text I can go ahead and clarify them," Brown said.

 Brown believes the Facebook live class was a huge success but gives her students all the credit.

 "For them to actually have the drive and determination the will to actually want to do this outside of school? I'm proud of them I'll say that I'm very proud of them,"

 This isn't Brown's first dip in the Facebook pool. In October she turned a popular rap song into a motivational tool after some her students misbehaved while on a field trip.

Summary: – To teach or not to teach—that is the question. And Candous Brown chose "to teach" on Wednesday morning, even though her school in Memphis, Tenn., was closed for a snow day. WREG notes that the English instructor at Raleigh-Egypt High School was still in her "kitty-kat pajamas" and ready for a second day off from school due to the inclement weather when she got a message from a couple of her students who were trying to do their classwork from home on a text they were reading. "They were confused about some of the questions and they requested a lesson live over Facebook," Brown says, noting she'd never used the Facebook Live video feature before. But she logged on and gave it a whirl, and before long, those initial couple of students were joined by about 40 others who wanted in on the live classroom discussion. It's not the first time Brown has made headlines. In October, she caught the media's eye after she made a rap song imploring senior students to act appropriately in school; some had recently misbehaved on a field trip and upset her, per WREG. "Now when they see each other, they tell each other 'you're supposed to … be the leaders,'" she said after her rap went viral. This time, though, she says all kudos should go to the kids for their motivation to learn over going outside for a snowball fight. "For them to actually have the drive and determination, the will to actually want to do this outside of school?" she says. "I'm very proud of them." (These teachers motivated by promising to eat worms and frog legs.)


This collection is comprised of contributions from curators and subject matter experts; and includes news articles, blogs, social media sites, and organizational websites related to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing and its aftereffects ||||| Add a location to your Tweets

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Summary: – NBA Commissioner Adam Silver dropped the hammer on LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling today, announcing that the league was banning Sterling for life from "any association with the Clippers organization or the NBA." Sterling will not be allowed to attend any NBA games or practices, be involved in Clippers personnel decisions, or attend board of governors meetings. He'll also be fined $2.5 million, which Silver said was the maximum allowed under the NBA constitution. In addition, Silver said he'll move to force the sale of the Clippers. Silver said the NBA had investigated the incident and interviewed Sterling, and concluded that Sterling was the man on infamous taped conversations, "and that the hateful opinions voiced by that man are those of Mr. Sterling." He said he would encourage the other owners to force Sterling to sell the team, which can be done with a three-quarters vote. "This has been a painful moment for all members of the NBA family," he said, adding that he felt "personal outrage" over the comments. In addition: Asked if an owner should be pushed out for comments made in private, Silver replied, "Whether or not these remarks were initially shared in private, they are now public, and they represent his views." Silver said he hadn't formally polled the owners, but that he'd spoken to several and "I have their full support." He said he was confident they would agree to oust Sterling. Asked if the league was seeking more African-American ownership, Silver said the league was diverse, but "I'd always like to see it become more diverse." Asked about Magic Johnson specifically, he said Johnson knows that "he is always welcome as an owner in this league ... and a close friend of the NBA family." Johnson tweeted out his approval of Silver's move. "In Commissioner Adam Silver we have a great leader leading our league," he said, adding, "The people who I'm happiest for are Coach Doc Rivers, the Clippers players, and fans." Silver had singled out Rivers and Chris Paul to thank them for their leadership.


Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The Christmas market was evacuated and cordoned off by police

 A van has been driven into shoppers at a Christmas market in the French city of Nantes leaving 10 people injured.

 In two previous incidents over the weekend, attackers shouted "God is great" in Arabic, raising fears of copycat attacks.

 In Nantes, the driver is said to have stabbed himself and officials said he appeared to be unbalanced.

 President Francois Hollande has called for an emergency cabinet meeting and urged the public not to panic.

 Prime Minister Manuel Valls also called for "cool-headedness".

 In Dijon on Sunday, a driver shouting "Allahu Akbar" ploughed his vehicle into pedestrians, injuring 13 people. On Saturday, a man using the same phrase was shot dead by police after attacking them.

 Analysis: Hugh Schofield, BBC News, Paris

 Image copyright AFP Image caption Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the attacker in Nantes seemed to be "unbalanced"

 The French authorities are reluctant to say anything to encourage the idea that there is any kind of pattern behind the three attacks.

 For the first incident at the police station in Tours, it is clear that there was a religious motivation. The man left evidence of his conversion to extremist Islamist views.

 In Dijon, the man who drove into pedestrians also shouted "God is great" in Arabic. But he is known to have had a history of mental illness. This was not terrorism, is the official line. Similarly in Nantes, there is a strict embargo on speculation about the motives for the attack.

 All of which is perfectly understandable. But many people will be asking themselves if there is not some copycat effect being played out. Also, even if it is established the car attacks were the work of unbalanced individuals, might not Islamist propaganda have played some role in pushing them to the act?

 Monday's van attack in the western French city took place at about 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT).

 According to initial reports, the van drove towards a stall selling hot wine.

 Image copyright AFP Image caption The white van was driven into a busy Christmas market, injuring several shoppers

 One of the traders at the market told local newspaper Presse Ocean: "The white van was speeding towards the customers and onlookers."

 After the vehicle came to a halt, the driver stabbed himself several times, causing himself serious injuries, a source close to the investigation told AFP news agency.

 The reasons for the attack were not clear, the source said, adding: "As things stand, we have no account pointing to any religious demands."

 Speaking in Nantes, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, said the attacker did not appear to be motivated by politics or religion and seemed to be "unbalanced".

 The Christmas market was evacuated and cordoned off by police. A bomb disposal unit was brought in to inspect the van.

 Weekend attacks

 In Dijon, the man was arrested after targeting pedestrians in five different parts of the city in the space of half an hour.

 The prosecutor in Dijon said the attacker had a long history of mental illness and the incident was not linked to terrorism.

 In Saturday's incident, a man stabbed three police officers in the city of Tours before being shot dead.

 Anti-terrorism investigators have opened an inquiry into that attack. ||||| (CNN) -- A van plowed into shoppers at an outdoor Christmas market Monday in Nantes, France, injuring at least nine people in addition to the driver, police said.

 Four had serious wounds, plus the driver, police said.

 The driver stabbed himself twice after the incident, but is expected to survive, said Pierre-Henry Brandet, a spokesman for France's Interior Ministry.

 French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve will head to Nantes Monday evening to meet with the families of the victims and rescue officials, Brandet told CNN affiliate BFM-TV.

 The investigation is just beginning, he said, but so far the Nantes prosecutor has said the incident appears to be an isolated case and not a terrorist attack.

 Authorities are investigating a notebook found with the attacker, Brandet said.

 It was not immediately clear whether the incident was related to one Sunday in Dijon, France, in which witnesses said a man shouting "God is great" in Arabic rammed his vehicle into pedestrians.

 At least 12 people were injured by that vehicle, said police in Dijon, a city in eastern France. A man has been arrested in connection with the case, they said.

 BFM-TV reported that eyewitnesses heard the driver shout the phrase "Allahu Akbar" -- Arabic for "God is great."

 On Saturday, a man stabbed three police officers in central France while allegedly calling out the same phrase. French counterterrorism authorities are investigating that attack.

 And France's Prime Minister said earlier Monday that his country has never faced as serious a terrorism threat as it does right now.

 Police haven't revealed any possible motives in the vehicle incidents.

 CNN's Jim Bittermann, Sandrine Amiel and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.

Summary: – France has been rattled by the second attack on pedestrians in two days. In the latest incident, a man drove a van into a crowd of people at a Christmas market in the city of Nantes, injuring at least 10 people, five seriously. Police say the 25-year-old driver tried to kill himself with a knife after the attack, but he survived and was hospitalized in serious condition, the Guardian reports. On Sunday, a man shouting "Allahu akbar" ran over 11 pedestrians in Dijon, and the day before that, a man shouting the same thing was shot dead after attacking police officers with a knife near the city of Tours. France's interior minister says the latest attack appears to be an isolated incident and not a terrorist attack, although police are investigating a notebook found with the driver, reports CNN. Authorities have called for calm and are "reluctant to say anything to encourage the idea that there is any kind of pattern behind the three attacks," notes Hugh Schofield at the BBC. "But many people will be asking themselves if there is not some copycat effect being played out," he writes. "Also, even if it is established the car attacks were the work of unbalanced individuals, might not Islamist propaganda have played some role in pushing them to the act?"


Seven people attempted suicide by drinking a poisonous liquid outside the gates of the China Youth Daily in Beijing yesterday morning, the newspaper said on its social media account.

 Pictures circulated online showed five men and two women lying on the pavement outside the newspaper building.

 A stream of white foam could be seen running out of one man's mouth in the pictures.

 All seven were taken to hospital, and police were investigating the case, the Daily said.

 Southern Metropolis Daily reported that the seven had drunk pesticide and were petitioners from Qingyang in Sihong county in eastern Jiangsu province.

 Their land was seized by the local government and they were petitioning because they were not satisfied with the compensation the authorities paid, the newspaper said.

 "Too many houses were forcibly demolished in Qingyang and a local court has ruled the demolition as illegal," Wang Jinshan, another petitioner from the same town, told the South China Morning Post.

 The seven were held in an illegally run detention centre, or "black jail", after they took their petitions to a higher level of government, Southern Metropolis Daily said.

 An official from Jiangsu was guarding the emergency room where two of the petitioners were being treated, stopping journalists from going in yesterday, The Beijing News reported.

 The injuries the seven suffered were no longer life threatening, according to the newspaper.

 Human rights group say that petitioning, which goes back to imperial times, often leads to people with complaints being held in illegal detention centres by the authorities.

 People can petition for years without their grievances being addressed and they occasionally resort to extreme measures to draw public attention to their cases. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.

Summary: – Twelve people in China have highlighted their grievances by swallowing pesticide in public and falling to the ground, frothing at the mouth, the Telegraph reports. In one incident, a group of seven people from Jiangsu province (all from the same family, says the Daily Mail) went outside a newspaper office in Beijing Wednesday morning and drank the pesticide. One told a journalist from the state-run paper that they were protesting against local officials who had thrown them off their property and destroyed their home five years ago. They received little or no compensation, depending on which report you read. "We had no other option but to resort to this to make ourselves heard," said the wife of a 58-year-old protester. "We’ve been driven to homelessness. We’ve been driven into a corner—the government gave us no way out." She said her husband had gone to Nanjing to protest and was tossed into an illegal "black jail" for three days without sleep, food, or water. In another incident, five protesters came to Beijing and drank pesticide over a complaint that wasn't reported. Among the first protesters, four are still in life-threatening condition, but nothing is known of the latter five. Petitioning goes back centuries in China, where millions of people travel to Beijing every year to voice grievances, but rarely make headway with officials.


WASHINGTON Kellyanne Conway, a Republican pollster who was widely credited with bringing a more disciplined approach to Donald Trump's presidential election campaign, will become White House counselor when he takes office next month.

 In her new post, Conway will play a key advisory role, helping to manage Trump's messaging and legislative priorities, the transition team said in a statement on Thursday. It praised Conway, 49, as the first woman campaign manager to guide a winning U.S. presidential campaign.

 Trump also tapped three loyalists to lead his communications team. The Republican National Committee's Sean Spicer will be press secretary, while Hope Hicks, Jason Miller and Dan Scavino will round out the communications team.

 Both before the Nov. 8 election and after, Conway, as a senior adviser on the transition team, has been a frequent presence on U.S. television news programs, often called upon to defend or explain Trump's thinking.

 Conway "played a crucial role in my victory," Trump said in the transition team statement. "She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message."

 Trump, a New York businessman, takes office on Jan. 20.

 Conway, interviewed by ABC's "Good Morning America" shortly after the announcement, was asked when Trump would hold his first news conference. She avoided directly answering the question. Trump has held several rallies since winning the election but has not taken formal questions from reporters.

 He canceled a Dec. 15 news conference to discuss how he would handle his vast business interests once in the White House and said he would reschedule that for January.

 Conway told ABC that Trump was focusing on forming his Cabinet. "He's been very busy doing that," she said.

 Because of her prominent role in the campaign and transition team, there had been considerable speculation over what post Conway, a veteran political strategist, might occupy in Trump's administration.

 Conway, who has four children, said she did not immediately accept a position offered to her early on in the transition period because she had to weigh her family obligations.

 "I would say that I don’t play golf and I don’t have a mistress so, I have a lot of time that a lot of these other men don't," Conway told Fox Business Network.

 "I see people on the weekend spending an awful lot of time on their golf games and that’s their right, but the kids will be with me, we live in the same house, and they come first."

 (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Frances Kerry) ||||| (CNN) President-elect Donald Trump tapped former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway as "counselor to the president," the presidential transition team announced Thursday morning.

 The transition team said Conway, the first female campaign manager to win a presidential race, will work with White House senior leadership on messaging and to help execute the administration's legislative priorities.

 "In her position, Conway will continue her role as a close adviser to the President and will work with senior leadership to effectively message and execute the Administration's legislative priorities and actions," the Trump transition said in a statement.

 Conway's role would be similar to Karen Hughes' position in the Bush 43 administration -- placing her close to the President, and handing her responsibility for much of the big-picture communication duties for the White House, a transition source told CNN's Jim Acosta.

 The source drew parallels between Conway and Hughes, and also compared Trump's chief strategist Stephen Bannon to Bush's political maven Karl Rove, and chief of staff Reince Priebus to his Bush counterpart, Andy Card.

 In an interview on "New Day" the day of the announcement, Conway told host Chris Cuomo that the job "portfolio will be whatever the President wants it to be."

 "It is likely to include communications, and is likely to include data and strategy," she said. "I'm just really pleased and frankly very humbled to take on this role in the West Wing."

 Trump praised Conway in the announcement, calling her "a trusted adviser and strategist who played a crucial role in my victory," adding she has "amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message."

 Conway said in the statement that she was "humbled and honored to play a role in helping transform the movement he has led into a real agenda of actions and results."

 A veteran pollster, Conway was a fixture in Trump's inner circle after joining the campaign in early July.

 She took over as campaign manager after Paul Manafort's departure and a period of tumult in August, following the conventions. She played a critical role in organizing the campaign's operations and was a near-constant presence on television and social media as she helped craft the Trump campaign's message.

 Prior to joining the Trump campaign, Conway headed a super PAC that supported Sen. Ted Cruz's 2016 presidential bid, called "Keep the Promise I." Though she became one of Trump's most trusted advisers, Conway had previously criticized Trump for having "built a lot of his business on the backs of the little guy."

 Nevertheless, Conway emerged from the campaign as an indispensable part of Trump's coterie. She had publicly debated about the possibility of taking a job in the Trump administration, and expressed some concern about having time for her four children and making full-time move from New York to Washington.

 Still, Conway made clear that she was interested in serving in some capacity, saying at an event hosted by Politico in early December

 "In terms of going into the West Wing, I will do whatever the President-elect and the vice president-elect ... believe is my best and highest use for them," she had said.

 CNN's Jim Acosta contributed to this report.

Summary: – Kellyanne Conway was devoted as Donald Trump's campaign manager (so much so she says she's getting death threats as a result), and her loyalty has now been rewarded. The president-elect announced Thursday that Conway will serve as his counselor in the Oval Office, Reuters reports, noting in a transition team statement that Conway "played a crucial role in my victory." "She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message," his statement continues. Conway had announced Tuesday that she'd be moving to DC with her family, noting at the time that "I will either stay outside and run the political super-structure, or I will go into the West Wing and take a position right next to the president," per Fox News. The transition team says that Conway, who CNN notes was the first woman campaign manager to lead a successful White House run, will facilitate the new administration's legislative missions and assist other senior White House officials with messaging. Conway, who jumped into the Trump fray in early July and replaced Paul Manafort as campaign manager in August, had previously stumped for Ted Cruz as head of one of his super PACs, where she had laid into Trump for "[building] a lot of his business on the backs of the little guy." Conway says in the transition team statement that she's "humbled and honored to play a role in helping transform the movement he has led into a real agenda of actions and results." She had noted to Fox on Tuesday: "I have the president-elect’s trust and I have his ear."


William Marotta, the Topeka man who answered a Craigslist ad from a lesbian couple seeking sperm to conceive a child, will appeal Wednesday’s court ruling that labeled him a "presumptive father" and not a sperm donor.

 "We have every intention to appeal," his attorney, Benoit M.J. Swinnen, said Thursday. Swinnen said the decision finding Marotta the presumptive father was a surprise to him, noting the key decision said his client didn't meet the definition of a sperm donor.

 "If there is a definition, I haven't read it," Swinnen said.

 Earlier Thursday, Marotta was interviewed by The Topeka Capital-Journal about the case that has raised national discussion. He was interviewed less than a day after Shawnee County District Court Judge Mary Mattivi ruled he is the "presumptive father as a matter of law," not a sperm donor.

 Whether Mattivi ruled in favor of Marotta saying he was a sperm donor or in favor of the state of Kansas saying he was a presumptive father, Marotta said it was expected the side getting the adverse ruling would appeal.

 Marotta said thinks the Kansas Supreme Court will hear the case.

 He said he "almost" is at the point he would go to jail rather than pay child support if the court ordered him to do so.

 At the same time, Marotta knows the Kansas Department for Children and Families likely could garnish his wages to collect the child support.

 Swinnen questioned whether the timing of the court decision had a political edge to it, noting there was an anti-abortion rally and discussion in the Legislature dealing with changing how Supreme Court justices are nominated and surrogate mothers.

 "It begs the question of whether the decision was political," Swinnen said.

 The Marotta story has attracted a lot of attention.

 When the ruling was released Wednesday, Marotta said, "The first thing that crossed my mind is, 'Here we go again.' " He was referring to the groundswell of reaction when the case surfaced in 2013.

 His coworkers and commenters on social media have been supportive, he said.

 He has had positive responses from Australia and New Zealand, and a friend relayed a message from a Dane who said the physician requirement in Denmark would be a "joke."

 Early on Thursday, CBS News called Marotta to schedule an interview to be aired Friday morning.

 When told the Marotta case was discussed on "The View," a daily national TV talk show on Thursday, Marotta said, "It wouldn't surprise me."

 The story has captured national attention because a same-sex couple was seeking the sperm and because the "small detail" that a physician didn't perform the artificial insemination as required by Kansas law, which didn't seem rational to some people, Marotta said.

 Marotta said he wouldn't have a relationship with the girl born to one of the lesbian women, who is now 4, which was the agreement outlined in a contract he and the two women signed.

 In her written decision, Mattivi said that because Marotta and the same-sex couple failed to secure the services of a physician during the artificial insemination process, he wasn’t entitled to the same protections given sperm donors under Kansas law.

 Not using a physician during the artificial insemination of the mother is the heart of the ruling.

 “Kansas law is clear that a 'donor of semen provided to a licensed physician for use in artificial insemination of a woman other than the donor’s wife is treated in law as if he were not the birth father of a child thereby conceived, unless agreed to in writing by the donor and the woman,' ” Mattivi wrote.

 “In this case, quite simply, the parties failed to conform to the statutory requirements of the Kansas Parentage Act in not enlisting a licensed physician at some point in the artificial insemination process, and the parties’ self-designation of (Marotta) as a sperm donor is insufficient to relieve (Marotta) of parental rights and responsibilities" to the child, the judge concluded.

 The judge said she was bound by the "ordinary meaning and plain language of K.S.A. 23-2208(f), and (she) may not look the other way simply because the parties intended a different result than that afforded by the statute."

 Marotta contended he was only a sperm donor to a same-sex couple seeking a child, but the Kansas Department for Children and Families argued he is a father who owes child support to his daughter.

 Marotta delivered the sperm in containers three times to the couple. ||||| TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A man who provided sperm to a lesbian couple in response to an online ad is the father of a child born to one of the women and must pay child support, a Kansas judge ruled Wednesday.

 Topeka resident William Marotta had argued that he had waived his parental rights and didn't intend to be a father. Shawnee County District Court Judge Mary Mattivi rejected that claim, saying the parties didn't involve a licensed physician in the artificial insemination process and thus Marotta didn't qualify as a sperm donor, The Topeka Capital-Journal (http://bit.ly/LHwLyW) reported.

 "In this case, quite simply, the parties failed to perform to statutory requirement of the Kansas Parentage Act in not enlisting a licensed physician at some point in the artificial insemination process, and the parties' self-designation of (Marotta) as a sperm donor is insufficient to relieve (Marotta) of parental right and responsibilities to the child," Mattivi wrote.

 The Kansas Department for Children and Families filed the case in October 2012 seeking to have Marotta declared the father of a child born to Jennifer Schreiner in 2009. The state was seeking to have Marotta declared the child's father so he can be held responsible for about $6,000 in public assistance the state provided, as well as future child support.

 Marotta opposed that action, saying he had contacted Schreiner and her partner at the time, Angela Bauer, in response to an ad they placed on Craigslist seeking a sperm donor. He said he signed a contract waiving his parental rights and responsibilities.

 Attorneys for the state contended the contract was moot because the parties didn't follow a 1994 Kansas law requiring a licensed physician to perform the artificial insemination when donors were involved.

 During oral arguments at a hearing in October, Timothy Keck, co-lead counsel for the state, said the case focused on child support. Marotta's attorney, Benoit Swinnen, cited several court rulings he said support the argument that Marotta is legally a sperm donor and not required to pay child support.

 Swinnen also argued that the Kansas statute doesn't specifically require the artificial insemination to be carried out by a physician.

 Court documents show Schreiner indicated she didn't know the name of the donor or "have any information" about him in her application for child support. However, a sperm donor contract between Marotta and the couple includes his name, and the agency noted the couple talked about their appreciation for him in an interview with The Capital-Journal.

 A filing Wednesday by the DCF argues the sperm donor contract overlooks "the well-established law in this state that a person cannot contract away his or her obligations to support their child."

 The right for support belongs to the child, not the parents, the filing says.

 The agency said it also received different versions of the donor contract from Marotta and Schreiner, suggesting that the document "may be invalid on its face."

 "We stand by that contract," Swinnen said. "The insinuation is offensive, and we are responding vigorously to that. We stand by our story. There was no personal relationship whatsoever between my client and the mother, or the partner of the mother, or the child. Anything the state insinuates is vilifying my client, and I will address it."

Summary: – The latest twist and turn in the case of a man who provided sperm to a same-sex couple who then had a daughter: A Kansas judge ruled Wednesday that William Marotta is the "presumptive father as a matter of law," not a sperm donor, and must pay child support. Marotta says he gave containers of sperm to Jennifer Schreiner and Angela Bauer three times after responding to their Craigslist ad looking for a donor, then signed a contract waiving his parental rights. But none of that matters, the judge ruled, since the couple didn't use a licensed physician for artificial insemination, which is required under a 1994 state law, the AP and Topeka Capital-Journal report. "Quite simply, the parties failed to conform to the statutory requirements of the Kansas Parentage Act," the judge said, noting she "may not look the other way simply because the parties intended a different result than that afforded by the statute." Marotta's lawyer says "we have every intention to appeal." And Marotta tells the Topeka Capital-Journal he is "almost" at the point where he'd pick jail over paying child support. The state brought the case against Marotta after the couple sought state benefits; the state wanted him to be on the hook for about $6,000 worth of public assistance and future child support for the now 4-year-old girl.


In an interview with "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King, Dylan Farrow detailed the alleged sexual abuse by her adoptive father, actor and director Woody Allen. At the age of 7, Dylan told her mother, actress Mia Farrow, that Allen had molested her.

 Allen has always denied the allegations and has never been charged with a crime. Dylan Farrow has stood by her story for more than two decades. She first went public with her accusations in 2014 with an open letter in the New York Times.

 Below is Allen's full response to "CBS This Morning":

 "When this claim was first made more than 25 years ago, it was thoroughly investigated by both the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of the Yale-New Haven Hospital and New York State Child Welfare. They both did so for many months and independently concluded that no molestation had ever taken place. Instead, they found it likely a vulnerable child had been coached to tell the story by her angry mother during a contentious breakup.

 Dylan's older brother Moses has said that he witnessed their mother doing exactly that – relentlessly coaching Dylan, trying to drum into her that her father was a dangerous sexual predator. It seems to have worked – and, sadly, I'm sure Dylan truly believes what she says.

 But even though the Farrow family is cynically using the opportunity afforded by the Time's Up movement to repeat this discredited allegation, that doesn't make it any more true today than it was in the past. I never molested my daughter – as all investigations concluded a quarter of a century ago." ||||| A wave of celebrities has begun speaking out against Woody Allen, more than two decades after his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow alleged that he molested her, which Allen has long denied.

 In December, Farrow wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times asking why actors who spoke out against other Hollywood men in the #MeToo movement continued to support Allen. In the days since the piece was published, Mira Sorvino and Greta Gerwig expressed regret for working with Allen. Rebecca Hall and Timothée Chalamet said they would donate their salaries from working on Allen’s films to anti-sexual violence organizations.

 Not everyone who has worked with Allen has condemned him. Alec Baldwin, who has appeared in three of Allen’s films, said in a Jan. 16 tweet that the “renunciation” of Allen is “unfair and sad.”

 Allen has long denied Farrow’s allegation, and he has never been charged with a crime. The allegations were first made in 1992. In 2014, after Allen received a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes, Farrow detailed the allegations in an open letter in the New York Times. Allen again denied the allegations in an op-ed published in the Times in 2014.

 “Of course, I did not molest Dylan,” Allen wrote. “No one wants to discourage abuse victims from speaking out, but one must bear in mind that sometimes there are people who are falsely accused and that is also a terribly destructive thing.”

 In response to an inquiry from TIME about Farrow’s allegations and Allen’s response to celebrities speaking out against him, a spokesperson for Allen did not immediately comment but said a statement would be issued on Thursday. Farrow will give her first television interview about the allegation on CBS This Morning on Thursday as well.

 “Why shouldn’t I be angry? Why shouldn’t I be hurt? Why shouldn’t I feel some sort of — outrage that after all these years being ignored and disbelieved and tossed aside?” Farrow told CBS This Morning. “All I can do is speak my truth and hope that someone will believe me instead of just hearing.”

 Here’s a list of actors who have worked with Allen and spoken out against him since allegations against Harvey Weinstein sparked the #MeToo movement last fall. TIME will continue to update this list.

 Rachel Brosnahan

 Actress Rachel Brosnahan attends the 23rd Annual Critics' Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on January 11, 2018 in Santa Monica, California. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin—FilmMagic

 Brosnahan, who currently stars in Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Jan. 17 that she regrets working with Allen on his 2016 limited Amazon series Crisis in Six Scenes.

 “Look, I had a great experience working on that project,” Brosnahan said. “Honestly, it’s the decision that I have made in my life that is the most inconsistent with everything I stand for and believe in, both publicly and privately. And while I can’t take it back, it’s important to me, moving forward, to make decisions that better reflect the things that I value and my worldview.”

 Timothée Chalamet

 Timothee Chalamet attends the 43rd Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards on January 13, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic) Jon Kopaloff—FilmMagic

 The Call Me By Your Name star announced in a Jan. 15 Instagram post that he would donate his salary from an upcoming film directed by Allen to anti-sexual assault organization RAINN, the LGBT Center in New York and Time’s Up, an anti-harassment movement launched by Hollywood women. Chalamet appeared in Allen’s upcoming film A Rainy Day in New York.

 “I am learning that a good role isn’t the only criteria for accepting a job — that has become much clearer to me in the past few months, having witnessed the birth of a powerful movement intent on ending injustice, inequality and above all, silence,” Chalemet said. “I want to be worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with the brave artists who are fighting for all people to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.”

 Farrow responded in a tweet: “Glad to see this.”

 Natalie Portman

 Actor Natalie Portman celebrates The 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards with Moet & Chandon at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 7, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. Michael Kovac—Getty Images

 In an interview with Oprah on CBS This Morning, Portman, one of the woman involved in the Time’s Up initiative, said that she believes Farrow. Portman previously appeared in Allen’s 1996 film, Everyone Says I Love You.

 “I believe Dylan,” Portman said. “I would want to say that: ‘I believe you, Dylan.'”

 Rebecca Hall

 Rebecca Hall attends Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program Luncheon at Locanda Verde on October 17, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic) Roy Rochlin—FilmMagic

 Hall, who will appear with Chalamet in A Rainy Day in New York, announced in an Instagram post on Jan. 12 that she would donate her salary from the film to Time’s Up. In her post, Hall said that she was “grateful” that Allen had given her one of her first big roles — in his 2008 film Vicky Christina Barcelona — but said she’s been reflecting on Farrow’s allegations in recent weeks.

 “After reading and re-reading Dylan Farrow’s statements of a few days ago and going back and reading the older ones – I see, not only how complicated this matter is, but that my actions have made another woman feel silenced and dismissed,” Hall wrote. “That is not something that sits easily with me in the current or indeed any moment, and I am profoundly sorry.”

 Mira Sorvino

 Actress Mira Sorvino attends the premiere of "Mothers and Daughters" at The London on April 28, 2016 in West Hollywood, California. Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic

 Sorvino, who won an Academy Award for her role in Allen’s 1995 film Mighty Aphrodite, apologized to Farrow in an open letter published on HuffPost on Jan. 10.

 “I am so sorry, Dylan,” wrote Sorvino, one of the woman who accused Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment. “I cannot begin to imagine how you have felt, all these years as you watched someone you called out as having hurt you as a child, a vulnerable little girl in his care, be lauded again and again, including by me and countless others in Hollywood who praised him and ignored you.”

 Greta Gerwig

 Actress Greta Gerwig attends The 11th Annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards at Spring Studios on November 3, 2014 in New York City. Gary Gershoff—WireImage

 In an interview with the New York Times published on Jan. 9, the Lady Bird director said she regretted working with Allen in his 2012 film To Rome With Love.

 “If I had known then what I know now, I would not have acted in the film. I have not worked for him again, and I will not work for him again,” Gerwig said. “Dylan Farrow… made me realize that I increased another woman’s pain, and I was heartbroken by that realization.”

 David Krumholtz

 Actor David Krumholtz of the television show Living Biblically speaks onstage during the CBS/Showtime portion of the 2018 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 6, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) Frederick M. Brown—Getty Images

 Krumholtz, who appeared in Allen’s 2017 film Wonder Wheel, said in a Jan. 5 tweet that he regrets working with Allen.

 “It’s one of my most heartbreaking mistakes,” said Krumholtz, known for his roles in The Deuce and 10 Things I Hate About You. “We can no longer let these men represent us in entertainment, politics or any other realm. They are beneath real men.”

 Ellen Page

 LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 27: Actress Ellen Page attends the premiere of "Flatliners" at The Theatre at Ace Hotel on September 27, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic) Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic

 In a Facebook post on Nov. 10, Page said working on Allen’s 2012 film To Rome With Love was “the biggest regret of my career.”

 “I am ashamed I did this,” Page wrote. “I had yet to find my voice and was not who I am now and felt pressured, because ‘of course you have to say yes to this Woody Allen film.’ Ultimately, however, it is my choice what films I decide to do and I made the wrong choice.”

 Griffin Newman

 Griffin Newman attends Amazon Prime Video's The Tick New York Comic Con 2017 - Press Room at The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on October 7, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Todd Williamson/Getty Images for Amazon) Todd Williamson—Getty Images for Amazon

 Newman, who has a small role in Allen’s upcoming film A Rainy Day in New York, said in a series of tweets on Oct. 14 — days after the allegations against Weinstein broke — that he believes Woody Allen is guilty. He said he donated his salary from the film to RAINN. ||||| Only on "CBS This Morning," Dylan Farrow is speaking candidly for the first time on television about her sexual assault allegations against her adoptive father, actor and director Woody Allen. At the age of seven, Farrow told her mother, actress Mia Farrow, that Allen had molested her.

 Allen has always denied the allegations.

 Farrow has stood by her story for more than two decades. She first went public in 2014 with an open letter in the New York Times. Now, she's sharing her story to "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King who spoke with her at Farrow's Connecticut home.

 Some of the details she described are graphic.

 DYLAN FARROW: I want to show my face and tell my story. … I want to speak out. Literally.

 Dylan Farrow shares her story with "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King CBS News

 At 32, Dylan Farrow has been married for almost eight years. She's the mother of a 16-month-old girl. And she's still carrying the emotional scars she says she got at the hands of her father.

 FARROW: I loved my father. I respected him. He was my hero. And that doesn't obviously take away from what he did. But it does make the betrayal and the hurt that much more intense.

 GAYLE KING: Let's go to August 4, 1992. And if you could tell us what happened that day.

 FARROW: I was taken to a small attic crawl space in my mother's country house in Connecticut by my father. He instructed me to lay down on my stomach and play with my brother's toy train that was set up. And he sat behind me in the doorway, and as I played with the toy train, I was sexually assaulted… As a 7-year-old I would say, I would have said he touched my private parts.

 KING: Mmhmm. Okay

 FARROW: Which I did say.

 KING: Alright. Alright.

 FARROW: As a 32-year-old, he touched my labia and my vulva with his finger.

 KING: Where was your mother?

 FARROW: She went shopping that day.

 KING: And then after you told her, what happened?

 FARROW: She was upset. … My first impulse was that I had done something wrong.

 Mia Farrow took Dylan to the pediatrician, but when the doctor asked her where she had been touched, the little girl pointed to her shoulder.

 FARROW: She said, "Why didn't you tell the doctor what you told me?" And I told her that I was embarrassed. And then we went back in.

 KING: You went back in and then you told him.

 FARROW: And I told the doctor.

 KING: The same thing that you had told your mother.

 FARROW: Yes.

 (L to R) Actress Mia Farrow, son Satchel, Woody Allen, daughter Dylan David Mcgough/DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

 Allen had suggested that Dylan changed her story because she had been coached by her mother. Months earlier, Mia had found in his apartment nude pictures of her daughter, Soon-Yi, whom she had adopted during an earlier marriage. Allen confessed to an affair with Soon-Yi. The two remain a couple to this day, married for more than 20 years.

 KING: You could see why he might make that claim. He would say that she was filled with rage after his affair with Soon-Yi had been discovered, and that she was out for revenge and full of rage.

 FARROW: And what I don't understand is how is this crazy story of me being brainwashed and coached more believable than what I'm saying about being sexually assaulted by my father?

 KING: Because your mother was very angry, so that she would try to coach you, and try to get you to turn against your father.

 FARROW: Except every step of the way, my mother has only encouraged me to tell the truth. She has never coached me.

 KING: I wanted to play a clip from "60 Minutes." An interview that he did at the time where he was asked about that incident. Are you okay with looking at it? You're ok?

 FARROW: [Nods] Mmhmm.

 "60 MINUTES" INTERVIEW WITH ALLEN: Isn't it illogical that I'm going to at the height of a very bitter acrimonious custody fight, drive up to Connecticut where nobody likes me and I'm in house full of enemies – I mean Mia was so enraged at me and she had gotten all the kids to be angry at me – that I'm going to drive up there and suddenly on visitation, pick this moment in my life to become a child molester. It's just, it's just incredible. I could if I wanted to be a child molester, I had many opportunities in the past. I could have quietly made a custody settlement with Mia in some way and done it in the future. You know, it's so insane.

 KING: What do you say to that?

 FARROW: [Crying] I'm really sorry.

 KING: Don't apologize, don't apologize.

 FARROW: I thought I could handle it. I –

 KING: Are you crying because of what he said or seeing him? What is upsetting you?

 FARROW: He's lying and he's been lying for so long. And it is difficult for me to see him and to hear his voice. I'm sorry.

 Allen had adopted Dylan and her 13-year-old brother, Moses, the previous December. The couple also had a younger son, Ronan. But as Mia Farrow's boyfriend, Allen had been a part of Dylan's life since she was a baby. Dylan says that the incident in the attic wasn't the only time his behavior had been inappropriate.

 KING: What would he do?

 FARROW: He would follow me around. He was always touching me, cuddling me and if I ever said, you know, like I want to go off by myself, he wouldn't let me.

 KING: Some could say that's a very doting and loving father.

 FARROW: Except he wasn't this way with Ronan.

 KING: What else would he do?

 FARROW: He often asked me to get into bed with him when he had only his underwear on and sometimes when only I had my underwear on.

 Woody Allen was never charged with a crime in this case. Both New York state child welfare investigators and a report by the Yale New Haven hospital found that the abuse did not happen. The Connecticut state prosecutor on the case, Frank Maco, questioned the Yale New Haven report's credibility saying there was probable cause to charge Allen but he thought Dylan was too fragile to face a celebrity trial.

 KING: Do you wish that they would have gone ahead and filed the charges because then you would have had to taken the stand?

 FARROW: You know, honestly yes. I do wish that they had, you know, even if I'm just speaking in retrospect. I was already traumatized. … Here's the thing. I mean, outside of a court of law, we do know what happened in the attic on that day. I just told you.

 We reached out to the former Connecticut prosecutor, Frank Maco. He told us that in his experience, "There was no manipulation by Mia Farrow." He adds nothing in the state police investigation indicated that Farrow was in any way being controlled or manipulated.

 "When this claim was first made more than 25 years ago, it was thoroughly investigated by both the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of the Yale-New Haven Hospital and New York State Child Welfare. They both did so for many months and independently concluded that no molestation had ever taken place. Instead, they found it likely a vulnerable child had been coached to tell the story by her angry mother during a contentious breakup.

 "Dylan's older brother Moses has said that he witnessed their mother doing exactly that – relentlessly coaching Dylan, trying to drum into her that her father was a dangerous sexual predator. It seems to have worked – and, sadly, I'm sure Dylan truly believes what she says.

 "But even though the Farrow family is cynically using the opportunity afforded by the Time's Up movement to repeat this discredited allegation, that doesn't make it any more true today than it was in the past. I never molested my daughter – as all investigations concluded a quarter of a century ago."

 Dylan Farrow on Time's Up, actors who work with Woody Allen

 Farrow is also speaking up to have her voice included in the Time's Up and #MeToo conversations. Over the past two weeks, several celebrities have voiced their support for Dylan, including actress Natalie Portman.

 This week, Timothée Chalamet announced he's donating his entire salary from his work in an upcoming Woody Allen movie to three charities that fight sexual abuse and harassment, including Time's Up. He wrote on Instagram: "I want to be worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with the brave artists who are fighting for all people to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve."

 In an interview on "CBS Sunday Morning," Portman said, "I believe Dylan. I would want to say that. I believe you, Dylan."

 Dylan was visibly moved by seeing the support from Portman.

 FARROW: Now I'm going to start crying but, wow.

 She's been searching for that acknowledgement, most of her life.

 FARROW: With so much silence being broken by so many brave people against so many high profile people, I felt it was important to add my story to theirs because it's something I've struggled with for a long time and it was….It was very momentous for me to see this conversation finally carried into a public setting.

 As the #MeToo movement continues, Dylan took to social media to call out celebrities who have starred in Woody Allen's films.

 KING: Are you angry with the people, with the celebrities that are starring in his movies, that hold him in high regard and continue to compliment him?

 FARROW: I'm not angry with them. I hope that, you know, especially since so many of them have been vocal advocates of this Me Too and Time's Up movement that, um, they can acknowledge their complicity and maybe hold themselves accountable to how they have perpetuated this culture of – of silence in their industry.

 KING: And how are they complicit?

 FARROW: Because I have been saying this – I have been repeating my accusations unaltered for over 20 years and I have been systematically shut down, ignored or discredited. If they can't acknowledge the accusations of one survivor's how are they going to stand for all of us?

 KING: People say it's a family matter. It was many years ago. I don't really know the details of this case.

 FARROW: So find out. I mean, it's really like I said, it's so easy in this day and age. It's a family matter but here's another thing. I am a real person and I've been struggling, coping on my good days, with the aftershocks of being sexually assaulted as a small child and that's real. And that matters.

 KING: How has this affected your life?

 FARROW: It's affected every part of my life. You know, growing up, and like I said, I pushed it to the side, I tried to pretend or tried to convince myself that this was something moving forward that I did not need to bring with me even though it came anyway. It's impacted everything.

 Married and a mother to a 16-month-old daughter, Dylan is an advocate for victims of sexual abuse.

 FARROW: I have a wonderful husband and I have this amazing little girl now.

 KING: So what will you tell her when the time comes? What will you tell her about how to be in this world?

 FARROW: That if she was ever in a position that she's not helpless. Because one of the things I remember very clearly as a small child is this feeling of helplessness.

Summary: – One person vigorously reupping her claims in the wake of the #MeToo movement: Dylan Farrow, who continues to insist her father, Woody Allen, molested her when she was a child at the home of her mother, Mia Farrow. On Thursday, Farrow appeared on CBS This Morning and says she wishes there'd been a trial since "I was already traumatized" from the alleged assault on August 4, 1992. That's when Farrow says her "hero" led her to the attic of Mia Farrow's Connecticut residence and "touched my labia and my vulva with his finger." Dylan Farrow was 7 at the time. The now-32-year-old mom told interviewer Gayle King she felt it was necessary to finally come forward on TV, saying, "I want to show my face and tell my story. ... I want to speak out. Literally." And she has supporters in high places, including Mira Sorvino and Natalie Portman, per Time. Although Allen vowed in 2014 to never again comment on the allegations from his adopted daughter, he broke that vow Thursday. "I never molested my daughter," the director says in a statement to CBS News. He adds two investigations—one by a hospital's child abuse clinic and another by child welfare investigators in New York—previously "concluded that no molestation had ever taken place" and it was "likely a vulnerable child had been coached to tell the story by her angry mother during a contentious breakup. ... Sadly, I'm sure Dylan truly believes what she says." Dylan Farrow refutes that, noting that "my mother has only encouraged me to tell the truth," adding she wonders why "this crazy story of me being brainwashed" is more believable than her own account. (One person who's backing Allen this week: Alec Baldwin.)


Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's warning on Wednesday morning that US missiles "will be coming" to Syria was notable not only for its military and geopolitical implications, but because he tipped off US plans in exactly the same manner for which he's criticized his predecessor.

 In 2013, as the Obama administration was weighing a response to the Syrian government after it violated President Barack Obama's " red line " for its use of chemical weapons, Trump argued that the US should "stay the hell out of Syria" and criticized the administration for "broadcasting" its strategy.

 "Why do we keep broadcasting when we are going to attack Syria. Why can't we just be quiet and, if we attack at all, catch them by surprise?" Trump tweeted in response.

 Why do we keep broadcasting when we are going to attack Syria. Why can't we just be quiet and, if we attack at all, catch them by surprise? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2013

 He argued that he "would not go into Syria, but if I did it would be by surprise and not blurted all over the media like fools."

 "For the first time in the history of military operations a country has broadcast what, when and where they will be doing in a future attack!" Trump also wrote back then.

 For the first time in the history of military operations a country has broadcast what, when and where they will be doing in a future attack! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 31, 2013

 Read More ||||| WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Western powers said on Saturday their missile attacks struck at the heart of Syria’s chemical weapons program, but the restrained assault appeared unlikely to halt Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s progress in the 7-year-old civil war.

 The United States, France and Britain launched 105 missiles overnight in retaliation for a suspected poison gas attack in Syria a week ago, targeting what the Pentagon said were three chemical weapons facilities, including a research and development center in Damascus’ Barzeh district and two installations near Homs.

 The bombing was the biggest intervention by Western countries against Assad and his superpower ally Russia, but the three countries said the strikes were limited to Syria’s chemical weapons capabilities and not aimed at toppling Assad or intervening in the civil war.

 The air attack, denounced by Damascus and its allies as an illegal act of aggression, was unlikely to alter the course of a multisided war that has killed at least half a million people.

 U.S. President Donald Trump called the operation a success.

 He proclaimed on Twitter: “Mission accomplished,” echoing former President George W. Bush, whose use of the same phrase in 2003 to describe the U.S. invasion of Iraq was widely ridiculed as violence there dragged on for years.

 “We believe that by hitting Barzeh, in particular, we’ve attacked the heart of the Syrian chemicals weapon program,” U.S. Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie said at the Pentagon.

 However, McKenzie acknowledged elements of the program remain and he could not guarantee that Syria would be unable to conduct a chemical attack in the future.

 The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Trump told her that if Syria uses poisonous gas again, “The United States is locked and loaded.”

 The Western countries said the strikes were aimed at preventing more Syrian chemical weapons attacks after a suspected poison gas attack in Douma on April 7 killed up to 75 people. They blame Assad’s government for the attack.

 In Washington, a senior administration official said on Saturday that “while the available information is much greater on the chlorine use, we do have significant information that also points to sarin use” in the attack.

 Speaking at a summit in Peru, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence seemed less sure of the use of sarin, saying that Washington may well determine that it was used along with chlorine.

 ASSAD ‘RESILIENCE’

 Ten hours after the missiles hit, smoke was still rising from the remains of five destroyed buildings of the Syrian Scientific Research Center in Barzeh, where a Syrian employee said medical components were developed.

 There were no immediate reports of casualties.

 Syria released video of the wreckage of a bombed-out research lab, but also of Assad arriving at work as usual, with the caption “Morning of resilience”.

 Late on Saturday Syria time, a large explosion was heard in a Syrian government-controlled area in a rural region south of Aleppo, according to the Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Observatory said the cause of the explosion was unknown, as well as its target.

 Russian and Iranian military help over the past three years has allowed Assad to crush the rebel threat to topple him.

 The United States, Britain and France have all participated in the Syrian conflict for years, arming rebels, bombing Islamic State fighters and deploying troops on the ground to fight that group. But they have refrained from targeting Assad’s government, apart from a volley of U.S. missiles last year.

 Although the Western countries have all said for seven years that Assad must leave power, they held back in the past from striking his government, lacking a wider strategy to defeat him.

 Syria and its allies also made clear that they considered the attack a one-off, unlikely to do meaningful harm to Assad.

 A senior official in a regional alliance that backs Damascus told Reuters the sites that were targeted had been evacuated days ago thanks to a warning from Russia.

 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the strikes were “unacceptable and lawless.”

 Syrian state media called them a “flagrant violation of international law,” while Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called it a crime and the Western leaders criminals.

 Russia had promised to respond to any attack on its ally, but the Pentagon said no Russian air defense systems were used. Syria fired 40 unguided surface-to-air missiles - but only after the Western strikes had ended, the Pentagon said.

 “We are confident that all of our missiles reached their targets,” McKenzie said.

 A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer, deployed to Al Udeid Air Base, launches a strike as part of the multinational response to Syria's use of chemical weapons is seen in this image from Al Udeid Air Base, Doha, Qatar released on April 14, 2018. U.S. Air Force/Handout via REUTERS

 British Prime Minister Theresa May described the strike as “limited and targeted,” with no intention of toppling Assad or intervening more widely in the war.

 Washington described the strike targets as a center near Damascus for the research, development, production and testing of chemical and biological weapons; a chemical weapons storage site near the city of Homs; and another site near Homs that stored chemical weapons equipment and housed a command post.

 The Pentagon said there had been chemical weapons agents at one of the targets, and that the strikes had significantly crippled Syria’s ability to produce such weapons.

 Trump spoke to May and French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss results of the strikes, the leaders’ offices said.

 U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged all Security Council members to exercise restraint and avoid escalation in Syria, but said allegations of chemical weapons use demand an investigation.

 In Sydney, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged Russia to drop its “pretence” that Syria was not behind the chemical attack on Douma and use its influence to force the Assad government to destroy its chemical weapons.

 “Russia has used its position as a member of the United Nations Security Council to veto resolutions designed to ensure that this chemical weapons crime is thoroughly investigated and cannot be repeated,” he told a news conference on Sunday.

 “It should stop all the denial and the pretence that it wasn’t an action by the Syrian government and ensure that the chemical weapons are destroyed, that the ability of the regime to use chemical weapons is eliminated and that this type of criminal conduct does not occur again.”

 WEAPONS INSPECTIONS

 Inspectors from the global chemical weapons watchdog OPCW were due to try to visit Douma on Saturday to inspect the site of the suspected gas attack. Moscow condemned the Western states for refusing to wait for their findings.

 Russia, whose relations with the West have deteriorated to levels of Cold War-era hostility, has denied any gas attack took place in Douma and even accused Britain of staging it to whip up anti-Russian hysteria.

 The Western countries took precautions to avoid unexpected conflict with Russia. French Defence Minister Florence Parly said Russians was warned beforehand to avert conflict.

 Dmitry Belik, a Russian member of parliament who was in Damascus and witnessed the strikes, told Reuters: “The attack was more of a psychological nature rather than practical. Luckily there are no substantial losses or damages.”

 In Douma, site of the suspected gas attack, the last buses were due on Saturday to transport out rebels and their families who agreed to surrender the town, state TV reported. That effectively ends all resistance in the suburbs of Damascus known as eastern Ghouta, marking one of the biggest victories for Assad’s government of the war.

 Slideshow (18 Images)

 The Western assault involved more missiles than a U.S. attack last year but struck targets limited to Syria’s chemical weapons facilities. The U.S. intervention last year had effectively no impact on the war.

 Syria agreed in 2013 to give up its chemical weapons after a nerve gas attack killed hundreds of people in Douma. Damascus is still permitted to have chlorine for civilian use, although its use as a weapon is banned. Allegations of Assad’s chlorine use have been frequent during the war although, unlike nerve agents, chlorine did not produce mass casualties as seen last week. ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| 19:06

 Western leaders put off a final decision on military strikes in Syria on Thursday, opting for further consultation between allies.

 Donald Trump and Theresa May spoke on the phone on Thursday evening and agreed Bashar al-Assad’s regime had “a pattern of dangerous behaviour” with chemical weapons that cannot go unchallenged. Both leaders are yet to announce what action they will take in Syria alongside France.

 The French government said it had “proof” that the Syrian regime was responsible for Saturday’s alleged chemical attack in Damascus, which reportedly killed at least 50 people and injured hundreds, according to president Emmanuel Macron.

 The US defence secretary, James Mattis, said Washington was gathering evidence about who carried out the attack and his main concern about the American military response was how to stop the tensions “escalating out of control”.

 Preparations for a possible Russian counterattack on the British base RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus were under way on Thursday in the event of US-led military action in Syria.

 American TV network NBC reported that blood and urine samples from the victims of Saturday’s attack had traces of a nerve agent and chlorine, indicating that Assad’s government was responsible.

 President Trump stepped back from his promise of an imminent missile strike in Syria, tweeting that he “never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!”

 Inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are set to arrive in Damascus to start an investigation into the chemical attack. They are not due to visit the site of the incident until Saturday, however.

 Russia’s UN ambassador said his top diplomatic priority was to avert war in Syria, but he did not rule out the possibility of US-Russian conflict.

 Sweden has proposed a draft resolution to UN security council that would include immediately sending a high-level disarmament mission to Syria to address outstanding issues on the use of chemical weapons “once and for all” in a bid to de-escalate the situation.

 For a full report on the UK’s response to the Syria crisis, read more here:

 Cabinet backs May's call for robust response to Syria crisis Read more

 Our correspondents in Washington, Paris and Moscow have the latest on the international perspective:

 Syria crisis: US concerned military strike would 'escalate out of control' Read more

 For more on the situation inside Syria, read Martin Chulov’s report:

 'The US won't win': Damascenes poised for next move in Syria conflict Read more

 Thanks for following. Have a peaceful evening.

Summary: – President Trump on Thursday appeared to temper his threat of an imminent missile strike on Syria in retaliation for an alleged chemical attack. "Never said when an attack on Syria would take place," the president tweeted. "Could be very soon or not so soon at all!" The tweet comes after his warning on Wednesday that US "missiles will be coming," itself a response to Russia's threat that it would shoot down any American weaponry. The second half of Trump's Thursday tweet branched into a different but related subject: "In any event," he wrote, "the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our 'Thank you America?'" Amid the tension, Reuters reports that a "global effort" is underway to simmer things down, with a US-Russia hotline in use to prevent an accidental conflict over Syria. Still, in another development Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron told French TV that "we have the proof that chemical weapons—at least chlorine gas—were used," per the Guardian. He said a decision on how to respond would be made when "most effective." And British Prime Minister Theresa May summoned her Cabinet from vacation to discuss joining any US-led military action. Another potential reason behind Trump's Thursday tweet: He was taking criticism for doing what he once criticized President Obama of doing—talking about a military attack in advance on Syria. "Why can't we just be quiet and, if we attack at all, catch them by surprise?" he wondered in 2013, one of multiple critical tweets on the subject, notes CNN. The network also ran a mashup of several times Trump declared the US will stop telling its enemies about military plans.