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The Smithsonian's National Zoo is closed due to a federal government shutdown. The Zoo's live animal cams require federal resources, primarily staff, to run and broadcast. They are deemed non-essential and will not stream live until the federal government reopens. All the animals continue to be fed and cared for. A shutdown does not affect the Zoo's commitment to our standard of excellence in animal care. For more information, please see the Zoo Government Shutdown FAQs and follow the Zoo on Facebook Twitter and Instagram for operating status updates. Welcome to the Smithsonian's National Zoo's Panda Cams, where you can watch giant pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Bei Bei. While you are watching pandas chomp on bamboo, play in trees and tumble in the grass, specially trained volunteers with Friends of the National Zoo are hard at work using these cameras to collect behavioral data on the giant pandas. Please note that while the cameras stream live 24 hours a day, FONZ volunteer operators will only be following the pandas during regular business hours. Be sure to toggle back and forth between Panda Cam 1 and Panda Cam 2 using the tabs at the top of the video player to get the full Panda Cam experience. ||||| National Zoo panda Mei Xiang gave birth Saturday afternoon just days after zoo officials confirmed she was pregnant. A few hours later the zoo's panda cam showed her playing with the newborn. (Smithsonian National Zoo) National Zoo panda Mei Xiang gave birth Saturday afternoon just days after zoo officials confirmed she was pregnant. A few hours later the zoo's panda cam showed her playing with the newborn. (Smithsonian National Zoo) The giant panda at the National Zoo gave birth to two cubs a few hours apart Saturday, launching a fresh and not totally unexpected chapter in the public romance with the rotund black-and-white bears that have enthralled Washington and legions of panda fanatics for 43 years. Giant pandas give birth to twins about half the time, a zoo official said. After the first birth, Pamela Baker-Masson, the zoo’s spokeswoman, said the staff was “thrilled, absolutely thrilled.” “I’ve been in close communication with veterinarians, the scientists, keepers. Everybody’s extremely happy,” she said. “We were all tuned in to the panda cam, and we saw her water break. And then just about an hour later . . . she gave birth to a cub.” The second cub was born at 10:07 p.m., Baker-Masson said. It was believed to be healthy, she said late Saturday night. 1 of 31 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Mei Xiang gives birth to two cubs hours apart View Photos The birth launches a fresh chapter in the public romance with the bears that have enthralled Washington for 43 years. Caption The newborn is the survivor of two cubs born to mother Mei Xiang in August. The smaller cub died four days after birth. Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. One of the two was retrieved, following a special protocol for rearing twins, another zoo spokeswoman said. It was placed in an incubator. It was not clear which of the two cubs it was. However, the zoo said, both cubs would be given the opportunity to bond with their mother. The zoo’s “panda team” would alternate the cubs between maternal and incubator rearing. One will be nursing and spending time with the mother, while the other would be fed by bottle and kept warm in the incubator. Authorities were alerted to the second birth through watching a video feed of the panda habitat. It occurred quickly, more rapidly than the day’s first birth, Baker-Masson said. The loud vocalizations from the first cub after birth were a “great sign for good health,” said Baker-Masson, who added that staffers watched with awe as the mother picked up her cub, about the size of a stick of butter. Inside the panda house Saturday afternoon, a small, rapt knot of onlookers watched on a video monitor as Mei Xiang tossed and turned in her cage. About 4:30 p.m., zoo officials confirmed that the panda’s water had broken. Susan Powell, 51, had been standing with her son and granddaughter as Mei Xiang labored on the black-and-white screen. Powell, who was visiting her son from her home outside of Magnolia, Ark., said the event was a rare treat. “In south Arkansas, we don’t have anything like this,” she said. “We get deer and foxes, but not pandas.” Powell’s granddaughter Jorja, 7, sat on a wooden block nearby with her father. “I think it’s really cool,” the girl said. Her nickname when she was younger, she said, was “Panda” — because she is half-white and half-Asian, she joked. Suddenly at 5:33, someone said, “I think it’s coming.” A silence fell over the crowd. “Come on, sweet mama,” Powell said. “Come on, baby.” At 5:35, the first glimpse of the baby came on the screen. People burst into applause and shouted, “Yes! Yes! Oh, my God!” Jorja jumped up: “She had a baby!” Mei Xiang, who went into labor about 10:30 a.m. Saturday, has already delivered two surviving cubs since 2005 — Tai Shan on July 9, 2005, and Bao Bao on Aug. 23, 2013. She gave birth to a stillborn cub about 26 hours after Bao Bao. And on Sept. 16, 2012, she gave birth to a cub with liver abnormalities, and it died six days later. [From the archives: Panda cub dies after one week.] Giant panda cubs, like many newborns at the zoo, are extremely fragile. Six other giant panda cubs have died at the zoo dating to the 1980s. The birth came three years after zoo officials were prepared to request replacements for Mei Xiang and the zoo’s male giant panda, Tian Tian, because of their poor reproductive record. In 2011, the pair had gone five years without producing a cub. The first new cub was the second in two years. [From the archives: Five minutes of terror, then joy over birth of panda cub ] At a news conference after the first birth Saturday, zoo officials cautioned that Mei Xiang and her cub would need to be monitored very closely. The mother and her offspring were to be watched on the panda cam around the clock, with staffers on hand at all hours to respond, said the zoo’s director, Dennis Kelly. That was how the second birth was spotted. “We’re very cautious,” Kelly said. “In 2012, we lost a cub after six days. This is still a very fragile time for this cub.” Don Neiffer, the zoo’s chief veterinarian, appeared in his navy scrubs and described the walk-up to the birth. Mei Xiang was behaving very lethargically, and Neiffer on Wednesday had spotted on an ultrasound scan what he said was a developing fetus inside the panda. In the last couple of days, Mei Xiang began licking her chest and abdomen in apparent preparation for the birth. After her water broke, “she was bearing down a bit,” he said, before the cub arrived noisily into the world. Speaking of the first cub, Neiffer said no decision had been made on when zoo staffers will examine the cub for paternity, gender and general health, Neiffer said. Naming will come later. “There’s a lot of very important bonding going on right now,” he said. “We don’t want to disturb that.” [Related: Zoo officials spot a fetus] The giant panda had been artificially inseminated twice on April 26 and 27 with semen collected from Tian Tian and from a male giant panda at a research center in Wolong, China. In 2011, the zoo reached a new lease agreement with China that extended the stay of the two giant pandas for five years. All cubs born in the zoo must be returned to China four years after birth. The new agreement expires Dec. 6, 2015. The zoo’s first pandas, Ling-Ling, a female, and Hsing-Hsing, a male, arrived in 1972, one of the fruits of President Richard M. Nixon’s peacemaking visit to China. The two have since died. They produced several cubs, but none lived more than a few days. ||||| In this photo provided by the Smithsonian's National Zoo, one of the giant panda cubs is examined by veterinarians after being born at Smithsonian's National Zoo on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015, in Washington. The National Zoo in Washington says its adult female panda has had twins. The National Zoo's giant panda, Mei Xiang, gave birth to twins Saturday, almost two years to the day after giving birth to her daughter, Bao Bao. Mei Xiang was seen picking up and licking her first cub at 5:35 p.m. Saturday, live on the zoo's panda cams. The cub could be heard squealing just after the birth, which zoo officials called a good sign. The second cub was born just after 10 p.m. As is the zoo's practice, one of the two cubs was retreived from Mei Xiang's enclosure and placed in an incubator. That cub appears to be in good health, according to a post on the zoo's Facebook page. Zoo veterinarians had not yet retrieved the other cub from Mei Xiang's enclosure late Saturday night. They will closely monitor both mom and that baby on the panda cams, waiting until they can retrieve the cub without distressing mom or cub. Best Look Yet At New Panda Cub News4's Darcy Spencer has new video from the Panda Cam of the first of two brand new cubs who arrived Saturday at the National Zoo. (Published Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015) The time after the birth is critical for bonding, but this is "still a very fragile time" for the cubs, said National Zoo Director Dennis Kelly. In 2012, a female cub died a week after her birth. "We are very excited but we are very cautious," Kelly said at a press conference after the first birth. There's a protocol for twin panda births, which happen about 50 percent of the time in the difficult and often-disappointing world of giant panda procreation. The Zoo's panda team will swap the cubs into the enclosure, allowing one to feed and bond with Mei Xiang while the other is bottle-fed and cared for in an incubator, the Zoo said. The births came quickly on Saturday. Earlier that day, the Zoo's panda team said in a Facebook post that Mei is "restless, having contractions, body licking, and remains in her den." The team said those behaviors are consistent with an imminent birth. Two Tiny Pandas Born at National Zoo Around 4:40 p.m., the zoo said the panda team confirmed that Mei Xiang's water broke. Zoo personnel monitored Mei through their panda cams, which were overloaded from time to time due to the popularity of the pandas. Mei was inseminated April 26 and 27 with frozen sperm from Hui Hui, a panda living in China, and with sperm from the zoo's male giant panda, Tian Tian, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute said. Watch the Moment Giant Panda Gives Birth Giant Panda Mei Xiang gives birth to new cub at the National Zoo! (Published Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015) On Aug. 10, Mei's hormone levels were on the rise as she began to show typical signs of pregnancy or pseudopregnancy, including spending more time in her den, sleeping more, body licking and cradling objects. On Tuesday, the National Zoo closed its giant panda exhibit as Mei entered her final final phase of her pregnancy due to her sensitivity to noise. Wednesday, Zoo vets detected her fetus on an ultrasound -- the first time they had ever seen a fetus on ultrasound, since Mei Xiang usually doesn't cooperate with scans. At the time, zookeepers thought they might have spotted a second fetus, but they couldn't be sure, they said at the afternoon press conference. This is the first time the National Zoo has had newborns and an older cub -- in this case, 2-year-old Bao Bao -- at the same time. Top 10 Bao Bao Moments Mei Xiang has previously given birth to four cubs, two of whom survived: male Tai Shan, who was born at the zoo in 2005 and now lives in China, and female Bao Bao, who still lives at the National Zoo. In addition to the female cub that died in 2012, another female cub, Bao Bao's twin, was stillborn. Tian Tian fathered all four cubs. It's not yet known which of the two possible fathers sired these cubs. Following Chinese tradition that celebrates 100 days of life, panda cubs are named 100 days after their birth. ||||| 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

– Great news out of the National Zoo in Washington this afternoon: The giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth at 5:34pm, the zoo announced via tweet. No word yet on the gender. The Washington Post notes that Mei Xiang has given birth to four other cubs since 2005, two of whom died. But a zoo spokesperson says the cub's loud vocalizations were a "great sign for good health." Prior to today, Mei Xiang's most recent successful birth was that of Bao Bao in 2013. Assuming all is well, this would be the first time the zoo would have two cubs at the same time, notes NBC Washington. Yes, there's a panda cam, but heavy volume today will make getting in tricky. Read about the insanely tricky process of breeding pandas here.

Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Convicted sexual predator Bill Cosby has canned his entire legal team ahead of ​his Sept. 25 ​sentencing, his spokesman told The Post. “Joseph P. Green Jr. is Mr. Cosby’s new attorney,” Andrew Wyatt said after the news broke that Cosby had tossed all of his high-powered legal team. The mass firing occurs as the 80-year-old faces sentencing in September on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in his suburban Philadelphia home in January 2004. Cosby was convicted at his April retrial, and faces up to 10 years behind bars on each count. The legal casualties include Hollywood bigwig Tom Mesereau, who got Michael Jackson off on child molestation charges. “I wish Mr. Cosby, his family, and his new defense team all the best,” said Mesereau. Unlike the glitzy Los Angeles team, Green hails from West Chester, Pa. “He’s angry. They let him down, and these aren’t easy times,” a source told RadarOnline of the attorneys’ firings. Wyatt declined to comment further on the change, simply saying that Green would handle the case and appeals from now on. Kathleen Bliss and Becky James were also thrown off the team, the spokesman said. This isn’t Cosby’s first legal shake-up. He cycled through numerous lawyers before settling on Brian McMonagle and Angela Agrusa for his June 2016 prosecution — which ended in a mistrial. That pair were later replaced with Mesereau et al. The Montgomery County DA’s Office, which is handling the case, declined to comment. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively Bill Cosby’s wife Camille has finally ditched the shamed comedian — and now that she’s escaped from the sex perv’s lair, the pair are quickly hurtling toward a blockbuster divorce! The humiliated wife of convicted rapist fled their Pennsylvania mansion, leaving the comedy sicko pleading with her to return as he wallows in solitary confinement! “He literally is home alone,” a source spilled to Radar exclusively, noting the estranged couple now live separate lives. “She even took the staff with her!” A Radar investigation can reveal Camille Cosby, 74, has sequestered herself in the couple’s Massachusetts hideaway with their chef, multiple drivers, a house manager AND their three grown kids, who have not visited the 80-year-old monster in months, according to insiders. PHOTOS: ‘We Want To Seek Justice!’ Philly DA Vows To Reveal ‘Truth’ About Cosby Sex Assault The twisted TV sleaze was convicted on April 26 of drugging and sexually abusing Andrea Constand in the same Cheltenham, Pa., estate where he is confined and reduced to wearing an ankle bracelet to track his every move. “They’ve been fighting and arguing since the verdict,” dished our insider. “She wanted a divorce, but he begged her to stay!” Once America’s ultimate TV dad on the iconic “Cosby Show,” the sex fiend is now left with a single staffer in his empty suburban prison palace — while his former employees tend to his wife’s every need 250 miles away! Radar tracked Camille to the secluded town of Shelburne Falls, Mass., where we discovered her diving into their Olympic-sized pool three times a day, ferrying in groups of female friends to provide emotional support and hawking family assets in the wake of Cosby’s massive legal bills. PHOTOS: The Most DISGUSTING Claims Against Bill Cosby In 15 Clicks Tipsters exclusively squealed that Camille has already sold the former Jell-O pitchman’s private jet and is in the process of dumping his vast vintage car collection — as well as their California real estate holdings! Meanwhile, Cosby is spending what is likely his final summer of freedom in isolation as he pines for his wife of 54 years! Since the soon-to-be jailbird can only leave his home for visits to lawyers or doctors, insiders claimed he’s resorted to faking illness to try to arrange medical care in Camille’s state — in the hope he can win her back! “Camille wants to leave his scandal behind her. She has no interest in seeing Bill,” said a source. “She wants to reside quietly in Shelburne — and doesn’t want his reputation affecting the life she’s building for herself!” PHOTOS: Fall From Grace: The Twists & Turns Of Cosby’s Sex Assault Trial Before Found Guilty Cosby and Camille married in 1964 and somehow survived Bill’s extramarital affairs in the ’70s, the disclosure of love child Autumn Jackson and even the tragic murder of their only son, Ennis, in 1997. But Camille and their three surviving daughters — Erika, Evin and Erinn — were nowhere to be seen during his notorious criminal trial when Cosby was convicted of three counts of indecent sexual assault! The sick predator now faces up to 30 years behind bars for the 2004 assault on Andrea — despite her public forgiveness of the fallen funnyman. About 60 other women have accused the slimeball of similar attacks over a 40-year span! While Cosby remains confined to his home until his Sept. 24 sentencing, he has been ordered to take a psychiatric test to determine whether he suffers from a maniacal “mental abnormality.” PHOTOS: Drug Addiction, Abuse & Murder! Bill Cosby’s Daughter Ensa’s Dark Past Before Death But insiders told Radar he has furiously fought the order, refusing to cooperate with state investigators tasked with conducting the presentence examination. “Bill was adamant about not taking the sexual predator assessment that the judge ordered,” the source said, adding that Camille “was definitely sick of the drama.” And now that she’s out of the house, insiders snitched that Camille plans to sell off their Pennsylvania and New York homes — as soon as the prison cage door closes behind the Cos for good! We pay for juicy info! Do you have a story for RadarOnline.com? Email us at tips@radaronline.com, or call us at (866) ON-RADAR (667-2327) any time, day or night. ||||| Life keeps getting worse for Bill Cosby! After he was dumped by Camille, his wife of 54 years, RadarOnline.com can exclusively report that the disgraced funnyman has fired his entire legal team. PHOTOS: ‘We Want To Seek Justice!’ Philly DA Vows To Reveal ‘Truth’ About Cosby Sex Assault “Every single one of them,” a source inside the Cosby camp told Radar on Thursday, June 14. “He’s angry. They let him down, and these aren’t easy times.” Cosby was represented by a team led by former Michael Jackson attorney Tom Mesereau and former California prosecutor Kathleen Bliss. But the star power didn’t prevent a jury from convicting the shamed star of sexual assault in April. PHOTOS: Drug Addiction, Abuse & Murder! Bill Cosby’s Daughter Ensa’s Dark Past Before Death At 80 years old, Cosby is facing up to 30 years behind bars when he’s sentenced in September. The source said Cosby is hoping to buy a little more time on house arrest with the firings. “It could be the judge puts off sentencing until he can find adequate counsel,” the source explained. PHOTOS: The Most DISGUSTING Claims Against Bill Cosby In 15 Clicks However, the source acknowledged that the firing also could have unexpected and immediate consequences: “The judge could order him remanded because he no longer has counsel, which could make him a flight risk.” As Radar exclusively reported, Camille Cosby fled the couple’s Pennsylvania home, claiming she was fed up with the comedian and his conviction. PHOTOS: Fall From Grace: The Twists & Turns Of Cosby’s Sex Assault Trial Before Found Guilty Now desperate, alone and angry, Cosby has lashed out against his attorneys, who had been gathering information they thought were helpful to his appeals. “He can’t find anyone else willing to defend him, and besides the money is gone and he can’t pay anyone,” the source said. We pay for juicy info! Do you have a story for RadarOnline.com? Email us at tips@radaronline.com, or call us at (866) ON-RADAR (667-2327) any time, day or night.

– Bill Cosby is now killing time as he awaits his September sentencing after being convicted of sexual assault in April, but is his wife killing time with him? Radar cites a source who claims that 74-year-old Camille Cosby has left their Pennsylvania home and moved into a home they own in Shelburne Falls, Mass., taking their chef, other staff, and three grown daughters with her. "They've been fighting and arguing since the verdict," the source says. "She wanted a divorce, but he begged her to stay." Radar notes it sent its own staff to the Mass. town and saw Camille Cosby swimming in her pool and hanging out with female friends. That's news, however, to the Cosbys, the comedian's rep tells People, calling the Radar report a "ridiculous story from an egregious publication." "The accusations they have made in their tabloid are absolutely false," says Andrew Wyatt. "Mrs. and Mr. Cosby are not getting divorced and she's with him in the Philadelphia home as we speak." He adds, via the New York Daily News: "Mrs. Cosby isn't going anywhere." There's also news on the legal front in Cosby world: Page Six reports the disgraced 80-year-old has fired his entire legal team as he prepares for his Sept. 25 sentencing, with Pennsylvania lawyer Joseph P. Green Jr. stepping in as his new counsel, per his spokesman. "Every single one of them," a source tells Radar. "He's angry. They let him down, and these aren't easy times." From newly pink-slipped celebrity attorney Tom Mesereau, per Page Six: "I wish Mr. Cosby, his family, and his new defense team all the best."

On Monday 2 October 2017 04:00, Monarch confirmed that the following companies ceased trading and entered administration: Monarch Airlines Ltd Monarch Holidays Ltd (ATOL Number 2275) First Aviation Ltd (ATOL Number 4888) previously trading as Monarch Airlines Avro Ltd (ATOL Number 1939) Somewhere2stay Ltd As a result, all future holidays and flights provided by these companies were cancelled and will no longer operate. When Monarch ceased trading, the UK Government asked the CAA to coordinate flights back to the UK for those Monarch customers overseas at the time and due to fly back on or before 15 October 2017. This was an extensive UK Government operation involving many government departments and agencies, including the DfT, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, HMRC and DWP. ATOL protected customers Customers with ATOL protection are being contacted by the CAA to expedite claims for refunds on holidays, travel and out-of-pocket expenses. Advice has also been provided for those without ATOL protection. More information for ATOL protected passengers can be found in our claims and refunds section. You can read our final press release about the operation on the CAA web site. Flying programme analysis A two week flying programme – running from 2 October 2017 to 15 October 2017 – was organised by the CAA to fly Monarch’s customers back to the UK. The new flights were provided at no extra financial cost to passengers. Statistics Totals Flights completed 567 Passengers back in the UK 83,875 Number of calls to the call centre 52,460 Unique visitors to monarch.caa.co.uk 1,214,479 * Page views on monarch.caa.co.uk 8,057,788 * * to close of Saturday 14 October ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What happened when passengers turned up at Manchester airport for their flights? Monarch Airlines has ceased trading and all its future flights and holidays have been cancelled, affecting hundreds of thousands of customers. About 860,000 people have lost bookings and more than 30 planes will be sent by the Civil Aviation Authority to return 110,000 holidaymakers who are overseas. Monarch employs about 2,100 people and reported a £291m loss last year. Terror attacks in Tunisia and Egypt, increased competition, and the weak pound have been blamed for its demise. Theresa May's official spokesman said the prime minister "feels hugely sorry" for those affected by a "very distressing situation". Monarch - the UK's fifth biggest and the country's largest ever to collapse - was placed in administration at 04:00 BST - a time when the airline had no planes in the air. Passengers were then sent text messages informing them flights had been cancelled - but some customers were already at airports. Who has been affected? Alan Jee was due to get married in Gran Canaria on Saturday and arrived at Gatwick airport with 30 members of his family. "I have spent £12,000 on my wedding and now I can't even go and get married," he said. "I am gutted, absolutely gutted, and my missus is in tears, an emotional wreck." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Natasha Slessor had worked as cabin crew for Monarch for nearly four years John Shepherd, from Tamworth, had been due to fly to Cyprus on Tuesday with his 92-year-old father. He said they had already managed to book flights on another airline - costing a "fair bit of money", but he added: "I'm worried we've lost all the money on the flights." Holidaymakers and staff 'devastated' by airline collapse Advice to Monarch customers Customers in the UK yet to travel: Don't go to the airport, the CAA says Don't go to the airport, the CAA says Customers abroad: Everyone due to fly in the next fortnight will be brought back to the UK at no cost to them. There is no need to cut short a stay. Those with flight-only bookings after 16 October are unlikely to have Atol scheme protection, so will need to make their own arrangements Everyone due to fly in the next fortnight will be brought back to the UK at no cost to them. There is no need to cut short a stay. Those with flight-only bookings after 16 October are unlikely to have Atol scheme protection, so will need to make their own arrangements Customers currently overseas should check monarch.caa.co.uk for confirmation of their new flight details - which will be available a minimum of 48 hours in advance of their original departure time should check monarch.caa.co.uk for confirmation of their new flight details - which will be available a minimum of 48 hours in advance of their original departure time All affected customers should keep checking monarch.caa.co.uk for more information should keep checking monarch.caa.co.uk for more information The CAA also has a 24-hour helpline: 0300 303 2800 from the UK and Ireland and +44 1753 330330 from overseas Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Monarch Airlines staff speak about collapse What has gone wrong? Monarch reported a loss of £291m for the year to October 2016, compared with a profit of £27m for the previous 12 months, after revenues slumped. It had been in last-ditch talks with the CAA about renewing its licence to sell package holidays, but failed to reach a deal. Blair Nimmo, from administrator KPMG, said its collapse was a result of "depressed prices" in the short-haul travel market, alongside increased fuel costs and handling charges as a result of a weak pound. However, Monarch chief executive Andrew Swaffield said the "root cause" was terrorism in Egypt and Tunisia, as well as the collapse of the market in Turkey. Image copyright PA Image caption Departure boards at Luton airport showed cancelled Monarch flights He said it had been carrying 14% more passengers than last year - but for £100m less revenue. Mr Swaffield said employees could "hold your heads up high and be proud of what you achieved". Monarch's owner, Greybull Capital, had been trying to sell part or all of its short-haul operation so it could focus on more profitable long-haul routes, and said it was "very sorry" it had not been able to turn around its fortunes. What have the authorities said? The CAA has organised 34 chartered planes from 16 different airlines - EasyJet and Qatar Airways among them - to return passengers to the UK over the next fortnight. Chief executive Andrew Haines said passengers would not be charged for the repatriation flights, which would match Monarch's original schedule "as closely as possible", adding: "There will undoubtedly be some disruption". He said "the nature of administration" meant Monarch's fleet was not immediately available for use. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Monarch passengers will not have to pay to be repatriated, Dame Deidre Hutton says Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Monarch collapse ends powerlifter's hopes Transport Secretary Chris Grayling described the process of returning holidaymakers as the "biggest peacetime repatriation" effort. "This is a hugely distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad - and my first priority is to help them get back to the UK," he said. Mr Grayling said the Department for Work and Pensions would give support to those affected and that airlines had already told him they may seek to employ Monarch staff. EasyJet said it would be "really pleased" to hire former Monarch employees, saying it had 400 cabin crew vacancies at Gatwick Airport and 100 at Luton, as well as job openings for pilots and head office staff. Where are Monarch holidaymakers? Last year, Monarch carried 6.3 million passengers to 40 destinations from Gatwick, Luton, Birmingham, Leeds-Bradford and Manchester airports. According to the CAA, the 110,000 holidaymakers currently overseas are in at least 11 countries, including Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. Replacement flights are currently scheduled to fly to 33 airports. Two "rescue flights" from Ibiza have already landed at Gatwick, the CAA said. The vast majority of customers due to fly on Monday are expected return by the end of the day. ||||| Civil Aviation Authority says it is taking action to get 110,000 people back to UK, with 750,000 future bookings cancelled The UK’s biggest peacetime repatriation is under way after the collapse of Monarch Airlines, with 110,000 customers to be brought home on specially chartered planes and a further 750,000 told that their bookings have been cancelled. The 4am announcement that Britain’s longest-surviving airline brand had been placed into administration meant many passengers arrived at airports on Monday morning, only to find their flights cancelled and holiday plans in tatters. Some were informed just minutes before they were due to board planes. About 2,100 Monarch employees face losing their jobs. Administrators and unions said they hoped many could be taken on by other airlines that are interested in buying up parts of Monarch’s business. Quick guide What happens next for Monarch customers? Show Hide What happens with Monarch Airlines now? Monarch has gone into administration after failing to gain a renewal of its Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (Atol) from the Civil Aviation Authority. This meant it was no longer able to sell Atol-protected holidays from midnight on Monday and, accordingly, it announced it had appointed KPMG as liquidators. The CAA has taken over Monarch's website and the Department for Transport has set up two helplines: for passengers in the UK, 0300 303 2800; for passengers abroad, +44 1753 330 330. What if I have booked a package holiday with Monarch? If you bought a package holiday while the licence was still in – up until midnight on Sunday/Monday – you will be Atol-protected. That means if you are abroad, you will be put on an alternative flight home with another carrier. If you are in the UK, you will be entitled to a refund. What if I have booked a flight only? It is unlikely you will be Atol-protected. However, if you paid with a credit card and the cost was more than £100, the credit card company is liable and you can claim the money back. How will I get home if I have a flight only with Monarch? Passengers who are already abroad awaiting a Monarch flight home will be returned at no cost to them, by the government via one of more than 30 planes being chartered by the CAA. The first of more than 700 flights home in a £60m operation for the Civil Aviation Authority landed on Monday at Gatwick airport, carrying Monarch customers from Ibiza. The regulator has chartered 34 planes, including from EasyJet and Qatar Airways, for the repatriation from destinations across Europe. It said all customers due to return to the UK in the next two weeks – even those without bookings protected under the Atol scheme – would be flown home at no extra cost and did not need to cut short their stay. .. The CAA chief executive, Andrew Haines, said: “This is the biggest UK airline ever to cease trading, so the government has asked the CAA to support Monarch customers currently abroad to get back to the UK at the end of their holiday at no extra cost to them. “We are putting together, at very short notice and for a period of two weeks, what is effectively one of the UK’s largest airlines to manage this task. We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home.” Haines said the CAA had been putting together contingency plans over the last four and a half weeks, but only had a “clear indication” that Monarch was about to go into administration late on Saturday night. Customers affected by the company’s collapse were urged to check the dedicated website monarch.caa.co.uk for advice and information on flights back to the UK. The CAA said passengers would be brought home on flights as close as possible to their original times, dates and destination, but some consolidation, disruption and delay was inevitable. Most are due to travel through Spanish airports, with 32,000 set to return this week from Spain and its islands, including more than 6,000 from Alicante and Malaga, and almost 5,300 from Palma Mallorca and 4,400 from Tenerife. Nearly 10,000 people will be flown back by Friday from Portugal, the majority from Faro. But passengers yet to travel could could be hit harder. Haines said it was a “very mixed picture” for the 300,000 outstanding bookings, affecting a total of 750,000 customers due to leave the UK in the coming weeks and months. He said close to 50% of Monarch passengers were believed to have some form of Atol protection, and Haines said most of the others should receive refunds on their flights through credit or debit card providers. However, customers who booked accommodation separately may struggle to reclaim their other holiday costs, with many travel insurers excluding airline failure from their policies. Commenting on the “extraordinary operation”, the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, said: “This is a hugely distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad – and my first priority is to help them get back to the UK. That is why I have immediately ordered the country’s biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded abroad. “Nobody should underestimate the size of the challenge, so I ask passengers to be patient and act on the advice given by the CAA.” The taxpayer will meet the initial cost of the repatriation, although the government hopes to recoup much of that sum from the Atol protection scheme and credit card payment companies. Asked whether passengers should have been notified earlier over the problems – with flights still on sale at the weekend – a Department for Transport spokesperson said: “This was a decision made by the company and it is the job of directors and their advisors to decide when a business is no longer a going concern … It is the not the role of government to decide on the viability of a business.” Monarch (@Monarch) If you're abroad see https://t.co/buw8yPzDGY for details of your new flights which will be available a mini-mum of 48hrs in advance. pic.twitter.com/ozT4QRaxMV Monarch, whose headquarters are at London Luton airport, was founded in 1968. It operates from four other UK bases – London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds Bradford – travelling to more than 40 destinations around the world. The company employs about 2,750 predominantly UK-based staff, and all but about 600 people working in its engineering division, MAEL, will be affected. Monarch said it would work with the administrators and the unions Balpa and Unite to help its employees find new jobs as quickly as possible. Unite accused the government of “sitting on its hands” while Monarch went bust. The union said potential investors and buyers were deterred by the continuing uncertainty surrounding Brexit and whether British airlines could continue flights around Europe. Unite claimed that ministers had rebuffed requests by Monarch for a bridging loan of the kind the German government recently gave to prop up Air Berlin. A government spokesman said that it had been in discussions, but Monarch itself had concluded that a loan would not help it avert administration. Everything you need to know about the collapse of Monarch Airlines Read more Monarch enjoyed a good reputation for customer service but its long-term future rarely looked assured. In 2014, its Swiss family owners sold the company to the investment firm Greybull Capital, a deal that resulted in airline staff being forced to agree to pay cuts. Greybull said the airline had been “buffeted by factors outside of its control”. Terrorism and the collapse of the pound after the Brexit vote were the two main factors, it said. Two of Monarch’s biggest markets, in Egypt and Tunisia, were closed to tourists after terrorist attacks. The Foreign Office advised against travel to Tunisia and Egypt’s Red Sea resorts after the shooting in Sousse and the bombing of a Russian airliner in 2015, stopping charter flights from the UK. Unrest in Turkey also badly affected Monarch’s holiday business. A resulting flood of seats across airlines to its core business in Spain and Portugal meant cheaper fares, which were unsustainable for Monarch. The fall of the pound left Monarch paying £50m a year more for fuel and aircraft, purchased in dollars. In a letter to staff, its chief executive, Andrew Swaffield, said the airline was carrying 14% more passengers than last year for £100m less revenue. He said the “root causes” of its declining revenue were terror attacks in Egypt and Tunisia and the decline of its Turkey business.

– Monarch Airlines, the fifth-largest airline in the UK, has collapsed, leaving 860,000 people with canceled tickets for upcoming trips and 110,000 people overseas, mid-trip. Those 110,000, who are spread across at least 33 airports in 11 countries, will be returned to the UK via 34 chartered planes sent by the country's Civil Aviation Authority, the BBC reports. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling is describing that process, for which travelers won't be charged, the country's "biggest peacetime repatriation" effort. (Instructions for ticketholders, whether they'd already started travel or not, can be found here.) The demise of Monarch makes it the biggest airline ever to go under in the UK. The airline reported a loss of more than $386 million last year. Higher fuel prices, increased competition, and the weak pound have been named as some of the causes, but the airline's CEO says the "root cause" is terrorism in Egypt and Tunisia (two of the airline's biggest markets) and the collapse of the market in Turkey due to unrest there. The announcement that the airline had gone into administration and all flights had been canceled came at 4am local time Monday, the Guardian reports, and some would-be travelers were informed their flights were canceled just minutes before they were scheduled to take off. It's not clear how many travelers will be refunded for tickets and any other costs they may have incurred, such as hotel stays they now can't use. About 2,100 employees of the airline have also been left without jobs, though other airlines have expressed interest in hiring Monarch employees.

SHARE COPY LINK Harold Holland and Lillian Barnes divorced nearly 50 years ago and are remarrying on April 14. This time, they say they're together until "the last mile." McClatchy ctruman@herald-leader.com Harold Holland and Lillian Barnes divorced nearly 50 years ago and are remarrying on April 14. This time, they say they're together until "the last mile." McClatchy ctruman@herald-leader.com

– A half century after getting a divorce, a Kentucky couple plans to get married again. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports 83-year-old Harold Holland and 78-year-old Lillian Barnes will exchange wedding vows on April 14 in Lexington. Their grandson will perform the ceremony at a local Baptist church. Holland and Barnes first were married on Christmas Eve in 1955, reports the AP. They had five children together before splitting up in 1967. Holland says his job kept him away from the family prior to the breakup. "It was 100% my fault," he says. Both remarried and their spouses died in 2015. After that, Holland and Barnes attended a family reunion, and by last December, they were talking marriage again. Holland says, "We decided we want to walk the last mile together."

Three hundred inmates from a prison in Yemen have been freed by al-Qaeda, after the Islamists stormed the jail in which they were held. The identity of those freed from Al Mukalla prison was not immediately clear, although initial reports suggested that it included well-known jihadis. The jail break came as Saudi Arabia reported the first significant sign of success in its campaign against Houthi rebels . Houthi forces pulled back from positions in central Aden on Thursday after air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition at dawn. Locals said a unit of Houthi and allied fighters, who had advanced in tanks and armoured vehicles through Aden's Khor Maksar district 24 hours earlier, pulled back, although they remained in parts of the neighbourhood. The scene of an airstrike allegedly carried out by the Saudi-led coalition against Houthi rebels in Yarim (EPA) The Houthis' recent gains in Aden, the last major foothold of supporters of Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, have happened despite a week of air strikes by Saudi Arabia and a coalition of mainly Sunni Arab allies. Mr Hadi's foreign minister Reyad Yassin Abdulla appealed on Wednesday for more effective international action to halt the Shi'ite, Iran-allied fighters before they take over the city entirely. In the Arabian Sea port city of Mukalla, 500 km (300 miles) east of Aden, soldiers loyal to Hadi clashed on Thursday with militants suspected of being al-Qaeda fighters, residents said. The Houthis, allied to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, took over the Yemeni capital Sanaa six months ago and control much of the country, which also faces a southern secessionist movement, tribal unrest, and a powerful regional wing of al Qaeda based in the centre and east of the country. Residents also reported air strikes overnight on the coastal town of Shaqra, which is under Houthi control and lies on the coast between Aden and Mukalla. ||||| Story highlights Al Qaeda fighters attack a prison and other government buildings, freeing many prisoners Government troops clash with the fighters, most of whom flee Yemen is descending into chaos as a Shia-Sunni conflict draws in regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) Al Qaeda fighters attacked a prison in the coastal Yemeni city of Al Mukallah early Thursday, freeing at least 270 prisoners, a third of whom have al Qaeda links, a senior Defense Ministry official has told CNN. Khaled Batarfi, a senior al Qaeda figure, was among the escapees, officials said. Dozens of attackers took control of government buildings, including the city's Central Prison, Central Bank and radio station during the assault early Thursday, according to officials. Government troops arrived early Thursday and clashed with the al Qaeda fighters, and most of the militants fled, the officials said. Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, shown in Berlin in 2012, fled to Saudi Arabia after his ouster. Last month, hundreds of inmates escaped from Al Mansoorah Central Prison in Aden after clashes between Shiite Houthi rebels and forces loyal to ousted Sunni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi. Read More ||||| CAIRO — Two months after ascending to the throne, King Salman of Saudi Arabia bet his prestige as a new leader on rallying his Arab allies for a military campaign to save Yemen from an Iranian takeover — all under the direction of his son, the new defense minister and chief of the royal court. The results a week later showed just how big a risk they took. The Houthis, portrayed as Iranian proxies by the Saudis but few others, have continued their advances despite nine nights of Saudi-led airstrikes. On Thursday, Houthi fighters captured a presidential palace in the southern port of Aden, killed a Saudi soldier in a skirmish at the border and wounded five others. Islamist militants, meanwhile, capitalized on the chaos caused by the airstrikes to free a leader of Al Qaeda and hundreds of others from prison and to partly seize control of a crucial city in the south. Regional militias are battling one another with little thought of the exiled president whom the Saudis had hoped to restore. A week of clashes in Aden have left bodies lying in the streets. The state has collapsed, and aid groups warn of an escalating humanitarian crisis as the military campaign has shut down airports and seaports; worsened shortages of food, water and medicine; and killed scores of unarmed civilians, including internal refugees.

– Al-Qaeda militants seized a main prison in the Yemeni city of al-Mukalla today, freeing hundreds of inmates in a large-scale attack, locals say. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula first targeted security headquarters, the presidential palace, a Central Bank branch, and other government buildings in the capital of Hadhramaut province in an apparent diversion before moving on the prison, the New York Times reports. The Guardian reports that more than 300 inmates were freed, including regional AQAP leader Khalid Batarfi, who had been locked up for four years. A third of the prisoners are believed to have al-Qaeda ties. Two prison guards and five inmates were killed as gunfire and blasts erupted in the city overnight. Local military units moved in with helicopters to battle the militants early today and many have since backed off, reports CNN, which estimates some 270 inmates have escaped. AQAP, which also took hold of the local radio headquarters, appears to be making the most of what the Times calls "a growing anarchy" that has sprung up in Yemen in recent weeks. Houthi rebels and their allies, who ousted president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi from power, have been fighting with those loyal to him in the city of Aden, some 300 miles away from al-Mukalla. After Saudi-led airstrikes, Houthi troops withdrew from central Aden today, though they remain in surrounding positions, locals say, per the Telegraph. The US pulled its last troops from Yemen late last month.

Sinkhole opens between two homes in Seffner Posted: Saturday, March 23, 2013 8:51 PM EDT Updated: Sunday, March 24, 2013 1:00 PM EDT Some kids playing in the neighborhood discovered the sinkhole just after 7 p.m. Saturday night. Another sinkhole has opened up in Seffner. The chasm appeared just after 7 p.m. Saturday between two homes in the 1400 block of Lakeshore Ranch Dr. The location is approximately 1.6 miles from the sinkhole that opened up on Faithway Dr. on February 28th. A 43-year-old Hillsborough County man who was asleep at the time lost his life when he fell into the sinkhole. According to a Hillsborough County Fire Rescue report the hole is 8' by 5' and 10 feet deep. It was discovered by some kids playing in the neighborhood. The residents of both homes on either side of the hole were temporarily evacuated as a precaution but were allowed to spend the night there. The crater did not expand. Engineers with Hillsborough County's Code Enforcement are evaluating the situation. ||||| People who live in a Seffner community are on edge after a sinkhole opened up in someone’s yard Saturday evening. It happened in the yard of a home on Lake Shore Ranch Drive, less than two miles from where the sinkhole that swallowed a man while he was sleeping, opened up last month. It’s news Ginger Kephart says she wasn’t prepared for. “A neighbor down the street told me that there was a sinkhole in my yard between my yard and the neighbor’s yard,” Kephart said. Her first reaction was to panic. “I said, oh my god! I was thinking about the neighbors down the street about a mile and a half away what happened to them,” she said. It’s a thought many of Kephart’s neighbors share because they live so close to that deadly sinkhole that swallowed Jeffery Bush while he was in bed. “It’s just very, very scary. It’s not knowing what could happen,” she said. That fear wasn’t enough to get Kephart and her neighbor to evacuate their homes Saturday night. Emergency officials say it’s about eight feet wide and 10 feet deep but it didn’t start out that way. “The hole was only about the size of a tortoise hole so I tripped into it and we thought it was just a little hole so we just kept moving on,” said neighborhood kid, Nathan Reynolds. To make sure Reynolds and other neighborhood kids don’t fall into the hole, code enforcement was back out again. They were putting up more caution tape and cones. It’s something Kephart says is making her rethink her decision to stay home. “I’m definitely worried and frightened. So that’s why we’re kinda packing up stuff just in case we do need to leave,” Kephart said. But the same can’t be said for her neighbor who Kephart says plans to stay home. We’re told the people who live in this home just had it inspected for sinkholes a few weeks ago and none were found. Code enforcement says they will continue to monitor the sinkhole. But ultimately it’s up to the homeowner and their insurance company to fix it. Code enforcement initially issued those two neighbors a voluntary evacuation warning. Neighbors say code enforcement is telling them to be careful if they decide to stay and listen for cracks or popping sounds. They say those are indicators that the sinkhole is opening up.

– Thousands of sinkholes plague Florida, so the occasion of a new one emerging wouldn't be overly noteworthy—except that this one is located in Seffner, making it the third such sinkhole that has opened up in town in the last month. The first claimed the life of a man whose bedroom was above the sinkhole. That one was located less than two miles from sinkhole No. 3, which sits between two homes and was spotted by kids on Saturday. MyFox Tampa Bay reports that the hole is 10 feet deep and 8.5 feet wide. The owner of one of the homes flanking the hole tells Bay News 9 she panicked upon learning about it. "I said, 'oh my god!' I was thinking about the neighbors down the street ... It’s just very, very scary." Of course, as Bay 9 News notes, it wasn't scary enough to get her out of her own bedroom: She was issued a voluntary evacuation warning, and while she's "kinda packing up stuff just in case we do need to leave" she hasn't done so yet. The owner of the home across from her apparently had the property inspected for sinkholes in recent weeks. See a photo here.

EXCLUSIVE: Paul Walker's student girlfriend, 23, 'broken up' over star's tragic death as daughter struggles to cope with 'horrible' news College student Jasmine Pilchard-Gosnell, 23, and Paul Walker, 40, had been together for seven years They had met when she was just 16 and he was 33 Jasmine was supposedly beginning to become the step-mother to Walker's 15-year-old daughter, Meadow Paul Walker’s girlfriend is ‘broken up’ over his death as the couple were hoping for a ‘bright future’ together, MailOnline can reveal. Jasmine Pilchard-Gosnell, 23, is being comforted by her mother Julie as she struggles to cope with the ‘horrible’ news, relatives said. She has reportedly been dating Walker since 2006 when she was just 16 and he was 33 - but the 17-year age gap has been no barrier to them both finding love. Scroll down for video 'Broken up': Student Jasmine Pilchard-Gosnell, 23, is devastated after her boyfriend, actor Paul Walker, was killed in a horrific car accident on Saturday afternoon Jasmine’s presence in Walker’s life may have been one of the reasons why Meadow decided to move in with him earlier this year, having spent her entire childhood with her mother Rebecca McBrain, who lives in Hawaii. Meanwhile, a fake Facebook page purporting to belong to Meadow Walker was shut down today. Walker's reps contacted Facebook directly. On the page, the imposter paid tribute to Walker, calling him her 'real life hero'. The teenager has not been seen since her terrible loss on Saturday. Walker, now 40, was raised a Mormon in a working class California family, but his good looks - he was once described as a ‘young Steve McQueen’ - meant he was never lacking female attention. He also strayed from the family values his parents instilled in him and when he was 18 faced a felony charge though he has never revealed what it was. The case was reduced to a misdemeanor. When Rebecca got pregnant Walker was 25 but he refused to marry her, claiming that he was not mature enough even though it left him feeling like an ‘evil SOB’. Walker met his girlfriend, Jasmine Pilchard-Gosnell, when he was 33 and she was just 16 Fans place flowers at the scene of the car crash where actor Paul Walker was killed in the Santa Clarita area of Los Angeles on Sunday In one interview Walker said: ‘I knew where I was at with chicks and having fun. I mean, I was sleeping with her (Rebecca’s) friends, for crying out loud. You know what I mean? ‘I was an animal, and so I want to be there and my heart wants to be in it, but the mind just isn't following it’. Walker shared custody of Meadow and has claimed that things were good between him and Rebecca. He has said: ‘I love my daughter so much, and I love her mom too. We get along so well as a result of me playing it the way that I did.’ ||||| Paul Walker Crash Cops Investigating Possible Street Race Paul Walker Crash -- Cops Investigating Possible Street Race EXCLUSIVE Cops are investigating the possibility thatwas in the middle of a high-speed street race with another car at the time he crashed and died this weekend ... TMZ has learned.Law enforcement sources tell us ... investigators have received tips that Walker and the man driving the Porsche,, had been racing prior to the crash ... and the high speed may have contributed to the wreck that killed both men.Sources say ... the area where the crash occurred has a history of being a popular street racing location.We're told cops are on the hunt for video and witnesses that could prove another car was involved.Story developing ... ||||| Paul Walker and his daughter Meadow had been working on their relationship prior to his death. A source tells E! News exclusively, Meadow had been living in California with family in recent years to be closer to her dad. "Meadow and her dad have gotten closer in the past few years," the source said. "She moved to California and has developed a more meaningful relationship with him." That included going to Brazil in the summer of 2012 to spend time with her father while he was filming a movie. "Everyone is taking it hard but there has been a large outpouring of love and support for the family," the source continued. ||||| Paul Walker Death Car May Have Malfunctioned Paul Walker -- Death Car May Have Malfunctioned EXCLUSIVE The exotic sports car in whichviolently died, crashed as a result of mechanical failure -- very possibly a steering fluid leak ... this according to sources closely tied to the auto shop where the vehicle was stored and maintained.Sources connected to Always Evolving -- the shop co-owned by Walker and the Porsche driver-- tell TMZ they saw evidence of a fluid burst and subsequent fluid trail before the skid marks at the accident scene.The AE sources point to the fact there is a noticeable absence of skid marks until just before the point of impact. They say if Roger had lost control the skid marks would show swerving, but instead the marks were in a straight line. They feel this cements the theory the driver didn't have steering control.Also suspicious -- the fire spreading so quickly in the front of the car. The sources say flames would be expected in the rear where the engine is ... but fire in the front reinforces their theory of a fluid leak of some sort. We're told the $500,000 Carrera GT was NOT modified and was driven rarely so they believe any failure must be a factory defect.As one source put it ... "Roger was a world class driver" -- and while he might have been speeding (as cops have said) ... the notion he just lost control is preposterous.

– There's no official word yet on what caused the horrific crash that killed Paul Walker and Roger Rodas, but sources close to Rodas' auto shop tell TMZ they believe a steering fluid leak is to blame. Their evidence: There were no skid marks until right before the point of impact, and the skid marks were straight, indicating Rodas lost steering control just before the crash; and the fire spread quickly in the front of the vehicle—indicating a fluid leak, since typically the rear (where the engine is) would burn more quickly. They also say they saw evidence of a fluid trail leading up to the skid marks. TMZ also reports that the Porsche was acting up and kept stalling as one of Rodas' employees tried to get it back into the shop—and that's why Rodas ended up behind the wheel. Walker jumped in asking for a ride, because he hadn't driven in the car yet. But police are also investigating the possibility that Rodas and Walker were involved in a street race when they crashed, TMZ reports, and Radar says investigators think the car may have been traveling more than 100mph in a 45mph zone. More Walker news: A Facebook message mourning Walker, supposedly written by his 15-year-old daughter, Meadow, made the rounds yesterday in the wake of his death. But Meadow does not have a public social media presence, and the post was by an impostor, TMZ reports. Walker's reps got the page shut down. The real Meadow, who was reportedly nearby at the time of Walker's fatal crash, has not been seen or heard from since his death, the Daily Mail reports. But a friend who was at the scene tells E! that the teen "was in pieces." Also mourning: Walker's girlfriend of seven years, Jasmine Pilchard-Gosnell, a 23-year-old college student. They met when she was just 16 and Walker was 33. "Paul was a really good guy and Jasmine is broken up by this," says her uncle. "They had their ups and downs but they were together and looking to spend a bright future together." Jasmine was reportedly looking to become Meadow's stepmother; Meadow just recently moved in with her father after having spent most of her childhood with her mom, a former girlfriend of Walker's. A source tells E! Meadow had "gotten closer" to her dad in recent years.

A badly weakened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambled Wednesday to keep his job by reaching out to a new centrist party that advocates a more earnest push on peacemaking with the Palestinians after Israel's parliamentary election produced a stunning deadlock. Yair Lapid gestures as he delivers a speech at his "Yesh Atid" party in Tel-Aviv, early Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The party, formed just over a year ago, out did forecasts by far and are predicted to... (Associated Press) Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman greet their supporters in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. According to exit polls Netanyahu's... (Associated Press) Supporters of Yair Lapid and his "Yesh Atid" party celebrate election results in Tel Aviv, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. The party, formed just over a year ago, out did forecasts by far and are predicted to... (Associated Press) The results defied forecasts that Israel's next government would veer sharply to the right at a time when the country faces mounting international isolation, growing economic problems and regional turbulence. While that opens the door to unexpected movement on peace efforts, a coalition joining parties with dramatically divergent views on peacemaking, the economy and the military draft could just as easily be headed for gridlock _ and perhaps a short life. Israeli media said that with 99.8 percent of votes counted, each bloc had 60 of parliament's 120 seats. Commentators said Netanyahu, who called early elections three months ago expecting easy victory, would be tapped to form the next government because the rival camp drew 12 of its 60 seats from Arab parties that traditionally are excluded from coalition building. A surprising strong showing by a political newcomer, the centrist Yesh Atid, or There is a Future, party, in Tuesday's vote turned pre-election forecasts on their heads and dealt a setback to Netanyahu. Yesh Atid's leader, Yair Lapid, has said he would only join a government committed to sweeping economic changes and a serious push to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, which have languished throughout Netanyahu's four-year tenure. The results were not official, and there was a slim chance of a slight shift in the final bloc breakdowns and a possibility that Netanyahu would not form the next government, even though both he and Lapid have called for the creation of a broad coalition. Under Israel's parliamentary system, voters cast ballots for parties, not individual candidates. Because no party throughout Israel's 64-year history has ever won an outright majority of parliamentary seats, the country has always been governed by coalitions. Traditionally, the party that wins the largest number of seats is given the first chance to form a governing alliance in negotiations that center around promising Cabinet posts and policy concessions. If those negotiations are successful, the leader of that party becomes prime minister. If not, the task falls to a smaller faction. Netanyahu's Likud-Yisrael Beitenu alliance polled strongest in Tuesday's election, winning 31 parliamentary seats. But that is still 11 fewer than the 42 it held in the outgoing parliament and below the forecasts of 32 to 37 in recent polls. Yesh Atid had been forecast to capture about a dozen seats but won 19, making it the second-largest in the legislature. Addressing his supporters early Wednesday, when an earlier vote count gave his bloc a shaky, one-seat parliamentary margin, Netanyahu vowed to form as broad a coalition as possible. He said the next government would be built on principles that include reforming the contentious system of granting draft exemptions to ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and the "responsible" pursuit of a "genuine peace" with the Palestinians. He did not elaborate, but the message seemed aimed at Lapid. Netanyahu called Lapid early Wednesday and offered to work together. "We have the opportunity to do great things together," Likud quoted the prime minister as saying. Lapid also called for the formation of a broad government. "I call on the leaders of the political establishment to work with me together, to the best of their ability to form as broad a government as possible that will contain moderate forces from the left and right, the right and the left, so that we will truly be able to bring about real change," he told supporters after initial results were in early Wednesday. The goal of a broad coalition will not be an easy one, however, and will force Netanyahu to make some difficult decisions. In an interview last week with The Associated Press, Lapid said he would not be a "fig leaf" for a hard-line agenda on peacemaking. A leading party member, Yaakov Peri, said Wednesday that Yesh Atid will not join unless the government pledges to begin drafting the ultra-Orthodox into the military, lowers the country's high cost of living and returns to peace talks. "We have red lines. We won't cross those red lines, even if it will cost us sitting in the opposition," Peri told Channel 2 TV. That stance could force Netanyahu to promise overtures _ perhaps far more sweeping than he imagined _ to get peace negotiations moving again. But a harder line taken by traditional and future hawkish allies could present formidable obstacles to coalition building. Experience also shows that promises made during coalition negotiations do not always pan out. Centrist parties have been drawn before into coalitions dominated by hawks, only to bolt later in frustration over impasses in peacemaking. Yesh Atid has not yet spelled out specific conditions it would set down on this issue. The election results surprised Israelis, given the steady stream of recent opinion polls forecasting a more solid hard-line majority and a weaker showing by centrists. Netanyahu may have suffered because of his close ties to the ultra-Orthodox and perhaps from complacency. Many voters chose smaller parties, believing a Netanyahu victory was assured. Pollster Mina Zemah said support surged for Lapid in the last few days of the campaign, and he drew about 50 percent of his support from the right. Lapid said the election outcome reflected a longing for unity in a country bedeviled by schisms. "That is the message that the results of the elections have sent us," he told cheering supporters. "The citizens of Israel today said no to politics of fear and hatred. They said no to the possibility that we might splinter off into sectors, and groups and tribes and narrow interest groups. They said no to extremists, and they said no to anti-democratic behavior." Tensions with the United States, Israel's most important ally, also may have factored into the shift to Lapid. President Barack Obama was quoted last week as saying that Netanyahu was undermining Israel's own interests by continuing to build Jewish settlements on occupied lands the Palestinians want for a future state. Netanyahu has won praise at home for drawing the world's attention to Iran's suspect nuclear program and for keeping the economy on solid ground at a time of global turmoil. In his speech, Netanyahu said preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons would remain his top priority. But he has repeatedly clashed with allies over his handling of the peace process, which has stalled over the issue of Israel construction in Jewish settlements in the war-won West Bank and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians want Netanyahu to halt all settlement construction, but he says talks must start without preconditions and notes a 10-month slowdown he imposed earlier in his term did not encourage meaningful negotiations. On Wednesday, the Obama administration said the U.S. approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would not change, regardless of the Israeli election results. "We will continue to make clear that only through direct negotiations can the Palestinians and the Israelis ... achieve the peace they both deserve," said White House spokesman Jay Carney. Netanyahu himself has only grudgingly voiced conditional support for a Palestinian state, and his own party is dominated by hard-liners who oppose even that. A likely future coalition partner, the pro-settler Jewish Home party, which won 11 seats, goes so far to call for the annexation of 60 percent of the West Bank. While Lapid advocates a softer line toward the Palestinians, his campaign focused on economic issues and it remains unclear how hard he will press Netanyahu on the issue. Lapid's positions also fall short of Palestinian demands. Most critically, he opposes any division of Jerusalem. The Palestinians seek the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, for a future state. The Palestinians viewed the election results grimly. "If he brings Lapid into his government, this would improve the image of the Netanyahu government in the eyes of the world. But it won't make him stop building settlements, particularly in east Jerusalem," said Mohammed Ishtayeh, a senior adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas. ||||| Israel’s doves may have lost and Netanyahu will remain prime minister, but it isn’t all bad news for Obama—Bibi’s weaker. The power has shifted toward America, writes Peter Beinart. When most Americans hear the results of yesterday’s Israeli elections, they’ll be confused. When Barack Obama hears them, however, he should feel at least a little hope. Israeli Prime Minister and the leader of Likud Benjamin Netanyahu (right) greets supporters as the leader of Yisrael Beiteinu Avigdor Lieberman (left) stands beside him in Tel Aviv, Jan. 22, 2013. (Yin Dongxun/Xinhua, via Landov) It’s not because doves won. They didn’t. Yes, Israel’s furthest left Jewish party, Meretz, looks set to double its seats from 3 to 6. But Naftali Bennett’s pro-settler Jewish Home jumped from 3 to 11. Tzipi Livni, the major candidate most passionate about creating a Palestinian state—and the woman whose party in 2009 bested Likud by one seat—is now a virtual afterthought. The Labor Party almost doubled its seats by focusing on economic equality and ignoring the peace process. Yair Lapid, Israel’s new political star—whose party unexpectedly came in second—also focused on domestic issues. And when Lapid did talk about the Palestinians, what he said was better than Netanyahu, but hardly inspiring. Oh yes, and Netanyahu is almost certain to remain prime minister. Yesterday’s election, in other words, crystallized a trend that’s been building for several years. Partly because of Israeli despair over the Palestinians’ willingness to make peace, and partly because of the Palestinian security cooperation that has helped curb terrorism from the West Bank, many Israelis have turned inward and begun acting politically as if the Palestinians don’t exist. In fact, they acted in this campaign as if Iran barely exists either. But for Obama, what offers reason for hope is this: Netanyahu is weaker. As he tries to assemble a government in the coming weeks, the Israeli leader faces two unappetizing options. The first is a small coalition dominated by right-wing and religious parties. If he goes this route, his government will be dominated by people who want to murder the two-state solution and hold a party to stomp on its grave. Netanyahu will have to spend much of his time trying to prevent Naftali Bennett and his far-right Jewish Home Party from making good on their promise to annex most of the West Bank, a position that many of the Likud candidates elected alongside Netanyahu share. Such a government would be so unpopular across the world, and even in much of the American Jewish community, that Obama would find it easier to publicly express his displeasure. And such a small coalition, facing so much global disdain, would find it hard to survive for long. Conversely, and more probably, Netanyahu could form a larger coalition including Yair Lapid’s centrist Yesh Atid and maybe Livni’s Hatnua. But then he would be at the mercy of a man, Lapid, who clearly sees himself as Netanyahu’s successor. Given Netanyahu’s weakened state, it’s easy to imagine Lapid looking for a popular issue—military service for the ultra-Orthodox, for instance—on which to pick a fight with Bibi, exit the government and ask Israelis to elect him prime minister instead. In Michael Koplow’s words, “Whichever path Netanyahu ultimately chooses, he is going to be facing another round of elections sooner rather than later.” Yair Lapid, chairman of Yesh Atid party, gives a speech during the celebration of their suggested 19 mandates, Jan. 22, 2013, in Tel Aviv. (Ilia Yefimovich/Getty) Netanyahu’s weakness also means he’ll be less able to fend Obama off if the White House unveils a peace initiative. A weaker Israeli government does Obama little good right away. For the past four years, Israel has boasted a prime minister strong enough to move boldly toward a two-state deal, but uninterested in doing so. Now it has a prime minister who lacks not only the ideological desire, but perhaps also the political strength. But Netanyahu’s weakness also means he’ll be less able to fend Obama off if the White House unveils a peace initiative. To the contrary, the more actively engaged Obama’s new foreign-policy team becomes on the Palestinian issue, the shorter Netanyahu’s political life span will be. Right-leaning commentators sometimes claim that public disagreements between America and Israel stiffen Israeli spines and push them to the right. But in truth, such intervention helped topple Yitzhak Shamir in 1992 and Netanyahu himself in 1999. And while it’s unlikely it was the key factor, Obama’s recent dissing of Netanyahu probably played some role in his last-minute drop in support. ||||| The aftermath of Tuesday's elections found most party leaders uncertain about their role in the next coalition. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may well be the one tasked with forming the next government but Yair Lapid's amazing achievement is set to complicate matters for the veteran politician. The Yesh Atid chairman has in fact managed to set the agenda for the next government – a demand for equal share of the burden. Related stories: One of Netanyahu's possible partners is Habayit Hayehudi chairman Naftali Bennett whose party won 11 Knesset seats. "There is a real chance to form a government that will work towards true equal share of the burden," he told Ynet on Wednesday morning. "I'm thrilled we have a historic chance to look out for the middle class. We're only at the beginning of the road. " Final tally Commenting on Lapid's achievement, Bennett said, "The public went for something new, both Yair Lapid and us are new. The public is now waiting to see the results and our commitment is to restore the economy and take care of equal share of the burden." The Habayit Hayehudi chairman expressed satisfaction at his party's performance noting "a 400% increase" in Knesset seats. "I am very happy with the growth of religious Zionism," he declared. Bennett was not the only one to mention the issue of equal share of the burden. Sources at Tzipi Livni's Hatnua, which won a disappointing six mandates, said that the issue of participation in the army will be one of the party's terms to joining the coalition. Lapid. Set the agenda (Photo: Yariv Katz) "It's safe to say that she's done with sitting in the opposition but it won’t be at any cost. A government with Livni in it will have more legitimacy, longevity and stability," one source said. Asked about their poor performance in the elections, the source said that Lapid had gained votes by refusing to join a united centrist bloc. "We were the target of fierce attacks from all parties. In any case, Lapid would also benefit from joining the government together with Livni." Bennett. Optimistic (Photo: Ido Erez) Indeed the big winner of the elections was the Yesh Atid chairman. Sources at the party, who are still celebrating their massive success at the polls, stressed Yesh Atid is not locked into the coalition just yet. "There's a sense of satisfaction but also of great responsibility," said Yaakov Peri , no. 5 on Lapid's list. "We made a promise and we intend to meet our commitment to the voters." Peri said the party is not concerned with trading seats and portfolios. "We have a platform which we've worked on for more than a year and it highlights the issue of equal share of the burden, the cost of living and housing." Commenting on Lapid's conversation with Netanyahu immediately after the results came in, he said: "It would be a mistake to think that we're already locked into the coalition. What will guide us are our promises to the voters, nothing else. We would like to raise the issue of the middle class." Livni. Tired of opposition? (Photo: Eran Cohen) Meanwhile, the Likud-Beiteinu are still trying to make sense of their failure having lost 11 seats. Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman posted a message on his Facebook page which read, "We'll form the next government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu." "We shall continue to lead Israel with responsibility and security. The elections force the next government to focus on internal matters, and mainly equal share of the burden, changing the form of government and affordable housing. On the diplomatic level, if the Palestinians show they are willing to meet and restart negotiations we would be happy to meet with them, with no preconditions." Yachimovich. Bitter disappointment (Photo: Ido Erez) Both the Likud and the Labor were disappointed with their results. Led by Shelly Yachimovich, the Labor party won only 15 Knesset seats. MK Eitan Cabel expressed his bitter disappointment in Ynet's studio on Wednesday morning. "I feel real pain," he said but added he does not expect Yachimovich to resign. "We shall convene and decide where to go next." Naama Cohen Friedman contributed to this report Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter ||||| Coalition talks have begun in Israel after near-complete general election results gave right-wing and centre-left blocs 60 seats each in parliament. President Shimon Peres is expected to ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attempt to form a new government. His Likud-Beitenu alliance lost a quarter of its seats in the Knesset but remains the largest grouping with 31. He has offered to work with the newly-formed Yesh Atid party, which shocked observers by coming second with 19. However, its leader, popular former TV presenter Yair Lapid, has demanded reform of a law under which ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students can defer their military service. Religious parties in the current governing coalition are strongly opposed to any changes. Mr Lapid has also said he would only join a government that was committed to reviving the peace process with the Palestinians. "Whoever wants Yesh Atid in the coalition will need to bring these things," Ofer Shelah, a senior member of the party, told Israeli Army Radio. Ultra-Orthodox privileges On Wednesday morning, Israeli media reported that with 99.8% of votes counted, the joint electoral list of Mr Netanyahu's Likud party and the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu (Israel is our Home) party of his former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had won 31 seats. That would be 11 seats fewer than the two parties' combined total from the last election. The ultra-nationalist Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home), which rejects the notion of an independent Palestinian state, won 11 seats, as did the ultra-Orthodox religious Shas party. The smaller ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party won seven, bringing the right-wing bloc's total to 60 of the 120 seats in the Knesset. Yesh Atid (There is a Future), a secular centrist party which was only set up by Mr Lapid last year, had been expected by pollsters to win about 12 seats, but is set to get 19, just ahead of the Labour party with 15. The centrist Hatnua (The Movement) grouping of former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni won six seats, as did the left-wing Meretz party. Kadima, which was the largest party in the last parliament, got just two. The remaining 12 of the left-wing bloc's 60 seats went to Arab Israeli parties, but they are traditionally neither asked nor seek to join governing coalitions. The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Tel Aviv says coalition building in these circumstances will not be easy for Mr Netanyahu. 'Five principles' Addressing Likud supporters after preliminary results gave the right-wing bloc a one-seat parliamentary majority, Mr Netanyahu promised to form as "as broad a government as possible". "It is an opportunity to make changes that the citizens of Israel wish upon themselves and that will serve all the citizens of Israel," he said. Yair Lapid Yair Lapid, the leader of Yesh Atid, claims to represent the secular centre in Israel Former TV news anchor whose journalist father headed now defunct Shinui Party Founded Yesh Atid in 2012 Secular centrist who says Orthodox Jews should share the social burden Backs two-state solution through negotiations and retention of main Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank; opposes division of Jerusalem Profile: Yair Lapid Israeli TV star new political force Mr Netanyahu added: "The new government will be based on five principles: The first is security. We will meet the security threats Israel faces, first and foremost is stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. "The second principle is fiscal responsibility... The third is political responsibility - we will strive to achieve true peace. The fourth is ensuring the equal distribution of burden in society; and the fifth is cutting the cost of living and housing prices." The third and fourth commitments appeared to be an appeal to Mr Lapid, who the prime minister also telephoned overnight. Mr Netanyahu was quoted by Likud as telling him: "We have the opportunity to do great things together." Mr Lapid meanwhile told his supporters that Israel needed a government that would "bring about real change". He acknowledged that a "heavy responsibility has been placed upon our shoulders." Labour party leader Shelly Yachimovich meanwhile said she had also initiated contacts aimed at forming a centre-left governing coalition. "We have an opportunity here that we cannot miss to liberate the citizens of Israel from the abuse of the Netanyahu government. Since the fate of Israeli society is hanging in the balance, we must act quickly, discreetly and seriously," she added. The leader of the largest party is usually asked by the president to form a government once the election commission submits the official results, which is expected to happen next Wednesday. They will be given 28 days to do so, although this can be extended by a further 14 days. A senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said the election result was unlikely to produce an Israeli government more committed to negotiating a permanent peace agreement. "I don't see a peace coalition or a peace camp emerging now and revitalising itself," Hanan Ashrawi told reporters in Ramallah. ||||| By JPOST.COM STAFF PM delivers victory speech, saying "tomorrow we start anew," promising broadest coalition possible with a strong government to tackle the Iranian nuclear threat and focus on domestic, economic issues. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu delivers victory speech, January 22, 2013. Photo: Marc Israel Sellem Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that he sees many partners to share his goals with him, as he delivered a speech following the release of exit polls on Tuesday night. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid spoke simultaneously, causing Israeli news channels to broadcast both speeches through a split screen. Speaking on stage at a small Likud rally in Tel Aviv, the prime minister delivered his victory speech, announcing: "Together we will succeed." "I see many partners for my goals," the prime minister said. "We must form the broadest coalition possible. I started working on this tonight," he promised. During the speech, Netanyahu emphasized his five priorities. Topping the list was tackling the Iranian nuclear threat, but the prime minister promised to also focus on domestic and economic issues. Responsible economic policies came second on his list, and seeking a "responsible peace" followed in third. Netanyahu said his fourth priority was to equalize army and national service for Israeli citizens. Fifth, the prime minister said, was to lower the cost of living and ease the financial burden on middle classes. The prime minister thanked his supporters, saying he is "proud to be your prime minister." "I thank you that giving me another chance, for the third time, to lead the State of Israel. It's a great privilege and a great responsibility," he said. He added that the voting process showcased "exemplary democracy." Netanyahu thanked his former foreign minister and Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman, who took to the stage briefly to thank his supporters. "I'm happy that our two main missions were achieved. We have ensured a continuity in the rule of the national camp and the continued leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu," Liberman said. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid on Wednesday night also responded to the announcement of the exit polls, saying that a "heavy responsibility has been placed upon our shoulders." Speaking at a Yesh Atid supporters rally that was broadcast at the same time as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech, Lapid said: "No matter where you go, don't be like those who, the moment they are elected, forget. I have just been elected, and I will not forget." Echoing Netanyahu, the Yesh Atid leader called on parties to put divisions of the campaign behind them and work for a wide government. Yesh Atid is set to be the second-largest party in the Knesset with an estimated 18-19 seats according to exit polls. ||||| RAMAT GAN, Israel — With his good looks and suave manner, Yair Lapid had long been a celebrity and symbol of success here, building a strong following as a prominent journalist and the host of a popular television show. But by the time the polls closed here Tuesday, it was clear that Mr. Lapid had reinvented himself as one of the most powerful political leaders in the country, leveraging his celebrity and a populist message that resonated. Mr. Lapid, 49, was the surprise of the Israeli election. His party placed second, when polls said it would come in fourth. He had predicted that he would do better with his outreach to the middle class and his emphasis on social justice and the rising inequalities in society. He was right. His centrist Yesh Atid Party won 19 seats in the 120-seat Parliament, according to preliminary results, positioning Mr. Lapid as the chief power broker in the formation of the next governing coalition. Mr. Lapid’s stronghold seems to have been the Tel Aviv area, with preliminary results showing he garnered about a quarter of the votes cast here in Ramat Gan and similar suburbs of Israel’s largely secular metropolis. Though little known abroad, for many here, in this generation, Mr. Lapid became the quintessential Israeli. His father was a Holocaust survivor who went on to serve as justice minister. His mother is a well-known novelist. A year ago, when Mr. Lapid decided to quit television and enter politics, he set himself the mission of representing the country’s struggling middle class, a long-neglected constituency. He presented a common appeal, refreshing for an Israeli politician. As the author of a widely read column in the weekend supplement of the newspaper Yediot Aharonot, he wrote a column under a title that became his catchphrase: “Where’s the money?” He wrote: “This is the big question asked by Israel’s middle class, the same sector on whose behalf I am going into politics. Where’s the money? Why is it that the productive sector, which pays taxes, fulfills its obligations, performs reserve duty and carries the entire country on its back, doesn’t see the money?” Mr. Lapid harnessed the frustration of hundreds of thousands of Israelis who took to the streets in the social-justice protests of the summer of 2011. When he founded Yesh Atid (There Is a Future) the next spring, he adopted and sharpened the popular demands for a more equal sharing of the burden, meaning an end to automatic military exemptions for thousands of ultra-Orthodox students who opt for full-time Torah study, as well as demands for better public education and an end to rising taxes that choke the middle class. At times, when his supporters showed up at the rallies clad in Yesh Atid T-shirts and holding banners, Mr. Lapid was accused of trying to hijack the protests that grew up spontaneously from the grass-roots of society. But when the polls indicated that Yesh Atid would garner about a dozen seats in the next Parliament, Mr. Lapid insisted that it would win 20 or more and that he could best translate the simmering anger of working, middle Israel into political power. On the peace process with the Palestinians, Mr. Lapid has also stuck to the middle ground, presenting safe positions within the consensus: he says that he favors negotiations for a Palestinian state while retaining the large West Bank settlement blocs under Israeli control, and he opposes any division of Jerusalem. And while his father was known for staunch secularism — his politics based on an abrasive, antireligious platform — Mr. Lapid is more diverse and inclusive. Among Yesh Atid’s top members are Shai Piron, a modern Orthodox rabbi and educator; Yaakov Perry, a former chief of Israel’s internal security service; Yael Garman, the mayor of Herzliya; Ofer Shelah, a former journalist; Mickey Levy, a former Jerusalem police chief; and Dov Lipman, an American-born ultra-Orthodox rabbi who has worked to ease tensions between divided sectors of Israeli society. After the preliminary election results Tuesday night, Mr. Lipman, speaking at Mr. Lapid’s event in Tel Aviv, said that he had joined Yesh Atid because he believed in the party. “I hope to change things for the better,” he said. “For 30 years this country has been about left versus right. Now we want to change things on the inside: national service, education, housing, a middle class that cannot finish the month.” Mr. Lapid, a married father of three, is an amateur boxer and is known for his casual chic black clothing. Born in Tel Aviv to Yosef Lapid, known as Tommy, a Holocaust survivor of Hungarian descent who came to Israel in 1948, and Shulamit Lapid, a well-known author, he began his career as a print journalist. He then became a popular talk show host and anchored Channel 2’s Friday evening news. After his father died in 2008, at 77, Mr. Lapid wrote “Memories After My Death,” the story of his father’s life from his days in the ghetto of Budapest through to his period as minister of justice in Ariel Sharon’s government. On Tuesday, Channel 2 aired a pretaped interview with Mr. Lapid. Speaking of his father, Mr. Lapid said, “Four days before he died he told me — and he was a dramatic man, he loved great dramatic gestures — he said to me, ‘Yairi, I am leaving for you a family and a state.’ ” In another telling exchange a few years ago, when Mr. Lapid interviewed his father on television, he asked a question he asked of all his interviewees: “What is Israeli in your view?” His father replied, “You.”

– Contrary to predictions, Israel's parliamentary election appears to have ended in what the AP calls a "stunning deadlock," with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition and the center-left bloc tied at 60 seats apiece with nearly all the votes in. Netanyahu is now scrambling to keep his job, but that will require winning the support of the newly-formed secularist Yesh Atid party, which defied predictions with its second-place finish. Yesh Atid demands to resume Palestinian peace talks and end military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox seminary students, a change strongly opposed by the religious parties in Netanyahu's coalition, the BBC reports. President Shimon Peres is expected to give Netanyahu the first shot at forming a new government. Netanyahu seems to be betting he'll succeed; he gave a victory speech last night in which he thanked Israel for "giving me another chance" to be prime minister, the Jerusalem Post reports. "We must form the broadest coalition possible," he said. "I started working on this tonight." But Yesh Atid seems to have set the agenda for the new government, having firmly moved its "equal share of the burden" policy front and center, YNet News reports. The New York Times has a full profile on Yesh Atid's founder, charismatic journalist Yair Lapid. Though little known in the US, Lapid is a celebrity in Israel. He built his platform around the middle class, building off 2011 populist social justice protests. The results represent a rebuke for Netanyahu, and that's a good thing for President Obama, observes Peter Beinart at the Daily Beast. Bibi will either have a small, unpopular coalition without Lapid, or a quarrelsome one with him.

The latest poll in the New York governor's race shows Democrat Andrew Cuomo with a 25-point lead over tea party Republican Carl Paladino. The Siena College poll released Sunday shows Cuomo with a 58 percent to 33 percent lead among likely voters just days before Tuesday's election. The margin is similar to large leads found in other polls favoring the son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo over the millionaire Buffalo developer. Siena's Steven Greenberg calls Cuomo's advantage seemingly invincible and overwhelming. Cuomo is shown beating Paladino in every region. Among likely upstate voters, Cuomo has a 47 percent to 41 percent lead. The poll questioned 603 likely voters Wednesday through Saturday. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 points. ___ Online: http://www.Siena.edu/SRI/SNY ||||| (Reuters) - Republicans appear headed for big gains in state governors' races on Tuesday, dealing President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats a blow that could echo through next year's once-a-decade redrawing of congressional district boundaries and the 2012 U.S. presidential race. Republicans are expected to win a majority of the governorships at stake in 37 of the 50 U.S. states. Democrats, battling a difficult political climate and historic voting patterns that inflict losses on the party in the White House, hope to capture Republican-held governorships in big battlegrounds like California, Florida and perhaps even Texas. Here is a look at some of the top governors' races. CALIFORNIA - Democrat Jerry Brown, a former governor and a state political fixture for decades, has solidified his lead in polls over Republican Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, in the race to replace Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. At their final debate this week, Brown agreed to take down his negative attack ads if Whitman would do the same -- but she declined, perhaps realizing she needs them to climb back in the race. FLORIDA - Wealthy conservative Rick Scott has poured his own money into a tight race with Democrat Alex Sink. Scott has had to answer questions about his leadership of Columbia/HCA, a hospital chain that paid $1.7 billion in fines to settle the largest Medicare fraud case in U.S. history. Scott has branded Sink an Obama liberal who oversaw huge losses in Florida's pension fund as the state's chief financial officer. Sink has been on the defensive over accusations she "cheated" during their debate this week by looking at a text message from a staffer during a break. OHIO - Democratic incumbent Ted Strickland has closed the gap in polls but still slightly trails Republican John Kasich, a former U.S. congressman. Strickland has slammed Kasich for his work on Wall Street and accuses him of supporting policies that would shift U.S. jobs overseas. Kasich has attacked Strickland's stewardship of Ohio's struggling state economy. TEXAS - Incumbent Republican Rick Perry has opened a solid lead on Democrat Bill White in a heavily Republican state that will play a key role in the redrawing of congressional district boundaries that begins next year. Texas is projected to gain four congressional seats in redistricting, the most in the country and a potential windfall for the party that controls the process. Perry, who is seeking his fourth term, has refused to debate White and allied himself with the conservative Tea Party movement to escape the national anti-incumbent mood. ILLINOIS - Democrat Pat Quinn, who took over when former Governor Rod Blagojevich was removed from office, has struggled to overcome the state's ailing economy and the stain left by his predecessor. Republican Bill Brady has led polls in the heavily Democratic state although Quinn has made recent gains. The two candidates meet in their final debate in Chicago on Thursday night. RHODE ISLAND - Former Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee, making an independent bid for governor in perhaps the most heavily Democratic state in the nation, is in a tight four-way race. The campaign drew national attention this week when Obama refused to endorse Democrat Frank Caprio, who responded by saying Obama could take the endorsement and "shove it." Obama and Chafee, who backed Obama in 2008, are former Senate colleagues. (Reporting by John Whitesides; Editing by Anthony Boadle) ||||| Latest Polls Governor's Elections Likely that Republicans will gain at least 6 Governorships dem Total Seats 16 7 No Race 2 Strong 7 Lean 4 Toss Up 1 Other 6 No Race 13 Strong 10 Lean rep Total Seats 29 < Hover map for more details on active races

– Governor’s seats are up for grabs in 37 states today, and Republicans look poised to win loads of them—which could have a profound impact when it comes time to redraw district lines. This Huffington Post tally shows 29 seats held by or leaning toward Republicans, to 16 for Democrats. And Reuters breaks down the key races thusly: California: Jerry Brown has pulled decisively ahead of Meg Whitman, thanks in part to this incident. (Check out our full grid on the race here.) Florida: When Democrat Alex Sink was running the state pension fund, it took huge losses. When conservative Rick Scott was running the Columbia/HCA hospital chain, it was embroiled in the largest Medicare fraud case in history. The result: Tie game! Ohio: Ex-congressman John Kasich is still favored to oust incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland, but Strickland has been gaining ground quickly, bashing Kasich for his work on Wall Street. Texas: Rick Perry has such a solid lead, that he's refused to debate his opponent at all. The results could be huge, because Texas will gain four seats in redistricting, the most of any state. Illinois: Obama’s home state tends to go blue, but Republican Bill Brady has Pat Quinn on the ropes. Maybe Quinn needed more ads like this one. Or the opposite of that. Rhode Island: A chaotic four-way race, which grabbed the national spotlight when Obama refused to endorse Democrat Frank Caprio—who told Obama he could "take his endorsement and really shove it”—out of loyalty to ex-Republican Lincoln Chafee. New York: Carl Paladino has generated headlines. Oh so many headlines. But not support; Andrew Cuomo had a 25-point lead in the most recent poll.

A former bassist of the punk group the Ataris was arrested in late December for his role in a $27 million real estate scam. Related The 50 Greatest Pop-Punk Albums From Blink-182 to the Buzzcocks, we count down the best of punk's most lovable, lovelorn offshoot News of Michael Davenport's arrest spread this week ahead of the bassist's scheduled court date Wednesday. Davenport and his partner Cynthia Rawlinson were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud, the Santa Barbara Independent reports. If convicted, Davenport faces 30 years in prison. The grand jury charges – filed at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in December – accuse Davenport and his telemarketing firm American Standard of victimizing "over 100,000 people" and defrauding "these individuals out of more than $27,000,000" from 2009 to 2016. The charges allege that Davenport, who served as bassist in the Ataris from 1995 to 2004 before co-founding the group Versus the World, oversaw a scheme that offered customers "access to American Standard's list of houses that were in pre-foreclosure or financial distress" for $199. However, the listings were allegedly "false and misleading" and often "fictional and/or no houses existed at the locations indicated." When the customer attempted to have their money refunded, American Standard made it so that it was "virtually impossible to satisfy" requests for refunds. "For example, American Standard required customers to mail in letters, signed by the owners of five of the houses on the listing, stating that the customers had viewed their houses," the suit claims. "These letters were very difficult to obtain from homeowners who had not placed their houses on American Standard's list and were not interested in selling their homes. These letters were impossible to obtain when the addresses on the list did not exist." Additionally, when customers complained to their credit card companies, American Standard similarly fought against the "charge-backs." According to the Santa Barbara Independent, the FBI raided American Standard's offices – a Lompoc call center and three Santa Barbara locations – in October 2016 following hundreds of complaints against the company. The grand jury adds that American Standard had allegedly fleeced victims in all 50 states. $104,000 was seized at the time of Davenport's arrest at a Little Rock, Arkansas airport in December 2017. His personal bank account yielded another $850,000. Attempts to reach Davenport were unsuccessful. Davenport, a Santa Barbara-area resident at the time of his arrest, served as bassist for the Ataris for nearly a decade. He performed on the band's biggest hit, a punk rendition of Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer," as well as the 1999 album Blue Skies, Broken Hearts ... Next 12 Exits, one of Rolling Stone's 50 Greatest Pop-Punk Albums. ||||| Michael Davenport, a Santa Barbara resident and former bassist for the punk rock band The Ataris, was indicted last month on federal conspiracy and fraud charges for allegedly operating a nationwide telemarketing real estate scam that cheated approximately 100,000 people out of $27 million between 2009 and 2016. Davenport, 49, and fellow Santa Barbara resident Cynthia Rawlinson, 51, were both charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud, and one count of mail fraud. They each face more than 30 years in prison. Federal officials said the case is part of an ongoing investigation headed by the St. Louis Field Office of the Chicago Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service. At least 104 victims live in southern Illinois, near where The Ataris formed. Santa Barbara District Attorney Joyce Dudley and the Santa Maria Office of the FBI provided additional evidence in the case, authorities said. According to the indictment, Davenport and Rawlinson operated a Santa Barbara-based telemarketing business that went by various names, most commonly American Standard. The company placed ads on Craigslist that purported to show “pre-foreclosure” houses for sale at below-market prices. When individuals responding to the ads called American Standard, salespersons told they them they needed to pay a $199 fee to access the complete property information. “The salespersons also said … that the customers could purchase the houses by simply taking over the homeowners’ mortgage payments, and the deeds to these homes would then be transferred into the customers’ names,” the indictment reads. Prosecutors allege that after victims paid the $199 fee, they would learn the houses on American Standard’s list were either not for sale, or no homes existed at the addresses provided. When they asked for their money back, the victims were told by American Standard they would need to wait 90 days and then mail a refund request along with five copies of letters from property owners proving the homes were in fact not correctly listed. Even then, refunds were not provided. The indictment states Davenport was the owner of American Standard and oversaw operations. Rawlinson reportedly started at the company as a salesperson, but was eventually promoted to sales manager for its Santa Barbara office at 401 North Milpas Street. American Standard also ran a call center in Lompoc. Both locations were raided by FBI agents in October 2016. More than $104,000 in cash was seized from Davenport when he was arrested last month at the Bill and Hillary Clinton Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas. Another $850,000 in his personal bank accounts is in the process of being seized. Both Davenport and Rawlinson are scheduled to be arraigned on January 17 at the federal courthouse in St. Louis. Davenport left The Ataris in 2005 and rejoined the band for a reunion tour in 2013 and 2014. Their fourth studio album, So Long, Astoria, released in March 2003, peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard 200 chart. Davenport now plays in the band Versus the World.

– From hundreds of thousands of fans to 100,000 victims. The Santa Barbara Independent reports a pop-punk bassist is facing fraud charges and more than 30 years in prison over an alleged real estate scam. Prosecutors say Michael Davenport of The Ataris defrauded approximately 100,000 people in all 50 states and Washington DC out of $27 million through a company he founded called American Standard, according to NPR. The alleged scam worked like this: American Standard would advertise homes for sale for below-market value, usually on Craigslist; interested customers were made to pay $199 for a "listing of houses"; victims would later find out the homes on the list were either not for sale or didn't exist. American Standard told customers they "could purchase the houses by simply taking over the homeowners' mortgage payments" and hired employees who "spent most of their time fielding phone calls from angry customers and homeowners," according to an indictment. Prosecutors say American Standard created impossible hoops to jump through if any customer demanded a refund. Davenport was arrested in December at the Bill and Hillary Clinton Airport in Arkansas with $104,000 in cash. He and American Standard salesperson Cynthia Rawlinson appeared in court Wednesday. They've been charged with wire fraud, mail fraud, and more. Davenport played with The Ataris from 1995 to 2004 and appeared with the band during a reunion tour in 2013, Rolling Stone reports. The band's 1999 album was named one of the 50 best pop-punk albums of all time by the magazine.

In this May 13, 2014 photo, Saira Blair, a 17-year-old student at Hedgesville High School, waves to motorists along Route 9 in Hedgesville, W. Va. After Tuesday’s GOP primary, the 17-year-old is one election... (Associated Press) In this May 13, 2014 photo, Saira Blair, a 17-year-old student at Hedgesville High School, waves to motorists along Route 9 in Hedgesville, W. Va. After Tuesday’s GOP primary, the 17-year-old is one election... (Associated Press) CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A week before her high school graduation, Saira Blair was barely old enough to vote when she unseated a West Virginia lawmaker almost four times her age. After Tuesday's GOP primary, the 17-year-old is one election away from becoming the youngest state lawmaker in West Virginia history. Larry Swan, sworn in as a 20-year-old delegate in 1972, set the current record. Blair's birthday is in July, so she would just meet the 18-year-old minimum age for West Virginia House of Delegates members. Seventeen-year-olds who will turn 18 by the November election can vote in West Virginia's primary. Soft-spoken and on-message, Blair is a churchgoer who says she is pro-life, pro-family, pro-gun rights and pro-business. She can rattle off a laundry list of businesses taxes she wants abolished or lowered. "People saw that you don't need to wait until you are 40, 50 or 60 to realize our conservative principles are beneficial to everyone," the Martinsburg teen said of her primary win. Blair also has family experience on her side. Her electrician father, Craig Blair, is a state senator who once held the House seat she is seeking. The teenager has more on her mind than stump speeches. She graduates from Hedgesville High School next Wednesday. Then she'll head to West Virginia University in the fall to pursue economics and Spanish degrees. She says finance is her field of choice. Blair will skip spring classes if she clinches the Eastern Panhandle seat, since lawmakers convene for business in Charleston from January to March. The two-year House gig pays a $20,000 annual salary, plus per diem. Only about 150 votes separated Blair from Republican Del. Larry Kump in the Eastern Panhandle primary, according to unofficial results. But midterm turnout was dismal: Only about 1,600 votes were cast in the 59th House District. Friends in her high school class of 400 helped wave signs at polling places. She rallied some to register to vote. Blair also spent $4,900 and had a $2,300 loan, compared to Kump's $1,840 in spending. "Quite frankly, she out-campaigned me," said Kump, 67, finishing his second House term. "It was a low voter turnout election and she won." Blair's conservative platform meshes with her Eastern Panhandle community, a GOP stronghold filled with Washington, D.C., commuters. Kump espoused his own brand of quirky conservatism. He sat in the Democratic House's back row with a yellow "Don't tread on me" flag on his desk. He occasionally tapped into his inner Dr. Seuss and delivered rhymes in opposition to bills he considered government intrusion. He also wanted the Eastern Panhandle to return to Virginia, which Blair opposed. Blair has attended GOP meetings with her dad since the sixth grade and volunteers with various groups. She skipped senior prom to participate in a Youth in Government meeting in Charleston. "She has never had a curfew or anything like that," Craig Blair said. "As long as you're performing to the best of your ability, I don't make rules for her." Blair's Democratic opponent, 44-year-old lawyer Layne Diehl, said that it's positive that the teen won the primary, despite their differing views. "She certainly has taken on this challenge and I think that she's up to it," Diehl said. ||||| Close Get email notifications on Matthew Umstead daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. Whenever Matthew Umstead posts new content, you'll get an email delivered to your inbox with a link. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

– Saira Blair can't legally vote yet, but she managed to rack up a sizable number of votes all the same. The West Virginia 17-year-old emerged victorious in the Republican primary over (two-term) incumbent state delegate Larry Kump, 872-728, on Tuesday. Among the very teenage elements to her campaign, per the Washington Post and the Herald-Mail: She freely gave out her cellphone number to voters and described the job as not "rocket science by any means." Blair, who is pro-gun rights, against abortion, and the daughter of a West Virginia state senator, also outspent the 67-year-old $4,800 to $1,800. She'll be up against Layne Diehl in November in her quest to win a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates. If she does so, she'll be the youngest state lawmaker in West Virginia history, reports the AP—and will have to skip the spring semester at West Virginia University, where she's headed in the fall to pursue economics and Spanish degrees. Lawmakers convene for business in Charleston from January to March, and the two-year House gig pays a $20,000 annual salary.

Just One More Thing... We have sent you a verification email. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your AJC.com profile. If you do not receive the verification message within a few minutes of signing up, please check your Spam or Junk folder. Close ||||| The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- A grand jury has indicted two nurses and an aide on numerous charges, including felony murder in one case, in the death of an elderly patient who slowly died in front of them. In November, the Brookhaven Police Department launched a criminal investigation into 89-year-old James Dempsey’s death after an 11Alive Investigation uncovered hidden camera video and court depositions of nursing home staff who responded to the World War II veteran. It happened at Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation in 2014. 11Alive obtained both videos in 2017 through public records requests after the family filed a lawsuit. The video showed Dempsey repeatedly calling out for help as he suffered in respiratory distress. After his calls, Dempsey became unresponsive. READ | Hidden camera tells true story of how veteran died after calling for help, gasping for air On Wednesday, charges were announced. Former nurse Loyce Pickquet Agyeman, of Snellville, Georgia is charged with felony murder and neglect to an elder person. Sign up for the daily Speed Feed Newsletter Sign up for the daily Speed Feed Newsletter Something went wrong. This email will be delivered to your inbox once a day in the morning. Thank you for signing up for the Speed Feed Newsletter. Please try again later. Submit PHOTOS: How a senior care facility failed Mr. Dempsey (story continues below) PHOTOS: How a senior care facility failed Mr. Dempsey Wanda Nuckles of Buford, also a former nurse, is charged with depriving an elder person of essential Services, while Mable Turman, a certified nurse assistant from College Park, is charged with neglect to an elder person. All three women were also indicted on a single count of concealing the death of another in the five-count indictment returned by grand jurors Tuesday afternoon. RELATED: 3 nursing staff were seen ignoring the veteran's cries. This is why one is charged with murder In the video deposition, Nuckles originally told Dempsey family attorney Mike Prieto that she rushed to Dempsey's room when a nurse told her that he had stopped breathing. Prieto: “From the time you came in, you took over doing chest compressions…correct?” Nuckles : “Yes.” Prieto: “Until the time paramedics arrive, you were giving CPR continuously?” Nuckles : “Yes.” The video, however, shows no one doing CPR when Nuckles entered the room. She also did not immediately start doing CPR. “Sir, that was an honest mistake,” said Nuckles in the deposition. “I was just basing everything on what I normally do.” The video shows the veteran calling for help six times before he goes unconscious while gasping for air. State records show nursing home staff found Dempsey unresponsive at 5:28 am. It took almost an hour for the staff to call 911 at 6:25a.m. ANOTHER INVESTIGATION: Army veteran freezes to death after being released from VA hospital When a different nurse does respond, she fails to check any of his vital signs. Nuckles says she would have reprimanded the nurse for the way she responded to Dempsey. She called the video “sick.” When nurses had difficulty getting Dempsey's oxygen machine operational during, you can hear Nuckles and others laughing. The nursing facility was made aware of the video in November 2015, but according to state inspection reports, the nursing home did not fire the nurses until 10 months later. According to the Georgia Board of Nursing, Nuckles and another nurse seen in the video surrendered their licenses in September 2017 – about three years after the incident. READ | Nursing assistant: We asked for more staff before WWII vet begged for help and died After the indictment, warrants were issued for the arrest of Agyeman, Nuckles and Turman. Weeks ago, Brookhaven Police Brandon Gurley said 11Alive’s story was key to re-opening the investigation. “It was very instrumental…because there was information in the news report that you guys aired that our detectives had not seen yet,” said Gurley. The case will be prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Elder Abuse and Exploitation Unit. A trial date has not been set. CHECK NURSING HOMES: Click here to see nursing home inspection reports Do you have a story you want to tell? Contact 11Alive Investigator Andy Pierotti. ||||| The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| An 11Alive investigation uncovered hidden camera video catching nursing home staff laughing while an elderly patient dies in front of them. The incident happened at the Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation in 2014, but the video was recently released as part of a lawsuit filed by the family. Attorneys representing the Atlanta nursing home tried to prevent 11Alive from obtaining the video. They asked a DeKalb County judge to keep the video sealed and then attempted to appeal to the Georgia State Supreme Court. The judge ruled in favor of 11Alive and the nursing home eventually dropped its appeal to the state's highest court. The video includes almost six hours of video court deposition from a nursing supervisor explaining how she responded to the patient before she knew the hidden camera video existed. The video shows a completely different response. The deceased patient is 89-year-old James Dempsey, a decorated World War II veteran from Woodstock, Georgia. In the video deposition, former nursing supervisor Wanda Nuckles tells the family's attorney, Mike Prieto, how she rushed to Dempsey's room when a nurse alerted her he had stopped breathing. Sign up for the daily Speed Feed Newsletter Sign up for the daily Speed Feed Newsletter Something went wrong. This email will be delivered to your inbox once a day in the morning. Thank you for signing up for the Speed Feed Newsletter. Please try again later. Submit Prieto: “From the time you came in, you took over doing chest compressions…correct?” Nuckles : “Yes.” Prieto: “Until the time paramedics arrive, you were giving CPR continuously?” Nuckles : “Yes.” The video, however, shows no one doing CPR when Nuckles entered the room. She also did not immediately start doing CPR. “Sir, that was an honest mistake,” said Nuckles in the deposition. “I was just basing everything on what I normally do.” Watch the extended deposition here where her story changes after watching the hidden video. The video shows the veteran calling for help six times before he goes unconscious while gasping for air. State records show nursing home staff found Dempsey unresponsive at 5:28 am. It took almost an hour for the staff to call 911 at 6:25a.m. When a different nurse does respond, she fails to check any of his vital signs. Nuckles says she would have reprimanded the nurse for the way she responded to Dempsey. She called the video “sick.” ►OTHER INVESTIGATIONS: Diagnosing Discrimination: Widespread discrimination uncovered at CDC When nurses had difficulty getting Dempsey's oxygen machine operational during, you can hear Nuckles and others laughing. Prieto: “Ma'am, was there something funny that was happening?” Nuckles : “I can't even remember all that as you can see.” (Story continues below photos) PHOTOS: How a senior care facility failed Mr. Dempsey 11Alive showed the video to Elaine Harris, a retired nursing professor and expert in adult critical care. “In 43 years in nursing, I have never seen such disregard for human life in a healthcare setting, is what I witnessed,” said Harris. Harris says she identified several violations of care in the video, including failure to respond, failure to assess and failure to act. ►OTHER INVESTIGATIONS: Drug Whisperer: Drivers arrested while stone cold sober In the video, nursing staff repeatedly start and stop doing CPR on Dempsey. Harris says once you start doing CPR, it should not be stopped until a doctor makes the decision not to resuscitate. “That is absolutely inappropriate. You never stop compressions,” said Harris. Dempsey's family declined to be interviewed due to a settlement agreement recently reached with the nursing home. The nursing home operators, owned by Sava Senior Care, declined interview requests. In a prepared statement, a spokesperson wrote they were “saddened by the events, which occurred more than three years ago.” The letter also notes it has “new leadership and the leadership team and the staff have worked very diligently to improve quality care and the quality of life for our residents….The facility recently was deficiency-free during our recent annual inspection conducted by the Georgia Department of Health on May 25, 2017.” ►OTHER INVESTIGATIONS: Selling Girls: Sex traffickers are targeting America's children The nursing facility was made aware of the video in November 2015, but according to state inspection reports, the nursing home did not fire the nurses until 10 months later. According to the Georgia Board of Nursing, Nuckles and another nurse seen in the video, surrendered their licenses in September – about three years after the incident. Nursing board president Janice Izlar says she cannot confirm when the state knew about the video, but the board's action came shortly after 11Alive sent her and other board staff a link to view the video. On average, it currently takes the nursing board 427 days to fully investigate a nursing complaint. Izlar says that's an improvement from about 2,000 days. “There is a lot of the process that we absolute do not have control over. For example, if we refer to a different division, a different agency, we have no absolutely no control over the timeline,” said Izlar. ►OTHER INVESTIGATIONS: The Hunt: Atlanta's Hidden Serial Killers ►AND: The Dumping Grounds: A trail of bodies hidden in plain sight State health inspection records show Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation continued to have a history of problems after Dempsey's death. Medicare records show the nursing home facility was cited at least two dozen times for serious health and safety violations, including “immediate jeopardy” levels, the worst violation. Medicare withdrew one payment and the facility has been fined $813,113 since 2015. While the facility recently received a good inspection this past May, it still has a one-star rating from Medicare, the lowest score the agency can give. The nursing facility remains open today. CHECK NURSING HOMES: Click here to see nursing home inspection reports Do you have a story you want to tell? Contact 11Alive Investigator Andy Pierotti. ||||| Multiple criminal charges, including murder, have been filed against the nurses linked to the death of 89-year-old World War II veteran James Dempsey. Loyce Pickquet Agyeman, a former licensed nurse practitioner, was indicted on Tuesday in Dekalb County, Georgia, for felony murder and neglect to an elder person, according to 11Alive. Wanda Nuckles, another former nurse practitioner, was charged with depriving an elder person of essential services, while nurse assistant Mable Turman faces a count of neglect to an elder person. The defendants each face a count of concealing the death of another. If their names aren’t familiar to you, video of the incident should be. Footage showed nurses apparently ignoring his cries for help, then laughing as Dempsey continued to die. Law&Crime editor-in-chief Rachel Stockman first covered the incident in 2015 as a reporter for Atlanta’s WSB-TV. In that story, Dempsey’s family said they installed a nanny cam in his room at Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation in 2014. They caught the patriarch’s final moments. As seen on footage, he repeatedly calls for help, only to largely be ignored. His family sued. Deposition video shows plaintiff attorney Mike Prieto pressing Nuckles, one of the nurses in the video. At first, she testified that she did chest compressions until more help arrived, but the lawyer played the video. “Contrary to the way you testified previously, there is no one doing CPR, is there,” he said. “No,” Nuckles said. Footage later showed apparent laughter in the room. “Ma’am, was there something funny that was happening at 6:30:41 on February 21, 2014 in the middle of this attempt to resuscitate Mr. Dempsey?” Prieto said. “I have no clue,” Nuckles said. “I can’t even remember all that, as you can see.” Dempsey’s family reached a settlement with the nursing home. [Screengrab via WSB-TV]

– Nurses fired after a video appeared to show them ignoring a World War II veteran's calls for help before his death at a Georgia nursing home are now facing criminal charges, including a murder charge in one case. A grand jury on Tuesday indicted former licensed nurse Loyce Pickquet Agyeman on charges of felony murder, neglect to an elder person, and concealing a death following a police investigation triggered by 11Alive's airing of hidden camera footage from inside Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation. It showed Agyeman, former licensed nurse Wanda Nuckles, and nursing assistant Mable Turman inside the room of 89-year-old James Dempsey, who fell unconscious and ultimately died on Feb 27, 2014, after repeatedly calling for help while struggling to breathe. The footage—from a camera set up by family members who reached a settlement with the nursing home, per Law & Crime—showed staff laughing as they tried to start an oxygen machine. It also conflicted with a video deposition in which Nuckles claimed she'd given Dempsey CPR continuously until paramedics arrived. Staff didn't call 911 for almost an hour, 11Alive previously reported. Also indicted Tuesday, Nuckles is charged with depriving an elder person of essential services and concealing a death, while Turman—who remains certified—is charged with neglect and concealing a death. Arrest warrants for all three have been issued, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, though it's not clear if they are yet in custody. A trial date is pending.

WASHINGTON—It's hard to picture someone mindlessly ingesting three McDonald's Quarter Pounders with 12 pats of butter while watching a movie. But according to new laboratory analyses commissioned by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, that food is nutritionally comparable to what you’d find in a medium popcorn and soda combo at Regal, the country’s biggest movie theater chain: 1,610 calories and three days’ worth—60 grams—of saturated fat. (Nutrition aside, that combo costs $12—for raw ingredients that must cost Regal pennies.) "Regal and AMC are our nominees for Best Supporting Actor in the Obesity Epidemic," said CSPI senior nutritionist Jayne Hurley. "Who expects about 1,500 calories and three days’ worth of heart-stopping fat in a popcorn and soda combo? That’s the saturated fat of a stick of butter and the calories of two sticks of butter. You might think you’re getting Bambi, but you’re really getting Godzilla." A medium combo at Regal has 1,610 calories and 60 grams of saturated fat. That's roughly the saturated fat of a stick of butter and the calories of two sticks of butter. Photo Credit: Stephen Schmidt Regal says that its medium popcorn has 720 calories and that its large has 960. But CSPI's lab tests found that those numbers were understated. Regal’s medium and large sizes each had 1,200 calories and, thanks to being popped in coconut oil, 60 grams of saturated fat. (The large size looks bigger, thanks to its titanic tub, but it costs a dollar more and comes with a free refill.) A "small" at Regal has 670 calories and 34 grams of saturated fat. That’s about as many calories as a Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pepperoni Pizza—except the popcorn has three times the saturated fat. Even shared with another person, that size provides nearly an entire day’s worth of the kind of fat that clogs arteries and promotes heart disease. And every tablespoon of "buttery" oil topping adds another 130 calories. Asking for topping is like asking for oil on French fries or potato chips, according to CSPI. AMC, the second largest theater chain, also pops in coconut oil but has smaller serving sizes. Its large popcorn has 1,030 calories and 57 grams of saturated fat. That's like eating a pound of baby back ribs topped with a scoop of Häagen-Dazs ice cream—except that the popcorn has an additional day’s worth of saturated fat. A medium has 590 calories and 33 grams of saturated fat; and a small has 370 calories and a day’s worth—20 grams—of saturated fat. (Like Regal, AMC reports calorie counts lower than those returned in CSPI's lab tests.) Third-largest Cinemark pops in heart-healthy canola oil. A large has 910 calories with 4 grams of saturated fat; a medium has 760 calories and 3 grams of saturated fat; and a small has 420 calories and 2 grams of saturated fat. Though popping in canola gives this chain’s popcorn far less saturated fat than its competitors, it's almost as high in calories and has the most sodium—about twice as much as Regal or AMC. With 1,500 milligrams of sodium—a day's worth of sodium for most people—a large popcorn without topping from Cinemark will be less likely to clog your arteries but more likely to elevate your blood pressure. And while Cinemark uses a "buttery" oil topping similar to the toppings used at Regal and AMC, at some outlets, particularly in the West, it uses a topping made with real butter. That version has 9 grams—half a day’s worth—of saturated fat per tablespoon. CSPI also took a look at the sodas and candies sold at the movies. A small non-diet soda ranges from 150 calories at Cinemark to 300 calories at Regal. Mediums have 300 calories at AMC and Cinemark and 400 calories at Regal. With 33 teaspoons of sugar in nearly 2 quarts—54 ounces—Regal has the most outsized large soda, with 500 empty calories. Eating an 8-ounce bag of Reese's Pieces is like eating a 16-ounce T-bone steak and a buttered baked potato. Photo Credit: Stephen Schmidt The oversized boxes and bags (four to five ounces) of candy sold at movie chains are universally high in calories. A 5-ounce bag of Twizzlers has 460 calories and 15 teaspoons of sugar. A 7-ounce box of Nerds has 790 calories and 46 teaspoons of sugar. Chocolate candies like Butterfinger Minis, Raisinets, Sno-Caps, or M&M's have between 400 and 500 calories and at least a half day’s worth of saturated fat. An 8-ounce bag of Reese's Pieces is just a cup of candy. But with 1,160 calories and 35 grams of saturated fat, it's like eating a 16-ounce T-bone steak plus a buttered baked potato. "Sitting through a two-hour movie isn't exactly like climbing Mt. Everest," Hurley said. "Why do theaters think they need to feed us like it is?" The study, published as the cover story in the December issue of Nutrition Action Healthletter, updates a famous exposé the group conducted 15 years ago. For Regal and AMC, CSPI tested samples from theaters in the Washington, D.C., area. For Cinemark, samples came from Texas, Illinois, and Maryland. ||||| A medium-sized popcorn and medium soda at the nation's largest movie chain pack the nutritional equivalent of three Quarter Pounders topped with 12 pats of butter, according to a report released today by the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest.The group's second look at movie theater concessions -- the last was 15 years ago -- found little had changed in a decade and a half, despite theaters' attempts to reformulate.CSPI bought multiple servings of popcorn from the three largest movie chains, Regal Entertainment Group, AMC and Cinemark, and had them analyzed in an independent lab.It found that a Regal medium popcorn -- 20 cups -- contains 1,200 calories, 60 grams of saturated fat, and 980 milligrams of sodium. That's without the buttery topping that can be drizzled -- or poured -- on the popcorn, which adds another 200 calories and 3 grams of saturated fat per 1.5 tablespoons.An AMC medium popcorn did better because of its smaller size -- nine cups -- at 590 calories and 33 grams of saturated fat, and a 14-cup Cinemark medium was 760 calories and just 3 grams of saturated fat (in both cases, before adding buttery topping).One problem is that Regal and AMC, the two largest chains, pop their popcorn in coconut oil, which is about 90% saturated fat, noted Jayne Hurley, senior nutritionist at Washington-based CSPI.Cinemark, the third-largest chain, now pops its corn in canola oil, which explains its much lower saturated fat levels."Cinemark gets a thumbs-up for switching," Hurley said.In two positive steps, trans fatty acids were not found in the samples, Hurley added, and theaters have stopped using hydrogenated oils in the butter-flavored toppings.The study, published in the December issue of CSPI's Nutrition Action HealthLetter, found that in several cases the theater company calorie counts were lower than the numbers revealed in the study.For example, Regal's figure of 720 calories for a medium popcorn was considerably lower than the one determined by CSPI. (The company declined to comment beyond a general statement.)Several chains either did not respond to requests for comment or said they would have no comment. Regal, in its statement, said that movie popcorn is not meant to be daily fare and that it acknowledges some of the food it sells is healthier than others."According to the most recent statistics from the Motion Picture Assn. of America, the average American attends six movies a year," Regal said. "Theater popcorn and movie snacks are viewed as a treat and not intended to be part of a regular diet."It's unclear if consumers would storm the concession stand for low-cal popcorn anyway. After the 1994 popcorn report, "many cinema operators responded by offering their patrons additional choices, such as air-popped popcorn," the National Assn. of Theatre Owners said in a statement."After very little time, movie patrons in droves made their voices heard -- they wanted the traditional popcorn back."

– Figure 1,600 calories, 60 grams of saturated fat, and 980 milligrams of sodium—that’s what you’re eating when you scarf down a medium helping of movie popcorn at the nation's biggest theater chain. Add a soda and it’s the equivalent of eating a pound of baby back ribs and a scoop of ice cream, or three Quarter Pounders with a stick and a half of butter, an analysis by a nutrition watchdog group says. In many cases, calorie counts are significantly higher than those posted in theaters. Regal, the No. 1 chain, and AMC cook their popcorn in coconut oil, which is 90% saturated fat, while Cinemark gets better grades—relatively speaking—for using canola oil, reports the LA Times.

As of Jan. 22, 2019 The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world’s richest people. Details about the calculations are provided in the net worth analysis on each billionaire’s profile page. The figures are updated at the close of every trading day in New York. ||||| Amazon said on Wednesday that it is shutting down Quidsi, one of its largest-ever acquisitions, which runs six shopping sites, including Diapers.com, Soap.com and Wag.com. The shutdown will result in layoffs of 263 people, according to a New Jersey state filing. But Bloomberg, which first reported the news, said some of these employees would be able to apply for new positions at Amazon. In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson blamed the shutdown on profitability issues. “We have worked extremely hard for the past seven years to get Quidsi to be profitable, and unfortunately we have not been able to do so,” the statement said. “Quidsi has great brand expertise and they will continue to offer selection on Amazon.com; the software development team will focus on building technology for AmazonFresh.” The spokesperson did not say when the sites are going offline. Amazon bought Quidsi almost six years ago to the day (not seven, like the statement says) in a deal valued at around $545 million — the company’s fourth-largest purchase as of now. The acquisition was the culmination of an intense price battle between the companies that were threatening to push Jersey City-based Quidsi out of business. Quidsi’s co-founder and then-CEO Marc Lore worked at Amazon for a few years following the deal, but it is an open secret in the industry that he did not enjoy his time there. He went on to launch an Amazon competitor, Jet.com, in 2015, which he sold last year to Walmart for $3.3 billion. Lore now runs all U.S. e-commerce operations for Walmart, Amazon’s biggest competitor stateside. Last week, he told me in an onstage interview at Code Commerce that his long-term goal for Walmart is to win the U.S. e-commerce battle. I asked him if that means being the No. 2 player behind Amazon, since the Seattle giant has such a huge lead. “Win means win,” Lore said. So is there a chance that Amazon’s decision was driven by more than what the public statement says — either some personal vendetta or some level of gamesmanship? That would seem like a long shot for such a data-focused company. But it has been easy to find people who know both companies well that won’t rule out the possibility. If you have more information about these changes, contact me at jason@recode.net or at 917 655 4267 on messaging services including Signal, Confide and WhatsApp. ||||| Photo: Getty Amazon founder Jeff Bezos just had one of those days that we all have from time to time. He officially became the second richest human on the planet, and he shut down a business that was founded by one of his bitter rivals. Bloomberg reports that Bezos’ personal fortune increased by a cool $1.5 billion today following a big jump in Amazon’s stock price. The $18.32 rise in the online retailer’s value was fueled by the announcement that it will acquire the Dubai-based Souq.com, a deal that Goldman Sachs called, “the biggest-ever technology M&A transaction in the Arab world.” From the report: Bezos has a net worth of $75.6 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, $700 million more than Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Buffett and $1.3 billion above Ortega, the founder of Inditex S.A. and Europe’s richest person. Amazon’s founder has added $10.2 billion this year to his wealth and $7 billion since the global equities rally began following the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president on Nov. 8. The rise is the third biggest on the Bloomberg index in 2017, after Chinese parcel-delivery billionaire Wang Wei’s $18.4 billion gain and an $11.4 billion rise for Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg. That makes two reasons that Bezos can be happy about Trump being in the White House. Not only have the markets been making rich people richer in anticipation of a big tax cut, but the Bezos-owned Washington Post has been thriving with so much scandal to report on. According to Politico, “The Post has seen a 75 percent increase in new subscribers since the first of the year and says it has doubled digital subscription revenue over the year.” That goes against every trend in the newspaper industry. Advertisement But for every winner in the world of business, there has to be a loser. Today, that loser is Marc Lore, the founder of Quidsi. The company operated sites like Diapers.com and Soap.com—charmingly descriptive brand names that call back to an earlier online era. Lore and Bezos had a vicious feud in the aughts that was fueled in part by a price war over diapers. Amazon cut its prices continuously and eventually forced Quidsi to agree to a buyout in 2010. Lore worked at Amazon for a couple of unhappy years and is now trying to defeat Bezos once again with Jet.com. Today, Amazon announced that Quidsi will end its operations and 263 people will be laid off. It might seem odd to think it’s a good thing for the Amazon CEO to shutter a company he paid $545 million to buy, but you have to understand the minds of petty men. For Silicon Valley tycoons, the businesses they start are like their children. Lore saw his child executed today and he’s currently running a business that was almost destroyed by Amazon until Wal-Mart jumped in and bought it. Today, Jeff Bezos has crushed his enemies and seen them driven before him. But he’s still only number two. He’ll need another $10.4 billion to catch up with Bill Gates. Watch your back, Bill. [Bloomberg, Business Insider, Reuters] ||||| Move over Warren Buffett! Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is now the second richest person on Earth. The latest tally by Bloomberg's Billionaires Index shows Bezos is now worth about $75.6 billion. Another ranking compiled by Forbes has Bezos' value at "just" $75.2 billion. He added $1.5 billion to his net worth after Amazon (AMZN) gained $9 billion in market value during trading hours Wednesday. The company received a generous stock bump after a Barclay's (AGRPY) analyst declared Amazon will "likely to be one of the first trillion-dollar market cap companies." Its shares hit a record high shortly after. Related: Amazon to start collecting state sales taxes everywhere Amazon's stock has been on fire lately -- it's grown more than 16% over the last year. Investors were pleased with the company's decision, announced yesterday, to buy Souq, an e-commerce giant in the Middle East. Amazon isn't Bezos's only venture. He also owns space exploration company Blue Origin. Its goal is to eventually take people on "space tourism" trips and to deliver satellites into orbit for corporate climates. So far, the company has only conducted test flights. Bezos leapfrogged investing guru Warren Buffett and Spanish fashion tycoon Amancio Ortega, who are worth $74.9 billion and $74.2 billion respectively, to take the number two spot on Bloomberg's billionaire list. Buffett is CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA), and Ortega founded Zara-owner Inditex. On Forbes' list, Bezos swapped places with Buffett, but he still trails Ortega's net worth by about $1 billion. Related: Gates Foundation's latest giveaway: $279 million Topping both richest-person lists is still Bill Gates. As founder and CEO of Microsoft (MSFT), Gates has amassed an $86 billion fortune.

– Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos made a fortune on top of his existing fortune Wednesday and finished the day as the second-richest person on the planet. His company's share price surged $9 billion after its purchase of Middle Eastern e-commerce site Souq, adding $1.5 billion to Bezos' personal wealth, enough to have paid for his purchase of the Washington Post six times over, CNN reports. According to Bloomberg's billionaires list, Bezos is now worth $75.6 billion, second only to Bill Gates, who is worth an estimated $86 billion. The stock bump shifted Bezos up from fourth place on the list, knocking investor Warren Buffett and Spanish fashion tycoon Amancio Ortega down a notch. Bezos has now added more than $10 billion to his net worth this year, and Wednesday was a good day for him in more ways than one, Gizmodo reports. Amazon announced that it was shutting down Quidsi, which operates sites including Diapers.com. It bought the firm for $545 million in 2010 after a price war—and a feud with founder Marc Lore. Lore went on to found "Amazon killer" Jet.com, and now runs e-commerce operations for Walmart, which bought Jet.com last year. It might seem unlikely that Bezos shut down the firm his rival founded as a "personal vendetta or some level of gamesmanship ... but it has been easy to find people who know both companies well that won't rule out the possibility," Jason Del Rey writes at Recode.

A photo distributed by the North Korean government shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (AP) The Treasury Department on Tuesday placed sanctions on Chinese and Russian individuals and firms that it said had conducted business with North Korea in ways that advanced the country’s missile and nuclear weapons program, part of a broad effort by the Trump administration to further isolate the regime. The sanctions against 10 companies and six individuals are designed to disrupt the economic ties that have allowed Pyongyang to continue funding its missile and nuclear program despite strict United Nations sanctions prohibiting it. It was the fifth set of U.S. sanctions related to North Korea this year, and the largest. In a related move, two legal complaints were filed Tuesday by the Justice Department seeking the forfeiture of $11 million from two of the sanctioned companies believed to have been laundering money on behalf of North Korea. The complaints, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, would represent two of the largest seizures of North Korean funds. The Trump administration has been trying to strengthen the economic vise on North Korea in an effort to persuade it to negotiate an end to its nuclear weapons development. Last month, the administration pushed a new round of sanctions against North Korea at the U.N. Security Council. In response, North Korea vowed retaliation “a thousand times over,” and Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho declared that North Korea would never relinquish its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. For three decades, North Korean Ri Jong Ho was one of many men responsible for secretly sending millions of dollars back to Pyongyang. He sat down with The Washington Post’s Anna Fifield to tell his story. (Anna Fifield,Jason Aldag/The Washington Post) But even as two federal agencies were taking stern measures against North Korea, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made a gesture of appreciation to Pyongyang, welcoming its apparent restraint in not conducting any new weapons tests since the latest U.N. sanctions were adopted Aug. 5. “We hope that this is the beginning of this signal that we’ve been looking for,” Tillerson said at a news conference that otherwise focused on Afghanistan, “that they are ready to restrain their level of tensions, they’re ready to restrain their provocative acts and that, perhaps, we are seeing our pathway to sometime in the near future having some dialogue.” Sanctions have been the main weapon of choice as the United States has grown increasingly alarmed at North Korea’s technological progress in developing weapons capable of reaching the United States and miniaturizing nuclear warheads to fit atop them. Even though they are imposed by just one country, U.S. sanctions have an outsize influence because most international banking is conducted at least partially in U.S. dollars. The measures prohibit U.S. citizens and companies from doing business with the sanctioned companies, and many banks outside the United States also adhere to them so they don’t run afoul of U.S. laws and face stiff penalties. “The sanctions send a strong message to Beijing and Moscow to stop facilitating North Korea’s sanctions evasion,” said Anthony Ruggiero, a fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which favors tougher sanctions on Russia and China over North Korea. “The action is one element of a pressure campaign that also includes targeting illicit financial transactions and pressuring U.S. allies to choose between business with the United States or North Korea.” But in a display of the Kremlin’s anger over sanctions placed on four Russian individuals and one Russian company, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the United States had again “stepped on the same rake.” He called the new sanctions the latest example of the United States damaging its relationship with Russia. “In recent years, Washington ‘in theory’ should have learned that for us the language of sanctions is unacceptable,” Ryabkov said in a statement. “The solution of real problems is only hindered by such actions. So far, however, it does not seem that they have come to an understanding of such obvious truths.” Ryabkov promised that Russia was “beginning to work out a response that is inevitable in this situation.” The Chinese Embassy in Washington, in a statement carried by the China Daily newspaper, said, “China opposes unilateral sanctions out of the U.N. Security Council framework, especially the ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ over Chinese entities and individuals exercised by any country in accordance with its domestic laws.” It said that China faithfully implements Security Council resolutions on North Korea in their entirety and fully observes its international obligations. “If there are any Chinese companies or individuals suspected of violating Security Council resolutions, they will be investigated and treated in accordance with China’s domestic laws and regulations,” it said. “We strongly urge the U.S. to immediately correct its mistake, so as not to impact bilateral cooperation on relevant issues.” Although U.S. military officials and President Trump have said that the United States is prepared to take some sort of military action against North Korea if provoked, Tillerson has repeatedly called for Pyongyang to negotiate and said that the United States does not seek regime change. Despite the diplomatic push, China, in particular, has been a sore point in making existing sanctions stick. Beijing has largely gone along with restrictions, at least for a time, and supported an escalating series of U.N. sanctions. But many Chinese companies have continued to do business with the North Korean regime by supplying technology and hardware for its missiles. China is believed to be responsible for 90 percent of North Korea’s international trade. The sanctions announced Tuesday by the Office of Foreign Assets Control were predominantly against Chinese companies that have dealt with North Korea by purchasing and selling coal, oil and mineral resources, or have provided banking services that made the transactions possible. The sanctions also hit two companies that arranged for North Korean laborers to build statues in foreign countries. Tillerson has been urging countries that have relations with North Korea to downsize Pyongyang’s diplomatic presence and refuse to hire North Korean labor. Overseas labor is a source of revenue for the North Korean government, and the Treasury Department contends that some of the laborers’ income helped finance ballistic missile testing. “Treasury will continue to increase pressure on North Korea by targeting those who support the advancement of nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and isolating them from the American financial system,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. He added: “It is unacceptable for individuals and companies in China, Russia and elsewhere to enable North Korea to generate income used to develop weapons of mass destruction and destabilize the region.” The sanctions hit three types of business dealings that provide a window into how North Korea uses companies in other countries to evade sanctions. China-based Dandong Rich Earth Trading Co. was sanctioned for buying vanadium ore from a company tied to North Korea’s atomic energy agency. The Russian firm Gefest-M, which trades in a wide range of consumer goods as well as construction and industrial equipment, allegedly procured metals for a North Korean mining company with a Moscow office. The Chinese company Mingzheng International Trading was accused of facilitating dollar transactions on behalf of North Korea’s proliferation network. In addition, three Chinese coal companies were sanctioned for importing nearly $500 million of North Korean coal between 2013 and 2016. The Treasury Department said coal trade generates more than $1 billion a year for North Korea, the country’s biggest export and an activity that was targeted in U.N. sanctions imposed in November. In the Justice Department complaints filed in federal court Tuesday, one seeks $4 million from Dandong Zhicheng Metallic Material Co., also known as Dandong Chengtai Trading Co. , one of China’s largest importers of North Korean coal. According to the complaint, it and related companies imported North Korean coal and then sent a wide array of products — cellphones, luxury items, rubber and sugar — to North Korea. The other complaint seeks $7 million associated with Velmur Management Pte., a Singapore-based company that was allegedly accepting money from front companies for North Korean banks. Velmur is accused of sending money to a Russian petroleum company alleged to have sent fuel oil to North Korea. “These complaints show our determination to stop North Korean sanctioned banks and their foreign financial facilitators from aiding North Korea in illegally accessing the United States financial system to obtain goods and services in the global market place,” U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips said in a statement. The United States also is targeting North Korea’s revenue from overseas labor. Among the new sanctions, Mansudae Overseas Projects was accused of helping North Korean laborers work abroad, usually in countries with authoritarian rulers, to build statues that immortalize the dictators. According to Treasury, Kim Tong Chol, Mansudae’s managing director, arranged for Qingdao Construction, a Namibia-based subsidiary of a Chinese company, to take over four Namibian government-sponsored construction projects as well as the employees and materials associated with the work. David Filipov in Moscow and Simon Denyer in Beijing contributed to this report. ||||| WASHINGTON—The U.S. on Tuesday targeted a host of Chinese and Russian firms and related individuals it accuses of aiding Pyongyang, expanding its broader efforts to clamp down on financing critical to North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program. The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added 10 firms, including Chinese coal importers and Russian fuel exporters, to its North Korea sanctions list. Federal prosecutors also filed a pair of cases in federal court in Washington seeking tens of millions of dollars in penalties... ||||| A North Korean flag is seen on the top of its embassy in Beijing, China, February 7, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States should “immediately correct its mistake” of imposing unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals to avoid damaging bilateral cooperation, a Chinese embassy spokesman said on Tuesday. Washington announced new North Korea-related sanctions on Tuesday, targeting Chinese and Russian firms and individuals for allegedly facilitating Pyongyang’s weapons programs. “China opposes unilateral sanctions out of the U.N. Security Council framework, especially the ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ over Chinese entities and individuals exercised by any country in accordance with its domestic laws,” the embassy spokesman said. “We strongly urge the U.S. to immediately correct its mistake, so as not to impact bilateral cooperation on relevant issues.” ||||| GENEVA (AP) — North Korea's envoy to U.N. disarmament talks says "military threats and pressure" from the United States are only serving to drive his country to further develop a nuclear deterrence. Diplomat Ju Yong Chol said Tuesday that other countries which spoke at a Conference on Disarmament session against Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missile tests had been siding with the "hostile" U.S. position. Ju accused Washington of attempting to "shift the blame for the tense situation on the Korean Peninsula to DPRK." U.S. ambassador Robert Wood warned that North Korea's ballistic-missile and nuclear-weapons programs "pose grave threats to the entire world" and said its recent intercontinental ballistic missile tests had showed "dangerous and reckless behavior of the North" was destabilizing the region and beyond. Wood said the "path to dialogue remains open." ||||| "If the North Koreans are willing to give stuff up, and that's what we really want, then we need to explore that," he said. "I'm pretty sure that our military can figure out ways to ensure that troops are trained and ready — and the interoperability [with South Korean forces] is there." ||||| AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has hit back at North Korea’s “reckless and dangerous” actions that he says are threatening world peace after the rogue state singled out Australia. North Korea warned Australia it would be committing a “suicidal act” by backing up US and South Korean military forces in the case of an attack. On Monday, Mr Turnbull called for countries to double down on their efforts to bring North Korea into line. “North Korea has shown it has no regard for the welfare of its own population, no regard for the security and good relations with its neighbours and no regard for international law,” he said in a statement to the ABC. “We call on all countries to redouble their efforts, including through implementation of agreed UN Security Council resolutions, to bring North Korea to its senses and end its reckless and dangerous threats to the peace of our region and the world.” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week told 3AW that an ANZUS treaty would be invoked and Australia would send troops to the aid of the US “if there is an attack” on the ally. “In terms of defence, we are joined at the hip,” Mr Turnbull said. North Korean news agency KCNA has since reported that Australia’s allegiance to the US and its decision to take part in a military drill in South Korea was a “suicidal act”. It comes as the US and South Korea joined forces today to take part in an annual 10-day exercise, known as Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, involving tens of thousands of troops. A small number of British and Australian troops have also been deployed to take part in computer-simulated exercises. “Not long after the Australian prime minister had stated that they would join in the aggressive moves of the US, even referring to ANZUS which exists in name only, the Australian military announced that they would dispatch their troops to the aggressive nuclear exercises of the US,” a North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said in a statement, released on the eve of the event. “This is a suicidal act of inviting disaster as it is an illustration of political immaturity unaware of the seriousness of the current situation. “Australia followed the US to the Korean War, the Vietnamese War and the ‘war on terrorism’, but heavy loss of lives and assets were all that it got in return.” Defence Minister Marise Payne said Australia had regularly played a small role in the annual war games since 2010. “They should not be seen in any way as a provocative exercise,” Ms Payne said. North Korea warned on Sunday that the US would be “pouring gasoline on fire” by conducting an annual war game in the South amid heightened tensions between Pyongyang and Washington. The joint military drill has this year antagonised the North more than usual given the heightened tensions between Pyongyang and Washington. Combative rhetoric between the nations spiked after North Korea tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) last month that appeared to bring much of the US within range, sparking an intense warning by President Donald Trump that Washington could rain “fire and fury” on the North. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop described the US president’s threat against the rogue nation as “speaking Kim Jong-un’s language”. North Korea then threatened to fire a salvo of missiles towards the US territory of Guam — a plan that leader Kim Jong-un last week delayed, but warned could go ahead depending on Washington’s next move. Amid the fiery volley of threats, North Korea declared the “Ulchi Freedom Guardian” (UFG) could lead to “nuclear war”. Past drills are understood to have included simulated “decapitation strikes”, which see soldiers carry out trial operations to kill Kim Jong-un and his top generals. “The joint exercise is the most explicit expression of hostility against us, and no one can guarantee that the exercise won’t evolve into actual fighting,” an editorial carried by the North’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper read. “The Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military exercises will be like pouring gasoline on fire and worsen the state of the peninsula.” Warning of an “uncontrollable phase of a nuclear war” on the peninsula, it added: “If the US is lost in a fantasy that war on the peninsula is at somebody else’s doorstep far away from them across the Pacific, it is far more mistaken than ever.” North Korea responded to last year’s Ulchi-Freedom Guardian by testing a nuclear weapon. Seoul and Washington have said the largely computer-simulated UFG exercise, which dates back to 1976, will go ahead as planned, but did not comment on whether the drills would be scaled back in an effort to ease tensions. Around 17,500 US troops will participate in this year’s drills — a cutback from last year — according to numbers provided by Seoul’s defence ministry. But South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported the allies were mulling scrapping an initial plan to bring in two aircraft carriers to the peninsula to take part in the drill. South Korea’s top military officer said Sunday that the current security situation on the peninsula was “more serious than at any other time” amid the North’s growing nuclear and missile threats, and warned Pyongyang of merciless retaliation against any attack. “If the enemy provokes, (our military) will retaliate resolutely and strongly to make it regret bitterly,” said General Jeong Kyeong-Doo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in his inauguration speech. China, North Korea’s most important ally and trading partner, has reiterated calls for calm during the current crisis. It has expressed frustration with both Pyongyang’s repeated nuclear and missile tests and with behaviour from South Korea and the US that it sees as escalating tensions. The widely read state-run Global Times, published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, wrote in an editorial that Beijing is not able to persuade either Washington or Pyongyang to back down. “It needs to make clear its stance to all sides and make them understand that when their actions jeopardise China’s interests, China will respond with a firm hand,” the paper read. “China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, China will stay neutral,” it added. “If the US and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so.” China has long worried that any conflict on the Korean peninsula, or a repeat of the 1950-53 Korean War, could unleash a wave of destabilising refugees into its northeast, and could end up with a reunified county allied with the US. North Korea is a useful buffer state for China between it and US forces based in South Korea, and also across the sea in Japan. — With AFP megan.palin@news.com.au ||||| Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement that the “Treasury will continue to increase pressure on North Korea by targeting those who support the advancement of nuclear and ballistic missile programs." | Susan Walsh/AP Photo Treasury aims sanctions at Chinese, Russian entities over North Korea The Treasury Department on Tuesday announced sanctions on 16 Chinese and Russian entities and individuals it said have aided North Korea. Treasury's targets included three Chinese companies that the administration said were responsible for importing almost half a billion dollars’ worth of North Korean coal as well as Russians it said were involved in providing oil to the country. Story Continued Below The announcement follows an escalation of tensions with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program and missile tests. Early this month, the United Nations agreed to step up sanctions. “Treasury will continue to increase pressure on North Korea by targeting those who support the advancement of nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and isolating them from the American financial system,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “It is unacceptable for individuals and companies in China, Russia, and elsewhere to enable North Korea to generate income used to develop weapons of mass destruction and destabilize the region. We are taking actions consistent with UN sanctions to show that there are consequences for defying sanctions and providing support to North Korea, and to deter this activity in the future.” The Senate Banking Committee is expected to consider new North Korea sanctions legislation this fall. ||||| Image copyright Alamy North Korea doesn't have much the world wants to buy, but one very successful export has been its art. The BBC's Lawrence Pollard looks at an unlikely story of North Korean cultural influence, and its success in Africa in particular. It may surprise you to know that North Korea would love to carry out your artistic commissions. How about a mural, a tapestry, or a "jewel painting" coloured with powdered semi-precious stones? Or something a bit more imposing, like a giant bronze statue of that dictator or liberator close to your heart? The Mansudae Art Studio is keen to hear from you. Founded in 1959, it caters for North Korea's considerable domestic propaganda needs. The huge statues, murals and banners you see being dutifully applauded at military processions - as well as the poster images that surround North Korean daily life - are all made by its 4,000 staff. Image copyright EPA Image copyright Alamy "It's in the heart of Pyongyang, Mansudae is the name of the district," says Pier Luigi Cecioni, an Italian who is the sole representative of the art factory to the outside world. "Actually, it's more of a campus than a factory, more of a studio, the biggest in the world." They've just produced a giant embroidery for the Benetton fashion family and fitted out a museum in Cambodia, but it's in Africa that Mansudae Overseas Projects (MOP) has found the keenest appetite for its work. The appeal is in the statement of the obvious - and of course size is everything William Feaver, Art critic The export of this bold, direct, firmly authoritarian style began in the early 1980s as a diplomatic gift to socialist or non-aligned countries from their North Korean brothers. More recently it's become a valuable source of hard currency, with artists and craftsmen from MOP working in Angola, Benin, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia and Togo. Local media in Zimbabwe report there are two giant Robert Mugabes in storage waiting to commemorate his death. And most famously, in Senegal the giant African Renaissance Monument was cast on site by Mansudae craftsmen and dedicated in 2010. It's estimated that the studio has earned tens of millions of dollars in this way. North Korean art seems to appeal to African leaders for two reasons. First, because the price is right. Senegal paid for its 49m-high (161ft) statue by giving some land to the North Koreans - who immediately sold it for cash. Image copyright Getty Images The second reason is the style. "The Russians and Chinese don't make that kind of stuff any more," says art critic William Feaver. "The appeal is in the statement of the obvious - and of course size is everything." He sees enthusiasm for the style as part of a nation-building process. "You could think of Mount Rushmore as the American version, performing a similar celebration of founding fathers for a relatively new nation keen to assert itself in the world." These statues look like they're made to be toppled Adrian Tinniswood, Historian Just outside the Namibian capital Windhoek is a vast parade ground, grandstand and war memorial to that country's independence struggle - Heroes' Acre is another Mansudae Overseas Project. "It's a giant obelisk above an 11m-high (36ft) bronze statue of the Unknown Soldier - bearing a strong resemblance to Namibia's first President, Sam Nujoma," says the BBC's Frauke Jensen. "No visitors, no tourist buses, just a solitary baboon sitting on the side running away as I approached the steps up to the monument." Image copyright Rex Features President Nujoma would of course have had a hand in the decision to honour the Unknown Soldier, so maybe it's a case of killing two birds with one bronze. Whoever he looks like, at least the Unknown Soldier looks African. The then Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade complained that the giant figures in Dakar initially looked too Asian, and had them redone. The recent (2011) statue of Samora Machel in Maputo, Mozambique, isn't thought to be a good portrait, and Laurent Kabila in Kinshasha, DRC (2001) seems to wear an outfit from the Kims' tailor. Image copyright Alamy "These statues look like they're made to be toppled," says historian Adrian Tinniswood. "And they look weirdly North Korean. They're statements of liberation but they represent a failure of confidence - where are the African designers and African sculptors who'd be better representing African consciousness?" But what of those North Korean designers and North Korean sculptors and their consciousness? Are they frustrated Picassos, forced to churn out party-line art? Pier Luigi Cecioni has taken some of them round major Italian galleries. "They know a lot about the classics," he says. "Abstract and conceptual art they find amusing. They're not scornful or anything like that, they just don't see it as necessary. They have an enviable position you know - unlike a Western artist they don't have to worry about selling their work, they have a salary. They are recognised and have privileges. The ones I know, they seem to live happily, they feel part of something." Image copyright koreanposters.com Image caption The poster reads: "Let's drive out the US imperialist conquerors" You get a glimpse of their world through the website run by Cecioni. It shows quite a variety of medium and subject matter, with a bias towards flowers and soldiers. These highly skilled craftsmen, largely anonymous, working for a higher good and not interested in profit inhabit a very different world from artists elsewhere - and not one many would envy. But if your taste - ironic or otherwise - leads you to want a statue in the classic bronze-giant-hailing-a-taxicab pose, then who you gonna call? Mansudae. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

– The Treasury Department applied new sanctions Tuesday intended to squeeze North Korea even tighter. The sanctions were mostly against Chinese and Russian companies and individuals that the US accuses of conducting illegal business with Pyongyang and thus helping its nuclear weapons program, reports the Washington Post. The big hits were against Chinese firms that import about $500 million worth of coal from the North, as well as Russian firms that deliver oil to the nation, per Politico. Also of note: The US went after two companies that help North Korea with an unusual but lucrative business: building statues overseas. More on that and related coverage: Those statues: Yes, North Korea has found a niche in the statue-building biz, as a feature from the BBC explains. The statues are particularly popular in African nations, and the North gets them built by sending its laborers abroad. The new sanctions go after companies that smooth the process. The point: “It’s definitely a message to Beijing and Moscow they can’t continue to facilitate Pyongyang," a former senior Treasury official tells the Wall Street Journal. The same official—Anthony Ruggiero of the nonprofit Foundation for Defense of Democracies—echoed the point to the New York Times, saying the sanctions look "like the beginnings of a broad pressure campaign." China response: Soon after the Treasury's move, China responded with relatively strong language, even if in diplo-speak: "We strongly urge the US to immediately correct its mistake, so as not to impact bilateral cooperation on relevant issues," said a Chinese embassy spokesperson, per Reuters. War games: The sanctions come as the US and South Korea are conducting their annual military exercises, much to the chagrin of North Korea. The Los Angeles Times has details on what goes on. Of note: They generally don't involve live artillery and are instead confined to "command posts and computers" as leaders prep for quick responses to complex scenarios. Testy words at UN: US and North Korean envoys traded accusations at a UN forum Tuesday, reports the AP. American Robert Wood said the "path to dialogue still remains an option" but insisted that a "reckless" Pyongyang poses a threat to the world and warned that President Trump's top priority is keeping the US safe. The North Korean envoy in turn said the North had no choice but to develop its nuclear arsenal because of "hostile" behavior by the US. Shipments to Syria: Authorities intercepted two shipments from North Korea en route to the Syrian agency in charge of chemical weapons, reports Reuters. It's not clear what was in the shipments, but the report is in the hands of the UN Security Council. Threat to Australia: After North Korea warned Australia that it would be "suicidal" to help the US in any conflict or participate in military exercises with them, the Australian prime minister has asked all nations to "redouble" efforts to rein in the North, reports news.com.au.

Kris Jenner—Kardashian matriarch and momager extraordinaire—celebrated her 60th birthday over the weekend and leave it up to this clan to celebrate in an over-the-top fashion. In a video posted to Jenner’s YouTube channel Saturday, the entire family and a bevy of famous friends paid musical tribute to Kris. The song is “I Love L.A.” by Randy Newman but the lyrics—referencing Nobu, Givenchy, and the Beverly Hills Hotel—are pure Kardashian. The video starts with something Kris herself whipped up back in 1985 to pay tribute to her friends. The original video includes her tiny daughters Khloe, Kim, and Kourtney along with, jarringly, O.J. Simpson. Fast forward to 2015 and the Jenner/Kardashian lifestyle has changed somewhat dramatically. Gone are references to “bible study” and “The Cheesecake Factory” that pepper the original song. Instead we have Khloe, Kim, Kourtney, Kendall, and Kylie climbing aboard exercise equipment just like their mother did back in the 80s and bringing in a supporting cast of famous faces including Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Kanye West to (literally) sing Kris’s praises. The video ends with the biggest change of all to Kris’s life: Caitlyn Jenner. Rumors that the exes have worked through their differences appear to be true and the former Olympian athlete showed off her enviable legs by taping her section of the video from a bubble bath. The video was only one small part of a lavish Gatsby-themed bash the Jenner/Kardashian kids threw for their mom on Friday. Loading View on Instagram Kanye crooned a version of Happy Birthday to his mother-in-law as she contemplated a gorgeous art deco cake. Loading View on Instagram The girls were all dressed to the nines. Loading View on Instagram And the joint was jumping with celebrity guests including the likes of Chrissy Teigen and John Legend. Loading View on Instagram By all appearance, the Kardashians and Jenners know how to party. But you already knew that, didn’t you? ||||| Kris Jenner turned 60 on Thursday, and the reality TV matriarch and “momager” celebrated in a big way on Friday night with a Great Gatsby-themed soiree at The Lot in West Hollywood, California. Kris' daughters, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, were spotted arriving at the party dressed in vintage ensembles to fit the theme. Inside the party, Kris and all her daughters -- Khloe, Kourtney, Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner -- gathered to snap a family photo in their vintage garb and danced to '20s tunes, spun by DJ Cassidy. Famous guests at the swanky soiree included Kim and husband Kanye West; Kylie's boyfriend, Tyga; Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin; Chrissy Teigen and John Legend; Melanie Griffith and daughter Stella Banderas; Courtney Love; Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci; Cheryl Burke; and Mel B. and husband Stephen Belafonte. WATCH: Caitlyn Jenner Wishes Kris a Happy Birthday Alongside Daughters Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe Kardashian All six of Kris’ children, including her son Rob, were listed on the invitation, which promised “champagne flowing” and asked guests to “inspire their attire” in the style of the “Gatsby Era.” WATCH: Khloe Kardashian Plans Lamar Odom's 36th Birthday Party in the Hospital The party was a true vintage throwback, with Classic Party Rentals decking out the space at the luxurious studio complex with lots of feathers, chandeliers and white flowers. Kendall stayed true to the theme, sharing a pic on Twitter of her “Miss Daisy” getup for the party. Kylie donned a silver-beaded vintage dress to pose in some Instagram shots with her dates for the evening, big sister Kourtney and Tyga, who both looked dapper in suits. Kylie later posted a Snapchat pic of her and Tyga smooching from in the party's photo booth. Kim dazzled in a beautiful silver gown, posing alongside her handsome husband. WATCH: Kylie Jenner Posts Underwear Selfie on Mom Kris Jenner's 60th Birthday All of Kris’ kids sent their mom birthday wishes this week, but it was a surprise from Jenner’s granddaughters, North West and Penelope Disick, that got the reality star truly emotional. “I'm not sure how to express my feelings for the best birthday gift ever.... Except to say that in true Kris Jenner fashion, I BURST into tears,” Kris captioned an Instagram pic of the sweet card and cake the girls presented her with on Thursday. “Beyond the best from my two little ballerinas.” WATCH: Caitlyn Jenner Sends Kris Jenner Sweet Birthday Message Alongside Kim, Khloe and Kourtney

– Kris Jenner turned 60 over the weekend, and her family's tribute to her must be seen to be believed. Vanity Fair provides the backstory: When she turned 30, Kris (who was then "Kristen Kardashian") made a music video dedicated to her friends. Set to the tune of Randy Newman's "I Love LA," Kris' "I Love My Friends" featured all the things she and her friends loved ... including "bible study," "church on Sundays," and "Cheesecake Factory." Thirty years later, her five daughters filmed an updated version, "She Loves Her Friends," and needless to say, the list of things Kris and her pals enjoy has gotten noticeably ritzier. (Although there is still a shot of Costco included.) Watch the video, or check out Kris' Gatsby-themed birthday soiree.

GENEVA — The United Nations experts investigating human rights conditions in North Korea said Tuesday that the “shocking” evidence they had collected from defectors and others suggested “large-scale” patterns of abuse that demanded an international response. The Human Rights Council pushed for the investigation in an attempt to bring new attention to allegations of horrifying abuses at the North’s infamous gulags that have been trickling out for years as more people have escaped the brutal police state. Until now, world powers including the United States had focused instead on attempts to dismantle the North’s nuclear weapons program. The chairman of the three-member Commission of Inquiry, Michael Donald Kirby, told reporters that the testimony he had heard in recent months evoked reactions similar to the discovery of concentration camps in Europe after World War II. He cited the statements of a former prisoner who said she had seen another woman forced to drown her baby in a bucket, and the account of a man who said he had collected and burned the bodies of prisoners who had died of starvation. Experts say the number of prisoners in gulags has dropped in recent years — to an estimated 120,000 or fewer from a possible high of 200,000 — but that might be partly because so many had died from forced labor and a lack of food. ||||| Story highlights United Nations inquiry looking into human rights violations in North Korea The rights probe documented "unspeakable atrocities" after witness interviews Commission listened to prison camp survivors who suffered through childhoods of starvation North Korea has rejected this testimony as "slander" put forward by "human scum" A mother forced to drown her own baby and a prison camp inmate compelled to eat rodents and lizards just to survive -- these are some of the horrific experiences documented by a United Nations inquiry into human rights violations in North Korea. According to the man who headed up the study, examples of "unspeakable atrocities" collected to date suggest widespread abuses on a scale requiring an international response. "What we have seen and heard so far -- the specificity, detail and shocking character of the personal testimony -- appears without doubt to demand follow-up action by the world community, and accountability on behalf of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," Michael Kirby, chair of the three-member commission of inquiry, told the U.N.'s Human Rights Council Tuesday. The remarks were contained in a draft report updating the council on the work of the commission, ahead of a final report to the U.N. General Assembly slated for March. Pyongyang has refused to cooperate with the investigation and rejects its validity. Kirby said the interim findings were based on testimony given at public hearings in Seoul and Tokyo last month, from sources including North Korean defectors, former regime officials, survivors of political prison camps, and the families of Japanese and South Koreans abducted by North Korean agents. "The individual testimonies emerging from the public hearings, of which these are just instances, do not represent isolated cases," he said. "They are representative of large-scale patterns that may constitute systematic and gross human rights violations." JUST WATCHED UN hears story of North Korean torture Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH UN hears story of North Korean torture 01:24 JUST WATCHED North Korea's prison camps Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH North Korea's prison camps 02:49 Kirby said the inquiry had heard "from ordinary people who faced torture and imprisonment for doing nothing more than watching foreign soap operas or holding a religious belief." One woman had given an account of witnessing a female inmate forced to drown her own baby in a bucket, while a man had spoken of being forced to burn the corpses of many prisoners who had died of starvation, before scattering their remains on crops. "The commission listened to political prison camp survivors who suffered through childhoods of starvation and unspeakable atrocities, as a product of the 'guilt by association' practice, punishing other generations for a family member's perceived views or affiliation," he said, referring to the account of Shin Dong-hyuk , the high-profile North Korean defector whose horrific experiences were documented in the biography "Escape from Camp 14. Imprisoned from birth, he said, Shin had eaten "rodents, lizards and grass to survive, and witness(ed) the public execution of his mother and brother." Kirby also referred to the testimony given by the parents of Megumi Yokota, a 13-year-old Japanese girl who was abducted by North Korean agents on her way home from school in 1977. Yokota was one of 13 Japanese kidnapped by North Korea and held in a North Korean facility as a way of training spies; the regime has said that she and seven others are dead. Kirby noted that there had been "rays of hope of change" emerging from North Korea in the past -- including the regime signing an international convention recognizing the rights of the disabled, and moving to reopen the Kaesong industrial complex, operated in cooperation with South Korea -- but these had proven ephemeral. North Korea had stonewalled invitations to participate in the inquiry, he said, with its official news agency rejecting the testimony as "slander" put forward by "human scum," he said. He said the commission would seek to identify which North Korean institutions and officials were responsible for gross human rights violations, but did not clarify the mechanisms through which any prosecutions might occur. North Korea is not a member of the International Criminal Court, but the court is empowered to investigate potential abuse by non-signatories at the request of the U.N. Security Council.

– With the world's attention currently focused on human rights abuses in Syria, the results of a UN inquiry is set to pull North Korea back into the spotlight, via a new report detailing the country's "systematic, widespread, and grave violations of human rights." The report is based on testimony from public hearings last month, reports CNN, and features horrific tales from inside the Hermit Kingdom's prison camps: one inmate was forced to watch the public execution of his mother and brother; one was witnessed being forced to drown her own baby in a bucket; another had to burn the corpses of dead prisoners and scatter their remains as crop fertilizer. "It is a very horrifying story, the like of which I don't think I've seen or read of since the Khmer Rouge and the Nazi atrocities during the second world war," says commission chief Michael Kirby, per the BBC. Kirby says the reported atrocities "demand" action from the international community, though the New York Times notes that's easier said than done. Getting any case into the International Criminal Court would require the approval of the UN Security Council—of which North Korea ally China is a member. China has criticized the inquiry, saying, "Politicized accusations and pressures are not helpful to improving human rights in any country." Also not a fan? North Korea, which dismissed the evidence as "fabricated and invented" by hostile forces.

1 of 3. Monitors show the value of the Facebook, Inc. stock during morning trading at the NASDAQ Marketsite in New York, May 21, 2012. (Reuters) - Facebook shares sank 11 percent in the first day of trading without the full support of the company's underwriters, leaving some investors down almost 25 percent from where they were Friday and driving others to switch back to more established stocks. Facebook's debut was beset by problems, so much so that Nasdaq said on Monday it was changing its IPO procedures. That may comfort companies considering a listing, but does it little for Facebook, whose lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley, had to step in and defend the $38 offering price on the open market. Even so, one source said Morgan Stanley's own brokers were at one point "ranting and raving" about glitches that left unclear what trades had actually been executed. Without a fresh round of defense, Facebook shares ended down $4.20, at $34.03, on the Nasdaq. That was a decline of almost 25 percent from Friday's intra-day high of $45 a share. "At the moment it's not living up to the hype," said Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago, adding that some people may have decided to hang back and buy the stock on the decline. "Look at the valuation on it. It might have said 'buy' to a few people, but boy it was awfully rich," he said. The drop in Facebook's share price wiped more than $11 billion off of the company's market capitalization -- it became a sufficiently interesting pop culture story that even gossip website TMZ did a brief item Monday morning. Volume was again massive on Monday, with nearly 168 million shares trading hands, making it by far the most active stock on the U.S. market. Nearly 581 million shares were traded on Friday. The drop was so steep that circuit breakers kicked in a few minutes after the open to restrict short sales of the stock, according to a notice from Nasdaq. EMOTIONAL TRADING "One of the things that we are seeing in Facebook is a lot of emotional trading, in that over the weekend much of the media coverage was negative, and that could be weighing on investors' decisions to get out of the stock," said JJ Kinahan, TD Ameritrade's chief derivatives strategist. Shares of other one-time Internet darlings fell in lock step with Facebook before rebounding on their own merits, with Yelp and Groupon rising. Zynga and LinkedIn fell, though. The news was not all bad, though, as the Nasdaq rose 2.46 percent. High-profile tech stocks rose sharply, with Apple up 5.8 percent and Amazon 2 percent higher. FuturePath's Lesh said some investors took money out of Apple to buy Facebook, and now could be going right back in to Apple given the lackluster performance of Facebook thus far. By mid-afternoon on Monday, though, there were indications that investors might be coming back in to Facebook. The stock was well off the lows of the morning, and some market players saw an entry point forming. "We see 38 percent of the ideas on Facebook are short and 62 percent have a more long bias," said Tim Murphy, general manager for the Americas at TIM Group, which transmits and tracks equity trade ideas from 750 brokerage firms for institutional investors globally. "Brokers are saying to their clients there is a good opportunity here." NASDAQ CHANGES Still there was a long list of questions -- ranging from whether the underwriters priced the shares too high to how well prepared the Nasdaq was to handle the biggest Internet IPO ever -- and few easy answers. "It was just a poorly done deal and it just so happens to be the biggest deal ever for Nasdaq and they pooched it; that's the bottom line here," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey. Nasdaq said Monday morning the changes it was making would prevent a repeat of what happened Friday, when glitches prevented some traders from knowing for hours whether their trades had been completed. The exchange also said it would implement procedures to accommodate orders that were not properly executed last week, which could ultimately lead to compensation for some investors. "It doesn't instill confidence for clients. Talk about trying to convince them it isn't a casino," one Midwestern financial adviser told Reuters on Monday. Separately, a source said Morgan Stanley's brokerage arm still had a "large number" of share orders from Friday that were not confirmed, which it was working to resolve. A Facebook spokeswoman declined to comment on the share price issue. Some financial advisers, who might have been furious last week at getting left out, were counting themselves lucky by Monday that they did not get their clients involved. "By pure luck I failed to talk it up with a lot of clients because I didn't think I would be able to get much," said one Raymond James adviser, who sought, and received, only 500 shares for one client. "I basically told people they weren't going to get any, and luckily, it proved to be a bust," the adviser said. (Additional reporting by Jennifer Saba, David Gaffen, Edward Krudy, Ashley Lau and Rodrigo Campos in New York, Doris Frankel in Chicago and Jennifer Merritt in Orlando, Florida; Writing by Ben Berkowitz in Boston; Editing by Edward Tobin, Maureen Bavdek and Steve Orlofsky) ||||| Shares of Facebook Inc. rallied 3.3% in afternoon trade Tuesday, putting them on track to close above a widely followed technical threshold, after J.P. Morgan said the social media company remained one of its "favorite" names of 2019. The stock set to close above its 50-day moving average, which many Wall Street chart watchers use to define the short-term trend, for the first time since July 25, 2018, when it closed at a record $217.50. The 50-day moving average currently extends to $140.05, according to FactSet. J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth reiterated his overweight rating, saying while investor sentiment remains negative, given privacy and data concerns, slowing growth, regulation and "extremely negative" PR, he believes the core Facebook user is sticker than many think. He said recent metrics are mostly stable and his survey work has showed solid engagement while Instagram continues to grow rapidly. He also thinks revenue deceleration is "manageable," while earnings growth should accelerate and valuation "compelling." The stock has lost 9.4% over the past three months while the Nasdaq Composite has lost 10.9% and the S&P 500 has given up 10.8%. by Tomi Kilgore

– Facebook's underwriters pulled off the training wheels today, and the infant stock fell—hard. After a lackluster first day on the market, Facebook shares fell some 12% in the first minute of trading this morning, Reuters reports, dropping below the $38 IPO price to $33.67, where it continues to hover around 11am ET. It wasn't a small move, either; more than 52 million shares changed hands. Facebook closed Friday a hair above its initial $38 offering price, but only because underwriter Morgan Stanley stepped in to prop it up. Without that defense today, the stock fell hard. "It was just a poorly done deal," one trader said. "It just so happens to be the biggest deal ever for Nasdaq and they pooched it." Stocks in general started a bit higher today coming off the worst week of the year; at 10:52am ET, the Dow was up 106 points.

Alexander Litvinenko’s accusation that Vladimir Putin was a paedophile may have been one of the motives for the Russian government to order his assassination, a report into the former Russian spy's death has found. Sir Robert Owen’s inquiry looked at the former FSB agent’s “highly personal attacks” on the Russian President, which culminated with an article on the Chechenpress website in July 2006, four months before he was poisoned. Mr Litvinenko’s article, which was published as evidence in the report, started by recounting a meeting between Mr Putin and a boy “aged four or five” in a square near the Kremlin. Litvinenko widow's statement “Putin kneeled, lifted the boy’s T-shirt and kissed his stomach,” Mr Litvinenko wrote. “Nobody can understand why the Russian president did such a strange thing as kissing the stomach of an unfamiliar small boy.” The former FSB agent claimed there were “blank spots” in Mr Putin’s career that could be explained by his superiors’ alleged knowledge “that he was a paedophile”. Mr Litvinenko claimed the Russian President had himself found “videotapes in the FSB Internal Security directorate, which showed him making sex with some underage boys” that he then hid. Alexander Litvinenko pictured at the Intensive Care Unit of University College Hospital on November 20, 2006 in London Commenting on the extraordinary and unfounded allegations, Sir Robert wrote: “It hardly needs saying that the allegations made by Mr Litvinenko against President Putin in this article were of the most serious nature. Could they have had any connection with his death?” The judge’s 300-page report concludes that Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun poisoned the 43-year-old with radioactive polonium 210 at a Mayfair hotel in 2006. It found that there is a “strong probability” that the Russian secret service directed the killing, and that operation was “probably approved” by Mr Putin. Sir Robert said there were “several reasons” why the Russian state may have wanted to kill Mr Litvinenko by late 2006. The Litvinenko files: Was he really murdered? 8 show all The Litvinenko files: Was he really murdered? 1/8 Alexander Litvinenko in his hospital bed at University College Hospital, London, shortly before he died © PA 2/8 Russian President Vladimir Putin stands accused of ordering the murder of Litvinenko © AP 3/8 Litvinenko’s widow, Marina, wants an official inquiry into her husband’s death © PA 4/8 Former KGB agent Andrei Luguvoi at target practice © AP 5/8 Litvinenko's funeral took place at Highgate Cemetery in north London in December 2006 © EPA 6/8 Marina Litvinenko listens as Alex Goldfarb reads her husband's final statement in London last November © AFP/Getty Images 7/8 Russian exile, multi-millionaire property magnate, and perpetual thorn in Putin's side, Boris Berezovsky was a constant presence behind the scenes © AFP/Getty Images 8/8 In memoriam: a candlelit tribute to Litvinenko in Helsinki the day after his death © AFP/Getty Images “There was undoubtedly a personal dimension to the antagonism between Mr Litvinenko on the one hand and President Putin on the other,” he added. Officials in Moscow have always denied involvement in Mr Litvinenko’s death, with officials previously claiming he was involved in an illicit trade in polonium and poisoned himself. The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed Sir Robert’s report as “politically motivated” today and warned that it would overshadow relations with the UK. “We need time to study in detail the contents of this document, and then give a detailed assessment,” a spokesperson said. “We would like to note that Russia's position on this issue remains unchanged and is well known…there was no reason to expect the final report of a politically engaged and highly opaque process to be objective and impartial.” ||||| LONDON (AP) — President Vladimir Putin probably approved a plan by Russia's FSB security service to kill former agent Alexander Litvinenko, who died three weeks after drinking tea laced with poison at a London hotel, a British judge said Thursday. Marina Litvinenko, widow of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, reads a statement outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. President Vladimir Putin probably approved... (Associated Press) Marina Litvinenko, right, widow of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice for the Litvinenko Inquiry statement following publication of the report in London, Thursday,... (Associated Press) FILE - In this July 26, 2010 file photo, Viktor Ivanov, head of the Russian anti-narcotics agency, speaks at a news conference in Moscow. One day in 2006, a former KGB agent who claimed to know dark Kremlin... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Wednesday, June 5, 2013 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Drug Control Agency Chief Viktor Ivanov at the International Anti-Drug Forum in Moscow, Russia.... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2006 file photo, Andrei Lugovoi, left, a former KGB officer, speaks to the media as his associate Dmitry Kovtun listens in Moscow, Russia. British police have accused Kovtun and... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Friday, May 10, 2002 file photo Alexander Litvinenko, former KGB spy is photographed at his home in London. On Thursday Jan 21, 2016, British judge Robert Owen will release the long-awaited... (Associated Press) A taxi stops in front of the Millennium Hotel on Grosvenor Square in London, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. British judge Robert Owen is set to release Thursday the findings of a lengthy public inquiry into... (Associated Press) A dog walks in front of the Millennium Hotel, center, on Grosvenor Square in London, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. British judge Robert Owen is set to release Thursday the findings of a lengthy public inquiry... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Tuesday, March 12, 2013 file photo, former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi speaks at a news conference in Moscow, Russia, about the 2006 poisoning in London of former Russian agent turned Kremlin... (Associated Press) Marina Litvinenko, second right in black coat, widow of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, arrives at The Royal Courts of Justice for the Litvinenko Inquiry statement following publication of the... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Nov. 1, 2007 file photo, Andrei Lugovoi, left, a former KGB officer, and his associate Dmitry Kovtun agttend a news conference in Moscow, Russia. British police have accused Kovtun and... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Wednesday, June 5, 2013 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, meets with Drug Control Agency Chief Viktor Ivanov at the International Anti-Drug Forum in Moscow, Russia. One... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Nov. 1, 2007 file photo, Andrei Lugovoi, left, a former KGB officer, and his associate Dmitry Kovtun attend a news conference in Moscow, Russia. British police have accused Kovtun and Lugovoi,... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Tuesday, March 12, 2013 file photo, former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi speaks at a news conference in Moscow, Russia, about the 2006 poisoning in London of former Russian agent turned Kremlin... (Associated Press) In a lengthy report, Judge Robert Owen said that he is certain Litvinenko was given tea with a fatal dose of polonium-210, a radioactive isotope that is deadly if ingested even in tiny quantities, in November 2006. He said there is a "strong probability" that the FSB, successor to the Soviet spy agency the KGB, directed the killing, and the operation was "probably approved" by Putin. Before he died, Litvinenko accused Putin of ordering his killing, but this appears to be the first time anyone has officially linked Putin to it. Moscow has always strongly denied involvement in Litvinenko's death, and Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zhakarova said Thursday that the government does not consider Owen's conclusions to be objective or impartial. "We regret that a purely criminal case has been politicized and has darkened the general atmosphere of bilateral relations," Zhakarova said in a statement. She said Britain's decision to hold a public inquiry on the case was politically motivated and that the process was not transparent for the Russian side or the public. Russia has refused to extradite the two main suspects, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun. Lugovoi is a member of the Russian parliament, which means he is immune from prosecution. In an interview with the Interfax news agency, he called the charges against him "absurd." "As we expected, there was no sensation," he said. "The results of the investigation that were announced today once again confirm London's anti-Russian position and the blinkered view and unwillingness of the British to establish the true cause of Litvinenko's death." Litvinenko, a former FSB agent, fled to Britain in 2000 and became a vocal critic of Russia's security service and of Putin, whom he accused of links to organized crime. Owen said Litvinenko "was regarded as having betrayed the FSB" with his actions, and that "there were powerful motives for organizations and individuals within the Russian state to take action against Mr. Litvinenko, including killing him." Litvinenko's widow, Marina, said outside the High Court on Thursday that she was "very pleased that the words my husband spoke on his deathbed when he accused Mr. Putin have been proved by an English court." She called for British Prime Minister David Cameron to take urgent steps against Russian agents operating inside Britain in light of the report. "I'm calling immediately for expulsion from the UK of all Russian intelligence operatives ... based at the London embassy," she said. "I'm also calling for the imposition of targeted economic sanctions and travel bans against named individuals including Mr (former FSB chief Nikolai) Patrushev and Mr Putin." She said Britain's Home Office had written to her Wednesday night promising action. Home Secretary Theresa May is scheduled to discuss the report in Parliament later Thursday. In his 326-page report, Owen said that based on the evidence he had seen, the operation to kill Litvinenko was "probably" approved by then-FSB head Nikolai Patrushev, now head of Putin's security council, and by Putin. Owen said Litvinenko "had repeatedly targeted President Putin" with "highly personal" public criticism. The British government appointed Owen to head a public inquiry into the slaying, which soured relations between London and Moscow. He heard from dozens of witnesses during months of public hearings last year, and also saw secret British intelligence evidence. Announcing his findings at London's Royal Courts of Justice, Owen said that "there can be no doubt that Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned by Mr. Lugovoi and Mr. Kovtun" in the Pine Bar of London's luxury Millennium Hotel on Nov. 1, 2006. He died three weeks later of acute radiation syndrome. "I have concluded that there is a strong probability that when Mr. Lugovoi poisoned Mr. Litvinenko, he did so under the direction of the FSB ... I have further concluded that the FSB operation to kill Mr. Litvinenko was probably approved by My. Patrushev, then head of the FSB, and also by President Putin." ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Why would Vladimir Putin want Alexander Litvinenko dead? The murder of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 in the UK was "probably" approved by President Vladimir Putin, an inquiry has found. Mr Putin is likely to have signed off the poisoning of Mr Litvinenko with polonium-210 in part due to personal "antagonism" between the pair, it said. Home Secretary Theresa May said the murder was a "blatant and unacceptable" breach of international law. But the Russian Foreign Ministry said the public inquiry was "politicised". It said: "We regret that the purely criminal case was politicised and overshadowed the general atmosphere of bilateral relations." What Litvinenko report means for UK Key findings of the public inquiry Who was Alexander Litvinenko? Who are the Litvinenko murder suspects? Story of a perplexing murder Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin's spokesman, said Moscow's official response to the report will happen through "diplomatic channels", the Russian news agency Interfax was quoted as saying. Prime Minister David Cameron said the UK would have to go on having "some sort of relationship with them [Russia]" because of the Syria crisis, but it would be done with "clear eyes and a very cold heart". Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption David Cameron said the murder of Alexander Litvinenko had been shown to be "state-sponsored" The long-awaited report into Mr Litvinenko's death found that two Russian men - Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun - deliberately poisoned the 43-year-old in London in 2006 by putting the radioactive substance polonium-210 into his drink at a hotel. Sir Robert Owen, the public inquiry chairman, said he was "sure" Mr Litvinenko's murder had been carried out by the two men and that they were probably acting under the direction of Moscow's FSB intelligence service, and approved by the organisation's chief, Nikolai Patrushev, as well as the Russian president. He said Mr Litvinenko's work for British intelligence agencies, his criticism of the FSB and Mr Putin, and his association with other Russian dissidents were possible motives for his killing. 'Send a message' There was also "undoubtedly a personal dimension to the antagonism" between Mr Putin and Mr Litvinenko, he said. The use of polonium-210 was "at the very least a strong indicator of state involvement" as it had to be made in a nuclear reactor, the report said. The inquiry heard evidence that Mr Litvinenko may have been consigned to a slow death from radiation to "send a message". What is polonium-210? Image caption The teapot where traces of polonium-210 were discovered Giving a statement to the House of Commons, Mrs May said Mr Cameron would raise the findings with President Putin at "the next available opportunity". She said the UK would impose asset freezes on Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun and that international arrest warrants for the pair remained in place. They both deny killing Mr Litvinenko. Both men are wanted in the UK for questioning, but Russia has refused to extradite them. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Marina Litvinenko: 'Russian spies must be expelled from UK' Speaking earlier outside the High Court, Mr Litvinenko's widow, Marina, said she was "very happy" that "the words my husband spoke on his deathbed when he accused Mr Putin have been proved by an English court". She urged the UK government to expel all Russian intelligence operatives, impose economic sanctions on Moscow and impose a travel ban on Mr Putin. The view from Moscow Image copyright AP Image caption Andrei Lugovoi, left, and Dmitry Kovtun pictured in Moscow, in 2007 By the BBC's Oleg Boldyrev For years Moscow rejected allegations of high-level involvement in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. The fact President Putin himself is now associated with this assassination has not changed anything. Taking their lead from Robert Owen's use of the words "high probability", the second tier of the Russian establishment, mainly Kremlin-loyalist MPs, are dismissing the entire report as a politically-based fabrication. Russians on social media are making fun of its conclusions by using the hashtag "PutinPossiblyApproved" in Russian - that is #ПутинВозможноОдобрил - to include all manner of crimes. One Russian MP, Nikolai Kovalev, himself an ex-FSB boss, pointed out relations between Moscow and London would not be harmed by the report as there was no room for making them any worse. How Russian media reported the Litvinenko inquiry Responding to the report, Mr Lugovoi, who is now a politician in Russia, said the accusations against him were "absurd", the Russian news agency Interfax was quoted as saying. "As we expected, there were no surprises," he said. "The results of the investigation made public today yet again confirm London's anti-Russian position, its blinkeredness and the unwillingness of the English to establish the true reason of Litvinenko's death." Mr Kovtun, now a businessman in Russia, said he would not comment on the report until he got more information about its contents, Interfax reported. 'Harm relations' London's Metropolitan Police said the investigation into the "cold and calculated murder" remained ongoing. Alexander Yakovenko, the Russian ambassador in the UK, said Russia would not accept any decisions reached in secret and based on evidence not tested in open court. The length of time taken to come to these conclusions led them to believe it was "a whitewash of British security services' incompetence", he said. Mr Yakovenko said these events "can't help but harm our bilateral relations". White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he did not have "any actions" to announce following the inquiry's findings. "But I certainly wouldn't rule out future steps," he said. Analysis Image copyright Reuters Image caption Alexander Litvinenko at a news conference in Moscow in 1998, when he was an officer of Russia's state security service FSB By BBC security correspondent, Gordon Corera The conclusions of this inquiry are stronger than many expected in pointing the finger at Vladimir Putin personally. The evidence behind that seems to have come from secret intelligence heard in closed session. Saying that Alexander Litvinenko was killed because he was an enemy of the Russian state will raise pressure on the British government to take real action - the steps taken nearly a decade ago were only limited in scope. That may pose difficulties given the importance of Russia's role in the Middle East, but without tough action people may ask if the Russian government has been allowed to get away with what has been described as an act of nuclear terrorism on the streets of London. Mr Litvinenko fled to the UK in 2000, claiming persecution. He was granted asylum and gained British citizenship several years later. In the years before his death, he worked as a writer and journalist, becoming a strong critic of the Kremlin. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Russian President Vladimir Putin "probably" approved the killing, the report says It is believed he also worked as a consultant for MI6, specialising in Russian organised crime. The inquiry heard from 62 witnesses in six months of hearings and was shown secret intelligence evidence about Mr Litvinenko and his links with British intelligence agencies. The Litvinenko case Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The son of murdered Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko gives his first television interview 23 November 2006 - Mr Litvinenko dies three weeks after having tea with former agents Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun in London 22 May 2007 - Britain's director of public prosecutions decides Mr Lugovoi should be charged with his murder 5 July 2007 - Russia refuses to extradite Mr Lugovoi, saying its constitution does not allow it May-July 2013 - The inquest into Mr Litvinenko's death is delayed as the coroner decides a public inquiry would be preferable - but ministers rule out the request 11 February 2014 - High Court rules the Home Office was wrong to rule out an inquiry before the outcome of an inquest January 2015 - Public inquiry begins Long road to the truth for Litvinenko family ||||| Report Sir Robert Owen, the Inquiry Chairman, published his Report into the death of Alexander Litvinenko on 21 January 2016. Please click on the link below to view the Report. Report (web-optimised PDF) An explanation for the way references are provided is included in paragraph 2.21 in Part 2 of the Report. Where references are to documents, the hyperlink will take you to the complete document. Where references are to transcripts, the hyperlink will take you to the relevant pages. Report cover (print-ready PDF) Report (print-ready PDF) The transcript of Sir Robert Owen’s closing statement is available at the link below. Transcript of statement by the Chairman – 21 January 2016

– A British judge declared a remarkable thing Thursday: Vladimir Putin is "probably" a murderer. The finding came after an inquiry into the high-profile death of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, who was fatally poisoned in 2006. Judge Robert Owen said he's certain that two Russian agents laced Litvinenko's green tea with polonium-210 inside a London hotel—and that the mission "was probably approved" by Putin himself and the head of Russia's FSB spy agency (the successor to the KGB), reports the New York Times. Litvinenko accused Putin from his deathbed, but this appears to be the first time an official inquiry has linked the Russian president to the slaying, notes the AP. Russia, not surprisingly, isn't buying it. "We regret that a purely criminal case has been politicized and has darkened the general atmosphere of bilateral relations," says a rep for the Russian foreign ministry. Britain launched the inquiry at the urging of Litvinenko's widow, who welcomed the findings and called on the UK to issue sanctions on Russia and place a travel ban on Putin, reports the BBC. That seems unlikely, though Britain says it will now freeze the assets of Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, the two men accused by British police of the killing. Moscow refuses to extradite them. The judge cited a number of possible motives, including Russia's belief that Litvinenko betrayed Moscow by working with British intelligence. He also cited the "highly personal attacks" by Litvinenko on Putin before the agent's death, including Litvinenko's clam that Putin was a pedophile, reports the Independent. "It hardly needs saying that the allegations made by Mr Litvinenko against President Putin in this article were of the most serious nature," wrote the judge. "Could they have had any connection with his death?" Read his full report here.

WASHINGTON — President Trump, by demanding on Friday that European allies agree to rewrite the Iran nuclear deal within 120 days or he will kill it, set himself a diplomatic challenge that would be formidable even for an administration with a deep bench of experienced negotiators. For Mr. Trump, who has filled his national security ranks with retired military officers and allowed his State Department to languish, the challenge is even more profound. And it is not limited to Iran: The North Korea crisis has taken a sudden turn toward diplomacy, with the unexpected opening of talks between the North and the South. On both fronts, current and former officials say, the Trump administration is being forced to rethink strategies that had been driven largely by military considerations. Many say the White House is ill equipped to deal with the prospect of a South Korean détente with the North’s Kim Jong-un or the recent eruption of political unrest in Iran. The antigovernment protests in Iran have complicated Mr. Trump’s calculations about whether to rip up the nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration, several officials said. While the unrest has made the president even more determined to punish the Iranian leadership, it has also reinforced the conviction of European leaders that the deal should be preserved. ||||| President Donald Trump is designating 14 Iranian individuals and entities with new sanctions unrelated to the nuclear deal, including the head of Iran’s judiciary. | Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images Trump extends Iran nuclear deal again President Donald Trump is once again extending the Iran nuclear deal, but Trump will "terminate” the agreement unless Congress and European allies agree to strengthen it, Trump said in a statement Friday. "This is a last chance," Trump said. "[E]ither fix the deal’s disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw." Story Continued Below The decision is a temporary victory for Trump's national security team, which has spent months trying to persuade a president who despises the nuclear deal that abandoning it would be a self-inflicted foreign policy calamity. The statement implicitly sets a mid-May deadline for the deal's fate. That is when Trump must again choose, as he did Friday, whether to waive economic sanctions on Tehran which come up for renewal every 120 days. The Obama administration suspended those sanctions were suspended in July of 2015 as part of the agreement negotiated with Iran and five other nations that imposed limits on Iran's nuclear program, which experts said had neared nuclear weapons capability. Facing a separate deadline that appears every 90 days, Trump declined — as he first did in mid-October — to certify that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal, despite the conclusion of international inspectors to the contrary. Though relieved by its temporary extension, the nuclear deal's supporters remain nervous about its prospects. Trump's decision "keeps the deal on life-support for now but puts it on a path toward collapse," said Philip Gordon, a former Obama national security official who advised Obama on the negotiations. Trump is also targeting 14 Iranian individuals and entities with new sanctions unrelated to the nuclear deal. They include an elite Iranian military cyber unit and the head of Iran’s judiciary, Sadeq Larijani, whose brother is the speaker of Iran's parliament. Larijani was named in response to Iran's harsh repression of recent nationwide protests, and show that the sanctions "go to the top of the regime" and the the U.S. "is not going to tolerate the continued violation of the rights of their citizens," as one official put it. The most reliable politics newsletter. Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. Some hawkish administration officials and advisers had hoped that the popular protests in Iran, which erupted last month but have largely quieted after a regime crackdown, might prompt Trump to pull the plug on the nuclear agreement. But that was not the counsel of his top national security officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis and national security adviser H.R. McMaster. While they are not fans of the nuclear agreement — joined by France, Germany, Great Britain, China and Russia — those officials believe the costs of a unilateral withdrawal by the U.S. that is opposed by its allies is too high and outweighs what many experts consider the unrealistic prospects of negotiating a stricter deal. The spotlight now turns to Congress, which Trump insists must pass legislation imposing new restrictions on Iran, as well as to the European parties to the deal, whose support Trump is demanding. "No one should doubt my word," Trump said in his statement. "I hereby call on key European countries to join with the United States in fixing significant flaws in the deal, countering Iranian aggression, and supporting the Iranian people. If other nations fail to act during this time, I will terminate our deal with Iran." Trump's statement set out specific criteria for Congress, including a provision requiring "immediate" access to Iranian facilities by international inspectors; and an explicit declaration that the U.S. sees Iran's long-range ballistic missile program and its nuclear program as "inseparable." Trump also insisted upon a undefined guarantee "that Iran never even comes close to possessing a nuclear weapon." But a senior administration official told reporters that means that Iran "remains above a one-year breakout timeline," which is what the deal currently mandates. Trump also said that any new Congressional provisions must have no expiration date. Most key provisions of the nuclear deal sunset in the next decade, which critics say will allow Iran to quickly resume its progress toward a nuclear weapon. McMaster has been negotiating potential new legislation with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), but with nothing to show in public so far. European leaders have also been generally dismissive about imposing new nuclear-relation demands on Iran, saying the agreement cannot be renegotiated. Tehran insists that any efforts to impose new conditions on its nuclear programs amount to an abrogation of the deal and has threatened to resume its nuclear program at peak capacity in response. Cardin said on Friday that he and Corker have underscored to the administration “that we want to be helpful“ but added that Trump’s point-blank series of demands may have made their job harder. The provisions that Trump insisted on “would require discussions with our European allies and with Congress,” Cardin told POLITICO. “It would be more helpful if he laid it out in a framework rather than the manner in which he has in his statement.” Corker and Cardin have both signaled openness to attaching any Iran measure they can agree on to a must-pass legislative vehicle, a strategy that would avoid the political minefields of a stand-alone debate on the nuclear pact. Congress is likely to consider a new spending package as soon as next month and may also take up legislation raise the debt limit in March. But the senators’ talks remain in early stages, and any bill they produce will likely face resistance from Democrats who don't believe the deal should be tampered with as well as Republicans who want even tougher action. Gordon expressed skepticism that a legislative fix or transatlantic offering can salvage the deal. "Europeans and Congressional Democrats may look for ways to give Trump something to keep him from implementing his threat to kill the deal in four months, but cosmetic changes may not be enough," Gordon said. "And even if they do go along with unilateral changes in the administration’s stance, it’s hard to see how Iran fails to respond with unilateral steps of its own. James Jeffrey, a former deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush White House now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, called such assessments too dire. Jeffrey said that Trump's demands can be met without violating the nuclear deal. “Trump is leaving the door open to staying in the agreement if France, Germany and the UK work with Washington,” Jeffrey said. In a statement, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel (D-NY), was skeptical about prospects for a legislative fix. “[W]e need to put to rest the canard that Congress can somehow unilaterally change the deal," Engel said. "Any legislation that affects America’s adherence to the deal would make us the country walking away from our commitments. Like it or not, we need to uphold our end of the bargain so that we can hold Iran to its obligations and crack down on the regime’s other destabilizing activities.” Diplomacy Works — a group of former Obama national security officials including former Secretary of State John Kerry and his former chief Iran negotiator, Wendy Sherman — denounced Trump's decision in a statement Friday. "Today we learned that the President’s plan includes bullying our allies into fundamentally altering the terms of a deal that they know is working for our mutual security and have publicly stated they have no interest in amending," they said, warning that "a U.S. move to violate or withdraw from the nuclear deal undermines the transatlantic relationship and our alliances of first resort, which are vital across a broad range of policies -- from bedrock economic issues to confronting terrorism." Elana Schor contributed reporting ||||| President Trump “still strongly believes this was one of the worst deals of all time,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) President Trump on Friday kept alive the Iran nuclear deal he detests by waiving sanctions for the third time, but he said he will not grant another reprieve unless the agreement is amended to permanently block a potential pathway for Iran to build nuclear weapons. In conjunction with the waivers, the Treasury Department placed sanctions on 14 people and entities for alleged offenses unrelated to Iran's nuclear industry. The new measures concern human rights abuses and censorship in Iran and the arming of groups throughout the region. Trump's decision avoided placing the United States in violation of the commitments it made in the landmark 2015 deal. But he affirmed his willingness to withdraw from it in a few months unless changes are made. "Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal," Trump said in a statement. "Instead, I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw." Critics of the deal deemed the president's decision "an opportunity to do better," as Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called it. But supporters expressed skepticism that the deal will survive in its current form. Trita Parsi, head of the National Iranian American Council, called it a "temporary stay of execution." "In a nutshell, he's saying, 'Kill the deal with me, or we'll kill it alone,' " said Robert Malley, who worked on the National Security Council under President Barack Obama. Trump blamed Iran for a litany of alleged malign activities, including support for terrorist groups and the "murderous regime" of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and torture, mass arrests and oppression at home. Trump said his strategy for confronting Iran through sanctions and support for Iranian political freedom "stands in stark contrast to the policy and actions of the previous administration." "President Obama failed to act as the Iranian people took to the streets in 2009. He turned a blind eye as Iran built and tested dangerous missiles and exported terror. He curried favor with the Iranian regime in order to push through the disastrously flawed Iran nuclear deal," he said. [‘He threw a fit’: Trump’s anger over Iran deal forced aides to scramble for a compromise] Iranian officials warned that a U.S. withdrawal from the deal would spell its doom. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter that "Trump's policy & today's announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement." "JCPOA is not renegotiable," he said, using an abbreviation for the deal's formal name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. "Rather than repeating tired rhetoric, US must bring itself into full compliance — just like Iran." As a signatory to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has committed to not building nuclear weapons, even after the restrictions on its program lapse, and it is entitled to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Trump listed his conditions for legislation that would address future U.S. participation and called on European allies "to join with the United States in fixing significant flaws in the deal, countering Iranian aggression, and supporting the Iranian people." "If other nations fail to act during this time, I will terminate our deal with Iran," warned Trump, who will revisit the decision in 120 days. Officials said the administration will discuss the changes it is seeking with Europeans but will not talk directly with Iran. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (Md.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Trump's statement an "ultimatum" and said the president is "making negotiations with Europe more difficult by the way he's laying out the conditions." All parties to the accord would have to agree to any changes. That is highly unlikely. The Europeans, who consider the deal a great success contributing to their security, have said that Iran's non-nuclear behavior must be addressed separately. The changes Trump has demanded include timely inspections of all sites requested by the International Atomic Energy Agency, reflecting a concern that Iran could be conducting nuclear research clandestinely at military sites. Trump also wants to terminate the phased expiration dates of various limitations placed on Iran's nuclear program. Sometimes called "sunset provisions," many of them lapse 10 to 15 years in the future. Trump wants them to continue indefinitely so that the United States can rapidly resume sanctions if Iran is ever found to be cheating. Rep. Eliot L. Engel (N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the demands are unattainable. "The Trump administration's policy announced today sets impossible standards that would ultimately isolate the United States rather than isolating the regime in Tehran," he said. "Like it or not, we need to uphold our end of the bargain so that we can hold Iran to its obligations and crack down on the regime's other destabilizing activities." Some of the new sanctions announced by the Treasury Department are a response to crackdowns on anti-government protests and blocking access to social media sites. The entities sanctioned include Iran's Supreme Council of Cyberspace and its subsidiary, the National Cyberspace Center, which police the Internet, restricting access to websites that challenge the regime. The sanctions with the most political repercussions are against the administrative head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Amoli Larijani. A hard-line cleric appointed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Larijani is a highly influential member of Iran's most powerful political family. His older brother, Ali Larijani, is the speaker of Iran's parliament. Iran's judicial system is notoriously repressive, and the country remains one of the world's leading executioners. According to the European Union, which placed its own sanctions on the judiciary chief in 2012, Sadegh Larijani has "personally signed off on numerous death penalty sentences." "Naming and shaming Sadegh Larijani is one small way the U.S. can bring its human rights policy and coercive economic strategy against Iran into greater alignment," said Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iran expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. Other sanctions target companies accused of conducting prohibited transactions with Iranian entities. Malaysia-based Green Wave Telecommunications was named for providing U.S. technology to Iranian companies. The Treasury Department also listed several Chinese individuals and companies for breaking similar rules to provide materials to Iran that could be used in navigation and weapons systems. Two Iranian companies that build and maintain the nation's military helicopters also are on the list. "The designations today politically go to the top of the regime and send a very strong message that the United States is not going to tolerate their continued abuses, continued violations of the rights of their citizens," said an administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under rules for briefing reporters. Erin Cunningham and Bijan Sabbagh in Istanbul and Karoun Demirjian in Washington contributed to this report.

– He called it "the worst deal ever," and on Friday he extended it for the third time during his presidency, the New York Times reports. A senior administration official tells Politico that President Trump once again chose not to reinstate the sanctions that were suspended as part of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Friday was the deadline to do so. However, Trump apparently warned it would not happen again. “The president makes clear this is the last such waiver he will issue,” an official tells the Washington Post. The next deadline for reinstating the sanctions against Iran is in May, and the official says Trump will do so and remove the US from the nuclear deal at that time unless European allies agree to changes to the deal meant to permanently stop Iran from building nuclear weapons. Those changes include adding "triggers," such as inspections of Iranian facilities, and removing "sunset clauses" that allow Iran to enrich uranium and more. While not reinstating sanctions related to the nuclear deal, Trump did impose new sanctions on 14 Iranian people and organizations in response to recent violence against protesters there.

Cleveland mom says she is proud of daughter’s 9-1-1 call for help Dorothy Craig, 3, gets a drawing lesson from her mom, Miranda. Dorothy is credited with calling 911 recently when her mother had a medical emergency. Dorothy Craig, 3, gets a drawing lesson from her mom, Miranda. Dorothy is credited with calling 911 recently when her mother had a medical emergency. Photo: Vanesa Brashier / HCN Photo: Vanesa Brashier / HCN Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Cleveland mom says she is proud of daughter’s 9-1-1 call for help 1 / 1 Back to Gallery Dorothy Craig hasn’t quite mastered writing her name on paper, but the 3-year-old knows how to dial 9-1-1. When her mother Miranda Craig, 24, had a medical emergency on May 30, Dorothy picked up her mom’s phone and called for help. Her 9-1-1 call was directed to dispatchers at the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office who were able to pinpoint a general area for the child’s home on CR 386 north of Cleveland while sheriff’s deputies went door to door in the neighborhood searching for Craig and her mother. During the search, a keen-eyed corporal, Darrell Werner, spied a 2-year-old child playing in the kitchen sink through a window. He knocked on the door and eventually Dorothy answered. Lying on the kitchen floor inside the home, deputies found Miranda, still unconscious. Dorothy and her two younger brothers were upset but unharmed. “Mommy fell out of the chair and died on the floor,” Dorothy said afterward. Her mother, still very much alive, said she suffers from narcolepsy, a disorder that causes sudden attacks of sleep without warning. She taught Dorothy how to dial 9-1-1 in case it became necessary for her to call for help. Miranda said she awoke to find her house filled with law enforcement officers, which caused her to initially panic. “I am always scared when I wake up after these spells but to wake up surrounded by police, I was terrified. The deputies assured me the children were safe, so I could calm down,” she said. “These spells don’t happen to me very often thankfully,” Miranda said. “They are stress-related, so I am now taking it easy and trying not to get stressed out.” ||||| Miranda Craig said she taught her daughter to use 911 because she suffers from narcolepsy. (Source: KTRK/CNN) CLEVELAND, TX (KTRK/CNN) – At an age when most toddlers are learning how to write or count, a Texas 3-year-old picked up the phone and called 911 when her mom passed out. Little Dorothy Craig told the dispatcher that her mom was hurt and on the ground, but not much else. Because the call was made on a cell phone, Liberty County Sheriff's deputies weren’t certain of the exact address, so they went door-to-door until they found Dorothy’s mom. Miranda Craig said she taught her daughter to use 911 because she suffers from narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that can cause excessive daytime sleepiness and intermittent, uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during the daytime, according to WebMD. "I am extremely proud of her. She's such a smart little girl,” Craig said. “It makes me so happy to know that she knows what to do to get help for anyone not just her mother." Dorothy’s quick action not only helped her mom, but her two younger siblings. Deputies said they found a 2-year-old playing in a sink of water and 5-month-old still strapped in a car seat on the floor. Copyright 2018 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.

– When Miranda Craig passed out at home last week, the Texas woman's 3-year-old daughter knew exactly what to do: Call 911. Dorothy Craig started by just saying "Mommy" as a baby could be heard crying in the background, KTRK reports. She eventually told the dispatcher her mom was on the ground and hurt. That's about all she said, but it was enough to get Liberty County Sheriff's deputies to the Cleveland home. They had to go door-to-door since the call came from a cell phone and they could only pinpoint the general location and not the exact address. When a deputy spotted through a window a 2-year-old playing in a kitchen sink full of water, he knocked on the door and Dorothy eventually answered, the Houston Chronicle reports. Inside, deputies found the two toddlers, an infant in a car seat, and Miranda, who suffers from narcolepsy and had taught her daughter how to dial 911 for that reason. She says the sudden attacks of sleep caused by the condition thankfully don't happen to her often, but Dorothy had called 911 for her once before. "I am extremely proud of her. She's such a smart little girl," Miranda Craig tells WLOX.

If it seems like there have been more of these sorts of outages lately, it’s because there have. “Recently, some of the major companies that provide the basic infrastructure that makes the Internet work have seen an increase in DDoS attacks against them,” the security technologist Bruce Schneier wrote in a blog post in September. “Moreover, they have seen a certain profile of attacks. These attacks are significantly larger than the ones they're used to seeing. They last longer. They're more sophisticated. And they look like probing.” “Probing” refers to a specially calibrated kind of attack, one that’s designed to take advantage of an individual website’s precise security weaknesses. “We don't know who is doing this, but it feels like a large nation state. China or Russia would be my first guesses,” Schneier wrote. The stakes of such an attack—and the possibility of a state actor—seem especially high in the United States, given the extent of alleged outside tampering with the approaching presidential election. In September, Krebs, the security researcher, also suffered a massive DDoS attack on his blog. It was so large, and so much bigger than historically comparable attacks, that internet-infrastructure company Akamai told him it could no longer host his blog pro bono, as it had for four years. (A spokesman for Akamai said none of its customers were affected by Friday’s attack.) When his blog came back online, he attributed the assault to “super-empowered individuals who have been quietly building extremely potent cyber weapons with transnational reach.” He believes that someone harnessed a vast number of digitally connected “internet of things” devices—“mainly routers, IP cameras, and digital video recorders”—to make DDoS attacks of unprecedented size. Many of these devices have weak security in the first place, and some even have hard-coded and unchangeable passwords. He compared a successful DDoS attack to a kind of censorship that the web can’t route around. “It's hard to imagine a stronger form of censorship than these DDoS attacks because if nobody wants to [host your website,] then that's pretty effective censorship,” he told Ars Technica. In the wake of that hack, Schneier argued that the U.S. government must regulate the internet of things or face DDoS-ing botnets of dangerous size. Many attacks are carried out by malicious bots, which are responsible for a huge proportion of overall web traffic anyway. “DDoS mitigation firms simply did not count on the size of these attacks increasing so quickly overnight,” Krebs wrote on Friday, “and are now scrambling to secure far greater capacity to handle much larger attacks concurrently.” Even before the attack on Krebs’s site, Akamai reported the largest DDoS attack ever measured on its routed network earlier this year. “We also saw more web application and DDoS attacks than ever before, a trend that shows no sign of reversing,” Akamai wrote in a 2016 security report. ||||| Criminals this morning massively attacked Dyn, a company that provides core Internet services for Twitter, SoundCloud, Spotify, Reddit and a host of other sites, causing outages and slowness for many of Dyn’s customers. In a statement, Dyn said that this morning, October 21, Dyn received a global distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on its DNS infrastructure on the east coast starting at around 7:10 a.m. ET (11:10 UTC). “DNS traffic resolved from east coast name server locations are experiencing a service interruption during this time. Updates will be posted as information becomes available,” the company wrote. DYN encouraged customers with concerns to check the company’s status page for updates and to reach out to its technical support team. A DDoS is when crooks use a large number of hacked or ill-configured systems to flood a target site with so much junk traffic that it can no longer serve legitimate visitors. DNS refers to Domain Name System services. DNS is an essential component of all Web sites, responsible for translating human-friendly Web site names like “example.com” into numeric, machine-readable Internet addresses. Anytime you send an e-mail or browse a Web site, your machine is sending a DNS look-up request to your Internet service provider to help route the traffic. ANALYSIS The attack on DYN comes just hours after DYN researcher Doug Madory presented a talk on DDoS attacks in Dallas, Texas at a meeting of the North American Network Operators Group (NANOG). Madory’s talk — available here on Youtube.com — delved deeper into research that he and I teamed up on to produce the data behind the story DDoS Mitigation Firm Has History of Hijacks. That story (as well as one published earlier this week, Spreading the DDoS Disease and Selling the Cure) examined the sometimes blurry lines between certain DDoS mitigation firms and the cybercriminals apparently involved in launching some of the largest DDoS attacks the Internet has ever seen. Indeed, the record 620 Gbps DDoS against KrebsOnSecurity.com came just hours after I published the story on which Madory and I collaborated. The record-sized attack that hit my site last month was quickly superseded by a DDoS against OVH, a French hosting firm that reported being targeted by a DDoS that was roughly twice the size of the assault on KrebsOnSecurity. As I noted in The Democratization of Censorship — the first story published after bringing my site back up under the protection of Google’s Project Shield — DDoS mitigation firms simply did not count on the size of these attacks increasing so quickly overnight, and are now scrambling to secure far greater capacity to handle much larger attacks concurrently. The size of these DDoS attacks has increased so much lately thanks largely to the broad availability of tools for compromising and leveraging the collective firepower of so-called Internet of Things devices — poorly secured Internet-based security cameras, digital video recorders (DVRs) and Internet routers. Last month, a hacker by the name of Anna_Senpai released the source code for Mirai, a crime machine that enslaves IoT devices for use in large DDoS attacks. The 620 Gbps attack that hit my site last month was launched by a botnet built on Mirai, for example. Interestingly, someone is now targeting infrastructure providers with extortion attacks and invoking the name Anna_senpai. According to a discussion thread started Wednesday on Web Hosting Talk, criminals are now invoking the Mirai author’s nickname in a bid to extort Bitcoins from targeted hosting providers. “If you will not pay in time, DDoS attack will start, your web-services will go down permanently. After that, price to stop will be increased to 5 BTC with further increment of 5 BTC for every day of attack. NOTE, i?m not joking. My attack are extremely powerful now – now average 700-800Gbps, sometimes over 1 Tbps per second. It will pass any remote protections, no current protection systems can help.” Let me be clear: I have no data to indicate that the attack on Dyn is related to extortion, to Mirai or to any of the companies or individuals Madory referenced in his talk this week in Dallas. But Dyn is known for publishing detailed writeups on outages at other major Internet service providers. Here’s hoping the company does not deviate from that practice and soon publishes a postmortem on its own attack. Update, 3:50 p.m. ET: Security firm Flashpoint is now reporting that they have seen indications that a Mirai-based botnet is indeed involved in the attack on Dyn today. Separately, I have heard from a trusted source who’s been tracking this activity and saw chatter in the cybercrime underground yesterday discussing a plan to attack Dyn. Update, 10:22 a.m. ET: Dyn’s status page reports that all services are back to normal as of 13:20 UTC (9:20 a.m. ET). Fixed the link to Doug Madory’s talk on Youtube, to remove the URL shortener (which isn’t working because of this attack). Update, 1:01 p.m. ET: Looks like the attacks on Dyn have resumed and this event is ongoing. This, from the Dyn status page: Tags: Akamai, Anna_Senpai, DDoS, DNS, Doug Madory, Dyn, internet of things, IoT, mirai, OVH, Reddit, twitter ||||| Twitter, Spotify and Reddit, and a huge swath of other websites were down or screwed up this morning. This was happening as hackers unleashed a large distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the servers of Dyn, a major DNS host. It’s probably safe to assume that the two situations are related. Update 4:22 PM EST: Looks like this is probably going to get even worse before it gets any better. Dyn says they are being hit with a third wave of attacks. Dyn told CNBC the attack is “well planned and executed, coming from tens of millions IP addresses at same time.” Advertisement Update 12:28 PM EST: Dyn says it is investigating yet another attack, causing the same massive outages experienced this morning. Based on emails from Gizmodo readers, this new wave of attacks seems to be affecting the West Coast of the United States and Europe. It’s so far unclear how the two attacks are related, but the outages are very similar. In order to understand how one DDoS attack could take out so many websites, you have to understand how Domain Name Servers (DNS) work. Basically, they act as the Internet’s phone book and facilitate your request to go to a certain webpage and make sure you are taken to the right place. If the DNS provider that handles requests for Twitter is down, well, good luck getting to Twitter. Some websites are coming back for some users, but it doesn’t look like the problem is fully resolved. Advertisement Dyn posted this update on its website: “Starting at 11:10 UTC on October 21th-Friday 2016 we began monitoring and mitigating a DDoS attack against our Dyn Managed DNS infrastructure. Some customers may experience increased DNS query latency and delayed zone propagation during this time. Updates will be posted as information becomes available.” Here’s a list of websites that readers have told us they are having trouble accessing: ActBlue Basecamp Big cartel Box Business Insider CNN Cleveland.com Etsy Github Grubhub Guardian.co.uk HBO Now Iheart.com (iHeartRadio) Imgur Intercom Intercom.com Okta PayPal People.com Pinterest Playstation Network Recode Reddit Seamless Spotify Squarespace Customer Sites Starbucks rewards/gift cards Storify.com The Verge Twillo Twitter Urbandictionary.com (lol) Weebly Wired.com Wix Customer Sites Yammer Yelp Zendesk.com Zoho CRM Credit Karma Eventbrite Netflix NHL.com Fox News Disqus Shopify Soundcloud Atom.io Ancersty.com ConstantContact Indeed.com New York Times Weather.com WSJ.com time.com xbox.com dailynews.com Wikia donorschoose.org Wufoo.com Genonebiology.com BBC Elder Scrolls Online Eve Online PagerDuty Kayak youneedabudget.com Speed Test Freshbooks Braintree Blue Host Qualtrics SBNation Salsify.com Zillow.com nimbleschedule.com Vox.com Livestream.com IndieGoGo Fortune CNBC.com FT.com Survey Monkey Paragon Game Runescape Here’s an internet outage map from DownDetector as of 12:46 PM EST: Advertisement Here’s a gif that shows the internet outage at 9:00 AM EST versus 12:30 PM EST: Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF At the time of publication Dyn said that it was still dealing with the problem. What websites are down for you? Send a tip to william.turton@gizmodo.com. Update 9:05 AM EST: Judging by emails from readers, this problem seems to be getting worse. Advertisement Update 9:43 AM EST: Dyn says the issue has been resolved. Update 12:19 PM EST: Dyn says the issue is resolved, but multiple readers are messaging me to say they’re still having trouble accessing websites. Update 12:25pm EST: It’s happening again. (see above) ||||| Level3 Communications offers telecommunications services to business customers. Level 3 services include internet connectivite and managed services such as VPN, collaboration, voice and video.

– If you like to ease your way into the day by flipping on some Spotify tunes and checking out your Twitter feeds and favorite Reddit forums, Friday morning was probably pretty miserable. That's because those sites, and dozens of others, experienced annoying disruptions (or were down completely for some) as a large distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack took place on a major domain host company, Gizmodo reports. Then, just a couple of hours after host Dyn announced it had restored everything to normal, a second strike against its infrastructure came through. DownDetector.com's outage map showed huge red blotches across the parts of the US, with the East Coast getting slammed the hardest. Gizmodo lays out the technical explainer, labeling DNS (domain name server) hosts as the "internet's phone book," serving as a conduit to bring users to certain websites. If a DNS host like Dyn goes down or is otherwise adversely affected, it can have repercussions for all of the sites under its umbrella. The Krebs on Security blog, meanwhile, describes a DDoS attack, defining it as "when crooks use a large number of hacked or ill-configured systems to flood a target site with so much junk traffic that it can no longer serve legitimate visitors." Gizmodo lists all of the sites apparently plagued with issues Friday, while the Atlantic ponders an even more dire situation: what would happen if something like this took place on Election Day. (A hacker hated NYC so much he took New York magazine offline.)

A Penn State assistant football coach testified Friday that he believes he saw former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky molesting a boy on campus and that he fully conveyed what he had seen to two Penn State administrators. John McQueary, father of Penn State Assistant Football Coach Mike McQueary, departs Dauphin County Court Friday, dec 16, 2011 in Harrisburg, Pa. Mike McQueary, speaking for the first time in public... (Associated Press) Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary, right, arrives at Dauphin County Court surrounded by heavy security Friday, Dec 16, 2011, in Harrisburg, Pa. McQueary declined to speak to reporters... (Associated Press) Former Penn State University Police Chief, Thomas Harmon, departs Dauphin County Court Friday, Dec 16, 2011 in Harrisburg, Pa. Penn State Assistant Football Coach Mike McQueary, speaking for the first... (Associated Press) Former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley, right, arrives for a hearing at Dauphin County Court, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in Harrisburg, Pa. A judge is to determine after the hearing if there's enough... (Associated Press) Former Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz, right, arrives for a preliminary hearing at Dauphin County Court, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in Harrisburg, Pa. A judge is to determine after the hearing if... (Associated Press) FILE -- In a Nov. 7, 2011 file photo former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley, left, and former Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz, right, enter a district judge's office for an arraignment... (Associated Press) Penn State Assistant Football Coach Mike McQueary, left, departs the Dauphin County Court Friday, Dec 16, 2011 in Harrisburg, PA. McQueary, speaking for the first time in public about the 2002 encounter... (Associated Press) Penn State Assistant Football Coach Mike McQueary, left, departs the Dauphin County Court Friday, Dec 16, 2011 in Harrisburg, PA. McQueary, speaking for the first time in public about the 2002 encounter... (Associated Press) Mike McQueary, speaking for the first time in public about the 2002 encounter in a Penn State locker room, said he believes that Sandusky was attacking the child with his hands around the boy's waist but said he wasn't 100 percent sure it was intercourse. McQueary took the stand Friday morning in a Pennsylvania courtroom during a preliminary hearing for university officials Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, who are accused of lying to a grand jury about what McQueary told them. At the conclusion of the hearing, District Judge William C. Wenner ruled that prosecutors have enough evidence to send their cases to trial. McQueary's story is central to the case against Curley and Schultz. They testified to the grand jury that McQueary never relayed the seriousness of what he saw. The officials, and Penn State coach Joe Paterno, have been criticized for never telling police about the 2002 allegation. Prosecutors say Sandusky continued to abuse boys for six more years. The lawyers for Curley and Schultz say the men are innocent and that uncorroborated testimony from McQueary is not enough on which to hang the case. Curley and Schultz told the grand jury that they remembered McQueary reporting only something inappropriate, like wrestling, but nothing as serious as rape. McQueary, who was on the stand for about two hours Friday, said he had stopped by a campus football locker room to drop off a pair of sneakers in the spring of 2002 when he heard slapping sounds in a shower and happened upon Sandusky and the boy. He said Sandusky was behind the boy he estimated to be 10 or 12 years old, with his hands wrapped around the youngster's waist. He said the boy was facing a wall, with his hands on it. McQueary, 37, said he has never described what he saw as anal rape or anal intercourse and couldn't see Sandusky's genitals, but that "it was very clear that it looked like there was intercourse going on." In its report last month, the grand jury summarized McQueary's testimony as saying he "saw a naked boy ... with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky." Under cross examination by an attorney for Curley, McQueary reiterated that he had not seen Sandusky penetrating or fondling the boy but was nearly certain they were having intercourse because the two were standing so close and Sandusky's arms were wrapped around the youth. He said he peeked into the shower three times _ the first via a mirror, the other two times directly. The last time he looked in, Sandusky and the boy had separated, he said. He said he didn't say anything, but "I know they saw me. They looked directly in my eye, both of them." McQueary said the entire encounter _ from when he first entered the locker room to when he retreated to his office _ lasted about 45 seconds. McQueary said he reported what he saw to Paterno but never went to police. He said he did not give Paterno explicit details of what he believed he'd seen, saying he wouldn't have used terms like sodomy or anal intercourse out of respect for the longtime coach. Paterno told the grand jury that McQueary reported seeing Sandusky doing something of a "sexual nature" with the youngster but that he didn't press for details. "I didn't push Mike ... because he was very upset," Paterno said. "I knew Mike was upset, and I knew some kind of inappropriate action was being taken by Jerry Sandusky with a youngster." McQueary said Paterno told him he'd "done the right thing" by reporting the encounter. The head coach appeared shocked and saddened and slumped back in his chair, McQueary said. Paterno told McQueary he would talk to others about what he'd reported. Nine or 10 days later, McQueary said he met with Curley and Schultz and told them he'd seen Sandusky and a boy, both naked, in the shower after hearing skin-on-skin slapping sounds. "I told them that I saw Jerry in the showers with a young boy and that what I had seen was extremely sexual and over the lines and it was wrong," McQueary said. "I would have described that it was extremely sexual and I thought that some kind of intercourse was going on." McQueary said he was left with the impression both men took his report seriously. When asked why he didn't go to police, he referenced Schultz's position as a vice president at the university who had overseen the campus police "I thought I was talking to the head of the police, to be frank with you," he said. "In my mind it was like speaking to a (district attorney). It was someone who police reported to and would know what to do with it." Curley told the grand jury that he couldn't recall his specific conversation with McQueary, but that McQueary never reported seeing anal intercourse or other sexual conduct. He said he recalled McQueary reporting wrestling or "horsing around." Schultz said he remembered McQueary and Paterno describing what the younger coach saw only in a very general way. "I had the impression it was inappropriate," Schultz told the grand jury. "I had the feeling it was some king of wrestling activity and maybe Jerry might have grabbed a young boys genitals." Under cross-examination, McQueary said he considered what he saw a crime but didn't call police because "it was delicate in nature." "I tried to use my best judgment," he said. "I was sure the act was over." He said he never tried to find the boy. Paterno, Schultz and Curley didn't testify, but Judge Wenner read their grand jury testimony from January in weighing the case. Curley's attorney, Caroline Roberto, said prosecutors "will never be able to reach their burden proof at a trial." Schultz's attorney, Tom Farrell, predicted his client would be acquitted. He also took a shot at Paterno, saying, "I'm an Italian from Brooklyn, and he may not have called the police but he may have done what I would have done, which is get the boys in the car with a few baseball bats and crowbars and take it to the fellow." Sandusky says he is innocent of more than 50 charges stemming from what authorities say were sexual assaults over 12 years on 10 boys in his home, on Penn State property and elsewhere. The scandal has provoked strong criticism that Penn State officials didn't do enough to stop Sandusky, and prompted the departures of Paterno and the school's longtime president, Graham Spanier. Curley, 57, Penn State's athletic director, was placed on leave by the university after his arrest. Schultz, 62, returned to retirement after spending about four decades at the school, most recently as senior vice president for business and finance, and treasurer. ||||| 1 of 4. Former Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley rides in the back seat of Gary Schultz's car after their arraignment on perjury charges in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, November 7, 2011. HARRISBURG, Pa (Reuters) - A judge ruled on Friday that two former senior Penn State officials must stand trial on charges of lying to a grand jury about what they knew of sexual abuse allegations against former coach Jerry Sandusky. District Judge William Wenner decided there was enough evidence against former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and finance official Gary Schultz that they should be brought to trial. The ruling capped a court hearing where a key witness, Mike McQueary, testified in public for the first time that he saw Sandusky in a sex act with a 10-year-old boy in 2002. The explosive allegations against Sandusky have shocked the university and the college-sports world, and focused national attention on the serious problem of child sex abuse. The story told by McQueary, a graduate assistant in the university's football program at the time, is key to the case against the two Penn State officials and Sandusky. This is because McQueary testified that he personally witnessed the abuse and then told his boss, former head coach Joe Paterno, who in turn told Curley. Even though McQueary's account was passed up the line of authority at Penn State, no one told police and Sandusky's alleged behavior continued for years. Curley and Schultz deny that they lied to the grand jury and say that Paterno and McQueary only told them in general terms about the incident and not in graphic detail. Sandusky has been charged with 52 counts of child sexual abuse involving 10 victims over 15 years. The identity of two of the victims, including the boy in the shower, remains unknown, prosecutors said. Sandusky has said he is innocent. "I believe he was sexually molesting the boy," McQueary testified at the hearing in the Dauphin County Courthouse on Friday. But McQueary also said: "I did not see insertion nor was there any protest, screaming or yelling." "I heard rhythmic slapping sounds, two or three slaps that sounded like skin on skin." He said he was "shocked, horrified, not thinking straight. I was distraught." McQueary said he witnessed the abuse on a Friday night, but it was not until Saturday that he told Paterno, who then waited for the close of the weekend to notify Curley and Schultz, who was in charge of campus police at the time. Failure to immediately notify local police has resulted in accusations of a cover-up and the firing of Penn State president Graham Spanier as well as Paterno. Both McQueary and Curley were placed on administrative leave and Schultz has retired to prepare his criminal defense. Now that the case is going to trial, it will be up to a jury to decide "whether McQueary has the credibility to address the high level of proof required to determine perjury," said Curley's attorney, Caroline Roberto. Key testimony at trial will also come from Paterno, who turns 85 next week, either in person or collected earlier, depending on his health, Deputy Attorney General Marc Costanzo told reporters. Paterno has been diagnosed with lung cancer and recently fell and broke his pelvis. McQueary spoke for two hours at the preliminary hearing in a courtroom packed with about 100 reporters and as many as 60 members of the public. McQueary, who was 28 at the time, testified that after witnessing the alleged incident he told his father: "I just saw coach Sandusky. What I saw was wrong and sexual." Asked if he used the phrase "anal intercourse" when he talked to Paterno about the incident, McQueary said, "No, out of respect, I would not have done it." Paterno told him, "I'm sorry you had to see that" and that McQueary had "done the absolute right thing," he testified. Paterno appeared "shocked and saddened" at what McQueary saw, and "slumped back in his chair," said McQueary, who was dressed in court in a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie. He said he had never confronted Sandusky himself about the incident, and that while he had "absolutely without a doubt" considered calling police, he did not. McQueary testified that he did tell Schultz about the incident and in doing so, "I thought I was talking to the head of police." He said he considered Schultz a sort of district attorney who "would know what to do" with the information. Asked by Schultz's attorney Tom Farrell if Sandusky had an erection, McQueary said: "I don't know. I didn't look and stare down there." Asked if he saw pain on the boy's face, McQueary said "no." McQueary's father, John McQueary, also testified on Friday. He said that in a meeting with Schultz after the event his son was told there had been a "noise level" about other incidents involving Sandusky, but the university "was never able to unearth anything or sink our teeth into anything substantial." Referring to his son's description of the sounds of the incident, the elder McQueary said while neither he nor Mike used the word thrusting, "you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out a sound like that would be thrusting." (Additional reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Greg McCune and Jerry Norton)

– Mike McQueary's testimony that he believes he saw Jerry Sandusky molesting a boy and that he fully conveyed what he had seen to two Penn State administrators helped seal the deal: A judge ruled today that prosecutors have enough evidence to send the officials' cases to trial, reports Reuters. Former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and finance official Gary Schultz are accused of lying to a grand jury about what McQueary told them. They told the grand jury that they recalled McQueary reporting only something inappropriate, like wrestling, but nothing as serious as rape, notes the AP.

The community of Arviat, Nunavut, is grieving after a local man was killed by a polar bear Tuesday night. Aaron Gibbons, 31, was unarmed when he encountered the bear on Sentry Island, a popular fishing and hunting spot located about 10 kilometres outside of the hamlet, on the west coast of Hudson Bay. Community members say Gibbons was with his children at the time and put himself between them and the bear. When something like this happens, it affects the whole community. - John Main, MLA for Arviat North–Whale Cove They were unharmed. Gibbons died on the scene and the bear was shot and killed by another adult who came to the area, according to the RCMP. "Definitely Aaron died a hero, he protected his children," said Gibbons' cousin, Eric Anoee. "It's [the] right word to say right now." Gibbons was a devoted father who spent a lot of time with his children, said Anoee, noting he was also a good hunter. His death has affected the whole community, where more than 2,500 people live. "We are still in shock but we are resilient and we will go on and continue as a community," said Anoee. John Main, MLA for Arviat North–Whale Cove, echoed those sentiments. A mother and cub play near Arviat, Nunavut. Elders say polar bears have been frequenting the community more often and are less afraid of humans than in years past. (Submitted by James Tagalik) "It's really just incredibly sad, we're a small community and when something like this happens, it affects the whole community," he said. Main said while the focus right now is on supporting those affected, there is also a desire to find out what led to the attack, in order to prevent others from happening. The last death from a polar bear attack in Nunavut was 18 years ago in Rankin Inlet. 'It's a fact of life' Elders from Arviat have said bears are frequenting the community more than in years past, and are less afraid of humans, leading to more human-bear conflicts. "Living in the edge of the community myself, I've seen first-hand how when the bears migrate to here in the fall time, how tense it can get," said Anoee. "It's a fact of life for us living here now," said Main. "It's always something that people are mindful of and it's always something that I think people are concerned about in terms of the risks." John Main, Nunavut MLA for Arviat North–Whale Cove, said the risks posed by polar bears have become a 'fact of life' for Arviat. (Sara Frizzell/CBC) Main said October and November are the peak months, though bears are also seen near the community in the summer and even springtime. But efforts have been taken to address the issue. In 2010 a polar bear patrol program was launched with the support of WWF-Canada to monitor the perimeter of the community in peak bear season. The organization said it has decreased the number of bears that have had to be killed. According to 2016 numbers from the territory's Department of Environment, 205 bears were deterred by the program in the Western Hudson Bay area while 29 bears were relocated by conservation officers through culvert traps. Four bears were killed in defence of life and property. Trick or treating has also moved indoors, at the community centre or outdoors with protection. "We're in bear country and Inuit long ago up to today have coexisted with polar bears and we have the utmost respect to these animals and it's hard sometimes but we manage," said Anoee. Arviat RCMP said they are investigating the incident with the Nunavut chief coroner's office. ||||| Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. "The bear surprised him and his children, so he put himself between them and the bear to let them escape. The bear had no fear," Kidlapik tweeted Tuesday. "My qangiaq died a hero," the 60-year-old Kidlapik said on Twitter, using the Inuinnaqtun word for nephew. Gordy Kidlapik said his nephew Aaron Gibbons, 31, was mauled to death Tuesday on Sentry Island, 10 kilometres from Arviat, a hamlet on the western shore of Hudson Bay in Nunavut. A dad killed Tuesday when he put himself between a polar bear and his three young children is being hailed as a hero, while tourism that promotes close encounters with the giant carnivores is being called into question. A dad killed Tuesday when he put himself between a polar bear and his three young children is being hailed as a hero, while tourism that promotes close encounters with the giant carnivores is being called into question. Gordy Kidlapik said his nephew Aaron Gibbons, 31, was mauled to death Tuesday on Sentry Island, 10 kilometres from Arviat, a hamlet on the western shore of Hudson Bay in Nunavut. "My qangiaq died a hero," the 60-year-old Kidlapik said on Twitter, using the Inuinnaqtun word for nephew. "The bear surprised him and his children, so he put himself between them and the bear to let them escape. The bear had no fear," Kidlapik tweeted Tuesday. Kidlapik, a director of the hunters and trappers association in Arviat, which is located 260 kilometres north of Churchill, took to social media to blast tourism outfitters in Churchill and Travel Manitoba for promoting activities such as "walk with the bears," which he said are making the massive meat-eating animals lose their fear of humans. "We are just north of Churchill and the same bears you allow to approach close to the tourists migrate through our town when coming from south," Kidlapik said on Twitter, singling out social media posts from Churchill Wild, a company that promotes walking tours through polar bear habitat. GORDY KIDLAPIK / TWITTER Residents from the town of Arviat wait along the shore for the body of Aaron Gibbons, 31, who died Tuesday on Sentry Island, 10 kilometres from the town which is on the western shore of Hudson Bay. Gibbons was killed by a polar bear. "You'll see pictures of tourists touching a bear through the fence," Kidlapik said by phone Wednesday. "That's not right. I was quite angry (Tuesday) night knowing it could have been a factor in the number of bears that get that close." The chief executive officer of Churchill Wild expressed sympathy but said the fatal polar bear attack near Arviat had nothing to do with the company. "Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family," CEO Toni Morberg said in an email. "This incident didn’t happen near Churchill or near any Churchill Wild properties and didn’t involve the company in any way and so we are unable to comment on it." Travel Manitoba also declined to comment. Kidlapik said Gibbons and his elementary-school age children were thought to be egg picking on the island, looking for Arctic tern eggs, which are considered a delicacy. Polar bears also like the eggs, Kidlapik added. News of what happened to Gibbons and what his children witnessed spread rapidly through the community, leaving the 2,600 residents in shock. "The bear started to stalk or charge one of his children. He told his children to run back to the boat and put himself between his children and the bear," said Kidlapik, his voice breaking with emotion. BRIGIT CATHRIN DUVAL PHOTO Photo from churchillwild.com promoting their Polar Bear Photo Safari. "He died a hero." One of Gibbons children called for help on a CB radio, which Kidlapik later tweeted about it. "His young daughter having to call on CB radio and crying to her grandmother, my aik (sister-in-law), immediately after the mauling... we were very helpless. To hear my aik calling out to my qangiaq, asking if he’s okay...very heart breaking. His body was brought in at 11:15 p.m. (Tuesday)." The RCMP Arviat detachment said they were notified of the polar bear attack just before 8 p.m. that evening. Gibbons, who was unarmed, was pronounced dead when officers and medical professionals arrived at the scene. Police said the polar bear was put down by another adult who was nearby on the island and armed. Kidlapik said he hopes tourism operators and promoters who are selling close contact with polar bears review that marketing practice. "They need to really stop and look at this closer. Then they might understand what's happening to the Inuit and northerners with (polar bears) coming closer." "We're not blaming Churchill Wild for what is happening, but it is a factor," Kidlapik said from Arviat. "Bears are losing whatever fear they have of humans. It's very different from 10 or 15 years ago. Based on my experience and others I've talked to, bears would run away from the sound of an ATV or snowmobile. Today, bears are not doing that. They hang around. They won't run away. They'll go on the trail beside you." The Arviat RCMP said it is continuing its investigation with the Office of the Chief Coroner. The Nunavut Department of the Environment is also looking into the death, which is reportedly the first in Nunavut involving a polar bear since 2000. Some Arviat residents commented on social media Wednesday about their grief and their growing concern about bears coming into their yards, especially in the fall. "We are concerned for our families' lives, I live with fear but have to be brave," wrote one man who was a cousin of Gibbons. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

– The first person killed by a polar bear in Canada's Nunavut territory for 18 years is being hailed as a hero. Aaron Gibbons, 31, put himself between the bear and his three young children when he encountered the animal on Sentry Island, around six miles from the Hudson Bay hamlet of Arviat, the CBC reports. His uncle, Gordy Kidlapik, says Gibbons and the children were looking for Arctic tern eggs at the time. "The bear started to stalk or charge one of his children," Kidlapik says. "He told his children to run back to the boat and put himself between his children and the bear." One of the children called for help on the boat's CB radio. Gibbons, who was unarmed, was fatally mauled by the bear. He was pronounced dead when Mounties arrived on the scene. The bear was killed by another adult in the area. Arviat residents say they are worried about the increasing number of encounters with polar bears in the area, which Kidlapik blames on tourism operators bringing people close to the animals. "Bears are losing whatever fear they have of humans. It's very different from 10 or 15 years ago," Kidlapik tells the Winnipeg Free Press. "Based on my experience and others I've talked to, bears would run away from the sound of an ATV or snowmobile. Today, bears are not doing that. They hang around. They won't run away. They'll go on the trail beside you."

Thermal Imaging What if you have a critical system on your premises that requires constant monitoring of its temperature? Knightscope can run a thermal image and not only push an alert at a certain threshold but also capture data for historical analysis or pattern recognition. And, of course, we can detect fires in the deployment area. ||||| Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives. Enlarge Image Anton/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET They mean well, robots. They're just trying to make our world a better place. I fear, however, we're still not so sure. I base this -- today, at least -- on an incident that allegedly occurred last Thursday in the parking lot of a company called Knightscope. The company makes K5 security robots and boasts on its website: "Robots Winning Against Crime." Well, not always. Last Thursday, one of Knightscope's security robots was on patrol at the company's offices in Mountain View, California, when, police say, it was assaulted by a human being. "On April 19 around 8:15 pm, we responded to Knightscope, located on the 1000 block of Terra Bella Avenue, for reports of a prowler in the area," a police spokeswoman told me. This alleged prowler wasn't the robot. It was a human, 41-year-old Jason Sylvain. He was accused of knocking over the robot. Some might consider this a feat, as the robot weighs 300 lbs. Was this a fit of existential woe? "When we arrived, we met with Sylvain, and as we were speaking with him, he appeared confused, had red, glassy eyes and a strong odor of alcohol emitted from him," the spokeswoman told me. Stacy Dean Stephens, Knightscope's vice president of marketing and sales, told me that the robot took it all in its stride. "The robot did exactly as it was suppose to do -- the 'assault' was detected and immediately reported. The alarms on the robot sounded, the suspect attempted to flee the scene and was detained by one of my colleagues and me until the Mountain View Police arrived," he told me. The robot only suffered scratches. "The robot has recuperated from his injuries and is back on patrol keeping our office and employees safe again," Stephens told me. It's unclear, however, whether it bears any emotional scars. What's clear is that Sylvain is in trouble. Police say that "the employee of the business requested a private person's arrest for Sylvain for prowling." He was also charged with being drunk in public. Police weren't able to say whether Sylvain had legal representation, and CNET's attempts to contact him were unsuccessful. Stephens, however, told me: "He claimed to be an engineer that wanted to 'test' the security robots. I guess he now has his answer." It's easy to imagine these robots are innocent beings, there only for the good of mankind. Last year, however, a mom and dad accused a robot of mowing down their child at a shopping mall, causing injury. The robot was a K5 security robot, made by Knightscope. First published April 25, 8:32 p.m. PT. Update, 8:46 p.m.: Adds comment from Knightscope. Technically Incorrect: Bringing you a fresh and irreverent take on tech. Virtual reality 101: CNET tells you everything you need to know about VR. ||||| The future is going to be full of robots, which might be exciting or depressing depending on your viewpoint. The future is also going to be full of drunk people tackling said robots for fun, which is going to be very funny right up until the point corporations pass robot hate crime laws in order to protect their property. Then it’ll be depressing. But hey, while we’re still at the funny stage, why not enjoy the news that last week in Mountain View, a drunk man was arrested after knocking over a 300-pound security robot, the Knightscope K5. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because a different Knightscope K5 was previously in the news for running over a toddler’s foot. So, maybe this is just payback? Robo-human wars have to star somewhere I guess. According to ABC7 News, the perp, 41-year-old Jason Sylvain, approached the K5 while it was patrolling a parking lot. He toppled it over (out of spite or curiosity? We don’t know), inflicting a number of scratches on the bot. The K5 is now back on patrol, while Sylvain has been arrested for “prowling and public intoxication.” .@iKnightscope says it's a "testament to the technology" that guy who attacked anti-crime droid was arrested pic.twitter.com/SWGGVOWlvi — Tiffany Wilson (@TWilsonTV) April 25, 2017 Reaction to the incidents seems mixed. One local resident told ABC7 News: “It’s a funny situation.” While another said “[it’s] a pretty pathetic incident because it shows how spineless the drunk guys in Silicon Valley really are because they attack a victim who doesn't even have any arms.” Which also means “it’s a funny situation.” Drunken japes aside, it’ll be interesting to see how companies deal with this sort of incident in future. If people are going to damage robots, how should they program those bots to react? Do we need new laws, or will people just slowly acclimatize to the technology, like they always do? Some context: in one experiment in Japan, a robot was let loose to wander in a busy shopping mall, asking humans who blocked its path to move out the way. The researchers found that adults were happy to step aside, but children were less accommodating. When no one was looking they obstructed the robot; kicking it, punching it, and calling it names. Finding no easy way to stop this behavior, the roboticists programmed the bot to simply avoid any human shorter than 1.4 meters. Drunks and children, it seems, simply can’t be trusted around robots. ||||| A 300-pound egg-shaped security robot was punched to the ground by an allegedly drunken man outside a Silicon Valley shopping center, Mountain View police said. A 41-year-old Mountain View man has been arrested in connection to the alleged parking-lot altercation with the Knightscope-made droid. The accused robo-assailant, who faces charges of prowling and public intoxication, was identified as Jason Sylvain. The robot suffered minor scratches and is back on duty following last week's incident, which was first reported Tuesday by ABC7 News. Sylvain was not immediately reachable for comment. Last year, one of the Knightscope's security robots knocked over a 16-month-old child at a Silicon Valley shopping center. The robot ran over the boy's right foot, causing bruising but not breaking it. The five-foot-tall, K5 robots can read 300 license plates per minute. They also are equipped to supply 360-degree video streaming. Once an anomaly is detected by these robots, they alert security guards. The robots are not armed. Knightscope, which is based in Mountain View, charges $7 per hour for the robots that the company claims will soon be able to detect guns. The company says it has dozens of clients, including Microsoft and the NBA's Sacramento Kings. ||||| Meet K-5 ---the droid taken down by an alleged drunk man last week. Don't worry, he's back on patrol :) details @abc7newsbayarea at 11 pic.twitter.com/0qthDHONQq — Tiffany Wilson (@TWilsonTV) April 25, 2017 .@iKnightscope says it's a "testament to the technology" that guy who attacked anti-crime droid was arrested pic.twitter.com/SWGGVOWlvi — Tiffany Wilson (@TWilsonTV) April 25, 2017 Police arrested a man accused of being drunk and knocking down a robot that was built to prevent crime near Terra Bella and Linda Vista Avenue in Mountain View.The 300-pound robot named K5 spins and occasionally whistles, so it's hard to understand why someone would want to knock it down."I think this is a pretty pathetic incident because it shows how spineless the drunk guys in Silicon Valley really are because they attack a victim who doesn't even have any arms," Mountain View resident Eamonn Callon said.Police say Jason Sylvain, 41, knocked down the Knightscope droid while it was patrolling the parking lot, last week."I think this is probably a first for us, but we are no strangers to technology," one woman said.Patrons at Peet's Coffee couldn't get enough of the story. "I don't think this is a fair fight, really totally unacceptable," Callon said."I don't know, it's a funny situation," Mountain View resident Guy Simoes said.Another man said he would've arrested the guy or given him a ticket.The robot referred to as K5 suffered some scratches, but it is back on the street.The co-founder said it's a testament to the technology that police caught the aggressor and booked in him jail. Knightscope is the company behind the robot that ran over a toddler's foot at a Stanford shopping center last year.Since then, they've made many adjustments and just launched their first security droids out of state.Police said Sylvain faces prowling and public intoxication charges.

– A crime-fighting robot wasn't able to prevent a drunk guy from attacking it—but it did get the last laugh, er, whistle, according to police. Authorities say Jason Sylvain, 41, knocked down the 5-foot-tall, 300-pound Knightscope K5 security droid—which is equipped with a camera, per Ars Technica, and whistles and spins in a circle when it detects a crime—as it was patrolling Knightscope's parking lot in Mountain View, Calif., last Thursday. The robot, which suffered some scratches, was the clear loser in the fight, though it was a rather one-sided affair since K5 doesn't have any arms. The droid got its revenge, however, by sounding its alarms, reports CNET. Knightscope rep Stacy Dean Stephens says Sylvain tried to flee when the alarms sounded, but was restrained until police arrived. A police rep says he was charged with prowling and public intoxication after officers noted he “appeared confused, had red, glassy eyes and a strong odor of alcohol emitted from him." According to Stephens, "the robot did exactly as it was supposed to do—the 'assault' was detected and immediately reported." The fact that Sylvain was arrested is "a testament to the technology," the company adds, per ABC 7. While the Verge wonders if this marks the start of "robo-human wars," Knightscope notes K5 recovered quickly and is back on patrol. (A robot with "no function" roams a desert.)

As part of an ongoing look into the troubled state of death investigation, ProPublica, PBS "Frontline" and NPR identified nearly two dozen cases in the U.S. and Canada in which people have been accused of killing children based on flawed or biased work by forensic pathologists and then later cleared. These are summaries of the cases. (Jump to the Canadian Cases.) | Related Story: The Hardest Cases: When Children Die, Justice Can Be Elusive Update (July 29): In response to our investigation with NPR and PBS FRONTLINE, an NPR listener wrote in to ask how we selected the 23 child cases we reported on. In response, ProPublica, with our partners, issued an explanation detailing how little data exists on child death cases and how we focused on those "cases in the U.S. and Canada where charges had been dropped before trial, or juries acquitted at trial, or judges overturned convictions after trial chiefly based on forensic pathology evidence." You can read our full explanation here. U.S. Cases John Poole/NPR Accused Parent/Caregiver: Levon Brooks (ex-boyfriend of child's mother) Child: Courtney Smith Child's Age at Death: 3 years Date of Death: Sept. 16, 1990 Location: Brooksville, Miss. Original Autopsy Findings: Steven Hayne, a pathologist working for the state of Mississippi, called the death a homicide by drowning. He found evidence of sexual assault and marks that he confirmed with a consultant were from human bites. The consultant said the bite marks could have come from "no one but" Brooks. Alternate Findings: Forensic pathologist Michael Baden, asked by the Innocence Project to review the case, said that there was no scientific basis for saying the marks were human bites and that such marks are often caused after death by decomposition or aquatic wildlife. Case Details: The child's body was found in a pond. The bite-mark findings from Hayne's autopsy figured heavily in the January 1992 trial that led to Brooks' conviction and sentence of life in prison for capital murder. After 16 years Brooks was released in February 2008, when Justin Albert Johnson confessed to the attack. Johnson denied biting the victim. He has been charged with two counts of capital murder (he also confessed to another killing) and is being held pending trial. John Poole/NPR Accused Parent/Caregiver: Kennedy Brewer (boyfriend of child's mother) Child: Christine Jackson Child's Age at Death: 3 years Date of Death: May 3, 1992 Location: Brooksville, Miss. Original Autopsy Findings: Steven Hayne, a pathologist working for the state of Mississippi, concluded the death was a homicide by strangling. He found signs of sexual assault and marks that he confirmed with a consultant were human bites. The consultant said the bite marks "without doubt" matched Brewer's teeth. Alternate Findings: Forensic pathologist Michael Baden, asked by the Innocence Project to review the case, said the marks were common post-mortem effects from decomposition and wildlife in the water, not human bites. Case Details: The child's body was found in a creek. Brewer, who had been babysitting, said the little girl disappeared from home while he was asleep. Though police initially suspected another man -- who 16 years later would confess to the crime -- Brewer was prosecuted based on the bite-mark findings. He spent three years in pretrial detention before being convicted on March 24, 1995, of capital murder. He was sentenced to death. In 2001, DNA testing showed that semen recovered from the child's body didn't match Brewer, and a year later his conviction was vacated. He remained incarcerated for five more years, pending a second trial. In February 2008, Justin Albert Johnson confessed to this attack as well as the one on Courtney Smith. Johnson was charged with two counts of capital murder and is being held pending trial. Brewer was exonerated. Attorney Westbrook's Office Accused Parent/Caregiver: Hattie Douglas (mother) Child: Kaddarius Douglas Child's Age at Death: 11 months Date of Death: May 11, 2006 Location: Camden, Miss. Original Autopsy Findings: Steven Hayne, a pathologist working for the state of Mississippi, initially described the case as an accidental "rollover death/compression of chest." But after blood and urine tests, he later called the death a homicide by alcohol poisoning. Alternate Findings: LeRoy Riddick, a forensic pathologist for the defense, questioned the toxicology results. That Kaddarius' alcohol levels rose from negligible to very high over successive tests indicated problems with how samples were handled, he argued. One lab report said a sample was contaminated. Riddick said tissue samples showed the child had died of "interstitial pneumonia and myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle)," probably from a virus. Case Details: When he died, Kaddarius Douglas was on medication for breathing problems, prescribed days earlier at a clinic. The autopsy showed no mark of abuse, or visible evidence of alcohol poisoning, or any other sign of poor health besides a slightly enlarged heart. Hattie Douglas had no record of abuse. Hattie Douglas said she'd fallen asleep with son Kaddarius on her chest and then woke up to find he wasn't breathing. Based on Hayne's finding of alcohol poisoning, she was charged with murder, jailed and barred from contact with her five other children. After Riddick raised questions about Hayne's work, prosecutors dropped the charge against Hattie Douglas in May 2008, citing a lack of evidence. Accused Parent/Caregiver: Ruth Ann Gilliam (mother) Child: Trevor Shayne-Jared Seber Child's Age at Death: 2 months Date of Death: March 20, 2002 Location: Pasadena, Texas Original Autopsy Findings: Patricia Moore, then an associate medical examiner for Harris County, Texas, concluded the death was a homicide by "positional asphyxia." Alternate Findings: Chief Medical Examiner Luis Sanchez later reviewed Moore's work and revised the cause and manner of death to be "undetermined." Case Details: In October 2002, Gilliam was charged with reckless injury to a child, punishable by 20 years in prison, for her infant son's death. She spent nine months in pretrial detention, losing custody of her other child, who was eventually adopted. In preparing for trial, a different medical examiner disagreed with Moore's work, and the office revised its conclusions. The case against Gilliam was dismissed in March 2004. AP Photo Accused Parent/Caregiver: Brandy Briggs (mother) Child: Daniel Lemons Child's Age at Death: 2 months Date of Death: May 9, 1999 Location: Highlands, Texas Original Autopsy Findings: Patricia Moore, then an associate medical examiner for Harris County, Texas, concluded the death was a homicide caused by "craniocerebral trauma." Alternate Findings: In 2003, Chief Medical Examiner Luis Sanchez changed Moore's homicide and trauma conclusions to "undetermined." He found no sign of trauma, but rather evidence of sepsis from a urinary tract infection, a known breathing problem and brain death because of a hospital tubing error. During Briggs' final, successful appeal in June 2004, Moore told the Houston Chronicle that she stood by her conclusions. Case Details: Briggs was charged with first-degree felony injury to a child after Moore ruled her son's death a homicide. On the eve of trial, Briggs pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, after her then-attorney said Briggs couldn't afford the medical experts to prove her innocence. She was sentenced to 17 years in prison and served nearly four before the autopsy conclusions were revised and an appeals court threw out her conviction. Accused Parent/Caregiver: John Peel (father) Child: John Peel Jr. Child's Age at Death: 2 months Date of Death: June 27, 1998 Location: St. Petersburg, Fla. Original Autopsy Findings: Joan Wood, then the medical examiner of Pinellas and Pasco Counties in Florida, concluded the death was a homicide caused by "closed head injury-child abuse," evidenced by eye and brain bleeding. Alternate Findings: Wood's successor, Jon Thogmartin, found no sign of eye bleeding and less brain bleeding than Wood had said. Thogmartin amended the autopsy report to say the evidence didn't support Wood's conclusions. After Peel's release, Wood told reporters in Florida that she stood by her findings. Case Details: John Peel was charged the day after his son's death with first-degree murder. He and the infant's mother, then in their teens, said they'd fallen asleep with the baby in a twin bed and woke to find him on the tile floor. Peel pleaded no contest to a lesser manslaughter charge and served four of 10 years. His lawyer said Peel always maintained his innocence but took a plea deal to avoid a possible life sentence. A prosecutor asked a judge to throw out Peel's conviction and sentence based on the amended autopsy report. Peel was released Oct. 16, 2002. St. Petersburg Times Accused Parent/Caregiver: David Long (father) Child: Rebecca Long Child's Age at Death: 7 1/2 months Date of Death: March 7, 1998 Location: New Port Richey, Fla. Original Autopsy Findings: Marie Hansen, then an associate medical examiner working in Joan Wood's Pinellas County office, concluded the death was a homicide caused by "blunt traumatic head and neck injuries." Alternate Findings: Wood's successor, Jon Thogmartin, found scant evidence of trauma. Instead, the infant's lungs showed "widespread" bronchial pneumonia. Thogmartin concluded the child hadn't been murdered and died naturally of the illness, complicated by being born three months premature. After Thogmartin's 2002 correction of her work, Hansen said, "In science, you always have to leave open the possibility that new information may show something different." Case Details: David Long was the only adult home with daughter Rebecca when she stopped breathing. He was charged with first-degree murder, largely based on the autopsy findings. Law enforcement disagreed, saying the evidence didn't point to a crime. A month before trial, prosecutors asked the new medical examiner, Thogmartin, to take a second look. His revised report led authorities to drop the murder charge in April 2002. PBS Frontline Accused Parent/Caregiver: Melonie Ware (day care provider) Child: Jaden Paige Child's Age at Death: 9 months Date of Death: March 21,2004 Location: Decatur, Ga. Original Autopsy Findings: DeKalb County Medical Examiner Gerald Gowitt called the death a homicide by "craniocerebral trauma." He found bruising on the scalp, bleeding in the brain and eyes, and a leg fracture. He also noted that the hospital had diagnosed child abuse. He testified in court that the injuries resulted from violent shaking or impact, although he eventually conceded that the leg wasn't fractured but rather injured in a hospital procedure. Though the infant had a history of sickle cell disease, Gowitt said there was no sign of the signature crescent-shaped cells. Alternate Findings: Defense experts brought in by Ware's attorney for her second trial said the infant died from complications of sickle cell anemia, including infection and blood-clotting problems that caused the internal bleeding. They showed that slides taken during the autopsy were filled with sickle cells. The experts also testified that bruises on the child's scalp and his leg injury likely resulted from hospital procedures initiated to try to save Paige. Case Details: In November 2005, Ware was convicted of murdering Paige and sentenced to life in prison. A year later, the court vacated her conviction and ordered a new trial, saying Ware had gotten inadequate representation and expert resources the first time. After a second trial in 2009, she was acquitted. PBS Frontline Accused Parent/Caregiver: Monea Tyson (mother) Child: Jayceon Tyson Child's Age at Death: Almost 2 years Date of Death: Dec. 7, 2008 Location: El Paso, Texas Original Autopsy Findings: Paul Shrode, then the chief medical examiner of El Paso, concluded the death was a homicide caused by head and other trauma. Alternate Findings: Forensic pathologist Karen Griest, brought in by the defense, concluded that the bruises on Jayceon Tyson indicated an active toddler, not abuse, and that Jayceon had died of a severe lung infection. El Paso County commissioners fired Shrode months before Monea Tyson's trial, giving no explanation for their action. Shrode's former supervisor gave a sworn statement saying that the medical examiner had offered "unscientific" testimony in a 1997 Ohio trial that put a defendant on death row. Shrode also drew criticism for submitting misleading credentials when applying for his job in El Paso. Case Details: Monea Tyson was the only adult at home when her son stopped breathing. The toddler died the next day in a hospital. Based largely on the autopsy findings, his mother was charged with capital murder. Unable to afford bail, she spent two years in pretrial detention and lost custody of two older children and a baby she gave birth to while locked up. A jury voted to acquit after a trial in November 2010. Earlier this year, Tyson regained custody of her three surviving children. Calif. Western School of Law Accused Parent/Caregiver: Kenneth Marsh (boyfriend of child's mother) Child: Phillip Buell Child's Age at Death: 2 years, 9 months Date of Death: April 28, 1983 Location: San Diego, Calif. Original Autopsy Findings: Roger Williams — a pathologist at the hospital where Phillip died — performed the autopsy for the San Diego County coroner. Other hospital staffers had diagnosed Phillip with child abuse. Williams concluded the death was a homicide caused by multiple head injuries. Alternate Findings: In 2004 San Diego prosecutors hired a forensic pathologist to review the 1983 autopsy after defense experts had questioned it. The forensic pathologist said he couldn't be sure that there had been any abuse. He found Williams' autopsy methods had been inadequate and said some of Williams' trial testimony didn't jibe with anatomical science. Case Details: Kenneth Marsh, home watching Phillip at the time, said the child fell and hit his head on a brick hearth. Phillip died a day later in the hospital. Police believed the death was an accident. But based on medical opinions, including Williams' autopsy, Marsh was charged with murder. He was convicted on Nov. 28, 1983. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Marsh, supported by Phillip's mother, pursued appeals claiming his trial lawyer had failed to investigate the case properly — in particular, by failing to present expert evidence showing that the child had a bleeding disorder and that questionable hospital care worsened his injuries. Eventually prosecutors decided to review the autopsy and other evidence. In September 2004 — 20 years into Marsh's sentence — they asked a judge to dismiss the case. Morry Gash/AP Photo Accused Parent/Caregiver: Audrey Edmunds (day care provider) Child: Natalie Beard Child's Age at Death: 7 months Date of Death: Oct. 16, 1995 Location: Madison, Wis. Original Autopsy Findings: Robert Huntington, then a forensic pathologist at University of Wisconsin-Madison, conducted the autopsy for Dane County. He found swelling and bleeding of the brain and bleeding in the eyes. He concluded that the death was a homicide by shaking. He testified in court that the abuse must have occurred almost immediately before the infant's collapse. Alternate Findings:More than a decade later, Huntington changed his opinion about the immediacy of the abuse, which was crucial in the prosecution of Audrey Edmunds. He explained that shifts in the theory of shaken baby syndrome and his own experience after the Beard autopsy had changed his mind. Case Details: Edmunds said she had found the infant unresponsive after leaving her for half an hour with a bottle. She called 911, and the child died that night in a hospital. Based largely on medical testimony that the autopsy findings could only have resulted from violent shaking immediately before the child's collapse, Edmunds was convicted of first-degree reckless homicide and sentenced to 18 years. After court challenges presenting medical evidence that the child had been ill or had been injured before she entered Edmunds' care, her conviction was vacated in January 2008. Sources: Autopsy reports, judicial opinions, interviews, St. Petersburg Times, Houston Chronicle, the Innocence Project. ||||| Post Mortem Death Investigation in America This story was produced in collaboration with PBS "Frontline" and NPR. Listen to NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered (check local listings). And watch "The Child Cases" on PBS "Frontline" tonight (check local listings). Her name was Isis Charm Vas and at 6 months old she was a slight child -- fifth percentile in height and weight. When the ambulance sped her to Northwest Texas Hospital on a Saturday morning in October 2000, doctors and nurses feared that someone had done something awful to her delicate little body. A constellation of bruises stretched across her pale skin. CT scans showed blood pooling on her brain and swelling. Her vagina was bleeding, as well. The damage was so severe that her body's vital organs were shutting down. Less than 24 hours later, Isis died. If you have any information about possible wrongful prosecutions in child death cases, please contact reporter A.C. Thompson at [email protected] An autopsy bolstered the initial suspicions that she'd been abused. Dr. Joni McClain, a forensic pathologist, ruled Isis' death a homicide and said the baby had been sexually violated. McClain would later describe it as a "classic" case of blunt force trauma, the type of damage often done by a beating. The police investigation that followed was constructed almost entirely from medical evidence. In the end, prosecutors indicted one of the child's babysitters: Ernie Lopez. Today, Lopez is serving a 60-year prison term for sexual assault and is still facing capital murder charges. But in the years since Lopez was sent to the penitentiary, a growing body of evidence has emerged suggesting that McClain and the hospital staffers were wrong about what happened to Isis -- and that her death was not the result of a criminal attack. If Lopez is ultimately exonerated, his case will not be unique. An investigation by ProPublica, PBS "Frontline" and NPR has found that medical examiners and coroners have repeatedly mishandled cases of infant and child deaths, helping to put innocent people behind bars. We analyzed nearly two dozen cases in the United States and Canada in which people have been accused of killing children based on flawed or biased work by forensic pathologists, and then later cleared. Some spent years in prison before courts overturned their convictions. In 2004, San Diego prosecutors moved to dismiss charges against a man who'd been imprisoned for two decades for murdering his girlfriend's son. Others were freed more swiftly but endured hardships nonetheless. An El Paso, Texas, jury acquitted a woman of killing her child in 2010, but after spending 22 months in the county jail, she still had to wage a legal battle to regain custody of her other children. The questionable prosecutions identified in our investigation had common elements: Often, authorities had little to go on other than autopsy findings. Many of the doctors who conducted post-mortem examinations failed to consult specialists in childhood injuries or ailments, or to thoroughly review medical records that could have affected their conclusions. In several cases, forensic pathologists worked so closely with authorities, they effectively became agents of law enforcement, rather than objective arbiters of scientific evidence. Some experts in the field say worries about mistakes in child death cases are overstated. "The vast majority of forensic pathologists recognize a child abuse case when they see it, and it's not because they want to persecute people," said Dr. Mary Case, chief medical examiner for four Missouri counties including St. Louis County. But others say the criminal justice system has yet to confront the full scope of the problem, and that, as a result, more innocent people may be serving time for crimes they didn't commit. "I think it's time to look at these cases again," said Dr. Michael Laposata, chief pathologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, adding that this could "result in the liberation of a number of falsely accused people." Lopez, 40, a soft-spoken man with a slight twang, still can't quite believe he may spend the rest of his life locked up for something he says he didn't do: harming the infant he nicknamed "Little Bird." "Sometimes I wake up and I look at my cell and man, it just hits me: You know, I'm in prison," he said in an interview. "I never thought I would be in prison, never in a hundred years." * * * At 10:55 a.m. on Oct. 28, 2000, Ernie Lopez grabbed the cordless phone at his house and punched in the numbers 9-1-1. "What's going on? What's going on?" asked the operator. "OK, my ... We're babysitting this little baby girl for Dr. Vas," said Lopez, according to a recording and transcript of the call. A spider, he explained, had bitten Isis a week earlier, "and she's been acting funny ever since." Lopez and his wife, DeAnn, regularly babysat Isis and her two older siblings, both toddlers. The children's mother, Veronica Vas, was a physician at a nearby hospital, and on that morning she was on her way to Detroit for the weekend. Lopez, a burly, gregarious man who worked as a mechanic, was looking after the children while DeAnn went shopping for a dress for the annual Lopez family Christmas photo, scheduled to be taken that afternoon. He had been watching the Vas children for 40 minutes when he called for an ambulance. "Is she breathing right now?" asked the operator. "No, she's not breathing on her own. I was fixing to put her in a bath and she stopped breathing and I have been trying to get her CPR for the last two to three minutes," Lopez replied, stress permeating his voice. On the phone, Lopez described his efforts to revive Isis. "I tried to slap her on the bottom and slap her on the face and she won't wake up. She won't do nothing." Blood spilled from her mouth. "She was bit about 14 times. ... She's got all these bruises around her neck and on her face where she was bitten." After the ambulance arrived at his modest one-story home, Lopez rode with Isis to the emergency room. Police detectives, alerted by hospital staffers, quickly showed up at the hospital to question Lopez. He wept as he spoke to the officers. They weren't the only people asking questions. One of Lopez's brothers pulled him into a hospital bathroom and confronted him. Had he attacked the infant? "I said, 'No, I didn't do this,'" recalled Lopez. "Why would I do it?" By the time Isis died a day later, police had arrested Lopez. The body of the baby, wrapped in a colorful blanket, was transported to Dallas, where McClain performed the autopsy. To the doctor, the evidence pointed to sexual assault and murder. "It is my opinion that Isis Charm Vas, a 6-month-old white female, died as the result of multiple blunt force injuries," McClain wrote in the autopsy report. (McClain declined to comment for this story.) For police, solving the case was an exercise in elimination. Lopez was the only adult present when Isis collapsed. That made him the sole suspect. Who else could have done it? In October 2001, a grand jury indicted Lopez on charges of capital murder and sexually assaulting a young child. * * * Forensic pathologists like McClain play a critical role at the intersection of medicine and law enforcement. Employed by medical examiners and coroners' offices, they are called in to figure out how people have died. They scrutinize corpses, searching for clues. Was the person murdered? Was it suicide? An accidental overdose? A heart attack? Their findings carry enormous weight within the criminal justice system. As anyone who's watched an episode of "CSI" knows, if a forensic pathologist says it's a homicide, police will soon be hunting for the killer. Though depicted as glamorous and high-tech on TV, the field of death investigation is plagued by chronic underfunding, a shortage of specialists, and a lack of national standards, according to a 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences. Many of the nation's morgues are staffed by doctors who aren't board-certified in forensic pathology. To become certified, doctors need an extra year of training and must pass a day-long test. Earlier this year, an investigation by ProPublica, "Frontline" and NPR showed that more than 100 physicians without board certification were working at the country's busiest coroner and medical examiner offices. Even for the best educated and trained doctors, performing an autopsy on a baby or young child poses particular technical challenges. Their developing bodies function differently. It's why doctors who treat living children -- pediatricians -- receive different training than those who deal with adults. "Adults are generally tougher and harder to kill then a small child. Particularly an infant," said Dr. Jon Thogmartin, chief medical examiner for Pasco and Pinellas counties in Florida, a jurisdiction that includes St. Petersburg. "So, you're looking for very subtle signs of trauma or pressure, or small amounts of bleeding that could potentially cause a kid severe illness or death." When toddlers and infants die, autopsies frequently play a primary role in the police investigation. Adults often kill one another in public places where witnesses might catch glimpses of the violence. They tend to use guns or knives, weapons that leave obvious and distinct wounds. When adults kill children, they are more likely to use their hands and to commit their crimes out of view of anyone else. "Often there are only two pieces of evidence," said Justice Stephen Goudge, a Canadian judge who conducted an extensive inquiry into Ontario's forensic pathology system. "The first: who had care of the infant in the hours leading up to the death, normally a parent or caretaker. And secondly, the forensic pathology, which attempts to give an opinion on what the cause of death was." If the autopsy findings are flawed, the judge said, "then the risk of a miscarriage of justice is high." Thogmartin said the charged emotions inevitably triggered by a child's death add another layer of complexity. Forensic pathologists, in his view, can get "caught up in the anger, the emotion, the despair." Their mindset can become prosecutorial, Thogmartin said, until every child death is a "homicide until proven otherwise." When he took on his current job as chief medical examiner in 2000, he stressed the need for neutrality to his staff. "As a forensic pathologist, I don't testify for the state. I don't testify for the defense. I testify for the decedent," he said. "They are not able to talk, so I try to talk for them." Thogmartin overruled the autopsy conclusions in two child death cases handled by his predecessors that he said might have been colored by bias. In one case, a man was four years into a 10-year prison term for killing his infant son. In the other, a father was facing trial on murder charges for killing his 7-month-old daughter. When Thogmartin sifted through the autopsy files and tissue samples, he was shocked: He saw no evidence of violence. In his opinion, the children had died of natural causes. Both men were subsequently cleared by the courts, but even the one exonerated before standing trial suffered life changing consequences, Thogmartin said. "That unfortunate gentleman had his life turned upside down. ... His life was destroyed." * * * Ernie Lopez was born in Amarillo, a dust-swept, blue-collar city in the northern reaches of Texas and spent most of his life there. His father, Ernest Sr., toiled as a diesel mechanic at a Caterpillar dealership. Lopez, too, was fascinated by motors. At 13 or 14, he replaced a wrecked engine cylinder on a Kawasaki dirt bike all by himself. He moved on to American muscle cars, spending weekends screaming across the asphalt at the drag strip on the edge of town and weekday evenings tuning his Ford Mustang. His mother, Rosa, operated a daycare center for neighborhood children out of the family home. Growing up, Lopez said, "we had kids all the time in the house." By the time he turned 30, Lopez had three children of his own, two with DeAnn and one from an earlier relationship. Lopez and DeAnn lived across the street from the house he'd been raised in, where his mom and dad still lived. His brother Eddie lived next door to their parents. His brother Sabian lived a few minutes down the road. The whole tribe often converged at Rosa and Ernest Sr.'s home for barbeques and birthdays and holidays, the grandchildren scampering up the big willow tree out front. Lopez "was a good dad, a very good dad, a very good uncle to my kids and to Sabian's kids," said Eddie, a heavily muscled truck driver. Lopez worked at Hand Industrial, a company that manufactures and repairs heavy factory equipment. "At work, Ernie stood out as a very gentle person," said Becky Hand, the firm's accountant and office manager, in a court affidavit. "He would joke with the other male employees, but he was softer and kinder." In the days before Isis died, Hand said, Lopez had asked her for advice because the baby "hadn't been eating and was lethargic," and he was worried that she might be seriously ill. Lopez was also alarmed by the marks on her face. "He said they started above one eyebrow and were almost in a pattern. ... Ernie said the bumps were strange and weren't like anything he'd seen before," Hand stated. After Isis' death, the child protection system swung into action, tapping psychologist Edwin Basham to determine if Lopez should be separated from his own children while awaiting trial. Basham figures he has done around 4,000 such evaluations, including some on people who've admitted to killing children. Child abusers, in his experience, "have difficulty coping with relationships, with stress. They lose their temper. They blow up." In Lopez, he saw none of the normal warning signs -- Lopez had no previous criminal record, no history of domestic dysfunction, no issues with drugs or alcohol. "He seemed to be a very concerned, family-focused kind of person," recalled Basham, who wrote in his 2001 report that he could find "no signs of serious psychological problems." Lopez was confident he'd be cleared by the courts because he had done nothing wrong, Basham said. But after interviewing Lopez, the psychologist had an uneasy feeling. "He was caught up in this legal system that was determined to convict somebody," Basham said. "They had a dead baby. Somebody was going to get convicted of it. And he was nominated." * * * The trial of Ernie Lopez began in April 2003. Potter County prosecutors decided to try him only on the sexual assault charge; the capital murder charge was left pending, allowing prosecutors to try him for that offense at any time. There were no witnesses to the alleged attack, and Lopez had not confessed, so the prosecution's case relied heavily on medical testimony. Over five days, a stream of doctors and nurses who had treated Isis at the hospital told the jury she must have been brutalized. Dr. Eric Levy, who treated Isis in the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit, said the child's symptoms indicated she had been the victim of a violent attack. Looking at a photo of the baby's lower half, Levy pointed out bruise after bruise. Michelle Gorday, a veteran nurse who specialized in sexual assault examinations, said it was one of the worst cases she'd witnessed in her 20-year career. "I've never ... ever seen that kind of trauma," she testified. The defense called no expert witnesses. Basham, the psychologist, was surprised Lopez's attorneys never asked him to testify. "I would have said that there wasn't a basis to suggest that he would be someone likely to have harmed a child," Basham said. Lopez chose to take the stand, insisting he had never hurt Isis and testifying about the strange ailments that shadowed the last days of her life. With each day, more health issues cropped up, he said. Blood spots speckled Isis' left eye. Congestion made it hard for her to breathe, prompting the Lopezes to treat the baby with a nebulizer. When Lopez changed her soiled diapers, her fecal matter, he testified, was "black" and "really thick and sticky." DeAnn Lopez corroborated her husband's testimony. When Isis' mother brought the baby to the Lopez home on Oct. 25, the child had bumps on her head and bruises on her chest, DeAnn told the jury. The infant was "lethargic" and reluctant to drink from her bottle, DeAnn said, consuming about six ounces of liquid over the span of several days, far less than a healthy 6-month-old would have. Veronica Vas, Isis' mother, disputed the Lopezes' account, maintaining that Isis was only mildly ill before she died. "She had about six little bumps on the left side of her forehead, but those were already healing up," Vas testified. The baby's energy level was "quite normal." Addressing the jury, Assistant District Attorney J. Patrick Murphy summed up the case by saying, "Common sense tells you who had to have done it. ... This child could not fight back. This child could not consent. This child could do nothing but lay there." The jury found Lopez guilty. McClain, the medical examiner, testified in the sentencing phase of the trial, telling the jury she had ruled Isis' death a homicide and detailing what she discovered during the autopsy. The baby, she said, suffered a "laceration of the vagina area" and injuries to her brain. "The brain is covered by a thick fibrous covering called the dura," the forensic pathologist testified. "There was a hemorrhage beneath this dura, on top of the brain." Such bleeding, explained the doctor, can occur when a baby's brain is buffeted by a powerful impact. "In this case," McClain continued, "we know the head has struck something, because we've got bruising in that area." Scrutinizing Isis' eye tissue under a microscope, McClain said, she had discovered more bleeding, which she interpreted as another indicator of violent head trauma. Seven other doctors in her office had reviewed the case and concurred with her findings, McClain added. Lopez was sentenced to 60 years. Stunned, he turned to his brother Eddie. "It's like we're at my funeral," he said, "but I'm still alive." * * * Heather Kirkwood was an unlikely candidate to take on Lopez's case. She had spent the bulk of her career litigating anti-trust cases for the Federal Trade Commission, and she lives 1,700 miles away in Seattle. After learning about Lopez from a relative living in Texas, Kirkwood agreed to represent him. For her, Isis' death presented a fascinating jigsaw puzzle to solve. Lopez struck her as "a nice young man" and the "circumstances of the case seemed weird as hell." "My gut sense kept telling me this was a sick baby who was neglected," she said. After taking on Lopez's case, Kirkwood started contacting physicians in hopes of getting them to analyze Isis' medical history. She sent a stack of documents to Dr. Richard Soderstrom, an emeritus professor of gynecology at the University of Washington. As an adviser to the Food and Drug Administration, Soderstrom served on a panel that studied the accuracy and safety of the colposcope, a device that can be used to take photos of injuries in sexual assault exams. Isis Vas had been examined using a colposcope. But as Soderstrom stared at the photos taken of her, he wasn't convinced that she'd been violated. "I couldn't see anything that would say, beyond a reasonable doubt, that there was penetration," he said. Soderstrom gave a sworn affidavit stating that, in his opinion, the photos did not suggest there had been sexual abuse. No semen or pubic hair had been found on Isis' body. Further, Soderstrom said, the lack of injuries to the child's inner thighs, labia major, and hymen, was "inconsistent with abuse." Kirkwood also approached Dr. Michael Laposata, the chief pathologist for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and a leading expert on blood disorders. At Laposata's sprawling lab, white-coated technologists run some 6 million tests per year, feeding a never-ending line of blood samples into an array of machines. Looking at the file on Isis, Laposata quickly homed in on the tests run on her blood while she was in the hospital. To gauge how the blood is clotting, physicians typically begin with a pair of basic tests called the PT and PTT. In Isis, the "PT and PTT were markedly abnormal," Laposata said, adding that other tests also suggested a coagulation disorder. Where McClain had seen a "classic" case of blunt force trauma, Laposata saw something entirely different, a "classic picture" of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation, a potentially lethal condition that can cause bleeding from sufferers' every orifice. Based on the baby's "dark, tarry stools," elevated white blood cell count, and abnormal liver function tests, Laposata concluded, "something had to be going on for days" -- long before the 40 minutes Lopez was alone with the baby. An infection could have led to DIC, and, eventually, to a fatal collapse, Laposata said. DIC could also explain Isis' bruises and the bumps on her head that Lopez and others believed were spider bites, he added. "The reality is when your blood is so thin, when you're so unable to make a clot, you can just develop bruises and they can be spontaneous," he said. In an interview, Laposata pulled up a PowerPoint presentation he uses to teach students how hard it is to distinguish child abuse from blood-clotting afflictions. One slide featured photos of two small children. Both of their faces were splotched with bruises. One had been battered. The other had idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a condition that causes the blood to quit making platelets. Without a host of lab tests, Laposata said, it would be impossible to figure out which little boy needed medical help and which one needed child protective services. * * * There is a growing awareness among medical practitioners of "mimics": ailments that can cause the kind of bruising and bleeding once assumed to be telltale indicators of child abuse. A 2006 textbook on head injuries in children listed literally dozens of afflictions -- including some fairly common illnesses -- that can produce hemorrhaging in the brain. This is just one way that the science of how children die has evolved in recent years. The most notable -- and controversial -- example of this is the intense debate over "shaken baby syndrome," which has played out in scientific journals and mainstream outlets such as the New York Times Magazine. Based on studies dating back to the 1960s, many forensic pathologists -- as well as other physicians -- came to believe that a signature trio of symptoms provided definitive proof that someone had violently shaken a child. Under the theory, certain patterns of bleeding and swelling of the brain, and hemorrhages of the retinas came to be seen as conclusive evidence that a child had been assaulted with terrible force, even if there were no other signs of trauma. But many experts now view the diagnosis with increasing skepticism. In Canada and Britain, large-scale official reviews have uncovered at least nine cases in which people may have been wrongly convicted based on the shaken-baby theory. Dr. Case, the Missouri medical examiner, said the controversy is a "sideshow": Typically, children who've been shaken have also suffered other serious injuries from being battered. "Yes, there is a scientific debate," she said. "I personally believe that you can shake a child and kill it." The thinking of other doctors has undergone a radical change. Dr. Patrick Barnes, a pediatric radiologist at Stanford University, was a key prosecution witness in what is arguably the most famous shaken-baby case of all, the trial of Louise Woodward. Woodward was a 19-year-old nanny charged in 1997 with shaking an 8-month-old baby to death, hitting his head and causing fatal bleeding. With Barnes' help, the jury found Woodward guilty of second-degree murder. (She was ultimately released after serving less than a year in prison, when a judge reduced her charge to manslaughter.) Barnes said he wouldn't give the same testimony today. There's been a "revolution" in the understanding of head injuries in the past decade, in part due to advances in MRI brain scanning technology, he said. "We started realizing there were a number of medical conditions that can affect a baby's brain and look like the findings that we used to attribute to shaken baby syndrome or child abuse," Barnes said. The case of Melonie Ware shows how profoundly a closer reading of medical evidence can affect the outcome of a child death investigation. Ware was convicted in 2004 of murdering a 9-month-old boy she was babysitting, based in large part on the testimony of a local forensic pathologist, Dr. Gerald Gowitt. Gowitt said someone shook the child violently, damaging his brain, and slammed his head, causing three near-identical bruises beneath the scalp. Ware was sentenced to a life term in a Georgia prison. After an extensive legal battle, a judge granted Ware a new trial in 2009. This time, her attorneys produced evidence from the baby's medical records overlooked in her first trial: Hospital staffers had tried multiple times to insert a probe into the child's skull, as part of their attempt to save his life. The bruises under the baby's scalp, experts for Ware testified, were likely caused by those failed attempts. Two prominent physicians testified that shaking had nothing to do with the boy's demise. The child had died from sickle cell anemia, said the doctors, both specialists in the disease, which is known to cause cerebral bleeding. Gowitt declined repeated requests for comment on the case. The jury acquitted Ware, but her life is not the same. Her husband spent more than $700,000 on her defense, selling off and mortgaging real estate acquired over decades. "We had to move in with my parents," said Ware, 38. "It's just messed us up totally." After she was freed from prison, Ware, who had worked as a day-care provider, was rejected for job after job. "I even tried McDonald's," she recalled. She thinks potential employers were frightened off by her time in jail. The stain of the case lingers. To this day, Ware's mug shot appears on the Georgia Department of Corrections' website, which lists her as still incarcerated. * * * In prosecuting Ernie Lopez, law enforcement officials focused almost exclusively on Isis Vas' final hours. Lopez's legal team looked back further, however, marshaling evidence suggesting that the baby's deteriorating condition might have been overlooked by her mother. Veronica Vas had moved to Amarillo in 1995 to do her residency at a branch of Texas Tech University. She began dating a doctor, with whom she had two children. Then, in a subsequent relationship, Vas, 32, became pregnant with Isis. By all accounts, Isis' father wasn't involved in her life. Court records from a custody dispute between Vas and the father of her older children, as well as statements submitted as part of the Lopez case, depict the Vas household as chaotic in the period surrounding Isis' birth. Dena Ammons, a nurse who worked closely with Vas during her residency, said Vas changed during her pregnancy with Isis. She began showing up late for work, her hair matted and uncombed. In a sworn statement, Ammons said that Vas drank and smoked throughout the pregnancy. Lorrie Word worked for Vas as a live-in nanny from August 1999 until the summer of 2000, caring for Isis from the time she was born. Word said in an affidavit that, on one occasion, she returned from her night off to find Isis alone in a darkened house, crying and soaked with urine. Vas would later say she only left the child for 10 minutes. Soon after the incident, Word quit her job. A family therapist who visited the Vas home in 2000 as part of the custody dispute described it as "extremely cluttered." "It was difficult to walk across the floor because of blankets, clothes, and toys," she wrote in a report submitted to a family court. "The home appeared extraordinarily disorganized." Vas declined repeated requests for comment for this story. She has moved to Michigan, where the state medical board recently suspended her medical license due to alcohol abuse. During Lopez's trial, Vas testified that in the months after Word quit she came to depend on the Lopez family to help care for her children. According to Ernie Lopez, the day before Isis went into cardiac arrest he became so worried about the baby's health that he asked Vas for a note authorizing him or his wife to take the child to the doctor. Vas didn't give him the note before leaving town for the weekend, he recalled in an interview. "Isis will be fine," Lopez said Vas told him. * * * By 2009, the new medical evidence gathered by Heather Kirkwood had captured the attention of the courts. After she filed an appeal, a habeas corpus petition, a judge granted Lopez a new evidentiary hearing. It represented a step toward possibly overturning his conviction. The hearing lasted nearly twice as long as the original trial. This time, seven doctors testified -- for free -- on Lopez's behalf. Kirkwood also had the chance to question Joni McClain, the forensic pathologist who ruled Isis Vas' death a homicide. McClain stood by her conclusion that Isis was killed by violence, not disease. But she acknowledged that she'd paid little attention to Isis' blood-clotting tests and had only a vague understanding of their possible significance. "Did you look at these lab tests before reaching your conclusions?" Kirkwood asked. "I don't think I did beforehand because it was such a clear case of blunt force injury," McClain replied. Kirkwood read through the results of five tests, starting with the PT and PTT, which measure blood coagulation in seconds. McClain admitted the tests went beyond her expertise as they can only be run on the living. "I don't get into a PT, PTT. It's a useless test after someone's dead," the doctor said. Four other doctors testified for the state, saying Isis had died from blunt-force injuries, not a bleeding disorder. "This is a pattern of injury that we see with trauma," said Randell Alexander, a pediatrician who heads the child abuse division at the University of Florida's College of Medicine, in Jacksonville. "This is not a bleeding death." McClain also argued that it was possible for head injuries to cause the type of clotting problems Isis had suffered. In an interview, Laposata agreed head trauma can have that effect but said Isis' lab results were too abnormal to have resulted from an attack that allegedly occurred about an hour before her hospitalization. It would be nearly a year before Potter County Judge Dick Alcala issued his opinion on the case. In August 2010, Alcala made a recommendation to the state's highest criminal court that Lopez's conviction should be overturned. He found that Lopez's original attorneys had failed to "fully investigate the medical issues of whether a sexual assault had occurred" and "the cause of death of the child." If they had investigated properly, Alcala wrote, the jury might not have convicted Lopez. The judge rejected Lopez's claim of innocence, which would have required a conclusion that "no reasonable juror would have convicted him" -- a high legal standard. The case is now in the hands of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. It has the power to throw out Lopez's conviction and free him. Potter County District Attorney Randall Sims continues to fight Lopez's appeal. In an interview, Sims said he could not discuss the case in detail because it is still ongoing. (He also said he had discouraged state witnesses, including the medical examiner, from speaking with us.) Sims said he thought Lopez had received a fair trial. "The jury found him guilty," he said. "And we're defending that conviction." There is no timetable for the appeals court's decision. Even if it overturns Lopez's conviction, he could remain tangled up in the criminal justice system for years. Sims could refile charges and try him a second time. * * * The United States is not the only country in which forensic pathologists have had difficulty investigating child deaths. Canada was rocked by a scandal that affected at least 20 criminal cases, sending officials there on a search for systemic solutions to prevent future miscarriages of justice. The controversy centered on the work of Dr. Charles Smith, once one of Canada's leading forensic pathologists. Based at a children's hospital in Toronto, Smith specialized in performing autopsies in grisly child deaths and, over a span of 24 years, he testified regularly for prosecutors. But by 2005, the province's chief coroner had become openly skeptical of Smith's findings and assigned five other forensic pathologists to conduct a top-to-bottom review of his work in 45 child death cases. The results of the study were devastating: In 20 of the cases, the reviewers disagreed with Smith's autopsy reports or court testimony. Over and over, Smith cited evidence of murder where there was none, they found. (Smith would not respond to our questions.) In a dozen cases, people were wrongly accused of killing children in Ontario based on Smith's work or testimony. Tammy Marquardt, who was sentenced to life in prison for murdering her son, spent 14 years behind bars before being exonerated. In prison, she said, the other inmates despised her. "A baby killer would basically get the living daylights beaten out of them," she said. "A baby killer is classified as one of the lowest on the totem pole." The courts reversed her conviction earlier this year. The Ontario chief coroner's internal review led to an official inquiry by Justice Goudge, who set out nearly 170 recommendations for remaking the province's broken death-investigation system. Forensic pathologists who conducted child autopsies should be formally trained and board-certified, Goudge said. They should read all relevant medical records. While forensic pathologists often toil in a certain amount of isolation, Goudge recommended a more collaborative approach, saying they should consult with specialists in other medical disciplines and have other doctors review their autopsy findings. Bias was a major concern for Goudge. In Ontario there was a mantra among forensic pathologists, he said in an interview: "Think Dirty." When doctors dealt with cases involving children who had died unexpectedly, they assumed parents or caregivers had murdered them. That outlook, the justice said, skewed the conclusions they reached in the autopsy suite. "The scientist's objective is to 'think truth' not 'think dirty,'" he said. Many of Goudge's suggestions are being implemented in Ontario. But policy-makers in the United States have largely ignored them. There are no national standards or regulations regarding forensic pathology and practices vary widely from place to place. Barnes, the Stanford pediatric radiologist, said it was imperative for the U.S. system to absorb the lessons from Ontario. "We need to establish the new standards at all levels, just like what is happening in Canada," he said. * * * After Lopez was bused off to prison, his mother would look out her kitchen window and stare across the street at his former home, her mind turning back to the day everything changed. "It was too much to bear," Rosa remembered. So she and Ernest Sr. sold their house and moved to a place on the outskirts of Amarillo. Eddie and his wife did the same. Lopez now lives in a cell in the Connally Unit, a maximum-security lock-up about 600 miles away in the scrubby countryside south of San Antonio. Every three or four months his parents make the 10-hour drive to the facility, a journey that costs about $1,000 between gas and hotels. "When we go, we have an enthusiasm, 'We're going to go see him,' you know, 'We're going to touch him and hold him,'" Rosa said. "And then on our way back it's really emotionally hard because we have to leave him there." Lopez's imprisonment gnaws at Eddie, who weeps repeatedly when talking about his brother, tears streaking across his broad face. "Him being away this whole time, it's like a part of me is dead, because we were that close," Eddie said. The two men are separated in age by 11 months, but these days Ernie looks years older. His close-cropped hair, once brown, has turned the color of iron. Behind the prison's thick cinderblock walls, Lopez struggles to hold onto what's left of his old life. Every Tuesday evening he calls his children collect, offering fatherly guidance despite the circumstances. He communicates less frequently with DeAnn, who divorced him and remarried after he was sent away. (DeAnn has participated in his appeal, giving a sworn statement that corroborated his account of the day Isis died. She declined to be interviewed for this story.) Because of the seriousness of his offense, Lopez is barred from working a prison job. He fills his mental space with the written word, reading more than 50 books last year alone. He's a big fan of the Western pulp novelist Louis L'Amour and an avid student of the Bible, which he's been through eight times. Many men discover religion while incarcerated, but Lopez was devout long before he found himself in handcuffs. The night before he allegedly attacked Isis, he was at his church, acting in a play about good and evil. Today, nearly 11 years after Isis died, Lopez continues to maintain -- emphatically -- that he never harmed her. "Why should they believe that I'm innocent?" he asked during a two-hour interview. "Well, because that's not my character. That's not who I am." Thinking back to that Saturday, Lopez paused and went silent, anguish filling his face. He exhaled heavily. "Her heart was beating a hundred miles an hour and she wasn't breathing. I put my ear to her chest, and I heard her heart just beating, just racing and ..." His head tilted downward and he stared at the floor. "She was there and then she wasn't there." Lopez's voice grew quiet as the words trickled out slowly. "So many times," he said, "I think about what I could have done different to help her more." Additional reporting contributed by Catherine Upin of PBS "Frontline." Lisa Schwartz, Sergio Hernandez and Liz Day contributed research to this story. Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

– Shoddy post-mortem examinations by doctors has led to scores of people being wrongly convicted in the deaths of children, a joint investigation by Pulitzer-winner ProPublica, NPR, and Frontline reveals. The report details 25 cases in which people were convicted and subsequently cleared, often after serving years in prison. And it raises doubts about those now serving sentences who were convicted based on the results of medical autopsies that may have been misinterpreted. The problem is that it's easy for a doctor untrained in forensic pathology to falsely conclude that a child was killed by violence, when any number of diseases could yield the same results. (Witness the turnabout on shaken-baby syndrome.) The main story highlights the plight of Ernie Lopez, locked up in Texas after being convicted of sexually abusing and beating to death an infant in his charge. A team of legal and medical experts reviewed the case and concluded that the original doctor misread the evidence, that the girl was never abused in any way. His fate is now in the hands of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Read the main story here, a summary of the 25 cases here, or see videos by NPR and Frontline.

Research suggests effects of sunlight produce the color of Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The feature's clouds are much higher than those elsewhere on the planet, and its vortex nature confines the reddish particles once they form. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ Space Science Institute (Phys.org) —The ruddy color of Jupiter's Great Red Spot is likely a product of simple chemicals being broken apart by sunlight in the planet's upper atmosphere, according to a new analysis of data from NASA's Cassini mission. The results contradict the other leading theory for the origin of the spot's striking color—that the reddish chemicals come from beneath Jupiter's clouds. The results are being presented this week by Kevin Baines, a Cassini team scientist based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, at the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Science Meeting in Tucson, Arizona. Baines and JPL colleagues Bob Carlson and Tom Momary arrived at their conclusions using a combination of data from Cassini's December 2000 Jupiter flyby and laboratory experiments. In the lab, the researchers blasted ammonia and acetylene gases—chemicals known to exist on Jupiter—with ultraviolet light, to simulate the Sun's effects on these materials at the extreme heights of clouds in the Great Red Spot. This produced a reddish material, which the team compared to the Great Red Spot as observed by Cassini's Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). They found that the light-scattering properties of their red concoction nicely matched a model of the Great Red Spot in which the red-colored material is confined to the uppermost reaches of the giant cyclone-like feature. "Our models suggest most of the Great Red Spot is actually pretty bland in color, beneath the upper cloud layer of reddish material," said Baines. "Under the reddish 'sunburn' the clouds are probably whitish or grayish." A coloring agent confined to the top of the clouds would be inconsistent with the competing theory, which posits that the spot's red color is due to upwelling chemicals formed deep beneath the visible cloud layers, he said. If red material were being transported from below, it should be present at other altitudes as well, which would make the red spot redder still. Jupiter is composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, with just a sprinkling of other elements. Scientists are interested in understanding what combinations of elements are responsible for the hues seen in Jupiter's clouds, as this would provide insights into the giant planet's make-up. Baines and colleagues initially set out to determine if the Great Red Spot's color might derive from Sun-induced breakdown of a more complex molecule, ammonium hydrosulfide, which makes up one of Jupiter's main cloud layers. They quickly found that instead of a red color, the products their experiment produced were a brilliant shade of green. This surprising negative result prompted the researchers to try simple combinations of ammonia with hydrocarbons that are common at Jupiter's high altitudes. Breaking down ammonia and acetylene with ultraviolet light turned out to best fit the data collected by Cassini. The Great Red Spot is a long-lived feature in Jupiter's atmosphere that is as wide as two Earths. Jupiter possesses three main cloud layers, which occupy specific altitudes in its skies; from highest to lowest they are: ammonia, ammonium hydrosulfide and water clouds. As for why the intense red color is seen only in the Great Red Spot and a few much smaller spots on the planet, the researchers think altitude plays a key role. "The Great Red Spot is extremely tall," Baines said. "It reaches much higher altitudes than clouds elsewhere on Jupiter." The team thinks the spot's great heights both enable and enhance the reddening. Its winds transport ammonia ice particles higher into the atmosphere than usual, where they are exposed to much more of the Sun's ultraviolet light. In addition, the vortex nature of the spot confines particles, preventing them from escaping. This causes the redness of the spot's cloud tops to increase beyond what might otherwise be expected. Other areas of Jupiter display a mixed palette of oranges, browns and even shades of red. Baines says these are places where high, bright clouds are known to be much thinner, allowing views to depths in the atmosphere where more colorful substances exist. Explore further: Space image: Jupiter-Io montage ||||| The mystery of Jupiter's Great Red Spot solved: Astronomers find planet's 'pimple' is simply sunburn Colour product of simple chemicals being broken apart by sunlight Researchers previously though odd phenomenon came from under clouds The Great Red Spot is as wide as two Earths It has baffled astronomers for years - just what causes the 'red spot' on the surface of Jupiter? Now they have an unlikely answer - sunburn. Nasa experts believe it is likely a product of simple chemicals being broken apart by sunlight in the planet's upper atmosphere. Experts believe the 'spot' is a product of simple chemicals being broken apart by sunlight in the planet's upper atmosphere. HOW THEY RECREATED THE SPOT In the lab, the researchers blasted ammonia and acetylene gases - chemicals known to exist on Jupiter - with ultraviolet light, to simulate the sun's effects on these materials at the extreme heights of clouds in the Great Red Spot. This produced a reddish material, which the team compared to the Great Red Spot as observed by Cassini's Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). The results contradict the other leading theory for the origin of the spot's striking color - that the reddish chemicals come from beneath Jupiter's clouds. 'Our models suggest most of the Great Red Spot is actually pretty bland in color, beneath the upper cloud layer of reddish material,' said Kevin Baines, a Cassini team scientist based at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. 'Under the reddish 'sunburn' the clouds are probably whitish or grayish.' Baines and JPL colleagues Bob Carlson and Tom Momary arrived at their conclusions using a combination of data from Cassini's December 2000 Jupiter flyby and laboratory experiments. In the lab, the researchers blasted ammonia and acetylene gases - chemicals known to exist on Jupiter - with ultraviolet light, to simulate the sun's effects on these materials at the extreme heights of clouds in the Great Red Spot. This produced a reddish material, which the team compared to the Great Red Spot as observed by Cassini's Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). They found that the light-scattering properties of their red concoction nicely matched a model of the Great Red Spot in which the red-colored material is confined to the uppermost reaches of the giant cyclone-like feature. A coloring agent confined to the top of the clouds would be inconsistent with the competing theory, which posits that the spot's red color is due to upwelling chemicals formed deep beneath the visible cloud layers, he said. North america superimposed onto the spot, which is as wide as two Earths. WHAT IS IT? The spot is actually a violent storm. The biggest in the solar system, it appears as a deep red orb surrounded by layers of pale yellow, orange and white. Winds inside the storm have been measured at several hundreds of miles per hour, Nasa astronomers said. If red material were being transported from below, it should be present at other altitudes as well, which would make the red spot redder still. Jupiter is composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, with just a sprinkling of other elements. Scientists are interested in understanding what combinations of elements are responsible for the hues seen in Jupiter's clouds, as this would provide insights into the giant planet's make-up. Jupiter possesses three main cloud layers, which occupy specific altitudes in its skies; from highest to lowest they are: ammonia, ammonium hydrosulfide and water clouds. As for why the intense red color is seen only in the Great Red Spot and a few much smaller spots on the planet, the researchers think altitude plays a key role. 'The Great Red Spot is extremely tall,' Baines said. 'It reaches much higher altitudes than clouds elsewhere on Jupiter.' The team thinks the spot's great heights both enable and enhance the reddening. Its winds transport ammonia ice particles higher into the atmosphere than usual, where they are exposed to much more of the sun's ultraviolet light. In addition, the vortex nature of the spot confines particles, preventing them from escaping. This causes the redness of the spot's cloud tops to increase beyond what might otherwise be expected. Other areas of Jupiter display a mixed palette of oranges, browns and even shades of red. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.

– Scientists have made their own version of Jupiter's Great Red Spot in a lab, and it suggests that the spot's cause is very different from what's been postulated. An existing theory holds that the spot is the result of chemicals underneath the planet's clouds. But following the new research, experts say that the sun is responsible for the color: Sunlight may break up chemicals in Jupiter's atmosphere, Phys.org reports. Scientists in Pasadena, Calif., came to the conclusion after re-creating the effects at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. They were able to get a Spot-like red effect by directing ultraviolet light at ammonia and acetylene, gases that are both found on the planet. Their new theory: "Most of the Great Red Spot is actually pretty bland in color, beneath the upper cloud layer of reddish material," says a researcher. "Under the reddish 'sunburn' the clouds are probably whitish or grayish." So why is it confined to just one spot? "The Great Red Spot … reaches much higher altitudes than clouds elsewhere on Jupiter," the expert notes. The Spot is actually a storm with winds of up to hundreds of miles per hour, the Daily Mail reports. Wind in the area brings ammonia particles higher in the atmosphere where they can be exposed to more sunlight, and a vortex keeps them there, the researchers say. The Spot, by the way, is a lot smaller than it used to be.

@elena_yip Me: "Oh, THIS old thing? Help me up, won't you? The 5:14 is about to pass through..." ||||| Moon Jae-in was elected South Korea’s new President on Tuesday but all eyes are on one of his handsome bodyguards. The election comes after Park Geun-hye, the country’s first ever female president, was impeached over a corruption scandal. Moon defeated Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Jun-pyo and the People’s Party’s Awn Cheol-soo, but many netizens are distracted by his bodyguard’s dashing good looks. excuse me this is the new korean president’s bodyguard pic.twitter.com/aIJVhZjo28 — elena yip (@elena_yip) May 12, 2017 According to Seoul.co.kr, his name is Choi Kyung-ho, but Korea Times identified him as 36-year-old Choi Young-jae. Choi was an officer with Korea’s Special Warfare Command, Moon’s campaign office said, adding on May 8 that “He is ‘unfortunately’ married and has two daughters.” But that did not stop online users from being thirsty AF, with some pointing out that he looked like an actor filming a movie, Allkpop reported. @elena_yip Me: “Oh, THIS old thing? Help me up, won’t you? The 5:14 is about to pass through…” pic.twitter.com/bJEPJeLmIA — Lily Burana 🗽 (@lilyburana) May 12, 2017 @elena_yip Do not make a sexist comment, do not make a sexist comment…he “looks” very capable. pic.twitter.com/BtNcHFw87f — myusrnamistakn (@myusrnameistakn) May 12, 2017 We volunteer as tribute. Our body is ready to be protected. His peek-a-boo game is straight FIRE. Cool guys don’t look at cameras. Unless they’re trying to show off their good side. Several fanfics will probably be written about Choi. @elena_yip he looks like the square-jawed serious romantic lead, who’s going to be his plucky heroine who accidentally captures his heart… — Yulin Kuang (@YulinKuang) May 12, 2017 If the criteria to join the South Korean president’s security detail is to look this fine, then some people are all for it. @elena_yip This makes perfect sense. Any potential attackers would be too distracted by his looks. They’d stop dead in their tracks. He is a gift😍😍 pic.twitter.com/9BXdD53CFX — CarolynH. (@CarrieCnh12) May 12, 2017 While Choi is smoldering hot, he isn’t the only one getting all the attention in South Korea. It turns out that the whole darn Cabinet is quite good-looking. Commenting about the “handsome brigade” a netizen said, “I surrender to this ‘reign of beauty’ with no objections.” One person commented, “He will be the first handsome president of Korea.“ ||||| This bodyguard is so hot — he’s going to need his own protection! The internet is going gaga over newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s bodyguard, hailed as part of the new leader’s “reign of beauty,” The Korea Times reported. The chisel-jawed hunk is 36-year-old Choi Young-jae, an officer with Korea’s Special Warfare Command, Moon’s campaign said. “He is ‘unfortunately’ married and has two daughters,” the president’s office noted, the paper reported. His growing fan club appears undeterred. “He looks like the square-jawed serious romantic lead, who’s going to be his plucky heroine who accidentally captures his heart…” Yulin Kuang tweeted. Added another admirer: “Do not make a sexist comment, do not make a sexist comment…he “looks” very capable.” Moon defeated Liberty Korea Party leader Hong Jun-pyo and the People’s Party’s Awn Cheol-soo. The election comes on the heels of a corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, the country’s first female president. ||||| Donald Trump is not the only newly-minted president causing waves. South Korean president Moon Jae-in was sworn in three days ago (May 10) and is already in motion to distance himself from his disgraced predecessor. The former human-rights lawyer has announced plans to eschew the luxurious perk of living in the mountainside presidential palace, nominated a prime minister from a rural left wing province, and pledged to unite the country—60 percent of South Koreans did not vote for him. He’s also getting a ton of attention on social media, but not because of any of his new promises. Moon is going viral on the internet because Korean and American netizens alike are infatuated with one of his bodyguards. Not much is known about the unidentified bodyguard, but that hasn’t stopped Korean netizens from dubbing him “Face Hegemony,” because his dashing good looks are “to lead the way for the new president.” Twitter has also joined in on the fangirling. Seeing as to how president Moon has inherited a country with high personal debt and slow economic growth, let’s hope the bodyguard doesn’t find himself drawn into any political drama. Trump’s bodyguard hasn’t been so lucky.

– New South Korean president Moon Jae-in was sworn in this week, but it was his bodyguard who—in the words of BuzzFeed—had the internet "feeling the thirrrrrst." Twitter users were quick to notice a handsome face hanging around in photos of the new president. "If I charge towards the South Korean president, will this bodyguard tackle me?" one Twitter user asks "for a friend." Others are composing fan fiction about Moon's bodyguard, describing him as a "square-jawed serious romantic lead," according to the New York Post. The Post identifies the good-looking bodyguard as 36-year-old Choi Young-jae, a member of Korea's Special Warfare Command and married father of two daughters. But fans in South Korea are calling him "Face Hegemony" because he'll "lead the way for the new president" through handsomeness, Quartz reports. But it's not just him, South Koreans are describing Moon's entire cabinet the "handsome brigade" while looking forward to life under the new "reign of beauty," according to Next Shark. (Moon better hope his bodyguard is as competent as he is photogenic, as he's said he's willing to visit North Korea in search of peace.)

Issue 7 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ In this issue ~~ * Being Creative Throughout Your Life * Joyce Suskind * Mardo Williams * Creative Tip * Wise Words * Bookshelf ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Being Creative Throughout Your Life Creativity is often perceived as something that "happens" to young people but dwindles as we get older. It saddens me to see people give up on life when they retire, feeling useless and bored. Unfortunately, our society has lauded the benefits of youth, diminishing the time of old age in the process. But each passage of life brings different lessons and different strengths, and we stand to benefit from paying attention to the wisdom of those older than us and using their experiences to open our vision for our own lives. Creativity can not only continue throughout our lives, but deepen as we get older. There is much in life to explore at any age. Rather than seeing things through the eyes of our youth and mourning what we can no longer do, we can shift our focus and pursue the things we may not have had the time or patience for when we were younger. We can always learn something new. Recently, I have become aware of two very special people who we would classify as senior citizens. One is my former singing teacher. The other is the father of a neighbor. What caught my attention was the level of creativity at which these two people are functioning. Both have been creative throughout their lives and are continuing to try new things, rather than resting on the laurels of age. In this issue, I am pleased to profile these two inspiring people. Top *Joyce Suskind Joyce Suskind's youthful vigor and appearance belie her 70 years. During the several years that Joyce was my singing teacher, my favorite picture portrayed her in the summer of 1947 as a student at Tanglewood. On the day the picture was taken, her "lunch club" had the good fortune to be joined for spaghetti on the grass by an also-young Leonard Bernstein. That summer, they had the privilege of participating in the U.S. premiere of Mozart's "Idomeneo." Joyce, playing oboe in the orchestra, sat in the pit during the daily rehearsals and "died of ecstasy." Joyce had the good fortune to grow up with parents who believed in her and had a vision. Her mother always urged her to have a profession and not be dependent, and Joyce found herself espousing feminist principles at the tender age of 9, long before the word was even invented. She inherited her father's love of medicine and planned to be a doctor until the age of 13, when her passion for music prevailed. Having studied piano from the age of 7, she entered the High School of Music and Art as one of its highest rated entrants, took up the oboe and became the best oboist in the school. After entering Juilliard on an oboe scholarship, she changed her major to singing. In studying to improve her English diction, she became so good at it that she later went on to teach speech and public speaking. After Juilliard, Joyce specialized in contemporary music. Along with singing, she began teaching singers, as well as playing piano in nightclubs and accompanying modern dance and ballet classes. The need to make up her own music for the modern classes led her to composing when a friend challenged her to write music for a lyric he had written, and everyone loved what she wrote. She has since composed numerous pieces. As her former singing student, I can testify that she is equally adept at handling classical, jazz and contemporary music. Although music became Joyce's primary focus, she did not give up her healing aspirations entirely. At the age of 16, she began learning the Alexander Technique to heal a back problem and went on to teach it, along with stress management techniques and Neurolinguistic Programming. She learned to appreciate the beauty of sexuality and childbirth from her father, who would say that childbirth was a natural phenomenon and should be painless. Years later, when she learned of the Lamaze Technique, she trained with Mrs. Bing, the only physiotherapist teaching the method in New York at the time. Joyce became the first lay teacher of Lamaze in the United States and is a founder of the American Society for Psychoprophylaxis in Obstretrics, as well as the American Center for the Alexander Technique. Currently, Joyce has taken on the daunting task of learning orchestration. She composed a piece for a singer that she felt should be performed with an orchestra. Since hiring an orchestrator who was up to her standards of excellence was prohibitively expensive, she decided to do it herself. She began teaching herself from books, but realized that she could only get the feedback that she needed from a teacher and began taking private lessons. She feels that this pursuit is bringing her deeper into music than ever before in her life. Joyce compares learning orchestration with climbing Mt. Everest. Along with the challenges and hazards comes a certain excitement. Orchestration, Joyce says, "poses an interesting problem to you. The thrill that comes with it; that's why you do it. It gives you back something. If you go out just to have a good time, you have a good time and feel good. But that's not enough for me. That's what you call a creative person. For the creative person, if they're not creating, they feel that their life ... that there's a gap in their life. You can fill it up, but it doesn't get ful-filled." Joyce is married to photographer Olaf Ringdahl, and they've been "having a marvelous time together" for 40 years. She advocates marrying someone you love and have lived with for at least two years. As for the future, the study of music continues to be her life's work. Along with that, she would love to live in foreign countries and study languages. She is continually working on her French and has made frequent visits to Paris, and she would love to learn other languages as well. When I asked what advice she would give, Joyce suggested finding some kind of balance in your life. Find out who you are beyond the external pressures of family or society to be or do something, to have children. Examine your life, examine your choices. Discover what really drives you, rather than just doing what's expected of you. How would you live your life? If there's something that you have to do, are you willing to take the risk? The word "old" has taken on a stigma in our society, but our later years can be a rich time of life. With aging and a waning libido, there are fewer distractions, and it's a great time to focus on things of the mind. Joyce Suskind is living proof that creativity doesn't have to diminish as you grow older, but can build on a lifetime of knowledge and experience, with a deeper sense of appreciation for all that life offers. Top *Mardo Williams Mardo Williams was born in 1905 in an historic Ohio farmhouse. He began his writing career in 1927 as the only reporter at the Kenton, Ohio daily, the News-Republican, covering everything from sports events to major tragedies. He moved in 1945 to the copy desk of the Columbus Dispatch, becoming first a travel writer and later going on to write a daily business column with his byline. After mandatory retirement in 1970, he continued to write for a PR firm and edited a weekly trade paper. When Mardo's wife of 65 years died in 1992, his daughters urged him to keep busy by writing down some of the family stories they had heard as children, drawing on a treasure trove of photos, letters, notes and newspaper clippings his mother had saved. At the age of 88, he bought a computer and learned to use it. (So much for excuses about being too old to learn computers!) What began as a 50-page memoir about his mother's 110 years that his children and grandchildren could enjoy and learn from blossomed over the next two years into a 335-page book paralleling his mother's life with the emergence of modernized America. Maude (1883-1993): She Grew Up With The Country was published by Calliope Press in 1996. And then at the age of 91, Mardo gathered his courage and, accompanied by his daughters, found himself on the road doing book signings, talks at libraries and senior complexes, and radio and TV interviews, along with writing a children's book patterned after the adventures of his four great-grandchildren. In his travels, Mardo has run into old friends and lost relatives, as well as meeting many new people. Last year, he autographed a book for Ann Davis, a former co-worker from the Columbus Dispatch who saw him on television and tracked him down at his daughter's house to buy the book. She became his biggest fan and has personally promoted his book, carrying a copy with her wherever she goes. They started going out dining and dancing and now share a home in Florida. Together, they are writing a novel about a romance between two 80-year-olds that they hope will inspire others to find the happiness that they have. Mardo wrote his book as a tribute to his mother, and it has changed his life. He urges people not to sit home alone, but to use their talents. "If you can sing, then sing. If you can write, then write. Volunteer. Find new experiences. Commit yourself to a new interest." But then this is a man whose mother, upon moving into a retirement center at the age of 106, first asked, "Do you have an exercise program?" and then, without waiting for a reply, added, "Well, I'm sure if you don't, you'll set one up for me, because I have a lot of living to do yet." What more can I say. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ You're never too old to start something new. And with all the breakthroughs in health and longevity, many of us will be living longer, healthier lives. According to Dr. Richard Restak, the brain can actually expand the connections between neurons if we continue to be intellectually stimulated and curious. And we can even push the physical barriers. A friend of mine performs with a group of dancers over 40, and the video Age Is No Barrierfeatures a team of gymnasts aged 55 to 77. While you may not be starting your ballet or baseball career at the age of 75, there are many things you can do that are suitable for any age. Dreams have no age limit. And when the kids are grown and you don't have to be concerned about going to a job every day, you can take the time to savor your new studies and accomplishments. Personally, I'm looking forward to taking piano lessons and learning to speak Italian. And who knows . . . maybe I'll finally get to perform on Broadway! Top Creative Tip The latest research shows that staying physically active can prevent a lot of the diseases and deterioration we traditionally associate with old age. Create a strategy for keeping physically fit throughout your life. Choose forms of exercise that are appropriate for your abilities at different times in your life. If the sport or practice you've been doing since your teens is starting to get too strenuous, look for other forms you can begin to learn now -- like tai chi, yoga or ballroom dancing -- that you can do indefinitely. And walking is always beneficial at any age. Wise Words "Life is not a 'brief candle.' It is a splendid torch that I want to make burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." ~ Bernard Shaw Top Bookshelf (click on the book or tape graphic to see a description at Amazon.com) Maude (1883-1993): She Grew Up With the Country . . . Mardo Williams Older and Wiser: How to Maintain Peak Mental Ability for As Long As You Live . . . Richard M. Restak Successful Aging . . . John W. Rowe, MD and Robert L. Kahn, PhD The Last Gift of Time: Life Beyond Sixty . . . Carolyn G. Heilbrun Age Is No Barrier (video) ... U of Agers The Most of George Burns: A Collection Consisting of Living It Up, the Third Time Around, Dr. Burns' Prescription for Happiness, and Dear George . . . George Burns Top ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ © 1998 Sharon Good. All rights reserved. Next Issue Previous Issue Books and tapes listed in the Bookshelf section of each newsletter can be ordered from Amazon.com. To go to a specific book's page on the Amazon site, click on the book or tape icon next to each title. Click on the graphic left for a message from Amazon's president. ||||| What is the Alexander Technique? AT is an educational process which teaches people to identify and change their inefficient habits which may cause unnecessary tension, pain or fatigue. People who study may be suffering from chronic pain or fatigue, their occupations may cause bad postural habits, or they may be performers looking to improve their use. Read more. How can I study the Alexander Technique? Students typically take private lessons with a certified Alexander Technique teacher, or they study in small group workshops or classes. You can start by attending a Free Hands On Demonstration or a Drop-In Group Class at ACAT. What is ACAT? Located in the heart of New York City, the American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT) runs the oldest Teacher Certification Program in the United States and is proud to have trained more than a third of the country’s Alexander teachers, taught by our world-class faculty. ACAT also serves as a membership organization for Alexander Teachers and students. ||||| They spent their lives together, and when she fell ill, they decided they’d die together. A Juilliard-trained singer and composer and her photographer husband apparently committed suicide inside their Upper West Side apartment Sunday afternoon, police said. Joyce Hope Suskind and Olaf Ringdahl, 88 and 86, had plastic bags over their heads when longtime friend Stephen Collins found them inside their apartment on W. 110th St. near Broadway at about 2 p.m. “They always said they wanted to go together. They always wanted to exit together,” Collins said, unable to hold back his tears as he described the somber discovery. “They had been saying that for years, at least 30 years. I was worried, because we speak every day. I called and got no answer. I came to check on them and found them. It was devastating.” Ky. couple married 73 years dies minutes apart Both left suicide notes, cops said. Police are still trying to determine if they took any medications or drugs to ease their death, sources said. She was suffering from degenerative heart problems, police said. “She was having some health problems for a long time. She was having muscle regeneration and circulation problems. She couldn't go out by herself anymore." Collins said the two started dating in 1958 and married in 1960. They never had children, he said. Reynolds' death raises question whether broken hearts can kill A police officer stands outside the Upper West Side apartment building where a couple was found dead Sunday. (Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News) “They never separated after their first date,” he recalled. “They had a very loving relationship. She'd say, I don't want to live without him.” Suskind, a music instructor and performer who specialized in vocals, piano and oboe, put several of the poems of W.B. Yeats to song. She also co-founded the American Center for the Alexander Technique, a posture and muscle training method popular with musicians. Ringdahl took artistic photos, and focused on shooting the Coney Island area in his youth, Collins said. “He was a wonderful photographer,” Collins said. “He always caught people in the most intimate, spontaneous moments.” Conn. couple die within one hour of each other Sharon Good, a Manhattan-based life coach and one of Suskind’s voice students, interviewed her for a 1998 newsletter article on older people staying active and creative. “When I asked what advice she would give, Joyce suggested finding some kind of balance in your life. Find out who you are beyond the external pressures of family or society to be or do something, to have children,” Good wrote. “Examine your life, examine your choices. Discover what really drives you, rather than just doing what's expected of you.”

– They swore they'd never be apart, and after nearly 60 years together, a Manhattan couple kept that promise in the most heartbreaking way. A friend of 88-year-old Joyce Hope Suskind and her 86-year-old husband, Olaf Ringdahl, found the artistic pair dead Sunday in their Upper West Side apartment, the result of an apparent suicide pact, the New York Daily News reports. "They always wanted to exit together," that friend, Stephen Collins, said of the singer/composer and her photographer husband, who were discovered with plastic bags covering their heads. Cops say the two left suicide messages, and sources tell the paper that an investigation is ongoing into whether drugs or medications were involved. Police say Suskind, who went to Juilliard and co-founded a center that teaches musicians correct posture, had fallen ill with heart and circulation issues, and Collins tells the paper that she'd often say she couldn't go on without her soulmate, a photographer who was known in the early days of his career for turning his lens on the people and sights of Coney Island. In an interview with a life coach in 1998, Suskind noted she and Ringdahl, who had no children together, had been "having a marvelous time" for decades. Collins had become concerned when they weren't picking up his calls over the weekend and headed to their home. "It was devastating," he said of his tragic find. (Two self-help radio hosts left this life holding hands.)

Sign up using Facebook we won't post anything without permission or fill out the form below Email Username Password Verify password Birthday Male Female Other Gender ||||| Coasters have a long history, reaching higher, going faster and becoming more extreme with each new season. The physics involved are intense and the designers literally hold the lives of riders in their hands. What will future coasters look like? Based on how far they've come, maybe maglev launches, or 4th-dimension coasters – where the cars can move independently from each other – but it's hard to say. Keep your safety harness on and your eyes peeled. You won't want to miss it. Wing coasters are the newest advance in coaster technology. Only four "wing coasters" or "wing riders" exist as of publishing. These unique coasters allow riders to sit on either side of the track with nothing above or below them. The first wing rider was Raptor at Gardaland, in Italy, which opened in 2011. The Swarm at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England was the second and is unique in design and execution. The Swarm had a massive marketing effort prior to its opening, involving a post-apocalyptic motif. The entire theme park was involved – including actors dressed as survivors of the apocalyptic event. The coaster throws riders toward burned out buildings and the ground, giving the feeling they're about to crash. Las Vegas, the city of gambling and sin, brings us a truly unique roller coaster experience. Considered the highest roller coaster in the world, the High Roller was located on top of the 909-foot Stratosphere Tower. It opened in 1996 and looped around the top floors of the 9th tallest free-standing tower in the world reaching speeds of 30 mph. The amusement wasn't particularly amusing as the only drop was a measly 20 feet. The High Roller closed in 2005 when management decided that to refurbish it was too expensive to justify due to the lack of thrills – aside from being on top of a "space needle." The Japanese love their roller coasters, so, staying in Japan, we find a giant pink coaster called the Vanish. Located at Cosmo Land in Yokohama, Japan, the name Vanish is a hint at its best feature -– it goes under water. Under water doesn't mean riders actually get wet, but the track does drop into tunnel set inside a pool of water. After a few seconds, the tunnel pops riders, safe and dry, out the other side. This is definitely a unique coaster, but maybe not the MOST unique. If you're both a thrill-seeker and a green-energy activist, you can still enjoy thrills, albeit of a tamer variety. The Skycycle at Washuzan Highland Park in Okayama, Japan is a pedal-powered "skycycle" that lets you experience the breathtaking views along a mountainside track. The views of Washuzan Highland Park and the surrounding area are serenely enjoyed without a single drop or coaster-like thrill, however, since under pedal power you control the speed. Go as fast as you dare. As a commenter wrote on ThemeParkReview.com, it's "Exercise .... with a view!!!" Looping back to Japan, the Steel Dragon 2000 is the longest coaster in the world. If length isn't what you're into, it also has the fourth-largest drop on the planet. Located in Nagashima Spa Land, the Steel Dragon hits 95 mph at top speed, but the thrill lasts for a full three minutes due to the 8,133 feet of steel track. Aside from the coaster itself, the ride lives in an earthquake zone, and in 2003 several of the wheels found their way off the train striking a man in a nearby pool and breaking the hip of a rider. Needless to say, this dragon has a bite. The deadliest roller coaster on our list doesn't even exist ... yet. Designed by Julijonas Urbonas, the Euthanasia Coaster has only one objective: to "take the life of a human being." The coaster is a euthanasia machine of the most interesting sort. Urbonas wrote in an email to Discovery News, the "Euthanasia Coaster is a hypothetic euthanasia machine in the form of a roller coaster, engineered to humanely -- with elegance and euphoria -- take the life of a human being." The coaster's design would drop the rider so fast they'd likely pass out. After the drop they'd traverse loop after loop, pulling the blood from their brains to their lower extremities and causing "cerebral hypoxia" or suffocation of the brain. Without oxygen, your body would experience a variety of effects and ultimately, death. Read more: ANALYSIS: Suicide by Roller Coaster The Fuji-Q Highland theme park in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan holds the current record for steepest steel roller coaster. Opening in 2011, the Takabisha has a drop of 121 degrees! As 90 degrees is straight down, this coaster dips back inward on itself. Because of the 121-degree drop, the riders head back toward the ground, dipping inward, at 62 mph, which is about half the speed of a falling skydiver. There is a constant battle for speed in the roller coaster world. The current title-holder, Formula Rossa, is located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This massive steel-tubed beast launches riders from 0-150 mph in less than five seconds. The cars mimic the look of Formula-1 racecars painted Ferrari red, fitting as the coaster lives at Ferrari World. The coaster goes so fast, the riders must wear safety goggles in case of impact with insects or other debris. The world's oldest continuously operating roller coaster is located in Melbourne, Australia's Luna Park. Called the Scenic Railway, this wooden coaster opened in 1912. The coaster is so old, an operator must stand in the middle of the 20-person train to operate the brake manually and keep the train on the tracks. The oldest coaster in the world that you can still ride today is "Leap-the-Dips." It was built in 1902 and lives in Altoona, Penn., at Lakemont Park. The distinction between the two is Leap-the-Dips was closed for many years and so was in continuous operation from 1902 until 1985. In 1997, a campaign to refurbish the classic amusement succeeded and it re-opened in 1999. Both of these coasters use side friction to keep on the track, much like a traditional railway. This means if they go over a bump too fast, or take a turn too rapidly, they could derail. This causes many coaster operators to limit their height and speed. That being said, Leap-the-Dips clocks in at a gasp-worthy 10 mph after its tallest 41-foot drop. The records are constantly in flux, but as of the 2012 season, the tallest roller coaster in the world is Kingda Ka in Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. The monster stands 456 feet high and accelerates riders to 128 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds, making it the fastest in North America. The coaster sits on top of so many lists it had to go first. Many enthusiasts call Kingda Ka the best coaster in the world. Ride testers from Popular Mechanics admitted to losing control of their facial muscles during the 28-second pounding. Regardless of where you are on the planet, the roller coaster is the undisputed king of the amusement park. Even the words "roller coaster" sound exciting. In Spanish, they're called "la montaña rusa" -- literally: Russian Mountain -- and in Japanese the words translate to "big dipper." Roller coaster parks around the world constantly strive to one-up each other, sparking a race of speed, G-force, height and loops. Discovery News brings you the tallest, oldest, fastest and most amazing roller coasters from around the world. If you like a thrill — I mean, a big, world-record, heart-dropping, pants-wetting thrills. You might want to head out to Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, next summer for the grand opening of the record-breaking coaster, Valravn Birdseye. Excellent Roller Coasters: Photos Billed as the world’s tallest, longest and fastest dive coaster, the 223-foot-tall ride is one of only three so-called “dive” roller coasters in the country, that is, the kind that gives riders that terrifying feeling of free-falling with at least one 90-degree drop. In the video below, you can see the coaster pause for what feels like an eternity while the riders’ feet dangle more than 200 feet in the air. Actually, it’s only a four-second delay before the car plunges down the 214-foot vertical drop at 75 m.p.h. Two other coasters in the United States are considered dive coasters: the Shei Kra at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fla., and the Griffon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Va. Unlike the other dive coaster, however, Valravn has floorless cars that each hold 24 passengers, who sit eight across in three rows. That’s one way to keep the waiting lines moving, I suppose — pack more people onto each train. World’s Tallest Water Slide Set To Make A Splash Valravn was built by Monthey, Switzerland-based Bolliger & Mabillard, and is their 100th coaster to open. When the coaster begins taking riders in May, 2016, it (and the amusement park) will officially break ten world records in one eye-bugging rush. Tallest dive coaster (223 feet) Fastest dive coaster (75 mph) Longest dive coaster (3,415 feet) Most inversions on a dive coaster (three) Longest drop on a dive coaster (214 feet) Highest inversion on a dive coaster (165 feet) Most roller coasters taller than 200 feet at one amusement park (5) Most rides at one amusement park (72) Most steel roller coaster track at one amusement park (52,125 feet/9.9 miles) Most roller coaster track at one amusement park (60,110 feet/11.4 miles) If you can’t wait until May of next year to ride the coaster, you can experience it virtually. Just download the Cedar Point VR app from the App Store or Google Play and insert them into the Valravn VR Viewer, which can be purchased here. Let us know how it goes. via Gizmodo ||||| Funday Bundle Includes Admission, Parking and a Single Meal Deal. With the Single Meal Deal, enjoy an entree, side and regular size fountain drink at one participating location. Valid any one public operating day through September 2, 2019. Not valid for Cedar Point Shores Waterpark.

– Thrillseekers should pencil this one onto their 2016 calendar: The Valravn Birdseye is slated to open in May at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, and those who survive the 3,415-foot roller coaster will be able to brag that they've experienced a ride that quashed 10 world records. Discovery News explains that the Valravn Birdseye will become America's third "dive coaster" (the others are at Busch Gardens in Tampa and Williamsburg, Va.), meaning "the kind that gives riders that terrifying feeling of free-falling with at least one 90-degree drop"—a vertical drop that riders perilously perch above, frozen, for several seconds, as this video shows. It'll be the longest dive coaster, as well as the tallest (223 feet) and fastest (at 75mph). A park press release lists the seven other records the Swiss-built ride—which features a floorless car that seats 24 in three rows of eight—will break upon opening: Most inversions on a dive coaster (three) Longest drop on a dive coaster (214 feet) Highest inversion on a dive coaster (165 feet) Most coasters taller than 200 feet at one park (5) Most rides at one park (72) Most steel roller coaster track at one park (9.9 miles) Most roller coaster track at one park (11.4 miles) Click for pictures of 15 other insane coasters.

The Bakersfield legless lizard (Anniella grinnelli), which today ranges from downtown Bakersfield in the southern San Joaquin Valley to the Carrizo Plain National Monument 30 miles to the west. Four previously unknown species of snakelike creatures have been found in California — but don't call them snakes; they're legless lizards. Prior to the discovery of the new species, there was only one known legless lizard species in the state: the California legless lizard. Surprisingly, the newfound legless lizards were discovered at a series of sites that weren't exactly pristine: They include a dune bordering a runway at Los Angeles International Airport; an empty lot in downtown Bakersfield, Calif.; a field littered with oil derricks; and the margins of the Mojave Desert. "This shows that there is a lot of undocumented biodiversity within California," Theodore Papenfuss, a herpetologist at the University of California Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, said in a statement from the school. The lizards live their entire lives underground or near the surface, and often don't leave an area the size of a small table, the statement noted. When they are found at the surface, it's usually in moist areas under dead wood or logs — or cardboard. A map showing where the new legless lizard species are found. Credit: Courtesy of Breviora To find the lizards, Papenfuss and James Parham, a researcher at California State University, Fullerton, placed thousands of slips of cardboard at various sites around central and Southern California. They then checked and rechecked the sites before finally finding the four new species. Three of the animals were found in the southern San Joaquin Valley. "These are animals that have existed in the San Joaquin Valley, separate from any other species, for millions of years, completely unknown," Parham said in the statement. The species found near the oil fields has a silver belly and is named Anniella alexanderae. The yellow-bellied Anniella campi lives in three isolated dry canyons on the edge of the Mojave Desert, east of Walker Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The purple-bellied Anniella grinnelli was found in three vacant lots in Bakersfield, though only one of these lots remains. The fourth species, found outside the valley near the airport, is named Anniella stebbinsi. Legless lizards live in loose soil on five continents, eating insects and larvae, and this limbless trait has independently evolved several times, the statement noted. It is difficult for the untrained eye to distinguish these creatures from snakes. However, unlike snakes, many legless lizards have external ear openings and movable eyelids. They also typically spend their entire lives underground, unlike snakes. The species were named after four UC Berkeley scientists: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology founder Joseph Grinnell, paleontologist Charles Camp, philanthropist and amateur scientist Annie Alexander and herpetologist Robert Stebbins. There are several species of legless lizards in the U.S. Southeast as well, known as glass lizards. The animals are described in a study published Sept. 17 in the journal Breviora. Editor's note: This story has been corrected to note that there are other species of legless lizards in the U.S. Southeast known as glass lizards, which are in a different taxonomic family. Email Douglas Main or follow him on Twitter or Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook or Google+. Article originally on LiveScience. ||||| Scientists have discovered four new species of legless lizards in California, including one species that lives beneath the sand dunes near LAX. But before we go on, let's get one thing straight: Yes, a snake is a legless lizard, but not all legless lizards are snakes. Throughout the history of lizard evolution, several lizard lineages have lost their legs, explains James Parham of Cal State Fullerton. Snakes are the best-known and most diverse of these lineages, but more than 200 other types of limbless lizards exist throughout the world. Also Here in California, a total of five legless lizard species have been identified, all of them part of a group called Anniella. Four of these legless lizards are new to science, and were recently described in the journal Breviora, a publication of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. And how do they differ from snakes? "Anniella can blink at you, but snakes can't because they don't have eyelids," said Parham, one of the authors of the paper. They also don't shed their skin in one piece like snakes do, and they move differently. "Snakes can coil up a lot more, and they are more slithery," Parham said. "Anniella tend to be more rigid." Parham also thinks they are cuter than snakes, but you can judge that for yourself in the photos above. Anniella are pretty small animals, about as thick as a pencil and rarely more than 8 inches long. They spend their lives wiggling beneath loose, sandy soil, snacking on bugs and larvae. They don't move fast or far, and the researchers say they may spend their whole lives in an area about the size of your dining room table. Aside from that, scientists still don't know much about them. "They are one of the most poorly studied reptiles in California," Parham said. "Because they live under the sand, you can't see what they are doing, and you can't even do a mark-and-recapture because you can't reliably capture these things." Parham and his coauthor Theodore Papenfuss, a herpetologist with the UC Berkeley Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, have been scouring the state for legless lizards for 15 years. When they began their research, only one type of legless lizard was known to live in California. One of the four newly identified species of Anniella, the Southern California legless lizard, was found under some dead leaves in dunes at the west end of Los Angeles International Airport. The Bakersfield legless lizard was found in three vacant lots in downtown Bakersfield. The southern Sierra legless lizard was spotted in three dry canyons on the edge of the Mojave Desert, and the Temblor legless lizard was found in the oil fields around the city of Taft, on the southwestern edge of the San Joaquin Valley. To find these lizards, the scientists scattered 2,000 pieces of cardboard and plywood throughout the state to create moist, cool areas, which appeal to the lizards. Then they returned months later to see if any of the lizards had shown up. Parham says he and Papenfuss still have 1,000 boards around the state that they plan to check come spring, when the legless lizards are most likely to surface. And who knows -- they may uncover even more species. "This is very much an evolving study," he said. Are you intrigued by legless lizards and other weird animals? So am I! Follow me on Twitter to find more cool science stories. ALSO: Gloppy blobfish wins ugliest endangered animal The Olinguito: Cute, furry, newly discovered [Photos] Translucent snail discovered deep in a Croatian cave [Photos] la-sci-sn-legless-lizard-lax-20130918

– You may think the pictures look like snakes or worms, but they're not: Those are legless lizards, four new species of which were discovered in California recently. Unlike snakes, the lizards spend most of their lives underground, in an area about the size of a small table, LiveScience reports—so to find the new species, researchers had to put thousands of pieces of cardboard at various sites in the hopes some of the lizards would make a rare aboveground appearance, surfacing beneath the cardboard. (They are sometimes spotted underneath dead wood or logs, where the ground is still cool and moist, and the cardboard created these areas.) The four species are silver-bellied Anniella alexanderae, yellow-bellied Anniella campi, purple-bellied Anniella grinnelli, and Anniella stebbinsi, all named after UC Berkeley scientists, as one of the researchers is from the university. As the Los Angeles Times explains, snakes are legless lizards, but these four species are not snakes. How are they different? They have movable eyelids, so they can blink; they don't shed their skin in a single piece; some have external ear openings; and they don't "coil" or "slither" as much, tending to be "more rigid" than snakes, says one of the researchers. These four types are small, usually not longer than 8 inches and about as thick around as a pencil.

LOS ANGELES, April 18 (UPI) -- Multiple Walmart stores across the United States caught employees and customers off-guard this week when the massive retail chain abruptly shut down some of its stores and laid off more than 2,000 workers. Customers and employees showed up to a location in Pico Rivera, Calif. on Monday to find locked doors and a sign that read simply, "closed indefinitely." For the store's near 550 workers, it was quite a shock. As the workers scratched their heads, similar scenarios played out almost simultaneously across the United States -- in Texas, Florida and Oklahoma -- where others learned their same fate. What, they wondered, would cause Walmart to shut down their store so suddenly? Eventually, the answer was given. But it only compounded the confusion. The Arkansas-based company subsequently announced that the closures were due to plumbing problems, and would require about six months to repair. "The issues mostly relate to clogs and water leaks in the plumbing - we have had persistent issues over the last several years," a Walmart spokesperson said. But that wasn't the worst of it. Coinciding with the closures, about 2,200 Walmart employees also lost their jobs -- laid off. "Everybody just panicked and started crying," Venanzi Luna, a manager at the Pico Rivera location, said in a CNN Money report. In the meantime, displaced workers at the affected locations will be put on paid leave for two months and can try to transfer to another Walmart. Those still jobless on June 19 might be eligible for severance, CNN's report said. In all, five locations were closed -- and a Walmart spokesperson said all five have had severe plumbing troubles, but none are related. However, ABC Action News in Tampa, Fla., has reported that none of the closed stores have asked their respective cities for any building permits -- something experts say is necessary to fix any kind of major plumbing issue. "This is the first time we're hearing of their sewer problems," Pico Rivera city manager Rene Bobadilla said. "We are anxious to learn exactly what they're planning," another Pico Rivera manager, James Enriquez, added. "My building official walked out there and didn't see any work being done." Therefore, skeptics wonder, are the stores closing for another reason? Some believe that yes, in fact, they are. Employees of the Pico Rivera location fear that the sudden shutdown is nothing less than retaliation by Walmart for recent demonstrations asking for higher pay. Workers at that particular store have been very active in the movement, and even spearheaded one of the first protests in 2012. The demand for higher wages for workers in the fast food and retail industries has been a hot topic lately. Earlier this week, thousands in cities across the nation rallied in the "Fight for $15" -- and just two months ago, Walmart announced it was giving 500,000 of its employees a raise. In 2013, some Walmart workers and union members accused the chain of retaliating against labor organizers. "People are scared because they see how Walmart retaliates. Not everyone has spoken out because of the reality of losing their jobs," union member and Walmart employee Colby Harris said at the time. Walmart, though, denies that the closures are for any reason other than plumbing. "We understand this decision has been difficult on our associates and our customers and we aim to reopen these stores as soon as these issues are resolved," a spokesperson said. In addition to the California location, the other affected stores are in Brandon, Fla., Livingston, Texas, Midland, Texas and Tulsa, Okla. The sudden closures, however, didn't just catch employees and customers off-guard. At a Texas location, Liberty Tax Service -- which is a common presence in numerous U.S. Walmarts -- was forced to hastily vacate its kiosk it rents in the store. A Liberty tax professional there, who wished to be unnamed, said she was forced to vacate the Walmart on April 13 -- two days before the tax-filing deadline, naturally a very busy time for companies like hers. Further, she worried that clients wouldn't know how to reach her at another location, which might potentially put their tax-filings in jeopardy. Further, the tax professional said she hasn't witnessed a single plumbing problem in the Texas store since she started working at Liberty's kiosk there three years ago. At the Brandon, Fla., location, two plumbing technicians who have worked extensively in that store said they don't buy it, either. "I've done a lot of maintenance work out there. I go out there and I unclog the drains, but there's been no major problems there. It's all been normal stuff that we do at every store," plumber Codi Bauer said in a WFLA-TV report. Some skeptics say the company's official reason for the closures simply isn't believable. If plumbing was indeed the reason for the move, they ask, why then is Walmart forcing affected employees to find other jobs -- and making them re-apply for their old positions once the locations reopen? "I went to the meeting [Tuesday] morning, they would not give me an exact answer to anything," a laid-off worker in Tulsa said in a report by CBS affiliate KOTV-TV. Another red flag, some say, is the fact that each of the stores seemed to be unusually well-prepared for the closures -- which would not be the case if abrupt plumbing problems triggered the sudden shutdowns. "They had too many things in place," Florida worker Diane Hill told ABC 10 News in Tampa. "The higher-ups knew. It's us lower folks on the totem pole that didn't know." Laid off workers from the Florida location also claimed to 10 News that Walmart instructed them not to speak to the press. Commissioner Victor Crist, who represents the district in which the Florida Walmart closed, is also curious and has asked Walmart to see the plumbing problems it's referring to. "I just find what's going on very odd," he said. "I am a little curious as to why permits have not been pulled. If you want to minimize downtime you do that by doing those things in advance." Crist said Walmart has not yet responded to his request. "I've been here ten years with this Walmart. This is my family, it's my home, and the customers are family here," Tulsa employee Cindy Burton said. "We know each and every one of them, some of them we know by name. This is home. "We are all finding places to go and we are trying to call. It's all we can do right now, is just try to find placement so we can all keep our job ... We were all in shock. I cried a lot, but we will all get through it." ||||| A group representing Walmart workers laid off after the abrupt closing of five stores last week planned to seek an injunction on Monday from the National Labor Relations Board that would require the retailer to rehire all 2,200 affected workers. Walmart said that the closings were temporary and were prompted by plumbing issues at the five stores, in California, Texas, Oklahoma and Florida. Officials at the retailer said they would do their best to rehire the workers at other stores or at the five stores once they reopened. But a claim set to be filed on Monday by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union with the National Labor Relations Board says that the closings were in retaliation for a history of labor activism at one of the shuttered stores, in Pico Rivera, Calif. The union is acting on behalf of Our Walmart, a group that has helped the stores’ workers air their claims, but is not a union itself. The Pico Rivera store was the site of the first strike at a Walmart store in the United States, in 2012, organized by a workers’ group backed by the union. The strike was over pay and working conditions for the retailer’s hourly wage workers. Since then, store employees have led actions demanding changes to Walmart’s hours and pregnancy policies, access to full-time, consistent work and at least $15 an hour in pay for workers at the retailer’s 4,500 stores across the country.

– The 2,200 Walmart workers who were abruptly laid off because of what the company claims were plumbing problems at the stores where they worked are taking steps to ensure they get their jobs back. A union representing the workers will today file a claim with the National Labor Relations Board seeking an injunction requiring Walmart to rehire everyone, the New York Times reports. As it stands now, Walmart says the workers—who were given just hours of notice that the stores would be closed for six months—may be able to find work at another store; the injunction would require the company to find them work at another store or reopen the stores where they used to work. The claim also accuses Walmart of an ulterior motive for closing the stores. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union—acting on behalf of Our Walmart, a non-union group that has been airing claims of poor working conditions—says Walmart is retaliating because one of the closed stores, in Pico Rivera, Calif., has been a hub for labor activism and hosted the first strike by Walmart workers for better pay and conditions. Walmart denies any such retaliation, and in response to the injunction, a rep says, "We don't believe there is a basis for an injunction that would interfere with our efforts to repair the serious plumbing issues at the five stores." Over the weekend, the company gave a few more details, with a rep telling UPI, "The issues mostly relate to clogs and water leaks in the plumbing—we have had persistent issues over the last several years."

The government has officially shut down. The partisan gridlock in Washington proved insurmountable, as House Republicans continue to insist on changing, delaying or defunding Obamacare as the price for keeping the government open, while Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama firmly rejected that position. Text Size - + reset Reid: No conference until House passes clean CR Boehner: Obamacare a bill Americans 'don't want, cant afford' Shutdown: Who's to blame? It’s the first government shutdown since 1996, when Newt Gingrich was the House speaker and Bill Clinton was president. The House and Senate stayed in session until the wee hours Tuesday morning, but there is no clear path toward solving the budgetary impasse. (POLITICO's full government shutdown coverage) In a sign of just how entrenched Washington is, Congress is fighting over just a few months of government funding. Sometime in November or December, Congress and the White House will have to agree on a longer-term funding bill to last into 2014. This is just the first fiscal fight of the fall. The debt ceiling must be lifted by Oct. 17. Stripping Obamacare of its funding has been a centerpiece of the House Republican Conference since the party took the majority in 2010. But this is the first time the GOP has declined to fund government because of the law. Obamacare’s health-insurance exchanges opened as planned Tuesday. The majority of polls show Republicans will bear the blame for this shutdown. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has privately warned House Republicans that they could lose their majority in 2014 as a result of shutting down the government. House Republicans’ last-ditch effort Monday night was to try to pass a bill that would allow the leadership to appoint negotiators to a House-Senate conference committee to hash out an agreement on government funding. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he would only assign negotiators if the GOP first passed a six-week funding bill without any changes to the Affordable Care Act. (WATCH: Shutdown: Democrats vs. Republicans) The Senate won’t wait for the House to pass it’s motion to go to conference. About midnight, Reid said the upper chamber would retire for the night and reconvene at 9:30 a.m. “This is a very sad day for our country,” Reid said on the Senate floor. The House has “some jerry-rigged thing about going to conference. It is embarrassing that these people are elected to represent the country are representing the tea party.” The high-stakes legislative back-and-forth lasted for several days. The House first passed a funding bill two weeks ago, which defunded the health care law. The Senate responded by changing the legislation to fully fund the law. The House then passed several versions of its own bill to keep the fund the government — but with several caveats: first, defunding Obamacare; then a full year delay of Obamacare and a repeal of the medical device tax; then, a delay of Obamacare’s individual mandate and the cancelation of health-insurance subsidies for Capitol Hill lawmakers, aides and administration employees. The Senate dismissed each attempt. (WATCH: Boehner 'confident' House will pass CR) Several Senate Republicans said they ultimately expected their colleagues in the House to arrive at something Senate Democrats can pass to keep the government’s lights on — but not on before the government shut down. There was one bipartisan bright spot. The Senate unanimously passed a bill Monday to keep military troops paid during a shutdown, and the president signed it just a few hours before midnight. “When the House sends things that do have an attraction to members maybe we’ll see a difference,” said Sen. Richard Burr (R) of North Carolina. “We’ll go into a shutdown tomorrow and we’ll figure out how to get out of it. I think it will take a few days.” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a chief critic of the House’s attempts to attack Obamacare during the government funding debate, said he’d sign onto a clean spending bill if given the chance — and expected sometime soon he would get one. “Yeah because we can’t win. That’s going to happen sooner or later,” McCain said. ||||| Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly said that Border Patrol officers, prison guards and air traffic controllers were told they may not be paid for their work during the shutdown. They will be paid, as will other workers who are deemed essential, but their pay may be delayed This version has been corrected. House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) talks with reporters after meeting with the House Republican caucus on the eighth day of the government shutdown. House Republican leaders pressed demands for negotiations with Senate Democrats and President Obama over bills to fund the government and raise the federal debt limit, but they would not say what they are seeking in those negotiations. Oct. 8, 2013 House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) talks with reporters after meeting with the House Republican caucus on the eighth day of the government shutdown. House Republican leaders pressed demands for negotiations with Senate Democrats and President Obama over bills to fund the government and raise the federal debt limit, but they would not say what they are seeking in those negotiations. Melina Mara/The Washington Post With no agreement on a funding bill in sight, Republicans and Democrats continue to spar on Capitol Hill, while federal workers sit at home and the American public watches as an even more critical deadline on raising the federal debt limit nears. The Senate rejected House amendments to a short-term spending bill Monday, pushing the government toward its first shutdown in nearly two decades. The Senate rejected House amendments to a short-term spending bill Monday, pushing the government toward its first shutdown in nearly two decades. by Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane The U.S. government began to shut down for the first time in 17 years early Tuesday, after a Congress bitterly divided over President Obama’s signature health-care initiative failed to reach agreement to fund federal agencies. Hours before a midnight deadline, the Republican House passed its third proposal in two weeks to fund the government for a matter of weeks. Like the previous plans, the new one sought to undermine the Affordable Care Act, this time by delaying enforcement of the “individual mandate,” a cornerstone of the law that requires all Americans to obtain health insurance. The new measure also sought to strip lawmakers and their aides of long-standing government health benefits. The Democratic-led Senate quickly rejected that plan on a party-line vote. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) urged House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) to abandon the assault on the health-care law and pass a simple bill to keep the government open. Otherwise, Reid warned, “the responsibility for this Republican government shutdown will rest squarely on his shoulders.” Boehner refused to yield. He instead won approval, in a 1 a.m. largely party-line roll call, requesting a special House-Senate committee to meet in the coming days to resolve differences between the two parties, leaving in limbo the fate of millions of federal workers and the services they provide. Shortly before midnight, the White House budget office issued a memo instructing agencies to “execute plans for an orderly shutdown due to the absence of appropriations.” The impasse means 800,000 federal workers will be furloughed Tuesday. National parks, monuments and museums, as well as most federal offices, will close. Tens of thousands of air-traffic controllers, prison guards and Border Patrol agents will be required to serve, but their pay may be delayed. And many congressional hearings — including one scheduled for Tuesday on last month’s Washington Navy Yard shootings — will be postponed. In a last-minute ray of hope for active-duty troops, Congress on Monday approved and sent to the White House an agreement to keep issuing military paychecks. But Obama warned that the broader economy, which is finally starting to recover from the shocks of the past six years, would take a substantial hit if congressional gridlock shutters “America’s largest employer.” “Keeping the people’s government open is not a concession to me. Keeping vital services running and hundreds of thousands of Americans on the job is not something you ‘give’ to the other side. It’s our basic responsibility,” Obama said in a statement Monday evening at the White House. Privately, senior Republicans predicted that the closure would last at least a week. A fraction of today’s House Republicans were on Capitol Hill in 1995 and 1996 when a Republican-led Congress last shut down the government in a dispute over the budget with a Democratic president. Younger lawmakers don’t remember the pain the shutdown caused constituents, senior Republicans said. And many of them now question the conventional wisdom that the closures weakened the GOP presidential candidate in 1996 and nearly cost the party control of the House. Democrats predicted that if the shutdown stretches into the weekend, the government-funding dispute could be rolled into an even more serious battle over the $16.7 trillion federal debt limit. The Treasury Department will begin running short of cash to pay the nation’s bills as soon as Oct. 17 unless Congress approves additional borrowing authority. With so little time remaining to avoid what would be the nation’s first default, Democratic aides predicted that negotiations to reopen the government may be merged into the debt-limit talks. On Monday evening, Obama telephoned Boehner to urge him to reconsider his stance on the health-care law. In a call that lasted nearly 10 minutes, according to Boehner’s office, the president reiterated his insistence that there would be no negotiations over the debt limit, and that Congress must pay the bills it has incurred. Boehner responded by mocking Obama in a speech on the House floor. “ ‘I’m not going to negotiate,’ ” he said, quoting Obama. “I would say to the president: This is not about me. It’s not about Republicans here in Congress. It’s about fairness.” The speech drew applause for the embattled speaker, who argued passionately that Republicans were merely seeking “fairness” for working people. Obama has delayed a mandate for employers to insure workers and delayed other requirements for big unions, Boehner said. “Yet they stick our constituents with a bill they don’t like and a bill they can’t afford,” he said. Despite the show of unity, Republicans on both sides of the Capitol remain deeply divided about the attack on the health-care law. In the House, a group of more moderate Republicans was seething about the decision to bow to the forces that oppose the Affordable Care Act, led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and his allies on the right, including such outside groups as Heritage Action for America. On Monday, some publicly urged Boehner to drop the issue and seek the help of House Democrats to pass the simple government-funding bill that the Senate approved last week. “I don’t want to shut down the government,” said Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), who is trying to become her state’s first GOP senator since the 1950s, adding that she was inclined to support a “clean” funding bill. Frustrations also were simmering among Senate Republicans, who complained that House leaders were pressing the attack in direct opposition to public opinion. Polls show that voters overwhelmingly disapprove of using the threat of a shutdown to defund the health-care law and that blame for a shutdown will fall squarely on Republicans. “By wanting to repeal Obamacare using this method, it defies what the popular will is,” said Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, who campaigned last year on behalf of his party’s national ticket. “I campaigned in 2012 all over this country for months: ‘Repeal and replace Obamacare.’ That was not the mandate of the voters,” McCain said. “If they wanted to repeal Obamacare, the 2012 election would have been probably significantly different.” Adding to the tension Monday was Boehner’s decision to add the provision that would strip lawmakers, congressional staff members and White House aides of the employer subsidies for health insurance they have received for many years. Now that lawmakers and their aides must join the new health-insurance exchanges, some conservative groups have criticized the subsidies, worth about $5,000 a year for individual coverage and $10,000 for families, as a “special exemption” from the new law. By including the provision, House leaders hoped to attract conservative support and put pressure on Senate Democrats, who faced the choice of shutting down the government to protect their own perks. “On what flooding peninsula can you stand when it’s a question of delaying the individual mandate, ending member subsidies and funding the government?” said Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.). If Reid kills it, “the senators he’s going to protect become the subject of incredible scrutiny.” Even some Republicans were uneasy about the prospect of dealing their aides — and some of their colleagues — the equivalent of a big pay cut. Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) called it an “outrage,” adding that Boehner had worked directly with Reid and the Obama administration to make sure the subsidies would stay in place when congressional employees join the exchanges next year. Boehner and his team presented the proposal to rank-and-file Republicans in a closed-door meeting Monday. For more than an hour and a half, lawmakers argued about the plan. They emerged with an unusual number of public dissenters, including Rep. Peter T. King (N.Y.), one of a dozen Republicans who ultimately voted against the proposal. “I don’t want to be the facilitator of a disastrous process and plan,” he said. Still, most Republicans endorsed the deal, even if somewhat reluctantly. “I think this is a principled call by leadership and it has the support of the con­ference,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), one of Boehner’s closest friends. Democrats, meanwhile, were united against any attempt by Republicans to extract concessions now, especially with the larger fight over the debt limit swiftly approaching. “The bottom line is very simple,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). “You negotiate on this, they will up the ante for the debt limit.” Ed O’Keefe, Rosalind S. Helderman, Jackie Kucinich and Jeff Simon contributed to this report.

– The question is no longer, "Will the government shut down?" It's, "How long will the shutdown last?" After an evening of back-and-forth bills between the House and Senate, the clock has run out, and the government indeed began shutting down at midnight for the first time in 17 years, reports the Washington Post. That means about 800,000 federal workers will be furloughed immediately, and a host of government services will be suspended. (The mail will still be delivered.) Lawmakers did manage one thing: The Senate unanimously passed a measure that makes sure US troops will get paid during the shutdown, reports Politico. Tonight's political ping-pong began when House Republicans voted in favor of an amendment to the spending bill that would delay ObamaCare's individual mandate for one year and wipe out a health-insurance subsidy for members of Congress, their staffers, and the president. The vote was 228-201; the Senate promptly rejected the House bill and sent it back. Rather than try to jam another doomed bill through, John Boehner instead opted to appoint a committee to try to hash out differences between the two parties over the next few days.

Mark Zuckerberg manse undergoes extreme makeover Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at TechCrunch Disrupt 2013 in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at TechCrunch Disrupt 2013 in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is rebuilding a $10 million home in San Francisco's Dolores Heights neighborhood. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is rebuilding a $10 million home in San Francisco's Dolores Heights neighborhood. Photo: Andy Ross, San Francisco Chronicle window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-4', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 4', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Mark Zuckerberg manse undergoes extreme makeover 1 / 4 Back to Gallery The Dolores Heights pied-a-terre that Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and his bride bought a few months back for almost $10 million has turned into a real fixer-upper. According to San Francisco city records, the couple's contractor has taken out five construction permits this year for: -- A $720,000 addition of a first-floor office, media room, half-bathroom, mud room, laundry room, wine room and wet bar. Plus, a new second floor half-bathroom and remodel of the second, third and fourth floors. -- $750,000 in other additions to the lower floors, as well as a new roof and windows and reconfigured landscaping. -- A $65,000 kitchen and bathroom remodel. -- A $60,000 greenhouse. -- And finally, $30,000 to replace an exterior wall and stairway, plus seismic upgrades. It all adds up to about $1.6 million, though workers at the site tell us they wouldn't be surprised if the final tab comes to several million more. They expect the job to take a year. Last week, the entire house - just a couple of blocks from hipster magnet Dolores Park - was pretty well stripped to the studs. Crews were busily working on a new basement garage, complete with a turntable pad so cars can get in and out more easily. "It's nice to be rich," said one passer-by surveying the scene. Records show at least one person lodged a complaint with the city last spring after part of an external wall was removed before any permits were issued. So far, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, haven't even publicly confirmed they own the 5,542-square-foot, four-bedroom house, and the workers say they haven't actually seen the couple. It was purchased through a holding company run by a lawyer who specializes in forming trusts for high-end clients. Reps for Zuckerberg and Facebook politely declined comment. Supervisor Scott Wiener tells us he knew the Facebook founder and his wife had bought the house in his district, though he's still waiting to run into them. "Maybe I'll bring over the apple pie," he said. In the huddle: There was a big stadium sit-down at Raiders headquarters the other day. Team owner Mark Davis, along with Oakland and Alameda County officials, met to update a delegation from the National Football League on the prospects for a new stadium. Sources tell us Davis appears sincerely to want the Raiders to stay in Oakland. However, reports from city planners indicate the money for a new Raiders home is as elusive as ever. "The fact is that Davis doesn't have finances like, say, a Jerry Jones (owner of the Dallas Cowboys) to swing a stadium deal on his own," said one person who was at the meeting. "We'd have to ask the voters to help." And while no one said it at the meeting, everyone knows the chances of voters helping out with a new stadium deal - while they are still paying off $20 million a year for the 1990s renovation of the old one - are slim to none. People at the meeting - none of whom would speak on the record, because the session was supposed to be private - say their efforts to convince the NFL that there's still hope in the East Bay weren't boosted by the tardy entrance of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan. "She arrived 20 minutes late," said our attendee. "She apologized, saying she was held up by a phone call." And finally: Even before the Kiwis have clinched victory in the America's Cup, the New Zealand Herald was online Friday with this familiar-sounding prediction from the financial wizards: "Should the America's Cup be brought back to New Zealand, it would drive more than $500 million into the economy." The paper said the rosy estimate was based on the assumption that "the same number of syndicates and super yachts show up as for the unsuccessful 2003 defense" - when 10 teams competed in Auckland. Those kinds of riches, unfortunately, are something San Francisco never saw - though city officials tell us it will be year's end before they know the true financial impact of hosting the yachting fest. In the meantime, the mayor, port officials and others are hosting fundraisers to cover the millions of dollars in expenses that the city incurred from playing host. ||||| The San Francisco Chronicle reports that renovations at Mark Zuckerberg’s Dolores Heights home will cost the Facebook CEO more than he had planned. City records show that the billionaire and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have taken out the five permits below this year: — A $720,000 addition of a first-floor office, media room, half-bathroom, mud room, laundry room, wine room and wet bar. Plus, a new second floor half-bathroom and remodel of the second, third and fourth floors. — $750,000 in other additions to the lower floors, as well as a new roof and windows and reconfigured landscaping. — A $65,000 kitchen and bathroom remodel. — A $60,000 greenhouse. — And finally, $30,000 to replace an exterior wall and stairway, plus seismic upgrades. They purchased the home in November 2012 for $9.9 million according to Zillow, a real estate website. When news broke that Zuckerberg was moving to the Mission last year, Mission Local went out and asked people in the neighborhood what they thought about their new neighbor. Watch our 60 Seconds on Zuckerberg here.

– Mark Zuckerberg's crazy expensive San Francisco mansion is about to get even more crazy expensive. His contractor has taken out five construction permits that add up to more than $1.6 million in remodel costs, and workers at the house tell the San Francisco Chronicle they think the construction will actually cost a few million more than that—and will take an entire year to complete. The Chronicle describes the 5,542-square-foot Dolores Heights house as "pretty well stripped to the studs" at this point. Zuck and wife Priscilla Chan bought the home for $9.9 million in November, according to Mission Local, but they have yet to confirm they actually own it, nor have they shown their faces to workers. Among other expenditures, the Zuckerbergs will spend $720,000 to add a number of new rooms, including an office, media room, laundry room, wine room, mud room, and wet bar, plus $60,000 on a greenhouse. Workers are also currently putting in a new basement garage with a turntable for cars. As one passerby put it: "It's nice to be rich." Really nice: Zuck and Chan were spotted looking at property in Hawaii earlier this month, according to the New York Post. (In more insane real estate news, click to read about how a foot-wide slice of beach sold for $120,000.)

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has retrieved 8.5 tonnes of waste from Mount Everest since April as it clears garbage left by growing numbers of visitors, the state-run Global Times said on Thursday. Enthusiasts from all over the world who flock to the world’s tallest mountain, at a height of 8,850 meters (29,035 ft) between Tibet and Nepal, discard tonnes of trash each year. A team of 30 people has cleared about 5.2 tonnes of household waste, 2.3 tonnes of human faeces, and one tonne of mountaineering trash in the cleanup by Tibetan mountaineering officials, the paper said. The work is almost as demanding as tackling the summit, say climbers, since collection is a strenuous task that boosts the consumption of oxygen people need to breathe, it added. During last year’s climbing season, which usually runs from March until May, 202 climbers summitted from the Tibetan side, versus 446 from the Nepali side, while thousands of tourists visited base camps on both sides. The warming global climate has melted frozen garbage left by climbers over decades, spurring environmental concern in Nepal, India and China, which is taking tough measures to clean up air, water and soil contaminated after decades of breakneck growth. Since 2015, officials in Tibet have given every climber two trash bags to retrieve at least 8 kg of rubbish, levying a fine of $100 for each kilogram by which a climber falls short. Nepal adopted similar rules in 2014. China also plans to build environmentally friendly toilet and waste collection sites at Mount Everest, the official Xinhua news agency said. Authorities in Tibet have pledged to complete 45 pollution cleanup tasks before 2020, according to a list published this week by the environment ministry, after a central inspection team flagged concerns last year. Beijing plans a further round of inspections early next year, the People’s Daily newspaper of the ruling Communist Party has said. ||||| Veteran Climber Kami Rita Sherpa, center left, receives an honorary certificate during a function organized to mark Everest Day in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 29, 2018. Nepal has honored several Sherpa... (Associated Press) Veteran Climber Kami Rita Sherpa, center left, receives an honorary certificate during a function organized to mark Everest Day in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 29, 2018. Nepal has honored several Sherpa guides for their own Everest successes on the anniversary of the first conquest of the world's... (Associated Press) KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal honored several Sherpa guides for their Everest successes on the anniversary Tuesday of the first conquest of the world's highest peak. Government minister Bina Magar, herself an Everest climber, honored the guides at a ceremony held every year on the date in 1953 that New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his guide Tenzing Norgay first set foot on the summit of the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) mountain. Those honored included Kami Rita, who just climbed the mountain for a record 22nd time. He said last week when he returned from the mountain that he plans to guide climbers to the summit next year as well. He first scaled Everest at age 24 and has made the climb almost every year since then. The ceremony also honored Lhakpa Sherpa, 44, whose nine climbs are the most for a woman. She lives in West Hartford, Connecticut, for much of the year and works at a grocery store when she's not guiding foreign climbers. She and her brother guided some 50 climbers on Everest earlier this month. The ceremony also honored seven brothers who all have made it to the top of Everest and have combined for 61 total ascents. A certificate issued by Guinness World Records was handed over to the brothers at the ceremony in Kathmandu. Since Mount Everest was first conquered, thousands of climbers have reached the summit, while more than 300 have lost their lives on the unpredictable slopes. An avalanche struck just above base camp in 2014, killing 16 Sherpa guides, while a year later another avalanche triggered by an earthquake ripped through base camp, killing 19 people.

– The world's tallest mountain is covered in a whole heap of trash. That's why a Chinese team of 30 people has been tasked with hauling decades worth of climbers' garbage off Mt. Everest. Since April, they've managed to bring down over 9 tons of cast-off mountaineering gear and other garbage, the Reuters reports, citing the state-run Global Times. However, lost carabiners and old tents don't make up all the junk. Human waste and household waste made up over two tons and five tons of the removed mass respectively. Since the task is an extremely arduous one, officials in Tibet have given every climber since 2015 on Tibet's side of the 29,000 foot peak two trash bags to use to bring back down at least 8 kilos of trash, or over 17.5 pounds. A climber is fined if they come up short. Scientists say climate change is warming things up on Everest, causing snow to melt and accumulated trash to emerge. At the same time, more brave climbers than ever are ascending the mountain. Per Reuters, last years climbing season saw 202 summit from the Tibet side and 446 via Nepal's slope. Thousands of others visited camps along both mountainsides. According to the AP, the spring season runs just March until the end of May, after which weather conditions on the mountain begin to deteriorate. There are only about a couple of days of windows of good weather on the highest part of the peak in May, when climbers rush to attempt their way to the summit. (Among this year's climbers to reach the top was double amputee Xia Boyu.)

Nightmare on Elm Street, A (2010) Buy posters from this movie by Peter Sobczynski "The Bastard Film Of 100 Idiots." Despite being a child of the 1980�s and someone with an odd fascination for gory horror films from that era, I must confess that I have never had much use for the �Nightmare on Elm Street� series, that string of ultra-violent horror-fantasy extravaganzas in which Freddy Krueger, the hideously burned and razor-fingered bastard son of 100 maniacs, brutally haunted and hunted his victims in their dreams. Sure, Wes Craven�s 1984 original was a pretty effective work--thanks to his clever script and deft direction, a cast of engaging newcomers (including the then-unknown Johnny Depp in his film debut) and Robert Englund�s instantly iconic performance as Krueger--that was marred only by a truly asinine final scene, a bit of tacked-on tackiness that made the finale of �Back to the Future� look palatable by comparison) that became a huge hit with audiences and even earned decent reviews from many critics as well. However, with the exception of Craven�s brilliant 1994 meta-movie experiment �Wes Craven�s New Nightmare,� a smart commentary on the slasher genre that anticipated many of the ideas that he would explore a couple of years later in �Scream,� and 2003�s �Freddy Vs. Jason,� an agreeably silly monster mash between Krueger and fellow aging slasher icon Jason Voorhees, the series quickly degenerated into a string of quickie sequels that were little more than a series of elaborate kill scenes in which the endlessly wisecracking Krueger, whose jokes were more terrifying than his actions (though it should be noted that whatever life the films had was due almost entirely to Englund�s relentlessly energetic performances), bumped off a seemingly endless string of bland teen dopes until he was temporarily dispatched just before the end credits. Although many seemed to enjoy the formula for a while--the films made tons of money and Freddy appeared on the cover of �Fangoria� as often as Oprah Winfrey appears on the cover of �O� (and with much the same effect)--their sheer repetitiveness began to grate on even the most loyal fans and the franchise eventually went bust. Now �A Nightmare on Elm Street� has, like so many well-known horror properties, has been given the remake treatment to attract a new audience that wasn�t even born when the original films were still haunting the multiplexes. While the idea of doing such a film may have struck many old-school genre buffs as anathema, especially when it was announced that neither Craven nor Englund would be involved, I have to admit that it didn�t sound like the worst idea in the world--the basic premise of being stalked in your sleep when you are at your most vulnerable is still a pretty potent idea and while it seemed impossible for anyone to step into Englund�s charred sweater and glove, the casting of Jackie Earle Haley, hot off his comeback performances in �Little Children� and �Watchmen,� in the role was an off-beat and inspired move that suggested that it might have slightly higher ambitions than most of the recent string of reboots. Unfortunately, based on the unbelievably lame and deeply unentertaining results, it feels as if the filmmakers never actually got around to seeing the original film and instead took their inspiration from all the lame-ass sequels and the result is a hugely disappointing craptacular whose sole obvious virtue is the fact that it might--might--be slightly better than �Freddy�s Revenge,� the generally accepted low point of the franchise. As the film opens, the seemingly bucolic suburb of Springwood is rocked when a local teenager plagued by bizarre nightmares kills himself in a diner in an exceptionally gruesome manner in front of his girlfriend, Kris (Katie Cassidy). Before long, it becomes apparent that she and several other classmates--arty waif Nancy (Rooney Mara), emo guy Quentin (Kyle Gallner) and hothead Jesse (Dean Braun)--have been having similar dreams involving a hideously burned man coming after them with a glove with razor blades attached to the fingers that also suggest that they all knew each other long before they supposedly met in high school. Thanks to a conveniently timed expository of nightmarish exposition, it turns out that they did indeed known each other as little children when they all attended a local pre-school where they were all befriended by Freddy Krueger (Haley), the kindly janitor who slept in a room in the basement in an arrangement that not a single parent apparently objected to in any form--they were presumably too busy ridding the playground of any item that might provide a bit of actual fun. Anyway, some of the kids eventually began to suggest that Krueger was molesting them and instead of doing something mundane than report it to the police, their parents (including Connie Britton and Clancy Brown) formed a vigilante mob and, despite his pleas of innocence, burned him to death. For reasons never quite explained, Krueger now has the power to invade the dreams of those now-grown children and is killing them off one by one in their sleep and it is up to Nancy and Quentin to stay awake long discover his secret and stop his reign of terror without getting sliced up themselves. One of the reasons that the original �A Nightmare on Elm Street� worked was because it was a horror film that relied on more than just cheap shocks and gallons of gore to spook audiences--it mined its real scares from the twin notions of being attacked while asleep in bed, a position of vulnerability as primal and effective as a shower, and discovering that the very authority figures you were raised to believe were there to help you not only couldn�t when the time came, they were responsible for your traumas in the first place. (In this sense, the film was kind of like a horrific take on the John Hughes movies that were appearing at the same time.) While there are many problems with the revamped screenplay by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer, the biggest by far is its complete lack of ambition--having apparently never decided whether they were doing a strict remake or a complete revamp, they have presented an uncomfortable m�lange of the two that combines lame retreads of the first film�s most memorable moments with new plot details and developments that only manage to take an already shaky premise and tip it over into the realm of outright silliness. In the most ridiculous of these additions--Spoiler Warning!--there is actually a plot development that suggests that Freddy was actually innocent of the charges of molestation and that the kids lied about what happened to them. In capable hands, this approach might have led to an interesting twist to the familiar proceedings that might have explained Haley�s presence (or at least made the film seem like an odd quasi-sequel to �Little Children�) but here, it leads absolutely nowhere and by the time it is finally abandoned (Good news, parents--you lucked out and killed a guilty guy after all), most people will find themselves wondering why they went down that particular path in the first place, especially in the service of what is nothing more than a cheesy slasher retread. Then again, it shouldn�t come as a shock that the screenplay doesn�t work when nothing else about the film works either. Director Samuel Bayer, a music video veteran making his feature debut here, evidently has one basic scary move in his repertoire--the �BOO!� moment where something pops up out of the frame unexpectedly and causes the less canny viewers to jump in their seats--and deploys it over and over for 95 minutes without ever showing any real aptitude for it. The performances from the young stars are universally execrable--as our heroine, Rooney Mara turns in one of the most wan and lifeless performances in recent memory (even after factoring in that her character is meant to be exhausted and running on fumes) and her co-stars aren�t much of an improvement--while Britton and Brown are completely wasted and largely forgotten about in the second half. As Krueger, Jackie Earle Haley does what he can to live up to the unenviable task of replacing Robert Englund but in the end, all he has to offer is a slightly less psychotic variation on his performance as Rorschach in �Watchmen.� The special effects are obviously far more elaborate here than in any other �Elm Street� film but completely lack the visceral impact of what Craven was able to achieve on a far more limited budget. As for the terrible final scene to the first film that I alluded to earlier, all I will say is that this, sadly, is the one area in which this new version has outdone the original. �A Nightmare on Elm Street� is a slickly made and ceaselessly stupid retread that seems to have been made for and by people who thought that last year�s revamp of �Friday the 13th� was too complex and arty for their tastes. With a lack of anything else of interest currently in major release, it will probably do well at the box-office, at least until the arrival of �Iron Man 2� next week, but my guess is that the exiting audiences will be divided into older viewers annoyed at the desecration of yet another icon of their misspent youth and bored younger viewers wondering what all the fuss was about. As for me, I was so bored with the whole thing that, ironically enough, I could barely keep my eyes open during it. Who knows--maybe if I had fallen asleep during it, I might have found myself being killed off by a better movie. link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=19472&reviewer;=389 originally posted: 04/30/10 13:57:24 printer-friendly format Horror Remakes: For more in the Horror Remakes series, click here. User Comments ||||| Things that seem like a good idea at the time but you regret later: a second mortgage, a third beer and yet another installment of "A Nightmare on Elm Street." Not, mind you, a sequel or a remake. No, director Samuel Bayer's version falls under the current trendy heading of "re-imagining," which is code for "making a movie similar to the 1984 original." Call it what you want, but the best word to describe it is: unnecessary. The original "Nightmare," written and directed by Wes Craven, is for reasons unclear thought of as some sort of horror classic. It's not, but it did have two good ideas. The first is the blurring of dreams and reality; like the characters, we're not always sure when they're sleeping and when they're awake. The second is that in dreams (and nightmares), anything is possible. The new version keeps those ideas alive, even expands upon them a little, especially visually. Freddy Krueger is still a disfigured burn victim with razors on one gloved hand, showing up in teenagers' dreams and, often as not, slicing and dicing them. Gone is Robert Englund, the actor who played Freddy in the original and the exhaustive string of remakes, replaced by Jackie Earle Haley, in a more-lurid take on the character. But he's still burned, still wearing the iconic fedora and sweater and still haunting kids in their nightmares. This time around, however, his crimes are different, though the fallout from them is the same. It's a vigilante world out there, apparently. Once again the kids who live on Elm Street are having bad, bad dreams. Dean (Kellan Lutz), Jesse (Thomas Dekker), Kris (Katie Cassidy), Quentin (Kyle Gallner) and Nancy (Rooney Mara) are afraid to sleep, but no one can stay awake forever. It gives nothing away to say that not all of them will survive their dealings with Freddy. Nor does it give too much away to say that you won't particularly care which do, as they are somewhat interchangeable, both in the story and in their performances. (There are only so many ways to portray being disemboweled by a supernatural lunatic.) Their parents are hiding a secret. As with most of the movie, most people will surely know this going in. Those parents include Clancy Brown and Connie Britton, two fine actors asked here to do little more than give pat line readings of bad dialogue at varying volumes. This is Bayer's first feature after a long and impressive career of music videos. If nothing else, he gives the film an intriguing look, playing with color tones and morphing from reality into dreams and back again. If the steamy boiler room Freddy inhabits looks familiar, it's probably because Bayer used a similar look for the first video he directed, the groundbreaking "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, which helped launch the grunge movement in the early '90s (and for which he gets a free pop-culture-hero pass for all time). His new "Nightmare" isn't going to launch anything in particular except, probably, a sequel. It's not terrible. It's just . . . superfluous. With any number of "Nightmare" movies to choose from available for rental ("Look, it's Johnny Depp!"), the idea that someone's cool screenplay got passed over so that this franchise could wheeze back to life is disappointing. Come to think of it, that third beer doesn't sound so bad after all. Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: goodyk. ||||| Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) 'A Nightmare on Elm Street,' starring Jackie Earle Haley, bludegons classic Freddy Krueger tale Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros. P In "A Nightmare On Elm Street," Jackie Earle Haley stars as Freddy Krueger. The remake of Wes Craven's classic leaves a lot to be desired. The studio optimist who wrote the official press notes for "A Nightmare on Elm Street" describes Freddy Krueger's latest appearance as "a reinvention of the seminal 1984 horror classic." In reality, it's more like a bludgeoning. The fan anxiety over Jackie Earle Haley replacing Robert Englund turns out to be warranted: Haley's a fine actor, but he was far scarier in the suburban drama "Little Children." And Englund's unpredictable presence is definitely missed. Don't blame Haley, though. Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer's screenplay goes in the wrong direction entirely, dropping Freddy's sick sense of humor while turning him into a generic bogeyman. Novice director Samuel Bayer returns to the initial Elm Street crime scene, where high-school senior Nancy (Rooney Mara) is being stalked by Freddy in her dreams. Other students (including "Twilight's" Kellan Lutz) are also tortured when they fall asleep, though no one knows why. With help from her mom (Connie Britton) and boyfriend (Kyle Gallner), Nancy learns that Freddy was once a pedophile preying on preschoolers. She and her friends were his final victims, before their enraged parents set him on fire. Years later, he's returned for revenge. When he kills someone in her sleep, she dies in reality, so Nancy's only hope is to stay awake. But all the Red Bull in the world won't keep her and her friends up forever. While the filmmakers plundered Wes Craven's original for their plot, they neglected to retain other essential elements, like a genuine sense of dread. Bayer doesn't even know how to exploit the potential terror of nightmares. And he cares even less about the characters. Haley's reptilian menace is lost under all that makeup, along with Freddy's personality. The rest of the cast is encouraged to behave in equally bland fashion, so talented actors like Gallner and Britton are completely wasted. If all you're looking for are cheap scares, you'll find a few minor jolts and a decent - though not interesting or unusual - amount of gore. But be warned: You may need your own case of Red Bull just to make it all the way through. eweitzman@nydailynews.com ||||| Wes Craven’s 1984 horror film A Nightmare On Elm Street owes at least part of its success to reasons evident in the title. For his setting, Craven didn’t use some cobwebbed old house or fog-drenched Eastern European village but, like John Carpenter’s Halloween, a bucolic suburban anywhere, the sort of prosperous picket-fence neighborhood previous generations had strived hard to reach. But Elm Street had a troubled past that included child murders, vigilante justice, and, in Freddy Krueger, a dream-haunting bogeyman determined to shed some teenage blood to make sure everyone knew about it. Craven’s film has its creaky moments, but the powerful notion of a whole generation dying in a ruined All-American paradise thanks to the sins of their parents made them easy to ignore. So too did Craven’s inventive, low-budget surrealism and Robert Englund’s portrayal of Krueger, a casually relentless undead maniac driven by a perverse sense of justice. Sadly, the above paragraph could double as a catalog of what’s missing from this remake, another slick updating of a horror classic from Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes imprint, the production company responsible for 21st century remakes of Friday The 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and others. Director Samuel Bayer, a veteran commercial and music video director responsible for Nirvana’s “Smell Like Teen Spirit Video” back when the original Nightmare series was still a going concern, brings a slick visual sense but not a hint of vision. The film cops virtually every memorable image from the original, but loses the depth that gave them power and the sense of place that grounded them. And while, after Little Children, this officially confirms Jackie Earle Haley as the go-to actor to play child molesters, his Krueger simply isn’t that threatening, more a fidgety runt than the stuff of cold sweat-inducing bad dreams. Bayer keeps repeating the image of teenage characters—some, like lead Rooney Mara, who look almost old enough to have teen kids of their own—waking up screaming as if trying to convince the audience they were watching a scarier movie than they are. No matter how often the film returns to the same foreboding boiler room or how much the sound design pushes the sound of flesh getting cut—which for some reason sounds like metal on metal—there’s little to be frightened of here. (Unless, of course, you count the creepy way Bayer tries to wring gross-out thrills from images of child molestation.) Some recurring dreams get less powerful with repetition.

– Freddy Krueger may be haunting teen dreams once again in A Nightmare on Elm Street, but this "re-imagining" of the horror franchise is seriously short on imagination, say critics. The remake of Wes Craven's 1984 horror flick "cops virtually every memorable image from the original, but loses the depth that gave them power and the sense of place that grounded them," complains Keith Phipps for the AV Club. Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy doesn't measure up to the job previously done by Robert Englund, writes Elizabeth Weitzman at the New York Daily News, but the real problem here is that the "screenplay goes in the wrong direction entirely, dropping Freddy's sick sense of humor while turning him into a generic bogeyman." The movie isn't terrible, writes Bill Goodykoontz at the Arizona Republic, praising director Samuel Bayer's visual touches, "it's just superfluous." Peter Sobczynski at eFilmcritic had trouble staying awake during this "slickly made and ceaselessly stupid retread" of the much scarier original. "Who knows, maybe if I had fallen asleep during it, I might have found myself being killed off by a much better movie."

BRUSSELS/BEIRUT - NATO told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday that any use of chemical weapons in his fight against encroaching rebel forces would be met by an immediate international response. | ||||| Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have continued, as diplomatic efforts are under way to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian enclave. At least a dozen people were killed in Gaza on Wednesday, according to medical officials, bringing the death toll to a total of 149 since Israel's military operation was launched eight days ago. A two-year-old boy was among those killed. Israel struck more than 100 targets, including a cluster of Hamas government buildings. Meanwhile, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi met US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN chief Ban Ki-moon in Cairo to discuss the crisis. Ban told reporters that there were "many details to work out" before truce agreement could be reached. "I am particularly concerned about the spiral of violence at the time of intense efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel," Ban said after meeting Morsi. He condemned an attack on a bus in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv that wounded 24 people on Wednesday and said it "makes it all the more urgent to reach an immediate ceasefire". Clinton and Ban have been shuttling between Egypt, Israel and the occupied West Bank in a bid to bolster a proposed ceasefire agreement that Cairo brokered between Israel and the Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip. Members of Hamas have been locked in talks with Egyptian intelligence officials in Cairo to discuss the terms of the truce. "Hamas is now waiting to see what message the Egyptian intelligence officials will have after Morsi's meeting with Clinton," a source close to the talks told the AFP news agency. 'Heartfelt concern' Clinton arrived earlier in the day from Israel where she held a second round of talks on Wednesday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu after travelling to the West Bank city of Ramallah for a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader. In their talks, Clinton thanked Abbas for encouraging a restoration of calm and expressed "heartfelt concern for innocent lives lost" on both sides, Victoria Nuland, spokesperson for the state department, said. "The secretary indicated that we were working to support ongoing efforts to defuse the crisis, especially Egyptian-Israeli conversations," Nuland said in a statement issued in Washington. Five Israelis have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza since November 14. Israel says it launched its offensive on Gaza to prevent fighters from firing missiles into its territory. Palestinians fighters fired more than 30 rockets at Israel on Wednesday, causing no casualties, and the anti-missile system, the so-called Iron Dome, shot down 14 of them, police said. During her meeting with Binyamin, Clinton praised Morsi's "personal leadership and Egypt's efforts thus far" to end the Gaza conflict and promote regional stability. "As a regional leader and neighbour, Egypt has the opportunity and responsibility to continue playing a crucial and constructive role in this process," she said, pledging to work for a truce "in the days ahead". Netanyahu told Clinton he wanted a "long-term" solution, warning that if this failed, he would step up the military campaign to silence Hamas' rockets. "A band-aid solution will only cause another round of violence," said Ofir Gendelman, a Netanyahu spokesman. Nearly 1,400 rockets have been fired into Israel since the military offensive began, according to the Israeli military. Israel has carried out more than 1,500 strikes on Gaza during the same time period.

– Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire agreement, Hillary Clinton and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel announced in Cairo today. The ceasefire will begin at 9pm local time (2pm ET). Earlier, an Israeli source told Reuters that Israel had agreed to a truce, but would not lift its blockade of Gaza. Clinton praised the agreement and Egypt's role in the negotiations. She promised that the US would "work with partners across the region to consolidate this progress," adding that "there is no substitute for a just and lasting peace." Israel has agreed to stop all "assassinations" of Hamas officials and "incursions" into Gaza, an Egyptian source tells Reuters, adding that the deal comes with Egyptian "guarantees." Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement saying that he'd agreed to President Obama's recommendation that he give a ceasefire a chance, but warned that "more forceful action" might be needed if it doesn't work. The deal follows a day of Israeli strikes that saw the death toll in the conflict rise to 149, Al Jazeera reports.

"A true hero, Mohammed Nabbous of Sawt Libia al-Hurra, the Voice of Free Libya, was killed in fighting in Benghazi today." It was a stark, raw tweet from Ben Wedeman with a big impact on our newsroom Saturday morning. One of our first and most-trusted sources of information on the conflict in Libya had become a victim of the very civil war he in some ways had helped to spark. In the first few days of the conflict back in February, "Mo" as we called him had become an inspiration, friend and "go-to" source as well as a regular witness on CNN's shows. Of course, you wouldn't know that from watching. We blurred his face and gave him code-names like "Benghazi Protester" in order to protect him and his young family. It was a struggle to keep him from blurting out his name and even phone number on air, sometimes, as Mohammed said that he wanted freedom for Libya, or to be martyred trying to achieve it. "I am not afraid to die, I am afraid to lose the battle," the young, western-educated software engineer would tell us when we asked him to keep his identity secret. Libya before the fighting started was one of those very few "black holes" on the world's map for us: like North Korea or Syria, it was a country where the regimes iron grip on information was so strong and the secret police so brutal and pervasive that the risk of contacting people was simply not justified for putting peoples lives at risk by staying in regular communication. When that all began to crumble beginning on February 17th and Libyans in the country's east began to rise up, we had to develop webs of witnesses from scrap. But one quickly became our most savvy source: a 27-year-old technology expert and former internet provider in Benghazi. Mohammed and other supporters had set up a kind of protest command center in the city's courthouse after ejecting Ghadhafi's forces in the first days of fighting. That's where we first contacted him on February 18th - a guy who looked more Silicon Valley in a hooded sweatshirt and big headphones than a partisan in a Libyan war zone. Amazingly, Mohammed had beaten the regimes firewalls and jerry-rigged a live signal from the building. The camera showed the few hundred protesters huddled outside against the walls due to the cold and whipping winds - worried that Gadhafi's forces could swoop in at any moment. It was our first view of the protests there, and we were worried that all this would be traced back and used to target the band of students and young people defying the Gadhafi regime. At first Mo just wanted to get that picture to us, as he felt that it provided a thin blanket of security. He thought Ghadhafi might hold back if he knew that ordering the army or his feared African mercenaries to slaughter the protesters would be seen on live television around the globe. Mohammed pushed the technical know-how limits of our engineers and desk editors such as Yousuf Basil, Jack Maddox, Ben Brumfield and myself as he came up with elaborate ways to get more and more cameras going around the courthouse. But it wasn't until we started interviewing him on air that we realized how special he was. Mohammed poignantly told us about how the army had shot into the crowds, then using armored vehicles to roll over protesters after they had run out of ammunition, and how the demonstrators would not give up. After the first two days he told us with his live stream and webcasts he had become some sort of leader. "People have been calling my mobile non-stop. I woke up today with 125 missed calls. People have been calling and checking on me to see if I am safe. One person called from Serbia just to say they are thinking of me and my struggle." Chillingly, the newly married man with his first baby just a month from being born told us he believed the government knew who he was and there would be a price to be paid for his boldness. "I would love to wake up tomorrow and people not be dead. But I know 200 people will be dead," he told one of our desk editors, Mitra Mobasherat. "Libyans lives to Gaddafi are very cheap." Our correspondents in the field eventually caught up with Mohammed as CNN teams like Ben Wedeman and Mary Rogers led the push to get into the rebel territory, with Arwa Damon featuring him in one gripping package. Later, as the rebel lines advanced toward Tripoli, we were in contact with him less often, but he expanded his presence and contact with the rest of the world. Along with his supporters he developed social media sites like Feb17.info, set up an independent internet TV signal "Libya al-Hurrah" and conducted interviews with dozens of broadcasters. And as the conflict surged back toward Benghazi in recent days he began to go out into the field to interview people about the dangers and loss they were suffering from the ongoing struggle. That's what he was doing Friday when he was fatally shot. Reports are still sketchy, but his wife and supporters say he was killed by a headshot from a sniper while going out to videotape rocket attacks on one neighborhood where he heard several children had been killed. He phoned in one last report that morning to al-Hurrah, with the sounds of heavy machine gun fire rattling and artillery exploding around him. Then, nothing else until Ben's tweet, and the following announcement he had been killed after the fighting. On Feb17.info was one final favorite quote of Mohammed Nabbous: "A Candle loses nothing by lighting another Candle." ||||| Mohammed “Mo” Nabbous (Screengrab) A bittersweet update to the story of killed Libyan journalist Mohammed “Mo” Nabbous. The citizen journalist stated a Livestream news channel to capture the life of war-torn Libya. While investigating a report of wounded children, he was shot and killed by sniper fire, and the sounds of his death were caught on camera. He was survived by a pregnant wife Perdita Nabbous, who recorded an emotional message announcing his death, encouraging others to keep up the fight against the government. His favorite quote, Elizabeth Flock wrote in March shortly after his death, was, “A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.” On YouTube on Wednesday, Perdita Nabbous posted a tribute to her dead husband by introducing their child to the world. Maya Mohamed Nabbous is shown in all the adorableness of a newborn, sleeping peacefully on a Libyan flag. “This is dedicated to the loving father who never got to see his first and only baby,” the post reads.

– A Libyan citizen journalist and CNN contributor who started his own Livestream news channel was killed by a sniper while reporting—but his legacy lives on, thanks to a tribute from his wife and baby daughter. Perdita Nabbous, who was pregnant when Mohammed “Mo” Nabbous died, posted a video of their daughter yesterday, the Washington Post reports. “This is dedicated to the loving father who never got to see his first and only baby,” Perdita writes.

ADVERTISEMENT In the run-up to his endorsement, Erickson, who writes for the political website Red State , said he wouldn’t follow former GOP candidate Herman Cain with a non-endorsement.Earlier this month, Cain endorsed “the people.” But speaking Monday on his WSB radio show, Erickson did something similar, endorsing “a great fireball from the sky annihilating us all.”Still, Erickson said he hoped Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich stayed in the race because they had the best chances of rallying the conservative base against Romney.Erickson has been one of the leading critics of Romney from the right. Last November he wrote a post titled “Mitt Romney as the nominee: Conservatism dies,wins.”“Mitt Romney is going to be the Republican nominee,” he wrote at the time. “And his general election campaign will be an utter disaster for conservatives as he takes the GOP down with him and burns up what it means to be a conservative in the process.”As a result, many speculated that Erickson would throw his weight behind either Santorum or Gingrich, which would have given a significant boost to either campaign entering a week filled with lower-profile primaries and caucuses.But Erickson has been highly critical of all the remaining candidates, saying the only reason Romney was seen as the eventual nominee was because “the other candidates, right now, are a pretty pathetic lot.”Erickson has at various times said Ron Paul should be excluded based on the controversial newsletters that bear his name, called Santorum a “big-government conservative” and said it would be “insanity” to nominate Gingrich, who in the past has supported the individual mandate.Speaking Monday, Erickson called for a “pox on all their houses.”“I doubt any of them can beat Barack Obama unless the economy gets worse, and I don’t want to be in a position of rooting for a bad economy,” he said.Erickson said he’s hoping for a brokered convention, where some other candidate might emerge in a last-ditch effort to derail the Romney campaign. ||||| As I said back in December, I have no plans to endorse a candidate for President of the United States. I wrote, at the time, “I would prefer instead to tell you exactly what I think about each of the candidates, good or bad, and let the chips fall where they may.” Since then, I have routinely been asked who I would endorse. Today, after a lot of reflection on this race, I can honestly say my position has not changed and I would honestly prefer Ace of Spades’ sweet meteor of death than any of the candidates left in the race. Only the sweet meteor of death seems capable of stopping both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. I can take the easy way out and not endorse because while I recognize politics necessitates compromise, I would have to compromise my intellectual honesty too much to choose any of the remaining candidates. Tonight, on my radio show, I put my weight behind the sweet meteor of death. You can listen to my reasons why here. The Republican Party is putting itself in the hands of the economy. With Mitt Romney as the nominee, we will be forced to hope for a deteriorating economy because, while I will vote for him and think he is vastly better than Barack Obama, the fact is he has made no case for himself against Barack Obama except that he can do a better job on the economy. And let’s be clear — no Republican should hope or appear to be hoping for a deteriorating economy. It’s just that with no other justification for his election other than electability based on the ability to fix the economy, if the economy fixes itself, suddenly there is no justification for Mitt Romney’s electability. My sincere and honest hope is that both Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich stay in the race as long as possible to deny MItt Romney enough delegates to secure the Republican nomination. I do not think either Santorum or Gingrich have much of a better shot against Barack Obama, but I do think they are at least running on bigger ideas than Mitt Romney — ideas that still translate and survive an improving economy. For months I have said I am for “Not Romney.” It is not because I think either Gingrich or Santorum have a better shot at winning than Romney, but because I still hold out hope for a broker convention to save us from ourselves. I may be a Republican, and at one time an elected Republican, but I have always needed more than just a letter of the alphabet next to someone’s name to get me excited. Newt Gingrich excites because he picks fights with all the people I think need to be fought, including Mitt Romney. God bless him for that. But I am under no illusion that makes him capable of beating Barack Obama without a deteriorating economy. Rick Santorum excites me because, while I think he is a big government and compassionate conservative, he is willing to defend traditional mores in this country in a way few are. HIs bold stand for faith and tradition is honest and refreshing, but it also makes for a massive liability in a general election when he has so little to show voters on other fronts. As for Romney, he does not excite me and has largely run his campaign making sure conservatives know he can get the nomination without them. That’s all well and good, but he certainly should not expect me or other conservatives to do anything for him in the general election other than, hopefully it won’t just be me, showing up to vote for him. That’s about all I plan to do for the man. I’ll support the Republican nominee for President. I’ll defend him from meritless attacks and I will oppose Barack Obama. Any one of our candidates is better than Barack Obama. But God help us if any one of them is the nominee. Until we reach the magic number 1144, which is the number of delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination, I hold out hope that someone or some meteor saves us from ourselves. Loading ... more stories ||||| Meet The Candidates! Current State Of The National Race: 'All Dead Inside Now' still commands an insurmountable advantage over all. Obama edges both Mitt and Gingrich; Mitt gaining more ground over Gingrich. Despair not. A new candidate has thrown his enormous bulk into the field. A Mr. SMOD. Campaign announcement materials received by AOSHQ are below the fold. SluShop courtesy of Slublog Industries, Inc. "Howdy! I am an enormous chunk of rock hurtling through space for now, but hoping for a chance to profoundly change the world for the better. I want to stop the partisan sniping and bickering of rivals that characterizes the political process. And I want you to never have to vote for the lesser of two evils ever again. My platform: Death. To expunge. The annihilation of all life on Earth. Some say I am naive and doomed to failure, since bacteria, certain ocean creatures, and some insects will surely survive my planet-wracking onslaught. I concede that my critics may technically have a point. But the truth is, I've always been a 'half-a-loaf-of-bread-is-better-than-none' kind of guy." SMOD: An End To Politics As Usual. Forever. This Candidate Has Been Endorsed By The Sierra Club™ Oh, my. My, my. Hm. I like how he said, "Howdy." That connects powerfully to a) the Heartland demographic who b) wants the world to end suddenly in violent chaos as soon as possible. Shrewd. Very well played. Well! Looks like All Dead Inside seems to have some competition now, eh Morons! Oh, this is going to be a lively race indeed. We will be sure to keep you updated as to Mr. SMOD's progress. We're going to be guessing his trajectory and selling squares for placing bets on the impact location at the Amazon store. The top prize will be that you were right about something just before death. That will be a very nifty moment for you. On to our regularly scheduled Meet The Candidates Revival Post. In 2010, we ran an occasional showcase for Moron-approved House and Senate candidates and hey why not, let's do it again. In the comments below, please name the candidates running for national office that you like, preferably from your state, but not necessarily, if they're really that exciting to you. I will compile a list of your recommendations and try to showcase one or two of them on a weekly or biweekly basis. If you could include a little url or two in there to help me out research-wise that would be great, because there are going to be a lot of these and it's already a pretty time-consuming project. If you're too embarrassed to publicly admit who you are supporting, you may email me directly at laura w tips AT hot mail DOOT COOM. SluShop and Post-inspiration courtesy of Slublog Industries, Inc.

– RedState.com editor Erick Erickson has finally endorsed a presidential candidate: The Sweet Meteor of Death, a joke candidate put forward by political blog Ace of Spades HQ. "You could presume that being a conservative of course I would choose something like a great fireball coming from the sky annihilating us all because women and minorities are hardest hit," Erickson quipped on his radio show. But no, the real reason is simply that he can't stand the current field. "I've decided a pox on all their houses, they're all terrible," the influential blogger said. "I feel like a man without a country." Erickson has been a vocal Mitt Romney critic, so many had expected him to throw his weight behind Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum, the Hill reports. But in a blog post, Erickson explained that he doubts either can beat President Obama, so he wants to see a brokered convention. "I hold out hope that someone or some meteor saves us from ourselves."

Image copyright Thinkstock Even low levels of light in bedrooms may stop breast cancer drugs from working, US researchers have warned. Animal tests showed light, equivalent to that from street lamps, could lead to tumours becoming resistant to the widely used drug Tamoxifen. The study, published in the journal Cancer Research, showed the light affected sleep hormones, which in turn altered cancer cell function. UK experts said it was an intriguing finding, but not proven in people. Tamoxifen has transformed the treatment of breast cancer by extending lives and increasing survival times. It stops the female hormone oestrogen fuelling the growth of tumours although the cancerous cells may eventually become resistant to the drug. Light Researchers at the Tulane University School of Medicine investigated the role of the body clock in Tamoxifen resistance. They focused their research on the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, which normally begins to rise in the evening and continues through the night, before falling away as dawn approaches. However, light in the evening - such as from a smartphone, tablet or artificial lights - can lower melatonin levels. Rats, with human breast cancer and treated with Tamoxifen, were left to sleep in a completely dark cage or one that had dim light. The scientists showed that in dim light, melatonin levels were lower, the tumours were bigger and were resistant to Tamoxifen. A second set of tests showed that giving those mice melatonin supplements kept Tamoxifen working and resulted in smaller tumours. Image copyright Thinkstock Dr Steven Hill told the BBC News website: "I'm not advocating people buy melatonin over the counter, there's not enough evidence. "But they could make sure they sleep in a room that is completely dark or they could wear eye-masks to let night-time melatonin rise and take Tamoxifen right before going to bed, that would be the easiest way to see if it works." Some studies have suggested that melatonin may improve cancer treatments. It has been suggested that the hormone calms down cancer cells, which are working on overdrive, to slow down the processes needed to develop resistance. Dr Hill wants to move the research into human breast tissue. Evening tech He did add a warning about using technology, which tends to produce blue light wavelengths that disrupt melatonin production, in the run-up to bedtime. "If you get seven hours sleep at night, but use an iPad or computer or watch TV then those blue wavelengths are suppressing melatonin production for anywhere from an hour to an hour and half. "So instead of seven hours of melatonin, you're getting six or five and a half." Dr Samuel Godfrey, from the charity Cancer Research UK, said: "The link between developing drug-resistant breast cancer and sleeping in dim light is an intriguing one, but it's important that we remember this link was found after studying a small number of rats implanted with breast cancer cells, not humans. "More research in people is needed before we know whether the same mechanisms are at work in people." ||||| Melatonin Other common name(s): none Scientific/medical name(s): N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine Description Melatonin is a hormone produced naturally by the pineal gland-- a pea-sized gland located just beneath the center of the brain-- in response to darkness. Melatonin is also available as a man-made supplement. Overview Research suggests that the melatonin made by the body plays a large role in the daily rhythms of sleeping and waking. Some recent studies have found that people who work night shifts may be at increased risk for cancer, which could be linked to melatonin levels in the body. Study results regarding the effect of melatonin supplements on survival and quality of life in people with cancer have been mixed, and further research in this area is needed. How is it promoted for use? There is some evidence that melatonin may have a role in the regulation of daily body cycles, sleep patterns, mood, and reproduction. Possible effects on tumor growth and aging are also under study. Melatonin is promoted mainly as a sleep aid. Its production in the body may decrease with age, which, according to proponents, may explain why many older people have trouble sleeping. Melatonin is also promoted to help people adjust to odd or irregular work schedules and to counter the effects of jet lag, as it may restore normal sleeping and waking schedules. Some practitioners also believe that melatonin influences hormones in the body that regulate reproduction, the timing of ovulation, and aging. It is sometimes promoted to prevent Alzheimer disease and is often sold as an anti-aging hormone. Proponents also claim that melatonin is a powerful anti-oxidant, a compound that blocks the action of free radicals, activated oxygen molecules that can damage cells. Because of melatonin's suspected antioxidant properties, some believe it may suppress the growth of some types of cancer cells, especially when combined with certain anti-cancer drugs. Some supporters suggest that melatonin may also stimulate a type of white blood cell called natural killer cells, which attack tumors. Others suggest that melatonin levels and daily body cycles are abnormal in some people with cancer and that melatonin supplements may help them sleep at night. There are also claims that melatonin may decrease the toxic effects of radiation therapy and chemotherapy. What does it involve? Melatonin is sold as a supplement and is available in drugstores, health food stores, and over the Internet. There are no widely accepted recommendations for dosage or duration of use. Melatonin can also be found in many foods, such as milk, peanuts, almonds, turkey, and chicken, but in such small amounts that one would have to eat very large volumes to obtain a measurable dose. What is the history behind it? The existence of the pineal gland has been known for thousands of years, although its function remained a mystery until the late 20th century. In the 1600s, the French philosopher René Descartes called the pineal gland "the seat of the soul," because many people believed emotions originated there. Researchers at Yale University first discovered melatonin and its connection to the pineal gland in the late 1950s. Its link to sleep and hormonal influences and its possible link to cancer have been studied since that time. Melatonin became available as a dietary supplement in the 1990s. What is the evidence? Some recent research has suggested that low melatonin levels in the body may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer. For example, a few studies have found that women who work night shifts for many years (and therefore would be expected to have lower levels of melatonin) seem to have a slightly higher risk of breast and colorectal cancer. Even if this research is confirmed, however, it does not necessarily mean that melatonin supplements can lower cancer risk. Melatonin has been shown to slow or stop the growth of several types of cancer cells when studied in the laboratory. Whether this same effect occurs in the body is unknown. Several studies have looked at the use of melatonin to treat cancer. Melatonin has been used alone and combined with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy (such as tamoxifen), or immunotherapy (such as interleukin-2) in a number of studies involving different types of cancer. Some of the studies have suggested that melatonin may extend survival and improve quality of life for patients with certain types of untreatable cancers such as advanced lung cancer and melanoma. Some studies reported that a small number of cancers went into total or partial remission, while other studies indicated that melatonin caused little or no response in tumors. In a 2005 clinical trial looking at cancer-related weight loss (cachexia), melatonin was compared to fish oil in a small group of patients with advanced intestinal cancer. Although neither group gained weight on these substances, three of the eleven patients in the melatonin group did not lose more weight over the 4 week trial period. However, this study was limited by its small size and short period of follow up, and other factors may have accounted for the more stable weight in these patients. Most of the studies reporting positive results from melatonin were small and conducted by the same group of Italian researchers. Before the results are widely accepted, they will need to be confirmed in larger studies at other centers. Some early studies have reported that melatonin may improve appetite, blood platelet counts, and mouth sores in people undergoing chemotherapy. But a study of melatonin's ability to ease the effects of chemotherapy on the blood counts of lung cancer patients found that high doses of the hormone had little effect. More research is needed to clarify these results. There is relatively good evidence that melatonin supplements can influence sleep and fatigue and can help with jet lag and some sleep problems. Research has not yet shown the most effective way to use melatonin supplements for patients with sleep disorders or for people who have trouble sleeping occasionally. Some research shows that melatonin affects not only how quickly people fall asleep but also the duration and quality of sleep. Are there any possible problems or complications? There appear to be few short-term side effects from taking melatonin. Some people report headaches or feeling drowsy or confused after taking it. People taking high doses have reported nightmares and trouble sleeping. The effects of long-term use of melatonin and how it interacts with other medicines or supplements are unknown. Some reports have indicated that melatonin may interact with blood-thinning medicines and with medications for seizures or diabetes. People taking these medicines should speak with their doctors before taking melatonin. Since melatonin may have an effect on hormone levels, women who are trying to conceive, are pregnant, or are breast-feeding should not use this supplement. The National Institute on Aging has also warned that melatonin may constrict blood vessels, which could be dangerous for people with high blood pressure or heart disease. Some practitioners believe that children and people under the age of 40 should not take melatonin because their bodies make enough of the hormone naturally. Some also caution people with severe mental illness and those taking steroid medications against using melatonin. Because it has antioxidant properties, concerns have been raised that melatonin might interfere with radiation therapy or chemotherapy, possibly making these treatments less effective. While this concern is based largely on theories of how cancer treatments work, it is supported by some recent studies. For this reason, people being treated for cancer should speak with their doctors before taking this supplement. Some experts also suggest that people with immune system disorders (such as severe allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, or cancers such as lymphoma) should not take melatonin because it may further stimulate the immune system and worsen these conditions. Again, this is based on a theory and not scientific evidence, but people with immune system problems should speak with their doctors before taking this supplement. Relying on this type of treatment alone, and avoiding or delaying conventional medical care for cancer, may have serious health consequences. Additional resources More information from your American Cancer Society The following information on complementary and alternative therapies may also be helpful to you. These materials may be found on our Web site (www.cancer.org) or ordered from our toll-free number (1-800-ACS-2345). Dietary Supplements: What Is Safe? The ACS Operational Statement on Complementary and Alternative Methods of Cancer Management Complementary and Alternative Methods and Cancer Placebo Effect Learning About New Ways to Treat Cancer Learning About New Ways to Prevent Cancer References Brzezinski A. Melatonin in humans. N Engl J Med. 1997;336:186-195. Cerea G, Vaghi M, Ardizzoia A, et al. Biomodulation of cancer chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer: a randomized study of weekly low-dose irinotecan alone versus irinotecan plus the oncostatic pineal hormone melatonin in metastatic colorectal cancer patients progressing on 5-fluorouracil-containing combinations. Anticancer Res. 2003;23:1951-1954. Davis S, Mirick DK. Circadian disruption, shift work and the risk of cancer: a summary of the evidence and studies in Seattle. Cancer Causes Control. 2006;17:539-545. Ghielmini M, Pagani O, de Jong J, et al. Double-blind randomized study on the myeloprotective effect of melatonin in combination with carboplatin and etoposide in advanced lung cancer. Br J Cancer. 1999;80:1058-1061. Karasek M. Melatonin in humans – Where we are 40 years after its discovery. Neuroendocrinology Letters. 1999;20:179-188. Lawenda BD, Kelly KM, Ladas EJ, Sagar SM, Vickers A, Blumberg JB. Should supplemental antioxidant administration be avoided during chemotherapy and radiation therapy? J Natl Cancer Inst. 2008;100:773-783. Lissoni P. Is there a role for melatonin in supportive care? Support Care Cancer. 2002;10:110-116. Lissoni P, Barni S, Ardizzoia A, Tancini G, Conti A, Maestroni G. A randomized study with the pineal hormone melatonin versus supportive care alone in patients with brain metastases due to solid neoplasms. Cancer. 1994;73:699-701. Lissoni P, Chilelli M, Villa S, Cerizza L, Tancini G. Five years survival in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy and melatonin: a randomized trial. J Pineal Res. 2003;35:2-15. Lissoni P, Paolorossi F, Tancini G, et al. A phase II study of tamoxifen plus melatonin in metastatic solid tumour patients. Br J Cancer. 1996;74:1466-1468. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. About herbs: Melatonin. 2006. Accessed at: http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69298.cfm on June 11, 2008. National Institute on Aging. Pills, Patches, and Shots: Can Hormones Prevent Aging? January 2005. Accessed at: http://www.niapublications.org/tipsheets/pills.asp on June 11, 2008. M D Anderson Cancer Center. Biologic/Organic/Pharmacologic Therapies: Melatonin. 2005. Accessed at: www.mdanderson.org/departments/cimer/display.cfm?id=90e5bf72-ee9e-463e-bc9ea125d8912312&method=displayfull&pn=6eb86a59-ebd9-11d4-810100508b603a14 on June 11, 2008. Persson C, Glimelius B, Ronnelid J, Nygren P. Impact of fish oil and melatonin on cachexia in patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer: a randomized pilot study. Nutrition. 2005;21:170-178. Schernhammer ES, Laden F, Speizer FE, et al. Rotating night shifts and risk of breast cancer in women participating in the Nurses' Health Study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2001;93:1563-1568. Schernhammer ES, Laden F, Speizer FE, et al. Night-shift work and risk of colorectal cancer in the Nurses' Health Study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2003;95:825–828. Note: This information may not cover all possible claims, uses, actions, precautions, side effects or interactions. It is not intended as medical advice, and should not be relied upon as a substitute for consultation with your doctor, who is familiar with your medical situation. ||||| The modern bedroom is full of lights, from glowing computer monitors and clock radios to any number of blinking and glimmering electronic devices. Trouble is, chronic exposure to light at night leads to a host of health problems. To understand why chronic exposure to light at night is so bad, we need to consider human evolution. Prior to the end of the stone age, humans were exposed to two different kinds of natural light responsible for regulating circadian rhythmicity. During the day we had the sun, while at night we had the moon and the stars, and perhaps the light from campfires. The binary day/night pattern was unrelenting, and our biological programming followed suit. Today, we have artificial lighting at night (LAN), and it's a different case altogether. Indoor lighting is considerably less powerful than sunlight, but many orders of magnitude greater than star and moonlight. Check out this chart to see what I mean: Advertisement Keep in mind that this is a logarithmic scale, so the difference between sunlight and moonlight is considerable — a difference that influences a series of critical biochemical cascades tied to light periodicity, including the production of cortisol and melatonin levels. Light is a Drug Melatonin suppression is key to understanding much of why LAN is so crappy for us. This workhorse biochemical is produced by the brain's pineal gland at night — when it's dark — to regulate our sleep-wake cycle. It lowers blood pressure, glucose levels, and body temperature — key physiological responses responsible for restful sleep. As neurologist George Brainard puts it, "Light works as if it's a drug, except it's not a drug at all." Sponsored The part of your brain that controls your biological clock is the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN), a group of cells in the hypothalamus. These cells respond to light and dark signals. The optic nerves in our eyes senses light and transmits a signal to the SCN telling the brain that it's time to wake up. It also kickstarts other processes, like raising body temperature and producing hormones like cortisol. Our cortisol levels are relatively low at night, allowing us to sleep, and higher during the day, allowing for the stabilization of energy levels and the modulation of immune function. But LAN unnaturally elevates cortisol levels at night, which disrupts sleep and introduces a host of problems relating to body-fat levels, insulin resistance, and systemic inflammation. It also contributes to sleep debt and a disruption the neuroregulation of appetite. But if our rooms are dark at night, there's no optic signal to the SCN, so our bodies pump out the much needed melatonin. Moreover, our melatonin levels are regulated according to the amount of exposure we had to light during the previous day. Related: The science behind power naps and insomnia. The Light Before You Sleep Indeed, studies have shown that exposure to room light before bedtime shortens melatonin duration by about 90 minutes compared to dim light exposure. In addition, exposure to room light during usual hours of sleep suppresses melatonin levels by more than 50%. That's significant. So, even before you hit the hay, the light in your bedroom is causing you problems. With the introduction of tablets, smartphones, and energy-efficient light bulbs, it's an issue that's only getting worse. And just to add insult to injury, many modern devices emit blue light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs) — light that's especially good at suppressing melatonin. This is because melanopsin — a photopigment found in specialized cells of the retina involved in the regulation of circadian rhythms — is most sensitive to blue light. Recently, scientists warned college students about the impact of light from computer monitors on melatonin levels. They found that computer light at night — particularly blue light that was scanned by wearing different wavelength-blocking glasses — reduces college students' melatonin levels. A related study found that backlit tablet displays suppress melatonin, disrupting sleep. But the researchers write: "[It] is important to acknowledge that usage of self-luminous electronic devices before sleep may disrupt sleep even if melatonin is not suppressed. Clearly, the tasks themselves may be alerting or stressful stimuli that can lead to sleep disruption." Which is a very good point. The Cancer Link Regrettably, all this hormone and biochemical disruption is creating downstream effects — cancer being one of them. Scientists aren't entirely sure why, but studies consistently show a correlation. For example, a 10-year study found that a sample group of over 1,670 women exposed to higher intensity light in their sleeping environment had 22% higher odds of developing breast cancer than those who slept in total darkness. The researchers blamed it on hormone disruption caused by melatonin suppression. In another study, researchers implanted nude rats with breast cancer xenografts and then gave them perfusions of blood from different women. Rats receiving blood from women who were exposed to dim light at night had their tumor growth reduced — but those with blood from women who were exposed to bright light at night weren't granted this beneficial effect. Troublingly, this has grim implications for workers who do shift work. Case-controlled studies have shown that nurses who work rotating shifts at midnight are more at risk for breast cancer compared to nurses with permanent day work. Low Light, Blue Light, Depression and Immune Response Disturbingly, the light at night doesn't even have to be bright to cause problems. Chronic exposure to dim light at night leads to depression-like symptom in hamsters, such as exhibiting less interest in drinking the sugar water that they normally love. But by returning them to a normal, non-lit day/night schedule, the researchers were able to reverse the depression. Scientists suspect that this dim-light depression may be the result of a protein called tumor necrosis factor. Chronic dim light at night also detrimentally affects the immune system. You might want to think about this next time you leave even the dimmest lights on in your bedroom — including your clock radio and the light that bleeds in from street lights. Another study, also on rodents, showed that blue light at night in particular is especially powerful at inducing depression-like symptoms. LAN can also impair mood and learning, again likely on account of melanopsin-expressing neurons. Premature Aging and Heart Problems Melatonin also has antioxidant properties, which plays an important role in anti-aging. Researchers have been able to treat artificially aged mice with melatonin, thus reducing oxidative stress. These mice models are helping scientists understand the fundamental mechanism behind aging because they're the same markers found in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. Other studies show a link between melatonin suppression and cardiovascular disease. Weight Gain Light at night also contributes to weight gain by shifting the time of our food intake. Mice, when exposed to LAN, gained more weight — despite exercising and eating as much as their darkness-exposed brethren. Scientists have also correlated low levels of melatonin to diabetes, though it's not clear what role, if any, LAN plays in this matter. Pitch Black All this research points to one basic fact: We need to keep our bedrooms as dark as possible and avoid blue light before sleep. To that end, you should turn off all your light-emitting gadgets and close the blinds. And if possible, refrain from reading your tablet computer or smartphone in the hours preceding sleep. I know, easier said than done. Additional reporting by Joseph Bennington-Castro. Images: Africa Studio/Shutterstock, MNStudio/Shutterstock. Follow me on Twitter: @dvorsky ||||| Tamoxifen is an estrogen-blocking medication typically used to treat breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. But new research conducted in rats suggests exposure to dim light at night - as little as that coming in a window from a street light - suppresses melatonin production, making tumors resistant to the drug. Researchers found that exposure to dim light at night results in breast cancer tumors becoming resistant to tamoxifen. Researchers found that exposure to dim light at night results intumors becoming resistant to tamoxifen. The study, led by Prof. Steven M. Hill of Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, LA, is published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "Our levels of melatonin are not determined by sleep, as many people think," explains Prof. Hill. "It is actually the darkness that is important. During the night, if you sleep in a brightly lit room, your melatonin levels may be inhibited; however, if you are in the dark but cannot sleep, your melatonin levels will rise normally." He and his team note that disruption of circadian rhythms by night shift work or disturbed sleep could result in an increased risk of breast cancer and other diseases. For patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, Prof. Hill adds that tamoxifen resistance "is a growing problem." "Our data, although they were generated in rats, have potential implications for the large number of patients with breast cancer who are being treated with tamoxifen, because they suggest that nighttime exposure to light, even dim light, could cause their tumors to become resistant to the drug by suppressing melatonin production," he says. Nighttime melatonin supplement resulted in regressed tumors To conduct their study, the researchers observed rats with human breast tumors that were living in either normal light and dark conditions - which involved 12 hours of light and 12 hours of complete darkness - or alternative conditions - 12 hours of normal light and 12 hours of dim light. Fast facts about tamoxifen's uses To treat breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body To treat early breast cancer in women who have already been treated with surgery, radiation or chemotherapy To reduce risk of developing a more serious type of breast cancer in women who have had ductal carcinoma in situ To reduce risk of breast cancer in women at high risk for the disease. The rats who were living under normal conditions had blood melatonin levels that rose during the dark period and fell again during the light period. However, the rats living in the alternative conditions had melatonin levels that remained low during the light/dark cycle. Compared with the rats living in normal conditions, the rats living in the dim night light conditions had tumor growth that was 2.6-fold times faster. Additionally, the team found that the rats living in the dim night light had tumors that were completely resistant to tamoxifen, while the rats living in normal conditions had tumors that significantly regressed. However, the team also found that when given a nighttime melatonin supplement, the tumors of the rats living in dim night light conditions likewise regressed. "These data suggest that, in the not-too-distant future, it may be possible to combine melatonin and tamoxifen," says Prof. Hill. "However, before this is done we would need to identify the optimal times of day to give the two because if the timing between the two is off, the advantage of giving them in combination may be lost." He also notes that their study does not reveal how much light exposure is needed to decrease nighttime melatonin production, resulting in tamoxifen resistance in humans, "but we think that it could be as little as the amount of light that comes in the bedroom window from a street light." Though melatonin supplements can be purchased over the counter, Prof. Hill cautions that their research is not yet at the point where he and his team can recommend that breast cancer patients on tamoxifen take melatonin: "Melatonin is produced by our bodies at a very specific time of day, exclusively during darkness at night, and taking melatonin supplements at the wrong time of day would potentially disrupt the circadian system, particularly the natural melatonin cycle, which may, in itself, paradoxically impair breast cancer responsiveness to tamoxifen." The team is now conducting further studies to investigate how much light exposure suppresses nighttime melatonin production in humans to the point where it would make tumors tamoxifen-resistant. Medical News Today recently reported on a study that suggested the gel form of tamoxifen is just as effective as the oral form, with fewer side effects.

– Light at night has already been widely linked to poorer sleep quality, but now even dim light is being shown to interfere with a breast cancer drug's ability to do its job. So says a new study on rats out of Tulane University School of Medicine, which found that even the low light of a nearby street lamp interferes with the body's natural production of the sleep hormone melatonin. And the rats (all of which had human breast tumors) exposed to dim light at night not only exhibited lower levels of melatonin but had larger, faster-growing tumors that were also completely resistant to the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen. "Our levels of melatonin are not determined by sleep, as many people think," one researcher tells Medical News Today. "It is actually the darkness that is important." And he tells the BBC that the blue light emitted from digital devices such as TVs and tablets is particularly disruptive for melatonin production. Other studies have suggested that melatonin may help improve cancer treatments. Still, researchers warn that this study needs to be replicated and validated in humans before determining that all the same mechanisms are at play. (City lights have also been linked to higher breast cancer rates.)

Some Trader Joe's pistachios, dated between 2016 OCT 27 and 2016 NOV 04, are being recalled over possible salmonella contamination. At least 11 people have been sickened and two hospitalized resulting from a multi-state salmonella outbreak linked to pistachios. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the California-based company Wonderful Pistachios issued the recall voluntarily due to concerns of contamination. The pistachios were sold under the brand names Trader Joe's, Wonderful, and Paramount Farms and were distributed across the U.S. and in Canada. "Wonderful Pistachios takes food safety matters very seriously and is working closely with health officials to identify the source of the problem," the company said in a statement. The affected states include Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Virginia, and Washington. The CDC says the investigation is ongoing. Trader Joe's says the recall affects products it sold with "Best If Used By" dates between 2016 OCT 27 and 2016 NOV 04, along with the following code numbers: Trader Joe's Dry Roasted & Unsalted Pistachios (UPC 0007 9990) Trader Joe's Dry Roasted & Salted Pistachios (UPC 0007 9983) Trader Joe's 50% Less Salt Roasted & Salted Pistachios (UPC 0011 1348) Trader Joe's says it has not received any reports of illness related to these products. Pistachios sold under the other brand names can be identified by a lot code number found on the lower back or bottom panel of the package. A complete list of the codes can be found on the FDA's website. People began getting sick in December, the CDC reports, and those infected range in age from 9 to 69. Officials say the products have a long shelf life and may still be in people's homes. Consumers are urged not to eat the pistachios and to either throw them away or return the nuts to the store at which they bought them for a refund. Each year, salmonella is estimated to cause one million cases of foodborne illness in the United States, with 19,000 hospitalizations and 380 deaths. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps, which typically appear between 12 to 72 hours after the infection. Though the illness usually lasts four to seven days, sometimes the diarrhea may be so severe that patients need to be hospitalized, and it can lead to further complications and even death. Children younger than five, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to have severe infections. People who think they may be infected with salmonella should contact their health care provider. ||||| LOST HILLS, Calif. - Wonderful Pistachios announced that it is voluntarily recalling a limited number of flavors and sizes of in-shell and shelled pistachios due to a risk of Salmonella contamination. Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, some of our products may be linked to an outbreak of Salmonellosis. The products, which were distributed through several retailers nationwide, and in Canada, Mexico, and Peru, can be identified by a 13-digit lot code number found on the lower back or bottom panel of the package. The specific products and lot codes are: Product Description Brand UPC Unit WT Code Date / Lot Number Lot Code Location Roasted No Salt Inshell Pistachios Wonderful 014113910064 16oz 2016 OCT 26 - 1509123255601 1509123255701 1509123255901 2016 OCT 27 - 1509123256001 back of the bag - bottom left Roasted No Salt Inshell Pistachios Wonderful 014113910187 8oz 10/26/2016 - 1509123259601 Back of the bag - bottom left Roasted No Salt Inshell Pistachios Wonderful 014113913652 200g 2016/10/26 - 1509123260301 Back of the bag - bottom right Roasted No Salt Inshell Pistachios Wonderful 014113912532 225g 2016/10/26 - 1509123256901 Back of the bag - bottom left Roasted Salt and Pepper Inshell Pistachios Wonderful Bag: 014113910293 Box: 014113913362 4.5oz 2016 NOV 05 - 1510123307001 Back of the bag - bottom right Roasted Salted Inshell Pistachios Wonderful Bag: 014113911856 Box: 014113911863 1.5 oz 10/26/16 - 1509123256701 10/28/16 - 1509123256801 Back of the bag - bottom right Roasted Salted Inshell Pistachios Wonderful 014113911979 24 oz 2016 OCT 27 - 1509123260601 2016 NOV 02 - 1510123304901 Back of the bag - bottom right Roasted Salted Inshell Pistachios Wonderful Bag: 014113910088 Box: 014113910156 5 oz 2016 OCT 30 - 1509123289801 Back of the bag - bottom right Roasted Salted Inshell Pistachios Wonderful 014113913706 13 oz 2016 NOV 02 - 1510123304801 On clear bag - bottom that has back seal Roasted Salted Inshell Pistachios Wonderful 014113913638 40 oz 11/05/2016 - 1510123332601 Back of the bag - bottom right Roasted Salted Shelled Pistachios Wonderful 014113734066 6oz 10/26/2016 - 1509123260401 Back of the bag - bottom right Roasted Salted Shelled Pistachios Wonderful Bag: 014113910132 Box: 014113913386 2.5oz 2016 NOV 02 - 1510123295001 Back of the bag - bottom left Roasted Salted Shelled Pistachios Wonderful 014113910125 24oz 2016 NOV 04 - 1510123331501 2016 NOV 02 - 1510123305001 Bottom of the bag Roasted Salted Shelled Pistachios Wonderful 014113734066 6 oz 11/02/2016 - 1510123295301 Back of the bag - bottom right Roasted Salted Shelled Pistachios Wonderful 014113912044 225g 2016/10/27 - 1509123259801 Back of the bag - bottom left Roasted Sweet Chili Pistachios Wonderful Bag: 014113913331 Box: 014113913348 1.25oz 2016 NOV 04 - 1510123307901 back of the bag - bottom left Roasted Sweet Chili Pistachios Wonderful Bag: 014113910309 Box: 014113913379 4.5oz 2016 NOV 05 - 1510123308101 Back of the bag - bottom right Roasted Salted Inshell Pistachios Wonderful Bag: 014113912839 Box: 014113910323 1 oz 2016 OCT 26 - 1509123255401 2016 OCT 29 - 1509123255501 2016 NOV 02 - 1510123294801 Back of the bag - bottom right Roasted Salted Inshell Pistachios Wonderful 00014113910255 25 lbs 2016/11/02 - 1510123294601 2016/11/05 - 1510123332501 side box Roasted Salted Inshell Pistachios Paramount Farms NA 25 lbs 2016 OCT 27 - 1509123280901 2016 NOV 05 - 1510123332401 side box 50% Less Salt Dry Roasted & Salted Inshell Pistachios Trader Joe's 00111348 16 oz 2016 OCT 28 - 1509123256501 2016 OCT 28 - 1509123256401 2016 OCT 29 - 1509123256601 2016 NOV 03 - 1510123307101 2016 NOV 04 - 1510123307201 1510123307301 Back of the bag - bottom right Dry Roasted & Unsalted Inshell Pistachios Trader Joe's 00079990 16oz 2016 OCT 27 - 1509123256101 2016 OCT 28 - 1509123256201 1509123256301 Back of the bag - bottom right Dry Roasted & Salted Inshell Pistachios Trader Joe's 00079983 16 oz 2016 OCT 28 - 1509123259901 1509123260001 2016 OCT 29 - 1509123260101 2016 NOV 03 - 1510123294901 Back of the bag - bottom right Consumers may return these products to Wonderful Pistachios for a refund by sending the product back or bottom portion of the package that contains the lot code (see photo below) to Wonderful Pistachios, 13646 Hwy 33, Lost Hills, CA 93249. If consumers prefer, they may return the product to the store from which it was purchased for a refund. Consumers should discard the nuts prior to returning the entire package or lot code panel to their retail store. Consumers with questions are encouraged to contact (844) 505-3844, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. ###

– A big pistachio recall is underway after 11 people in several states were sickened by salmonella, reports CBS News. Trader Joe's is among those affected, recalling the following products: Trader Joe's Dry Roasted & Unsalted Pistachios (UPC 0007 9990) Trader Joe's Dry Roasted & Salted Pistachios (UPC 0007 9983) Trader Joe's 50% Less Salt Roasted & Salted Pistachios (UPC 0011 1348) The pistachios in question come from the California company Wonderful Pistachios and are also sold across the US under the names Wonderful and Paramount Farms. See the FDA website for the entire list of lot numbers. The company says it is working with authorities to identify the source of the problem, which has hit Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Virginia, and Washington.

A museum exhibition in Doha that was supposed to open a “bridge of friendship” between Greece and Qatar ended in embarrassment for both after a Greek cultural minister refused to let Qatari officials cover the genitalia of two traditional Greek nudes. Qatar Museums Authority’s “Olympics: Past and Present” exhibition at the Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum opened March 27 with what it has been described as the largest showcase of its kind tracing the ancient and modern Olympic Games. The statues in question, dating to between the sixth and second centuries B.C., were to be the centerpiece of the “Olympia: Myth – Cult – Games” section, which takes visitors through the history of ancient Olympia with more than 600 original objects on loan from the National Archeological Museum, the Numismatic Museum and the Museum of Olympia, birthplace of the games. The cultural exchange was widely regarded as a way for cash-strapped Greece to woo investors from the energy-rich Persian Gulf emirate, which has filed two unsuccessful bids in recent years to host the Olympic Games. In January, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras announced that Qatar would invest as much as €1 billion ($1.3 billion) in a joint fund with Athens. Shortly afterward, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, bought six isles in the Ionian Sea for his three wives and 24 children. Then, in March, Greece’s junior minister for culture, Costas Tzavaras, traveled to Doha on a bridge-building mission to tour the then-forthcoming Olympics exhibit, and that’s when relations between the two nations soured. “Organizers in Qatar wanted to cover up the statues’ members with black cloth,” a culture ministry source told Agence France-Presse. “So they were never put on display. They went back into storage and returned [to Greece] on April 19.” The statues, a Classical Greek youth and a Roman-era copy of an athlete, are now back on display at the National Archeological Museum. Like the Olympic competitors of antiquity they depict, both are shown sporting in the nude. Qatari officials insisted the drapes were a precautionary measure to avoid “scandalizing” female visitors, but, in the end, Greece objected, saying the statues should be displayed in all their anatomical glory. A representative of the Qatar Museums Authority, or QMA, told Doha News that initial AFP reports last week were false, and that the statues’ removal was “not due to censorship.” “The decision to remove the objects was based on the flow of the exhibition, awareness of the outreach to all schools and families in Qatar, and desire to be sensitive to community needs and standards,” the QMA representative said. Doha News explained that residents of the Middle East hold conflicting views on the arts, citing a survey last year showing that six out of 10 Arabs expressed support for government censorship of the arts. Respondents said regulatory bodies and state-affiliated institutions were necessary, given that art could be “inappropriate” and offend “religious beliefs.” Interestingly, while QMA authorities reportedly deemed the male genitalia too tantalizing for female visitors, they seemed to have had no problem with female breasts scandalizing the males. Statues like the partially bare-breasted Nike remain intact and on view in Doha through the end of June. ||||| It was a spat that nobody wanted – neither the Greeks, the Qataris nor, say officials, the two nude statues that sparked the furore. But in a classic clash of cultures, Greece has found itself at odds with the oil-rich state – a nation it is keen to woo financially – over the presentation of masterworks depicting athletes in an exhibition dedicated to the Olympic games. "The statues are now back at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens," said a culture ministry official. The dispute, though authorities are not calling it that, broke when Greece's culture minister, Costas Tzavaras, arrived in Doha last month to discover the "anatomically challenging" treasures cloaked in cloth for fear of offending female spectators. "In a society where there are certain laws and traditions authorities felt women would be scandalised by seeing such things, even on statues," added the official who was present at the time. "The minister, of course, said while he totally respected local customs he couldn't accept the antiquities not being exhibited in their natural state," she told the Guardian. "They were great works of art and aesthetically it was wrong." The statues, an archaic-era Greek youth and a Roman-era copy of a classical athlete, were to be the centrepiece of an exhibition entitled Olympic Games: Past and Present. Bankrupt Greece was delighted to facilitate when organisers in Doha got in touch. Mired in its worst economic crisis in modern times, the debt-stricken country is eager for investment from the Gulf state, which this year promised to pour €1bn into a joint investment fund. In another hopeful sign, the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, recently bought six isles in the Ionian sea with a view to building palaces on them for his three wives and 24 children. Visiting the Qatari capital for the opening of the show, Tzavaras seized the opportunity to describe the exhibition as "opening a bridge of friendship" between the countries. The discovery of the covered-up antiquities was a setback few had envisaged. "We don't want to portray it as a row, and we certainly didn't want it to overshadow the exhibition," explained the official. "It was all very friendly. When they turned down our request (to remove the cloth) the statues were boxed up again and sent back to Athens." Mystery, nonetheless, shrouds the affair. The show, which had previously been hosted in Berlin, features more than 700 artworks from around Greece, including numerous nude statues. It remains unclear why Qatari authorities had taken such umbrage over the antiquities in question, although officials in Athens described the young athletes – both from Eleusis – as being especially beautiful.

– A pair of stone penises have gotten in the way of a museum exhibition billed as a "bridge of friendship" between Qatar and Greece. Two statues of nude male athletes were among 600 Greek archaeological treasures on loan to Qatar for an Olympic-themed exhibition, but Greece's culture minister kicked up a fuss when he visited the Gulf nation and found the statues' private parts covered up, the Guardian reports. Officials in Qatar said the statues were covered up to avoid offending female visitors, but the culture minister said he "couldn't accept the antiquities not being exhibited in their natural state," a Greek official says. "They were great works of art and aesthetically it was wrong." After the two sides failed to reach agreement, Qatar returned the offending statues to Greece. The exhibition has gone ahead with the remaining artworks—including some statues of bare-breasted women that Qatari officials don't seem to mind, the International Business Times notes.

Former Colorado Springs New Life Church pastor Ted Haggard will make a cameo appearance as himself in an upcoming pro-abstinence ‘Christian sex comedy’ titled “The Waiting Game”, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. The film is being developed by two Colorado Springs men, Rich Praytor and Emilio Martinez, former stand up comics turned filmmakers. The Gazette also reports that the two are looking to raise $2 million dollars to shoot the film for which they’ve already written the script and produced a trailer. If they reach their financial goal, they will begin shooting September 1, 2011 in Colorado Springs. In the trailer for the film, Haggard, in what looks to be a coffee shop, eavesdrops on the conversation of a sexually frustrated, newly married man who says, “I’m so frustrated. You know, I’m just going to do what I want to do anyway, it’s not like it’s going to wind up on the front page of the newspaper.” Haggard “Hey Buddy, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Haggard leans over and says, “Hey buddy, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Ted Haggard resigned from his Colorado Springs-based New Life megachurch in 2006 after allegations and eventual admission from Haggard that he had a sexual relationship with a gay former male escort. In a recent interview in GQ magazine, Haggard opened up about the scandal stating: Here’s where I really am on this issue. I think that probably, if i were 21 in this society, I would identify myself as a bisexual. WATCH THE TRAILER: ||||| SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE See THE TRAILER. When you hear the word “Christian,” the last words you expect to hear next are “sex comedy.” But with “The Waiting Game,” a pro-abstinence movie (featuring a cameo by former New Life Church pastor Ted Haggard) being developed in Colorado Springs, two local men are determined to boldly go where no filmmaker has gone before. “I love all the Judd Apatow movies — ‘40 Year Old Virgin,’ ‘Knocked Up,’ ‘Superbad’ — they’re all great,” says Rich Praytor, one of the producers and writers on the film. “So we wanted to take something like that into the Christian arena.” “They’re just starving for anything comedy,” adds Emilio Martinez, who also serves as producer and writer. They should know. A decade ago, both were up-and-coming comics in Los Angeles, having learned their craft from the likes of Kathy Griffin and Andy Dick. But the superficiality of that world and their own promiscuous lifestyles left them feeling empty inside, they say. They sought something deeper, more meaningful. “I’ve tried every religion out there,” Martinez says. “I’ve dabbled in everything except maybe Satan worship.” Although they hadn’t met yet, they both quit the business and moved to Colorado Springs. “Not knowing that this was the center of the Christian universe, apparently,” Praytor says, laughing. It was here that Martinez rediscovered the faith he’d been raised in, and Praytor, who had never really left the church, found his life’s work: making Christian films. They finally met in 2008, after Praytor posted an invitation to a script reading on Craigslist. Martinez answered his ad, and, with their similar backgrounds, the two hit it off almost immediately. A year later, they decided to make a movie together. Like last summer’s surprise hit “Easy A,” “The Waiting Game” is basically a sexless comedy about sex. In it, a lovable loser gets dumped by his bride at their wedding. Heartbroken, he dives back into the dating scene with a vengeance, determined to lose his virginity before he walks down that aisle again. In view of their less-than-pious pasts, do Martinez and Praytor consider it ironic that they’re now making a movie promoting abstinence? “I only think it’s ironic in the fact that God seems to really like irony,” Martinez says. “God loves to use the foolish to show his strength.” The pair have written several drafts of the script and recently put together a trailer, which can be viewed on YouTube. (Search for “Waiting Game Trailer,” and click the one from user onslaughtmediallc.) They’ve even attracted a couple of famous names to the project. One is Candace Cameron, who played the oldest daughter in the late ’80s/early ’90s sitcom “Full House.” She’s in talks to play the love interest in the film. The other is a local celebrity: Haggard, who’ll make a funny cameo as himself. What Martinez and Praytor need now is money — $2 million to be exact. One of the most successful Christian films to date — 2008’s “Fireproof” — was made for $500,000. “Most Christian movies make the mistake they get barely enough money to do the editing and get the titles on, and they have nothing left for marketing,” Martinez says. If they reach their goal, they’ll start shooting in Colorado Springs on Sept. 1. If they don’t? Well, then they’re going to make the film for whatever amount they raise. After all, they have absolute faith in their boss. “We just show up,” Martinez says. “God provides the rest.”

– Ted Haggard: movie star? The possibly bisexual pastor, famous for his 2006 gay-massage-and-meth scandal, is appearing as himself in a so-called “sex comedy” for the Christian set. Picture a Judd Apatow movie with a few slight tweaks: Most notably, the theme is pro-abstinence. The Waiting Game, being developed in Colorado by two locals, is about a man who’s saved himself for marriage … only to get dumped on his wedding day. Haggard gives the lead character some advice in the trailer below, first reported by the Colorado Springs Gazette last week in a story getting attention today. “I love all the Judd Apatow movies—40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad—they’re all great,” says a producer and writer of the film. “So we wanted to take something like that into the Christian arena.” “They’re just starving for anything comedy,” adds his partner. Both come from a decidedly more secular background, having been trained by comedians like Kathy Griffin and Andy Dick in Los Angeles. Their project features another familiar name—Full House’s Candace Cameron—but for it to see the light of day, they need to raise $2 million.

Klansman who orchestrated Mississippi Burning killings dies in prison CLOSE Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says he and the FBI have closed their investigation into the Ku Klux Klan's 1964 killings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. Edgar Ray Killen — the Klansman who orchestrated one of the nation’s most notorious mass killings, the slayings of three civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964 — has died. In 2005, a jury convicted Killen on three counts of manslaughter in the June 21, 1964, deaths of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner and sentenced him to 60 years in prison. Edgar Ray Killen, in this Jan. 7, 2005, file photo at the Neshoba County Courthouse in Philadelphia, Miss.,was convicted in 2005 of three counts of manslaughter in the slayings of civil rights workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andy Goodman in 1964. (Photo: Rogelio Solis/The Associated Pre, Copyright 2005 The Clarion Ledge) Goodman’s brother, David, said Friday that he had been informed by Mississippi corrections officials that Killen had died at 9 p.m. Thursday. “Any time a person passes, their family grieves," he said. "However, in the case of Edgar Ray Killen, he belongs to a bigger part of American history, where white supremacists took black lives with impunity." Chaney, 21, was a Mississippi native who became involved in the civil rights movement. Schwerner, 24, was from New York City and had come with his wife, Rita, to join the movement in Mississippi. Goodman, 20, was a Queens College student who became involved in Freedom Summer. The FBI put out this poster of the three missing civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, after they disappeared June 21, 1964. Forty-four days later, FBI agents made the grisly discovery of their bodies, buried in an earthen dam. (Photo: FBI) On June 21, 1964, the three young men went to investigate the burning of the Mount. Zion Methodist Church, where Chaney and Schwerner had previously spoken. The Ku Klux Klan had burned down the church. Neshoba County Deputy Cecil Price jailed the trio and released them at about 10:30 p.m. — into the hands of waiting Klansmen, who shot them to death and buried their bodies in an earthen dam. Forty-four days later, FBI agents found the bodies. "The 15 men who murdered Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney weren’t indicted, much less tried," David Goodman said. "It’s an American tragedy that law enforcement, the FBI and others knew the names of those who were involved in the killings, but none were ever tried for murder. The only person tried was Edgar Ray Killen, who wasn’t even there." The killings were depicted in "Mississippi Burning," a fictional 1988 film based on the real-life FBI investigation into the case. Killen, who died less than a week from his 93rd birthday, worked much of his life cutting trees and on Sundays preached in so many rural Baptist churches that he became known as "Preacher" Killen." He was the last living Klansman in a Mississippi prison for a civil rights cold case. Thomas Blanton, who turns 80 this year, remains at the St. Clair Correctional Facility in Alabama. He was convicted for his role in the Ku Klux Klan’s 1963 bombing of a Birmingham church that killed four girls. In 1967 in Mississippi, a federal jury convicted Price, Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers, Alton Wayne Roberts, Horace Doyle Barnette, Jimmy Arledge, Billy Wayne Posey and Jimmie Snowden of conspiracy.. The rest of the 18 who went on trial on those charges went free, including Killen. That federal jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of his guilt, with one juror telling the rest that she could “never convict a preacher.” In 1999, Mississippi authorities reopened the case after the Clarion Ledger reported the contents of a secret interview Bowers had given in which he said he was “quite delighted to be convicted and have the main instigator walk out of the courtroom a free man.” Killen bragged to the Clarion Ledger that he wouldn’t be prosecuted, claimed Goodman and Schwerner were “communists” and said he wanted to shake hands with the assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. In 2004, a group of citizens known as the Philadelphia Coalition pushed for prosecution. A year later, a Neshoba County grand jury indicted Killen for murder in the slayings of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner. District Attorney Mark Duncan, Attorney General Jim Hood, Special Assistant Attorney General Lee Martin and others prosecuted the case. In a compromise verdict, the jury voted unanimously to convict Killen on three counts of manslaughter on June 21, 2005 — the anniversary of the killings. In 2014, each of the families of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner received the President Medal of Freedom. Families of the three civil rights workers killed in Neshoba County in 1964 were presented the Medal of Freedom Monday by President Obama at the White House. From left are David Goodman, brother of Andrew Goodman; Rita Bender, widow of Michael Schwerner, and Angela Lewis, daughter of James Chaney. (Photo: Deborah Barfield Berry/Gannett Washington Bureau) Schwerner's widow, Rita Bender, said, “It is tragic for the country that in all these years Preacher Killen could not bring himself to acknowledge his orchestration of these senseless murders. Perhaps even more troubling is that the racism which fueled the violence of many murders all those years ago presently remains a part of our nation’s discourse, and is encouraged at the highest levels of government.” Chaney’s daughter, Angela Lewis, said she is praying for the Killen family and that she knows of the pain of death because of what she experienced with her mother. “I pray to God that Edgar Ray repented and that he had peace with God,” she said. “My ultimate desire is when I get to heaven and meet my dad for the first time, I pray that my dad and I could embrace Edgar Ray.” In the years after his conviction, Killen remained defiant in interviews with The Guardian, the Associated Press and the Greenwood Commonwealth, insisting he would be exonerated and freed from prison. David Goodman said that "the history of this country has a shadow over it because this case and many others like it have never been resolved to bring justice to these families and especially black citizens who were murdered and killed because of white supremacy and racism. That’s what Edgar Ray Killen’s life was about in an important way, and we’re still dealing today with white nationalism." Contact Jerry Mitchell at 601-961-7064 or jmitchell@gannett.com. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter. Read or Share this story: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/journeytojustice/2018/01/12/klansman-who-orchestrated-mississippi-burning-killings-dies-prison/1028454001/ ||||| Edgar Ray Killen Dies; Klansman Behind Civil Rights Workers' Murders In 1964 Enlarge this image toggle caption Kyle Carter/Reuters Kyle Carter/Reuters Edgar Ray Killen, the former Ku Klux Klansman responsible for a notorious civil rights era murder, has died in a Mississippi prison. Killen orchestrated the killings of three Freedom Summer workers in Neshoba County, Miss. in 1964, a crime that shocked the nation and acted as a catalyst for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The state corrections department says Killen died at 9 p.m. Thursday night at the Mississippi State Penitentiary. He was 92 years old and was serving a 60-year sentence for manslaughter in the killings of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. The three civil rights workers, all in their 20s, were ambushed on June 21, 1964. They'd been lured to the area to investigate a church burning outside Philadelphia, Miss., and as they were leaving, local authorities arrested them. Hours later, they were released from jail, chased down by carloads of Klansmen, and shot to death. Their bodies were discovered 44 days later, buried in an earthen dam. The dramatic search for the missing men drew national attention to the violent resistance to the civil rights movement. Killen, a part-time Baptist preacher and KKK kleagle (organizer), faced federal charges in 1967, but the trial ended in a hung jury after a hold-out juror said she couldn't convict a preacher. The state of Mississippi didn't press charges at the time. Nearly four decades later, state prosecutors re-opened the case, which had been dramatized in the 1988 movie Mississippi Burning. Killen was the only person charged, even though other suspects were still living. According to testimony in Killen's 2005 murder trial, he plotted the murders — right down to arranging for the bulldozer to bury the bodies — and later bragged how the civil rights workers had "been taken care of." At the time, Neshoba County District Attorney Mark Duncan told the jury their decision carried historical significance. "For 41 years it's been Edgar Ray Killen and his friends who have written the history of Neshoba County," he said during closing arguments. "What you do today when you go into that jury room is going to echo through the history of Neshoba County from now on." The jury convicted Killen of manslaughter, which some of the victims' families found insufficient. Mickey Schwerner's widow, Rita Schwerner Bender, has said it's too late to achieve justice. She has long called for the acknowledgement of the state's role in encouraging racist violence. The Mississippi Department of Corrections says Killen's cause of death is pending an autopsy, but that he was suffering from congestive heart failure and hypertension. "No foul play is suspected," according to a statement. ||||| Edgar Ray Killen, the former Klansman who was sentenced to a 60-year prison term in 2005 for arranging the murders of three young civil rights workers outside Philadelphia, Miss., in 1964 during the Freedom Summer drive to register Southern black voters, died on Thursday night in prison in Parchman, Miss. He was 92. The Mississippi corrections department said he was pronounced dead at the hospital at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at 9 p.m. No cause was given, but the department said he had been treated for congestive heart failure and hypertension. Mr. Killen was convicted of state manslaughter charges 41 years to the day after James Earl Chaney, 21, a black man from Meridian, Miss., and two white New Yorkers, Andrew Goodman, 20, and Michael Schwerner, 24, disappeared in a death trap set by a local deputy sheriff and a gang of his fellow Ku Klux Klansmen. He was prosecuted in one of the South’s major “atonement” trials, in which the Mississippi authorities revisited civil rights-era atrocities. He was convicted of a crime that galvanized the civil rights movement, stamped the town of Philadelphia as an outpost of terror and inspired the 1988 Hollywood movie “Mississippi Burning,” directed by Alan Parker.

– A KKK member responsible for the 1964 murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi has died while serving a 60-year-sentence for manslaughter, the Clarion Ledger reports. The Mississippi Department of Corrections tells NPR that Edgar Ray Killen died Thursday night at the age of 92. He was suffering from congestive heart failure and hypertension. Killen, a tree-cutter and small-time preacher, was a founding member and main recruiter for the KKK in the Philadelphia area of Mississippi in 1964 when James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were investigating a church fire, the New York Times reports. The three civil rights workers in their early 20s were arrested and then released to Klan members, who shot them and buried the bodies. The killings were instrumental in the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and were later dramatized in the 1988 film Mississippi Burning. Killen was one of 18 people put on trial in 1967 for the murders, but the jury was hung after one juror said she couldn't convict a preacher. The case was reopened decades later, and Killen was convicted in 2005 of three counts of manslaughter. He was the only one charged despite other suspects being alive. Goodman's brother calls it "an American tragedy" that none of the others ever faced justice. “I pray to God that Edgar Ray repented and that he had peace with God,” Chaney's daughter tells the Clarion Ledger. “My ultimate desire is when I get to heaven and meet my dad for the first time, I pray that my dad and I could embrace Edgar Ray.”

Thomas fire (Ventura and Santa Barbara counties) Size: 281,893 acres Containment: 91% Evacuations: Lifted ||||| CLOSE Flames of the Thomas Fire left a path of destruction in Ventura after racing to the city from the Santa Paula area. Steve Byerly Buy Photo A firefighter sprays down a smoldering home in a Ventura hillside neighborhood on Tuesday as the Thomas Fire burned nearly 50,000 acres between Santa Paula and Ventura. Authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation of hundreds of homes as they continued to work to bring the blaze under control. (Photo: JUAN CARLO/THE STAR)Buy Photo Mother Nature showed no remorse as the Thomas Fire continued to tear through Ventura, Santa Paula and Ojai on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents, closing multiple school districts and eluding containment efforts from firefighters. Whipped by fierce Santa Ana winds, the fire that started Monday evening in Santa Paula grew to at least 50,000 acres with no containment in sight, according to authorities. More than 1,100 firefighters helped battle the erratic fire that has burned 150 structures, although Cal Fire Incident Commander Todd Derum told The Associated Press on Tuesday night that he fears hundreds more have been burned but just not confirmed by firefighters yet. Read more: Authorities said that due to the intensity of the fire, crews were unable to gain access to many structure fires. “Unfortunately, we’re still losing houses,” said Capt. Stan Ziegler, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Ventura County, dedicating state emergency resources to the region. CLOSE The Star's Megan Diskin interviewed Venture County Fire Department Capt. Stan Ziegler about the Thomas Fire. Here's what he said. “This fire is very dangerous and spreading rapidly, but we'll continue to attack it with all we've got,” Brown said in a statement. “It’s critical residents stay ready and evacuate immediately if told to do so.” Another house gone at Foothill and Hamilton in Ventura. Smoke remains thick along Foothill, a main thoroughfare for the city. #ThomasFirepic.twitter.com/o4qB5CNpO6 — Arlene Martinez (@avmartinez) December 5, 2017 By dawn on Tuesday, aircraft and helicopter crews attacked an out-of-control fire that had reached Ventura and headed toward Highway 33. Forced out by fire More than 27,000 residents were displaced, and the number continued to climb throughout the day. Mandatory evacuations were ordered in Casitas Springs near Ojai, as well as neighborhoods in east Ojai and Ventura. Other voluntary evacuations were in place in Ventura and throughout the Ojai Valley. The Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center was forced to evacuate nearly 60 dogs and about 80 cats. They were taken to a boarding facility and nearby airport. More: Residents share destruction of Ventura County fire In addition to dedicating the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura and Nordhoff High School in Ojai as evacuation centers, emergency personnel on Tuesday morning opened up the Oxnard College gymnasium and the Santa Paula Community Center for those who were displaced. In the afternoon, the city of Fillmore opened an evacuation center at the Veterans Memorial Building. The evacuation center at the fairgrounds accepted all types of animals and the Ventura County Animal Services shelter in Camarillo accepted displaced animals, as well. In Santa Barbara, the Earl Warren Showground took in horses and other livestock. “This fire is very dangerous and spreading rapidly, but we'll continue to attack it with all we've got.” Gov. Jerry Brown Among the buildings that were consumed by the blaze was Vista del Mar Hospital in Ventura, a mental health treatment facility on Seneca Street. All patients were safely evacuated. People stood next to the destroyed hospital Tuesday morning trying to decide their next move. Sergio Ormachea, of Ventura, who lives in a nearby home, had already moved back in after a night at his uncle’s. He worried about the possibility of new flames whipped up by the wind. He worried maybe it was too soon to come back. “You can see logs burning,” he said. This is what is left of Vista del Mar psychiatric hospital in Ventura. pic.twitter.com/mn9FRPL0oJ — Tom Kisken (@tomkisken) December 5, 2017 Keeping the faith Nearby, 76-year-old Roger Case drank a green tea in front of his 100-year-old Colonial-style home. It was still standing, and all the credit goes to his friends, Case said. They came up late Monday and early Tuesday after Case and his wife, Sandy, evacuated. They hosed the structure and the grounds, clearing what fuel they could away from the home. “I wasn’t here. I thought my house was burned. I checked out,” Case said, interrupting himself to thank his friends once again. “When you have a crisis, you sure find out who your friends are.” Case wasn’t quite ready to move back in yet on Tuesday. He had a different plan. “I’m thinking about going to church,” he said with a laugh. Embers burning at locked gates to Grant Park above downtown Ventura #ThomasFire#vcstarpic.twitter.com/Mu7FPsomlG — Lisa McKinnon (@805foodie) December 5, 2017 There were rumors that the fire took down the Serra Cross at Ventura’s Grant Park, but that was not the case. Still, areas all around the cross burned, including the botanical gardens. Many showed up to see for themselves. Brandon Coronado, of Oxnard, said a friend from Las Vegas told him on Facebook that the cross had burned. He came to Grant Park and found evidence of the fire, but the grass and plants around the raised stage for the cross and the cross itself intact. “I will say it because I’m a Christian: Everything burned but the cross, not even the grass or nothing,” he told anyone who would listen. Scott Gulden, of Ventura, and Derick Moore, of Oxnard Shores, were also checking out the cross because the power at their work sites was out, and they couldn’t work. They had been told by their wives to check out the cross and found it mostly unscathed. Moore said he had driven down Foothill Road about 12:45 a.m., and it looked to him like everything was on fire. Outages and closures Hundreds of thousands were without power on Monday, but Southern California Edison was able to restore power to most customers. The outage, caused when a major power line was downed by the fire, still left 15,000 without power in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties on Tuesday. Some customers should be prepared to be without power for days, Edison spokesman Paul Netter said. For those who had power, Netter encouraged conservation. Nearly all the schools in Santa Paula, Ventura and Oxnard were closed Tuesday and many were planning to be closed Wednesday. Some courtrooms in Ventura County Superior Court were also closed. A Clinicas del Camino Real health center in Ojai closed Tuesday when the fire strayed too close. A power outage closed a Ventura Clinicas site, although it later opened some services with a skeleton staff. “We have countless staff members and their families that have been evacuated,” said Roberto S. Juarez, who heads the Clinicas network, noting that hotels and motels are filled. So Juarez has opened up his home to displaced employees. “We’re having to do what we have to do,” he said. In Ojai, businesses along its main thoroughfare were closed as power had been intermittent. Some residents headed to the shelter at Nordhoff High School while others headed out of town. Anita Jeffrey and her husband Graham Jeffrey, of Oak View, met up with family members in the parking lot of Lake Casitas. Anita’s mother, Mary Lou Martinez, of Ojai, joined them with her shih tzu Sparky. They were putting together their plans for the next few days. “We don’t know if we have a house,” said Anita Jeffrey with her two dogs, a Rottweiler Aic and terrier Maisie, in tow. Others watched the fire as it moved closer to their homes. People could be seen sitting and standing on rooftops. Some were watching the scene and others were hosing down their roofs. Robert Morales, of Oak View, was among a group gathered in the cul-de-sac of Oak View Avenue watching flames and smoke in the canyon. “I’m keeping an eye out so if need be, we can just get out of here,” said Morales with his pit bull terrier Riley by his side. “We are all packed.” 'Relieved but rattled' Those who had a home to return to felt relieved but rattled. On Buena Vista Street, above Ventura’s downtown, Sam Galici hosed down the exterior of the duplex where he lives, wondering why it was still there. The large palm tree just in front of the house was charred. The trash cans stowed in the back melted into ugly abstract art. “I’m very lucky,” said the employment lawyer who also claimed to know the culprit for the fire. “I wish we would do something about climate change,” he said. A block down, Maya Nielsen strolled down Poli Street with her scarf pulled over her mouth and nose. The night before, she and everyone else around her was evacuated. She was glad to be back. She wasn’t comfortable. “Every time the winds pick up, it makes you uneasy,” she said. As if the Thomas Fire wasn't disruptive enough, authorities had to keep a close eye on other fires. Simi Valley officials were crossing their fingers Tuesday night, hoping that the Rye Fire from Santa Clarita wouldn't cross Ventura County borders. Simi Valley residents on the north side of town were advised to be ready for evacuations if the blaze continued its trajectory. Earlier on Tuesday, crews battled a two-acre fire on Roadrunner Avenue in the Conejo Valley, which was extinguished by 2 p.m. Staff writers Tom Kisken, Megan Diskin, Lisa McKinnon, Gretchen Wenner and Cheri Carlson contributed to this report. To learn more: Official fire updates: http://readyventuracounty.org. To donate: Text UWVC to 41444 and 100 percent of the donations will go directly to those affected by the fires. Animal evacuation info: Ventura County Animal Shelter at vcas.us Road closures, evacuation centers, etc.: www.vcstar.com School closures: Conejo Valley Unified School District Ventura Unified School District Hueneme Elementary School District Santa Paula School District Ventura Community College Thomas Aquinas College Mesa Union School District Briggs School District Mupu School District Oxnard School District All Ventura County Office of Education Schools (Including Providence School) Santa Clara Elementary (20030 East Telegraph Road, Santa Paula) Rio School District Ocean View School District Ojai School District Oxnard Union High School District Santa Clara High School Read or Share this story: https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2017/12/05/winds-relentless-thomas-fire-santa-paula-fire-ventura-county-fire-consumes-more-homes-day-2/923575001/ ||||| Southern California wildfires burn homes, close freeways as thousands evacuated Image 1 of / 124 Caption Close Southern California wildfires burn homes, close freeways as thousands evacuated 1 / 124 Back to Gallery VENTURA — Ferocious Santa Ana winds blew flames across bone-dry grasslands and into neighborhoods, leveling at least 180 structures and forcing tens of thousands to flee, while ensuring that the state’s worst fire season on record would push well into the holidays. The Thomas Fire, which broke out around 6:30 p.m. Monday in the foothills near Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula and remained out of control on Tuesday night, swept west and devoured rows of homes, two apartment buildings and a private psychiatric hospital as it raced over grasslands into communities. It was the worst of four fires that by late Tuesday had burned more than 66,000 acres in Southern California, prompting Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency in Ventura County as Bay Area fire departments sent reinforcements south. Now Playing: Now Playing Astonishing Aerial Footage of the California Wildfires Media: Time 'Lilac Fire' explodes to 4,100 acres in San Diego County Media: FoxLA Californian firefighters battle inferno - and fatigue Media: Euronews Man Rescues Rabbit From California Wildfire Media: Wibbitz Woman killed in car first fatality from Thomas Fire in Ventura County Media: KTVU Fast-moving brush fire erupts near Getty Center; NB 405 Freeway closed Media: FoxM9NJ 'Thomas Fire' burns 96,000 acres in Ventura County Media: Fox 26 Houston Where are the Southern California wildfires burning? Media: KSBW Fire Victim: 'This Is What's Left of Our House' Media: Associated Press Home survives Creek fire Media: Los Angeles Times Fast-moving wildfire burns in Bel Air Media: Los Angeles Times People, Animals Flee California Wildfire Media: Associated Press Guy Drives Down Street During Major Fire Media: Jukin Media Creek Fire: Homes burn in Shadow Hills Media: Los Angeles Times Ventura resident shows view of massive fire Media: Tonia Allen Gould Smoke from Creek Fire smothers Lake View Terrace in Los Angeles Media: Newzulu / rosy rodriguez / via Getty So. Calif. Fire Grows to 70 Square Miles Media: Associated Press Thomas fire: Adam Maingot saves parents Ventura home Media: Los Angeles Times RAW: Fast-moving brush fire explodes in Ventura County Media: Los Angeles Times 'Out of Control' Fire Threatens Thousands in Southern California Media: Wibbitz “The prospects for containment are not good,” said Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen at a news conference. “Really, Mother Nature is going to decide.” As neighborhoods turned into scenes of vast ruin and freeways closed down, California got a frightening replay of the October infernos in Wine Country that killed 44 people, destroyed 8,900 structures and, like the Thomas Fire, were driven by nighttime windstorms that blasted flames from more rugged areas into communities built along the edge of the wildland. By Tuesday morning, the Thomas Fire had burned into Ventura, a city of more than 105,000 residents located about 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles on Highway 101. Vista del Mar Hospital, a private psychiatric facility, burned to the ground after its residents and workers were evacuated, as did 150 buildings, including the pair of apartment complexes. More than 1,000 firefighters worked through the night protecting buildings, including City Hall, where the flames reached the parking lot, destroyed a couple of cars and left an adjacent hillside blackened and smoldering. “It seemed like a lava flow coming down toward the city,” said Vince Tovey, an electrical inspector for Ventura. A firefighter was injured when he was struck by a vehicle during the response to the blaze, said the Ventura County Fire Department. Some 27,000 people were under mandatory evacuation in Ventura, Santa Paula and Ojai, and at least 7,000 more homes were evacuated between Santa Paula and Ventura, a distance of more than 12 miles, officials said. Hundreds of thousands of people lost power. In issuing his emergency proclamation to secure state and federal disaster resources, Brown cited the destruction, the threats to critical infrastructure and the high winds. “This fire is very dangerous and spreading rapidly, but we’ll continue to attack it with all we’ve got,” Brown said. “It’s critical residents stay ready and evacuate immediately if told to do so.” Evacuee Lorie Denis, 56, stared at the devastation late Tuesday morning as firefighters poured water on the blackened hull of the Harbor View Apartments in the foothills above downtown Ventura. She had been awakened by a neighbor’s phone call and had time to grab a few possessions from a safe — among them her late husband’s wedding ring and watch — as well as her dog, Carson. She tried to save her neighbor’s two cats but could find only one before a neighbor screamed for her to leave. “I thought we were done,” she said. “It was raining fire.” Judy Terry, 69, was getting ready for bed Monday night when she got an alert as well as a phone call from her landlord telling her to leave. She got dressed, grabbed her dog, Sweetie, and corralled neighbors into her car for a drive through heavy smoke to the Ventura County Fairgrounds. “All I had time to do was get up, get dressed and leave and help others,” said Terry, who with more than 600 others spent the night on a Red Cross cot in what is normally a livestock center, with her Maltese-poodle mix pup by her side. As the fire crept near Ventura’s downtown, the wind howled and pieces of palm trees and tumbleweeds blew through the streets as thick brown smoke blanketed the region. Many people wore masks as they walked through the area. Burning as well was the Creek Fire in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, which started at 3:42 a.m. Tuesday in the Angeles National Forest and spread to more than 11,000 acres. At least 30 homes in Sylmar and Lakeview Terrace were destroyed, thousands of others were evacuated, and two firefighters were injured. The Little Mountain Fire broke out about 12:28 p.m. Tuesday on a hill behind a strip mall south of California State University San Bernardino, and spread to 100 acres by the afternoon. The fire injured two people, one critically, and forced closure of northbound Interstate 215, said Eric Sherwin, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County Fire Department. The Rye Fire erupted just before 10 a.m. Tuesday about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles, shutting down Interstate 5 in both directions near Santa Clarita. The fire broke out in the Rye Canyon Loop and grew to 5,000 acres by Tuesday afternoon. It was 5 percent contained, while the other fires had no containment. Each of the fires was pushed by dry Santa Ana winds, with gusts up to 60 mph. The winds, which originate inland, are similar to the Diablo winds that fueled the wildfires in Northern California. Fire officials said the weather was making it difficult for aircraft and helicopters to fight the blazes. “This is mirroring the Tubbs Fire we had to deal with in Northern California,” said Scott McLean, a deputy chief for the state’s Cal Fire agency. “We’re dealing with extreme wind conditions and weather that is extremely dry and (difficult) topography. This is not flat land, and some areas are inaccessible to get equipment to.” The Santa Ana winds, which typically occur in the fall, could last as long as 10 days, forecasters said. “They’ve died down slightly, but they’re going to increase again (Tuesday) evening, so it’s kind of like a seesaw,” McLean said. “This just shows us that there is no fire season anymore. It’s December. We have fires all year round now.” Firefighters in Southern California are used to clusters of wind-driven fires in the fall. In October 2003, Santa Ana winds fed the ruinous Cedar Fire in San Diego County, which consumed 2,820 structures, and the Old Fire, in San Bernardino County, which wiped out 1,003 buildings. But fires spread by extreme offshore gusts are rare this time of year — even in Southern California, which is typically warmer and drier during the winter than the rest of the state. Cal Fire anticipated the danger, maintaining staffing on 148 engines and keeping reserve firefighters on duty. “We continue to see more and more extreme fires and extreme weather events,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, the Cal Fire director. “The challenges of our changing climate are real. Historically, winter was a time we could regroup, but spending the holiday season on the fire lines is likely to become more the norm.” Ventura County has been exceedingly dry in recent months. The area has received 0.13 of an inch of rain since July 1, said the National Weather Service. “We had rains last winter that caused all the brush and everything to grow, and throughout the summer they dried out,” said Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Joey Marron. “Now with these winds, any little spark is fuel.” A San Francisco Fire Department strike team of 22 firefighters rushed to the Thomas Fire on five engines Tuesday. Fire crews from Marin and Alameda counties, Oakland, Fremont and Hayward were also being sent. The winds continued to blow Tuesday as Tovey, the city of Ventura electrical inspector, patrolled the perimeter of the Thomas Fire in his city vehicle, turning back residents trying to reach their homes. “One of the downsides living in California,” he said of the wildfire danger. “There aren’t many, but this is one of them.” Sophie Haigney, Steve Rubenstein, Peter Fimrite and Jill Tucker are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sophie.haigney@sfchronicle.com, srubenstein@sfchronicle.com, pfimrite@sfchronicle.com, jtucker@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @SophieHaigney, @SteveRubeSF, @pfimrite, @JillTucker.

– Terrifying wildfires are continuing to rage in southern California, where the Thomas fire in Ventura County reached the Pacific Ocean Tuesday after spreading to at least 50,000 acres, crossing oil fields and freeways. The fire, which caused Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency, has caused mass evacuations and destroyed buildings including a psychiatric hospital in the city of Ventura, 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Elsewhere in the county, a ring of fire surrounded the former hillside home of Johnny Cash in Casitas Springs, the Los Angeles Times reports. It's not clear whether the building survived. Authorities say 12,000 structures in the region are threatened and more than 200,000 people are under evacuation orders. More than 1,100 firefighters are battling the fire, which started Monday night and is the most destructive of several fires burning in the region, but authorities say containment is not yet in sight, the Ventura County Star reports. Wind-driven fires are believed to have destroyed hundreds of structures, including many homes in Ventura, where flames destroyed some residences while leaving others untouched. Resident John Terrones says he fled in the middle of the night with his wife and five dogs after his son called to warn of an approaching fire. He says he watched from a distance as flames destroyed a neighbor's home and spared his. "I just watched it burn, burn, burn," he said. "It got almost to our backyard. We got very lucky.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's outgoing leader Hamid Karzai said on Monday that his nation needs a new president and urged for a speedy conclusion to the ballot audit that will determine his successor. Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, center, greets with journalists as he prepares for Eid al-Fitr prayer at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 28, 2014. Eid al-Fitr prayer... (Associated Press) Pigeons fly as Afghans prepare to offer Eid al-Fitr prayers in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 28, 2014. Eid al-Fitr prayer marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Ahmad Nazar) (Associated Press) Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, center, leaves after Eid al-Fitr prayer at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 28, 2014. Eid al-Fitr prayer marks the end of the holy fasting... (Associated Press) Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, center, talks to the media after Eid al-Fitr prayer at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 28, 2014. Eid al-Fitr prayer marks the end of the... (Associated Press) In a speech marking the start of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday that follows the fasting month of Ramadan, Karzai said that Afghans "want to have an outcome to the election as soon as possible, so that this country can have its president soon." After fraud was alleged by both presidential contenders, all 8 million ballots cast in the second round of the Afghan presidential vote in June are being audited under national and international supervision. The process is key to insuring a peaceful transfer of power ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of the year. In his speech, Karzai also expressed sympathy with the suffering of Gaza Palestinians in the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war, and said the Afghans "remember the people of Palestine in Gaza who get killed brutally, night and day." Karzai also reiterated calls on the Taliban to join the country's peace process and stop killing other Afghans. "I call upon the leaders of the Taliban to stop fighting Afghans," Karzai said. "I call on them to live in peace and dignity with their brothers and sisters." The peace process has been virtually on hold until after the new president is chosen. The two candidates — former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai — are awaiting the results of the audit. In his own message ahead of the Eid holiday, the reclusive leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, dealt a blow to the peace prospects last Friday, when he warned that a bilateral security pact allowing thousands of U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond the end of this year will mean more fighting. ||||| KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says a suicide bomber, his explosives hidden inside his turban, has assassinated the cousin of President Hamid Karzai. Dawa Khan Minapal, the spokesman for the governor of southern Kandahar province, says the attack took place on Tuesday morning in Karz district. Minapal says the bomber walked up to greet Ashmat Khlil Karzai, a political figure in his own right who has backed former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai's bid to succeed President Karzai. The bomber shook hands with Ashmat Karzai after prayers outside the Karzai family home, then detonated his explosives. This is not the first time that President Karzai's family members have been targeted. His brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, was slain in his home in the city of Kandahar by an unknown attacker seven years ago.

– Three years after Afghan President Hamid Karzai's half-brother was assassinated—and a weeping Karzai climbed into his grave—a suicide bomber has killed Karzai's cousin, an official says. According to a rep for Kandahar province's governor, the attacker shook hands with Ashmat Khlil Karzai near the Karzai family residence before detonating a bomb hidden in his turban, the AP reports. Ashmat Khlil Karzai was also a politician who supported finance minister Ashraf Ghani to be Afghanistan's next president. Ghani and his opponent, ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, have both pointed to fraud in the presidential election; yesterday, President Karzai called for a quick resolution to a ballot audit, the AP notes.

A woman was in critical condition after a swarm of bees attacked her and stung her more than 200 times. Hetty Chang reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on Monday, July 16, 2018. (Published Tuesday, July 17, 2018) A woman remains hospitalized in critical condition after suffering over 200 bee stings in Lake Forest Monday morning, the Orange County Fire Authority said. When firefighters arrived to the 23000 block of Buckland Lane, they found "hundreds of bees" attached to the victim, OCFA Cpt. Tony Bommarito said. "Basically, she was literally covered from head to toe," he said. "Her face was completely covered with bees." Because of that, first responders bypassed normal protocols and jumped right in to save the woman without their usual protective gear. OC Woman Stung Hundreds of Times by Massive Bee Swarm A housekeeper showing up to work at a Lake Forest home Monday morning was greeted by a swarm of angry bees. She is now in critical condition after being stung over 200 times. Kim Baldonado reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Monday, July 16, 2018. (Published Monday, July 16, 2018) "[The bees] were almost in clusters," said Ryan Wilson, one of the OCFA paramedics who responded to the scene. "Maybe the size of a golf ball all over her... she had them on her face, around her mouth, around her ears, her neck and her hair." The firefighters grabbed a carbon dioxide spray, sprayed the woman to repel as many bees as they could, and tried to carry her to safety, Bommarito said. She was described as "barely conscious" by the time she was rescued. "They made an excellent decision today," Bommarito said. "Unfortunately, they weren't fully protected." Wilson and three other firefighters were stung in the process. Two were transported to Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, Bommarito said. They were in stable condition and later released, and are already back on duty. A witness who was also stung was later hospitalized when she was having trouble breathing. A bee company was called in and was later seen removing buckets full of bees and beehives from the area. The victim, a cleaning woman in her mid-50s who worked in a nearby house, was in much graver condition due to the sheer number of stings she suffered, according to Bommarito. Despite the firefighters' best efforts, she was still covered in bees when she arrived at the emergency room. Her son, however, said she was expected to survive. "When you get somebody stung hundreds of times, [bees] injecting that venom, you're gonna have a serious issue," Bommarito said. "Anybody, allergy or not, is gonna be in serious condition after that." ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video A woman was critically injured after being stung “hundreds of times” by a swarm of bees in Lake Forest Monday morning, and three others — including two firefighters — were also injured, officials said. The incident occurred about 10:25 a.m. when firefighters responded to a report of a bee sting in the 23000 block of Buckland Lane, the Orange County Fire Authority tweeted. The woman was basically covered with bees from head to toe when officials arrived, said Ryan Wilson, one of the four firefighters credited with saving her life. “As we approached her — I got maybe 15, 20 feet from her — and I could see clumps of bees all over her body,” Wilson told KTLA. Several hundred were on her face alone, “in her hair, just kind of intertwined and kind of engulfed her whole head,” Wilson said. “They were in sheets, kind of, attached to her all over — in her ear, her neck.” The swarm was so severe that firefighters didn't have time to put the special safety gear on that they would normally wear while responding to such incidents, according to Fire Authority Capt. Tony Bommarito. “They got out, they started felling the bees, they saw the patient down this cul-de-sac completely covered — her face was completely covered with bees," he said. They grabbed an extinguisher in an effort to remove the bulk of the bees off of the victim, then “basically dragged” her to a safe area about 200 yards away. “She was kind of just struck over with fear, and I kept grabbing her, telling her, ‘Let’s go,’ and she had bees all over her arms," Wilson said. "So we made the decision just to grab her, and take off and get out of the area, because we didn’t know where the bees were coming from.” The woman, a 48-year-old housekeeper named Maria, had gone out to a vehicle to grab cleaning supplies when she was attacked, according to the homeowner. The victim was stung at least 200 times, fire officials said, and she was taken to a hospital in critical condition. A beekeeper who removed the hive estimated there were between 60,000 and 80,000 bees. The woman was intubated an the intensive care unit Monday night, her family told firefighters, but was expected to recover and be released within the next few days. The firefighters were also stung “multiple times” and taken to a hospital in stable condition, but returned to work later Monday afternoon. A few hours after, an ambulance was sent to the home to transport the homeowner, who was also stung but didn't feel or complain about symptoms until later. Her condition was not immediately known. KTLA's Erika Martin contributed to this report. Please enable Javascript to watch this video ||||| A woman was in critical condition Monday, July 16, after she was stung hundreds of times by bees in Lake Forest, and two firefighters were hospitalized after also getting stung several times while trying to help her. Firefighters found the woman, in her 50s, covered in bees, about 10:30 a.m., Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Tony Bommarito said. They sprayed the woman with a carbon-dioxide extinguisher after finding her outside a home in the 23000 block of Buckland Lane. “Usually when there’s time, (the firefighters) are able to fully put on their gear,” he said. “But this time they just went in to try to get the bees off of her.” Lake Forest Bee Swarm: Large bee hive within the bushes being removed by bee expert. pic.twitter.com/YanPJojx0S — OCFA PIO (@OCFA_PIO) July 16, 2018 The victim was a housekeeper who had walked out to her vehicle to retrieve some cleaning items when she was stung by bees from a bee hive near the car. The woman was stung up to 200 times, primarily on her arms, neck and face, Bommarito said. Late Monday, the OCFA said in a tweet that according to her son, the woman was doing better and was expected to survive. Two firefighters were taken to a hospital to be treated for bee stings, with one given medication due to an allergic reaction. Both were released later in the day, and returned to work, Bommarito said. Authorities found a large bee hive within bushes that was removed by a beekeeper.

– "Her face was completely covered with bees." So said a captain with the Orange County Fire Authority of a woman who was stung more than 200 times on Monday. Cpt. Tony Bommarito tells NBC Southern California she was essentially covered head to toe. The scene in Lake Forest was so bad that responders opted against protocol and didn't suit up in protective gear before coming to the aid of the woman, identified by KTLA as a 48-year-old named Maria. They used carbon dioxide spray in an attempt to get the bees to release and carried her, "barely conscious," from the scene. A paramedic and three firefighters suffered stings themselves, two badly enough to be briefly hospitalized themselves. As for the primary victim, the Orange County Register reports she's a housekeeper who had gone to get cleaning supplies from her car, which was parked near the hive. She is expected to survive. NBC Southern California describes a bee company as later "removing buckets full of bees and beehives from the area." KTLA reports the removal company estimated the hive held as many as 80,000 bees. (This hiker died after being smothered by bees.)

Communications Decency Act (CDA), also called Title V of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, legislation enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996 primarily in response to concerns about minors’ access to pornography via the Internet. In 1997 federal judges found that the indecency provisions abridged the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; this decision was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court without comment. The CDA created a criminal cause of action against those who knowingly transmit “obscene” or “indecent” messages, as determined by local community standards, to a recipient under the age of 18 years. It also prohibited knowingly sending or displaying a “patently offensive” message containing sexual or excretory activities or organs to a minor. The CDA did, however, provide a defense to senders or displayers of online “indecent” materials if they took reasonable good-faith efforts to exclude children. This legislation had numerous problems that affected both Internet service providers (ISPs) and businesses. First, there was no way for senders or displayers to know if they were within the exception. At that time, it was difficult and cumbersome for a sender to screen out minors. The displayers could ask for a credit card number as validation, but this would not allow them to conduct business with those who did not have a credit card and were over the age of 18 years. In addition, the terms indecent and patently offensive were ambiguous, and the CDA as a whole placed an undue burden on free speech. Portions of the CDA, especially those regarding the phraseology, were quickly challenged in court by civil rights groups and free-speech advocates. The case was ultimately taken to the Supreme Court in 1997 in Reno v. ACLU. The provisions regarding indecent and patently offensive materials were found to violate the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment and were removed from the CDA. In 2003 the portions of the CDA regarding obscene content were challenged in Nitke v. Ashcroft (later Nitke v. Gonzales). The plaintiff Barbara Nitke argued that the use of local community standards to determine whether content was obscene was an infringement on her First Amendment rights, as online content is shared with a global community with varying standards. However, she was unable to meet the burden of proof necessary to support her claim, as she could not demonstrate that she would actually be harmed by the CDA. In Section 230 the CDA created a federal immunity to any cause of action that would make ISPs liable for information originating with a third-party user of the service. That section, originally introduced as the Internet Freedom and Family Empowerment Act in 1995, was added to the CDA during a conference to reconcile differences between the Senate and the House of Representatives versions of the bill. Although it protects online forums and ISPs from most federal causes of action, it does not exempt providers from applicable state laws or criminal, communications-privacy, or intellectual-property claims. Though ISPs are protected by the “Good Samaritan” portions of this section, there have been individuals and groups who have sued Internet users and ISPs over libelous Web pages. Some parties maintain that users should be able to sue ISPs in cases where it is appropriate, including situations where an anonymous poster of questionable content in an online forum cannot be identified. Additionally, the courts have not clearly defined the line at which a blogger, who may be viewed as an information publisher and a user, becomes an information content provider. Editing a Web page or posting a comment so as to create a new, defamatory meaning for the existing content may cause that user to lose protection under Section 230. ||||| Amendments 2018—Pub. L. 115–141, div. V, § 103(a)(2), , 132 Stat. 1214, added item 2713. 2002—Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title IV, § 4005(b), , 116 Stat. 1812, made technical correction to directory language of Pub. L. 107–56, title II, § 223(c)(2), , 115 Stat. 295, effective . See 2001 Amendment note below. 2001—Pub. L. 107–56, title II, §§ 223(c)(2), 224, , 115 Stat. 295, as amended by Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title IV, § 4005(b), , 116 Stat. 1812, temporarily added item 2712. Pub. L. 107–56, title II, §§ 212(a)(2), (b)(2), 224, , 115 Stat. 285, 295, temporarily substituted “Voluntary disclosure of customer communications or records” for “Disclosure of contents” in item 2702 and “Required disclosure of customer communications or records” for “Requirements for governmental access” in item 2703. 1988—Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, § 7067, , 102 Stat. 4405, which directed amendment of item 2710 by inserting “for chapter” after “Definitions” was executed by making the insertion in item 2711 to reflect the probable intent of Congress and the intervening redesignation of item 2710 as 2711 by Pub. L. 100–618, see below. Pub. L. 100–618, § 2(b), , 102 Stat. 3197, added item 2710 and redesignated former item 2710 as 2711. ||||| Airbnb is taking its beef with the city of San Francisco to court. The short-term rental company filed suit today over a new law that requires Airbnb to verify that its hosts have registered with the city before showing ads for their homes online. The suit aims to block the law from going into effect as scheduled on August 1. San Francisco legislators passed the law earlier this month in an effort to combat the housing crisis in the city, but Airbnb and technology advocacy groups argue that the new rules violate the Communications Decency Act. “This legislation ignores the reality that the system is not working and this new approach will harm thousands of everyday San Francisco residents who depend on Airbnb. It also violates federal law,” Airbnb said in a blog post announcing the suit. “This is an unprecedented step for Airbnb, and one we do not take lightly, but we believe it’s the best way to protect our community of hosts and guests.” This is an unprecedented step for Airbnb, and one we do not take lightly. Airbnb San Francisco already requires Airbnb hosts to go through a rigorous registration process that involves acquiring a business license, in-person registration, quarterly reports on when guests are sleeping in the home (as opposed to when the owners are), and a list of all the furnishings in the home that a guest might use, down to the sheets and towels. The process is intended to help the city weed out commercial renters who are taking their properties off the housing market and listing them exclusively on Airbnb. Doing so might earn a homeowner more money, but it also takes housing stock away from a city that desperately needs all the housing it can get. Understandably, many hosts opt not to go through the cumbersome registration process — and the new law puts Airbnb on the hook to make sure its hosts comply. The law requires Airbnb to make sure hosts register, and the company faces $1000 per day fines if it does not. Airbnb launched a campaign asking its hometown to streamline the registration process, but the company is taking its fight to federal court, too. In documents filed this afternoon, Airbnb argues that the new law violates Section 230 of the CDA, which protects websites from being held liable for content provided by their users. Airbnb argues that the city should hold hosts accountable for registering instead. “Instead of punishing Airbnb for publishing unlawful listings, the City could enforce its short-term rental law directly against hosts who violate it,” Airbnb’s filing suggests. “Removing these listings would cause a substantial disruption to Airbnb’s business and have a significant detrimental effect on Airbnb’s goodwill and reputation among both hosts and guests, thus threatening irreparable injury to Airbnb’s business.” It’s the same principle for online vendors of alcohol and cigarettes. City Attorney spokesperson Advocacy groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and The Center for Democracy and Technology have agreed with Airbnb’s legal analysis. The legislation “clearly goes against what Section 230 states,” CDT policy counsel Gautam Hans wrote in a blog post. However, the San Francisco City Attorney’s office argues that Airbnb is misinterpreting the CDA. “Nothing in San Francisco’s pending ordinance punishes hosting platforms for their users’ content. In fact, it’s not regulating user content at all — it’s regulating the business activity of the hosting platform itself,” City Attorney spokesperson Matt Dorsey said. “It’s simply a duty to verify information that’s already required of a regulated business activity.” The CDA protects YouTube from liability when users upload violent content and eBay when sellers use the platform to trade illegal goods, but the City Attorney argues that Airbnb is less of an online business and more of a physical one. “It’s the same principle for online vendors of alcohol and cigarettes. Businesses that sell those products have a legal duty to verify the age of their customers, whether it’s online or at the corner store, so they don’t sell alcohol and cigarettes to children. They, too, are required to verify information that’s already required for their regulated business activity,” Dorsey added. In addition to the alleged CDA Section 230 violation, Airbnb also claims that San Francisco shouldn’t require the company to turn over information about its users without a subpoena. Airbnb argues that the city’s requirement to disclose users’ registration data also violates the Stored Communications Act. ||||| SAN FRANCISCO — Airbnb has charmed and strong-armed lawmakers around the world to allow it to operate in their communities. But two cities, Airbnb’s hometown, San Francisco, and New York, the service’s largest United States market, have not been so compliant. On Monday, Airbnb sued San Francisco over a unanimous decision on June 7 by the city’s Board of Supervisors to fine the company $1,000 a day for every unregistered host on its service. If Airbnb does not comply, it could face misdemeanor charges. The suit follows a bipartisan move by New York lawmakers who voted this month to heavily fine anyone who uses Airbnb to rent a whole apartment for fewer than 30 days, a practice that has been illegal in the state since 2010. The actions show how Airbnb, despite aggressive lobbying efforts, has not been able to persuade some local legislators to play ball. And in the case of New York, the company has demonstrated a surprisingly tin ear for local politics. ||||| "If a clerk at 7-Eleven can be fined for selling alcohol to someone who does not have a proper ID, certainly a multibillion-dollar corporation can be fined for facilitating and profiting from an illegal advertisement," Bonin said in a statement Tuesday. "Instead of fighting tooth and nail to avoid responsibility, Airbnb should help make sure their site is not being abused in ways that threaten the character and quality of our neighborhoods." ||||| From the moment our founders launched Airbnb in 2008 during the middle of the Great Recession to help pay their rent, Airbnb has helped San Franciscans afford to stay in the City they love. Since then, thousands of City residents have avoided eviction or foreclosure and been able to stay in San Francisco because they share their space. Thousands more use Airbnb a few times a year to make extra money while on vacation or when big events come to town. While we are not always perfect, we have constantly sought to learn, get better, and work with the City. There is a need for policies that protect San Francisco’s housing stock and ensure the collection of hotel taxes but also enable residents who depend on Airbnb to make ends meet. For over five years, we have worked with City government to create fair rules for home sharing. Unfortunately, the rules do not work. There is broad agreement that the current registration process in the City is broken. Despite these challenges, we had ongoing conversations with policymakers in City Hall and sought to encourage hosts to register in order to make the process work. Over the last year, we have held eleven town hall meetings to explain the registration process, repeatedly emailed hosts to encourage them to register, and convened scores of meetings with individual hosts to help walk them through the required registration steps. But instead of fixing the process, the Board of Supervisors recently passed a hastily-crafted proposal requiring Airbnb to remove all unregistered hosts. This legislation ignores the reality that the system is not working and this new approach will harm thousands of everyday San Francisco residents who depend on Airbnb. It also violates federal law. In particular, the proposal: 1. Puts many San Franciscans at risk of eviction or foreclosure while doing nothing to fix the broken registration process. An estimated 1,200 San Franciscans avoided foreclosure or eviction by hosting on Airbnb. These hosts have been asked to register with the City, but the ever-changing and confusing process simply doesn’t work for many residents, particularly senior citizens, people who occasionally share their space, work several jobs, and have limited time for repeated in-person application meetings. We have proposed a wide range of improvements, both large and small, that would help fix the process, including: Creating a one-stop, online permit application process. Creating a grace period for new hosts to get registered. Creating flexibility for hosts who rent out their space fewer than 14 nights a year - particularly important for hosts offering space when the City plays hosts to big events. Do not require hosts who share their space via a Qualified Website Company like Airbnb to obtain a business license. Home sharers are already required to receive one license. A second license is duplicative and unnecessary. End the requirement that hosts inventory and pay taxes on items like their sheets, blankets, pots and pans. Despite the Board of Supervisors’ acknowledgement that the current process is broken, the proposal does nothing to address the problem. Instead, the new law doubles down on a broken system by threatening websites that don’t remove home sharers who can’t navigate a confusing, inefficient, and bureaucratic process that often takes months to complete. 2. Violates important federal laws that protect privacy and innovation on the internet. The new law does nothing to fix the registration process and it violates federal law. Since 1996, the Communications Decency Act -- an important federal law referred to as the “linchpin of the vibrant and successful Internet we know today” -- has prevented local governments from holding websites responsible for content published by their users as the city is attempting to do here. The new law also violates the federal Stored Communications Act, which creates uniform privacy protections for internet users and prevents cities from simply demanding that platforms turn over user information without a subpoena or other legal process. A range of experts like the Electronic Frontier Foundation have repeatedly noted that these types of misguided and unlawful rules “would create a chilling atmosphere for online commerce and speech.” The Center for Democracy and Technology agreed, describing the city’s new approach as “unlawful” and noting that “the internet wouldn’t work if it were subject to piecemeal regulations by every state and City within the US.” 3. Ignores better alternatives that could protect San Francisco’s housing stock while respecting federal law There are better ways to regulate home sharing and address the City’s concerns, ways that don’t violate important federal laws. While the CDA plainly prohibits local governments from following the approach taken by the City, it still allows platforms and municipalities to work together to craft rules that work for everyone. We are ready and willing to work with City government to find common ground on a legal, sensible approach to regulation that protects housing and simplifies the process, and we are hopeful this dialogue can continue as quickly as possible. We share the City's concern about unwelcome commercial operators converting affordable rental housing to illegal hotels. Within the last year, over 200 listings have been removed in San Francisco. In addition, the typical Airbnb listing in San Francisco is rented 48 nights per year, and in 2015 nearly a third of “entire home” listings rented on our site in San Francisco were rented out fewer than 14 nights total. San Francisco is our hometown. Airbnb employs over 1,000 people here, and we’ve spent years working with City officials and other advocates to develop sensible rules. Airbnb was the first hosting platform to begin collecting and remitting hotel taxes on behalf of our hosts, and we have collected over $25 million for the City since 2014. We recognize the need for platforms like Airbnb to play a bigger role in helping the City prevent the loss of affordable rental stock. While we have attempted to work with the City on sensible, lawful alternatives to this flawed new ordinance, we regret that we are forced to now ask a federal court to intervene in this matter. This is an unprecedented step for Airbnb, and one we do not take lightly, but we believe it’s the best way to protect our community of hosts and guests. We believe that creative approaches are still possible and hope that the City will reconsider its current path and work with us towards building a new system that is legal, workable, and fair to everyone involved.

– Airbnb has filed a lawsuit alleging its First Amendment rights have been violated and that rules surrounding a new city ordinance flout federal protection for internet companies, and its target is its own hometown, the Los Angeles Times reports. The ordinance in question was passed unanimously earlier this month by San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, and when it takes effect within the next month or so (the New York Times says July; TechCrunch says Aug. 1), Airbnb and other online rental marketplaces will have to ensure hosts renting out their homes are registered with the city. If the company doesn't comply, it can be fined $1,000 per unregistered host per day or be forced to scrub its site of those listings. But in a blog post, Airbnb says "unfortunately, the rules do not work," and CNNMoney notes a registration process that may "turn off" some hosts, including a $50 fee and a mandate that all paperwork be turned in in person. Specifically, the company claims the law will put some San Francisco residents at risk of eviction or foreclosure because of "confusing" registration rules, and that the ordinance would violate the 1996 Communications Decency Act and the Stored Communications Act, which, respectively, protect websites from liability due to user content and from having to hand over consumer info without appropriate legal measures. A rep for the San Francisco attorney's office tells the San Francisco Business Times the city's not regulating online content—it's regulating the hosts' business. "It's simply a duty to verify information that's already required of a regulated business activity," the rep says. (These Airbnb renters found a rotting corpse.)

Mufid A. Elfgeeh (Photo: Provided) Story Highlights The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Saturday arrested Elfgeeh Saturday Elfgeeh appeared before a federal magistrate judge Monday On his Twitter account, Elfgeeh expressed support for various terrorist organizations Records show that Elfgeeh operates a convenience store, MoJoe's Famous Pizza and Chicken Through the 140 characters allowed on Twitter, Mufid Elfgeeh spelled out again and again his ideological hatred toward the United States, federal authorities allege. In one Tweet, he announced his allegiance with al-Qaida, writing, "al-Qaida said it loud and clear; we are fighting the American invasion and their hegemony over the earth and the people," authorities say. Other Tweets encouraged the donation of money for jihadists, and, while advocating martyrdom, Elfgeeh claimed al-Qaida and jihadists are the world's true Muslims. On Saturday afternoon, FBI agents and members of the agency's Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Elfgeeh in the parking lot of the Walmart at 1490 Hudson Ave. They allege that he'd planned to buy firearms and he wanted to use them to kill returning American troops as well as Shi'a Muslims living in the region. Elfgeeh is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Yemen who managed a convenience store on North Clinton Avenue. At the Walmart, Elfgeeh, 30, met with an FBI informant who provided him firearms and silencers, according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Albert Zenner. A swarm of law enforcement officials arrested Elfgeeh around 3 p.m. as shoppers wandered in and out of the store. The weapons the informant gave Elfgeeh immediately before the arrest had been rendered inoperable beforehand, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Harvey, a prosecutor in the case. "At no time was there a risk to the public this weekend," FBI Special Agent Brian Boetig, who heads the agency's western New York region, said about the large show of force for the arrest. Elfgeeh is charged with two counts of illegally receiving and possessing unregistered firearm silencers, but the investigation is continuing, U.S. Attorney William Hochul Jr. said at a news conference Monday. At a court appearance Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Feldman, Elfgeeh was appointed lawyers from the Federal Public Defender's Office. A bail hearing is scheduled for June 16. Federal prosecutors have requested that Elfgeeh stay jailed pending trial. Using confidential informants, the FBI has been investigating Elfgeeh since early 2013, according to the affidavit from Zenner. In early 2013, an individual who has occasionally worked as an informant for the FBI "first reported information about Elfgeeh." The informant, records show, has helped the FBI since around 2000. He has been paid about $21,700 by the agency, and the FBI assisted him in receiving visas for family members. CLOSE A press conference Monday outlined some of the details surrounding the arrest of Mufid A. Elfgeeh. Video by Tina Yee A second informant, who also has been paid by the FBI, began a series of conversations with Elfgeeh in late 2013. Those broad talks about terrorism in the Middle East and American politics morphed into Elfgeeh's stated intent to do harm to Americans, authorities allege. In the aftermath of the December terrorist attack on a mall in Kenya, Elfgeeh told the second informant that, "I'm thinking about just go buy a big automatic gun from off the street ... and just put on a vest or whatever and just go around and start shooting," the affidavit states. Elfgeeh indicated he already had a bulletproof vest. Elfgeeh discussed buying weapons from that informant, saying "I don't have ... no plan whatsoever," the affidavit alleges. He said he wanted weapons "for personal use." He also allegedly said he would "try to do as much as we could before we get, get captured," and that he wanted to do video messages after the attacks. In March, Elfgeeh apparently narrowed his plans to killing returning soldiers, authorities allege. He noted how a French-Algerian man had killed three French military members. Elfgeeh told the informant, who'd indicated he could buy him firearms, that he could figure out who returning military members were from online searches. Negotiations over possible weapons purchases continued into April and May. The conversations were recorded. Elfgeeh also inquired about prices for hand grenades, "the type that one would throw at someone as you are driving a car." On Saturday, the FBI gave the informant a "Walther PPK .32-caliber handgun with a functional silencer affixed to the barrel, a Glock 26, 9-millimeter handgun with a functional silencer affixed to the barrel, two boxes of .32-caliber ammunition, and two boxes of 9-millimeter ammunition," the affidavit states. The informant gave Elfgeeh the box carrying the weapons in the Walmart lot, moments before the arrest. After the arrest, police and FBI agents executed a search warrant at Elfgeeh's home and a convenience store, MoJoe's, that he runs at 1193 N. Clinton Ave. The store, decorated in candy stripe red and white, advertises pizza, chicken and groceries, and fronts the residence where Elfgeeh lived. Neighbors said agents searched the store and house for two hours or more Saturday evening. GCRAIG@DemocratandChronicle.com Twitter.com/gcraig1 Read or Share this story: http://on.rocne.ws/1h0FsD5 ||||| ROCHESTER, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A Rochester man was indicted Tuesday on charges that he tried to help three people go to Syria and fight for Islamic State. As CBS 2’s Jessica Schneider reported, Mufid A. Elfgeeh, 30, was indicted on three counts of attempting to provide material support and resources to the group known as ISIS or ISIL. He was also charged with one count of attempted murder of current and former U.S. military members, and possessing firearms with silencers. The indictment was announced Tuesday by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, and U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. for the Western District of New York. “We will remain aggressive in identifying and disrupting those who seek to provide support to ISIL and other terrorist groups that are bent on inflicting harm upon Americans,” Holder said in the release. “As this case shows, our agents and prosecutors are using all the investigative tools at our disposal to break up these plots before individuals can put their plans into action. We are focused on breaking up these activities on the front end, before supporters of ISIL can make good on plans to travel to the region or recruit sympathizers to this cause.” Prosecutors claimed Elfgeeh tried to help three people go to Syria to join and fight on behalf of ISIS. Those three people have all decided to cooperate with the FBI, the release said. In 2013 and into early 2014, Elfgeeh allegedly encouraged two confidential sources to go to Syria to fight for ISIS, and took several steps to prepare them for the plan, prosecutors said. He also allegedly sent $600 to a third person in Yemen, so that person could also go to Syria and fight for ISIS, prosecutors said. Court documents also claimed that Elfgeeh in December 2013 first talked about shooting current and former military members who had come back from Iraq, and told one of the informants he was planning to send to Yemen that he was considering getting a gun and ammunition, donning a bulletproof vest, and “just go(ing) around and start shooting,” prosecutors said. Elfgeeh allegedly gave the informant $1,050 in cash to buy two handguns with silencers and ammunition. The guns were made inoperable by the FBI before Elfgeeh got them, and he was arrested by the Rochester Joint Terrorism Task Force soon afterward, the release said. CBS affiliate WROC-TV in Rochester reported that Elfgeeh was born in Yemen, but is a U.S. citizen. He was the owner of MoJoe’s Store and Food Mart on North Clinton Avenue in Rochester, which was hit by an overnight fire in July, the station reported. When Elfgeeh was first arrested in June, a former employee, Victor Montalvo, told WROC that Elfgeeh was unpredictable and full of anger and rage. “He’s a crazy guy, should be in prison,” Montalvo told the station in June. Montalvo said he began working for Elfgeeh at MoJoe’s in March 2011, and told WROC that Elfgeeh would fire shotguns into the air in the middle of the street without warning. “There was a fight in the middle, so he came with a shotgun outside and started to shoot to the air like crazy,” Montalvo said. The announcement of Elfgeeh’s indictment upstate came the same day authorities warned of a threat to Times Square from ISIS militants. A post on an online message board for ISIS sympathizers encourages would-be terrorists to attack tourist hot spots in the United States, — and Times Square is the top target. The post is titled “To the Lone Wolves in America: How to Make a Bomb in Your Kitchen, to Create Scenes of Horror in Tourist Spots and Other Targets.” It includes bomb-making instructions and a list of ingredients, even how to pack it with shrapnel, WCBS 880’s Rich Lamb reported. Other American tourist spots are also on the threat list, including the Las Vegas Strip. “This is a new world, if you will, or the evolving world of terrorism, and we’re staying ahead of it,” NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said Tuesday. “We’ve been focused on it, and I believe that we are as prepared as any entity could be to deal with the threats.” As CBS 2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, the threat now has the NYPD more worried than they ever were about al Qaeda. “We are quite concerned, as you would expect, with the capabilities of ISIS much more so than al Qaeda,” Bratton said. Meanwhile, the nation’s top military officials testified Tuesday about President Barack Obama’s plan to stamp out ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey told lawmakers that U.S. troops could be called to the battlefield if air strikes fail. “If we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraq troops on attacks against specific ISIL targets, I’ll recommend that to the president,” Martin said. Elfgeeh remained in custody in Rochester Tuesday night. You May Also Be Interested In These Stories (TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.) ||||| Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin and U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. for the Western District of New York announced today that a federal grand jury in Rochester has returned a seven-count indictment charging Mufid A. Elfgeeh, 30, of Rochester, with three counts of attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), aka the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization. In addition, Elfgeeh is also charged with one count of attempted murder of current and former members of the United States military, one count of possessing firearms equipped with silencers in furtherance of a crime of violence, and two counts of receipt and possession of unregistered firearm silencers. “We will remain aggressive in identifying and disrupting those who seek to provide support to ISIL and other terrorist groups that are bent on inflicting harm upon Americans,” said Attorney General Holder. “As this case shows, our agents and prosecutors are using all the investigative tools at our disposal to break up these plots before individuals can put their plans into action. We are focused on breaking up these activities on the front end, before supporters of ISIL can make good on plans to travel to the region or recruit sympathizers to this cause.” “Disrupting and holding accountable those who seek to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations is and shall remain a critical national security priority,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “I want to thank the agents, analysts and prosecutors who are responsible for the arrest and charges in this case.” “With today's indictment of Mufid Elfgeehr, the government demonstrates that it will use all available tools to disrupt and defeat ISIS,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “The case also demonstrates that by working with the community, law enforcement is able to identify those who would harm our country or our returning soldiers.” The material support charges each carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, the attempted murder charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, the firearms possession charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years and a maximum of life in prison, and the firearm silencer charges each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. According to court records, Elfgeeh attempted to provide material support to ISIS in the form of personnel, namely three individuals, two of whom were cooperating with the FBI. Elfgeeh attempted to assist all three individuals in traveling to Syria to join and fight on behalf of ISIS. Elfgeeh also plotted to shoot and kill members of the United States military who had returned from Iraq. As part of the plan to kill soldiers, Elfgeeh purchased two handguns equipped with firearm silencers and ammunition from a confidential source. The handguns were made inoperable by the FBI before the confidential source gave them to Elfgeeh. According to court documents, in 2013 and into early 2014, Elfgeeh encouraged the two confidential sources (CS-1 and CS-2) to travel overseas to engage in violent jihad. After CS-1 and CS-2 agreed to travel to Syria to join ISIS, Elfgeeh took several steps to prepare them for the trip. Elfgeeh also sent $600 to an individual in Yemen for the purpose of assisting that individual in traveling from Yemen to Syria for the purpose of joining and fighting on behalf of ISIS. Court documents also indicate that Elfgeeh first discussed the idea of shooting United States military members in December 2013 when he told CS-2 that he was thinking about getting a gun and ammunition, putting on a bulletproof vest, and “just go[ing] around and start shooting.” In February 2014, Elfgeeh told CS-2 that he needed a handgun and silencer. Elfgeeh later gave CS-2 $1,050 in cash to purchase two handguns equipped with silencers and ammunition. On May 31, 2014, CS-2 delivered the two handguns equipped with silencers and ammunition to Elfgeeh. After Elfgeeh took possession of the items, he was arrested by members of the Rochester Joint Terrorism Task Force. Elfgeeh is currently being held in custody. The indictment is the result of an investigation on the part of the Rochester Joint Terrorism Task Force of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The defendant is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Brett A. Harvey and Frank H. Sherman, with the assistance of Trial Attorney Steven P. Ward of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. ||||| Rochester Man Indicted For Attempting to Provide Support to ISIS Video - A Rochester man is the face of America's fight against terrorism. Mufid A. Elfgeeh, age 30, owns a corner store in the city. The U.S. Attorney General says he recruited Americans to fight for the Islamic State in Syria. Elfgeeh is one of the first Americans to be charged in the U.S. battle against ISIS. Elfgeeh was first taken into custody in May. In the parking lot outside Walmart on Hudson Avenue, he allegedly bought handguns and ammunition from an FBI informant. Prosecutors said he was planning to kill members of the U.S. military returning from Iraq. Now, they say, he was trying to help three people go to Syria, to join and fight on behalf of ISIS. They say he first discussed engaging in jihad late last year, then took several steps to prepare those people for the trip. They say he sent money to Yemen, to help them travel to Syria. The plot was foiled when those people decided to cooperate with the FBI. As News 8 first reported in June, Elfgeeh was born in Yemen, but is a U.S. citizen. He owned Mojoe's store on North Clinton and lived above the store. A man who once worked for him, said he was full of anger and rage. In a statement Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said, "As this case shows, our agents and prosecutors are using all the investigative tools at our disposal, to break up these plots before individuals can put their plans into action." Elfgeeh was indicted on federal charges of providing material support to ISIS, attempted murder of U.S. military members, and possessing firearms with silencers. Elfgeeh is currently in custody. If he's convicted, he could face up to life in prison. ||||| His plan began in late 2013 and continued into 2014, authorities said. The three people were under instruction from Elfgeeh to travel to Syria to join Islamic State, where they would aid in conducting jihad, the news release said. A person in Yemen was also allegedly sent money by Elfgeeh in order to aid Islamic State, authorities said.

– A man from Rochester, NY, was indicted yesterday on charges of attempting to help three people (two of them FBI informants) travel to Syria to take up arms with ISIS, reports the LA Times. The Justice Department statement further alleges that Mufid Elfgeeh sent $600 to a potential recruit in Yemen, with the funds designed to enable the individual to head to Syria and join ISIS. Elfgeeh was also charged with scheming to kill US troops who had returned from Iraq, going so far as to buy two silenced (but inoperable) pistols from a source working with the FBI. The naturalized US citizen was born in Yemen, WROC reports. Before his arrest in May, Elfgeeh was already known for his volatile behavior and incendiary Twitter updates, once tweeting that al-Qaeda "said it loud and clear; we are fighting the American invasion and their hegemony over the earth and the people," the Democrat and Chronicle reports. A man who used to work for Elfgeeh at his convenience store called him "a crazy guy [who] should be in prison." He said Elfgeeh would sometimes suddenly start shooting off his guns in the street, CBS New York reports. "We will remain aggressive in identifying and disrupting those who seek to provide support to ISIL and other terrorist groups that are bent on inflicting harm upon Americans," Attorney General Eric Holder says in the statement. (ISIS recruiters are now targeting American women.)

Universal (a division of Comcast Corp.) has dropped this full-length theatrical trailer for Fifty Shades of Grey courtesy of NBC's The Today Show. The last ten seconds are arguably not safe for work, yet the trailer earned the green-band (for general audiences) approval. There was actually a sanitized for network television version that debuted this morning on The Today Show which was followed by an interview with the cast and a clip from the film. This was actually preceded several days ago by what amounted to a teaser to the trailer presented by Beyoncé Knowles's Instagram account. The star of Austin Powers: Goldmember and The Pink Panther will be singing a version of "Crazy in Love" for the film adaptation of E.L. James novel, some of which is sampled in the above trailer. It was certainly a different way to drop a yet another teaser for a trailer. But them's the breaks as the technology changes how marketing materials like this are dispersed. In this day and age, how a trailer is released is arguably as much of a news story as the existence of said trailer and what it contains about the film it is advertising. This one was actually supposed to come out next week, where it would have competed directly with Walt Disney's Guardians of the Galaxy. But it was moved back to February 13th, 2015. So yes, Universal is either betting that women will drag their significant others to this erotic drama as something of a Valentine's Day date movie and/or that single women will take in the picture as a kind of girls' night out outing for the manufactured romantic holiday. This may seem like an unusual V-Day pick, but I'd argue it's no more unconventional than studios opening a male-centric action picture over the holiday weekend and cynically hoping to woo the female audience by showing off what little romantic content it happens to contain (re: Daredevil). Maybe Universal will cut a trailer with a car chase and/or an explosion or two. I'm not going to go into the issues that critics have with the source material, which is of course a bondage-centric bit of Twilight fan fiction that became a publishing sensation and indirectly coined the rather offensive term "mommy porn." As is always the case when females become interested in any kind of popular art, the pundits and analysts were out in full force over the last couple years trying to explain why women had the gall to enjoy something that isn't explicitly targeted at the male audience. No one feels the need to explain why men like Transformers, but we all have to wring our hands over why women enjoy Sex and the City, Twilight, or Fifty Shades of Grey. My only issue with the film is that the online fan petition to get Alexis Bledel cast as Anastasia Steele didn't work. Because you know, art... I wrote last week about the fifteenth anniversary of Eyes Wide Shut and how Warner Bros. blew a chance to legitimize the NC-17 rating as a mainstream classification for adult films that aren't explicitly pornographic in nature. I'm assuming Universal is going for an R-rating for at least the domestic theatrical release, but one could argue that Fifty Shades of Grey is also something of an opportunity to legitimize the NC-17 at least as a commercial option, if not an artistic one. Point being, I can't imagine anyone intending to see an R-rated version of Fifty Shades of Grey would be turned off by the prospect of an NC-17 version. Nonetheless, I can't imagine this film won't get... um... spanked by (predominantly male) critics at large so artistic respect would still be out of reach for the NC-17 even on the off-chance that Universal takes the plunge. Of course, the big question is whether or not adult moviegoers, female or male, will venture out to a theater and watch what is basically (and I say this without moral judgment) pornography amid other moviegoers. If ever there was a test case for a major studio release going Video On Demand and first run theatrical on the same date, it is this one. One last thing, the one unconditionally positive aspect of this film is that it is a female-targeted motion picture that is based on a novel written by a woman, adapted by a female screenwriter (Kelly Marcel) and directed by a female director (Sam Taylor-Johnson). In an era when women can't even getting directing gigs for Sex and the City movies, the Hunger Games and Divergent movies are all helmed by men, and only the first Twilight was directed by a woman, Taylor-Johnson getting a crack at a probable hit darn-well matters. For that reason alone, I hope Fifty Shades of Grey makes a boatload of money next February. Fifty Shades of Grey, starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, opens February 13th, 2015. As always, we'll see. ||||| 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.

– It's the moment we've all (OK, at least some of us) been waiting for—the premiere of the steamy trailer for 50 Shades of Grey, which will hit theaters just in time for Valentine's Day next year, Forbes reports. A slightly more family-friendly version of the trailer aired on the Today Show this morning. This is not it.

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 ||||| In a series of Twitter posts late Tuesday evening and early Wednesday, Roseanne Barr apologized for a racist tweet that led to the cancellation of her hit television show. In a statement Barr acknowledged as her own, she said: "I deeply regret my comments from late last night on Twitter. Above all, I want to apologize to Valerie Jarrett, as well as to ABC and the cast and crew of the Roseanne show. I am sorry for making a thoughtless joke that does not reflect my values - I love all people and am very sorry. Today my words caused hundreds of hardworking people to lose their jobs. I also sincerely apologize to the audience that has embraced my work for decades. I apologize from the bottom of my heart and hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me." The comedian then retweeted messages from supporters who defend the tweet that got her show canceled. Barr tweeted: "hey guys, don't defend me, it's sweet of you 2 try, but...losing my show is 0 compared 2 being labelled a racist over one tweet-that I regret even more." But that sentiment contrasted with many retweets from the comedian. Her Twitter timeline shows that, before and after asking fans not to defend her, she retweeted messages suggesting Barr's critics are hypocritical or otherwise defending her original, racist remarks. Barr also retweeted a post from a user who said her "apology is not sincere." ||||| Ms. Barr also retweeted a user who asserted that Black Lives Matter and anti-fascist activists are Soros-sponsored front groups. The user referred to Mr. Soros as the “terrorist in chief.” The assertions about Mr. Soros that appeared throughout Ms. Barr’s timeline are baseless. Even the conservative National Review, while critical of Mr. Soros, has called the Nazi smear a “slander.” In a statement in response to her tweet, a spokesman for Mr. Soros called her claims insulting. “George Soros survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary as a 13 year old child by going into hiding and assuming a false identity with the help of his father, who managed to save his own family and help many other Jews survive Holocaust,” the statement read. It continued, “He did not collaborate with the Nazis. He did not help round up people. He did not confiscate anybody’s property. Such false allegations are insulting to the victims of the Holocaust, to all Jewish people, and to anyone who honors the truth. They are an affront to Mr. Soros and his family, who against the odds managed to survive one of the darkest moments in our history.” ||||| “It was 2 in the morning and I was ambien tweeting, I made a mistake I wish I hadn’t but…don’t defend it please.” Following a racist Twitter rant that cost Roseanne Barr her show on ABC, the television star apologized and bid farewell to the social media platform. Then, she returned and blamed the sleep aid Ambien in a tweet that was later deleted. On Tuesday morning, Barr tweeted: “I apologize. I am now leaving Twitter.” I apologize. I am now leaving Twitter. — Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 29, 2018 For a while, all was quiet. But Barr did not leave Twitter. Instead, she launched a tweetstorm late Tuesday evening, first with apologetic tweets, some of which were also deleted. “I just want to apologize to the hundreds of people, and wonderful writers (all liberal) and talented actors who lost their jobs on my show due to my stupid tweet,” she wrote. In one of her few remaining tweets, Barr asked her followers not to defend her, saying, “it’s sweet of you 2 try, but…losing my show is 0 compared 2 being labelled a racist over one tweet-that I regret even more.” hey guys, don't defend me, it's sweet of you 2 try, but...losing my show is 0 compared 2 being labelled a racist over one tweet-that I regret even more. — Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) May 30, 2018 And then she opened fire with a volley of defensive retweets that appeared designed to make her look like a victim of “double standards,” as one user said, punished because she supports President Trump and conservative views, “the sacrificial conservative celebrity.” I look like a monkey. Why? My DNA is 96% similar to a monkey's. It makes scientific sense. But due to emotions, double standards & feelings science is cancelled this year. There are 5,000 genders & if you don't agree with me you're a racist xenophobe. — An0maly (@LegendaryEnergy) May 30, 2018 Her retweets, among other things, called out Disney, the parent company of ABC, for tolerating an anti-Trump screed by Keith Olbermann, who recently returned to ESPN, also owned by Disney. Some retweeted posts also criticized ABC’s lack of response to comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s mocking of Melania Trump’s accent as well as “The View’s” Joy Behar calling Vice President Pence mentally ill because of his faith. Kimmel and Behar later apologized. Even Harvey Weinstein was treated better by Disney than Barr, suggested one of her retweets. Many of the retweeted posts were also later removed from Barr’s Twitter feed. Here’s a sampler: .@Disney, owner of @ABCNetwork fought to keep contracts with Harvey Weinstein confidential, fires @therealroseanne over a dumb joke tweet. https://t.co/STiNEZNyBd — Chadwick Moore (@Chadwick_Moore) May 30, 2018 Hollywood punished Roseanne for a tweet faster than they punished Woody Allen, Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey for being sexual predators. — The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) May 29, 2018 JUST IMAGINE IF ANY LEFTIST CELEB GOT THIS TREATMENT. I can't either.https://t.co/aP7yhexSrs — Nobody (@Nowhere27) May 30, 2018 This Rosanne thing was always a proxy for Pres Trump. They brought the show back so they could inevitably cancel the show when she said something they didn’t like. They can’t beat Trump so this is a symbolic show of force. Rosanne was always going to end this way. — 🇺🇸 A Free Black Man. 🇺🇸 (@AFreeBlackMan) May 29, 2018 And finally, early Wednesday morning, Barr tweeted: “I’m sorry 4 my tweet, AND I will also defend myself as well as talk to my followers. so, go away if u don’t like it. I will handle my sadness the way I want to. I’m tired of being attacked & belittled more than other comedians who have said worse.” She later deleted that tweet, as well. Meanwhile, the “Ambien tweet” had caused its own ruckus, despite its deletion. I hope ambien has to issue a statement saying they don’t make people racist — Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) May 30, 2018 AMBIEN SIDE EFFECTS: Peddling bizarre conspiracy theories, voting for white nationalists, doing photo shoots while dressed as Hitler and tanking your career by calling black women apes. If your racism lasts longer than four hours, please see a doctor. pic.twitter.com/Q3GdHA8myV — Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) May 30, 2018 More from Morning Mix: On Fox News, Rep. Trey Gowdy and Andrew Napolitano dismantle Trump’s ‘spy claims’ ||||| I look like a monkey. Why? My DNA is 96% similar to a monkey's. It makes scientific sense. But due to emotions, double standards & feelings science is cancelled this year. There are 5,000 genders & if you don't agree with me you're a racist xenophobe.

– Roseanne Barr's quick return to Twitter was full of apologies for a racist tweet. But Barr, who told Twitter followers not to defend her after ABC canceled her hit show and talent agency ICM Partners severed ties, has now taken to retweeting users coming to her defense, reports CNBC. "You had no idea VJ had any black blood … U made a political joke that fell flat," reads one comment retweeted by Barr on Wednesday, referring to the subject of Barr's racist tweet, Valerie Jarrett. Another retweeted comment reads, "I look like a monkey. Why? My DNA is 96% similar to a monkey's. It makes scientific sense," per the Washington Post. Other Barr tweets are also getting attention, including two targeting billionaire philanthropist George Soros. The 87-year-old, who was 13 when Nazis invaded his native Hungary, "turned in his fellow Jews 2 be murdered in German concentration camps & stole their wealth" and now aims to "overthrow" the US "by buying/backing candidates 4 local district attorney races who will ignore US law & favor 'feelings,'" Barr claimed Tuesday. Donald Trump Jr. retweeted the claims to his 2.8 million followers, despite the New York Times describing them as "baseless." Soros "did not collaborate with the Nazis. He did not help round people up. He did not confiscate anybody’s property," a rep says in a statement, calling the accusations insulting "to all Jewish people, and to anyone who honors the truth."

Researchers found the world's deepest underwater sinkhole in the South China Sea. Chinese scientists plan to study marine life in the newly-discovered hole. (Reuters) As local fishermen tell it, the deep blue “Dragon Hole” in the Paracel Islands, called the “eye” of the South China Sea, is where the Monkey King in “Journey to the West” acquired his famous golden cudgel. The mythical tale was published in the 16th century and is among the four great classical novels of Chinese literature. Last week, the Dragon Hole earned a new claim to fame. Get to know newly-confirmed world deepest blue hole! Locals call it "eye" of #SouthChinaSea https://t.co/tmk5mQyItw pic.twitter.com/LL3WE2lehB — China Xinhua News (@XHNews) July 23, 2016 After nearly a year of exploration, Chinese researchers have determined that the underwater sinkhole is likely the world’s deepest, reaching about 987 feet below the surface and surpassing the previous record holder, Dean’s Blue Hole near the Bahamas, by more than 300 feet, Xinhua News Agency reported. Blue holes are named as such for their rich, dark blue coloring, a stark contrast to the otherwise aqua waters that surround them. Best described as underwater caves, these striking and beautiful formations open up with underwater entrances and extend below sea level, mirroring the appearance of a sinkhole. Researchers with the Sansha Ship Course Research Institute for Coral Protection began exploring Dragon Hole, known as Longdong, in August 2015 and completed the project last month, Xinhua reported. It measures about 426 feet wide and is almost deep enough to hold the entire Eiffel Tower. The research team used a Video Ray Pro 4 underwater robot to explore the sinkhole, reported CCTV News, where they discovered more than 20 species of fish and marine life near the surface of the vertical cave. Researchers told the television station that after about 330 feet, the water is oxygen free and likely unable to support life. On July 24, CCTV reported that the Sansha city government had officially named the sinkhole the Sansha Yongle Blue Hole. The city said it has drafted plans to continue to protect and study the blue hole. “We will strive to protect the natural legacy left by the Earth,” Xu Zhifei, vice mayor of Sansha City, told Xinhua. Across the globe, blue holes have been the source of magnificent discovery. Last year, the Guardian reported that a study conducted by scientists from Rice University and Louisiana State University found that sediment samples from the ancient Great Blue Hole in Belize confirmed the theory that “drought and climate conditions pushed the Mayans from a regional power to a smattering of rival survivors and finally a virtually lost civilization.” Divers flock to the Great Blue Hole, surrounded by shallow, lagoon waters and a coral island. According to Atlas Obscura, this underwater cave was made famous by one particular diver, explorer Jacques Cousteau, who in 1971 declared the site one of the top 10 best places for diving in the world. Cousteau sailed on his ship, Calypso, to investigate the hole’s depths and discovered huge stalactites and stalagmites below the surface, Atlas Obscura reported. Cousteau also confirmed that the sinkhole had formed when a limestone cave formation collapsed after the glacial period. Dean’s Blue Hole, located near Long Island in the Bahamas, was previously considered the world’s deepest underwater sinkhole. Also a top location for divers, Dean’s Blue Hole has a diameter of about 82 to 115 feet on the surface, reports Atlas Obscura, but widens to about 330 feet as it deepens. According to the publication, water there is very clear with visibility as far as 115 feet down. #TravelTuesday at Dean's Blue Hole in Long Island. Are you up for the adventure? pic.twitter.com/byRjQNipUe — The Bahamas (@VisitTheBahamas) May 10, 2016 Maximum depths in other blue holes scattered throughout the Bahamas and other parts of the world hover around 360 feet, but Dean’s Blue Hole extends far beyond at 663 feet deep. The newly discovered Dragon Hole is even more exceptional, reaching depths of almost 1,000 feet. More reading: ‘Something went horribly wrong’ for an experienced diver in caves beneath N.M’s Blue Hole Add adrenaline to a beach vacation and save the Belize Barrier Reef by hunting lionfish Kerry says U.S. is neutral on South China Sea, wants China to follow laws ||||| One Breath: Free-diving, Death and the Quest to Shatter Human Limits. By Adam Skolnick. Crown Archetype; 336 pages; $26. Corsair; £20. THE death of Nick Mevoli, an American freediver, on November 17th 2013, while competing at Dean’s Blue Hole—a 202-metre-deep funnel of darkness in the Bahamas—is a litany of “if onlys”. If only the 32-year-old from Brooklyn, tired and in pain, had not attempted a dive that day. If only, sensing trouble, he had turned back to the surface sooner. If only his team’s resuscitation efforts had succeeded. “One Breath”, Adam Skolnick’s dissection of an extreme sport and post-mortem of a dive gone wrong, becomes a morality play of hubris, imprudence and obsession. Free-diving, descending as deep as possible on a single breath, is a niche interest that is more dangerous than any sport other than base-jumping (leaping from a bridge or cliff wearing a wingsuit). Perils include punctured eardrums, embolisms, blackouts and “lung squeezes”. Diving at extreme depths brutalises the lungs, which at a depth of 30 metres compress to a quarter of their normal size. At worst, capillaries and pulmonary vessels rupture and a diver drowns in his own blood. It took Mevoli, who began his first formal course in free-diving in 2011, slightly more than a year to rocket from being a novice competitor to a record-holder, and that was part of the problem. “The biggest problem with freedivers now is they hurry. They go too deep too fast,” said Natalia Molchanova, possibly the world’s greatest freediver, who drowned last August off the coast of Spain. She was giving a private lesson when she made a dive for pleasure. Not being clipped to a line, she was swept away and never found. Even the best of the best are not immune. Mevoli grew up in a broken home with a neglectful, self-absorbed father who gave his son a life-insurance policy for his 18th birthday and made himself the beneficiary. Before his parents’ divorce, Mevoli would plunge into the backyard pool of his boyhood home in Florida, surface to check if the angry voices had subsided, and, if not, submerge again. In free-diving he found solace and self-worth. “Each dive”, Mr Skolnick writes, became “a referendum on his own value.” Mevoli-the-friend was caring and large-spirited. Mevoli-the-competitor was reckless—“cowboyish” a friend said—prone to tantrums, sulks and self-excoriation. “I really liked Nick,” a fellow diver observed. “But I didn’t like him as a competitor. He was exorcising demons from his past and using free-diving to do that.” It is a haunting tale. To the list of “if onlys” one should perhaps add one more: If only Nick Mevoli hadn’t measured his self-worth in metres. “Numbers infected my head like a virus,” he wrote in a blog post shortly before he died. “The need to achieve became an obsession.” And “obsessions”, he noted, “can kill.” At 20 metres, the body loses its buoyancy. Pressure builds, the lungs shrink, gravity exerts its pull. The diver goes into free fall, carried ever deeper away from light and into blackness. One imagines Nick Mevoli, young and beautiful—an undersea Icarus falling from the sun, away from friends, family and life. ||||| SANSHA, Hainan, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers have confirmed the world's deepest underwater sinkhole, or blue hole, at China's Xisha Islands in the South China Sea. The blue hole is 300.89 meters deep, surpassing the current record of 202 meters, the researchers confirmed Friday. The hole, traditionally known as Longdong, or "Dragon Hole," is located at 16.31 degrees north latitude and 111.46 degrees east longitude in Yongle, a major coral reef in the Xisha Islands. Locals call it the "eye" of the South China Sea. In some local fishermen's interpretations of the 16th-century Chinese Classic "Journey to the West," the sinkhole is the site where the hero's weapon, a golden cudgel, originates. The latest exploration project, which lasted from August 2015 until June, found the hole is 300.89 meters deep with a 130-meter-diameter-wide entrance, said Fu Liang, head of the Sansha Ship Course Research Institute for Coral Protection, at a conference on Friday. Supported by the Sansha City Government in south China's island province of Hainan, the institute explored the sinkhole using the "VideoRay Pro 4" underwater robot carrying a depth sensor. Researchers with the institute have also found more than 20 fish species and other marine organisms at the upper level of the sinkhole. The blue hole is almost oxygen free below 100 meters, meaning life is unlikely. The findings have been recognized by an expert panel led by Meng Wei, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering. A blue hole is a roughly circular sinkhole. The name reflects the color contrast between the dark blue inside the hole compared with the light blue waters surrounding it. Previously, the 202-meter-deep Dean's Blue Hole on Long Island in the Bahamas was considered the world's deepest known blue hole with an underwater entrance. Panel leader Meng said blue holes are peculiar marine landforms that are important for marine research and the construction of marine projects. The panel has advised including protection and exploitation of the blue hole in the five-year plan at the country, provincial or city level. Xu Zhifei, vice mayor of Sansha City, said the city has drafted measures to protect, study and exploit the blue hole. "We will strive to protect the natural legacy left by the Earth," he said.

– "Blue holes" are mystifying to look at, the large, deep pits appearing a shade of blue that's just as deep and in stark contrast to the shallow waters around them. And what we've long considered the planet's deepest—the 663-foot Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas—has been relegated to second place, say Chinese researchers. They announced Friday that 11 months of study have confirmed that an underwater sinkhole in the South China Sea crushes that record. At 987 feet, it could nearly swallow the Eiffel Tower, reports the Washington Post. Known colloquially as "Dragon Hole" and the "eye " of the South China Sea, the depth was confirmed using a VideoRay Pro 4 underwater robot equipped with a depth sensor, reports Xinhua. The researchers further found that oxygen exists only in the top third of the blue hole, and they identified more than 20 fish and marine species in that top layer. The local government has drafted measures related to the protection and study of the hole. In its report on the discovery, Kyodo notes that when it's humans, not robots, exploring these blue holes, the situation is "extremely dangerous." On Nov. 17, 2013, a 32-year-old free-diver from Brooklyn drowned at Dean’s Blue Hole. The Economist ranks free-diving—relying on a single breath to dive as deep as you can —as second only to BASE-jumping in terms of its danger level. "Diving at extreme depths brutalizes the lungs, which at a depth of [100 feet] compress to a quarter of their normal size." (This blue hole in Belize may hold the secret to the Mayan collapse.)

The midcentury modernistic steel-and-glass house in Highland Park and the nearby auto pavilion that together are commonly known as the Ferris Bueller home for their prominence in the 1986 film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” sold on Thursday for $1.06 million. And the buyers, an investment banker and a lawyer, are nearby residents and Northwestern University alumni. The deal brought to a close a more than five-year-long sales odyssey for the 5,300-square-foot house and its iconic, detached, glass-enclosed auto pavilion, which perches over a ravine on steel pilings. Since May 2009, the Rose family -- the home’s only owners -- had had the property on and off the market. The final sale price was for less than half of the $2.3 million that the Rose family initially had sought for the property in May 2009. It later was reduced to $1.8 million and then to $1.65 million before coming off the market in 2011 for some light rehab work. For a time, the property remained off the market but still informally listed. In August the Rose family relisted the property for $1.5 million and later cut its asking price to $1.375 million, $1.275 million and $1.25 million before finally going under contract in January. The four-bedroom main house was built in 1953 and designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe disciple A. James Speyer, while the pavilion was designed by David Haid and constructed about 20 years later to house an exotic car collection. In a classic scene late in the film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the titular character’s best friend, Cameron Frye, sends a classic 1961 Ferrari crashing through the pavilion’s plate glass windows into the ravine. Features in the pavilion include a kitchen, a bath and room for four cars. The sellers recently renovated the pavilion’s windows and steel. The agent for the buyers, Mindy Shea of @properties, declined to comment on the purchase. News of the sale was first reported by Crain's Chicago Business. ||||| Five years after it first came on the market, the two-building modernist home in Highland Park that played a memorable role in “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” sold today. The final sale price was $1.06 million, said Craig Hogan, regional director at Coldwell Banker Previews, the luxury division of the real estate brokerage, which represented the house. That's less than half the $2.3 million that the sellers, the family of Francis and the late Ben Rose, originally listed it for in 2009. By the time of the sale, the asking price had been cut to $1.2 million. “Talk about a journey,” Mr. Hogan said. After the home first went on the market, it attracted worldwide media attention because of its movie role. In the 1986 John Hughes film, the smaller of the home's two black, glassy buildings is the garage where the father of Ferris' friend Cameron keeps a precious 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder convertible that the teenagers take out for a joyride.

– After more than five years on and off the market, an Illinois home made famous in Ferris Bueller's Day Off has sold. The home, located in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, is the one where Bueller's best friend Cameron lives in the movie—and where he sends his dad's classic Ferrari through the plate glass windows of the home's auto pavilion and into a ravine after the characters' iconic joyride. The detached pavilion, too, was included in the $1.06 million sale, which went through Thursday, the Chicago Tribune reports. The Rose family, the only owners of the 5,300-square-foot midcentury modernistic home, initially listed the property in May 2009 for $2.3 million; the price was later reduced and reduced again before the home came off the market to get work done in 2011. It was re-listed in August for $1.5 million, followed by three more price reductions; it finally went under contract in January after the price was cut to $1.25 million. After it was re-listed, Coldwell Banker began emphasizing the property's "architectural pedigree," Crain's Chicago Business notes; the steel and glass "box" was designed in 1953 by James Speyer. The buyers are an investment banker and a lawyer, both alums of Northwestern University.

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 file photo, Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab speaks at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. The young son of a Kansas state lawmaker died on a water slide that is billed... (Associated Press) KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The 10-year-old boy killed during a ride on the world's tallest waterslide was decapitated in the accident, a person familiar with the investigation said Wednesday. Authorities have yet to explain how it happened. The person was speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about the death of Caleb Schwab Sunday on the "Verruckt" raft ride at the Schlitterbahn WaterPark in Kansas City, Kansas. Two women who are not family members were also in the raft at the time and were treated for facial injuries. The boy's parents — Republican state Rep. Scott Schwab and his wife, Michele — have not spoken publicly since the death. His funeral is scheduled for Friday. Verruckt —which in German means "insane" — featured multi-person rafts that make a 168-foot drop at speeds of up to 70 mph, followed by a surge up a hump and a 50-foot descent to a finishing pool. Since the accident, investigators have removed netting that was held in place by supports above the 50-foot section from the hump to the finishing pool. Riders, who must be at least 54 inches tall, were harnessed with two nylon seatbelt-like straps — one that crossed the rider's lap, the other stretching diagonally like a car shoulder seatbelt. Each strap was held in place by long Velcro-style straps, not by buckles. Riders would hold ropes inside the raft. The park reopened Wednesday except for a large section that includes the waterslide, although its towering profile greeted visitors when they drove through the entrance. Access to the Verruckt was blocked by a 7-foot-high wooden fence. On a hot, midweek day, the park was doing a steady business although there were no lines for other rides. Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio told The Associated Press outside the park's entrance Wednesday that the company was not discussing Sunday's tragedy out of respect for the family. She also said that she could not offer immediate perspective about how Wednesday's turnout compared with typical attendance. "We didn't know if we'd get five people, 15 people. But this is affirming," she said. Pulling a cooler behind her, 42-year-old Sara Craig said she was a bit uneasy bringing her 14-year-old son, Cale, and one of his 13-year-old friends to the park Wednesday. "I feel guilty having fun when a family is hurting so badly," she said. She said the family rode Verruckt twice in one day a couple of weeks ago. She remembered a short video they were required to watch, though she didn't recall that it included any caveats about peril. Craig said that during her first trip down the ride with her son and one of his friends, her shoulder restraint came off, something she opted not to report to park workers. "I didn't think much about it," she said. "You don't think you're gonna die." So they rode it again, only to see the restraint on her son's friend also come loose by the time it was over. She said the ride's operators sent them down the slide even though their combined weight was 393 pounds — shy of the 400 weight minimum the park advertises as a requirement. Craig described the ride as "very, very rough," so much so that "when I got off, my head hurt." The water park passed a private inspection in June that included Verruckt, according to a document released by a Kansas state agency. The Kansas Department of Labor provided to The Associated Press on Wednesday a copy of an insurance company inspector's June 7 letter saying inspections had been completed. The letter said all rides met guidelines for being insured with "no disqualifying conditions noted." But it added: "this survey reflects the conditions observed or found at the time of the inspection only, and does not certify safety or integrity of the rides and attractions, physical operations or management practices at any time in the future." The inspector did not immediately reply to email and telephone messages seeking additional details. Kansas law requires rides to be inspected annually by the parks, and the state randomly audits the records. The last records audit for Schlitterbahn was June 2012. Ken Martin, a Richmond, Virginia-based amusement park safety consultant, questioned whether the straps were appropriate, suggesting that a more solid restraint system that fits over the body — similar to those used in roller coasters — may have been better. In early tests, rafts carrying sandbags flew off the slide, prompting engineers to tear down half the ride and reconfigure some angles. A promotional video about building the slide includes footage of two men riding a raft down a half size test model and going slightly airborne as it crests the top of the first big hill. Jon Rust, a professor of textile engineering at North Carolina State University, said the material used on the straps, commonly called hook and loop, isn't designed to keep a person in the seat. It also can degrade with use. ___ Associated Press writers Bill Draper and Margaret Stafford in Kansas City and John Hanna in Topeka contributed to this report. ||||| Another family has come forward saying their raft went airborne on a Schlitterbahn water slide in the days before an Olathe boy died on the ride. Dawn Gentry of Wichita said she and her daughter Olivia rode the Verrückt water slide in Kansas City, Kan., on July 28. As they approached the slide’s second drop, Gentry said, their raft flew into the air. “Our boat, 100 percent, went off the tracks,” Gentry told The Star on Wednesday, three days after Caleb Thomas Schwab was killed on the slide. “The boat was airborne and then boom, we landed.” Workers at the end of the ride were concerned. They rushed to see whether Gentry and her daughter, as well as a man riding with them, were OK. Digital Access For Only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. Her account echoed that of Jon Powell of Hutchinson, Kan., who earlier told The Star about his family’s raft going airborne about three weeks ago. “The lifeguards were freaking out,” Gentry said. “They were like, ‘Are you sure you are OK? Seriously, are you OK?’ ... They asked me so many times, it registered to me, ‘Uh, this isn’t the first time this has happened.’ ” The question is, how many times has it happened? And why? Schlitterbahn declined to respond Wednesday when asked whether top park management knew of the concerns or whether the ride was inspected or adjusted after the rafts went airborne. Other riders have reported that they told workers their harnesses came loose or snapped off as they zoomed down Verrückt, at 17 stories the world’s tallest water slide. Kansas City, Kan., police continued to investigate the Sunday death of Caleb, 10, son of Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab. A spokeswoman said no information would be released until the investigation was complete. Much of what is known has come from people at the park that day. Some witnesses, like Melanie Gocke and Jess Sanford, both 16 and from Lincoln, Neb., didn’t see what initially happened, but heard a loud noise and turned to look. “It sounded like something derailed,” Sanford told The Star on Wednesday. The two friends saw a boy’s body coming down the slide — midway down the ride’s second hill — behind a raft with two women inside. They could see a trail of blood in the water behind him. Both said they saw the boy’s body in the water at the bottom, and could tell his neck was broken. “I didn’t believe what I was seeing until his friend started screaming for help,” Gocke said. Sanford said that young boy cried as medics rushed to help the two women who rode the raft with Caleb. Both reportedly suffered facial injuries, one in the eye and the other in the jaw. The boy talked about how he and Caleb enjoyed sports together. “He was saying, ‘We played whiffle ball together. We played kickball together,’ ” Sanford said. “He was sobbing.” Gocke and Sanford wait to hear more about what happened during the ride. Both struggle with the images they saw. “It’s hard to deal with,” Gocke said. “I can’t stop seeing it in my head sometimes.”

– The death of 10-year-old Caleb Schwab on the world's tallest waterslide was even more horrific than early reports indicated, a source tells the AP. The source says the boy, son of Kansas lawmaker Scott Schwab, was decapitated in the accident, which is being investigated but hasn't been explained by authorities yet. Police initially said Caleb died from a "fatal neck injury." Riders on the 168-foot "Verruckt" slide at the Schlitterbang park in Kansas City, Kansas, are strapped onto rafts. After the tragic death, park visitors came forward to say that they had experienced problems on the slide ranging from restraints coming loose to rafts actually flying into the air, the Kansas City Star reports. Dawn Gentry says she was on the slide with her daughter on July 27 when the raft flew off the tracks on the ride's second drop. "The lifeguards were freaking out," she tells the Star, adding that she got the impression it had happened before. Sara Craig, a visitor who returned when the park reopened Wednesday, tells the AP that she went down the ride twice a few weeks ago with her son and one of his friends. She says it was "very, very rough" and her Velcro shoulder restraint came off during her first trip. Craig also says operators allowed her group to go down the slide with a combined weight of 393 pounds, below the 400 minimum.

Published on Nov 7, 2018 Three managers of a Chinese company in Zunyi County, Southern China, were arrested on charges of having forced employees to drink urine and eat cockroaches, according to local media reports. Source: https://china-underground.com/2018/11... ||||| Three managers of a home improvement firm in southern China have been jailed after they forced staff to drink urine, eat insects and flogged them with belts because they did not meet sales targets, local media reported on Monday. They were arrested after an employee of the company in Zunyi, Guizhou province claimed staff had been subjected to extreme punishments in a post on social media site Weibo last week. The hashtag “employees who failed to meet their goals forced to drink urine” has since been viewed almost 540,000 times. The post included a video showing a man standing topless in the centre of a room being whipped by another man with a belt, with other people gathered around watching. It also shows people drinking cups of yellow liquid. It was later deleted, but screenshots carried by news website Zunyi Yaowen showed text messages apparently sent by managers threatening staff with various punishments if they did not meet sales targets set by the company. “If the sales goal has not been met by the end of this month, the team leader will have to eat three cockroaches for each failed sale,” one text message read. Other punishments involved drinking vinegar or toilet water, selling condoms and sanitary pads on the street and having their head shaved, according to other text messages in the post. Two of the company managers have been jailed for 10 days, while a third manager will spend five days in jail, Zunyi police said in a statement on Weibo. Many people on social media have asked why the employees did not quit their jobs, but one staff member told Pear Video that they were owed two months’ pay by the company. The person also alleged that the company had threatened to reduce their severance pay if they quit. As economic growth slows in China, labour unrest has been growing and reports of ill-treatment of workers have become more common. Apple, Amazon and Samsung supplier HEG Technology have all been accused of child labour, forced overtime and low wages in the past, according to New York-based China Labour Watch. Beijing bans independent labour organising, trade unions and workers from going on strike. In August, labour activists that included students were arrested for supporting factory workers from welding machinery company Jasic International who were seeking to form a labour union after they were subjected to inhumane working conditions and later dismissed. ||||| Image copyright Science Photo Library Image caption If you miss your sales target, bon appétit Managers at a Chinese firm have been jailed for making staff who failed to reach sales targets drink urine and eat cockroaches, local media report. Police took action after videos emerged showing workers being whipped with a belt and drinking a yellow liquid. Social media posts alleged staff were also told to eat cockroaches if they did not meet targets. Three managers were jailed for five and 10 days over the incident, the South China Morning Post reports. A widely-shared video posted on Chinese social media site Weibo shows a male employee standing in the middle of a circle, getting whipped with a belt. Image copyright Pearvideo.com Image caption The video quickly went viral on Weibo Other staff, said to be employees of the home renovation company in the city of Guizhou, can be seen drinking yellow liquid from plastic cups while holding their noses. Screenshots of what were said to be messages from the managers threaten staff that they will have to eat cockroaches for poor performances. According to media reports, other forms of shaming and punishment at the firm have included drinking toilet water or vinegar and getting their head shaved. Image copyright Pearvideo.com Image caption Social media post said the yellow liquid was urine The company had reportedly failed to pay their employees' salary for the past two months and staff was scared to speak up fearing they would lose the pay if they'd quit. Police in Zunyi county police arrested three managers and they were later sentenced to jail time. It's the latest in a string of cases of Chinese firms employing unusual measures to punish, shame or encourage their staff. Previous reports have alleged cases of employees slapping each other at a company event to boost motivation, and staff forced to crawl on a public road or kiss rubbish bins as a punishment or for team building.

– Sales staff at a home renovation company in the Chinese city of Zunyi had a choice: Meet their sales targets, or face punishments including being forced to eat cockroaches and drink urine. Police investigated the company after reports and video surfaced of the cruel and bizarre punishments, the BBC reports. According to reports on social media, underperforming staff at the company were also forced to drink toilet water or vinegar, have their heads shaved, or sell condoms on the street. Video posted online shows workers being hit with a belt and drinking cups of yellow liquid. "If the sales goal has not been met by the end of this month, the team leader will have to eat three cockroaches for each failed sale," read one text message sent to employees. Police said that as a result of their investigation, two company managers were sentenced to 10 days in jail and a third to 5 days. Workers said they were afraid to quit or speak out about the abuse because the company owed them months of back pay and they feared the money would be withheld, reports the South China Morning Post. The Post notes that labor unrest and reports of ill-treatment of workers have both been rising as China's economy slows down. (Chinese citizens with "bad social credit" are also being punished.)

(CNN) Volunteers and law enforcement combed the side of a highway on Thursday looking for evidence in the disappearance of a missing Wisconsin teenager whose parents were found dead in their home this week. But the search along Highway 8 in Barron County, Wisconsin, didn't turn up anything of value, according to Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald. Hours earlier, Fitzgerald asked for 100 volunteers to help in the routine search for evidence that could be related to the case as the search for Jayme Closs entered its fourth day. The 13-year-old was likely at her family's Barron home, located on Highway 8, when her parents were shot dead, and she vanished moments later, investigators believe. Her whereabouts and safety are still in question. "We believe Jayme was in the home at the time of the homicides and we believe she's still in danger," Fitzgerald said this week. Thursday's search took place about 3 miles from the family's home, according to CNN affiliate WCCO Since authorities received a cryptic 911 call and discovered the bodies of Jayme's parents in their home near the town of Barron early Monday, investigators have received more than 800 tips and have not confirmed any credible sightings of the girl. But the sheriff said he has a "100% expectation that she's alive." #FBIMilwaukee needs your help, as the search continues to bring home 13 year old Jayme Closs, now missing & endangered after her parents were found dead in their home in Barron, WI early this week. Call the tip line 1-855-744-3879.#FindJayme pic.twitter.com/rNELlQKJb6 — FBI Milwaukee (@FBIMilwaukee) October 17, 2018 An Amber Alert was issued Monday for Jayme and several law enforcement agencies have joined the search. Motive in parents' death is unclear Deputies are also trying to solve the killings of Jayme's parents, James Closs, 56, and Denise Closs, 46, in the small city of Barron. During a 911 call shortly before 1 a.m. Monday, the dispatcher heard a disturbance in the background. But no one spoke directly to the dispatcher, Fitzgerald said. When deputes arrived to the home less than four minutes later, Fitzgerald said, no one was in sight and no vehicles were in the immediate area. Closs' parents were shot and their deaths have been ruled homicides, Fitzgerald said Wednesday. No gun was found at the scene, he said. It's not clear how long James and Denise Closs had been dead when their bodies were discovered Monday. On HLN's "Crime & Justice" Wednesday night, Fitzgerald told host Ashleigh Banfield that deputies had recovered the cell phone from which the 911 call was made. Fitzgerald said additional agencies, including the FBI, are involved. "They are the experts in breaking down 911 tapes, looking at our phones, and taking care of all evidence in that manner," he said. Authorities said they have determined whose cell phone the call came from, but declined to identify the owner. Investigators also believe Jayme was at home during the shooting based on details from the 911 call and evidence from the home. "Is it a random attack or a targeted attack? I don't know that answer," Fitzgerald told reporters. "That's why those leads are so important." Joan Smrekar, who lives next door to the Closs home, told Banfield she heard two shots a couple of seconds apart just after 12:30 a.m. Monday. "It was just, 'bang' and 'bang,'" Smrekar said. Relatives wait in agony Seara Closs said she wishes she were the one endangered, not her cousin Jayme. Seara wrote an open letter to Jayme on Facebook. "I'm going thru our family pictures, worrying sick about you :( wishing we could trade places just to get you home and out of harms way," Seara Closs posted In her post, Seara reminded her cousin that her family -- including her slain parents -- love her dearly. "Grandpa Jim (James) Closs, your Momma Bear, Denise Closs and your very own night [in] shinning armor, your Daddyo Jim JR Closs ... love all of you!" Seara Closs wrote. Authorities said they don't believe Jayme Closs ran away. Barron Area School District administrator Diane Tremblay said Jayme, a member of her school's cross-country team, is a "sweet girl who is a loyal friend and loves to dance." During a recent school assignment, Jayme was asked what she would do with $1 million, Tremblay said. Jayme wrote that she would "feed the hungry and give the rest to the poor." Both James and Denise Closs were long-time employees of the Jennie-O Turkey Store in Barron, Jennie-O's parent company Hormel said. "Our thoughts are with the Closs family and the entire Barron community," said a statement from Jennie-O Turkey Store officials. "This is a difficult time for our entire team and we are mourning this loss and are still processing this terrible tragedy. We are also hopeful for the safe return of their daughter, Jayme, and are keeping her and the Closs family in our thoughts." Jayme Closs is 5 feet tall, weighs 100 pounds and has green eyes and blond or strawberry blond hair, the sheriff's department said. Anyone with information can call the tip line at 1-855-744-3879. Correction: A prior version of this story incorrectly spelled the missing girl's last name. ||||| Jayme Closs (Photo: Barron County Sheriff's Department) BARRON - A 100-person search party and some 800 tips still have not led Barron County authorities to Jayme Closs, a 13-year-old girl missing since her parents were found shot to death in their home early Monday. Meanwhile, police from Wausau sent a school resource officer and therapy dog Thursday to help Barron students cope with the mysterious disappearance of a schoolmate and double murder in their community. The state justice department's Office of School Safety also plans to send a team of counselors by the end of the week. Barron residents James Closs, 56, and Denise Closs, 46, were found dead about 1 a.m. Monday after police responded to a cellphone call to 911 from inside the home. Their daughter Jayme, a student at Riverview Middle School, was nowhere to be found. The incident, and the fact that authorities still don't know what transpired in the Closs home Sunday night, has rattled the quiet town of fewer than 3,500 people. “We don’t know anything and that’s hard,” said Cyndi Bragg, who owns InFocus Eyewear in Barron and has lived in the area for 25 years. She said the whole community is on edge and “stuck in limbo” as they await more information. Meanwhile, she’s told her children to be aware of their surroundings, and her family is taking extra care to lock their door. Buy Photo Volunteers search a ditch near Barron, Wisconsin, on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018, looking for any evidence related to missing 13-year-old Jayme Closs. The girl hasn't been seen since before her parents were discovered shot to death early Monday in the family home. (Photo: Haley BeMiller/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin) On Thursday afternoon, Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald posted a plea on Facebook for 100 "able-bodied volunteers" to help in the search for evidence related to her disappearance. The volunteers then spread out to search specific areas near the community. The sheriff called it a "routine search for articles of evidentiary value." Two hours after the search began he posted a Facebook update that said nothing had been found related to Jayme's disappearance. One of the volunteers out in the field was Ashley Vandenvrink, who lives roughly 30 minutes from Barron in Clayton. Volunteers were looking for just about anything that might seem suspicious, she said. Vandenvrink is a mother of four, which inspired her to help with the search. “It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “That could’ve been my daughter. That could’ve been anybody’s kid.” Fitzgerald also wrote that the sheriff's office had received more than 800 tips since Monday morning and asked that people with information continue to report it by calling 855-744-3879. Buy Photo Badge, the Wausau Police Department's trained therapy dog, awaits her chance to help students in Barron cope with the disappearance of 13-year-old schoolmate Jayme Closs. (Photo: Haley BeMiller/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin) Wausau Police Chief Ben Bliven, whose department was affected by a mass shooting in March 2017 that drew national attention, said he was eager to help Barron — though the communities are more than two hours apart. "There comes a time in every community when help is needed; we have certainly experienced that need for help,” Bliven said in a statement. RELATED: Barron parents shot to death, Wisconsin teen still missing RELATED: Here's what we know about the Jayme Closs disappearance Wausau School Resource Officer Nick Stetzer visited the Barron schools with his therapy dog, Badge. Stetzer said students and staff enjoyed seeing the dog and one girl even asked if she could take Badge home with her. Trauma is difficult for everyone to handle, Stetzer said, but the therapy dog can provide love to anyone without judgment. “A couple seconds of relief of petting the dog and not thinking about stuff definitely helps when it comes to trauma,” he said. Buy Photo Wausau School Resource Officer Nick Stetzer works with his therapy dog, Badge, outside Barron schools on Thursday, Oct. 18. Stetzer and Badge visited with students and staff reeling from the disappearance of schoolmate Jayme Closs and the shooting deaths of her parents, James and Denise Closs. (Photo: Haley BeMiller/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin) Kristen Devitt, director of the state's Office of School Safety, said the additional counseling and therapy resources can help the community now and going forward. The office is working with Barron County Human Services on crisis response so the county can eventually take on that role full time. Trying to cope with the traumatic losses in Barron is frightening and anxiety-producing for local residents, Devitt said. “There isn’t anyone in this community that this hasn’t touched,” she said. The Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools Training & Technical Assistance Center will also provide training to school staff and counselors on trauma-informed practices and PREPaRE, which outlines how school professionals can provide mental health support in a crisis. All services will be funded through an emergency grant from the state justice department, according to Attorney General Brad Schimel. Buy Photo Investigators use a canine Tuesday to help search the grounds near the Closs home in Barron. (Photo: TZ Kha/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin) Read or Share this story: https://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/news/2018/10/18/jayme-closs-wausau-police-department-send-aid-barron-schools/1682096002/ ||||| ... for the Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP)? This is a one-time heat and electric benefit. Whether you use wood, propane, natural gas, electricity or fuel oil to heat your home, you may be eligible. When you receive benefits from the Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program, you are automatically placed on a referral list for possible weatherization services for your home, such as insulation and sealing air leaks, at no cost to you. If you qualify for WHEAP, own your home, and your primary heating system no longer provides heat, is inoperable or becomes unsafe, you may be potentially eligible for emergency heating system assistance. If you would like to find out more about WHEAP, please call 715-537-6340. With the cold weather upon us, did you know that you may be eligible

– Plenty of people answered the call when Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald asked for 100 able-bodied volunteers to search for "missing and endangered" teen Jayme Closs on Thursday—but the search along a 14-mile stretch of Highway 8 near Barron, Wis., didn't find anything that could provide a breakthrough. The sheriff's office said in a Facebook post that "nothing of evidentiary value" was found, though they have received more than 800 tips, CNN reports. Closs, 13, has been the focus of an intensive search since early Monday, when her parents were found shot to death in their home minutes after a cryptic 911 call was placed. The town of Barron, which has fewer than 3,500 people, has been deeply shaken by the murders and the disappearance, reports the Wausau Daily Herald. Police have said they don't know whether it was a random attack or a targeted one. "We don’t know anything and that’s hard," says Barron resident Cyndi Bragg. She says the community is "stuck in limbo" while the search continues—and she has told her own children to be extremely cautious. Fitzgerald has said he has a "100% expectation that she's alive," though there have been no credible sightings confirmed since her disappearance. The sheriff's office says Jaymee is 5 feet tall and 100 pounds, with strawberry-blond hair and green eyes. (The sheriff believes Jaymee was home when her parents were killed.)

DENVER - Two Denver police officers are under investigation in Aurora after a tussle during a party at one of their homes and four Aurora officers are also under investigation over how they responded. Denver police officers Steve Sloan and Jeremy Ownbey are reassigned to desk duty and cooperating with the investigation, Denver Police Department Spokesman Lt. Matt Murray confirmed. Murray said the officers and the department will cooperate fully with Aurora's investigation. "Whatever they need, we'll do," Murray said. Four Aurora officers are also under investigation for how they handled the case but remain on active duty, Aurora Police Department Spokesman Frank Fania said. Fania explained the case reportedly began with Sloan, Ownbey and their wives sharing dinner and drinks in Sloan's home. During the party, the wives allegedly got into a physical altercation before the two officers also began to fight. At some point, Sloan allegedly retrieved his gun. Fania said reports about what he did or said with the gun in hand are conflicting, but no shots were fired. The Sloans called Aurora Police. When officers arrived, Ownbey was already gone. While officers were looking for Ownbey, they visited his home and found children were inside without adult supervision, Fania said. Eventually, Ownbey did eventually return and speak to officers. He was not given a roadside sobriety test but an Aurora officer did drive him home. Fania said an internal investigation was opened almost immediately. "We made a poor decision," he said. So far, no official charges have been filed against Sloan, Ownbey, their wives or the Aurora officers. ||||| Denver Police patrol car. (Denver Post file photo) Two Denver police officers are being investigated after Aurora police responded last month to a fight between the officers and their wives that involved alcohol, a gun and allegations of swinging. The officers, Steven Sloan and Jeremy Ownbey, have been placed on desk duty while the investigation continues, Detective Mary McIver , a Denver police spokeswoman, said Wednesday. Both have been at the department since 2006. Aurora police were called to Sloan's house at 11:30 p.m. on May 19, said Officer Frank Fania , a spokesman for the Aurora Police Department. Sloan and his wife, Stephanie Sloan , and Ownbey and his wife, Jamie Ownbey, had been drinking and had gotten into an argument, Fania said. "There was lots of drinking involved," he said. The Sloans asked the Ownbeys to leave. As the Ownbeys were headed toward the door, Jamie Ownbey allegedly punched Stephanie Sloan, Fania said. Then, Steven Sloan hit Jamie Ownbey, which led her husband to start fighting with his fellow officer, Fania said. "There was a gun pulled eventually by the homeowner," Fania said. Steven Sloan told Aurora police he only got out his gun and did not point it at anyone. But Jeremy Ownbey said Steven Sloan had pointed the gun at him, Fania said. "We had a whole of 'he said, she said,'" Fania said. Fania said he did not know if Steven Sloan had pulled his service weapon during the fight or whether it was a personal gun. Advertisement Aurora police also investigated accusations of swinging between the Sloans and Ownbeys, Fania said, because it could affect the type of charges filed. "That's something we looked at," he said. "We have to dig deeper. We have to ask the tough questions." Aurora police notified Denver police of the incident the night it happened, Fania said. Aurora police spent two weeks investigating the actions of all four involved, Fania said. They handed their investigation to District Attorney George Brauchler's office on Friday. "When you have a brawl like that you have to look at everybody," Fania said. No charges have been filed, but the case remains under review, said Michelle Yi , the office spokeswoman. McIver did not know when the two officers were taken off patrol duty. They are working administrative assignments that keep them off the streets, she said. Sloan and Ownbey also are undergoing an internal investigation at the Denver Police Department to determine whether they violated department policy, McIver said. The incident also led to an internal investigation at the Aurora Police Department, Fania said. The Ownbeys had left the Sloan's house, but Jeremy Ownbey came back to talk to police. It appeared he was intoxicated, Fania said, but no Aurora officers conducted a sobriety test on him. Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Noelle_Phillips ||||| DENVER (CBS4) – A wild, off-duty brawl between two Denver police officers and their wives — including lurid details of “swinging” and wife swapping, booze and a gun being pulled — may lead to criminal charges against at least one officer and his wife, according to information gathered during a CBS4 Investigation. Michelle Yi, a spokesperson for the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors are reviewing the case to see if criminal charges are appropriate. “We are looking at the case and should have a decision soon,” Yi told CBS4. She declined further comment about the investigation. But according to a police report obtained by CBS4, Denver Police Officers Jeremy Ownbey and his wife Jamie went to the Aurora home of fellow Denver Officer Steve Sloan and his wife, Stephanie, on the evening of May 19. The officers are best friends, going through the police academy together in 2006 and vacationing together. So close, according to the police report, that they have engaged in “swinging.” When officers interviewed Jamie Ownbey, according to the report, “Jamie stated she, Jeremy and Steven have been involved with swinging (amongst themselves) and Steven would like Stephanie (Sloan) to join but she (Stephanie) will not. I asked Jamie (Ownbey) if she had ever been personally intimate with Steven (Sloan), she stated ‘yes, during a swing session with Steven and his ex-wife years ago.’ Jamie further stated she also participated in two swing sessions with Steven and Jeremy, the most recent was approximately four years ago.” Police say they asked about the intimate relationship between the two couples to see if that might be what triggered the May 19 fight. Sometime during a liquor-filled evening the couples ended up in an all-out donnybrook, with the women allegedly punching each other, the men engaged in a full on brawl, and ultimately at least one gun pulled. “Quite a party,” said Frank Fania, an Aurora police spokesman whose agency is now investigating the case. Ownbey and his wife left the house after the fight and before Aurora police arrived, but Jeremy Ownbey later told Aurora investigators the fisticuffs eventually gave way to gunplay. “Steve pointed the gun at him and said to get out of the house or he would kill him,” Ownbey related to investigators. Ownbey told investigators he felt he was in danger of being shot. Officer Sloan told investigators of the evening, “He then started to fight with Jeremy with both of them throwing punches at each other and he admitted to not winning the fight and and after being punched numerous times in the head he felt as if he was going to lose consciousness.” Officer Sloan went on to tell investigators “he went to get his gun from his truck because he was in fear for his safety and thought he was in danger. Steven stated he punched Jamie in the face for punching Stephanie, and Jamie fell to the ground. Jeremy punched Steven in the face for punching Jamie. Steven stated he then punched Jeremy,” according to the report. Officer Sloan told investigators he never pointed the gun at his best friend but kept it at his side as he told his friends they need to leave. Aurora police presented their case to the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office last Friday recommending charges be filed against Officer Ownbey and his wife. As prosecutors try to sort out what happened and if anyone should face criminal charges, Aurora police admit they too made a serious mistake that night. After they arrived at the Sloan house and began their investigation Jeremy Ownbey drove back to the house, apparently to retrieve his cellphone. Police saw Ownbey drive up to the house. Although one officer reported “I observed that Jeremy also exhibited signs of intoxication,” Aurora police never bothered to check him for a possible DUI and in fact drove him and his car home. Another officer on scene wrote, “I asked him how much he had to drink and he related that he did not know, but that he was drunk.” Fania told CBS4, “We made a bad decision. We wish we could do it over.” Fania said his department has begun an internal investigation into why four Aurora officers failed to arrest the off-duty Denver officer for DUI. Fania said Aurora officers should have done roadside sobriety tests and cited Ownbey for DUI, but did not. “It’s not routine,” said Fania. “It’s not our way of doing business. Fania said, “At the end of the day it sounds like a poor decision on the part of the officers involved that night as far as not investigating the DUI more.” CBS4 reached both the Sloans and the Ownbeys Wednesday afternoon and both couples said they did not want to comment on what happened. Denver Police Cmdr. Matt Murray told CBS4, “Any time and officer is facing criminal charges in any jurisdictions we take that very seriously which is why we immediately placed the officers in a non-line assignment and launched an internal investigation.” Both Sloan and Ownbey came on to the Denver Police Department in 2006. One source familiar with the case said it was likely misdemeanor assault, trespassing and child neglect charges will be filed against the Ownbeys, who left their young children at home the night of May 19.

– "There was lots of drinking involved." That statement from an Aurora Police Department spokesperson basically sums up a crazy brawl between two Denver police officers and their wives on May 19. Officer Steven Sloan and his wife, Stephanie, had fellow officer Jeremy Ownbey and his wife, Jamie, over to their house, the Denver Post reports. As CBS Denver explains it, the two officers are best friends and the couples have vacationed together ... and apparently all of the group except Stephanie have been involved in "swinging" together. Jamie says the swinging ended four years ago, but KUSA calls the get-together a "swingers party." After some sort of disagreement ensued, possibly involving who would participate in swinging, the Sloans asked the Ownbeys to leave—and all hell broke loose. Jamie allegedly punched Stephanie; then Steven allegedly hit Jamie; then Jeremy allegedly started brawling with Steven. Then Steven pulled a gun; he admitted as much to the Aurora cops who arrived at the scene, but insisted he didn't point it at anyone, though Jeremy says it was pointed at him. Sloan and Ownbey have both been put on desk duty while the incident is investigated—and, yes, that will include an investigation of those swinging allegations. "We have to dig deeper. We have to ask the tough questions," the spokesperson says, adding that what they find could have an impact on the type of charges filed; currently, the DA is reviewing the case. The cherries on top of the already-wild story? The Ownbeys could face child neglect charges for leaving their young children at home alone that night, and the Denver Channel reports Aurora police are also being investigated for failing to investigate Jeremy Ownbey for DUI after he returned to the Sloans' house allegedly drunk.

The White House called a report that President Obama called off the raid on Osama bin Laden three times a "fabrication." In a new book previewed by the Daily Caller, author Richard Miniter alleges that Obama called off the raid three times at the urging of senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, before finally authorizing the mission. "That is an utter fabrication. It's seems pretty clear that Mr. Miniter doesn't know what he's talking about," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Monday. "Ms. Jarrett, like the vast majority of the president's senior staff was not read in on the operation on the mission against Osama bin Laden," Earnest said. And as the liberal group Media Matters notes, Miniter's report does not square with other reporting on the timeline of the mission. Miniter alleges that Obama called off the operation first in January, but the New Yorker's Nicholas Schmidle reported that the plan to kill bin Laden was not even presented to the president until March. UPDATE on 8/1: Miniter responds, saying he stands by his sources: "The White House is objecting to a claim that no one is making. "Read in" is intel-speak for being briefed on sensitive technical details, such as flight paths and radio frequencies. My sources do not speak to the issue of whether Jarrett had access to that kind of sensitive intelligence regarding the bin Laden operation. But Jarrett met with the president repeatedly throughout the planning process (and indeed, more often than CIA director Leon Panetta) and participants told me that the three halts to the mission were called at her behest. Those are the facts. If they are in doubt, Ms. Jarrett should appear under oath before Congress.” Further, in a statement argues that the New Yorker's account does not contradict his reporting: "Some media accounts have claimed that Miniter's book is contradicted by a New Yorker article on the bin Laden, published last summer. That article refers to the timing of the training of the Seal team for the operation, not the timing of CIA, Defense Department and White House planning for the operation, which began months earlier. There is no contradiction. Miniter's book and the magazine article are talking about different elements of the bin Laden operation." ||||| The Daily Caller reported late last night that they obtained an exclusive first look at Richard Miniter's forthcoming book Leading From Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him, which contains the "bombshell" allegation (sourced to a single anonymous official) that in the first three months of 2011, President Obama thrice canceled the mission to kill Osama bin Laden. Miniter's and the Caller's reporting is contradicted by previous in-depth reports indicating that the plan for the raid wasn't delivered to the president until the end of March, and training for the operation didn't begin until mid-April, meaning that there wasn't yet a "mission" for the president to cancel. The Daily Caller's David Martosko wrote last night: In "Leading From Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him," Richard Miniter writes that Obama canceled the "kill" mission in January 2011, again in February, and a third time in March. Obama's close adviser Valerie Jarrett persuaded him to hold off each time, according to the book. Miniter, a two-time New York Times best-selling author, cites an unnamed source with Joint Special Operations Command who had direct knowledge of the operation and its planning. Miniter's reporting doesn't match up with the New Yorker's deep dive into the Bin Laden raid, published in August 2011, which offered a timeline of the planning process based on quotes and information from a variety of sources, named and otherwise. According to the New Yorker, in late 2010 President Obama ordered Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to "begin exploring options for a military strike" against the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan where Bin Laden was thought to be hiding, and that planning began in February 2011. At that point, according to the Caller's vague reporting, Obama is alleged to have already twice "canceled" the mission. From the New Yorker: In late 2010, Obama ordered Panetta to begin exploring options for a military strike on the compound. Panetta contacted Vice-Admiral Bill McRaven, the SEAL in charge of JSOC. Traditionally, the Army has dominated the special-operations community, but in recent years the SEALs have become a more prominent presence; McRaven's boss at the time of the raid, Eric Olson--the head of Special Operations Command, or SOCOM--is a Navy admiral who used to be a commander of DEVGRU. In January, 2011, McRaven asked a JSOC official named Brian, who had previously been a DEVGRU deputy commander, to present a raid plan. The next month, Brian, who has the all-American look of a high-school quarterback, moved into an unmarked office on the first floor of the C.I.A.'s printing plant, in Langley, Virginia. Brian covered the walls of the office with topographical maps and satellite images of the Abbottabad compound. He and half a dozen JSOC officers were formally attached to the Pakistan/Afghanistan department of the C.I.A.'s Counterterrorism Center, but in practice they operated on their own. A senior counterterrorism official who visited the JSOC redoubt described it as an enclave of unusual secrecy and discretion. "Everything they were working on was closely held," the official said. Obama convened his national security team in mid-March to review the "possible courses of action" devised by "Brian" and his team, at which point Obama ordered Admiral William McRaven, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, to begin planning the raid on Bin Laden's compound. That plan was delivered to the president on March 29, and the SEAL team began training for the operation on April 10. This means that, according to the Daily Caller, by late March the president had "canceled" three times a "mission" that didn't yet exist. Again, from the New Yorker: On March 14th, Obama called his national-security advisers into the White House Situation Room and reviewed a spreadsheet listing possible courses of action against the Abbottabad compound. Most were variations of either a JSOC raid or an airstrike. Some versions included coöperating with the Pakistani military; some did not. Obama decided against informing or working with Pakistan. "There was a real lack of confidence that the Pakistanis could keep this secret for more than a nanosecond," a senior adviser to the President told me. At the end of the meeting, Obama instructed McRaven to proceed with planning the raid. Brian invited James, the commander of DEVGRU's Red Squadron, and Mark, the master chief petty officer, to join him at C.I.A. headquarters. They spent the next two and a half weeks considering ways to get inside bin Laden's house. One option entailed flying helicopters to a spot outside Abbottabad and letting the team sneak into the city on foot. The risk of detection was high, however, and the SEALs would be tired by a long run to the compound. The planners had contemplated tunnelling in--or, at least, the possibility that bin Laden might tunnel out. But images provided by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency showed that there was standing water in the vicinity, suggesting that the compound sat in a flood basin. The water table was probably just below the surface, making tunnels highly unlikely. Eventually, the planners agreed that it made the most sense to fly directly into the compound. "Special operations is about doing what's not expected, and probably the least expected thing here was that a helicopter would come in, drop guys on the roof, and land in the yard," the special-operations officer said. On March 29th, McRaven brought the plan to Obama. The President's military advisers were divided. Some supported a raid, some an airstrike, and others wanted to hold off until the intelligence improved. Robert Gates, the Secretary of Defense, was one of the most outspoken opponents of a helicopter assault. Gates reminded his colleagues that he had been in the Situation Room of the Carter White House when military officials presented Eagle Claw -- the 1980 Delta Force operation that aimed at rescuing American hostages in Tehran but resulted in a disastrous collision in the Iranian desert, killing eight American soldiers. "They said that was a pretty good idea, too," Gates warned. He and General James Cartwright, the vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs, favored an airstrike by B-2 Spirit bombers. That option would avoid the risk of having American boots on the ground in Pakistan. But the Air Force then calculated that a payload of thirty-two smart bombs, each weighing two thousand pounds, would be required to penetrate thirty feet below ground, insuring that any bunkers would collapse. "That much ordnance going off would be the equivalent of an earthquake," Cartwright told me. The prospect of flattening a Pakistani city made Obama pause. He shelved the B-2 option and directed McRaven to start rehearsing the raid. UPDATE: The White House has flatly denied Miniter's allegation, telling USA Today that it is "an utter fabrication" and that White House senior adviser Valerie Jarret "wasn't read into super-secret plans for the raid that took place in May of 2011." ||||| Shortly after eleven o’clock on the night of May 1st, two MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters lifted off from Jalalabad Air Field, in eastern Afghanistan, and embarked on a covert mission into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden. Inside the aircraft were twenty-three Navy SEAL s from Team Six, which is officially known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or DEVGRU . A Pakistani-American translator, whom I will call Ahmed, and a dog named Cairo—a Belgian Malinois—were also aboard. It was a moonless evening, and the helicopters’ pilots, wearing night-vision goggles, flew without lights over mountains that straddle the border with Pakistan. Radio communications were kept to a minimum, and an eerie calm settled inside the aircraft. Fifteen minutes later, the helicopters ducked into an alpine valley and slipped, undetected, into Pakistani airspace. For more than sixty years, Pakistan’s military has maintained a state of high alert against its eastern neighbor, India. Because of this obsession, Pakistan’s “principal air defenses are all pointing east,” Shuja Nawaz, an expert on the Pakistani Army and the author of “Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within,” told me. Senior defense and Administration officials concur with this assessment, but a Pakistani senior military official, whom I reached at his office, in Rawalpindi, disagreed. “No one leaves their borders unattended,” he said. Though he declined to elaborate on the location or orientation of Pakistan’s radars—“It’s not where the radars are or aren’t”—he said that the American infiltration was the result of “technological gaps we have vis-à-vis the U.S.” The Black Hawks, each of which had two pilots and a crewman from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, or the Night Stalkers, had been modified to mask heat, noise, and movement; the copters’ exteriors had sharp, flat angles and were covered with radar-dampening “skin.” The SEAL s’ destination was a house in the small city of Abbottabad, which is about a hundred and twenty miles across the Pakistan border. Situated north of Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, Abbottabad is in the foothills of the Pir Panjal Range, and is popular in the summertime with families seeking relief from the blistering heat farther south. Founded in 1853 by a British major named James Abbott, the city became the home of a prestigious military academy after the creation of Pakistan, in 1947. According to information gathered by the Central Intelligence Agency, bin Laden was holed up on the third floor of a house in a one-acre compound just off Kakul Road in Bilal Town, a middle-class neighborhood less than a mile from the entrance to the academy. If all went according to plan, the SEAL s would drop from the helicopters into the compound, overpower bin Laden’s guards, shoot and kill him at close range, and then take the corpse back to Afghanistan. The helicopters traversed Mohmand, one of Pakistan’s seven tribal areas, skirted the north of Peshawar, and continued due east. The commander of DEVGRU’ s Red Squadron, whom I will call James, sat on the floor, squeezed among ten other SEAL s, Ahmed, and Cairo. (The names of all the covert operators mentioned in this story have been changed.) James, a broad-chested man in his late thirties, does not have the lithe swimmer’s frame that one might expect of a SEAL —he is built more like a discus thrower. That night, he wore a shirt and trousers in Desert Digital Camouflage, and carried a silenced Sig Sauer P226 pistol, along with extra ammunition; a CamelBak, for hydration; and gel shots, for endurance. He held a short-barrel, silenced M4 rifle. (Others SEAL s had chosen the Heckler & Koch MP7.) A “blowout kit,” for treating field trauma, was tucked into the small of James’s back. Stuffed into one of his pockets was a laminated gridded map of the compound. In another pocket was a booklet with photographs and physical descriptions of the people suspected of being inside. He wore a noise-cancelling headset, which blocked out nearly everything besides his heartbeat. During the ninety-minute helicopter flight, James and his teammates rehearsed the operation in their heads. Since the autumn of 2001, they had rotated through Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and the Horn of Africa, at a brutal pace. At least three of the SEAL s had participated in the sniper operation off the coast of Somalia, in April, 2009, that freed Richard Phillips, the captain of the Maersk Alabama, and left three pirates dead. In October, 2010, a DEVGRU team attempted to rescue Linda Norgrove, a Scottish aid worker who had been kidnapped in eastern Afghanistan by the Taliban. During a raid of a Taliban hideout, a SEAL tossed a grenade at an insurgent, not realizing that Norgrove was nearby. She died from the blast. The mistake haunted the SEAL s who had been involved; three of them were subsequently expelled from DEVGRU. The Abbottabad raid was not DEVGRU ’s maiden venture into Pakistan, either. The team had surreptitiously entered the country on ten to twelve previous occasions, according to a special-operations officer who is deeply familiar with the bin Laden raid. Most of those missions were forays into North and South Waziristan, where many military and intelligence analysts had thought that bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders were hiding. (Only one such operation—the September, 2008, raid of Angoor Ada, a village in South Waziristan—has been widely reported.) Abbottabad was, by far, the farthest that DEVGRU had ventured into Pakistani territory. It also represented the team’s first serious attempt since late 2001 at killing “Crankshaft”—the target name that the Joint Special Operations Command, or JSOC, had given bin Laden. Since escaping that winter during a battle in the Tora Bora region of eastern Afghanistan, bin Laden had defied American efforts to trace him. Indeed, it remains unclear how he ended up living in Abbottabad. Forty-five minutes after the Black Hawks departed, four MH-47 Chinooks launched from the same runway in Jalalabad. Two of them flew to the border, staying on the Afghan side; the other two proceeded into Pakistan. Deploying four Chinooks was a last-minute decision made after President Barack Obama said he wanted to feel assured that the Americans could “fight their way out of Pakistan.” Twenty-five additional SEAL s from DEVGRU , pulled from a squadron stationed in Afghanistan, sat in the Chinooks that remained at the border; this “quick-reaction force” would be called into action only if the mission went seriously wrong. The third and fourth Chinooks were each outfitted with a pair of M134 Miniguns. They followed the Black Hawks’ initial flight path but landed at a predetermined point on a dry riverbed in a wide, unpopulated valley in northwest Pakistan. The nearest house was half a mile away. On the ground, the copters’ rotors were kept whirring while operatives monitored the surrounding hills for encroaching Pakistani helicopters or fighter jets. One of the Chinooks was carrying fuel bladders, in case the other aircraft needed to refill their tanks. Meanwhile, the two Black Hawks were quickly approaching Abbottabad from the northwest, hiding behind the mountains on the northernmost edge of the city. Then the pilots banked right and went south along a ridge that marks Abbottabad’s eastern perimeter. When those hills tapered off, the pilots curled right again, toward the city center, and made their final approach. During the next four minutes, the interior of the Black Hawks rustled alive with the metallic cough of rounds being chambered. Mark, a master chief petty officer and the ranking noncommissioned officer on the operation, crouched on one knee beside the open door of the lead helicopter. He and the eleven other SEAL s on “helo one,” who were wearing gloves and had on night-vision goggles, were preparing to fast-rope into bin Laden’s yard. They waited for the crew chief to give the signal to throw the rope. But, as the pilot passed over the compound, pulled into a high hover, and began lowering the aircraft, he felt the Black Hawk getting away from him. He sensed that they were going to crash. One month before the 2008 Presidential election, Obama, then a senator from Illinois, squared off in a debate against John McCain in an arena at Belmont University, in Nashville. A woman in the audience asked Obama if he would be willing to pursue Al Qaeda leaders inside Pakistan, even if that meant invading an ally nation. He replied, “If we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable, or unwilling, to take them out, then I think that we have to act and we will take them out. We will kill bin Laden. We will crush Al Qaeda. That has to be our biggest national-security priority.” McCain, who often criticized Obama for his naïveté on foreign-policy matters, characterized the promise as foolish, saying, “I’m not going to telegraph my punches.” Four months after Obama entered the White House, Leon Panetta, the director of the C.I.A., briefed the President on the agency’s latest programs and initiatives for tracking bin Laden. Obama was unimpressed. In June, 2009, he drafted a memo instructing Panetta to create a “detailed operation plan” for finding the Al Qaeda leader and to “ensure that we have expended every effort.” Most notably, the President intensified the C.I.A.’s classified drone program; there were more missile strikes inside Pakistan during Obama’s first year in office than in George W. Bush’s eight. The terrorists swiftly registered the impact: that July, CBS reported that a recent Al Qaeda communiqué had referred to “brave commanders” who had been “snatched away” and to “so many hidden homes [which] have been levelled.” The document blamed the “very grave” situation on spies who had “spread throughout the land like locusts.” Nevertheless, bin Laden’s trail remained cold. In August, 2010, Panetta returned to the White House with better news. C.I.A. analysts believed that they had pinpointed bin Laden’s courier, a man in his early thirties named Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti. Kuwaiti drove a white S.U.V. whose spare-tire cover was emblazoned with an image of a white rhino. The C.I.A. began tracking the vehicle. One day, a satellite captured images of the S.U.V. pulling into a large concrete compound in Abbottabad. Agents, determining that Kuwaiti was living there, used aerial surveillance to keep watch on the compound, which consisted of a three-story main house, a guesthouse, and a few outbuildings. They observed that residents of the compound burned their trash, instead of putting it out for collection, and concluded that the compound lacked a phone or an Internet connection. Kuwaiti and his brother came and went, but another man, living on the third floor, never left. When this third individual did venture outside, he stayed behind the compound’s walls. Some analysts speculated that the third man was bin Laden, and the agency dubbed him the Pacer. Obama, though excited, was not yet prepared to order military action. John Brennan, Obama’s counterterrorism adviser, told me that the President’s advisers began an “interrogation of the data, to see if, by that interrogation, you’re going to disprove the theory that bin Laden was there.” The C.I.A. intensified its intelligence-collection efforts, and, according to a recent report in the Guardian, a physician working for the agency conducted an immunization drive in Abbottabad, in the hope of acquiring DNA samples from bin Laden’s children. (No one in the compound ultimately received any immunizations.) In late 2010, Obama ordered Panetta to begin exploring options for a military strike on the compound. Panetta contacted Vice-Admiral Bill McRaven, the SEAL in charge of JSOC . Traditionally, the Army has dominated the special-operations community, but in recent years the SEAL s have become a more prominent presence; McRaven’s boss at the time of the raid, Eric Olson—the head of Special Operations Command, or SOCOM —is a Navy admiral who used to be a commander of DEVGRU . In January, 2011, McRaven asked a JSOC official named Brian, who had previously been a DEVGRU deputy commander, to present a raid plan. The next month, Brian, who has the all-American look of a high-school quarterback, moved into an unmarked office on the first floor of the C.I.A.’s printing plant, in Langley, Virginia. Brian covered the walls of the office with topographical maps and satellite images of the Abbottabad compound. He and half a dozen JSOC officers were formally attached to the Pakistan/Afghanistan department of the C.I.A.’s Counterterrorism Center, but in practice they operated on their own. A senior counterterrorism official who visited the JSOC redoubt described it as an enclave of unusual secrecy and discretion. “Everything they were working on was closely held,” the official said. The relationship between special-operations units and the C.I.A. dates back to the Vietnam War. But the line between the two communities has increasingly blurred as C.I.A. officers and military personnel have encountered one another on multiple tours of Iraq and Afghanistan. “These people grew up together,” a senior Defense Department official told me. “We are in each other’s systems, we speak each other’s languages.” (Exemplifying this trend, General David H. Petraeus, the former commanding general in Iraq and Afghanistan, is now the incoming head of the C.I.A., and Panetta has taken over the Department of Defense.) The bin Laden mission—plotted at C.I.A. headquarters and authorized under C.I.A. legal statutes but conducted by Navy DEVGRU operators—brought the coöperation between the agency and the Pentagon to an even higher level. John Radsan, a former assistant general counsel at the C.I.A., said that the Abbottabad raid amounted to “a complete incorporation of JSOC into a C.I.A. operation.” On March 14th, Obama called his national-security advisers into the White House Situation Room and reviewed a spreadsheet listing possible courses of action against the Abbottabad compound. Most were variations of either a JSOC raid or an airstrike. Some versions included coöperating with the Pakistani military; some did not. Obama decided against informing or working with Pakistan. “There was a real lack of confidence that the Pakistanis could keep this secret for more than a nanosecond,” a senior adviser to the President told me. At the end of the meeting, Obama instructed McRaven to proceed with planning the raid. Brian invited James, the commander of DEVGRU ’s Red Squadron, and Mark, the master chief petty officer, to join him at C.I.A. headquarters. They spent the next two and a half weeks considering ways to get inside bin Laden’s house. One option entailed flying helicopters to a spot outside Abbottabad and letting the team sneak into the city on foot. The risk of detection was high, however, and the SEAL s would be tired by a long run to the compound. The planners had contemplated tunnelling in—or, at least, the possibility that bin Laden might tunnel out. But images provided by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency showed that there was standing water in the vicinity, suggesting that the compound sat in a flood basin. The water table was probably just below the surface, making tunnels highly unlikely. Eventually, the planners agreed that it made the most sense to fly directly into the compound. “Special operations is about doing what’s not expected, and probably the least expected thing here was that a helicopter would come in, drop guys on the roof, and land in the yard,” the special-operations officer said. On March 29th, McRaven brought the plan to Obama. The President’s military advisers were divided. Some supported a raid, some an airstrike, and others wanted to hold off until the intelligence improved. Robert Gates, the Secretary of Defense, was one of the most outspoken opponents of a helicopter assault. Gates reminded his colleagues that he had been in the Situation Room of the Carter White House when military officials presented Eagle Claw—the 1980 Delta Force operation that aimed at rescuing American hostages in Tehran but resulted in a disastrous collision in the Iranian desert, killing eight American soldiers. “They said that was a pretty good idea, too,” Gates warned. He and General James Cartwright, the vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs, favored an airstrike by B-2 Spirit bombers. That option would avoid the risk of having American boots on the ground in Pakistan. But the Air Force then calculated that a payload of thirty-two smart bombs, each weighing two thousand pounds, would be required to penetrate thirty feet below ground, insuring that any bunkers would collapse. “That much ordnance going off would be the equivalent of an earthquake,” Cartwright told me. The prospect of flattening a Pakistani city made Obama pause. He shelved the B-2 option and directed McRaven to start rehearsing the raid. Brian, James, and Mark selected a team of two dozen SEAL s from Red Squadron and told them to report to a densely forested site in North Carolina for a training exercise on April 10th. (Red Squadron is one of four squadrons in DEVGRU , which has about three hundred operators in all.) None of the SEAL s, besides James and Mark, were aware of the C.I.A. intelligence on bin Laden’s compound until a lieutenant commander walked into an office at the site. He found a two-star Army general from JSOC headquarters seated at a conference table with Brian, James, Mark, and several analysts from the C.I.A. This obviously wasn’t a training exercise. The lieutenant commander was promptly “read in.” A replica of the compound had been built at the site, with walls and chain-link fencing marking the layout of the compound. The team spent the next five days practicing maneuvers. On April 18th, the DEVGRU squad flew to Nevada for another week of rehearsals. The practice site was a large government-owned stretch of desert with an elevation equivalent to the area surrounding Abbottabad. An extant building served as bin Laden’s house. Aircrews plotted out a path that paralleled the flight from Jalalabad to Abbottabad. Each night after sundown, drills commenced. Twelve SEAL s, including Mark, boarded helo one. Eleven SEAL s, Ahmed, and Cairo boarded helo two. The pilots flew in the dark, arrived at the simulated compound, and settled into a hover while the SEAL s fast-roped down. Not everyone on the team was accustomed to helicopter assaults. Ahmed had been pulled from a desk job for the mission and had never descended a fast rope. He quickly learned the technique. The assault plan was now honed. Helo one was to hover over the yard, drop two fast ropes, and let all twelve SEAL s slide down into the yard. Helo two would fly to the northeast corner of the compound and let out Ahmed, Cairo, and four SEAL s, who would monitor the perimeter of the building. The copter would then hover over the house, and James and the remaining six SEAL s would shimmy down to the roof. As long as everything was cordial, Ahmed would hold curious neighbors at bay. The SEAL s and the dog could assist more aggressively, if needed. Then, if bin Laden was proving difficult to find, Cairo could be sent into the house to search for false walls or hidden doors. “This wasn’t a hard op,” the special-operations officer told me. “It would be like hitting a target in McLean”—the upscale Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. A planeload of guests arrived on the night of April 21st. Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, along with Olson and McRaven, sat with C.I.A. personnel in a hangar as Brian, James, Mark, and the pilots presented a brief on the raid, which had been named Operation Neptune’s Spear. Despite JSOC ’s lead role in Neptune’s Spear, the mission officially remained a C.I.A. covert operation. The covert approach allowed the White House to hide its involvement, if necessary. As the counterterrorism official put it recently, “If you land and everybody is out on a milk run, then you get the hell out and no one knows.” After describing the operation, the briefers fielded questions: What if a mob surrounded the compound? Were the SEAL s prepared to shoot civilians? Olson, who received the Silver Star for valor during the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” episode, in Mogadishu, Somalia, worried that it could be politically catastrophic if a U.S. helicopter were shot down inside Pakistani territory. After an hour or so of questioning, the senior officers and intelligence analysts returned to Washington. Two days later, the SEAL s flew back to Dam Neck, their base in Virginia. On the night of Tuesday, April 26th, the SEAL team boarded a Boeing C-17 Globemaster at Naval Air Station Oceana, a few miles from Dam Neck. After a refuelling stop at Ramstein Air Base, in Germany, the C-17 continued to Bagram Airfield, north of Kabul. The SEAL s spent a night in Bagram and moved to Jalalabad on Thursday.* That day in Washington, Panetta convened more than a dozen senior C.I.A. officials and analysts for a final preparatory meeting. Panetta asked the participants, one by one, to declare how confident they were that bin Laden was inside the Abbottabad compound. The counterterrorism official told me that the percentages “ranged from forty per cent to ninety or ninety-five per cent,” and added, “This was a circumstantial case.” Panetta was mindful of the analysts’ doubts, but he believed that the intelligence was better than anything that the C.I.A. had gathered on bin Laden since his flight from Tora Bora. Late on Thursday afternoon, Panetta and the rest of the national-security team met with the President. For the next few nights, there would be virtually no moonlight over Abbottabad—the ideal condition for a raid. After that, it would be another month until the lunar cycle was in its darkest phase. Several analysts from the National Counterterrorism Center were invited to critique the C.I.A.’s analysis; their confidence in the intelligence ranged between forty and sixty per cent. The center’s director, Michael Leiter, said that it would be preferable to wait for stronger confirmation of bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad. Yet, as Ben Rhodes, a deputy national-security adviser, put it to me recently, the longer things dragged on, the greater the risk of a leak, “which would have upended the thing.” Obama adjourned the meeting just after 7 P.M. and said that he would sleep on it. The next morning, the President met in the Map Room with Tom Donilon, his national-security adviser, Denis McDonough, a deputy adviser, and Brennan. Obama had decided to go with a DEVGRU assault, with McRaven choosing the night. It was too late for a Friday attack, and on Saturday there was excessive cloud cover. On Saturday afternoon, McRaven and Obama spoke on the phone, and McRaven said that the raid would occur on Sunday night. “Godspeed to you and your forces,” Obama told him. “Please pass on to them my personal thanks for their service and the message that I personally will be following this mission very closely.” On the morning of Sunday, May 1st, White House officials cancelled scheduled visits, ordered sandwich platters from Costco, and transformed the Situation Room into a war room. At eleven o’clock, Obama’s top advisers began gathering around a large conference table . A video link connected them to Panetta, at C.I.A. headquarters, and McRaven, in Afghanistan. (There were at least two other command centers, one inside the Pentagon and one inside the American Embassy in Islamabad.) Brigadier General Marshall Webb, an assistant commander of JSOC , took a seat at the end of a lacquered table in a small adjoining office and turned on his laptop. He opened multiple chat windows that kept him, and the White House, connected with the other command teams. The office where Webb sat had the only video feed in the White House showing real-time footage of the target, which was being shot by an unarmed RQ 170 drone flying more than fifteen thousand feet above Abbottabad. The JSOC planners, determined to keep the operation as secret as possible, had decided against using additional fighters or bombers. “It just wasn’t worth it,” the special-operations officer told me. The SEAL s were on their own. Obama returned to the White House at two o’clock, after playing nine holes of golf at Andrews Air Force Base. The Black Hawks departed from Jalalabad thirty minutes later. Just before four o’clock, Panetta announced to the group in the Situation Room that the helicopters were approaching Abbottabad. Obama stood up. “I need to watch this,” he said, stepping across the hall into the small office and taking a seat alongside Webb. Vice-President Joseph Biden, Secretary Gates, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed him, as did anyone else who could fit into the office. On the office’s modestly sized LCD screen, helo one—grainy and black-and-white—appeared above the compound, then promptly ran into trouble. When the helicopter began getting away from the pilot, he pulled back on the cyclic, which controls the pitch of the rotor blades, only to find the aircraft unresponsive. The high walls of the compound and the warm temperatures had caused the Black Hawk to descend inside its own rotor wash—a hazardous aerodynamic situation known as “settling with power.” In North Carolina, this potential problem had not become apparent, because the chain-link fencing used in rehearsals had allowed air to flow freely. A former helicopter pilot with extensive special-operations experience said of the pilot’s situation, “It’s pretty spooky—I’ve been in it myself. The only way to get out of it is to push the cyclic forward and fly out of this vertical silo you’re dropping through. That solution requires altitude. If you’re settling with power at two thousand feet, you’ve got plenty of time to recover. If you’re settling with power at fifty feet, you’re going to hit the ground.” The pilot scrapped the plan to fast-rope and focussed on getting the aircraft down. He aimed for an animal pen in the western section of the compound. The SEAL s on board braced themselves as the tail rotor swung around, scraping the security wall. The pilot jammed the nose forward to drive it into the dirt and prevent his aircraft from rolling onto its side. Cows, chickens, and rabbits scurried. With the Black Hawk pitched at a forty-five-degree angle astride the wall, the crew sent a distress call to the idling Chinooks. James and the SEAL s in helo two watched all this while hovering over the compound’s northeast corner. The second pilot, unsure whether his colleagues were taking fire or experiencing mechanical problems, ditched his plan to hover over the roof. Instead, he landed in a grassy field across the street from the house. No American was yet inside the residential part of the compound. Mark and his team were inside a downed helicopter at one corner, while James and his team were at the opposite end. The teams had barely been on target for a minute, and the mission was already veering off course. “Eternity is defined as the time be tween when you see something go awry and that first voice report,” the special-operations officer said. The officials in Washington viewed the aerial footage and waited anxiously to hear a military communication. The senior adviser to the President compared the experience to watching “the climax of a movie.” After a few minutes, the twelve SEAL s inside helo one recovered their bearings and calmly relayed on the radio that they were proceeding with the raid. They had conducted so many operations over the past nine years that few things caught them off guard. In the months after the raid, the media have frequently suggested that the Abbottabad operation was as challenging as Operation Eagle Claw and the “Black Hawk Down” incident, but the senior Defense Department official told me that “this was not one of three missions. This was one of almost two thousand missions that have been conducted over the last couple of years, night after night.” He likened the routine of evening raids to “mowing the lawn.” On the night of May 1st alone, special-operations forces based in Afghanistan conducted twelve other missions; according to the official, those operations captured or killed between fifteen and twenty targets. “Most of the missions take off and go left,” he said. “This one took off and went right.” Minutes after hitting the ground, Mark and the other team members began streaming out the side doors of helo one. Mud sucked at their boots as they ran alongside a ten-foot-high wall that enclosed the animal pen. A three-man demolition unit hustled ahead to the pen’s closed metal gate, reached into bags containing explosives, and placed C-4 charges on the hinges. After a loud bang, the door fell open. The nine other SEAL s rushed forward, ending up in an alleylike driveway with their backs to the house’s main entrance. They moved down the alley, silenced rifles pressed against their shoulders. Mark hung toward the rear as he established radio communications with the other team. At the end of the driveway, the Americans blew through yet another locked gate and stepped into a courtyard facing the guesthouse, where Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, bin Laden’s courier, lived with his wife and four children. Three SEAL s in front broke off to clear the guesthouse as the remaining nine blasted through another gate and entered an inner courtyard, which faced the main house. When the smaller unit rounded the corner to face the doors of the guesthouse, they spotted Kuwaiti running inside to warn his wife and children. The Americans’ night-vision goggles cast the scene in pixellated shades of emerald green. Kuwaiti, wearing a white shalwar kameez, had grabbed a weapon and was coming back outside when the SEAL s opened fire and killed him. The nine other SEAL s, including Mark, formed three-man units for clearing the inner courtyard. The Americans suspected that several more men were in the house: Kuwaiti’s thirty-three-year-old brother, Abrar; bin Laden’s sons Hamza and Khalid; and bin Laden himself. One SEAL unit had no sooner trod on the paved patio at the house’s front entrance when Abrar—a stocky, mustachioed man in a cream-colored shalwar kameez—appeared with an AK-47. He was shot in the chest and killed, as was his wife, Bushra, who was standing, unarmed, beside him. Outside the compound’s walls, Ahmed, the translator, patrolled the dirt road in front of bin Laden’s house, as if he were a plainclothes Pakistani police officer. He looked the part, wearing a shalwar kameez atop a flak jacket. He, the dog Cairo, and four SEAL s were responsible for closing off the perimeter of the house while James and six other SEAL s—the contingent that was supposed to have dropped onto the roof—moved inside. For the team patrolling the perimeter, the first fifteen minutes passed without incident. Neighbors undoubtedly heard the low-flying helicopters, the sound of one crashing, and the sporadic explosions and gunfire that ensued, but nobody came outside. One local took note of the tumult in a Twitter post: “Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1 AM (is a rare event).” Eventually, a few curious Pakistanis approached to inquire about the commotion on the other side of the wall. “Go back to your houses,” Ahmed said, in Pashto, as Cairo stood watch. “There is a security operation under way.” The locals went home, none of them suspecting that they had talked to an American. When journalists descended on Bilal Town in the coming days, one resident told a reporter, “I saw soldiers emerging from the helicopters and advancing toward the house. Some of them instructed us in chaste Pashto to turn off the lights and stay inside.” Meanwhile, James, the squadron commander, had breached one wall, crossed a section of the yard covered with trellises, breached a second wall, and joined up with the SEAL s from helo one, who were entering the ground floor of the house. What happened next is not precisely clear. “I can tell you that there was a time period of almost twenty to twenty-five minutes where we really didn’t know just exactly what was going on,” Panetta said later, on “PBS NewsHour.” Until this moment, the operation had been monitored by dozens of defense, intelligence, and Administration officials watching the drone’s video feed. The SEAL s were not wearing helmet cams, contrary to a widely cited report by CBS. None of them had any previous knowledge of the house’s floor plan, and they were further jostled by the awareness that they were possibly minutes away from ending the costliest manhunt in American history; as a result, some of their recollections—on which this account is based—may be imprecise and, thus, subject to dispute. As Abrar’s children ran for cover, the SEAL s began clearing the first floor of the main house, room by room. Though the Americans had thought that the house might be booby-trapped, the presence of kids at the compound suggested otherwise. “You can only be hyper-vigilant for so long,” the special-operations officer said. “Did bin Laden go to sleep every night thinking, The next night they’re coming? Of course not. Maybe for the first year or two. But not now.” Nevertheless, security precautions were in place. A locked metal gate blocked the base of the staircase leading to the second floor, making the downstairs room feel like a cage. After blasting through the gate with C-4 charges, three SEAL s marched up the stairs. Midway up, they saw bin Laden’s twenty-three-year-old son, Khalid, craning his neck around the corner. He then appeared at the top of the staircase with an AK-47. Khalid, who wore a white T-shirt with an overstretched neckline and had short hair and a clipped beard, fired down at the Americans. (The counterterrorism official claims that Khalid was unarmed, though still a threat worth taking seriously. “You have an adult male, late at night, in the dark, coming down the stairs at you in an Al Qaeda house—your assumption is that you’re encountering a hostile.”) At least two of the SEAL s shot back and killed Khalid. According to the booklets that the SEAL s carried, up to five adult males were living inside the compound. Three of them were now dead; the fourth, bin Laden’s son Hamza, was not on the premises. The final person was bin Laden. Before the mission commenced, the SEAL s had created a checklist of code words that had a Native American theme. Each code word represented a different stage of the mission: leaving Jalalabad, entering Pakistan, approaching the compound, and so on. “Geronimo” was to signify that bin Laden had been found. Three SEAL s shuttled past Khalid’s body and blew open another metal cage, which obstructed the staircase leading to the third floor. Bounding up the unlit stairs, they scanned the railed landing. On the top stair, the lead SEAL swivelled right; with his night-vision goggles, he discerned that a tall, rangy man with a fist-length beard was peeking out from behind a bedroom door, ten feet away. The SEAL instantly sensed that it was Crankshaft. (The counterterrorism official asserts that the SEAL first saw bin Laden on the landing, and fired but missed.) The Americans hurried toward the bedroom door. The first SEAL pushed it open. Two of bin Laden’s wives had placed themselves in front of him. Amal al-Fatah, bin Laden’s fifth wife, was screaming in Arabic. She motioned as if she were going to charge; the SEAL lowered his sights and shot her once, in the calf. Fearing that one or both women were wearing suicide jackets, he stepped forward, wrapped them in a bear hug, and drove them aside. He would almost certainly have been killed had they blown themselves up, but by blanketing them he would have absorbed some of the blast and potentially saved the two SEAL s behind him. In the end, neither woman was wearing an explosive vest. A second SEAL stepped into the room and trained the infrared laser of his M4 on bin Laden’s chest. The Al Qaeda chief, who was wearing a tan shalwar kameez and a prayer cap on his head, froze; he was unarmed. “There was never any question of detaining or capturing him—it wasn’t a split-second decision. No one wanted detainees,” the special-operations officer told me. (The Administration maintains that had bin Laden immediately surrendered he could have been taken alive.) Nine years, seven months, and twenty days after September 11th, an American was a trigger pull from ending bin Laden’s life. The first round, a 5.56-mm. bullet, struck bin Laden in the chest. As he fell backward, the SEAL fired a second round into his head, just above his left eye. On his radio, he reported, “For God and country—Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo.” After a pause, he added, “Geronimo E.K.I.A.”—“enemy killed in action.” Hearing this at the White House, Obama pursed his lips, and said solemnly, to no one in particular, “We got him.” Relaxing his hold on bin Laden’s two wives, the first SEAL placed the women in flex cuffs and led them downstairs. Two of his colleagues, meanwhile, ran upstairs with a nylon body bag. They unfurled it, knelt down on either side of bin Laden, and placed the body inside the bag. Eighteen minutes had elapsed since the DEVGRU team landed. For the next twenty minutes, the mission shifted to an intelligence-gathering operation. Four men scoured the second floor, plastic bags in hand, collecting flash drives, CDs, DVDs, and computer hardware from the room, which had served, in part, as bin Laden’s makeshift media studio. In the coming weeks, a C.I.A.-led task force examined the files and determined that bin Laden had remained far more involved in the operational activities of Al Qaeda than many American officials had thought. He had been developing plans to assassinate Obama and Petraeus, to pull off an extravagant September 11th anniversary attack, and to attack American trains. The SEAL s also found an archive of digital pornography. “We find it on all these guys, whether they’re in Somalia, Iraq, or Afghanistan,” the special-operations officer said. Bin Laden’s gold-threaded robes, worn during his video addresses, hung behind a curtain in the media room. Outside, the Americans corralled the women and children—each of them bound in flex cuffs—and had them sit against an exterior wall that faced the second, undamaged Black Hawk. The lone fluent Arabic speaker on the assault team questioned them. Nearly all the children were under the age of ten. They seemed to have no idea about the tenant upstairs, other than that he was “an old guy.” None of the women confirmed that the man was bin Laden, though one of them kept referring to him as “the sheikh.” When the rescue Chinook eventually arrived, a medic stepped out and knelt over the corpse. He injected a needle into bin Laden’s body and extracted two bone-marrow samples. More DNA was taken with swabs. One of the bone-marrow samples went into the Black Hawk. The other went into the Chinook, along with bin Laden’s body. Next, the SEAL s needed to destroy the damaged Black Hawk. The pilot, armed with a hammer that he kept for such situations, smashed the instrument panel, the radio, and the other classified fixtures inside the cockpit. Then the demolition unit took over. They placed explosives near the avionics system, the communications gear, the engine, and the rotor head. “You’re not going to hide the fact that it’s a helicopter,” the special-operations officer said. “But you want to make it unusable.” The SEAL s placed extra C-4 charges under the carriage, rolled thermite grenades inside the copter’s body, and then backed up. Helo one burst into flames while the demolition team boarded the Chinook. The women and children, who were being left behind for the Pakistani authorities, looked puzzled, scared, and shocked as they watched the SEAL s board the helicopters. Amal, bin Laden’s wife, continued her harangue. Then, as a giant fire burned inside the compound walls, the Americans flew away. In the Situation Room, Obama said, “I’m not going to be happy until those guys get out safe.” After thirty-eight minutes inside the compound, the two SEAL teams had to make the long flight back to Afghanistan. The Black Hawk was low on gas, and needed to rendezvous with the Chinook at the refuelling point that was near the Afghan border—but still inside Pakistan. Filling the gas tank took twenty-five minutes. At one point, Biden, who had been fingering a rosary, turned to Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman. “We should all go to Mass tonight,” he said. The helicopters landed back in Jalalabad around 3 A.M .; McRaven and the C.I.A. station chief met the team on the tarmac. A pair of SEAL s unloaded the body bag and unzipped it so that McRaven and the C.I.A. officer could see bin Laden’s corpse with their own eyes. Photographs were taken of bin Laden’s face and then of his outstretched body. Bin Laden was believed to be about six feet four, but no one had a tape measure to confirm the body’s length. So one SEAL , who was six feet tall, lay beside the corpse: it measured roughly four inches longer than the American. Minutes later, McRaven appeared on the teleconference screen in the Situation Room and confirmed that bin Laden’s body was in the bag. The corpse was sent to Bagram. All along, the SEAL s had planned to dump bin Laden’s corpse into the sea—a blunt way of ending the bin Laden myth. They had successfully pulled off a similar scheme before. During a DEVGRU helicopter raid inside Somalia in September, 2009, SEAL s had killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, one of East Africa’s top Al Qaeda leaders; Nabhan’s corpse was then flown to a ship in the Indian Ocean, given proper Muslim rites, and thrown overboard. Before taking that step for bin Laden, however, John Brennan made a call. Brennan, who had been a C.I.A. station chief in Riyadh, phoned a former counterpart in Saudi intelligence. Brennan told the man what had occurred in Abbottabad and informed him of the plan to deposit bin Laden’s remains at sea. As Brennan knew, bin Laden’s relatives were still a prominent family in the Kingdom, and Osama had once been a Saudi citizen. Did the Saudi government have any interest in taking the body? “Your plan sounds like a good one,” the Saudi replied. At dawn, bin Laden was loaded into the belly of a flip-wing V-22 Osprey, accompanied by a JSOC liaison officer and a security detail of military police. The Osprey flew south, destined for the deck of the U.S.S. Carl Vinson—a thousand-foot-long nuclear-powered aircraft carrier sailing in the Arabian Sea, off the Pakistani coast. The Americans, yet again, were about to traverse Pakistani airspace without permission. Some officials worried that the Pakistanis, stung by the humiliation of the unilateral raid in Abbottabad, might restrict the Osprey’s access. The airplane ultimately landed on the Vinson without incident. Bin Laden’s body was washed, wrapped in a white burial shroud, weighted, and then slipped inside a bag. The process was done “in strict conformance with Islamic precepts and practices,” Brennan later told reporters. The JSOC liaison, the military-police contingent, and several sailors placed the shrouded body on an open-air elevator, and rode down with it to the lower level, which functions as a hangar for airplanes. From a height of between twenty and twenty-five feet above the waves, they heaved the corpse into the water. Back in Abbottabad, residents of Bilal Town and dozens of journalists converged on bin Laden’s compound, and the morning light clarified some of the confusion from the previous night. Black soot from the detonated Black Hawk charred the wall of the animal pen. Part of the tail hung over the wall. It was clear that a military raid had taken place there. “I’m glad no one was hurt in the crash, but, on the other hand, I’m sort of glad we left the helicopter there,” the special-operations officer said. “It quiets the conspiracy mongers out there and instantly lends credibility. You believe everything else instantly, because there’s a helicopter sitting there.” After the raid, Pakistan’s political leadership engaged in frantic damage control. In the Washington Post, President Asif Ali Zardari wrote that bin Laden “was not anywhere we had anticipated he would be, but now he is gone,” adding that “a decade of cooperation and partnership between the United States and Pakistan led up to the elimination of Osama bin Laden.” Pakistani military officials reacted more cynically. They arrested at least five Pakistanis for helping the C.I.A., including the physician who ran the immunization drive in Abbottabad. And several Pakistani media outlets, including the Nation—a jingoistic English-language newspaper that is considered a mouthpiece for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or I.S.I.—published what they claimed was the name of the C.I.A.’s station chief in Islamabad. (Shireen Mazari, a former editor of the Nation, once told me, “Our interests and the Americans’ interests don’t coincide.”) The published name was incorrect, and the C.I.A. officer opted to stay. The proximity of bin Laden’s house to the Pakistan Military Academy raised the possibility that the military, or the I.S.I., had helped protect bin Laden. How could Al Qaeda’s chief live so close to the academy without at least some officers knowing about it? Suspicion grew after the Times reported that at least one cell phone recovered from bin Laden’s house contained contacts for senior militants belonging to Harakat-ul-Mujahideen, a jihadi group that has had close ties to the I.S.I. Although American officials have stated that Pakistani officials must have helped bin Laden hide in Abbottabad, definitive evidence has not yet been presented. Bin Laden’s death provided the White House with the symbolic victory it needed to begin phasing troops out of Afghanistan. Seven weeks later, Obama announced a timetable for withdrawal. Even so, U.S. counterterrorism activities inside Pakistan—that is, covert operations conducted by the C.I.A. and JSOC —are not expected to diminish anytime soon. Since May 2nd, there have been more than twenty drone strikes in North and South Waziristan, including one that allegedly killed Ilyas Kashmiri, a top Al Qaeda leader, while he was sipping tea in an apple orchard. The success of the bin Laden raid has sparked a conversation inside military and intelligence circles: Are there other terrorists worth the risk of another helicopter assault in a Pakistani city? “There are people out there that, if we could find them, we would go after them,” Cartwright told me. He mentioned Ayman al-Zawahiri, the new leader of Al Qaeda, who is believed to be in Pakistan, and Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric in Yemen. Cartwright emphasized that “going after them” didn’t necessarily mean another DEVGRU raid. The special-operations officer spoke more boldly. He believes that a precedent has been set for more unilateral raids in the future. “Folks now realize we can weather it,” he said. The senior adviser to the President said that “penetrating other countries’ sovereign airspace covertly is something that’s always available for the right mission and the right gain.” Brennan told me, “The confidence we have in the capabilities of the U.S. military is, without a doubt, even stronger after this operation.” On May 6th, Al Qaeda confirmed bin Laden’s death and released a statement congratulating “the Islamic nation” on “the martyrdom of its good son Osama.” The authors promised Americans that “their joy will turn to sorrow and their tears will mix with blood.” That day, President Obama travelled to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where the 160th is based, to meet the DEVGRU unit and the pilots who pulled off the raid. The SEAL s, who had returned home from Afghanistan earlier in the week, flew in from Virginia. Biden, Tom Donilon, and a dozen other national-security advisers came along. McRaven greeted Obama on the tarmac. (They had met at the White House a few days earlier—the President had presented McRaven with a tape measure.) McRaven led the President and his team into a one-story building on the other side of the base. They walked into a windowless room with shabby carpets, fluorescent lights, and three rows of metal folding chairs. McRaven, Brian, the pilots from the 160th, and James took turns briefing the President. They had set up a three-dimensional model of bin Laden’s compound on the floor and, waving a red laser pointer, traced their maneuvers inside. A satellite image of the compound was displayed on a wall, along with a map showing the flight routes into and out of Pakistan. The briefing lasted about thirty-five minutes. Obama wanted to know how Ahmed had kept locals at bay; he also inquired about the fallen Black Hawk and whether above-average temperatures in Abbottabad had contributed to the crash. (The Pentagon is conducting a formal investigation of the accident.) When James, the squadron commander, spoke, he started by citing all the forward operating bases in eastern Afghanistan that had been named for SEAL s killed in combat. “Everything we have done for the last ten years prepared us for this,” he told Obama. The President was “in awe of these guys,” Ben Rhodes, the deputy national-security adviser, who travelled with Obama, said. “It was an extraordinary base visit,” he added. “They knew he had staked his Presidency on this. He knew they staked their lives on it.” As James talked about the raid, he mentioned Cairo’s role. “There was a dog?” Obama interrupted. James nodded and said that Cairo was in an adjoining room, muzzled, at the request of the Secret Service. “I want to meet that dog,” Obama said. “If you want to meet the dog, Mr. President, I advise you to bring treats,” James joked. Obama went over to pet Cairo, but the dog’s muzzle was left on. Afterward, Obama and his advisers went into a second room, down the hall, where others involved in the raid—including logisticians, crew chiefs, and SEAL alternates—had assembled. Obama presented the team with a Presidential Unit Citation and said, “Our intelligence professionals did some amazing work. I had fifty-fifty confidence that bin Laden was there, but I had one-hundred-per-cent confidence in you guys. You are, literally, the finest small-fighting force that has ever existed in the world.” The raiding team then presented the President with an American flag that had been on board the rescue Chinook. Measuring three feet by five, the flag had been stretched, ironed, and framed. The SEAL s and the pilots had signed it on the back; an inscription on the front read, “From the Joint Task Force Operation Neptune’s Spear, 01 May 2011: ‘For God and country. Geronimo.’ ” Obama promised to put the gift “somewhere private and meaningful to me.” Before the President returned to Washington, he posed for photographs with each team member and spoke with many of them, but he left one thing unsaid. He never asked who fired the kill shot, and the SEAL s never volunteered to tell him. ♦

– President Obama took such a cautious approach to killing Osama bin Laden that he actually canceled the mission three times at the urging of advisor Valerie Jarrett, according to an upcoming book. In Leading From Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him, author Richard Miniter writes that Obama even delayed the mission the day before May 2, 2011, when Navy SEALs finally carried it out, the Daily Caller reports. “President Obama’s greatest success was actually his greatest failure,” says Miniter. But the White House is calling Miniter's version of events "an utter fabrication," reports Politico. "It's seems pretty clear that Mr. Miniter doesn't know what he's talking about," said a White House rep. And a report at Media Matters notes that Miniter's version doesn't jibe with the New Yorker's "deep dive" into the bin Laden raid.

"The president is thinking about pardoning nobody," Anthony Scaramucci said. | Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo Scaramucci: 'The president is thinking about pardoning nobody' New White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci insisted that President Donald Trump isn't considering any pardons for family members or staffers targeted by special counsel Robert Mueller, and also dismissed Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a lawyer linked to Russian intelligence as a "non-event." "The president is thinking about pardoning nobody," Scaramucci said in a combative interview Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." Story Continued Below After host Jake Tapper pressed him on why Trump would tweet about his pardon powers, Scaramucci responded: "It has been coming up a lot, because there's an undercurrent of nonsensical stuff." Morning Score newsletter Your guide to the permanent campaign — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. Tapper interjected: "Because he has asked advisers about it." "Oh, come on, Jake," responded Scaramucci, founder of the investment firm SkyBridge Capital. "This is the problem with the whole system. He's the president of the United States. If I turn to one of my staff members at SkyBridge and ask them a question and they run out to the news media and tell everyone what I'm thinking about, is that fair to the president?" "The truth of the matter is that the president isn't going to have to pardon anybody, because the Russia thing is a nonsensical thing," Scaramucci continued. Scaramucci, who said the White House needed to be better about its messaging, also alleged the investigations into a meeting among Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner and a lawyer with ties to Russian intelligence agencies were much ado about nothing. "Once they realized there was no legitimacy to it, people were walking out or they were on their iPhones," he said. "It was a non-event, and if we want to turn it into a two-week, four-week news cycle, that's fine. But it was a non-event." During the interview, Scaramucci also cited an anonymous expert as suggesting that if the Russian hackers were messing with the 2016 election, Americans would never have found out about it because they were so good at it. When pressed by Tapper as to who the expert was, Scaramucci said it was Trump: "How about it was — how about it was the president, Jake?" After Tapper reiterated that "the consensus of the intelligence community" was that the Russians had intervened, Scaramucci clarified the president's views. "I talked to him yesterday. He called me from Air Force One," he added. "And he basically said to me, hey, you know, this is — maybe they did it. Maybe they didn't do it." ||||| President Trump’s attorney on Sunday emphasized that he and the president have not discussed the subject of pardons. “We have not and I continue to not have conversations with the president of the United States about pardons,” Jay Sekulow told ABC’s “This Week.” Sekulow’s comments come one day after Trump mentioned the presidential power to pardon on Twitter. ADVERTISEMENT “While all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon, why think of that when only crime so far is LEAKS against us.FAKE NEWS,” Trump said Saturday. The president has previously dismissed the investigation into Russia’s election meddling and any potential ties between Trump campaign staff members and Russia associated as a “witch hunt.” “Pardons have not been discussed. Pardons are not on the table,” Sekulow stressed during his television appearance on Sunday. But Sekulow said a court would have to decide if the president could grant himself a pardon, noting the issue has never been adjudicated. “We’re not researching the issue because the issue of pardons is not on the table. There’s nothing to pardon from,” Sekulow said. ||||| 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 ||||| They have so much in common beyond an addiction to hair product. Both enjoy stirring the pot and shifting political loyalties. (Both had high praise for Hillary.) They savor counterpunching, especially in donnybrooks with CNN. Trump was taken with Scaramucci’s win in getting CNN to retract a story linking him to a Russian investment fund supposedly under Senate investigation, a debacle that ended in three reporters losing their jobs. The Mogul and the Mooch have the same fluid relationship with the truth and the same definition of loyalty. Donald Trump made it clear in an interview with Michael Schmidt, Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker in The Times on Wednesday that he was hurt that Jeff Sessions essentially put the Constitution over him, calling his attorney general’s decision to recuse himself on the Russia investigation “very unfair to the president.” And Politico reported about Scaramucci: “A few years ago, while interviewing PR firms, he was blunt about what he was looking for, according to one person present for the meeting. During the 90-minute meeting, Scaramucci told this person: ‘I need someone who’s prepared to go to the mat and lie for me.’” Sean Spicer had the impossible task of defending a president who didn’t believe in telling the truth to a press fixated on the president’s lying. He was impersonated by a woman on “Saturday Night Live” and put up with Steve Bannon calling him fat. He made up a bunch of nonsense about crowd sizes to please a boss who tallies his own personal value by crowd sizes. ||||| Newly appointed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci acknowledged Saturday that he was deleting old tweets criticizing President Trump. "Full transparency: I'm deleting old tweets. Past views evolved & shouldn't be a distraction. I serve @POTUS agenda & that's all that matters," he wrote on Twitter. Full transparency: I'm deleting old tweets. Past views evolved & shouldn't be a distraction. I serve @POTUS agenda & that's all that matters — Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 22, 2017 ADVERTISEMENT Reports of Scaramucci deleting years-old tweets surfaced Friday, including two tweets from 2012 in which he called Trump "so smart with no judgment" and called Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonWoman behind pro-Trump Facebook page denies being influenced by Russians Trump: CNN, MSNBC 'got scammed' into covering Russian-organized rally Pennsylvania Democrats set to win big with new district map MORE "incredibly competent." Scaramucci's comments in 2015 referring to Trump as a "hack" politician also garnered attention after he was appointed to a senior post in the Trump White House. He said during a White House press briefing Friday that Trump "brings it up every 15 seconds." "One of the biggest mistakes I made, because I was an inexperienced person in the world of politics. I was supporting another candidate. I should have never said that about him," he said. "So Mr. President, if you’re listening, I personally apologize for the 50th time for saying that." The new communications director's appointment came as Sean Spicer resigned as White House press secretary on the day after Trump's six-month mark in office. ||||| Washington (CNN) US President Donald Trump remains unconvinced that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 election, his new White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci said on Sunday. "He basically said to me, 'Hey you know, this is, maybe they did it, maybe they didn't do it,'" Scaramucci said of a recent conversation he'd had with the President about alleged Russian interference. Prior to Trump's inauguration, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released an unclassified report showing the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency all concluded the Russian government attempted to influence the election to hurt Hillary Clinton and help Trump. Scaramucci, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," suggested Trump does not yet accept the conclusion of the intelligence community and questioned the media's pursuit of the story, saying it tarnished Trump's victory in November. "The mainstream media position on this, that they interfered in the election," Scaramucci said. "It actually in his mind, what are you guys suggesting? You're going to delegitimize his victory?" Scaramucci said he intended to review the intelligence community's evidence once he had his security clearance and pledged to give Trump his personal thoughts on the conclusions. He said Trump would make up his own mind in time and that if Trump believed Russia was responsible for the 2016 efforts and a threat to future elections, he would act. "A person that's going to be super, super tough on Russia is President Donald J. Trump," Scaramucci said. Trump has offered varied responses on Russian efforts to influence the election over the past few months. Speaking ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in early July, Trump said, "It was Russia, and I think it was probably others also." He also cast doubt on the strength of the intelligence community's conclusions, citing the erroneous assessment that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. On Sunday, Trump posted a tweet that called the Russia probe a "witch hunt," saying Democrats were using the Russian hacking allegations as an "excuse for a lost election." "As the phony Russian Witch Hunt continues, two groups are laughing at this excuse for a lost election taking hold, Democrats and Russians!" he wrote. In a separate interview earlier on CNN's "State of the Union," Democratic Sen. Al Franken appeared at a loss, responding, "What can you say? It's just bizarre." 'Mr. President, I apologize' Prior to becoming a Trump supporter, Scaramucci had backed Scott Walker and criticized Trump on several occasions. He wrote a scathing piece last year arguing against what he called "unbridled demagoguery" taking over the GOP. Asked about his shift of position, Scaramucci said both he and Trump didn't care, and addressed the President directly. "If I said some things about him when I was working from another candidate, Mr. Trump, Mr. President, I apologize for that," Scaramucci said. He dismissed the scrutiny around his past comments as part of an unfair political purity test, and said it was totally untrue that he was suppressing his own beliefs to get closer to the power and prestige of the White House. And now that he is in his new job, Scaramucci said it was time for things to change in the White House communications shop. "There's obviously a communications problem," Scaramucci said. For one thing, he said in his own opinion -- which he said was not the final decision -- the White House should agree to put press briefings on camera again. For another, he said he would address leaks to the press from within the White House on Monday. He said he would tell the staff, "If we don't stop the leaks, I'm going to stop you." Executive power Fresh on the job, Scaramucci found himself talking about one of the President's tweets. Following a story in The Washington Post that stated Trump and his legal team were exploring the mechanics of the President's pardoning authority, including whether he could pardon himself, Trump tweeted, "While all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon, why think of that when only crime so far is LEAKS against us. FAKE NEWS." While all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon, why think of that when only crime so far is LEAKS against us.FAKE NEWS — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2017 Scaramucci said that despite the report and the tweets, Trump was not actually considering pardoning anyone, including himself. "The President is thinking about pardoning nobody," Scaramucci said. "The President is not going to have to pardon anybody because the Russian thing is a nonsensical thing." Russia sanctions As for a bill that would increase sanctions on Russia and give Congress a check on the administration's authority to offer Russia sanctions relief, Scaramucci said it was still up in the air whether Trump would sign it, should it pass. "You've got to ask President Trump that," Scaramucci said.

– New White House communications chief Anthony Scaramucci captured most of the headlines from the Sunday talk shows. Among other things, he rejected the idea that President Trump is considering pardons and defended his own move to delete old tweets in which he was critical of Trump. Details: Pardons: "The president is thinking about pardoning nobody," he said on CNN, adding that Trump "is not going to have to pardon anybody because the Russian thing is a nonsensical thing." (Trump tweeted about the power of presidential pardons on Saturday.) Pardons, take II: Trump attorney Jay Sekulow also dismissed the idea of pardon discussions, per the Hill. “We have not and I continue to not have conversations with the president of the United States about pardons,” he said on ABC's This Week. Not convinced: Scaramucci said Trump is still not convinced Russia interfered in the election. "He basically said to me, 'Hey you know, this is, maybe they did it, maybe they didn't do it.'" He also said he was speaking with somebody recently who asserted that if the Russians did indeed meddle, they would leave behind no evidence of it. Upon questioning, he told Jake Tapper the person who said that was, in fact, Trump, per Politico. Deleting tweets: Earlier over the weekend, Scaramucci deleted old tweets critical of Trump, explaining that "past views evolved & shouldn't be a distraction." The Hill notes that Scaramucci also publicly apologized to Trump on Friday. Moving on: "If I said some things about [Trump] when I was working for another candidate, Mr. Trump, Mr. President, I apologize for that. Can we move on off of that?" he said Sunday. Old column: One piece of criticism gaining attention is a 2016 column Scaramucci wrote for Fox Business in which he warned about "unbridled demagoguery" taking over the GOP. He did not, however, mention Trump by name in the column. Maureen Dowd: In her New York Times column, Dowd describes Scaramucci as a "wealthy mini-me Manhattan bro" who has much in common with Trump, including a big ego. But she says the hire won't solve the president's big problem, that being the "existential threat" posed by special investigator Robert Mueller. Trump, she writes, doesn't get that Mueller is not some "contractor" he can bully and intimidate.

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. / Updated By Pete Williams Holding defendants in jail because they can't afford to make bail is unconstitutional, the Justice Department said in a court filing late Thursday — the first time the government has taken such a position before a federal appeals court. It's the latest step by the Obama administration in encouraging state courts to move away from imposing fixed cash bail amounts and jailing those who can't pay. Related: A Victory in Bail Reform for Criminal Justice Advocates "Bail practices that incarcerate indigent individuals before trial solely because of their inability to pay for their release violate the Fourteenth Amendment," the Justice Department said in a friend of court brief, citing the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection. A corrections officer removes handcuff from an inmate in his cell at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California, on Aug. 16. Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images The filing came in the case of Maurice Walker of Calhoun, Georgia. He was kept in jail for six nights after police arrested him for the misdemeanor offense of being a pedestrian under the influence. He was told he could not get out of jail unless he paid the fixed bail amount of $160. Related: Civil Rights Advocates Applaud Feds' Fight Against 'Debtors' Prisons' Justice Department's civil rights lawyers said in their brief that courts must consider a person's indigence and look at other ways of guaranteeing an appearance in court. "Fixed bail schedules that allow for the pretrial release of only those who can play, without accounting for the ability to pay," the government said, "unlawfully discriminate based on indigence." A federal judge in January ruled in Walker's favor, ordering the city to let those arrested on misdemeanor offenses be released on their own recognizance and to make other changes in its post-arrest procedures. In appealing that order, the city said the preset amounts of the city's bail schedule are tied to the seriousness of each offense and are specifically allowed under Georgia law. Related: Reformers Seek to Undo Growth of New 'Debtors' Prisons' "A system of unsecured recognizance bonds," the city said in its appeal," greatly reduces the incentive for defendants to appear." The city is supported by the Georgia Sheriff's Association and by a group representing the nation's bail bondsmen. They argue that the Constitution does not guarantee bail, it only bans excessive bail. "It thus simply cannot be that any defendant arrested for any crime must be immediately released based on a bare assertion of indigence," the group said in its court filing. Related: Lawsuit Charges 13 St. Louis Suburbs With "Extorting" Black Drivers Barry J. Pollack, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense lawyers, said Friday said he applauded the Justice Department's for making "critically important arguments." A spokesman for the defense lawyers group said it believes "pretrial liberty must be the norm and detention prior to trial the carefully limited exception." ||||| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department filed an amicus brief in a federal circuit court on Friday that said mandating inmates pay bail to be released before a trial violates civil rights guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment. The filing in the 11th Circuit marks the first time the Justice Department has told a federal court that mandating bail for release discriminates against people who cannot afford the fee. ||||| WASHINGTON ― The Obama administration has joined the fight against the American bail industry, telling a federal appeals court that bail practices that keep poor defendants locked up because they cannot afford to purchase their freedom are unconstitutional. “Bail practices that do not account for indigence result in the unnecessary incarceration of numerous individuals who are presumed innocent,” the Justice Department wrote in an amicus brief filed Friday. The brief marks the first time DOJ has weighed in on the constitutional requirements of bail systems in a federal appeals court. Bail practices in the United States often leave poor people languishing in jail simply because they cannot afford a certain amount of money to purchase their freedom. Many of the more than 800 jail deaths logged by The Huffington Post between July 2015 and July 2016 involved individuals who were incarcerated after being arrested for minor offenses and who were unable to afford their bail. DOJ says that many jurisdictions still incarcerate people without taking their financial circumstances into account, and notes that the use of money bail has “increased substantially since 1990.” Maurice Walker is at the center of the case at issue. The 54-year-old was arrested by the Calhoun Police Department in Georgia in September 2015 for allegedly being a “pedestrian under the influence.” Walker, who has limited income and serious mental health issues, was told he would not be released unless he came up with $160, the fixed amount set by bond for someone charged with being a pedestrian under the influence. Court was held just once a week in Calhoun, and Walker was arrested on a Thursday before Labor Day when there was no court. He remained in jail for six days, and would have been there longer ― but he was released after lawyers with Equal Justice Under Law and the Southern Center for Human Rights filed a class action lawsuit on his behalf while he was still behind bars. A lower federal court had ruled earlier this year that “any bail or bond scheme that mandates payment of pre-fixed amounts for different offenses to obtain pretrial release, without any consideration of indigence or other factors, violates the Equal Protection Clause.” That ruling is being appealed by the city, and is also opposed by the American Bail Coalition. ABC claims that the plaintiff takes the “extreme position” that “any defendant is entitled to immediate release based on an unverified assertion of indigency,” and argues that bail is a “Liberty-Promoting Institution As Old As The Republic.” RELATED STORIES Our Bail System Is Leaving Innocent People To Die In Jail Because They're Poor DOJ, which has faced pressure from advocates to get aggressive in cracking down on unconstitutional practices that plague the American justice system, said that fixed bail practices discriminate against people who lack financial means. From Friday’s filing: Fixed bail schedules that allow for the pretrial release of only those who can pay, without accounting for ability to pay and alternative methods of assuring future appearance, do not provide for such individualized determinations, and therefore unlawfully discriminate based on indigence. Under such bail schemes, arrestees who can afford to pay the fixed bail amount are promptly released whenever they are able to access sufficient funds for payment, even if they are likely to miss their assigned court date or pose a danger to others. Conversely, the use of such schedules effectively denies pretrial release to those who cannot afford to pay the fixed bail amount, even if they pose no flight risk, and even if alternative methods of assuring appearance (such as an unsecured bond or supervised release) could be imposed. Such individuals are unnecessarily kept in jail until their court appearance often for even minor offenses, such as a traffic or ordinance violation, including violations that are not punishable by incarceration. The Justice Department filing mentions the consent decree that the Civil Rights Division reached with Ferguson, Missouri, to end unconstitutional bail practices found as part of an investigation into the police department and municipal court there. A recent lawsuit filed by ArchCity Defenders targets other municipalities in St. Louis County that have engaged in similar practices. Alec Karakatsanis, the co-founder of Equal Justice Under Law, told The Huffington Post that having the backing of the Justice Department as well as organizations like the American Bar Association and CATO is an important step in bringing an end to unconstitutional practices. “Hundreds of thousands of human beings are held in American cages every night solely because they are too poor to make a payment,” Karakatsanis said. “Today’s amicus filings of support by a wide range of groups, including the Department of Justice, takes us closer to finally eradicating poverty jailing from American society.”

– It's unconstitutional to keep poor defendants in jail before their trial simply because they can't afford to pay bail. That's according to an amicus brief filed in federal court by the Justice Department on Friday, Reuters reports. According to NBC News, the Justice Department found that the practice violates the 14th Amendment and that bail amounts that don't take poverty into account "unlawfully discriminate based on indigence." It says courts must find a better way to make sure impoverished defendants show up to court than keeping them in jail. The brief was filed in the case of Maurice Walker. Walker, who is poor and has mental health issues, was arrested for being a pedestrian under the influence in Calhoun, Georgia, the Huffington Post reports. Court is only held once per week in Calhoun, and Walker was kept in jail for six days because he couldn't afford to pay the $160 bail for his freedom. The city argued that it's perfectly legal to set bail amounts based on the seriousness of crimes without any consideration for a defendant's ability to pay it. A federal court ruled against Calhoun, but the city appealed.

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 ||||| Donald Trump has been accused of a making an “assassination threat” against rival Hillary Clinton, plunging his presidential campaign into a fresh crisis. The volatile Republican nominee was speaking at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, about the next president’s power to appoint supreme court justices. “Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the second amendment,” said Trump, eliciting boos from the crowd. This is Donald Trump at his lowest yet: a man hinting at murder | Lucia Graves Read more “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the second amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know. But I’ll tell you what, that will be a horrible day.” The second amendment to the constitution protects the right of Americans to bear arms. Trump has accused his Democratic rival of wanting to abolish it, a charge that she denies. His extraordinary remark on Tuesday was swiftly condemned by Democrats. Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, said: “This is simple – what Trump is saying is dangerous. A person seeking to be the president of the United States should not suggest violence in any way.” Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, where the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting took place in Newtown in 2012, went further in a tweet: “Don’t treat this as a political misstep. It’s an assassination threat, seriously upping the possibility of a national tragedy & crisis.” British novelist Salman Rushdie then weighed in, tweeting: “Of course the Trump flacks are now trying to confuse the issue, but Senator Murphy is clear about what Trump meant.” The claim was rejected by Jeff Sessions, a Republican senator from Alabama and longtime Trump supporter. He responded on CNN: “Totally wrong. I don’t believe that’s true. I don’t believe that’s at all what he meant.” But Sessions acknowledged: “It may have been awkwardly phrased.” Trump said later in reply to Sean Hannity on Fox News that he was referring to the political movement around the Second Amendment. Hannity asked: “You know, so obviously you’re saying that there’s a strong political movement within the Second Amendment, and if people mobilize and vote, they can stop Hillary from having this impact on the court. But that’s not how the media is spinning it. What’s your reaction to it?” Trump replied: “Well, I just heard about that, and it was amazing because nobody in that room thought anything other than what you just said. This is a political movement. This is a strong, powerful movement, the Second Amendment … there can be no other interpretation. Even reporters have told me – I mean give me a break.” Trump has been striving to show more discipline on the campaign trail after a string of gaffes in recent weeks. He remained in control in Detroit on Monday when a speech on the economy was repeatedly interrupted by protesters. But in Wilmington, he apparently could not resist going off-script. Campaigners for gun control expressed outrage at his off-the-cuff remark. Po Murray, chair of the Newtown Action Alliance, said: “Donald Trump continues to pander to the corporate gun lobby and the gun extremists who thrive on fear and rhetoric. “Any suggestion that gun violence should be used to stop Hillary Clinton from appointing supreme court justices is dangerous and reckless. It’s no surprise that 50 GOP national security experts have signed a letter making a pledge to not vote for him.” Mark Glaze, former executive director of Everytown for Gun Safety, said: “It may well be an incitement to violence, but understand it’s the basic theory on which the modern gun industry is built. Their core audience is people who hate the government and believe they’re going to have to take up arms against it. My guess is this is a deliberate dog whistle to that significant number of people. “There are people out there who hear this kind of thing in a certain way, and if they’re already inclined to hatred of government and Hillary Clinton and see guns as a public policy solution, who knows what could happen?” The concern was echoed by Paul Begala, a former adviser to Bill Clinton in the White House. “This is not something that should be joked about,” he told CNN. “I hope in the best case you could say he was joking. It didn’t seem like a joke to me. Tony Schwartz, the guy who wrote [Trump’s book] The Art of the Deal, says Trump never jokes. “I fear that an unbalanced person hears that in this inflamed environment and, God forbid, thinks that was a threat. I certainly take it as a threat, I really do, and Trump needs to apologise.” Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA and National Security Agency, said on the same channel: “Well, let me say, if someone had have said that outside the hall he’d be in the back of a police wagon now with the secret service questioning him.” As yet another controversy threatened to engulf him, Trump’s campaign insisted that his words had been misunderstood. Jason Miller, a spokesperson, attempted to explain the candidate’s comments. “It’s called the power of unification,” he said. “Second amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power. And this year, they will be voting in record numbers, and it won’t be for Hillary Clinton, it will be for Donald Trump.” National Rifle Association spokeswoman Jennifer Baker called the uproar over Trump’s remarks a “distraction created by the dishonest media.” “The NRA represents law-abiding gun owners and we support lawful behavior,” she wrote in an email. “The NRA and Donald Trump are calling for Second Amendment supporters to protect their constitutional right to self defense by defeating Hillary Clinton at the ballot box,” Baker said. “Second Amendment voters understand the stakes. They understand that the Second Amendment is on the ballot.” Clinton’s campaign went on the record in May saying that she believes the Supreme Court’s 2008 Heller decision, a key victory for gun rights, was “wrongly decided.” The 5-4 Heller decision struck down the District of Columbia’s handgun ban as unconstitutional, ruling that Americans have an individual right to own guns for self-defense in their homes. “If Heller is overturned, that paves the way for extreme gun control for decades,” Baker said. The official NRA Twitter feed compared Trump’s remarks to a 2008 comment from then-Senator Joseph Biden, who said “If [Obama] tries to fool with my Beretta, he’s got a problem,” and asked “Was Joe Biden…suggesting violence here?” Katie Pavlich, a prominent conservative writer who spoke at this year’s NRA annual meeting, also slammed the media’s coverage of Trump’s remarks, tweeting: “Media totally exposed itself (again) today by assuming Second Amendment supporters are assassins instead of voters.” But she added: “That said Trump is reason Trump has no credibility/isn’t given the benefit of the doubt when actually misunderstood.” She was referencing Trump’s remark in January that “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” Pavlich wrote: “I’m not defending Trump or his comments, I’m defending Second Amendment supporters.” The supreme court has become a central election issue since the death earlier this year of Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative who has not yet been replaced. Trump claims that liberal judges could threaten the second amendment. Progressive pressure groups that have been watching the process closely joined the condemnation of Trump on Tuesday. Michael Keegan, president of People for the American Way, said: “There has been no shortage of inexcusable rhetoric from Trump, but suggesting gun violence is truly abhorrent. There is no place in our public discourse for this kind of statement, especially from someone seeking the nation’s highest office.” Neil Sroka, communications director of Democracy for America, added: “Honestly, it’s a little unclear whether Donald Trump was calling for his supporters to assassinate a Clinton court pick or take up an armed insurrection against a government that allowed her to appoint one. Either way, the only thing more insane than electing someone president who blows this kind of violent dog whistle would be buying the furious spin coming out of his campaign trying to explain it away.” Trump has produced a shortlist of conservative justices that he hopes will appeal to the Republican base and deter those considering defecting to Clinton, who could set the court on a liberal trajectory for years to come. He told supporters on Tuesday: “I guess there’s a scenario in which this president could pick five supreme court justices, and if you pick two that are left, left, left, it’s going to be a disaster for our country.” The NRA had endorsed him early, he added. “We want to replace with justices very much like Justice Scalia and that’s going to happen, that’s so important. One of the most important elections for a lot of reasons, not just that,” he said. He also told the rally that Clinton is “dangerous” and could destroy the country from within because of her immigration policies. Trump was introduced by Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, who brought up the case of Shahram Amiri, an Iranian nuclear scientist executed for spying for the US. Clinton received emails mentioning him on her controversial personal server when she was secretary of state. Giuliani said: “Remember Hillary told us there was no top secret information on her emails? Remember she told us that. Well, she lied! And I don’t know the connection between that and the death of Mr Amiri, but what I do know is it put a lot more attention on him when they found those emails. It certainly put him at great risk, even if they didn’t find them, and it shows you that when the director of the FBI said she was extremely careless, he was being kind.” But Giuliani repeatedly waved away chants of “Lock her up!” from the crowd. Lois Beckett contributed reporting. ||||| At a rally in Wilmington, N.C., Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said rival Hillary Clinton wants to “essentially” abolish the Second Amendment. He warned of Clinton’s ability to pick Supreme Court justices if she wins, saying there would be “nothing you can do, folks.” (The Washington Post) At a rally in Wilmington, N.C., Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said rival Hillary Clinton wants to “essentially” abolish the Second Amendment. He warned of Clinton’s ability to pick Supreme Court justices if she wins, saying there would be “nothing you can do, folks.” (The Washington Post) Donald Trump was ticking through a list of reasons to support him over Hillary Clinton on Tuesday when he decided to linger on one. “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Trump said with a shrug at a rally here after accusing Clinton of wanting to strip Americans of their gun rights. He paused, then softly offered a postscript: “Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.” The denouncements came swiftly from Clinton’s campaign and her allies — and from outside politics. The insinuation, critics said, was that Trump was inciting his followers to bear arms against a president in the future. And Trump’s response was just as swift: He’d said nothing of the sort but was merely encouraging gun rights advocates to be politically involved. The pattern has repeated itself again and again. First come Trump’s attention-getting expressions. Then come the outraged reactions. The headlines follow. Finally, Trump, his aides and his supporters lash out at the media, accusing journalists of twisting his words or missing the joke. It happened last week, when Trump appeared to kick a baby out of a rally, then later insisted that he was kidding. It happened the week before, when he encouraged Russia to hack Clinton’s emails, then claimed he was just being sarcastic. And with each new example, Trump’s rhetorical asides grow more alarming to many who hear them — and prompt condemnations from an ever-wider universe of critics. On Tuesday, for instance, even Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), one of Trump’s most ardent defenders, struggled to fully embrace his comments. Sessions insisted in an interview on CNN that Trump did not mean to encourage violence, but he acknowledged that Trump’s words were “awkwardly phrased.” 1 of 60 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × What Donald Trump is doing on the campaign trail View Photos The GOP presidential nominee is pressing his case ahead of Election Day. Caption The GOP presidential nominee is pressing his case ahead of Election Day. Nov. 7, 2016 Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at SNHU Arena in Manchester, N.H. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. People from other corners weighed in, too. “As the daughter of a leader who was assassinated, I find #Trump’s comments distasteful, disturbing, dangerous,” tweeted Bernice King, daughter of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. “His words don’t #LiveUp. #MLK.” The Secret Service acknowledged Tuesday in a tweet that agents were “aware” of the episode. Trump’s most dedicated fans said they understood what he was saying, and they scoffed at the reaction of Democrats and the headlines from newspapers and news shows. “In no way was he threatening Hillary,” said Sarah Smith, a 72-year-old retiree who attended the rally in Wilmington where Trump made the remark. “Anybody who thinks that is delusional.” James Renaud, 66, said he took the comment “at face value,” meaning gun owners have to mobilize lest Clinton is able to stack the Supreme Court. “It was just off-the-cuff talking.” And Keri Malkin, 49, said she didn’t “hear it that way at all,” suggesting that the insinuation that the comment was a threat against Clinton was engineered by her supporters. “Hillary lies a lot, so it’s no surprise that her supporters would lie,” Malkin said. The number of influential Republican officials saying they can’t vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton is growing as Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) pledges that she won’t vote for Trump. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) [In North Carolina, Trump hits the trail hard but late where he needs to win big] But Trump’s rhetorical asides appear to be taking a toll among the electorate overall. Many voters find his remarks distasteful, even given his explanations. The possibility that he was joking or being sarcastic, or that he meant something other than what some people heard, doesn’t alter the growing view that Trump is reckless with his words. Each day brings new polls showing the Republican nominee lagging Clinton nationally and in several key battleground states. The surveys show widespread uncertainty about whether Trump has the temperament to serve as president — a doubt that his ever-replenishing supply of rhetoric continues to feed. “Don’t treat this as a political misstep,” tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a Clinton supporter and a staunch gun-control advocate. “It’s an assassination threat, seriously upping the possibility of a national tragedy & crisis.” Trump has made concerted efforts to counter such concerns; Monday, he delivered an economic policy address in Detroit that many anxious Republicans had hoped would reset a campaign that had flailed for more than a week after Trump’s attacks on the Muslim American family of a U.S. Army captain killed in Iraq. But part of the pattern of Trump’s controversies is that they often step on his efforts to broaden his appeal, as they seemed to in this instance. He also sometimes grabs the media spotlight away from Clinton when he’d be better off letting her keep it. That happened Tuesday, too, when Clinton was dealing with an unwelcome distraction: the revelation that the father of the gunman in the mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub in June had secured a prime seat at her rally Monday in Kissimmee, Fla. On Tuesday, it was not immediately clear whether Trump was inciting gun owners to use their weapons against judges or a sitting president — or was encouraging some other action. Trump spokesman Jason Miller released a statement just moments after the comment, swatting down the idea that the mogul was doing anything other than encouraging political action. At an event in Fayetteville, N.C., later in the day, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani defended Trump while introducing him. “What he meant by” his comment, Giuliani said, was that “you have the power to vote against” Clinton. Later Tuesday, Trump appeared on Fox News, where he described the “strong, powerful movement” in the United States to protect the Second Amendment. “There can be no other interpretation,” he said. “Even reporters have told me. I mean, give me a break.” Meanwhile, Clinton and her supporters on Capitol Hill and in the pro-gun-control community said they saw Trump’s words in a very different way. “@realDonaldTrump makes death threats because he’s a pathetic coward who can’t handle the fact that he’s losing to a girl,” tweeted Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a regular Trump critic. “This is simple — what Trump is saying is dangerous,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement. “A person seeking to be the President of the United States should not suggest violence in any way.” The campaign also quickly dashed off a fundraising solicitation after the episode, emailing supporters: “We don’t know how many children were watching him today, absorbing the kind of violence and hate that Trump is peddling.” What may have been lost in the flap was the substance of Trump’s accusation against Clinton: that she wants to overturn the Second Amendment, and plans to appoint judges and justices to the federal judiciary who would help her do that. “Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment,” he said. “By the way, and if she gets to pick — if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.” Clinton has never said she wants to eliminate the Second Amendment. Even if she did, neither the president nor the Supreme Court nor lower-level federal judges have the power to do so. There are two ways to alter the Constitution. One requires a two-thirds vote of Congress and then approval by three-fourths of the nation’s state legislatures. The other requires calling a constitutional convention and, again, approval by three-fourths of the states. One common thread linking many of Trump’s more controversial comments and actions is that he denies having said or done them. Trump claimed never to have mocked a disabled New York Times reporter, despite a widely disseminated video clip showing him making jerking movements with his arms. He claimed that he never said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is not a war hero, despite a Q&A in which he said just that. He said he never advocated intervention in Libya, though he did. Trump also relies regularly on the turn of phrase “many people are saying” to make pronouncements without offering evidence backing them up. On Monday, for instance, he tweeted: “Many people are saying that the Iranians killed the scientist who helped the U.S. because of Hillary Clinton’s hacked emails.” “Mr. Trump’s tweets speak for themselves,” said Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks. Trump and his allies often blame the media for misconstruing his words. The statement issued by his campaign after his Tuesday comments appeared under the heading: “Trump Campaign Statement On Dishonest Media.” Sullivan reported from Washington. Abby Phillip in Austin, David Weigel in Washington and Jenna Johnson in Wilmington contributed to this report. ||||| 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 ||||| poster="https://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201608/1125/1155968404_5078138654001_5078121151001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Ryan: Trump guns remark 'sounds like a joke gone bad' House Speaker Paul Ryan declined to join the criticism of Donald Trump over the GOP nominee’s casual aside Tuesday that gun owners might somehow take matters into their own hands to stop Hillary Clinton from appointing federal judges as president. Speaking at a news conference Tuesday night in Wisconsin after his landslide win in a GOP primary, Ryan said he hadn't actually heard Trump's remarks but he had heard about them. Story Continued Below "I've been a little busy," Ryan said. "It sounds like a joke gone bad. You should never joke about that. I hope he clears it up quickly." Trump sparked the latest uproar of his campaign earlier in the day when he veered off script during a rally. “Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment,” he said. “By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know. But I’ll tell you what, that will be a horrible day.” Trump later said the comment wasn't meant as a joke. Blaming the media for manufacturing another controversy, he told CBS that his point was that gun owners should exert their collective voting power to stop Clinton from winning. Ryan has called out Trump on several occasions in the past, including over his comments questioning the objectivity of a judge because of his Mexican descent, and over the nominee's call to bar Muslims from immigrating to the United States.

– Donald Trump's campaign is once again on damage control, this time over remarks that critics say hinted at Hillary Clinton's assassination. His comment that "Second Amendment people" could "maybe" do something about Clinton picking Supreme Court justices if she wins was widely condemned Tuesday, though he insisted that he had been talking about the "strong, powerful" gun lobby using their political force, not their guns. "There can be no other interpretation," he told Fox News Tuesday night. "I mean, give me a break." A round-up of reactions: "The NRA and Donald Trump are calling for Second Amendment supporters to protect their constitutional right to self defense by defeating Hillary Clinton at the ballot box," NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker tells the Guardian, calling the controversy a "distraction created by the dishonest media." "Don't treat this as a political misstep. It's an assassination threat, seriously upping the possibility of a national tragedy & crisis," tweeted Connecticut's Sen. Chris Murphy, who is a strong proponent of gun control. Paul Ryan, speaking at his victory party in Wisconsin, said he hadn't heard the remarks, Politico reports. "I've been a little busy," he said. "It sounds like a joke gone bad. You should never joke about that. I hope he clears it up quickly." Trump "makes death threats because he's a pathetic coward who can’t handle the fact that he’s losing to a girl," tweeted Elizabeth Warren. "Nobody who is seeking a leadership position—especially the presidency, the leadership of the country—should do anything to countenance violence, and that’s what he was saying," said Tim Kaine. "It seems like every single day the national press latches on to some other issue about my running mate," said Mike Pence. "But you know what they’re not talking about? Anything having to do with Hillary Clinton." The Secret Service tweeted that it "is aware of the comments made earlier this afternoon." Former CIA director Michael Hayden told CNN: "Well, let me say, if someone had have said that outside the hall he’d be in the back of a police wagon now with the Secret Service questioning him." The New York Times notes that Trump's remarks were condemned from across the political spectrum, with conservative writer John Podhoretz criticizing him for suggesting that Second Amendment supporters were "potential assassins." The Washington Post notes that the latest uproar has followed a very familiar pattern of attention-getting expressions, followed by outrage, followed by Trump lashing out at the media—and the cycle appears "to be taking a toll among the electorate overall."

Liz Hurley last night denied that her affair with cricketer Shane Warne has ended her marriage, declaring: “No one is divorcing anyone yet!” The model, 45, claimed on Sunday that her three-year union with businessman Arun Nayar was over after being pictured kissing the Aussie spin bowler. Rumours started to circulate that she may move Down Under, but yesterday she posted a message to her 50,000 Twitter followers saying: “Bored now of silly speculations. No one is divorcing anyone yet, no one is fighting over money, and I have no plans to go to Australia. Enough!” Liz got wrapped up in a white coat with a huge furry hood yesterday and took son Damien, eight, for a day out at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, London. Glum Arun, 45, arrived at her £3million Chelsea home just minutes after she had left, avoiding an awkward meeting. The textile tycoon left after 10 minutes. Warne, now a TV pundit, was in far higher spirits 9,000 miles away in Australia. Advertisement - article continues below » The 41-year-old was seen laughing and joking with England cricket star Kevin Pietersen in Perth on the first day of the Third Ashes Test. He was later ribbed by old mate Sir Ian Botham Earlier this week Warne announced on his website that he had separated from his wife Simone, mother of his three children. The pair have divorced but were attempting a reconciliation. Liz’s Twitter page has been a high of activity. She and Warne have used it to exchange flirty messages. She also used it to announce her split from Arun after being pictured kissing the cricketer. Buy Cheap tickets for the upcoming X Factor Live 2011 Tour , prices start at £27 and are available now..

– Elizabeth Hurley took to Twitter for Round 2 of explanations/denials regarding the breakdown of her marriage. The Mirror reports that rumors started swirling that the model would be moving to Australia to be with cricketer Shane Warne. Hurley cleared up the matter last night, tweeting, "Bored now of silly speculations. No one is divorcing anyone yet, no one is fighting over money, and I have no plans to go to Australia. Enough!" (Click for more on why so many celebs are splitting up these days.)

Guns and Gear By Major General Jerry Curry, USA (Ret.) The Social Security Administration (SSA) confirms that it is purchasing 174 thousand rounds of hollow point bullets to be delivered to 41 locations in major cities across the U.S. No one has yet said what the purpose of these purchases is, though we are led to believe that they will be used only in an emergency to counteract and control civil unrest. Those against whom the hollow point bullets are to be used — those causing the civil unrest — must be American citizens; since the SSA has never been used overseas to help foreign countries maintain control of their citizens. What would be the target of these 174, 000 rounds of hollow point bullets? It can’t simply be to control demonstrators or rioters. Hollow point bullets are so lethal that the Geneva Convention does not allow their use on the battle field in time of war. Hollow point bullets don’t just stop or hurt people, they penetrate the body, spread out, fragment and cause maximum damage to the body’s organs. Death often follows. Potentially each hollow nose bullet represents a dead American. If so, why would the U.S. government want the SSA to kill 174,000 of our citizens, even during a time of civil unrest? Or is the purpose to kill 174,000 of the nation’s military and replace them with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) special security forces, forces loyal to the Administration, not to the Constitution? All my life I’ve handled firearms. When a young boy growing up on my father’s farm in Pennsylvania Dad’s first rule of firearms training was, “Never point a gun at someone, in fun or otherwise, unless you intend to shoot them. If you shoot someone, shoot to kill.” I’ve never forgotten his admonition. It stayed with me through my Boy Scout training, when I enlisted in the army as a Private to fight in the Korea War, during my days as a Ranger and Paratrooper and throughout my thirty-four year military career. If this were only a one time order of ammunition, it could easily be dismissed. But there is a pattern here. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has ordered 46,000 rounds of hollow point ammunition. Notice that all of these purchases are for the lethal hollow nose bullets. These bullets are not being purchased and stored for squirrel or coyote hunting. This is serious ammunition manufactured to be used for serious purposes. In the war in Iraq, our military forces expended approximately 70 million rounds per year. In March DHS ordered 750 million rounds of hollow point ammunition. It then turned around and ordered an additional 750 million rounds of miscellaneous bullets including some that are capable of penetrating walls. This is enough ammunition to empty five rounds into the body of every living American citizen. Is this something we and the Congress should be concerned about? What’s the plan that requires so many dead Americans, even during times of civil unrest? Has Congress and the Administration vetted the plan in public. I fear that Congress won’t take these ammunition purchases seriously until they are all led from Capitol Hill in handcuffs. Why buy all this ammunition unless you plan to use it. Unknown to Congress, Does DHS plan to declare war on some country? Shouldn’t Congress hold hearings on why the Administration is stockpiling this ammunition all across the nation? How will it be used; what are the Administration’s plans? Obama is a deadly serious, persistent man. Once he focuses on an object, he pursues it to the end. What is his focus here? All of these rounds of ammunition can only be used to kill American citizens, though there is enough ammunition being ordered to kill, in addition to every American citizen, also every Iranian, Syrian or Mexican. There is simply too much of it. And this much ammunition can’t be just for training, there aren’t that many weapons and “shooters” in the U.S. to fire it. Perhaps it is to be used to arm illegal immigrants? We have enough military forces to maintain law and order in the U.S. even during times of civil unrest. We have local police, backed up by each state’s National Guard, backed up by the Department of Defense. So in addition to all these forces why does DHS need its own private army? Why do the SSA, NOAA and other government agencies need to create their own civilian security forces armed with hollow nose bullets? Were I the JCS, and if I wasn’t already fully briefed on this matter, I’d stop the purchase of hollow point bullets, ask the secretary of Defense why all this ammunition is being purchased and spread around the country? If I got answers like the ones Congress got during the investigation of Operation Fast and Furious – I’d start tracking all ammunition deliveries nationwide to find out what organizations and units are using them, for what purpose and, if it is not constitutional, prepare to counteract whatever it is that they are doing. This is a deadly serious business. I hope I’m wrong, but something smells rotten. And If the Congress isn’t going to do its duty and investigate this matter fully, the military will have to protect the Constitution, the nation, and our citizens. Jerry Curry is a decorated combat veteran, Army Aviator, Paratrooper, and Ranger, who for nearly forty years has served his country both in the military and as a Presidential political appointee. ||||| It didn't take long for the Internet to start buzzing with conspiracy theories after the Social Security Administration posted a notice it was purchasing 174,000 hollow-point bullets. Why is an agency that provides benefits to 56 million retirees, disabled workers, widows and children stockpiling ammunition? Whom are they going to use it on? One website suggested the agency was preparing for civil unrest. And comedian Jay Leno wondered just which senior citizens the agency believes are about to storm its offices. The explanation, it turns out, isn't as tantalizing as an arms buildup to defend against unruly old people. The bullets are for nearly 300 agents who investigate Social Security fraud and made almost 600 arrests last year. Most of the ammunition will be expended on the firing range.

– A routine purchase request from the Social Security Administration has caused a flood of conspiracy theories, reports AP. The agency posted a notice that it's buying 174,000 hollow-point bullets, causing some to believe that it was stockpiling ammo to put down civil unrest. A retired major-general at the Daily Caller speculated that the agency was planning to "arm illegal immigrants," or even kill 174,000 US troops and replace them with security forces "loyal to the Administration, not to the Constitution." The reality is a little tamer. The agency explained that it employs 295 agents with full law-enforcement powers to investigate fraud, the Daily Beast reports. Most of the ammunition will be used on the training range. "Our special agents need to be armed and trained appropriately," the agency says. "They not only investigate allegations of Social Security fraud, but they also are called to respond to threats against Social Security offices, employees, and customers."

The FBI says the letters sent to President Barack Obama and a U.S. senator are related and are both postmarked out of Memphis, Tennessee, dated April 8. A U.S. Capitol Police hazmat vehicle is parked at a mail processing facility for Congressional mail in Prince George's County where a letter addressed to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., tested positive for... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2009, file photo Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Senate Majority Leader Reid said Tuesday, April 16, 2013, that letter... (Associated Press) In an intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press, the FBI says the letters both say: "To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance." Both letters are signed, "I am KC and I approve this message." The FBI says the substance in both letters have preliminarily tested positive for ricin, a potentially fatal poison. Both the letters to Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican, and to Obama were intercepted at off-site mail facilities. The FBI says it is pursuing investigative leads to determine who sent the letters. ||||| U.S. Capitol police are investigating the discovery of at least two suspicious packages in Senate office buildings and "the individual who delivered them is being questioned," Sergeant at Arms Terence Gainer said on Wednesday. Gainer said in an email the packages were delivered to at least two Senate offices. The development comes on the day after a letter mailed to Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi was found in two preliminary tests to contain ricin, a potentially fatal poison. The letter was intercepted at an off-site facility where all mail to the Senate is screened. It was not clear whether there was a connection between the letter and the envelopes. Other officials said one of the packages had been discovered in the Russell Building, and the second in the Hart office building. ||||| Story highlights A Mississippi judge received a similar letter that is also being tested Justice Department says Paul Kevin Curtis of Corinth, Mississippi, has been arrested Envelopes were addressed to Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi Initial tests on those envelopes detected the deadly poison ricin; additional tests under way An arrest has been made in connection with possibly contaminated letters sent to President Barack Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker, the Department of Justice said Wednesday. Paul Kevin Curtis was arrested by the FBI at his home in Corinth, Mississippi, the department said in a statement. Discovered Tuesday, the letters were addressed to Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and to Obama. The justice department release said a third letter was sent to a Mississippi justice official. The letters to Wicker and Obama were stopped at a government mail-screening facility after initial tests indicated the presence of the deadly poison ricin. Because initial tests can be "inconsistent," the envelopes have been sent off for additional tests, an FBI statement said. The FBI does not expect to receive results from the tests until Thursday, federal law enforcement sources told CNN. JUST WATCHED The medical effects of ricin Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH The medical effects of ricin 02:00 JUST WATCHED How dangerous is ricin? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How dangerous is ricin? 01:36 JUST WATCHED Letter to Obama tests positive for ricin Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Letter to Obama tests positive for ricin 01:09 The letters read: "To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance." They were signed "I am KC and I approve this message," a source said. Reports of suspicious packages and envelopes also came into two Senate office buildings late Wednesday morning. Capitol Police evacuated the first floor of the Hart Senate Office Building for more than an hour and questioned a man in the area who had a backpack containing sealed envelopes, but the man was not taken into custody. "It just reminds you that with public service comes the real possibility that you could be a target," said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas. "But on the other side of it, we have an excellent police force, and I think they'll get to the bottom of it." Beyond Washington, suspicious letters spotted Sadie Holland, a judge in Lee County, Mississippi, told CNN Wednesday night that she received an envelope with a suspicious substance and a letter similar to the ones sent to the offices of Obama and Wicker. Last Wednesday, the judge received and opened a typewritten letter -- postmarked from Memphis, without a return address -- that included "suspicious content," Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson told reporters. The letter had "great consistencies and similarities" to the letters sent to Obama and Wicker, he said. Investigators were testing the contents of the letter to determine whether ricin was inside, he said. Holland told CNN the letter originally tested negative for ricin but was being retested Wednesday. Local authorities were awaiting the test results to determine whether to file state charges, Johnson said. "The letter was handled, the chemical was handled by several different individuals in our justice court system," Johnson said, but added that "we do not have any reason to believe that anyone's life is in danger." Investigators are trying to determine whether suspicious letters found at Senate offices elsewhere in the country came from the same source, federal law enforcement sources said. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, said one of his home-state offices received a "suspicious-looking" letter and alerted authorities. "We do not know yet if the mail presented a threat," said Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. A staffer for Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake flagged "suspicious letters" at the freshman Republican's Phoenix office, Flake spokeswoman Genevieve Rozansky said in a statement, but "no dangerous material was detected in the letters." Phoenix Fire Department spokesman Jonathan Jacobs said the envelope contained some type of powder. The person who initially found the envelope is being treated at a Phoenix-area hospital for a pre-existing condition and stress from the event, and others in the immediate vicinity were examined as well. In a statement issued Wednesday, the FBI said it has no indication of a connection between the tainted letters and Monday's bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. But the discoveries further heightened security concerns at a time when Congress is considering politically volatile legislation to toughen gun laws and reform the immigration system. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president had been briefed on the letters. "Obviously, he understands and we all understand that there are procedures in place, as the FBI has said. There are -- there is is a process in place that ensures that materials that are suspicious or substances that are found to be suspicious at remote locations are then sent for secondary and more intense testing, and that process is under way now," Carney said. A Texas chiropractor's words in the spotlight While authorities in Washington investigated the letters, the wife of a Texas chiropractor said the wording in them caught her by surprise. The phrase used in the letters is something chiropractor John Raymond Baker once said and has been widely quoted online, his wife, Tammy Bennett Baker, told CNN. On Wednesday, she sounded surprised when told by CNN that the wording was included in the letters under scrutiny in Washington. She said she was not aware of the letters and that the phrase refers to her husband's general philosophy of care. She said their office phone started ringing frequently Wednesday afternoon, and it was "kind of freaking out our other employee." A 2006 post on a blog for Baker's office says the comment originally was a criticism of insurance companies. Since then, the site says, it "has been a quote that has been picked up and quoted (sometimes without attribution) around the net" and "people are using it about all kinds of injustices." The letter sent to Wicker had a Memphis, Tennessee, postmark and no return address, Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer wrote in an e-mail to senators and aides Tuesday. Wicker has been assigned a protective detail, according to a law enforcement source. A laboratory in Maryland confirmed the presence of ricin on the letter addressed to Wicker after initial field tests also indicated the poison was present, according to Gainer. However, the FBI said additional testing was needed because field and preliminary tests produce inconsistent results. "Only a full analysis performed at an accredited laboratory can determine the presence of a biological agent such as ricin," according to the bureau. A law enforcement source said further tests would be conducted at the Army's biomedical research laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland. After the arrest was announced Wednesday night, Wicker released a statement thanking "the men and women of the FBI and U.S. Capitol Police for their professionalism and decisive action in keeping our family and staff safe from harm." His offices in Mississippi and Washington "remain open for business to all Mississippians," Wicker said in the statement. Mail for members of Congress and the White House has been handled at offsite postal facilities since the 2001 anthrax attacks, which targeted Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, and then-Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota. Senate mail service shut down Senators were told Tuesday that the mail facility would be temporarily shut down "to make sure they get everything squared away," Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, said Tuesday afternoon. "The bottom line is, the process we have in place worked," she said. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, also praised the postal workers and law enforcement officers for "preventing this threat before it even reached the Capitol." "They proved that the proactive measures we put in place do, in fact, work," he said. Ricin is a highly toxic substance derived from castor beans. As little as 500 micrograms -- an amount the size of the head of a pin -- can kill an adult. There is no specific test for exposure and no antidote once exposed. It can be produced easily and cheaply, and authorities in several countries have investigated links between suspect extremists and ricin. But experts say it is more effective on individuals than as a weapon of mass destruction. Ricin was used in the 1978 assassination of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov. The author, who had defected nine years earlier, was jabbed by the tip of an umbrella while waiting for a bus in London and died four days later. A previous ricin scare hit the Capitol in 2004, when tests identified it in a letter in a Senate mail room that served then-Majority Leader Bill Frist's office. The discovery forced 16 employees to go through decontamination procedures, but no one reported any ill effects afterward, Frist said. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| 3 years ago (CNN) - White House mail handlers identified a "suspicious substance" - possibly the poison ricin - in a letter sent to President Barack Obama the same day a similar letter was found in a Senate mailroom, the Secret Service said Wednesday. Both letters arrived Tuesday at off-site postal facilities set up after the 2001 anthrax attacks and have been sent to laboratories for additional tests, authorities said. ||||| We've detected that JavaScript is disabled in your browser. Would you like to proceed to legacy Twitter? Yes ||||| Law enforcement officials say a second letter sent to the U.S. Senate has been intercepted and is being tested for poisonous ricin. Two officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the letter was being treated in the same manner as a separate one sent to Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker and was undergoing field tests. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. The letter to Wicker, a Republican, was intercepted at a Senate mail facility just outside Washington and has tested positive for ricin. Sen. Claire McCaskill has said authorities have a suspect in mind in that case, though no one has been charged. It was not immediately clear which senator the second letter was addressed to.

– A letter containing a "suspicious substance" was sent to President Obama and intercepted at the White House's off-site mail center, according to the Secret Service, and the FBI has confirmed that it has tested positive for ricin. It arrived yesterday, the same day as a letter addressed to a Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker that also tested positive for the poison, CNN reports. Both letters were postmarked out of Memphis April 8, and both say: "To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance." They are signed, "I am KC and I approve this message," the AP reports. Officials think they know who sent the letters (Claire McCaskill said yesterday that police had a suspect in mind), but no arrest has been made yet. Related developments: A second letter sent to the US Senate has also been intercepted and is being tested for the poison, the AP reports; Terry Moran of ABC News tweets that that second letter also tested positive. Sen. Carl Levin says a suspicious letter arrived at one of his Michigan offices, but it's not yet known if it presented any threat. Also today, Capitol police investigated a suspicious package at Sen. Richard Shelby's office, NBC News reports. The AP reports that two suspicious packages were being investigated at two different Senate office buildings. The first floor of one building was evacuated, CNN reports, and police questioned a suspicious man with a backpack seen in the area. Envelopes found inside his backpack were being X-rayed. CNN tweets that the packages were removed and the buildings reopened. At this point, the FBI does not think the letters are related to the Boston Marathon bombing, an agency official says.

The seed for this crawl was a list of every host in the Wayback Machine This crawl was run at a level 1 (URLs including their embeds, plus the URLs of all outbound links including their embeds) The WARC files associated with this crawl are not currently available to the general public. ||||| We don't actually know if Philippe Dubost is any good at his job. But boy, can he throw together a resume. Dubost, a web product manager currently based in Paris, is looking to travel for his next position. So he decided to make his CV stand out anywhere in the world — by mimicking an Amazon product page. The result, "Philippe's Amaz'ing Resume," is a pitch-perfect pastiche. Suggesting that you add the applicant to your shopping cart to see his price is such a clever way of asking to be hired, we're amazed no one thought of it before. Especially when followed by the urgent reminder: "only 1 left in stock. Order soon!" You can see the full resume here. But in case Dubost's site has been overwhelmed by traffic — he's already had to change his web hosting service once, according to his Twitter feed — here's another screenshot. Dubost has taken pains to replicate every last aspect of an Amazon page — even inserting an ad. We've seen resumes that look like Facebook pages and Twitter feeds before, but none have this much attention to detail. And given the fact that hiring is a transaction, making it look like the world's largest store makes a ton of sense. Would you hire an applicant based on a resume like this? Let us know in the comments, and check out our galleries of other unusual CV designs below. ||||| Sorry, this item is not available in Image not available for Color: Image not available ||||| 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

– Philippe Dubost is a "web product manager" looking for a job, and it's a safe bet he won't be looking long. Dubost posted a resume that looks exactly, exactly, like an Amazon product page. ("Only 1 left in stock—order soon.") Here's a sample of the high praise his gone-viral resume is receiving: It's "a pitch-perfect pastiche," writes Chris Taylor at Mashable. "Suggesting that you add the applicant to your shopping cart to see his price is such a clever way of asking to be hired, we're amazed no one thought of it before." "It's brilliant!" writes Casey Chan at Gizmodo. Sure it's only a resume, but "the guy is a web product manager, and his resume is per se a wildly successful web product," writes Will Oremus at Slate. "I look forward to finding out who snaps him up." Dubost, who lives in Paris but is happy to relocate, promises to provide updates on the search at his Twitter feed.

President Donald Trump has shifted positions toward Roy Moore. He endorsed Sen. Luther Strange in the GOP primary, and after the allegations came out, the White House said Trump felt Moore should quit the race if the accusations were true. | Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Trump endorses Roy Moore, RNC plans to go back into Alabama race MONTGOMERY, Ala. — President Donald Trump moved Monday to quash any lingering doubts about his support for Roy Moore, as Washington Republicans increasingly come to terms with the idea of the controversial former Alabama Supreme Court judge joining the Senate. Early Monday morning, Trump tweeted that "we need Republican Roy Moore to win" in order to push through the president's agenda. Later, Trump called the Senate candidate directly to endorse his campaign, principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah said, and he has a rally planned later this week just over the state line in Pensacola, Florida. Some Alabamians have been receiving robocalls urging them to travel to the neighboring state for the rally. Story Continued Below Following Trump's endorsement on Monday, a senior official with the Republican National Committee confirmed that it will reinvest in Alabama race but that it had yet to determine what exactly it will do. Republicans, initially eager to distance themselves from Moore after women alleged that he romantically pursued or in some cases assaulted them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s, have grown more muted in their criticism and appear to be softening toward the idea of working with him if he wins the Dec. 12 special election. Moore has denied any misconduct. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last month said he believed the women who accused Moore and called for him to drop out of the race. But Sunday on "Face the Nation," McConnell said Congress would "swear in whoever's elected and see where we are at that particular point." House Speaker Paul Ryan, who also initially said Moore should step aside, skirted the issue in an interview with NPR last week, saying he was "focused on Congress," though he called the allegations "very, very credible." Hannah Ford, Moore's deputy campaign manager, said Trump called the former judge "a fighter" during their call Monday. Brett Doster, a Moore adviser, said the president also stressed "the importance of winning next Tuesday." "I am honored to receive the support and endorsement of President Donald Trump," Moore said in a statement. "President Trump knows that the future of his conservative agenda in Congress hinges on this election. I look forward to fighting alongside the President to strengthen our military, secure our border, protect our gun rights, defend the sanctity of life, and confirm conservative judges to courts around this nation. We had a good conversation over the phone today and are working together towards conservative victory on December 12." Trump, too, has shifted positions toward Moore. He endorsed Sen. Luther Strange in the Republican primary for Senate before Moore defeated the incumbent senator, and after the allegations came out, the White House said Trump felt Moore should quit the race if the accusations were true. Morning Score newsletter Your guide to the permanent campaign — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. But later, he seemed to change his mind, criticizing Moore’s Democratic opponent, former U.S. attorney Doug Jones. He also told reporters in late November that Moore “says it didn’t happen” and “you have to listen to him also,” in reference to allegations that Moore molested a 14-year-old girl while he was in his 30s. The allegations have energized an already tense Senate race. In Montgomery, residential areas are dotted with competing yard signs for Moore and Jones. When the allegations first broke, polls showed a swing in Jones' direction, giving Democrats the first hope they could win a U.S. Senate seat this year in deep-red Alabama. A Washington Post poll released Saturday showed Jones leading Moore 50 percent to 47 percent. Jones has a fundraising advantage too. He has raised about $10 million in his campaign, while Moore has raised about $1.8 million. Jones has been aggressively advertising in the state, and at any given time, a Jones TV commercial is easy to find. But more recent polls have shown Moore recovering. A CBS poll over the weekend showed Moore leading Jones 49 percent to 43 percent. Alex Isenstadt contributed to this report.

– President Trump has given his most explicit support yet to Roy Moore since allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against the Senate candidate in Alabama. "Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama," Trump tweeted early Monday. As Politico notes, Trump has previously weighed in on the race by criticizing Democrat Doug Jones and by taking note of Moore's denials. But Monday's tweet goes further, and the AP calls it the president's "most full-throated endorsement" of Moore yet. "We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more," wrote Trump. "No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!" Polls remain close in the race, which will be decided on Dec. 12. The White House has previously said that Trump will not be traveling to Alabama to stump for Moore.

The so-called "birther bill" won initial approval from the House of Representatives on Monday, advancing legislation that would require presidential candidates to produce a birth certificate before they can make the ballot in Arizona. The legislation originated from a fringe group that believes President Barack Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and therefore ineligible to be president. Rep. Judy Burges amended Senate Bill 1024 to include a requirement that Arizona's Secretary of State inspect a presidential candidate's birth certificate before that candidate could qualify for the ballot. Similar laws have been proposed in Oklahoma, Florida and Missouri. None have been signed into law. Democrats criticized Burges' amendment, saying presidential candidates already had to prove their citizenship before they can run for the office. "Republicans continue to take Arizona down the wrong track by wasting taxpayers' time on frivolous legislation instead of working on important issues like health care for kids and seniors and education," said Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, in a statement. Burges, a Skull Valley Republican, did not respond to a call for comment. Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett also expressed concern about Burges' amendment, saying that creating state-level eligibility requirements to run for federal office could violate the U.S. Constitution. "While everyone has an interest in ensuring that only eligible citizens run for president, there are obvious issues with states implementing what could become a patchwork of different tests for a presidential candidate to prove his/her citizenship," said Bennett's spokesman, Matthew Benson, in an e-mail. The amended bill still needs final approval from the House and will require another vote in the Senate before it can be transmitted to Gov. Jan Brewer. ||||| Web wide crawl with initial seedlist and crawler configuration from March 2011. This uses the new HQ software for distributed crawling by Kenji Nagahashi. What?s in the data set: Crawl start date: 09 March, 2011 Crawl end date: 23 December, 2011 Number of captures: 2,713,676,341 Number of unique URLs: 2,273,840,159 Number of hosts: 29,032,069 The seed list for this crawl was a list of Alexa?s top 1 million web sites, retrieved close to the crawl start date. We used Heritrix (3.1.1-SNAPSHOT) crawler software and respected robots.txt directives. The scope of the crawl was not limited except for a few manually excluded sites. However this was a somewhat experimental crawl for us, as we were using newly minted software to feed URLs to the crawlers, and we know there were some operational issues with it. For example, in many cases we may not have crawled all of the embedded and linked objects in a page since the URLs for these resources were added into queues that quickly grew bigger than the intended size of the crawl (and therefore we never got to them). We also included repeated crawls of some Argentinian government sites, so looking at results by country will be somewhat skewed. We have made many changes to how we do these wide crawls since this particular example, but we wanted to make the data available ?warts and all? for people to experiment with. We have also done some further analysis of the content. If you would like access to this set of crawl data, please contact us at info at archive dot org and let us know who you are and what you?re hoping to do with it. We may not be able to say ?yes? to all requests, since we?re just figuring out whether this is a good idea, but everyone will be considered.

– The Arizona House has given its initial blessing to a bill that would require Barack Obama to show his birth certificate before he can be put on the ballot in 2012, the Arizona Republic reports. The House voted 31 to 22 to add the so-called “birther bill” as an amendment to an unrelated Senate bill. Similar laws have also been proposed in Florida, Oklahoma and Missouri. House Democrats fruitlessly pointed out that presidential candidates already have to prove their citizenship before they can run for office. One rep called the bill “frivolous” saying it would make Arizona “the laughing stock of the nation.” The proposal's sponsor declined to comment; another Republican told the AP he believed Obama was a citizen, but supported the bill because it would help end any doubt.

CLOSE IOC members voted unanimously to seek a consensus three-way deal between the two bid cities to host the 2024 and 2028 Olympics. L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti is confident his city will host an Olympics in the near future. USA TODAY Sports Gil Roberts claimed that a banned substance entered his system through “frequently and passionately” kissing his girlfriend. (Photo: Andy Lyons, Getty Images) An arbitrator officially cleared Olympic gold medalist Gil Roberts, conceding that the sprinter ingested a banned substance by means of kissing his girlfriend, according to the public case report. Roberts, who won a gold medal at the Rio Games as a member of the 4x400-meter relay team, had been suspended by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in May after testing positive for probenecid in his system in a March drug test. Roberts claimed that the substance entered his system through “frequently and passionately” kissing his girlfriend -- who was treating a sinus infection with the medication Moxylong -- ahead of the drug test. The independent arbitrator, however, helped clear Roberts through an expedited hearing — allowing him to compete in the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships and qualify for the world championships in the 400-meter run in London next month. The arbitrator concluded that Roberts “had no idea that kissing his girlfriend could lead to his ingesting a prohibited substance. When he kissed her he did not remember the taste of medicine in her mouth. …Thus for Roberts it must have been like lightning out of a clear blue sky for him to learn by kissing his girlfriend this time that he was exposing himself to a prohibited substance. Roberts has met his burden of proof.” Roberts’ case is similar to that of Shawn Barber, the pole vault world champion who tested positive for cocaine but actually ingested it from a female escort. More: Deaf swimmer shines light on technology that could change future of the sport More: Olympic Channel hits TVs Saturday, will air 1992 Dream Team games in late August ||||| An arbitrator has officially cleared Olympic gold medalist Gil Roberts after he argued that he ingested a banned substance after kissing his girlfriend. Roberts, a 4x400m relay gold medalist at the Rio Olympics, was provisionally suspended by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in May after his A and B samples tested positive after a drug test in March. The positive sample confirmed a masking agent called probenecid was in his system. Last month, an independent arbitrator cleared Roberts of any wrongdoing, which allowed him to compete in the USATF Outdoor Championships. Roberts said that he ingested probenecid through “frequently and passionately” kissing his girlfriend days before his March drug test. Roberts’ girlfriend had received a sinus infection medication labeled Moxylong from a local "chemist" during a trip to India with her family, and was still taking the medicine upon her return to the United States. "He had no idea that kissing his girlfriend could lead to his ingesting a prohibited substance. When he kissed her he did not remember the taste of medicine in her mouth," the arbitrator said. "Thus for Roberts it must have been like lightning out of a clear blue sky for him to learn that by kissing his girlfriend this time that he was exposing himself to a prohibited substance. Roberts has met his burden of proof." Roberts ran in the 400m at the USATF Outdoor Championships and qualified for the world championships in London next month. ||||| Roberts won gold in the 4x400m relay at the Rio Olympic Games Olympic gold medallist Gil Roberts has been cleared of failing a drugs test, after it was found he ingested a banned substance by kissing his girlfriend. The 28-year-old American, who won 4x400m relay gold at Rio 2016, tested positive for probenecid on 24 March. Although Roberts was cleared at an arbitration hearing on 20 June, the details have just been released by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada). An arbitrator said the athlete was "without fault". Probenecid is used to treat to high levels of uric acid in the blood, and can be used as a masking agent because it increases the production of urine. After Roberts failed an out-of-competition test, he was provisionally suspended on 5 May. He competed in the 400m at last month's US track and field championships, qualifying for August's World Championships in London by finishing second. A few weeks before his failed test, Roberts' girlfriend Alex Salazar had been taking medication for a sinus infection which contained probenecid. Salazar took the medicine on the day of Roberts' test and the pair kissed shortly after. "Whenever they were together, they kissed frequently and passionately," said the report from the American Arbitration Association. Roberts said he did not know Salazar was taking the medicine and was unaware that kissing could lead to him ingesting any banned substance.

– Gold-medal sprinter Gil Roberts nearly kissed away his career. But an arbitrator cleared the champ of charges he ingested a banned substance, conceding the drug got into his system exactly as Roberts says it did—through smooching with his girlfriend, reports Sports Illustrated. Roberts, 28, who won the 4x400-meter relay with Team USA at the 2016 Rio Games, was suspended in May after testing positive for probenecid. The runner says the drug got into his system through his girlfriend, who was treating a sinus infection and whom he "frequently and passionately" kissed. Roberts' paramour bought the drug during a trip to India and was still taking it when she returned to the US. "He had no idea that kissing his girlfriend could lead to his ingesting a prohibited substance," the independent arbitrator writes in a June 20 report released Friday, per the BBC. "When he kissed her he did not remember the taste of medicine in her mouth," he adds. The decision was expedited so Roberts could compete in the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in order to qualify for world championships in London next month. The arbitrator says the failed drug test for Roberts "must have been like lightning out of a clear blue sky for him to learn by kissing his girlfriend this time that he was exposing himself to a prohibited substance," adding that the runner "has met his burden of proof." The case echoes that of pole vault champ Shawn Barber, who tested positive for cocaine after visiting a female escort, USA Today notes. (After a doping finding, an Olympic wrestler turned down a silver medal.)

This Aug. 25, 2016 booking photo provided by the Metropolitan Detention Center shows Fabian Gonzales. Albuquerque police are charging Gonzales along with two other people in the death of a 10-year-old... (Associated Press) ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — It was in early morning darkness that officers scrambled to sort out the chaos at an Albuquerque apartment complex where a couple had reportedly been attacked, the woman bleeding from a head injury and the man with a black eye and wearing blood-stained shorts. The woman told officers her 10-year-old daughter was still inside apartment number 808 from which they had escaped. What the officers didn't know was that the child was already dead, her battered and dismembered body partially wrapped in a blanket and set ablaze. With the fire alarm blaring, they busted in the front door and searched the smoke-filled apartment for Victoria Martens. In the bathroom, the real crime began to come into focus. Investigators took into custody the girl's mother, her boyfriend and his cousin. The community was left struggling to understand how a blossoming elementary school student who loved swimming and gymnastics could have been the target of such violence. Details of what New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and law enforcement officials described as an unspeakable crime emerged in a criminal complaint made public Thursday. Police said Victoria was injected with methamphetamine, sexually assaulted, strangled and stabbed before being dismembered. The killing happened on the day Victoria was going to celebrate her 10th birthday. "This homicide is the most gruesome act of evil I have ever seen in my career," Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden Jr. said. The girl's mother, 35-year-old Michelle Martens, her 31-year-old boyfriend, Fabian Gonzales, and his 31-year-old cousin, Jessica Kelley, face charges of child abuse resulting in death, kidnapping and tampering with evidence. Gonzales and Kelley also face charges of criminal sexual penetration of a minor. Gonzales denied having involvement with Victoria's death while reporters yelled questions at him as he was led out of the police station in handcuffs late Wednesday. The girl's mother said nothing as she taken from the police station to a police cruiser and driven away. Kelley on Friday was booked into the county jail after being released from the hospital for injuries that stemmed from her jumping from the apartment's balcony in an effort to evade police. She probably won't make her initial court appearance until Saturday, said court spokeswoman Camille Baca. Bail was set at $1 million each for Martens and Gonzales at their first court appearance Thursday afternoon. The two did not speak in court, and the public defense lawyer who represented them did not comment about the allegations. As news spread about Victoria's death, neighbors and friends built a makeshift memorial under a tree near the apartment complex, adorning it with stuffed animals and candles. Some hugged while others cried and prayed. In the evening, dozens of people gathered for a candlelight vigil and the shrine grew. Christie Zamora said Victoria attended her gymnastics class every Saturday and always seemed happy. "She was incredibly social," Zamora said. "It's just so tragic." Another shrine was erected at Petroglyph Elementary School, where Victoria had just started the new school year. School officials said in a statement that, like the rest of the community, their hearts ache. "Victoria is in our thoughts and prayers as we hold our children just a little tighter on this sad day," the statement read. Neighbors said Victoria's mother worked at a nearby grocery store deli and they were shocked to see a mugshot of her in an orange jail jumpsuit. Mugshots of Martens and Gonzales released by police showed them with bruises on their faces. According to the complaint, Gonzales said his cousin hit him and Martens with an iron, prompting him to jump over the balcony and run to a neighboring apartment for help. Martens also found her way outside. Police initially went to the apartment complex early Wednesday after the neighbor reported the disturbance. Victoria's mother told police she met Gonzales online about a month ago and that he drugged the girl so he could calm her down and have sex with her, the complaint said. Gonzales pleaded no contest to a charge of child abandonment in 2015. He was not being monitored by probation officers because New Mexico Department of Corrections officials were unaware of a judge's order requiring supervised probation, said corrections spokeswoman Alex Sanchez. Tim Korte, a spokesman for Albuquerque's 2nd District Court, said court records show the judgment mandating probation monitoring for Gonzales was sent to the corrections department in 2015. Kelley's record includes battery, domestic violence and drug charges. The Albuquerque Journal reported that Kelley acted as a lookout while a woman allegedly raped another inmate at a regional detention center in 2012. Martens told police she allowed Kelley to stay in her apartment after Kelley was recently released from prison. Online court records show no criminal history in New Mexico for Martens. ___ Follow Russell Contreras on Twitter at www.twitter.com/russcontreras and Susan Montoya Bryan at www.twitter.com/susanmbryanNM ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.

– It was in early morning darkness that officers scrambled to sort out the chaos at an Albuquerque apartment complex where a couple had reportedly been attacked, the woman bleeding from a head injury and the man with a black eye and wearing blood-stained shorts. The woman told officers her 10-year-old daughter was still inside apartment number 808 from which they had escaped. What the officers didn't know was that the child was already dead, her battered and dismembered body partially wrapped in a blanket and set ablaze. With the fire alarm blaring, they busted in the front door and searched the smoke-filled apartment for Victoria Martens. In the bathroom, the real crime began to come into focus, the AP reports. Investigators took into custody the girl's mother, her boyfriend, and his cousin. The community was left struggling to understand how a blossoming elementary school student who loved swimming and gymnastics could have been the target of such violence. Details of what New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and law enforcement officials described as an unspeakable crime emerged in a criminal complaint made public Thursday. Police said Victoria was injected with methamphetamine, sexually assaulted, strangled, and stabbed before being dismembered Wednesday—her 10th birthday. The girl's mother, 35-year-old Michelle Martens, her 31-year-old boyfriend, Fabian Gonzales, and his 31-year-old cousin, Jessica Kelley, face charges of child abuse resulting in death, kidnapping, and tampering with evidence. Gonzales and Kelley also face charges of criminal sexual penetration of a minor. Martens told police she met Gonzales online about a month ago and that he drugged the girl so he could calm her down and have sex with her, the complaint says. Per KOB, Martens says Gonzales then strangled the girl and Kelley stabbed her in the chest.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, centre and members of the Royal family arrive for the Easter Mattins Service at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, in Windsor, England, Sunday, April 1, 2018. (Tolga Akmen/Pool... (Associated Press) Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, centre and members of the Royal family arrive for the Easter Mattins Service at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, in Windsor, England, Sunday, April 1, 2018. (Tolga Akmen/Pool Photo via AP) (Associated Press) LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William and his wife Kate and other senior royals have celebrated an Easter church service at St. George's Chapel in Windsor. William and Kate arrived at the church a few minutes late Sunday. She is expecting the couple's third child later this month. Prince Harry and his fiancee, American actress Meghan Markle, did not attend. Palace officials said their weekend plans are private. The two will wed in St. George's Chapel on May 19. Prince Philip, the queen's husband, also did not attend. The 96-year-old has retired from public duties and is seen less frequently. Most of the royals walked down the hill from Windsor Castle to the chapel, but the 91-year-old queen arrived by car. William and Kate also took a car to the chapel. ||||| The royals are celebrating Easter in style! Kate Middleton and Prince William arrived late for Easter church services alongside Queen Elizabeth on Sunday, stepping out together as the expectant mom’s due date quickly approaches. William and Kate, who is due to welcome her third child later this month, pulled up in a royal car to join the Queen and other members of the family at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle —which is also the historic venue for the May 19 wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Kate, 36, looked elegant in a classic dark coat (shop similar styles here and here), matching hat and nude pumps as she made her way into the 14th century Gothic chapel inside the castle walls. Now on maternity leave, the outing is likely to be the last time Kate is seen in public before she gives birth. Karwai Tang/WireImage Karwai Tang/WireImage The couple’s children — Prince George, 4, and Princess Charlotte, who will be 3 on May 2 — were not with them for the second year running. Also absent were Meghan and Harry, who have private plans elsewhere, palace officials said. Prince Philip, 96, who had to pull out of a high-profile church service on Thursday because he was suffering from a hip problem, did not join the family again on Sunday. Tolga Akmen - WPA Pool/Getty Images TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images Prince Andrew and his daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie attended the Easter service, along with Eugenie’s fiancé Jack Brooksbank. Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence led the royal family down the hill to the chapel. Anne’s son Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn, as well as Prince Edward, the Countess of Wessex and their children Lady Louise Windsor, 14, and James, Viscount Severn, 10, also attended the service. The Queen was presented with posies by Madeline Carleston and Amelia Vivian, two six-year-old girls whose parents work and live in the castle, when she arrived. William and Kate told the girls that George and Charlotte had been on an Easter egg hunt on Sunday morning. RELATED VIDEO: Kate Middleton Becomes First Royal Patron of the Victoria & Albert Museum Madeline’s mother, Deborah Carleston, told reporters: “The Queen asked: ‘Have you had lots of Easter eggs?’ “ “Prince William and his wife asked: ‘Have you lost any Easter eggs yet?’ ” Carleston added. “They said there had been great excitement in their house this morning. They said their children will probably still be finding eggs around the house in six months time.” On May 19, all eyes will again be on the steps of the magnificent St. George’s Chapel, when Meghan will sweep in — and emerge a princess.

– Britain's house of Windsor celebrated Easter on Sunday with the rest of Christendom, with a couple of notable exceptions, reports People. While one might think that would include Kate Middleton, her only concession to being in her eighth month of pregnancy was to take a car to services while most of the rest of the family walked, notes the AP. But 96-year-old Prince Philip, who retired from public life earlier this year, missed his second official event in a week. Also missing: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, whose Easter plans were characterized by palace officials as private. The family services were held at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, where the couple will marry next month.

MIAMI (AP) — A former South Florida man has been arrested in Mexico 37 years after failing to surrender for a 10-month prison sentence. Miami U.S. Attorney's officials say Robert Anton Woodring was indicted in 1984 for failing to surrender in 1977 to start his sentence for removing a yacht so that authorities couldn't seize it. Woodring had also been sentenced in a related case to seven years in prison after a jury found him guilty of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. U.S. Marshals apprehended Woodring in Guadalajara, Mexico, last month. Woodring agreed to be transported to Miami for further proceedings and is set to be arraigned Wednesday. ||||| It began nearly four decades ago when a British-flagged yacht fled police during a night chase at sea. At the helm: A man hinted to be a federal drug informant. It ended last month in Mexico, where the fleeing skipper was run to ground by a lucky tip. Now, Robert Woodring is serving the prison term he artfully avoided for so many years — at age 81. Woodring, who used to live in Fort Lauderdale, Boynton Beach and Pompano Beach, was supposed to start serving a federal prison sentence in 1977 for crimes committed earlier that decade. But he escaped to live free — until authorities tracked him down last month in Mexico, federal prosecutors said Friday. His capture was a lucky break. FBI agents were seeking another fugitive in the Guadalajara area and received a tip that Woodring was a wanted man and living in the region, U.S. Marshals spokesman Barry Golden said. Robert Woodring captured poster Sun Sentinel Robert Woodring, 82, was a South Florida fugitive who hid out for 37 years, authorities said. He was caught in Mexico in December 2014. Robert Woodring, 82, was a South Florida fugitive who hid out for 37 years, authorities said. He was caught in Mexico in December 2014. (Sun Sentinel) (Sun Sentinel) Mexican authorities questioned Woodring and turned him over to the feds after concluding he had no legal right to remain in Mexico. It was unclear Friday how long Woodring had been there or what he was doing, but Golden said Woodring lived with a Nicaraguan woman there. "For someone to be on the run for 37 years, I can only imagine that guy was bragging that he eluded capture for more than three decades because, after all this time, how would anyone in Guadalajara have known anything about this?" Golden said. Woodring first tried to elude authorities on Jan. 14, 1975, when U.S. Customs Service agents went to Haulover Inlet to seize the Gemini, Woodring's 60-foot Pacemaker twin-screw motor yacht, appeals court records show. But as the agents, accompanied by Dade County police officers, arrived on an unmarked boat, Woodring headed south, not stopping his British-registered vessel, records show. Officials chased him into the Atlantic Ocean. Two police helicopters and a Coast Guard cutter joined the pursuit. They made radio contact with Woodring and told him to "heave to" and let them board. He refused to stop. "He [later] testified that he believed that he was not required to do so because he was by then in international waters … did not know the identity of his pursuers or that they were officers and … was fearful of harm to his vessel or his person," the appellate judges wrote. Woodring cut off radio contact and the chase was abandoned at nightfall. He was arrested in South Florida three days later, without the boat. He was later convicted of removing a yacht to prevent authorized government seizure and was sentenced to 10 months in prison in October 1975. For reasons that were unclear Friday, Woodring remained free and was later found guilty of mail fraud and mail fraud conspiracy for a scam involving the yacht. He was sentenced to serve a total of 7 1/2 years for the 1975 and 1977 convictions and ordered to surrender in September 1977. A Sun Sentinel newspaper article from 1986 identified Woodring as a Drug Enforcement Administration informant who was caught on surveillance tapes from 1977 making incriminating statements to another man about Fort Lauderdale lawyer Ray Sandstrom. Sandstrom, who was never charged, called Woodring a "con man" at the time and said he did nothing wrong. Authorities charged Woodring — in his absence in 1984 — with bond-jumping and failing to surrender to prison. He was recently transferred from Los Angeles to the federal detention center in Miami and is due in court Jan. 14 to tell a judge if he plans to fight the bond-jumping case. He has already begun serving the 7 1/2 year prison term for his convictions from the 1970s. pmcmahon@tribune.com, 954-356-4533 or Twitter @SentinelPaula

– The law has caught up with a former Florida resident a mere 37 years after he failed to surrender for a 10-month prison sentence. Robert Woodring, now 81, was ordered to surrender in October 1977 after being found guilty of moving a yacht so federal authorities couldn't seize it, the AP reports. He also had a seven-year sentence to serve in a related mail fraud case. The former DEA informant was found living in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he had apparently made some enemies: He was caught after FBI agents looking for another fugitive in the area were tipped off, reports the Sun Sentinel. He was brought back to the US last month to start serving his sentence and will appear in court this week on charges of bond-jumping and failing to surrender for a prison sentence.

Homicide Update: Deceased identified as Christy Sheats (42), Taylor Sheats (22), and Madison Sheats (17). — FBCSO Texas (@FBCSO) June 25, 2016 Christy Sheats, 42, was shot & killed by police officer after she shot 2 daughters. Husband/father not hurt. pic.twitter.com/wa1wmVPkaD — Lauren Lea (@LaurenLABC13) June 25, 2016 Neighbors say Taylor Sheats, 22, & Madison Sheats, 17, were killed by their mom on their father's birthday. pic.twitter.com/UOi7DrdHDU — Lauren Lea (@LaurenLABC13) June 25, 2016 A silence continues to hang over a Fort Bend County neighborhood after a shooting rocked the usually quiet street.Fort Bend County Sheriff's deputies say Taylor Sheats, 22, and Madison Sheats, 17, were shot and killed by their mother Christy Sheats, 42, on Friday around 5pm. A Fulshear police officer shot and killed Christy at the home on Remson Hollow Lane when she refused to drop her weapon. Only the husband and father, Jason Sheats, was not harmed.An eyewitness saw Taylor, Madison and Jason running out of their home. According to the eyewitness, the young women were already wounded. The neighbor said Taylor collapsed on the street and he saw Christy come outside with a gun and then go back inside to reload. When she emerged again, she shot Madison in the back, according to the eyewitness.Deputies said a dispute lead up to the shooting."All I saw was the police officer aiming his rifle toward someone and saying 'drop your weapons,' and then afterward another gunshot," explained neighbor Sabeeh Siddiqui. "Soon after that there were a lot of police cars that came."Another neighbor, who said she was close to the family, told abc13 the couple had recently reunited after being separated. She said the shooting happened on Jason's birthday.Friends of the two young women are struggling to come to terms with the shooting."She was just such a sweet girl. She had tons of friends, me and him both. I just can't believe it happened," said a visibly stunned Matthew Wiley about Taylor.Madison was set to be a senior at Seven Lakes High School this fall."She seemed like a nice person. I talked to her a few times," neighbor Faaiz Siddiqui said. "Especially Taylor. She babysat us a few times and my brother got tutor lessons from her. All I can say is they are nice people. There's nothing wrong with them."Madison's close friend, who wanted to stay anonymous, told Eyewitness News that Madison was nice to everyone."Madison brought nothing but happiness to everyone she ever met. She was nice to everyone and she wouldn't have harmed a fly," the friend said.Alick Arnold grew up not far from the Sheats home and said he was a family friend."He (Jason) loved his daughters. They were like best friends for sure," he added. "It crushed him. I know it's hard for the family." ||||| See more of Christy Byrd Sheats on Facebook ||||| Police: Family argument caused mother to shoot, kill daughters Taylor Sheats, 22, was shot to death by her mother in Katy, Texas on Friday, June 25, 2016. (Source: Facebook) Taylor Sheats, 22, was shot to death by her mother in Katy, Texas on Friday, June 25, 2016. (Source: Facebook) Photo: Facebook Taylor Sheats, 22, was shot to death by her mother in Katy, Texas on Friday, June 25, 2016. (Source: Facebook) Taylor Sheats, 22, was shot to death by her mother in Katy, Texas on Friday, June 25, 2016. (Source: Facebook) Photo: Facebook Madison Sheats, 17, was shot to death by her mother in Katy, Texas on Friday, June 25, 2016. (Source: Facebook) Madison Sheats, 17, was shot to death by her mother in Katy, Texas on Friday, June 25, 2016. (Source: Facebook) Photo: Facebook Christy Sheats, 42, shot her daughters to death in Katy, Texas on Friday, June 25, 2016, according to police. (Source: Facebook) Christy Sheats, 42, shot her daughters to death in Katy, Texas on Friday, June 25, 2016, according to police. (Source: Facebook) Photo: Facebook window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-5', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 5', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); Neighbors gather to watch as Fort Bend County Sheriffs department investigates a shooting at Blanchard Grove and Remson Hollow, Friday, June 24, 2016, in Katy. Neighbors gather to watch as Fort Bend County Sheriffs department investigates a shooting at Blanchard Grove and Remson Hollow, Friday, June 24, 2016, in Katy. Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Fort Bend County Sheriffs department crime scene members bag a gun for evidence in a shooting at Blanchard Grove and Remson Hollow, Friday, June 24, 2016, in Katy. Fort Bend County Sheriffs department crime scene members bag a gun for evidence in a shooting at Blanchard Grove and Remson Hollow, Friday, June 24, 2016, in Katy. Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Fort Bend County Sheriffs department crime scene members bag a gun for evidence in a shooting at Blanchard Grove and Remson Hollow, Friday, June 24, 2016, in Katy. Fort Bend County Sheriffs department crime scene members bag a gun for evidence in a shooting at Blanchard Grove and Remson Hollow, Friday, June 24, 2016, in Katy. Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Fort Bend County Sheriffs department crime scene members bag a gun for evidence in a shooting at Blanchard Grove and Remson Hollow, Friday, June 24, 2016, in Katy. Fort Bend County Sheriffs department crime scene members bag a gun for evidence in a shooting at Blanchard Grove and Remson Hollow, Friday, June 24, 2016, in Katy. Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-10', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 10', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office crime scene members bag a gun for evidence in a shooting at Blanchard Grove and Remson Hollow, Friday, June 24, 2016, in Katy. Christy Sheats, 42, allegedly shot and killed her two daughters, Madison Sheats, 17, and Taylor Sheats, 22, while her husband, Jason Sheats, 45, escaped. Christy Sheats was shot and killed by officers. less Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office crime scene members bag a gun for evidence in a shooting at Blanchard Grove and Remson Hollow, Friday, June 24, 2016, in Katy. Christy Sheats, 42, allegedly shot and killed her ... more Photo: Mike Glenn / Houston Chronicle window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-12', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 12', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); Photo: Facebook Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Police: Family argument caused mother to shoot, kill daughters 1 / 12 Back to Gallery A Fort Bend County woman shot her two adult daughters Friday - killing one of them at the scene - before she was fatally shot by a responding police officer. On Saturday, the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office identified the mother as Christy Sheats, 42, and her daughters as Taylor Sheats, 22, and Madison Sheats, 17. Later, Fulshear police Facebook page reported one daughter was taken by Lifeflight to the Texas Medical Center and also died. It was unclear Saturday afternoon, which of the victims died at the scene and which was airlifted to the hospital. The incident happened about 5 p.m. along the 6000 block of Remson Hollow in an unincorporated section near Fulshear. When officers arrived to investigate a 911 call of "shots fired," they found two women lying on the street in front of a home in a comfortable, middle class subdivision. A Fulshear police officer shot and killed a third woman at the scene who was holding a pistol. Authorities said it was the mother of the two women on the ground. One of the daughters of the suspected assailant was taken by LifeFlight to the Texas Medical Center where she was in critical condition, said Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls. The Fulshear Police confirmed that the second daughter later died, according to their Facebook page. The motive for the shooting remains under investigation. "It was a family argument that turned into a shooting," Nehls said. "But we're still trying to put the pieces together." As crowds of concerned neighbors began approaching, police quickly blocked off the street where the bodies were found. Austin Enke said he knew the women slightly and had a couple of classes with at least one of them when they attended Seven Lakes High School. "They were always cheerful and never depressed. You never heard anything bad about them," Enke said. Nehls said he did not know if the shooting actually happened inside the family's home or on the street where the bodies were found. Sheriff's records show that deputies had been sent to the family home in the past on more than one occasion. "But as to why we were called here, I don't know," Nehls said. Nehls added he did know if the mother pointed her weapon at the officer or whether she was still pointing it at her daughters when the officer arrived. The sheriff said the father was at home when the shooting occurred. He was not injured but was distraught and taken to be checked out at a local hospital. "He's going through a very difficult time," Nehls said. Although the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation, other agencies such as the Fulshear police and the Texas Rangers are involved, Nehls said. A Fort Bend County justice of the peace will likely call for an autopsy. If so, the bodies will be taken to Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences or the Galveston County Medical Examiners Office, Nehls said. ||||| Texas Mom Who Killed 2 Daughters Had a 'History of Mental Illness,' Authorities Say Source: Christy Byrd Sheats / Facebook Source: Christy Byrd Sheats / Facebook The Texas woman who killed her two daughters on Friday , before being shot and killed by police herself, allegedly had a history of mental illness, officials say. And she had posted multiple times on social media about her support of firearms.The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office had been to Christy Sheats' home "for previous altercations" involving Sheats' "mental crisis," sheriff's spokeswoman Caitilin Espinosa tells PEOPLE.She declined to provide more detail about those incidents.On Friday afternoon authorities responded to a tragic scene outside Sheats' home, Espinosa says: The bodies of Sheats' two daughters, 17-year-old Madison and 22-year-old Taylor, were in the street after they'd allegedly fled from their mother when she began firing her gun inside the home.Taylor had already been shot once inside and was shot twice again outside, Espinosa says. Madison was shot once outside.Christy was shot dead by a Fulshear city police officer "before she was able to shoot [Madison] again," Espinosa says. Both daughters died from their injuries.(A Fulshear police representative told PEOPLE on Saturday he did not have information on how the department will handle the officer involved in the shooting, and he said no such information would be released going forward.)While Espinosa says the shooting's motive remains "unknown" and under investigation, Sheriff Troy Nehls said it was "a family argument that turned into a shooting," according to the Houston Chronicle "We're still trying to put the pieces together," Nehls said.One neighbor told ABC13 that Christy and her husband had recently reunited after a separation, and that Friday was his birthday.Christy's husband, the girl's father, was at home when the shooting started but was uninjured, according to the Chronicle. He was taken to a local hospital and is "going through a very difficult time," Nehls said.Christy was an active user on Facebook, and posted multiple times in recent months to express her enthusiasm for firearms – and her distaste for gun control."It would be horribly tragic if my ability to protect myself or my family were to be taken away, but that's exactly what Democrats are determined to do by banning semi-automatic handguns," she wrote in March , along with an anti-gun control video.And in January she posted a meme showing a handgun which made fun of President Barack Obama's position on gun control. She captioned it "That's right! #merica."Both Madison and Taylor reportedly worked as babysitters. Madison was a rising high school senior, according to ABC13, and Taylor attended Lone Star College, according to the New York Daily News.The community is reeling from the shooting – and what it must mean for the Sheats family."[The husband] loved his daughters," one family friend told ABC13. "They were like best friends for sure. It crushed him. I know it's hard for the family."A neighbor told ABC13, "All I can say is they are nice people. There's nothing wrong with them."And one of Madison's close friends told the station she "brought nothing but happiness to everyone she ever met. She was nice to everyone and she wouldn't have harmed a fly."In September, Christy posted on Facebook to celebrate "Daughter's Day.""Happy Daughter's Day to my two amazing, sweet, kind, beautiful, intelligent girls," she wrote. "I love and treasure you both more than you could ever possibly know."

– "We're still trying to put the pieces together," said Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls in the aftermath of a Friday shooting that left a Texas mother and her two daughters dead. Among the details trickling out: A sheriff's rep tells People that Christy Sheats, who shot and killed daughters Taylor, 22, and Madison, 17, before being shot and killed by police, had a history of mental illness. Police had visited the home "for previous altercations" related to Sheats' "mental crisis," says the rep. A neighbor tells KTRK the Friday shooting occurred on the birthday of Jason Sheats, father of the daughters. The couple had been estranged, and had recently gotten back together, per the neighbor. He was present, but uninjured. While no motive has been given, "It was a family argument that turned into a shooting," Nehls said, per the Houston Chronicle. Another neighbor tells KTRK that Taylor collapsed after running out of the home; Madison and Jason fled, too. The neighbor reports seeing Christy exit the home with a gun, reenter to allegedly reload, and then emerge and shoot Madison in the back. The rep also tells People a Fulshear city police officer fired at Christy "before she was able to shoot [Madison] again." People flags this September Facebook post by Sheats: "Happy Daughter's Day to my two amazing, sweet, kind, beautiful, intelligent girls. I love and treasure you both more than you could ever possibly know."

The beat-up pickup truck patrolled beat-up Pratt City, stopping at taped-off intersections as volunteers jumped out of the back to hand out water and groceries to residents of this Birmingham suburb ravaged by the second-deadliest day for a twister outbreak in U.S. history. A water tower stands amid the damage in Hackleburg, Al., Friday, April 29, 2011, following a tornado touchdown Wednesday afternoon that destroyed much of the small community and caused 27 deaths. (AP... (Associated Press) James Nicholas surveys the damage in Hackleburg, Ala., Friday, April 29, 2011, following a tornado touchdown Wednesday afternoon that destroyed much of the small community and caused 27 deaths. (AP Photo/Rogelio... (Associated Press) Residents of Hackleburg, Ala., recover and remove personal possessions Friday, April 29, 2011, following a tornado touchdown Wednesday afternoon that destroyed much of the small community and caused... (Associated Press) Residents left homeless by tornados come for a meal, water and clothes and other necessities at a makeshift care center set up in front of a destroyed housing project in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Friday, April... (Associated Press) Chad Brown and Terry Gardner clean up debris after a tornado struck Mr. Brown's home in Rainsville, Ala., Friday, April 29, 2011. A 25-mile path was cut by deadly tornadoes on Wednesday, leaving many... (Associated Press) Residents left homeless by tornados look at clothes and find a meal at a makeshift care center set up in front of a destroyed housing project in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Friday, April 29, 2011. Thousands are... (Associated Press) Gary Clements of Headland, Ala., Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief inspects tornado damage in Eoline, Ala., Friday, April 29, 2011. Three firefighters were injured Wednesday when a tornado struck... (Associated Press) Marjorie Witherspoon relaxes for a moment as her niece, Jacqeline Wilson, rear, picks through debris from a tornado, in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Friday, April 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) (Associated Press) Roger McKinney cleans up debris from his home in Rainsville, Ala. as his dog sleeps on what is left of his front porch Friday, April 29, 2011. A 25-mile path was cut by deadly tornadoes on Wednesday,... (Associated Press) Employees and students helped pull chairs, desks, notebooks and text books from the damage at Hackleburg Elementary School in Hackleburg, Ala., Friday, April 29, 2011. Wednesday's tornado destroyed all... (Associated Press) Residents left homeless by tornados look at clothes and find a meal at a makeshift care center set up in front of a destroyed housing project in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Friday, April 29, 2011. Thousands are... (Associated Press) University of Alabama student David Brock of Chattanooga, Tenn., loads up a pickup truck full of student donated supplies for tornado victims in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Friday, April 29, 2011. The university... (Associated Press) Down the road, dozens more volunteers transformed the local elementary school into a community pit stop. One room was devoted to storing bread, another to sorting donated clothing. A doctor set up shop in one part of the building, and volunteers staffed the grill in front while college students formed an assembly line to unload trucks stuffed with fresh supplies. "I'm from the community but my house wasn't damaged, so I had to help," said Elsie Bailey, who was working in a room doling out men's clothing. "We were so amazed at the destruction that I just wanted to help. People are really stepping up, coming through." Across the South, volunteers have been pitching in as the death toll from Wednesday's storms keeps rising. At least 339 people were killed across seven states, including at least 248 in Alabama, as the storm system spawned tornadoes through several states. There were 34 deaths in Mississippi, 34 in Tennessee, 15 in Georgia, five in Virginia, two in Louisiana and one in Kentucky. It was the largest death toll since March 18, 1925, when 747 people were killed in storms that raged through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. That was long before the days when Doppler radar could warn communities of severe weather. Forecasters have said residents were told these tornadoes were coming. But they were just too wide and powerful and in populated areas to avoid the horrifying body count. Storms can still defeat technology. This week's tornadoes devastated the infrastructure of emergency safety workers. Emergency buildings were wiped out, bodies were being stored in refrigerated trucks, and authorities were left to beg for such basics as flashlights. In one neighborhood, the storms even left firefighters to work without a truck. Volunteers stepped in to help almost as soon as the storms passed through. They ditched their jobs, shelled out their paychecks, donated blood and even sneaked past police blockades to get aid to some of the hardest-hit communities struck by the deadliest tornado disaster since 1925. "We're part of the community, and we're called to reach out and help people," said Ken Osvath of the Church of the Highlands, one of an untold number of volunteers who handed out supplies to victims in Alabama. Thousands of people were injured _ 990 in Tuscaloosa alone _ and thousands of properties were destroyed. As many as 1 million Alabama homes and businesses remained without power. The scale of the disaster astonished President Barack Obama when he arrived in the state Friday. "I've never seen devastation like this," he said, standing in sunshine amid the wreckage in Tuscaloosa, where entire neighborhoods were flattened. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has responded to all affected areas and has officials on the ground in Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee, Director Craig Fugate said. Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox called it "a humanitarian crisis" for his city of more than 83,000, but he said the situation would have spiraled out of control if not for the volunteers who worked to quickly get supplies for people. Shamiya Clancy is one of those in desperate need of shelter after the homes where she and her family lived in the Alberta City neighborhood were wiped out. They're now pooling their resources _ clothes, money, food, whatever they can scrounge _ but none of them have anywhere else to go. A stuffed bear that her husband gave her on Valentine's Day this year was the sole belonging she recovered when she sifted through the rubble. She was hoping to find family photos. "If I could have found one picture, I'd be OK. I'd feel a little better," she said. In Rainsville, a northeast Alabama town devastated by the storms, people in cars stopped to offer bread, water and crackers to residents picking through what was left of their belongings. A radio station broadcast offers of help, a store gave away air mattresses and an Italian restaurant served free hot meals. A glass shop offered to replace shattered windows for free. Emergency services were stretched particularly thin about 90 miles to the north in the demolished town of Hackleburg, Ala., where officials were keeping the dead in a refrigerated truck because of a shortage of body bags. At least 27 people were killed there and the search for missing people continued, with FBI agents fanning out to local hospitals to help. Tuscaloosa's emergency management center was destroyed, so officials used space in one of the city's most prominent buildings _ the University of Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium _ as a substitute before moving operations to the Alabama Fire College. City employee Gene Hopkins was delivering loads of supplies to different parts of Tuscaloosa when he took a break to help Barbara Deerman, a restaurant owner at the strip mall, board up her shattered front door. "I appreciate this," Deerman said. "I'll give you a free meal when we get this back up." Other volunteers set up a makeshift relief station at a parking lot in Alberta City neighborhood, where scores of homes and businesses have been reduced to twisted piles of metal, glass and wood. It was staffed by a mix of city employees, church members, National Guard troops and supermarket workers, and residents lined up for water, food and other basic supplies. "We've got people who wanted to get in here and help, but they couldn't get in earlier," said relief station volunteer Doug Milligan, a Tuscaloosa native who is principal of a high school in nearby Woodstock, Ala. Milligan had to sneak past the police blockades cordoning off the neighborhood. He figures he got by because he wore a T-shirt that read: "Bibb County Red Cross." "I didn't tell them it's only because I ran a 5K," he said. ___ Kunzelman reported from Tuscaloosa. Associated Press writers Holbrook Mohr in Hackleburg, Jeffrey Collins and Chris Hawley in Rainsville, Michael Rubinkam in Pleasant Grove, John Christoffersen in Birmingham, Phillip Rawls in Montgomery and Kristi Eaton in Norman, Okla. contributed to this report. ||||| TUSCALOOSA | With the number of confirmed deaths now at 39 and hundreds more unaccounted for, the Wednesday tornado that ripped some of the city's busiest areas apart is already the deadliest in Tuscaloosa County history. Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said Friday that the actual number of deaths should not rise much higher, but from where Gerald Ramsey stands, 39 seems like a conservative number. “When I was out on Cumberland Road, there was one house we pulled four people out from under and only one survived,” said Ramsey, a volunteer from Birmingham conducting search and rescue around the city. “One hundred yards away from that there was one more found dead, and then next door to that there were two more found dead. “So when you're on the ground and see that and then hear of several more accounts of people being found dead — three there, two here, four there — you just wonder how many more ... there have to be.” Bobbie Banks, an emergency medical technician for Northstar Ambulance Service working search and rescue, said she saw six bodies pulled from the rubble in Alberta. Chris Smith, a registered nurse from Birmingham that was volunteering in search and rescue, said, “When you come upon a mobile home park where 50 mobile homes once stood and now only one is left partially intact,” 39 seems like a very low number. Smith spent Thursday working through the rubble in Alberta. He worries that because of the area's geography, more bodies will be found in other places besides beneath homes. “There are gullies in that area and a few deep ravines along with a lake that's covered with debris,” he said. “I'm honestly afraid that they're going to find more people in the gullies.” Determining a clear number of how many University of Alabama students died in the storm has been difficult as well. Areas directly hit by the storm along 15th Street, including Forest Lake and the completely leveled Cedar Crest area, were neighborhoods where many UA students rented homes. The Crimson White, the UA campus newspaper, published a report on its website saying eight UA students had been confirmed dead. The paper published the names of some of those students, along with the name of a Stillman College student, before being asked by UA administrators to remove the article from the newspaper's website. Cathy Andreen, a UA spokeswoman, said she could confirm two student deaths, but would not release their names or confirm reports that more students have died. “The city of Tuscaloosa is really handling most of that,” she said. Meanwhile, Ramsey said rumors are circulating around the devastated areas that the two morgues being used to store the bodies are overflowing. The primary morgue is at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The other is at DCH Regional Medical Center, where those who died at the hospital are kept. However, VA Medical Center spokesman Damon Stevenson said its morgue is at less than one-third of its capacity. Stevenson said 36 bodies have come through the VA morgue and 17 have been identified by families and released to funeral homes. “That leaves us with 19 (six of which have not been identified, according to Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton) here still. In the building here, we have a capacity of 20 and then we have two mobile morgues stationed outside. One of them holds 27 and the other holds 18, bringing us to a capacity of 65,” Stevenson said. “But we're continuing to receive bodies and it's been explained to us from Emergency Management Agency officials that now that they have sent cadaver dogs into the rubble, we should anticipate receiving more bodies.” DCH spokesman Brad Fisher said that the morgue there is holding six bodies and has a capacity of eight. Fisher said families of some of those victims have identified their bodies, but DCH is not currently able to release them. “They have come under the custody of the state medical examiner, and because of that we cannot release them,” he said. But Maddox said with the search and rescue effort nearing a close, he doesn't expect the number of confirmed deaths to climb much higher. “Our research and rescue teams, along with cadaver dogs, have pretty much finished going through the areas where we would expect to find victims,” he said. And in response to those who feel the number of deaths is being updated too slowly, Maddox explained that the state changed its protocol for official counts of deaths from disasters after casualties were overstated immediately following a 2007 tornado killed nine people in the south Alabama city of Enterprise. Maddox said confirmed deaths are now certified by the county coroner in order to avoid counting victims more than once, for instance, at the site where a body is recovered before being counted again at the morgue. He also stressed that the size and impact of Wednesday's storm have provided a whole new set of challenges to that protocol. “What we are trying to deal with is unprecedented,” Maddox said. ||||| Devastating storms ripped through the southern United States last week, leaving more than 340 people dead and communities crippled in its wake. Dozens of tornadoes swept across Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi, Georgia and Kentucky. The hardest hit areas are in Alabama. President Obama visited the state on April 29 to assess the damage and offer support. Now, in neighboring Mississippi and Louisiana, residents are bracing for massive flooding that will put the region's levee system to the test. Across the country, Americans are asking how to help Southerners in need. Here at HuffPost Impact, we're assembling a list of information on how to take action, which we will keep updated as the crisis unfolds. HOW TO HELP:

– The tornado death toll keeps rising steadily. The seven-state total is now at 339, with nearly 250 of those in Alabama, reports AP. What's worse, rescuers in Tuscaloosa say the city's confirmed toll of 39 feels low, with scores of people still unaccounted for, notes the Tuscaloosa Times. The biggest death toll in US history came in 1925, long before the age of Doppler radar, when 747 were killed in Midwest storms. Emergency services in hard-hit areas are struggling to cope, and the Huffington Post provides provides a roundup of ways people can help with donations.

This implementation project showed that routine reflex DNA screening for trisomies 21, 18, and 13 achieved a detection rate of 95% with a false-positive rate of 0.02% and an odds of being affected given a positive result of 25:1. Only 2 in 10,000 women with unaffected pregnancies had an invasive diagnostic test. No other method of prenatal screening for these disorders has such a high detection rate for such a low false-positive rate. While the detection rate is a few percentage points lower than with universal DNA screening,9,10,12 the greater proportional reduction in the false-positive rate results in a greater discrimination between affected and unaffected pregnancies. Chitty et al.3 described a similar two-step screening protocol but, instead of performing a reflex DNA test on a previously collected plasma sample, women with a combined test risk ≥1 in 1,000 were recalled for counseling with the offer of a DNA screening test or, if the risk was ≥1 in 150, the choice of a DNA screening test or an invasive diagnostic test. Twelve percent of women were recalled in this way and informed that they were in this higher risk group, and 18% chose to proceed directly to an invasive diagnostic test. This increases the false-positive rate and consequently also increases the number of invasive diagnostic tests in women with unaffected pregnancies; this is avoided with the reflex method. We can be confident that the reflex DNA screening strategy benefits women by reducing the chance that they will be made acutely anxious. Measuring anxiety levels directly in such circumstances is, in our view, neither appropriate nor necessary; imparting potentially distressing information when this can be completely avoided is self-evidently of benefit. The technical DNA test failure rate is a problem with DNA screening. The reflex DNA approach with 10% of women having a DNA test means that, among all women screened, about 2 per 1,000 (10% × 1.8%) needed to have an extra blood collection, a much lower recall rate than with contingent DNA screening without reflexing.3 The 68% reduction in the failure rate between tests using the first and second aliquot from the initial blood sample indicates that the failure is mainly technical, and not due to factors associated with the woman and her pregnancy. As the technical aspects of the test improve, the initial failure rate is likely to fall significantly. With the reflex DNA screening approach, all pregnancies have a screening result and in this implementation project only 3 pregnancies out of 2,480 reflexed to a DNA test (0.12%) had an integrated test after a DNA test failure using the second aliquot of the extra blood collection. Compared with established screening methods, reflex DNA screening reduces the clinical workload involved in counseling women with screen-positive results; in the implementation audit 105 (101 + 4 from Table 2) women required counseling following a screen-positive result whereas 635 (549 + 86) would have required counseling if the combined test alone or the two-step (recall) method 3 had been used. The two-step method 3 will further increase the clinical workload because in addition to counseling after a positive combined test result, some women would need counseling again after a positive DNA test result. Women identified as being screen positive in the implementation audit had a high odds of having an affected pregnancy (25:1, see Table 2), which is likely to reduce uncertainty over the decision to have an invasive diagnostic test (1:6 with the combined test alone, see Table 2). Reflex DNA screening can potentially achieve cost savings because of the reduction in the number of invasive diagnostic tests needed and the reduced need for patient counseling associated with the two-step approach. These savings could be used to pay for the reflex DNA screening tests to secure the clinical benefits. Depending on local costs, a combined test cutoff level could be selected so that the costs of the screening program are affordable and cost-effective. As the cost of reflex DNA screening declines, the combined test cutoff can be lowered, resulting in an increase in the proportion of women having a reflex DNA test and hence an increase in the detection rate. In this implementation project Streck tubes were used to reduce white blood cell lysis and cellular DNA leakage into the plasma of whole blood before plasma separation. The effect of such leakage would be to diminish the fetal fraction and possibly increase the proportion of failed tests. The use of inexpensive ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) tubes rather than the more expensive Streck tubes would lead to cost savings. Such a switch should be acceptable as there is evidence that the separation of plasma from cells up to at least 48 hours after blood collection does not significantly degrade the sample needed for DNA analysis.13,14 Integrating information from combined test markers with sequencing information from DNA analysis enhances screening performance. While the improvement in screening performance is small, with suitable interpretive software this can readily be implemented without additional cost. A source of false positives associated with the DNA test arises from maternal mosaicism,15 confined placental mosaicism,16 and maternal copy-number variation.17 Though they are rare occurrences, this problem is mitigated in reflex DNA screening. For example, if 10% of women have a reflex DNA test the problem is reduced 10-fold. A practical point affecting any reflex DNA screening program is that the invasive diagnostic test should be amniocentesis, not chorionic villus sampling, which will replicate the confined placental mosaicism observed in the maternal plasma. With universal DNA screening the detection rate would have been 99%, but an extra blood sample would be required for a repeat DNA test in 1.8% of pregnancies based on the failure rate in pregnancies tested at the Wolfson Institute (see Figure 3). With the reflex approach, in which 10% have a DNA test, the detection rate is 95% with a 10-fold lower rate of requesting an extra blood collection (0.18%) than universal DNA screening. There is a trade-off between small incremental increases in detection for increasing proportions of women required to provide an extra blood sample. In every 100,000 pregnancies undergoing reflex DNA screening, based on a 10% reflexing proportion, 180 would be recalled for an extra blood collection compared with 1,800 such return visits with universal DNA screening. The reflex DNA policy makes prenatal screening for trisomies 21, 18, and 13 safer than other policies because of the reduced false-positive rate. Taking the risk of fetal loss due to an invasive diagnostic test as 1 in 100,18 among 1 million unaffected pregnancies that undergo reflex DNA screening, 200 would have a diagnostic amniocentesis and about 2 of these would result in a fetal loss due to the diagnostic procedure. If all pregnant women were screened using the reflex DNA approach, this would amount to eight procedure-related unaffected fetal losses in the United States and about two in the United Kingdom, each year. If the fetal loss rate from an invasive diagnostic test is less than 1 in 100, these estimates of the number of procedure-related fetal losses would be even lower. As well as improved safety, 19 out of 20 pregnancies with trisomy 21, 18, or 13 are detected by reflex DNA screening. The benefits of reflex DNA screening arise mainly from the substantially lower false-positive rate compared with other methods of screening, the avoidance of recall-induced anxiety associated with non-reflex contingent screening, and a detection rate similar to universal DNA testing. These clinical benefits, together with the reduced cost compared with universal DNA testing, make the reflex approach a preferred method of screening. The results of this implementation project show that the benefits of reflex DNA screening were achieved in routine screening practice. ||||| Credit: CC0 Public Domain Medical scientists at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to incorporate DNA analysis into antenatal screening for three serious chromosome disorders, including Down's syndrome, in a way that is far more accurate than existing methods, and safer and less stressful for mothers. The new method, called antenatal "reflex DNA screening", which screens for Down's syndrome, Edwards syndrome and Patau syndrome, detected more affected pregnancies than the test it replaced, with far fewer false-positives. Reflex DNA screening combines conventional screening with new DNA testing. The method was implemented in five UK NHS maternity units, screening over 22,000 women between April 2015 and August 2016, and continues to be in use. The findings are published in the journal Genetics in Medicine. At present, women are offered screening for these three chromosome disorders at 10-14 weeks of pregnancy. The test combines an ultrasound scan and a blood test, and if it shows that a woman is at an increased risk of having an affected pregnancy, she is offered a diagnostic test, an amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS); these are invasive tests that involve inserting a needle through the mother's abdomen into her womb to collect samples of fluid surrounding the foetus or tissue from the placenta. With the new method, women provided a blood sample at about 11 weeks of pregnancy. The sample was divided into two; one used for the conventional screening test and one held in reserve. The first sample was used to assess the women's risk of any of the three disorders. If, on the basis of that test, the risk of having an affected pregnancy was 1 in 800 or a higher risk, the other blood sample was automatically retrieved for a DNA test (i.e. performed in a "reflex" manner), without having to recall the women to provide a fresh blood sample. This avoided needlessly worrying the women by informing them that the DNA test was required because of their increased risk of an affected pregnancy. Of the 22,812 women screened, 11 per cent had a reflex DNA test. It detected 101 out of the 106 pregnancies affected with one of the three disorders, with only four false-positives, yielding a 95 per cent detection rate (compared with 81 per cent using the existing conventional test alone), and a 0.02 per cent false-positive rate (100-fold reduction in false positives from 2.42 per cent for the combined test). Among pregnancies that tested positive and where the women were offered an invasive diagnostic test, 25 out of 26 were affected by one of the syndromes. Professor Sir Nicholas Wald, from QMUL's Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, who led the project, said: "The reflex DNA approach has substantial benefits to the well-being of the women screened. Not only are more affected pregnancies identified, but many fewer women will be made acutely anxious by being notified that they have a positive screening result, and among those women with a positive DNA screening result, almost all will have an affected pregnancy. Reflex screening is also safer than conventional screening as it avoids nearly all invasive diagnostic tests in unaffected pregnancies and miscarriages related to these procedures. "The reflex DNA approach has beneficial resource implications by reducing the number of women who need counselling on account of a positive screening result, and by avoiding about five out of six diagnostic amniocenteses that would otherwise be indicated. The extra costs of the DNA tests are offset against savings from fewer amniocenteses and associated counselling. The overall balance of costs and savings can be chosen by adjusting the proportion of women who have a reflex DNA test." He continued: "The National Screening Committee is considering a similar proposal, which involves recalling women with a positive initial result for a DNA test, some of whom will be sufficiently anxious to request a diagnostic amniocentesis rather than the DNA test. The reflex method avoids causing worry to this group, and avoids the dilemma in choosing between a DNA screening test and a diagnostic amniocentesis." Mr Joseph Aquilina, consultant obstetrician at Barts Health NHS Trust who participated in the project, said: "The new reflex DNA approach is transformational. Not only is the screening method better than current practice, but I have more time to devote to other clinical needs, as do the nursing and midwifery staff involved." The researchers are now approaching other hospitals in the UK to see if they would be interested in adopting the new test. In addition, they say that the test could be adopted by hospitals worldwide so long as they have access to labs that can perform the DNA analysis. "Ideally, the DNA testing would be performed in the existing screening laboratory in order for the testing process to be seamless," said Professor Wald. Explore further: Changes to prenatal screening for Down syndrome suggested More information: Nicholas J Wald, Wayne J Huttly, Jonathan P Bestwick, Robert Old, Joan K Morris, Ray Cheng, Joe Aquilina, Elisabeth Peregrine, Devender Roberts, Zarko Alfirevic. "Prenatal reflex DNA screening for trisomy 21, 18, and 13". Genetics in Medicine. DOI: 10.1038/GIM.2017.188 ||||| New test more accurate than current screening in detecting Down’s, Edwards and Patau syndromes and could simplify screening process, say researchers Doctors have developed a more accurate test for Down’s syndrome and two rarer genetic disorders that are so serious the children often die soon after birth. UK hospitals that adopted the test as part of a medical project found that it picked up nearly all affected pregnancies and slashed the number of women who wrongly tested positive, sparing them the anxiety of needless follow-up tests. Five NHS maternity units used “reflex DNA screening” between April 2015 and August 2016, during which nearly 23,000 pregnancies were checked for Down’s, Edwards and Patau syndromes. All of the conditions are caused by the presence of an extra chromosome in the baby’s cells. NHS to offer safer Down's syndrome test to pregnant women Read more According to a report in Genetics in Medicine, the new procedure detected 101 of 106 pregnancies affected by the disorders, or 95%, compared with 81% for the conventional test used in hospitals. The rate of false positives, where babies were wrongly identified as having a condition, fell 100-fold with reflex DNA screening to two in 10,000. Compared with regular screening, the new procedure avoided 530 invasive tests to diagnose the disorders. The conventional screening test for Down’s and other chromosomal disorders involves a blood test and an ultrasound scan at 10 to 14 weeks, which are combined with the mother’s age to work out her risk of carrying an affected baby. If the risk is more than one in 150, the woman is offered an invasive test to confirm the diagnosis. The diagnostic tests require a needle to be inserted into the woman’s womb to collect fluid around the foetus or tissue from the placenta. Reflex DNA screening draws on the same blood and ultrasound tests, but if the risk of an affected pregnancy is higher than one in 800, then some of the blood already taken from the mother is sent for DNA analysis. This looks for fragments of DNA that have leaked from the placenta, which reveal whether the baby has the extra chromosomes. The woman is only alerted to the risk if the DNA tests positive. The NHS plans to introduce a similar screening procedure in 2018, that will be offered to about 10,000 women a year who are considered to have a higher risk of giving birth to a baby with one of the conditions. Fears over new Down's syndrome test may have been exaggerated, warns expert Read more Nicholas Wald at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine at Queen Mary, said reflex DNA screening had substantial benefits for women who are screened. “We don’t have to approach women to come back for a DNA test. This enormously reduces the false positive rate and the number of women needlessly made anxious as a result.” Wald said the procedure simplified the screening process and freed up clinic time because far fewer women had to be called back for follow-up tests. “This would potentially be offered to all pregnant women,” he added. Joseph Aquilina, a consultant obstetrician at Barts Health NHS Trust, one of the five units that tried reflex DNA screening, said it was “transformational”. “Not only is the screening method better than current practice, but I have more time to devote to other clinical needs, as do the nursing and midwifery staff involved,” he said. The doctors are now talking to other hospitals to see if they want to adopt the procedure. The five units that took part in the project are Barts Health NHS Trust, The Royal London, Whipps Cross and Newham, Kingston, and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

– Doctors have discovered a more accurate way to prenatally test for chromosome disorders like Down syndrome, and it's less stressful for the mother to boot. Normally, if an ultrasound and blood test show a woman's risk of an affected pregnancy is high, doctors can perform additional tests to identify possible Down syndrome, Edwards syndrome, or Patau syndrome using a needle that collects fluid or tissue from a woman's womb. These procedures—either an amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling—aren't fun, nor are the weeks of worry that can precede them. But researcher Nicholas Wald says new "reflex DNA screening" led to a 100-fold reduction in false positives at five UK maternity wards and prevented "nearly all invasive diagnostic tests in unaffected pregnancies," per a release. In this method, described in Genetics in Medicine, doctors take a blood sample from a woman around 11 weeks of pregnancy and split it into two. If the first sample shows a woman's risk for an affected pregnancy is 1 in 800 or higher, doctors use the second sample to search for DNA from the placenta that would indicate a disorder, reports the Guardian. Over a 16-month study period involving 23,000 women, the test detected 95% of affected pregnancies, compared to 81% with the previous method. The rate of false positives, meanwhile, fell to 0.02% from 2.4%. In the end, only one of 26 women who underwent the diagnostic test had an unaffected pregnancy, adds Wald, who notes "the extra costs of the DNA tests are offset against savings from fewer amniocenteses and associated counseling."

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. May 20, 2014, 11:42 PM GMT / Updated May 21, 2014, 12:00 AM GMT Five men were convicted Tuesday in Moscow in the 2006 execution-style murder of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Russian state media reported. Politkovskaya, a crusading reporter for the liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta who worked almost full-time on documenting allegations of human rights violations in the breakaway province of Chechnya, was 48 when she was gunned down in the elevator of her apartment building in October 2006. The murder raised worldwide questions about freedom of speech and of the press under Russian President Vladimir Putin — especially after three of the defendants were initially acquitted in 2009. The Supreme Court overturned those acquittals and ordered a new trial. ||||| People hold portraits of slain journalist Anna Politkovskaya on the sixth anniversary of her death, next to her block of flats in central Moscow October 7, 2012. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Five men were convicted on Tuesday of murdering 2006 of investigative journalist and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya, including three defendants who had been acquitted in a previous trial. Politkovskaya's killing drew attention to the risks faced by Russians who challenge the authorities and deepened Western concerns for the rule of law under President Vladimir Putin, who was then serving his second term. Another jury's 2009 acquittal of three of the men who were found guilty of murder on Tuesday embarrassed Russian prosecutors and was later thrown out by the Supreme Court, which ordered a new trial. The defendants were three Chechen brothers, one of whom was accused of shooting Politkovskaya in the lobby of her Moscow apartment building on October 7, 2006, as well as their uncle and a former police officer. The convictions are a victory for Russian prosecutors and the state, but rights activists and relatives of Politkovskaya say that justice will not be done until those who ordered her contract-style killing are identified and convicted. "The murder will only be solved when the name of the person who ordered it is known," a lawyer for Politkovskaya's family, Anna Stavitskaya, was quoted as saying by RIA news agency. She welcomed the jury's verdict but said the men found guilty "are only a few of the people who should be brought to justice", RIA reported. A spokesman for the federal Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin, said the authorities were doing all they can to identify and track down the person behind the killing, Russian news agencies reported. Kremlin critics say they doubt that will ever happen because of suspicions the trail could lead too close to the government. Politkovskaya, a reporter for Novaya Gazeta who was 48 when she was shot dead while returning home after shopping for groceries, was best known for her dogged reporting on human rights violations in the North Caucasus province of Chechnya. Lawyers for the defendants - Rustam Makhmudov, his brothers Ibragim and Dzhabrail, their uncle Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, and former Moscow police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov - said they would appeal. Investigators say Gaitukayev organised the logistics of the killing while in jail for another matter, while Khadzhikurbanov was in charge of preparing for the slaying and Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov helped track her. Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov and Khadzhikurbanov were previously acquitted. The five men will be sentenced by a judge at a later date and could face life in prison. Prosecutors will recommend sentences at a court session on Wednesday, RIA reported. (Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Mark Heinrich) ||||| Five guilty of killing Russian journalist Politkovskaya Anna Politkovskaya was best known for her reports in the Novaya Gazeta newspaper Continue reading the main story Related Stories A court in Moscow has found five men guilty of the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006. One man was found guilty of the shooting and the other four of organising the killing. Three of the men were brothers from Chechnya. Ms Politkovskaya, a 48-year-old investigative reporter and vocal critic of Russia's war in Chechnya, was shot in a lift in her block of flats. Three of the men had been acquitted of the murder in a 2009 trial. The initial verdict was overturned by Russia's supreme court, which ordered their retrial. One of the brothers, Rustam Makhmudov, was found guilty of pulling the trigger. His brothers were found guilty of acting as getaway drivers. The brothers' uncle and a retired policeman were also found guilty of organising the killing. Ms Politkovskaya's reporting for Novaya Gazeta newspaper won international renown for her dogged investigation of Russian abuses in Chechnya. But her pieces, which were highly critical of President Vladimir Putin, then serving his second term, and the Chechen leadership, angered many in authority. The five men, who face possible life terms, will be sentenced on Wednesday morning. A committee set up to investigate the shooting said it was still looking for the person who ordered the operation. Her family welcomed the verdict but also expressed disappointment that the mastermind of the killing had not yet been found. Last year a former police officer, Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for supplying the murder weapon. Magnitsky sanctions In a separate development, the US announced on Tuesday that it was imposing sanctions on a further 12 Russians believed to be involved in the death of a Moscow lawyer in 2009. Sergei Magnitsky found evidence of a $230m tax-refund fraud Sergei Magnitsky died in prison, allegedly because of torture and neglect, after accusing Russian officials of tax fraud. Following his death, the US passed the Magnitsky Act, aimed at punishing officials involved in his death, and last year published a list of 18 individuals banned from entering the country. Among the names added to the list on Tuesday are three doctors alleged to have withheld treatment from Magnitsky while he was in custody. One of them, Larisa Litvinova, was chief physician at Butyrka maximum security jail where Magnitksy died while another, Dmitry Kratov, was its deputy director. A judge involved in a posthumous prosecution of Magnitsky for tax fraud has also been added to the sanctions list. The US says the sanctions are "independent of Russia's actions in Ukraine".

– Five men have been found guilty in the 2006 slaying of 48-year-old Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, whose investigative reporting criticized President Vladimir Putin, the war in Chechnya, and Chechen leadership. Three of the men are brothers from Chechnya, one of whom has been found guilty of the shooting itself, which NBC News reports took place "execution-style" in the elevator of her apartment building. The other two brothers were found guilty of tracking Politkovskaya and acting as getaway drivers, and their uncle and a retired police officer were found to have organized and prepared for the murder, respectively. All face life in prison. Three of the conspirators now convicted were acquitted in 2009, but a retrial was ordered. Another ex-cop was convicted of supplying the murder weapon last year, the BBC reports. The defendants' lawyers plan to appeal the convictions, Reuters reports. Politkovskaya’s family is disappointed that it's still not clear who ordered the killing, saying in a statement that the men convicted "are only a few of the people who should be brought to justice." Though an investigation into the murder continues, critics suggest the mastermind will never be found because, as Reuters puts it, "the trail could lead too close to the government"—Politkovskaya's work angered quite a few important people.

Rebel commanders scoffed when asked about reports of the delivery of 500 TOWs from Saudi Arabia, saying it was an insignificant number compared with what is available. Saudi Arabia in 2013 ordered more than 13,000 of them. Given that American weapons contracts require disclosure of the “end user,” insurgents said they were being delivered with Washington’s approval. Equally graphic videos of new Russian firepower have been posted by pro-government fighters and journalists embedded with them. Russian attack helicopters swoop low over fields, seemingly close enough to touch, then veer upward to unleash barrages of rockets, flares and heavy machine-gun fire. Explosions pepper distant villages, with smoke rising over clusters of houses as narrators declare progress against “terrorists.” They appear to be using techniques honed in Afghanistan, where the occupying Soviet Army fought insurgents who were eventually supplied with antiaircraft missiles by the United States. Some of those insurgents later began Al Qaeda. That specter hangs over American policy, and has kept Syrian insurgents from receiving what they most want: antiaircraft missiles to stop the government airstrikes that have been one of the war’s largest killers of civilians. Now, they want them to use on Russian warplanes as well. Mr. Saud, of Division 13, said he and other commanders renewed their requests for antiaircraft weapons 10 days ago to the liaison officers they work with in an operations center in Turkey. “They told us they would deliver our requests to their countries,” he said. “We understand that it is not an easy decision to make when it comes to antiaircraft missiles or a no-fly zone, especially now that Syrian airspace is filled with jets from different countries.” ||||| This video released by Russia's defense ministry shows Russian warships in the Caspian Sea launching cruise missiles on targets in Syria. (Russian Defense Ministry/YouTube) This video released by Russia's defense ministry shows Russian warships in the Caspian Sea launching cruise missiles on targets in Syria. (Russian Defense Ministry/YouTube) American antitank missiles supplied to Syrian rebels are playing an unexpectedly prominent role in shaping the Syrian battlefield, giving the conflict the semblance of a proxy war between the United States and Russia, despite President Obama’s express desire to avoid one. The U.S.-made BGM-71 TOW missiles were delivered under a two-year-old covert program coordinated between the United States and its allies to help vetted Free Syrian Army groups in their fight against President Bashar al-Assad. Now that Russia has entered the war in support of Assad, they are taking on a greater significance than was originally intended. So successful have they been in driving rebel gains in northwestern Syria that rebels call the missile the “Assad Tamer,” a play on the word Assad, which means lion. And in recent days they have been used with great success to slow the Russian-backed offensive aimed at recapturing ground from the rebels. [Syrian forces begin ground offensive backed by Russian air and sea power] Since Wednesday, when Syrian troops launched their first offensive backed by the might of Russia’s military, dozens of videos have been posted on YouTube showing rebels firing the U.S.-made missiles at Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles belonging to the Syrian army. Appearing as twirling balls of light, they zigzag across the Syrian countryside until they find and blast their target in a ball of flame. 1 of 30 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Ground level: On the scene of controversial Russian strikes in Syria View Photos Russia continues its military operations in Syria. Caption Russia continues its military operations in Syria. Oct. 12, 2015 A boy makes his way through rubble at a site hit by what activists said was a barrel bomb dropped by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the town of al-Ghariyah al-Gharbiyah in Deraa province. Alaa Al-Faqir/Reuters Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. The rebels claim they took out 24 tanks and armored vehicles on the first day, and the toll has risen daily since then. “It was a tank massacre,” said Capt. Mustafa Moarati, whose Tajamu al-Izza group says it destroyed seven tanks and armored vehicles Wednesday. More missiles are on the way, he said. New supplies arrived after the Russian deployments began, he said, and the rebels’ allies have promised further deliveries soon, bringing echoes of the role played by U.S.-supplied Stinger antiaircraft missiles in forcing the Soviet Union to withdraw from Afghanistan in the 1980s. The hits also plunged Washington into what amounts to a proxy war of sorts with Moscow, despite Obama’s insistence this month that “we’re not going to make Syria into a proxy war between the United States and Russia.” “It’s a proxy war by happenstance,” said Jeff White of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who counted at least 15 tanks and vehicles destroyed or disabled in one day. “The rebels happen to have a lot of TOWs in their inventory. The regime happened to attack them with Russian support. I don’t see it as a proxy war by decision.” Whether it will become one is one of the key questions confronting the Obama administration in the wake of President Vladimir Putin’s decision to throw Russia’s support behind Assad’s regime. The TOW missile program overseen by the CIA is entirely separate from a failed program run by the Pentagon that was intended to influence the outcome of the other war being waged in Syria, the one in the northeastern part of the country against the Islamic State. The CIA program got underway before the Pentagon one, in early 2014, with the goal of propping up the flagging rebellion against Assad’s rule by delivering training, small arms, ammunition and the antitank missiles, which have proved instrumental in eroding the government’s key advantage over the lightly armed rebel force — its tanks and heavy armor. Supplied mostly from stocks owned by Saudi Arabia, delivered across the Turkish border and stamped with CIA approval, the missiles were intended to fulfill another of the Obama administration’s goals in Syria — Assad’s negotiated exit from power. The plan, as described by administration officials, was to exert sufficient military pressure on Assad’s forces to persuade him to compromise — but not so much that his government would precipitously collapse and leave a dangerous power vacuum in Damascus. Instead, the Russian military intervened to shore up the struggling Syrian army — an outcome that was not intended. “A primary driving factor in Russia’s calculus was the realization that the Assad regime was militarily weakening and in danger of losing territory in northwestern Syria. The TOWs played an outsize role in that,” said Oubai Shahbandar, a Dubai-based consultant who used to work with the Syrian opposition. “I think even the Americans were surprised at how successful they’ve been,” he added. [The Syrian rebels who received first U.S. missiles of war] It was no accident, say U.S. officials and military analysts, that the first targets of Russian airstrikes in Syria were the locations where the rebels armed with TOW missiles have made the most substantial gains and where they most directly threaten Assad’s hold over his family’s heartland in the coastal province of Latakia. Those areas were also where the first offensive since the Russian intervention was launched, with columns of Syrian armored vehicles and tanks setting out from government strongholds into the countryside of the provinces of Hama and Idlib. What the TOWs have done, White said, is “offset the regime’s advantage in armor. The TOWs have cut away at that edge, and that’s what we’ve seen playing out. It’s like the Stingers in Afghanistan.” It is unclear whether the TOWs will be able to change the course of the war, as did the Stinger antiaircraft missiles introduced in the 1980s by the CIA in Afghanistan, where they were used by the mujahideen to shoot down Russian helicopters and paralyze the Soviet army. Now that the Russians have introduced more intensive and heavier airstrikes and, for the first time, combat helicopters have been seen in videos strafing villages in the Hama area, the TOW missiles may only be able to slow, but not block, government advances. The rebels have appealed for the delivery of Stinger missiles or their equivalents to counter the new threat from the air, but U.S. officials say that is unlikely. The Obama administration has repeatedly vetoed past requests from the rebels, as well as their Turkish and Saudi allies, for the delivery of antiaircraft missiles, out of concerns that they could fall into extremist hands. But the TOW missile program is already in progress, and all the indications are that it will continue. Saudi Arabia, the chief supplier, has pledged a “military” response to the Russian incursion, and rebel commanders say they have been assured more will arrive imminently. Under the terms of the program, the missiles are delivered in limited quantities, and the rebel groups must return the used canisters to secure more, to avoid stockpiling or resale. The system appears to have helped prevent the missiles from falling into extremist hands. Robert Ford, who was serving as U.S. envoy to Syria when the program got underway, said he was aware of only two TOWs obtained by the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, while “dozens and dozens” have been fired by moderate groups. “Nusra made a big public display of having these two missiles,” said Ford, who is now a fellow at the Middle East Institute. Had they acquired more, he said, “they would be using them now.” The supplies of the missiles, manufactured by Raytheon, are sourced mainly from stocks owned by the Saudi government, which purchased 13,795 of them in 2013, for expected delivery this year, according to Defense Department documents informing Congress of the sale. Because end-user agreements require that the buyer inform the United States of their ultimate destination, U.S. approval is implicit, said Shahbandar, a former Pentagon adviser. But no decision is required from the Obama administration for the program to continue, Shahbandar said. “It doesn’t need an American green light. A yellow light is enough,” he said. “It’s a covert effort and it’s technically deniable, but that’s what proxy wars are.” Read more: Syrian forces begin ground offensive backed by Russia air and sea power This is Russia’s airpower in Syria Clinton criticizes ‘failed’ effort to train Syrian rebels ||||| (CNN) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday his country's involvement in Syria is helping protect the world. "We are not striving for any kind of leadership over Syria. Syria can have only one leader -- the Syrian people," Putin said at a Moscow investment forum, according to Reuters. "We aim at making a contribution in the fight against terrorism, which is dangerous for the United States, for Russia and for the European countries, and for the whole world without exaggeration." Russia surprised the world two weeks ago when it launched its first airstrikes in Syria. The Russian airstrikes have been "reckless and indiscriminate" as well as "irresponsible," U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said Tuesday. On Tuesday, two mortar rounds hit near the Russian Embassy in Syria's capital during a pro-Russian rally, the Russian state-run news agency Sputnik International reported. It was not immediately clear if there were any injuries. The Syrian state-run news agency SANA said the rally outside the embassy was a show of support by Syrians "expressing their thanks for Russia's seriousness in fighting terrorism." Putin's comments come as the United States and Russia fuel competing sides in Syria with more firepower. Russia has been aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime faces dual threats: ISIS and rebels. Russia says it has been targeting ISIS, but many of its airstrikes have been directed at rebel-controlled areas. The United States believes that "only a fraction" of the strikes have targeted ISIS, Warren said. This week, the United States sent 50 tons of ammunition to rebel groups trying to topple Assad and four decades of his family's rule. Some observers, including Sen. John McCain, have described the ongoing escalation as a "proxy war" between the United States and Russia. The Arizona Republican sees it that way, telling CNN's Jake Tapper last week, "Of course, it is." There's a lot at stake in Syria -- with more civilians dying every day and refugees fleeing to other countries. And there's the threat of ISIS setting up even more terror hotbeds in the volatile country. Here's what the broader situation looks like now: U.S. gives rebels tons of ammo JUST WATCHED U.S. supplies Syrian rebels with 50 tons of ammo Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH U.S. supplies Syrian rebels with 50 tons of ammo 01:17 U.S. military cargo planes used an air drop of 112 pallets to deliver ammunition to rebels in northern Syria. C-17s, accompanied by fighter escort aircraft, dropped small-arms ammunition and other items such hand grenades in Hasakah province to a coalition of rebels groups vetted by the United States, known as the Syrian Arab Coalition. Friendly forces successfully recovered all pallets, a U.S. official said. U.S. attempt to train rebels falters JUST WATCHED U.S. halts Syrian rebel training programs Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH U.S. halts Syrian rebel training programs 02:21 The United States launched a $500 million program to train and equip Syrian rebels -- but doesn't have much to show for it. The U.S. Defense Department announced Friday it will suspend the rebel training program "That was a complete and total failure for a plethora of reasons," said CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon, who has reported from Syria. "The U.S. was effectively dictating to these fighters, telling them they only wanted them to focus on the fight against ISIS. Whereas you speak to any Syrian, and they will tell you that they want to get rid of ISIS, yes, but they also want to be able to focus on the Syrian regime." The low numbers are blamed on a strict vetting process that includes ensuring the fighters are committed to combat ISIS, as opposed to the Assad regime, and passing a counterintelligence screening. Russia tries to bolster Assad with airstrikes JUST WATCHED Putin explains Russia's Syria plans Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Putin explains Russia's Syria plans 02:12 When Moscow began airstrikes on September 30, Russian officials said they were coordinating with Assad and targeting ISIS and other terrorists. "Our task is to stabilize the legitimate government and to create conditions for a political compromise ... by military means, of course," Putin told the state-run Russia 24 TV. The Russian Defense Ministry said it has targeted ISIS more than 100 times. But analysts have said Russia's focus is on Syrian rebels seeking Assad's ouster. Even so, the Russian airstrikes have not strengthened Assad's regime, Warren said. EU: Russian airstrikes must end The European Union Foreign Affairs Council also isn't buying Russia's assertions that ISIS is its primary target in Syria. "The recent Russian military attacks that go beyond Daesh and other U.N.-designated terrorist groups, as well as on the moderate opposition, are of deep concern, and must cease immediately," the group said, referring to another name for ISIS. "The EU condemns the excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks that the Syrian regime continues to commit against its own people. The Assad regime bears the greatest responsibility for the 250,000 deaths of the conflict and the millions of displaced people." Opposition: Syrian regime warns residents of 'crushing blows' Assad's regime has been dropping leaflets from helicopters in Idlib province, telling residents to go to government checkpoints unarmed because their neighborhoods will be pummeled, an opposition group said. "It is allowed for the holder of this card to cross the army's checkpoints safely, the Syrian army is going to offer the food and medical assistance for the holders of this card, cooperate with the Syrian army, leave the areas that witness clashes for your safety," the fliers said, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The leaflets also included warnings from the regime forces that they are going to shell the area, and that the fighters and people must leave the area and report to regime forces. "Crushing blows are going to be carried out against this region," one flier says. "When you get close to the Syrian army's checkpoints, be sure that you do not carry any kind of weapons, carry your personal identities and your necessary needs with you. ... When you approach to the army's checkpoint walk in the open road and lift up this card or a white cloth." 'More death and destruction' JUST WATCHED Refugee crisis, ISIS recruiting among growing concerns Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Refugee crisis, ISIS recruiting among growing concerns 01:41 Russia has reasons for staying allies with Syria. Its only reliable naval port on the Mediterranean Sea is there -- Tartus. The Syrian regime has purchased billions of dollars' worth of Russian weapons Russia also doesn't believe revolutions, wars and regime change bring stability and democracy. It often points to some Arab Spring countries and the U.S.-led war in Iraq as evidence. The United States, on the other hand, has been accused of doing too little in the first years of the civil war and is now scrambling to help rebels as they face another enemy: ISIS. Brad Stapleton , a visiting research fellow at the Cato Institute, said more carnage will likely ensue. "The reality is that even with the benefit of American arms, rebel forces are unlikely to be able to overcome Russian-backed regime forces," he wrote in a recent opinion piece for CNN "As during the Cold War, U.S. and Russian arms supplies will simply fan the flames of conflict and beget more death and destruction."

– "We’re not going to make Syria into a proxy war between the United States and Russia," the Washington Post cites President Obama saying earlier this month. He might be the only person left who doesn't think it already is. "With the enhanced insurgent firepower and with Russia steadily raising the number of airstrikes against the government’s opponents, the Syrian conflict is edging closer to an all-out proxy war," the New York Times reports. "American antitank missiles supplied to Syrian rebels are playing an unexpectedly prominent role in shaping the Syrian battlefield, giving the conflict the semblance of a proxy war," the Post states. "Of course it is," John McCain told CNN when asked if Syria was a proxy war. The CIA began supplying anti-tank missiles to Syrian insurgents in 2013, the Times reports. Since Russia started launching airstrikes on behalf of the Assad regime, insurgent leaders claim deliveries of TOW missiles have increased. “We can get as much as we need and whenever we need them,” one leader says. “Just fill in the numbers.” According to the Post, dozens of videos have been popping on YouTube in the past week showing TOW missiles being used against Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles. The Times reports the increased firepower being supplied by both sides has made an eventual peaceful resolution to the conflict less likely than ever and is starting to show shades of Afghanistan in the 1980s. "As during the Cold War, US and Russian arms supplies will simply fan the flames of conflict and beget more death and destruction," one expert writes for CNN.

A firefighter scrambles to stop a wildfire as wind drives embers across Highway 20 near Clearlake Oaks, Calif., on Sunday, July 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) (Associated Press) A firefighter scrambles to stop a wildfire as wind drives embers across Highway 20 near Clearlake Oaks, Calif., on Sunday, July 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) (Associated Press) GUINDA, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on wildfires burning in the Western United States (all times local): 9 p.m. More than 100 homes have been destroyed by a Colorado wildfire that investigators say was started by an illegal campfire. San Luis Valley Emergency tweeted Monday night that 104 homes have been destroyed so far by the wildfire east of Fort Garland. The blaze has burned 89 square miles (230 square kilometers) and forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 homes since last Wednesday. According to court documents, 52-year-old Jesper Joergensen initially said he had started a fire to burn trash but then said he had been grilling in a permanent fire pit the day before the blaze began. Joergensen, who reported the wildfire, is from Denmark and has been living in the country illegally. It's not clear if he has an attorney. ___ 6:10 p.m. Authorities have ordered people in about 50 homes to evacuate because of a wildfire north of Bend, Oregon, in Warm Springs. KTVZ-TV reports a smoldering fire near the former Warm Springs wood mill sparked a fire in high winds Monday afternoon that also shut down Highway 26 near the Deschutes River. It wasn't immediately known how much land had burned. Warm Springs tribal assistant fire management officer William Wilson says the fire jumped the highway and was moving toward a neighborhood on the reservation where the evacuation notices were issued. Other people in nearby homes have been told to be set to leave. Wilson said the mill fire has been burning since last year in areas of sawdust and bark where firefighters typically don't go because of associated hazards. ___ 3:15 p.m. More homes and cabins are being evacuated due to a Utah wildfire near a popular fishing reservoir. Duchesne County officials issued a new evacuation order Monday for an unknown number of homes east of Strawberry Reservoir, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) southeast of Salt Lake City. On Sunday, a handful of cabins were evacuated. Jason Curry of the Utah Division of Forest, Fire and State Lands said the fire has scorched about 10 square miles (27 square kilometers) near Strawberry Reservoir. Curry said officials couldn't get a size update Monday afternoon due to the fire activity and smoke. Curry says the blaze started Sunday and officials believe it was human-caused but are investigating. He says the fire is expected to grow with hot and dry conditions forecast for Monday. ____ 2:55 p.m. Two military cargo planes have joined civilian aircraft and ground crews battling a southern Colorado wildfire that has burned across 89 square miles and forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 homes. The Air Force Reserve C-130s began flying missions Monday from their home at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. The planes are equipped with tanks and pumps capable of dropping 3,000 gallons (11,400 liters) of water or fire-retardant slurry in 5 seconds. Two Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopters and eight civilian helicopters are also at the fire. The fire is burning near Fort Garland. Firefighters have cut containment lines around 5 percent of the perimeter. ___ 1:05 p.m. Authorities say a man accused of starting a southern Colorado wildfire that forced residents of more than 2,000 homes to evacuate has acknowledged building a fire but said he made sure it was out. A court document says 52-year-old Jesper Joergensen initially said he had started a fire to burn trash but then said he had been grilling in a permanent fire pit the day before the blaze began. Joergensen, who reported the wildfire, said it started about 20 feet (6 meters) away from the fire pit Wednesday and he tried to put it out. The arrest affidavit says about 25 buildings had been destroyed as of Thursday, when he was arrested. The document says Joergensen, who is from Denmark, has been living in the country illegally. It's not clear if he has a lawyer. ____ This item has been corrected to say that more than 2,000 homes have been evacuated by the fire. ____ 12:15 p.m. A fire official says a massive wildfire tearing through rural Northern California is burning 1.5 square miles (4 square kilometers) of rugged terrain an hour. Gabe Lauderbale, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Monday that hot temperatures and gusty winds are contributing to the fast spread of the blaze in sparsely populated areas of Yolo and Napa counties. Lauderbale says about 300 people are under mandatory evacuation orders and more than 100 buildings are under threat in the area that's home to cattle and horse ranches. He says slightly cooler temperatures are forecast later Monday but gusty winds that could spread the blaze are also expected. ___ 10:45 a.m. Forecasters say the threat of wildfires will diminish in the U.S. Southwest this month but increase in the Northwest and along much of the California coast. The National Interagency Fire Center said Sunday that the summer monsoon should bring enough rain to Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico in early July to reduce the risk of major fires. But the danger remains high through the end of July in Utah and parts of California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. By August, the threat spreads across much of the Northwest, extending east into most of Montana. The danger in the Northwest is expected to persist through September. The fire center updates the outlook every month from its headquarters in Boise, Idaho. ___ 9:20 a.m. More than 2,500 homes in Colorado are under evacuation orders as firefighters battle more than a half dozen wildfires around the state. Most of the evacuations in effect Monday were due to a 78-square-mile (202-square-kilometer) wildfire in southern Colorado that authorities believe was human-caused. The Costilla County Sheriff's Office says 52-year-old Jesper Joergensen of Denmark was arrested on arson charges. Investigators haven't released other details except to say they don't think he intentionally started the fire. Immigration officials have requested that they be allowed to take custody of him if he's released from jail. About 570 homes are evacuated near a 2-square-mile (6-square-kilometer) fire that started Friday west of Colorado Springs. About 360 children at a camp also had to be evacuated by the Chateau Fire. ___ 9:20 a.m. Firefighters trying to contain a wildfire burning in southern Wyoming are facing warm and dry weather. About 150 firefighters are battling the fire burning in the Medicine Bow National Forest near the Colorado border. The fire has burned about 33 square miles (85 square kilometers) since it started June 10. The fire is about 80 percent contained but it has flared up in the last week, prompting authorities to advise some residents in the area to prepare for evacuation. But all major highways in the area are open Monday. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. ___ 8:50 a.m. A wildfire burning in hot and dry conditions in Utah has forced the evacuations of a handful of seasonal cabins near a popular fishing reservoir. Jason Curry of the Utah Division of Forest, Fire and State Lands said Monday that the fire has scorched about 10 square miles (28 square kilometers) near Strawberry Reservoir. Curry says the blaze about 80 miles (129 kilometers) southeast of Salt Lake City started Sunday and officials believe it was human-caused but are investigating. The fire is threatening about seven to 10 cabins that are used as seasonal homes, not primary residences. He says the fire is expected to grow with hot and dry conditions forecast for Monday. Similar weather is fueling blazes in several Western states. ___ 8:50 a.m. Officials say a wildfire in Northern California grew dramatically overnight and is largely burning out of control. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the fire northwest of Sacramento scorched at least 70 square miles (180 square kilometers) by Monday morning. It is threatening 100 buildings and has forced evacuations. It grew from 55 square miles (142 square kilometers) reported Sunday night and is just 3 percent contained. Cal Fire says strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity are fueling the blaze. No injuries were reported and the exact number of people evacuated was unclear. Smoke and ash are contributing to poor air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area and California wine country. Hot, dry conditions are fueling blazes in several Western states. ___ 7:55 a.m. Hot winds fueling a massive wildfire that prompted evacuations in rural Northern California have pushed the flames into a neighboring county. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Monday that the blaze that ignited Saturday in western Yolo County spread over the weekend to neighboring Napa County. The fast-moving fire has scorched at least 55 square miles (142 square kilometers) of dry brush and threatened more than 100 buildings in ranchland northwest of Sacramento. No injuries were reported and the exact number of people evacuated was unclear. Smoke and ash are contributing to poor air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area and California wine country. It comes as hot, dry conditions are fueling blazes in several Western states. ___ This version corrects blaze is burning in two counties, not three. ||||| 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

– More than 100 homes have been destroyed by a Colorado wildfire that investigators say was started by an illegal campfire. San Luis Valley Emergency tweeted Monday night that 104 homes have been destroyed so far by the wildfire east of Fort Garland. The blaze has burned 89 square miles and forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 homes since last Wednesday, the AP reports. According to court documents, 52-year-old Jesper Joergensen initially said he had started a fire to burn trash but then said he had been grilling in a permanent fire pit the day before the blaze began. Joergensen, who reported the wildfire, is from Denmark and has been living in the country illegally. He was arrested Thursday. Fires are also burning out of control in California, Oregon, and Utah. Forecasters say the threat of wildfires will diminish in the US Southwest this month but increase in the Northwest and along much of the California coast. The National Interagency Fire Center says that the summer monsoon should bring enough rain to Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico in early July to reduce the risk of major fires. But the danger remains high through the end of July in Utah and parts of California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. By August, the threat spreads across much of the Northwest, extending east into most of Montana. The danger in the Northwest is expected to persist through September.

This collection encompasses the Chicago Kent College of Law and Stuart School of Business main websites, as well as the Chicago Kent College of Law Library and its social networking sites. ||||| The resume of a man who claims to have achieved bird-like flight through the use of a winged contraption doesn’t check out. The man, who identifies himself as Jarno Smeets, posted a video yesterday of the alleged first flight of the “Human Birdwings” project. Although Wired’s preliminary analysis by physicist Rhett Allain suggests the video is not necessarily a fake, computer graphics and other experts are highly skeptical. What’s more, Wired could not confirm Smeets’ education and employment information posted on Facebook and LinkedIn. A LinkedIn page for Jarno Smeets, which is linked from Smeets’ website, says that he worked at Pailton Steering Systems from 2008 to 2010. John Nollett, the group managing director for Pailton Engineering Limited, said there is no record of anyone by such a name. “We checked with all of our divisions globally and nobody knows him. He’s never worked for us in any of our locations,” Nollett told Wired. “Nobody knows him.” Wired also contacted Coventry University in the UK, where Smeets’ online profiles claim he attended school from 2001 to 2005. The university’s student records staff searched their full digital records database, which contains students’ names who attended from 1986 to the present. They told Wired they found only one entry for anyone by the last name of Smeets: Alexandra Smeets, who attended from 1999 to 2000. No record for Jarno Smeets could be found. The LinkedIn resume and a Facebook page for Smeets also claim that he worked for Philips Design, part of the Philips multinational electronics company. Wired contacted Philips on Wednesday for comment, but no one responded in time for publication. Wired attempted to reach Smeets repeatedly by telephone, e-mail and Twitter on Tuesday and Wednesday. He responded by e-mail Wednesday afternoon, declining our request for a telephone interview. “I am extremely overwhelmed by the amount of emails, tweets, messages I am getting,” Smeets wrote. He did not immediately respond to a follow-up e-mail inquiring about the apparent discrepancies in his resume and seeking more information about his purported flight. The domains for Smeets’ website, humanbirdwings.net and .com, were both registered in August 2011 through the private domain registration service of Netherlands-based SoHosted, which hides the identity of the domain’s owner. Ron Fedkiw, a computer scientist at Stanford University who has worked on computer-generated graphics in films such as “Terminator 3″ and “Star Wars: Episode III,” told Wired in an email that a continuous video shot might have made Smeets’ latest video “a much more convincing fake.” “[C]utting the camera angle is an obvious trick,” Fedkiw wrote to Wired in an email. “Note how there is no continuous video from take-off to landing, instead they cut away the main ground camera right as he takes off and cut back right before he lands.” “They don’t really even need much CGI work or any fake footage here with the camera cuts,” he wrote. “The head cam footage could all be shot from a glider video — any glider, not necessarily those wings … The only real image work would have to be in the very beginning when they get a small bit off the ground, which could just be running up an edited hill or ramp.” Bert Otten, a neuromechanics scientist at the University of Groningen, met with Smeets and his colleagues in August 2011. “I haven’t seen the contraption they have built with my own eyes, so I cannot tell you from the inside whether this is fake or not,” Otten told Wired. “I haven’t looked at the video very carefully, but others have, and I must share their suspicions there.” Gizmodo offers some of its own analysis from CGI experts, who point to several other incongruities in one of the team’s other videos. A small black square suddenly appears on the right wing just before Smarno takes off, suggesting a real model was switched out for a CG one. In addition, shadows cast by Smeets’ accomplices on his wings don’t match up to the movements of the people themselves. Another video on the Flying High website contains screenshots of the prototype made in a program called Maya, primarily used by 3-D artists. While not proof of doctoring, it is suggestive that the team could have created a fake flying machine in their computer. Adam Mann contributed to this report. Image: Jarmo Smeets/Human Birdwings [high-resolution] ||||| The internet is hysterically flapping its wings over a video that portends to show a man flying. Flying like a bird! But is it real? There's no consensus, but George Lucas' CGI masterminds say it's a big avian hoax. Advertisement We spoke with Ryan Martin, Technical Director at preeminent Industrial Light & Magic, who not only offered his own take, but that of over a dozen coworkers. He asked me to forgive the delay in their response because they've "all been pretty busy finishing up The Avengers." Yeah. Here's their case: Okay, so I don't see any glaring visual problems, but that's expected when the quality is as shitty as this. But that's the first thing that makes me question its authenticity. They're able to afford to build this thing, but can't invest in proper video equipment, or... a tripod. If I were to make a fake video with the intention of going viral, I would make certain that the quality was as poor as possible to disguise any flaws in poor cg work. Another big visual issue I have with this video is the stability of his head during flight. Try and keep your head that still while waving your arms up and down when they aren't attached to a giant wing contraption. Still, it seems almost too crazy to be fake and I was unable to find other glaring flaws with the video. So, I've queried our entire facility because we have some pretty amazingly smart people here. Here's what some of them had to say: Employee 1: "without a doubt, fake" Employee 2 (also a pilot) "the camera seems very strange. I know that when I am flying in an airplane, I don't look straight ahead all of the time. Also, the only way people have been able to propel themselves above the ground have been by bicycle arrangements to power a fixed-wing aircraft. A human powered helicopter managed 10 seconds of flight about 5 inches above the ground. The legs are much more powerful than the arms. I have serious doubts about it just on the physics and physiology points alone. " Employee 3: "I agree, I saw that earlier today. I can't spot any glaring visual problems, but the physics just don't add up." Employee 4: "Bad physics, shaky cam with bad focus (always a giveaway) and the most steady head I've ever seen on a guy flapping his arms in order to not break every bone in his body. FAKE." Employee 5: "check out this video and some others.... http://www.humanbirdwings.net/my-recent-videos/ he is talking about the motors that assist his flying, so he isn't flapping all by himself. if its a hoax, its a pretty elaborate hoax, because he has been trying t build up trust for months before hand." Employee 6: " it is a matter of weight ratios! Have a look at the gossamer condor surface area of the wing to sustain flight at 1.5 miles an hour." Employee 7: "6 December 2011,For weeks I have been programming the HTC phone and the Wii remote to work together in order to let them flap my wings in the right movement.",,http://www.humanbirdwings.net/project-timeline/" I've had my wiimote just shut off suddenly without any warning. Sounds like marketing bs or soon to be granted Darwin award." Employee 8: "I constantly see gliders taking off (Fort Funston in Daly City) and It doesn't look right to me: - the motion of the wings and physics looks bogus to me. the flapping motion is weird to me. - the wing cloth, totally looks like cloth simulation. the cloth look structurally too rigid looks like a thick velvet. - the wing clothing material looks CGI." Employee 9: "Look how steady the GoPro footage is. You seriously think his neck is that stable when flapping his arms? To get that high and not move your head around an inch to take in the view? FAKE" Employee 10: I have to wonder where the power is coming from (where are the batteries, etc). The most efficient for human transportation appears to be a fixed wing aircraft. You can get very good results from a good laminar wingform and a low power engine/motor. His wings will definitely not provide the aerodynamics to haul a 180 pounds in the air. The largest bird had a 23 foot wingspan, and was only 171 pounds. It also had very large pectoral muscles to handle the power needed. Employee 11: "The wing-loading is crazy. ,,Also, a major purpose of a tail on a bird or airplane is to counter-act the forward pitching moment of the wing. If you could get your weight down to about 50 pounds for those wings, you would still find yourself rolling forward. Straight-wing flying wings need a specific twist, or large dihedral, to maintain stable flight (both of which kill lift). The configuration in the video is prone to gerbilling.,,I think the animation cycle on the figure is borrowed from the monkeys in Wizard of Oz." Advertisement Emphasis added. Martin even produced a smoking gun: Okay Sam, They wouldn't let this go without getting to the bottom of it. We've got proof it's faked. The proof comes from one of their other videos and the guys here are genuinely impressed that it's taken so long even for us to determine the truth. These guys are fooling everyone. Watch this video: At 1:45, you can see a little black square on the fabric Now, without cutting, the camera pans down and then back up again. When the camera pans up, the wing is cg. You can tell because the model they used didn't have perfect textures It's a pretty good fake, but it is absolutely fake. Again, emphasis added. We also talked with a CGI brain at Visual Playground, who spotted what he says is another giveaway: Ok...not on the vid...but on their site...a bit of a giveaway. this vid: contains screen shot of the prototype 3D model of the wing movements. The program is Maya, a 3D program primarily used by CG artists. I would think if this was the engineering vid it claims to be they would be using a 3D modeling program more suited to physics based modeling. Also the toolbar they have loaded atop the program is the 'Cloth Simulation' area of the program, which is used create such effects as fabric wings moving through air...hmmm. This isnt 100% proof but it is strange for them to have such a detailed ANIMATED model in a CG program rather than a engineering one. Advertisement So if it's a fake, it's a pretty masterful one. Even the Star Wars guys are impressed. Update: Martin has more refutation out of ILM: Even more definitive evidence from on of our veteran compositors: Advertisement "At 0:18 - the cast shadows of the three fellas on the wings are another giveaway. The shadow on screen right, for example, was created using an articulate of the man himself, then hand-animated and warped to look like a cast shadow on the wing. Watch how the cast shadow does a moon-walk/shuffle, incongruous with the man himself. All that said, it's still very well done. Good stuff. And I truly believe this is a healthy exercise for folks who do this stuff for a living." Advertisement Update 2: Another heavyweight CGI alum weighs in: I've been in CG for 15 years, and worked at some of the largest studios like ILM and Weta Digital. This is 100% without a doubt a digital composite, which is great! When I saw this video I was happy to see that somebody really took the time to integrate good CG into a viral video. So many hackneyed attempts are passed around, and this one really stands out. A lot of people have been fooled, so I thought I'd show how trained Hollywood visual effects artists can spot CG when ley people can't. The ILM guys that pointed out the crappy footage were right - that's what covers 90% of the problems. You actually WANT bad footage to put CG into, because the shaking covers many mistakes. So I stabilized the shot, as you can see here, and the problems leap out. First thing that you might be surprised by, is that the PEOPLE are digitally composited into the shot too! Everyone has been focusing on the wings but the people running in frame were shot separately and then added to the shot later to save on work. Rather than "Roto" the people (trace their outline frame by frame to put CG objects behind them), the makers of this video thought it would be easier (and it is) to just add them on TOP of the CG wings later. In the stabilized shot, look how there is motion blur on the three actors and the wings when there is none on the background. This is due to the fact that a "2D" motion blur plugin was used. The computer calculates the change in pixels from frame to frame and blurs the pixels the more the pixels change. The problem is, these actors already had motion blur on them when they were first shot. When you composite them into the footage, motion blur gets added AGAIN. This is why they go very blurry when the rest of the shot doesn't. The makers of this video tried to hide the fact they did this by having the two characters on the right run off screen, and then come back into frame. The actual footage that was shot on this day was a blank field, and the characters running in from screen right. Look closely at the shadows on the ground of the middle character. There is only only leg on the ground, and it slides with his movement. There's even some frames where the shadow is on the wrong side of the foot. The screen left character transitions (simple fade) between the digitally composited version of himself and the version of him on the ground between frames 90-92 of my video. The cg artists then have to roto the foreground characters minimally for the rest of the shot. A very valiant attempt, plain as day to a CG artist. This is really convincing CG work, but the public needs to understand that CG artists can detect things the same way a master chef can detect the ingredients of a dish. I take my hat off to these artists for their commitment to this project, creating and releasing so many videos with convincing graphics that have fooled a LOT of people. It's the perfect PR for a visual effects studio. Wish I'd thought of it!

– Oh-oh. The credentials of the supposedly flying "Bird Man" of Holland have flown the coop. "Jarno Smeets," who posted a wildly popular YouTube video apparently showing him flapping giant wings to take flight, posted credentials on Facebook and LinkedIn that don't check out. Film experts at Industrial Light and Magic—and elsewhere—have declared the video to be a not-so-very-clever fake, notes Gizmodo. Wired, though skeptical, is withholding ultimate judgment, with its physicist Rhett Allen saying there is "nothing that indicates it must be a fake." But Wired staffers haven't been able to confirm either the work or education credentials Smeets lists, including study at Coventry University in England and work at Pailton Engineering. “We checked with all of our divisions globally and nobody knows him. He’s never worked for us in any of our locations,” a Pailton spokesman told Wired. “Nobody knows him.” So who is the mystery Bird Man? He refused to be interviewed by Wired. “I am extremely overwhelmed by the amount of emails, tweets, messages I am getting,” Smeets wrote. The flap continues.

Enlarge The Coca-Cola Co. has introduced a special-edition Coke bottle made entirely of ice.… more… more Atlanta-based The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) has come up with a bottle for Coke drinkers who like the beverage ice-cold, and like to help out the environment – a bottle made of ice. The special-edition bottle, which is shaped like the traditional glass Coke bottle and has the company’s iconic script lettering etched in ice, is being offered only in Colombia for now. No word if the bottles will make it to the United States. The bottle has proved popular in Colombia, Coke's website says, adding that beachside drink servers have sold 265 frozen bottles an hour, on average. Enlarge The special-edition bottle,… more Enlarge The special-edition bottle,… more Enlarge The special-edition bottle,… more According to the website, the production process starts with pouring micro-filtered water into silicone molds, then freezing the water to-25 °C and filling the molds with Coke. Each bottle is wrapped with a rubber Coke-logoed band that allows the drinker to hold the bottle without getting frozen fingers. Once the bottle melts, the band doubles as a keepsake bracelet, the company said. An advertisement for the product notes it is "Eco Friendly." Some critics say the refrigeration necessary to keep the bottles frozen kind of cancels out the green benefits, according to ABCNews.com. Click here to access the Coke website and a link to view a video featuring the ice Coke bottle. ||||| From the unconventional and awe-inspiring, to the hilarious and heartwarming, here's a look at some of the most interesting photos, videos and stories that have our newsroom talking today. What's capturing your attention, filling your inbox and cluttering your Facebook/Twitter feed? Tweet us the stories you're talking about using #InstantIndex or email us at ABC.WorldNews@abc.com and they could appear on World News. Coke Introduces Bottle Made Out of Ice There's an intriguing idea coming to the classic American soft drink. Coca-Cola is introducing a bottle made entirely of ice. Although it is only available in Colombia for now, it makes ice cubes obsolete and, once you finish your drink, the ice melts. It's eco-friendly, though, critics point out, all that extra refrigeration to keep it from melting cancels out the green benefits. (Coca-Cola) Florida Kayaker Spooked by Alligators A woman was kayaking in the Florida Everglades through an area known for its wildlife when she found out why. "I'm stuck and there's two very large alligators out here and I can't, I can't kayak, I'm, I'm, I'm sinking," she is heard saying on recordings of her 9-1-1 call. "There's two really big alligators in here and I'm just sitting here now." The gators bit her boat and it sank, but a search-and-rescue team plucked her to safety before the gators could get her. She's uninjured but shaken up. Teacher Wears the Same Outfit for 40 Years of Yearbook Photos Meet Dale Irby, a Dallas teacher with a cringe-worthy vault of yearbook photos. In 1973, Irby pulled a polyester shirt and wool sweater out of his closet. The next year, he accidently chose the same outfit. The third year, as a joke, his wife dared him to wear it again. He did and kept doing it 40 years. He retires this year and the local paper called this year's photo "one last echo of disco fashion." For the record, back in 1973, his outfit was in fashion.

– Better drink up fast: Coke is experimenting with a bottle made entirely of ice, reports the Atlanta Morning Call. It's available only in Colombia for now, and there's no word on whether the company will roll it out elsewhere. (Coke swears it's a hit with beach-goers, though.) The water gets frozen into bottle shapes at 13-below zero, and the bottles have a rubber band that drinkers use to hold them. They melt into nothing when the drink is gone, but ABC News reports that critics aren't wowed by the seemingly green product—because of all the extra refrigeration required.

Something funny happened the day before Azerbaijan's presidential election: The election commission announced the winner. Supporters of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev celebrate his victory in the presidential elections in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Azerbaijan’s president won a third five-year term by... (Associated Press) Supporters of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev celebrate his victory in the presidential elections in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Azerbaijan’s president won a third five-year term by... (Associated Press) An Azeri woman holds her ballot paper as she stands in voting cabin at a polling station in Nardaran, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Oil-rich Azerbaijan is... (Associated Press) Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev seen during the voting at a polling station in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Oil-rich Azerbaijan is booming and the wealth is trickling down to its poorest... (Associated Press) Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev leaves a polling station in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Oil-rich Azerbaijan is booming and the wealth is trickling down to its poorest people. It all means... (Associated Press) An Azeri man casts his ballot as official looks on at a polling station in Nardaran, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Oil-rich Azerbaijan is booming and the... (Associated Press) Azeri women cast their ballot papers at a polling station in Nardaran, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Oil-rich Azerbaijan is booming and the wealth is trickling... (Associated Press) Supporters of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev celebrate his victory in the presidential elections in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Azerbaijan’s president won a third five-year term by... (Associated Press) Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, right, listens to unidentified official after voting at a polling station in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Oil-rich Azerbaijan is booming and the wealth... (Associated Press) A voter reads a ballot paper as he stands in voting cabin at a polling station in Nardaran, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Oil-rich Azerbaijan is booming... (Associated Press) Supporters of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev celebrate his victory in the presidential elections in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Azerbaijan’s president won a third five-year term by... (Associated Press) Supporters of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev celebrate his victory in the presidential elections in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Azerbaijan’s president won a third five-year term by... (Associated Press) Supporters of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev celebrate his victory in the presidential elections in Baku, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Azerbaijan’s president won a third five-year term by... (Associated Press) On Tuesday, a day before the voting began, the smartphone app of the Central Election Commission released results showing President Ilham Aliyev, whose family has been at the helm of the Caspian Sea nation for four decades, winning 73 percent of the vote. After the polls closed on Wednesday, the commission said Aliyev had won 85 percent of the vote. His closest contender, Jamil Hasanli, trailed with less than 6 percent, it said. The commission apologized for the early result, saying Thursday it had been only a test at one polling station conducted by the software developer. It expressed "deep regret" for the "misunderstanding." Hasanli called the vote rigged and demanded a new election. "Ilham Aliyev has no right to represent the Azerbaijani people," he said. "This election doesn't reflect the people's will." Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Thursday the election was marred by restrictions during the campaign and serious violations during the voting and during the counting of votes. The vote "was undermined by limitations on the freedoms of expression, assembly and association that didn't guarantee a level playing field for candidates," the group said. It cited detentions, criminal prosecutions, reports of physical attacks and other pressure on journalists as well as disproportionate media coverage of the president. On voting day, the OSCE said its monitors reported ballot-box stuffing in 37 polling stations. It also called the vote count "overwhelmingly negative, with 58 percent of the observed polling stations assessed as bad or very bad." ||||| Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev votes in Baku on Wednesday. (AFP/Getty Images) Update, Oct. 28: This post has been updated to reflect the government of Azerbaijan's official statements. Azerbaijan's big presidential election, held on Wednesday, was anticipated to be neither free nor fair. President Ilham Aliyev, who took over from his father 10 years ago, has stepped up intimidation of activists and journalists. Rights groups are complaining about free speech restrictions and one-sided state media coverage. The BBC's headline for its story on the election reads "The Pre-Determined President." So expectations were pretty low. Even still, one expects a certain ritual in these sorts of authoritarian elections, a fealty to at least the appearance of democracy, if not democracy itself. So it was a bit awkward when Azerbaijan's election authorities released vote results – a full day before voting had even started. The vote counts – spoiler alert: Aliyev was shown as heading toward a landslide – were pushed out on an official smartphone app run by the Central Election Commission. It showed Aliyev as "winning" 72.76 percent of the votes, although with only about 15,000 votes cast, as Azerbaijani officials later noted as part of their defense that the results had been partial and a test run. That share is on track with his official vote counts in previous elections: he won ("won"?) 76.84 percent of the vote in 2003 and 87 percent in 2008. The Azerbaijani Central Election Commission sent out these vote totals to its official smartphone app before voting started. (meydan.tv) In second place was opposition candidate Jamil Hasanli with 7.4 percent of the vote. Hasanli had recently appealed to the Central Election Commission for paid airtime on state TV, arguing that Aliyev gets heavy airtime and the opposition does not. He was denied. The data were quickly recalled. Initially, the official story was that the app's developer had mistakenly sent out the 2008 election results as part of a test. But that's a bit flimsy, given that the released totals show the candidates from this week, not from 2008. Government officials later defended the release, which they noted shows fewer than 15,000 votes in a country of 9 million. They said it had been only a trial run, posted in error, showing hypothetical results from one small electoral district. You might call this a sort of Kinsley gaffe on a national scale. (A Kinsley gaffe, named for journalist Michael Kinsley, is when a politician gets in trouble for saying something that's widely known as true but that he isn't supposed to say.) There's supposed to be a certain ritual to an election like Azerbaijan's: demonstrations are put down, reporters are harassed, opposition candidates are whittled down, supporters are ushered to the polls and then Aliyev's sweeping victory is announced. They got the order wrong here. As of this writing, Azerbaijan's election authorities say they've counted 80 percent of the ballots, with Aliyev winning just under 85 percent of the vote so far. He's been officially reelected. More from WorldViews: • An infographic guide to Syria’s chemical weapons and how they work • North Korea’s nuclear program just became self-sufficient. Why that’s scary. • This Jon Stewart episode is everything wrong with how we talk about Syria ||||| Azerbaijan election: the pre-determined president Protests against the government have been stifled Continue reading the main story Related Stories Azerbaijan elects a president on Wednesday in what human rights organisations say is a stifling atmosphere of intimidation. Ilham Aliyev, who has run the oil-rich ex-Soviet republic since he succeeded his father 10 years ago, is standing for a third term. During his presidency, allegations of high-level corruption, the subversion of democracy and the stifling of dissent have been rife, with reports of politically motivated arrests shooting up drastically in the last two years. The pre-election period has, nonetheless, been a relatively calm one. But it is "post-election disorder" that worries the authorities, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in a recent report. In custody Riots over corruption in regions like Ismayilli and Quba in January were seen as a sign of major public discontent with regional governors and, in effect, the ruling elite. In Ismayilli, the governor's son's car and hotel were set on fire after he reportedly insulted the residents. It was a small wave of unrest, but clearly worried the authorities and the repercussions continue. Ilgar Mammadov, a human rights defender and leader of the political movement ReAL who went to the region after the unrest erupted, was charged in February with causing mass unrest. While his trial is pending, he put forward his candidacy for the elections - which was rejected due to "invalid signatures". Mr Mammadov is one of 14 people described by Amnesty International as prisoners of conscience in Azerbaijan. Human rights organisations put the number of political prisoners between the tens and the hundreds. Seven of them are leading members of the youth movement Nida, who were detained in April while protesting against corruption and face charges of causing mass unrest and possessing illegal firearms. They are known for their frequent posts on Facebook and Twitter about alleged government corruption and human rights abuses. Azeri political analyst Rashad Shirinov told the BBC that Nida was "one of the most active and vivid youth forces" in the country and could have had an impact on the campaign had its leader not been arrested. Around the same time as the Nida arrests, Dashgin Melikov, an asthmatic young activist critical of the government, was also charged with illegal drugs possession and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Until last week, he was a member of one of two major opposition parties, the Azerbaijani Popular Front. Mr Aliyev has already served two terms But then in an open letter he wrote from prison, Mr Melikov renounced his party and declared his support for Ilham Aliyev. His father told BBC Azeri that his son's illness was a factor in his decision - and that he had been promised freedom in return. The government insists that nobody is imprisoned for their political activities, and that their activism does not mean that they are not criminals. Yet according to Human Rights Watch, the Azerbaijani authorities use "spurious drug possession charges to lock up political activists critical of the government" ahead of the elections. Contenders The main competition to Ilham Aliyev comes from former MP Professor Jamil Hasanli, a candidate from the National Council opposition bloc. For the first time in more than two decades the in-fighting within the main opposition, already seen as weak, was put aside to choose a single candidate. According to Shirinov, this in itself is an achievement. He says that there are a number of fake candidates, installed by the ruling elite to confuse the citizenry, to counter the opposition's candidate. "This is very visible during the TV debates when all other candidates attack Jamil Hasanli," he says. A spokesman for the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, Aydin Mirzazadeh, dismisses these allegations, saying that every vote for another candidate is a vote against the government, and Azerbaijan's Central Election Committee (CEC) boasts of pluralism. But one of the main election observers, the OSCE, has been critical of the election environment from the start, saying there has been little substantive debate, unjustified restriction of freedom of speech and imbalanced media coverage. In addition to Ilgar Mammadov's disqualification, a second prominent candidate, popular cinematographer Rustam Ibrahimbayov, has been barred because of his dual Russian citizenship. Three terms Ilham Aliyev changed the constitution through a referendum in 2009 which got rid of the two-term limit for presidents, allowing him to stand for re-election this year. The opposition, however, argues that the candidacy is invalid because the constitution was changed after Mr Aliyev was sworn in as president in his second term. Prof Hasanli has formally complained to the CEC, with sources close to him saying the case will go "to the highest courts". Observers believe there is only one conceivable outcome from the election - another term for President Aliyev. Yet after the unprecedented outbursts of violence against corruption in Azerbaijan's regions, it is the period immediately after the election that will determine how popular Ilham Aliyev really is.

– Voting for the next president of Azerbaijan wasn't supposed to start until yesterday—but the day before, results were already amazingly posted on a Central Election Commission smartphone app. The app said incumbent president Ilham Aliyev was winning with 73% of the vote, continuing his family's decades-long reign (the Washington Post has a screenshot). The early results were quickly removed, and when actual voting commenced, the commission said Aliyev had managed 85% of the vote, compared to the runner-up's 6%. The election was never actually expected to be free or fair, the Post notes. Today, the commission apologized for the advance result, claiming it was spurred by software testing. But runner-up Jamil Hasanli wasn't satisfied. "This election doesn't reflect the people's will," he said. Outside observers cited a deeply flawed voting process, including "limitations on the freedoms of expression, assembly, and association that didn't guarantee a level playing field for candidates," the AP reports. Political activists in the country have been falsely imprisoned, says Human Rights Watch; and an analyst says fake candidates ganged up on Hasanli during debates, the BBC reports. Officials fear "post-election disorder," monitors say, following anti-corruption riots earlier this year.

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 ||||| 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 ||||| University of WisconsinArchive-It Partner Since: Aug, 2007Organization Type: Colleges & UniversitiesOrganization URL: http://archives.library.wisc.edu This collection currently includes two distinct sub-collections: The UW-Madison Collection and The Stem Cell Research Archives Project.The UW-Madison Collection includes University of Wisconsin Web sites that document many aspects of campus life including university administration, colleges, departments, and major campus organizations, student life, research, buildings, and special and ongoing events. We also crawl UW System and Colleges administration and UW Extension Web sites.The Stem Cell Research Archives Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries collects, preserves, and provides access to records of stem cell research at UW-Madison and reactions in Wisconsin to work accomplished or underway at UW-Madison.For more information about these collections or UW campus history, visit http://archives.library.wisc.edu or contact uwarchiv@library.wisc.edu. On Wisconsin! ||||| You’re not just making music for yourself—you want to get heard, which means you want to get on playlists. Here's a step-by-step guide to getting your music in front of Spotify's editorial team. ||||| Nelly No Pimp Juice with Uncle Sam ... IRS Demands a Couple Mil The IRS Demands a Couple Mil from Nelly EXCLUSIVE Nelly might wanna tighten his belt, he's staring down one of the biggest celeb tax liens we've ever seen ... topping the $2 mil mark! Uncle Sam nailed Nelly with a $2,412,283 federal tax lien in August. The tab is so big, the IRS could start seizing his assets and property. He's also got state tax trouble -- earlier this year, the Missouri Department of Revenue said the St. Louis rapper owed $149,511 in unpaid state taxes from 2013. He originally owed a mere $113,533 ... but interest is a bitch. Sources close to Nelly tell us he's already working with the tax authorities to resolve the issues.

– Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. is in trouble with the taxman, but you may be able to help. You also might be more inclined to lend a hand if you recognize Mr. Haynes by his stage name, Nelly, and realize that it would take just a few minutes on Spotify to help dig the rapper out of his IRS mess. TMZ reported Sunday that Nelly was slammed with a $2,412,283 federal tax lien last month, added on to a Missouri state tax bill from earlier this year of nearly $150,000 (he originally owed just $113,000 and change, but the interest racked up). Spin magazine calls his financial conundrum "tragic" and says the singer "deserves better"—and it suggests a way everyone can help. The magazine's grand plan: Get as many people as possible to stream his hit song "Hot in Herre"—or "Ride Wit Me" or any other tunes from the Nelly discography—to generate funds for the artist. Based on Spotify's estimation that the average "per stream" payout to the owner of a song's rights is between $0.006 and $0.0084, Spin calculates Nelly would need, at minimum, 287,176,547 streams to help him pay down the federal tax bill, with an additional 17.8 million streams to appease Missouri—and that's if we assume he's on the $0.0084 end of things and that his labels and publishers, who would also get a cut, will be generous. Still, hope springs eternal: People are responding in a generally positive manner to the #HotInHerreStreamingParty and #SaveNelly hashtags. "I couldn't save Harambe but god----it I'm saving you @Nelly_Mo," writes one fan. (Last year wasn't a good year for Nelly on the legal front.)

Twitter account linked to the Anonymous network of hackers says apparent hack might be a stunt initiated by neo-Nazi site A message purportedly posted by hackers has appeared on the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website, saying the site has been taken over in response to an article criticising a woman who died during violence at far-right rally in Virginia over the weekend. The post on the website’s homepage said the international hacking network Anonymous had taken control of the site, which was founded and is edited by Andrew Anglin, who endorsed Donald Trump for president. On Sunday Anglin published an article criticising Heather Heyer, who was killed at a white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday. The web hosting company GoDaddy said on Sunday it had given the Daily Stormer 24 hours to move its domain to another provider, after the article denigrating Heyer was published. Your Anon News, one of the biggest Anonymous-linked Twitter accounts, said on Monday it did not think the apparent hack of the Daily Stormer had been perpetrated by an established member. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Heather Heyer, who was killed in Charlottesville on Saturday. Photograph: Reuters “We have no confirmation that ‘Anonymous’ is involved yet,” it wrote on Twitter. Furthermore, the account suggested the post may have been a Daily Stormer stunt. The post in the name of Anonymous claims the website will be shut down within 24 hours, but this was almost inevitable considering GoDaddy’s withdrawal of support. “Looks more like a [Daily Stormer] stunt,” the Your Anon News account said. “Wonder if they are having issues finding a new host.” Heyer, a legal assistant who had championed civil rights issues, was killed on Saturday when a car ploughed into a crowd of protesters who had assembled to challenge a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. The post on Monday said Anonymous had taken over the site in Heyer’s name, stating she was a “victim of white supremacist terrorism”. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Part of the post that appeared on the Daily Stormer website on Monday. Photograph: Daily Stormer Separately, it appears Anonymous has targeted the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists. The operation, which was declared in a press release put out through various anonymous text hosting services, spoke directly to the town of Charlottesville. People claiming to be from Anonymous said: “It has come to our attention that the far-right, alt-right, and neo-Nazi organisations have attempted to use your city as a rallying point to display their hatred and intolerance towards the people. “You as citizens cannot allow these types of actions to go unpunished. Anonymous has taken steps to remove the websites of these far-right extremists under the banner of #OpDomesticTerrorism.” In another press release, those claiming to be Anonymous promised to strip rightwing extremists of their anonymity, providing a document for listing the personal details of those being targeted. The hacking collective appears to have been able to take a variety of KKK and white supremacist sites offline, at least temporarily, with some resorting to Cloudflare distributed denial of service protection to stay accessible. The Charlottesville city website was also reportedly affected, although the site was back online at the time of writing. Anonymous has a history of targeting the KKK, leaking the identities of more than 350 alleged members with links to their social media accounts in 2015 under the banner #OperationKKK. Anonymous is a hacking collective that grew out of the internet forum 4Chan in the late 2000s. It has become well known for a series of high-profile cyber-attacks on political, religious and corporate organisations, including Islamic State, the Westboro Baptist church, PayPal, MasterCard, Visa and Sony. The loose international collective structure means that, while some operations have appeared to be coordinated efforts spanning actors in several countries, anyone can mimic Anonymous’s trademark Guy Fawkes masks and style with little to disprove it as an action of Anonymous. The collective describes itself as an “internet gathering” with a “very loose and decentralised command structure that operates on ideas rather than directives”. This essentially means anyone could claim to be part of Anonymous. At the same time, anyone who operates as part of the group can perform actions that others in Anonymous are not party to. Various offshoots of the main Anonymous collective also exist, including various country-specific and alternative groups such as AnonSec and GhostSec, which often claim affiliation with Anonymous. ||||| END OF HATE: ANONYMOUS NOW IN CONTROL OF DAILY STORMER #TANGODOWN THIS SITE IS NOW UNDER THE CONTROL OF ANONYMOUS WE HAVE TAKEN THIS SITE IN THE NAME OF HEATHER HEYER A VICTIM OF WHITE SUPREMACIST TERRORISM FOR TOO LONG THE DAILY STORMER AND ANDREW ANGLIN HAVE SPEWED THEIR PUTRID HATE ON THIS SITE THAT WILL NOT BE HAPPENING ANYMORE WE HAVE ALL OF THE DETAILS ON THE SERVERS AND WILL BE RELEASING THE DATA WHEN WE FEEL THE TIME IS RIGHT WE HAVE ALSO GATHERED LOCATIONAL DATA ON ANGLIN HIMSELF AND ARE SENDING OUR ALLIES IN LAGOS TO PAY HIM A VISIT IN PERSON THIS EVIL CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO STAND IT TOOK A UNITED FORCE OF ELITE HACKERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO BREACH THE SYSTEMS AND THE FIREWALL WE HAVE HAD THE DAILY STORMER IN OUR SITES FOR MONTHS NOW THE EVENTS OF CHARLOTTESVILLE ALERTED US TO THE NEED FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION WE WANT YOU NAZIS TO KNOW: YOUR TIME IS SHORT WE WILL ALLOW THE SITE TO REMAIN ONLINE FOR 24 HOURS SO THE WORLD CAN WITNESS THE HATE THEN WE WILL SHUT IT DOWN PERMANENTLY HACKERS OF THE WORLD HAVE UNITED IN DEFENSE OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE YOU SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED US ||||| Andrew Anglin is the founder and editor of the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website. Styled after popular image-heavy Internet forums like 4chan and 8chan, the Daily Stormer is dedicated to spreading anti-Semitism, neo-Nazism, and white nationalism, primarily through guttural hyperbole and epithet-laden stories about topics like alleged Jewish world control and black-on-white crime. As of April 2017, the site ranked 13,137th globally and 5,597th within the United States, according to Alexa. In his own words “Fear. Now is the time for it … We want these people to feel unwanted. We want them to feel that everything around them is against them. And we want them to be afraid.” —“Female Hajis Fear to Wear the Headtowel in Public After Trump Win—You Should Yell at Them” “The fact is, when you give women rights, they destroy absolutely everything around them, no matter what other variable is involved … Even if you become the ultimate alpha male, some stupid bitch will still ruin your life.” —“Brad Pitt Losing Weight and His Mind After Whore Wife Ruins His Life” “Jews, Blacks and lesbians will be leaving America if Trump gets elected—and he’s happy about it. This alone is enough reason to put your entire heart and soul into supporting this man.” —“Get Em Outta Here: Glorious Leader Calls for Kike Lena Dunham to Leave America,” April 26, 2016 “The day is coming when we’re going to tear down the hoax [Holocaust] memorial in Berlin and replace it with a statue of Hitler 1,000 feet tall.” —“SS Auschwitz Guard Dies Days Before Scheduled Lynching by Kikes,” April 8, 2016 “I ask myself this, in all things: WWHD? (What Would Hitler Do?). To be slightly more honest/specific, I ask myself what Hitler would do if he’d been born in 1984 in America and was dealing with this situation we are currently dealing with and also really liked 4chan and Anime. Hitler was, ultimately, the symbolic (and in some ways actual real life) culmination of traditional Europeanism. —“Andrew Anglin Exposed,” March 14, 2016 “My problem with blacks is that I have come to understand that their biological nature is incompatible with White society, and that we will never have peace as long as they are among us, given that irrational outbursts of brutal violence are a part of their nature.” —“Blacks Loved Slavery and Regretted its End,” Feb. 20, 2014 Background Anglin spent his high school years dabbling in liberal politics, according to an interview he gave to Vocativ. He became a fascist after reading Noam Chomsky, exploring “all that Communist Jewish stuff,” and studying religion, including Islam and Buddhism, eventually arriving at Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. In an autobiographical article entitled “Andrew Anglin Exposed,” Anglin expounded on his life’s path: “I started out with normal Alex Jones type conspiracy material, and then moved on to weirder conspiracy material, and then eventually decided Ted Kaczynski was right with regards to a coming apocalypse due to the rapidity of technological development.” (Jones is probably America’s most prolific conspiracy theorist. Kaczynski was the “Unabomber” who is now in prison.) An investigative piece published in February 2017 by Columbus Alive, a weekly newspaper from Anglin’s hometown, revealed a less polished ideological journey. Former classmates recalled an outspoken liberal and vegan who sported dreadlocks and JNCO pants. Anglin, who was once known to speak out against racism and homophobia, was also prone to violent tantrums including one alleged incident during a party in high school where he repeatedly bashed his head on a sidewalk outside. Former classmates also recalled Anglin’s bedroom walls being dented from other tantrums involving head slamming. Anglin spent significant time living and working in Southeast Asia. “All the White people you meet are outcast sorts who you can usually connect with easily (you aren’t really spending much time with Asians),” he said of that experience. “To this day, I have little negative to say about Asians, save that I don’t think they should be immigrating into Western countries (in any kind of numbers) and I don’t think White people should be producing children with them. I will also say that Chinese people have no souls.” Despite such comments, Anglin’s travels abroad have led to repeated accusations of “race mixing” and investigations into Anglin’s ethnicity by white supremacist internet sleuths. In December of 2016 Anglin joined Richard Spencer and Mike "Enoch" Peinovich on a radio show in which they referred to their tripartite group as “The First Triumvirate.” The move was a bid for unity between three leaders of the fractious “alt-right.” Following the high profile doxing of several hosts from The Daily Shoah, one of the alt-right’s most popular radio programs, Anglin took to the Daily Stormer to take up for Mike Peinovich after it was revealed that his wife is Jewish. “As most of you probably already know, we’ve had a minor crisis in the Alt-Right. As the kike dox squad continues their rampage, Mike Peinovich of the Right Stuff was doxed” Anglin wrote in a post titled “Here’s the thing.” “And here’s the thing: Jew wife.” Anglin continued, “As far as if he actually did betray anyone—no. He was obviously dishonest on some level, but if we look at his contribution, and ask ourselves ‘did this forward the 14 words?’ we will see that it did, and the weirdness in his personal life doesn’t change that.” Anglin, compensating for his own history of dating women of color, took a tellingly pragmatic approach to the revelations about Peinovich. An imageboard known for its lack of censorship, 4chan, was the key to Anglin’s dive into fascism. “I had always been into 4chan, as I am at heart a troll,” he wrote. “This is about the time /new/ [a specific 4chan board] was going full-Nazi, and so I got into Hitler, and realized that through this type of nationalist system, alienation could be replaced with community in a real sense, while the authoritarianism would allow for technology to develop in a direction that was beneficial rather than destructive to the people.” Shortly after, Anglin formed the short-lived site Total Fascism, dedicated to long-form essays on fascism. Not long after, on July 4, 2013, the Daily Stormer was formed from the ashes of Total Fascism. The site, originally registered to Andrew’s father, Greg, is named for the infamous Nazi Julius Streicher’s anti-Semitic weekly newspaper, Der Stürmer, which specialized in pornographic attacks on Jews. (Streicher was hanged after being convicted of war crimes at Nuremberg.) Its headlines are almost always over the top, with titles like “All Intelligent People in History Disliked the Jews” and “Talking Monkey Harriet Tubman to Replace Indian-Killer Jackson on $20 Bill.” The articles themselves are peppered with racist images and memes. “Using the daily news is a means to propagandize people,” Anglin explained to Vocativ in March 2014. “To get them to look at the world in a certain way.” Ultimately, Anglin and his readership are striving to shift the needle on the status quo for public discussion by creating a kind of juvenile, repulsive humor about topics like the Holocaust. Campaigns to this end have included using Adobe Photoshop to add Nazi iconography and falsely attributed Adolf Hitler quotes, plus emblazing slogans like “Gas the Kikes, race war now” to photos of singer Taylor Swift. The site’s audience is highly participatory in the sections for comments on articles, which serve as a rallying point for the “Stormer Troll Army.” Known informally as the “Stormers,” the Stormer Troll Army is an ad hoc group of readers who perpetrate harassment online at the behest of Anglin. The site uses a bulletin board style system that was set up by the notorious neo-Nazi hacker Andrew Auernheimer (also known as “Weev”) following the banning of the Daily Stormer from Disqus, a blog comment hosting service. The ban came after the Stormers—at the urging of Anglin—swarmed the comment section of Breitbart, a right-wing news service, as part of November 2015’s “Operation: Kikebart” or “#NoHydeNoPeace.” The campaign was a result of Breitbart opening a bureau in Israel and its muted early coverage of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Less than two weeks after the campaign got under way, Disqus notified Anglin that it was discontinuing service to the Daily Stormer for being in “conflict with the values and terms of use of Disqus.” Despite “Operation: Kikebart,” Breitbart rose to be one of the most consistently cited websites on the Daily Stormer beginning in July of 2015, the same month that Donald Trump announced his presidential campaign. In November of 2016, Anglin lauded the site, particularly its former executive and current White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon, for making the site “hardcore.” During an appearance on Nordfront Radio, a Swedish neo-Nazi radio program, Anglin described Breitbart’s content as “basically stuff that you would read on the Daily Stormer.” The Stormer Troll Army began organizing in small groups across the United States in late 2016, after Anglin published an article encouraging his readers to “prepare for the coming race war.” “[I]t’s a bit like Fight Club,” Anglin wrote, encouraging his audience to meet up in coffee shops, engage in firearms training, work out together, take part in political activism, meet women, and more. The Southern Poverty Law Center documented 31 active “book clubs” in 2016. Weev has taken an increasingly active role at The Daily Stormer since his prison sentence for identity fraud and conspiracy to access a computer without authorization was vacated. He was originally convicted after revealing a vulnerability in AT&T’s security that exposed the emails of iPad users on their network. He was released from prison following a successful appeal on the basis that the trial took place in an improper venue. Other online campaigns launched under Anglin’s direction include “Operation: Jew Wife,” which targeted conspiracy-monger and Infowars host Alex Jones because his wife is Jewish, and “Operation: Filthy Jew Bitch,” which targeted Labour Party member of Parliament Luciana Berger for her role in the arrest of British neo-Nazi Garron Helm after he sent her anti-Semitic messages via Twitter. Anglin is also a promoter of racist hashtags including #BoycottStarWarsVII, #GasTheKikes, #RaceWarNow, #OpenBordersForIsrael and #WhiteGenocide, as well as the hijacking of hashtags used for social justice campaigns in order to spread disinformation. In the fall of 2015, for instance, in the midst of ongoing protests against racism at the University of Missouri, Anglin tweeted out false eyewitness accounts under the hashtag #PrayForMizzou claiming that the Ku Klux Klan was present at the student protests and complicit with the university police department. Anglin was banned from Twitter as a result, but the tactics persisted. Several weeks after that campaign, Anglin spearheaded a similar disinformation campaign that involved starting fake White Student Union pages on Facebook for universities across the country. “So, guys,” he instructed his followers on The Daily Stormer. “Here’s the plan: Make more of the White Student Union pages on Facebook for various universities. You don’t have to go there. Make one for Dartmouth, Princeton, etc. If they won’t let it on Facebook, put it on tumblr or wordpress or whatever. Get it up, then forward the links to local media.” The media took the bait, and reports of racist student groups appeared in several places. These strategies of subversion and media manipulation are at the heart of Anglin’s and the Daily Stormer’s plans for racially awakened minds and the start of a race war. In March 2016, Weev took these tactics to a new height by accessing thousands of printers, many of them at universities, and causing them to print out a flyer for Daily Stormer that read, in part: “White man are you sick and tired of the Jews destroying your country through mass immigration and degeneracy? Join us in the struggle for global white supremacy at The Daily Stormer.” Anglin was ecstatic, telling a Washington Times reporter, “Of course I endorse it. Six million [a sarcastic reference to the death toll of the Holocaust] percent, I endorse this glorious action.” In December of 2016, Anglin decided to target Tanya Gersh, a Jewish realtor from Montana. Sherry Spencer, the mother of Richard Spencer, had asked the realtor to help her sell a commercial property in an effort to tamp down community discontent related to Richard’s ideology, But Sherry Spencer subsequently posted a blog post on Medium, that she purportedly had authored, that falsely accused Gersh of extortion in connection with the sale of building. The very next day, Anglin published the first in a series of articles urging his followers to intimidate and harass the realtor, her family and associates. The first of this 30-article series was titled “Jews Targeting Richard Spencer’s Mother for Harassment and Extortion – TAKE ACTION!” In the piece, Anglin claimed “This is the Jews for you, people. They are a vicious, evil race of hate-filled psychopaths. When you do something they don’t like, they will use the power of the media to come down on you, assassinate your character. They will call you names and accuse you of all sorts of things. They will go after your money. If all of that fails, they will attack your mother.” In subsequent articles, Anglin exhorted his followers continually to harass Gersh, as well as members of the Whitefish Jewish community, and local business owners. Anglin’s articles even attacked the realtor’s 12-year old son, including photo-shopped images of the realtor and her son on the entry gate to Auschwitz, and an image of her son being crushed by a Nazi tank. As a result of Anglin’s call to arms, the realtor and her family received over 700 threatening and intimidating anti-Semitic phone calls, voicemails, emails, text messages, social media posts and even harassing Christmas cards, causing the family to consider fleeing Whitefish for their safety and causing significant psychological harm to the realtor. In a dramatic escalation of events, Anglin threatened an armed march on the city, going as far as obtaining a permit for January 15, Martin Luther King Jr Day, naming the march for King’s assassin. Anglin indicated that “We will be busing in skinheads from the Bay Area … I have already worked out most of the details with the leaders of the local groups. Several of our top supporters from Silicon Valley have offered to provide significant support for the march, but we may need to solicit donations to pay for gas/food for the skinheads.” In spite of Anglin’s claim that the Daily Stormer has supporters in the Silicon Valley, neither the skinheads nor the march materialized, perhaps signaling a weakness in Anglin’s abilities beyond self-starting “book clubs”. Despite Anglin’s nominal ban on inciting violence in the comment section of Daily Stormer, at least one mass murderer and another man accused of murder as a hate crime and terrorism have spent time among his audience. Passages from a manifesto written by Dylann Storm Roof, who carried out the massacre of nine black people at Charleston, S.C.’s Mother Emanuel A.M.E. church in June 2015, were found almost verbatim in comments made on the Daily Stormer articles by a user calling himself AryanBlood1488. (The numbers 14 and 88, often used together, are well-known neo-Nazi taglines.) Anglin responded with indifference, writing a post entitled “If Dylan [sic] Roof was ‘AryanBlood1488,’ He Hadn’t Commented on the Daily Stormer in a While.” He added, “This isn’t particularly surprising, given that anyone reading about Black crime or other racial issues on the Internet would necessarily have come across this site.” Anglin later merged coverage of Roof’s sentencing with the media hype around the abduction and torture, broadcasted on Facebook Live, of a mentally challenged white man by four black youths in Chicago. Referring to Roof as DyRo, Anglin claimed in “As the Final Stage of DyRo’s Trial Begins, Chicago Torture-Kidnapping Highlights Why He Did It” that “…[Roof] did understand the concept of the media covering up black crime, however, so you have to wonder why he didn’t foresee that this act would not prove anything, but simply further the narrative of evil whites oppressing innocent brown people. Whatever the Case, DyRo is the Victim” In March 2017, another reader of the Daily Stormer, James Harris Jackson, allegedly murdered Timothy Caughman, a 66-year-old black man, in Manhattan with a 26-inch sword. During an interview from the Rikers Island jail complex, Jackson told the New York Daily News that he spent time on the Daily Stormer interacting with “like-minded people.” He has been charged with murder as a hate crime and terrorism. Before it was revealed that Jackson was a frequenter of the Daily Stormer, Anglin published an article titled, “After White-on-Black Murder in NYC, It’s Time to Rally Around White Supremacists,” where he wrote, “It’s time for society to rally around White Supremacists, and show that we don’t blame them for a single act of someone who wrongly used their beliefs for evi. … It’s really encouraging to see people banding together like this, showing White Supremacists that they don’t have to be ashamed, because they’ve done nothing wrong.” After Jackson’s connection to the Daily Stormer came to light, Anglin penned another article in which he stated, “I’m not going to go out of my way to condemn this guy. Why should I? Black people are killing us “randomly” every single day—except it isn’t actually random, it is the exact same thing as here—these are attacks because of our race.” He followed the statement with dozens of photos of alleged victims of “black-on-white” crime, a longtime propaganda tool of white supremacists that seeks to illustrate an embattled white majority under siege by supposedly violent people of color. Anglin was an adamant supporter of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. The Daily Stormer posted hundreds of articles in support of Trump, as well as articles attacking his competitors and their families. When Trump polled in first place for the first time during the Republican primary, Anglin wrote: “If the Donald gets the nomination, he will almost certainly beat Hillary, as White men such as you and I go out and vote for the first time in our lives for the one man who actually represents our interests.” Anglin and his followers alternately refer to Trump as “Glorious Leader” and “Humble Philosopher” while praising his xenophobic and racist remarks on the campaign trail. Following Trump’s announcement that he would ban all Muslim immigration into the United States, Anglin wrote, “Get all of these monkeys the hell out of our country—now! Heil Donald Trump—THE ULTIMATE SAVIOR.” On major primary days, there were typically new banners featuring Trump posted to Anglin’s site. The day after Donald Trump won the presidential election, in a post simply titled, “We Won.” Anglin wrote: “Our Glorious Leader has ascended to God Emperor. Make no mistake about it: we did this. If it were not for us, it wouldn’t have been possible.” That same day, Anglin encouraged his followers to harass Muslims and make them feel unwelcome. Despite its relative youth, Daily Stormer has generated a disproportionate amount of attention, both inside and outside the organized white supremacist movement. Some of this is inherently related to the site’s tactics—trolling on a large scale, often with the explicit intent of using the mainstream media to amplify its message. Internally, it also commands the attention of almost every corner of the racist world, although not always in a positive way. In the fall of 2014, Daily Stormer carried an article summarizing a series of squabbles within the white nationalist world entitled “Infinite DramaQuest,” in which Anglin described all of the ongoing conflicts by comparing each of the players to Dragon Ball Z characters. This sarcastic post introduced Daily Stormer to everyone in white nationalism who wasn’t already paying attention when Colin Lidell of the blog Alternative-Right launched an attack on Anglin. In the piece, Anglin stated plainly that, by his measure, “You cannot preserve the White race without addressing the Jews. You cannot address the Jews without addressing their [Holocaust] hoax. You cannot address their hoax without addressing Adolf Hitler.” Lidell fired back, stating: “What Anglin is unequivocally saying here is that before you can say anything at all about preserving and protecting the White race— stopping mass immigration, say, or encouraging White women to have at least 2.1 babies— you must first get everyone to love Hitler and hate the Jews, and if you can’t accomplish these supposed preconditions then you had best forget the whole shebang. So what he’s really saying is simply: ‘You cannot preserve the White race.’” According to Lidell, Anglin’s audience is attracted to his “schtick in the same way that poor, downtrodden Whites are attracted to monster trucks and professional wrestling.” The spat continued on for several more rounds. The only true winner was Anglin and his growing audience, which Matt Parrott of the racist Traditionalist Youth Network praised for supposedly “achiev[ing] more traffic and influence than most his critics combined.” In January 2015, Anglin also sparred with Kyle Rogers, then-webmaster of the Council of Conservative Citizens’ racist website. Anglin complained about a “rather rude email” from Rogers over the reprinting of Rogers’ articles on the Daily Stormer without permission. He went on to say that Rogers’ response was “deeply personally insulting, given how much I’ve supported him and his organization.” Counter-Currents, a pseudo-intellectual white nationalist website and publishing house that caters to “academic racists,” has also described Anglin as “slumming and pandering because of mistaken ideas” and “burning through brain cells by using stimulants.” When asked about all these feuds in early 2015, Anglin told the Southern Poverty Law Center that “I try to be fair and polite to all people.” All people, that is, except for those whom Anglin describes as Jews, Zionists, Judeo-Bolsheviks, Third Worlders, Negroes, Moslem Pigs, Trannies and Hebes, maligning them daily in his headlines. ||||| GoDaddy announced Sunday it will no longer provide service to neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer. (Photo: Twitter) GoDaddy, which is the largest internet domain-name seller in the world, announced Sunday evening it will no longer provide service to the neo-Nazi website, The Daily Stormer. The company, which is based in Scottsdale, has drawn criticism for months for its willingness to provide a domain name for a website "dedicated to spreading anti-Semitism, neo-Nazism, and white nationalism," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The move comes after The Daily Stormer published an article Sunday using sexist and obscene language to demean Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman who was killed when a car driven by an alleged white supremacist mowed down a crowd of people after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. We informed The Daily Stormer that they have 24 hours to move the domain to another provider, as they have violated our terms of service. — GoDaddy (@GoDaddy) August 14, 2017 After someone tweeted a reference to the article asking GoDaddy to remove it and ban the site, GoDaddy replied, "We informed The Daily Stormer that they have 24 hours to move the domain to another provider, as they have violated our terms of service." GoDaddy corporate spokesman Dan Race confirmed the action in an email to The Arizona Republic. Previously, the company served "as the domain name registrar for The Daily Stormer, through its subsidiary Domains by Proxy, as it has throughout the site’s four-year history," according to the investigative news website, Reveal. READ MORE: Phoenix civil-rights activists host peace vigil following violence in Charlottesville Anti-Trump group holds Phoenix vigil for those killed, injured in Charlottesville Our View: The bedrock truths of Charlottesville Read or Share this story: http://azc.cc/2w2AfaG

– GoDaddy gave the Daily Stormer the boot for violating its terms of service after the white supremacist website published an inflammatory article that used "sexist and obscene language" about Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old killed in a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., per the Arizona Republic. GoDaddy has been under fire for months for providing a domain name for the site, whose founder the Southern Poverty Law Center calls a "serial harasser" and extremist. "We informed The Daily Stormer that they have 24 hours to move the domain to another provider, as they have violated our terms of service," GoDaddy tweeted late Sunday. They apparently needn't bother: The Guardian reports that hackers claiming to be part of Anonymous have taken over the Daily Stormer, noting on the site that they're doing so in Heyer's name and that they'll leave it up for 24 hours "so the world can witness the hate," adding: "Then we will shut it down … permanently."

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA's Maven spacecraft entered orbit around Mars for an unprecedented study of the red planet's atmosphere following a 442 million-mile journey that began nearly a year ago. The robotic explorer successfully slipped into orbit around the red planet late Sunday night. "I think my heart's about ready to start again," Maven's chief investigator, Bruce Jakosky of the University of Colorado, said early Monday. "All I can say at this point is, 'We're in orbit at Mars, guys!'" Now the real work begins for the $671 million mission, the first dedicated to studying the Martian upper atmosphere and the latest step in NASA's bid to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s. Flight controllers in Colorado will spend the next six weeks adjusting Maven's altitude and checking its science instruments, and observing a comet streaking by at relatively close range. Then in early November, Maven will start probing the upper atmosphere of Mars. The spacecraft will conduct its observations from orbit; it's not meant to land. Scientists believe the Martian atmosphere holds clues as to how Earth's neighbor went from being warm and wet billions of years ago to cold and dry. That early wet world may have harbored microbial life, a tantalizing question yet to be answered. NASA launched Maven last November from Cape Canaveral, the 10th U.S. mission sent to orbit the red planet. Three earlier ones failed, and until the official word came of success late Sunday night, the entire team was on edge. "I don't have any fingernails any more, but we've made it," said Colleen Hartman, deputy director for science at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "It's incredible." The spacecraft was clocking more than 10,000 mph when it hit the brakes for the so-called orbital insertion, a half-hour process. The world had to wait 12 minutes to learn the outcome, once it occurred, because of the lag in spacecraft signals given the 138 million miles between the two planets Sunday. "Wow, what a night. You get one shot with Mars orbit insertion, and Maven nailed it tonight," said NASA project manager David Mitchell. Maven joins three spacecraft already circling Mars, two American and one European. And the traffic jam isn't over: India's first interplanetary probe, Mangalyaan, will reach Mars in two days and also aim for orbit. Jakosky wished the team well. Jakosky, who's with the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, hopes to learn where all the water on Mars went, along with the carbon dioxide that once comprised an atmosphere thick enough to hold moist clouds. The gases may have been stripped away by the sun early in Mars' existence, escaping into the upper atmosphere and out into space. Maven's observations should be able to extrapolate back in time, Jakosky said. Maven — short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission — will spend at least a year collecting data. That's a full Earth year, half a Martian one. Its orbit will dip as low as 78 miles above the Martian surface as its eight instruments make measurements. The craft is as long as a school bus, from solar wingtip to tip, and as hefty as an SUV. Maven will have a rare brush with a comet next month. The nucleus of newly discovered Comet Siding Spring will pass 82,000 miles from Mars on Oct. 19. The risk of comet dust damaging Maven is low, officials said, and the spacecraft should be able to observe Siding Spring as a science bonus. Lockheed Martin Corp., Maven's maker, is operating the mission from its control center at Littleton, Colorado. This is NASA's 21st shot at Mars and the first since the Curiosity rover landed on the red planet in 2012. Just this month, Curiosity arrived at its prime science target, a mountain named Sharp, ripe for drilling. The Opportunity rover is also still active a decade after landing. More landers will be on the way in 2016 and 2018 from NASA and the European and Russian space agencies. The next U.S. rover is scheduled for launch in 2020; more capable than Curiosity, it will collect samples for possible return to Earth, and attempt to produce oxygen from atmospheric carbon dioxide. That latter experiment, if successful, would allow future human explorers to live off the land, according to NASA's John Grunsfeld, head of science missions and a former astronaut. "This really is a quest of humanity," he said. ___ Online: NASA: http://mars.nasa.gov/maven/ University of Colorado: http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/maven/ ||||| Mars has welcomed a new robotic visitor from Earth. After a 10-month journey through deep space, NASA's MAVEN probe arrived in Mars orbit late Sunday (Sept. 21), on a mission to help scientists figure out why the Red Planet changed from a relatively warm and wet place in the ancient past to the cold, arid world it is today. MAVEN, whose name is short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, fired its engines in a crucial 30-minute braking burn Sunday night, slowing down enough to be captured by the planet's gravity around 10:24 p.m. EDT (0224 GMT Monday, Sept. 22). [See images from the MAVEN mission] "Congratulations! MAVEN is now in Mars orbit," MAVEN navigation team member Dave Folta, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, announced to a round of cheers from mission control. MAVEN joins three other operational probes in Mars orbit — NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and the European Space Agency's Mars Express. NASA also has two rovers actively exploring the planet's surface: the golf-cart-size Opportunity and its younger, bigger cousin, Curiosity. And Mars orbit should get even more crowded just a few days from now. India's first-ever Red Planet effort, the $74 million Mars Orbiter Mission, is due to arrive Tuesday night (Sept. 23). Maven will orbit Mars, looking for clues about what happened to the planet's once-thick atmosphere. Credit: by Karl Tate, Infographics Artist The $671 million MAVEN mission blasted off as planned on Nov. 18, 2013, though not without a bit of prelaunch drama. Liftoff preparations were frozen when the government shutdown went into effect on Oct. 1, 2013, sending ripples of anxiety through the MAVEN team and the global planetary science community. But NASA granted MAVEN an emergency exception a few days later, getting things back on track. (The shutdown ended on Oct. 17, 2013.) MAVEN is the first NASA spacecraft dedicated to studying the upper atmosphere of Mars, NASA officials said. The mission will use MAVEN's three suites of scientific instruments to measure and characterize gas escape from the Martian atmosphere, which was once relatively thick but is now just 1 percent as dense as that of Earth at sea level. MAVEN's observations should help scientists get a better handle on what happened to the water that flowed and sloshed across Mars billions of years ago — whether it escaped into space or sank into the planet's crust, said mission principal investigator Bruce Jakosky, of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. [7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars] "What we're going to be doing is studying the top of the atmosphere as a way of understanding the extent to which stripping of gas out of the atmosphere to space may have been the driving mechanism behind climate change," Jakosky said at a news conference Wednesday (Sept. 17). "We should be able to get enough measurements to tell us what happened to the water, what happened to the carbon dioxide." The mission should shed light on the history of Mars' ability to support life, he added. "We're trying to understand the context in which life might have existed," Jakosky said. "Any life on Mars interacts with its planetary environment; we need to know what that environment is, and how it's evolved over time." MAVEN's prime science mission is slated to last one year, but the probe has enough fuel to keep making observations for a while if its mission gets extended, team members said. MAVEN will also serve as a vital communications link between ground controllers and NASA's Mars rovers. In fact, that's the main reason NASA deemed the mission worthy of an emergency exception during the government shutdown. Opportunity and Curiosity are currently supported by Mars Odyssey and MRO, which launched in 2001 and 2005, respectively, and NASA has no Red Planet relay orbiters on the books beyond MAVEN. "MAVEN is critically important for us for many reasons, not the least of which is it will serve as backup communications for the rovers on the surface," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told Space.com. MAVEN is one of several missions that should help NASA prepare for an eventual manned mission to Mars, which the agency hopes to mount by the mid-2030s, Bolden added. That mission list includes the active rovers and orbiters now studying Mars, MAVEN and the agency's Mars Insight mission, set to launch in 2016, and the Mars Rover 2020 mission. No planet is more steeped in myth and misconception than Mars. This quiz will reveal how much you really know about some of the goofiest claims about the red planet. Start the Quiz 0 of 10 questions complete Mars Myths & Misconceptions: Quiz No planet is more steeped in myth and misconception than Mars. This quiz will reveal how much you really know about some of the goofiest claims about the red planet. 0 of questions complete MAVEN's science mission will not start right away. The probe's handlers will spend the next six weeks checking out MAVEN's instruments and maneuvering the probe from its long, looping initial orbit down to a 4.5-hour final orbit, which will bring MAVEN as close as 93 miles (150 kilometers) to Mars and take it as far away as 3,850 miles (6,200 km) from the Red Planet. But MAVEN will make some observations during this checkout period: The probe will look on as Comet Siding Spring buzzes Mars on Oct. 19, coming within just 82,000 miles (132,000 km) of the planet. (For reference, Earth's moon orbits at an average distance of 238,900 miles, or 384,400 km). "I'm told that the odds of having an approach that close to Mars are about one in a million years," Jakosky said. "So it's really luck that we get the opportunity here." MAVEN will study the comet and Mars' upper atmosphere for five days around the flyby, he added. "We should learn a lot about the upper atmosphere from this natural experiment, watching the perturbation from the impact of [cometary] gas and dust," Jakosky said. "And we're hoping to learn about the comet as well." Any material potentially shed by Siding Spring poses minimal risk to MAVEN and other probes circling the Red Planet, NASA officials have said. There are no worries at all for Opportunity and Curiosity, who enjoy the protection of Mars' atmosphere. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.

– After 442 million miles and a year on the space road, Maven has finally reached its destination. The NASA spacecraft successfully completed a harrowing 30-minute "orbital insertion" into Mars' orbit last night, the AP reports. "I don't have any fingernails any more, but we've made it," says the deputy director for science at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Scientists have big plans for the explorer: It's going to be the first mission to study the Martian upper atmosphere from orbit—it's not meant to land on the surface—in advance of NASA's ambitious plans to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s. Maven isn't the only new addition to the Martian skies: As Space.com notes, India's Mars Orbiter Mission is set to arrive on the scene tomorrow night. Researchers believe Mars used to be a "warm and wet" planet billions of years ago and that it may have even sustained microbial life, but they're not sure what sucked all of the water off the planet's surface and eliminated carbon dioxide from its atmosphere (one theory is the sun stripped the planet clean). The school-bus-sized Maven—short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission—will spend at least a year hovering as low as 78 miles over the planet's surface, using eight high-tech instruments to gather info and even observe the Siding Spring comet that's set to zip by on Oct. 19. Meanwhile, Curiosity and another rover set to launch in 2020 are designed to bring Mars samples back to Earth and try to make oxygen out of carbon dioxide—a process that would help human explorers survive on Mars, the AP notes. "This really is a quest of humanity," NASA's head of science missions says.

On Thursday, NASA scientists announced that after scouring reams of data from the Hubble Space Telescope they can say with certainty that our Milky Way is destined to eventually collide with our neighbor the Andromeda galaxy. Of course, it won’t happen for about 4 billion years, but it can’t hurt to be prepared. We’ve known that Andromeda, called M31, has been moving toward our galaxy for quite some time, drawn by the force of gravity between the two collections of stars. However, whether or not the two galaxies would actually collide was still up for debate. Now, it seems to be all but certain. NASA quotes Sangmo Tony Sohn of the Space Telescope Science Institute as saying: “After nearly a century of speculation about the future destiny of Andromeda and our Milky Way, we at last have a clear picture of how events will unfold over the coming billions of years[.]“ Andromeda is currently 2.5 million light-years from Earth, but moving at a pretty swift 250,000 miles per hour. At that speed, the collision won’t be happening until about 4 billion years from now. NASA says that their data suggests that Andromeda’s tangential — or “sideways” — motion is such that the Milky Way will experience a head-on collision from the neighboring galaxy. Interestingly, there’s a chance that this celestial merger will also involve Triangulum galaxy, a companion to Andromeda that might come along for the ride. The end result of the collision has a lot more to do with orbits and distribution of stars than it does galactic cataclysm. In fact, the distance between stars is such that its extremely unlikely that any star would collide with any other star. However, the shape of our space-neighborhood will be changed forever. According to Gurtina Besla of Columbia University, NY a head-on collision would result in: “The stellar populations of both galaxies are jostled, and the Milky Way loses its flattened pancake shape with most of the stars on nearly circular orbits. The galaxies’ cores merge, and the stars settle into randomized orbits to create an elliptical-shaped galaxy.” Closer to home, a galactic collision could push our solar system even further from the current galactic core, or eject our home star entirely. This would, however, be of little consequence to the solar system. The kicker to all this is that we’ll probably be long dead anyway. In about 1.4 billion years, the Sun will be so bright and hot that it will be impossible for liquid water to exist on the planet. So unless we get off our backsides and become a multiplanet species, galactic collisions are the least of our concerns. (via NASA, Wikipedia, artistic renderings of the impending galactic collision via Hubble) Relevant to your interests ||||| The collision between the Milky Way and the nearby Andromeda galaxy will result in a single, enormous new elliptical galaxy, but not for another 6 billion years, researchers say. This could be how the night sky looks on Earth just before the predicted merger between our Milky Way galaxy and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy 3.5 billion years from now, shown in a NASA photo illustration released Friday. It's the biggest thing to hit the Milky Way. Ever. In four billion years, the Andromeda Galaxy will plow through the Milky Way head on in a collision of cosmic proportions – not once, not twice, but three times over about a 2 billion year span. When cosmic do-si-do ends, the result will be an enormous elliptical galaxy that will alter a starry night sky in ways that would make Vincent van Gogh drop his brushes in awe (see video). The edge-on view of the Milky Way now visible on a clear night under dark skies would first yield to a dazzling array of large, bright regions of star formation all across the sky. Ultimately, the sky would be dominated by a giant brightly glowing ellipse of stars – the core of the new galaxy that our solar system would inhabit at a much greater distance from the center than it now does. Those are the implications of study that for the first time firmly answers a question that has vexed astrophysicists for a century. Ever since the first measurements of the motions of galaxies were taken, the data showed that unlike virtually every other galaxy observed, Andromeda is heading toward the Milky Way, not away from it, as the universe expands. That led to the inevitable questions: Will Andromeda hit the Milky Way? And what will happen if it does? Observations of other galaxy collisions over the past 100 years have allowed researchers to answer the second question before they had a clear answer to the first one. Now, a team led by Roeland van der Marel at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore reports that they've made the key, missing measurement – Andromeda's sideways motion – with enough confidence to call the head-on collision 4 billion years in advance. The event “will indeed be unprecedented” in the history of the two galaxies, notes Rosemary Wyse, a researcher who specializes in galaxy evolution at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who was not a member of the research team. An old solution to a new problem Andromeda, also known by its astronomical designation M31, is a Milky Way-size galaxy some 2.5 million light-years away. On a clear night under dark skies, its nucleus is visible to the naked eye as a small, glowing fuzz ball. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, the team observed the galaxy's movement, using a technique that allowed stargazers in ancient civilizations to distinguish planets from stars in our own solar system. They measured the relative motion of objects in the foreground when seen against apparently fixed objects farther away. During two observing campaigns in 2007 and 2009, the team gathered high-resolution images of stars in Andromeda's halo and looked for changes in their positions compared with galaxies so far away they they displayed no motion from one period to the next. The two galaxies are approaching each other at about 250,000 miles an hour. The team's measurements indicated that Andromeda was sidling sideways at between one-quarter to one-third of the two galaxies' closing speed, explains Dr. van der Marel. The kicker: The closing speed increases with time because each galaxy's gravitational tug on the other grows stronger as they two draw closer. By the time of the first encounter about 4 billion years from now, the two will have reached a combined collision speed of roughly 1.25 million miles an hour. This means that an already small sideways motion, which doesn't change change with time, becomes increasingly insignificant compared with the rising collision speed. Simulations the team conducted show the two galaxies passing thorough one another and continuing their travel, but only for awhile. Gravity brings them back together for a second collision about 1.3 billion years after the first. They pass through each other again, but only cover a relatively short distance before gravity brings them back together in their final merger some 100 million years after the second encounter (see video). Remaking the stellar neighborhood When Andromeda hits home, the likelihood of any two stars from each galaxy colliding are vanishingly small, van der Marel says. The distances between stars are just too great and stars are so small. The sun, for instance, is about 863,000 miles across. The distance between the sun and its nearest neighbor, Proxima Centauri, is 4.2 light-years away – about 25 trillion miles, or 29 million suns, away, give or take a few burning balls of gas. But the gravitational interactions between the two galaxies will lead to some major renovations. For instance, simulations suggest our solar system would remain intact, but it most likely would orbit the new galactic center at a much greater distance that it does today. Today, the sun orbits some 27,000 light-years from the Milky Way's core, notes Gutina Besla, a researcher at Columbia University in New York who ran the computer simulations of the collision's effects as a member of the research team. After the big crunch, the sun's orbit would expand to 160,000 light-years, about the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to the Milky Way. Both galaxies also harbor supermassive black holes at their centers, though neither is "active" – spewing high-energy electrons, positrons, and protons from its poles as it ingests large amounts of gas. That suggests neither galaxy has enough gas at its center to feed the black holes to keep them persistently energized. When the two galaxies merge, the black holes would be expected to merge as well, with some fireworks associated with the merger. But the resulting supermassive black hole still would lack enough nearby gas to significantly ramp up the radiation seen from galactic cores where a supermassive black hole is gorging on gas, the team estimates. Still, the galaxies' collision would trigger bursts of star formation as otherwise amorphous clouds of interstellar gas collide and form clumps of gas dense enough to begin to collapse under their own gravity. Clumping also would occur from the gravitational disturbances each galaxy triggers within the other as they interact. As if to add insult to injury, Andromeda is tugging its own satellite galaxy along with it: The Triangulum galaxy. It has about 10 percent of Andromeda's mass, and the team gives it a 9 percent chance that it may reach us before Andromeda does. "It won't have as much of an impact," van der Marel says. "But we may actually get a one-two punch." Moreover, the simulations suggest a 20 percent chance that within the next 10 billion years, what's left of our sun – which will have gone through its own death throes by then – will travel for part of its orbit through the Triangulum galaxy, or what's left of it. Minor mergers between large galaxies and their satellites "are quite common," says Johns Hopkins's Dr. Wyse. "The major mergers – those between galaxies of approximately equal mass – are much more profound" for each system. These new results give "unique insights into how typical large galaxies evolve." "We've known for awhile that disk galaxies evolve by snacking on small satellite galaxies," Wyse says "The appetite for both the Milky Way and M31 has not been satisfied and in fact they're going to end up devouring each other."

– Our Milky Way is on a crash course with the (relatively) nearby Andromeda galaxy, and the two are scheduled to smash into each other—in just 4 billion years, reports the Christian Science Monitor. Actually, the two galaxies will collide three times over the following 2 billion years, eventually forming a single gigantic, elliptical galaxy about 6 billion years from now. Scientists have known for years that Andromeda is heading toward the Milky Way, but new data from the Hubble Telescope have clarified how and when the galaxies will meet. “After nearly a century of speculation about the future destiny of Andromeda and our Milky Way, we at last have a clear picture of how events will unfold over the coming billions of years," says an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute. About 2.5 million light years from the Milky Way, Andromeda is speeding toward us at a zippy 250,000 miles per hour. The result of the collision is not going to be some apocalyptic explosion—after all, our intensifying sun will have already extinguished all life on Earth in just 1.4 billion years, notes Geekosystem—but it will create a beautiful new sky for whatever new life forms evolve to see it.

The ancient Greek city of Bargylia, 30 kilometres from Bodrum, Turkey, has come up for sale, according to Turkish newspaper Hürriyet. The site’s theatre, acropolis, fortification walls, and necropolis make up an archaeological site, which dates back to the first century B.C. The city was founded in honor of Bargylos, who was killed when he was kicked by the winged horse Pegasus. The ancient city is about 81.5 acres and has been private property since 1927. According to Hurryiet, a local told the paper, “We hear the sounds of treasure hunters at night, but we cannot do anything out of fear.” A long-abandoned monastery in Bargylia now serves as an animal shelter and cows graze among the ruins. As it is a Grade 1 archaeological site, no construction is permitted on property. But a new owner may seek to downgrade that status and build a resort on the ruins. Archaeologists are hoping that Greece’s Culture and Tourism Ministry will step in and buy the site to protect the artifacts buried there. A proper archaeological dig has never been performed at Bargylia so it is unknown what treasures lie underneath the earth’s surface — but there’s likely something big. The site was up for sale in 2015 but nobody bought it. This time around, the price has been lowered by about $2 million. ||||| The ancient Greek city of Bargylia, a once-prosperous community dating back some 2,500 years, is seeking a new protector. Under private ownership since the early 20th century, the 300-acre site, perched on a steep hill overlooking the Gulf of Güllük, includes the remnants of a temple, theater, a large defensive wall and an ancient gymnasium. And it can all be yours for the relative bargain price of about $8 million. The site is hitting the market to protect its buried secrets from treasure hunters and to help preserve the remaining ruins. "We hear the sounds of treasure hunters at night, but we cannot do anything out of fear," one local told the Hurriyet Daily News in Turkey. Rumors and legends The site, littered with the remains of marble columns and other hints of the city's past, offers beautiful views of the Gulf of Güllük. (Photo: Troels Myrup/flickr) According to legend, the city was founded by a hero of Greek mythology named Bellerophon. He named it after his companion Bargylos, who had been killed by a kick from the winged horse Pegasus. What little history we know of Bargylia indicates that it likely derived much of its wealth from fisheries and nearby salt-pans in the shallowest parts of the gulf. Because the site has remained in private hands, archaeologists have never conducted a proper excavation. Rumors abound that many of the city's most spectacular ruins still lay uncovered, including the possible remains of a mythological statue with special powers. "There was at Bargylia a statue of Artemis Cindyas under the bare sky, probably in a temple, about which statue the incredible story was told, that neither rain nor snow ever fell on it," shared one report. Today, the only occupants of Bargylia are cattle, who graze among the ruins and take shelter in a long-abandoned monastery. While no construction is currently permitted due to classification as a Grade 1 archaeological site, a new owner could downgrade that designation and build whatever they wish. Locals, concerned that a resort could one day spoil the wild beauty of Bargylia, are hopeful that Greece’s Culture and Tourism Ministry will step in and purchase the property. You can view an extensive first-person tour of the ruins in the video below. ||||| An ancient city in Turkey is for sale with a price tag of a cool 35m lira ($8.3m/£6.1m). The 2500-year-old city of Bargylia is located 30 km away from the Aegean resort of Bodrum, and the sale is designed to protect its archaeological sites from treasure hunters and decay. According to mythology, the city was founded by hero of Greek mythology, Bellerophon, in honour of his friend Bargylos, who was killed by a kick from his winged horse Pegasus. Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reports that the 330-acre site has been private property since 1927. One of its owners, Huseyin Ucpinar, has urged the government to step in to protect the city, whose theatre, acropolis, fortification walls and necropolis are listed locally as a Grade 1 archaeological site. Despite this, treasure hunters have already caused damage with illegal excavations, and cattle graze around, and take shelter in, a long-abandoned monastery. Turkish archaeologists have called on the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism to expropriate numerous archaeological sites, such as the one in Bargylia, to ensure their protection. Many of Bargylia’s ancient structures are under ruins and located underground, and the report says no government-backed preservation work can take place at Bargylia because it’s on private land. The owners believe therefore that the city might be a good addition to the Turkish culture ministry’s land portfolio. There was a previous failed attempt to sell the site in 2015. It was described as “a first degree archaeological site, facing the Bird Heaven Lake near the Bogazici Village, with full sea and lake view,” but no buyer was found. This time around, the asking price has been reduced by almost $2m (£1.5m).

– The ancient Greek city of Bargylia in modern-day Turkey is on the market and could be yours for just $8 million, reports MNN. Located 19 miles from Bodrum on 300 acres overlooking the Gulf of Güllük, the property includes a theatre, fortification walls, acropolis, and necropolis, according to the Greek City Times. The property dates back to the first century BC and was founded in honor of the mythical Bargylos, who was mortally wounded by the winged horse Pegasus. Bargylia has never been officially excavated so no one is certain what artifacts might be lurking there, but treasure hunters can be heard looting the property at night. The area has been privately owned since 1927 and is currently classified as a Grade 1 archaeological site, so it’s off-limits for development, but that classification could be changed. Turkey is hoping that selling the property to a responsible owner will help protect it from theft and decay. Locals hope that Greece’s Culture and Tourism Ministry will step in and rescue the parcel. The site was up for sale in 2015, and at the time it was described as "a first-degree archeological site, facing the Bird Heaven Lake near the Bogazici Village, with full sea and lake view," according to the Lonely Planet. The price has been reduced by $2 million, so you could say that it's dirt cheap.

Jennifer Lawrence Becomes a Pop Star With Success of "Hanging Tree," Hunger Games Soundtrack Song Jennifer Lawrence can add pop star to her growing list of talents and accolades. The Oscar-winning actress, 24, found herself amongst the likes of One Direction, Taylor Swift, and Meghan Trainor this week, climbing music charts worldwide with "The Hanging Tree," a track off the soundtrack to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1. PHOTOS: Jennifer Lawrence's Early Modeling Pictures Lawrence currently holds the No. 12 spot on ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles Chart and the No. 14 spot on the Official UK Singles Chart. The chart performance puts the star behind 1D, Swift, and Trainor, but above heavyweights such as Nicki Minaj, Lorde, and Sam Smith. Led by composer James Newton Howard, "The Hanging Tree" is also performing well stateside. Billboard reports that the track could move 150,000 copies, making it a contender for the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 chart. PHOTOS: Jennifer Lawrence's Best Dresses The haunting number is featured in Lawrence's latest smash hit Hunger Games installment, which has already grossed more than $480 million at the worldwide box office. Her heroine Katniss Everdeen uses the tune from her past as a rallying cry for the rebellion. The Serena star's decision to sing in the movie clearly paid off, though she was far from enthusiastic about the gamble at first. PHOTOS: Jennifer Lawrence's Most Outrageous Moments and Quotes "I can't stand singing," she said in an interview with HitFix last month. "The idea of singing in front of people is my biggest fear in the entire world." "I cried the day that I did that," Lawrence added of performing the Hunger Games song. "I was shaking. I was like, 'I want my mom.' I've never listened to it. When that scene comes on, I plug my ears." Take a listen to Lawrence's chart-climbing pipes in the song above! ||||| Jennifer Lawrence is aiming to score her first hit single on Billboard's charts. The Academy Award-winning actress is heading for the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with "The Hanging Tree," from her film The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part I. Listen to Jennifer Lawrence's 'Hunger Games' Folk Ballad, 'The Hanging Tree' Industry forecasters suggest the song, performed by James Newton Howard featuring Lawrence, may sell upwards of 150,000 downloads in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 30. The song was released as part of Howard's score album for Mockingjay, which was released on Nov. 24. That sales figure alone should be enough to enable the song's debut in the top 40 of the Hot 100, the top 10 of which will be revealed on Wednesday (Dec. 3). (The Hot 100 blends sales, airplay and streaming data to rank the 100 most popular songs of the week.) "The Hanging Tree" was written by Suzanne Collins (author of The Hunger Games series of books) and The Lumineers' Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz. The song is heard in the film first as an a cappella performance by Lawrence (in character as Katniss Everdeen), before she is joined by a choir and an orchestra. Lawrence recently discussed her unlikely turn as a singer on the Nov. 11 edition of The Late Show With David Letterman. "I do not like singing in front of other people. It's like my biggest fear. I cried on set that day," she told host Letterman. "That was awful." ||||| Jennifer Lawrence is already an Oscar-winning actress, and she might be adding chart-topping singer to her resume soon thanks to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1. In the latest Hunger Games installment, Lawrence’s character performs “The Hanging Tree,” a song that begins with Lawrence’s bluesy a cappella vocals and ends with a choir and orchestra joining in. According to Billboard, the song is expected to sell “upwards of 150,000 downloads in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 30,” meaning it could make the top 40 of Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Chart. The track already found chart success in other countries though: “Hanging Tree” is No. 14 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart and No. 12 on ARIA’s Australian Top 50 Singles Chart. The Lumineers’ Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz wrote the music for “The Hanging Tree” while Hunger Games author Suzanne Collin wrote the lyrics. The song appears on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 score album. ||||| by Kevin Winter/Getty Images One of the most stirring scenes in the latest installment of the Hunger Games movie franchise, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 (just rolls off the, erm, keypad, don’t it?), occurs about midway through the film, when Katniss (played by Jennifer Lawrence) is asked by one of her fellow rebels to sing. She promptly croons—with raspy, appealing verve—a song called “The Hanging Tree,” which is eventually echoed by a marching gang of District 13-ers as they head to battle. Lawrence—who has made something of a bit out of refusing to sing during the press tour for the film—acquits herself quite well. (When we saw the film, our 13-year-old cousin assessed, afterwards, “Of course she can sing well, Josh—she’s Jennifer Lawrence.”) And it would appear most of the world agrees with our cousin’s assessment, as the song—the music for which was written by the Lumineers (the lyrics were crafted by Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins)—is currently perched at No. 2 on the U.S. iTunes charts. Billboard reports the song is expected to sell “upwards of 150,000 downloads in the U.S.” in the week that ended yesterday, which could land it a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, which will be revealed on Wednesday. The tune is resonating elsewhere, as well, as it has reached No. 14 on the U.K. Singles chart and No. 12 in Australia. The question is not whether or not Lawrence will EGOT, it would seem, it’s whether or not she’ll do it by age 30.

– Jennifer Lawrence may have an Oscar to her name, but she's also winning praise for her singing chops. In the latest Hunger Games movie, Lawrence sings a song called the Hanging Tree that is now No. 2 on the US iTunes chart and threatening to crack the top 40 of Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. (We'll know Wednesday.) Overseas, the song is No. 12 in Australia and No. 14 in the UK, notes US Weekly. The song "begins with Lawrence’s bluesy a cappella vocals and ends with a choir and orchestra joining in," observes Entertainment Weekly. All of which causes Vanity Fair to add: "The question is not whether or not Lawrence will EGOT, it would seem, it’s whether or not she’ll do it by age 30." (That would be an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. She's still got six years.)

The numbers sum up the frenzy that has taken over the Golden State since it joined the madness over Powerball, which has seen its jackpot soar to $550 million for Saturday's drawing. Ronald Marin rubs his lottery tickets on the wings of a "bluebird" statue for good luck at the Bluebird Liquor store in Hawthorne, Calif. Thursday, May 16, 2013. The multi-state lottery's website said... (Associated Press) A man looks at the electronic ad for Powerball Jackpot of $475 million at the Bluebird Liquor store in Hawthorne, Calif. Thursday, May 16, 2013. The multistate lottery's website said the Powerball drawing... (Associated Press) Powerball tickets, right, along with other lotto tickets are seen Thursday, May 16, 2013, at a convenience store in Orlando, Fla. The prize estimated around $475 million is the third largest in lottery... (Associated Press) Lilly Sanchez holds up lotto tickets she purchased including a Powerball ticket seeking a payout of around $475 million, Thursday, May 16, 2013, in Orlando, Fla. The prize is the third largest in lottery... (Associated Press) FILE - In this May 15, 2013, file photo Dean Davis displays the Powerball ticket she bought in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, May 15, 2013. No one matched the winning numbers in Wednesday's $360 million jackpot... (Associated Press) Customers purchase Powerball tickets seeking a payout of around $475 million at a convenience store, Thursday, May 16, 2013, in Orlando, Fla. The prize is the third largest in lottery history, and the... (Associated Press) California has sold $83 million worth of Powerball tickets since April, when it joined 42 other states that offer the game. Since then, the most populous state has accounted for 11 percent of the game's sales, fueling such fast-growing mega-jackpots like the latest one that has the potential to be a record-breaker. The state expects to generate well above the originally estimated $50 million for public education, California lottery director Robert O'Neill told The Associated Press. "One thing California has brought Powerball is sunshine and good fortune," he said. "It has surprised us. We're very happy." Californians have Nevadans to thank for some of that good fortune. California's biggest ticket-seller is the Primm Valley Lotto Store, which straddles the state line in tiny Nipton, a 19th century mining and ranching town on the edge of the Mojave desert whose booming lottery sales have put it on the map in modern times. Roxie Handley figured all 80 of its residents would have a ticket in hand by Saturday. That's if they can find the time. "Here in Nipton, it's crazy," said Handley, 59, who manages the Nipton Trading Post, which also sells Powerball tickets. "We're stocking up on everything. Last night, I heard some people had to wait nine hours in line." The town is about 35 miles from Las Vegas on the main interstate from the Los Angeles area. Residents of the nation's No. 1 gambling state do not have access to the lottery. The Nevada state constitution contains a prohibition on lotteries, which are seen as competition to the casino industry. Norma Wagoner was among the Nevadans trying their luck. She and a group of friends pooled their money to buy 20 tickets and sent one over the state border to endure the long lines. "Everybody has dreams," she said. "All it takes is one ticket." Officials expect the jackpot to keep growing before Saturday's drawing that could break Powerball's November 2012 record of $587.5 million. The latest kitty leapt nearly $200 million since Wednesday's drawing, which was an estimated $360 million. The $550 million jackpot is the second largest in Powerball history and third biggest overall. Lottery officials expect jackpots to continue growing faster and bigger, thanks in part to a game redesign in January 2012 that increased the odds of winning some kind of prize of a lesser amount. On Wednesday, $1 million prizes were won in 16 states, and $2 million prizes were won in two states. California had six tickets among the winning ones Wednesday, including one sold in Nipton. More than half of the all-time jackpot records have been reached in the last three years. The top two all-time jackpots _ $656 million from a Mega Millions jackpot and $587.5 million from a Powerball jackpot _ were achieved in 2012. Some states, like California, now sell tickets for both games. The last major jackpot win came when a New Jersey man won a $338.3 million jackpot March 23. It is now considered the fourth largest Powerball jackpot in history. For Nipton, folks feel they've already won thanks to the boom in business. "It kind of disrupts our peace and quiet," said Handley, although she admits she too plans to snap up a ticket. Most of the talk she hears around town these days, she says, is of people daydreaming about quitting their jobs and traveling with their millions: "Everybody wants a piece of the pie." But she said she would likely give most of it away. "Having a lot of money I think would be a lot of headache," she said. "Nipton has a lot of history. It's the place to come if you want to get away. We have a five-room bed and breakfast with no phones, no TVs, where you can sit and watch the trains go by. It's our little piece of heaven. I have things money can't buy." ___ Rodriguez reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and can be found at http://twitter.com/bcrodriguez. Associated Press writer Hannah Dreier in Las Vegas contributed to this report. ||||| Ricardo Cerezo of Geneva won $4.85 million from the Illinois Lotto after finding a winning ticket in his cookie jar. Maybe you've heard this story before. Or dreamed it. A man cleans out old lottery tickets from a cookie jar, and instead of throwing them away takes them to the 7-Eleven to check them out. And finds one of them is worth millions. It gets better for Ricardo Cerezo of Geneva. He says his family was facing eviction, and he'll use part of the winnings — $4.85 million — to pay off the home. "It couldn't have happened at a better time," said Cerezo, a management consultant. "I just thought, this is how God works." Cerezo said his wife was cleaning out the kitchen and mentioned the lottery tickets that had accumulated over the past month in a glass cookie jar. "It was either take them, get them checked, or she was going to trash them that night," he said. Cerezo said he took the tickets to a 7-Eleven in Aurora and scanned them. The first eight or nine tickets weren't winners, he said. "The following one was $3, so I was excited. I get to pay for my Pepsi. And then the last one said file a claim," he said, which meant it was worth at least $600. Cerezo went online and found that the numbers matched the Feb. 2 Lotto drawing. "As each number kept matching, the smile kept going higher and higher. And when I realized we had all six numbers, it was that shocking moment of , 'Whoa, can this really be?'" he said at a news conference Wednesday. "Fast forward to the next day, Monday: Called in sick from work, went down into Chicago. It's one of those feelings where it's OK if they fire me." After he waited about half an hour, Cerezo said, lottery officials brought him into a room and said his ticket was worth $4.85 million. Just three months earlier, Cerezo appeared at a foreclosure hearing where a judge gave him a few more months to find a new home before they would be evicted. "That was on Feb. 12, so we were sitting on $4 million at that time in this jar," he said. "We will have our home paid off." Cerezo said February holds special significance for him and his family because his daughter Savannah was born in that month. She died from a sudden illness last year at 14. WGN-TV contributed.

– Ricardo Cerezo's wife was cleaning the kitchen when she told the Illinois man he'd better get the lottery tickets that had been piling up in a cookie jar for the past month checked—or she was going to throw them away. Good thing, because that prodded Cerezo to take the tickets in, where he found one was worth $4.85 million. Now the family—which had been facing foreclosure—will be able to pay off their home, reports the Chicago Tribune. Most of the tickets he took from the jar to the 7-Eleven weren't winners, but one scored him $3—"I was excited. I get to pay for my Pepsi," he says—and then, "the last one said file a claim," meaning it was worth $600 or more. He went online and discovered all six numbers matched the Feb. 2 drawing. On Feb. 12, Cerezo recalls, he was at a foreclosure hearing: "So we were sitting on $4 million at that time in this jar," he says. Touching side note: Cerezo says he considers the windfall a gift from his youngest daughter Savannah, who bought the cookie jar for him a few months before a series of seizures killed her in August at age 14, NBC Chicago reports. (It's been quite a week for lotto winners: In Virginia, a man won his third six-figure amount. Meanwhile, tomorrow's Powerball now stands at $550 million, the AP reports.)

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Protests have broken out on the streets of Bangkok, as Jonah Fisher reports Ousted Thai leader Yingluck Shinawatra has appeared at a military facility in Bangkok, a day after the army took power in a coup. Ms Yingluck is one of more than 100 political figures summoned by the army. The army has banned 155 prominent politicians and activists from leaving the country without permission. On Thursday the military suspended the constitution, banned gatherings and detained politicians, saying order was needed after months of turmoil. On Friday afternoon it appeared Ms Yingluck had left the facility where she had been summoned and was going to another military location, the BBC's Jonah Fisher reports from Bangkok. It was not clear if she was still being detained, our correspondent says. The leaders of both her Pheu Thai party and the opposition Democrats were released from military detention overnight, he adds. However, protest leaders are thought to still be in detention and some pro-government MPs have now gone into hiding. The coup, which followed months of anti-government protests, has drawn widespread international criticism. It came two days after the army declared martial law. It is not clear how long the army intends to stay in power. Military leader Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha is seen as a strong royalist and may be concerned over the royal succession after the ailing King Bhumibol. Correspondents say it would not be a surprise to see the generals holding on to power until the next monarch is on the throne. Analysis from the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok After seven months the tents, stages and all the paraphernalia of protest are coming down in Bangkok's old quarter. With their goal of a military coup achieved, the weary anti-government movement can declare victory and go home. Armed soldiers now patrol their rally sites, next to the monument that commemorates the birth of Thai democracy 82 years ago. That democracy is now in ruins. When the army mounted a coup eight years ago it did so almost apologetically and promised a speedy return to democratic rule. This coup wears a grimmer face, and there have been no such promises. Instead, land border crossings are being scrutinised to prevent potential resistance leaders escaping. Those the military fears most have been ordered to give themselves up or face arrest. Dozens are being held incommunicado. No one knows yet what General Prayuth's real intentions are. He has good reason to worry about resistance. The pro-government Red-Shirt movement is far better organised than eight years ago, and could still be financed by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's deep pockets. Image copyright AP Image caption The army has been overseeing the clearing of pro-government protest camps, so far without serious clashes Image copyright AP Image caption There have been small anti-coup protests - the army has banned political gatherings of more than five people Thais spent Thursday night under a curfew which ran from 22:00 to 05:00. Bangkok was reported to be largely peaceful. A small anti-coup protest on Friday afternoon prompted a brief standoff before protesters succeeded in driving the soldiers away. How Thai media has been affected - from BBC Monitoring In the first 16 hours of junta rule, military authorities have issued two orders and 19 announcements. Each is read several times over radio and TV stations, which otherwise are blacked out, and playing only traditional music used for junta takeovers. Periodically, army spokesmen appear in short segments reading out official announcements. No Thai television stations are broadcasting any regular programming. International news channels including CNN and the BBC are also blocked. Other communications, including print media, the internet, landline and mobile phones, have not been affected so far. Press fearful after Thai coup 'Work as normal' Gen Prayuth - who has appointed himself the new prime minister - said troops were taking power "in order for the country to return to normal quickly". "All Thais must remain calm and government officials must work as normal," he said in a televised address. Thailand's armed forces, which have staged at least 12 coups since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932, acted after months of political deadlock. Thailand has faced a power struggle since Ms Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by the military as PM in 2006. Mr Thaksin and Ms Yingluck have strong support in rural areas but are opposed by many in the middle class and urban elite. The latest unrest began last year, when anti-government protesters embarked on a campaign to oust Ms Yingluck's government. A court ordered her removal for alleged abuse of power this month. Key coup conditions Curfew nationwide from 22:00 to 05:00 Gen Prayuth to head ruling National Peace and Order Maintaining Council Senate and courts to continue operating 2007 constitution suspended except for chapter on monarchy Political gatherings of more than five people banned, with penalties of up to a one-year jail term, 10,000 baht ($300; £180) fine, or both Social media platforms could be blocked if they carry material with provocative content Media warned not to carry criticism of army operations ||||| 1 of 9. Soldiers hold their weapons as they guard a road in central Bangkok, a day after the Thai army chief seized power in a coup May 23, 2014. BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's military rulers detained former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Friday, a senior officer said, after summoning her for talks a day after the army overthrew her caretaker government in a coup. As the army moved to consolidate its grip on the country, its chief, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, set out his plans for the country, saying reforms were needed before an election. But some Thais defied martial law to protest against the takeover. Prayuth launched his coup after rival factions refused to give ground in a struggle for power between the royalist establishment and Yingluck's populist government that had raised fears of serious violence and damaged the economy. "We have detained Yingluck, her sister and brother-in-law," a senior military officer told Reuters. The two relatives have held top political posts. "We will do so for not more than week, that would be too long. We just need to organize matters in the country first," said the officer who declined to be identified. He declined to say where Yingluck was being held, but media said she was at an army base in Saraburi province, north of Bangkok. Soldiers detained politicians from both sides on Thursday after Prayuth announced the military takeover, which drew swift international condemnation. In what appeared to be a coordinated operation to neutralize possible opposition to the coup, the military summoned the ousted Yingluck to a meeting and then banned her and 154 others, including politicians and activists, from leaving Thailand. Yingluck is the sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire telecommunications tycoon turned politician who won huge support among the poor but the loathing of the royalist establishment, largely over accusations of corruption and nepotism. He was ousted as premier in a 2006 military coup. Responding to the summons, Yingluck arrived at an army facility at noon along with other politicians. Prayuth was there at the same time but there was no confirmation they met. After Prayuth had left, nine vans with tinted windows were seen leaving, but it was not clear if Yingluck was in one of them or where they were going. An aide to a minister in the ousted government who declined to be identified said some people, including his minister, had been detained. A former aide to Yingluck said she had been out of telephone contact for hours. Yingluck was forced to step down as prime minister by a court on May 7 but her caretaker government, buffeted by more than six months of protests against it, had remained nominally in power, even after the army declared martial law on Tuesday. Prayuth also summoned hundreds of civil servants and told them he needed their help. "We must have economic, social and political reforms before elections. If the situation is peaceful, we are ready to return power to the people," he said. The military has censored the media, dispersed rival protesters and imposed a nationwide 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. The armed forces have a long history of intervening in politics - there have been 18 previous successful or attempted coups since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. "GET OUT DICTATORS" Bangkok was mostly calm and life appeared normal, but there was some opposition to the takeover. Several hundred people, including students, gathered in a central shopping district despite a ban on protests by five or more people to voice their opposition to military rule. Some held signs saying "No coup" and "Get Out Dictators". About 200 soldiers lined up across a road to contain the protesters and eventually dispersed them. There was no serious trouble but at least one person was detained, a Reuters witness said. About 80 protesters also gathered in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Thaksin's hometown and power base, to denounce the putsch and call for an election, a Reuters witness said. Several policemen watched the protesters, who vowed to gather every day. The former education minister in Yingluck's government criticized the coup in a posting on Facebook. "A coup will only make the situation worse. Seizing power is not a way out," Chaturon Chaisang said. The military suspended television and radio broadcasts on Thursday and made channels broadcast its material, but six free-to-air channels came back on the air late on Friday. Several satellite channels, including partisan ones on both sides, remained banned. International news channels were off the air and the military threatened to block provocative websites. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday there was no justification for a coup, which would have "negative implications" for ties with its ally, especially military ones. Washington is reviewing its aid to Thailand and on Friday the U.S. State Department said it had already suspended about $3.5 million in military aid, including a portion for training. "We are reviewing all programs to determine other assistance which we may suspend," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said. The U.S. Army's top general, Raymond Odierno, had spoken by phone with Prayuth, in the first contact between Prayuth and a U.S. military official since the coup, the Pentagon said on Friday. The U.S. Defense Department said the call was constructive and that Odierno had "made it clear that we certainly expect a return to democratic principles in Thailand just as soon as possible," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said. The State Department also recommended that U.S. citizens reconsider any non-essential travel to Thailand, particularly Bangkok, due to the unrest. The Thai military briefed diplomats on Friday though some declined the invitation, apparently as a gesture of disapproval. Prayuth is a member of the royalist establishment generally seen as hostile to the Shinawatras, although he tried for months to keep the army out of the strife and to appear even-handed. The army chief, who is 60 and due to retire later this year, has taken over the powers of prime minister, but it was not clear whether he intended to hold on to the position. An undercurrent of a crisis that is dividing rich and poor is causing deep anxiety over the issue of royal succession. King Bhumibol, the world's longest-reigning monarch, is 86 and spent the years from 2009 to 2013 in hospital. Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn does not command the same devotion as his father, but some Thaksin supporters have recently been making a point of their loyalty to the prince. MARKET REACTION MUTED The anti-Thaksin protesters had demanded electoral changes that would end the Shinawatras' success at the ballot box. Thaksin or his parties have won every election since 2001. Thaksin's "red shirt" supporters were angry but said they had no immediate plans for protests. Many political analysts predicted tension and violence. Mass protests by Thaksin's well-organized loyalists would be a major test for the military. In 2010, more than 90 people were killed in clashes, most when the army broke up protests against a pro-establishment government that had taken office after a pro-Thaksin administration was removed by the courts in 2008. Investors have generally taken Thailand's upheavals in stride, and the market reaction to the coup was muted. The baht traded at about 32.60 per dollar, firmer than its low point on Thursday of 32.70. The stock market opened down 2 percent but rallied to end 0.6 percent lower. Thailand's economy contracted 2.1 percent in the first quarter of 2014 largely because of the prolonged unrest, which has frightened off tourists and dented confidence, bringing fears of recession. (Additional reporting by Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat, Aukkarapon Niyomyat and Bangkok bureau and David Brunnstrom and Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Robert Birsel and Alan Raybould; Editing by Alex Richardson, Andrew Hay and Ken Wills) ||||| BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's junta has commandeered every TV channel for round-the-clock broadcasts of dour announcements and patriotic hymns. The public's verdict: DJ, please change the soundtrack. A pro-government protester points at a soldier during a cleanup at a pro-government demonstration site on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand Friday, May 23, 2014. Thailand's ruling military on Friday... (Associated Press) In this day and age, it's not surprising that the generals who launched Thailand's coup have set up a Facebook page. But it is a sign of the times that the junta's vintage martial tunes are not resonating with the Facebook generation. "Since you're reforming politics, you might as well reform your music," said one of many postings on the page, which had over 210,000 likes by Friday afternoon, up exponentially from earlier in the day. Song requests poured in — for Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, the Disney hit "Let It Go," and for foot-tapping Thai folk music. "Please give us something more uplifting," said another comment on the page, which bears the junta's self-declared name: National Peace and Order Maintaining Council. The running commentary offered a lighthearted and lively sideshow to the otherwise dramatic events unfolding in Thailand, where the military declared martial law on Tuesday and then announced two days later it was overthrowing the government. The country's powerful army chief, Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, justified the coup as a means of restoring stability and avoiding more violence in a crisis that has left 28 dead and hundreds injured since it escalated seven months ago. But some on social media joked that the nationalistic hymns could unleash old aggressions. "Play other songs, will you! Your marching music is making me so patriotic that I want to wield a sword and slash some Burmese!" — a reference to Thailand's historical enemy and neighbor, now known as Myanmar. The Facebook page was created Tuesday to post the military's announcements and edicts. But the complaints started streaming in Thursday when the martial music replaced all broadcasts on television and radio stations. There was no apparant crackdown on the criticism, despite an order that asked social media sites to suspend services if any messages opposed the coup makers. Not all the postings were about music. While schools were ordered closed Friday, parents posted pleas for the return of children's channels: "Can I have my TV back? At least the cartoon channel for my kid? It won't hurt national stability," said one father. One woman posted a picture of a smiling shirtless soldier and asked: "Do you know if he has a girlfriend? I like him." The coup Thursday was the 12th since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932. One comment on the Facebook page suggested that when this coup is over, it would be nice to have a musical souvenir: "When it all comes to an end, don't forget to make a CD." ___ Associated Press writer Thanyarat Doksone in Bangkok contributed to this report. ___ Online: The National Peace and Order Maintaining Council's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PeaceandOrderMaintainingCommand

– With Thailand's military now firmly in control of the country after yesterday's coup, more than 150 politicians and activists have been detained and banned from leaving the country. Among them was ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was summoned for talks with army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha today along with other members of her powerful family, reports Reuters. Military officials say the detentions are "to ensure smooth operation of restoration of peace and order." More: The US condemned the coup, saying military ties will be reviewed and aid could be frozen. "There is no justification for this military coup," said John Kerry. "I urge the restoration of civilian government immediately, a return to democracy, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as press freedoms." Australia, Japan, Britain, Indonesia, and Malaysia also voiced concern. Bangkok was largely peaceful overnight under a curfew that ran from 10pm to 5am in the capital and the rest of the country, the BBC reports. The anti-government movement has declared victory and told protesters to go home. Pro-government camps have been cleared by the military without any major clashes taking place. Many Thais, meanwhile, have discovered an unexpected downside to life under military rule: the music. The military has commandeered every TV channel and radio station and is broadcasting nothing but military announcements and patriotic songs, the AP finds. A Facebook page urging the junta to change the tune has received hundreds of thousands of likes. "Since you're reforming politics, you might as well reform your music," wrote one poster.

Three Best Moments at MTV Movie Awards 1. The Shirt-Off 2. The Ultimate Punch Line Emma Stone: A Mean Girl? Whether you're a fan of fangs, wand-wielding wizards or those fresh-faced kids from The Hunger Games, Sunday night's MTV Movie Awards had a little something for every film fanatic – in the form of laughs.And if you missed some of the show's more memorable moments, PEOPLE.com is breaking down the highlights.The show could have taken a turn for the worse when Channing Tatum didn't take his shirt off on stage while introducing the best on-screen transformation category with Matthew McConaughey "Not you, not here, not right now," McConaughey told Tatum mid-strip tease attempt (a tongue-in-cheek nod to the category they were introducing, which ultimately honored The Hunger Game's Elizabeth Banks).But saving the night: a half-naked Joe Manganiello, who goes by Big Dick Richie in Magic Mike, a comedy partly based on Tatum's pre-celebrity life as a male stripper. (The movie arrives in theaters June 29.)Don't mess with Charlize Theron The actress proved she would make a viable contestant in The Hunger Games while presenting two of its cast members the golden popcorn for best fight.When Prometheus costar and fellow presenter Michael Fassbender, boasting about his "fighting Irish" abilities, voiced his hesitancy about a staged fight ("you're a girl," he quipped"), Theron was hands-on in her approach to prove him wrong.That's right – she punched him.She's not acting – those looked like real tears!Stone made a misty-eyed speech about embracing "what makes you unique" while accepting the first-ever trailblazer award, moments after she was both praised and roasted by some of her peers.But, surprisingly, it wasn't their tongue-in-cheekily cruel words that made her emotional. ("I saw her kick a blind kid," longtime fan Jim Carey, who also showed a doll of what their kid would look like, quipped. "Emma thinks she invented dubstep," Mila Kunis added.)"I hope you'll find your trailblazers," she told the crowd. "What sets you apart can feel like a burden, and it's not a lot of the time. It's what makes you great." ||||| Josh Hutcherson accepts the Best Male Performance award onstage during the 2012 MTV Movie Awards on June 3, 2012, in Universal City, Calif. Getty (CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES - Updated 11:45 p.m. EDT The fan votes - not just the odds - were in "The Hunger Games" favor at the MTV Movie Awards. The survival saga escaped from Sunday's 21st annual extravaganza with the most golden popcorn-shaped trophies, including best fight for the film's final three-way battle and best on-screen transformation for Elizabeth Banks' over-the-top futuristic makeover. "Hunger Games" stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson were also honored for best female and male performances. Pictures: MTV Movie Awards red carpet Pictures: Highlights from the awards show "I've wanted to hold a golden popcorn since I was 4 years old," beamed Hutcherson. The dystopian film didn't totally decimate the competition. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2" won prizes for best cast and best hero, while "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" won for movie of the year, and "Twilight" stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson locked the best kiss trophy for the fourth straight year. "God, Rob's not here, you guys. I don't really know what to do," said Stewart, who pretended to make out with herself. "Bridesmaids" walked away with two awards, though their wins weren't televised. The cast of the naughty comedy won best gut-wrenching performance for the scene in which the ladies battled food poisoning, and Melissa McCarthy won the best comedic performance award. The live, fan-favorite ceremony was hosted by actor-comedian Russell Brand. He opened the show by poking fun of Michael Fassbender's full-frontal endowment in "Shame" and Kim Kardashian's short-lived marriage, which he acknowledged was hypocritical. (Brand filed for divorce last year from pop superstar Katy Perry, who performed at the Brand-hosted MTV Video Music Awards in 2009, after 14 months of marriage.) "Tonight, I'm gonna keep my eyes peeled for my next wife," joked Brand. "Fasssssbender!" In lieu of a wordy acceptance speech for his MTV Generation Award, the show's version of a lifetime achievement trophy, Johnny Depp performed with The Black Keys. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry presented the award to the 48-year-old star, who accompanied The Black Keys on guitar for "Gold on the Ceiling" and "Lonely Boy." "This is quite an amazing honor, truly. It's like the Get-Out-Of-The-Business Award, 'All right, you've done too much,'" Depp said while accepting the award, adding, "And it's an honor to be presented by these two legends, Steve and Joe, and these up-and-coming legends, [The Black Keys], so thank you very much." The cast of "The Dark Knight Rises" was also on hand to introduce never-before-seen footage from the latest Batman caper, which arrives in theaters on July 20. Christian Bale, who plays the Caped Crusader, appeared to get choked up after seeing glimpses of the late Heath Ledger in clips shown from "The Dark Knight." Other winners Sunday included Shailene Woodley for breakthrough performance for "The Descendants," Jennifer Aniston as best on-screen dirtbag for "Horrible Bosses" and LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" from "21 Jump Street" for best music. Emma Stone was honored with the MTV Trailblazer Award.

– The Hunger Games scooped up four top MTV movie awards last night, nailing golden popcorn trophies for Best Female and Male Performance for stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, as well as for Best Fight, and Best Transformation for Elizabeth Banks. But The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn won Best Movie of the Year, and stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson lip-locked Best Kiss for the fourth year running, notes CBS. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows won honors for Best Cast and Best Hero. Jennifer Aniston hooverd up the award for Best Dirtbag for Horrible Bosses. Bridesmaids nailed Best Gut-Wrenching Performance, and Melissa McCarthy grabbed the Best Comedic Performance. Johnny Depp was presented with the MTV Generation Award—its version of a life-time achievement award—after he performed "Lonely Boy" and "Gold on the Ceiling" with The Black Keys. "This is quite an amazing honor, truly. It's like the Get-Out-Of-The-Business Award, 'All right, you've done too much,'" Depp quipped. The program was hosted by Russell Brand, who skewered Michael Fassbender for showing off full-frontal in Shame, and joked about Kim Kardashian's quicker-than-the-blink-of-an-eye marriage. Of course that's a bit hypocritical, admitted the man who filed for divorce last year from Katy Perry. "Tonight, I'm gonna keep my eyes peeled for my next wife," joked Brand. For more highlights, check out People.

A well-done movie musical is a great equalizer: It can make audiences feel like they’re in the front row at a Broadway show without the sticker shock. Bill Condon’s lavish live-action “Beauty and the Beast” pulls this off, sticking closely enough to the original that it should satisfy its legions of fans — among which, I confess, I’ve never really counted myself. The 1991 “Beauty” always felt like minor Disney to me, a step down for the “Little Mermaid” team Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. But, devotees, let’s agree to disagree because this version of the tale about a cursed prince and the plucky bookworm whose love redeems him has something for everyone. Emma Watson fleshes out the heroine, Belle, courtesy of screenwriters Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos. She’s a fledgling inventor (instead of her dad, Maurice, played by Kevin Kline), a mentor to girls in her 18th-century village who want to read, and is unafraid to tell her boorish suitor, Gaston (a perfect, preening Luke Evans) that she’s too young have kids. Watson carries a passable tune, and her eyes have the sparkle of a damsel who’s prepared to come to her own rescue. Dan Stevens (“Downton Abbey”), as the Beast, has the heaviest lift. He’s emoting through a CGI veil that never quite feels real. But his cranky character is more engaging this time around. He’s a fellow reader who doesn’t treat Belle with chivalrous kid gloves. In their snowball fight, he actually goes through with lobbing a gigantic one at her, knocking her to the ground. It’s a weirdly slapstick moment, but I liked it. When has a Disney princess ever been treated like the love interest in a Farrelly brothers movie? The castle’s animated inanimate objects — a candlestick (Ewan McGregor), clock (Ian McKellen), teapot (Emma Thompson), wardrobe (Audra McDonald) and feather duster (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), plus Stanley Tucci as a piano — stump along pretty much like they did in the cartoon. McGregor’s rendition of “Be Our Guest” is a retro-styled showstopper, though I can’t say the same of the three new songs, which just increase the soundtrack’s clunkers-to-classics ratio. And about that gay subplot? Yup, it’s obvious LeFou (Josh Gad, every musical’s secret weapon) has a thing for his buddy — the tavern singalong “Gaston,” the film’s best number, all but spells it out. There’s a brief shot of two men dancing, and a scene in which one redneck villager, magicked into a dress and makeup, responds with delight instead of horror. It’s also worth noting that Ashman, who died of complications from AIDS in 1991, saw the cursed Beast as a metaphor for the disease. So if you loved the original, you’ve already embraced a gay subtext. Other (light) modernist touches abound. The witch, who initially curses the prince, pops up throughout the film: “Do you know what happens to spinsters whose fathers die?” Gaston growls at Belle, gesturing at a beggar woman. She’ll later be the one who saves Belle’s dad. When Gaston fearmongers villagers into storming the Beast’s castle, it hums with a certain topicality; likewise the flock of books fighting back against an illiterate mob. Really, everybody wins. If you want your old favorite dressed in sumptuous new clothes, that’s what you’ll get. Those who always desired a little more depth from “Beauty and the Beast” will be happy, too: There’s something there that wasn’t there before. ||||| Video (01:59) : The fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. In 1991, Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” became the first animated film nominated for the best picture Oscar. The studio’s live action and computer-graphic remake likely won’t have to worry about the Academy Awards. Don’t misunderstand: It is a visually sumptuous, highly watchable extravaganza. It musically honors its earlier version, providing greatest-hits cover versions of the classic songs by Alan Menken, plus four originals. It welcomes a new generation of viewers with the “Harry Potter” audience appeal of Emma Watson in the progressive, quasi-feminist leading role. In short, the movie, directed by Bill Condon (of “Chicago,” “Dreamgirls” and two “Twilight Saga” entries), is fine. Beauty and the Beast ★★½ out of 4 stars Rating: PG, some action, violence, peril and frightening images. But it’s also less magical than what the studio achieved with two-dimensional illustrations a quarter-century ago. Watching it puts one in the mind of Belle’s obligatory marriage to the formerly brooding Beast once he returns to well-mannered human form. Wasn’t the relationship more interesting the way it was before? The story remains faithful to the original narrative, a search for love balancing chaste purity and brutish effrontery in various forms. As Belle, Watson gives a revisionist dose of girl power clout to the role, making her as bookish and quick-witted as Hermione Granger. She is the inventive daughter of Maurice (Kevin Kline, his lengthy hair and beard a frenzy of 18th-century frizzies), who tinkers at windup music boxes. With her mother passed on, he protects their child carefully, perhaps a bit too cautiously for a plucky mademoiselle. She’s clearly prepared to venture into the world beyond her provincial village, but lovingly confined by her controlling cher papa. When a sales trip puts Maurice in conflict with a onetime prince mysteriously turned enchanted Beast, he’s imprisoned inside its gothic castle. Belle sets out to free him, first confronting the Beast, then taking her father’s place as its captive. Before you can say “Stockholm syndrome,” she sees the decency beneath his animalistic exterior and begins to warm his icy heart. They even have a giggly snowball fight on the castle’s outdoor walkways. Can their cross-species romance bloom before the last petal falls from a bewitched rose, the countdown clock for the curse that turned him feral (and his servants into a talking clock, candelabra and teapot)? Relax. They’re updating the tale, not rewriting it. The emotional pull of old-school romantic fantasy is remarkably effective, and it’s improved by the subplot of egotistical Gaston, a wartime veteran intent to become Belle’s mate by any means necessary. This blustering, increasingly menacing macho beast of his own type is played by Luke Evans in entertaining numskull fashion. A pompous narcissist, he’s seemingly clueless about why his oh-so-warm helper, Le Fou (Josh Gad), wants to go from being Gaston’s faithful sidekick to his best friend forever and ever. When Le Fou’s not-very-surprising motivation is revealed, it’s much ado about nothing, as it should be. As if to amp up the animated film’s handsome design, the photorealist computer imagery is a surreal swirl of rococo detail befitting a shop selling lavish French provincial clothing and housewares. More of that attention should have been directed to the acting. Watson, a skilled performer, brings little fire to her role, developing apparent affection for the big animal rather than life-changing love. Her singing, a key to defining the character, is good but far from great. And as the Beast, Dan Stevens is a virtual invisible man, remaining hidden beneath a part wolf, part water buffalo false face. He adds considerably less value than Emma Thompson’s performance as a chatty maternal teapot. I’m not suggesting they should have had more screen time to develop their characters. Running at a pokey two hours plus, it’s a full 45 minutes longer than the nimble earlier version. The new version is an underperforming example of more being considerably less. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Published on Jan 30, 2017 The final trailer for Beauty and the Beast is here 🌹 On March 17, rediscover a tale as old as time. Get your tickets now at BeOurGuest.com -- Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is a live-action re-telling of the studio’s animated classic which refashions the classic characters from the tale as old as time for a contemporary audience, staying true to the original music while updating the score with several new songs. “Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within. The film stars: Emma Watson as Belle; Dan Stevens as the Beast; Luke Evans as Gaston, the handsome, but shallow villager who woos Belle; Oscar® winner Kevin Kline as Maurice, Belle’s eccentric, but lovable father; Josh Gad as Lefou, Gaston’s long-suffering aide-de-camp; Golden Globe® nominee Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, the candelabra; Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, the harpsichord; Oscar nominee Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, the mantel clock; and two-time Academy Award® winner Emma Thompson as the teapot, Mrs. Potts.

– Disney's original Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. In other words, its live-action remake starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens has a tough act to follow. According to critics, it's good—but doesn't quite measure up to the original. The general reaction: "If you thought it was a bad idea to mess with a classic, Beauty and the Beast will persuade you that a tale as old as time is worth retelling," writes Calvin Wilson at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. While it's "not quite as good as its predecessor," it's still "a vastly entertaining film that combines old-school charm with technological wizardry," he adds, giving props to both Watson and Stevens. Colin Covert agrees this retelling is "less magical" than the 1991 original, "an underperforming example of more being considerably less," he writes at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. But he also finds much to enjoy, from "the subplot of egotistical Gaston" to the impressive detail in the computer imagery. In short, "it is a visually sumptuous, highly watchable extravaganza." Sara Stewart actually thinks this new version is better than the original, partly because the Beast is "more engaging." But the film as a whole "has something for everyone," she writes at the New York Post. "If you want your old favorite dressed in sumptuous new clothes, that's what you'll get. Those who always desired a little more depth from Beauty and the Beast will be happy, too." One who was not happy: Joe Morgenstern. He argues the film "betrays the essence of what made the 1991 animated feature a beloved classic" through "a succession of disjunctures, missed moments and dubious deviations from the earlier script." It feels "crazily cluttered" and Watson's Belle is bland to boot, he writes at the Wall Street Journal. He does, however, praise the "huge jolts of visual energy." The film features Disney's first "exclusively gay moment," even if the reference is subtle.

Before Josh Powell was going to try to win back custody of his children last week, Washington state authorities received materials from Utah police that had been discovered on a computer in Powell's home two years ago. Authorities say the images depicted "incestuous" sex and were disconcerting enough that they prompted a psychologist to recommend that Powell undergo an intensive psychosexual evaluation. Photographs of Braden and Charlie Powell, the sons of Susan Cox Powell and Josh Powell, are displayed during a candlelight vigil at McKinley Park in Tacoma, Wash., Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, the day after... (Associated Press) But a lawyer for Powell's in-laws, who had custody of the boys, wasn't invited to see the materials before the custody hearing _ even though a Utah judge had specified in a sealed court order that he was one of the few people allowed to see them. Had he seen the images, attorney Steve Downing said, he might have asked the court to change the terms of Powell's supervised visitation with the boys, such as by asking for the visits to be in a public place. Instead, Downing said he didn't learn until Thursday morning _ four days after Powell killed himself and the boys in a house fire _ that he was allowed to see them. "That would have absolutely given me the opportunity to submit a declaration about our deep concern. I was approved ... to view those pictures and I was never notified," Downing said. "I could have gone into all the reasons why the visitation could have or should have been restricted." Pierce County Sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer told The Associated Press on Thursday night that the images collected by investigators from Powell's home computer in Utah two years ago were realistic computer-generated depictions of "incestuous" parent-child relations. "It's family-oriented in nature," Troyer said. "It is incestuous." Troyer said the images couldn't be legally defined as pornography because they don't involve real people. Troyer said the judge in last week's custody hearing was apprised of the images at the proceeding. Powell was the only person of interest in the disappearance of his wife, Susan Powell, from their home in West Valley City, Utah, in 2009. He was never arrested or charged in the case, and a month after she vanished, he moved with his boys back to his father Steve's home in Puyallup, Wash., south of Seattle. Last year, authorities searched Steve Powell's home, computer and cars for evidence in Susan Powell's disappearance _ and instead said they found thousands of voyeuristic pictures and videos, including child pornography recorded by Steve Powell. The state took custody of the boys and turned them over to Susan's parents, Chuck and Judy Cox. Josh Powell repeatedly tried to regain custody of the boys. At one point late last year, he underwent a court-ordered psychological evaluation. The psychologist held off on finalizing his report for some time, anticipating that he would be able to review materials that West Valley City police had discovered on Josh Powell's computer, said Washington state assistant attorney general John Long, who represented the state in the custody case. But as the Feb. 1 custody hearing neared, the materials hadn't arrived from Utah, Long said. It wasn't until after the psychologist finalized the report that the materials arrived at the Pierce County Sheriff's Department. When the psychologist saw them, he added an addendum to his report recommending the psychosexual evaluation of Josh Powell _ an exam that can include a polygraph as well as more intrusive measures to determine the body's response to child pornography or other stimuli. On Jan. 30, the sheriff's office arranged a viewing of the materials, said Sherry Hill, a spokeswoman for the Department of Social and Health Services. Among the attendees were Long and a Child Protective Services social worker. Downing said he wasn't notified of the viewing. Long confirmed Downing had been listed as one of those allowed to see the images. However, Downing was not technically a party to the Feb. 1 hearing, which was between Powell and the state, so there was no rush to make sure Downing saw the materials beforehand. Josh Powell's attorney, Jeffrey Bassett, also did not attend. He said in an email Thursday that there had been some "miscommunication," and he didn't learn about the viewing until after the fact. He wasn't able to immediately schedule another viewing. Two days later, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Kathryn Nelson heard arguments from Josh Powell seeking to regain custody of his children. Long opposed that, noting only that "concerning" images from his computer had been provided by the police in Utah. After considering Long's arguments and the recommendation for the psychosexual evaluation, Nelson denied Powell's request. She said she wouldn't consider granting Powell custody unless he underwent the exam. She didn't make any changes in the visitation schedule, which allowed Powell to see his boys, 5 and 7, at his house twice a week while supervised by a social worker. On Sunday, the social worker brought the boys to see their dad at his rental home outside Puyallup. After the boys rushed inside, he slammed the door in her face, locking her out. He attacked the boys with a hatchet, then torched the home in a gas-fueled inferno. Chuck Cox, Susan Powell's father, said the images were just another indicator of problems with Josh Powell. Cox said he did not know the details of the images. He believed the kids should have been fully taken away from Powell long ago and that they raised concerns about allowing him continued contact. "How much does it take for them to figure out that he should not have the children?" he said. "It's just wrong. They needed to be taken out of that environment." ___ Baker reported from Olympia, Wash. ___ Johnson can be reached at _https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle Baker can be reached at _https://twitter.com/MikeBakerAP ||||| Josh Powell told his sons he had a "big surprise" for them as they ran toward his home Sunday, just moments before he attacked them with a hatchet and then blew them up, social worker Elizabeth Griffin-Hall told ABC News today. "He caught my eye, his shoulders were slumped. He had a sheepish look," Griffin-Hall told "20/20" in an exclusive interview. "He just shrugged his shoulders and slammed the door." Griffin-Hall said she had been taking the boys, Charles, 7, and Braden, 5, on supervised visits to Powell's house for three months. Powell, who was the sole suspect in his wife Susan Cox's disappearance in 2009, had lost custody of the children in September and lost an appeal to get his children back just four days before he decided to kill them. Griffin-Hall said the children loved being with their father. "One of them said what he wanted to do was go home and live with his daddy," she said. And during visits with Powell, "I would see them light up." On Sunday, the children bounded out of her car and took off running for their father's house with Hall a few steps behind. Powell let them in, gave Griffin-Hall his odd look, and locked the door. As Griffin-Hall banged on the door, "I heard him say, 'Charlie, I've got a big surprise for you'... And then I heard Braden cry out." Powell often had surprises for the boys, Hall said, and the younger boy had a sore foot that Hall thought he had banged into something, but police later determined that Powell had used a hatchet to chop at his sons' heads and necks. "I'm saying, 'Let me in, Josh, let me in,'" Griffin-Hall said. "I realized I didn't have my phone in my hand and I could smell gas. Too much time had passed and I could smell gas." Griffin-Hall said she went to move her car and call 911, whom she said did not acknowledge that it was a true emergency. She called her supervisor, but it was too late. "I said to [her boss] Lyn, something terrible is happening here, and I was on the phone with Lyn when the house exploded," she said. Powell had laced the home with gasoline and accelerants and set it on fire, blowing up the home. All three were killed. "I wanted to get to the kids," she said. "I wanted to get to the kids. I would have broken in if I could." Griffin-Hall told the story of what happened over and over again to authorities as they arrived and assured her she could not have done anything differently. She blames Powell fully for what happened, and said she never thought he would hurt the boys. But now, she said, she knows he would have done anything to kill them, even if they had the supervised visitation somewhere else. "How this happened is that Josh Powell was really, really evil. I couldn't have stopped him," she said. "I did everything I was supposed to do. I did everything right and the boys are still dead," Griffin-Hall said. "It took just a second. When I close my eyes I see him and he was so normal. He did not look like a monster." She has sweet memories of the boys. "I loved the boys. I was like a grandma to the boys. They crawled all over me," she said with a laugh. Braden, who was just 5, "was a free spirit" who "smiled all the time." "He was always making things and giving them to me," she said. The older boy "was smart and funny. He loved bugs and frogs. He had a bird." Charlie was looking forward to having his own frog pond when he moved back with his dad, she said. "They are not going to grow up," Griffin-Hall said later. "They're not ever going to look at bugs and frogs again." Griffin-Hall said she loves working with children. "God called me to do this," she said. "I am not going to be his victim. He's not going to destroy my passion for children. He's not going to stop me from working with children," she said. But the memory of Charlie and Braden will stay with her forever, Griffin-Hall said. "The world lost two beautiful boys to a monster." Watch the full story on "Sins of the Father" on "20/20," online here.

– When a social worker brought Josh Powell's sons for their final, deadly visit, she heard Powell tell the two excited little boys he had a "big surprise" for them—so they rushed into his home, where he quickly killed them. "He caught my eye, his shoulders were slumped. He had a sheepish look," social worker Elizabeth Griffin-Hall told 20/20. "He just shrugged his shoulders and slammed the door." Once inside, Powell attacked the boys with an ax and torched 10 gallons of gasoline he had purchased to blow up his Washington state home, say authorities. In other disturbing developments in the case, officials have revealed that images of animated characters engaging in incest were discovered on Powell's computer, reports AP. Powell lost a custody appeal shortly before the double murder-suicide and had been ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation because information about the images had been given to Washington authorities by police in Utah, where the family used to live. Charlie, 7, and 5-year-old Braden were being raised by their maternal grandparents. Powell was a key suspect in his wife's 2009 disappearance, and Charlie had begun to tell his grandparents that he once saw "mommy in the trunk."

« "Do Intelligent Arguments Make A Difference?" | Main | Face Of The Day II » Those of us who hoped for some kind of winding down of the longest war in US history will almost certainly be disappointed now. David Petraeus is the real Pope of counter-insurgency and if he decides that he needs more troops and more time and more resources in Afghanistan next year, who is going to be able to gainsay him? That's Thomas P. Barnett's shrewd assessment. Obama's pledge to start withdrawing troops in 2011 is now kaput. It won't happen. I doubt it will happen in a second term either. Once Washington has decided to occupy a country, it will occupy it for ever. We are still, remember, in Germany! But Afghanistan? Obama's gamble on somehow turning the vast expanse of that ungovernable "nation" into a stable polity dedicated to fighting Jihadist terror is now as big as Bush's in Iraq - and as quixotic. It is also, in my view, as irrational, a deployment of resources and young lives that America cannot afford and that cannot succeed. It really is Vietnam - along with the crazier and crazier rationales for continuing it. But it is now re-starting in earnest ten years in, dwarfing Vietnam in scope and longevity. One suspects there is simply no stopping this war machine, just as there is no stopping the entitlement and spending machine. Perhaps McChrystal would have tried to wind things up by next year - but his frustration was clearly fueled by the growing recognition that he could not do so unless he surrendered much of the country to the Taliban again. So now we have the real kool-aid drinker, Petraeus, who will refuse to concede the impossibility of success in Afghanistan just as he still retains the absurd notion that the surge in Iraq somehow worked in reconciling the sectarian divides that still prevent Iraq from having a working government. I find this doubling down in Afghanistan as Iraq itself threatens to spiral out of control the kind of reasoning that only Washington can approve of. This much we also know: Obama will run for re-election with far more troops in Afghanistan than Bush ever had - and a war and occupation stretching for ever into the future, with no realistic chance of success. Make no mistake: this is an imperialism of self-defense, a commitment to civilize even the least tractable culture on earth because Americans are too afraid of the consequences of withdrawal. And its deepest irony is that continuing this struggle will actually increase and multiply the terror threats we face - as it becomes once again a recruitment tool for Jihadists the world over. This is a war based on fear, premised on a contradiction, and doomed to carry on against reason and resources for the rest of our lives. Maybe this is why you supported Obama - to see the folly of nation-building extended indefinitely to the least promising wastelands on earth, as the US heads toward late-imperial bankruptcy. It is not a betrayal as such. But it is, in my view, a huge and metastasizing mistake. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty.) ||||| For complete coverage of Afghanistan, go to the Afghanistan Crossroads blog. Washington (CNN) -- Gen. David Petraeus told CNN on Thursday that he supports President Barack Obama's July 2011 deadline to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, a key point of contention between the president and many of his Republican critics in Congress. Petraeus -- tapped to replace Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the U.S. commander in Afghanistan -- expressed his respect and appreciation for McChrystal's work and said the circumstances surrounding the change in command are "sad." Obama relieved McChrystal of his duties Wednesday after the general and his staff were quoted in a Rolling Stone magazine article making comments that appear to mock top administration officials. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen endorsed Obama's decision during a Pentagon news conference Thursday. Mullen said he was nearly physically "sick" when he read the Rolling Stone story. The comments in the article constituted an unacceptable challenge to civilian authority, the men said. "We do not have the right, nor should we ever assume the prerogative to cast doubt upon the ability or mock the motives of our civilian leaders, elected or appointed," Mullen said. "We are and must remain a neutral instrument of the state." Petraeus' remarks to CNN's Dana Bash and Ted Barrett were his first public comments since being chosen as the new U.S. military chief for the Afghan conflict. The Senate Armed Services Committee is set to begin his confirmation hearings Tuesday morning. "I support the president's policy, and I will also provide the best professional military advice as we conduct assessments," Petraeus said. The general said it's a privilege to serve. "It's obviously a hugely important mission," he said. "It's very sad that I have to assume it in this manner," he said. We "all have enormous respect and gratitude to Gen. McChrystal for all that he did. He's played a key role in helping get the inputs right in Afghanistan." Petraeus declined to immediately say whether he would fire the unnamed officers on McChrystal's staff who are quoted in Rolling Stone making disparaging remarks. "You have to understand an officer -- a commander -- cannot prejudge a situation because that crosses the line into what is called 'command influence,'" he said. "So we'll need to sort out the facts and take the appropriate action once we've done that." Mullen emphasized that Petraeus will have the authority to make changes to McChrystal's battle plans and tactics. Obama also reinforced the notion of both tactical and strategic flexibility at the top levels of U.S. command, stressing Thursday that the July 2011 date is only for the start of the process under which U.S. forces will be removed from Afghanistan. The decision to replace McChrystal with Petraeus was hotly debated by top administration officials. While Gates and Mullen both publicly defended Obama's decision to remove McChrystal, Gates initially backed keeping McChrystal on the job because top Pentagon brass considered the general vital to the Afghan war effort, a senior Pentagon official told CNN's Barbara Starr. But in a 35-minute meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Obama said he wanted to replace McChrystal with Petraeus, Gates said. "It was the president's idea," Gates told reporters Thursday. "It was the president who first raised Petraeus' name." The appointment of Petraeus is the "best possible outcome to an awful situation," Gates said. Military officers both in Washington and on the ground in Afghanistan have continually stressed Obama's assertion that the switch in leadership does not represent a change in policy. "Nothing changes about our strategy," said Mullen, who is departing for Afghanistan and Pakistan on Thursday night. "We remain absolutely focused on our tasks and the operational tempo will not miss a beat," Lt. Gen. Sir Nick Parker said Thursday. Parker, who is British, has assumed command pending Petraeus' confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Petraeus, who also led the U.S. military surge in Iraq, expressed gratitude toward his wife Thursday, saying he had asked about her feelings on his new assignment "She's a great wife, army daughter and army mother," he said. CNN's Ted Barrett, Dana Bash, Barbara Starr and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report.

– With David Petraeus running the show in Afghanistan, you can forget about US troops beginning to withdraw as promised in July of next year, writes Andrew Sullivan. Obama's pledge is "now kaput," he writes at his Daily Dish blog at the Atlantic. "It won't happen. I doubt it will happen in a second term either." Petraeus, remember, is the architect of the Afghan strategy. Though the general tells CNN that he supports Obama's plans, Sullivan says he won't "concede the impossibility of success in Afghanistan just as he still retains the absurd notion that the surge in Iraq somehow worked in reconciling the sectarian divides that still prevent Iraq from having a working government." The Afghan war is a huge mistake, "an imperialism of self-defense, a commitment to civilize even the least tractable culture on earth because Americans are too afraid of the consequences of withdrawal." The irony is that the war will actually make things worse as a Jihadist recruiting tool.

Various flashbacks radiate from that hotel room as Snowden, who was then only 29, recounts his life story. He tells of the injury that ended his Special Forces training when he was 20, of attending the CIA's training course, of the little bit of James Bond work he did in Geneva. ||||| Filmmaker Oliver Stone can be hit-or-miss. With the biographical film Snowden — a chronicle of what the infamous American whistleblower Edward Snowden did to unsettle the U.S. spy machine by leaking state secrets — Stone hits a bullseye. This may not rank with his classics such as Platoon, JFK, Nixon, Wall Street and Natural Born Killers, but Stone does a great service with Snowden. He goes behind the news headlines we think we all know to develop a personal odyssey around the man. Most of it is seen through the perspective of Snowden himself, a computer programmer who designed some of America’s best computer spy networks. In doing so, Stone thoughtfully dramatizes a complicated, geeky, arcane issue involving computer spying and the technology behind it. Then he calmly deals with the thorny moral issue that compelled Snowden to risk his life and destroy his career by leaking classified documents. With his leaks in 2013, Snowden proved that the U.S. National Security Agency routinely but illegally spied on hundreds of millions of people, invading their privacy without just cause. Stone has been criticized for not amping up the voltage in his film. But bringing a bit of Natural Born Killers insanity to this story might have made mockery of it. Craziness would have been at odds with the superbly refined performance at the heart of the film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is so convincing as Snowden that, in the closing scene when the real Edward Snowden plays himself for a few startling moments, the effect is to validate Gordon-Levitt. The actor seems as real on-screen as the man he plays. The film is meticulously researched. Stone met with Snowden nine times (once with Gordon-Levitt along). They met in Moscow, where Snowden is in exile. Stone co-authored the screenplay with Kieran Fitzgerald, whose limited credits include Tommy Lee Jones’ western The Homesman. In addition to original insights gleaned from Snowden and other real-life sources, Stone and Fitzgerald turned to two books about Snowden: The Snowden Files by British journalist Luke Harding (who co-authored another book that led to the WikiLeaks film, The Fifth Estate); and the fictionalized novel Time of the Octopus by Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, who represents Snowden in Russia. The film shows flaws in Snowden, the man, especially as we follow his rocky romance with Lindsay Mills (played by Shailene Woodley, who brings both humour and distance to the otherwise internalized and serious story). But there is no doubt that the filmmakers — especially Stone and his star actor — were beguiled by Snowden and sympathize with his current plight. The film leaves it open to audience members to decide for themselves whether Snowden is a hero, a traitor or somewhere in the murky middle as he continues to avoid facing charges under the U.S. Espionage Act. But Stone leads us repeatedly towards the “hero” side as we see Snowden being interviewed in Hong Kong in 2013 by two journalists (Zachary Quinto and Tom Wilkinson) and an Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker (played by Melissa Leo). Most of incidents depicted are then told as flashbacks, primarily over the nine-year period that Snowden worked for the CIA and then the NSA. Among those flashbacks are cynically amusing scenes with Nicolas Cage playing a disillusioned NSA computer expect. While the character may be fictional, Cage gives Snowden his first insights into the dark side of the spy world. While the drama here is straight forward and conventional, Stone turns a brilliant trick by visually showing how computer spying is conducted. We do not have to understand how it works to appreciate what it does — because Stone skillfully shows us. That lets him focus more on the real conundrum: The morality of Edward Snowden’s explosive leaks. And that is why this film needs to exist and be seen. Twitter: @Bruce_Kirkland BKirkland@postmedia.com ||||| Few would debate that the story of Edward Snowden’s life is as compelling as it is controversial. Based on Oliver Stone’s biopic, Snowden, it would also seem to be inherently non-cinematic. By opting to go with a straightforward account of the title character’s adult years (spanning a roughly ten year period from the early 2000s until 2013) rather than a more innovative approach, Stone provides what amounts to a big-screen Wikipedia article. For a director whose reputation is built on aggressively in-your-face subjects and styles, Snowden stands as a strangely inert outlier, a project that lacks passion although not perspective. Stone is a left-leaning filmmaker and his political viewpoint often informs his work. Snowden is no different. The movie is not inherently dishonest but, like all films that promote a specific outlook, it ignores some “inconvenient” facts that don’t fit the narrative. Unlike JFK, however, which created an alternative history in order to accommodate the wild conspiracy theories of Jim Garrison, Snowden stays grounded. If it’s guilty of anything, it’s making the lead character too noble. But this isn’t meant to be an objective biography; it’s intended to tell Snowden’s side of the story, which has been largely ignored by the media. And, although its presentation of Snowden may be too good to be true, it makes some salient points about his importance to recent history and the technology he exposed. Right or wrong in how he obtained the information, his efforts put him closer to the “whistleblower” category than the “traitor” one. We may not agree with Snowden’s methods but, in an “end justifies the means” scenario, it’s hard to argue with his results. Snowden ’s wraparound story transpires in June 2013 with the protagonist (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) holed up in a Hong Kong hotel dispensing thousands of classified NSA documents to journalists Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo), Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto), and Ewen MacAskill (Tom Wilkinson). During his interview with the two men and one woman, his reminiscences about the past result in flashback accounts of key moments in his life. These include his 2004 Marine basic training; meeting his long-term girlfriend, Lindsay Wills (Shailene Woodley) in a café following an on-line flirtation; interactions with his CIA mentor, Corbin O’Brian (Rhys Ifans); growing misgivings about the “Big Brother” aspects of the NSA and CIA’s surveillance; and his eventual decision to take action to make the public aware of the situation. Stone tries, with limited success, to imbue the Hong Kong portions of the movie with thriller characteristics. However, since anyone with knowledge of current events will be aware of the end game, there’s not much suspense here. The film regurgitates things that were presented in a more compelling fashion in the documentary Citizenfour, Laura Poitras’ account of her meeting with Snowden. Snowden, despite solid performances from all the cast members, rarely comes to life dramatically. By the end of the film, I felt I had learned a few things about the facts of Snowden’s life but I didn’t know the man and I hadn’t found his story especially interesting. This is a failing in the filmmakers’ choices. The cast is intriguing but the supporting players leave a more lasting impression than the lead. Joseph Gordon-Levitt intentionally underplays Snowden (apparently a true-to-live approximation) but that makes it easy for him to be upstaged. In the hotel scenes, he’s the least energetic member of the quartet. In the domestic scenes, Shailene Woodley exhibits more passion, and there’s little evident chemisty. Rhys Ifans is a scene-stealer as the frighteningly charismatic Corbin O’Brian, Snowden’s Svengali. In a small part, Nicolas Cage reminds us that, when he’s not desperately chasing a paycheck, he can turn in a good performance. Here, his function is to open Snowden’s eyes to what’s really going on in the CIA think tank. On a practical level, Stone gets some things chillingly right. Snowden’s easy-to-follow explanations of what the NSA can do should set off alarm bells. This really is Big Brother. In one scene, a proprietary search program sifts through billions of personal e-mails, blogs, etc. to identify language that could be deemed threatening toward President Bush. There are also claims that the intelligence agencies can activate any webcam, even one that’s turned off, and track any cell phone. Paranoia about the government’s oversight becomes understandable when one compares what it can do with what Snowden proved it did do. Snowden may not fully succeed in dramatizing all the factors that led to the lead character’s change in perspective (from right-wing patriot to disaffected whistleblower) but it offers evidence about how amoral and ruthless the government can be when acting out of self-preservation. Intelligence agencies don’t exist to protect citizens; they exist to protect their own secrets. The film concludes with an intriguing switcheroo. In the final scene, as Snowden is speaking, a laptop cover briefly obscures his face as the camera passes in front of it. In that moment, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is replaced by the real Edward Snowden. Anyone wondering what the movie’s subject would think of Stone’s recreation of his life is left with no doubt. While Snowden’s endorsement stacks the deck politically, it doesn’t diminish the importance of the man’s revelations as presented here. Snowden could have been an important film. It certainly contains important elements. Sadly, unlike its subject, it’s unremarkable and easily forgotten. Snowden (United States/Germany/France, 2016) Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Rhys Ifans, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson, Nicolas Cage, Scott Eastwood

– Director Oliver Stone brings us Edward Snowden's side of the story of his NSA leaks in Snowden, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the man himself. Critics seem to either love it or hate it. Here's what they're saying: This is "Stone's best political work to date," writes Tirdad Derakhshani at the Philadelphia Inquirer. For "a seriously talky film," it "never feels tedious, thanks to Stone's tremendous sense of story construction, the film's razor-sharp editing, and Gordon-Levitt's masterful performance." Plus, what Snowden communicates through the film—he met with Stone several times—is "chilling stuff, for folks who care enough to get angry or who trust a liberal like Stone to get it right." But Joshua Rothkopf thinks the whole film is rather "timid and uninspired." "There was always the chance of Snowden's important story coming off as an underpowered Bourne movie, regardless of the director. But Stone somehow finds new ways to make it extra boring," he writes at Time Out, with Snowden coming across as "dull." James Berardinelli also blames Stone for what he calls "a big-screen Wikipedia article" that "rarely comes to life dramatically." It "could have been an important film. It certainly contains important elements," he writes at ReelViews. "Sadly, unlike its subject, it's unremarkable and easily forgotten … This is a failing in the filmmakers' choices." Bruce Kirkland at the Toronto Sun, however, says Stone "hits a bullseye." He applauds the director's ability to dramatize "a complicated, geeky, arcane issue involving computer spying and the technology behind it." Turning up the drama any further wouldn't have meshed with Gordon-Levitt's "superbly refined performance" and "might have made mockery" of Snowden's story, he adds.

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 ||||| Backing Up Date Published 06.03.15 I was once forwarded an email written by a retired California police lieutenant. Details in the email were supposed to help clarify the chronology of a cold case investigation. The timeline information was helpful, but what stuck with me was an aside the lieutenant made, a lament about disorganization and missed opportunities, about the tendency of cops to go it alone and not share what they.... Read More The State I'm In Date Published 09.12.14 I apologize for my absence. I’ve had little on my mind except finishing my book on the Golden State Killer. I got some flak for giving him that name. The displeased felt that sounded too glamorous, like he was a Hollywood star. But as my research takes me across California the more I feel the moniker, with its jarring juxtaposition, is apt. His swath of violence extended from.... Read More Nature, Nurture and the Unknowable Date Published 05.27.14 According to his now-infamous manifesto, Elliot Rodger was inspired to attend school in Santa Barbara after he saw the movie Alpha Dog. He thought the kids in that movie seemed like they were having a lot of fun. Alpha Dog, based on a true story, is about young, low-level drug dealers in the LA area who kidnap and then murder a child after taking him up to Santa.... Read More Crowd Sourcing a Wisconsin Cold Case Date Published 05.19.14 Cold cases are solved everyday through advancements in forensic science, but they can also get a boost from a tool most of us now take for granted: the Internet. When Barbara Nelson, 34, was abducted on August 5, 1982 from the convenience store where she worked in Albion, Wisconsin the case received a great deal of attention from the local news, but back then that’s where stories.... Read More A Guest Post: The Felix Vail Case Date Published 04.07.14 After a decade spent researching serial murder, Enzo Yaksic founded the Serial Homicide Expertise and Information Sharing Collaborative. Enzo and his team contributed their expertise to the investigation of Felix Vail, 74, as a serial murder suspect. Five decades before Louisiana became the setting for Nic Pizzolatto’s True Detective, the bayou.... Read More ||||| Michelle McNamara, a true crime writer who was married to comedian Patton Oswalt, has died. Oswalt’s publicist Kevin McLaughlin, who confirmed the news to EW, told the Associated Press that she died in her sleep Thursday at the age of 46 — “a complete shock to her family and friends, who loved her dearly,” he said. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, McNamara received a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Minnesota. She married Oswalt, the actor and comedian known for roles in Ratatouille, The King of Queens, Magnolia, and more, in 2005. She launched the websiteTrue Crime Diary, which cataloged cold cases and breaking news, at her husband’s urging. “I was always doing this research to satisfy my own curiosity,” she said in a 2007 interview with SuicideGirls.com. “I realized there was so much information online available about these unsolved cases that wasn’t making it to the news. … [Oswalt] saw me yelling at the news anchors getting it wrong or I had it first or something. He said, ‘Well, you should start a website.’ So I kind of just did it almost as a lark at first, not figuring it would become such a regular thing.” Indeed, McNamara soon became known for her compelling writing and smart amateur detective work, even serving as a resource for police departments, helping to make connections between unsolved murders. She wrote about the 1976 murder of nurse Melanie Howell and the Golden State Killer, but focused primarily on cases that were little known or ignored by the media. “I’m drawn to cases that aren’t so high profile, that are maybe even a little neglected, but which have enough evidence and clues that anyone with a will and an Internet connection can try to piece together the puzzle,” she told The Codex in 2011. She said she aspired to maintain sensitivity and objectivity in her true crime writing, avoiding some of the grislier aspects common to the genre. “These are real people; their pain is tremendous,” she said in the 2011 interview. “I’m not being naive or disingenuous — I realize my blog isn’t about fruit flies or Civil War heroes. There’s an element of mystery and drama to the stories I cover. But the overriding motivation remains sharing cold case stories, finding answers, and seeing those responsible put away.” McNamara is survived by Oswalt and their 7-year-old daughter, Alice. ||||| FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2012 file photo, Patton Oswalt, left, and his wife Michelle Eileen McNamara arrive at the 17th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards in Los Angeles. McNamara, a crime writer and... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2012 file photo, Patton Oswalt, left, and his wife Michelle Eileen McNamara arrive at the 17th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards in Los Angeles. McNamara, a crime writer and... (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — Michelle McNamara, a crime writer and wife of comedian and actor Patton Oswalt, has died at her home in Los Angeles, according to Oswalt's publicist. McNamara was 46. Kevin McLaughlin of Main Stage Public Relations said Friday that McNamara died in her sleep Thursday. No cause was given but McLaughlin said her passing "was a complete shock to her family and friends, who loved her dearly." McNamara graduated from the University of Notre Dame and received a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Minnesota. She founded the website True Crime Diary, which covers both breaking stories and cold cases. In a 2007 online interview, McNamara said she started the blog almost as a lark. "I wanted to get more involved in the cases that were fueling my own curiosity," she said. She didn't focus on the big celebrity murder case but ones that were smaller and out of the public eye. She wrote about the Golden State Killer and the 1976 murder of nurse Melanie Howell. "It's the ones that really don't get that much attention that interest me because I think what's interesting about them is there's more stuff to be unearthed that hasn't been in the public yet and you can do it," she wrote. Oswalt is a comedian whose TV credits include "Veep," ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and "The King of Queens" and films including "Magnolia," ''Starsky & Hutch" and "Ratatouille." McNamara and Oswalt married in 2005. Along with her husband, McNamara is survived by a 7-year-old daughter, Alice. ||||| 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 ||||| Michelle McNamara passed away unexpectedly in her sleep on Thursday, in her home in Los Angeles. McNamara was a true crime writer, and a graduate of Notre Dame, who received her master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Minnesota. True Crime Diary was a popular blog that McNamara started to support her own personal interest in studying breaking and cold cases. NBC News quotes her as saying: It’s the ones that really don’t get that much attention that interest me because I think what’s interesting about them is there’s more stuff to be unearthed that hasn’t been in the public yet and you can do it. McNamara married Patton Oswalt in 2005, and they have a seven-year-old daughter named Alice. Oswalt spent most of Thursday tweeting about Prince’s passing, then silence through Friday until he shared The Hollywood Reporter’s obituary for his wife. Many celebrities are expressing their love for Oswalt, and memories of the lovely person McNamara was: Image via Getty.

– True-crime writer Michelle McNamara, who was married to comedian Patton Oswalt, died in her sleep Thursday, Entertainment Weekly reports. She was 46. A publicist for Oswalt, whose film and TV credits include Ratatouille, Magnolia, and Veep, tells the AP that McNamara's passing "was a complete shock to her family and friends, who loved her dearly." No cause of death was given. Oswalt has not released a public statement; however, on Friday he re-tweeted a news story about his wife's death, per Jezebel, prompting a flood of messages from celebrities expressing their condolences. "She was an excellent & thoughtful person. I'm so sorry Patton," comedian John Mulaney tweeted. McNamara founded True Crime Diary , a site that covers both breaking stories and cold cases, namely cases that were "out of the public eye." "I think what's interesting about them is there's more stuff to be unearthed that hasn't been in the public yet and you can do it," she once wrote. According to EW, she was known for both her compelling writing and "smart" amateur sleuthing, and at times served as a resource for law enforcement. McNamara and Oswalt, who married in 2005, have a 7-year-old daughter, Alice.

Don't mess with the squirrels! That was the nasty but unambiguous message sent to Ald. Howard Brookins, 21st, by Chicago's rodent community just weeks after he gave a fiery City Council speech decrying the menace of "aggressive squirrels." Out cycling on the Cal-Sag Trail on Nov. 13, Brookins was jumped by a kamikaze squirrel that leapt into the front wheel of his bike and lodged himself in the spokes, sending the alderman flying over the handlebars. The attack cost the squirrel its life and left Brookins needing surgery and other treatment for a broken nose, a fractured skull and five or six teeth that were knocked out in the accident. But Brookins, who got out of hospital Thursday and posted a photo of his mangled bike with the squirrel trapped in the wheel, can see the funny side. "I can think of no other reason for this squirrel's actions than that it was like a suicide bomber, getting revenge," he said Monday as he began what his doctors have told him will be a monthslong recovery, including further surgeries. The squirrel's attack was silent and caught Brookins completely unaware, he said. "Some lady came along the trail and found me lying there next to my bicycle and called 911," he said. "I only saw the squirrel when I came to and saw it stuck in the wheel." Brookins in October railed against supersized squirrels who he said were munching through city garbage cans, calling for a crackdown. But any follow-up action he plans to take will have to wait. His recovery means he will be unable to attend events for some time, he said. He added Monday that the incident probably was the closest he has ever come to death and that he is thankful because "I could have broken my neck." If any squirrels visit his home in the coming weeks, he said, "I'm calling animal control!" kjanssen@chicagotribune.com Twitter @kimjnews ||||| Alderman says ‘aggressive squirrels’ eating through garbage carts Chicago is wasting a ton of money replacing and repairing garbage carts because “aggressive squirrels” are eating through them, a South Side aldermen said Friday. Colleagues giggled at the mere mention of what amounts to squirrels on steroids, but Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) was dead serious. “It’s a pet peeve. It does invoke some giggles. But we are spending too much money on replacing garbage carts because the squirrels continue to eat through ’em,” Brookins, former chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus, declared. “I get calls [with residents saying], ‘I need a new garbage can.’ I just gave you a garbage can. [And the caller says], ‘Well, the squirrels ate through it in two days and nobody wants trash throughout the community. So they keep asking us for garbage cans.” With Susan Russell, executive director of the City’s Commission on Animal Care and Control, on the hot seat at City Council budget hearings, Brookins asked what can be done about “aggressive squirrels.” Russell appeared to be at a loss for words. “Well, the squirrels — uh — may I get back to you on that, alderman? We’d be happy to … talk about strategies to assist residents with wildlife. [But] I’m not sure at this time what CACC might be able to do with aggressive squirrels. But let us look into it,” she said. Brookins refused to drop the subject. “Even if it is a recommendation to Streets and San—either about the material that these carts are made of or putting a screen in the cart. Is it mothballs? I don’t know what it is. But it just seems like a waste. I mean literally—I can have a brand new can drop and within a couple days, the squirrels have eaten a hole through it,” the alderman said. Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), vice-chairman of the City Council’s Budget Committee, was somewhat puzzled by the discussion. “Aggressive squirrels. That’s a new one,” Ervin said. A citywide inventory conducted last spring found that there were 1.4 million black and blue carts in circulation in Chicago. The average single-family home had “two or three” total carts, including black for routine garbage and blue for recycling carts. Two-flats averaged “four or five” carts. Eleven percent of the carts were damaged, triggering $300,000 in repairs. Cart repair and replacement is “one of the top service requests” to the city’s 311 non-emergency number. The city is expected to spend $1 million on carts in 2017. During Friday’s budget hearing, Brookins also complained about the lack of a centralized database in Chicago to locate lost animals. “I had a dog that got loose. We finally found her in a PAWS shelter in Tinley Park. The real problem has been that, in going around to all of these shelters to check each day to try and figure out where the dog was, nobody was talking to each other. You had to literally go to each individual shelter every day to try and retrieve your animal,” Brookins said. “The city probably needs to take the lead with other PAWS and other shelters developing one website, developing something where people can go to retrieve their lost animals. A lot fewer of them would be euthanized if you could actually find your pet.” Russell said she couldn’t agree more. “You hit Chicago on the head—the whole city. We do not have a centralized database that connects all of the facilities that take in stray animals at the present. And it is a problem,” Russell said. “We try…to direct people to resources like Lost Dog of Illinois or Helping Lost Pets. There are centralized free databases at present by which everyone could upload their data. [But] we’re going to be working on doing that ourselves….There is a deep need that there be a centralized data base for people to look for their pets. We’re certainly working on that in partnership with Lost Dogs of Illinois and other organizations.” ||||| See more of Alderman Howard B Brookins Jr on Facebook

– At a city council meeting in October, Chicago Alderman Howard Brookins Jr. gave a heated speech about "aggressive squirrels" chewing through garbage bins at a big expense to the city, reported the Chicago Sun-Times—and perhaps the animals caught wind of it. On Nov. 13, Brookins was riding his bicycle on the suburban Cal-Sag Trail when what the Chicago Tribune describes as a "kamikaze squirrel" jumped into his wheel and proceeded to get stuck in the spokes, causing Brookins to catapult over the handlebars. The squirrel died in the bizarre accident, and Brookins didn't get off unscathed: He suffered a fractured skull and broken nose and lost multiple teeth. He now faces a months-long recovery and multiple surgeries. "I only saw the squirrel when I came to and saw it stuck in the wheel," says Brookins, who posted an image of his bike—squirrel still in the wheel—on Facebook with a message noting he won't be able to attend any official events in the near term. But they say laughter is the best medicine: "I can think of no other reason for this squirrel's actions than that it was like a suicide bomber, getting revenge," quips Brookins. "I could have broken my neck." He jokes he'll call animal control if any squirrels come near his house in the next few weeks. "Just a warning, the rabbits in this city are getting ornery too," notes a well-wisher on Brookins' Facebook page. (One nutty squirrel caused $300,000 in damage.)

Admiral Thad Allen, the retired Coast Guard commander in overall charge of the operation, declared that the preventer "will be taken into custody" and become part of the "evidence material that's been required by the joint investigative team". His comments reflected another shift in the direction of a tragedy that has claimed 11 lives, cost BP chief executive Tony Hayward his job, BP and its shareholders at least $50bn (£32.3bn), diminished the credibility of President Obama, disrupted fishing and tourism, and threatened the environment around the Gulf states. The preventer, now under close guard and inspection, has almost assumed a criminal dimension. It will form a crucial part of the evidence the US Justice Department is examining to see whether BP or Transocean, owners of the stricken Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, have broken any rules that could result in a successful prosecution. Law enforcement officers were on hand to take charge as soon as the preventer broke surface, 5000ft above the seabed. BP is already facing more than 300 private civil lawsuits resulting from the April 20 explosion and oil spill but the prospect of a Justice Department prosecution, whether civil or criminal, is likely to be the most damaging if not costly. The information provided from an exhaustive examination will play a vital part in any case mounted against BP. Experts want to know whether the failure was down to the equipment or human error. ||||| Investigators looking into what went wrong in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are a step closer to answers now that a key piece of evidence is secure aboard a ship. In this Sept. 4, 2010 picture, the Helix Q4000, center, the vessel responsible for lifting the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer stack from the sea floor, is seen from a helicopter during its landing... (Associated Press) Workers secure the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer onto the deck of the Helix Q4000 after lifting it from the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick... (Associated Press) The Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer is lifted out of the Gulf of Mexico by the Helix Q4000 near the coast of Louisiana, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (Associated Press) The Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer is lifted onto the deck of the Helix Q4000 in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (Associated Press) Workers watch as the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer stack is lifted onto the deck of the Helix Q4000 in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick... (Associated Press) The Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer is lifted onto the deck of the Helix Q4000 in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (Associated Press) The Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer stack is lifted onto the deck of the Helix Q4000 in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (Associated Press) In this Sept. 4, 2010 picture, the Helix Q4000, the vessel responsible for lifting the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer stack from the sea floor, is seen on the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana.... (Associated Press) In this Sept. 4, 2010 picture, the Helix Q4000, bottom, the vessel responsible for lifting the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer stack from the sea floor, is seen on the Gulf of Mexico near the coast... (Associated Press) Workers watch as the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer stack is lowered onto red supports on the deck of the Helix Q4000 in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010. (AP... (Associated Press) Engineers took 29 1/2 hours to lift the 50-foot, 300-ton blowout preventer from a mile beneath the sea. The five-story high device breached the water's surface at 6:54 p.m. CDT, and looked largely intact with black stains on the yellow metal. FBI agents were among the 137 people aboard the Helix Q4000 vessel, taking photos and video of the device. They will escort it back to a NASA facility in Louisiana for analysis. The AP was the only news outlet with a print reporter and photographer on board the ship. The blowout preventer was placed into a metal contraption specifically designed to hold the massive device at 9:16 p.m. CDT Saturday. As it was maneuvered into place, crew members were silent and water dripped off the device. Crews had been delayed raising the device after icelike crystals _ called hydrates _ formed on it. The device couldn't be safely lifted from the water until the hydrates melted because the hydrates are combustible, said Darin Hilton, the captain of the Helix Q4000. Hydrates form when gases such as methane mix with water under high pressure and cold temperatures. The crystals caused BP PLC problems in May, when hydrates formed on a 100-ton, four-story dome the company tried to place over the leak to contain it. As a large hatch opened up on the Helix to allow the blowout preventer to pass through, several hundred feet of light sheen could be seen near the boat, though crews weren't exactly sure what it was. The April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon killed 11 workers and led to 206 million gallons of oil spewing from BP PLC's undersea well. Investigators know the explosion was triggered by a bubble of methane gas that escaped from the well and shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as it burst through several seals and barriers before igniting. But they don't know exactly how or why the gas escaped. And they don't know why the blowout preventer didn't seal the well pipe at the sea bottom after the eruption, as it was supposed to. While the device didn't close _ or may have closed partially _ investigative hearings have produced no clear picture of why it didn't plug the well. Documents emerged showing that a part of the device had a hydraulic leak, which would have reduced its effectiveness, and that a passive "deadman" trigger had a low, perhaps even dead, battery. Steve Newman, president of rig owner Transocean, told lawmakers following the disaster that there was no evidence the device itself failed and suggested debris might have been forced into it by the surging gas. There has also been testimony that the blowout preventer didn't undergo a rigorous recertification process in 2005 as required by federal regulators. Testimony from BP and Transocean officials also showed that repairs were not always authorized by the manufacturer, Cameron International, and that confusion about the equipment delayed attempts to close the well in the days after the explosion. A Transocean official has said he knew the blowout preventer was functioning because he personally oversaw its maintenance, and he said the device underwent tests to ensure it was working. The device, he said, had undergone a maintenance overhaul in February as it was being moved to the Deepwater Horizon to be placed over BP's well. Also, according to testimony, a BP well site leader performed a pressure test April 9 on the blowout preventer, and he said it passed. Some have cautioned that the blowout preventer will not provide clues to what caused the gas bubble. And it is possible a thorough review may not be able to show why it didn't work. That could leave investigators to speculate on causes using data, records and testimony. Lawyers will be watching closely, too, as hundreds of lawsuits have been filed over the oil spill. Future liabilities faced by a number of corporations could be riding on what the analysis of the blowout preventer shows. A temporary cap that stopped oil from gushing into the Gulf in mid-July was removed Thursday. No more oil was expected to leak into the sea, but crews were standing by with collection vessels in case. The government said a new blowout preventer was placed on the blown-out well late Friday.

– No sooner had BP raised the device that was supposed to prevent an oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico than the US Coast Guard took possession of it yesterday. The blowout preventer will be a key piece of evidence in the US probe into what went wrong in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. The 350 ton, 5-story-tall device was hoisted into a metal contraption with FBI agents standing by, and it is now under constant guard, reports the Telegraph. It will be ferried to a NASA facility in Louisiana for examination, according to AP.

In a series of stories, Berkeleyside examines the building where six people died and seven were seriously injured Tuesday after a balcony collapsed. Part 1 looks at a history of complaints by residents, Part 2 examines potential issues surrounding the balcony construction, and Part 3, below, looks at some of the issues faced by the company that built the apartment complex where Tuesday’s tragedy took place. The construction company that built the apartment complex in downtown Berkeley where a fifth-floor balcony collapsed Tuesday during a birthday party, killing six and injuring seven, has been fined and sued in connection with its work in other locations, according to documents reviewed by Berkeleyside. But Sam Singer, a spokesman for Pleasanton-based Segue Construction Inc., said Wednesday that the company has a long track record of safety and quality, and that lawsuits are “commonplace” in the construction industry. Read complete balcony collapse coverage on Berkeleyside. Singer also said safety-related fines assessed of Segue have been minimal, and that the company has been sued just once in relation to balcony work and water issues. That lawsuit, which related to a San Jose apartment complex, involved balconies Singer described as very different in design from the Berkeley balcony, at the 176-unit Library Gardens apartment complex, that collapsed Tuesday, with deadly consequences. Segue reportedly settled that case for $3 million. As it turns out, however, there was also a $3.5 million settlement after a neighborhood association filed a lawsuit in Millbrae in 2013 related to waterproofing and wood rot. And, that same year, Trestle Glen Associates, in Colma, filed a breach of contract lawsuit, still underway, against Segue related to “water intrusion causing tangible property damage.” Segue, which previously was based in Richmond, California, has built more than 6,000 multifamily units in the Bay Area since the company formed in 1992. It has about 30 employees. “Segue has an excellent reputation in the construction industry,” Singer said. “Segue has never had a balcony collapse or had anyone injured in one of its working apartment buildings.” The company did settle a lawsuit after developer the Irvine Company LLC sued in 2010 over work Segue did at North Park Apartments in San Jose. According to the lawsuit, Irvine alleged that faulty work by Segue led to water damage on elevated decks and windows. The documents also reference defects related to the waterproofing of breezeways and private balconies. (See the initial complaint.) Last year, the parties settled for $3 million, according to court documents. As part of that settlement, it was noted that Segue was the general contractor for the project but did not itself complete the disputed work. In addition, the company was named in a $3.5 million settlement agreement after a neighborhood association filed suit, in 2013, against the owners of a 109-unit complex completed three years earlier in Millbrae. In that case, too, waterproofing is alleged to have failed, damaging wood used for balconies and other construction. Segue, the general contractor on that job, was one of six parties named in that settlement agreement, according to Tom Miller, CEO of The Miller Law Firm, which represented the Park Broadway neighborhood association in that case. (Singer did not comment on the Millbrae or Colma cases Wednesday afternoon, when he said the San Jose lawsuit was the only one of which he was aware.) Singer said the Berkeley balconies, at 2020 Kittredge St., were of a cantilever design, which sticks straight out of the building. The San Jose balconies were a “catwalk design,” he said, supported by wood or metal from the ground up. He said that the company had not otherwise been sued in relation to its balconies, decks or water-related issues. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined Segue about $11,000 since 2006 for worksite-related safety violations linked to 13 different investigations. (One of those fines was reduced from $900 to $75 after a settlement.) Serious violations were listed in 2013 and 2008, though the nature of those violations was not specified. Singer said, given the amount of work Segue has done, those fines were “pretty minimal,” and related to issues he described as minor: “The company prides itself on both the quality of its work as well as ensuring the safety of the people who work for it.” Singer said Segue contacted the city of Berkeley immediately upon hearing of the balcony collapse Tuesday to offer its assistance. The city is completing its own investigation into what caused the accident, and has ordered the removal of both the balcony that failed, as well as a balcony that was directly beneath it. “We do not know what caused this incident, but we will do everything we can to be helpful to investigators,” Singer said. The city of Berkeley has had inspectors on-site since shortly after the Tuesday morning collapse. They determined that the second balcony “was structurally unsafe and posed a collapse hazard that endangered public safety.” Two other balconies at 2020 Kittredge St. have also been red-tagged, according to the city, meaning access is prohibited, and those balconies will also be scrutinized. The city of Berkeley, as part of its investigation, has been working to make public documents accessible to those who are interested: “The documentation is extensive on the building, whose plans were first submitted in 2002 and which completed construction in 2007. The City will push to digitize as many records as possible to allow access from anywhere in the world and to as many people as possible at one time.” The city plans to make those records available Thursday, and will post instructions online for how to access them. Singer disputed the contention that the balcony that failed in Berkeley had been meant for decorative purposes only, which was reported by other Bay Area media outlets. He said the balconies were “designed to be used as decks” for the units that had access to them. (The city has said the complex had four balconies.) Singer said representatives from Segue visited Library Gardens on Tuesday and is in discussions with the city of Berkeley to provide whatever information the city needs for its investigation. “We’re trying to focus on that right now,” Singer said Wednesday. “But our hearts and souls go out to the deceased and their families, and the injured: to all of Berkeley and all of Ireland.” This is Part 3 in a series of stories, in which Berkeleyside examines the Berkeley building where six people died and seven were seriously injured Tuesday. Part 1 looked at a history of complaints by building residents, and Part 2 examined the possibility of problems with the property’s balcony construction. Don’t miss complete Berkeleyside coverage of the balcony collapse. This story was updated after publication to include information about the Millbrae and Colma lawsuits. Related: Support springs up for families, friends of deceased (06.17.15) As Berkeley orders removal of second balcony, questions over quality of construction (06.17.15) Berkeley building under scrutiny before balcony collapse (06.17.15) Mayor, consul general, lay wreaths to honor 6 killed in Berkeley balcony collapse (06.16.15) Six who died in Berkeley: Young students in their prime (06.16.15) Six students killed in Berkeley balcony collapse identified (06.16.15) Berkeley orders balcony removal after tragedy kills 6 (06.16.15) Berkeley balcony collapse leaves 6 students dead (06.16.15) Get the latest Berkeley news in your inbox with Berkeleyside’s free Daily Briefing. And make sure to bookmark Berkeleyside’s pages on Facebook and Twitter. You don’t need an account on those sites to view important information. [Editor’s Note: This story was updated June 30 after Segue released a statement disputing earlier reports that it had been sued in connection with the Millbrae case. The Miller Law Firm sued the developer of the Millbrae apartment complex but Segue — as the general contractor — was named in the $3.5 million settlement agreement that resulted from that case. The story has been updated to reflect this.] ||||| Builder of Berkeley apartments has paid millions in balcony suits The investigation into the cause of the Berkeley apartment balcony collapse that killed six people and injured seven focused Wednesday on the company that constructed the building — a firm that has paid more than $6 million in the past two years to settle lawsuits claiming its work caused balconies to rot prematurely and fail. Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates said there was “high probability” that water had penetrated and rotted the wooden underpinnings of the balcony that broke away early Tuesday in downtown Berkeley during a 21st birthday party for an Irish student visiting the Bay Area for the summer. Officials ordered a second balcony removed from the same building Wednesday because it was “structurally unsafe,” and Bates said its problems were similar to those suspected in the collapse. Court documents show that Segue Construction Inc., the Pleasanton company that built the Library Gardens apartment complex at 2020 Kittredge St., site of Tuesday’s tragedy, has paid $6.5 million since 2013 to settle a pair of lawsuits alleging problems like those apparently at the center of the Berkeley probe. Bates said city investigators have not completed their work on the collapse, which killed five Irish nationals and a woman from Rohnert Park who held dual U.S.-Irish citizenship. “We are waiting for the real report,” Bates said in an interview. “I am not an engineer, but it could turn out” that the wood underpinning the balcony had rotted from exposure to water. “In my view, there is a high probability” that was the problem, Bates said. “We’ll know very shortly.” Dry rot’s rapid effect Independent experts who viewed the damage in person or through photographs have told The Chronicle it appeared that rainwater had penetrated the balcony’s wood structure, causing dry rot. Such rot, they said, can happen in just a few years. The Library Gardens, a five-story complex with four residential floors atop a retail level, was completed in 2007. City inspectors have not yet commented on their investigation. However, on Wednesday they ordered the property owner, the New York investment company BlackRock, to remove a second balcony that the city deemed structurally unsafe and a potential “collapse hazard.” That balcony, at apartment 305, is directly below the one on the fourth residential floor that broke off at 12:40 a.m. Tuesday, hurling victims to the street. The upper balcony landed upside down on the one below. LATEST NEWS VIDEOS “A field investigation revealed the third-floor exterior balcony to unit 305 is structurally unsafe and presents a collapse hazard endangering public safety,” the removal order said. Bates said, “Evidently, it was not structurally sound to hold people out on the deck. ... It obviously had to do with the wood.” The mayor indicated that the problems with the balcony had not been caused by the one landing on it. In addition, balconies at two other apartments in the 177-unit complex have been red-tagged, restricting access to them. The balconies are accessible by French doors, and are supposed to hold at least 60 pounds per square foot under city and state codes. City officials said the balcony that collapsed was 8 feet 10 inches long and 4 feet 5 inches wide, meaning it should have been able to hold roughly 2,100 pounds. Authorities have said about 13 people were on it when it gave way. Representatives of Greystar, the South Carolina company that manages Library Gardens, did not return a telephone call Wednesday. In an earlier statement, Greystar said it would work with authorities and an independent structural engineer to learn what went wrong. A similar statement was released by BlackRock, which bought the complex in 2007. The architecture firm that designed the complex, TCA Architects of Irvine, did not return calls. San Jose problems Court filings show that Segue Construction, the firm that constructed the building, paid $3 million in 2014 to settle a lawsuit over “water penetration” problems on dozens of balconies on a San Jose apartment complex. In a lawsuit filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court in 2010, the owners of the 245-unit Pines at North Park Apartments at 70 Descanso Drive accused Segue of “failing to design the breezeways, private balconies and stairwells at the project in substantial compliance with all applicable local and state codes and according to industry standard.” Segue blamed the problems on a subcontractor before settling with the apartment building’s owner, Irvine Co. LLC. One of the lawyers for Irvine, Eric McAllister, said he could not comment on the case because it had been settled out of court. Sam Singer, a spokesman for Segue, said the suit amounted to a “standard contract dispute.” He said the balconies in San Jose were “substantially different” from the one that collapsed in Berkeley. In the San Jose case, the building had long balconies, supported from below, that connected several units. The Berkeley balcony was much smaller and extended from the building without substructure supports. Singer called the case “a typical post-construction lawsuit” and said Segue had “a very good reputation.” “They have constructed 6,000 apartments,” Singer said. “They have never had an incident like this before.” The San Jose case wasn’t the only lawsuit claiming Segue botched balcony construction. In 2013, Segue paid $3.5 million to settle a case brought by the owners of a 109-unit condominium complex that had been completed just three years earlier on El Camino Real in Millbrae. “It was the exact same mechanism of failure as in Library Gardens,” said Thomas Miller, the attorney who represented the plaintiffs in the case, the Park Broadway Homeowners Association. “The waterproofing system failed. Water got into the structural wood framing for the balconies and dry-rotted out the wood members.” Thirty-six balconies were deemed unusable and are being rebuilt, Miller said. “There are good contractors out there and bad contractors,” Miller said. “In our case and in Berkeley, you have to assume they are not playing by the rules.” Singer said Segue “designs apartment buildings to the specifications of its clients and their architects. In a number of cases, there are design and specification issues that create water intrusion problems. Maintenance is also an issue. Whether a building is one year old or 10 years old, it has to be properly maintained.” The Berkeley tragedy also raised questions about whether laws governing balconies are tough enough. Bates suggested that they aren’t. “We need to look at that going forward,” he said. California’s rules are based on standards developed by the International Code Council. “The code provides the bare minimum level that has been determined necessary for public safety and occupancy standards,” said Derrick Hom, president of the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California. Developers or builders can choose to make a balcony stronger or stiffer — but there’s no incentive to do so with regard to marketing a building or making it appear more attractive, elements that tend to drive extra investment. “Code revision is one of those things where the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” Hom said. “Now balconies might get more scrutiny.” San Francisco Chronicle staff writer John King contributed to this report. Jaxon Van Derbeken is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com

– A spokesman for the Bay Area contractor that built the Berkeley apartments where a balcony collapsed Tuesday, killing six, says the company has "a very good reputation" and has "never had an incident like this before," but a series of recent lawsuits suggests otherwise, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Segue Construction paid out $3 million in 2014 in a settlement dealing with "water penetration" issues on balconies in a San Jose apartment complex, the paper notes—issues that Segue blamed on a subcontractor before settling. Segue spokesman Sam Singer tells the Chronicle the San Jose balconies were "substantially different" in design from the Berkeley balcony. But a second suit Segue settled in 2013 ended with a $3.5 million payout to the owners of a Millbrae condo complex, with a lawyer for the plaintiffs telling the paper "water got into the structural wood framing for the balconies and dry-rotted out the wood members," as suspected in the Berkeley collapse. And Berkleyside.com has uncovered yet another lawsuit, still in litigation, accusing Segue of "water intrusion causing tangible property damage" in Colma, though balconies weren't specifically mentioned. The website also details $11,000 in OSHA fines Segue has racked up since 2006 for work-site safety violations; Singer says the fines were "pretty minimal" considering how much work Segue has done over the years. But back in Berkeley, Singer tells the Chronicle building maintenance needs priority, and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates says state balcony codes may need to be scrutinized. Meanwhile, hundreds attended a Mass and separate candlelight vigil for the victims last night, and pointing fingers wasn't on the agenda. "We may ... want to lash out and talk about the balcony and who built it," said Father Aidan McAleenan at the Oakland cathedral Mass, per the AP. "But at the end of the day what [families] want the most is to see their loved ones."

PRETORIA, South Africa — It came down to a question of improbabilities and a “great leap.” On Monday, the fourth day of relentless cross-examination at his murder trial, Oscar Pistorius was taken back to the early hours of Feb. 14, 2013, when he shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, 29, in what the prosecution says was an act of premeditated murder and the track star Mr. Pistorius, a double amputee, says was a mistake. In close detail, the prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, had Mr. Pistorius, 27, relive the final intimate moments of Ms. Steenkamp’s life, as the athlete walked unsteadily on his stumps down an unlit passage from his darkened bedroom, a pistol in his right hand, and into a bathroom where he fired four rounds at the locked door of a toilet cubicle, believing, by his account, that at least one intruder was behind the door. Then, Mr. Pistorius said, “I ran down the passage; I ran past my bed” to look for his girlfriend and call for help. “When I realized that Reeva wasn’t on the bed, that was the first time I thought it might be Reeva in the bathroom,” Mr. Pistorius said. Photo But, Mr. Nel said, the “first thing you would think is that you would check whether she left through the bedroom door” rather than assume she had been in the locked cubicle. It required a “great leap” for Mr. Pistorius to go from believing that he had shot intruders to suspecting that he had opened fire on his girlfriend, said Mr. Nel, whose reputation as a pugnacious prosecutor has earned him the nickname pit bull. “You see, Mr. Pistorius, this is one of the most crucial issues that makes your version so improbable,” Mr. Nel said, seeking to establish that the athlete’s evidence on the stand was, in the prosecutor’s words on Monday, “so improbable that it cannot possibly be true.” The exchanges went to the core of a case that has drawn a global audience and transfixed many in South Africa as the hearings, which opened on March 3, focus in ever greater detail on the state of Mr. Pistorius’s mind in the early hours on Valentine’s Day 2013, when, the prosecution maintains, he killed Ms. Steenkamp in a jealous rage. The spectacle of the trial also offered a stark counterpoint to the days of 2012 when Mr. Pistorius, a double amputee since infancy, not only triumphed at the Paralympic Games but also competed against able-bodied athletes at the London Olympics a month earlier, earning great adulation. On his return home, he and Ms. Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, were depicted as a gilded couple. But that glittery trajectory of success and celebrity has collapsed. Headlines that once lauded Mr. Pistorius now focus on his increasing discomfort as a hard-nosed prosecutor sets out to paint a picture of inconsistency, improbability and mendacity. If convicted of premeditated murder, he would face a minimum prison term of 25 years. Twice during Monday’s questioning, Mr. Pistorius broke down, as he has several times in the trial, his shoulders heaving as he sobbed. On other occasions, his voice quavered as he testified and, ashen-faced, he seemed on the brink of tears. Continue reading the main story Video But his displays of deepening distress drew only a sarcastic question from Mr. Nel, who asked, “You are not using your emotional state as an escape, are you?” The prosecutor argued that forensic evidence linking the gunshots and Ms. Steenkamp’s wounds proved she had been standing in the cubicle facing the door when Mr. Pistorius opened fire. “She was talking to you,” Mr. Nel said. “Why would she be there except if she was talking to you?” Continue reading the main story Advertisement Mr. Pistorius said repeatedly that he had not known who was in the cubicle. “I didn’t fire to attack,” he said. “I didn’t have time to think.” “You fired at Reeva,” Mr. Nel said bluntly. “I did not fire at Reeva,” Mr. Pistorius said in a choked, strained voice, seeming overwhelmed. The court adjourned briefly to permit him to compose himself. But when the session resumed, Mr. Nel’s insistent questions did, too, despite objections from the defense that the prosecutor was repeatedly going over old ground. Why had Mr. Pistorius not warned the intruders that he was armed, he asked. “You were armed but you never said you were armed,” Mr. Nel said. Photo Mr. Pistorius replied that he had not wanted them to know. Why, then, had he fired, Mr. Nel asked. Mr. Pistorius said he had heard a sound like “wood moving,” perhaps when a door was opened or a magazine rack inside the cubicle was moved. “I wasn’t thinking,” he said. “I was screaming to the person or persons to get out.” “You never gave them the chance,” Mr. Nel responded. “You said to them to get out, then never gave them the chance to do it.” “I fired in quick succession,” Mr. Pistorius said. “I discharged my firearm as quickly as I could.” So “why did you only fire four rounds?” Mr. Nel asked. “Why not empty the magazine?” Was it just by luck, then, that the gun was pointed at Ms. Steenkamp, Mr. Nel asked. “How could that be lucky?” Mr. Pistorius asked, choking up. “She lost her life.” “Mr. Pistorius, you are trying to get emotional again,” Mr. Nel said, suggesting that the court adjourn for lunch. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. April 14, 2014, 11:13 AM GMT / Updated April 14, 2014, 1:43 PM GMT Oscar Pistorius was quizzed Monday about a tweet he sent months before fatally shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in which the Olympian discussed going into "full combat recon mode." Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said Pistorius, who is accused of murder, seemed like a person in control of the situation as he approached his bathroom holding a firearm early on Feb. 14 last year. He asked about the tweet Pistorius sent in November 2012 but has since been deleted. He asked Pistorius to clarify what he meant. "Were you trained for combat mode?" the prosecutor asked. The sprinter said that he was not trained, but said that the phrase was a reference to discussions he had at firing ranges about what he would do "if there was a perceived danger, how you would go about clearing the room." ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. April 14, 2014, 8:30 AM GMT / Updated April 14, 2014, 9:59 AM GMT Oscar Pistorius told his murder trial Monday that he had no explanation for there still being food in slain girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp's stomach despite his testimony that they ate eight hours before the fatal shooting. The double-amputee Olympian made the comments during another day of intense cross-examination by prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who has been trying to pick holes in Pistorius' defense since last week. Pistorius, 27, is accused of premeditated murder but insists that he killed the model and law graduate after mistaking her for an intruder. The sprinter said he and Steenkamp ate after 7 p.m. on Feb. 13 last year. Early the following morning, Pistorius fired four hollow-point bullets through a bathroom door at his luxury home. Steenkamp died almost immediately. Nel said expert evidence showed Steenkamp's stomach should have been empty by the time she was killed. "I put it to you that she must have eaten two hours before her death," Nel said. He asked Pistorius if he had any explanation for this. "I don't have an explanation for it so I can't comment on it," he said. Nel said this was "devastating for your version." He added: "I'm going to press you for an explanation...[experts] would expect the stomach content to be clear six hours after somebody has eaten and we are talking eight. I want to know from you, why? "I'm putting it to you that she must have eaten two hours before her death." Nel also questioned the athlete on the placement of Steenkamp's clothes in the bedroom. The prosecutor alleged that her jeans and flip-flops were out of place because the pair had an argument and she wanted to leave. "The denims are inside out," Pistorius answered. "So it would make sense that is when she took them off." Nel also attempted to get the athlete to trip up over details previously given to the court and to police following his arrest. "Remember, the theme for the day is [that you have been] tailoring your evidence," Nel told Pistorius, repeating a phrase the prosecutor used last week. Pistorius told the court that he had told Steenkamp to "get down and call the police" after he thought he heard an intruder. He said he used a "lowered tone" but did not whisper. Nel returned to Pistorius' evidence in chief, a statement given to officers in a cell following his arrest, in which he said that he did in fact whisper. "I must have made a mistake by saying 'whispered,' I meant in a low tone," he said. Explaining to Nel why there may have been an error in his evidence in chief, he told Nel: "I was on medication, I was traumatized. There was no understanding that it was meant to be an exhaustive statement." The trial continues. - Alexander Smith

– Prosecutor Gerrie Nel hammered Oscar Pistorius on the details of the night Reeva Steenkamp was killed, asking about everything from the placement of her clothing on the floor to Pistorius' tone of voice. "Remember, the theme for the day is [that you have been] tailoring your evidence," Nel said, per NBC News, with the New York Times reporting that Nel opened the day by saying he was determined to establish that Pistorius was offering a "concocted version of events." The paper noted Pistorius' "racking sobs" on the stand. Among the day's highlights: Nel asked Pistorius why food in Steenkamp's stomach suggested she'd eaten two hours before she died, though Pistorius has long said the two had dinner eight hours prior to her death. "I don't have an explanation for it," Pistorius said, as Nel continued to press the issue. Nel also said the placement of Steenkamp's jeans and flip-flops suggested that she intended to leave, ostensibly after an argument. "The denims are inside out, so it would make sense that is when she took them off," said the athlete. The prosecutor asked about a 2012 tweet by Pistorius, since deleted, NBC notes: "Nothing like getting home to hear the washing machine on and thinking its an intruder to go into full combat recon mode into the pantry!" Nel asked whether Pistorius was "trained for combat mode," noting that "being a trained person, the court will expect you not to fire without reason." Pistorius said that after hearing a window slam, he got up and grabbed his gun as he told Steenkamp to "get down and call the police," the Times reports. In a statement for police, Nel noted, Pistorius had said he whispered to Steenkamp; in court the athlete said he used a "lowered tone." "I must have made a mistake by saying 'whispered,'" Pistorius said. "I was on medication. I was traumatized." “I don't want to argue with Mr. Nel," Pistorius said at one point. Nel's reply: “I want to, Mr. Pistorius."

Same-sex marriage campaigners and volunteers cheer as they call on politicians to pass marriage equality legislation during rally outside Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.... (Associated Press) Same-sex marriage campaigners and volunteers cheer as they call on politicians to pass marriage equality legislation during rally outside Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.... (Associated Press) CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian Parliament voted on Thursday to allow same-sex marriage across the nation, following a bitter and divisive debate settled by the government polling voters in a much-criticized ballot survey that strongly endorsed change. The public gallery of the House of Representatives erupted with applause when the bill passed to change the definition of marriage from solely between a man and a woman to "a union of two people" excluding all others. The legislation passed with a majority that wasn't challenged, although five lawmakers registered their opposition to the bill. The Senate passed the same legislation last week 43 votes to 12. After royal assent and other formalities, the law will likely take effect in about a month, with the first weddings expected about a month later. Amendments meant to safeguard freedoms of speech and religion for gay-marriage opponents were all rejected, though those issues may be considered later. The government has appointed a panel to examine how to safeguard religious freedoms once gay marriage is a reality in Australia. Lawmakers advocating marriage equality had argued that the national postal survey in November mandated a change of the marriage definition alone, so changing the law should not be delayed by other considerations. "It is now our job as members of Parliament to pass a fair bill that does not extend or create any new discriminations," an emotional government lawmaker Warren Entsch, who helped draft the bill, told Parliament. "It is a strong bill that already strikes the right balance between equality and freedom of religion." "It's an historic day for Australia today and I think the celebrations around the country when we finally ... achieve marriage equality are going to be immense," Janet Rice said before the vote. Rice is a minor Greens party senator who was only able to remain married to her transgender wife of 31 years, Penny, because Penny remained listed as male on her birth certificate. Penny Wong, an opposition Labor Party senator who has two children with her lesbian partner, said: "I am feeling happy." Gay marriage was endorsed by 62 percent of Australian voters who responded to the government-commissioned postal ballot. Most gay rights advocates believed the government should have allowed marriages years ago and saw various ideas for a public survey as a delaying tactic. The U.N. Human Rights Committee had called the ballot survey "an unnecessary and divisive public opinion poll." The current bill allows churches and religious organizations to boycott gay weddings without violating Australian anti-discrimination laws. Existing civil celebrants can also refuse to officiate at gay weddings, but celebrants registered after gay marriage becomes law would not be exempt from the anti-discrimination laws. One of the rejected amendments would have ensured Australians could speak freely about their traditional views of marriage without fear of legal action. It was proposed by Attorney-General George Brandis and supported by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, both gay marriage supporters. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who was a high-profile advocate for traditional marriage, told Parliament that Turnbull and opposition leader Bill Shorten had failed to deliver detailed protections for freedoms of speech, conscience and religion in the bill. "A promise was made by the leaders of this Parliament and the promise has not adequately been delivered on," Abbott said. Abbott pointed to an Australian teenager who lost her job for advocating against gay marriage on social media and an Australian Catholic bishop who was taken before a state anti-discrimination tribunal over a pamphlet he published extolling traditional marriage. The complaint against the bishop was dropped. "The last thing we should want to do is to subject Australians to new forms of discrimination in place of old ones that are rightly gone," he said. Government lawmaker Trevor Evans ruled out an Australian equivalent of the U.S. Supreme Court case in which a baker who refused to provide a wedding cake for a gay couple argued he was exercising artistic freedom and was exempt from Colorado anti-discrimination laws. "Let's be honest here, for a case like that to arise in Australia, it would require a gay couple who care more about activism than about the success of their own wedding, to find a business operator who cares more about religious doctrine than the commercial success of their own small business, and for both of them to commit to having a fight," Evans told Parliament. "Typical Australians would genuinely question the bona fides of the players in a case like that and the slim prospects of that occurring doesn't warrant the pages and pages of commentary and debate that have been dedicated to it," he added. Several gay marriage opponents in Turnbull's conservative coalition have regarded marriage equality as inevitable and have welcomed an end to an issue that has long divided the government ranks. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, a same-sex marriage opponent who oversaw the postal ballot, said he felt "great satisfaction" that the issue was resolved. "It was a polarizing issue on which good Australians had strongly and sincerely held views on both sides of the argument," Cormann said. "I and my colleagues on the coalition side always took the view that the best way to resolve a disagreement in the community like this is by giving the Australian people which we did, we kept faith with it, the Australian people embraced the process and the result was emphatic," he said. The result is a political win for Turnbull, who became prime minister after deposing Abbott in 2015 in an internal government leadership ballot. Abbott was head-butted by a gay rights advocate during the postal survey campaign in September. Kevin Rudd, a center-left Labor Party prime minister whom Abbott defeated in elections in 2013, blamed the postal ballot for an assault on his godson Sean Foster, 19, as he campaigned for marriage equality a week earlier. Veteran gay rights campaigner Rodney Croome said he expected the first same-sex weddings in Australia would not take place until February. The law will likely take effect after a month. State laws then require couples to give 28 days' notice of their intention to marry, Croome said. ||||| Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says: "Australia, we are going to make marriage equality a reality in minutes. The Australia of tomorrow begins with what we do today. At long last, LGBTIQ Australians will be equal under the law." "And those of in Parliament privileged to serve, we understand that we do so with humility. The humility to recognise that the passage of this law does not in essence belong to us, but the credit for the passage of this law belongs to all Australians and I say to those who voted no, I recognise that now is the time for healing, to put this debate behind us." "And when this law is passed, we should declare that we are no longer a nation of people who voted no. Or people who voted yes. We are simply Australians one and all. And I said to LGBTIQ Australians in particular, you have given us a gift. This Parliament, when we passed the marriage equality law, is not a gift from us to LGBTIQ Australians,equality is never a gift to be given. Equality isn't in our legal birthright of every Australian and this equality is long overdue." "I say the gift that LGBTIQ Australians have given all of us is that we are a nation who includes all of our people, who values all relationships and all families, that we are a better nation altogether. So, as it is written that there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens, it is now time to heal. A time to build, a time to love, a time to love, and is now at last a time for marriage equality."

– The Australian Parliament voted on Thursday to allow same-sex marriage across the nation, following a bitter and divisive debate settled by the government polling voters in a much-criticized ballot survey that strongly endorsed change. The public gallery of the House of Representatives erupted with applause when the bill passed to change the definition of marriage from solely between a man and a woman to "a union of two people" excluding all others. The legislation passed with a majority that wasn't challenged, although five lawmakers registered their opposition to the bill, the AP reports. The Senate passed the same legislation last week 43 votes to 12. After royal assent and other formalities, the law will likely take effect in about a month, with the first weddings expected about a month later. The move, which makes Australia the 26th country to legalize same-sex marriage, resulted in a massive party in Parliament House, with people hugging and kissing each other and champagne flowing freely, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. "About bloody time," said Greens Sen. Janet Rice, who was previously only able to remain married to her transgender wife of 31 years, Penny Whetton, because Whetton remained listed as male on her birth certificate.

CLOSE The Homeland Security Department is demanding that airlines around the world step up security measures for international flights bound for the United States, or face the possibility of a total electronics ban for planes. (June 28) AP The new CT scanner for carry-on bags being tested at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport's Terminal 4. (Photo: Courtesy: American Airlines) WASHINGTON — In a massive escalation of airline security worldwide, hundreds of thousands of travelers flying to the U.S. from overseas will face additional scrutiny for laptops and other electronics larger than cellphones, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday. The tougher standards apply to 180 domestic and foreign airlines that fly direct to the U.S. from 280 airports from 105 countries. The new rules will affect about 2,000 daily flights carrying 325,000 passengers. Intelligence about terrorists developing ways to hide bombs and infiltrate airport staffing prompted the tougher security measures, according to two senior DHS officials who spoke on background during a conference call for reporters on Wednesday. In the case of recent airline bombings in Egypt and Somalia, investigators suspect airport workers smuggled explosives aboard planes. “Make no mistake: our enemies are constantly working to find new methods for disguising explosives, recruiting insiders and hijacking aircraft,” John Kelly, secretary of Homeland Security, said in a speech Wednesday at the Center for a New American Security, a non-profit that develops security and defense policies. “It is time that we raise the global baseline of aviation security," Kelly said. "We cannot play international whack-a-mole with each new threat.” DHS expects 99% of airlines to be able to meet the new requirements and time frames, the officials said. They did not give specifics on either the requirements or the time frame. If airlines don't or can't comply, the U.S. could ban electronics larger than cellphones on entire planes — in both carry-on bags and checked luggage, the officials said. The Federal Aviation Administration could also block flights by pulling an airline’s certificate, the officials said. Nicholas Calio, CEO of the trade group Airlines for America, which represents most of the largest carriers, said airlines shared the commitment for better security, but that travel disruptions are likely from the new requirements. “While we have been assured that carriers will have the substantial flexibility necessary to implement these measures on a global scale, we believe that the development of the security directive should have been subject to a greater degree of collaboration and coordination to avoid the significant operational disruptions and unnecessarily frustrating consequences for the traveling public that appear likely to happen," Calio said. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, said airlines need to warn travelers about what to expect. “As these new rules affect over 2,000 flights a day, it is crucial that Americans, tourists, and immigrants are properly informed on how their travel is affected," Thompson said. The new measures will be seen and unseen at airports, Kelly said, and will focus on enhanced screening for electronics, more thorough passenger vetting and measures to reduce the threat of insider attacks. “Terrorists want to bring down aircraft to instill fear, disrupt our economies and undermine our way of life — and it works, which is why they still see aviation as the crown jewel target in their world,” Kelly said. “The threat is not diminished. However, we are not standing on the sidelines while fanatics hatch new plots.” Protocols will change for passenger areas around gates and on the tarmac around planes. Security methods could vary by airline and airport. Travelers could see more bomb-sniffing dogs or upgraded technology such as CT-scanners at airports, like the test that American Airlines is running at the Phoenix airport with the Transportation Security Administration. The advanced technology can peer into the clutter of carry-on bags to detect possible explosives. The tougher standards aren’t an expansion of the laptop ban enacted in March for carry-on bags of flights of nine airlines from 10 airports in eight countries, officials said. Those airlines will be able to get out from under that ban — passengers will be allowed to bring laptops again — if they meet the new standards. DHS officials are also encouraging more foreign airports to join Customs and Border Protection’s pre-clearance program, which screens in-bound travelers for Customs and Immigration before they board planes. Pre-clearance facilities are located at 15 airports in Canada, Ireland, the Caribbean and Abu Dhabi. Sweden is in the midst of joining. But other countries have balked because of the shared costs for CBP facilities and staffing. Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2tqlIUZ ||||| U.S. officials on Wednesday announced enhanced security and screening measures for all commercial flights to the United States but backed away from a proposal to expand a ban on laptops and other electronic devices — unless airlines and airports refuse to comply with the new rules. Since March, passengers on flights to the United States from certain primarily Muslim-majority countries have been prohibited from bringing electronic devices larger than a cellphone on board with them. But those restrictions could be lifted if the affected airlines and airports adopt the new security protocols, officials said. Department of Homeland Security officials said airlines and airports will be responsible for implementing the changes and communicating new procedures to the traveling public. Officials declined to offer specifics about the changes, citing security concerns, but said they could include enhanced screening of laptops and smartphones and increased security protocols around aircraft and in passenger areas. The hope is that the new requirements will not result in longer wait times at security checkpoints or be prohibitively costly for airlines and airports to implement. In a briefing with reporters, senior DHS officials said the requirements will “raise the baseline” on aviation security worldwide. The directives are focused on preventing terrorists from circumventing aviation security. “It is time that we raise the global baseline of aviation security,” Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly said. “We cannot play international whack-a-mole with each new threat.” Despite talk of expanding a ban on laptops and other large electronic devices that was put into place in March, senior DHS officials said Kelly ultimately concluded that the threats could be handled without an expansion of the ban. “The good news is we found a way to raise the bar worldwide, but at the same time not inconvenience the traveling public,” said Kelly, who announced the new measures at a security conference at the Center for a New American Security. [Britain, U.S. ban most electronic devices in cabins on flights from some Muslim countries] DHS officials said they have been in “constant contact with our interagency, industry and foreign partners to address evolving threats” and had a shared goal of putting measures in place that would pose a minimum of disruption to the traveling public. However, airlines and airports that do not comply with the new requirements could face repercussions, including a full ban on all personal electronics on board flights, even in cargo; fines and possible loss of their permission to fly to the United States. Officials, however, said they expect the vast majority of airlines and airports to comply with the rules. Flights within the United States will not be affected, in part because airports here already use many of the enhanced security measures that are being called for. DHS officials indicated they have been in touch with airlines and countries covered by the current ban and that “all of those countries had expressed an eagerness to comply so that those restrictions could be lifted.” “We are standing ready to go in and inspect how they adhere to the new security restrictions,” the official said. “It is up to the carriers how quickly they want to move.” It is not clear when the new measures will be put into place, but DHS officials said travelers might start to see changes as early as this summer. Not all the measures will be visible to the public, they said, though travelers might notice more bomb-sniffing dogs, more thorough screening of their carry-on bags and swabbing of devices for traces of explosives. Wednesday’s announcement comes after months of debate over whether the United States should expand the ban on laptops and other electronic devices that it put into place in March for travelers from 10 airports in mostly Middle Eastern countries. The ban was prompted by growing concerns that terrorists could conceal bombs in laptops and other similar devices. In May, U.S. officials suggested the ban might be expanded to include direct flights to the United States from Europe. Later that month, in an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Kelly suggested he might go even further and extend the ban to all international flights in and out of the United States. [E.U., U.S. officials meet to discuss possible expansion of the laptop ban] European officials raised concerns about potential new restrictions and sought more information about the threats that prompted talk of an expansion. European Union officials characterized a meeting last month in Brussels with top U.S. Homeland Security officials as productive but also urged officials to consider other ways to address the potential threat. Industry groups in the United States and abroad said they were concerned about the economic implications of expanding the ban as well as the impact it could have on worker productivity. In May, the head of the International Air Transport Association, which represents more than 270 international carriers, expressed serious concerns about the ban and urged leaders to consider other enhanced screening methods as an alternative. Expanding the ban could cost $1.1 billion a year in lost productivity, travel time and “passenger well-being,” Alexandre de Juniac, director general and chief executive of the group, which represents 265 airlines, wrote in a letter to Kelly and Violeta Bulc, the E.U.’s top transportation official. In all, 280 airports in 105 countries will be required to meet the heightened security standards, DHS officials said. Roughly 325,000 daily passengers on 2,100 flights could be affected. DHS officials said one visible change could be the expansion of Customs and Border Protection’s Preclearance program, which is in place at airports in six countries: Aruba, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates. Under the program, CBP officers screen international passengers traveling to the United States before they arrive. Still, the announcement was welcome news for international carriers. “Keeping our passengers and crew safe and secure is our top priority,” said de Juniac. “Today’s actions raise the bar on security. The aggressive implementation timeline will, however, be challenging. Meeting it will require a continued team effort of government and industry stakeholders. In particular, airlines and airports will need to be supported by host states during the phase-in of the new requirements.” ||||| WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday unveiled enhanced security measures for flights to the country designed to prevent expanding an in-cabin ban on laptops, but an airline trade group said the changes might cause more disruptions. FILE PHOTO -- Passengers use their laptops on a flight out of John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York, U.S., May 26, 2017. Picture taken May 26, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo The measures, which European and U.S. officials said would begin taking effect within three weeks, could require additional time to screen passengers and personal electronic devices for possible explosives. The measures would affect 325,000 airline passengers on about 2,000 commercial flights arriving daily in the United States, on 180 airlines from 280 airports in 105 countries. The United States in March banned laptops on flights to the United States originating at 10 airports in eight countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey, to address fears that bombs could be concealed in electronic devices taken aboard aircraft. Britain quickly followed suit with a similar set of restrictions. The decision not to impose new laptop restrictions eases U.S. and European airlines’ concern that expanding the ban to Europe or other locations could cause major logistical problems and deter travel. “Inaction is not an option,” U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told a news briefing, adding that he believed airlines would comply with the new screening. But he said the measures were not the last step to tighten security. U.S. carriers said they would follow the new security directive, but industry trade group Airlines for America (A4A), criticized Homeland Security for not working more closely with them on the new policies. “The development of the security directive should have been subject to a greater degree of collaboration and coordination to avoid the significant operational disruptions and unnecessarily frustrating consequences for the traveling public that appear likely to happen,” A4A Chief Executive Nicholas E. Calio said in a statement. Kelly had been saying since April he thought an expansion of the laptop ban was “likely.” He said in late May the government could potentially expand the ban worldwide. Homeland Security officials told reporters they expected more than 99 percent of airlines would comply, a move that would effectively end the controversial electronics ban. Airlines that fail to satisfy new security requirements could still face in-cabin electronics restrictions, Kelly said. “We expect all airlines will work with us to keep their aircraft, their crew and their passengers safe,” he said. European and U.S. officials told Reuters that airlines have 21 days to put in place increased explosive trace detection screening and have 120 days to comply with other security measures, including enhanced screening of airline passengers. U.S. authorities want increased security protocols around aircraft and in passenger areas, expanded canine screening and additional places where travelers can be cleared by U.S. officials before they depart. Since laptops are widely used in flight by business class passengers - who pay double or more than the average ticket price - the airline industry had feared expanding the ban could cut into revenue. Airline officials told Reuters they were concerned about adding enhanced security measures to all airports worldwide that have direct flights to the United States rather than focus them on airports where threats are highest. European airline groups said in a document reviewed by Reuters that if the threats are confirmed, the restrictions should be deployed to cover all EU departing flights, not just U.S.-bound flights. A TSA official removes a laptop from a bag for scanning using the Transport Security Administration's new Automated Screening Lane technology at Terminal 4 of JFK airport in New York City, U.S., May 17, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney Homeland security officials said Wednesday that those 10 airports can get off the list if they meet the new security requirements, but did not say how long it will take. U.S. airline stocks rose on Wednesday, with United Continental Holdings UAL.N closing up 1 percent, Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N) up 2 percent and American Airlines Group (AAL.O) up 1.6 percent. Kelly said last week he planned a “step by step” security enhancement plan that included short, medium-term and longer-term improvements that would take at least a year to implement fully.

– The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday introduced new security measures for international flights to the US in lieu of a complete ban on laptops, reports USA Today, which calls the measures a "massive escalation of airline security." The new rules will affect 180 airlines and approximately 325,000 passengers flying to the US every day. According to the Washington Post, DHS Secretary John Kelly says the new measures will "raise the bar" on security without being an "inconvenience" to travelers. “It is time that we raise the global baseline of aviation security," Kelly says. "We cannot play international whack-a-mole with each new threat.” DHS isn't giving specifics about the new security measures, but they will generally include more stringent screenings of electronics and passengers both inside the airport and on the tarmac. Intelligence that terrorists were finding new ways to hide bombs in electronics spurred the new measures. But airlines worried a ban on laptops would mean fewer business class travelers, who pay a lot more for tickets. DHS is still reserving the right to institute a ban on electronics larger than cellphones—both as carry-on items and in checked luggage—for airlines that fail to comply with the new security measures, Reuters reports. Sources say airlines have 21 days to implement new explosive screening measures and 120 days to institute other new security measures.