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GAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) — A small, private jet has crashed into a house in Maryland's Montgomery County on Monday, killing at least three people on board, authorities said. Preliminary information indicates at least three people were on board and didn't survive the Monday crash into home in Gaithersburg, a Washington, D.C. suburb, said Pete Piringer, a Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesman. He said a fourth person may have been aboard. Piringer said the jet crashed into one home around 11 a.m., setting it and two others on fire. Crews had the fire under control within an hour and were searching for anyone who may have been in the homes. Television news footage of the scene showed one home nearly destroyed, with a car in the driveway. Witnesses told television news crews that they saw the airplane appear to struggle to maintain altitude before going into a nosedive and crashing. An FAA spokesman said preliminary information shows the Embraer EMB-500/Phenom 100 twin-engine jet was on approach at the nearby Montgomery County Airpark. The National Transportation Safety Board is sending an investigator to the scene. ||||| Gemmell family (Photo: Facebook) GAITHERSBURG, Md. (WUSA9) -- The investigations into a plane crash that left six people dead in Gaithersburg on Monday evening are just beginning. A mother and her two young children are three of the six lives lost in the crash. Marie Gemmell, 36, her three-year-old son Cole and her infant-son Devin were inside their home when a corporate jet crashed into it. Their bodies were found on the second floor hours after the crash. The father and a third child were not home at the time of the crash. Michael Rosenberg was on the jet that crashed (Photo: Health Decisions) Three people on the jet were also killed, according to Montgomery County fire officials. One of those victims has been identified as Michael Rosenberg, CEO of Health Decisions. You can read their statement here. An Embraer EMB-500/Phenom 100 crashed into a house in the 19700 block of Drop Forge Lane off Snouffer School Road in the neighborhood of Hunters Woods around 10:45 a.m., according to the NTSB. The plane was coming from Chapel Hill, NC and approaching the Montgomery County Air Park. The NTSB has sent a go-team to the site, where three homes were damaged. Firefighters used foam to battle fires all around the scene. The fuselage of the jet is parallel to a second house, and the tail of the airplane is at the front door. One of the wings was catapulted into the Gemmell's house, causing a huge fire and the majority of the damage, according to the NTSB. Senior Investigator Timothy LeBaron is leading the go-team. Investigators are looking at operations, including crew experience, training and procedures, the functionality of the engines, the weather, air traffic control and more, NTSB spokesperson Robert L. Sumwalt said at a press confrence. "Our mission is to find out not only what happened, but why it happened because we want to make sure something like this never happens again," Sumwalt said. MORE: Woman says community feared plane crash NTSB investigators are currently collecting perishable evidence, not determining the cause. They'll be conducting interviews and documenting the wreckage. Investigators could be on the scene for three to seven days for what they call the "fact-finding" phase. The black box, which has recordings from the crash, has been recovered. It is in good condition and has been rushed to labs, Sumwalt said. The first call about the crash came in at 10:44 a.m. from the National Guard Armory for the report of an explosion, and units were on the scene in approximately seven minutes, Montgomery County Fire Chief Steve Lohr said at an initial press conference. Utility crews were also on the scene and Lorh said it is safe for residents in the area. Electricity has been temporarily cut off. Recordings of the 911-calls from the crash were released on Monday evening. In the recordings neighbors and witnesses describe the scene where the plane crashed in the Gaithersburg neighborhood. Recordings of the 911 calls from the Gaithersburg plane crash were released on Monday evening. "We just heard a giant explosion we looked out the window and there's... it looks like a house is on fire, we've got some people running over there to see if people are okay," one caller described. RAW: Fire Chief Steve Lohr speaks on plane crash A woman who was traveling into the area after taking a test at Montgomery College tells WUSA9 that she could see the smoke from the crash from I-370. As she got closer, she saw all the emergency response vehicles and called her husband. He told her that the smoke was coming from the area where her mother and stepfather lived and she says she got worried. She discovered the house that was struck was their neighbors' house. She says there are "three little ones" who live in that house. One person reported seeing the plane "wobble" before it crashed into the house. Other neighbors reported hearing repeated booms and feeling their houses shake from the impact of the plane. Something went wrong with the jet heading to the Montgomery County airport and it went into a house in Gaithersburg WUSA9 spoke with an eyewitness named Jocelyn Brown who said she first heard the plane sputtering, making a sound that planes that go over the area normally don't make flying over the houses. She says she and her mother became concerned and went to investigate. They then saw the plane hit the side of a house. She reported seeing a "mushroom effect of smoke" and also hearing three explosions after the plane hit. Jocelyn says they also heard screams in the area of the home. She says she does not know whether they were coming from inside the house or behind them. Jocelyn lives in the area and says she knows the mother that lives there. She described her as a "sweet woman" who walks with her kids in the area all the time and speaks to everyone. He said the plane sounded like it was "puttering" and then saw fire A woman posted video from the ground of the scene of the plane crash on YouTube. . The FAA has released the following information: "This is preliminary information about an Embraer EMB-500/Phenom 100 twin-engine jet that crashed one mile north of the Montgomery County Airport, Gaithersburg, MD at 11am today. The aircraft was on approach to Runway 14 at the airport when the accident occurred. Please contact local authorities for information on passengers and the situation on the ground. The FAA will investigate. We will update this statement when new information is available. " Photo of plane from FlightAware (Photo: FlightAware) An FAA source says the jet was waiting for a much slower single engine aircraft, possibly a Cessna, to make its turn so it could make its approach. That information has not been confirmed by the NTSB. The Montgomery County Air Park is within 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile of the crash. The airport does not have a tower, so communication would have been with Washington Air Traffic Control Section, not the airport. The FAA registry shows that the plane was a corporate Phenom jet with tail number N100EQ. It's registered to Sage Aviation LLC out of Chapel Hill, NC which makes replacement parts for the aviation industry. MORE: Gaithersburg plane crash at Drop Forge Lane, 3 houses suffering some sort of damage, this one the worst @WNEWpic.twitter.com/vihz4k5eYE — JimMacKayWNEW (@JimMacKayWNEW) December 8, 2014 Snouffer School Road was closed between Centerway Road and Goshen Road following the crash. Drivers and pedestrians are being urged to avoid the area. It is likely to remain closed throughout the night and possibly Tuesday. She says something has to be done about planes flying low directly over homes. Read or Share this story: http://on.wusa9.com/1A8PzKE

– A twin-engine Embraer jet that the FAA describes as "on approach to Runway 14" at the Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, Maryland, crashed into a home this morning, engulfing that home in flames and setting two others on fire. Three people are dead, but the count could grow. A Montgomery County Fire rep says three fliers were killed in the crash, but notes the corporate plane may have had a fourth person on board, reports the AP. A relative of the owner of the home that was hit tells WUSA 9 that a mother with three children pre-school age and under should have been home at the time; there's no word on the family's whereabouts. The crash occurred around 11am on Drop Forge Lane, and the fire was extinguished within an hour. Crews are now searching the wreckage. A witness noted the plane appeared to "wobble" before the crash; the airport is no more than 3/4 mile from the crash scene. NTSB and FAA will investigate.

Despite some news reports, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn't warn people against dressing up chickens for Halloween. (File Photo: KUTV) (KUTV) — Despite some news reports, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn't warn people against dressing up chickens for Halloween. The CDC stated in a media statement Thursday that despite news reports saying otherwise, people can dress up chickens in Halloween costumes. However, the public health institute does advise chicken owners to handle them carefully to keep their families and chickens safe and healthy. If you're handling any chickens during the spooky holiday, here are some tips: Always wash your hands after touching chickens or anything in the environment. Use running water and soap, and use alcohol-based sanitizer if you don't have instant access to a sink. Keep your chickens outside and never let them inside your home. Don't eat or drink in areas where the chickens live or roam. Don't kiss or snuggle with your birds, and don't touch your face immediately afterward. Children under 5 years old should not be in contact with chickens - young children are more likely to get sick because of their developing immune systems, and more likely to put their fingers or pacifiers and other items in their mouths. For more information on handling chickens and other poultry, visit www.cdc.gov. ||||| Media Statement For Immediate Release: Thursday, October 25, 2018 Contact: Media Relations, (404) 639-3286 Despite news reports to the contrary, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not warned people against dressing chickens in Halloween costumes. However, we do advise people with backyard or pet chickens to handle them carefully to keep their family and their chickens safe and healthy. Always wash your hands after touching chickens or anything in their environment. Running water and soap are best. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water aren’t available, and wash your hands thoroughly when you get to a sink. Keep chickens outdoors. Never bring them in your house. Don’t eat or drink in the area where the birds live or roam. Don’t kiss your birds or snuggle them and then touch your face or mouth. Children under 5 years old should not hold or touch chickens. Young children are more likely to get sick because their immune systems are still developing and they are more likely to put their fingers or pacifiers and other items into their mouths. More information about keeping backyard chickens and other poultry is available at https://www.cdc.gov/features/salmonellapoultry/index.html. ### U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICESExternal

– If you want to dress your chicken up for Halloween, the CDC wants you to know that it's just fine with you letting your avian freak flag fly, reports KUTV. In an actual news release meant to soothe those whose Halloween plans were thrown into emotional upheaval, the government health agency says that "despite news reports to the contrary," the CDC did not issue a warning against costumed poultry—though it does offer up some tips on safely handling your chickens. Those tips include washing your hands after touching the birds and refraining from kissing or snuggling them and then touching your mouth. Sorry, chickens. Carry on, America.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Egyptian state television is saying the unrest is "terrorism" The head of Egypt's armed forces has said that his message to the supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi is that "there is room for everyone". Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi urged them to help "rebuild the democratic path" and "integrate in the political process". But he also warned the military would not be silent in the face of violence. Later, at least 36 detained members of the Muslim Brotherhood were killed when they tried to escape during their transfer to a prison outside Cairo. Initially, the interior ministry said they died in an exchange of fire after some of them took a military officer hostage and the convoy of prison vehicles, transporting a total of 612 detainees to Abu Zaabal prison in Qalyubia province, was attacked by unidentified gunmen. But later the ministry said the prisoners died from the effects of inhaling tear gas, which was fired when the escaping detainees took a police officer hostage. He was freed, but was badly injured, it added. A legal source told the Reuters news agency that the Brotherhood members had suffocated in the back of a crammed police van. The interior ministry separately said so-called "people's committees", which have been set up by residents of some areas to provide security, would be banned because some had been used for vigilante activities. Crisis timeline 3 Jul: President Mohammed Morsi deposed by military after mass protests President Mohammed Morsi deposed by military after mass protests 4 Jul: Pro-Morsi protesters gather at the Rabaa al-Adawiya (above) and Nahda sites in Cairo Pro-Morsi protesters gather at the Rabaa al-Adawiya (above) and Nahda sites in Cairo 27 Jul: More than 70 people killed in clashes with security forces at Rabaa al-Adawiya More than 70 people killed in clashes with security forces at Rabaa al-Adawiya 14 Aug: Security forces break up both camps, leaving at least 638 people dead Security forces break up both camps, leaving at least 638 people dead 16 Aug: Muslim Brotherhood holds "day of anger" protest in Ramses Square, Cairo. Clashes leave at least 173 dead Muslim Brotherhood holds "day of anger" protest in Ramses Square, Cairo. Clashes leave at least 173 dead 17 Aug: Siege at al-Fath mosque in Cairo; 79 killed in political violence nationwide Siege at al-Fath mosque in Cairo; 79 killed in political violence nationwide 18 Aug: 36 detained Brotherhood members are killed while attempting to escape prison vehicles Timeline: Pro-Morsi protests Who is who in Muslim Brotherhood In pictures: Cairo mosque siege Meanwhile, Mena reported that 79 people were killed and 549 wounded in violence across the country on Saturday. That raised the nationwide death toll since Wednesday, when security forces forcibly cleared two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo, to more than 830, including 70 police and soldiers. 'Torching the nation' Gen Sisi deposed Mr Morsi on 3 July, saying the military could not ignore the millions of people who had been demanding the resignation of Egypt's first democratically elected president. Before security forces launched the operation to disperse the Cairo sit-ins, the armed forces chief asked millions of people to take to the streets to give him a "mandate" to fight "violence and terrorism", an apparent reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement to which Mr Morsi belongs. In a speech to army and police officers on Sunday, Gen Sisi warned that the military would not allow further violence after the latest unrest. "We will not stand by silently watching the destruction of the country and the people or the torching the nation and terrorising the citizens," he quoted as saying on the military's Facebook page. But the general also appeared to strike a conciliatory tone towards his opponents, urging them to join in the political process. "There is room for everyone in Egypt, and we are cautious about every drop of Egyptian blood." The Brotherhood has called for daily demonstrations since security forces cleared its protest camps in Cairo on Wednesday and declared a state of emergency. More than 600 people were killed during the operations, including dozens of security forces personnel, and at least another 173 died on Friday during a "day of rage" called by the Brotherhood . Brotherhood members detained Also on Sunday, the interim government met to discuss the unrest. Afterwards, Information Minister Dorreya Sharaf al-Din said the cabinet wished to express its regret the loss of life, but would continue to confront "terrorism" firmly. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Bethany Bell asks Cairo residents for their views on the political conflict engulfing Egypt She added that the cabinet would name several streets and squares after soldiers killed in the recent unrest, and review the legal status of al-Jazeera TV, which she accused of threatening security and stability. The cabinet is also believed to have discussed Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi's proposal for the legal dissolution of the Brotherhood. The 85-year-old Islamist movement was banned by Egypt's military rulers in 1954, but registered itself as a non-governmental organisation in March in response to a court case bought by opponents who contested its legal status. The Brotherhood also has a legally registered political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, which was set up in June 2011 as a "non-theocratic" group after the uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak from power. At a news conference on Sunday, the interim Foreign Minister, Nabil Fahmy, showed video clips apparently showing armed protesters firing on security forces in Cairo. He said the government was faced with an attempt to "shake the foundation of the state". More than 1,000 Brotherhood members have been detained in raids since Wednesday, with officials saying bombs, weapons and ammunition have been seized. Some 300 were held in several cities on Sunday, including Cairo, Alexandria, Assiut and Suez, security sources said. EU concerns Earlier, the European Union said it would be reviewing its relationship with Egypt's interim authorities at an emergency meeting next week. Image caption Footage from Ismailiya shows a Morsi supporter confronting tanks on Friday. The unverified video shows the man then being shot and falling The presidents of the European Commission and European Council said in a joint statement calls for democracy and fundamental rights "cannot be disregarded, much less washed away in blood". It added that the violence and killings "cannot be justified nor condoned". The EU has pledged several billion dollars in loans and grants to Egypt. Mr Fahmy sought to pre-empt any attempt by the West to compel the interim authorities to back down by announcing that he would be reviewing all foreign assistance. "I want to determine what is useful and what is not and what aid is being used to pressure Egypt and whether this aid has good intentions and credibility. We will proceed based on our findings," he told reporters. Correction 19 August 2013: An earlier version of this story which said Muslim Brotherhood members and their supporters had attacked churches, police stations and the homes and businesses of Christians should have attributed this as a claim made by the authorities. ||||| Kuwait to deport nine Egyptians over protest against Cairo crackdown - security source KUWAIT - Kuwait plans to deport nine Egyptians who demonstrated against the Egyptian army crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood that has killed hundreds of people, a security source said on Monday. Kuwait, a major oil exporter allied to the United States, gave Egypt $4 billion in aid last month. It was part of a $12 billion package offered by Gulf Arab states to shore up Egypt's economy after the army ousted the country's first freely elected president, the Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi, following protests against his rule. Dozens of Egyptians joined Kuwaiti activists who had organised demonstrations at the Egyptian Consulate and the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait last week to protest against the deaths caused by the forcible breaking up of pro-Mursi protest camps in Cairo. The security source, who declined to be identified, said the nine slated for deportation were "prominent participants suspected of incitement and chanting hostile slogans". He did not rule out further expulsions, saying the investigation was still going on. Gulf Arab states often show little tolerance towards expatriates taking part in unlicensed protests. "For us, gatherings are banned, regardless of the reasons or the motives behind them," the security source told Reuters. (Reporting by Ahmed Hagagy; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Pravin Char) ||||| Egypt's military leader vowed Sunday that the army will not tolerate further political violence after nationwide clashes that left hundreds dead, as security forces detained Muslim Brotherhood members in raids aimed at disrupting planned rallies. A friend shouts "Allah is the greatest" during a burial service for Ammar Badie in Cairo on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013. Badie, the son of Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader Mohammed Badie, was killed by... (Associated Press) A friend of Ammar Badie, 38, killed Friday by Egyptian security forces during clashes in Ramses Square, and also son of Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader Mohammed Badie, comforts a relative while... (Associated Press) Friends and relatives of Ammar Badie, 38, killed Friday by Egyptian security forces during clashes in Ramses Square, and also son of Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader Mohammed Badie, carry his coffin... (Associated Press) Friends and relatives of Ammar Badie, 38, killed Friday by Egyptian security forces during clashes in Ramses Square, and also son of Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader Mohammed Badie, carry his coffin... (Associated Press) Friends of Ammar Badie, 38, killed Friday by Egyptian security forces during clashes in Ramses Square, and also son of Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader Mohammed Badie, pray while attending his burial... (Associated Press) A friend of Ammar Badie, 38, killed by Egyptian security forces Friday during clashes in Ramses Square, and also son of Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader Mohammed Badie, comforts a relative while... (Associated Press) An Egyptian woman, a relative of Ammar Badie, 38, killed Friday by Egyptian security forces during clashes in Ramses Square, and also son of Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader Mohammed Badie, mourns... (Associated Press) Friends of Ammar Badie, 38, killed Friday by Egyptian security forces during clashes in Ramses Square, and also son of Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader Mohammed Badie, comfort each other while attending... (Associated Press) Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, who led the July 3 coup that toppled President Mohammed Morsi, again said the army has no intention of seizing power in the Arab world's most populous country. El-Sissi removed Morsi after four days of mass rallies by millions of Egyptians who demanded the president step down. "We will not stand by silently watching the destruction of the country and the people or the torching the nation and terrorizing the citizens," he said in a speech aired on state television. The general said that the military didn't seek power but instead "have the honor to protect the people's will _ which is much dearer (than) ruling Egypt." El-Sissi also said Islamists must be included in the country's politics moving forward. A military timetable calls for the nation's constitution to be amended and for presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in 2014. "We have given many chances ... to end the crisis peacefully and call for the followers of the former regime to participate in rebuilding the democratic track and integrate in the political process and the future map instead of confrontations and destroying the Egyptian state," he told a gathering of top military commanders and police chiefs. El-Sissi's remarks come ahead of an anticipated harsher stance by the military-backed government toward the Brotherhood. The Cabinet held an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss potentially banning the group, a long-outlawed organization that swept to power in the country's first democratic elections a year ago. A possible ban _ which authorities say would be implemented over the group's use of violence _ would be a repeat of the decades-long struggle between the state and the Brotherhood. It also would drain the group's financial resources and allow for mass arrests of its members. That likely would diminish the chances of a negotiated solution to the crisis and push it again underground. The Brotherhood, however, has shown no signs of backing down. Under the banner of an anti-coup alliance, the group said it will hold a demonstration in front of the Supreme Constitutional Court in southern Cairo later Sunday. Authorities already stationed armored vehicles and troops at the building, which could turn into another focal point of street violence. More than 800 people have been killed nationwide since Wednesday's dismantling of two encampments of Morsi supporters in Cairo _ an act that sparked fierce clashes. Some 70 police officers were killed in clashes with protesters or retaliatory attacks during the same period, according to the Interior Ministry. In an attempt to cripple the Brotherhood's protest plans, authorities carried out raids early Sunday morning, detaining at least 300 mid-level officials and field operatives in several cities, according to security officials and group statements. In Egypt's second-largest city Alexandria, the Brotherhood said on its official website that security forces stormed houses of 34 officials and former lawmakers, but only arrested seven people. Among those targeted was Medhat el-Haddad, the brother of top Morsi's aide Essam el-Haddad. In Assiut, 320 kilometers (200 miles) south of Cairo, 163 of the group's officials and operatives were rounded up in different towns in the province, security officials said. They said those arrested face charges of instigating violence and orchestrating attacks on police stations and churches. In the city of Suez, nine people were arrested after being caught on film attacking army vehicles, burning churches and assaulting Christian-owned stores, officials said. In ancient southern city of Luxor, more than 20 Brotherhood senior officials were detained, officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly to journalists. The Brotherhood faces increasing public criticism and blame over the ongoing violence in Egypt. Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, the powerful head of Al-Azhar mosque, Sunni Islam's main seat of learning, issued an audio statement asking Brotherhood members to stop the violence. "The scenes of violence will not grant you any rights and the bloodshed nor chaos spreading across the country will give you no legitimacy," el-Tayeb said. El-Tayeb supported the military coup that ousted Morsi. The violence in Egypt also has sparked deep concerns worldwide. In a joint statement Sunday, the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council said it was the responsibility of the army and the interim government to end the violence, warning against the use of force. They said EU will "urgently review in the coming days its relations with Egypt." "We regret deeply that international efforts and proposals for building bridges and establishing an inclusive political process ... were set aside and a course of confrontation was instead pursued," the statement by Jose Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy read. They warned: "This path will not succeed." Nearly two weeks of international diplomacy by the EU, U.S. and Arab nations failed to broker a peaceful end to the standoff. Egypt also lost one of the few doves in the country's military-backed administration as Mohamed ElBaradei, who resigned as vice president in protest of the use of force against Morsi's supporters, left Cairo for Vienna on Sunday. ElBaradei declined to speak to journalists as he left Egypt, where pro-military news outlets have become increasingly hostile toward him.

– The Muslim Brotherhood today canceled a massive protest against Egypt's military, saying the move was prompted by "the presence of army snipers" positioned along the planned route in the streets of Cairo. Another protest march to the Supreme Constitutional Court was to go forward, reports al-Jazeera, and security there was already heightened. It's another tumultuous day in Egypt; a look around at the latest: Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi spoke publicly for the first time since Wednesday's crackdown, saying, "We will not stand by silently watching the destruction of the country and the people or the torching the nation and terrorizing the citizens." He denied the military sought power, notes the AP, but said it has "the honor to protect the people's will—which is much dearer (than) ruling Egypt." The official death toll has hit 830, Reuters reports, citing state media. That number includes 79 people yesterday. Egypt's interim Cabinet is meeting, reports the BBC, and a decision on whether to ban the Brotherhood is expected. Meanwhile, security forces are targeting members of the Brotherhood in an attempt to de-claw protests, and carried out raids this morning that detained some 300 officials. Mohamed ElBaradei, who last week resigned as vice president in protest of the crackdown, left the country today. He headed for Vienna.

Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Miley Cyrus became a household name for families when her Disney Channel television show, "Hannah Montana," premiered in 2006. From there, Cyrus quickly rose to pop star fame and has been changing her appearance ever since. Hide Caption 1 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – The future pop star with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, in October 1994 in Memphis, Tennessee. Hide Caption 2 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – The father and daughter team make a New York appearance for the Disney Channel in February 2006. Hide Caption 3 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus performs during the Radio Disney Totally 10 Birthday Concert in July 2006 in Anaheim, California. Hide Caption 4 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus chats with VJ Susie Castillo during an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live in February 2007 at MTV Studios in New York City. Hide Caption 5 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus starred with Emily Osmand in an episode of "Hannah Montana" in June 2007. Hide Caption 6 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus appears at the 2007 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. Hide Caption 7 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – The actress arrives at the Teen Vogue Young Hollywood Party at Vibiana in September 2007 in Los Angeles. Hide Caption 8 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus arrives at a film premiere in Hollywood in January 2008. Hide Caption 9 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus performs for ABC's "Good Morning America" at New York's Bryant Park in July 2008. Hide Caption 10 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus appears at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in Westwood, California, in 2009. Hide Caption 11 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus performs during her "Wonder World" tour at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in November 2009 in Uniondale, New York. Hide Caption 12 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus and her mother, Tish Cyrus, at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in January 2010 in Los Angeles. Hide Caption 13 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus impersonates singer Justin Bieber in a Saturday Night Live skit with Vanessa Bayer in March 2011. Hide Caption 14 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus performs at a music festival in June 2010 in Arganda del Rey, Spain. Hide Caption 15 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth arrive at the 2012 People's Choice Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in January 2012 in Los Angeles. Hide Caption 16 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – The singer arrives at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas in May 2012. Hide Caption 17 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus poses on the red carpet for the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles in September 2012. Hide Caption 18 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – The grown-up Cyrus performs during the "VH1 Divas" concert in Los Angeles in December 2012. Hide Caption 19 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus attends the Costume Institute Gala for the "PUNK: Chaos to Couture" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6 in New York City. Hide Caption 20 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus winks during an interview at a radio station in Bad Vilbel near Frankfurt, Germany, on July 22. Hide Caption 21 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus shows off her moves with Robin Thicke during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards in Brooklyn, New York, on Sunday, August 25. Hide Caption 22 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus is seen leaving her London hotel on September 11. Hide Caption 23 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus performs onstage during the iHeart Radio Music Festival Village on September 21 in Las Vegas. Hide Caption 24 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Taran Killam and Cyrus pose in a promo for her upcoming "Saturday Night Live" episode on October 5. Hide Caption 25 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Bobby Moynihan, left to right, Vanessa Bayer and Cyrus perform a skit on "Saturday Night Live" on October 5, in which they mock Cyrus' VMA performance. Hide Caption 26 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus smokes a marijuana joint onstage during the MTV Europe Music Awards in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on November 10. Hide Caption 27 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus performs on the European competition show "The X Factor" in London on November 17. Hide Caption 28 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus opens her Bangerz Tour on February 14, 2014 in Vancouver, Canada. The stage features a giant image of Cyrus' face with her signature exposed tongue serving as a slide. Hide Caption 29 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus performs with false teeth during her Bangerz Tour at Rogers Arena on February 14, 2014 in Vancouver, Canada. Hide Caption 30 of 32 Photos: Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus rides an oversized hotdog during the Bangerz Tour opening concert in Vancouver, Canada. Hide Caption 31 of 32 ||||| Miley Cyrus is targeted in second robbery in seven months as thieves make off with $100k Maserati and jewelry For the second time in seven months, Miley Cyrus has been targeted in a home burglary. Two thieves hopped the fence of the 21-year-old singer's Los Angeles residence and made off with her 2014 Maserati Quattroporte and some jewelry, police have confirmed. The burglary occurred sometime on Friday, and around 4 p.m. authorities were notified that the luxury car and other items were missing from the home nestled in the hills of LA's Studio City area. Scroll down for video Burglary victim: Miley Cyrus' stolen Maserati was found, TMZ confirmed on Monday Apparently a man and a woman scaled the property's enclosure and entered the home through the garage, Los Angeles police said in a statement to the LA Times. Miley, who wasn't home at the time of the burglary and is currently on the European leg of her Bangerz tour, has been seen on occasion driving around town in a new white Maserati Quattroporte, which start at $102,500. The Wrecking Ball hitmaker - who had $100,000 worth of purses and jewellery stolen from the same Studio City mansion last year - has been working with police after her assistant found personal items had been moved at the property over the weekend. According to TMZ.com, Miley's assistant came home and noticed some of the star's belongings weren't in the same place. Luxury car: Miley was spotted in the front passenger seat of her white 2014 Maserati Quattroporte last August. Two people are said to have been arrested in connection with the theft of the car, which was then abandoned Defiant: The pop singer put out her tongue in another Instagram posted on Sunday Say ahhh: Miley may have lost her fancy set of wheels but not her sense of gross humour A source said there was once again no sign of forced entry to the property and officers are looking through the 21-year-old singer's CCTV footage. A fingerprint unit was also set to visit the star's property to look for clues. Miley was clearly upset on Sunday as she took to Twitter to post: ‘ya know when you just cry in the shower for no reason (sic),’ although she didn't say whether or not her mood was related to the possible break-in. Sad: Miley was obviously upset about the missing car and jewelry when she tweeted on Sunday, 'ya know when you just cry in the shower for no reason'; the singer was pictured in Monte Carlo on May 27 Second time: Last year she had $100,000 worth of purses and jewellery stolen from her mansion in Studio City, Los Angeles The pop star's home was targeted in November 2013 on the weekend of her 21st birthday and thieves stole her vintage Chanel purse, which featured in photographs when Miley was seen smoking a suspicious-looking roll-up cigarette at the European Music Awards last year. Sources said at the time she was ‘really shaken up’ and ‘extremely upset’ after the personal items were taken in broad daylight and she also avoided running into an armed intruder in 2012 when a man forced his way into her home carrying a pair of scissors. Luckily, the singer wasn't in at the time and her employees were able to call the police quickly and have the man arrested. Tough start: Things were looking up for Miley after she picked up an award at the World Music Awards in Monaco this week It’s been a tough start to the year for Miley who tragically lost her pet dog Floyd back in April. The singer, who is currently believed to be single, found the situation very hard to deal with and openly wept on stage as she sang to an inflatable dog made to resemble Floyd. She was also forced to cancel two shows after she was hospitalized for a severe allergic reaction to antibiotics back in April. A spokesperson for Miley has been contacted for comment. Missing: It's thought the police were alerted after some of her personal items appeared to go missing

– They came in by climbing a fence, but they certainly didn't exit that way: Los Angeles police are searching for a pair of burglars they say broke into Miley Cyrus' San Fernando Valley home and got away with jewelry and a luxury car Friday. Police say a man and a woman scaled a fence and got inside the house and garage while no one was home. CNN says a 2014 white, four-door Maserati Quattroporte and an unspecified amount of jewelry were taken. The Daily Mail notes the car comes with a starting price tag of $102,500—and points out it's not the only six-figure loss to hit Cyrus: Some $100,000 worth of jewelry and purses were taken from the same house last year.

A group of white nationalists, including prominent alt-right leader Richard Spencer, held a torch-lit rally Saturday in Charlottesville, CBS affiliate WCAV reports. The marchers chanted "you will not replace us" and "we will be back" at Emancipation Park, according to WCAV. The rally only lasted about 20 minutes before they dispersed. Charlottesville mayor Mike Signer tweeted Saturday night that the city is looking into legal options. Another despicable visit by neo-Nazi cowards. You’re not welcome here! Go home! Meantime we’re looking at all our legal options. Stay tuned. — Mike Signer (@MikeSigner) October 8, 2017 Meanwhile, three people were arrested following a protest during a bicentennial celebration at the University of Virginia on Friday. The star-studded show featured performances by Leslie Odom Jr., the star of Broadway's "Hamilton" and the Goo Goo Dolls. The Daily Progress reports that as journalist Katie Couric, a university alumna, was introducing the next act, three activists climbed in front of a screen. They unfurled a banner that read, "200 years of white supremacy." The three people arrested were students, according to WCAV. The university has faced criticism from some students over its response to this summer's white nationalist rallies in the city. Critics have also called on the school to do more to acknowledge racist parts of its past. The incidents come almost two months after a white nationalist rally at the same location in Charlottesville that left one woman dead and at least 19 others injured. A torch-lit rally was held the night before. ||||| Thank you for Reading. Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. A subscription is required to continue reading. Thank you for reading 5 free articles. You can come back at the end of your 30-day period for another 5 free articles, or you can purchase a subscription and continue to enjoy valuable local news and information. If you are a current 7-day subscriber you are granted an all-access pass to the website and digital newspaper replica. Please click Sign Up to subscribe, or Login if you are already a member. Thank you for reading 5 free articles. You can come back at the end of your 30-day period for another 5 free articles, or you can purchase a subscription and continue to enjoy valuable local news and information. If you are a current 7-day subscriber you are granted an all-access pass to the website and digital newspaper replica. Please click below to Get Started.

– White supremacists returned to Charlottesville on Saturday night, again marching in front of a statue of Robert E. Lee with tiki torches in hand, reports the Daily Progress, in what Mayor Mike Signer termed "another despicable visit by neo-Nazi cowards." Alt-right leader Richard Spencer led the demonstration, which he called "Charlottesville 3.0;" it lasted five to 10 minutes and was attended by 40 to 50 protesters who chanted "we will be back" and "you will not replace us." One city councilor is calling for the white supremacists to be arrested, saying, "When White Supremacists Make odes to White Power, and clearly use torches to send a message to our community that they are the superior race while trying to strike fear and intimidate others, they are breaking the law." Three students were arrested Friday at the University of Virginia as it celebrated its bicentennial; they leapt onstage and unfurled a banner reading "200 years of white supremacy," notes CBS News.

An air tanker battling a wildfire at Yosemite National Park crashed Tuesday afternoon, coming to rest on a granite cliff. The pilot was found dead, officials said. By Tuesday night, rescuers had climbed to the wreckage, which was perched on a 2,500-foot escarpment near El Portal, the park's west entrance. A National Park Service search and rescue team was the first to set out for the site in the late afternoon, lighting a path with headlamps. Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the agency's S2-T tanker crashed while fighting the 130-acre Dog Rock fire. Debris from the crash was scattered on Highway 140, which was closed because of the blaze. Berlant said it was believed the pilot was alone in the plane, which came down in an area where many Yosemite employees reside and few tourists visit. The cause of the crash has not been determined. Officials did not identify the pilot or his home base. Berlant said the pilot worked for DynCorp International, which also maintains Cal Fire's planes. The Dog Rock fire was first reported about 2:45 p.m. The tanker was among a handful of aircraft fighting the blaze, which broke out on El Portal Road between the park's boundary and the Arch Rock entrance station, officials said. Fire in Yosemite National Park Los Angeles Times Map shows location of Dog Rock fire, which an air tanker crashed while battling Tuesday, killing the pilot. Map shows location of Dog Rock fire, which an air tanker crashed while battling Tuesday, killing the pilot. (Los Angeles Times) Word of Tuesday's crash spread quickly through the small and tight-knit community of fire aviation. "This is a stunning development," said Bill Gabbert, a wildfire expert who operates a popular website, Wildfire Today. "Any crash is a huge deal." Attacking fires from the air is extremely dangerous, and firefighting planes have crashed. The last time a Cal Fire air tanker crashed was in 2001, when two tankers collided while fighting a fire in Mendocino County, killing both pilots. The pilot is usually alone in the aircraft, but there are times when a mechanic or a pilot in training are onboard, Cal Fire officials said. Cal Fire air tanker Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times An S2-T air tanker drops retardant on a fire at Camp Pendleton in 2011. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection owns 23 of the small planes, one of which crashed Tuesday at Yosemite National Park. An S2-T air tanker drops retardant on a fire at Camp Pendleton in 2011. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection owns 23 of the small planes, one of which crashed Tuesday at Yosemite National Park. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times) The small S2-T tankers are the workhorses of the U.S. firefighting fleet. The U.S. Forest Service — and a few state agencies such as Cal Fire — obtained the twin-engine planes from the Pentagon's "boneyard" as much as 50 years after they were used by the military to chase submarines. The planes' safety record has been under scrutiny in recent years. Cal Fire's tankers have been retrofitted for firefighting, adding turboprop engines and fitting reservoirs that carry 1,200 gallons of retardant. The small planes are most effective for "initial attack," in the early hours of a fire when managers seek to prevent small fires from growing to unmanageable size. Retardant drops do not put out fires but slow the flames' progress, allowing ground crews to move in and more safely create fire lines. When the payload of retardant is dropped, the plane returns to a remote base to refuel and take on more retardant. Small tankers are prized for their ability to make a number of sorties each day and for their maneuverability, particularly in California's canyon fires. Gabbert called S-2Ts dependable. "I'm not aware of a chronic problems," he said. California is one of a handful of states to maintain a fleet of firefighting planes. Cal Fire has 23 S-2T tankers operated by DynCorp, which also provides the pilots. The McLean, Va., company's performance with Cal Fire was awarded the Diamond Award of Excellence in 2012 and 2013 by the Federal Aviation Administration. The federal fleet has been shrinking, as the Forest Service seeks to modernize the planes. The agency has for some time sought to entice the aviation industry to build a dedicated firefighting plane, to no avail. adolfo.flores@latimes.com Twitter: @AdolfoFlores3 julie.cart@latimes.com Twitter: @julie_cart ||||| An air tanker battling a fire burning on the west side of Yosemite National Park crashed Tuesday afternoon, authorities said, underscoring the danger of wildfires fueled by the historic drought that have broken out across the state in recent months. The plane, a Grumman S2 Tracker that is operated by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and is designed to drop flame retardant from its belly, crashed about 4:30 p.m. near Arch Rock, said Ashley Mayer, a Yosemite spokeswoman. At about 6:45 p.m, Cal Fire reported that rescue teams had reached the crash site in rugged terrain and were working to determine the condition of the pilot. It was not clear whether anyone was on the plane besides the pilot, but the Grumman S2 Tracker is usually flown with only a pilot aboard, said Alyssa √Smith, a Cal Fire spokeswoman. The Dog Rock Fire broke out on the west side of Yosemite on Tuesday afternoon, prompting road closures and evacuations as it quickly scorched more than 130 acres, officials said. The fire was reported around 2:45 p.m. off El Portal Road — the continuation of Highway 140 that leads into Yosemite — between the park boundary and the Arch Rock entrance station. About 50 people were evacuated from the community of Foresta, officials said, and El Portal Road between the park boundary and the junction with Big Oak Flat Road was closed to all traffic. Visitors trying to get to Yosemite Valley could still take Wawona Road, which is an extension of Highway 41, or Big Oak Flat Road, an extension of Highway 120. Cal Fire has been using aircraft to fight fires since the 1950s, beginning with World War II biplanes and torpedo bombers. It now has a fleet of more than 50 aircraft, including helicopters and planes. Some drop water or retardant and others are used to plan strategy and drop off firefighters. The agency began using the S2 Trackers in the 1970s, and sped up its transition to the former military planes after six accidents within a two year period involving torpedo bombers. The S2 Trackers were originally built as an aircraft carrier-based, anti-submarine warfare plane. Cal Fire now has about two dozen of the newest version of the S2 Tracker, which hauls up to 1,200 gallons of retardant at a time and can travel in excess of 300 mph. They are used when the agency needs to quickly drop retardant on advancing blazes. The most recent aircraft-related death at Cal Fire occurred in 2006, when a spotter plane crashed in the Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest in Tulare County, killing the two people on board. Federal investigators found the cause was pilot error. Staff writer Marisa Lagos contributed to this story.

– An air tanker fighting a wildfire at Yosemite National Park mysteriously crashed yesterday, killing the pilot, the Los Angeles Times reports. A spokesman for the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says it's believed the pilot was alone in the plane and that he worked for DynCorp International, a contractor that provides planes to California's firefighting forces. Rescue efforts were initially hampered due to the crash site's location: the top of a 2,500-foot cliff. An FAA spokesman notes that the plane crashed "under unknown circumstances," CNN reports. The pilot—whose name his family asked to be withheld until other loved ones are notified—was battling the Dog Rock fire, which has already raged over 130 acres and prompted park officials to evacuate at least 60 homes, notes CNN. The S-2T tanker that crashed was one of 26 that Cal Fire bought nearly 20 years ago from the Department of Defense, souping them up "with modern, powerful turboprop engines" that made them "faster, safer, and more maneuverable." The air tankers can speed around a fire site at more than 300mph and dump 1,200 gallons of fire retardant at once, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Although a wildfire expert tells the Times that the S-2Ts are "dependable," the newspaper notes that the US Forest Service has been pushing for a plane specifically designed for firefighting. (This Alaska wildfire was bigger than the city of Chicago.)

Radiohead have always sounded like a band in constant motion: every album has seemed like an agitated shift from the last (XL) Last Tuesday, the world was treated to the improbable spectacle of tastemaking US music website Pitchfork earnestly trying to explain 1960s and 70s UK kids’ show Trumpton to its American readers. Their London-based contributing editor was drafted in, the better to elucidate the importance of Pugh, Pugh and Barney McGrew, as was the son-in-law of the show’s 96-year-old creator, whose solitary quote – “I’m not aware of anything” – winningly suggested a man quite keen to get the bloke from Pitchfork off the phone. Elsewhere, parallels were drawn between Trumpton and what might become of America were Donald Trump to become president, which feels like rather a harsh judgment on the seemingly benign regime of the mayor and Mr Troop the town clerk. What do you think of Radiohead's new album? Share your reviews Read more This all happened because Radiohead had premiered a video based on Trumpton’s stop-frame animation for a compelling mesh of chattering high-maintenance strings and ominous bass and drum thunder called Burn The Witch, the first track to be released from their ninth studio album, A Moon Shaped Pool. You could possibly accuse the Pitchfork piece of over-thinking things a bit – it may well be that the band and director Chris Hopewell chose to depict Trumpton-ites immolating a bowler-hatted outsider in a wicker man as “a pointed critique of nativism-embracing leaders across the UK and Europe”, but there’s also the chance they just thought it was funny – but the fact that it exists at all tells you something about the unique position Radiohead continue to hold. Artistically at least, these are supposed to be thin times for rock music, particularly rock of the stadium-filling variety. The really important, epochal, provocative stuff – the music that, to use a ghastly phrase, carries the conversation – is clearly happening in hip hop and R&B. With one exception: alone among their commercial peers, Radiohead are held to not just release albums but make grand artistic statements worth dissecting and poring over in the same way as the output of Kendrick Lamar or Beyonce. Certainly, no one’s falling over themselves to decode the politics of Coldplay’s releases. Listening to A Moon Shaped Pool, you can see why. However much their style bears certain hallmarks – Thom Yorke’s keening vocal shiver and what you might charitably describe as a fairly glum bearing among them – Radiohead have always sounded like a band in constant motion: every album has seemed like an agitated shift from the last, as if they were too neurotic to rest on their laurels even if they wanted to. Certainly, A Moon Shaped Pool is noticeably different to its predecessor, 2011’s patchy King Of Limbs. You’d hesitate to call it more poppy – this is still an album on which standard verse-chorus structures are very much subject to subsidence, and on which the instruments buried deep in the mix frequently seem to be playing an entirely different song to those in the foreground – but it’s certainly sharper and more focused. There’s nothing as slippery and unclear as King Of Limbs’ Bloom or Feral. They seem as fascinated by sonic textures as they do by actual songwriting – the weirdly uplifting moment towards the end of Ful Stop (sic), when the song’s muffled sound suddenly becomes bright and trebly, as if a DJ has turned the eq knob on his mixer to the right – but it’s not an album that feels lost in experimentation. The abundance of sonic intrigue is matched by the quantity of beautiful tunes: the fact that True Love Waits, a track that dates back to the less knotty era of their 1995 album The Bends, fits perfectly in the line-up of songs tells you something about their unabashed melodic richness. There’s something pretty dazzling about the way Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor combines two of what you might call Radiohead’s extracurricular interests, Jonny Greenwood’s soundtrack work and the electronica Thom Yorke plays when DJing – soft explosions of white noise and a distorted keyboard line are slowly overwhelmed by a luscious string arrangement – but there’s something equally dazzling about the plaintively lovely tune that floats over folky acoustic guitar picking and a vaguely Latin shuffle beat on Present Tense. The simple prettiness of the piano figure that runs through Daydreaming battles it out with unsettling scrapes of backwards vocal that sometimes sound like oblique harmonies, but more often like someone struggling for breath. Identikit, meanwhile, wrongfoots the listener entirely: it initially sounds like a studio jam session that made it on to the album through some kind of clerical error – snatches of vocal and scrabbling guitar, drums treated with dub reggae effects – before suddenly pulling into focus: a hook that immediately brands itself on to your brain, an agitated, thrilling guitar solo. It is tempting to say that all this fidgety invention comes as a welcome distraction from the suffocating gloom of the lyrics, cursed as the latter are with a worldview that frequently sees any kind of personal happiness as merely the result of ignorance, wilful or otherwise: “dreamers they never learn”, “we are helpless to resist”, “I’ll drown my beliefs to your babies”, “we are happy just to serve”, “there’s nothing left inside that we all can love … I don’t want to know”. That said, you do find yourself wondering if Radiohead’s collective tongue might not occasionally be wedged in their collective cheek, if, as with the video for Burn The Witch, they might not sometimes be parodying their austere image as rock’s premier harbingers of doom. “Don’t get heavy, keep it light”, offers Present Tense. The introduction to Glass Eyes is a thing of beauty and unalloyed pleasure, played on a piano treated with digital effects until it sounds like it’s been submerged beneath rippling water, at least until Yorke slopes into view, his face like the proverbial slapped arse. “Hey, it’s me,” he mournfully intones and immediately you think: uh-oh, here we go. And so it proves: “a frightening place, faces are concrete grey … panic is coming on strong”. Facebook Twitter Pinterest A scene from the Radiohead video Burn the Witch. Photograph: Radiohead/Youtube If the thought of Radiohead occasionally playing it for LOLs is too mind-blowing to bear, you’ll have to content yourself with the occasional chinks of light amid the murk. There’s Desert Island Disk with its suggestion that “different types of love are possible” and The Numbers, which is also that rarest of things, a Radiohead track that doesn’t just vaguely resemble another artist’s work (anyone still intent on depicting Radiohead as a latterday Pink Floyd might feel their ears prick up at Decks Dark’s burst of Atom Heart Mother-ish choral vocals) but actually seems to be a direct and obvious homage to something else, or possibly two things: the resemblance of the tumbling piano parts to those on John Martyn’s 1971 instrumental Glistening Glyndebourne might be purely coincidental, but the similarity of the intense orchestration, circling bassline and loose-limbed funk rhythm to Melody, the opening track of Serge Gainsbourg’s 1970 Historie De Melody Nelson, definitely is not. They’re certainly not the first people to mine that song’s arrangement for inspiration, but it says something about Radiohead’s inventiveness that they can warp music already plundered by everyone from Beck to Belle and Sebastian into something that sounds entirely their own. Moreover, the high-drama swells of strings fit the lyrical message. Radiohead’s previous attempts at creating a rousing call to arms have been hobbled by their innate pessimism, as exemplified by 2001’s You and Whose Army?, on which Thom Yorke somehow contrived to sound utterly deflated while offering Tony Blair out for a punch-up in time-honoured “come on then” style. Here, however, the stuff about how the future is inside us and people have the power sounds authentically stirring. It also sounds like Radiohead achieving something they’ve never achieved before, a quarter of a century into their career: long may their neuroses keep them in constant motion. ||||| Nearly nine years after Radiohead gifted In Rainbows on unsuspecting fans in 2007, their seismic, no-label, price-point-be-damned surprise release has been co-opted by an exhaustive number of major-label artists. This year alone has seen pop royalty like Kanye, Rihanna and Beyoncé springing albums on their fans, and in the past 48 hours James Blake and Death Grips have also unleashed new albums. Radiohead's ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool, popped into view a few hours ago and for a band that once pleaded for "no surprises," Pool's most thrilling surprise isn't its Mother's Day release, but that Radiohead's least rock-oriented album in the 21st century doubles as its most gorgeous and desolate album to date. Related Radiohead's 'Burn the Witch' Clip Inspired by Refugee Crisis "They wanted the video to contrast with what they're playing and to wake people up a bit," animator says In the five years since The King of Limbs, the members of the group have explored numerous wormholes on their own: Phil Selway delved into his singer-songwriter side; Jonny Greenwood waxed classical, minimalist and got his A Passage to India on with last year's Junun. Meanwhile, Thom Yorke ran amok both with moody electronic projects and the more polyrhythmic dynamism of rock supergroup Atoms for Peace. But while The King of Limbs (and even parts of In Rainbows) at times sounded like five musicians pulling in as many directions, there's a stunning eloquence and cohesion on A Moon Shaped Pool, its many parts and trajectories aimed towards the same goal. Radiohead have tantalized zealots with portions of first single "Burn the Witch" for nearly a decade, from piano chords to snatches of lyrics from their now-deleted website. But for all the clues that might have been accrued, the effect of "Burn the Witch" is remarkable. From its steady chug of drum machine, strummed acoustic guitars and the clacking col legno of the string section, "Witch" ratchets up that "low-flying panic attack" until its soaring climax. From the elegant piano line of "Decks Dark" to the nimble finger-picking of "Desert Island Disk" and "Present Tense," Radiohead's long-standing embrace of edgy electronics has now been supplanted by an embrace of gorgeous timbres and melody, the more disarming the better. And while electronic effects and the like are still present (hear how they move like an ocean current underneath "Desert Island Disk"), most songs forgo the crunching, dueling electric guitars of Greenwood and Ed O'Brien and Selway's hard-hitting drums to instead foreground acoustic guitar, piano and strings. If anything, A Moon Shaped Pool reveals within Radiohead a newfound appreciation of, if not folk music, then the form's ability to express melancholy through melody. A pall hangs over the album like a highland fog, which mirrors the theme of heartbreak that runs through Pool. "Daydreaming," which the band – in conjunction with video director P.T. Anderson – released to a handful of movie theaters in 35mm format, captures the album's mood best. Haunting, pensive, unable to shake loose from its revery and doldrums – from the "broken hearts make it rain" refrain of "Identikit" (the most uptempo song on the album) to the "panic is coming on strong/so cold, from the inside out" that Yorke confesses to on the murky ballad "Glass Eyes" – the album conveys great sorrow and heartbreak. The latter comes at the midway point of the album, wherein Yorke's minor-key piano moves with Jonny Greenwood's scored strings to heart-rending effect. While Greenwood has flashed Penderecki and Ligeti influences in deploying orchestration to heighten anxious states (from "How to Disappear Completely" to his soundtrack work on There Will Be Blood), here the strings swaddle Yorke's forlorn vocals with a mix of sadness and beauty. The downward spirals at the end of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief" create one of the band's most melancholic moments on record. It all leads to Pool's striking conclusion, "True Love Waits," a song so old it could legally order a pint. The white whale in the Radiohead discography, it began to appear in live sets circa The Bends but has never aptly been recorded, save in live versions. For longtime Radiohead fans, it's worth the wait. One can only guess at how this love song of gentleness and intimacy reads two decades later, but the effect is like stumbling upon an old love letter years after a relationship has grown cold. Where there was once a hint of redemption in its devastating refrain, "Just don't leave" now sounds like the longest (and saddest) goodbye. ||||| Radiohead’s hotly-awaited new album, titled A Moon Shaped Pool, has finally been released. The band’s ninth album has been made available to purchase digitally via their official website, where you can also preorder both Vinyl and CD versions for the 17th June. There are currently three options if you download the record: MP3, 16-bit WAV or 24-bit WAV, costing £9, £11 and £13 respectively. Through the website, the CD costs £10, standard vinyl is £20 (comes with 16-bit WAV download), while a special, heavy-weight vinyl edition costs £60 and comes with part of the album's master tape. The 11-track record is available to stream through both Tidal and Apple Music, but is yet to be made available on Spotify. A subscription to Tidal costs £9.99 a month for the premium service and £19.99 for the high-fi service (giving higher quality streams). Meanwhile, Apple Music is £9.99, or £14.99 for six family members. Music festivals guide 2016 20 show all Music festivals guide 2016 1/20 Horizon Where: Bansko Ski Resort, Bulgaria When: 12-17 March Price: From £175 Line Up: Âme, Goldie, Nina Kraviz, John Talabot, Lady Leshurr, Craig Charles 2/20 Live At Leeds Where: Leeds, UK When: 30 April Price: £32.50 Line Up: Jess Glynne, Circa Waves, Mystery Jets, Band of Skulls, We Are Scientists 3/20 Primavera Sound Where: Barcelona, Spain When: 1-5 June Price: €175 Line Up: Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Sigur Rós, PJ Harvey, Tame Impala, Beach House, Suede, The Last Shadow Puppets Primavera 4/20 Best Kept Secret Where: Hilvarenbeek, The Netherlands When: 17-19 June Price: €147.50 Line Up: Beck, Editors, Two Door Cinema Club, Beach House, Bloc Party, Caribou, Half Moon Run Best Kept Secret Festival 5/20 Glastonbury Where: Worthy Farm, Somerset When: 22-26 June Price: £220 Line Up: Coldplay, Muse, Jeff Lynne’s ELO, PJ Harvey, Jess Glynne (TBC) 6/20 Roskilde Where: Copenhagen, Denmark When: 25 June-2 July Price: 2,020 DKK Line Up: LCD Soundsystem, New Order, PJ Harvey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foals, Tame Impala, Savages, Skepta, Tenacious D Simon Frøsig Christensen / Roskilde Festival 7/20 Hideout Festival Where: Zrce Beach, Croatia When: 26-30 June Price: From £152.90 Line Up: The Martinez Brothers, Joris Voorn, Waze & Odyssey Hideout Festival 8/20 Bilbao BBK Where: Bilbao, Spain When: 7-9 July Price: From £69 Line Up: Arcade Fire, Pixies, Tame Impala, Foals, New Order, Hot Chip, Father John Misty, Years & Years, Wolf Alice 9/20 Open'er Where: Gdynia, Poland When: 29 July-2 August Price: From €130 Line Up: Bastille, Florence + the Machine, Foals, LCD Soundsystem, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The 1975, The Last Shadow Puppets, Wiz Khalifa Open'er Festival 10/20 Electric Love Where: Plainfeld, Austria When: 7-9 July Price: €119 Line Up: Alesso, Zedd, Tiesto, Chase & Status, Steve Aoki, Knife Party 11/20 Melt! Where: Ferropolis, Germany When: 15-17 July Price: From €136 Line Up: Two Door Cinema Club, Disclosure, Jamie xx, Sleaford Mods, Skepta, Jamie Woon 12/20 Sziget Where: Budapest, Hungary When: 10-17 August Price: From €215 Line Up: Bastille, Bloc Party, M83, Sigur Ros, Bring Me the Horizon 13/20 Flow Where: Helsinki, Finland When: 12-14 August Price: €165 Line Up: Sia, New Order, The Last Shadow Puppets, Jamie xx, M83, Chvrches, Four Tet, Stormzy, Daughter, The Kills Flow Festival / Jussi Hellsten 14/20 Rock En Seine Where: Paris, France When: 26-28 August Price: From €119 Line Up: TBC 15/20 Oasis Where: Marrakech, Morocco When: 16-18 September Price: From €110 Line Up: Bicep, Derrick May, Tale of Us, Dixon, Dusky, Hunee 16/20 Latitude Where: Henham Park, Suffolk When: 14-17 July Price: £205.50 Line Up: The Maccabees, The National, New Order, John Grant, Beirut, Father John Misty, Chvrches, Grimes 17/20 Bestival Where: Robin Hill, Isle of Wight When: 8-11 September Price: £190 Line Up: The Cure, Major Lazer, Hot Chip, Fatboy Slim, Craig David, Years & Years, Wolf Alice, Tourist, Katy B 18/20 Isle of Wight Where: Newport, Isle of Wight When: 9-12 June Price: From £186 Line Up: Queen + Adam Lambert, Stereophonics, Faithless, Iggy Pop, Adam Ant, Buzzcocks, Sigma, Jess Glynne 19/20 Citadel Where: Victoria Park, London When: 17 July Price: From £54 Line Up: Sigur Rós, Caribou, Lianne La Havas, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats 20/20 End of the Road Where: Larmer Tree Gardens When: 2-4 September Price: £195 Line Up: Joanna Newsom, The Shins, Animal Collective, Bat for Lashes, Teenage Fanclub, Devendra Banhart, Savages, Cat's Eyes Sonny Malhotra A Moon Shaped Pool leaked two hours before its official release time on Google Play, with eager fans dissecting the album before being officially released. Spotify has refused to comment on when the album will be available to listen to, but did issue a statement saying: “Radiohead’s new singles ‘Burn the Witch’ and ‘Daydreaming’ are already available on Spotify and we look forward to making the rest of A Moon Shaped Pool available on Spotify as soon as we can.” Both previously released singles “Burn the Witch” and “Daydreaming” feature on the album. The latter’s music video was directed by There Will Be Blood’s Paul Thomas Anderson, as was widely rumoured before its release. Fans were speculating that the new album would be called Dawn Chorus after the band set up a new company with the same name in October 2015. Yorke mentioned an unfinished song called “Dawn Chorus” in an interview from 2009, while the first Sunday of May - the day they released “Burn the Witch” - is known as International Dawn Chorus Day. The meaning behind Dawn Chorus remains a mystery, as there is no track on the album with that title. A Moon Shaped Pool's tracklisting as follows: ‘Burn The Witch' 'Daydreaming' 'Decks Dark' 'Desert Island Disk' 'Ful Stop' 'Glass Eyes' 'Identikit' 'The Numbers' 'Present Tense' 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief' 'True Love Waits' Click here to pre-order a Moon Shaped Pool from HMV on vinyl or CD and receive a complimentary digital copy ||||| ‘A Moon Shaped Pool” (XL Recordings), Radiohead’s ninth studio album, is a welcome addition to the catalog of the most consistently excellent recording act since the Beatles, even if, on first blush, it doesn’t rise to the quintet’s best work. Across the span of its 11 tracks—from the prancing orchestral strings of the opener, “Burn the Witch,” to the slowly dying piano tone at the end of the finale, “True Love Waits”—it’s an assertive and ambitious album, full of beauty and kinetic energy. It makes the experimental accessible while still challenging, through the breadth and depth of its expression, the definition of... ||||| SPECIAL EDITION Shipping now Case bound album, inspired by the albums for 78rpm shellac records in the library of La Fabrique, France 32 pages of artwork The 11 track album on two heavyweight 12" vinyl records Two compact discs: one with the album and one with two extra tracks Recording tape belly band applied * 320kbit MP3 or 16-bit WAV of the 11 track album available to download now This is a piece of a Radiohead ½ inch master tape from an actual recording session. The tape degrades over time and becomes unplayable. We thought rather than it ending up as landfill we would cut it up and make it useful as a part of the special edition. A new life for some obsolete technology... Each loop contains about ¾ of a second of audio - which could be from any era in the band's recording past going back to Kid A. You may have silence, you may have coloured leader tape, you may have a chorus... It's a crapshoot. We have copies. Don't worry.

– Radiohead is back from its disappearing act with new album A Moon Shaped Pool, the first since 2011's The King of Limbs, and critics couldn't wait to dive in after it appeared online Sunday afternoon. The long-anticipated ninth album was released on Apple Music and the band's website, the Independent notes, but while it can be streamed on Tidal, it has yet to appear on Spotify. People who want a physical copy of the album will have to wait until June 17. A roundup of reactions: This is a "haunting, chilling triumph," according to Andy Beta at Rolling Stone. The most thrilling surprise is that the band's "least rock-oriented album in the 21st century doubles as its most gorgeous and desolate album to date," he writes, praising the inclusion of "True Love Waits," a studio version of which finally arrives on a Radiohead record after appearing in live sets for 20 years. This album is "much sharper and more focused" than King of Limbs, writes Alexis Petridis at the Guardian. The "abundance of sonic intrigue is matched by the quantity of beautiful tunes," writes Petridis, who notes that most of the "really important" music of our era is happening in hip-hop and R&B, with Radiohead the only big rock band expected "to not just release albums but make grand artistic statements worth dissecting and poring over in the same way as the output of Kendrick Lamar or Beyonce." Jon Pareles at the New York Times praises the "patient perfectionism" on display. On this album, "grim tidings arrive amid gorgeous backdrops: gentle pianos and acoustic guitars reinforced by a string orchestra," he writes. "Multilayered tinklings and murmurings give the music a subliminally shimmering aura." This is a "welcome addition to the catalog of the most consistently excellent recording act since the Beatles," writes Jim Fusilli at the Wall Street Journal. He says on first listen, he wouldn't rank it among their finest works, though it may "blossom" after repeat listens. Still, it is "an assertive and ambitious album, full of beauty and kinetic energy"—and the band "once again communicates complex human experience through superb musicianship, boundless creativity, and unwillingness to settle for the ordinary."

The officials said the intercepted communications were not limited to Trump campaign officials, and included other associates of Mr. Trump. On the Russian side, the contacts also included members of the government outside of the intelligence services, they said. All of the current and former officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the continuing investigation is classified. The officials said that one of the advisers picked up on the calls was Paul Manafort, who was Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman for several months last year and had worked as a political consultant in Ukraine. The officials declined to identify the other Trump associates on the calls. The call logs and intercepted communications are part of a larger trove of information that the F.B.I. is sifting through as it investigates the links between Mr. Trump’s associates and the Russian government, as well as the hacking of the D.N.C., according to federal law enforcement officials. As part of its inquiry, the F.B.I. has obtained banking and travel records and conducted interviews, the officials said. Mr. Manafort, who has not been charged with any crimes, dismissed the officials’ accounts in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “This is absurd,” he said. “I have no idea what this is referring to. I have never knowingly spoken to Russian intelligence officers, and I have never been involved with anything to do with the Russian government or the Putin administration or any other issues under investigation today.” He added, “It’s not like these people wear badges that say, ‘I’m a Russian intelligence officer.’” Several of Mr. Trump’s associates, like Mr. Manafort, have done business in Russia. And it is not unusual for American businessmen to come in contact with foreign intelligence officials, sometimes unwittingly, in countries like Russia and Ukraine, where the spy services are deeply embedded in society. Law enforcement officials did not say to what extent the contacts might have been about business. ||||| White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Associated Press) White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Associated Press) White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Associated Press) White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that President Donald Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official said late Thursday. The official said Priebus' request came after the FBI told the White House it believed a New York Times report last week describing those contacts was not accurate. As of Thursday, the FBI had not stated that position publicly and there was no indication it planned to. The New York Times reported that U.S. agencies had intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Trump's 2016 campaign team. Priebus' discussion with FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said he was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations. "The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers," said Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. A 2009 memo from then-Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations "only when it is important for the performance of the president's duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective." When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the Justice Department. The White House official would not comment when asked if the administration was concerned about the appropriateness of Priebus' communications with McCabe. The official was not authorized to disclose the matter publicly and insisted on anonymity. The FBI would not say whether it had contacted the White House about the veracity of the Times report. CNN first reported that Priebus had asked the FBI to weigh in on the matter. Trump has been shadowed by questions about potential ties to Russia since winning the election. U.S. intelligence agencies have also concluded that Russia meddled in the campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. Last week, Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn because he misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. Flynn, who was interviewed by the FBI about his contacts, is said to have talked with the ambassador multiple times during the transition, including about U.S. sanctions policy. Still, Trump and his advisers have denied contacts with Russian officials during the election. Last week, Trump said "nobody that I know of" spoke with Russian intelligence agents during the campaign. Priebus alluded to his contacts with the FBI over the weekend, telling Fox News that "the top levels of the intelligence community" have assured him that the allegations of campaign contacts with Russia were "not only grossly overstated, but also wrong." Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Priebus' comments opened the door for FBI Director James Comey to discuss the bureau's investigation publicly. "If the White House chief of staff can make public claims about the supposed conclusions of an FBI investigation, then Director Comey can come clean with the American people," Wyden said. Justin Shur, a former Justice Department public corruption prosecutor, said it was imperative that Justice Department investigations not be swayed by political considerations. "As a general matter, investigations and prosecutions should be about gathering the facts and the evidence and applying the law," Shur said. During the campaign, Trump and other Republicans vigorously criticized a meeting between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, husband of Trump's general election opponent. The meeting came as the FBI — which is overseen by the Justice Department — was investigating Hillary Clinton's use of a private email address and personal internet server. _ Asoociated Press writers Eric Tucker and Eileen Sullivan contributed to this report. _ Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC ||||| Washington (CNN) The FBI rejected a recent White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Donald Trump's associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign, multiple US officials briefed on the matter tell CNN. But a White House official said late Thursday that the request was only made after the FBI indicated to the White House it did not believe the reporting to be accurate. White House officials had sought the help of the bureau and other agencies investigating the Russia matter to say that the reports were wrong and that there had been no contacts, the officials said. The reports of the contacts were first published by The New York Times and CNN on February 14. The direct communications between the White House and the FBI were unusual because of decade-old restrictions on such contacts. Such a request from the White House is a violation of procedures that limit communications with the FBI on pending investigations. Late Thursday night, White House press secretary Sean Spicer objected to CNN's characterization of the White House request to the FBI. "We didn't try to knock the story down. We asked them to tell the truth," Spicer said. The FBI declined to comment for this story. The discussions between the White House and the bureau began with FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on the sidelines of a separate White House meeting the day after the stories were published, according to a US law enforcement official. The White House initially disputed that account, saying that McCabe called Priebus early that morning and said The New York Times story vastly overstates what the FBI knows about the contacts. But a White House official later corrected their version of events to confirm what the law enforcement official described. The same White House official said that Priebus later reached out again to McCabe and to FBI Director James Comey asking for the FBI to at least talk to reporters on background to dispute the stories. A law enforcement official says McCabe didn't discuss aspects of the case but wouldn't say exactly what McCabe told Priebus. Comey rejected the request for the FBI to comment on the stories, according to sources, because the alleged communications between Trump associates and Russians known to US intelligence are the subject of an ongoing investigation. The White House did issue its own denial, with Priebus calling The New York Times story "complete garbage." "The New York Times put out an article with no direct sources that said that the Trump campaign had constant contacts with Russian spies, basically, you know, some treasonous type of accusations. We have now all kinds of people looking into this. I can assure you and I have been approved to say this -- that the top levels of the intelligence community have assured me that that story is not only inaccurate, but it's grossly overstated and it was wrong. And there's nothing to it," Preibus said on "Fox News Sunday" last weekend. CNN has previously reported that there was constant communication between high-level advisers to then-candidate Trump, Russian officials and other Russians known to US intelligence during the summer of 2016. Several members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees tell CNN that the congressional investigations are continuing into those alleged Russian contacts with the Trump campaign, despite Priebus' assertion that there is nothing to those reports. It is uncertain what the committees will eventually find and whether any of the information will ever be declassified and publicly released. But the push to investigate further shows that Capitol Hill is digging deeper into areas that may not be comfortable for the White House. The Trump administration's efforts to press Comey run contrary to Justice Department procedure memos issued in 2007 and 2009 that limit direct communications on pending investigations between the White House and the FBI. "Initial communications between the [Justice] Department and the White House concerning pending or contemplated criminal investigations or cases will involve only the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General, from the side of the Department, and the Counsel to the President, the Principal Deputy Counsel to the President, the President, or the Vice President from the side of the White House," reads the 2009 memo. The memos say the communication should only happen when it is important for the President's duties and where appropriate from a law enforcement perspective. A Department of Justice spokesman said Attorney General Jeff Sessions is reviewing the memos and that "the Department is following the guidelines in its communications with the White House." The effort to refute the CNN and New York Times stories came as increasing numbers of congressional members were voicing concern about Russia's efforts to influence individuals with ties to Trump. On February 17, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence held a briefing with Comey. It's unclear what was said, but senators suggested there was new information discussed about Russia. "Every briefing we go through we gain new information," said Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, a member of the committee. Lankford declined to be more specific about the briefing. Sen. Angus King of Maine also declined to reveal what was discussed during the Comey briefing. In response to a question on Priebus' strong denial of the claims, King said he was "surprised" that Priebus would be "that categorical." Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, a Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the goal of his panel's inquiry is to follow "leads wherever they go even if they may be uncomfortable to Republicans." "The American public will want to know if the President had personal or financial ties to the Russian government," Swalwell said. UPDATED: This story has been updated to reflect new information and comment from the White House.

– White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that President Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official told the AP late Thursday. The official said Priebus' request came after the FBI told the White House it didn't believe a New York Times report last week describing those contacts. As of Thursday, the FBI had not stated that position publicly and there was no indication it planned to. The White House official would not comment when asked if the administration was concerned about the appropriateness of Priebus' communications with FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Priebus' discussion with McCabe sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said he was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations. "The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers," says Michigan Rep. John Conyers. CNN reports that after it first reported the discussion, White House press secretary Sean Spicer disputed their account. "We didn't try to knock the story down," he said. "We asked them to tell the truth." The FBI declined to comment.

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– Gabrielle Giffords kicked off her seven-day, seven-state "Rights and Responsibilities Tour" for gun control by firing a gun for the first time since she was shot by Jared Lee Loughner, Politico reports. The former congresswoman, aided by husband Mark Kelly, took one shot with a handgun at a Las Vegas firing range yesterday. ABC News caught the whole thing on video. Giffords and Kelly are campaigning to reboot measures for stricter background checks, and will be visiting Nevada, Alaska, North Dakota, North Carolina, Ohio, Maine, and New Hampshire.

Seventy years ago, Vilnius, Lithuania, was known as the Jerusalem of Lithuania—a bustling town home to more than 100,000 Jews at its peak. But then it all vanished. In three years during the Holocaust, 95% of Lithuanian Jews were killed. But hidden within this tragedy is a story of hope and courage that archeologists are just now bringing to light. Jews from the Vilnius Ghetto were executed in a pit in the Ponary woods between 1941, when this photo was taken, and 1944. On June 8, a team led by Richard Freund, a Judaic studies professor at the University of Hartford, and Jon Seligman, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority, discovered the existence of an escape tunnel at Ponar, just outside of Vilnius. The tunnel had been rumored in oral histories kept alive by escapees, their descendants, and other Lithuanian Jews from that era, including Freund’s great-grandfather, who came from Vilnius. On the last night of Passover, April 14, 1944, 80 Jews began their escape from the pit where they were being held prisoner through a 100-foot tunnel that had been painstakingly dug by hand. The pit where the tunnel began. Digging in the dark of night, chained to one another, the prisoners had secretly scratched at the earth for three months before their daring escape. Of the 80 prisoners who attempted the getaway, only 11 survived. But they told their stories, and the tunnel gained legendary status among the people of Vilnius. For decades, the exact location of the tunnel remained a mystery, and archaeologists couldn’t dig at the site for risk of disturbing more than the 100,000 remains buried at Ponar. However, advances in archeological technology allowed Freund and his team to study the site using noninvasive techniques, including ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). Upon turning on their equipment, they discovered the escape tunnel almost immediately. Richard Freund studies the ERT data that first revealed evidence of the tunnel. “When they ran the first test over the area leading outside of the pit where [the prisoners] started from, they immediately saw it on the imaging.” Freund said. “There was nothing but sand, and the tunnel lit up. That was a moment.” GPR works similar to traditional radar, but instead of sending radio waves through the air, it broadcasts them into the ground. The resulting charts illustrate what lies below without disturbing the site, and archaeologists can see the results immediately, said Dean Goodman, a geophysicist at GPR-Slice Software, a company that specializes in GPR software. “We’re able to collect a lot of data really quickly and almost see the results real time. As you’re collecting the antenna over ground, you actually get a 2D profile of the swath of ground you’re going over.” The other technique, ERT, is usually used by geologists working in the oil and gas industry, not archaeologists. ERT works by sending a current into the ground and measuring the electrical resistance of the various substrates, producing a map of what lies below. Richard Freund and his collaborators discuss which area of the site to study next. GPR and ERT enable archaeologists to peer into sites that were previously off limits because they couldn’t be disturbed. “All these technologies allow people to gain information about an era—the Holocaust era—without having to desecrate a burial site,” Freund said. Freund is working with the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum and the Tolerance Center of Lithuania to create an exhibit so that visitors from around the world can hear the story of the courageous Jews that dug their way out of the death pits. Freund said it will be a refreshingly different piece of Holocaust history—“a story about life instead of death.” “Holocaust Escape Tunnel” will air April 19, 2017 on PBS. Find out more about this breathtaking find. ||||| A tunnel used by Jews to escape the Nazis has been re-discovered after decades of searching the Ponar forest in Lithuania. Despite there being extensive witness testimony of the tunnel's existence, it took 71 years for the tunnel to be uncovered. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Some 100,00 people, of whom 70,000 were Jews, were massacred and thrown into pits in the Ponar forest by the Nazis. A special Nazi unit was formed in 1943 with the task of covering up the genocide as the Russian Red Army advanced on Nazi positions on the Eastern Front. In Ponar, this task was assigned to a group of 80 prisoners from the Stutthof concentration camp. At night the prisoners were kept in a deep pit which was previously used for the execution of Vilna's Jews. During the day they worked to open the mass graves, pile up the corpses on logs cut from the forest trees, cover them with fuel and incinerate them. The pit in the Ponar forest where Jews were massacred (Photo:Ezra Wolfinger, NOVA) Some of the workers resolved to attempt a daring escape by digging a tunnel from the pit that was used as their prison. For three months they dug a 35-yard tunnel using only spoons and their hands. On the night of April 15th, 1944 the prisoners made their escape. They cut their leg shackles with a nail file, and 40 of them began to crawl through the narrow tunnel. Unfortunately, they were quickly discovered by the guards and many were shot. Only 15 managed to cut through the fence of the camp and escape into the forest. Eleven reached the partisan forces and survived the war. Archaeologists searching for the tunnel (Photo: Ezra Wolfinger, NOVA) Since WWII the exact location of the tunnel was unknown. Now, thanks to the cooperative work of Dr. Jon Seligman of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Prof. Richard Freund of the University of Hartford, Paul Bauman of Advisian of Calgary, Canada and the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum, the tunnel has been rediscovered. It was located using a geophysical technique used in mineral and oil exploration known as Electrical Resistivity Tomography from the pit used to imprison the captives, to an open space beside it. Dr. Jon Seligman, Israel Antiquities Authority said, "As an Israeli whose family originated in Lithuania, I was reduced to tears on the discovery of the escape tunnel at Ponar. This discovery is a heartwarming witness to the victory of hope over desperation. The exposure of the tunnel enables us to present, not only the horrors of the Holocaust, but also the yearning for life." Minister of Culture, MK Miri Regev said of the discovery, "I congratulate the Israel Antiquities Authority on its participation in this international effort that turns history into reality. The exciting and important discovery of the prisoners escape tunnel at Ponar is yet more proof negating the lies of Holocaust deniers. The success of modern technological developments, that have aided the Jewish people to reveal another heroic story the Nazis attempted to hide benefits all humanity." ||||| A team of archaeologists and mapmakers say they have uncovered a forgotten tunnel that 80 Jews dug largely by hand as they tried to escape from a Nazi extermination site in Lithuania about 70 years ago. The Lithuanian site, Ponar, holds mass burial pits and graves where up to 100,000 people were killed and their bodies dumped or burned during the Holocaust. Using radar and radio waves to scan beneath the ground, the researchers found the tunnel, a 100-foot passageway between five and nine feet below the surface, the team announced on Wednesday. A previous attempt made by a different team in 2004 to find the underground structure had only located its mouth, which was subsequently left unmarked. The new finding traces the tunnel from entrance to exit and provides evidence to support survivor accounts of the harrowing effort to escape the holding pit.

– A 100-foot escape tunnel dug by Jewish prisoners using only their hands and spoons has been unearthed in Lithuania, a research team announced Wednesday. From 1941 to 1944, about 100,000 people (70,000 of them Jews from nearby Vilnius) were slaughtered by the Nazis, then dumped into burial pits in Lithuania's Ponar forest—systemic murder that started even before the gas chambers in what archaeologist Richard Freund tells the New York Times was "ground zero for the Holocaust." To cover up the massacre, the Nazis forced 80 Jews from the nearby Stutthof concentration camp to exhume the bodies, burn them, and hide the ashes, Ynetnews reports. These "corpse unit" members were kept in a deep pit during the night, and some spent those hours digging an escape tunnel. On the night of April 15, 1944, 40 of them made a break for it. Guards shot many on sight, but 11 escaped and survived the war to tell the story of the legendary tunnel. The research team led by Freund used a special geophysical process to locate the tunnel, combining radar and electrical resistivity tomography, which uses electricity to examine natural objects in the ground and soil disturbances that may have been caused by digging. These nonintrusive search methods allow scientists to explore sites that previously were off-limits, notes PBS, which will air a Nova documentary on the discovery in 2017. It also puts to bed the belief that stories told through the years about the tunnel were only a myth. "As an Israeli whose family originated in Lithuania, I was reduced to tears on the discovery of the escape tunnel," an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority tells Ynetnews. "[It] enables us to present not only the horrors of the Holocaust, but also the yearning for life." (Evidence of an escape tunnel was found under the Sobibor concentration camp.)

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. / Updated By Andrea Mitchell, Mary Murray and Kenzi Abou-Sabe HAVANA — In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Cuban officials forcefully denied that their government was to blame for the mysterious ailments that have afflicted two dozen American diplomats and plunged relations with the U.S. into crisis. President Donald Trump has publicly blamed the government in Havana for the reported symptoms, which range from hearing loss and nausea to memory problems and mild traumatic brain injury. But the Cubans leading the probe emphatically rejected that. "I can guarantee you that this is completely false," Col. Ramiro Ramirez, chief of diplomatic security for the Cuban Interior Ministry, told NBC News in an exclusive interview. U.S. officials believe some kind of sonic weapon was used to attack two dozen embassy staffers and relatives between the fall of 2016 and this August, but the Cubans claim they don't even have that technology — and U.S. experts say they don't know of technology that would produce the reported symptoms. "Cuba has never produced these type of weapons," said Lt. Col. Jorge Alazo, head of the criminal division of the Interior Ministry. The State Department pulled 60 percent of its workers out of the embassy in Havana three weeks ago and soon after expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from Washington, or nearly two thirds of Cuba's D.C. staff. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the "decision was made due to Cuba's failure to take appropriate steps to protect our diplomats." The Cubans, who took the extraordinary step of inviting the FBI to Havana when the U.S. first reported the incidents, said they are doing everything they can to figure out what is behind the ailments. Related: Response to Cuba Embassy Attacks Frustrates Victim "This investigation has involved nearly 2,000 people," said Ramirez, "including law enforcement agents and the best scientists in our country." Dr. Manuel Villar tells Andrea Mitchell that Cuban investigators have not found anyone else suffering the symptoms reported by U.S. diplomats. NBC News They have examined rooms in two hotels where American embassy staffers lived, scoured a neighborhood where many had homes, interviewed 300 neighbors, and conducted dozens of medical exams to see if others outside the diplomatic cadre were affected. "Not even one person was sick," said Dr. Manuel Villar. He noted, however, that the U.S. has refused to share the medical records of the diplomats or let the Cubans speak to U.S. doctors. The Cubans also say the State Department has not permitted them into the homes of U.S. diplomats to conduct tests. The Cubans also analyzed air and soil samples, looked into whether insects could be the culprit and considered a range of toxic chemicals and the possibility of electromagnetic waves, the officials said. But from the Cuban perspective, nothing so far has explained why U.S. diplomats began suffering health symptoms, some of them after what have been described as acoustic disturbances. "We've been unable to find anything to prove this situation exists or ever existed," Alazo said. A sickened U.S. diplomat lived in this Havana home. NBC News There is audio of the strange, high-pitched sounds that some of the diplomats reportedly heard, but a document provided to NBC News by the Cubans says the recording did not capture "acoustic levels damaging to health." And American experts said they know of no technology that would explain the symptoms. "There's never been any kind of physiological response that reflects the symptoms that have been reported that has ever been caused by sound waves of any type," said Joe Pompei, a former MIT researcher who is the founder and president of Holosonics, a sound technology company. "Unless they had transducers in the bathtub and had the diplomats submerge their heads for a long time, it's just not possible," Pompei added. Despite Cuba's intense investigation and impassioned disavowals, the episode has frayed relations with the United States just two years after the Obama administration restored ties. Cuban Col. Ramiro Ramirez says any suggestion Havana is behind the attacks is "completely false." NBC News In a classified briefing for members of Congress, administration officials did not point a finger at Cuba, U.S. officials said. But Trump has cast blame in that direction at least twice. "They did some bad things," he said in late September as the State Department began its drawdown of personnel. Two weeks later, he told reporters, "I do believe Cuba is responsible. I do believe that." In Havana, Cuban officials dismiss speculation that hardliners on the communist island orchestrated attacks in an attempt to freeze the defrosting of relations between the two countries. As for the possibility that a third country, like Russia, wanted to cause trouble, Ramirez said, "We don't have definitive answers yet but Cuba has never allowed, nor would we ever allow, our territory to be used in this way." The FBI has met with the Cubans this week to discuss the situation. Cuba says that despite the war of words, it's hoping for more cooperation that could unravel the mystery. "Let us do it together and find out what is happening," Dr. Villar said. ||||| HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban officials investigating U.S. complaints of attacks that sickened American diplomats in Havana said talk of acoustic strikes was “science fiction” and accused Washington of “slander” while it refused to cooperate fully with Cuba’s enquiry. Cuban Interior Ministry's Colonel Ramiro Ramirez, who leads a team investigating U.S. complaints of "attacks" on diplomats in Havana, speaks during an interview at the Hotel Nacional in Havana, Cuba, October 22, 2017. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he believed Havana was responsible for 24 diplomats being harmed. Washington expelled 15 Cuban diplomats and recalled more than half the U.S. diplomatic personnel from Havana earlier in October. While Cuba denounced the expulsions as “unjustified” and accused the United States of insufficient cooperation, three Interior Ministry officials and a doctor heading the inquiry provided more details in an interview in Havana on Sunday. Cuba had deployed about 2,000 security officials and experts, from criminologists to audiologists and mathematicians, to investigate the incidents after it became aware of them in February, the investigators said. The probe has not ended but so far has failed to uncover any evidence to corroborate allegations of attacks that the United States says have caused hearing loss, dizziness, fatigue and cognitive issues for diplomatic personnel who were based on the Communist-run island. “This is slander by the United States,” said Coronel Ramiro Ramirez, responsible for the security of diplomats in Cuba. Asked to respond to the Cuban officials’ assertions, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the United States had reminded Cuba of its obligation to ensure the safety of U.S. diplomatic personnel and was continuing its investigation of the “attacks.” Washington officials have raised the possibility that sonic weapons were used to harm the diplomats, according to U.S. media reports. However, Cuban investigators denied such weapons could even have been used by third parties without affecting the health of others or attracting attention. “It’s impossible. We are talking about science fiction,” said Lieutenant Colonel Jose Alazo, an expert in the criminal investigation unit of the Interior Ministry. “From a technical point of view, that argument is unsustainable.” HARD TO EXPLAIN The investigators said the United States had supplied 14 recordings of the sound it says the victims heard during the attacks and recorded, for example, on cellphones. These, however, did not contain anything that could damage human health, they concluded. The noises included the usual suburban sounds such as traffic, footsteps and voices. They were also characterized by a deviation peak of 7 kiloHertz (kHz) in the frequency band of 3 kHz, similar to the song of a cricket. An audible sound would need to be very loud - above 80 decibels or akin to a plane’s engine – to have a health impact, they said. Yet only the victims heard the noise, not their families living in the same houses, or their neighbors. “We interviewed more than 300 people in the neighborhood, we also evaluated more than 30 medically, and no one heard these things,” Alazo said. Even if the U.S. diplomats’ reports of loud sounds were misleading and the source of the attacks was infra- or ultrasonic and therefore inaudible to human ears, it would be hard to explain how it could go undetected, the Cuban investigators said. “You would need a source that could be seen from a satellite, it would be enormous,” said Dr Manuel Villar, an ear, nose and throat specialist. Finally, only two or three of the alleged victims had hearing problems, according to the U.S. information provided, whereas any kind of sonic attack would cause them in everyone, Villar said. ‘ANTI-CUBAN MAFIA’ The United States has not formally accused Cuba of carrying out attacks, but Trump’s comments further damaged relations between the old Cold War foes, which have rapidly deteriorated since he took office. Canada has said several Canadians had reported similar symptoms to the U.S. diplomats but it has not taken any action against Cuba and has said Cuba had been very cooperative with the investigation. [L2N1LB25E] “There is an anti-Cuban mafia in Miami and we are victims of their dirty work that involve certain people very close to the governing circles of the United States,” Ramirez said. Anti-Castro Cuban-Americans such as Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida have guided Trump’s policy on Cuba, including a partial rollback of the historic detente forged by Trump’s Democratic predecessor Barack Obama. Washington insists its drawdown at its embassy was motivated by concern for the health of its diplomats. “The safety and wellbeing of American citizens is our top priority,” said Nauert. Investigators said U.S. actions did not add up with their accusations. More than 200 friends and relatives of U.S. diplomats based in Havana had asked for visas to visit them between February and July, despite the alleged attacks. Slideshow (2 Images) The fact that the information the United States provided was late was a major obstacle to resolving the mystery, said the investigators, who declined to comment on the state of cooperation with Canada. So far, Washington had only officially reported 14 cases of alleged attacks to Cuba, compared with the 24 it had announced to the media, they said. “It will be impossible to resolve this investigation without more cooperation,” Ramirez said.

– Cuban military officials have a few words to describe the notion that Havana has some kind of sonic weapon it has used against American diplomats: "science fiction" and "slander." In interviews with reporters, Cuban officials say they have investigated thoroughly and cannot find the source of the mystery ailments. But they strongly reject the accusation, made by President Trump and other US officials, that Cuba is somehow responsible. "Our main concern at this moment are the accusations being made by the US government and we are focused on that because this is a slander," says Coronel Ramiro Ramirez. As for some kind of acoustic weapon: "It's impossible," Lieutenant Colonel Jose Alazo tells Reuters. "We are talking about science fiction." Cuban officials say they examined hotel rooms, conducted air and soil tests in the neighborhoods of diplomats' homes, talked to hundreds of neighbors, looked into whether insects might be to blame—and came away with nothing, reports NBC News. "Not even one person was sick," says a doctor. As for whether a third party such as Russia might be responsible, the officials say Cuba would never allow that on their territory, though Ramirez added, "We don't have definitive answers yet." One hindrance to the Cuban inquiry: The US has not provided access to victims' medical files or to homes where the illnesses occurred, and the officials called for greater cooperation on that front. The US has pulled most of its diplomats out of the country in the wake of the illnesses, though scientists outside of Cuba are similarly skeptical of a sonic attack.

Story highlights For more than two decades, Monty Hall was host of TV's "Let's Make a Deal" His family says Hall helped to raise close to $1 billion for charity during his life (CNN) Monty Hall, best known as the cheerful and friendly host of the game show 'Let's Make a Deal,' died Saturday morning in Los Angeles, his daughter Sharon Hall said. He was 96 and had been ill since suffering a heart attack shortly after his wife of almost 70 years died in June. "He was the greatest father on the planet ... he was the dad who called every single night to see how your day was and never tired of hearing the details. He lived for his family," Sharon Hall said. Monty Hall co-created and hosted the first version of the popular game show, on which contestants dressed in costumes -- some zany -- and often won prizes behind one of three doors. The show premiered in 1963 and Hall hosted daytime and prime-time iterations of the show until 1986 (and for a brief time in 1991). Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Monty Hall, best known as the host of the game show "Let's Make a Deal" died on September 30. He was 96 years old. Hide Caption 1 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Monty Hall is pictured in an early rehearsal of "Keep Talking," a CBS television comedy game show in New York on June 27, 1958. Pictured from left are Danny Dayton, Ilka Chase, host Monty Hall, Elaine May. Hide Caption 2 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Monty Hall and Marlo Thomas are pictured in an episode of the TV comedy "That Girl" in 1969. Hide Caption 3 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Monty Hall hosts "Let's Make a Deal" on October 1, 1969. Hide Caption 4 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Monty Hall is pictured with Carol Burnett and Allen Ludden in an episode of the game show "Password" on June 11, 1973. Hide Caption 5 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Monty Hall hosts 'Let's Make a Deal' in 1973. He is pictured with actors Jack Klugman and Tony Randall. Hide Caption 6 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Monty Hall also hosted TV quiz show "The Jokes On Us" that aired from 1983 to 1984. Hide Caption 7 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall George Burns, right, laughs with Monty Hall, recipient of the 2nd Annual George Burns Lifetime Award, at the United Jewish Fund tribute to humanitarian Hall in the Century City section of Los Angeles, March 14, 1993. Hide Caption 8 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Monty Hall and Joanna Gleason attend George Burn's birthday party on January 11, 1986, at Chasen's Restaurant in Beverly Hills. Hide Caption 9 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Monty and his wife Marilyn Hall attend attend the 90th birthday party for the Jewish Home for the Aging on March 26, 2002. The home first opened its doors in 1912 on the first day of Passover. Hide Caption 10 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Monty Hall is pictured at eBay's "Let's Make A Daily Deal" game show at Times Square Studios in New York City on June 23, 2009. Hide Caption 11 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Monty Hall joins Wayne Brady on on "Let's Make a Deal" in 2010. Hide Caption 12 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall Monty Hall arrives at the Beverly Hills Celebration in Beverly Hills on September 2, 2010. Hide Caption 13 of 14 Photos: Life and career of Monty Hall TV personality Wayne Brady presents Monty Hall with The Lifetime Achievement Award onstage during the 40th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on June 16, 2013, in Beverly Hills. Hide Caption 14 of 14 Hall reportedly appeared in more than 4,500 episodes. ||||| FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2014 file photo, Monty Hall arrives at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala at the Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, Calif. Former "Let's Make... (Associated Press) BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Monty Hall, the genial TV game show host whose long-running "Let's Make a Deal" traded on love of money and merchandise and the mystery of which door had the car behind it, has died. He was 96. Hall, who had been in poor health, died Saturday morning of heart failure at his home in Beverly Hills, said his daughter, Sharon Hall of Los Angeles. "Let's Make a Deal," which Hall co-created, debuted as a daytime show on NBC in 1963 and became a TV staple. Through the next four decades, it also aired in prime time, in syndication and, in two brief outings, with hosts other than Hall at the helm. An episode of "The Odd Couple" featured Felix Unger (Tony Randall) and Oscar Madison (Jack Klugman) as bickering guests on Hall's program. Contestants were chosen from the studio audience — outlandishly dressed as animals, clowns or cartoon characters to attract the host's attention — and would start the game by trading an item of their own for a prize. After that, it was matter of swapping the prize in hand for others hidden behind doors, curtains or in boxes, presided over by the leggy, smiling Carol Merrill. The query "Do you want Door No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3?" became a popular catch phrase, and the chance of winning a new car a matter of primal urgency. Prizes could be a car or a mink coat or a worthless item dubbed a "zonk." The energetic, quick-thinking Hall, a sight himself with his sideburns and colorful sports coats, was deemed the perfect host in Alex McNeil's reference book, "Total Television." "Monty kept the show moving while he treated the outrageously garbed and occasionally greedy contestants courteously; it is hard to imagine anyone else but Hall working the trading area as smoothly," McNeil wrote. For Hall, the interaction was easy. "I'm a people person," he said on the PBS documentary series "Pioneers of Television." ''And so I don't care if they jump on me, and I don't care if they yell and they fainted — those are my people." The game show gave rise to an academic exercise in which students are asked to weigh this question: In guessing which of three doors might conceal a prize car, and after one is eliminated as a possibility, should you switch your choice to the one you didn't pick? The puzzle sparked heated exchanges in Marilyn vos Savant's Parade magazine column. (The answer to the Monty Hall Problem, Hall and others said, was yes, take the switch — but only if the contest is set up so the host cannot skew the results by offering some guests the chance to switch doors and not giving others the same option.) After five years on NBC, "Let's Make a Deal" moved to ABC in 1968 and aired on the network through 1976, including prime-time stints. It went into syndication in the 1970s and 1980s, returning to NBC in 1990-91 and again in 2003. In 2009 it returned on CBS with host Wayne Brady and is still on the air. His name and show remain part of the language. Typical is the quotation in a 2006 Daytona Beach (Florida) News-Journal profile of a no-nonsense bail bondswoman who says, "I'm not Monty Hall and this isn't 'Let's Make a Deal.' " Hall also guest-starred in sitcoms and appeared in TV commercials. And with the wealth that the game show brought, he made philanthropy and fundraising his avocation. He spent 200 days a year at it, he said, estimating in the late 1990s that he had coaxed $700 million from donors. His daughter Sharon estimated that Hall managed to raise nearly $1 billion for charity over his lifetime. Another daughter, Joanna Gleason, is a longtime Broadway and television actress. She won a Tony in 1988 for best actress in a musical for "Into the Woods" and was nominated for Tonys two other times. Born Monty Halparin in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada, Hall grew up during the Depression. In 1942, Hall was doing manual labor at the time when a wealthy stranger offered to pay for his college education on condition that he repaid the money, got top grades, kept his benefactor's name anonymous and agreed to help someone else. Hall only revealed the name of the late Max Freed about 30 years later. Hall earned a degree from the University of Manitoba with the goal of becoming a physician. He was denied entry to medical school, Hall later said, because he was Jewish and faced quotas limiting the admission of minority students. "Every poor kid wants to get into some kind of profession, and in my case I wanted to get into medicine to become a doctor. ... My dreams of medicine evaporated," Hall said in a 2002 interview with The Canadian Press. Instead, he turned to entertainment. He first tested his skills on radio and, after moving to New York in 1955 and later to Los Angeles, began working on a variety of television shows. Among the programs he hosted were "Cowboy Theater" in 1957, "Keep Talking," 1958, and "Video Village" in 1960. He joined with writer-producer Stefan Hatos to create "Let's Make a Deal." The show's roots could be found in "The Auctioneer," a game show Hall hosted in Toronto in the 1950s. "The Auctioneer" was a "pretty pedestrian" program until the concluding 10 minutes, when he would barter with audience members, Hall told the Daily Herald of suburban Chicago in 2000. "It was much more exciting than the first 20 minutes of the show," he recalled. Besides Hall, the hosts of "Let's Make a Deal" were Bob Hilton (1990) and Billy Bush (2003). But it was Hall who was lastingly identified as "TV's big dealer," as the show put it, something he found at least mildly disconcerting. When a People magazine interviewer suggested in 1996 that "Let's Make a Deal" would be his epitaph, Hall replied, with a wince: "You put that on my tombstone, and I'll kill you." However, Sharon Hall said Hall never refused an autograph and used his fame to help others. His family's financial circumstances and a childhood accident stirred that charitable desire, Hall said. At age 7, he was severely burned by a pot of boiling water and endured a lengthy recovery. "When you've been that sick, spent a year out of school, you identify with people who have these ailments and sicknesses," he told the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post in a 2003 interview. "And when you grow up poor, you identify with people in need." Hall was repeatedly honored for his charity efforts, with awards including the Order of Canada, Order of Manitoba and Variety Clubs International's Humanitarian Award. Wards were named in his honor at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia and other medical centers. Hall and his wife, Marilyn Plottel, married in 1947. She died earlier this year. In addition to his daughters, Hall is survived by his son, Richard; a brother, Robert Hall of Toronto, Canada, and five grandchildren. ___ Associated Press writer Robert Jablon contributed to this report.

– Monty Hall, the genial TV game show host whose long-running Let's Make a Deal traded on love of money and merchandise and the mystery of which door had the car behind it, has died, reports the AP. He was 96. Hall died Saturday of heart failure at his home in Beverly Hills, said his daughter, Sharon Hall. He had been in poor health since a heart attack in June just after the death of his wife of almost seven decades, reports CNN. Let's Make a Deal, which Hall co-created, debuted as a daytime show on NBC in 1963 and became a TV staple. Through the next four decades, it also aired in prime time, in syndication and, in two brief outings, with hosts other than Hall at the helm. An episode of The Odd Couple featured Felix Unger (Tony Randall) and Oscar Madison (Jack Klugman) as bickering guests on Hall's program. Contestants were chosen from the audience—outlandishly dressed as animals, clowns or cartoon characters to attract the host's attention—and would start the game by trading an item of their own for a prize. After that, it was matter of swapping the prize in hand for others hidden behind doors, curtains or in boxes, presided over by the leggy, smiling Carol Merrill. The query "Do you want Door No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3?" became a popular catch phrase, and the chance of winning a new car a matter of primal urgency. The energetic, quick-thinking Hall, a sight himself with his sideburns and colorful sports coats, was deemed the perfect host in Alex McNeil's book, Total Television. "Monty kept the show moving while he treated the outrageously garbed and occasionally greedy contestants courteously; it is hard to imagine anyone else but Hall working the trading area as smoothly," McNeil wrote. His daughter Sharon estimated Hall managed to raise nearly $1 billion for charity in his lifetime.

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. ||||| Treatments Experimental Malaria Vaccine Blocks The Bad Guy's Exit itoggle caption Gary D. Gaugler/Science Source For the first time in decades, researchers trying to develop a vaccine for malaria have discovered a new target they can use to attack this deadly and common parasite. Finding a target for attack is a far cry from having a vaccine. And the history of malaria vaccines is littered with hopeful ideas that didn't pan out. Still, researchers in the field welcome this fresh approach. Over the past four decades, researchers have developed about 100 potential vaccines for malaria. The best of the bunch is still only modestly successful in children, who are at greatest risk for the disease. The mosquito-borne parasite kills more than 600,000 children a year, mostly in Africa. So Dr. Jonathan Kurtis, at the Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University, decided it was time for a fresh start. He had developed a severe case of malaria while he was an undergraduate studying abroad in Kenya. And he learned just how devastating this disease can be, not only killing young children but causing hundreds of millions of cases of debilitating illness every year. Kurtis and his colleagues started with samples of blood that had been methodically collected from children in Tanzania by Drs. Michal Fried and Patrick Duffy at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Kurtis' team carefully examined those samples to find small but crucial differences between children who got infected but didn't fall seriously ill and children who developed a severe case of the disease. "We're finding the rare needle in a haystack," Kurtis says. "We're finding the rare parasite protein that generates a protective immune response." Earlier vaccine efforts have produced antibodies that target proteins on the malaria parasite that it uses to break into red blood cells — the parasite reproduces inside those cells. But the particular parasite protein that Kurtis isolated from the blood of these children wasn't part of that invasion pathway. Our parasite protein is critical for the parasite's escape from the red cell. And it needs to escape from the red cell if it's going to go on and infect other red cells and multiply. "Our parasite protein is critical for the parasite's escape from the red cell," he says. "And it needs to escape from the red cell if it's going to go on and infect other red cells and multiply." When Kurtis looked at children who had been infected with the malaria parasite but didn't get seriously ill, he discovered that their young immune systems had produced antibodies that attack this escape protein. In this group of children, not one of them developed serious illness from malaria, "which is sort of astonishing, actually," Kurtis says. He and his colleagues report this result in the latest Science magazine. But this is just the beginning of the story. This is a long way from a vaccine that can be used in humans. But I do think this addresses ... one of the problems with the current malaria vaccine approach. "This is a long way from a vaccine that can be used in humans," says Dr. Dyann Wirth, at the Harvard School of Public Health. "But I do think this addresses what I feel is one of the problems with the current malaria vaccine approach," Wirth says. "And that is the field seems to be focused on molecules that were discovered decades ago." This really is a fresh idea, she says, championed by a scientist who is not personally invested in the molecules discovered long ago. Since even the best of those earlier molecules is only partially effective, the field could really use some new ideas. For his part, Kurtis isn't promising that his discovery will be the be-all and end-all for malaria prevention. "It would ludicrously fortuitous to think that this would be a stand-alone vaccine," he says. But if it works even partially, it could eventually be used in combination with other malaria vaccines to deliver a one-two punch against the parasite. There's a lot more testing to do. The potential vaccine will be tried in monkeys, and if it looks promising there, Kurtis can start the long and challenging process of testing it in people.

– Researchers think they've found a promising new potential weapon in the fight against malaria in a fairly unlikely place: the blood of toddlers. In a paper published in Science today, researchers detail how they examined the blood of more than 750 children in Tanzania. They found that about 6% of those children had an antibody against one of the disease's key proteins, and that those children didn't suffer from severe malaria. Researchers think they can make a vaccine patterned on their blood, Paul Rodgers at Forbes explains. Until now, most malaria vaccines have focused on keeping the disease out of the red blood cells it reproduces in. But this antibody is unique in that it instead attacks the protein that allows the parasite to escape the cells. "We're sort of trapping the parasite in the burning house," says co-lead author Jonathan Kurtis—who suffered his own bout of malaria while studying in Kenya while in college, NPR reports. The team believes this approach could work in concert with existing vaccines. It's a refreshing, promising idea, one Harvard doctor says, though she cautions that "this is a long way from a vaccine that can be used in humans." It's been trialed in mice and will soon be tested on monkeys.

To use this website, cookies must be enabled in your browser. To enable cookies, follow the instructions for your browser below. Facebook App: Open links in External Browser There is a specific issue with the Facebook in-app browser intermittently making requests to websites without cookies that had previously been set. This appears to be a defect in the browser which should be addressed soon. The simplest approach to avoid this problem is to continue to use the Facebook app but not use the in-app browser. This can be done through the following steps: ||||| Feature Story - 13 June, 2013 Abbot Point is at the heart of the battle to save the Great Barrier Reef from coal and climate change. Of the nine coal terminals proposed in the World Heritage Area four are proposed at Abbot Point.

– The authority in charge of Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has given the final approval to a plan to dump millions of tons of dredging spoils into the park's waters, despite howls of protest from environmental groups and scientists. The dredging is part of a plan to expand the existing port at Abbot Point, which several companies want to use to export coal from the nearby Galilee Basin, the BBC explains. The park authority promises that there would be "strict environmental conditions" in place. "It's important to note the seafloor of the approved disposal area consists of sand, silt, and clay and does not contain coral reefs or seagrass beds," the authority said." But 233 scientists have signed a letter warning that the plan endangers nearby marine life. The Australian Marine Conservation Society tells the AAP that any dumped fine sediment could drift as much as 50 miles. "There may not be coral reefs immediately where the dumping occurs," a society member said, "but there's certainly going to be coral reefs within 80km." You can see Greenpeace's summary of the dangers on this map.

COPENHAGEN — Denmark plans to house the country’s most unwelcome foreigners in a most unwelcoming place: a tiny, hard-to-reach island that now holds the laboratories, stables and crematory of a center for researching contagious animal diseases. As if to make the message clearer, one of the two ferries that serve the island is called the Virus. “They are unwanted in Denmark, and they will feel that,” the immigration minister, Inger Stojberg, wrote on Facebook. On Friday, the center-right government and the right-wing Danish People’s Party announced an agreement to house as many as 100 people on Lindholm Island — foreigners who have been convicted of crimes but who cannot be returned to their home countries. Many would be rejected asylum seekers. ||||| The Danish Government has pledged to push its legal obligations to human rights to the limits in a new plan to force some migrants to live on an isolated island that is currently home to a facility researching infectious animal diseases. As part of its budget negotiations, the Danish government announced a plan to use Lindholm Island to house up to 100 migrants who had committed crimes or been rejected for asylum but couldn’t be returned to their home countries. Danish Immigration Minister Inger Stojberg, member of Denmark’s conservative Liberal Party, wrote on Facebook, “they are unwanted in Denmark, and they will feel that.” The right-wing populist Danish People’s Party, which supported the plan, tweeted an animated video of a brown-skinned man being dropped off on a barren rock outcropping with a caption that read, in part, “expelled, criminal aliens have nothing to do in Denmark. Until we can get rid of them, we now move them out on the island Lindholm in Stege Bay.” Danish Finance Minister Kristian Jensen emphasized that the migrants would not be in prison, though they will be required to report to officials daily and sleep on the island, or else they could be imprisoned. Over 90% of the country’s current population is of Danish descent, but that number is expected to decline to just under 87% by 2060, when the number of non-Western immigrants or their descendants is expected to nearly double from 493,468 today to 867,258, according to Danmarks Statistik. There are also rising anxieties about migrants missing language classes and negatively affecting the country’s welfare system. Some elected officials opposed the plan. Uffe Elbaek, the leader of the Alternative Party, said his party would never consider such a plan, adding, “inhuman politics are creating a completely different Denmark to the Denmark I love.” If the current plan goes forward—it hinges on a facility being built on the island and the idea surviving any possible legal challenge—migrants could move to Lindholm Island by 2021. ||||| Lindholm. Photo: Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Effektivisering/Ritzau Scanpix Foreign nationals convicted of crimes and sentenced to deportation are to be accommodated on a deserted island, Denmark’s government announced on Friday. The provision was secured under the new budget agreement between Denmark’s conservative tripartite coalition government and anti-immigration ally the Danish People’s Party (DF). Foreign citizens convicted of crimes and slated for deportation under the terms of their sentences will be held at a facility on Lindholm, a seven-hectare island in Stege Bay between the islands of Møn and Zealand, Minister of Finance Kristian Jensen confirmed. “They will not be imprisoned,” Jensen said in quotes reported by news agency Ritzau. “There will be a ferry service to and from the island, but the ferry will not operate around the clock, and they must stay at the departure centre at night. That way we will be better able to monitor where they are,” he said. The facility will house convicted foreign nationals whom Denmark is unable to deport, for example due to being stateless or because no readmission arrangement exists between Denmark and their home country. Kærshovedgård Departure Centre in Jutland is currently used to accommodate such individuals as well as others who have not committed any crime but whose asylum applications have been rejected by Denmark. READ ALSO: The middle of nowhere: Inside Denmark’s Kærshovedgård deportation camp Kærshovedgård will not be closed and will remain in use for the accommodation of rejected asylum seekers awaiting deportation, Ritzau reports. The Lindholm facility will be used to house people with so-called ‘tolerated stay’ (tålt ophold) status, who do not have permission to reside in Denmark but cannot be deported, and rejected asylum seekers who have committed specific crimes. The Danish Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalforsorgen) will be responsible for the operation of the facility. Police will be present at all times and detention facilities will be provided for individuals placed under arrest to be held while they await further transportation. The centre will be brought into operation over several phases to be completed by 2021. “There are more limits to how much you can move around when you are on a deserted island. You are in principle obliged to remain on the island. So we will have more control over where they are,” Jensen said to Ritzau. “It is a problem for us that we can see that some foreigners who have in fact been sentenced to deportation are still committing crimes, and we have no way of monitoring them,” he added. Opposition politicians criticised the plan. The policy reflected a “humanitarian collapse” in Danish politics, Uffe Elbæk, political leader with the environmentalist Alternative party and a prime ministerial candidate, wrote on Twitter. “The green government I want to lead would never force people on to a deserted island,” Elbæk wrote. “Inhuman politics are creating a completely different Denmark to the Denmark I love,” he added. Den grønne regering, jeg ønsker at stå i spidsen for, kommer aldrig til at tvinge mennesker ud på en øde ø. Aldrig. Aldrig. Aldrig. Vi er vidne til et humanistisk kollaps, hvor menneskefjendsk politik skaber et helt andet Danmark, end det Danmark jeg elsker #dkpol #fl19 — Uffe Elbaek (@uffeelbaek) November 30, 2018 Morten Østergaard, leader of the Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre), cited concerns voiced by residents and the mayor and reported by broadcaster DR in Vordingborg, the administrative centre of the municipality in which Lindholm is located. The decision to place foreign convicted criminals on a deserted island was “symbolic politics without an end,” Østergaard tweeted. Først trodsede Støjberg og Thulesen alle advarsler og skabte problemerne på Kærhovedgaard og i Bording. Nu smides mennesker som kastebold videre. Og nye problemer skabes. Symbolpolitik uden ende. Med omkostninger for alle. Udlændinge. Danskere. Alle.https://t.co/XtlXMIsm8g — Morten Østergaard (@oestergaard) December 1, 2018 In contrast, the Danish People's Party celebrated the announcement by tweeting from its official account a graphic showing a dark-skinned man in apparently Islamic attire being transported to a deserted island in miserable weather. “Deported, criminal foreigners have NO reason to be in Denmark. Until we can get rid of them, we will move them to the island of Lindholm,” the tweet read. “They will be obliged to stay at the new deportation centre at night and there will be police around the clock. Great!”, the post continues. Udviste, kriminelle udlændinge har INTET at gøre i Danmark. Indtil vi kan komme af med dem, flytter vi dem nu ud på øen Lindholm i Stege Bugt, hvor de vil have pligt til at opholde sig på det nye udrejsecenter om natten. Og der vil være politi til stede døgnet rundt. Sådan!#dkpol pic.twitter.com/YybG4zkwQi — Dansk Folkeparti (@DanskDf1995) November 30, 2018 Lindholm is currently used by the Technical University of Denmark’s (DTU) Veterinary Institute, which carries out research into viruses affecting cattle and swine. The research is carried out on the uninhabited island due to precautions against potential contagion. DTU’s researchers will leave the island to make way for its new function, Jensen confirmed. READ ALSO: Danish mayors call for closure of asylum 'departure centres' ||||| Foreign criminals sentenced to deportation are to be banished to a remote island off the coast of Denmark, the country's government has announced. Finance minister Kristian Jensen said the criminals will be detained at a facility on Lindholm, an uninhabited seven-hectare island in the province of Vordingborg. The tough scheme was set up as part of an agreement between Denmark’s conservative coalition government and its anti-immigration ally, the Danish People’s Party (DF). The DF's official Twitter account celebrated the announcement by publishing an animated cartoon which shows a dark-skinned man being dumped by a ship on a desert island. A spokesman for the party said: "Foreign criminals have no reason to be in Denmark. Until we can get rid of them, we will move them to the island of Lindholm, where they will be obliged to stay at the new deportation centre at night. "There will be police there around the clock." The Lindholm facility will house rejected asylum seekers who have been convicted of crimes, as well as foreign citizens who do not have permission to stay but cannot be deported for legal reasons. For example, some of those due to be detained at the facility are stateless, while others come from countries which do not have a readmission agreement with Denmark.

– What's a country to do with migrants who are also criminals and rejected asylum seekers who can't be sent home? Banish them to an island, apparently. That's Denmark's plan, which its immigration minister sums up as making such foreigners feel "unwanted in Denmark." The New York Times highlights details that will serve that aim—like the fact the 17-acre Lindholm Island is currently used by scientists studying contagious animal diseases, houses a crematory, and is serviced by two ferries, one of which is named the Virus. The Local describes the island as "deserted." Deserted was the appearance given to the island in a cartoon video tweeted by the right-wing Danish People's Party, which pushed for the arrangement. The video shows a "dark-skinned man being dumped by ship" there, per the Telegraph. The immigrant facilities—slated to open in 2021 so long as legal challenges don't get in the way, per Fortune—will hold up to 100 people, and while the word "prison" isn't being used, those who are sent there will have to sleep there and submit to daily check-ins, and the plan is to whittle down the ferry service and "make it as cumbersome and expensive as possible." The Times has more on the political maneuverings behind the move, and critics of it, here.

Black Panther continues its climb up the box office charts. The Disney/Marvel superhero film has officially now crossed two big box office milestones: Domestically, with a box office tally of $652.5M, it officially surpassed Jurassic World ($652.3M) to become the No. 4 movie of all-time. And, globally it passed Frozen’s $1,276.5M to step into the Top Ten movies of all time. It has grossed $1.279.2M to date. And with $626.7M under its belt internationally, it is also the highest grossing superhero film that features a solo superhero. Both domestically and around the globe, Black Panther has been the Wakanda wonder since releasing on Feb. 16. It opened domestically to a whopping $202M and by mid-March was already at the $600M domestically. It accomplished a feat that another Marvel Universe film also had not achieved — it was No. 1 at the box office for five consecutive weeks after its release. The last film to spend five weeks in a row at the top was Avatar, which ruled for seven weeks in 2009-10. Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman and Daniel Kaluuya (Oscar nominated from Get Out). The film was directed by Ryan Coogler. The Top Five markets around the world for Black Panther are China with $104.5M, the U.K. ($65.2M), South Korea ($42.8M), Brazil ($35.4M) and France ($31.1M). ||||| “Black Panther” is set to break Saudi Arabia’s 35-year cinema ban. Disney and its Middle East distribution partner, Italia Film, will be releasing the Marvel superhero blockbuster April 18 in a new AMC-branded movie theater in Riyadh with a gala premiere, an Italia Film spokesman said. The “Black Panther” bow will mark the first screening of a film release in the kindgom since movie theaters were banned in the early 1980s, after Saudi Arabia adopted ultraconservative religious standards in 1979. Removal of the ban, announced last December, is part of a drive by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to transform Saudi society. “Black Panther” will inaugurate the new Saudi era in a luxurious cinema in a building originally intended to be a symphony concert hall. The facility, in Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District, has more than 600 leather seats, on orchestra and balcony levels, and marble bathrooms. AMC Entertainment, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda, expects to open up to 40 cinemas in Saudi Arabia within five years and up to 100 theaters in Saudi Arabia by the year 2030. With a population of 32 million, 70% of whom are under the age of 30, and a relatively affluent citizenry, some analysts expect that Saudi Arabia could eventually produce $1 billion in revenues and be among the top 10 markets for theatrical revenues. AMC and the Development and Investment Entertainment Company, which issued the license for AMC to operate, have said their goal is to achieve approximately a 50% market share of the Saudi Arabian movie theater industry. Other exhibitors building cinemas in the country include iPic, Empire, Vue, CJ CGV, Cinépolis, and Dubai-based Vox Cinemas and Cinemacity.

– Black Panther is one of the top 10 highest grossing movies of all time, with a worldwide box office tally of more than $1.279 billion, per Deadline. Its historic run isn't over: The Marvel film will be the first shown in Saudi Arabia as the country lifts its 35-year cinema ban, Variety reports. The film will premiere April 18 in Riyadh at a new AMC theater initially built as a symphony hall. A first since movies were banned in the country in the early 1980s, the move comes as part of reforms brought by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. AMC is preparing to open as many as 40 cinemas in the country within five years.

ITAR-TASS News Agency / Alamy Stock Photo Best of GQ The Untold Story of Otto Warmbier, American Hostage President Trump hailed him as a catalyst of the summit with Kim Jong-Un. But what happened to Warmbier—the American college student who was sent home brain-damaged from North Korea—is even more shocking than anyone knew. 1. Homecoming On a humid morning in June 2017, in a suburb outside Cincinnati, Fred and Cindy Warmbier waited in agony. They had not spoken to their son Otto for a year and a half, since he had been arrested during a budget tour of North Korea. One of their last glimpses of him had been from a televised news conference in Pyongyang, during which their boy—a sweet, brainy 21-year-old scholarship student at the University of Virginia—confessed to undermining the regime at the behest of the unlikely triumvirate of an Ohio church, a university secret society, and the American government by stealing a propaganda poster. He sobbed to his captors, “I have made the single worst decision of my life. But I am only human.… I beg that you find it in your hearts to give me forgiveness and allow me to return home to my family.” Despite his pleas, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor and vanished into the dictatorship's prison system. Fred and Cindy had so despaired during their long vigil that at one point they allegedly told friends that Otto had probably been killed. On her son's 22nd birthday, Cindy lit Chinese-style lanterns and let the winter winds loft the flame-buoyed balloons toward North Korea, dreaming they might bear her message to her son. “I love you, Otto,” she said, then sang “Happy Birthday.” But on that June morning, the Warmbiers were anticipating news of a secret State Department mission to free Otto. Upon learning that Otto was apparently unconscious, President Trump had directed an American team to fly into North Korea, and now progress of the mission was being monitored at the highest level of the government. No assurances had been made that the young man would actually be released, and so the officials were on tenterhooks as well. According to an official, at 8:35 A.M., Secretary of State Rex Tillerson telephoned the president to announce that Otto was airborne. The president reportedly signed off by saying, “Take care of Otto.” Then Rob Portman, the Ohio senator who helped oversee efforts to repatriate Otto, called to inform the Warmbiers that the air ambulance had just entered Japanese airspace: Otto would be home that night. Still, Cindy knew her son was not through danger yet. In advance of the rescue, Portman had informed her that Otto had been unconscious for months, according to the North Koreans, though no one knew the exact extent of the injury. “Can you tell me how Otto's brain is functioning?” she asked. Portman answered that Otto appeared to have severe brain damage. Cindy told news outlets that she imagined that might mean Otto was asleep or in a medically induced coma. The Warmbiers were optimistic, up-by-their-bootstraps patriots, and they hoped that with American health care and their love, their son might again become the vivacious person he'd been when he left. Now Portman and his staff scrambled to prepare the homecoming, rerouting the plane from Cincinnati's international airport to a smaller municipal one, which would be more private. As the sun went down, a crowd waved handmade signs welcoming Otto home, and TV crews pushed their cameras against the bars of the perimeter fence. The sleek luxury plane taxied to some hangars, where the Warmbiers waited nearby. Halfway up the airplane's stairs, over the whine of the still-cycling engines, Fred later said, he heard a guttural “inhuman” howling and wondered what it was. But when he stepped into the cabin cluttered with medical equipment, he found its source: Otto, strapped to a stretcher, jerking violently against his restraints and wailing. Cindy was prepared for her son to be changed, but she had not expected this. Otto's arms and legs were “totally deformed,” according to his parents. His wavy brown locks had been buzzed off. A feeding tube infiltrated his nostrils. “It looked like someone had taken a pair of pliers and re-arranged his bottom teeth,” as Fred would say. According to Cindy, Otto's sister fled the plane, screaming, and Cindy ran after her. Fred approached his son and hugged him. Otto's eyes remained wide open and blank. Fred told Otto that he had missed him and was overjoyed to have him home. But Otto's alien keening only continued, impossible to comfort. It was only later that a member of Otto’s tour group would wonder about “the two-hour window that none of us can account for [Otto].” By the time paramedics carried Otto out of the plane by his legs and armpits and loaded him into an ambulance, Cindy had recovered somewhat. She forced herself to join him in the emergency vehicle, though seeing him in such torment had almost made her pass out. At the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the family camped at Otto's bedside while speculation blazed around the world about what had rendered him vegetative. But Otto would never recover to tell his side of the story. And despite exhaustive examinations by doctors, no definitive medical evidence explaining how his injury came to be would ever emerge. Instead, in the vacuum of fact, North Korea and the U.S. competed to provide a story. North Korea blamed Otto's condition on a combination of botulism and an unexpected reaction to a sleeping pill, an explanation that many American doctors said was unlikely. A senior American official asserted that, according to intelligence reports, Otto had been repeatedly beaten. Fred and Cindy declared on TV that their son had been physically tortured, in order to spotlight the dictatorship's evil. The president pushed this narrative. Meanwhile, the American military made preparations for a possible conflict. Otto became a symbol used to build “a case for war on emotional grounds,” the New York Times editorial board wrote. As the Trump administration and North Korea spun Otto's story for their own ends, I spent six months reporting—from Washington, D.C., to Seoul—trying to figure out what had actually happened to him. What made an American college student go to Pyongyang? What kind of nightmare did he endure while in captivity? How did his brain damage occur? And how did his eventual death help push America closer toward war with North Korea and then, in a surprising reversal, help lead to Trump's peace summit with Kim Jong-un? The story I uncovered was stranger and sadder than anyone had known. In fact, I discovered that the manner of Otto's injury was not as black-and-white as people were encouraged to believe. But before he became a rallying cry in the administration's campaign against North Korea, he was just a kid. His name was Otto Warmbier. 2. All-American In a white two-story home flying the Stars and Stripes, Otto grew up the eldest child of a Republican family. He was one of those special young people we praise as all-American. At a top-ranked Ohio high school, he boasted the second-best grades. He was also a math whiz and a gifted soccer player and swimmer. And as if it weren't enough that he was prom king, his peers also anointed him with the plastic crown at homecoming. But despite running in the “popular circle given his athletic prowess, classic good looks and unending charisma,” a classmate later wrote in a local newspaper, he “still felt like everyone's friend.” Though his family was well-off, he had a passion for “memorabilia investing,” as he called thrift-store shopping, and sometimes dressed in secondhand Hawaiian shirts. When the time came for him to give a speech at his high school graduation, instead of orating grandiosely, he admitted to struggling to find words. He took as his theme a quote from The Office: “I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days,” he told his peers, “before you've actually left them.” Of course, Otto's best days seemed ahead: He attended the University of Virginia with a scholarship, intent on becoming a banker. A meticulous planner, he filled a calendar hung on his dorm wall with handwritten commitments: from assignments to dates to bringing differently abled friends to basketball games. He joined a fraternity known for its “kind of nerdy dudes,” and one of his college friends said that academics and family always took precedence over everything else, from partying to tailgating at football games. When he won a finance internship the fall of his junior year, there was no disputing that he was a man fully in charge of his destiny. Knowing that he would soon be laboring over spreadsheets, he decided he wanted an adventure over his winter break. He had long been curious about other cultures and had previously visited intrepid destinations like Cuba. And since he would already be traveling to Hong Kong to study abroad, he decided he wanted to witness the world's most repressive nation: North Korea. Even though the state imprisons and sometimes executes citizens trying to flee it, it permits thousands of foreigners to visit every year on tightly controlled tours—one of the few ways its sanction-crippled economy makes cash. If Otto had Googled “tour North Korea,” the top link would have been for the company he chose, Young Pioneer Tours, an operator specializing in budget excursions to “destinations your mother would rather you stay away from.” The trips have a reputation of being like spring break in a geopolitical hot spot. After putting down a deposit for a $1,200 five-day, four-night “New Year's Party Tour,” Otto learned from the confirmation e-mail that his visa would be arranged by the company and presented to him when he met the tour group at the Beijing airport. The State Department had an advisory in place against traveling to North Korea, where he'd be beyond the American government's power to directly help him. Otto's parents weren't thrilled by the trip, but as his mother later explained, “Why would you say no to a kid like this?” So, shortly after Christmas 2015, Otto met the other Young Pioneers in China and boarded an old Soviet jet to Pyongyang. In North Korea's capital, border police confiscated cameras and flicked through each file on smartphones to make sure no outsider was smuggling in subversive materials. Then Otto stepped through passport control—and just like that, left the free world. 3. The Happiest Nation Early on in Pyongyang, Otto and the other Young Pioneers were led aboard the U.S.S. Pueblo, an American Navy spy ship that had been seized by the North Koreans in 1968 and today serves as an odd tourist attraction. While they toured the ship, the Young Pioneers were regaled by a North Korean who told the foreign visitors about capturing the ship from the “imperial enemy.” The 82 American sailors captured on the Pueblo were beaten and starved for 11 months before finally being released. For Otto, the story made clear what he had perhaps overlooked before: that he was in enemy territory. Even though the Korean War had stalemated in 1953, the lack of a peace agreement meant that the North was technically still at war with the South and its ally, the U.S. Stepping from the boat, Otto “was a little bit shocked,” said Danny Gratton, an impish British 40-something greeting-card salesman who was his roommate for the tour. But Gratton and the other tourists, a mix of Canadians, Australians, Europeans, and at least one other American, helped Otto laugh off that dark knowledge, nicknaming him “Imperial Enemy”—as in, “Hey, Imperial Enemy, want another beer?” Soon enough Otto was having fun again, for even though propaganda billboards showed North Korean missiles blasting the White House, the tour felt more like a bizarre charade than a visit to a hostile nation. The Young Pioneers visited the 70-foot bronze statues of the first two generations of the country's dictators, and they could never be sure if the citizens they saw spontaneously hailing the Great Leader were sincere or put up to it. Of course, everyone knew that outside the stage-managed capital lay starving villages and concentration camps. But Otto succeeded in bridging the cultural divide, laughing and throwing snowballs with North Korean children. On New Year's Eve, the Young Pioneers went drinking at a fancy bar, though according to Gratton, no one got belligerently drunk, as some reports would later suggest. After the bar, Gratton says, they celebrated the final hours of New Year's Eve with thousands of North Koreans in Pyongyang's main square. The group then returned to their hotel, known as the “Alcatraz of Fun” because of its island location. To keep foreigners entertained, the 47-story tower is furnished with five restaurants (one of which revolves), a bar, a sauna, a massage parlor, and its own bowling alley. Some Young Pioneers headed to the bar. Gratton went bowling, and lost track of Otto. It was only later that he would wonder about “the two-hour window that none of us can account for [Otto].” North Korea would later release grainy CCTV camera footage of an unidentifiable figure removing a framed propaganda poster from a wall in a restricted area of the hotel, claiming it was Otto. During the televised confession, Otto would read from a handwritten script that he had put on his “quietest boots, the best for sneaking” and attempted the theft at the prompting of a local Methodist church, a university secret society, and the American administration, “to harm the work ethic and motivation of the Korean people” and bring home a “trophy.” Many of the confession's details didn't square—for one, Otto was Jewish, not affiliated with a Methodist church—making experts suspect the words weren't originally Otto's. Whatever happened during those lost hours, when Gratton returned to his and Otto's room, around 4:30 A.M. on January 1, Otto was already snoozing. The following morning at the airport, the two tired friends were the last Young Pioneers to present their passports, side by side at a single desk. After an uncomfortably long time, Gratton noticed that the officers were intently scrutinizing the documents. Then two soldiers marched up, and one tapped Otto on the shoulder. Gratton thought the authorities just wanted to give the Imperial Enemy a hard time, and jested, “Well, that's the last we'll ever see of you.” Otto laughed, and then let himself be led away from Gratton through a wooden door beside the check-in area. Otto's control of his carefully planned life had just been wrenched from him. 4. The Back Channel When Robert King went to work at the State Department on January 2, 2016, during the Obama administration, he was expecting a boring day churning through e-mails accumulated over the holidays. Instead, a red-alert situation confronted him. King's first thought was Oh no, not another American. During his seven years as the special envoy for North Korean human-rights issues, King had helped oversee the safe release of more than a dozen imprisoned Americans, so he knew what would happen. First, Otto would be forced to confess to undermining the regime, and tapes of that speech would be used as domestic propaganda to convince North Koreans that America sought to destroy them. Next, Otto was likely to be imprisoned and his freedom used as a bargaining chip by the North Koreans to extract a visit from a high-level American dignitary or concessions in nuclear or sanctions negotiations. In meetings with the family, King warned the Warmbiers to expect “a marathon, not a sprint.” He also recommended they keep quiet to avoid antagonizing the unpredictable regime. He could offer them few reassurances, explaining, “We weren't 100 percent sure where [Otto] was or what had happened to him,” as America has scant intelligence assets in North Korea. The Warmbiers grew frustrated that the world's most powerful nation could not take more direct, immediate action to help their son. But King had no leverage over Pyongyang. He couldn't even directly interface with North Korean officials because the two countries have never had a formal diplomatic relationship. In fact, the Swedish ambassador stands in as Washington's liaison for American citizens in Pyongyang. All King could do was wait for weeks while the Swedes' e-mails and calls were stonewalled. But even if the official State Department response was stymied, that didn't mean that a back channel couldn't be employed. Shortly after Otto was arrested, Ohio governor John Kasich connected the Warmbiers with Bill Richardson, the affable former governor of New Mexico and ambassador to the United Nations, who was leading a foundation that specializes in under-the-radar “fringe diplomacy” to release hostages from hostile regimes or criminal organizations. Richardson had previously helped free several Americans from North Korea and consequently had a strong relationship with what is commonly called the New York Channel, the North Korean representatives at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, who often serve as unofficial go-betweens for Washington and Pyongyang. Every few weeks from February 2016 to August 2016, Richardson or Mickey Bergman, his senior adviser, traveled to the city to meet the New York Channel. In restaurants, hotel lobbies, and coffee shops near the United Nations, they would hold polite negotiations with the regime's representatives. But shortly after Otto's conviction in Pyongyang, Richardson sensed that the previously communicative foreign ministry was having its information cut off by Kim Jong-un's obstinate inner circle—a transition, his team would later realize, that probably dated from Otto's injury. “They made it clear they could only convey our offers,” Richardson recalled. “They were not decision makers at all.” To get real answers, someone would have to go to Pyongyang. So with the Obama White House's blessing, Richardson and Bergman negotiated a visit by promising to discuss private humanitarian aid for North Korean flood victims along with Otto's release. Bergman, a former Israeli paratrooper with a therapist's sensitive demeanor, was chosen as the emissary, as Richardson would draw too much attention. In September, Bergman achieved what he described as the first face-to-face meeting between American and North Korean representatives in Pyongyang in nearly two years. Diplomatic missions to North Korea are different from those to other countries, in which meetings take place across oak tables. In Pyongyang, rather, Bergman was squired around for four days to many of the same sites that Otto had touristed—from the U.S.S. Pueblo to restaurants. But as he chatted with his guides, he knew his informal offers were being conveyed up the chain. By the time Bergman sat down with a vice minister on his last day, he was expecting a positive outcome because of the excitement of his minders. But Bergman was told he wouldn't even get to see Otto. Still, afterward, his handlers reminded him, “It takes 100 hacks to take down a tree.” Bergman said he hoped he would not have to travel to Pyongyang 99 more times. Bergman left with the impression that the North Koreans were considering ways that Otto could be released, but first they wanted to see what happened with the climaxing 2016 presidential campaign. When Trump won, Bergman and Richardson recognized a golden opportunity to free Otto à la the release of American hostages in Iran at the beginning of Ronald Reagan's inaugural presidential term. The two fringe diplomats put together a photo-op-worthy proposal for the Trump plane to pick Otto up in advance of the inauguration, before bureaucracy hemmed in the new president. They didn't receive a no from North Korea, which they knew from past diplomacy with them was often a signal of positive interest. “The challenge that we had was that we could not get Donald Trump,” Bergman said. “We tried to go through Giuliani, Pence, Ivanka. Nothing during the transition. I'm assuming they were in chaos over there. I don't think it ever crossed his desk, because I think he would have actually liked it.” 5. “I Was Completely Shocked” After the election, as Robert King transitioned into retirement, Otto's case was taken up by the newly appointed U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, Joseph Yun. When Yun came in, Pyongyang was still refusing to speak to the Obama administration, but shortly after the day of Trump's inauguration, the mild-mannered but steely former ambassador established contact with the New York Channel about releasing Otto. By February 2017, a delegation of North Koreans was set to visit the States, but then Kim Jong-un orchestrated the assassination of his half brother with a chemical weapon in an international airport, which drew condemnation from America, scuttling the talks. “Listening to [Trump] deliberate on this,” said a State Department official, “he sounded to me a lot more like a dad.” By April, however, relations had thawed to the point that Yun was able to persuade Secretary Tillerson to let him discuss freeing Otto face-to-face with senior North Korean officials, as long as no broader diplomacy was done. So Yun traveled to Norway to meet several high-level North Korean officials on the sidelines of secret nuclear negotiations, conducted by retired diplomats to get around the lack of official contact. Yun and the North Koreans agreed that the Swedish ambassador could visit Otto and the three other Americans who were detained in North Korea. In the end, the proxy was reportedly allowed to see only one detainee—but not Otto. Yun continued to demand access to Otto, and one day in early June he was surprised by a call urgently requesting him to meet with the New York Channel. In Manhattan, the North Koreans informed Yun that Otto was unconscious. “I was completely shocked,” Yun said. He argued that given the young man's health, Pyongyang had to free him promptly on humanitarian grounds. “I came back immediately, and I told Secretary Tillerson,” Yun said. “And we determined at the time that we needed to get him and the other prisoners out as soon as possible, and I should contact Pyongyang and say I wanted to come right away.” When Trump learned of Otto's condition, he doubled down on the order for Yun to rush to Pyongyang and bring Otto home. The North Koreans were unilaterally informed that an American plane would soon land in Pyongyang and that United States diplomats and doctors would get off. “The president was very invested in bringing Otto home,” said a State Department official who was involved in the case and who was not authorized to speak on the record. “Listening to him deliberate on this, he sounded to me a lot more like a dad.” But, the official said, “we were very scared,” for though the North Koreans eventually said the plane would be able to land, no one knew what kind of welcome the Americans would receive on the ground. Yun explained, “The North Koreans said we could send a delegation to see Otto, but that we would have to discuss some of the conditions of getting him out once we got there.” And so Yun raced to assemble a diplomatic and medical team to save Otto. 6. The Rescue Michael Flueckiger was used to calmly fixing horrifying situations, having previously saved countless patients from gunshot wounds and car crashes during 31 years as a trauma-center doctor. He was also no stranger to dangerous overseas situations, for in his current position as medical director for an elite air-ambulance service, Phoenix Air, he had evacuated Americans stricken with Ebola from Africa. When his boss called to ask if he would help rescue Otto from North Korea, he briefly hesitated from fear, but he decided he couldn't ask any of his employees to go in his stead. Once committed, the challenge-seeking, mountain-biking 67-year-old began excitedly awaiting the mission. The final go-ahead from the State Department arrived during an inconspicuous Friday lunch. Phoenix Air immediately rerouted its best aircraft—a luxury Gulfstream G-III jet upgraded into a flying E.R.—from Senegal to its headquarters, outside Atlanta, where Flueckiger and his team got it loaded and airborne again in less than two hours on Saturday. Then they picked up Yun and two other members of the State Department in Washington, D.C., and flew to Japan. There they off-loaded everyone but Yun, one other diplomat, and Flueckiger—for only those three had been authorized to enter North Korea. The next day, as the Gulfstream rocketed toward the edge of North Korean airspace, all the Japanese air-traffic controllers could do was aim the plane at Pyongyang and tell the pilot to proceed straight for 20 miles, as there is no official flight path between the countries. Then the radio chatter faded out, and only static filled the airwaves for ten minutes. Finally, a voice speaking perfect English guided the plane's landing in Pyongyang. A busload of soldiers escorted the Americans off the tarmac, and the aircraft returned to Japan. The Americans were chauffeured through the farmland outside Pyongyang to an opulent guesthouse complete with marble staircases, chandeliers, and a full staff, even though they appeared to be the only guests. That day, Yun engaged in several rounds of intense negotiations with North Korean officials, trying to win Otto's freedom. However, Yun kept butting his head against the North Koreans' argument: Otto committed this crime, so why should he escape due process? In North Korea, disrespecting one of the ubiquitous propaganda posters is actually a serious breach of the law. The research organization Database Center for North Korean Human Rights confirmed a case of a factory janitor being prosecuted for bumping such a picture off the wall so that it fell and broke. As Andrei Lankov, director of the Korea Risk Group, said, if a North Korean did what Otto did, “they would be dead or definitely tortured.” Finally, Yun persuaded the North Koreans to let him see Otto. Flueckiger and Yun were shuttled to Friendship Hospital, a private facility that often treats foreign diplomats living in Pyongyang. In an isolated second-floor ICU room, Flueckiger was presented with a pale, inert man with a feeding tube threaded through his nostrils. Could this really be Otto? Flueckiger wondered, for the body looked so different from the pictures he had seen of the homecoming king. Flueckiger clapped beside Otto's ear. No meaningful response. Sadness flooded him. He had two children and struggled to imagine one in such a state. Yun, too, couldn't help but think of his own son, around Otto's age, and about how the Warmbiers would feel when they saw their boy. Two North Korean doctors explained that Otto had arrived at the hospital this way more than a year before and showed as proof thick handwritten charts and several brain scans that revealed Otto had suffered extensive brain damage. Flueckiger spent about an hour examining Otto, but the truth had been evident at first sight: The Otto of old was already gone. Though he had obviously improved since coming into the hospital (he had a tracheotomy scar where machines had once breathed for him), he was in a state of unresponsive wakefulness, meaning he still possessed basic reflexes but no longer showed signs of awareness. The North Koreans asked Flueckiger to sign a report testifying that Otto had been well cared for in the hospital. “I would have been willing to fudge that report if I thought it would get Otto released,” Flueckiger said. “But as it turned out,” despite the most basic facilities (the room's sink did not even work), “he got good care, and I didn't have to lie.” Otto was well nourished and had no bedsores, an accomplishment even Western hospitals struggle to achieve with comatose patients. But the North Koreans were still not ready to release Otto. Negotiations continued into the night. Then, the next morning, Flueckiger and Yun were driven to a hotel in downtown Pyongyang, where the three other American prisoners were marched into a conference room one by one. The three Korean-Americans, all detained on charges of espionage or “hostile acts against the state,” had had almost no contact with the outside world since being arrested, and they all cried as they dictated messages for their families to Yun. After only 15 minutes, though, each prisoner was escorted away. “I was, frankly, disappointed we didn't get the others out,” Yun said. “It was very hard to leave them behind.” Early in Trump's presidency, Fred appeared on Fox News, reportedly because he knew that the president obsessively watched the network, to complain that the State Department wasn't doing enough for his son. “President Trump, I ask you: Bring my son home,” he said. “You can make a difference here.” Once they got back to the guesthouse, Yun found himself once more arguing with North Korean officials for Otto's freedom. Then Yun played his last card: “I called my guys to bring the plane from Japan. I told the North Koreans we would leave with or without Otto. I felt there was no point in dragging on. I was 90 percent sure they would release him, and that this call would bring an action forcing them to do so.” Shortly before the plane was to land, a North Korean official announced to Yun that they had decided to release Otto. The Americans returned to the hospital, and a North Korean judge in a black suit commuted Otto's sentence. Then the U.S. motorcade and the ambulance raced directly to the airport, through open security gates, and onto the tarmac where the Gulfstream waited. When the plane cleared North Korean airspace, the celebration was muted. The team knew they would soon have to face the heartbreak of turning Otto over to his parents. In the meantime, Flueckiger cradled Otto, changed his diaper, and whispered to him that he was free, like a father soothing his baby. 7. The Crusade for Otto Two days after the return, Fred Warmbier took the stage at Otto's high school. He was draped in the linen blazer that his son had worn during his forced confession. Tears spangled his eyes as he said to the assembled reporters, “Otto, I love you, and I'm so crazy about you, and I'm so glad you're home.” He blamed the Obama administration for failing to win Otto's release sooner, and thanked Trump. When asked about his son's health, he said grimly, “We're trying to make him comfortable.” Sometimes he slipped into the past tense when talking about him. From the start, Fred had striven relentlessly for Otto's freedom with the same streetwise entrepreneurism he had used to eventually build a major metal-finishing business after going to work straight out of high school. He traveled to Washington more than a dozen times in 2016 to meet with Secretary of State John Kerry and other high-level politicians. But after a fruitless year of bowing to the Obama administration's admonitions to work behind the scenes, he decided that “the era of strategic patience for the Warmbier family [was] over.” Early in Trump's presidency, Fred appeared on Fox News, reportedly because he knew that the president obsessively watched the network, to complain that the State Department wasn't doing enough for his son. “President Trump, I ask you: Bring my son home,” he said. “You can make a difference here.” Soon the administration had raised Otto's case into a signature issue. When Otto was returned in a vegetative state, Fred refocused his zeal on getting justice for him. To Fred, the evidence of torture seemed clear. The once vital young man was severely brain-damaged. His formerly straight teeth were misaligned, and a large scar marred his foot. Doctors detected no signs of botulism, North Korea's explanation. And The New York Times had written that the government had “obtained intelligence reports in recent weeks indicating that Mr. Warmbier had been repeatedly beaten while in North Korean custody,” citing an anonymous senior American official. Within 48 hours of his return, Otto had a fever that had risen to 104 degrees. After doctors confirmed to Fred and Cindy that their son would never be cognizant again, they directed that his feeding tube be removed. They lived at his bedside until, six days after returning home, Otto died. Hundreds of people lined the streets to witness Otto's hearse, and many made the W hand gesture representing his high school. Wearing an American-flag tie, Fred watched his son “complete his journey home” with a haggard stare. After a mourning period, Fred and Cindy appeared on Fox & Friends in September 2017, once more reportedly seeking to catch the president's eye, and called the North Koreans “terrorists” who had “intentionally injured” Otto. Fred graphically described damage to Otto's teeth and foot as the result of torture and demanded that the administration punish the dictatorship. Shortly afterward, the president showed his approval by tweeting “great interview” and noting that Otto was “tortured beyond belief by North Korea.” To lobby for the United States to take legal action against North Korea, Fred hired the lawyer who represents Vice President Mike Pence in the special counsel's Russia investigation. In early November, Congress backed banking restrictions against North Korea that were named for Otto. And later that month, Trump designated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, which would allow harsher future sanctions, stating, “As we take this action today, our thoughts turn to Otto Warmbier.” “Being imprisoned was lonely, isolating, and frustrating,” Kenneth Bae, an American who’d been detained in North Korea, told me. “I was on trial for all of America.” Around the same time as Otto's death, U.S. hostilities with North Korea were growing heated. This was the period of “fire and fury,” and of Trump and Kim comparing who had the “bigger & more powerful” nuclear buttons. Behind the scenes in Washington, dovish diplomats, like Joseph Yun, were replaced by hawks, like John Bolton, one of the architects of the Iraq war. The likelihood of conflict grew so real that an American diplomat warned a Seoul-dwelling friend in confidence to move his assets out of South Korea. On TV and social media, and in official speeches, Republican officials cited Otto's death as a reason Kim Jong-un needed to be confronted. When making a case for a forceful response against North Korea to the South Korean National Assembly, in November 2017, Trump said their common enemy had “tortured Otto Warmbier, ultimately leading to that fine young man's death.” In his January 2018 State of the Union address, Trump pledged to keep “maximum pressure” on North Korea and to “honor Otto's memory with total American resolve,” while the Warmbiers wept in the gallery. Meanwhile, Fred and Cindy traveled the country reinforcing the narrative that Otto was tortured. As Cindy told the United Nations in New York City, “I can't let Otto die in vain.” In April 2018, the Warmbiers, seeking damages, filed a lawsuit alleging that North Korea “brutally tortured and murdered” their son. Despite how Trump and his administration boosted the narrative that Otto was physically tortured, however, the evidence was not clear-cut. The day after the Warmbiers went on national television to declare that Otto had been “systematically tortured and intentionally injured,” a coroner who had examined Otto, Dr. Lakshmi Kode Sammarco, unexpectedly called a press conference. She explained that she hadn't previously done so out of respect for the Warmbiers. But her findings, and those of the doctors who had attended Otto, contradicted the Warmbiers' assertions. Fred had described Otto's teeth as having been “re-arranged” with pliers, but Sammarco reiterated that the postmortem exam found that “the teeth [were] natural and in good repair.” She discovered no significant scars, dismissing the one on his foot as not definitively indicative of anything. Other signs of physical trauma were also lacking. Both sides of Otto's brain had suffered simultaneously, meaning it had been starved of oxygen. (Blows to the head would have likely resulted in asymmetrical, rather than universal, damage.) Though the Warmbiers declined a surgical autopsy, non-invasive scans found no hairline bone fractures or other evidence of prior trauma. “His body was in excellent condition,” Sammarco said. “I'm sure he had to have round-the-clock care to be able to maintain the skin in the condition it was in.” When asked about the Warmbiers' claims, Sammarco answered, “They're grieving parents. I can't really make comments on what they said or their perceptions. But here in this office, we depend on science for our conclusions.” Three other individuals who had close contact with Otto on his return also did not notice any physical signs consistent with torture. The origin of Otto's injury remained a mystery. “We're never going to know,” Sammarco said, “unless the people who were there at the time it happened would come forward and say, ‘This is what happened.’ ” 8. The Probable Discovering the truth of events that happen in North Korea is a task that even American intelligence agencies struggle with. But Otto's experience after his arrest is not a black hole, as it has often been portrayed. Through intelligence sources, government officials, and senior-level North Korean defectors, and drawing on the experiences of the 15 other Americans who since 1996 have been imprisoned in North Korea—some in the same places as Otto—it is possible to describe Otto's probable day-to-day life there. Within the electrified fences of many of North Korea's notorious prison camps dwell up to 120,000 souls, condemned for infractions as minor as watching banned South Korean soap operas. The human-rights abuses within have been extensively documented, creating a compelling case that they are among the worst places in the world. The lucky survive on starvation rations while enduring routine beatings and dangerous enforced labor, like coal mining. The unlucky are tortured to death. In Seoul, one North Korean, who had endured three years at a low-level camp for trying to flee the country, wept as she told me: “North Korean prisons are actually hell. We had less rights than a dog. They often beat us, and we were so hungry we would catch mice in our cells to eat.” She saw six to eight fellow prisoners die every day. “I don't believe Otto was physically tortured,” Andrei Lankov, said in his office in Seoul. “The campaign to make Otto a symbol of North Korea's cruelty was psychological preparation to justify military operations.” But American detainees escape that fate. When Otto finally opened his eyes again, he likely found himself at a guesthouse, which is where the State Department believed he was probably kept. At least five previous American detainees have been imprisoned in a two-story building with a green-tiled roof in a gated alleyway behind a restaurant in downtown Pyongyang, which is run by the State Security Department, the North Korean secret police. (Others have been kept at a different guesthouse, and at least three have stayed at a hotel.) The most used guesthouse is luxurious by local standards—detainees can hear guards using its karaoke machine into the wee hours—but Otto would have likely found its two-room suites roughly equivalent to those in a basic hotel. And no matter how nice his suite, it was also a cell, for he would have been allowed out only for an occasional escorted walk. For the next two months, until his forced confession, Otto would probably have been relentlessly interrogated; American missionary Kenneth Bae said he was questioned up to 15 hours a day. The goal wasn't to extract the truth but to construct the fabulation that Otto read off handwritten notes at his news conference. In the past, North Korea has spun false confessions from small truths, and in this case they may have construed a conspiracy from a souvenir propaganda poster that Otto had bought, according to Danny Gratton, Otto's tour roommate. No previous American detainee has accused North Korea of using physical force to extract a confession, but if Otto protested his innocence, he probably received a warning similar to the one given to Ohioan Jeffrey Fowle, who was detained two years before him: “If you don't start cooperating, things are going to become less pleasant.” As the journalist Laura Ling wrote of her five months in detention, “I told [the prosecutor] what he wanted to hear—and kept telling him until he was satisfied.” Ever since the sailors of the U.S.S. Pueblo were beaten in 1968, there have been no clear-cut cases of North Korea physically torturing American prisoners. When Ling and fellow journalist Euna Lee sneaked over the North Korean border, Ling was struck as soldiers detained them. But once their nationalities were established, they were sent to the green-roofed guesthouse. American media, including The New York Times, have widely repeated the claims that missionary Robert Park was physically tortured, but Park himself has reportedly said that the story that he was stripped naked by female guards and clubbed in the genitals was fabricated by a journalist. On the contrary, the North Koreans have carefully tended to the health of Americans they have captured, caring for them, if needed, in the Friendship Hospital where Otto was kept; 85-year-old detainee Merrill Newman was reportedly visited by a doctor and nurse four times a day. As a high-level North Korean defector who now works for a South Korean intelligence agency said, “North Korea treats its foreign prisoners especially well. They know someday they will have to send them back.” But that doesn't mean that North Korea doesn't psychologically torture detained Americans—in fact, it has always tried to bludgeon them into mental submission. Bae, Ling, and other prisoners were repeatedly told that their government had “forgotten” them and were given so little hope that they only learned of their impending freedom an hour before being released. When I met former detainee Bae in the Seoul office of his NGO dedicated to helping North Korean defectors, he told me, “Being imprisoned was lonely, isolating, and frustrating. I was on trial for all of America, so I had to accept that I had no control and there was no way I could get out of the impending punishment.” While some previous detainees were allowed letters from home, it seems that North Korea denied Otto any contact with the outside world. His only break from the interrogations was likely watching North Korean propaganda films. The psychic trauma of all this has sent previous detainees into crushing depressions, and even driven some to attempt suicide. In the footage of his news-conference confession, Otto looked physically healthy, but as he sobbed for his freedom, he was obviously in extreme mental distress. Two weeks later, in mid-March, as Otto was filmed after being sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, his body still looked whole, but his expression was vacant and he had to be supported by two guards as he was dragged out of the courthouse—as if the life had drained out of him. Until now, the next assumption about Otto's fate was that he had suffered severe brain damage by “April,” as the first brain scan sent back with his body was time-stamped. Speculation suggested that the tragedy might have occurred at a special labor camp for foreigners, where at least three Americans have performed their hard-labor sentences. There they were forced to plant soybeans or make bricks while living in spartan conditions, though, as Bae wrote, “Compared to the average North Korean serving time in a labor camp, I was in a four-star resort.” Certainly, it would have been more likely for any type of tragedy—over-exertion under a furnace sun, a work accident, or even directed beatings—to occur in that barbed-wire-enclosed valley a few miles outside Pyongyang. But Otto almost certainly never made it to the labor camp. “The staff at Friendship Hospital said they received Otto the morning after the trial and that when he came in he was unresponsive,” Dr. Flueckiger told me. “They had to resuscitate him, then give him oxygen and put him on a ventilator, or he would die.” As Yun, the negotiator who helped free Otto, said, “The doctors were clear that he had been brought to the hospital within a day of his trial, and that he had been in that same room until I saw him.” 9. The Improbable The previously unreported detail of when Otto was admitted to the Friendship Hospital changes the narrative of what could have happened to him. If Otto was “repeatedly beaten,” as the intel reports suggested, it would logically have been during the two to six weeks between his sentencing, when videos of him showed no signs of physical damage, and “April,” as the North Korean brain scan was dated. But Otto was apparently unconscious by the next morning. The coroner found no evidence of bludgeoning on Otto's body. And when one takes into account that the entire sourced public case that Otto was beaten derives from that single anonymous official who spoke to The New York Times, the theory begins to crack. It is for this paucity of evidence that, though the public discourse about Otto's death has long been dominated by talk of beatings, there have been doubts among North Korea experts that the intelligence reports were correct. Of the dozen experts I spoke to, only a single one thought there was even a remote likelihood that he had been beaten. “I don't believe Otto was physically tortured,” Andrei Lankov said in his office in Seoul. “The campaign to make Otto a symbol of North Korea's cruelty was psychological preparation to justify military operations.” Many experts pointed out that though North Korea is often portrayed as irrational, the Kim family had to be “both brutal and smart,” as Lankov said, to maintain its relative power on the world stage, especially for such a small, impoverished country. What incentive would they have to lose a valuable bargaining chip, especially when they had never been so thoughtless before? To these experts, it made much more sense that Otto was treated like all other detained Americans and that an unexpected catastrophe occurred. But despite the experts' doubts, none of them could disprove the intelligence reports indicating that Otto had been beaten. However, a senior-level American official who reviewed the reports told me, “In general, the intel reports were wrong, as the medical examinations have shown. They were apparently not even correct about where Otto was or when he was beaten, for God's sake. Likely, the reports were just hearsay. Someone heard third- or fourth-hand that Otto was sick, and that person decided he was beaten. The North Koreans have never tortured a white guy physically. Never.” The official said he did not know of the Trump administration having other sources of information about Otto being beaten. In the end, however, despite all the mystery still surrounding Otto, it is essential to remember two facts that endure as unyielding as gravestones: Otto's death and the grief of those he left behind. Another senior government official told me, “I can tell you that I've been in a lot of classified meetings about Otto, before and after his return. Beforehand, I heard some reporting that he was beaten, but it wasn't from State or Intel, who never corroborated that, before or after the fact. But it's possible that there was intel I did not see.” A congressional staffer familiar with the intelligence reports said, “Before we had Otto back in the United States, we just didn't know what was going on there. In the end, there was no definitive evidence whether or not he was beaten.” The staffer claimed that the government never got further intelligence reports indicating Otto was beaten. Three days after the Times published its claims, The Washington Post also cited an anonymous senior American official rejecting reports that Otto had been beaten in custody. South Korean intelligence, generally considered the spy agency with the best sources in North Korea, found no confirmation that Otto was beaten. But if Otto was almost certainly not “repeatedly beaten,” then what put him in a state of non-responsive wakefulness? And why would the Trump administration allow these unverified rumors to flourish? 10. A Theory Without knowing about the revised time line of Otto's injury, experts I spoke to overwhelmingly identified some kind of accident—for example, an allergic reaction—as the most likely cause for Otto's unconsciousness. The likelihood that his brain damage happened immediately after the sentencing, however, raises the possibility that he may have attempted suicide. Imagine what Otto must have been feeling after hearing that he would spend the next 15 years laboring in what he probably imagined to be a gulag. After two months of being constantly reminded that the American government couldn't help him, he probably felt that his family, his beautiful girlfriend (who called him her “soul mate”), and his Wall Street future were all lost. What else could he look forward to but physical and mental suffering? At least two Americans imprisoned in North Korea have attempted suicide. After failing to cut his wrists, Aijalon Gomes chewed open a thermometer and drank its mercury, later explaining that he had given up on America's ability to free him. Despite eventually having his release won by Jimmy Carter, Gomes was unable to escape his post-traumatic stress disorder, and seven years later burned himself to death. An American official said that Evan Hunziker tried to kill himself while being held, and less than a month after returning home, he shattered his own skull with a bullet in a run-down hotel. Robert Park reportedly tried to take his own life on returning. Even if North Korea didn't beat Otto, that doesn't mean that he wasn't tortured, as the mental suffering the regime inflicted on him constitutes torture under the U.N. definition. As Tomás Ojea Quintana, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights for North Korea, said, “Otto's rights were violated on every level.” 11. The Unknown The first that Governor Richardson, the back-channel negotiator, heard of Otto's injury was upon the young man's release, and he was furious at having been deceived by Pyongyang. But a North Korean ambassador soon contacted Richardson to explain that he had not meant to lead him astray in negotiations and that he too had been kept in the dark. “I believed him,” Richardson told me. “In the 15 years I've been negotiating with him, he's always been honest.” Senator Portman and sources working inside North Korea at the time also stressed that the foreign ministry didn't know. The minister who was responsible for Otto was demoted and eventually disappeared, according to Michael Madden, a North Korea analyst who tracks its leadership. Even the guards on whose watch Otto was injured were likely sent to prison. All of which means that the full truth of what transpired is likely hoarded only by Kim Jong-un and his most trusted lieutenants, and that it may never get out. For all the unknowns, one certainty is that the Trump administration allowed the narrative that Otto was repeatedly beaten to spread, long after it was clear those intelligence reports were almost certainly wrong. That the reports suggested that he was beaten repeatedly when there was not time for that showed they were unreliable. The lack of physical evidence of beatings was widely publicized. The administration was informed of the correct time line, and it was well known among government officials who worked on the case. And both the senior-level American officials and the congressional staffer confirmed that the government never shared with them definitive evidence that Otto was beaten. Now, that's not to fault the Trump administration for applying maximum pressure on North Korea for an American citizen ending up brain-damaged in its custody: Such behavior warrants punishment. Nor is it to imply that the senior government official lied to The New York Times about the intelligence reports, as some analysts suggested to me; that person seems to have correctly described them. But if the maverick boldness that the administration displayed in rescuing Otto represents the best of Trumpism, what followed once it was clear the reports were flawed encapsulates its troubling disregard for facts when a dubious narrative supports its interests. It's impossible to say whether or not Trump had seen or parsed the nuances of the intelligence reports before he tweeted about Fred Warmbier's Fox interview, supporting that Otto had been physically tortured. Or when he declared, before the South Korean National Assembly, that Otto had been “tortured.” Perhaps those were just two more of the 3,001 false or misleading claims he advanced in his first 466 days in office, according to The Washington Post's Fact Checker database. Or maybe it was a conscious strategy. Whatever it was, the misrepresentation helped push the U.S. closer to war with North Korea than it had ever been. Though soon, of course, the administration would choose a different path. 12. The Use of Stories When Fred hugged Otto that first night in the air ambulance, he felt that he couldn't get through to him and that his son was “very uncomfortable—almost anguished.” But “within a day, the countenance of his face changed,” the Warmbiers said. Though there was no way that Otto could communicate with them, they wrote, “he was home, and we believe he could sense that.” Otto, they said, was finally “at peace.” We tell stories so that we can make sense of irresolvable unknowns and then act. While no one can prove what happened to Otto in those final few hours, as Trump encouraged the narrative that Otto was beaten and the White House allowed speculation about possible beatings to spread, the administration gave people license to indulge their worst fears about Otto's fate and act accordingly. In doing so, the Trump administration may have fostered misperceptions in the Warmbier family itself. During the year after highlighting the story that Otto was physically tortured, Trump praised Fred and Cindy as “good friends” and invited them to high-profile events. But Fred indicated on national television in September 2017 that he had no more knowledge of his son's case than that put out by the news media. In the lawsuit the Warmbiers filed in April against North Korea for Otto's death, they continued to assert evidence that he was repeatedly beaten. If they entertain the belief that their son's last conscious moments were spent in fear and physical agony as he was assaulted, that may be the result of the administration's unwillingness to acknowledge a different version of events, one that the facts support. But whatever they believe, what is clear is that they are loving parents, dealing with an unimaginably tragic loss, who have been striving to honor Otto's legacy. When presented with the findings of this article, the Trump administration declined to comment. Upon learning that this article did not support claims that Otto was beaten, and included the theory that he may have attempted suicide—a possibility that the family, through their lawyer, dismissed categorically—the Warmbiers withdrew a statement that they had previously provided. Ultimately, they declined to comment for this story. In the absence of proof, we all have to choose what we want to believe about Otto's tragedy. And in this political age, where truth seems enslaved to the agendas of the powerful, it is important to consider what story we believe and why. After all, the stories we tell ourselves and others shape our own fates, and those of nations, the world, and other people's children. In the end, however, despite all the mystery still surrounding Otto, it is essential to remember two facts that endure as unyielding as gravestones: Otto's death and the grief of those he left behind. 13. The Summit Fred Warmbier came face-to-face with those responsible for Otto's death at the Winter Olympics in South Korea. Since the beginning of 2018, North Korea, hamstrung by sanctions and spooked by full-on preparations for war in Otto's name, had been trying to reset relations with the outside world. The centerpiece of this diplomacy was a “charm offensive” at the February Games—deploying squads of cherubic cheerleaders singing folk songs about re-unification, and Kim Jong-un's smiley sister shaking hands with world leaders. The North Koreans even reportedly reached out to ask if Vice President Pence wanted to meet her, while warning him not to highlight Otto's story. Instead, Pence invited Fred Warmbier to sit with him in the VIP box at the opening ceremony, not ten feet from Kim's sister. Fred barely even looked at her as he sat in grieving dignity, his sorrow rebuking her serene ambassadorial smirk. EDITOR’S PICK In March, two top-level South Korean officials traveled to Pyongyang, where they feasted and drank traditional Korean liquor for four hours with Kim Jong-un, after which they were given a special message to deliver to Trump. The South Koreans rushed to Washington. On hearing the offer, and before consulting any of his advisers, the president accepted. Then one of the South Koreans informed the world from the White House driveway that the two leaders would try to resolve their nations' never-ended war in person. From that point on, the White House no longer focused on Otto's tragedy. In fact, it swung so far in the opposite direction that civil-rights groups complained about human-rights issues not being on the agenda for the summit in Singapore. When the three remaining American detainees were released in May, Trump welcomed them home by saying, “We want to thank Kim Jong-un, who really was excellent to these three incredible people.” The story of Otto being brutally beaten had outlived its usefulness. In early June, Trump and Kim shook hands in front of the red, white, and blue of both nations' flags. In a private meeting, Trump showed Kim a Hollywood-trailer-like video that laid out the choice between economic prosperity, if he gave up his nukes, or war. Then they signed a largely symbolic document after North Korea promised to denuclearize and America swore to not invade, though there were no enforcement mechanisms in the document. At Trump's post-summit news conference, the first question a reporter asked was why the president had been praising Kim, as the dictator had been responsible for Otto's death. “Otto Warmbier is a very special person,” Trump answered. “I think, without Otto, this would not have happened.” Then he said twice, as if it was doubly true or he was trying to convince himself: “Otto did not die in vain.” Doug Bock Clark wrote about the assassination of Kim Jong-un's brother in the October 2017 issue. His first book, ‘The Last Whalers,’ comes out next year. This story originally appeared in the August 2018 issue with the title "American Hostage: The Untold Story of Otto Warmbier." ||||| ITAR-TASS News Agency / Alamy Stock Photo Best of GQ The Untold Story of Otto Warmbier, American Hostage President Trump hailed him as a catalyst of the summit with Kim Jong-Un. But what happened to Warmbier—the American college student who was sent home brain-damaged from North Korea—is even more shocking than anyone knew. 1. Homecoming On a humid morning in June 2017, in a suburb outside Cincinnati, Fred and Cindy Warmbier waited in agony. They had not spoken to their son Otto for a year and a half, since he had been arrested during a budget tour of North Korea. One of their last glimpses of him had been from a televised news conference in Pyongyang, during which their boy—a sweet, brainy 21-year-old scholarship student at the University of Virginia—confessed to undermining the regime at the behest of the unlikely triumvirate of an Ohio church, a university secret society, and the American government by stealing a propaganda poster. He sobbed to his captors, “I have made the single worst decision of my life. But I am only human.… I beg that you find it in your hearts to give me forgiveness and allow me to return home to my family.” Despite his pleas, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor and vanished into the dictatorship's prison system. Fred and Cindy had so despaired during their long vigil that at one point they allegedly told friends that Otto had probably been killed. On her son's 22nd birthday, Cindy lit Chinese-style lanterns and let the winter winds loft the flame-buoyed balloons toward North Korea, dreaming they might bear her message to her son. “I love you, Otto,” she said, then sang “Happy Birthday.” But on that June morning, the Warmbiers were anticipating news of a secret State Department mission to free Otto. Upon learning that Otto was apparently unconscious, President Trump had directed an American team to fly into North Korea, and now progress of the mission was being monitored at the highest level of the government. No assurances had been made that the young man would actually be released, and so the officials were on tenterhooks as well. According to an official, at 8:35 A.M., Secretary of State Rex Tillerson telephoned the president to announce that Otto was airborne. The president reportedly signed off by saying, “Take care of Otto.” Then Rob Portman, the Ohio senator who helped oversee efforts to repatriate Otto, called to inform the Warmbiers that the air ambulance had just entered Japanese airspace: Otto would be home that night. Still, Cindy knew her son was not through danger yet. In advance of the rescue, Portman had informed her that Otto had been unconscious for months, according to the North Koreans, though no one knew the exact extent of the injury. “Can you tell me how Otto's brain is functioning?” she asked. Portman answered that Otto appeared to have severe brain damage. Cindy told news outlets that she imagined that might mean Otto was asleep or in a medically induced coma. The Warmbiers were optimistic, up-by-their-bootstraps patriots, and they hoped that with American health care and their love, their son might again become the vivacious person he'd been when he left. Now Portman and his staff scrambled to prepare the homecoming, rerouting the plane from Cincinnati's international airport to a smaller municipal one, which would be more private. As the sun went down, a crowd waved handmade signs welcoming Otto home, and TV crews pushed their cameras against the bars of the perimeter fence. The sleek luxury plane taxied to some hangars, where the Warmbiers waited nearby. Halfway up the airplane's stairs, over the whine of the still-cycling engines, Fred later said, he heard a guttural “inhuman” howling and wondered what it was. But when he stepped into the cabin cluttered with medical equipment, he found its source: Otto, strapped to a stretcher, jerking violently against his restraints and wailing. Cindy was prepared for her son to be changed, but she had not expected this. Otto's arms and legs were “totally deformed,” according to his parents. His wavy brown locks had been buzzed off. A feeding tube infiltrated his nostrils. “It looked like someone had taken a pair of pliers and re-arranged his bottom teeth,” as Fred would say. According to Cindy, Otto's sister fled the plane, screaming, and Cindy ran after her. Fred approached his son and hugged him. Otto's eyes remained wide open and blank. Fred told Otto that he had missed him and was overjoyed to have him home. But Otto's alien keening only continued, impossible to comfort. It was only later that a member of Otto’s tour group would wonder about “the two-hour window that none of us can account for [Otto].” By the time paramedics carried Otto out of the plane by his legs and armpits and loaded him into an ambulance, Cindy had recovered somewhat. She forced herself to join him in the emergency vehicle, though seeing him in such torment had almost made her pass out. At the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the family camped at Otto's bedside while speculation blazed around the world about what had rendered him vegetative. But Otto would never recover to tell his side of the story. And despite exhaustive examinations by doctors, no definitive medical evidence explaining how his injury came to be would ever emerge. Instead, in the vacuum of fact, North Korea and the U.S. competed to provide a story. North Korea blamed Otto's condition on a combination of botulism and an unexpected reaction to a sleeping pill, an explanation that many American doctors said was unlikely. A senior American official asserted that, according to intelligence reports, Otto had been repeatedly beaten. Fred and Cindy declared on TV that their son had been physically tortured, in order to spotlight the dictatorship's evil. The president pushed this narrative. Meanwhile, the American military made preparations for a possible conflict. Otto became a symbol used to build “a case for war on emotional grounds,” the New York Times editorial board wrote. As the Trump administration and North Korea spun Otto's story for their own ends, I spent six months reporting—from Washington, D.C., to Seoul—trying to figure out what had actually happened to him. What made an American college student go to Pyongyang? What kind of nightmare did he endure while in captivity? How did his brain damage occur? And how did his eventual death help push America closer toward war with North Korea and then, in a surprising reversal, help lead to Trump's peace summit with Kim Jong-un? The story I uncovered was stranger and sadder than anyone had known. In fact, I discovered that the manner of Otto's injury was not as black-and-white as people were encouraged to believe. But before he became a rallying cry in the administration's campaign against North Korea, he was just a kid. His name was Otto Warmbier. 2. All-American In a white two-story home flying the Stars and Stripes, Otto grew up the eldest child of a Republican family. He was one of those special young people we praise as all-American. At a top-ranked Ohio high school, he boasted the second-best grades. He was also a math whiz and a gifted soccer player and swimmer. And as if it weren't enough that he was prom king, his peers also anointed him with the plastic crown at homecoming. But despite running in the “popular circle given his athletic prowess, classic good looks and unending charisma,” a classmate later wrote in a local newspaper, he “still felt like everyone's friend.” Though his family was well-off, he had a passion for “memorabilia investing,” as he called thrift-store shopping, and sometimes dressed in secondhand Hawaiian shirts. When the time came for him to give a speech at his high school graduation, instead of orating grandiosely, he admitted to struggling to find words. He took as his theme a quote from The Office: “I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days,” he told his peers, “before you've actually left them.” Of course, Otto's best days seemed ahead: He attended the University of Virginia with a scholarship, intent on becoming a banker. A meticulous planner, he filled a calendar hung on his dorm wall with handwritten commitments: from assignments to dates to bringing differently abled friends to basketball games. He joined a fraternity known for its “kind of nerdy dudes,” and one of his college friends said that academics and family always took precedence over everything else, from partying to tailgating at football games. When he won a finance internship the fall of his junior year, there was no disputing that he was a man fully in charge of his destiny. Knowing that he would soon be laboring over spreadsheets, he decided he wanted an adventure over his winter break. He had long been curious about other cultures and had previously visited intrepid destinations like Cuba. And since he would already be traveling to Hong Kong to study abroad, he decided he wanted to witness the world's most repressive nation: North Korea. Even though the state imprisons and sometimes executes citizens trying to flee it, it permits thousands of foreigners to visit every year on tightly controlled tours—one of the few ways its sanction-crippled economy makes cash. If Otto had Googled “tour North Korea,” the top link would have been for the company he chose, Young Pioneer Tours, an operator specializing in budget excursions to “destinations your mother would rather you stay away from.” The trips have a reputation of being like spring break in a geopolitical hot spot. After putting down a deposit for a $1,200 five-day, four-night “New Year's Party Tour,” Otto learned from the confirmation e-mail that his visa would be arranged by the company and presented to him when he met the tour group at the Beijing airport. The State Department had an advisory in place against traveling to North Korea, where he'd be beyond the American government's power to directly help him. Otto's parents weren't thrilled by the trip, but as his mother later explained, “Why would you say no to a kid like this?” So, shortly after Christmas 2015, Otto met the other Young Pioneers in China and boarded an old Soviet jet to Pyongyang. In North Korea's capital, border police confiscated cameras and flicked through each file on smartphones to make sure no outsider was smuggling in subversive materials. Then Otto stepped through passport control—and just like that, left the free world. 3. The Happiest Nation Early on in Pyongyang, Otto and the other Young Pioneers were led aboard the U.S.S. Pueblo, an American Navy spy ship that had been seized by the North Koreans in 1968 and today serves as an odd tourist attraction. While they toured the ship, the Young Pioneers were regaled by a North Korean who told the foreign visitors about capturing the ship from the “imperial enemy.” The 82 American sailors captured on the Pueblo were beaten and starved for 11 months before finally being released. For Otto, the story made clear what he had perhaps overlooked before: that he was in enemy territory. Even though the Korean War had stalemated in 1953, the lack of a peace agreement meant that the North was technically still at war with the South and its ally, the U.S. Stepping from the boat, Otto “was a little bit shocked,” said Danny Gratton, an impish British 40-something greeting-card salesman who was his roommate for the tour. But Gratton and the other tourists, a mix of Canadians, Australians, Europeans, and at least one other American, helped Otto laugh off that dark knowledge, nicknaming him “Imperial Enemy”—as in, “Hey, Imperial Enemy, want another beer?” Soon enough Otto was having fun again, for even though propaganda billboards showed North Korean missiles blasting the White House, the tour felt more like a bizarre charade than a visit to a hostile nation. The Young Pioneers visited the 70-foot bronze statues of the first two generations of the country's dictators, and they could never be sure if the citizens they saw spontaneously hailing the Great Leader were sincere or put up to it. Of course, everyone knew that outside the stage-managed capital lay starving villages and concentration camps. But Otto succeeded in bridging the cultural divide, laughing and throwing snowballs with North Korean children. On New Year's Eve, the Young Pioneers went drinking at a fancy bar, though according to Gratton, no one got belligerently drunk, as some reports would later suggest. After the bar, Gratton says, they celebrated the final hours of New Year's Eve with thousands of North Koreans in Pyongyang's main square. The group then returned to their hotel, known as the “Alcatraz of Fun” because of its island location. To keep foreigners entertained, the 47-story tower is furnished with five restaurants (one of which revolves), a bar, a sauna, a massage parlor, and its own bowling alley. Some Young Pioneers headed to the bar. Gratton went bowling, and lost track of Otto. It was only later that he would wonder about “the two-hour window that none of us can account for [Otto].” North Korea would later release grainy CCTV camera footage of an unidentifiable figure removing a framed propaganda poster from a wall in a restricted area of the hotel, claiming it was Otto. During the televised confession, Otto would read from a handwritten script that he had put on his “quietest boots, the best for sneaking” and attempted the theft at the prompting of a local Methodist church, a university secret society, and the American administration, “to harm the work ethic and motivation of the Korean people” and bring home a “trophy.” Many of the confession's details didn't square—for one, Otto was Jewish, not affiliated with a Methodist church—making experts suspect the words weren't originally Otto's. Whatever happened during those lost hours, when Gratton returned to his and Otto's room, around 4:30 A.M. on January 1, Otto was already snoozing. The following morning at the airport, the two tired friends were the last Young Pioneers to present their passports, side by side at a single desk. After an uncomfortably long time, Gratton noticed that the officers were intently scrutinizing the documents. Then two soldiers marched up, and one tapped Otto on the shoulder. Gratton thought the authorities just wanted to give the Imperial Enemy a hard time, and jested, “Well, that's the last we'll ever see of you.” Otto laughed, and then let himself be led away from Gratton through a wooden door beside the check-in area. Otto's control of his carefully planned life had just been wrenched from him. 4. The Back Channel When Robert King went to work at the State Department on January 2, 2016, during the Obama administration, he was expecting a boring day churning through e-mails accumulated over the holidays. Instead, a red-alert situation confronted him. King's first thought was Oh no, not another American. During his seven years as the special envoy for North Korean human-rights issues, King had helped oversee the safe release of more than a dozen imprisoned Americans, so he knew what would happen. First, Otto would be forced to confess to undermining the regime, and tapes of that speech would be used as domestic propaganda to convince North Koreans that America sought to destroy them. Next, Otto was likely to be imprisoned and his freedom used as a bargaining chip by the North Koreans to extract a visit from a high-level American dignitary or concessions in nuclear or sanctions negotiations. In meetings with the family, King warned the Warmbiers to expect “a marathon, not a sprint.” He also recommended they keep quiet to avoid antagonizing the unpredictable regime. He could offer them few reassurances, explaining, “We weren't 100 percent sure where [Otto] was or what had happened to him,” as America has scant intelligence assets in North Korea. The Warmbiers grew frustrated that the world's most powerful nation could not take more direct, immediate action to help their son. But King had no leverage over Pyongyang. He couldn't even directly interface with North Korean officials because the two countries have never had a formal diplomatic relationship. In fact, the Swedish ambassador stands in as Washington's liaison for American citizens in Pyongyang. All King could do was wait for weeks while the Swedes' e-mails and calls were stonewalled. But even if the official State Department response was stymied, that didn't mean that a back channel couldn't be employed. Shortly after Otto was arrested, Ohio governor John Kasich connected the Warmbiers with Bill Richardson, the affable former governor of New Mexico and ambassador to the United Nations, who was leading a foundation that specializes in under-the-radar “fringe diplomacy” to release hostages from hostile regimes or criminal organizations. Richardson had previously helped free several Americans from North Korea and consequently had a strong relationship with what is commonly called the New York Channel, the North Korean representatives at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, who often serve as unofficial go-betweens for Washington and Pyongyang. Every few weeks from February 2016 to August 2016, Richardson or Mickey Bergman, his senior adviser, traveled to the city to meet the New York Channel. In restaurants, hotel lobbies, and coffee shops near the United Nations, they would hold polite negotiations with the regime's representatives. But shortly after Otto's conviction in Pyongyang, Richardson sensed that the previously communicative foreign ministry was having its information cut off by Kim Jong-un's obstinate inner circle—a transition, his team would later realize, that probably dated from Otto's injury. “They made it clear they could only convey our offers,” Richardson recalled. “They were not decision makers at all.” To get real answers, someone would have to go to Pyongyang. So with the Obama White House's blessing, Richardson and Bergman negotiated a visit by promising to discuss private humanitarian aid for North Korean flood victims along with Otto's release. Bergman, a former Israeli paratrooper with a therapist's sensitive demeanor, was chosen as the emissary, as Richardson would draw too much attention. In September, Bergman achieved what he described as the first face-to-face meeting between American and North Korean representatives in Pyongyang in nearly two years. Diplomatic missions to North Korea are different from those to other countries, in which meetings take place across oak tables. In Pyongyang, rather, Bergman was squired around for four days to many of the same sites that Otto had touristed—from the U.S.S. Pueblo to restaurants. But as he chatted with his guides, he knew his informal offers were being conveyed up the chain. By the time Bergman sat down with a vice minister on his last day, he was expecting a positive outcome because of the excitement of his minders. But Bergman was told he wouldn't even get to see Otto. Still, afterward, his handlers reminded him, “It takes 100 hacks to take down a tree.” Bergman said he hoped he would not have to travel to Pyongyang 99 more times. Bergman left with the impression that the North Koreans were considering ways that Otto could be released, but first they wanted to see what happened with the climaxing 2016 presidential campaign. When Trump won, Bergman and Richardson recognized a golden opportunity to free Otto à la the release of American hostages in Iran at the beginning of Ronald Reagan's inaugural presidential term. The two fringe diplomats put together a photo-op-worthy proposal for the Trump plane to pick Otto up in advance of the inauguration, before bureaucracy hemmed in the new president. They didn't receive a no from North Korea, which they knew from past diplomacy with them was often a signal of positive interest. “The challenge that we had was that we could not get Donald Trump,” Bergman said. “We tried to go through Giuliani, Pence, Ivanka. Nothing during the transition. I'm assuming they were in chaos over there. I don't think it ever crossed his desk, because I think he would have actually liked it.” 5. “I Was Completely Shocked” After the election, as Robert King transitioned into retirement, Otto's case was taken up by the newly appointed U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, Joseph Yun. When Yun came in, Pyongyang was still refusing to speak to the Obama administration, but shortly after the day of Trump's inauguration, the mild-mannered but steely former ambassador established contact with the New York Channel about releasing Otto. By February 2017, a delegation of North Koreans was set to visit the States, but then Kim Jong-un orchestrated the assassination of his half brother with a chemical weapon in an international airport, which drew condemnation from America, scuttling the talks. “Listening to [Trump] deliberate on this,” said a State Department official, “he sounded to me a lot more like a dad.” By April, however, relations had thawed to the point that Yun was able to persuade Secretary Tillerson to let him discuss freeing Otto face-to-face with senior North Korean officials, as long as no broader diplomacy was done. So Yun traveled to Norway to meet several high-level North Korean officials on the sidelines of secret nuclear negotiations, conducted by retired diplomats to get around the lack of official contact. Yun and the North Koreans agreed that the Swedish ambassador could visit Otto and the three other Americans who were detained in North Korea. In the end, the proxy was reportedly allowed to see only one detainee—but not Otto. Yun continued to demand access to Otto, and one day in early June he was surprised by a call urgently requesting him to meet with the New York Channel. In Manhattan, the North Koreans informed Yun that Otto was unconscious. “I was completely shocked,” Yun said. He argued that given the young man's health, Pyongyang had to free him promptly on humanitarian grounds. “I came back immediately, and I told Secretary Tillerson,” Yun said. “And we determined at the time that we needed to get him and the other prisoners out as soon as possible, and I should contact Pyongyang and say I wanted to come right away.” When Trump learned of Otto's condition, he doubled down on the order for Yun to rush to Pyongyang and bring Otto home. The North Koreans were unilaterally informed that an American plane would soon land in Pyongyang and that United States diplomats and doctors would get off. “The president was very invested in bringing Otto home,” said a State Department official who was involved in the case and who was not authorized to speak on the record. “Listening to him deliberate on this, he sounded to me a lot more like a dad.” But, the official said, “we were very scared,” for though the North Koreans eventually said the plane would be able to land, no one knew what kind of welcome the Americans would receive on the ground. Yun explained, “The North Koreans said we could send a delegation to see Otto, but that we would have to discuss some of the conditions of getting him out once we got there.” And so Yun raced to assemble a diplomatic and medical team to save Otto. 6. The Rescue Michael Flueckiger was used to calmly fixing horrifying situations, having previously saved countless patients from gunshot wounds and car crashes during 31 years as a trauma-center doctor. He was also no stranger to dangerous overseas situations, for in his current position as medical director for an elite air-ambulance service, Phoenix Air, he had evacuated Americans stricken with Ebola from Africa. When his boss called to ask if he would help rescue Otto from North Korea, he briefly hesitated from fear, but he decided he couldn't ask any of his employees to go in his stead. Once committed, the challenge-seeking, mountain-biking 67-year-old began excitedly awaiting the mission. The final go-ahead from the State Department arrived during an inconspicuous Friday lunch. Phoenix Air immediately rerouted its best aircraft—a luxury Gulfstream G-III jet upgraded into a flying E.R.—from Senegal to its headquarters, outside Atlanta, where Flueckiger and his team got it loaded and airborne again in less than two hours on Saturday. Then they picked up Yun and two other members of the State Department in Washington, D.C., and flew to Japan. There they off-loaded everyone but Yun, one other diplomat, and Flueckiger—for only those three had been authorized to enter North Korea. The next day, as the Gulfstream rocketed toward the edge of North Korean airspace, all the Japanese air-traffic controllers could do was aim the plane at Pyongyang and tell the pilot to proceed straight for 20 miles, as there is no official flight path between the countries. Then the radio chatter faded out, and only static filled the airwaves for ten minutes. Finally, a voice speaking perfect English guided the plane's landing in Pyongyang. A busload of soldiers escorted the Americans off the tarmac, and the aircraft returned to Japan. The Americans were chauffeured through the farmland outside Pyongyang to an opulent guesthouse complete with marble staircases, chandeliers, and a full staff, even though they appeared to be the only guests. That day, Yun engaged in several rounds of intense negotiations with North Korean officials, trying to win Otto's freedom. However, Yun kept butting his head against the North Koreans' argument: Otto committed this crime, so why should he escape due process? In North Korea, disrespecting one of the ubiquitous propaganda posters is actually a serious breach of the law. The research organization Database Center for North Korean Human Rights confirmed a case of a factory janitor being prosecuted for bumping such a picture off the wall so that it fell and broke. As Andrei Lankov, director of the Korea Risk Group, said, if a North Korean did what Otto did, “they would be dead or definitely tortured.” Finally, Yun persuaded the North Koreans to let him see Otto. Flueckiger and Yun were shuttled to Friendship Hospital, a private facility that often treats foreign diplomats living in Pyongyang. In an isolated second-floor ICU room, Flueckiger was presented with a pale, inert man with a feeding tube threaded through his nostrils. Could this really be Otto? Flueckiger wondered, for the body looked so different from the pictures he had seen of the homecoming king. Flueckiger clapped beside Otto's ear. No meaningful response. Sadness flooded him. He had two children and struggled to imagine one in such a state. Yun, too, couldn't help but think of his own son, around Otto's age, and about how the Warmbiers would feel when they saw their boy. Two North Korean doctors explained that Otto had arrived at the hospital this way more than a year before and showed as proof thick handwritten charts and several brain scans that revealed Otto had suffered extensive brain damage. Flueckiger spent about an hour examining Otto, but the truth had been evident at first sight: The Otto of old was already gone. Though he had obviously improved since coming into the hospital (he had a tracheotomy scar where machines had once breathed for him), he was in a state of unresponsive wakefulness, meaning he still possessed basic reflexes but no longer showed signs of awareness. The North Koreans asked Flueckiger to sign a report testifying that Otto had been well cared for in the hospital. “I would have been willing to fudge that report if I thought it would get Otto released,” Flueckiger said. “But as it turned out,” despite the most basic facilities (the room's sink did not even work), “he got good care, and I didn't have to lie.” Otto was well nourished and had no bedsores, an accomplishment even Western hospitals struggle to achieve with comatose patients. But the North Koreans were still not ready to release Otto. Negotiations continued into the night. Then, the next morning, Flueckiger and Yun were driven to a hotel in downtown Pyongyang, where the three other American prisoners were marched into a conference room one by one. The three Korean-Americans, all detained on charges of espionage or “hostile acts against the state,” had had almost no contact with the outside world since being arrested, and they all cried as they dictated messages for their families to Yun. After only 15 minutes, though, each prisoner was escorted away. “I was, frankly, disappointed we didn't get the others out,” Yun said. “It was very hard to leave them behind.” Early in Trump's presidency, Fred appeared on Fox News, reportedly because he knew that the president obsessively watched the network, to complain that the State Department wasn't doing enough for his son. “President Trump, I ask you: Bring my son home,” he said. “You can make a difference here.” Once they got back to the guesthouse, Yun found himself once more arguing with North Korean officials for Otto's freedom. Then Yun played his last card: “I called my guys to bring the plane from Japan. I told the North Koreans we would leave with or without Otto. I felt there was no point in dragging on. I was 90 percent sure they would release him, and that this call would bring an action forcing them to do so.” Shortly before the plane was to land, a North Korean official announced to Yun that they had decided to release Otto. The Americans returned to the hospital, and a North Korean judge in a black suit commuted Otto's sentence. Then the U.S. motorcade and the ambulance raced directly to the airport, through open security gates, and onto the tarmac where the Gulfstream waited. When the plane cleared North Korean airspace, the celebration was muted. The team knew they would soon have to face the heartbreak of turning Otto over to his parents. In the meantime, Flueckiger cradled Otto, changed his diaper, and whispered to him that he was free, like a father soothing his baby. 7. The Crusade for Otto Two days after the return, Fred Warmbier took the stage at Otto's high school. He was draped in the linen blazer that his son had worn during his forced confession. Tears spangled his eyes as he said to the assembled reporters, “Otto, I love you, and I'm so crazy about you, and I'm so glad you're home.” He blamed the Obama administration for failing to win Otto's release sooner, and thanked Trump. When asked about his son's health, he said grimly, “We're trying to make him comfortable.” Sometimes he slipped into the past tense when talking about him. From the start, Fred had striven relentlessly for Otto's freedom with the same streetwise entrepreneurism he had used to eventually build a major metal-finishing business after going to work straight out of high school. He traveled to Washington more than a dozen times in 2016 to meet with Secretary of State John Kerry and other high-level politicians. But after a fruitless year of bowing to the Obama administration's admonitions to work behind the scenes, he decided that “the era of strategic patience for the Warmbier family [was] over.” Early in Trump's presidency, Fred appeared on Fox News, reportedly because he knew that the president obsessively watched the network, to complain that the State Department wasn't doing enough for his son. “President Trump, I ask you: Bring my son home,” he said. “You can make a difference here.” Soon the administration had raised Otto's case into a signature issue. When Otto was returned in a vegetative state, Fred refocused his zeal on getting justice for him. To Fred, the evidence of torture seemed clear. The once vital young man was severely brain-damaged. His formerly straight teeth were misaligned, and a large scar marred his foot. Doctors detected no signs of botulism, North Korea's explanation. And The New York Times had written that the government had “obtained intelligence reports in recent weeks indicating that Mr. Warmbier had been repeatedly beaten while in North Korean custody,” citing an anonymous senior American official. Within 48 hours of his return, Otto had a fever that had risen to 104 degrees. After doctors confirmed to Fred and Cindy that their son would never be cognizant again, they directed that his feeding tube be removed. They lived at his bedside until, six days after returning home, Otto died. Hundreds of people lined the streets to witness Otto's hearse, and many made the W hand gesture representing his high school. Wearing an American-flag tie, Fred watched his son “complete his journey home” with a haggard stare. After a mourning period, Fred and Cindy appeared on Fox & Friends in September 2017, once more reportedly seeking to catch the president's eye, and called the North Koreans “terrorists” who had “intentionally injured” Otto. Fred graphically described damage to Otto's teeth and foot as the result of torture and demanded that the administration punish the dictatorship. Shortly afterward, the president showed his approval by tweeting “great interview” and noting that Otto was “tortured beyond belief by North Korea.” To lobby for the United States to take legal action against North Korea, Fred hired the lawyer who represents Vice President Mike Pence in the special counsel's Russia investigation. In early November, Congress backed banking restrictions against North Korea that were named for Otto. And later that month, Trump designated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, which would allow harsher future sanctions, stating, “As we take this action today, our thoughts turn to Otto Warmbier.” “Being imprisoned was lonely, isolating, and frustrating,” Kenneth Bae, an American who’d been detained in North Korea, told me. “I was on trial for all of America.” Around the same time as Otto's death, U.S. hostilities with North Korea were growing heated. This was the period of “fire and fury,” and of Trump and Kim comparing who had the “bigger & more powerful” nuclear buttons. Behind the scenes in Washington, dovish diplomats, like Joseph Yun, were replaced by hawks, like John Bolton, one of the architects of the Iraq war. The likelihood of conflict grew so real that an American diplomat warned a Seoul-dwelling friend in confidence to move his assets out of South Korea. On TV and social media, and in official speeches, Republican officials cited Otto's death as a reason Kim Jong-un needed to be confronted. When making a case for a forceful response against North Korea to the South Korean National Assembly, in November 2017, Trump said their common enemy had “tortured Otto Warmbier, ultimately leading to that fine young man's death.” In his January 2018 State of the Union address, Trump pledged to keep “maximum pressure” on North Korea and to “honor Otto's memory with total American resolve,” while the Warmbiers wept in the gallery. Meanwhile, Fred and Cindy traveled the country reinforcing the narrative that Otto was tortured. As Cindy told the United Nations in New York City, “I can't let Otto die in vain.” In April 2018, the Warmbiers, seeking damages, filed a lawsuit alleging that North Korea “brutally tortured and murdered” their son. Despite how Trump and his administration boosted the narrative that Otto was physically tortured, however, the evidence was not clear-cut. The day after the Warmbiers went on national television to declare that Otto had been “systematically tortured and intentionally injured,” a coroner who had examined Otto, Dr. Lakshmi Kode Sammarco, unexpectedly called a press conference. She explained that she hadn't previously done so out of respect for the Warmbiers. But her findings, and those of the doctors who had attended Otto, contradicted the Warmbiers' assertions. Fred had described Otto's teeth as having been “re-arranged” with pliers, but Sammarco reiterated that the postmortem exam found that “the teeth [were] natural and in good repair.” She discovered no significant scars, dismissing the one on his foot as not definitively indicative of anything. Other signs of physical trauma were also lacking. Both sides of Otto's brain had suffered simultaneously, meaning it had been starved of oxygen. (Blows to the head would have likely resulted in asymmetrical, rather than universal, damage.) Though the Warmbiers declined a surgical autopsy, non-invasive scans found no hairline bone fractures or other evidence of prior trauma. “His body was in excellent condition,” Sammarco said. “I'm sure he had to have round-the-clock care to be able to maintain the skin in the condition it was in.” When asked about the Warmbiers' claims, Sammarco answered, “They're grieving parents. I can't really make comments on what they said or their perceptions. But here in this office, we depend on science for our conclusions.” Three other individuals who had close contact with Otto on his return also did not notice any physical signs consistent with torture. The origin of Otto's injury remained a mystery. “We're never going to know,” Sammarco said, “unless the people who were there at the time it happened would come forward and say, ‘This is what happened.’ ” 8. The Probable Discovering the truth of events that happen in North Korea is a task that even American intelligence agencies struggle with. But Otto's experience after his arrest is not a black hole, as it has often been portrayed. Through intelligence sources, government officials, and senior-level North Korean defectors, and drawing on the experiences of the 15 other Americans who since 1996 have been imprisoned in North Korea—some in the same places as Otto—it is possible to describe Otto's probable day-to-day life there. Within the electrified fences of many of North Korea's notorious prison camps dwell up to 120,000 souls, condemned for infractions as minor as watching banned South Korean soap operas. The human-rights abuses within have been extensively documented, creating a compelling case that they are among the worst places in the world. The lucky survive on starvation rations while enduring routine beatings and dangerous enforced labor, like coal mining. The unlucky are tortured to death. In Seoul, one North Korean, who had endured three years at a low-level camp for trying to flee the country, wept as she told me: “North Korean prisons are actually hell. We had less rights than a dog. They often beat us, and we were so hungry we would catch mice in our cells to eat.” She saw six to eight fellow prisoners die every day. “I don't believe Otto was physically tortured,” Andrei Lankov, said in his office in Seoul. “The campaign to make Otto a symbol of North Korea's cruelty was psychological preparation to justify military operations.” But American detainees escape that fate. When Otto finally opened his eyes again, he likely found himself at a guesthouse, which is where the State Department believed he was probably kept. At least five previous American detainees have been imprisoned in a two-story building with a green-tiled roof in a gated alleyway behind a restaurant in downtown Pyongyang, which is run by the State Security Department, the North Korean secret police. (Others have been kept at a different guesthouse, and at least three have stayed at a hotel.) The most used guesthouse is luxurious by local standards—detainees can hear guards using its karaoke machine into the wee hours—but Otto would have likely found its two-room suites roughly equivalent to those in a basic hotel. And no matter how nice his suite, it was also a cell, for he would have been allowed out only for an occasional escorted walk. For the next two months, until his forced confession, Otto would probably have been relentlessly interrogated; American missionary Kenneth Bae said he was questioned up to 15 hours a day. The goal wasn't to extract the truth but to construct the fabulation that Otto read off handwritten notes at his news conference. In the past, North Korea has spun false confessions from small truths, and in this case they may have construed a conspiracy from a souvenir propaganda poster that Otto had bought, according to Danny Gratton, Otto's tour roommate. No previous American detainee has accused North Korea of using physical force to extract a confession, but if Otto protested his innocence, he probably received a warning similar to the one given to Ohioan Jeffrey Fowle, who was detained two years before him: “If you don't start cooperating, things are going to become less pleasant.” As the journalist Laura Ling wrote of her five months in detention, “I told [the prosecutor] what he wanted to hear—and kept telling him until he was satisfied.” Ever since the sailors of the U.S.S. Pueblo were beaten in 1968, there have been no clear-cut cases of North Korea physically torturing American prisoners. When Ling and fellow journalist Euna Lee sneaked over the North Korean border, Ling was struck as soldiers detained them. But once their nationalities were established, they were sent to the green-roofed guesthouse. American media, including The New York Times, have widely repeated the claims that missionary Robert Park was physically tortured, but Park himself has reportedly said that the story that he was stripped naked by female guards and clubbed in the genitals was fabricated by a journalist. On the contrary, the North Koreans have carefully tended to the health of Americans they have captured, caring for them, if needed, in the Friendship Hospital where Otto was kept; 85-year-old detainee Merrill Newman was reportedly visited by a doctor and nurse four times a day. As a high-level North Korean defector who now works for a South Korean intelligence agency said, “North Korea treats its foreign prisoners especially well. They know someday they will have to send them back.” But that doesn't mean that North Korea doesn't psychologically torture detained Americans—in fact, it has always tried to bludgeon them into mental submission. Bae, Ling, and other prisoners were repeatedly told that their government had “forgotten” them and were given so little hope that they only learned of their impending freedom an hour before being released. When I met former detainee Bae in the Seoul office of his NGO dedicated to helping North Korean defectors, he told me, “Being imprisoned was lonely, isolating, and frustrating. I was on trial for all of America, so I had to accept that I had no control and there was no way I could get out of the impending punishment.” While some previous detainees were allowed letters from home, it seems that North Korea denied Otto any contact with the outside world. His only break from the interrogations was likely watching North Korean propaganda films. The psychic trauma of all this has sent previous detainees into crushing depressions, and even driven some to attempt suicide. In the footage of his news-conference confession, Otto looked physically healthy, but as he sobbed for his freedom, he was obviously in extreme mental distress. Two weeks later, in mid-March, as Otto was filmed after being sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, his body still looked whole, but his expression was vacant and he had to be supported by two guards as he was dragged out of the courthouse—as if the life had drained out of him. Until now, the next assumption about Otto's fate was that he had suffered severe brain damage by “April,” as the first brain scan sent back with his body was time-stamped. Speculation suggested that the tragedy might have occurred at a special labor camp for foreigners, where at least three Americans have performed their hard-labor sentences. There they were forced to plant soybeans or make bricks while living in spartan conditions, though, as Bae wrote, “Compared to the average North Korean serving time in a labor camp, I was in a four-star resort.” Certainly, it would have been more likely for any type of tragedy—over-exertion under a furnace sun, a work accident, or even directed beatings—to occur in that barbed-wire-enclosed valley a few miles outside Pyongyang. But Otto almost certainly never made it to the labor camp. “The staff at Friendship Hospital said they received Otto the morning after the trial and that when he came in he was unresponsive,” Dr. Flueckiger told me. “They had to resuscitate him, then give him oxygen and put him on a ventilator, or he would die.” As Yun, the negotiator who helped free Otto, said, “The doctors were clear that he had been brought to the hospital within a day of his trial, and that he had been in that same room until I saw him.” 9. The Improbable The previously unreported detail of when Otto was admitted to the Friendship Hospital changes the narrative of what could have happened to him. If Otto was “repeatedly beaten,” as the intel reports suggested, it would logically have been during the two to six weeks between his sentencing, when videos of him showed no signs of physical damage, and “April,” as the North Korean brain scan was dated. But Otto was apparently unconscious by the next morning. The coroner found no evidence of bludgeoning on Otto's body. And when one takes into account that the entire sourced public case that Otto was beaten derives from that single anonymous official who spoke to The New York Times, the theory begins to crack. It is for this paucity of evidence that, though the public discourse about Otto's death has long been dominated by talk of beatings, there have been doubts among North Korea experts that the intelligence reports were correct. Of the dozen experts I spoke to, only a single one thought there was even a remote likelihood that he had been beaten. “I don't believe Otto was physically tortured,” Andrei Lankov said in his office in Seoul. “The campaign to make Otto a symbol of North Korea's cruelty was psychological preparation to justify military operations.” Many experts pointed out that though North Korea is often portrayed as irrational, the Kim family had to be “both brutal and smart,” as Lankov said, to maintain its relative power on the world stage, especially for such a small, impoverished country. What incentive would they have to lose a valuable bargaining chip, especially when they had never been so thoughtless before? To these experts, it made much more sense that Otto was treated like all other detained Americans and that an unexpected catastrophe occurred. But despite the experts' doubts, none of them could disprove the intelligence reports indicating that Otto had been beaten. However, a senior-level American official who reviewed the reports told me, “In general, the intel reports were wrong, as the medical examinations have shown. They were apparently not even correct about where Otto was or when he was beaten, for God's sake. Likely, the reports were just hearsay. Someone heard third- or fourth-hand that Otto was sick, and that person decided he was beaten. The North Koreans have never tortured a white guy physically. Never.” The official said he did not know of the Trump administration having other sources of information about Otto being beaten. In the end, however, despite all the mystery still surrounding Otto, it is essential to remember two facts that endure as unyielding as gravestones: Otto's death and the grief of those he left behind. Another senior government official told me, “I can tell you that I've been in a lot of classified meetings about Otto, before and after his return. Beforehand, I heard some reporting that he was beaten, but it wasn't from State or Intel, who never corroborated that, before or after the fact. But it's possible that there was intel I did not see.” A congressional staffer familiar with the intelligence reports said, “Before we had Otto back in the United States, we just didn't know what was going on there. In the end, there was no definitive evidence whether or not he was beaten.” The staffer claimed that the government never got further intelligence reports indicating Otto was beaten. Three days after the Times published its claims, The Washington Post also cited an anonymous senior American official rejecting reports that Otto had been beaten in custody. South Korean intelligence, generally considered the spy agency with the best sources in North Korea, found no confirmation that Otto was beaten. But if Otto was almost certainly not “repeatedly beaten,” then what put him in a state of non-responsive wakefulness? And why would the Trump administration allow these unverified rumors to flourish? 10. A Theory Without knowing about the revised time line of Otto's injury, experts I spoke to overwhelmingly identified some kind of accident—for example, an allergic reaction—as the most likely cause for Otto's unconsciousness. The likelihood that his brain damage happened immediately after the sentencing, however, raises the possibility that he may have attempted suicide. Imagine what Otto must have been feeling after hearing that he would spend the next 15 years laboring in what he probably imagined to be a gulag. After two months of being constantly reminded that the American government couldn't help him, he probably felt that his family, his beautiful girlfriend (who called him her “soul mate”), and his Wall Street future were all lost. What else could he look forward to but physical and mental suffering? At least two Americans imprisoned in North Korea have attempted suicide. After failing to cut his wrists, Aijalon Gomes chewed open a thermometer and drank its mercury, later explaining that he had given up on America's ability to free him. Despite eventually having his release won by Jimmy Carter, Gomes was unable to escape his post-traumatic stress disorder, and seven years later burned himself to death. An American official said that Evan Hunziker tried to kill himself while being held, and less than a month after returning home, he shattered his own skull with a bullet in a run-down hotel. Robert Park reportedly tried to take his own life on returning. Even if North Korea didn't beat Otto, that doesn't mean that he wasn't tortured, as the mental suffering the regime inflicted on him constitutes torture under the U.N. definition. As Tomás Ojea Quintana, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights for North Korea, said, “Otto's rights were violated on every level.” 11. The Unknown The first that Governor Richardson, the back-channel negotiator, heard of Otto's injury was upon the young man's release, and he was furious at having been deceived by Pyongyang. But a North Korean ambassador soon contacted Richardson to explain that he had not meant to lead him astray in negotiations and that he too had been kept in the dark. “I believed him,” Richardson told me. “In the 15 years I've been negotiating with him, he's always been honest.” Senator Portman and sources working inside North Korea at the time also stressed that the foreign ministry didn't know. The minister who was responsible for Otto was demoted and eventually disappeared, according to Michael Madden, a North Korea analyst who tracks its leadership. Even the guards on whose watch Otto was injured were likely sent to prison. All of which means that the full truth of what transpired is likely hoarded only by Kim Jong-un and his most trusted lieutenants, and that it may never get out. For all the unknowns, one certainty is that the Trump administration allowed the narrative that Otto was repeatedly beaten to spread, long after it was clear those intelligence reports were almost certainly wrong. That the reports suggested that he was beaten repeatedly when there was not time for that showed they were unreliable. The lack of physical evidence of beatings was widely publicized. The administration was informed of the correct time line, and it was well known among government officials who worked on the case. And both the senior-level American officials and the congressional staffer confirmed that the government never shared with them definitive evidence that Otto was beaten. Now, that's not to fault the Trump administration for applying maximum pressure on North Korea for an American citizen ending up brain-damaged in its custody: Such behavior warrants punishment. Nor is it to imply that the senior government official lied to The New York Times about the intelligence reports, as some analysts suggested to me; that person seems to have correctly described them. But if the maverick boldness that the administration displayed in rescuing Otto represents the best of Trumpism, what followed once it was clear the reports were flawed encapsulates its troubling disregard for facts when a dubious narrative supports its interests. It's impossible to say whether or not Trump had seen or parsed the nuances of the intelligence reports before he tweeted about Fred Warmbier's Fox interview, supporting that Otto had been physically tortured. Or when he declared, before the South Korean National Assembly, that Otto had been “tortured.” Perhaps those were just two more of the 3,001 false or misleading claims he advanced in his first 466 days in office, according to The Washington Post's Fact Checker database. Or maybe it was a conscious strategy. Whatever it was, the misrepresentation helped push the U.S. closer to war with North Korea than it had ever been. Though soon, of course, the administration would choose a different path. 12. The Use of Stories When Fred hugged Otto that first night in the air ambulance, he felt that he couldn't get through to him and that his son was “very uncomfortable—almost anguished.” But “within a day, the countenance of his face changed,” the Warmbiers said. Though there was no way that Otto could communicate with them, they wrote, “he was home, and we believe he could sense that.” Otto, they said, was finally “at peace.” We tell stories so that we can make sense of irresolvable unknowns and then act. While no one can prove what happened to Otto in those final few hours, as Trump encouraged the narrative that Otto was beaten and the White House allowed speculation about possible beatings to spread, the administration gave people license to indulge their worst fears about Otto's fate and act accordingly. In doing so, the Trump administration may have fostered misperceptions in the Warmbier family itself. During the year after highlighting the story that Otto was physically tortured, Trump praised Fred and Cindy as “good friends” and invited them to high-profile events. But Fred indicated on national television in September 2017 that he had no more knowledge of his son's case than that put out by the news media. In the lawsuit the Warmbiers filed in April against North Korea for Otto's death, they continued to assert evidence that he was repeatedly beaten. If they entertain the belief that their son's last conscious moments were spent in fear and physical agony as he was assaulted, that may be the result of the administration's unwillingness to acknowledge a different version of events, one that the facts support. But whatever they believe, what is clear is that they are loving parents, dealing with an unimaginably tragic loss, who have been striving to honor Otto's legacy. When presented with the findings of this article, the Trump administration declined to comment. Upon learning that this article did not support claims that Otto was beaten, and included the theory that he may have attempted suicide—a possibility that the family, through their lawyer, dismissed categorically—the Warmbiers withdrew a statement that they had previously provided. Ultimately, they declined to comment for this story. In the absence of proof, we all have to choose what we want to believe about Otto's tragedy. And in this political age, where truth seems enslaved to the agendas of the powerful, it is important to consider what story we believe and why. After all, the stories we tell ourselves and others shape our own fates, and those of nations, the world, and other people's children. In the end, however, despite all the mystery still surrounding Otto, it is essential to remember two facts that endure as unyielding as gravestones: Otto's death and the grief of those he left behind. 13. The Summit Fred Warmbier came face-to-face with those responsible for Otto's death at the Winter Olympics in South Korea. Since the beginning of 2018, North Korea, hamstrung by sanctions and spooked by full-on preparations for war in Otto's name, had been trying to reset relations with the outside world. The centerpiece of this diplomacy was a “charm offensive” at the February Games—deploying squads of cherubic cheerleaders singing folk songs about re-unification, and Kim Jong-un's smiley sister shaking hands with world leaders. The North Koreans even reportedly reached out to ask if Vice President Pence wanted to meet her, while warning him not to highlight Otto's story. Instead, Pence invited Fred Warmbier to sit with him in the VIP box at the opening ceremony, not ten feet from Kim's sister. Fred barely even looked at her as he sat in grieving dignity, his sorrow rebuking her serene ambassadorial smirk. EDITOR’S PICK In March, two top-level South Korean officials traveled to Pyongyang, where they feasted and drank traditional Korean liquor for four hours with Kim Jong-un, after which they were given a special message to deliver to Trump. The South Koreans rushed to Washington. On hearing the offer, and before consulting any of his advisers, the president accepted. Then one of the South Koreans informed the world from the White House driveway that the two leaders would try to resolve their nations' never-ended war in person. From that point on, the White House no longer focused on Otto's tragedy. In fact, it swung so far in the opposite direction that civil-rights groups complained about human-rights issues not being on the agenda for the summit in Singapore. When the three remaining American detainees were released in May, Trump welcomed them home by saying, “We want to thank Kim Jong-un, who really was excellent to these three incredible people.” The story of Otto being brutally beaten had outlived its usefulness. In early June, Trump and Kim shook hands in front of the red, white, and blue of both nations' flags. In a private meeting, Trump showed Kim a Hollywood-trailer-like video that laid out the choice between economic prosperity, if he gave up his nukes, or war. Then they signed a largely symbolic document after North Korea promised to denuclearize and America swore to not invade, though there were no enforcement mechanisms in the document. At Trump's post-summit news conference, the first question a reporter asked was why the president had been praising Kim, as the dictator had been responsible for Otto's death. “Otto Warmbier is a very special person,” Trump answered. “I think, without Otto, this would not have happened.” Then he said twice, as if it was doubly true or he was trying to convince himself: “Otto did not die in vain.” Doug Bock Clark wrote about the assassination of Kim Jong-un's brother in the October 2017 issue. His first book, ‘The Last Whalers,’ comes out next year. This story originally appeared in the August 2018 issue with the title "American Hostage: The Untold Story of Otto Warmbier."

– Doug Bock Clark begins a lengthy piece for GQ on the fate of Otto Warmbier with a bold assertion: That what happened to the 21-year-old American college student "is even more shocking than anyone knew" and that he had the "untold story." So does he? The piece, the result of six months of reporting, is indeed incredibly detailed and filled with one major previously unreported nugget. He gives a timeline of the intense efforts made to free Warmbier, from meetings with the "New York Channel" (North Korea's reps at United Nations headquarters) to a proposal to have then-president-elect Trump pick Warmbier up in his plane. After learning in June 2017 Warmbier was unconscious, North Korea was "unilaterally informed" that a US plane would arrive to collect him. "Intense negotiations" followed on the ground, and Michael Flueckiger, the medical director for Phoenix Air, whose Gulfstream G-III jet was being used in the mission, was finally allowed to see Warmbier. He knew immediately that "the Otto of old was already gone," though he noted the hospital care had been of quality (Warmbier had no bedsores, for instance, which is difficult in the case of a comatose patient). Flueckiger tells Clark that the hospital staff told him Warmbier had been admitted unresponsive the morning after he was sentenced to 15 years, a timeline detail that hadn't been made public. But only two weeks prior, Warmbier appeared on TV and seemed healthy. The narrow window between the two suggests to Clark that the theory that Warmbier was continually beaten doesn't hold up, and he provides other evidence in support of that. So what happened? Clark presents one theory: that it was a suicide attempt gone wrong. Read his full piece here.

The lower jaw of an adult male found in Tomb I. This jaw may belong to Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. A decades-old mystery about the body of Alexander the Great's father has been solved, anthropologists claim. A new analysis of bones from a Macedonian tomb complex reveals a skeleton with a knee injury so severe that it would have caused a noticeable limp in life. This injury matches some historical records of one sustained by Philip II, whose nascent empire Alexander the Great would expand all the way to India. The skeleton in question, however, is not the one initially thought to be Philip II's — instead, it comes from the tomb next door. The skeletons are the subject of an entrenched debate among experts on ancient Greece and Macedonia. While some praised the new study, others pushed back, suggesting the new research will not quell 40 years of controversy. "The knee is the clincher," said Maria Liston, an anthropologist at the University of Waterloo, who was not involved in the new study, which is detailed today (July 20) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). [See Photos of the Tomb at Vergina and Mysterious 'Philip' Bones] "This publication in PNAS is incorrect," said Theodore Antikas, a researcher at Aristotle University in Greece and author of another controversial study on bones from the tombs. A violent history This artist's impression reveals how the fused bones would have set Philip II's leg in a permanently bent position. Credit: Image Courtesy Arturo Asensio The story of Philip II is wrought with twists and turns. In 336 B.C., the king was murdered by one of his bodyguards. The motives for the assassination are unclear. Some ancient historians wrote that the murder was an act of revenge stemming from a sordid tale of suicide and sexual assault between Philip II's male lovers and other members of the court. Whatever the cause, murder was de rigueur for the Macedonian royal family. Within days of Philip II's murder, one of his wives, Olympias — mother of Alexander the Great — let her own homicidal tendencies run free. According to the Latin historian Justin, Olympias killed the newborn daughter of Philip II's newest wife, Cleopatra, in her mother's arms. She then forced Cleopatra to hang herself. A generation later, after the death of Alexander the Great, the conqueror's half-brother Philip III Arrhidaeus (also spelled Arrhidaios) took the throne. Philip III Arrhidaeus was king in name only, and ancient historians record him as being mentally unfit. His wife, Eurydice, was a warrior, however. She was determined to make her husband more than a figurehead puppet for Alexander's generals, who were by this time vying for power in the void left by his death. But Philip III Arrhidaeus and Eurydice would lose that battle. In 317 B.C., Olympias came out against them. The couple's troops refused to fight the forces of the mother of Alexander the Great. Olympias had the pair killed and buried. Some months later, they were exhumed and cremated in a display to shore up legitimacy for the next king. [Family Ties: 8 Truly Dysfunctional Royal Families] Cremation and controversy Philip II. Cleopatra. Philip III. Eurydice. When archaeologists uncovered a Macedonian tomb complex near the Greek city of Vergina in the 1970s, they knew they had royal burials on their hands. But which tombs belonged to which royals? There are three tombs at the site. Tomb I had been plundered in antiquity but contained human remains and an intricate wall painting of the Rape of Persephone. Tomb II was intact. Inside were the cremated bones of a man and a woman, surrounded by armor and other lavish items. Tomb III is widely accepted to belong to Alexander IV, Alexander the Great's son. Initially, the bodies in lavish Tomb II were identified as those of Philip II and Cleopatra. But debate has raged over possible injuries to the male skull, over the ages and dating of the skeletons, and over whether the bones were burned with flesh on or off. (As Philip III Arridaeus was cremated long after burial, archaeologists looked for signs that the bones had been burned after the flesh had rotted away.) Many archaeologists suspected the two burned bodies were not Philip II and Cleopatra, but Philip III and Eurydice. The two sides have been lobbing research papers at each other for years, but seemed at an impasse. "In fact, the issue has become eminently political, and for years a sort of vendetta has been raging between factions," said historian Miltiades Hatzopoulos of International Hellenic University, who was not involved in the new research. Now, Antonis Bartsiokas of Democritus University of Thrace in Greece has taken a different tact. Instead of examining the burnt bones in Tomb II, he and his team took a close look at three skeletons from the tomb next door. The smoking gun The analysis revealed that the man in Tomb I was in his 40s when he died, and stood 5 feet 9 inches tall (180 centimeters) — impressive for the era. The woman died around 18 years of age, based on measurements of the fusion of her bones. She was about 5 feet 4 inches tall (165 cm). The baby was a newborn, probably only a week to three weeks past the due date. The ages match historical records of Philip II, Cleopatra and their infant. But the real smoking gun, Liston said, was a knee injury on the male skeleton. The left leg of an adult male skeleton found in Tomb I at Vergina. The thigh bone (femur) and one of the bones of the lower leg (the tibia) are fused, and hole at the knee suggests a devastating penetrating injury. Credit: Image Courtesy Javier Trueba The man's left thigh bone, or femur, had fused with one of his lower leg bones, the tibia. This fusion left the knee joint frozen in place at a 79-degree angle. A hole in the bone suggests the wound was caused by a penetrating injury from a projectile, such as a spear. And that's where things get exciting. According to historical records, Philip II was injured in the leg during a battle in 345 B.C. He then limped for the rest of his life. "When I found the femur fused to the tibia at the knee joint, I suddenly remembered the leg injury of Philip, but I could not recall any details," Bartsiokas told Live Science. "I then ran to study the historical evidence." He found a description of Philip II's wounds in the writings of the ancient historian Justin. "At that moment," he wrote in an email to Live Science, "I knew the bone must belong to Philip!" [Bones With Names: Long-Dead Bodies Archaeologists Have Identified] The injury does match descriptions of Philip II's limp, the University of Waterloo's Liston said. "This was a devastating injury that separated the knee joint and left it probably completely unstable until it fused," Liston told Live Science. The pain would have been excruciating, she said. After reading the new PNAS paper, she said, she asked two middle-age men at her lab in Athens to stand on one foot, with the toes of the other foot just touching the ground. The angles of their knees were 72 degrees and 80 degrees. This ad hoc experiment suggests that, like Philip II, the man in the tomb could have walked, but only with difficulty. He probably could have ridden a horse — but he may have been vulnerable in hand-to-hand combat. "This injury may also explain why Philip, a skilled warrior, was so utterly unable to fight off the assassins," Liston said. "With this knee, he would have limited mobility and very poor balance." An end to controversy? If Philip II and his wife and baby occupy Tomb I, it stands to reason that Philip III and his wife are the contested skeletons in Tomb II, Bartsiokas and his colleagues write today (July 20) in PNAS. [See Images of the Tomb II and Bones Inside] Whether the finding will rewrite history remains to be seen. The museum at the site of the Royal Tombs of Vergina identifies Tomb II, not Tomb I, as belonging to Philip II. So does UNESCO, which classifies the monuments as a royal heritage site. "These are bold claims that I don't think will be very welcome in certain quarters in Greece," said Jonathan Musgrave, an anatomist at the University of Bristol, who has argued that the bones in Tomb II belong to Philip II and Cleopatra. Indeed, researchers who have argued for Tomb II as Philip II's final resting place were not quickly convinced by the new study. In 2014, two bags of human and animal bones were found in a storage area with plaster from Tomb I, Antikas told Live Science. He and his team have analyzed those bones, he said, and found that Tomb I contained not two adults and a baby as discussed in Bartsiokas' new paper, but two adults, a teenager, a fetus and three newborns. Those findings have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, pending permission for further study from Greece's Central Archaeological Council, Antikas said. "Any prejudgment concerning the occupants is impossible before the complete context is re-examined," said Chrysoula Paliadeli, an archaeologist at the director of the Aristotle University excavations at Vergina. Even the "smoking gun" leg wound falls under scrutiny; ancient historians were not always very detailed or clear with their sourcing. Bartsiokas and his team trust the writings of Demosthenes, a contemporary of Philip II, who simply wrote that the king was wounded in his leg. But 300 years later historian Didymos wrote that Philip's wound was in his right thigh, said Hatzopoulos of International Hellenic University. The wound on the skeleton analyzed by Bartsiokas was on the left leg. It might seem natural to trust the historian who was writing at the time of Philip II's life versus the one writing 300 years later, but Didymos' source was probably Theopompos, who did live at the same time as Philip II, Hatzopoulos said. "Having followed this controversy through four decades I have come to the conclusion that in this particular issue one cannot put much faith in the so-called 'exact sciences,'" Hatzopoulos said. "Reputed scientists have contradicted one another time and time again." Bartsiokas and his team seemed prepared for ongoing strife. "I think that we have made a very strong case," said study co-author Juan-Luis Arsuaga of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. "Now the focus of attention will turn to Tomb I. I am open to debate." Editor's Note: This article was updated to correct a mention of Desmothenes that should be Didymos. Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitterand Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on Live Science. ||||| The knee ankylosis and the hole through it ties perfectly with the penetrating wound and lameness suffered by Philip II and conclusively identifies him as the occupant of Tomb I in Vergina, Greece. The age estimates of the three occupants are consistent with those derived from the historical sources. Cleopatra's (Philip’s wife) child was born a few days before Philip II’s assassination and both were murdered soon after Philip’s assassination. It follows that Tomb II belongs to King Arrhidaeus and his wife Eurydice and may well contain some of the armor of Alexander the Great. Thus, a nearly 40-y-old mystery concerning the Royal Tombs of Vergina has finally been solved that puzzled historians, archaeologists, and physical anthropologists. Abstract King Philip II was the father of Alexander the Great. He suffered a notorious penetrating wound by a lance through his leg that was nearly fatal and left him lame in 339 B.C.E. (i.e., 3 y before his assassination in 336 B.C.E.). In 1977 and 1978 two male skeletons were excavated in the Royal Tombs II and I of Vergina, Greece, respectively. Tomb I also contained another adult (likely a female) and a newborn skeleton. The current view is that Philip II was buried in Tomb II. However, the male skeleton of Tomb II bears no lesions to his legs that would indicate lameness. We investigated the skeletal material of Tomb I with modern forensic techniques. The male individual in Tomb I displays a conspicuous case of knee ankylosis that is conclusive evidence of lameness. Right through the overgrowth of the knee, there is a hole. There are no obvious signs that are characteristic of infection and osteomyelitis. This evidence indicates that the injury was likely caused by a severe penetrating wound to the knee, which resulted in an active inflammatory process that stopped years before death. Standard anthropological age-estimation techniques based on dry bone, epiphyseal lines, and tooth analysis gave very wide age ranges for the male, centered around 45 y. The female would be around 18-y-old and the infant would be a newborn. It is concluded that King Philip II, his wife Cleopatra, and their newborn child are the occupants of Tomb I. ||||| There are many unrecorded conquerors, battles and Romeo and Juliets in the vastness of prehistory whose stories are waiting to be told. Prehistoric finds like Hoyo Negro's earliest American, the Hobbit-like species Homo floresiensis and insight into the first artists suggest the best stories may await discovery. New Fossils Help Bring Hobbit Humans to Life While 17 new pyramids were discovered in Egypt in 2011 alone, using infrared satellite technology, a previously unknown pharaoh named Woseribre Senebkay and the necropolis of his dynasty were found earlier this year. Long-Lost Pyramids Found? Unique findings include a Gate to Hell in Hierapoils, in southwestern Turkey, complete with animals that died from getting too close. Known as Pluto's Gate -- Ploutonion in Greek, Plutonium in Latin -- the cave was celebrated as the portal to the underworld in Greco-Roman mythology and tradition. Photos: 'Gate to Hell' Guardians Found The list of findings from the last few years goes on and on and includes Captain Kidd's shipwreck. The wreckage of Quedagh Merchant, the ship abandoned by the 17th century pirate Captain William Kidd as he raced to New York in an ill-fated attempt to clear his name, was found in less than 10 feet of Caribbean seawater by a team from Indiana University. Most Famous Pirates of the Caribbean A small village in Greece might be home to the greatest discovery of the new century. The largest ancient tomb ever found in Greece has been dated to the period of Alexander the Great. A 16-foot lion statue sits atop the tomb and two sphinxes guard an entrance bricked up with granite blocks weighing a ton each. As the excavation progresses, archaeologists have uncovered two incredible female caryatid statues, mosaic floors and three chambers. Greek Tomb's Female Sculptures Fully Revealed Decades of underwater research have provided us with a good understanding of our maritime past. But there has been one looming gap: ancient warships. After years of searching, the site of the Battle of the Egadi Islands, the decisive climax to the First Punic War, was discovered off the coast of Sicily. The site has yielded 11 warship rams, as the one depicted in this picture, as well as armament and amphoras (container vases) that were meant to resupply Hamilcar Barca's forces, Hannibal's father. Photos: Biggest Shipwreck Finds in History Machu Picchu was not known to the outside world until 1911, but what lost cities are awaiting discovery today? Three ancient Mayan cities were recently discovered and researchers say they think more are in the surrounding area. Photos: The Hunt for Lost Cities Have the most important temples, tombs, pyramids, cities, and civilizations been found? Not at all, according to Peter B. Campbell, director of archaeology at the Albanian Center for Marine Research. "The greatest age of discovery is happening right now. And the real fun is just about to begin," Campbell said. The “Tomb of Philip” in the northern Greek town of Vergina does not belong to King Philip II of Macedon, says new research which fuels the long-standing dispute over the final resting place of Alexander the Great’s father. According to the study, a skeleton found in an adjacent tomb shows evidence of a leg wound which is consistent with the one sustained by Philip II, as reported by some historical accounts. The claim is in stark contrast to other research published two months ago which maintains Alexander the Great’s father was indeed buried in the famous “Tomb of Philip.” Photos: Great Archaeological Discoveries Ahead Scholars have argued over Philip II’s tomb ever since Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos discovered the site of his likely burial in 1977-78. He excavated a large mound — the Great Tumulus — at Vergina on the advice of the English classicist Nicholas Hammond. Among the monuments found within the tumulus were three tombs. One, called Tomb I, had been looted, but contained a stunning wall painting of the Rape of Persephone, along with fragmentary human remains. Tomb II remained undisturbed and contained the almost complete cremated remains of a male skeleton in the main chamber and the cremated remains of a female in the antechamber. Grave goods included silver and bronze vessels, gold wreaths, weapons, armor and two gold larnakes. Tomb III was also found undisturbed, with a silver funerary urn that contained the bones of a young male, and a number of silver vessels and ivory reliefs. “There is an unanimous agreement that Tomb III, which has a façade strikingly similar to that of Tomb II, belongs to Alexander the Great’s son, Alexander IV,” Antonis Bartsiokas of the Democritus University of Thrace and Juan-Luis Arsuaga of the Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid and colleagues wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). In fact, most of the scholarly debate concentrates on the occupants of Tomb II. “Despite anthropological and archaeological evidence that the tomb belongs to King Arrhidaeus and his wife Eurydice, the archaeological establishment still maintains that Tomb II belongs to Philip II,” the researchers wrote. Remains of Alexander the Great's Father Confirmed Found A powerful 4th century B.C. military ruler from the Greek kingdom of Macedon, King Philip II gained control of Greece and the Balkan peninsula through tactful use of warfare, diplomacy, and marriage alliances (the Macedonians practiced polygamy). His efforts — he reformed the Macedonian army and proposed the invasion of Persia — later provided the basis for the achievements of his son and successor Alexander the Great, who went on to conquer most of the known world. The overlord of an empire stretching from Greece and Egypt eastward across Asia to India, Alexander died in Babylon, now in central Iraq, in June of 323 B.C. — just before his 33rd birthday. His elusive tomb is one of the great unsolved mysteries of the ancient world. Using scanning and radiography, Bartsiokas and colleagues analyzed a partial skeleton of a middle-aged male that had been long disinterred from Tomb I at Vergina. The researchers judged the individual to be around 45 when he died, matching the age at which Philip was killed, and estimated he was 5.9 feet tall. Photos: Female Sculptures Revealed in Greek Tomb They noticed the individual had a knee joint showing signs of fusion (ankylosis), and a hole through the overgrowth of the knee, likely produced by a penetrating instrument, such as a fast-moving projectile, like a spear. The wound “would have affected locomotion and rendered the person lame, with an uneven gait,” the researchers concluded. According to some historical reports, a lance impaled Philip’s leg three years before his assassination in 336 BC, leaving him lame. The injury “is conclusive evidence for the identification of one tomb occupant as Philip,” the researchers said. Bartsiokas and colleagues also stated that Tomb I contains the remains of a 18-year-old female and a 42-week-old infant of unknown gender. The researchers believe the individuals are Philip’s wife Cleopatra, and their newborn child, both killed shortly after Philip’s death. He was killed by his bodyguard Pausanias as he walked into a theater in the Macedonian capital of Aegae. “As a consequence, Tomb II could only belong to King Arrhidaeus and Eurydice and may well contain some of the armor of Alexander the Great,” Bartsiokas and colleagues concluded. However, according to Theodore Antikas, author of another study which concluded the bones found in Tomb II are those of Philip II and a Scythian princess, Bartsiokas and colleagues are missing a point—or more precisely, some bones. In a letter to the editor of PNAS, Antikas, head of the anthropological research team of Vergina Excavation at Aristotle University, maintains Bartsiokas’s research has been done on a small part of the bones found in Tomb I in 1977-78. According to the researcher, the bones from Tomb I took different routes ever since their discovery. Some were first kept at Vergina, and some were sent to the Archaeological Museum in Thessaloniki (AMT). ||||| Portrait of King Philip II of Macedonia in his late years, after having received a wound through his left leg by a lance. Credit: Arturo Asensio. A team of researchers from Greece, Spain and France has found evidence that suggests that the bones of King Phillip II of Macedon—father of Alexander the Great, were those found in Tomb I, not those found in Tomb II at the burial site in Vergina, Macedonia. The team's work and their findings have been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Back in 1977, archeologists discovered ancient tombs at Vergina, and soon thereafter, researchers began offering arguments regarding the identities of the skeletons that were found in them—the focus of most of the attention has been on Tombs I and II, because it is believed they were the final resting place for some of Alexander the Great's relatives—most specifically, his father. Early on, many believed the bones found in Tomb II were his, though the identity of others buried along with him remained a matter of speculation. This theory was further bolstered by work done by a team of researches with results published just this past May. In this new effort, the researchers cite evidence that they believe proves bones found in Tomb I are those of Phillip, and that furthermore, other bones in the same tomb belong to his wife Cleopatra and his newly born baby. The most striking evidence comes in the form of a leg bone—an upper thigh fused to a shin at the knee with a hole in it—it appears to align with historical texts that describe Philip as suffering a wound from a lance. Additional testing showed the bone had fused and smoothed over just a few years time, which also agrees with writings from the time—Phillip was murdered just a few years after suffering the injury. Dating showed the skeletal remains to be that of man approximately 45 years old, which is consistent with the age at which Philip reportedly died. The ancient writings also describe Cleopatra as being young, approximately 18 years old at the time of her death, which occurred shortly after Phillip was killed. Dating of the other bones in the Tomb I showed them to be from a woman of just that age range. Also, the early texts describe the baby, which was killed around the same time as well. In studying the bones in Tomb II, the researchers concluded that they were entombed much later than those in Tomb I, too late for them to have been the remains of Philip. Taken together, the evidence proves that the bones in Tomb I were those of Philip, the researchers claim, suggesting that the matter has finally been settled for good. Explore further: Skeleton from Greek mystery tomb to be identified next month More information: PNAS Early Edition DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1510906112 www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/07/15/1510906112.full.pdf

– The bad news: The ancient tomb at Vergina believed to house Alexander the Great's father may in fact be the final resting place of someone else. The good news: King Philip II's tomb is just a few doors down, according to a new study—though not everyone is in agreement. Researchers built a convincing case last year that Alexander's pop rested in what is known as Tomb II, but a different set of experts now say a partial skeleton in the adjacent Tomb I could be his, reports Discovery. For one thing, the individual was 45 when he died, as was Philip. For another, records note that a leg injury three years before his death left Philip with a limp. Researchers say a left femur in Tomb I, joined awkwardly to the shin, includes a hole likely made by a projectile, reports Phys.org. The injury would've "rendered the person lame, with an uneven gait," researchers say, noting the find "conclusively identifies (Philip) as the occupant of Tomb I," per the study in PNAS. The remains of a woman, 18, and a newborn also found inside are likely Philip's wife and their child, killed shortly after Philip's assassination in 336BC, researchers say. Meanwhile, the male skeleton found in Tomb II "bears no lesions to his legs that would indicate lameness," they argue, adding the bones entombed there are too late to be Philip's and a Scythian warrior. Instead, the study says those bones probably belong to Alexander the Great's half-brother, King Arrhidaeus, and his wife, Eurydice, who died in 317BC, reports LiveScience. But Theodore Antikas, who authored the earlier study on Tomb II, says the latest research is "unreliable" since only some of the bones in Tomb I were analyzed. It also isn't clear when some of them were removed from the tomb; they were found in storage and hadn't been seen since the tomb's discovery in 1977. The controversy is likely to continue. One thing experts agree on: Tomb III at the complex belongs to Alexander the Great's son. (Divers recently found treasure dating to Alexander's reign.)

The largest study to date of a rising suicide rate among military personnel, published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry, found no connection between suicide and deployment overseas in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The findings are the latest in a series of studies prompted by a military suicide rate that has nearly doubled since 2005. The study’s authors and others cautioned, however, that the findings do not rule out combat exposure as a reason for the increase in suicides, adding that more information was needed. “As the wars went on, the suicide rates also went up and it was very tempting to assume deployments must be the reason,” said the lead author, Mark Reger of the Department of Defense National Center for Telehealth and Technology in Tacoma, Wash. “Our data don’t support that. But there may be important subgroups, including those exposed to combat, that we need to look at further.” The suicide rate for troops deployed in support of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the study found, was only slightly higher than for troops who did not deploy to that area or remained stateside — 18.86 deaths versus 17.78 deaths per 100,000. The national average is about 13 deaths per 100,000. Earlier studies produced contrasting results, with one finding an increased risk after deployment among young Army soldiers, others finding no increase and one finding deployment actually lowered suicide risk. The latest study, which analyzed records of 3.9 million military personnel who served from 2001 to 2007, did find that troops who left the military within four years, especially under less-than-honorable conditions, were at much higher risk of suicide than those who continued to serve. The prevalence of suicide was not even across branches. The Army and Marine Corps, which bore the brunt of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, had rates about 25 percent higher than those of the Air Force and Navy. But within those branches, rates between those who deployed and those who did not were nearly the same. “This is a very good study, but there may be a lot going on here that the data doesn’t allow us to see,” said Michael Schoenbaum, a researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health who led a 2014 study on suicides in the Army. He said the question of war’s effect on suicide was far from settled. “You can be deployed without being in combat,” Mr. Schoenbaum said. “This data set wasn’t able to sort people by their exposure to the physical acts of war. That is the next step.” So far, he said, no researchers have combined military injury data and other indicators of combat with suicide data to try to gauge suicides among combat veterans. “We are slowly connecting the dots. This is an important one, but we have much more work to do,” he said. The study also tracked suicides of military personnel after they left the military, by linking records kept by the Pentagon and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “No one had really been able to do that before,” Rajeev Ramchand, a behavioral health scientist at the RAND Corporation, said in an interview Tuesday. “We’ve been waiting for studies like this to show proof that what was a military problem is becoming a veteran problem.” The study found that the suicide rate for troops who left the military before completing a four-year enlistment was nearly twice that of troops who stayed. The rate for troops who were involuntarily discharged under less-than-honorable conditions for disciplinary infractions was nearly three times higher. Troops given these so-called bad paper discharges are often not eligible for Department of Veterans Affairs medical care and other benefits. “This has important policy implications,” Mr. Ramchand said. “We have a relatively small group, but the study shows it is a group that is at very high risk. And what are we doing to help them? Not much.” The study’s authors said they planned to build on their research, linking military health records in an attempt to see how suicide is related to battlefield injuries and mental health issues related to combat, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. ||||| A large study of nearly 4 million U.S. service members and veterans found that deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan is not associated with an increased risk of suicide. Appearing in JAMA Psychiatry online on Wednesday, the study by researchers at the Defense Department's National Center for Telehealth and Technology, or T2, indicates that although the suicide rate among active-duty personnel has increased since 2001, the rate for those who deployed to a combat zone was roughly the same as for those who did not. Rather, the study found that the military group at highest risk for suicide are those who served in the military for less than a full enlistment. In fact, the suicide rate among those who served less than a year was 2.5 times the active-duty rate, according to the research. And those rates remained extremely high among those who served less than three years. "This is an important finding. It shows those who separated from military service had a 63 percent higher suicide rate overall. ... Why are these people at higher risk, we don't have data to explain it," said Mark Reger, study lead author and deputy director of T2. But the authors did speculate, based on previous research on why people commit suicide, that problems such as injury, a legal issue or mental health conditions that might force a person out of the military could contribute to suicidal behavior. Or, the transition itself — the loss of identity, difficulty developing a new social support system, issues trying to find meaningful work after service or a sense of feeling like a burden or they don't fit in to civilian society, could play a role. "Additional research is needed to clarify what the circumstances are surrounding early discharges and how these factors may be related to suicide," the authors wrote. To conduct the study, researchers reviewed all troops who served from Oct. 7, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2007. Service history was obtained from the Defense Manpower Data Center and researchers reviewed death records from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner system as well as the National Death Index. Of the 3,945,099 personnel in the study, 31,962 people died during the six-year study, 5,041 documented suicides. Of the suicides, 3,879 were service members who did not deploy and 1,162 were those who did participate in OEF or OIF. Those figures translate into a suicide rate of 17.78 per 100,000 person years for those who did not deploy and 18.86 per 100,000 person years for those who did — a difference that is not considered statistically significant. Multiple deployments appeared to influence the rate somewhat, with those who deployed more than once experiencing a rate of 19.92 per 100,000. Among those who separated early, however, the rate difference was significant. Those who separated from the military without having deployed had a nearly rate of 26 per 100,000 person years rate and those who had deployed had a rate of 26.48 per 100,000 person years. Person years are a statistical measure of the number of years that members of a population have been affected by a particular condition multiplied by the number of members in that population. It often is used in military epidemiological studies to account for the changing numbers of personnel serving in the military each year. The civilian rate, adjusted for age, gender and socioeconomic factors similar the the military population, is 18.8 per 100,000, according to Army and National Institutes of Mental Health calculations. Subgroups at highest risk, besides those who had served less than a year, included Marines who did not deploy and separated from the Corps early, with a rate of 32.6 per 100,000, and Army soldiers who deployed and separated — 28.1 per 100,000. Reger said the researchers did not have access to medical records, personnel records or mental health information and would need that information to further understand the reasons why those who leave military service early are at high risk. "We also would like to look at factors such as combat exposure — obviously everyone who deploys does not see the same level of combat, and that may have an impact, as do combat injuries or other factors," Reger added. The research could help direct future suicide prevention programs and has implications for services for those leaving the military, especially at-risk veterans discharged under less-than-honorable circumstances. Under Veterans Affairs Department policy, all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are eligible for up to five years of medical care through the VA if they have been discharged under other-than-dishonorable conditions. But those receiving a dishonorable or bad-conduct discharge or dismissed under questionable circumstances may not be eligible for VA care and benefits, including health services and transition assistance. The data suggest that considering prevention options for those who have discharges that were not honorable may be helpful, Reger said. Reger said he also hopes the study can clear up any misconceptions that combat deployment puts military veterans at risk. "if can be a disservice to service members to misrepresent the nature of the population. We need to be clear that the deployed force overall adjusts well and is not at increased for suicide," he said. ||||| (Reuters Health) - Military suicides may be more likely after members leave the service than during active duty deployment, particularly if their time in uniform is brief, a U.S. study finds. "It was certainly intuitive as the wars went on and suicides went up for people to assume that deployment was the reason, but our data show that that is too simplistic; when you look at the total population, deployment is not associated with suicide," said lead author Mark Reger, of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington. While the U.S. military has traditionally experienced lower suicide rates than the civilian population, suicides among active duty service members have surged in the past decade, almost doubling in the Army and the Marines Corps, Reger said. To understand the link between deployment and suicide, Reger and colleagues analyzed military records for more than 3.9 million service members in active or reserve duty in support of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan at any point from October 7, 2001 to December 31, 2007. A total of 31,962 deaths occurred, including 5,041 suicides, by December 31, 2009. Suicide rates were similar regardless of deployment status. There were 1,162 suicides among those who deployed and 3,879 among those who didn't, representing suicide rates per 100,000 person-years of 18.86 and 17.78, respectively. Leaving the military significantly increased suicide risk, however, with a suicide rate of 26.06 after separating from service compared with 15.12 for those who remained in uniform. Those who left sooner had a greater risk, with a rate of 48.04 among those who spent less than a year in the military. Service members with a dishonorable discharge were about twice as likely to commit suicide as those who had an honorable separation. "This is the first time such a huge, comprehensive study has found an increased suicide risk among those who have separated from service, particularly if they served for less than four years or had an other than honorable discharge," said Rajeev Ramchand, a researcher in military mental health and suicide prevention at Rand Corporation who wasn't involved in the study. It's possible that pre-deployment examinations may screen out people who have mental health problems, making those who deploy several times a healthier, more resilient group, said Dr. Alan Peterson, a psychologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio who specializes in combat-related post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "Those who really struggle with a deployment don't go the second time," said Peterson, a retired military psychologist who wasn't involved in the study. "Early separation from the military is often a marker for something else." For those contemplating suicide, access to firearms can exacerbate the problem, Peterson said. "It's a risk factor that sometimes gets overlooked, but we've seen when they don't have access to weapons they are less likely to kill themselves." Some service members who leave the military early may have had risk factors for suicide such as mood disorders or substance abuse problems that contributed to their separation, particularly if they had a dishonorable discharge, said Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. "Some of the dishonorable discharges may be related to having a mental health disorder and being unable to keep that behavior in check and breaking the rules, and some of the early separations may be people in distress who appropriately opted out of service," said Moutier, who wasn't involved in the study. It isn't realistic to expect former service members to instantly reintegrate into their former civilian lives, but they may be experiencing serious mental health problems if they're not eating or sleeping or if they're extremely agitated or irritable, Moutier said. "The lack of an association between deployment and suicide risk isn't surprising," she said. "At a very high level, these findings highlight the need for us to pay closer attention to what happens when people leave the military." SOURCE: bit.ly/1BMzKsh JAMA Psychiatry, online April 1, 2015. ||||| Importance A pressing question in military suicide prevention research is whether deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom relates to suicide risk. Prior smaller studies report differing results and often have not included suicides that occurred after separation from military service. Objective To examine the association between deployment and suicide among all 3.9 million US military personnel who served during Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom, including suicides that occurred after separation. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective cohort design used administrative data to identify dates of deployment for all service members (October 7, 2001, to December 31, 2007) and suicide data (October 7, 2001, to December 31, 2009) to estimate rates of suicide-specific mortality. Hazard ratios were estimated from time-dependent Cox proportional hazards regression models to compare deployed service members with those who did not deploy. Main Outcomes and Measures Suicide mortality from the Department of Defense Medical Mortality Registry and the National Death Index. Results Deployment was not associated with the rate of suicide (hazard ratio, 0.96; 99% CI, 0.87-1.05). There was an increased rate of suicide associated with separation from military service (hazard ratio, 1.63; 99% CI, 1.50-1.77), regardless of whether service members had deployed or not. Rates of suicide were also elevated for service members who separated with less than 4 years of military service or who did not separate with an honorable discharge. Conclusions and Relevance Findings do not support an association between deployment and suicide mortality in this cohort. Early military separation (<4 years) and discharge that is not honorable were suicide risk factors.

– Don't blame the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq just yet for the growing number of military suicides. That's the conclusion of a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry that finds the suicide rate of troops deployed there was only a bit higher than that of troops who've served either in the US or elsewhere: 18.86 deaths per 100,000 for the former, 17.78 per 100,000 for the latter, the New York Times reports. But something's behind the increasing suicide rate in the military—the Times notes it's nearly doubled since 2005—and researchers say more research is needed. "As the wars went on, the suicide rates also went up and it was very tempting to assume deployments must be the reason," says lead author Mark Reger. "Our data don't support that." The study, said to be the largest of its kind, looked at the paperwork for 3.9 million troops who served from 2001 to 2007; among those service members, there were 5,041 suicides by the end of 2009, Reuters reports. What the study did find: The suicide rate for Army and Marine crews—which the Times notes took on most of the Iraq and Afghanistan fighting—was about 25% higher than that of the other branches, though the suicide rate in those two branches didn't differ much between those deployed and those who weren't. Another find: that troops who left before serving four years had almost double the suicide rate of those who stuck around; it was three times as high for service members who received a disciplinary involuntary discharge. The study could affect future suicide-prevention programs and the services veterans receive, the Military Times notes.

Life Expectancy In U.S. Drops For First Time In Decades, Report Finds Enlarge this image Image Source/Getty Images Image Source/Getty Images One of the fundamental ways scientists measure the well-being of a nation is tracking the rate at which its citizens die and how long they can be expected to live. So the news out of the federal government Thursday is disturbing: The overall U.S. death rate has increased for the first time in a decade, according to an analysis of the latest data. And that led to a drop in overall life expectancy for the first time since 1993, particularly among people younger than 65. "This is a big deal," says Philip Morgan, a demographer at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill who was not involved in the new analysis. "There's not a better indicator of well-being than life expectancy," he says. "The fact that it's leveling off in the U.S. is a striking finding." Now, there's a chance that the latest data, from 2015, could be just a one-time blip. In fact, a preliminary analysis from the first two quarters of 2016 suggests that may be the case, says Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at the National Center for Health Statistics, which released the new report. Anderson says government analysts are awaiting more data before reaching any definitive conclusions. "We'll have to see what happens in the second half of 2016," he says. Still, he believes the data from 2015 are worth paying attention to. Over that year, the overall death rate increased from 724.6 per 100,000 people to 733.1 per 100,000. While that's not a lot, it was enough to cause the overall life expectancy to fall slightly. That's only happened a few times in the past 50 years. The dip in 1993, for example, was due to high death rates from AIDS, flu, homicide and accidental deaths that year. On average, the overall life expectancy, for someone born in 2015, fell from 78.9 years to 78.8 years. The life expectancy for the average American man fell two-tenths of a year — from 76.5 to 76.3. For women, it dropped one-tenth — from 81.3 to 81.2 years. "It's remarkable," Morgan says. "There are lots of things about this that are unexpected." Most notably, the overall death rate for Americans increased because mortality from heart disease and stroke increased after declining for years. Deaths were also up from Alzheimer's disease, respiratory disease, kidney disease and diabetes. More Americans also died from unintentional injuries and suicide. In all, the decline was driven by increases in deaths from eight of the top 10 leading causes of death in the U.S. "When you see increases in so many of the leading causes of death, it's difficult to pinpoint one particular cause as the culprit," Anderson says. The obesity epidemic could be playing a role in the increase in deaths from heart disease, strokes, diabetes and possibly Alzheimer's. It could also be that doctors have reached the limit of what they can do to fight heart disease with current treatments. The epidemic of prescription opioid painkillers and heroin abuse is probably fueling the increase in unintentional injuries, Arun Hendi, a demographer at Duke University, wrote in an email. The rise in drug abuse and suicide could be due to economic factors causing despair. "Clearly, that could be related to the economic circumstances that many Americans have experienced in the last eight years, or so, since the recession," says Irma Elo, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Whatever the cause, the trend is concerning, especially when the death rate is continuing to drop and life expectancy is still on the rise in most other industrialized countries. "It's pretty grim," says Anne Case, an economist at Princeton University studying the relationship between economics and health. ||||| 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. ||||| Image copyright SPL Image caption Deaths from dementia saw one of the biggest rises Life expectancy in the United States has declined for the first time in more than two decades. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics showed a drop for men from 76.5 years in 2014 to 76.3 in 2015, and from 81.3 to 81.2 for women. The preliminary figures show rises in several causes of death, especially heart disease, dementia and accidental infant deaths. Life expectancy last fell during the peak of the HIV/Aids crisis in 1993. It has improved slightly but steadily in most of the years since World War Two, rising from a little more than 68 years in 1950. It also fell in 1980, after a severe outbreak of flu. Overall life expectancy for men and women is now 78.8 years, a decrease of 0.1 year from 2014. "This is unusual," lead author Jiaquan Xu, an epidemiologist at the NCHS, told AFP news agency. "2015 is kind of different from every year. It looks like much more death than we have seen in the last few years." The report is based mainly on 2015 death certificates. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Rising obesity, heart disease and diabetes are all concerns How far has life expectancy declined? A decline of 0.1 years in life expectancy means people are dying, on average, a little over a month earlier - or two months earlier for men. To compare it with the two other declines in the past 30 years, the drop from 1992 to 1993 was 0.3 years, and the drop from 1979 to 1980 was 0.2%. What's also worrying some experts is that the trend had been largely flat for the preceding three years, rather than steady increase which has prevailed since the 1970s. What's causing the drop? The figures show a mixture of factors. Death rates have risen for eight out of 10 of the leading causes of death: heart disease (0.9% rise), chronic lower respiratory diseases (2.7% rise), unintentional injuries (6.7% rise), stroke (3% rise), Alzheimer's disease (15.7% rise), diabetes (1.9% rise), kidney disease (1.5% rise) and suicide (2.3% rise). Heart disease is the biggest killer - accounting for more than four times as many deaths as each of the others - so even the relatively small 0.9% rise in the heart disease death rate is a major contributor. Two of the biggest rises were deaths from Alzheimer's disease and also an 11.3% increase in the rate of death for babies under one due to unintentional injuries. Experts point to obesity levels, an ageing population and economic struggles as wider factors. What's behind the rise in accidental infant deaths? "Most of them died from accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed," said Jiaquan Xu. Michael Grosso, medical director at Northwell Health's Huntington Hospital in New York, told AFP that these deaths would include car crashes, falls, suffocation and fires, and were therefore complex to explain. He linked the rise to "social stressors", such as financial pressures and addiction. "The dramatic upswing in the use of opiates and narcotic use across our country is potentially a big factor in driving a phenomenon like accidental injury," he said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the country is "in midst of an opioid overdose epidemic", with a record 28,000 people killed in 2014. No figures are yet available for 2015, though the 6.7% rise in deaths caused by "unintentional injuries" may be partly related. Image copyright AP Image caption A decline in the cancer death rate is one of the few positive trends Is there any good news? The death rate for cancer has gone down 1.7%, which is significant as cancer is the second-biggest cause of death, causing almost as many fatalities as heart disease. But it seems that fast-developing research into cancer treatments, as well as campaigns on public education and early detection, are having an impact. How does the US compare with other countries? The US ranks 28th out of 43 OECD countries, according to 2014 figures - the most recent available. It is just behind the Czech Republic, Chile and Costa Rica, and just above Turkey, Poland and Estonia. The world's highest life expectancy is in Japan, which is well known for the longevity of its elderly citizens. People there live, on average, to 83.7 years, which is followed by Switzerland and Spain on 83.3. The world's lowest life expectancy is in Sierra Leone, at 50.1 years, according to the World Health Organization.

– More than a month was slashed from an average American life in 2015, according to National Center for Health Statistics data. A person born in the US in 2015 can expect to live 78.8 years, compared to 78.9 years in 2014. Life expectancy also fell from 76.5 years to 76.3 for men and from 81.3 to 81.2 for women. "This is a big deal," a demographer tells NPR, noting this is the first time US life expectancy has fallen since 1993, which had high death rates from AIDS, flu, murder, and accidents. "There's not a better indicator of well-being than life expectancy," he says. "The fact that it's leveling off in the US is a striking finding." What gives? Well, the overall death rate rose from 724.6 per 100,000 people in a standard population to 733.1 in 2015 as deaths increased from heart disease, chronic lower respiratory diseases, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease, and suicide, reports the Los Angeles Times. Deaths from Alzheimer's actually jumped 15.7%, while accidental deaths increased by 6.7%, per the BBC. "When you see increases in so many of the leading causes of death, it's difficult to pinpoint one particular cause as the culprit," says an NCHS rep. Officials suggest obesity is responsible for more heart-related deaths, economic factors responsible for the increase in suicides, and drug overdoses tied to more accidental deaths. But it's too early to determine if 2015 marks the start of a trend. "We'll have to see what happens in the second half of 2016," the rep says. There is some good news: The death rate for cancer fell 1.7%. However, death rates rose 1.6% for white women, 1% for white men, and 0.9% for black men. (Here's why white people are dying earlier.)

The United States is holding firm in its insistence that Chinese agents sent to covertly round up and pressure Chinese fugitives to head back home must stop. The State Department on Monday refused to comment directly about allegations first reported by the New York Times, but it made clear such activity is not permitted without giving notice to the U.S. attorney general. “It’s a criminal offense, actually, under U.S. law for an individual other than a diplomatic or a consular officer-attaché to act in the United States as a law enforcement agent of a foreign power without that notification,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby. He said the U.S. and China do communicate regularly on what he termed “matters of mutual concern including fugitives and anti-corruption” through the U.S.-China Joint Liaison Group on Law Enforcement Cooperation. But he said Washington also has been clear with Chinese officials on how the process must work. “It is incumbent upon them [China] to provide U.S. officials with significant, clear and convincing evidence to allow our law enforcement agencies to proceed with investigations, removals and prosecutions of fugitives,” he said. The Justice Department issued its own warning Monday about any potential covert Chinese operations. “If such unreported activity were to be taking place on U.S. soil, we would vigorously enforce our laws,” said spokesman Marc Raimondi. Earlier Monday, Chinese state media criticized Washington’s moves, calling on U.S. officials to “show sincerity in anti-corruption cooperation with China.” The commentary from Xinhua also said the U.S. order that Chinese agents associated with the country’s anti-corruption campaign, known as “Operation Fox Hunt,” is “regrettable.” Chinese President Xi Jinping’s efforts to hunt down fugitives, some of whom fled with money and other assets, have been popular with the Chinese public. The New York Times reported that since 2014, more than 930 suspects have been repatriated, including more than 70 who have returned voluntarily this year, but that the intimidation tactics being used by Chinese agents have increasingly drawn the ire of U.S. officials. U.S. sources also told The Times that many of the Chinese agents likely entered the U.S. on tourist or trade visas, trying to hide their real intentions. Word of “Operation Fox Hunt” comes amid heightened bilateral tensions and just weeks before President Xi’s state visit to the U.S. Still, given the stakes, New York University School of Law professor Jerome Cohen says both the U.S. and China are likely to handle the disagreement with care. “I don’t think, at this point, we’re likely to see any great ramifications for U.S. business or Chinese business,” he told VOA via Skype. “These are mostly specific problems of limited numbers of individuals.” American officials have refused to disclose the identities or numbers of Chinese being sought, although they acknowledge some are wanted for political crimes. Currently, China and the U.S. have no formal extradition treaty. And senior State Department officials have previously told Chinese state-run media that increased U.S. cooperation will depend on China’s commitment to the rule of law, including providing relevant evidence. But NYU’s Cohen says there could be more at stake. “Besides the human rights questions, are there U.S. reasons for wanting to keep people in the United States because they can provide a source of valuable information? Maybe some of them are already cooperating,” he said. ||||| Neither China’s Ministry of Public Security nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to faxes requesting comment. But Chinese officials have often boasted about their global efforts to hunt economic fugitives, and the state news media has featured reports detailing the aims and successes of Operation Fox Hunt. According to the Chinese news media, Beijing has sent scores of security agents abroad to “persuade” their targets to return home. Just how they accomplish their aims is unclear, and questions have been raised about why a number of suspects, presumably sitting on significant wealth abroad, have willingly returned to China. Liu Dong, a director of Operation Fox Hunt, has said Chinese agents must comply with local laws abroad and that they depend on cooperation with the police in other countries, according to a news report last year. But in a telling admission, he added, “Our principle is thus: Whether or not there is an agreement in place, as long as there is information that there is a criminal suspect, we will chase them over there, we will take our work to them, anywhere.” It is unclear whether the F.B.I. or the Department of Homeland Security has advocated within the Obama administration to have the Chinese agents expelled from the country, but the White House decision to have the State Department issue a warning to the Chinese government about the activities could be one initial step in the process. The F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security are in charge of tracking the activities of foreign government agents inside the United States, and American officials said that both agencies had amassed evidence about the Chinese law enforcement agents by speaking to Chinese expatriates and by monitoring the agents themselves. One American official acknowledged that Chinese agents had been trying to track down Ling Wancheng, a wealthy and politically connected businessman who fled to the United States last year and had been living in a lavish home he owns outside Sacramento. Should he seek political asylum, he could become one of the most damaging defectors in the history of the People’s Republic. Chinese state news media published Interpol alerts in April for 100 people that Beijing described as its most-wanted fugitives worldwide. But experts who have studied the names raised doubts whether the listed men and women are truly the government’s top priority. Among the alleged fugitives, they said, are a former deputy mayor, employees of state-owned enterprises and a history professor, but few if any at the highest echelons of power.

– China has been told that if it wants to bring its fugitives home from the US, it needs to go through proper channels and not send undercover agents on tourist visas to put pressure on them. The Obama administration has warned Beijing about the use of covert agents in the US as part of its anti-corruption campaign, reports the New York Times. Officials tell the Times that as part of what Beijing has dubbed Operation Fox Hunt, teams of agents have been sent to find "economic fugitives" living in the US and persuade them to return to China, using methods including threatening children or grandchildren who are still in the country. An expert at the University of Nottingham's China Policy Institute tells the Times that the use of covert agents to pressure people abroad has a long history under the Chinese Communist Party, which he says see itself as ruling all Chinese people, no matter if they live abroad or have foreign passports. "The party believes if you're of Chinese ancestry then you're Chinese anyway, and if you don't behave like one you're a traitor," he says. The warning on Chinese agents comes weeks before President Xi Jinping visits the US, reports Voice of America, which notes that the US and China have no formal extradition treaty and bringing one in might be on the agenda during Xi's state visit.

Photo Advertisement Continue reading the main story KIEV, Ukraine — After President Viktor F. Yanukovych failed to defuse Ukraine’s political crisis by offering concessions to opposition leaders, antigovernment protests spread on Sunday into southern and eastern Ukraine, the heart of the embattled president’s political base. About 1,500 demonstrators gathered outside the regional administration building in Dnipropetrovsk, where there were reports of scuffling with the police, while some 5,000 rallied in Zaporizhzhya, and 2,000 marched and rallied in Odessa, local news media reported. The growing unrest — in parts of the country that are most supportive of Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russia policies and where there had been little sympathy for the protest movement — raised the prospect of widening violence and deepening political chaos while conditions in Kiev, the capital, continued to deteriorate. In Dnipropetrovsk, in the southeast, the authorities said that they had arrested 37 protesters for disorderly conduct and that 18 police officers had suffered injuries. There were similar reports of arrests and injuries in Zaporizhzhya, another southeastern city where demonstrators sought to lay siege to the regional administration building and were held off by police officers who used tear gas and stun grenades. Photo In Kiev, antigovernment forces late Sunday night occupied a main Justice Ministry building, adding to the portfolio of properties under their control and following through on a pledge to continue — and even step up — protests regardless of Mr. Yanukovych’s proposed concessions. The seizure of the Justice Ministry reinforced a growing sense that the authorities were losing control of the city, and that the riot police and other Interior Ministry troops were outnumbered and perhaps overwhelmed. Protesters have long occupied Kiev’s City Hall and several other buildings near the occupied Independence Square. In recent days they also took control of an Agriculture Ministry building and briefly seized the Energy Ministry before voluntarily pulling back. After a fierce battle on Saturday night, they ousted a large number of police from Ukrainian House, a public conference center and exhibition hall. At least four demonstrators were killed during battles with the police last week, and growing evidence of kidnappings and abuse by the authorities or their surrogates has hardened the views among protesters. Many now say they will settle for nothing less than Mr. Yanukovych’s resignation. On Saturday, Mr. Yanukovych had offered to dismiss the government and install one opposition leader, Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, as prime minister, and a second, the former champion boxer Vitali Klitschko, as a deputy prime minister for humanitarian affairs. He also proposed an array of other concessions, including a rollback of constitutional changes, made at his direction, which broadly expanded the powers of the presidency earlier in his term. The opposition leaders, who represent different minority parties in Parliament and share little in common politically other than their antipathy toward Mr. Yanukovych, rejected the offer. That decision came much to the relief of thousands of protesters on the street who say they little have faith in any of Ukraine’s elected politicians, and want deeper, more systemic changes. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Advertisement Continue reading the main story Thousands of people attended a funeral on Sunday for Mikhail Zhiznevsky, 25, who was one of three protesters shot to death last week during clashes with the police. The funeral was held at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery, a site that has symbolic meaning for the opposition because church officials gave refuge to protesters during a violent police crackdown on Nov. 30. As church bells tolled, members of the opposition wearing camouflage uniforms and others in black ski masks carried Mr. Zhiznevsky’s coffin out of the cathedral. A throng of mourners gathered outside in the cold chanted, “Hero! Hero!” A second funeral was held in Bereznuvativka, a village outside Dnipropetrovsk, for Serhiy Nihoyan, 20, who was also shot and killed during a clash with the police. About 1,000 people attended the funeral in the village where he lived with his parents, who are immigrants from Armenia. His father, Harik, urged demonstrators to stand strong. “My son died for Ukraine,” he said, according to a local news report. Tens of thousands of people attended a funeral last week in the western city of Lviv for another protester, Yuriy Verbytsky, who was kidnapped at a Kiev hospital where he had sought treatment for an eye injury. He was taken to the woods, interrogated and beaten severely and ultimately left to freeze to death. Another protest leader, Igor Lutsenko, who was kidnapped with Mr. Verbytsky, was severely beaten but freed. International human rights groups have expressed outrage over the disappearances of other protest leaders, including Dmitry Bulatov, whose group, AutoMaidan, has organized caravans of vehicles for protests. On Saturday, the monitoring group Human Rights Watch issued a statement expressing concern about Mr. Bulatov’s safety. “There is every reason to believe his disappearance is related to his activism,” said Yulia Gorbunova, a researcher for the group. Mr. Yanukovych set off the protests in November when he broke a promise to sign far-reaching political and free trade agreements with the European Union. Instead, he secured $15 billion in aid from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. On Tuesday, the Parliament is scheduled to hold an emergency session, and Mr. Yanukovych said over the weekend that many of his concessions could be put in place at that time. In addition to promising to reconsider the changes to the Constitution, he said Parliament would revisit laws rammed through by his supporters on Jan. 16 that imposed severe new restrictions on political dissent, including freedom of speech and assembly. Opposition leaders have said they want those laws repealed, not amended. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Matthew Price reports from inside the occupied Ukrainian justice ministry in Kiev Ukraine's justice minister has warned anti-government protesters occupying her ministry she will call for a state of emergency if they do not leave. Olena Lukash told local media she would ask the National Security and Defence Council to introduce the measures. The ministry became the latest government building to be occupied on Sunday, with protesters setting up bags of snow as barricades outside. Unrest and occupations of municipal buildings are spreading across Ukraine. Analysis At the moment, Ukrainian officials are only discussing the possibility of introducing a state of emergency. The question at the heart of the debate is whether the government can count on the loyalty of enough troops to first clear the streets of Ukraine's cities, and then deal with the inevitable violent backlash. Nobody knows where the sympathies lie of each and every one of the country's soldiers, interior troops, riot police and other forces at the government's disposal. But it is safe to say that a large number of those who come from the country's centre and west, where the protest movement is strongest, would refuse to follow orders from President Viktor Yanukovych - just as their neighbours, friends and family members are refusing to relinquish central squares in Kiev and elsewhere in the country. If authorities do choose to crack down, and they don't have enough forces on their side, then, instead of restoring order to the country, it would very likely spell the end of Mr Yanukovych. Buildings have come under attack even in eastern areas, which have traditionally had closer ties with Russia and where President Viktor Yanukovych has enjoyed strong support. The crisis was sparked by the president's decision not to sign a deal with the European Union, and has escalated with the deaths of four activists in recent days. Correspondents say protesters entered the justice ministry building in the capital without resistance. "The seizure of the Ministry of Justice is a symbolic act of the people of the uprising. Now, these authorities are stripped of justice," one protester told reporters. One of the organisers of the occupation, who gave his name as Oleg, told the Associated Press news agency: "We are not going to do any hooliganism, or have anyone hurt. We are peaceful people, we are for justice." But Ms Lukash told Inter TV channel: "If the protesters do not leave the justice ministry building... I will ask the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine to impose the state of emergency." The minister is an ally of President Yanukovych and involved in the ongoing negotiations between the government and protest leaders. Image copyright AP Image caption Olena Lukash has been closely involved in talks between the government and the protesters She said she would be "forced to turn to the Ukrainian president with a request to stop the negotiations unless the justice ministry building is vacated without delay and the negotiators are given a chance to find a peaceful solution to the conflict". Last week, the parliament of the Crimean Autonomous Republic - seen as a staunch supporter of Mr Yanukovych - also urged the president to declare a state of emergency. The BBC's David Stern in Kiev says it is not clear what such a measure would involve, but could entail the army being deployed. The government has previously insisted it would not resort to the army, a measure our correspondent says would likely further antagonise the protesters and worsen the violence. The parliament is due to meet for an extraordinary session on Tuesday, but the speaker has previously said a state of emergency will not be under discussion. The EU delegation to Ukraine has called for the government to abide by promises it makes to protesters, and to revoke the protest laws. In a statement, it expressed concern over reports of human rights abuses, and called on protesters to remain peaceful and distance themselves from violence. The EU's enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule is returning to Kiev on Monday for talks with both sides on ending the crisis. Spreading east Street protests began in Kiev in November, after President Yanukovych announced he would not sign the long-awaited EU free trade agreement. Image copyright AP Image caption Protesters have been building barricades with whatever they can find on the streets Image copyright Reuters Image caption Activists fill up sacks with snow to build a barricade in front of the Ministry of Justice building Image copyright Reuters Image caption The violence is taking place away from the longstanding protest camp in Kiev's Independence Square Image copyright AP Image caption They have been camped out in Kiev in below-freezing temperatures since late November The protesters were further angered by the introduction of new laws last week aimed at cracking down on unrest by banning tents being put up in public places and the wearing of helmets and masks. Key dates 21 Nov 2013: Ukraine announces it will not sign a deal aimed at strengthening ties with the EU 30 Nov: Riot police detain dozens of anti-government protesters in a violent crackdown in Kiev 17 Dec: Russia agrees to buy $15bn of Ukrainian government bonds and slash the price of gas it sells to the country 22 Jan 2014: Two protesters die from bullet wounds during clashes with police in Kiev; protests spread across many cities 25 Jan: President Yanukovych offers senior jobs to the opposition, including that of prime minister, but these are rejected Q&A: Stand-off in Ukraine Ukrainian and Russian media review The opposition is demanding that the EU deal be signed, political prisoners - including former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko - freed and the new laws repealed. The fresh unrest comes after opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk rejected President Yanukovych's offer to appoint him prime minister, saying the key demands must be met. Although the protest movement - the EuroMaidan - is largely peaceful, a hardcore of radicals have been fighting battles with police away from the main protest camp in Kiev's Maidan, or Independence Square. The unrest is now spreading further into the country's east, which is seen as Mr Yanukovych's support base. Unrest was also reported across the country, with protests and at least a dozen attempts - some successful - to seize government buildings. Towns and cities affected include: Zaporizhzhya and Dnipropetrovsk in the south-east, Cherkasy, south of Kiev: the main western city of Lviv: Chernihiv and Sumy in the north and Odessa on the Black Sea coast.

– Ukraine protesters are largely backing away from the country's justice ministry, after its head threatened to call a state of emergency if they didn't back off. Protesters had barricaded the building—one of many occupied government facilities—using bags of snow; a source tells the BBC that about 30 protesters still remain. "The seizure of the Ministry of Justice is a symbolic act of the people of the uprising. Now, these authorities are stripped of justice," a protester tells the BBC. A state of emergency could involve the use of the army, the BBC notes. Meanwhile, protests have extended into areas that had been bastions of support for President Viktor Yanukovich, the New York Times reports. The latest demonstrations follow the president's offer to make opposition leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Vitali Klitschko prime minister and deputy PM; they turned down the positions, with the Times noting that they share few beliefs outside of their stance against Yanukovich. Yesterday, thousands gathered in cities like Odessa, Zaporizhzhya, and Dnipropetrovsk; arrests and injuries were reported amid clashes with police. Four protesters were killed last week, and their funerals drew thousands.

We've detected that JavaScript is disabled in your browser. Would you like to proceed to legacy Twitter? Yes ||||| Wheelchair-Bound The Price Is Right Contestant Wants Drew Carey to Sign Her Treadmill Prize Price is Right fail.. Have the prize for a lady in a wheelchair be a treadmill and for those wondering she did win. #priceisrignt #unbelieveable A video posted by caleb drennen (@calebdrennen) on May 5, 2015 at 9:10am PDT RELATED VIDEO: Come On Down for Drew Carey's Birthday! While she might not be able use her Price Is Right prize in the traditional sense, Danielle Perez 's new treadmill is providing plenty of fodder for her comedy routine.The Los Angeles based stand-up comic's appearance on the CBS game show went viral on Tuesday, after thousands of fans took to Twitter to point out the irony that Perez, who has no feet, was awarded with a treadmill."People really responded to me winning a treadmill on national television," Perez acknowledges to PEOPLE, adding that a friend of hers, who works for the Peace Corps, heard about the video all the way in Macedonia.Fortunately, as evidenced by her job title, Perez has a great sense of humor about the otherwise awkward situation."It's hilarious, it's the best," she says laughing. "I thought the day that I won it and experiencing that was the best day ever, but today, sharing it with everyone, it's been incredible."Perez had been forced to stay silent about the experience until Tuesday, because, as she explains, "contestants are not allowed to Tweet or Facebook or tell anyone what they won until the episode airs."Perez says the show's staff told her there was a chance she would get selected to play, but she laughed it off, thinking, "Just because I'm in a wheelchair they don't want me to feel left out, they want me to feel included." But when the game began, she says, "I was the first name called and put my hands up and just rolled down the little ramp, like 'Okay, this is happening, this is incredible.' "When the prizes were announced and she saw the treadmill, Perez says, "I just thought, 'Oh this is perfect, you cannot write this, you cannot make this up.' It's not even that I'm in a wheelchair, it's that I literally don't have feet."According to her, the audience picked up on the irony as well. "It's funny though, they edited out a little bit. When they revealed the prizes the audience hesitated," she says. "There was a feeling of, 'Oh no, they're not really serious. They're not gonna do this, they're not gonna put this woman through this.' "But no matter what the reward, Perez says her competitive spirit got the better of her. "I was so hopped up on all the cash and prizes and endorphins," she laughs, "You go and you just want to win. It doesn't matter what it is."As for what she plans on doing with the treadmill, Perez says, "I'm really excited. At first I was going to sell it, but now with all of this happening, I kind of want to keep it to have as a memento. Maybe I could get Drew Carey to sign it for me. That'd be awesome."Perez plans on sharing all her behind-the-scenes experiences on The Price Is Right during her monthly comedy show called Gentrification in Highland Park, California, on May 29. ||||| Life is short and cruel and then you get on the Price is Right. Case in point: Danielle Perez, a woman in a wheelchair who made it on the show Tuesday only to scoop up a brand-new treadmill. According to CNN, Perez—who lost her legs in a 2004 accident—says the show edited out the audience’s “awkward” reaction. She said the strangest thing about her win was the reaction of the staff members on the show. “I kept thinking that it was a really big joke,” she said with a laugh, “But there was no irony in their cheers or applause.” Despite a collective and awkward pause from the audience that she said was edited out of the show, “Everyone at CBS seemed genuinely excited for me that I won.” According to a spokesperson for the show, “Every member of The Price Is Right studio audience has a chance to be selected to play... Prizes are determined in advance of the show and are not decided based on the contestants.” Perez tells CNN she’ll probably just use the $2,400 treadmill as a “piece of furniture.” when you win a treadmill on national TV, but you have no feet @DrewFromTV @PriceIsRight pic.twitter.com/NlqTG1HJPT May 5, 2015

– As Danielle Perez's friend puts it, at least we all now know that The Price Is Right isn't fixed. In an episode that aired yesterday, Perez made her way out of Contestant's Row and onto the stage with host Drew Carey, where she promptly price-guessed her way to some prizes, CNN reports. But one of them—a folding Avanti Fitness treadmill with 24 built-in speeds and inclines—proved to be one of the show's most awkward ever for one simple reason: Perez has no feet and is in a wheelchair. As the curtain drew back during her pricing game to reveal her potential bounty, a surprised but mostly collected Perez reacted, saying, "These are really nice." Perez says the reaction of the stunned audience was edited out of the show, per CNN. "I just thought, 'Oh, this is perfect … you cannot make this up,'" she tells People. "It's not even that I'm in a wheelchair, it's that I literally don't have feet." Perez, a Los Angeles comedian who lost her legs in a 2004 accident, kept her sense of humor, tweeting a pic of her surprised reaction captioned, "when you win a treadmill on national TV, but you have no feet." She also used her Twitter feed to mention she's been "popping wheelies" since she won (especially upon hearing Gawker wrote about her) and that she'd be all for an SNL appearance. As for the treadmill, she jokes to CNN she may use it as a piece of furniture; she adds she could also get Carey to sign it and just keep it as a souvenir, People notes. (Most awkward moment for a Price Is Right model: giving away this car.)

UPDATE: We would like to thank everyone for all their generous donations. Surprisingly, we have surpassed our goal with all of your help. Any remaining donations will be used to create a memorial in Zaevion's honor. Would I/you be this brave? Number 24 is Zaevion Dobson. A son, a baby brother, and "OUR HERO" He was a student football player in Knoxville, Tennessee. On Friday December 17th he dove on top of three girls to shield them from ma random shooting. None of the girls was injured. But unfortunately Zaevion was killed. Please assist his family in laying him to rest respectfully all donations are greatly appreciated. #LongLiveZae ‪#‎ZaevionIsAHero‬ ‪#‎WouldUBeThatBrave‬ Update: My name is J'Tia Williamson. I live in Knoxville. Zaevion's mother is my aunt. Zaevion & his brothers are as close as brothers to me. The money raised will cover funeral expenses. A college fund will be set aside for Zack, Zaevion's brother who was with him when he was killed. A memorial fund will also be established. The money will be transfered directly into an account where Zenobia banks. She will have total control of the account. Help spread the word! Share Tweet 10k shares on Facebook shares on Facebook ||||| KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Zenobia Dobson is preparing to bury her 15-year-old son, Zaevion. He was her baby. Police say Zaevion was shot dead by gang members while trying to shield three young girls from the gunfire. "It was an honor for my son to protect another individual," Dobson told CBS News. WVLT Zaevion's brother Zack was there when it happened. "I picked him up, and I sat him in my arms, and I was shaking him, and I was like, 'I love you, wake up, I need you, wake up,'" he said. Two of the teenage girls who Zaevion shielded from bullets have called the high school football standout a hero. "If it wasn't for Zaevion, me or her would have probably been shot," one of them said. "I have a military background, that's the actions of heroes," Knoxville police chief David Rausch told CBS News. He said Zaevion was caught in the crossfire of rival gangs. Rausch said one of the gang members who shot at Zaevion was Brandon Perry, who was retaliating after a group of men shot at his home. The chief said Perry ended up being shot and killed by a rival gang less than three hours after he shot at Zaevion. On Sunday, President Obama tweeted about Zaevion. Zaevion Dobson died saving three friends from getting shot. He was a hero at 15. What's our excuse for not acting? https://t.co/hn98uGsjKZ — President Obama (@POTUS) December 20, 2015 This weekend at a candlelight vigil, classmates honored the sophomore who grew up in a high crime area of Knoxville and became the football player with star potential. "A great kid, a guy that worked harder than anybody, it seemed like, and a guy that made the right choices," coach Rob Black said. "That gave him a chance to be successful, and he is a success story." wvlt As Zaevion's family and his football team prepare to bury him the day after Christmas, Knoxville police are still actively looking for three more gang members they say are suspects. That's because police believe, in total, five gang members all randomly fired shots at Zaevion and the teenagers who were around him. Those three girls Zaevion shielded were not hurt. ||||| Zack Dobson, bottom right, lights candles to honor his slain brother, Zaevion Dobson, at Sam E. Hill Park in Knoxville on Friday. Zaevion Dobson, who wore jersey number 24 on Fulton High School’s football team, was killed while shielding three girls from random gunfire the previous night. (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL) By Kristi L. Nelson of the Knoxville News Sentinel There's no memorial on the porch at 2704 Badgett Drive — nothing to suggest a 15-year-old boy died there Thursday night. The yard is empty of crosses or flowers. In the street, neighbors in Lonsdale Homes public housing come and go from work or errands, grill food, play basketball in the street. Knoxville police say Fulton High School sophomore Zaevion Dobson took a bullet there, shielding three teenage girls from a stranger's gunshots. "He died laying on top of me," one of the girls, Faith Gordon, said in a Twitter post. "That's my brother. Rest easy, Zae. I'll never forget you." Gordon said the shooting happened so quickly, the girls didn't realize Dobson had been shot until after it was over, when he didn't leave the porch to go inside. She didn't say who lived at the apartment, where no one answered the door Saturday. Gordon and more than 100 other people attended a candlelight vigil in Dobson's memory Friday night at nearby Sam E. Hill Park, where the sign for the adjacent community center reads, "Remembering Zaevion Dobson, Falcon 24" — the jersey number he wore as a starting linebacker on Fulton's varsity football team this past season. Police have called the shooting gang-related, but investigators don't believe Dobson was a target. Police have linked the gunshots that killed him to two other shootings that night: one about three hours earlier, when 46-year-old Lisa Perry was shot at a Dallas Street house, and one about four hours later, when Perry's son Brandon, 23, was shot as his car crashed into an apartment at the Green Hills complex near downtown. He died several hours later. Police said Brandon Perry and Christopher Drone Bassett, 20, who was arrested Friday and charged with being a felon in possession of a gun and violating probation, drove to Lonsdale with another man and fired into the group of teens around 10:12 p.m. Neighbors said the teenagers were walking home after playing basketball at a local recreation center. "Most children that age would have ran," said Denitra Cash, who lives between Badgett Drive and the apartment of Dobson's mother, Zenobia Dobson. "He didn't. He saved lives." Cash said she grew up with Dobson's mother, well-known in the neighborhood and nicknamed "Tinkerbell." Zenobia Dobson raised her three sons to be "the kind of boys who get up and go to church, get up and go to school, you don't have to pressure them to do the right thing," Cash said. Cash's 7-year-old son looked up to Dobson and his older brother, Zack, a junior defensive back/wide receiver on Fulton's football team who was featured on ESPN's "SportsCenter" this fall after catching a pass while doing a back flip in practice. Thursday night's shooting "scares me to death," Cash said. Many neighbors around the Badgett Drive apartment are refugees fleeing violence in their home countries in Africa and the Middle East. Hearing gunshots "brings back trauma," said one man, who asked not to be identified. Some other neighbors questioned a connection to gang violence, which they said has been less prevalent over the past few years. Instead, they wondered whether it stemmed from jealousy of the brothers' sports talent. But 61-year-old Terry McAfee, who said he's lived in Lonsdale Homes "all my life," said gang violence in the complex hasn't really subsided: "It's just gone undercover." On Saturday, in a house full of family and friends offering support and prayers, Zenobia Dobson made plans for her son's funeral, set for the day after Christmas at 11 a.m. at Overcoming Believers Church on Harriet Tubman Street, to accommodate the expected crowd that her home church, Martin Chapel United Methodist, can't hold. Dobson asked that those who attend the funeral wear maroon, one of Fulton's school colors. Friends have set up an online GoFundMe account to cover funeral expenses. As of Saturday night, the effort had raised more than $27,000 toward its $30,000 goal. A GoFundMe effort to start a scholarship in Dobson's name had raised more than $1,000 toward its $10,000 goal. Friends and strangers alike have hailed Dobson as a hero on social media, with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons retweeting a picture of the teen in his Fulton football uniform. Dobson's story gained airtime on CNN, ESPN and the three major TV networks; CBS Nightly News had a satellite truck set up on Fulton's football field Saturday afternoon, taping interviews with football coach Rob Black and others. Andre Canty, president of 100 Black Men of Greater Knoxville, said members of the service organization began mentoring Dobson in elementary school, then watched him turn around and mentor younger boys himself in high school. "He didn't wait until he was 18 or 19 years old" to give back, said Canty, who noted Dobson was involved with Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero's Save Our Sons Summit for young black men. "A lot of teenagers are not even thinking of someone else. He was a leader." Dobson also worked with younger boys at the Emerald Youth Foundation. The foundation's director, Steve Diggs, is the team's chaplain and led the team in prayer during a meeting Friday, said Ben Conaway, Fulton athletic trainer. "We talk a lot about loving God and loving each other as brothers, as family, the importance of that," Conaway said. "So that culture is active here already. Now is the time they can take that and really bond together, to grieve and support one another — especially Zack." Members of Fulton's basketball team wrote Dobson's jersey number on their shoes before Friday night's game, Conaway said. A widely shared tagline on social media urged people to "Remember his name." At Fulton, that's certain, Conaway said. "He treated people really well and loved on his friends a lot and was a joy to be around," Conaway said.

– The day after their first Christmas without him, Zaevion Dobson's family will bury the 15-year-old high school sophomore who died last week as senselessly as he did selflessly. "It was an honor for my son to protect another individual," says mom Zenobia Dobson of her youngest, who threw himself on top of three girls to shield them as shots rang out in Knoxville on Thursday evening. "He died laying on top of me," tweeted one of the girls, Faith Gordon, per the Knoxville News Sentinel. "That's my brother. Rest easy, Zae. I'll never forget you." Zaevion's older brother, Zack, was there, reports CBS News. "I picked him up, and I sat him in my arms, and I was shaking him, and I was like, 'I love you, wake up, I need you, wake up,'" says the high school junior. Says a neighbor of the family, "most children that age would have ran. He didn't. He saved lives." She adds that the football standout was one of three sons who were "the kind of boys who get up and go to church, get up and go to school, you don't have to pressure them to do the right thing." The praise for Zaevion is universal, with his coach calling him "a great kid, a guy that worked harder than anybody, it seemed like, and a guy that made the right choices. That gave him a chance to be successful, and he is a success story." A GoFundMe page for the family is closing in on its current goal of $45,000.

FBI: Fugitive cop caught 14 years after skipping RICO trial Eddie C. Hicks has been due in court ever since June 9, 2003. That’s when the feds planned to put the former Chicago police sergeant on trial for allegedly leading a rip-off crew in the 1990s that shook down drug dealers for cash, drugs and guns using bogus search warrants supposedly signed by a Cook County judge. Hicks skipped town instead, leaving his co-defendants to face stiff sentences while he went on the lam. But now — 14 years later — the 68-year-old has been arrested in Detroit and is headed back to Chicago in federal custody, the FBI has announced. A judge here revoked the bond of the 30-year CPD veteran in 2003. Defense attorney Joseph “The Shark” Lopez represented one of Hicks’ co-defendants, Lawrence Knitter, a former CPD mechanic already out of prison after being handed a nine-year prison sentence in 2005. Lopez said he spoke to Knitter after learning of Hicks’ arrest Tuesday, and Knitter said, “I can’t believe they finally found him.” “You can run but you can never hide,” Lopez said. Hicks worked for the Chicago Police Department from 1970 until 2000 and was assigned to the narcotics section between 1992 and 1997, records show. The feds say they caught him and others on tape plotting rip-offs in which they would steal drugs from certain drug dealers and then sell to others. They said Hicks gleaned information about their targets from dealers with nicknames like “Sugarbear.” Hicks’ crew would use counterfeit CPD badges and take unmarked cars from the CPD motor pool during the rip-offs, sometimes even using license plates from out-of-service CPD vehicles. They would pose as DEA Task Force officers while pulling people over, and they would forge search warrants while raiding homes, apartments and hotel rooms. The men would bust in carrying police radios, wearing what appeared to be bulletproof vests and equipment belts from the Chicago Police Department, records show. Afterward, they would divvy up the money at a police station at 51st and Wentworth — they called it the “gym.” Hicks apparently did not like to bring strangers into the crew. He allegedly told a government informant once that, “like in the movies, every time you bring a new mother f—er in … it’s all bullsh–. He’s either got a problem or he’s a f—up.” The crew’s rip-offs included the recovery of marijuana from a home in the south suburbs in the fall of 1997. The drugs had been stolen earlier from a man who paid $100,000 for their return. The crew also allegedly restrained the occupant of an Alsip apartment in April 1999 while conducting a raid with a bogus search warrant. Alsip police approached as the crew left the apartment, but Hicks and company allegedly claimed they belonged to a DEA task force. The group also allegedly discussed stealing millions of dollars in 1998 from a tractor-trailer being used to move drug money between Chicago and Texas. The feds say the plan didn’t go forward because members of the crew couldn’t agree on how to split it up. ||||| Steven Eugene Clifford is wanted for the alleged sexual assaults of eleven victims from 1998 through 2002. Clifford was a licensed chiropractor who operated an office in Carnelian Bay, California, for several years. In January of 2002, he was arrested by the Placer County Sheriff's Department for sexually assaulting… ||||| Former Chicago police Sgt. Eddie C. Hicks was arrested in Detroit Tuesday morning, nearly 15 years after he fled on the eve of trial on federal drug conspiracy charges. Hicks, 68, has been the subject of an international manhunt since 2003, according to the FBI. He appeared in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday and was ordered held until he can be brought to Chicago to face the charges. A 29-year veteran of the police force, Hicks was charged in Chicago in 2001 with running a crew of rogue officers who robbed drug dealers, pocketed the illicit cash and sold the stolen drugs to other pushers. After Hicks fled the country on the eve of his trial in 2003, authorities said he was presumed to have traveled to Brazil. A Tribune investigation later found that while he was on the lam, Hicks repeatedly conducted financial transactions in Chicago to enrich himself and the people closest to him. Two years after Hicks vanished, his signature appeared on land records giving his son — also a Chicago police officer — the South Side property Hicks had used to secure his $150,000 bond. In addition, by the time of the Tribune investigation in 2011, monthly police pension checks totaling more than $300,000 had been paid to Hicks' bank account or cashed by his wife. At his brief appearance in a Detroit courtroom on Tuesday, Hicks waived his right to a hearing to establish his identity and agreed to be brought immediately to Chicago, according to audio of the hearing made public. When U.S. Magistrate Judge R. Steven Whalen asked Hicks if that was his wish, he replied in a calm voice, "Yes, your honor," according to the audio. A longtime narcotics officer, Hicks retired from the Chicago Police Department while under federal investigation in March 2000. Until then, he seemingly had a charmed career, working personal friendships with top commanders to land plush assignments such as providing security at Chicago Bulls games. According to the federal charges, Hicks led a crew that for nearly a decade used fake search warrants to rip off drug stash houses and also stole drugs and cash from dealers during illegal traffic stops. A major cocaine dealer, Arthur Veal, had been tipping Hicks and his crew — including another sergeant and two former police civilian employees — to lucrative targets to rob. But in 2000, Veal was busted and told authorities of his history with the officers. The FBI set up two South Side apartments to look like drug houses, equipping them with hidden audio and video equipment. Veal tipped Hicks off to the locations, the charges alleged, and the two police civilian employees were captured on video breaking into both apartments and escaping with a combined $13,000 in cash. Authorities charged that Hicks was outside providing surveillance and communicating with those inside by cellphone. In one recorded conversation before a robbery in 2000, Hicks told Veal that the money they were told would be at the stash house better be there or his crew might get upset. "I mean if I tell these guys, you know, you might be making a hundred grand and then they end up with four grand, ya know," Hicks was quoted in one government filing as saying. By the time Hicks' trial was scheduled to begin in June 2003, three of his four co-defendants had pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme. But Hicks, who had been out on bail, didn't show up on his trial's opening day. Federal court officials had allowed Hicks to secure his $150,000 bond by posting as collateral a gated three-story brick apartment building he owned with his son, Anthony, the Tribune reported as part of its 2011 "Fugitives From Justice" investigation, which focused on Chicago-area suspects who fled across borders. Authorities didn't seize that building after Eddie Hicks became a fugitive, according to the Tribune story. Two years later, in 2005, Hicks' signature appeared on a property deed transferring ownership of the building solely to his son. Reached by telephone Tuesday, Anthony Hicks hung up on a reporter. The Tribune also reported that the day after he fled, Hicks apparently signed paperwork directing the police pension fund to mail his annuity checks of more than $3,000 per month to a South Side home where he had lived with his wife, Carol Pierce. Pierce immediately began cashing the checks, which bore Hicks' apparent signature and endorsement on the back. Two years later, Hicks' signature appeared on a form directing the fund to wire his monthly benefit payments into his account with the Chicago Patrolman's Federal Credit Union, the Tribune found. jmeisner@chicagotribune.com Twitter @jmetr22b ||||| A former police officer wanted for conspiracy to steal narcotics and cash from drug dealers and then sell the ill-gotten gains in the Chicago area was arrested in Detroit Tuesday after 15 years on the lam, federal authorities announced. Eddie Hicks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said, and four unnamed accomplices posed as Drug Enforcement Administration task force officers and draw up fake search warrants for stash houses of known drug dealers in the early 2000s. After raiding the stash houses, Hicks and his accomplices would then take drugs, cash and other valuables to another dealer to be sold and then split the profits, the FBI said. The 68-year-old ex-cop, also known as Clarence Jenkins, failed to appear at a 2003 trial to face drug and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act charges, federal authorities said. An arrest warrant was issued for him after he was charged with failure to appear based on the original charges of RICO, conspiracy and possession and distribution of a controlled substance. Hicks was a sergeant in the Chicago Police Department with 29 years on the force. In a statement, CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said "integrity and trust" are the most important attributes for Chicago police officers to maintain. "These federal charges against Mr. Hicks are extremely serious and if proven in a court of law, they undermine everything that this department stands for," he said. "There is simply no tolerance for misconduct or criminal activity from any member of this department and we applaud our colleagues in Detroit and at the FBI in apprehending Mr. Hicks." Two years after Hicks went on the run, his signature appeared on land records giving his son, also a Chicago police cop, property on the South Side Hicks used for his $150,000 bond, the Chicago Tribune reports.

– His FBI wanted poster now reads "Captured." Under occupation, it reads "former police officer." One-time Chicago police Sgt. Eddie C. Hicks was arrested in Detroit Tuesday morning after more than 14 years on the lam. Hicks didn't show up on the opening day of his June 2003 trial on federal drug conspiracy charges, which stemmed from allegations that Hicks ran a rip-off crew that would rob drug dealers of cash and drugs, the latter of which his crew would allegedly sell to other dealers. The Tribune dives into the allegations against Hicks, who NBC Chicago reports was a member of the force for 29 years, and who authorities claim received tips from a big-time cocaine dealer whose own bust in 2000 led the dealer to spill the details of the arrangement. The FBI then set up two dummy drug houses on Chicago's South Side outfitted with surveillance equipment; it claims that as two Chicago Police Department civilian employees broke in and stole cash, Hicks was outside keeping watch and advising via cellphone. Per the Sun-Times, Hicks and his crew allegedly made use of fake CPD badges, unmarked CPD cars, and forged search warrants. The Sun-Times recounts one incident that seems ripped from Hollywood: Hicks and his crew allegedly raided an Alsip, Ill., apartment in April 1999 using a fake search warrant. As Alsip police came upon the scene, the crew fled the apartment, telling the police they were members of a DEA task force. Hicks, now 68, agreed to be transferred to Chicago during a Tuesday court hearing in Detroit.

Notice You must log in to continue. ||||| Chris Brown described the infamous night he physically attacked then-girlfriend Rihanna in a clip from his new documentary, Chris Brown: Welcome to My Life, released Monday. Related Chris Brown: 'My Character's Been Defaced' by Accusations "I cannot wait till the truth comes to light about this incident and this situation," singer says of suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon arrest The R&B singer, who served five years probation and a community service order for the assault, recounts the evolution of the couple's relationship in the 11-minute segment. He called their young romance "a fairytale." Though their relationship imploded after Brown lied about sleeping with another woman, a former employee, early on in their relationship, he reveals. "After that, my trust was lost with her. She hated me after that," he says. "I tried everything, she didn't care. She just didn't trust me after that. From there, it just went downhill because there were too many verbal fights, physical fights as well. Mutual sides. … We would fight each other. She would hit me, I would hit her and it never was okay." Then, on the night of Clive Davis' 2009 Grammy party, Brown and Rihanna got into a major argument after the woman approached the couple at the celeb-studded fete. Brown remembers looking over at Rihanna and seeing her "bawling." After they left the party, he says he offered her his phone to look through as proof of his loyalty; she spotted a message from her and surmised that Brown had lied to her again. "She starts going off, she throws the phone," he says. "'I hate you.' Starts hitting me. We're in a little Lamborghini. She's fighting me. I'm like, 'Look, I'm telling you the truth, I swear.' ... She hits me a couple of more times and it doesn't go from translation to, 'Let's sit down, I'm telling you the truth.' It goes to, 'Now, I'm going to be mean, be evil.' I remember she tried to kick me, but then I really hit her, with a closed fist, I punched her. I busted her lip. When I saw it, I was in shock. I was like, 'Fuck, why the hell did I hit her?'" He says that he felt like a "fucking monster" for what he had done, and later, when he saw the police photo of Rihanna's bruised and battered face, he felt the full weight of what he had done. "I look back at that picture and I'm like, 'That's not me, bro,'" he says. "I hate it to this day. That's going to haunt me forever." ||||| See more of Chris Brown Fan on Facebook

– In a clip from Chris Brown's new documentary, Chris Brown: Welcome to My Life, that is currently making headlines, the singer describes how his "fairytale" romance with Rihanna turned to a nightmare, Rolling Stone reports. After he lied to her about cheating on her in the early days of their relationship, "she just didn't trust me after that," Brown says. "From there, it just went downhill because there were too many verbal fights, physical fights as well. Mutual sides. … We would fight each other. She would hit me, I would hit her and it never was OK." On the night of Clive Davis' Grammys party in 2009, the woman Brown had cheated with approached them at the party, and things went horribly downhill. Brown says that after leaving the party, he gave an upset Rihanna his phone to look through, but instead of reassuring her, Rihanna saw a text from the other woman and got even angrier. "She starts going off, she throws the phone," Brown says. "Starts hitting me. We're in a little Lamborghini. She's fighting me. I'm like, 'Look, I'm telling you the truth, I swear.' ... She hits me a couple of more times and it doesn't go from translation to, 'Let's sit down, I'm telling you the truth.' It goes to, 'Now, I'm going to be mean, be evil.' I remember she tried to kick me, but then I really hit her, with a closed fist, I punched her. I busted her lip. When I saw it, I was in shock. I was like, 'F---, why the hell did I hit her?'" But the fight continued, with Brown even biting Rihanna at one point. He says that in the aftermath of the beating, "I felt like a f---ing monster. ... That's going to haunt me forever."

Moderator Candy Crowley is facing criticism over her performance in the second presidential debate, with conservatives alleging that she sided with President Obama and one group even calling on her to be fired. "Crowley's behavior goes beyond despicable as it was a blatant attempt to influence the presidential election," Americans for Limited Government said in a statement Wednesday. "If CNN wants to maintain any shred of credibility as a 'news' organization, they should fire Crowley immediately for her gross violation of whatever remains of journalistic standards." Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck tweeted during the debate that "Candy loves to police Romney! As soon as he begins to win she shuts him down." Conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg wrote, "There goes Candy holding Romney's feet to the fire while, letting Obama unchain his muse." Another conservative, John Nolte, wrote, "Crowley is the one losing this debate. She's been absolutely disgraceful and biased from choice of questions to time." Rush Limbaugh complained Wednesday that Crowley had committed "an act of journalistic terror." It wasn't just the commentators. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said Crowley overstepped her bounds in trying to fact check the candidates. "When you have two candidates disagreeing, it's not the role of the moderator to say, 'Mr. President, you're right' or 'Gov. Romney, you're right,'" he told Crowley on CNN Wednesday. The attacks on Crowley are different than the criticism of moderator Jim Lehrer after the first presidential debate. Lehrer was deemed too deferential, while Crowley is being criticized for inserting herself into the conversation with questionable facts. But the overarching dynamic is the same: In this polarized political age, a debate moderator has little chance to escape a harsh critique. Even Martha Raddatz, who kept tight control on last week's vice presidential debate and challenged both candidates, was deemed by conservatives to have sided with Joe Biden. Second presidential debate: Libya To be sure, debate moderators should not be insulated from criticism. The questions during Tuesday night's town hall debate, which were chosen by Crowley, more often than not played into the president's hands - perhaps reflecting the fact that the town hall was held in a blue state. And Crowley's decision to side with the president over whether he had deemed the Libya attack an act of terror, when the reality was not so clear cut, was a misstep. But the moderator's impact on the debate is ultimately relatively small: It is the candidates, after all, who do most of the talking. The moderator, meanwhile, has to try to keep the conversation moving while giving the candidates equal time, correcting false claims and steering answers back toward the question. For partisans looking to explain away a poor performance by their candidate, she or he makes an easy target precisely because it's almost impossible to pull all that off perfectly. It should come as no surprise that many Democrats suggested that Mr. Obama lost the first debate in part because Lehrer let Romney roll over him, while many Republicans suggested Romney lost the second one because Crowley handed it to the president. That's a lot easier than just admitting your guy screwed up. Moderator-bashing has taken on the nasty tone that partisans increasingly bring to just about every interaction they have with the news media. In the Republican primary debates, Newt Gingrich used attacks on debate moderators to score political points. "It's such a hyper-politicized environment that people are looking to jump on any slight perception of favoritism one way or the other," said Alan Schroeder, a professor at Northeastern University and an expert on presidential debates. "This is unusually intense criticism for the moderators, and people are misplacing their focus here." "This is not about the moderators," he said. "The moderators do the best they can under extremely difficult circumstances." Crowley's decision to insert herself into the town hall format, which she made clear before the debate, prompted the campaigns to complain she was overstepping her bounds. While moderators have become more proactive in recent campaign cycles, in the past they tended to be more willing to simply play traffic cop, said Schroeder. And Crowley's willingness to fact check on the fly reflects an increasing move in the news media to challenge erroneous claims. It's a development that has been welcomed by many but also comes with risks, both because the journalist may not have their facts right and because challenging a candidate can contribute to perceptions that the journalist is biased. Crowley isn't offering apologies. Though she initially seemed to backtrack on her Libya fact check, suggesting that Romney was "right in the main, I just think he picked the wrong word," she later maintained that she had not in fact done so. She said on "The View" Wednesday morning that her fact check was simply an attempt to move the conversation forward, and suggested that criticism of her performance was inevitable. "People are going to look at this through the prism they look at this through," Crowley said. "I get that." Due Diligence: Did Obama initially deem Libya attacks a terrorist act? ||||| Debate moderator Candy Crowley defended her decision to interject in a heated moment about Libya during last night's presidential debate, saying she was not trying to "fact check," but just trying to move the debate along. "It didn't come to me as I'm going to fact check that. It came to me as let's get past this... To me I was really trying to move the conversation along... This is a semantic thing," Crowley told the hosts of "The View." Her comments angered some debate watchers, particularly Mitt Romney supporters. The CNN correspondent spoke up during a heated exchange between President Obama and Romney over whether the president cited terrorism as the cause of the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans. With Romney insisting that Obama did not blame it on a terror attack for another two weeks, Crowley piped up to say he had cited a terror attack the day after the Americans were killed. "He did call it an act of terror," Crowley said of the president's remarks, but then told Romney, "you are correct" that it took the White House two weeks to fully admit that the attack was the result of planned terrorist operation and not part of protest against an anti-Islam video. Crowley said on "The View" she was not coming down on the side of the president and those accusing her of bias should "listen to the thing I said right after, which is you're point Mr. Romney, you're absolutely correct. It took them weeks to get past the tape, the riot." Obama seized on Crowley's comments during the debate, asking "Can you say that a little louder, Candy?" and fueling conservative accusations of bias. Obama went into the White House Rose Garden the day after the Americans died and told reporters, "No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done." Crowley told "TheView" that "People are going to look at this through the prism they look at this through. I get that." She said having the two candidates argue back and forth gave her flashbacks of her children fighting, but she did not believe the two men personally dislike one another. "I got the vibe they have so much at stake here," she said of the second debate held last night at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. Days before the debate, Crowley on several occasions said she planned to follow up on questions posed to candidates by an audience of undecided voters.

– One person who definitely did not win the presidential debate this week was Candy Crowley—at least as far as conservatives are concerned. Right-wingers are claiming the take-charge moderator deliberately helped Barack Obama look good, reports CBS News. "Crowley's behavior goes beyond despicable as it was a blatant attempt to influence the presidential election," reads a statement from Americans for Limited Government, which is calling on CNN to fire her. Glenn Beck piled on: "Candy loves to police Romney. As soon as he begins to win she shuts him down." Rush Limbaugh called her performance an "act of journalistic terror." Crowley did help hand Romney a big "oops" moment during the debate when she corrected him as he claimed the president hadn't described the Benghazi attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens as an act of terror until 14 days later. In fact, Obama referred to terror the following day, and Crowley heard him in her role as CNN's chief political correspondent. As for the criticism, Crowley is taking it all in stride. "People are going to look at this through the prism they look at this through," Crowley said yesterday on The View. "I get that."

PayPal co-founder and famed investor Peter Thiel has sold the majority of his shares in Facebook, according to an SEC filing. Thiel has sold 20.6 million Class A shares, leaving him with only 5.6 million shares, all of which are Class A. A significant portion of the filing seems to be on behalf of the Founders Fund, in which Thiel is a partner. Other entities named in the filing include Lembas LLC and Rivendell One LLC, both of which are Thiel holding companies and Lord of the Rings references. Thiel sold the shares at an average price of $19.73, earning him nearly $400 million for his original $500,000 investment. As Bloomberg reported last week, Thiel converted 9 million Class B shares (which have greater voting rights, but are more difficult to trade publicly) to Class A shares before Facebook’s post-IPO lock expired, signaling that he could be moving some of his shares. It’s tough to read too much into this right now. On the one hand, Thiel has held the stock for eight years and he could just be making a business decision to move on. On the other hand, it isn’t good for Facebook that one of its earliest and most high-profile investors is selling the stock while it’s down to almost half its IPO price. Imagine being a Facebook employee right now and seeing Thiel sell the majority of his stock at what many are hoping is its low point. Just a few days ago, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees in a meeting that the stock drop has been “painful.” I wonder how will he describe the drop at the next Facebook Board of Directors meeting, on which Thiel sits. Update: This deal was pre-arranged before Facebook’s IPO, when the stock was at $38 not $20. From the SEC filing: 1. The sales reported on this Form 4 were effected pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted by the reporting person on May 18, 2012. Thiel was able to formally sell on Thursday once the lockup ended. Per SEC rules, he had 2 full business days to file the sale and he took the full time available. Why? Wouldn’t be surprised if Thiel held on a few days after the lockup to avoid negative signaling. — Nicholas Carlson (@nichcarlson) August 20, 2012 Update 2: Some readers have been asking if Thiel had to sell his shares or if he had an option to sell his shares. The Rule 10b5-1 trading plan he filed on May 18th is exactly what it sounds like–a plan to trade shares, not an option to trade shares. The SEC rule deals with insider trading, as Thiel is on the Facebook Board. It isn’t clear if the trading plan was binding (i.e. if Thiel could have decided on Thursday to cancel the trade), but I’ve reached out for comment and I’ll keep you posted. Unsurprisingly, both a spokesperson for Facebook and Jeremiah Hall, a spokesperson for Peter Thiel, declined to comment. ||||| Article Excerpt Peter Thiel, Facebook Inc.'s earliest investor and a board member, has sold the majority of his shares in the social network, as restrictions on insider selling begin to lift. Mr. Thiel, a partner at venture-capital firm Founders Fund, invested $500,000 in Facebook in 2004 as its first major investor when the company was valued at a mere $4.9 million. Mr. Thiel has now made more than $1 billion from his Facebook investment, and he still owns stock worth about $112 million. On Monday, Facebook's shares rose ... ||||| Facebook shares reached a record low for the third consecutive trading session Monday, falling lower than half the price commanded in the company’s record-breaking initial public offering before rallying to higher than $20. The world’s most popular social network began its most recent descent Thursday, when millions of shares belonging to early investors and insiders became available for trades as the first post-IPO lockup expired. Shares continued to slide Friday, briefly hitting $19 in intraday trading, half the $38 IPO price just three months after the company’s public debut. Monday morning, shares dipped lower than $19 for the first time, touching as low as $18.75; the stock rebounded, however, closing at $20.01, a 5 percent daily increase. Facebook went public after a highly anticipated IPO on May 18, selling shares at $38 apiece and establishing a record for valuation at IPO time of $104 billion. Problems started immediately, however, as the first day of trading was bungled by Nasdaq, confusing investors who did not know if requested trades had been processed. The stock closed barely higher than the IPO price on the first day of trading, with reports that Facebook’s underwriting banks, led by Morgan Stanley, had bought shares in bulk to maintain that price. Shares fell lower than the IPO price on the second day of trading and have never returned, as reports appeared showing that pre-IPO revenue projections had been downgraded, a fact that was shared with large institutional investors but not the public at large. Since the IPO, investors have been shaken by reports of Facebook’s slowing growth rate and by uncertainty over whether major advertisers are willing to commit their budgets to a still-evolving ad platform. Last week’s expired lockup added 271.1 million shares to the initial offering of 421 million shares, increasing Facebook’s “float” by more than 64 percent. Certain early investors and executives were handed control of their shares to trade, including famed investor Peter Thiel, Goldman Sachs, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman. However, few were expected to sell shares with the price so low; Microsoft, an early Facebook partner that owns more than 26 millions shares of stock, said last week it would probably not divest any stock, for instance. The stock could face more pressure in the months to come. Facebook is expected to report earnings for the current quarter in October, just weeks before the biggest batch of insider shares become eligible for sale. A large group of mostly Facebook employees will be free to sell 1.2 billion shares as of Nov. 14. Analysts seemingly still believe in the stock: Of 38 experts tracked by MarketWatch, only two believe investors should sell their shares, with 15 rating the stock a “Hold” and 18 rating it a “Buy.” The average price target — the price at which an analyst believes an investor should sell shares for the greatest return — is $35.30. Contact Jeremy C. Owens at 408-920-5876; follow him at Twitter.com/mercbizbreak. ||||| Peter DaSilva for The New York Times In hindsight, perhaps Instagram should have cut a different deal with Facebook. In April, Facebook agreed to acquire Instagram, the hot social media photo-sharing site, in a deal valued at the time at about $1 billion. The problem is that Facebook did not agree to pay $1 billion in cash. The deal terms said Instagram would receive $300 million in cash and about 23 million shares of Facebook stock once the deal closed. Facebook stock at the time of the deal was valued by the parties at about $30 a share. But since that time, Facebook’s initial public offering has taken place — and we all know what happened. Facebook shares have fallen substantially, and the Instagram acquisition is now valued at about $735 million. The Instagram founders are out almost $300 million, at least on paper. Instagram’s founders could have avoided this situation by bargaining differently. What is notable is that Instagram and Facebook did not agree to a floating share exchange ratio or a stock collar, two fairly common merger tools. A floating share exchange ratio ensures that a seller will receive a fixed value in the acquisition regardless of what happens to the purchaser’s shares. As a result, the number of shares issued by the buyer will increase or decrease to match that fixed dollar amount. This means that the seller does not take the risk of the buyer’s share price going down before the acquisition is completed. In exchange, the seller forgoes any upside increase. In contrast, Instagram agreed to a fixed number of shares rather than a fixed dollar value. That meant Instagram’s owners took the risk of a decline in Facebook shares in exchange for all the benefits of an increase. Either type of deal structure can be accompanied by a stock collar. If the parties agree to a fixed number of shares, as with the Instagram deal, a collar could work like this: the number of shares to be issued is fixed within a range – or a collar. If the share price rises above or below the range, the number of shares adjusts to pay a minimum or maximum dollar amount to a seller. The range, or the collar, is typically set at about 5 to 10 percent around the share price value at the time. As a result, if the seller’s stock price falls below this 5 to 10 percent range, more stock is issued to compensate the seller — and less if the stock goes up. Again, the goal is to protect the seller on the downside in exchange for giving up some of the benefits of the upside. The type of exchange ratio and collar can take different forms than the above, generally with the net goal of giving the sellers downside protection. There are also other protections that Instagram could have asked for to brace itself against a Facebook stock decline, like the right to terminate the deal if Facebook’s stock price declined substantially. But no combination of these mechanisms was used in the Instagram deal. We do not know why this is the case, but about 80 to 90 percent of stock deals use fixed exchange ratios, according to Factset Mergermetrics, and stock collars were only employed in about 11 percent of recent deals. It may have been that the Instagram founders did not want to exchange a share of the upside for downside protection, preferring instead to make what is so far a losing bet on Facebook stock. It may also be that since the parties were both in the same industry, a fixed exchange ratio was thought more appropriate because the market would assign them equally in value, a common assumption underlying this choice. But at the time of the deal, Facebook was pretty bullish on its stock prospects. Facebook probably would have acceded to some type of collar protection, possibly even without a collar on the upside. This also appears to be a very hastily negotiated deal by some young executives, inexperienced in the world of mergers and acquisitions. The deal may already have been set by the time the lawyers and investment bankers came in, so that probably meant that a collar or floating share exchange ratio was already out of the question. Instagram’s negotiations are looking particularly important in hindsight because of the delays to the completion of this transaction, delays it probably should have expected. Facebook still needs antitrust clearance to complete the deal. It received antitrust clearance from British authorities last week, but is still awaiting approval from American regulators. It appears the parties thought there might be some level of antitrust review and delay because Facebook agreed to pay Instagram $200 million if the deal was terminated as a result of a failure to receive such clearance. If so, this would be another indicator for Instagram to have bargained harder on how it was paid. Recent reports have implied that Facebook is trying to speed up the close of the acquisition by using a California fairness hearing process. A California fairness hearing is one of those quirky procedures under the securities laws. For a stock to be able to be traded freely in the public market, it must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or qualify under an exemption. Facebook, for example, just went through the whole registration process to sell its stock in its I.P.O. The registration process can be arduous and take three to four months. An alternative is to use the exemption under Section 3(a)(10) of the Securities Act, which allows shares to be freely sold without registration if they are qualified through a state fairness hearing. Six states have these procedures. California is the most prominent state providing for this by statute. A fairness hearing is really an alternative to S.E.C. registration at the state level. The exemption is available under the presumption that the state determination of fairness is sufficient to replace S.E.C. review in a registration. Supporting documentation is filed with the California Department of Corporations, and a fairness hearing is held at which the presiding officer makes a determination of fairness. The exemption is commonly used in Silicon Valley to sidestep registration. It is cheaper and faster, costing up to $2,500 plus a hearing fee and taking only one to two months. When the Instagram deal was struck, the parties probably expected an antitrust delay, so using the fairness proceeding was more about saving money and having a less complex proceeding. In any event, the hearing is scheduled for Aug. 29. It is open to the public, but as Brian Quinn at the M.&A. Law Prof blog has written, nothing much is likely to happen. Fairness is determined by reference to whether arms’ length bargaining occurred, something that appeared to happen here. Even then you need objectors to state a case against fairness, something not likely to happen as Instagram at this point is probably happy with what they are receiving, given the rerating of social media going on after the soured Facebook I.P.O. And even if the fairness hearing did not result in approval, the acquisition agreement would probably just allow Facebook to register the shares with the S.E.C. as an alternative. Ultimately, though, the antitrust delay is what has really hurt Instagram, and the timing of the fairness hearing is a nonevent that will not speed up this deal. The end result is that delay has cost Instagram’s owners hundreds of millions, losses they could have avoided or reduced by negotiating differently. It is a lesson for those who strike deals in the heat of the moment — and perhaps too hastily.

– PayPal founder Peter Thiel, Facebook's first major investor and also a board member, has sold off the majority of his shares. Thiel invested $500,000 in Facebook in 2004, and has made more than $1 billion from that investment, the Wall Street Journal notes. He had already sold some shares before the IPO and some during the IPO; most recently, he sold 20.1 million shares and distributed another 2.2 million, making around $395.8 million—quite a bit less than the $762 million he would have made had he sold the shares during May's IPO, when stock was priced at $38 per share. Thiel pre-arranged the deal when the stock was still at that level, TechCrunch notes. He still has 5.6 million shares. The Journal is quick to note that Thiel made a bundle off his original investment, and that early investors often sell off their stakes after a company goes public. Even so, the timing is bad for Facebook, considering how poorly its stock is doing. "Imagine being a Facebook employee right now and seeing Thiel sell the majority of his stock at what many are hoping is its low point," writes Billy Gallagher on TechCrunch. Indeed, shares hit a record low yesterday—less than half the IPO price at $18.75—before closing at $20.01, the San Jose Mercury News reports. All of this is also bad news for Instagram, which Facebook purchased for a deal valued at $1 billion—at the time. Since Facebook paid quite a bit of that in shares, that deal has now lost Instagram nearly $300 million, the New York Times notes.

Elementary school students in Gustine, TX were forced to lower their pants for inspection after feces were found on the school gym floor. Elementary school students in the Gustine ISD said they were forced to pull their pants down by staffers. (Photo: WFAA) GUSTINE, TX — In Gustine, population 457, what happens at the schoolhouse affects nearly everyone. And something happened Monday that is causing a big controversy in this small town. "I felt uncomfortable, and I didn't want to do it," said 11-year-old Eliza Medina. "I felt like they violated my privacy." Parents in Gustine, Texas want answers after elementary students were ordered to pull down their pants. She was one of about two dozen elementary students who were rounded up in the small town 90 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Eliza's mother, Maria Medina, said boys were taken to one room, girls to another, and they were ordered "to pull down their pants to check them to see if they could find anything." Eliza Medina, 11, said she was one of the Gustine ISD students forced to pull down her pants for an inspection. (Photo: WFAA) Eliza's mom explained that educators "have been finding poop on the gym floor." She can imagine the frustration, but said even for feces on the floor you don't partially strip search a group of students to find the culprit. "I was furious... I mean, I was furious," Medina said. "If you can't do your job or you don't know what you're doing, you need to be fired. You shouldn't be here." Eliza said she tried to protest. "I said I didn't want to, but I was told I had to because all the kids had to," she said. Gustine Independent School District Superintendent Ken Baugh acknowledged that making kids drop their drawers goes too far. "That's not appropriate, and we do not condone that. So you would take disciplinary action." Gustine ISD Superintendent Ken Baugh said he is investigating an incident in which elementary students were forced to pull down their pants. (Photo: WFAA) But Baugh said early into the investigation, his understanding is that the children were told to lower their pants just a little. Eliza Medina insists it was more than that. "Like... to where your butt is," is how she put it. And her mother contends that even if it were just a little (which she doesn't think it was), having kids line up and expose their underwear for inspection is simply unacceptable. "Wrong is wrong," Medina said. The superintendent is hoping to have his investigation into this incident wrapped up by Wednesday, after he has heard from all parties involved. He may yet get an earful on Thursday night, though. Some angry parents are already planning to show up at the school board meeting to demand that someone be held accountable. "Maybe we can find a much better way to solve this," Superintendent Baugh said. Gustine is located about 90 miles southwest of Fort Worth. (Photo: WFAA) Read or Share this story: http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/education/2015/01/27/elementary-students-in-gustine-texas-forced-to-lower-their-pants-for-inspection-after-feces-found-on-floor/22435367/ ||||| Feces on gym floor leads to elementary strip-search A small North Texas school district might have egg on its face after feces were found on an elementary school gym floor and perhaps two dozen kids were forced to pull their pants down so staff could determine if there was a poop-etrator. It's similar to a case that smeared the West Sabine Independent School District in Pineland. A parent filed a federal lawsuit in the West Sabine case in February 2013. It concluded with a confidential settlement in spring 2014, said Brent Watkins, a Lufkin attorney who represented the West Sabine parent. But it happened again on Monday in Gustine, with a population of about 460 about 90 miles southwest of Fort Worth. A parent there told Dallas TV news station WFAA that the children in Gustine were forced to expose their underwear for inspection. Maria Medina told the news station that boys were taken to one room and girls to another. Medina told the station she was furious after learning students were told to lower their pants so school workers could try to find the culprit behind the waste. Gustine Superintendent Ken Baugh says he does not condone the search and that partially strip-searching students went too far. He says the district is investigating. Watkins said a friend sent him a copy of the Gustine story. "I'm very surprised that another school district would do this, given the publicity we got with the West Sabine ISD case," Watkins told The Enterprise. "It's a fact of life in elementary schools. Kids will have accidents," he said. Watkins said it could be a situation involving health or an indication of a psychological problem. "There are right ways and wrong ways to do this," he said. "I'm a little surprised this happened again."

– It's not like there's a how-to manual on how to go about finding a student with a penchant for pooping on the gym floor, but if there were, it would probably not include this: Line up the kids and order them to lower their pants for an underwear inspection. Alas, that's what happened at an elementary school in tiny Gustine, Texas, reports WFAA. School officials rounded up two dozen male and female suspects, though they were considerate enough to put the boys and girls in different rooms. "I felt like they violated my privacy," an 11-year-old girl tells the TV station, and her mother is even more livid. The district superintendent is on the case and promises a full investigation. The Beaumont Enterprise notes that a similar case in Pineland, Texas, in 2013 resulted in a federal lawsuit by a parent and an undisclosed settlement. It also sounds very serious, although the newspaper can't resist calling the still-at-large Gustine student a "poop-etrator."

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, both senior advisers to President Donald Trump, disclosed new details of their vast wealth on Monday, reporting a long of list of real estate, fashion and investment assets. Kushner, the president's son-in-law, reported assets of at least $174 million at the end of 2017, according to a person familiar with the couple's financial disclosure documents. His holdings could reach more than $710 million. CNNMoney's own calculations confirm those numbers. At the end of 2017, the president's daughter held assets of at least $55 million that could reach more than $75 million, the source familiar with the documents said. The topline numbers of their wealth don't vary greatly from similar documents the couple made public last July. "[T]heir net worth remains largely the same, with changes reflecting more the way the form requires disclosure than any substantial difference in assets or liabilities," said Peter Mirijanian, a spokesperson for Abbe Lowell, the ethics counsel for Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Ivanka Trump earned at least $82 million in income in 2017, according to the documents. Kushner's filing reported many of the same income sources and amounts. It's important to note several caveats to the disclosure documents. For one, some line items appear on both Kushner and Ivanka Trump's filings. It's also impossible to calculate precise totals of income and assets because the documents — which are used throughout government — ask officeholders to disclose figures in ranges, such as "$100,000 to $1,000,000." Some disclosures are open ended, like "over $50,000,000." The Trump family's far-reaching business interests, and the potential for conflicts of interest they present, have been a point of controversy since President Trump took office. The president turned over the operation of his business, the Trump Organization, to his two eldest sons. Since the election, Kushner and Ivanka Trump have also stepped away from the management of their businesses, though they have retained numerous ownership stakes. While they aren't legally required to sell all their assets to work in the White House, rules prohibit federal employees from participating in matters in which they have a financial interest. "Since joining the administration, Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump have complied with the rules and restrictions as set out by the Office of Government Ethics," Mirijanian said. Related: Ivanka Trump granted seven new trademarks in China The new documents reveal that in 2017, Ivanka Trump earned $3.9 million from her stake in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. The asset is valued at between $5 million and $25 million. She also made at least $5 million from a trust, created in March 2017, called Ivanka M. Trump Business Trust. The trust is valued at more than $50 million. Trump said on her forms that she had trademarks related to her name and initials registered around the world, including in Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, China, Russia, Qatar and the Philippines. Trump recently scored a batch of trademarks in China as her father continues trade talks with Beijing, garnering scrutiny from some ethics experts. The president of the Ivanka Trump brand has said the fashion line regularly files for trademarks, especially in areas where trademark infringement is common. Kushner, meanwhile, reported $1.5 million in income from Westminster Management, which owns and manages over 20,000 apartments in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The documents also list the couple's 2017 liabilities — a dozen loans and credit lines in amounts ranging from $1 million to $5 million or $5 million to $25 million. The filings are currently under review by the Office of Government Ethics and need to be certified by the agency. -- CNN's Cristina Alesci, Jill Disis, Karen McGowan and Jeanne Sahadi contributed to this report. ||||| Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump together collected tens of millions in outside income while serving in the White House last year. (Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and son-in-law, brought in at least $82 million in outside income while serving as senior White House advisers during 2017, according to financial disclosure forms released Monday. Trump earned $3.9 million from her stake in the Trump International Hotel in Washington and more than $2 million in severance from the Trump Organization, while Kushner reported over $5 million in income from Quail Ridge, a Kushner Cos. apartment complex acquired last year in Plainsboro, N.J. The filings show how the couple are collecting immense sums from other enterprises while serving in the White House, an extraordinary income flow that ethics experts have warned could create potential conflicts of interests. Both Kushner and Trump have given up daily oversight of their companies as they work as unpaid senior advisers to the president. But while Kushner divested some holdings, he and his wife have maintained large stakes in businesses with domestic and foreign ties. Kushner’s family real estate company has properties around the country, including thousands of apartment units in states including New Jersey and Maryland. Trump’s eponymous clothing and accessories line is produced exclusively in foreign factories in countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and China. [Ivanka Inc.] Last year, Kushner’s assets were worth between $179 million and $735 million, while Trump’s assets were valued between about $55.3 million and $75.6 million, according to a Washington Post estimate of their filings. Some of their assets were jointly listed. It is difficult to calculate net worth using the forms, in part because the Office of Government Ethics uses broad ranges for assets and liabilities. In an email statement, Peter Mirijanian — a spokesman for Abbe Lowell, Kushner’s and Trump’s ethics counsel — said that the couple have followed all ethics rules and that Monday’s disclosures are an insufficient way to understand the nuances of their net worth. “Since joining the administration, Mr. Kushner and Ms. Trump have complied with the rules and restrictions as set out by the Office of Government Ethics,” Mirijanian said. “As to the current filing which OGE also reviews, their net worth remains largely the same, with changes reflecting more the way the form requires disclosure than any substantial difference in assets or liabilities.” In their last financial disclosure, filed in July 2017, the couple reported jointly making at least $19 million in income from business ventures and $80 million in real estate and other revenue between January 2016 and the first months of 2017. Because their newest filings cover a shorter period of time — the 2017 calendar year — and include some income that was previously disclosed, it is impossible to make a direct comparison to their previous reported income. Trump earned at least $12 million last year, with the largest source of income coming from the trust that oversees her clothing brand, which paid her more than $5 million, the filings show. The new filings reflect a change in the structure of Trump’s payments from limited-liability companies affiliated with the Trump Organization. Trump will now receive guaranteed fixed yearly payments instead of payments based on profits from three companies tied to the Trump Organization’s international projects. The change was made in consultation with Office of Government Ethics officials to reduce her “interest in the performance of the business,” according to her filing. Her share of that payment in 2017 was $747,622, the filing shows. Trump’s $2 million in severance came after she left the Trump Organization in January of last year when her father was inaugurated. She officially joined the White House as an unpaid senior adviser in March 2017, after her initial attempts to serve as an informal adviser raised ethics questions. Trump was also paid a $289,300 advance by Penguin Random House for her book, “Women Who Work,” which she donated to the Ivanka M. Trump Charitable Fund to distribute grants to support women and girls. For his part, Kushner reported drawing income from dozens of companies tied to his family’s real estate company. In all, he pulled in at least $70 million, the documents show. [Jared Kushner receives permanent security clearance, an indication he may no longer be a focus of the special counsel] Kushner disclosed that he had failed last year to report several stakes in limited-liability companies — including Vegas Seven, an online news publication in Las Vegas, and the Veggie Grill, a restaurant in Manhattan Beach, Calif. The filing noted that Kushner divested himself of his stakes before joining the White House but did not report the assets previously because of an accounting oversight. Kushner Cos. has reported more than $2 billion in transactions in the past two years, including developments in Times Square and Jersey City. A Washington Post analysis of his holdings last year showed that Kushner had retained about 90 percent of his real estate holdings. Before entering the White House, Kushner sold his stake in 666 Fifth Ave., the Kushner Cos.’ Manhattan building plagued by debt of more than $1 billion, to a trust controlled by his mother. (Kushner is not a beneficiary of the trust.) In a wide-ranging interview in late May with the Real Deal, a New York City real estate publication, Kushner’s father derided ethics watchdogs as “jerks” who “can’t get a real job” and suggested that the criticism may discourage rich and successful people from taking government positions. “I look at what my kids have sacrificed to go into government, with the only intent of doing good for this country and for the world, and to help people,” Charles Kushner told the Real Deal. “And what they have sacrificed, and the daily barrage of negative media, and the attacks they get, and they had a perfect, beautiful life and they still have a very good life, but they sacrificed a lot.” The White House also released the financial disclosures of more than two dozen other staffers Monday. National security adviser John Bolton reported making $2.2 million in income last year, including $569,000 from Fox News, where he was a paid contributor. Bolton also received a $240,000 salary from the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, and $155,000 from the Gatestone Institute — a group that has raised fears about Muslims in Europe, sometimes through claims that have been debunked. Bolton served as that group’s chairman. Bolton also reported $165,000 from Counter Extremism Project United, a nonprofit entity that seeks to combat extremist groups, and $747,000 from speaking fees. The largest speaking fees came from a foundation run by Ukrainian steel magnate Viktor Pinchuk, which paid Bolton $115,000 for speeches in September 2017 and February 2018. Pinchuk, who generally advocates for closer ties between Ukraine and the West, also donated $150,000 to President Trump’s charitable foundation in exchange for a short speech Trump made to one of Pinchuk’s conferences by video in 2015. Bolton also reported $118,000 for speaking to large banks: Deutsche Bank paid him $72,000 for a speech in May 2017, and British bank HSBC paid him $46,000 for speeches in June and August 2017. Christopher Liddell, the deputy chief of staff for policy coordination and a former executive at Microsoft and General Motors, reported income from capital gains and interest from investments in dozens of companies, technology projects and real estate. Liddell joined the administration during the transition and was involved with the White House Office of American Innovation, which was led by Jared Kushner. He reported nearly 700 different securities sales involving several hundred companies, including major corporations such as Costco Wholesale, Walt Disney, Wynn Resorts, Delta Air Lines and Dow Chemical. The majority of these sales were made in February 2017, about a month after the inauguration. Alice Crites, David A. Fahrenthold, Jack Gillum, Tom Hamburger, Michael Kranish and Michelle Ye Hee Lee contributed to this report. ||||| Financial disclosure forms released on Monday revealed how much Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have earned from outside income while working at the White House, resurrecting concerns over possible conflicts of interest. The disclosures showed that the president’s daughter and son-in-law earned more than $82m in outside income in their first year serving as senior advisers to the president, the Washington Post first reported. Ivanka made $3.9m from her stake in the Trump International Hotel and reported more than $5m in earnings from her personal brand. Trump and Kushner both chose to forgo drawing taxpayer-funded salaries from their roles in the White House. The disclosures, which were also obtained and reviewed by the Guardian, nonetheless reinforce the ways in which the couple has continued to earn money from the Trump Organization and outside business endeavors. Because the financial disclosures report assets in broad ranges, it is difficult to determine the extent to which Trump and Kushner’s wealth has risen during their time at the White House. The disclosures are filed annually to the Office of Government Ethics. Donald Trump and the vice-president, Mike Pence, submitted their 2017 financial disclosure forms last month. Kushner yielded more than $5m from a New Jersey property acquired by his family’s real estate business last year. Ivanka Trump reported $2m in severance pay from an entity called the Trump Payroll Corp. She also received an advance totaling $289,000 for the book she published last year, Women Who Work. Trump said she would donate the profits from the book to charity. Brand Ivanka: inside the tangled empire of the president's closest ally Read more The couple’s vast business investments have repeatedly drawn scrutiny for potential ethics violations. Government watchdog groups have accused the Trump family of using the presidency and its stature for personal profit. Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Kushner and Trump’s outside counsel, said the couple’s net worth “remains largely the same, with changes reflecting more the way the form requires disclosure than any substantial difference in assets or liabilities”. Before joining the White House, Kushner resigned as chief executive officer from his real estate development business, Kushner Companies, stepped down from more than 260 corporate positions and partially divested from some of his assets. He nonetheless retained the vast majority of his interest in Kushner Companies. But concerns over potential conflicts of interest resurfaced earlier this year when it was reported that several foreign governments saw Kushner, who has a wide-ranging foreign policy portfolio, as a target for manipulation based on his business interests and personal debt. Ethics watchdogs also sounded alarms over Trump’s brand continuing to win trademarks overseas.

– Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner made at least $82 million last year while serving as unpaid senior advisers to the president, according to financial disclosure forms released Monday. Kushner drew at least $70 million from dozens of companies linked to his family's real estate company, Kushner Cos., including $5 million in income from an apartment complex in Plainsboro, NJ. Trump made at least $12 million, including $5 million from the trust overseeing her clothing brand, $3.9 million from her stake in DC's Trump International Hotel, and $2 million in severance as a result of her January departure from the Trump Organization, reports the Washington Post. Trump also received a $289,300 book advance and $747,622 from three companies tied to the Trump Organization's international projects. To reduce her "interest in the performance of the business," Trump will now receive fixed yearly payments from the three limited-liability companies, rather than profit sharing, according to the filings. Still, they're "resurrecting concerns over possible conflicts of interest" given the couple's broad White House roles and previous claims that the Trump family is profiting off the presidency, per the Guardian. Based on the filings, CNN estimates Kushner's net worth is $174 million to $710 million and Trump's is $55 million to $75 million. (The Post suggests similar ranges of $179 million to $735 million and $55.3 million to $75.6 million.) The couple's ethics counsel adds that their net worth "remains largely the same, with changes reflecting more the way the form requires disclosure than any substantial difference in assets or liabilities."

By NBC's Libby Leist: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid continued Democratic attacks on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor Thursday morning, saying the Republican has shown he doesn’t belong at the negotiating table for the debt ceiling talks. “Even Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader McConnell seem to understand the seriousness of the situation,” Reid said as he opened the Senate for business. “They're willing to negotiate in good faith, which I appreciate. Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has shown that he shouldn't even be at the table.” Democrats pushed back Wednesday night after Cantor told reporters that President Obama “abruptly” left Wednesday evening’s negotiating session. Cantor’s account was disputed by Democrats who accused Cantor of “juvenile” behavior and interrupting the president during the meeting. Democrats were also quick to point out that Cantor himself had walked out of earlier debt talks led by Vice President Biden, a point Reid reiterated Thursday. Reid warned of the consequences of default, saying payments to the military would be in jeopardy and that “millions” of Americans would lose their jobs. “If we allow this nation for the first time in its history to default on our national obligations, it will not only be a black mark on our reputation but also a massive financial disaster will sweep the world into global depression.” ||||| Boehner, Cantor say they’re ‘on the same page’ in talks with the president By Russell Berman - House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) put on their best buddy-buddy routine in front of the cameras Thursday, insisting to skeptical reporters that they were unified in heated debt talks with the White House. “The Speaker and I have consistently been on the same page,” Cantor said at a press conference with Boehner and other House Republican leaders. Reporters had asked him to respond to comments from Democrats — and, privately, some Republicans — that he was undercutting Boehner in negotiations with President Obama. “It’s just as he laid out in terms of the principles we are operating under, that our conference is behind,” Cantor said, “that we’re not going to raise the debt ceiling if we don’t have cuts in excess of that amount, that we don’t want to raise taxes and that we structurally change the system so that we stop this from ever happening again.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said earlier Thursday that Cantor should not be involved in the White House talks because his presence has not been constructive, and other Democrats have said he has dominated the Republican end of the discussions while Boehner has kept quiet. Cantor said he understood Reid’s frustrations but otherwise laughed off the criticism. When Cantor was finished, Boehner walked over and put his arm around him. “Let me just say that we have been in this fight together,” Boehner said. “And any suggestion that the role that Eric has played in these meetings has been anything less than helpful is just ridiculous. We’re in a foxhole. “I’m glad that Eric’s there, and those that have other opinions should just keep them to themselves.” Private tensions between the two have reportedly grown since Cantor objected to a potential “grand bargain” that Boehner was negotiating secretly with Obama. Shortly after Cantor signaled his opposition, Boehner dropped the effort. The question-and-answer period of the press conference had begun awkwardly for the two leaders, offering a visual reminder of Cantor’s heightened role in the current negotiations. As Boehner began walking to the lectern to take the traditional first question, reporters instead shouted questions at Cantor, prompting the Speaker to let out a laugh and return to his spot with the other Republicans. Cantor then assumed the lectern to answer the initial question. Earlier, the group of GOP leaders pushed for the passage of a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, urging Obama to lobby Democrats to garner the two-thirds support necessary for it to pass. Democrats are opposed to the measure because the version Republicans plan to consider next week includes provisions instituting a spending cap and requiring a two-thirds vote in Congress for any future tax increase. Boehner and Cantor offered no new concessions in the debt talks with Obama, which have stalled over the depth of spending cuts and the GOP’s refusal to consider new revenues. Boehner reiterated that Republicans wanted to avoid a default by the U.S. government, and he said a “last-ditch” plan offered by Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) that would make it easier for the president to authorize more federal borrowing should be kept on the table, despite opposition from many House Republicans. “What may look like something less than optimal today, if we’re unable to reach an agreement, might look pretty good a couple weeks from now,” the Speaker said. “I think it’s worth keeping on the table. There are a lot of options that people have floated, and frankly it’s an option that may be worthy at some point.” ||||| Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. 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– John Boehner and Eric Cantor put on what the Hill describes as a "buddy-buddy routine" for reporters today to try to dispel notions of animosity between them in the debt ceiling talks. Cantor: “The speaker and I have consistently been on the same page." Boehner, after putting his arm around Cantor: “Let me just say that we have been in this fight together. And any suggestion that the role that Eric has played in these meetings has been anything less than helpful is just ridiculous. We’re in a foxhole." Harry Reid had a different take, notes MSNBC. He called Cantor "childish" and said he "has shown that he’s shouldn’t even be at the table." With no miracle breakthrough today, Obama has told lawmakers that if no deal on deficit reduction is reached tomorrow, he wants them to start working on an alternative plan to raise the debt ceiling, reports Politico. One option in play is to combine the Mitch McConnell plan with budget cuts identified by Joe Biden's bipartisan group, notes the Washington Post. McConnell and Reid are reportedly working on the framework.

Pls share and RT: Cyclist beware. We've had bikes stolen after being locked to sabotaged racks in # Camberwell pic.twitter.com/V4UHUEfvld ||||| Thieves saw through bike-racks, cover the cuts with tape, wait for bikes to be locked to them PC Mark McKay, a police officer in Camberwell, London, tweeted this warning to locals to beware of bike racks that thieves have sawn through and camouflaged with gaffer tape; once the bikes are locked up, the thieves return, remove the tape, and make off with the bikes. It's basically the principle at work in this magic gimmick, on a macro-scale. ||||| Image copyright Sarah King Image caption The cycle rack had been sliced through and then covered with tape to conceal the break A cyclist who had her bike stolen after it was secured to a sabotaged bike rack has warned others about the "cunning" scam. Sarah King found her cycle was missing from a rack in Camberwell on Thursday night following a meeting. Ms King said she had not realised it had been cut through and then taped back together before she locked her bike to it. Met Police are working with Southwark Council to investigate the theft. Ms King, a Labour councillor, said it was the first time she had heard of a bike being stolen in such a way and wanted to warn others. She said she was "upset and shocked" to find it missing as "I love cycling in London and I love my bike". Her tweet warning cyclists about the scam has been retweeted nearly 2,500 times. Councillor Darren Merrill, of Southwark Council, said: "It is appalling that the growing cycling population in the borough are being targeted by these cunning thieves." ||||| Thieves are apparently slicing through London's bike racks and taping them up to appear intact in a new ploy to steal bicycles. Cyclists are being warned not to secure their bicycles to fixtures which have gaffer tape wrapped around them after the new trick came to light. Thieves are cutting through metal racks and then temporarily repairing the fitting with tape to give the illusion the structure is in one piece. But Sarah King, Labour councillor for South Camberwell, posted a picture on Twitter on Thursday evening showing how she had fallen prey to the latest scam in Camberwell at the junction of Camberwell Church Street and Vicarage Grove. Alongside the photograph, she said: “Cyclists please watch out for gaffer tape on bike racks covering up that they’re cut straight through.” Cyclists please watch out for gaffer tape on bike racks covering up that they're cut straight through pic.twitter.com/RRiJYVfnwV — Sarah King (@sezking78) February 25, 2016 After a cyclist secures their bicycle to the rack, the thief can then return to remove the tape and slide through the bicycle lock, allowing them to take the pedal cycle. Cllr King told the Standard: "I love cycling and love my bike so I was really upset and I wanted to warn people what was going on. I think the cut was already there and was taped up so it was not visible." She added when she returned to her bicycle, she initially was initially confused and thought she had left her bike elsewhere. Cllr King said: "The tape had been pulled back but it was not until I pushed the var that I realised what had happened." Cherry Allan, policy offer for CTC, told the Huffington Post: “The more publicity that can be given to this, the better. Greater awareness will help the local community and the police who patrol our streets to put an end to this crime. “All cyclists need to be aware of this and watch out for any bike racks covered in gaffer tape which look suspicious, whether it is their bike at risk or someone else’s. “Also, please be wary of buying a bike from an unofficial source that seems too good a deal to be true, in case it has been stolen." ||||| A Labour councillor for South Camberwell has revealed a cunning new trick being used by bike thieves. Sarah King posted a picture on Twitter showing how thieves had found a way to beat bike locks - by rendering the cycling racks used to secure them to, ineffective. Her picture, taken in Camberwell, shows a bike rack that thieves had cut through, then used gaffer tape to repair, allowing them to steal a bicycle by removing the rack, rather than having to remove the bike lock. Cyclists please watch out for gaffer tape on bike racks covering up that they're cut straight through pic.twitter.com/RRiJYVfnwV — Sarah King (@sezking78) February 25, 2016 King wrote: "Cyclists please watch out for gaffer tape on bike racks covering up that they're cut straight through." King said she had notified Labour councillor for Brunswick Park, Mark Williams, about the ploy and he had since asked Southwark Council to replace the bike rack. A Metropolitan police spokeswoman said she hadn't heard of thieves using the new trick. A spokesperson from London Cyclist said she had "never heard of them (thieves) doing that before", adding that it was "pretty depressing". According to national cycling charity, CTC, hundreds of thousands of bicycles are stolen in England and Wales every year. Between April 2014 and March 2015, there were 381,000 incidents of bike theft in England and Wales, it said, noting that there had been a "slight increase" recently. However, CTC noted that "the good news is that over the long term", incidents of bicycle theft are now around 42% lower than in 1995. Cherry Allan, Policy Officer for CTC said: “The more publicity that can be given to this, the better. Greater awareness will help the local community and the police who patrol our streets to put an end to this crime. “All cyclists need to be aware of this and watch out for any bike racks covered in gaffer tape which look suspicious, whether it is their bike at risk or someone else’s. Also, please be wary of buying a bike from an unofficial source that seems too good a deal to be true, in case it has been stolen.” Reaction to the picture has been one of reluctant admiration.

– London's bike thieves are getting extra crafty. On Friday, a police officer tweeted photos of a bike rack that had been sliced through and then taped back together to hide the cuts from the city's unsuspecting cyclists, per Boing Boing. Sarah King, a councilor for South Camberwell, tells the Evening Standard that she locked her bike to such a rack before a meeting in the London borough on Thursday. She returned to find her bike was missing and figured out the trick when she noticed the tape and gave a push. A police rep says she's never heard of the trick before, notes the Huffington Post, which describes collective online reaction as one of "reluctant admiration." Others are less impressed. "It is appalling that the growing cycling population in the borough are being targeted by these cunning thieves," another local councilor tells the BBC. "The more publicity that can be given to this, the better," a rep for a cycling charity adds. The lesson for cyclists, then: Beware public racks with tape.

Sergio Marchionne, who engineered a merger of the auto industry’s weakest companies—Fiat and Chrysler—and turned the combination into a profit generator, died at the age of 66. Mr. Marchionne was treated at Zurich’s University Hospital for complications after undergoing what Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said was a surgical procedure on his right shoulder in July. The health issues forced the company to unexpectedly remove him as CEO on Saturday, speeding up a departure planned for early 2019 after a decade at the helm of the Italian-American auto maker. Exor SpA, the company that controls Fiat Chrysler, on Wednesday announced Mr. Marchionne’s death. While less known among the general public than predecessors such as Lee Iacocca, Mr. Marchionne was a star in the auto industry, and his death marks an end of an era in Detroit where he was one of the last larger-than-life CEOs. He relished challenging auto industry orthodoxy, and was ahead of rivals on some key automotive trends. In a tweet late Wednesday, President Donald Trump called Mr. Marchionne “one of the most brilliant and successful car executives since the days of the legendary Henry Ford.” Broker Evercore ISI called him “one of the most formidable and successful CEOs in the industry’s history.” Born in Chieti near Italy’s Adriatic coast on June 17, 1952, Mr. Marchionne moved with his parents to the Toronto area in 1966, according to Mondo Agnelli, a book about Fiat’s deal for Chrysler. Mr. Marchionne went to university and law school in Canada, where he later worked for Deloitte & Touche. In the 1980s, he made his way back to Europe, taking a series of increasingly high-level jobs at several industrial companies based in Switzerland. Mr. Marchionne joined the board of Fiat in 2003 as head of Geneva-based SGS Group , then partly owned by the auto maker’s founding family. The following year he was vaulted into the CEO’s job at Fiat to fill a leadership vacuum at the top. His restructuring of the problem-plagued Italian auto maker was helped by a $2 billion deal he struck with General Motors Co. in 2005, which allowed the American giant to exit a contract negotiated five years earlier that would have forced it to buy the 80% of Fiat’s car business it didn’t already own. By the 2008 financial crisis, Chrysler LLC’s then-owner Cerberus Capital Management was looking to sell, and Mr. Marchionne was ready for the deal that would define his career. Underwritten by nearly $8 billion in loans from the U.S. and Canadian governments, Fiat took control of Chrysler after it filed for bankruptcy protection and wasted little time pushing out longtime executives, closing dealerships and reimagining its lineup. Mr. Marchionne, who was known to wear a black sweater every day, had said he would wear a tie for FCA’s June 1 industrial plan presentation if the company had managed to pay back debt by then. It had, and Chairman John Elkann gave him a tie to wear. Photo: Luca Bruno/Associated Press Instead of taking an office in an imposing tower for senior management on the campus of Chrysler’s headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., he set up his desk on the fourth floor of the adjoining technology center. He set a grueling seven-days-a-week pace, flying back and forth between Italy and the U.S. on a private plane. A self-described workaholic, Mr. Marchionne carried a stack of up to five smartphones and wore a black sweater and jeans daily, even when visiting dignitaries and leaders such as President Donald Trump. Mr. Marchionne kept about 30 sweaters and pairs of jeans in each of his homes in Michigan, Turin and Switzerland, allowing him to travel with minimal luggage. “I have identical clothes everywhere I live. Down to the socks,” he said in a 2011 interview. He also was known to gulp down espressos and chain-smoke Muratti brand cigarettes, a habit company officials say he gave up about a year ago. Mr. Marchionne loved playing poker on his trans-Atlantic flights, according to company officials, and he wasn’t afraid to fold early when dealt a losing hand—at the card table, or when assessing corporate strategy. His initial plan to import Fiat models to the U.S. and use its small-car technology on Chrysler vehicles was one such example. As part of the bailout agreement with the U.S., Fiat agreed to build an American-made compact capable of getting 40 miles per gallon. But that car—the Dodge Dart—was a poor seller, an early indication U.S. consumers were moving away from sedans and into larger vehicles. Mr. Marchionne canceled nearly all of Fiat Chrysler’s sedans for the U.S. market—including the Dart and Chrysler 200 models—and moved aggressively to retool U.S. factories to ramp up production of Jeep sport-utility vehicles and Ram pickup trucks which commanded premium prices. That move was later mimicked by Ford Motor Co. , which this spring said it would phase out nearly all U.S. sedans. General Motors Co. is expected to pare its sedan lineup as well. A longtime proponent of auto-industry consolidation, Mr. Marchionne made waves among peers in 2015 with a 25-page PowerPoint manifesto titled “Confessions of a Capital Junkie.” In it, the CEO chided the car industry’s “value-destroying addiction to capital,” with charts and graphs showing the industry as a laggard in enterprise value and return on invested capital compared with other sectors. He challenged his fellow auto makers to consider consolidation to unlock stronger shareholder returns. Many auto executives agreed with the unflinching assessment of their industry, but some saw Mr. Marchionne’s missive as a thinly veiled plea for a merger or acquisition partner. Indeed, within weeks of his issuing his report, he began a heretical public courtship of General Motors Co., arguing that combining the longtime rivals would provide the scale needed to survive the next downturn. GM executives swiftly swatted down the idea, insisting the company had the size and long-term vision to go it alone. Executives from other auto makers also poured cold water on the notion of combining with Fiat Chrysler. In a June 2015 conference call with analysts, Ford finance chief Bob Shanks said such a marriage “would be doubling down on the past.” Over the past two years as Fiat Chrysler’s fortunes turned sharply upward, Mr. Marchionne began to indicate he was prepared to have the company go it alone. By earlier this year, he said he was done looking for a merger partner. Fiat Chrysler’s stock price nearly quadrupled over the past four years of his tenure, earning him praise from Wall Street analysts, a group that once considered his quest to resuscitate Fiat and Chrysler as doomed. During a first-quarter conference call with analysts in January, Morgan Stanley ’s Adam Jonas admitted that he was a onetime skeptic who had come around full circle. “In 2004, when you were first introduced to the auto industry, a lot of people were thinking, ‘Who the hell is this guy?’ Right? I was one of them, frankly,” Mr. Jonas said. “There are many hundreds of thousands of families across many nations that are better off because of you and your team. God bless you, Sergio. We’re never going to see anyone like you again.” —Mike Colias and Eric Sylvers contributed to this article. Write to Chester Dawson at chester.dawson@wsj.com ||||| Sergio Marchionne surprises no one with the clothes he wears: He always wears a black sweater and black pants. And the man who runs Fiat and Chrysler worldwide says therein lies a lesson. Speaking to reporters following a speech, Marchionne talked about choices in fashion, and choices in the world at large. Here’s how he put it: “I prioritize in the morning. I made a decision to start wearing black sweaters and pants a long time ago, because (otherwise) I have to make a choice between spending three seconds deciding whether to wear a blue one or a black one, and I don’t want to spend the three seconds.” ||||| Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne had planned to retire next year. He had spoken to reporters about his soon-to-be deliverance from a job to which he devoted 24 hours a day, sleeping on planes, seldom seeing loved ones. It is likely that Chrysler wouldn’t exist today without his sacrifices. Accounts are sketchy, but a surgery this month didn’t end well, leaving him in what reports bleakly call a grave condition. His untimely fate will send a shiver through workaholics everywhere, not to mention all who need multiple packs... ||||| LISTEN TO ARTICLE 6:00 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email Sergio Marchionne, the former chief executive officer of Fiat Chrysler and architect of the automaker’s dramatic turnaround, has died. He was 66. Marchionne died on Wednesday at a Zurich hospital, just days after he had been replaced as CEO, according to Exor NV, the holding company of Fiat’s founding Agnelli family. His health had declined suddenly following complications from shoulder surgery, according to people familiar with the situation. “Sergio Marchionne, man and friend, is gone,” Fiat Chairman John Elkann said in a statement. “My family and I will be forever grateful for what he has done,” said Elkann, who is also chairman and CEO of Exor. Sergio Marchionne Photographer: Alessandra Benedetti/Bloomberg Selected as CEO of Fiat SpA in June 2004, Marchionne took the Italian manufacturer from the brink of bankruptcy to the New York Stock Exchange, where he rang the bell on Oct. 13, 2014, to mark the debut of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, the London company created when Fiat bought the Detroit carmaker. Marchionne, who described himself as a corporate fixer, was Fiat’s fifth CEO in less than two years when he took over. He replaced Giuseppe Morchio, who quit after the billionaire Agnelli family refused to give him the joint title of chairman and CEO when then-Chairman Umberto Agnelli died of cancer. Marchionne was handed an automaker that lost more than 6 billion euros ($7 billion) in 2003. By 2005, he had returned the company to a profit by wringing some $2 billion from an alliance with General Motors Co., laying off thousands of workers, introducing new models, and slashing the time it took to get a new car to market to just 18 months, from four years. In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration announced that Fiat would take control of Chrysler LLC, rescuing the American company from bankruptcy. “I don’t care what a tough guy he was to work for, he saved our company,” said Cass Burch, a Chrysler and Jeep dealer in Georgia. “He deserves a bronze statue.” Fiat CEO Marchionne on Leadership Changes, Profit Margins, Dividends The deal gave Marchionne “a huge sense of responsibility,” he said in a 2011 interview. His office on the fourth floor of Fiat’s Turin headquarters was adorned with a black-and-white poster of the word “competition” and a Picasso print bearing the motto, “Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.” During his tenure at Fiat, Marchionne boosted the company’s value more than 10-fold by restructuring the auto business and separating assets. Among the biggest spinoffs was the 2015 listing of supercar-maker Ferrari NV, where Marchionne also served as CEO and chairman. Read More: Fiat Chrysler Cuts Financial Targets as China Sales Slump Marchionne’s direct manner and frumpy demeanor -- he was rarely seen wearing anything but jeans and a black pullover sweater -- made him stand out in buttoned-down Italy. He knew how to move fast and enjoyed driving his half-dozen Ferraris. “When you’re pissed off, there’s nothing better than this,” he said, stomping on the accelerator of his black Enzo at the company’s test track in 2014 and pushing the car from a comfortable 120 miles per hour to something over 200. Sergio Marchionne with a Ferrari GTC4 Lusso automobile in 2016. Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg Fueled by a dozen espressos a day and packs of Muratti cigarettes, he stormed into Fiat and fired most of the top management, then did the same at Chrysler in 2009, installing a dozen newcomers on his second day. He also knew speed can be dangerous. In 2007, he wrecked a $350,000 Ferrari on a highway in Switzerland. “In the car business, sometimes you crash,” he said. Yet even as he garnered criticism from politicians and unions for slashing jobs and cutting costs, Marchionne argued that moving slowly could be even more risky. When he took over both Fiat and Chrysler, he always maintained, the companies needed radical change in order to survive. Marchionne “helped build a growing company that provides job stability and certainty,” said United Auto Workers Vice President Cindy Estrada. “The success of his vision changed people’s lives. That is a rich legacy.” Consolidation Push The Chrysler deal was part of a long-standing campaign Marchionne had waged to spur consolidation in the auto industry, which he claimed had far too much capacity for all players to survive. To that end, he publicly campaigned for a merger with General Motors Co. in 2015 but was rebuffed by the U.S. carmaker. “Sergio created a remarkable legacy in the automotive industry,” Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of General Motors said in a statement. Ford Motor Co. Chairman Bill Ford praised Marchionne “as one of the most respected leaders in the industry whose creativity and bold determination helped to restore Chrysler to financial health.” Marchionne had planned to leave Fiat in 2019, but with his health deteriorating, on July 21 he was replaced as CEO of Fiat Chrysler by Mike Manley, head of the Jeep and Ram brands. Louis C. Camilleri took over at Ferrari, and Suzanne Heywood succeeded Marchionne as chairman of truck and farm-equipment maker CNH Industrial NV. Some Italian media reports said Marchionne had cancer. People close to Marchionne told Bloomberg News that he died of cardiac arrest and didn’t have cancer. Sergio Marchionne at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2012. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg Marchionne was born on June 17, 1952, in Chieti, a hilltop town near the Adriatic sea in central Italy. His father was a local policeman, and when Marchionne was 14 the family moved to Toronto. A chartered accountant and attorney with dual Canadian and Italian citizenship, Marchionne began his career in Canada at Deloitte & Touche, then moved on to packaging producer Lawson Group. In 1994, Marchionne joined Alusuisse Lonza Group Ltd. after the Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical company acquired Lawson. Three years later, as Alusuisse CEO, he spun off the drug business to create Lonza Group AG, where he tripled profit in three years. He later consolidated his reputation as a turnaround specialist at SGS SA, a Geneva-based product-testing company at the time controlled by the Agnelli family. Marchionne and his estranged wife, Orlandina, had two children, Alessio and Tyler. His partner, Manuela Battezzato, works in Fiat Chrysler’s press office. — With assistance by Steven Gittelson, and Jerrold Colten

– "Who the hell is this guy?" was an analyst's reaction to Sergio Marchionne when the latter joined the auto industry in 2003. Fifteen years later, Marchionne has earned a description from the Wall Street Journal as "one of the last larger-than-life car-maker CEOs," though that comes with sad news: The chief of Fiat Chrysler has died at the age of 66 after complications following shoulder surgery. He'd stepped down as CEO over the weekend as his condition deteriorated. As the head of Fiat, Marchionne made the bold (and successful) decision to merge his struggling company with an equally struggling Chrysler at the height of the recession. Despite initial raised eyebrows at that move, the new conglomerate's stock prices have almost quadrupled over the past four years, and initial detractors now hail Marchionne as an unconventional innovator. Marchionne was defined as much by his business acumen as his personal quirks: He liked to drive fast cars—he once totaled a $350,000 Ferrari, per Bloomberg—chain-smoked Muratti cigarettes and guzzled espressos, and wasn't often seen wearing anything but a black sweater and jeans. "I have the same clothing everywhere I live," so he didn't have to spend the "three seconds" making a decision on what to wear, per a 2011 interview. Marchionne, who was born in Italy and moved to Canada as a teen, was also known as a workaholic, per the Journal, often carrying multiple cellphones and working every day of the week. "I don't care what a tough guy he was to work for, he saved our company," a Chrysler and Jeep dealer in Georgia tells Bloomberg. "He deserves a bronze statue." Marchionne leaves behind two children, Alessio and Jonathan, with his estranged wife, Orlandina.

Views of Bush more positive than negative for first time since 2005 PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans' views of former president George W. Bush have improved, with 49% now viewing him favorably and 46% unfavorably. That is the first time since 2005 that opinions of him have been more positive than negative. Bush has maintained a fairly low profile in the four years since he left office. However, he returned to the public eye this year with the April opening of his presidential library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Bush left office with 40% viewing him favorably and 59% unfavorably in January 2009. That worsened to 35% favorable and 63% unfavorable in March 2009, but his favorable rating recovered to the mid-40% range by 2010. The June 1-4 poll shows further improvement in Americans' ratings of Bush, which had not been more positive than negative since April 2005. Prior to then, Americans had always viewed Bush more favorably than unfavorably, including an 87% favorable rating in November 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. That is one percentage point below the all-time high Gallup has measured for any public figure, shared by Colin Powell (2002) and Tiger Woods (2000). Bush's lowest favorable rating was 32% in April 2008, as the economy was in recession and gas prices were headed toward record highs in the U.S. Also at the time, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were engaged in a spirited campaign to become the Democratic nominee who would run for president to succeed Bush. Americans Generally Kind to Ex-Presidents The recovery in Bush's image is not unexpected, given that Americans generally view former presidents positively. Gallup's favorable ratings for Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton all exceeded 60% when last measured. George W. Bush's lower rating may be due to his shorter time as an ex-president. For example, Clinton's favorable rating, which dropped as low as 39% in the months after he left office, recovered to 56% roughly four years later -- still better than George W. Bush's current 49%, but not as positive as Clinton's more recent ratings. Gallup did not measure favorable ratings in the current format for presidents prior to 1992. Its first post-presidency measure for the elder George Bush came eight years after he left office. Bush More Popular Among All Party Groups Since 2009 George W. Bush's favorable rating is more positive now among all party groups than it was in March 2009, when it dipped to 35% overall. Currently, 84% of Republicans, 46% of independents, and 24% of Democrats have a favorable view of Bush, each up more than 10 points since 2009. However, the more recent improvement in his ratings, a five-point overall uptick since November 2010, has been more apparent among Democrats, whose rating has increased by 10 points since then. Opinions of Bush still show a high degree of party polarization, with a 60-point gap in his favorable ratings from Republicans versus Democrats. Party polarization marked Bush's ratings while he was in office as well. His job approval ratings were the most polarized for a president prior to Barack Obama. Implications Americans' opinions of George W. Bush have improved with the passage of time, and now the public's ratings of the former president tilt positive. Bush left office with decidedly negative favorability ratings as well as approval ratings, so the recovery in his image is notable. The improvement is not unexpected, though, given Americans' generally positive views of former presidents, and it would not be out of the question for Bush's image to continue to improve in future years. But Bush's image improved more from 2009 to 2010 than it has in the past three years, even with a recent round of positive publicity from the opening of his presidential library, so that is not a guarantee he will see the 60%+ favorable ratings enjoyed by other former presidents anytime soon. ||||| The George Bush Presidential Library Foundation will celebrate the 89th Birthday of its' namesake, George Bush, 41st President of the United States, by wearing exuberant socks this Wednesday, June 12. The Foundation encourages others to join us in this celebration of the President's 89th Birthday and post photos of your socks online. President Bush has recently been recognized for his penchant for wearing bright socks. At the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in April, for example, he wore bright pink socks with a hint of blue. In 2012 he told his granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager, that he "likes a good sock." Join us in wishing President Bush a Happy Birthday by wearing your most colorful or outlandish socks. All are invited to submit a photo wearing crazy socks to share in the birthday festivities by: Post to the George Bush Facebook page: www.facebook.com/georgebush41 - Tweet to the George Bush Foundation twitter account: twitter.com/GB41Foundation Hash tag #41s89th Hash tag #41s89th Email bushfoundation@georgebushfoundation.org Select birthday sock photos will be chosen and given to President Bush for his 89th birthday. Help us celebrate the 89th birthday of George Bush, 41st President of the United States. To view more photos from the "Birthday Socks for President Bush" Flickr, click here. ||||| The folks in Aggieland are rolling up their sleeves and pulling on their socks in preparation for the 89th birthday of former President George H.W. Bush. The George Bush Presidential Foundation, taking note of the 41st president’s penchant for colorful socks, is challenging everyone to don their most exuberant pair and post a picture of their footwear to social media. The best sock offering will be presented to Bush as a birthday gift. The senior Bush most recently was spotted — who could miss it — wearing bright pink socks at the dedication of his son’s presidential center in April. In 2012 he told his granddaughter, Jenna Bush Hager, that he “likes a good sock.” For those wishing to post their socks, you can go to the the George Bush Facebook page or Tweet to the George Bush Foundation twitter account and use the hash tag #41s89th. Or, for more information, visit go to http://www.georgebushfoundation.org/socks. TOP PICKS

– It's a milestone any former president would love: For the first time since 2005, more Americans approve of George W. Bush than disapprove, reports Gallup. He now stands at 49-46—up 9 in the "view favorably" category and down 13 in "view unfavorably" since he left office in 2009. (He still registers only a 24% favorable rating among Democrats, 60 points below his score among Republicans.) All the recent former presidents are at 60% favorable or above, including Bush senior at 62%. He turns 89 tomorrow, incidentally, and his foundation wants everyone to wear brights socks (and photograph them) to mark the occasion, notes the Dallas Morning News. (It's his signature style now.)

Lena Dunham was not the Internet's first pick to write the screenplay about a Syrian refugee. (Photo: Evan Agostini, Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Steven Spielberg is no stranger to stories of war and refugees, having made "Schindler's List" and the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers." J.J. Abrams directed the pilot episode of "Lost," which took place in the immediate aftermath of a plane crash. So it would seem the movie adaptation of "A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival," was safe in their hands. But the internet is not pleased with their choice of screenwriter: Lena Dunham. Twitter quickly registered its displeasure after The Hollywood Reporter and Variety announced that the creator of "Girls" and "Camping" had been chosen to adapt Melissa Fleming's book, which tells the story of Doaa Al Zamel, a young Syrian mother who survived two days in open water holding her children afloat after the rickety boat carrying them to Europe was rammed by a fishing boat piloted by hostile Egyptians. @arabized appealed to two actors of color, Riz Ahmed and Mindy Kaling, to use their influence to stop the project from moving forward with Dunham involved: "Can you guys please please voice a complaint? I don’t want Lena to tell my family’s story as a Syrian." @rizmc@mindykaling can you guys please please voice a complaint. 💔 I don’t want Lena to tell my family’s story as a Syrian. — Arabized (@arabized) October 29, 2018 "What makes her think she can speak accurately about the refugee experience?" asked @CatOuellette. "Please stop this while you’re ahead of a disaster." What makes her think she can speak accurately about the refugee experience? Please stop this while you’re ahead of a disaster. pic.twitter.com/NgyYquwDRY — Catherine Ouellette (@CatOuellette) October 29, 2018 "Not the person who needs to be this voice, yikes," said @katarinahit. Not the person who needs to be this voice, yikes. — Katarina Hit (@katarinahit) October 29, 2018 "Because clearly there’s no one who knows that demographic better than a spoiled, talentless, young, rich white girl," @keithmontesano chimed in. "Yikes." Because clearly there’s no one who knows that demographic better than a spoiled, talentless, young, rich white girl. Yikes. — Keith Montesano (@keithmontesano) October 29, 2018 Some predicted the project will be a trainwreck. "Willing to bet this...will not go well," @psyourewrong speculated. Willing to bet this...will not go well. pic.twitter.com/jAD3VC9D2Z — P.S. You’re Wrong: A Pop Culture Podcast (@psyourewrong) October 29, 2018 "There’s not one supportive comment here!" @Popculjunkie observed after reading through the replies to the Variety tweet. "She’s the worst." Lol there’s not one supportive comment here! She’s the worst. — janinnie (@Popculjunkie) October 29, 2018 Some other folks couldn't quite put their displeasure into words, so they resorted to using lots of gifs. @samnoaches turned to Steve Carell's character from "The Office" to express the inherent awkwardness. Whereas @mexcellentt went with "SNL"-era Amy Poehler. Dunham, 32, did get some pats on the back Monday – though not because of her latest writing gig. During a guest appearance on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, she revealed that she was six months sober after becoming dependent on the anti-nxiety drug Klonopin. She said that she had no trouble getting the drug and that she upped her dose after receiving a PTSD diagnosis. The actress has been open about her past sexual trauma and her struggles after she underwent a complete hysterectomy to end the chronic pain brought on by endemetriosis, a condition that occurs when uterine tissue grows outside the womb. "It stopped being, 'I take one when I fly,' and it started being like, 'I take one when I’m awake,' " she recalled of the period when she became dependent on the medication. But she wasn't prepared for the withdrawal symptoms when she gave up Klonopin. "Nobody I know who are prescribed these medications is told, 'By the way, when you try and get off this, it’s going to be like the most hellacious acid trip you’ve ever had where you’re (expletive) clutching the walls and the hair is blowing off your head and you can’t believe you found yourself in this situation,' " she told Shepard. Six months into life without anti-anxiety meds, Dunham says her brain is still adjusting. "I still feel like my brain is recalibrating itself to experience anxiety,” she observed. "I just feel, literally, on-my-knees grateful every day." Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2018/10/29/lena-dunham-slammed-twitter-plans-adapt-syrian-refugee-story/1809056002/ ||||| Lena Dunham says she’s six months sober after quitting the anti-anxiety medication Klonopin. The actress opened up about her decision to get sober during an appearance on Dax Shepard‘s podcast Armchair Expert. “I’ve been sober for six months,” she said. “My particular passion was Klonopin.” Dunham, 32, said she started taking the medication after her anxiety became so intense that it held her back from daily activities and hindered her work. “I was having crazy anxiety and having to show up for things that I didn’t feel equipped to show up for,” she explained. “But I know I need to do it, and when I take a Klonopin, I can do it.” She said the drug made her “feel like the person I was supposed to be.” “It was like suddenly I felt like the part of me that I knew was there was freed up to do her thing,” she continued. Klonopin is a type of Benzodiazepine used to treat symptoms of anxiety, panic disorders and seizures. RELATED: Lena Dunham Had Her Left Ovary Removed: ‘It Got Worse and Worse’ Over the years, Dunham said she started taking Klonopin most frequently. “It stopped being ‘I take one when I fly,’ to ‘I take one when I’m awake.’ “ “I didn’t have any trouble getting a doctor to tell me, ‘No you have serious anxiety issues, you should be taking this. This is how you should be existing,’ ” she said. She said she had increased her dosage after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. “I was diagnosed with pretty serious PTSD. I have a few sexual traumas in my past and then I had all these surgeries and then I had my hysterectomy after a period of really extreme pain,” she said. “It stopped feeling like I had panic attacks and it started feeling like I was a living panic attack. The only thing that was notable was the parts of the day where I didn’t feel like I was going to barf and faint.” RELATED: Lena Dunham Had a Full Hysterectomy to Remove Her Uterus and Cervix and End Endometriosis Pain Dunham said that while she knew the Klonopin she was taking wasn’t making her feel better, she was scared of what going off the drug would feel like. “If I look back, there were a solid three years where I was, to put it lightly, misusing benzos, even though it was all quote unquote doctor prescribed,” she said. Hutton Supancic/Getty She said that while she’s had her “fair share of opioid experiences” due to her health issues, she didn’t realize the just how hard quitting would be. “Nobody I know who are prescribed these medications is told, ‘By the way, when you try and get off this, it’s going to be like the most hellacious acid trip you’ve ever had where you’re f—– clutching the walls and the hair is blowing off your head and you can’t believe you found yourself in this situation,’ ” she said. “Now the literal smell of the inside of pill bottles makes me want to throw up.” Six months later, Dunham said she is still getting used to her new normal. “I still feel like my brain is recalibrating itself to experience anxiety,” she explained. “I just feel literally on my knees grateful every day.” ||||| Thank you to SquareSpace Quip , and Robinhood for sponsoring this week's episode. Create a beautiful website with SquareSpace - go to squarespace.com/dax for a free trial and when you’re ready to launch, use the offer code "dax" to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. You’ve heard us obsess over my MeUndies and all the amazing colors and prints they offer, to get your 15% off your first pair, free shipping, and a 100% satisfaction guarantee, go to MeUndies.com/dax . Quip was designed to make brushing your teeth more simple, affordable and enjoyable. Quip starts at just $25 and if you go to getquip.com/dax right now, you get your first refill pack for free with a Quip electric toothbrush. Robinhood is an investing app that lets you buy and sell stocks, ETFS, options, and cryptos - all commission-free. Robinhood is giving listeners a free stock like Apple, Ford, or Sprint to help build your portfolio - sign up at armchair.robinhood.com

– Lena Dunham is six months sober after getting addicted to the anxiety medication Klonopin, People reports. The Girls star said during an appearance on Dax Shepard's podcast that her anxiety and PTSD got so bad she easily found a doctor to prescribe the drug. "I was having crazy anxiety and having to show up for things that I didn’t feel equipped to show up for. But I know I need to do it, and when I take a Klonopin, I can do it," explained the 32-year-old, who is also in the news Monday due to her controversial plan to adapt a Syrian refugee story for the big screen, USA Today reports. But eventually, "it stopped being 'I take one when I fly,' to 'I take one when I'm awake,'" she said of the pills. "If I look back, there were a solid three years where I was, to put it lightly, misusing benzos [benzodiazepines, drugs used to treat anxiety], even though it was all quote unquote doctor prescribed," she continued. Getting off Klonopin was not pleasant: "Nobody I know who are prescribed these medications is told, 'By the way, when you try and get off this, it's going to be like the most hellacious acid trip you've ever had where you're f---ing clutching the walls and the hair is blowing off your head and you can’t believe you found yourself in this situation,'" she said. "Now the literal smell of the inside of pill bottles makes me want to throw up." (Dunham's before/after photos have a message.)

poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201606/1230/1155968404_5013033090001_5012497964001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Democrats groan after Bill Clinton meets Loretta Lynch The private meeting rekindles concerns about a possible conflict of interest while his wife is under federal investigation. Attorney General Loretta Lynch described her Monday meeting with Bill Clinton aboard a private plane as “primarily social,” but some Democrats are struggling to stomach the optics of the attorney general’s meeting with the former president while his wife is under federal investigation — while others are fiercely defending her integrity. Lynch said she and Clinton talked only of grandchildren, golf, and their respective travels, but the fact that the two spoke privately at all was enough to rekindle concerns about a possible conflict of interest. Republicans have long called into question the ability of a Democratic-led Department of Justice to conduct an independent investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, based inside her Chappaqua, New York, home, during her tenure as secretary of state. Story Continued Below Once news of their meeting on the tarmac at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport broke, Democrats made clear that while the meeting was likely as innocent as Lynch described, it did not give the Justice Department the appearance of independence. “I do agree with you that it doesn’t send the right signal,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said Thursday in response to a question about the meeting from CNN “New Day” host Alisyn Camerota. “She has generally shown excellent judgment and strong leadership of the department, and I’m convinced that she’s an independent attorney general. But I do think that this meeting sends the wrong signal and I don’t think it sends the right signal. I think she should have steered clear, even of a brief, casual social meeting with the former president.” Coons, through his office, later walked back his assessment. "Senator Coons believes that Attorney General Lynch has addressed this question and said they talked about their grandchildren, travels and golf, and nothing about matters involving the Department," Coons spokesman Jonathan Kott said. "Senator Coons, as a member of the Senate Judiciary committee knows Attorney General Lynch, has worked with her and believes that she is honest and trustworthy." David Axelrod, a former top aide to President Barack Obama, tweeted that he took Lynch and the former president “at their word” that the Justice Department’s probe into Hillary Clinton’s email server did not come up, “but foolish to create such optics.” Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was not convinced by the attorney general's assurances, attacking the judgment of both Lynch and Bill Clinton. The Manhattan billionaire decried the meeting as "terrible," "horrible," "amazing" and "really a sneak" in a radio interview with "The Mike Gallagher Show." “It’s a massive story now. It’s all over the place” he said. “Even the liberal media’s making it a big story, which is shocking to me, because it’s so out of bounds. Wow, that’s an amazing thing.” Democratic leaders in the Capitol defended Lynch and Clinton's gathering, even as it comes during a Justice Department investigation and the heat of the presidential campaign. They pointed to Lynch's strong reputation among members of both parties (10 Republicans voted to confirm her last year). "I can't control who meets with whom," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). "No one can ever question [Lynch's] strong feelings about the rule of the law. And her ethics, I repeat, are the best." "She's an honorable person, we know that," said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, Reid's presumptive successor next year. "She has said nothing was discussed related to the investigation. So you have two choices: to say this didn't matter or that she's lying. I think that it didn't matter. I don't think she lying." In April, President Obama told Fox News host Chris Wallace that he can "guarantee" that he would not interfere with the FBI's investigation. "I do not talk to the Attorney General about pending investigations," he said. "I do not talk to FBI directors about pending investigations. We have a strict line, and always have maintained it." On Monday, Lynch had just arrived in Phoenix for a community policing event when Bill Clinton, who was on his way out of the airport, found out the two were in the same place and asked to visit with her. Lynch told reporters Wednesday in Los Angeles that she and the former president did not discuss the ongoing investigation into his wife. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) has been perhaps the most vocal lawmaker arguing that the Justice Department’s investigation into Hillary Clinton constituted a conflict of interest. He called for a special prosecutor to handle the case as far back as last September and renewed his concerns Thursday morning on Twitter. “Lynch & Clinton: Conflict of interest?” Cornyn wrote. “An attorney cannot represent two parties in a dispute and must avoid even the appearance of conflict.” Reid and Schumer bristled when asked if Lynch's meetings feeds critics more ammunition to attack Hillary Clinton during the same week that Republicans teed off on her over her handling of the Benghazi attacks. "Look at the other side. You've got Donald Trump. So we're satisfied with our candidate. I think she's doing pretty damn good," Reid said. Lynch's meeting with the former president came a day before top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin was deposed as part of a lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch, a case separate from the ongoing FBI investigation into the former secretary of state’s email server. During the deposition, Abedin testified about an email exchange from November 2010 in which Clinton asked if she could get a “separate address or device” but added that she did not “want any risk of the personal being accessible.” Abedin, who serves as vice chairwoman of Clinton’s presidential campaign, said during the Tuesday deposition, according to a transcript released Wednesday, that she had suggested to Clinton going on a State Department email address or informing the department of her personal address so that they could make sure her emails were not going to their spam folders. The particular exchange stemmed from Clinton apparently missing an important phone call with a “foreign minister” because her email confirming the event went to spam. “She seems frustrated because she’s not able to do her job,” Abedin testified, describing the exchange. “I seem frustrated back because I’m not.” In his deposition on Wednesday, State Undersecretary for Management Patrick Kennedy testified that Clinton's use of a private email address "did not register" or "strike any bells," according to a transcript released Thursday. Asked whether Clinton’s emails to him struck him as out of the ordinary when compared to her use of more traditional communication tools, Kennedy said it was not surprising because of the “very small volume” of emails he received from the secretary of state during her time at the department. ||||| As his wife is under federal investigation for her use of a private email server, former President Bill Clinton met privately with U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch at the Phoenix Airport Monday evening in what both sides say was an unplanned encounter. An aide to Bill Clinton confirmed to CBS News that the meeting wasn't planned in advance: President Clinton saw the attorney general on the tarmac and wanted to say hello, so he boarded her plane to talk. The meeting comes as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is still under investigation for her email practices--and also came the day before House Republicans released a report criticizing the Obama administration's response to the 2012 Benghazi attacks. Lynch told reporters that the topics of Benghazi and Clinton's email server did not come up, and that she and Clinton spoke largely about his grandchildren, golf and travel. "Actually, while I was landing at the airport, I did see President Clinton at the Phoenix airport as I was leaving, and he spoke to myself and my husband on the plane," she said. "Our conversation was a great deal about his grandchildren. It was primarily social and about our travels. He mentioned the golf he played in Phoenix, and he mentioned travels he'd had in West Virginia." "There was no discussion of any matter pending for the department or any matter pending for any other body," Lynch added. "There was no discussion of Benghazi, no discussion of the State Department emails, by way of example." Asked further whether there was any "impropriety" to meeting with Clinton while the email investigation is ongoing, Lynch replied merely that the case is being handled by "career investigators and career agents." "My agency is involved in a matter looking at State Department policies and issues," she said. "It's being handled by career investigators and career agents. It will always follow the facts and the law and do the same independent and thorough investigation that they've done in all." Regardless of Lynch's downplaying of the conversation, CBS News Justice reporter Paul Reid called it "shocking, absolutely shocking." "The most high-profile national security investigation under the attorney general is the investigation into whether or not classified information was mishandled in connection with Hillary Clinton's server," Reid told CBSN. "Now, President Clinton and his foundation are also tangentially involved in that investigation, so the appearance of impropriety is just stunning." Reid also noted that the explanation that it wasn't a scheduled meeting is unlikely to quiet critics. "Loretta Lynch is no shrinking violet. This is a tough lady," Reid said. "She's stood up to El Chapo, she has taken on FIFA -- she is not incapable to telling someone, 'Look, you can't come on my plane' or 'Look, I don't want to talk to you.' The optics of this for the investigation going forward are horrible." "It will definitely be fuel for those who do not believe this is an objective investigation," Reid added. CBS News' Hannah Fraser-Chanpong and Paula Reid contributed to this story. ||||| 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. ||||| (CNN) A meeting this week between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton is creating headaches for Hillary Clinton's campaign. Lynch and Bill Clinton met privately in Phoenix Monday after the two realized they were on the same tarmac, an aide to the former president said. The encounter took place ahead of the public release Tuesday morning of the House Benghazi Committee's report on the 2012 attack on a U.S. consulate in Libya. The meeting is raising questions about whether the independence of the Justice Department, which is conducting an investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server, might have been compromised. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump said Thursday the meeting was "terrible." "It was really a sneak," Trump told conservative talk show host Mike Gallagher . "You see a thing like this and, even in terms of judgment, how bad of judgment is it for him or for her to do this? Who would do this?" Trump continued his criticism during an interview with New Hampshire-based CNN affiliate WBIN-TV Thursday night, calling the meeting "shocking" and "very disappointing." Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, said the incident is why a "Special Counsel" should take over the email investigation "This incident does nothing to instill confidence in the American people that her department can fully and fairly conduct this investigation, and that's why a Special Counsel is needed now more than ever," Cornyn said in a statement. And Judicial Watch, a conservative legal watchdog group that has sued for access to records pertaining to Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while leading the State Department, is asking for the Justice Department's inspector general to investigate the meeting. "Attorney General Lynch's meeting with President Clinton creates the appearance of a violation of law, ethical standards and good judgment," the group said in a statement. "Attorney General Lynch's decision to breach the well-defined ethical standards of the Department of Justice and the American legal profession is an outrageous abuse of the public's trust. Her conduct and statements undermine confidence in her ability to objectively investigate and prosecute possible violations of law associated with President Clinton and Secretary Clinton." Even some Democrats say the optics don't look good. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, said he believes Lynch will remain objective in her role but would have advised against the meeting, which he says sends the wrong signal even if it was "a brief, casual, social meeting with the former president." "I think she should have said, 'Look, I recognize you have a long record of leadership on fighting crime but this is not the time for us to have that conversation. After the election is over, I'd welcome your advice,'" Coons told CNN's Alisyn Camerota Thursday on "New Day." Clinton's campaign hasn't commented on the meeting. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest reiterated Thursday President Barack Obama's commitment to avoiding "political interference" in Department of Justice investigations after the airport meeting. Referring back to Lynch's comments about the meeting, Earnest said Lynch understands investigations should be "conducted free of political influence and consistent with the facts." He said Obama has also made clear he expects the Department of Justice investigation into Clinton's emails to proceed without political interference. The huddle could feed into one of the biggest hurdles facing Clinton's campaign: that she's untrustworthy. Clinton herself acknowledged that challenge in unusually direct terms this week. "I personally know I have work to do on this front," she said in Chicago Monday. According to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter, the former president saw Lynch's plane on the tarmac and walked onto her aircraft. Lynch's FBI security detail did not stop Clinton and he proceeded to initiate an extended conversation that included discussion of grandchildren. Lynch was surprised to see Clinton walking onto her plane, the official said, and no Justice Department business was discussed. Speaking at a news conference in Phoenix on Tuesday, Lynch confirmed the meeting and denied the two spoke about any matter pending before the Justice Department or the Benghazi probe. She also said the former president "did not raise anything" about an ongoing case or anything of that nature. "I did see President Clinton at the Phoenix airport as he was leaving and spoke to myself and my husband on the plane," Lynch said according to CNN affiliate KNXV/ABC15 . "Our conversation was a great deal about grandchildren, it was primarily social about our travels and he mentioned golf he played in Phoenix." The former president's aide said nothing beyond Lynch's characterization of the account was discussed, and that Clinton "always" extends this courtesy when he is around cabinet secretaries, members of Congress and other dignitaries, pointing to the former president's unplanned meeting with Sen. Ted Cruz at an Alabama airport in May. Asked in Los Angeles on Wednesday whether the meeting risked the department's impartiality in its investigation, Lynch said the email probe is "being handled by career investigators and career agents who always follow the facts and the law." Top Democrats on Capitol Hill defended Lynch Thursday. "All I can say is Loretta Lynch is one of the most outstanding human beings I've ever known," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, told reporters. "Her ethics is above reproach." Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, called Lynch an "honorable person." "She has said nothing was discussed related to the investigation so you have two choices: To say this didn't matter or she's lying," Schumer said. "I think it didn't matter. I don't think she's lying." Of Hillary Clinton, Reid said: "I think she's pretty damn good." ||||| Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Bill Clinton Met Amid Email Investigation Enlarge this image toggle caption Allison Shelley/Getty Images Allison Shelley/Getty Images An unscheduled meeting between the U.S. attorney general and former President Bill Clinton at an airport in Phoenix on Monday could present some unwanted political problems for both. The former president, who was waiting to depart the state, boarded Loretta Lynch's government aircraft shortly after she landed in Arizona for a community policing event. Lynch later told reporters there the conversation centered on "his grandchildren." "It was primarily social and about our travels," including golf he played, Lynch said. Law Lawmakers Question Loretta Lynch On Clinton Email Probe Lawmakers Question Loretta Lynch On Clinton Email Probe Listen · 2:04 2:04 Hillary Clinton Outlines Bill Clinton's Possible New Role Hillary Clinton Outlines Bill Clinton's Possible New Role Download · 5:26 5:26 The attorney general insisted, "There was no discussion of any matter pending for the department or any matter pending for any other body." The Justice Department and FBI are investigating the security of Hillary Clinton's private email server, which she used to conduct official business as secretary of state. There's no public sign Hillary Clinton has been interviewed by federal agents, but the matter is growing ever more sensitive, as she prepares to secure the Democratic presidential nomination at her party's convention next month. Answering a reporter's question about the appearance of impropriety over the unscheduled meeting on the tarmac, Lynch said the State Department email matter is being handled by career agents and prosecutors "who always follow the facts and the law and do the same thorough independent examination in this matter that they've done in all" matters. Still, word of the meeting could fuel new calls from Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and other congressional Republicans for a special prosecutor outside the Justice Department chain of command to lead the email investigation. The controversy has trailed Hillary Clinton for more than a year. She has said the use of a private server was a mistake. But her closest aides have been subjected to questioning from federal investigators and conservative watchdogs like Judicial Watch. Just this week, Huma Abedin, Clinton's former deputy chief of staff and now a key campaign operative, told Judicial Watch lawyers she didn't recall talks with State Department officials about Clinton's server arrangement. Abedin added in the deposition that "it wasn't a secret that [Clinton] was using this email address to be communicating with U.S. government officials, because they were receiving emails from her."

– As the FBI and Justice Department probe the Hillary Clinton email saga, two people who probably shouldn't have met did just that Monday. Bill Clinton was waiting to depart Phoenix's airport when Attorney General Loretta Lynch landed for a community event—and so Clinton ambled across the tarmac and onto her aircraft, a move that's made "Democrats groan" and Republicans cry conflict of interest, Politico notes. "There was no discussion of any matter pending for the department or any matter pending for any other body," Lynch later told reporters, per NPR, saying the "primarily social" visit focused on travel, Clinton's grandkids, and even his golf game. She adds email and Benghazi were two subjects that never arose and that her husband was also present, CNN reports. But news of the get-together prompted criticism from Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, who's long led GOP claims that a Democratic DOJ probe into Clinton's email woes won't be on the up-and-up. "An attorney cannot represent two parties in a dispute and must avoid even the appearance of conflict," he tweeted Thursday. And while some top Dems rushed to Lynch's defense—Chuck Schumer calls her "an honorable person" who wouldn't lie about this, and Harry Reid says that "no one could ever question her… strong feelings about the rule of law and her ethics," per the Hill—others say the situation should've been avoided. "I think [Lynch] should have steered clear, even of a brief, casual social meeting with the former president," Delaware Sen. Chris Coons told Alisyn Camerota of CNN, adding it sent "the wrong signal." And former Obama adviser David Axelrod tweeted Thursday that while he took the two at their word, it was "foolish to create such optics." CBS News reporter Paul Reid, meanwhile, calls the development "shocking" and says Lynch is "no shrinking violet." "She's stood up to El Chapo, she has taken on FIFA—she is not incapable [of] telling someone, 'Look, you can't come on my plane,'" he notes.

I'mma let you finish, but Kanye West made the best "I'mma let you finish" joke at the Grammys Sunday night. He walked up on stage when Beck won Best Album of the Year over Beyoncé (and other lesser individuals), and Jay Z's face went through every human emotion in a matter of three seconds. Of course, this hails back to the 2009 MTV VMAs, when West interrupted Taylor Swift's win to declare Beyonce's "Single Ladies" "one of the best videos of all time." Swift has gotten her own share of references in over the years, though there is now delightful photo evidence that the two have made peace. In a recent interview in Elle, Swift's alleged nemesis Katy Perry referenced the tension between the two. "As pop figures, we're all characters. And the media uses that," Perry said. "Who is the sweetheart, who is the villain? You know. Taylor's the sweetheart. Kanye's the villain. That's the narrative." Anyway, that was the narrative. As Twitter user @alexandergold put it: "Another war ended while Obama was in office." ||||| Beck watches Kanye West, who “pretended” to take the stage after Beck won album of the year for “Morning Phase.” (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters) During a very gloomy Grammy Awards, the Internet perked up when Kanye West appeared to pull a Kanye West and stormed the stage in protest of Beyoncé not winning one of the biggest prizes of the night — album of the year — which went to Beck for “Morning Phase.” However, Kanye grinned, his wife Kim Kardashian grinned; even Jay Z and Beyoncé looked mildly horrified but eventually started laughing. It was all a big joke, right? Uh, maybe not. A few minutes after the ceremony ended, Kanye stopped by E!’s Grammy after-show with Kim and shared his true feelings about Beck’s win over Queen Bey. The gist: He was not pleased. “Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé,” he said, adding: “Y’all know what it meant when ‘Ye walked on the stage.” [Beck was a poorly chosen target for Kanye’s rant about ‘artistry’] So, looks like he wasn’t so happy. We can’t really capture Kanye’s thoughts (who could?) so instead, here’s his entire rant (this one definitely qualifies as a rant) in which he questions the entire point of the Grammy Awards: I just know that the Grammys, if they want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We ain’t gonna play with them no more. “Flawless,” Beyoncé video. And Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé and at this point, we tired of it. Because what happens is when you keep on diminishing art and not respecting the craft and smacking people in the face after they deliver monumental feats of music, you’re disrespectful to inspiration. And we as musicians have to inspire people who go to work every day. And they listen to that Beyoncé album and they feel like it takes them to another place. Then they do this whole promotional event, that, you know, they’ll run the music over somebody’s speech, the artist, because they want a commercial advertising. Like no, we not playing with them no more. And by the way, I got my wife, I got my daughter, and I got my clothing line so I’m not going to do nothing to put my daughter at risk — but I am here to fight for creativity. That’s the reason why I didn’t say anything tonight. But y’all know what it meant when ‘Ye walked on the stage. Kim, on the other hand, said she wished that her husband had in fact fully stormed the stage. Her sister, Khloe, (one of the co-hosts of the Grammy after-show because the Kardashians essentially own E!) agreed and noted he always has next year. “I want you to fight for creativity and you’re right,” Khloe said. “All hail Beyoncé. Queen Bey.” MORE GRAMMYS COVERAGE: PHOTOS: Stars walk the red carpet PHOTOS: Musicians take home the prized Grammy REVIEW | 2015 Grammys: A night of old soul sure packs the blues Full recap: Complete coverage of the 2015 Grammys The only person Sam Smith didn’t thank at the Grammys deserves a lot of credit The story behind Beyonce’s dazzling, but controversial, Grammy performance of ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’ Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett: What’s the deal? Even Pharrell is not ‘Happy.’ Grammys, why so glum? Sam Smith wins the important best new artist Grammy Iggy Azalea did not win the Grammy for best rap album. But Eminem did. ||||| How did Beck feel about getting ‘Kanye’d’ at the Grammys? Turns out, the album of the year winner bows down to Beyoncé, too. “I was so excited he was coming up! He deserves to be on that stage,” the singer-songwriter told reporters about Kanye West rushing the stage before his acceptance speech Sunday. West, of course, is Queen Bey’s most ardent awards show supporter: His “Imma let you finish” interruption of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards lives in pop culture infamy. But Beck also appreciates the talent of his fellow best album nominee. “Absolutely I thought she was going to win,” he said at a Universal Music afterparty. So are there any hard feelings between Beck and the rapper, who told E! that he “should have given his award to Beyoncé” ? “You can’t please everybody. I still love him and think he’s genius,” he said. “I aspire to what he does. How many great records has he put out in the last five years, right?” • Reporting by RAHA LEWIS 2015 Grammy Awards: Kanye Jumps Onstage During Beck s Award ||||| 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. ||||| Beck's Wikipedia page was hacked to say he stole his Grammy win from Beyonce. Credit: Kevin Winter/WireImage.com; Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic Someone called the Beygency! Beck will think twice before going up against Beyonce again. The veteran singer-songwriter, 44, took home the 2015 Album of the Year Grammy for Morning Phase, surprisingly beating out the “Drunk in Love” singer’s blockbuster, critically acclaimed self-titled visual album. PHOTOS: Memorable Grammy show moments After his win, Beck’s Wikipedia page got some interesting updates that appear to have come straight out of Kanye West’s mouth. One new “fact” read, “He is the stealer of The Album of the Year award,” before noting that the “Blue Moon” singer stole the honor from “Beyonce Knowles, the Queen of the World.” The page has since been changed to read, “On February 8, 2015, at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, Morning Phase won three Grammys.” PHOTOS: Men in tuxes at the Grammys It wasn’t the first attack on the singer. When he took the stage to accept the Album of the Year Award, rapper Kanye West hopped up prepared to interrupt him before deciding against it. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images The move was reminiscent of West’s infamous 2009 MTV VMA moment when he took the microphone from Taylor Swift, declaring, “Imma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the greatest videos of all time.” PHOTOS: Wildest Grammys fashion At the Grammys, Kim Kardashian’s husband, 37, restrained himself, waiting to blast Beck until after the show. It turns out the “Only One” emcee definitely wasn’t kidding when he jumped onstage. "I just know that the Grammys, if they want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us," he told E! (via Billboard). "We ain't gonna play with them no more. And Beck needs to respect artistry, and he should've given his award to Beyonce." The father of 19-month-old North West said he controlled himself for his wife Kim Kardashian, daughter, and clothing line. PHOTOS: Best dressed Grammys stars "That's the reason why I didn't say anything tonight,” West said. “But you all know when it meant when 'Ye walked on that stage." For his part, Beck kept it classy when confronted with the rapper’s comments, saying, “I was just so excited he was coming up. He deserves to be on stage as much as anybody. How many great records has he put out in the last five years right?" As for “stealing” the award from Beyonce, 33, Beck added, “I thought she was going to win. Come on, she’s Beyonce!”

– After Beck's surprise Album of the Year win last night at the Grammys, Kanye West stormed the stage and appeared to almost interrupt Beck as he took the mic—and the Internet laughed, assuming West was making a joking reference to the 2009 VMAs when he told Taylor Swift, onstage, that Beyonce, not Swift, should have won for Best Female Video. (Beck also won his award over Beyonce.) But Kanye grinned and retreated, "his wife Kim Kardashian grinned; even Jay Z and Beyoncé looked mildly horrified but eventually started laughing. It was all a big joke, right?" writes Emily Yahr at the Washington Post. (As Us notes, Bey even appeared to say "No, Kanye, no" as West walked onstage.) Well, no, actually. No, it turns out West wasn't joking at all: At the E! Grammys after-party, he made his true feelings known, at length. Selections from his long rant: "If the Grammys want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We ain't gonna play with them no more. 'Flawless,' Beyonce video. Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyonce ... Because what happens is, when you keep on diminishing art and not respecting the craft and smacking people in the face after they deliver monumental feats of music, you're disrespectful to inspiration ... You all know what it meant when 'Ye walks on the stage." Kardashian apparently thinks her husband should have made his feelings known onstage (which she made clear on Instagram), as does West SIL Khloe, one of the E! post-show co-hosts. "I want you to fight for creativity and you’re right," she said. "All hail Beyonce. Queen Bey.” Someone even briefly edited Beck's Wikipedia page to accuse him of stealing the Grammy from Beyonce, Us notes. As for Beck, he told People he, too, expected Beyonce to win. And he's not mad at Kanye: "You can't please everybody. I still love him and think he's genius." (As for Kanye and Taylor, they made nice at the Grammys.)

Story highlights A suicide bomber targeted a NATO base, an official says At least 9 people are killed and 12 wounded in the explosion, the official says Another attack of "some significance" reported near Pakistani border Food at a NATO base appears to have been contaminated, ISAF says Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned a suicide bombing Monday at a military airfield, the latest incident in a spike in violence after the burning of Qurans by NATO troops last week. At least nine people were killed and 12 wounded in the early-morning explosion near the front gate of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force base at Jalalabad airport in eastern Afghanistan, according to Gen. Abdulla Hazim Stanikzai, the provincial police chief. There were no NATO casualties. The Taliban insurgency said the attack was in retaliation for the Quran burning and said it hoped the attacks will continue "with the anger of the public." Another attack of "some significance" was reported later Monday in Naranghar province, near the Pakistani border, said Lt. Cmdr. James Williams, an ISAF spokesman. A statement from the Taliban said its fighters also attacked U.S. troops and border police in southern Naranghar on Monday evening, claiming to have inflicted a dozen deaths on the U.S. and Afghan force while losing five of their own. But Williams said that while some insurgent casualties had been reported, there were no deaths among allied troops. The Qurans that were burned were among religious materials seized from a detainee facility at Bagram Airfield last week. U.S. President Barack Obama apologized to Karzai last week, calling the burning an inadvertent error. In a statement issued on the bombing Monday, Karzai condemned the "inhuman and un-Islamic" act and urged that "the ruthless enemy would earn nothing but growing public hatred and punishment before Allah, the Almighty." JUST WATCHED 9 killed by suicide bomb in Afghanistan Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH 9 killed by suicide bomb in Afghanistan 02:13 JUST WATCHED Quran burning protests escalate Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Quran burning protests escalate 02:51 JUST WATCHED Clinton backs Obama's Quran apology Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Clinton backs Obama's Quran apology 02:34 JUST WATCHED Sensitivity training after Quran burning Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Sensitivity training after Quran burning 03:29 Gen. John Allen, commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said insurgents tried to attack the ISAF installation and failed, instead taking more innocent lives. The Taliban also claimed Monday to be behind the poisoning of food at a dining facility at Forward Operating Base Torkham, near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. It too was a retaliatory attack, the group said. ISAF confirmed that food at the base appeared to have been contaminated over the weekend, though it was unclear whether it was deliberate. "Nobody got sick. A dining facility worker came to his leaders at the FOB and said that something had been poisoned," said Maj. David Eastburn, an ISAF spokesman. "The dining facility was shut down, and we brought in environmental health, who found traces of chlorine bleach in the coffee and fruit. Soldiers are now eating pre-prepared rations, and no one was affected. There is a full investigation that is narrowing down who was responsible." Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman in Kabul, said it's not clear whether the incident was a deliberate attempt to poison troops or "was just inadvertent, perhaps using more Clorox in the cleaning process than they should have." The Taliban has frequently exaggerated its claims or claimed responsibility for attacks that later turned out to be the work of another group. Even so, Monday's bombing and news of the contaminated food come on the heels of a week of violent protests over the Quran burning. The violence has left at least 39 people dead, including four American soldiers, and hundreds more wounded. In northern Kunduz province over the weekend, protesters attacked a police chief's office and a U.S. military base, authorities said. Some threw hand grenades at the base, known as Combat Outpost Fortitude, with resulting blasts wounding seven U.S. personnel believed to be Special Forces members, they said. Demonstrations outside the United Nations office in Kunduz on Saturday left four civilians dead and prompted the U.N. mission there to say Monday that it is temporarily relocating its international staff. Two U.S. soldiers were gunned down last week at a base in eastern Afghanistan by a man wearing an Afghan National Army uniform. Allen pulled military advisers from Afghan ministries after Saturday's shooting deaths of two other U.S. officers inside the heavily secure Ministry of Interior. Authorities are searching for the suspect, identified by Afghan police as a junior officer in the ministry's intelligence department. The suspect had been fired by the Interior Ministry but rejoined the intelligence services as a driver a couple of months ago, a senior Afghan counterterrorism official said Monday. "We do not know how he was allowed into the office, as the command and control center requires a password for access," said the official, who is not authorized to speak to the media about the topic. "There is something fishy there." The official said he believed that the gunman used a silencer on his weapon, as no one heard the gunshots. He said he doubts that an angry exchange led to the shooting, because the "way he entered was not accidental." Kirby said it's not clear whether the shooting was linked the the Quran burning. "We don't know what the motivation was behind the murders, and we don't know all the facts surrounding how this individual got into this space and frankly was able to get out as quickly and apparently as easily as he did," Kirby said Monday. Allen has told his commanders he will not authorize the return of personnel to Afghan ministries until new security measures are in place and working, according to an official who has access to the latest intelligence and is involved in administration discussions but declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the situation. The religious materials, including Qurans, were removed from a detainee center library at Bagram Airfield because they had "extremist inscriptions" on them and there was "an appearance that these documents were being used to facilitate extremist communications," a military official said. The ensuing attacks have put pressure on already strained U.S.-Afghan relations at a time when the United States is working to reduce troop levels and transition security as part of its plan to withdraw by 2014. Pentagon officials on Monday acknowledged the significance of the attacks but denied they are affecting the U.S. or NATO mission there. "These events, they're troubling. They're worrisome. They've gotten everybody's attention," Kirby said. "Yes, tension is high here in Kabul right now, but across the country at large, the mission continues, and we're seeing the protest activity decline." The number of protests in Afghanistan has gone from 24 on Saturday to three on Monday, only two of which were because of the Quran burning, Kirby said. ||||| A suicide car bomber has struck at the gates of Jalalabad airport in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, killing nine people in an attack insurgents said was revenge for U.S. troops burning Qurans. The early Monday explosion comes after six days of deadly protests in Afghanistan over the disposal of Qurans and other Islamic texts in a burn pit last week at a U.S. military base north of the capital. American officials have called the incident a mistake and issued a series of apologies. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has urged calm, saying that Afghans should not let the insurgents capitalize on their indignation to spark violence. Monday's attack appeared to be a sign that the Taliban are seizing the opportunity to do just that. The bomber drove up to the gates of the airport _ which serves both civilian and international military aircraft _ shortly after dawn and detonated his explosives in a "very strong" blast, said Nangarhar provincial police spokesman Hazrad Mohammad. Among the dead were six civilians, two airport guards and one soldier, Mohammad said. Another six people were wounded, he said. An AP photographer saw at least four destroyed cars at the gates of the airport. NATO forces spokesman Capt. Justin Brockhoff said that no international forces were killed in the early morning attack and that the installation was not breached by the blast. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying a suicide car bomber had driven up to the airport gate and detonated his explosives as international forces were changing from night to morning guard duty. "This attack is revenge against those soldiers who burned our Quran," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in an email. More than 30 people have been killed in protests and related attacks since the incident came to light this past Tuesday, including four U.S. soldiers. On Sunday, demonstrators hurled grenades at a small U.S. base in northern Afghanistan and the ensuing gun battle left two Afghans dead and seven NATO troops injured. Still, the top U.S. diplomat in Afghanistan said Sunday that the violence would not change Washington's course. "Tensions are running very high here, and I think we need to let things calm down, return to a more normal atmosphere, and then get on with business," Ambassador Ryan Crocker told CNN. In the most high-profile attack, two military advisers were found dead in their office at the Interior Ministry in the heart of the capital with shots to the back of their heads. The slayings inside one of the city's most heavily guarded buildings raised doubts about safety as coalition troops continue their withdrawal. The incident prompted NATO, Britain and France to recall hundreds of international advisers from all Afghan ministries in the capital. The advisers are key to helping improve governance and preparing the country's security forces to take on more responsibility. A manhunt was under way for the main suspect in the shooting _ an Afghan man who worked as a driver for an office on the same floor as the advisers who were killed, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said. He did not provide further details about the suspect or his possible motive. The Taliban claimed that the shooter was one of their sympathizers and that an accomplice had helped him get into the compound to kill the Americans in retaliation for the Quran burnings.

– At least nine people were killed and 12 injured when a suicide car bomber struck an airport in eastern Afghanistan this morning. The blast killed six civilians, two airport guards, and an Afghan soldier at Jalalabad airport, which is used for both civilian and military flights, the AP reports. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it revenge for the burning of Korans at a US base last week. At least 39 people, including four US troops, have been killed in protests over the Korans. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for another, less deadly, attack, CNN reports. The group claimed it was responsible for the poisoning of food at a military base near the Pakistan border. A NATO spokesman says contaminated food was found at Forward Operating Base Torkham after a tip-off, but nobody got sick. "The dining facility was shut down and we brought in environmental health, who found traces of chlorine bleach in the coffee and fruit," he says. "Soldiers are now eating pre-prepared rations and no one was affected. There is a full investigation that is narrowing down who was responsible."

Gwen Bush stands outside a shelter at Gotha Middle School in Orange County, Monday, morning, Sept. 11, 2017, in Windermere, Fla. She'd tried to shelter from the storm at her home, though watched through... (Associated Press) Gwen Bush stands outside a shelter at Gotha Middle School in Orange County, Monday, morning, Sept. 11, 2017, in Windermere, Fla. She'd tried to shelter from the storm at her home, though watched through... (Associated Press) Florida residents braced for days for Hurricane Irma, which encompassed nearly the entire peninsula as it marched north through the state. When day broke, many got their first glimpse of the storm's destruction. Some expressed relief that they had appeared to have dodged a bullet. Others were clearly shaken by a storm more powerful than many had ever seen. Their stories provide a glimpse into the extensive reach of Irma's wrath: A NEW HOME, LEFT BEHIND Felicia Clark and Johnny Thompson spent Saturday moving into their new house in St. Petersburg, on Florida's Gulf Coast. After a long day, with forecasts on the late news showing that Irma was headed their way, they decided to leave it behind. They packed some clothes and toiletries and hopped in the car around 1 a.m. Sunday with their two dogs, Gracie and Roscoe. They headed north, making it all the way to downtown Atlanta before they found a hotel with rooms available. Caught in traffic with others who'd decided to flee the storm, the drive that should have taken about seven hours took more than 14. They've spent much of their time in Atlanta watching storm coverage on television. When Thompson took the dogs out for a walk in nearby Centennial Olympic Park on Sunday night, he met numerous other evacuated Florida residents. Clark and Thompson were worried about their new home, but word finally arrived from family members who stayed behind. Some tree limbs fell in their yard, but the house wasn't damaged. ___ GRATEFUL BUT WORRIED Gwen Bush watched from her window early Monday morning as the water rose around her central Florida home. She had been sitting in darkness for hours as she listened to trees snap and water bubble. When it began to seep under her front door, she thought of the scenes of Hurricane Harvey in Texas that she had seen on TV. "I was scared to death, I thought I was gonna die," she said. "I can't swim and the water kept rising; it was all the way up to my windows. I actually thought I was not going to live through this. I started praying." Bush saw the National Guard and firefighters outside with boats and big trucks. She grabbed a hurricane kit she'd packed the day before, pushed open the door, and waded through thigh-deep water to reach the rescuers, who took her to a shelter a few miles (kilometers) away. As day broke, she was grateful to be alive — but worried about the future. She had frantically tried to stack her belongings on top of beds and cabinets as the water rushed in, but she assumes she probably lost almost everything in her rented home. Bush, 50, works as a security guard at a sports and music venue in Orlando, and only gets paid when she works. Concerts and shows have been canceled in the days leading up to the storm, and she's not sure when she'll be able to get back to work. As the storm closed in, she spent the last $10 she had on food and water. now she has nothing left but the red sweatsuit she escaped in. Even her shoes were ruined by the water and muck. "How are we gonna survive from here?" she asked. "What's going to happen now? I just don't know." ___ WORSE THAN ANDREW West of Miami, in Sweetwater, the din of chainsaws and generators filled the Monday morning air. Irma's floodwaters had inundated streets and lapped at people's doors as the storm stomped through, but mostly receded a day later. Fallen trees lined streets along with cars that got stuck in floodwaters. On the town's main drag, weary-eyed residents cleared branches, while city trucks with giant metal claws plucked away bigger debris. Jesus Castillo, 50, said at least a foot (0.30 meters) of water pooled outside his home. "My entire patio was underwater," he said. Around the corner, a group of friends helped a woman clear a large tree that had splintered like a toothpick. Over the backyard fence, 62-year-old Bayardo Perez wrestled with a mangled tin shed roof. He has lived in the house for decades and carries memories of previous storms. "This one was worse than Andrew for me," he said, finally getting the crumpled roof free and walking off to throw it on a pile of debris. ___ SWAMPED BUT RESILIENT In Bonita Springs, on the Gulf Coast south of Fort Myers, Kelly McClenthen and her boyfriend, Daniel Harrison, put on waders to enter her neighborhood Monday and they needed them: About 5 feet (1.5 meters) of river water stood under her home, which is on stilts. The main living area was fine, she said, but everything on the ground level was destroyed. "My washer and dryer are floating around in my utility room," she said. The same area flooded during a storm about two weeks ago, Harrison said, and that cleanup was still a work in progress. Now they'll start over. "We weathered it out. We've got a lot of damage, a lot of cleanup. But we'll get through it. No doubt," said Harrison. ___ SEEKING SHELTER AND TRYING TO KEEP DRY At Germain Arena in Estero, south of Fort Myers, where thousands sought shelter from the storm, people sat amid puddles on the concrete floor Monday morning. Rainwater leaked at the height of the storm. "Irma went over and we were all like, 'Oh good, we survived.' And then all of a sudden, some of the panels came off the roof, I guess, and we started getting water pouring down in different places," said evacuee Mary Fitzgerald, 61. "It was like, 'Oh my God, what is going to happen?'" The water stopped coming in after the eyewall passed, and people were streaming out to go check on their homes as the sun came up. ___ Associated Press writers Jay Reeves in Bonita Springs and Estero, Florida; Claire Galofaro in Windermere; Jason Dearen in Sweetwater, Florida; and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report. ||||| MIAMI (AP) — Once-fearsome Hurricane Irma weakened Monday to a still-dangerous tropical storm as it spread high winds and rain across the Southeast, one day after engulfing most of the Florida peninsula. Both of Florida's coasts were pounded by storm surges, thousands of its residents remain in shelters and millions of homes and businesses around several states are without power. IRMA, WHAT'S NEXT? Still hundreds of miles (kilometers) wide, the huge storm system is dumping very heavy rain into southern parts of Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama with Mississippi and Tennessee to follow. By Monday afternoon, the former Category 5 hurricane had top sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph) as it continued weakening while heading into south Georgia. The storm's core was centered about 2 p.m. EDT about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south-southeast of Albany, Georgia. ___ THE DAMAGE Irma wreaked havoc over nearly the entire Florida peninsula from the southernmost Keys to the Georgia line, from the Atlantic to the Gulf coasts. It swamped homes, uprooted massive trees, flooded streets, cast boats ashore, snapped power lines and toppled construction cranes. Flooding triggered home evacuations in parts of Jacksonville, north Florida, and caused damage in the Orlando area at the center of the state. The full breadth of the damage remains unclear, particularly in the hard-hit Keys, where communications and travel were still difficult. Though the majority of the outages were in Florida, more than 7 million homes and businesses lost power during Irma's passage. ___ THE DEATH TOLL One death in Florida, of a man killed in an auto accident during the storm, has been blamed on Irma. At least 36 people were left dead in the storm's wake across the Caribbean. __ WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE FLORIDA KEYS? The Navy is sending an aircraft carrier to Key West to provide emergency services. An update from Monroe County describes "an astounding recovery effort" taking place in the Florida Keys , where there was no water, power or cellphone service after the storm. The USS Lincoln aircraft carrier will be anchored off Key West to provide emergency services, and three other Navy vessels are en route. Officials said the National Guard has arrived in the island chain, and state transportation officials have cleared six of 42 bridges as safe for travel. However, roads remain closed because of debris. ___ FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS Big airports in Florida remain closed, and flight cancellations are spreading along the track of Tropical Storm Irma outside Florida. More than 3,800 U.S. flights scheduled for Monday were canceled by late morning — and more than 9,000 since Saturday — according to tracking service FlightAware. Delta Air Lines is scrapping 900 flights Monday, including many at its Atlanta hub. American Airlines said it won't resume flights in Miami until at least Tuesday while canceling 300 flights in Charlotte, North Carolina, due to wind. ___ SOUTHEAST SCHOOL CLOSINGS, SHELTERS Schools and businesses were closed across Alabama as Irma moved inland. Many classrooms also were closed in Georgia as it was under a tropical storm warning much of Monday. Hotels across Alabama also filled up with evacuees from Florida. ____ HURRICANE NEWSLETTER — Get the best of the AP's all-formats reporting on Irma and Harvey in your inbox: http://apne.ws/ahYQGtb

– Florida residents braced for days for Hurricane Irma, which encompassed nearly the entire peninsula as it marched north through the state. When day broke, many got their first glimpse of the storm's destruction. Some expressed relief that they'd appeared to have dodged a bullet. Others were clearly shaken by a storm more powerful than many had ever seen. The AP collects their stories here. As of Monday morning, Irma had been downgraded to a tropical storm, and a separate AP story has related details: Damage: Irma wreaked havoc over nearly the entire Florida peninsula, from the southernmost Keys to the Georgia line, from the Atlantic to the Gulf coasts. It swamped homes, uprooted massive trees, flooded streets, cast boats ashore, snapped power lines, and toppled construction cranes. Flooding triggered home evacuations in parts of Jacksonville in northern Florida, and caused damage in the Orlando area at the center of the state. The full breadth of the damage remains unclear, particularly in the hard-hit Keys, where communications and travel were still difficult. Next for Irma: Still hundreds of miles wide, the huge storm system is dumping heavy rain into southern parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama, with Mississippi and Tennessee to follow. By Monday afternoon, the former Category 5 hurricane had top sustained winds of 60mph as it continued weakening while heading into south Georgia. At 2pm EDT, the storm's core was centered about 50 miles south-southeast of Albany, Ga.

Pintauro told Oprah Winfrey that he has been keeping his diagnosis a secret for 12 years. Former child actor Danny Pintauro has revealed that he is HIV positive. Pintauro — who played Jonathan on the Tony Danza sitcom Who's the Boss? — told Oprah Winfrey during Saturday's episode of Oprah: Where Are They Now? that he was diagnosed with the virus in 2003 but has waited until now to go public with the news. "I wanted to tell you this a long time ago, but I wasn't ready — I'm ready now — that I'm HIV positive, and I have been for 12 years," Pintauro, 39, told Winfrey. "It's just a big deal. It's not something that people are talking about right now really." Pintauro, who came out as gay in 1997, explained that he had been forced out at the time by a tabloid magazine reporter. He said he is now hoping to serve as a role model for those with the virus. "I missed the opportunity to be a beacon of light for gay kids who were going through what I was going through because I was outed — it wasn't by choice," he said. Pintauro explained that he was initially worried that the diagnosis would mean that he would have trouble starting a romantic relationship. In 2014, Pintauro married Wil Tabares, whom he met after his diagnosis. Pintauro, who also detailed his previous crystal meth abuse during the interview, added that learning he is HIV positive actually provided him with a feeling of calm. "There was a sense of relief," he said. "You've spent so much time terrified that you're going to get it, and then you have it, and you don't have to be terrified anymore." A clip from the interview can be seen below. Email: Ryan.Gajewski@THR.com Twitter: @_RyanGajewski ||||| Who's the Boss Star Danny Pintauro is a married man! The 38-year-old actor wed Wil Tabares on Thursday in a small beach ceremony in Dana Point, CA, People magazine reports. VIDEO: Growing Pains Star Talks Life After Stardom The two reportedly got engaged in 2013 in Palm Springs after a year of dating. Pintauro is best known for playing Jonathan Bower on the long-running '80s family sitcom, which also starred Tony Danza, Alyssa Milano and Judith Light.

– Danny Pintauro, who played Jonathan on Who's the Boss?, revealed a big secret when he went on Oprah Winfrey's Oprah: Where Are They Now? "I wanted to tell you this a long time ago, but I wasn't ready—I'm ready now—that I'm HIV-positive, and I have been for 12 years," said Pintauro, 39, per the Hollywood Reporter. The former child star came out as gay in 1997. "It's just a big deal," he said of his diagnosis. "It's not something that people are talking about right now really," and he hopes to be a role model for others with HIV. (Pintauro got married last year.)

The latest version of Adobe Flash Player is required to watch this video. Please click on the link below to download the latest version. Thanks! Evangelist Billy Graham said he "appreciates" Chick-fil-A for speaking out against gay marriage and "never compromising" its Christian values. Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy has been under attack since he said his company is "guilty as charged" for supporting biblical values and traditional marriage. Social media has lit up with reaction to the ordeal, with some customers -- and companies -- deciding to nix ties with Chick-fil-A. "I want to express my support for my good friends Truett Cathy and his son Dan Cathy, and for their strong stand for the Christian faith," Graham said in a press release Thursday. "Each generation faces different issues and challenges, but our standard must always be measured by God's word," he continued. "I appreciate the Cathy family's public support for God's definition of marriage." Graham went on to commend Chick-fil-A for its company vision and customer service. "It's easy to see why Chick-fil-A has become so popular across America," he said. Meanwhile, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has deemed Wednesday, Aug. 1 "National Chic-fil-A Appreciation Day." Graham said he plans to show his support by visiting Chick-fil-A that day. Franklin Graham also applauded the chicken giant for having the "courage" to take a "bold stand" against same-sex marriage. "In the words of the bold, biblical prophet Daniel who refused to bow to the evil culture of his day: 'The people who know their God will display strength and take action,'" Franklin Graham said. Join the #ISupportChickfilA Twitter campaign. Tweet us @CBNNews your reason for supporting Chick-fil-A. ||||| Robert Macpherson/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The furor over Chick-fil-A’s stance on same-sex marriage continued to grow Thursday as thousands of people on both sides of the debate took to Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms to voice their disdain or support for the fast-food chain. Protesters also showed up at the company’s food trucks on Thursday and the Rev. Billy Graham waded into the discussion, thanking the owners of the fast-food chain for speaking out against same-sex marriage and “never compromising” the company’s Christian values. As my colleague Kim Severson writes, a chicken sandwich “is fast becoming the culinary symbol of one of the country’s major social issues.” Some people were baffled by the level of passion that surrounded much of the talk of chicken sandwiches. Can someone please tell me why people are boycotting Chick Fil A? — KING KADY (@KINGKadyCakes) 26 Jul 12 Ms. Severson explains that there have been small protests in past years at Chick-fil-A’s restaurants, prompted by the millions of dollars in donations that the chain’s owners have made to organizations fighting same-sex marriage. But now the chain, which is based in Atlanta, is facing a nationwide boycott of its 1,600 restaurants, plans for a same-sex kiss-in on Aug. 3 organized on Facebook and threats by some city officials to block the opening of new stores since the company’s president Dan T. Cathy said in an interview this month that Chick-fil-A supported “the biblical definition of the family unit.” Led by Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, conservatives are fighting back, defending the food chain. Last weekend, Mr. Huckabee declared Aug. 1 Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day. He reported on Thursday that the movement was gaining support. Rick Santorum, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination, also jumped in on the discussion, posting on Twitter that he not only supports Mr. Huckabee’s efforts but brought his children to Chick-fil-A on Wednesday. I’m joining @GovMikeHuckabee to support @ChickFilA Aug 1. Stand w us! RSVP now: http://t.co/52Yqmu7B #chickfila Pls RT — Rick Santorum (@RickSantorum) 25 Jul 12 With two of my boys, Enjoying chick-in-strips and an awesome peach shake at Chick-fil-A. See you here next Wednesday! — Rick Santorum (@RickSantorum) 25 Jul 12 Three older kids @sarah_santorum @dansantorum @johnsantorum just joined us at Chick-fil-A. They like Chick-fil-A sauce on everything! — Rick Santorum (@RickSantorum) 25 Jul 12 In a statement, Mr. Graham said he appreciated the Cathy family’s public support for “God’s definition of marriage.” “I also appreciate Gov. Mike Huckabee’s leadership and for encouraging Americans to support Chick-fil-A on Aug. 1,” Mr. Graham said. “As the son of a dairy farmer who milked many a cow, I plan to ‘eat mor chikin’ and show my support by visiting Chick-fil-A next Wednesday.” On Facebook, the Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas put out a statement in support of Chick-fil-A on his Facebook page. Beyond politicians and religious leaders, conservatives took up Chick-fil-A’s defense, posting on Twitter in droves, urging people to support the restaurants and, in some cases, including images of themselves with sandwiches. Give Chick-fil-a Your business. Support with your $$ to show Libs who the majority is n this nation. #tcot — di kele (@Pudingtane) 26 Jul 12 Or, as in this post, a photo of distributing chicken sandwiches to the homeless. RT @Gunnerguy1911: Support Chick-fil-A and help the feed the homeless ——-> http://t.co/rP1fyL0U #DisruptTheNarrative. #TeaParty — kris (@Kriskxx) 26 Jul 12 In response to the criticizing of Chick-fil-A by city officials in Chicago, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel, saying the company did not share the same values as the people of Chicago, this Twitter user directed his message to the mayor and a City Council member. @Alderman_Moreno @RahmEmanuel At Chick-Fil-A on Chicago Avenue. Place is rocking. Stop by. #ChickFilA #tcot http://t.co/ST7FUGbH — Bad Mayo (@Bad_Mayo) 26 Jul 12 On the other side of the debate, people shared photos of protests at the food trucks — and warnings that those chicken sandwiches contain a lot of fat and cholesterol. HRC protested Chick-fil-A’s new food truck in Washington, D.C. today. Here’s a great photo. http://t.co/thZvjTaL — The Advocate (@TheAdvocateMag) 26 Jul 12 Love conquers hate. Stand with @hrc against chick-fil-a. Sign the pledge: http://t.co/Gy04q7CT http://t.co/FOD4tGGC — HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) 26 Jul 12 Do not support chick-fil-a! They are against gay marriage. Every dollar you spend there goes towards anti-gay social activist organizations — Jerry (@jboxer123) 26 Jul 12 Then, this advice: ||||| I stand with Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A is privately owned by the Cathy family. The company president, Dan Cathy, drew the wrath of gay rights advocates and supporters when he made recent statements that some have alleged are anti-gay. Cathy told Baptist Press that the company was unapologetically in favor of traditional marriage. “Guilty as charged,” he said. “We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.” In a separate interview on the Ken Coleman Show — Cathy suggested that the nation could face God’s wrath over the redefinition of marriage. “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,’” Cathy said. “I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we would have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is all about.” ||||| 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

– What will you tell your children when they ask you what you were doing during the Great Chicken Wars of 2012? Since the conservative Christian Chick-fil-A franchise has been pecked at by liberal politicians, protesters, and even the Muppets for opposing gay marriage, now conservatives lending their support to the chicken chain, reports the New York Times. In addition to Mike Huckabee, who declared Aug. 1 "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day"—187,000 RSVPs so far—now tweets and messages of support are pouring in from the likes of Rick Santorum; Rev. Roger Oldham, spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention; and even Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. Evangelist Billy Graham has waded into the debate, too, saying he "appreciates" Chick-fil-A for not compromising its values, according to CBN News. "I want to express my support for my good friends Truett Cathy and his son Dan Cathy, and for their strong stand for the Christian faith," wrote Graham in a statement. (It turns out the US is not the only country that gets political about its chicken...)

Near the scene of a bombing in Chelsea that injured 29 people. Investigators want to know who caused the blast and whether a second device found was a bomb. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg MANHATTAN — An explosion rocked Chelsea Saturday night, injuring 29 people on West 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue. A second bomb was found four blocks away at West 27th Street, but it did not go off. Authorities have since connected those bombs with others found in New Jersey. Here's what we know and what questions remain unanswered: ► What happened? At 9:30 a.m. Saturday, a pipe bomb exploded inside a garbage can in Seaside Park, N.J., along the route of a 5K charity race for the Marine Corps. That race had been delayed and no one was injured by the blast. At 8:30 p.m. that same night, a bomb went off next to a Dumpster on West 23rd Street near Sixth Avenue. And shortly after, police found a second device — a pressure cooker with a cellphone taped to it — four blocks away, on West 27th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues. At 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, two men found a backpack in a garbage can in a NJ Transit train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey. When they opened it they found five pipe bombs inside and called police. Authorities later used a robot to attempt to disable the bombs and accidentally detonated one. About an hour later, at 10:30 p.m., police stopped a vehicle on the Belt Parkway near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge believed to belong to the family of Afghanistan-born Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, of Elizabeth. They are questioning people inside in connection to the attacks. Monday morning, authorities raided Rahami's home and released a wanted poster with his photo, saying they wanted to question him in connection to the attacks. Rahami was been described as armed and dangerous. Later that morning, Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested after a shoot-out in Linden, New Jersey - about four miles from Elizabeth — officials said. ► What caused the blast? Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed that the Chelsea explosion was "an intentional act" caused by a bomb. NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said investigators found "components indicative of an IED." Other explosives appeared to be pipe bombs. ► What is an IED? An IED is an Improvised Explosive Device. A bomb. ► Were the other devices also IED bombs? The device found, undetonated, in the garbage can on West 27th Street was a pressure cooker with a cellphone taped to it and shrapnel inside. The NYPD used a robot to retrieve the device and then took it up to their facility in Rodman's Neck in The Bronx to examine it, police said. The device was rendered safe, and its components were sent to the FBI's facility in Quantico, Virginia. The FBI was also examining the cellphone. The device that exploded in Seaside Park, N.J., is believed to be a pipe bomb, as are the devices found in the backpack in the Elizabeth, N.J. train station. ► Are the incidents believed to be connected? While investigators initially said they did not believe the incidents were the work of the same individual or individuals, they now believe they are connected. ► Was it terrorism? Initially, Mayor Bill de Blasio said there was no specific or credible evidence to link the incident to terrorism, but the motive for the bombing remained unclear. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday morning that there were no links to "international terrorism," but it wasn't clear whether there was a domestic terror link. He also said the incident met the general definition of an act of terrorism. ► Were there any injuries? Twenty-nine people were injured in the Chelsea blast and taken to area hospitals. One person was seriously injured, though none of the injuries was considered life-threatening. Eleven people were treated and released from Bellevue Hospital by Sunday morning, the hospital said on Twitter. Eight people were taken to Lenox Health Greenwich Village, five to NYU Langone Medical Center and four to Mt. Sinai Saint Luke's Hospital. Three people refused medical attention at the scene. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said all of the victims had been released from hospitals by Sunday morning. No one was injured in the other incidents. ► Where were the bombs found? D. Street and Ocean Ave., Seaside Park N.J. 131 W. 23rd St. between Sixth and Seventh avenues, Chelsea West 27th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, Chelsea The NJ Transit station, Elizabeth, N.J., ► Are those locations significant? O'Neill said investigators were looking into whether there was any significance to the sites, but none was yet identified. ► Is there a suspect? Has there been an arrest? Ahmad Khan Rahami was arrested in Linden, New Jersey, on Monday morning, officials said. Rahami had posted multiple references to jihad on his website, law enforcement sources said. ► What law enforcement agencies are involved? The NYPD, the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other related law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident. On Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo deployed 1,000 State Police and National Guardsmen to the city in an "abundance of caution." ► Will New Yorkers see more law enforcement in the city? Yes. The mayor and the governor have deployed police and other law enforcement officials to key sites in the city. Straphangers can expect increased bag searches in the subway, officials said. ► How are people taking it? New Yorkers for the most part remained calm Saturday night. Pizza orders were coming fast and furious to a Domino's pizza across from the blast site. ► Have there been street closures? Yes. According to the Office of Emergency Management: • 1 Train service has resumed making normal stops at 23rd Street and 28th Street in Manhattan • E and F Trains have resumed making normal stops at 23rd Street in Manhattan • Northbound traffic on 6th Avenue has reopened at 14th Street • Southbound traffic on 7th Avenue has reopened at 34th Street • All crosstown traffic (eastbound and westbound) has reopened from West 14th Street to West 23rd Street between 5th Avenue and 8th Avenue • West 23rd Street remains closed between 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue ► Has public transit been affected? Yes. Here's how: • NJ Transit and Amtrak were suspended overnight and are expected to have delays and schedule modifications through the day Monday. F trains are bypassing the 23rd Street station. As an alternative, take the N or the R train to 23rd Street, the MTA said. E trains are running on the F line and bypassing the 23rd Street station. 1 trains are bypassing the 23rd and 28th Street stations. As an alternative, riders can take the A or the C trains to 23rd Street, the MTA said. M5, M7 and M23 buses are detoured in both directions, due to NYPD Activity at 23 Street between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, according to the MTA. Detour is as follows: M5 and M7 Northbound : Via Sixth Avenue, left on 14th Street, right on Eighth Avenue, right on 34th Street, left on Sixth Avenue and regular route. M23 Eastbound: Via 23rd Street, right on Ninth Avenue, left on 14th Street, left on Fourth Avenue, right on 23rd Street and regular route. M23 Westbound : Via 23rd Street, right on Madison Avenue, left on 34 Street, left on Ninth Avenue, right on 23rd Street and regular route. X1 Manhattan Bound : Via Sixth Avenue, left on 14th Street, right on Eighth Avenue, right on 34th Street, left on Sixth Avenue and regular route. CLICK HERE FOR TRANSIT UPDATES FROM THE MTA Full service is expected to resume on the subways by Monday morning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. ► Where can I read more about this? Here is a roundup of DNAinfo New York's coverage: ||||| SEASIDE PARK -- Authorities say they have not yet apprehended a suspect after a "pipe bomb-style" device went off in a garbage pail Saturday morning along the route of a 5K run and walk to benefit military soldiers. However, federal officials said they are "unaware of any known threat to public safety" to the Seaside Park community. The incident remains an active investigation by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, said Brad Cohen, the special agent in charge of the FBI office in Newark. "We're making sure there is no stone left unturned," Cohen said at a press conference outside the Seaside Park Police Department's headquarters. The motive for the explosion is unknown at this time. Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's office, said, "this does not appear to be a prank." The explosion occurred around 9:30 a.m. in a trash can along the route of the Seaside Semper Fi 5K run, which was scheduled to start at 9 a.m. The event did not start on time, Cohen said. The timing of the explosion and where the device had been placed makes it appear "somebody has a beef with the military," Della Fave said. "It was a Marine-related event. The close proximity; it's someone who has a beef with the Marines," he said. The level of sophistication of the device is not known at this time, however, Della Fave said the way in which the device was detonated will reveal a lot about its complexity. "A typical explosive device -- to generate maximum injuries -- they will often place them within an additional container like a trash can, so when it does go off, the trash can, itself, will become part of the explosive, and send shrapnel flying," said Della Fave. Multiple devices were also found "wired together" in the same garbage pail, but they did not detonate, officials said. No one was injured in the blast. The Shore area has been on alert following the incident and prompted evacuations of residences in the area where the incident occurred. Seaside Park police Chief Francis Larken said all residents will be able to return to their homes as of 6 p.m. Residents in the area of C, D and E streets near the beachfront will have to show identification, Larken said. The beaches in that area and Ocean Avenue will also be closed "until further notice," Larken said. Cohen urged members of the public who may have information to contact authorities. Anyone with information can contact 1-800-CALLFBI and select option 1. If anyone has information regarding #Seaside Park incident please call 1-800-CALLFBI Option 1 #FBI #FBINewark -- FBI Newark (@FBINewark) September 17, 2016 NJ Advance Media reporter Alex Napoliello contributed to this event. Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook. ||||| (CNN) For New York's newest police commissioner James O'Neill, the Chelsea explosion was his initiation into the new job. The blast, which wounded 29 people on Saturday night, and the discovery of a pressure cooker device set the city on edge on what should've been a vibrant night on Manhattan's west side. At the late night news conference where authorities announced their initial findings, O'Neill took the mic to reassure residents the NYPD was on full alert and an investigation underway. But his was an unfamiliar face to most. Saturday marked his first full day on the job as the city's 43rd commissioner, succeeding William Bratton. O'Neill was sworn in Friday -- Bratton's last day on the job. So just who is the man who oversees the largest police department in the United States? New York Police Commissioner James O'Neill (center) and Mayor Bill de Blasio walk into a press conference as police, firefighters and emergency workers gather at the scene of an explosion in Manhattan on September 17, 2016 in New York City. He's a long-time police veteran O'Neill has over three decades of experience with the force, first beginning his career in 1983 with the transit police. "He credits his time on patrol on the trains and platforms of the subway system with helping him learn how to interact and communicate with a wide range of people, a skill he regards as essential to successful police work," the NYPD website says. He gradually rose through the ranks, including as commanding officer of the 25th, 44th and Central Park precincts, followed by chief of patrol. In 2014, he was named chief of department, the NYPD's highest uniformed rank, before replacing Bratton. He's from New York Flatbush, Brooklyn to be exact. He grew up as one of seven children, later attending John Jay College. He's known to go by "Jim" or "Jimmy." He has two sons, Daniel and Christopher, and is described by the NYPD as an "avid hockey player and motorcyclist." Mayor Bill de Blasio, center, and New York Police Commissioner James O'Neill, center right, speak during a press conference near the scene of an explosion on West 23rd street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, in New York, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. Crime down but challenges ahead He's inherited a record low crime rate, thanks to Bratton's tenure, but will have to grapple with other significant challenges, especially surrounding issues of race and terrorism. O'Neill has a demonstrated track record when it comes to racial relations. He pioneered the idea of neighborhood policing, or building relationships between police officers and the community to increase trust -- and not long after stepping up to Chief of Department, he handled the protests around Eric Garner's death and the subsequent assassinations of two detectives. He's said he will focus on reconnecting the police force and residents. "Fighting crime is what we get paid to do," O'Neill said, according to the NYPD website. "But we can't do that unless we achieve full partnership with the community. Unless we have that connectivity, it's not going to work." ||||| A 911 caller issued a chilling warning moments after the Saturday night bomb that rocked Chelsea — saying, “There will be more.’’ “I’m looking at the explosion down the block. There will be more,” the unidentified male caller threatened, law enforcement sources told The Post on Sunday. As the suspect behind the terrifying blast that injured 29 people remained on the loose, officials revealed similarities between the pressure-cooker bomb that blew up on West 23rd Street, a similar undetonated device found on West 27th Street, and the pipe bomb that exploded hours earlier at the Jersey Shore. All three bombs were fitted with old-school, mobile flip phones as their triggering devices — and one source said officials suspect the same person planted the New York and New Jersey devices. On Sunday night, sources told CNN that surveillance footage showed a man dragging a duffel bag with wheels near the site of the explosion on West 23rd street — around 40 minutes before the blast occurred. Another video shows the same man, wheeling around what appears to be the same duffel bag, on West 27th Street about 10 minutes later, the sources said. The individual can be seen placing the bag where cops later found the unexploded bomb. After he walks away, the video shows two men removing a white garbage bag — containing the pressure cooker — and leaving it on the sidewalk. Investigators are trying to determine the relationship between the three men. A handwritten letter, a portion of which is in Arabic, was found inside a plastic bag that had held the West 27th Street device, sources said. Meanwhile, a sketch artist was called in Sunday night to work with two witnesses who told cops they saw a man who was carrying a suitcase and seemed out of place on West 32nd Street about 30 minutes before the Chelsea blast, sources said. Both Manhattan bombs were similar in design to those used in the deadly 2013 Boston Marathon attacks, which were built according to instructions from al Qaeda’s online Inspire magazine, sources said. In other developments: Mayor Bill de Blasio said a “bigger than ever” number of NYPD cops would hit the streets in response to the bombing and the UN General Assembly, where President Obama is set to speak Tuesday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was deploying an extra 1,000 state troopers and National Guard members across the state. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton issued a statement “strongly” condemning the “apparent terrorist attacks” in New York and New Jersey, and a multiple stabbing at a mall in St. Cloud, Minn. A Manhattan woman said she called 911 after spotting the bomb that didn’t explode in Chelsea, recalling what looked like “a kid’s science experiment” near her home when a friend called with news of the blast. The unexploded Chelsea bomb was taken to the NYPD firing range at Rodman’s Neck in the Bronx, where it was blown up when cops were unable to dismantle it late Sunday afternoon, sources said. Evidence from both the New York and New Jersey bombings was being sent for analysis at the FBI lab in Quantico, Va., Cuomo said. Both of the Chelsea bombs were built with pressure cookers, using Christmas lights as fuses, sources said. That method is the same one that brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev used for the bombs they detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, killing three people and wounding more than 260. But the Tsarnaevs used parts from remote-control cars as triggering devices and black powder from fireworks as explosive fuel. In addition to cellphone triggers, the Chelsea bombs — which were packed with nails and ball bearings — contained Tannerite as the explosive material, sources said. Tannerite is the brand name of a compound created in 1996 for use in exploding targets that “produces a water vapor and a thunderous boom” when shot with a high-power rifle, according to the manufacturer’s website. Explosives experts who examined the remains of the Chelsea blast believe the bomb was placed inside a Dumpster that was torn apart and blown more than 130 feet across the street, sources said. The impact of the landing is believed to have bent some of the Dumpster’s steel inward, sources said. That mangling had initially led investigators to suspect the bomb had been placed outside the container. In addition to vowing that more bombs would be used to strike the Big Apple, the 911 caller warned that attackers would also open fire with guns, a source said. Officials were investigating the validity of the caller’s claims. Police Commissioner James O’Neill said he was “of course” concerned that no one had yet been busted. “I know we’re going to find out who did this and they’ll be brought to justice,” added O’Neill, who marked his second full day succeeding former top cop Bill Bratton. The two witnesses who saw a possible person of interest in the case were dining at the Krush bar and grill on 32nd Street when they noticed the man, sources said. They called 911 around 11 a.m. and were brought to 1 Police Plaza for several hours of interviews before the sketch artist was summoned, sources said. Passers-by in Chelsea described feeling under siege by the unsolved attack and threats of more to come. “I feel afraid. My school is not too far from the explosion,” said art student Kaz Cheng, 28. “I’m terrified that I may be the next victim if it happens again around here.” Neighborhood resident Ben Brooks, 34, said it was “definitely unsettling not knowing who this person is or their motives. “ “People are freaked out. But in a city this large, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack,” he said. Retired mechanic Gus Hanwerker, 61, of the Bronx, noted that “New York is very vulnerable.” “There is so much room to do bad things. If it isn’t a terrorist, it could be one of our legions of unhinged people,” he added. Additional reporting by Shawn Cohen, Shari Logan and C.J. Sullivan ||||| At least 29 people were injured in an explosion in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City Sept. 17. Here's what we know so far. (Deirdra O'Regan/The Washington Post) NEW YORK — Dozens of people were injured Saturday night in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in an intentional bombing apparently caused by an improvised explosive device, authorities said. Twenty-nine people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the blast, which occurred on the street, according to the New York Police Department. Authorities confirmed that all 29 victims had been treated and released from hospitals Sunday morning. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Sunday that there is “no evidence of an international terrorism connection” in the explosion in Chelsea, though he stopped short of saying whoever caused the incident did not want to incite terror. “It depends on your definition of terrorism,” Cuomo said. “A bomb exploding in New York is obviously an act of terrorism, but it’s not linked to international terrorism. In other words, we find no ISIS connections.” He said later: “This is the nightmare scenario.” [Pipe bomb explodes along Jersey Shore charity 5K racecourse, officials say] Not long after the blast, police said they had found another possible explosive device just blocks away. This device appeared to be similar to a pressure cooker and had wiring on it, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. Pressure cookers were used in the two bombs detonated at the Boston Marathon in 2013. The bomb squad safely removed the second device, New York police tweeted early Sunday. Police officers, firefighters and other first responders had rushed to the scene of the blast, which closed a major roadway and forced people out of nearby buildings. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said Sunday that the explosion was “intentional,” but noted that few details were available because the investigation was in its early stages. “We know there was a bombing,” de Blasio said. “We know it was a very serious incident, but we have a lot more work to do to be able to say what kind of motivation was behind this.” He also echoed his comments from Saturday night that there was no specific, credible threat against New York from any terrorist group. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said officials will not jump to conclusions or offer "easy answers" in relation to a deliberate explosion in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood that injured nearly 30 people. (Reuters) The FBI and NYPD are trying to understand what motivation lay behind the blast. “We will look at individuals. We will look at associations. We will look at social media,” William Sweeney, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI New York Field Office, said. “Until we have that information it is not fair for us to give a conclusion [as to motivation],” DeBlasio said. “Let the law enforcement experts draw the conclusions.” Police Commissioner James O’Neill, whose first day in the position was Saturday, told reporters on Sunday that police were still gathering evidence. “We did find some components indicative of an IED… that went off intentionally,” O’Neill said. Late Saturday, police had ruled out natural gas as a possible cause of the blast. The New York Police Department’s counterterrorism bureau responded to the explosion, along with officials with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. While O’Neill said authorities were still trying to determine what, precisely, exploded, the NYPD counterterrorism bureau posted a photo online earlier Saturday showing what appeared to be a dumpster or garbage container mangled by a blast: Police in New York also reported shortly after 11 p.m. that they had found the “possible secondary device” a few blocks away from the Chelsea explosion scene, on 27th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues. Police directed people away from that intersection, and one officer could be heard telling pedestrians that “there is a possible explosive” in the area. Not long after midnight, police said in a statement that they were asking people in the area of this potential explosive to move away from their windows “until we clear the suspicious package,” although officers did not fully evacuate the area. According to the Associated Press, the second device was removed with a robot and taken to the department firing range in the Bronx. O’Neill said Sunday that two “very dedicated” former New York state troopers had responded to the initial report of the blast last night. In a search for other explosives, they had parked their vehicle on 27th Street. Walking down the block, they found the second, unexploded device, O’Neill said. Reports of another suspicious package at 28th Street and Fifth Avenue turned out to be a false alarm — the package was only garbage, J. Peter Donald, a police spokesman, posted on Twitter around 12:30 a.m. Sunday. A truck with a containment trailer pulls out. pic.twitter.com/tZ4cjxlukc — Philip Bump (@pbump) September 18, 2016 The Chelsea explosion occurred about 11 hours after a pipe bomb exploded in a Jersey Shore garbage can, shortly before a scheduled charity 5K race there benefiting Marines and Navy sailors. Authorities have said they have not yet found anything connecting the Chelsea and New Jersey incidents but are continuing to investigate. [Minnesota mall stabber was ‘a soldier of the Islamic State,’ ISIS-linked news agency claims] On Sunday, Cuomo said the “bombs” in Chelsea “appear to be different” from those discovered earlier in the day in New Jersey, though the devices from both states were being shipped to the FBI lab in Quantico for further assessment. He said the devices in New Jersey were “pipe bombs,” and those in Chelsea were not. Cuomo said agents in New York were in touch with those in New Jersey. Cuomo said officials “have no reason to believe at this time that there is any further immediate threat,” though the National Guard and the New York State Police were deploying an additional 1,000 personnel to bus terminals, airports and subways “just to err on the side of caution.” Cuomo said the blast in Chelsea “caused significant property damage,” though he a nearby subway station was structurally safe. He said law enforcement would work diligently to identify and locate those responsible. “Whoever placed these bombs, we will find, and they will be brought to justice,” Cuomo said. The explosion in the area of 23rd Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues occurred about 8:30 p.m. police said. Several of those injured were brought to area hospitals, Donald, the police spokesman, posted on Twitter. All victims were treated and released by Sunday morning, Cuomo said. A spokeswoman for Lenox Health Greenwich Village, which treated nine of the victims, said patients were treated for minor injuries that included lacerations to the head and body. Other hospitals declined to provide specifics about the extent of patients’ injuries from the explosion. Photos and accounts posted on social media Saturday night showed large crowds — as well as a large law enforcement presence — in the area near where the explosion occurred. Soleil Filomena, 64, was leaving a convenience store at Seventh Avenue and 23rd Street when she heard the explosion. “It was so loud it just went through my whole body,” she said. “People started running up 23rd Street, and I started running with them.” Filomena said she saw a “big black cloud in the sky.” After the explosion, she said her “ear was ringing for 15 minutes.” When Keith Salomon of Delaware felt the explosion, he was having dinner a block and a half from the site of the blast. His chair and table shook, he said, and he saw people being taken away in ambulances. “We didn’t know what it was and so, at first, we just kept eating,” said Salomon, 52, who was visiting his son in the city. “But then we realized something was wrong.” Others did not hear the explosion but saw the aftermath. When Jacob Schulman left his apartment a few blocks away shortly before 9 p.m., he saw people running and screaming. “I didn’t know what was going on, but everyone looked so panicked. I started running. too,” said Schulman, 26, who has lived in the neighborhood since 2014. Two blocks from the blast scene, a group of people emerged from a screening of the animated movie “Beauty and the Beast” and saw the flashing lights. One man who came out of the theater said he could not hear anything and had no idea about the explosion not far from where he was sitting. Our whole high rise building shook.23rd St & 6th Ave. More response vehicles arriving: pic.twitter.com/IgbjXgy9JD — Alexandra Sowa, M.D. (@AlexandraSowaMD) September 18, 2016 President Obama was briefed on the situation in New York and will be updated as more information becomes available, a White House official said late Saturday. Speaking in Colorado not long after the explosion, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump quickly commented on the situation before much information was known. “I must tell you that just before I got off the plane, a bomb went off in New York and nobody knows exactly what’s going on,” said Trump shortly after getting off of his plane. His comments were made before authorities confirmed the nature of the explosion. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said it was "wiser to wait" for information on the blast in New York City September 17, before reaching any conclusions about the situation. (Reuters) Late Saturday, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said it was important to “know the facts” before drawing conclusions about such incidents. Scene of the explosion this morning. pic.twitter.com/cohpujnr5j — Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) September 18, 2016 Early Sunday, posts on social media from people in New York showed the area of the explosion to be relatively calm and quiet. Authorities had closed large swaths of roads in the area Saturday night. On Sunday, several roads had reopened but there remained a large police presence in the area. Getting briefed on the scene in #Chelsea this morning by NYPD and @FBI. pic.twitter.com/fVDUfEZdXV — Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) September 18, 2016 The explosion in New York comes as foreign leaders, including many heads of state, are heading to Manhattan for the United Nations General Assembly. Secretary of State John F. Kerry arrived Saturday, while Obama is scheduled to head to the city on Monday. This annual meeting — held more than two miles from the site of the explosion in Chelsea — is traditionally a challenging time for New York, as many roads are shut down and the heavy security leads to traffic jams. The FBI still has no determination as to motive, said a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Agents are examining the detonated material from the first device as well as studying the second, which appeared to resemble a pressure cooker. They are also looking at video from security cameras, social media — “all the logical leads,” the official said. The explosion in Chelsea coincided with a separate attack that took place in Minnesota Saturday night, in which a man stabbed eight people in a St. Cloud mall before he was killed by an off-duty police officer. On Sunday, an ISIS-linked news agency claimed the mall attacker was “a soldier of the Islamic State.” An FBI spokesman said in an emailed statement that the agency had not determined whether the stabbings were related to the bombing in Manhattan the same night. Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday morning, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said there were no known links so far between the incident in New Jersey and those in New York and Minnesota. Authorities urged any witnesses with tips, video or other credible information about the explosion to call 1-800-577-TIPS. 1 of 29 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × What the scene of an explosion in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood looked like View Photos The blast in Manhattan injured 29. Caption The blast in Manhattan injured 29. Sept. 19, 2016 Police secure the area where they arrested Ahmad Khan Rahami, who was wanted in connection with bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey, after a shootout in Linden, N.J. Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. Berman and Wang reported from Washington. Renae Merle in New York and Karen DeYoung, Ellen Nakashima, Steven Overly and Sari Horwitz in Washington contributed to this report. [This is a developing story. First published: 10:10 p.m. on Saturday.] Read more:

– The one piece of good news in the wake of Saturday night's explosion in Manhattan is that all 29 people who suffered injuries in the blast are out of the hospital. Beyond that, authorities are still struggling to figure out who planted the device that NYPD chief James O'Neill compared to an IED, or improvised explosive device, near a trash container. So far, there is “no evidence of an international terrorism connection," said Gov. Mario Cuomo, per the Washington Post. He added: “A bomb exploding in New York is obviously an act of terrorism, but it’s not linked to international terrorism. In other words, we find no ISIS connections.” Related coverage: Authorities are investigating a now-deleted Tumblr page that claimed responsibility. The author used an image of a rainbow flag and said the bomb was a protest against oppression of the LGBT community, but there is no confirmation it's a legit post. See the New York Daily News. DNA Info rounds up what we know and what we don't know about the blast. In the latter category: whether a second device found was actually a bomb or just designed to look that way. Read it here. A caller to 911 immediately after the bomb went off warned of more to come, anonymous sources tell the New York Post. The explosion came on NYPD chief O'Neill's first full day on the job, and CNN has a profile of him here. The New York Times looks at how an ordinary night in Chelsea quickly turned into mayhem in this feature. There's still no arrests over the pipe bomb earlier Saturday in New Jersey. Details at NJ.com. In Minnesota, ISIS has claimed responsibility for stabbing of several people at a mall.

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. ||||| Set foot in any beach town and you might see paintings of seahorses hanging in a restaurant or plastic seahorse toys sold in stores. The mythical creatures are used as symbols of marine life around the world. Seahorses, easily recognized by their necks and long-snouted, horse-like heads, are some of the most unique animals on the planet. Not only are they monogamous, but they’re the only animal in which the males, not the females, give birth. But they’re also in trouble. When fishermen use trawl nets or other gear to catch shrimp and fish, seahorses are often scooped up along with the intended catch. This has a big impact on their population. Many of the 41 species are considered vulnerable or near threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the organization that sets the conservation status of species. Once fishermen have the seahorses in their possession, some sell them to traders who export them to other countries. About 80 countries trade in seahorses, which are traded either live or dried. Most of the dried ones end up in China and other countries in east Asia where they’re used in traditional medicine to cure everything from impotence to abdominal pain. Enough seahorses are caught as bycatch that there is little intentional seahorse fishing needed to meet international demand. Now Thailand, the largest exporter of dried seahorses, has announced that it will temporarily ban exports of the fish. The announcement came on Sept. 23 in Johannesburg at the 17th triennial meeting of CITES, the treaty governing international trade of wildlife. Thailand exports about three-quarters of all seahorses in international trade. “We’re pleased they’ve taken it seriously and will get exports under control,�? says Amanda Vincent, chair of the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish, and Stickleback Special Group. Seahorses are included in Appendix II of CITES, meaning they can only be exported if the country decides that the export won’t pose a threat to the population. But many countries haven’t done a great job of making this determination, Vincent says. That includes Thailand, which is why it’s decided to suspend exports of the fish until it figures out how to make the trade—and its fisheries—sustainable for seahorses. Vincent applauds the announcement and appreciates that it puts a spotlight on the conservation of seahorses. But she says that as long as fishing gear traps seahorses, the conservation of the species remains a concern. “As long as we have non-selective gear scraping the bottom of the ocean, other management will have minimal effect,�? she says.

– Seahorses, known not only for their funky shape but also for being monogamous and for the odd trait that it's the males who give birth, might be in more trouble than thought. It's long been known that the small fish are just one of many to get caught up in fishermen's nets, but new research in the journal Fisheries suggests that millions more than previously realized are dying every year because of the problem. Haikai magazine calls it an "accidental slaughter" of some 37 million seahorses annually, based on data gathered from surveys and field tests in 22 countries. That figure is about six times higher than previous estimates, which might help explain why many of the 41 species of seahorses around the world are now deemed vulnerable or near threatened, per National Geographic. For the most part, seahorses are not intentionally caught. Many fishermen talk about finding one a day in their nets, which they sell for roughly the cost of a pack of cigarettes because traditional Chinese medicine values the fish. But the study finds that even this low level of bycatch adds up to huge numbers, while other, less memorable small fish are probably also suffering the same fate. Compelling fishermen to stop using trawl nets isn't easy, as the lead researcher says: "These people are often very poor, and they need to feed their kids. But we're trying to find that balance to make the resources work for them." Thailand, the biggest exporter of seahorses, temporarily banned the trade last fall. (Here's why seahorses have square tails.)

Vince Vaughn Arrested for DUI Mug Shot Released Vince Vaughn Arrested for DUI, Mug Shot Released EXCLUSIVE 12:26 PM PT -- Vince Vaughn's mug shot just got released, and it looks like he was taking his arrest in stride ... showing off a slight grin. Yearbook status much? 9:30 AM PT -- According to Manhattan Beach PD, Vaughn and his passenger were stopped at the checkpoint around 12:30 AM, and asked to step out of the vehicle. Cops say both men were uncooperative and, initially, refused to get out. Once they did, Vaughn was arrested around 1 AM and booked and cited for misdemeanor DUI, as well as obstructing an officer. His passenger was booked for obstruction and public intoxication. Both men posted bail and have been released. Vince Vaughn is in jail after an early morning bust for DUI ... TMZ has learned. According to law enforcement, the actor was booked into jail around 4 AM Sunday in Manhattan Beach, CA -- about 30 minutes south of Los Angeles. We're told Vaughn is still in custody right now. The details of his arrest are still unclear, but according to a source ... he was stopped at a checkpoint while driving with a passenger in his car. If charged, this would be Vaughn's first DUI offense. We've reached out to his reps ... no word back yet. ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video Actor Vince Vaughn was arrested early Sunday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to authorities. Vaughn was stopped at a DUI checkpoint on Artesia Boulevard and Prospect Avenue, between Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach, around 12:30 a.m., according to Sgt. Matt Sabosky of the Manhattan Beach Police Department. The "Dodgeball" actor was subsequently arrested for driving under the influence and for resisting, delaying or obstructing officers, Sgt. Matt Sabosky said. An unidentified male passenger traveling with Vaughn was also arrested on charges of obstructing officers and public intoxication, Sabosky said. Additional details on the passenger were not immediately available. Regarding the charge of resisting officers, Sgt. Tim Zins, another spokesman for the Manhattan Beach Police Department, offered clarification later Sunday. He said Vaughn wasn't "fighting with officers, but more of delaying the investigation." "There was no officer use of force or anything like that," Zins said. Both men were taken to the Manhattan Beach Jail, and later left. Vaughn was issued a citation to appear in court, Sabosky stated. Details about Vaughn's bail weren't available Sunday morning. Representatives for Vaughn did not immediately respond to requests for comment. KTLA's Juan Flores contributed to this story.

– Vince Vaughn was arrested early Sunday and charged with a DUI, according to TMZ. The "Wedding Crashers" star and an unnamed male passenger were stopped at a checkpoint in Hermosa beach around 1 a.m. when authorities claim they were asked to step out of the vehicle and both allegedly were uncooperative after initially refusing the request. Per KTLA, Sgt. Matt Sabosky of the Manhattan Beach Police Department said Vaughn was placed under arrest for driving under the influence and for resisting, delaying or obstructing officers. His companion was also arrested on an obstructing charge. The men were booked in Manhattan Beach Jail and have since posted bail.

Over the past year, Michael Flynn sat down with federal investigators 19 times, answering questions and providing evidence. On Tuesday, Special Counsel Robert Mueller shared just a small amount of what he told them in a legal filing that should spook the White House. A year and three days since President Donald Trump’s former national security advisor pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, Mueller filed two brief legal documents calling for him to spend no time in prison over it. In the filings, Mueller, a decorated Marine veteran, pointedly noted that Flynn — unlike “every other person who has been charged” in the special counsel investigation — had a long record of military and public service, which made his initial lies to the government all the more confounding. But the tone of the filing was much different from Mueller’s filings on former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who reported to a federal prison camp last week, and former campaign chair Paul Manafort, who Mueller said breached a cooperation agreement. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now After a daylong buildup of anticipation to the filing of the Flynn sentencing document, it turned out to say little that wasn’t already known. In January of 2017, Flynn lied to the FBI about a conversation he had with then-Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak just a month earlier, falsely telling investigators that he hadn’t discussed sanctions with him. That conversation took place the day the Obama Administration announced it was imposing sanctions on Russia for attempting to interfere in the election, raising questions about whether he violated the Logan Act, which bars private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments about official disputes. He also lied about discussing a United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlements with Kislyak. Two months later, Flynn failed to fully disclose the nature of his work in Turkey when registering with the government as a foreign agent, omitting the fact that he had worked on a project at the direction of the Turkish government while advising the Trump campaign on national security issues. Additionally, he failed to disclose that he authored an op-ed on behalf of the Turkish government about the attempted coup, falsely stating he wrote it of his own volition. Flynn had revealed during his court appearance last year that he was cooperating with the Special Counsel’s office, but the filings reveal both the extent and the implications for the probe as a whole. Mueller noted that Flynn later worked extensively with the special counsel’s investigation, likely prompting other witnesses to be more forthcoming. “His early cooperation was particularly valuable because he was one of the few people with long-term and firsthand insight regarding events and issues under investigation,” Mueller wrote. But several parts of the addendum were blacked out in the publicly available version, including a section describing a criminal investigation, a second investigation that is entirely redacted, a portion describing interactions between the Trump transition team and Russia and a brief description of one way that Flynn cooperated. Some of Trump’s allies were quick to declare victory for the President. “Everyone’s going to focus on what has been redacted,” Rep. Mark Meadows told Fox News. “But let’s look at what’s not in there. There is no suggestion that Michael Flynn had anything to do with collusion. He was with the transition team, he was part of the campaign, and yet there’s no mention of collusion. I think it’s good news for President Trump tonight that this is what it’s come down to.” But Democrats, as well as some legal experts, disagreed. While this filing doesn’t spell out the President’s legal vulnerabilities, they argue, it provides a glimpse of the wealth of information he has accumulated about the Trump campaign’s conduct. “What this suggests is there is one more major ball to drop and we don’t know what that is,” said Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor. Rep. Adam Schiff, the likely incoming chair of the House Select Permanent Committee on Intelligence — who could, if he wanted to, reopen that investigation into Russian interference when Democrats take control in the next Congress — offered similar sentiments regarding Mueller’s fact-finding. “The recommendation of no jail time for Flynn, apart from its obvious irony for the man who led chants of ‘lock her up,’ reflects both the timeliness and significance of his help,” Schiff wrote on Twitter. “That most of the details are redacted signals he has given far more than we or the President may know.” Mariotti also said that he found the filing unusual because Mueller recommended sentencing guidelines for Flynn while continuing to rely on his help for other potential cases. Typically, he explained, prosecutors only sentence defendants who have flipped when they no longer need them, in order to avoid any backsliding. But as with former Trump fixer Michael Cohen’s sentencing hearing this week, Mueller appeared to be letting Flynn go. It does, however, divulge some new pieces of information, none of which are good for the President. We know, for instance, that Flynn has sat for 19 interviews with Mueller’s team, in addition to providing documents and other forms of communication; that the assistance Flynn provided was about contacts between Russian officials and Trump’s team during the presidential transition, but wasn’t limited to that topic; that Mueller’s team thinks Flynn’s willingness to flip helped others do the same. But the filing provides only a narrow window into Mueller’s investigation. What are likely the most informative bits of the addendum were heavily redacted in the publicly available version, according to the filings, due to “sensitive information about ongoing investigations.” The next window will open on Friday, when Mueller’s team files new documents on the sentencing of former Trump fixer Michael Cohen and campaign chair Paul Manafort. Perhaps coincidentally, Trump began the week assailing both Mueller and Cohen on Twitter. He may end it wishing he hadn’t. Write to Alana Abramson at Alana.Abramson@time.com. ||||| CLOSE Here are the important dates detailing Michael Flynn's relationship with Russia that led to his resignation. Wochit-All Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn (right) is pictured with Donald Trump during rally at Grand Junction Regional Airport on Oct. 18, 2016 in Grand Junction, Colorado. (Photo: George Frey) WASHINGTON – Prosecutors from special counsel Robert Mueller's office released a memo Tuesday evening detailing the level of cooperation by Michael Flynn, the president's former national security adviser. The 13-page document goes through the allegations against Flynn, including his lies to the FBI about contacts with Russia during the presidential transition and all the work Flynn has done behind the scenes to help Mueller's investigators in the year since taking a plea deal. Flynn is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 18. The memo is part of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether there was coordination between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign. More: Mueller inquiry: Michael Flynn has offered 'substantial' assistance to investigation; no prison time recommended Related: Read Mueller memo on Michael Flynn's cooperation in the Russia investigation Here are some of the key takeaways from the memo: No prison time? Mueller's investigators recommended that Flynn receive no prison time and cited his "substantial assistance" in the year since he began cooperating with investigators. Flynn, who called for the jailing of Democrat Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Republican convention, took a plea deal last December after being accused of lying to the FBI. Flynn admitted lying about conversations he'd had with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States. Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions with Kislyak on Trump’s behalf during the presidential transition and said members of the president’s inner circle were aware of, and in some cases directing, his efforts, according to the plea. Flynn urged Kislyak not to respond to sanctions imposed by the Obama administration in response to Russian election interference. Flynn’s FBI interview occurred in January 2017, shortly after he took his post as national security adviser in the Trump White House. He was forced to resign in February 2017. He admitted he lied to FBI agents about his work lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government. He later registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent because of the work. "Given the defendant’s substantial assistance and other considerations set forth below, a sentence at the low end of the guideline range – including a sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration – is appropriate and warranted," Mueller's team said in the memo. The request for no prison time is something of a rarity as Mueller's team hasn't made a similar request for anyone else charged in the investigation. His cooperation led to others helping Mueller Michael Flynn was one of the earliest to take a deal with Mueller's investigators, and they said it may have helped ease others into cooperating. "The defendant's decision to plead guilty and cooperate likely affected the decisions of related firsthand witnesses to be forthcoming with the SCO (special counsel's office) and cooperate," Mueller's team wrote in the memo. CLOSE Michael Flynn may be facing potential jail time but that’s not slowing down his comeback tour, for now. Nathan Rousseau Smith has the story. Buzz60 The filing states that Flynn helped "on a range of issues, including interactions between individuals in the presidential transition team and Russia." He offered "firsthand information about the content and context of interactions between the transition team and Russian government officials," Mueller's team said in the document. Many of the examples in the memo are blacked out since investigations are ongoing. Mueller's team wrote that Flynn's cooperation was "particularly valuable," given he was one of the few individuals with "longterm and firsthand" knowledge of events that the special counsel investigated. "The defendant deserves credit for accepting responsibility in a timely fashion and substantially assisting the government," Mueller's team wrote. "Shortly after the SCO reached out to the defendant to seek his cooperation, the defendant accepted responsibility for his unlawful conduct and began cooperating with the government." Helping in 'several ongoing investigations' In arguing for a lower sentence for Flynn, investigators detailed the level of his assistance over the past year. That includes his help on "several ongoing investigations," the memo states. Flynn helped on at least three investigations, including the Russia inquiry. The memo, which is partially redacted, says, "The defendant has assisted with several ongoing investigations: a criminal investigation [redacted], the special counsel's office's investigation concerning any links or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald J. Trump, [redacted]." It's not clear whether the public is aware of the redacted investigations or whether Mueller's team simply wants to keep quiet about Flynn's participation in them. Since Mueller started investigating, prosecutors with the Southern District of New York have started several investigations surrounding Trump, his family and associates. One investigation in New York led to Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, pleading guilty to multiple criminal charges and offering to help Mueller's team. 19 interviews with investigators Mueller's team said in the memo that Flynn sat down with investigators on 19 occasions. "As part of his assistance with these investigations, the defendants participated in 19 interviews with the SCO or attorneys from other Department of Justice offices, provided documents and communications [redacted]." The inclusion of Flynn meeting with prosecutors in other offices could point to the other investigations Mueller said Flynn helped on. CLOSE Former U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn plead guilty in a Washington, D.C., court Friday to making false statements to the FBI. (Dec. 1) AP Others who cooperated with Mueller's team also had lengthy interviews. Former White House counsel Don McGahn, who had extensive access to Trump, opened up to Mueller in a series of interviews. Trump said the cooperation was approved by the White House to show transparency. Steve Bannon, the president's former chief strategist, sat down with Mueller's team for at least 20 hours, and Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign aide and business partner of Paul Manafort, continued to meet with Mueller's investigators, his lawyer said in a court filing in October. Redactions mean there's more to come The lack of information in the memo almost says more than what's in the document. Some pages were almost entirely filled with black lines of redactions. Nearly half of the pages in the 13-page memo include blacked-out lines of information still under investigation by the special counsel. Investigators redacted some of the topics on the Russia investigation that Flynn helped on. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/04/michael-flynn-key-takeaways-robert-muellers-memo-cooperation/2209972002/ ||||| Washington (CNN) Michael Flynn's lawyer had it right back in March 2017 -- his client certainly has a story to tell. That special counsel Robert Mueller clearly agrees but is not ready to share the former national security adviser's tale with the American people cannot be anything but bad news for President Donald Trump and those around him. That help was so significant and timely, Mueller said in heavily redacted documents, that Flynn should serve no jail time for lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russia's envoy to the US and his business ties with Turkey. Tuesday's documents did little to add to Mueller's mosaic of ties between Trump world and Moscow, given his reticence to prejudice other investigations. But what the filing did have in common with Mueller's past practice was the sowing of new intrigues, open loops and what have become known as "breadcrumbs" that offer tantalizing clues about the direction he is headed. Mueller's filing to a district court in Washington had been seen as a potential window into his tightly held investigation of whether members of Trump's orbit had cooperated with Russia's interference effort in 2016 and another criminal investigation. It provided few definitive answers, but its line after line of blacked-out text offered eloquent testimony on the breadth of the Mueller investigation and appears to dispel expectations that he is nearly ready to wrap up. That's because he withheld the most crucial details that would have blown open the case to protect ongoing and future inquiries and potential prosecutions. "What I think here is Flynn provided information that is allowing Mueller to make a criminal case against someone," Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, told CNN's Don Lemon on Tuesday. "We don't know who that is. We can speculate or not speculate. But there is certainly somebody out there who has a criminal case that could be coming," he said. Many of Mueller's previous court filings have embroidered a rich narrative about what he knows about the effort by Moscow's spy agencies to disrupt the presidential election, which eventually developed into a preference for Trump over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, a Russia hawk. Mueller has sought to establish that multiple people around the President had contacts with Russians and their sympathizers and were dishonest about those communications. Last week, Mueller made a case that Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen was negotiating to build a Trump Tower in Moscow into June 2016 -- long after it was clear that his boss would win the GOP nomination and in contravention of the President's statements that he had no business ties with Russia. Cohen's own lawyers argued in their filings that he had kept Trump up to speed on his contacts, a factor that raised questions about the President's denials that he knew about other links between people in his inner circle and Russia. A mystery criminal investigation The most interesting disclosure was that Flynn had helped with what appears to be at least one separate, unidentified criminal investigation that is distinct from the probe into Russian election interference and any links to Trump's 2016 team. All references to that avenue of inquiry were blacked out -- an omission that is likely to spark fierce speculation about what he is referring to and who may be in his sights. There was also an unmissable line in the Flynn sentencing memo that will be viewed as a sign that the special counsel is aiming at administration officials who are more senior, even, than a former national security adviser. He wrote, while noting Flynn's exemplary military service over a long career, that nevertheless "senior government leaders should be held to the highest standards." That hint should certainly worry Trump and his top aides. Throughout the filing, Mueller stressed the value of Flynn's work in lifting the lid on what had gone on in the Trump campaign and the transition period before he was fired a few weeks into the administration, for what the White House said was lying to Vice President Mike Pence over a telephone conversation in which he had discussed sanctions with Russia's then-ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak. "His early cooperation was particularly valuable because he was one of the few people with long-term and firsthand insight regarding events and issues under investigation by the (special counsel's office)," the memo said. "Additionally, the defendant's decision to plead guilty and cooperate likely affected the decisions of related firsthand witnesses to be forthcoming with the SCO and cooperate," Mueller wrote. These remarks cannot be considered outside the context of Trump's Twitter praise for associates such as Roger Stone, who have refused to cooperate with Mueller, and criticism for those such as Cohen, who have agreed to divulge what they know in the hope of reduced sentences. Mueller appears to be sending a message to other witnesses that full disclosure will be rewarded while attempts to thwart him -- for example, by former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, whom he has accused of lying in contravention of a cooperation agreement, will be severely punished. A new challenge for Trump legal team JUST WATCHED Manafort team briefed Giuliani on Mueller meetings Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Manafort team briefed Giuliani on Mueller meetings 01:21 There was no immediate reaction to Mueller's filing by Trump or his legal team. But it is likely that the President's defenders will use the redacted documents to stick to their consistent line that the special counsel has still yet to offer any conclusive evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Yet given the vast quantity of redacted evidence in Mueller's latest filing, it appears more likely that the special counsel will find -- or already has identified -- evidence to suggest such a conspiracy did take place. The documents left unsaid who has the most to fear from Mueller. But there were few officials in the Trump campaign who were more influential or closer to the candidate and President-elect himself. After Tuesday's developments, there is certain to be fresh speculation about the potential jeopardy of key figures including Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The Flynn sentencing memo is not the only shoe to drop this week. On Friday, the special counsel is due to explain in another court filing why he believes that Manafort has lied to his investigators -- behavior that he contends should end a court-mandated cooperation agreement with the former uber lobbyist. CORRECTION: This story has been updated to include the correct characterization of Flynn from Tuesday's memo as one of the "few" people with information about the ongoing investigations.

– President Trump ought to be worried by special counsel Robert Mueller's Tuesday court filing describing Michael Flynn's "substantial" help in the probe into Russian election interference, CNN reports, highlighting one line in particular. "Senior government leaders should be held to the highest standards," Mueller writes in the 13-page document, which is heavily redacted—a sign that discoveries are still being withheld to protect ongoing and future investigations as well as potential prosecutions, per CNN. Indeed, in addition to providing information on "interactions between individuals in the presidential transition team and Russia," and claiming such individuals directed him to discuss sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the US, Trump's former national security adviser cooperated in a criminal investigation separate from the Russia probe, the filing states, per USA Today. Rep. Mark Meadows says "no mention of collusion" is "good news for President Trump," per Time, though a former federal prosecutor tells CNN he believes "Flynn provided information that is allowing Mueller to make a criminal case against someone." Mueller notes Flynn's decision to cooperate, which likely encouraged other witnesses to follow suit, "was particularly valuable because he was one of the first people with long-term and firsthand insight regarding events and issues under investigation." These words differ greatly from those Mueller has used to describe Paul Manafort, suggesting "full disclosure will be rewarded while attempts to thwart him … will be severely punished," CNN reports, mentioning "Trump's Twitter praise for associates such as Roger Stone, who have refused to cooperate with Mueller" and his criticisms of those who've agreed. (More on the filing here.)

Michael Avenatti, the brash lawyer and cable news fixture who came to prominence after he sued President Trump on behalf of an adult-film star, was arrested Wednesday in Los Angeles on suspicion of domestic violence, police said. The Los Angeles Police Department said he was booked on a felony domestic violence charge, with a $50,000 bail. The incident happened Tuesday, department spokesman Jeff Lee said. Another police spokesman, Tony Im, told the Associated Press that the victim has visible injuries. But police gave few other details about the incident, saying in a tweet: “This is an ongoing investigation and we will provide more details as they become available.” Avenatti has made himself a virtual household name through his relentless media appearances as he represents adult-film star Stormy Daniels in two lawsuits against Trump. He has vowed to depose the president and said he is considering running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. In a statement released by his law office Wednesday, Avenatti said that the allegations against him were “completely bogus.” “I have never been physically abusive in my life nor was I last night,” he said. “Any accusations to the contrary are fabricated and meant to do harm to my reputation. I look forward to being fully exonerated.” On Thursday, the attorney suggested in a tweet that far-right conspiracy theorist Jacob Wohl was to blame for the arrest. In a subsequent tweet, he criticized some of the coverage of his arrest. There is a lot of inaccurate reporting out there. For example, (1) I have NOT been charged with anything, let alone a felony; (2) Lisa wasn't even with me Tues; etc. Numerous other "facts" being reported are completely bogus. Why is TMZ's news "standard" the new standard? — Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) November 15, 2018 TMZ, which first reported the arrest, initially wrote that Avenatti was taken into custody after his “estranged wife” filed a felony domestic violence report. TMZ later amended its story after his second wife, Lisa Storie-Avenatti, said through a lawyer that the assertion was not true. “Ms. Storie-Avenatti was not subject to any such incident on Tuesday night. Further, she was not at Mr. Avenatti’s apartment on the date that this alleged incident occurred,” Storie-Avenatti’s statement said. “My client states that there has never been domestic violence in her relationship with Michael and that she has never known Michael to be physically violent toward anyone.” Avenatti’s first wife also came to his defense on social media, calling him a “loving father” who has “never been abusive.” Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, said during an appearance Thursday at England’s student debating society, Oxford Union: “Right now, they are just allegations, and I’m going to reserve judgment. And I hope everyone does — I know what it feels like to be on the other end of that — until all of the details are discovered.” She added, though, that “if the allegations turn out to be true, then I will definitely be seeking new representation, because I cannot condone or support someone who is abusive.” Police said Avenatti was arrested around 2 p.m. Wednesday. He spoke briefly to reporters after he was released from custody Wednesday evening, thanking the police department for its professionalism. “They had no option in light of the allegations,” he said. “Secondly, I have never struck a woman. I never will strike a woman. I have been an advocate for women’s rights my entire career.” Avenatti is one of many media personalities who have grown into political celebrities in the contentious and lightning-quick news climate of the Trump era. His combativeness and swagger — on television, in interviews and on Twitter — have helped keep him in the public eye, and his musings about a potential presidential run have been covered extensively despite questions about his background and qualifications. Avenatti has also launched a political action committee and spoken at Democratic events across the country. But his media savvy has also landed him in hot water. Avenatti and his client Julie Swetnick, who alleged in a sworn affidavit that she was gang-raped at a 1982 party attended by Brett M. Kavanaugh, have been referred by the Republican leader of the Senate Judiciary Committee to the Justice Department for a potential criminal probe over doubts about her claims during Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Avenatti continues to represent Daniels in two lawsuits against Trump, with whom she claims to have had an affair. One, claiming that Trump defamed her, was tossed out in federal court; Avenatti is appealing the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The other seeks to formally invalidate a 2016 nondisclosure agreement that prevented Daniels from discussing her alleged affair with Trump in the lead-up to the election. Trump, who denies he had an affair with Daniels, has said he will not enforce the agreement. Trump lawyer Charles Harder noted that three legal motions in the cases are scheduled for oral arguments in a Los Angeles federal court Dec. 3. The Vermont Democratic Party announced late Wednesday that it was canceling events scheduled with Avenatti in light of his arrest. “The Vermont Democratic Party has canceled Mr. Avenatti’s forthcoming scheduled appearances in Vermont, and will be refunding all ticket sales,” state party spokesman R. Christopher Di Mezzo said in a statement. Isaac Stanley-Becker in Oxford, Noah Smith in Los Angeles and Felicia Sonmez in Washington contributed to this report. ||||| This article is over 2 months old Lawyer who targeted Trump over hush money allegations was taken into custody Wednesday Michael Avenatti, who skyrocketed to fame as a critic of Donald Trump and the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, was arrested Wednesday and booked on a felony domestic violence charge, Los Angeles police said. The victim in the case had visible injuries, according to officer Tony Im, a police spokesman. Avenatti slammed the allegation as “completely bogus” and “fabricated and meant to do harm to my reputation” in a statement released by his law firm. Avenatti, who has said he’s mulling a 2020 presidential run, posted $50,000 bail and was released about four hours after he was arrested Wednesday on the same block where he lives in a skyscraper apartment. Stormy Daniels' tell-all book on Trump: salacious detail and claims of cheating Read more Police declined to provide any details about the victim, including the victim’s relationship to Avenatti. As he left the police station Wednesday, Avenatti said he had never hit a woman and said he’s been an advocate for women’s rights his entire career. “I wish to thank the hard working men and woman of the LAPD for their professionalism and their work today. They had no option in light of the allegations,” Avenatti said. “I am looking forward to a full investigation, at which point I am confident that I will be fully exonerated.” Avenatti became famous as Daniels’ lawyer and pursued the president and those close to him relentlessly for months, taunting Trump in interviews and baiting him and his lawyers in tweets. Daniels, a pornographic film actor, has said she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and has sued to invalidate the confidentiality agreement she signed days before the 2016 presidential election that prevents her discussing it. She also sued Trump and his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, alleging defamation. The Vermont Democratic party canceled events planned for Friday and Saturday, where Avenatti was scheduled to speak, and is refunding ticket sales. ||||| Michael Avenatti Arrested for Felony Domestic Violence ... I'll Be 'Fully Exonerated' Michael Avenatti Arrested for Felony Domestic Violence, Confident He'll Be Exonerated EXCLUSIVE 11/15 -- Stormy Daniels has just released a statement on the incident, saying, "These are serious and obviously very troubling allegations, but right now that is all they are: allegations. We should all reserve judgement until the investigation -- an investigation Michael has said he welcomes -- is complete, and that's what I'm going to do." She continues ... "But of course I do not condone violence against women and if these allegations prove true I will be seeking new representation." 5:50 PM PT -- Avenatti bailed out and held a brief news conference, saying, "I have never struck a woman. I will never strike a woman." He added he's looking forward to the investigation and is confident he'll be "fully exonerated." 4:50 PM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, the LAPD has already obtained an emergency protective order, prohibiting Avenatti from going near the alleged victim. We're told they will serve him with the legal docs before he's released from custody. We're told he will be released on $50,000 bail. 4:10 PM PT -- We were initially told by our sources the alleged victim was Avenatti's estranged wife. We now know it was not. The incident involved a different woman. Michael Avenatti, who became famous for representing Stormy Daniels in her battle with President Trump, has been arrested for felony domestic violence ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ. Our law enforcement sources say Avenatti was arrested Wednesday after a woman filed a felony DV report. We're told her face was "swollen and bruised" with "red marks" on both cheeks. Our sources say the alleged incident occurred Tuesday night, but there was another confrontation Wednesday between the two at an exclusive apartment building in the Century City area of L.A. We're told Wednesday afternoon the woman was on the sidewalk on her cellphone with sunglasses covering her eyes, sobbing and screaming on the phone, "I can't believe you did this to me. I'm going to get a restraining order against you." We're told security brought her inside the building, took her upstairs and Michael showed up 5 minutes later and ran into the building. He screamed repeatedly, "She hit me first." We're told he angrily added, "This is bulls***, this is f***ing bulls***." We're told he tried getting into the elevator but security denied him access. Cops showed up and escorted Avenatti into a corner of the apartment lobby and spoke with him for 5 to 10 minutes and then took him into custody. A law enforcement source says on Tuesday, Avenatti "kicked her out of the apartment" and that's when the alleged domestic violence occurred. We're told she went back to the apartment on Wednesday to retrieve her belongings and called police to stand by in case things got heated. We're told Avenatti is currently in custody. Originally Published -- 2:45 PM PST ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Michael Avenatti: 'I have never struck a woman' Michael Avenatti, lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels in her suit against President Donald Trump, has been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, police in Los Angeles say. Celebrity news website TMZ said this followed a physical confrontation between the lawyer and a woman. He denied the claim and was later released on $50,000 (£38,500) bail. The lawyer represents Ms Daniels, who alleges she and President Trump had a brief relationship - a claim he denies. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Michael Avenatti rose to prominence as lawyer to porn actor and director Stormy Daniels Ms Daniels has sought to free herself from a non-disclosure agreement she signed before the 2016 election. Mr Avenatti has called the allegations "completely bogus" and said he was confident he would be fully exonerated. Speaking to reporters after leaving a police station, he said: "I have never struck a woman. I never will strike a woman. I have been an advocate for women's rights my entire career and I'm going to continue to be an advocate. "I am not going to be intimidated from stopping what I am doing." On Twitter, he also thanked "everyone who has reached out with supportive messages". The woman who made the allegations had "visible injuries" including bruises, according to an unnamed law enforcement official quoted by the Los Angeles Times. Mr Avenatti's estranged wife, Lisa Storie Avenatti, gave a statement to the broadcaster NBC saying he had never been violent to her. His first wife, Christine Avenatti-Carlin, also issued a statement on Wednesday, saying she had known Mr Avenatti for 26 years and describing him as "a loving, kind father to our two daughters". "He has never been abusive to me or anyone else. He is a very good man," she said. A frequent guest on TV talk shows and news programmes, Mr Avenatti has emerged as a fierce critic of President Trump, the BBC's David Willis in Los Angeles says. At one point Mr Avenatti was publicly contemplating running for president himself in 2020, our correspondent adds.

– Stormy Daniels' lawyer was arrested Wednesday on what he claimed was a "completely bogus" charge of felony domestic violence. Michael Avenatti, a frequent and outspoken critic of President Trump, was released on $50,000 bail, the BBC reports. Los Angeles Police Department Tony Im says the victim in the case had visible injuries, the Guardian reports. Sources tell TMZ that the woman's face was "swollen and bruised." The sources say the alleged incident occurred Tuesday night, when Avenatti "kicked the woman out" of a luxury apartment building in Century City, and the woman called police after another confrontation when she returned to retrieve her belongings Wednesday. TMZ initially claimed the woman was Avenatti's estranged wife, but Lisa Storie-Avenatti later released a statement saying she was not involved and had never known him to be violent. Avenatti denied the allegations in a statement released by his law office, the Washington Post reports. "I wish to thank the hard working men and women of the LAPD for their professionalism," he said. "I have never been physically abusive in my life nor was I last night. Any accusations to the contrary are fabricated and meant to do harm to my reputation. I look forward to being fully exonerated." The Vermont Democratic Party has cancelled two events Avenatti was supposed to speak at over the weekend. (In July, Avenatti said he was considering running for president in 2020.)

Acknowledging that Europe’s banks still need billions of euros to cushion against a possible default by Greece, the leaders of Germany and France announced on Sunday that they would have a package of reforms by the time leaders of the Group of 20 nations meet in early November. “We are determined to do everything necessary to ensure the recapitalization of Europe’s banks,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin after meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France. But beyond promising closer coordination of economic policies for the euro zone, the two leaders declined to provide specifics on how the recapitalization would work, or how much money they would commit. The continued uncertainty could unnerve investors who hoped to see the governments take more decisive action. The announcement came on the same day that the governments of France, Belgium and Luxembourg agreed to nationalize part of Dexia, Belgium’s biggest bank, infusing it with billions of euros in taxpayer money after it became the first casualty of the Greek sovereign debt crisis. Government officials had raced to prop up Dexia before global financial markets opened on Monday. Dexia, which had received a bailout in 2008, “is the biggest euro zone bank failure in quite some time,” said Peter Zeihan, vice president of analysis at Stratfor, a geopolitical risk analysis company based in Austin, Tex. “It will force investors and shareholders to take second look at what they thought was stable.” Banks like Dexia have become a flashpoint for European governments as they try to rein in the region’s debt woes without worsening their own finances. Mrs. Merkel, Mr. Sarkozy and others have only recently conceded that European banks may not be as sheltered from the storm as first thought, especially if the sovereign debt situation ensnares larger countries. If that were to happen, other banks in Europe and the United States — as well as the governments themselves — could come under further pressure. But Europe’s leaders remain at odds on how to achieve their goals, including the best way to shore up bank finances. France, for example, wants to pump money from a developing bailout mechanism, the European Financial Stability Facility, into the banks, while Germany insists that the fund should be used only as a last resort, if the banks are not able to raise more money on their own. The International Monetary Fund has estimated that Europe’s banks may need up to 300 billion euros, or about $400 billion, more capital if the debt crisis widens. On Sunday, neither Mrs. Merkel nor Mr. Sarkozy put forth their own figure, saying they needed to consult with other European leaders. But Mrs. Merkel emphasized that European leaders would do “everything necessary” during a series of upcoming meetings, including one involving the 27 European Union leaders this week. The bailout of Dexia comes as both governments are trying to pay down their own countries’ deficits and debts. In France, some officials have sounded the alarm that too big of a bailout for Dexia could menace the nation’s sterling debt rating, a notion the finance minister, Francois Baroin, has been quick to dismiss. Belgium is in a more difficult situation. Its debt is 97.2 percent of gross domestic product, the third highest in the euro zone, after Greece and Italy. Moody’s Investors Service on Friday warned it could downgrade Belgium’s rating if support of Dexia lifted Belgium’s debt and investors started pushing up its borrowing costs. Officials say the bailout of 4 billion euros would not raise its debt much higher. It was the second bailout in three years for Dexia, a lender to European and American cities that got into trouble in 2008 after a huge portfolio of subprime loans it owned went sour. Dexia received billions of euros from France and Belgium, and was the biggest European recipient of loans from the Federal Reserve’s discount window at the time. Dexia, which has global credit exposure of about $700 billion, plans to create a so-called bad bank to house its troubled assets, including billions of euros’ worth of Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Irish debt. On Sunday night, the governments were still haggling over how to split the bill. Belgium will nationalize Dexia’s Belgian consumer bank, at a cost of 4 billion euros, and foot 60.5 percent of a 90 billion euro bill for up to the next 10 years to backstop the bank, which will still retain a swath of toxic assets, including lingering subprime loans and European sovereign debt. France will 36.5 percent of the total, and Luxembourg will pay for the remainder. Meanwhile, Dexia's board was still working to figure out how keep financing flowing to French municipalities where it was a big lender. Dexia’s French municipal financing arm would be split from the group and merged with the French state bank Caisse des Dépôts and the banking arm of the French postal service, Banque Postale. Dexia had almost recovered from its previous stumble when its troubles flared anew in recent weeks. Indeed, just three months ago, Dexia passed a round of stress tests for European banks, although regulators last week ordered a review of those tests to account for a lower value of government debt. This month, banks rapidly started pulling back on lending to Dexia, and Moody’s placed the bank on review for a downgrade. Last week, Dexia’s stock price plunged 42 percent and, as it neared collapse, trading in its shares was halted on Thursday. Dexia’s fortunes, and those of many European banks, remain tethered to what happens to Greece. Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said in an interview with the Sunday edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung “that we assumed in July a level of debt reduction that was too low” for Greece, implying Greece faced difficulties ahead and even more support. Mrs. Merkel, now increasingly concerned about any run on the banking system, told finance ministers and leaders from the World Bank and the I.M.F. last week in Berlin that Germany supported a coordinated bank recapitalization program. Mrs. Merkel does not want to funnel more taxpayer money to the banks before they try going to the markets to raise capital. But she acknowledged in recent meetings in Berlin with World Bank and I.M.F. officials that Germany would not hold back in bolstering the banks if necessary. Failure to do so, she said, would lead to “vastly higher damage.” ||||| * Dexia board approves state rescue package after 14-hour meeting * Dexia to get 4 bln euros for Belgian unit, 90 bln euros of guarantees * Dexia plans French public finance deal with CDC, Banque Postale * Shares to resume trading after news conference, analyst call * CEO defends bank's track record since 2008 bailout By Philip Blenkinsop and Lionel Laurent BRUSSELS/PARIS, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Franco-Belgian bank Dexia agreed early on Monday to the nationalisation of its Belgian banking division and secured 90 billion euros ($121 billion) in state guarantees in a rescue that could pressure other euro zone governments to strengthen their banks. Under the terms of the rescue, Belgium will pay Dexia Group 4 billion euros ($5.4 billion) to buy Dexia Bank Belgium, the largely retail Belgian division, which has 6,000 staff and deposits totalling 80 billion euros from 4 million customers. Dexia also secured state guarantees of up to 90 billion euros to secure borrowing over the next 10 years. Belgium would provide 60.5 percent of these guarantees, France 36.5 percent and Luxembourg 3 percent. Under the rescue plan Dexia will be left with a portfolio of bonds in run-off, which totalled 95.3 billion euros at the end of June and including 7.7 billion euros of junk class and some 7.4 billion euros of mortgage-backed securities. As part of the bank's break-up Dexia is also in talks to sell its Luxembourg unit. A Luxembourg government official said that members of Qatar's royal family were ready to buy the business with the state taking a minority stake. The future of Dexia's other business units remained uncertain, including its stake in Turkish lender Denizbank and its RBC Dexia Investor Services global joint venture with Royal Bank of Canada . Trading in Dexia's shares, which have been suspended since Thursday afternoon, was due to resume later on Monday. Dexia's announcement of the overall rescue deal came after a board meeting that lasted some 14 hours from mid-afternoon on Sunday after France, Belgium and Luxembourg had agreed a rescue plan. The extraordinary meetings at the end of the weekend had echoes of the dismantlement of financial group Fortis in October 2008 by the Netherlands, Belgium and BNP Paribas . Then, shareholders protested at the initial terms offered, and only agreed on improved terms six months later. The governments rushed to support Dexia after it became the first bank to fall victim to the two-year-old euro zone debt crisis, as a credit crunch denied it access to wholesale funds and sent its shares down 42 percent last week. "We found an agreement on the fair division of the costs related to the management of the 'rest bank'," Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme told a news conference in the early hours of Monday. SOVEREIGN CREDIT RATINGS The likely burden of bailing out Dexia led ratings agency Moody's to warn Belgium late on Friday that its Aa1 government bond ratings may fall. The country had a debt-to-GDP ratio of 96.2 percent last year, lower only than Greece and Italy among euro zone members and on a par with bailout recipient Ireland. Finance Minister Didier Reynders said that the deal should not push Belgium's debt-to-GDP ratio above 100 percent. On the French side, Finance Minister Francois Baroin said in a TV interview that the rescue should have no impact on the country's prized AAA credit rating since it was only contributing guarantees and not funds directly. He also said Dexia was a "unique" case and no further bailouts of French banks would be needed. Moody's duly confirmed on Monday that the Dexia rescue would have no impact for now on France's AAA credit rating which still carries a "stable outlook". Dexia, which used short-term funding to finance long-term lending, found credit drying up as the euro zone debt crisis worsened. The problem was exacerbated by the bank's heavy exposure to Greece. Mariani said one of the bank's errors was one of "naivety" in agreeing too easily to governments' requests that banks maintain their exposure to Greece. "We never had a problem of solvency but one of liquidity given our large portfolio of sovereign debt," he said. Dexia has global credit risk exposure of $700 billion - more than twice Greece's GDP - and its rescue has stoked investors' anxieties about the strength of European banks in general. The governments' rescue package came as the leaders of France and Germany agreed that European banks needed to be recapitalised, but papered over differences on how that would happen. Paris wants to tap the euro zone's 440 billion euro ($594 billion) European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to recapitalise French banks, while Berlin is insisting the fund should be used as a last resort. There were fresh reports over the weekend that big French banks BNP Paribas and Societe Generale might agree to capital injections as part of a Europe-wide plan to boost lenders' financial strength. However, both banks deny such plans. Dexia's board had also instructed the company's chief executive to seek backing from French state bank Caisse des Depots. A consortium of CDC and La Banque Postale, the French post office's banking arm, would ensure the financing of public entities in France. Of further asset sales Mariani did not comment on Denizbank and RBC Dexia but did say that the bank would hold onto Dexia's asset management business and that no sales of Dexia Sabadell in Spain, Dexia Crediop in Italy and DKD in Germany were planned given their sovereign debt holdings.

– Leading Franco-Belgian bank Dexia has agreed to a government rescue plan—making it "the biggest euro zone bank failure in quite some time," one analyst tells the New York Times. The plan will nationalize Dexia's Belgian banking division in a $5.4 billion government buyout; meanwhile, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg are providing the bank with $121 billion in guarantees, Reuters reports. Belgium will cover 60.5% of the guarantees, with France providing 36.5% and Luxembourg the rest. Without access to wholesale funds, Dexia's shares plummeted 42% last week; trading was suspended Thursday until later today. It's not the first time Dexia has needed government help. The news comes as France and Germany promised that plans to protect Europe's banks from a possible Greek default will be ready in time for November's G20 meeting, though neither leader offered details of how such a plan would work.

Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images Donald Trump had some tough words for the Germans at the NATO summit in Belgium on Thursday. “The Germans are bad, very bad,” he reportedly told Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Union. “Look at the millions of cars that they’re selling in the USA. Horrible. We’re gonna stop that.” It is certainly true that Germany runs a big trade surplus with the world and with the United States. (Last year, the U.S. trade deficit with Germany was nearly $65 billion.) But Trump can’t stop the German cars from coming in to the U.S. because, to a large degree, they’re already here. See, it turns out that many “foreign” cars are actually made in the U.S. while many “American” cars are made in Canada and Mexico. That’s how globalization works today. Advertisement Over the past few decades, in an often-overlooked dynamic, Japanese, German, and Korean automakers have sought to combat protectionist sentiment and insulate themselves from currency gyrations by opening large production facilities in the U.S.—particularly in the union-averse South. IAMA , the trade group for Asian automakers in the U.S., said its members last year produced 4.6 million cars between them, equal to 40 percent of all U.S. vehicle production, at some 300 facilities. The German carmakers have been quite aggressive in building up their U.S. operations, too. In 1994, BMW opened a plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Having invested $7.8 billion in the plant, BMW now boasts that it is the company’s largest single facility in the world. And it has spurred investments by a range of suppliers throughout the state. The cars made in Spartanburg there include the EX3 and X5 Sports Activity Vehicle, and the X4 and X6 Sports Activity Coupe. Last year, Spartanburg produced a record 411,171 vehicles, about 34,000 per month. According to BMW, it sells about 26,000 cars per month in the U.S. Now, not all the cars BMW sells in the U.S. are made here. Some are shipped in from overseas. And many of the vehicles made in South Carolina—287,700 last year, or 70 percent—are exported to points around the world. The upshot: By exporting more finished vehicles from the United States than it imports to the United States, BMW may be helping to lower America’s trade deficit. Get Slate in your inbox. How about that other big German carmaker, Daimler? Well, it has a host of research and manufacturing locations in the U.S. The Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is an impressive operation. Last year, workers in Tuscaloosa produced more than 300,000 vehicles—or about 25,000 per month. As the main distribution site for GLE and GLS Class vehicles, Tuscaloosa exports to 135 countries. In April, Mercedes-Benz sold 27,000 cars in the U.S. Again, not all the Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold in the U.S. are made here, but the company produces roughly as many cars in the U.S. as it sells here. Or take Volkswagen. Volkswagen has a big plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where it has been making the Passat and, lately, the seven-passenger Atlas SUV, whose rollout features this tear-jerking ad. It’s hard to get details about the production volumes at Chattanooga, since activity died down in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal. Volkswagen sells about 27,000 cars per month in the U.S. ||||| Donald Trump’s top economic adviser acknowledged that the president said Germany is “very bad” when it comes to flooding the U.S. with cars, but insisted it wasn’t a dig at one of the U.S.’s most important allies. “He said, ‘They’re very bad on trade,’ but he doesn’t have a problem with Germany,” Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, said as Trump joined a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders in Sicily. “He said his dad is from Germany. He said, ‘I don’t have a problem with Germany, I have a problem with German trade’.” The comments were splashed in the German press earlier and underline Trump’s distance from key allies on display in Sicily and yesterday at the NATO summit in Brussels. In a visit that included his hectoring of allies over defense spending and a rebuke by the U.K. over leaked intelligence, Trump singled out manufacturers for contributing to lopsided trade deficits. Chancellor Angela Merkel hit back later on Friday at the close of the summit’s first day, saying that she had made clear to Trump that the German trade surplus with the U.S. “is a result of the good quality of our products.” “To single out one country for attack is, I think, not so appropriate,” she told reporters. “We agreed with the U.S. that we’ll go over the details of the trade question intensively once more.” Trade has emerged as one of the biggest rifts between the new U.S. administration and economic powerhouses around the world. Merkel and Trump clashed in their first meeting in the White House in March, when the president lambasted ostensible German trade negotiators. Back then, Merkel pointed out that the European Commission oversees trade talks on behalf of member states. There are few signs that the two will see more eye to eye in Sicily. Here is a graphic of all the G-7 players and the big issues that divide them At the family photo in Taormina, inside the ancient Greek theater, Merkel and Trump stood side by side silently and the U.S. president later hung back while the other leaders walked away chatting in smaller groups. Trump has complained repeatedly that Germany’s trade surplus with the U.S. is hurting the American economy. Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, exported goods to the U.S. worth about $66 billion more than it imported last year, leading to auto producers including Daimler AG, Volkswagen AG and BMW AG having been particularly targeted. Fifth Avenue Back in January, in a Bild newspaper interview, he threatened luxury-car maker BMW with a 35 percent import duty for foreign-built cars sold in the country. “If you go down Fifth Avenue everyone has a Mercedes Benz in front of his house,” he told Bild. Merkel shrugged the comment off, making a comparison to the prevalence of Apple iPhones in Germany. Read more: A QuickTake Q&A on Trump’s fear of trade deficits When asked about Trump’s comments on German trade as reported in Der Spiegel, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker confirmed the gist of them while pointing out that they’d been exaggerated due to a translation error. “The Germans are bad, very bad,” Der Spiegel cited Trump as saying, citing unidentified participants at a closed-door meeting between Trump and EU officials in Brussels. “Look at the millions of cars that they sell in the U.S. Terrible. We’re going to stop that.” Merkel’s government responded earlier to say that its position on trade balances “is well known,” “A surplus is neither good nor evil -- it’s the result of supply and demand,” German government spokesman Georg Streiter told reporters in Berlin. The chancellor said that it would be a late night for the officials, known as sherpas, who are working to reach a joint statement on trade for the conclusion of the meeting on Saturday. “The sherpas are going to have to work hard tonight to see how the final text on trade shapes up,” she said. ||||| Trump reportedly calls Germans 'very bad,' threatens to end German car sales 11:04 AM ET Fri, 26 May 2017 | 00:45 President Donald Trump has reportedly reignited tensions with his EU counterparts after calling the Germans "very bad" for their trade surplus with the U.S. The president vowed to block German car exports to the U.S. during a meeting with top EU leaders on Thursday, according to German news magazine Der Spiegel. "The Germans are bad, very bad," Trump said, according to participants in the room who spoke to Der Spiegel. "See the millions of cars they sell in the U.S., terrible. We will stop this." The comments were said to have been made in a meeting with the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the European Council President Donald Tusk, who both showed support for Germany. The White House has since pushed back on these media reports and Juncker dismissed the claims on Friday, saying that the German reports were exaggerated. "He did not say that the Germans were behaving badly," Juncker told reporters in Sicily ahead of G-7 talks. "He was not aggressive at all and anyway we have taken the defense of the Germans," he continued. "I was making clear that the U.S. cannot compare their trade situation with individual member states of the European Union. They have to compare their performances with the global performances of the European Union, and I made it clear that the commission is charged with trade issues and not the member states." Trump has long voiced his frustrations with Germany's trade surplus with the U.S., insisting that German imports have damaged the U.S. manufacturing industry. In January, he threatened to slap a 35 percent tax on German auto imports. "If you want to build cars in the world, then I wish you all the best. You can build cars for the United States, but for every car that comes to the USA, you will pay 35 percent tax," he said in an interview with German newspaper Bild. He also attempted to negotiate a bilateral trade deal with Germany when he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in March. However, she insisted that all deals with EU member countries must be made multilaterally.

– One of President Trump's comments during a meeting with EU leaders Thursday isn't going over well in Germany. "The Germans are bad, very bad," the president said, as quoted by Der Spiegel. It came during a trade discussion, with Trump's reference being about auto sales. "See the millions of cars they are selling to the US?" Trump said, based on accounts of those in attendance. "Terrible. We will stop this." European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pushed back at the sentiment, arguing that global free trade benefits all participants, and CNBC reports that he downplayed Trump's comments on Friday. "He was not aggressive at all, and anyway we have taken the defense of the Germans," said Juncker. A blogger at Slate takes issue with Trump's criticism, pointing out that BMW has a giant plant in South Carolina that churned out more than 411,000 vehicles last year, while Volkswagen has a big plant of its own in Tennessee. "I suppose Trump could try to stop the sales of German cars in the US," writes Daniel Gross. "But that would involve shutting down a bunch of factories on American soil that employ American workers and use a lot of US-produced parts," something that would indeed be "very bad." German leader Angela Merkel hasn't responded to Trump's comments, notes Bloomberg, but a government spokesman did. "A surplus is neither good nor evil," he said. "It’s the result of supply and demand." (Also making headlines: a Trump handshake and a shove.)

The ongoing measles outbreak in the United States has reached a record for any year since the disease was eliminated in this country 14 years ago, with 288 cases of the potentially deadly infection reported in 18 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The largest measles clusters are in Ohio (138 confirmed cases), California (60) and New York (26), according to the CDC. Almost all — 97 percent — have been brought into the country by travelers, mainly Americans, who contracted the infection abroad. About half of those were people who picked it up in the Philippines, where a large measles outbreak has affected more than 32,000 people, causing 41 deaths, since January alone, said Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. In this country, the biggest outbreak is centered in the Amish community in Ohio, where many of the residents are unvaccinated, the CDC reported. In Virginia, two cases were confirmed earlier this month. "This is a wake-up call for travelers and parents to make sure vaccinations are up to date," Schuchat said. "Measles vaccine is very safe and effective and measles can be serious," she added. "It's very infectious." Forty-three of the people in this country who have come down with measles required hospitalization, most often for pneumonia, she said. No deaths have been reported here. Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease that generally affects young children, causing fever, a runny nose, a cough and a distinctive rash all over the body. This year, however, more than half the people who have come down with it are 20 years old or older, according to CDC data. About one in 10 children also gets an ear infection and one in 20 comes down with pneumonia. A person with measles is contagious as long as four days before the symptoms are apparent. Parents and even physicians who haven't seen measles in years may be unaware of the early warning signs. The largest number of confirmed cases of measles since the infection was eliminated in the United States in 2000 occurred in 2011, when 220 were recorded. The CDC hasn't seen this many cases so early in the year since 1994, when 764 people were infected by this time, Schuchat said. In the past 20 years, a concerted public health campaign, especially among lower-income families, has made measles outbreaks rare in the United States. But an estimated 20 million people are infected in Europe, Asia, Africa and elsewhere each year, and 122,000 of them die. In the United States, the number of people who choose not to be immunized for religious, philosophical or personal reasons has begun to become a public health problem, Schuchat said. Others are unaware of, or unable to get, vaccinations before they arrive in the United States. A small number of adults can lose their immunity over time and may need to be re-vaccinated. Authorities aren't sure how the Amish community in Ohio contracted the disease, but Schuchat said they believe that people traveling to conduct faith-based work abroad are involved. According to the CDC, 40 importations of the infection were attributed to unvaccinated U.S. travelers returning from abroad. Steven Nolt, a history professor at Goshen College in Indiana who has written about the Amish, said some groups do travel to places such as Kenya, Ukraine and Central America to do mission or relief work. He said many Amish do vaccinate themselves and their chidren, but others refuse. Some, Nolt said, have a "more traditional, conservative, old-fashioned way of life and set of sensibilities that views medicine as something that is used to heal or cure, rather than to prevent" disease. Others have a "theologically informed...sense that we should place our trust in God and not in vaccines." Schuchat urged anyone who isn't sure whether his or her immunizations are up to date to get another dose of the vaccine, especially if traveling to places like the Philippines or doing health care work. Though the vaccine generally isn't given to children before the first birthday, infants traveling abroad can be inoculated with one dose as young as six months, Schuchat said. The vaccine is generally administered in two doses a few years apart. People whose immune systems are suppressed and pregnant women should not receive the vaccine, she said. Adults born before 1957 likely had the measles and should be immune, she added. The vaccine became available in 1963. Related: Potential measles exposure in Fairfax, Loudoun counties Va. health officials report second confirmed measles case CDC reports biggest measles outbreak since 1996 Woman’s cancer killed by measles virus A vaccinated person contracted and passed on the measles ||||| The number of measles cases in the U.S. has hit a new high since the highly contagious disease was officially declared eliminated 14 years ago, in the latest sign of a troubling resurgence. The 288 cases reported in 18 states as of May 23 is the highest number of cases in the first five months of the year since 1994, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. Nearly all of the cases were linked to foreign travel by unvaccinated people, and many had been in the Philippines, where a large outbreak has...

– The tide of measles stories is growing stronger—and more dismal: The CDC yesterday revealed that some 288 cases have been recorded across 18 states in the first five months of this year, making 2014's outbreak the biggest in 20 years. Things are worst in Ohio, with the CDC logging 138 cases there; California has seen 60 and New York 26, the Washington Post reports. But another non-US location is a big factor in the story: the Philippines. Some 97% of the cases are related to foreign travel by people who haven't been vaccinated, and about half visited the Philippines, where 32,000 people have been infected since January. To wit, the Ohio outbreak started with two members of the Amish community who contracted the highly contagious disease on a humanitarian aid trip to the Philippines in March then infected others at home. "This scenario is the one that I've had the most nightmares about," an Ohio health commissioner tells the Wall Street Journal, adding some Amish communities are refusing immunization. Officials across the country are now trying to make it more difficult for parents to exempt kids from vaccinations, and free clinics have been set up, but some still avoid the needle. "This is not an insignificant illness," warns a medical director. "This is an illness that is well worth avoiding." (The US eliminated measles in 2000, but that never meant we were measles-free.)

This article is over 3 months old Officials say ‘training error’ to blame for email featuring cat in pyjamas holding a plate of choc-chip biscuits The US embassy in Canberra has apologised for a “training error” after distributing a fake meeting invitation, complete with a photo of a pyjama-wearing cat. The email, titled “meeting”, featured a photo of a tabby cat wearing a blue Cookie Monster outfit and holding a plate of choc-chip biscuits, beneath the title “cat pyjama-jam”. In the clear case of misdirected correspondence last week, the email also contained a section of Latin and recipients were given the option to hit an RSVP tab. It is unknown how widely the email, sent by the US Department of State, was distributed. US Mission to Australia public affairs counsellor Gavin Sundwall kept his apology lighthearted. “Sorry to disappoint those of you who were hoping to attend this ‘cat pyjama-jam’ party, but such an event falls well outside our area of expertise,” he wrote in a follow-up email two days after the original. “It was a training error made by one of our new staff testing out our email newsletter platform.” Sundwall said “strong new management controls” would be added to prevent a repeat of the mistake. ||||| We'd never get you to say sorry for sending an adorable cat picture. But the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, Australia has apologised on behalf of the Department of State who did just that, accidentally sending a test email featuring a photo of a cat dressed in a Cookie Monster costume. According to the Australian Associated Press, the photo was was titled "cat pajama-jam" and was sent within an email titled "meeting," as part of a fake meeting invitation sent by the Department of State to recipients. It's been described as a "training error," and at least the U.S. Embassy saw the humour in it. "Sorry to disappoint those of you who were hoping to attend this 'cat pajama-jam' party, but such an event falls well outside our area of expertise," U.S. Mission to Australia public affairs counsellor Gavin Sundwall wrote in a subsequent email two days later. "It was a training error made by one of our new staff testing out our email newsletter platform." Perhaps they needn't have apologised, 'cos it's a cute cat. The US embassy in Australia accidentally sent out a cat photo instead of a meeting invite. https://t.co/NOHLA8RbjJ pic.twitter.com/NfqebepiIE — Josh Taylor (@joshgnosis) October 15, 2018 The cat appears to belong to a Melbourne woman, Jennifer Stewart, who dresses up her cats in onesies for her Instagram account that's actually called @my_furry_babies. Sundwall said "strong management controls" would be implemented to ensure such an incident wouldn't happen again. But let's face it, don't we all want to go to the cat pajama-jam party? UPDATE: Oct. 15, 2018, 3:49 p.m. AEDT This article originally held the headline suggesting the U.S. Embassy had sent the email, when it was actually sent by the Department of State. The article has been updated to reflect this.

– The US hasn't had an ambassador to Australia in place for two years, the longest stretch since WWII—which may explain why things are getting low-key chaotic Down Under at the American embassy. The BBC reports that an apology has been issued after a "training error" resulted in a rather odd email, subject line "meeting," blasted out to an unknown number of people. Included in the now-viral message from the US State Department: a picture of a cat in a Cookie Monster-style outfit, grasping a plate of cookies, and an invitation to attend an upcoming "cat pyjama-jam." (See the image here.) The message also included words in Latin and an RSVP button for the "jam." "It was a training error made by one of our new staff testing out our email newsletter platform," State Dept. rep Gavin Sundwall tells the Aussie AP, acknowledging many will be disappointed by the rescinding of the invite, but that "such an event falls well outside our area of expertise." Sundwall promises "strong new management controls" are being looked at to make sure Cookie Monster Cat and other non-governmental mascots don't go viral via email again, per the Guardian. Mashable adds that the photo was likely taken by Jennifer Stewart of Melbourne; her photos of onesie-clad cats post to the Instagram account @my_furry_babies. (Read about another email goof, this one in Utah.)

A snafu with the translation engine in Microsoft's Bing search engine has landed Redmond in hot water with the Saudi authorities. Over the weekend, Saudi Arabian users found that when they typed the Arabic word Daesh – the name of the medieval terror bastards currently losing their battle for a caliphate in the Middle East – into Bing Translator, the computer told them that the English translation was "Saudi Arabia." The news spread on social media and a campaign was quickly organized in Saudi Arabia calling for a boycott of Microsoft products. Redmond's engineers moved fast to head off the PR disaster, and have now fixed the issue. Microsoft staffers also apologized to Saudi officials for the blunder. "Our product team fixed the error in the automated translation within hours of learning about it," a Microsoft spokesperson told The Reg. According to Dr Mamdouh Najjar, VP and national technology officer for Microsoft in Saudi Arabia, the error occurred because Bing Translator has a crowdsourcing function – if a large group of people (he estimated over a thousand) suggest a translation, then it becomes listed as a possible answer. The issue has now been fixed, but it's a very sore point for the Saudis, who are fighting a proxy war against the Daesh-bags in Yemen. Expect to see more fallout from this one. ® ||||| Bing, Microsoft’s version of Google, just learned the hard way that fucking up your translation service is a bad way to win friends on the internet. According to a report in the Guardian, the search engine’s translator thought the word “Daesh”—the Arabic word for the Islamic State—meant “Saudi Arabia” in English. Advertisement The error was pointed out by people on Twitter: Advertisement The company was quick to respond. Mamdouh Najjar, a vice president for Microsoft who works within Saudi Arabia, told the Huffington Post Arabia that the mistake may have been due to the crowdsourced nature of the translator—when it receives a suggestion from 1,000 people, he said, the service may opt to go with that translation. “Our product team fixed the error in the automated translation within hours of learning about it,” a spokesperson for Microsoft later told the Register. Advertisement Just last week, Bing’s map service screwed up when it positioned Melbourne, Australia in the wrong hemisphere. A program manager noted on Twitter that the mistake was due to...Wikipedia. In an earlier email to Gizmodo, a Microsoft spokesperson further explained that Wikipedia data, among other data sources, “is used to provide rich descriptions for some results on the Bing Maps website. These descriptions are then linked to our location data for positioning them on the map.” Advertisement Of course, Bing isn’t the only service to use crowdsourced data. Google users can add and edit places on the Maps platform, and in 2014, Google briefly showed the Wikipedia page for Ebola above the Center for Disease Control’s information, the New York Times reported. And Bing’s translator certainly isn’t the only translation service to spit out erroneous results—Google translated “Russian federation” into “Mordor” in January. (A spokesperson blamed the mistake on “automatic translation.”) Still, there’s no getting around the fact that relying on crowdsourced data can be a tricky proposition. Then again, at least it wasn’t dick pranksters this time. [The Guardian] ||||| The text translator’s blunder put down to crowdsourced suggestions after anger from Saudi officials and social media called for countrywide boycott Microsoft has been forced to apologise after its Bing translation service suggested that the Arabic name for Islamic State “Daesh” meant “Saudi Arabia” in English. The blunder was spotted by Saudi social media users, who called for a boycott of all Microsoft products, causing the mistranslation to go viral, and leading to a public outcry. ibrahim abdullah (@hemo53578) #ترجمه_bing_تصف_السعوديه_بداعش @bing shame on you pic.twitter.com/v3iP4KnMmM Microsoft’s vice president for Saudi Arabia, Dr Mamdouh Najjar, said: “As an employee of [Microsoft], I apologise personally to the great Saudi people and this country, dear to all our hearts, for this unintentional mistake.” Najjar told the Huffington Post that the error was most likely due to Bing’s use of crowdsourced translations. The service can promote alternative translations to the top spot if they receive suggestions from about 1,000 people, which means that without manual correction it is possible to manipulate the system and substitute the correct translation for an alternative. Najjar said the company was investigating whether that had happened in this instance. Microsoft apologises to Saudi officials and a spokesperson said that the error had been corrected within hours of the company being informed and that steps have been put in place to avoid the same thing happening again.

– Whoops: Microsoft has apologized after its Bing translator mistakenly translated "Daesh," the Arabic name for ISIS, into "Saudi Arabia" in English. Social media users in Saudi Arabia angrily pointed out the error, the Guardian reports, and it quickly went viral. "As an employee of [Microsoft], I apologize personally to the great Saudi people and this country, dear to all our hearts, for this unintentional mistake," the company's VP for Saudi Arabia tweeted. Gizmodo reports that the VP further explained to Huffington Post Arabia that Bing uses crowdsourced translations—so, if enough people suggested that "Daesh" should be translated to "Saudi Arabia," the service may have started using that translation. Whatever the cause, "Our product team fixed the error in the automated translation within hours of learning about it," a Microsoft spokesperson tells the Register.

Thank you for Reading. Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. A subscription is required to continue reading. Thank you for reading 5 free articles. You can come back at the end of your 30-day period for another 5 free articles, or you can purchase a subscription and continue to enjoy valuable local news and information. If you are a current 7-day subscriber you are granted an all-access pass to the website and digital newspaper replica. Please click Sign Up to subscribe, or Login if you are already a member. Thank you for reading 5 free articles. You can come back at the end of your 30-day period for another 5 free articles, or you can purchase a subscription and continue to enjoy valuable local news and information. If you are a current 7-day subscriber you are granted an all-access pass to the website and digital newspaper replica. Please click below to Get Started. ||||| Over the years, Richmond.com has published several data projects using public information. Here's a sampling of some of those projects. - Our annual database of state employee salaries was recently updated with 2016-17 data. - Our salary database of local government employees was updated recently with the 2016-17 data. ||||| A prominent political donor gave $70,000 to a corporation owned by Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his sister last year, and the governor did not disclose the money as a gift or loan, according to people with knowledge of the payments. The donor, wealthy businessman Jonnie R. Williams Sr., also gave a previously unknown $50,000 check to the governor’s wife, Maureen, in 2011, the people said. The money to the corporation and Maureen McDonnell brings to $145,000 the amount Williams gave to assist the McDonnell family in 2011 and 2012 — funds that are now at the center of federal and state investigations. Williams, the chief executive of dietary supplement manufacturer Star Scientific Inc., also provided a $10,000 check in December as a present to McDonnell’s eldest daughter, Jeanine, intended to help defray costs at her May 2013 wedding, the people said. Virginia’s first family already is under intense scrutiny for accepting $15,000 from the same chief executive to pay for the catering at the June 2011 wedding of Cailin McDonnell at the Executive Mansion. View Graphic Timeline: Star Scientific and Gov. McDonnell All the payments came as McDonnell and his wife took steps to promote the donor’s company and its products. The payments to the corporation, confirmed by people familiar with the transactions, offer the first public example of money provided by Williams that would directly benefit the governor and not just his family. The money went from a trust, controlled by Williams, to MoBo Real Estate Partners, a limited-liability corporation formed in 2005 by McDonnell and his sister, the sources said. McDonnell viewed the payments to MoBo and to his wife as loans and not gifts, according to three people familiar with the transactions. State law requires elected officials to disclose their personal loans but not loans made to their corporate interests. Tucker Martin, a spokesman for the governor, declined to comment on the payments other than to say that McDonnell has been diligent in filling out legally mandated disclosures. “The rules that I’m following have been rules that have been in place for decades,” McDonnell said Tuesday on a Norfolk radio show. “These have been the disclosure rules of Virginia. I’m following those. To, after the fact, impose some new requirements on an official when you haven’t kept record of other gifts given to family members or things like that obviously wouldn’t be fair.” State law requires the disclosure of any gift valued at more than $50, but gifts to family members are exempt. Jerry Kilgore, an attorney for Williams, declined to comment on the payments. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney investigating the payments also declined to comment. On state-mandated disclosure forms, McDonnell indicated that a member of his immediate family owed money to an unnamed individual creditor in 2011 and 2012. In one year, he described the creditor as someone in “medical services.” In the other year, the governor said the creditor was in “health care.” Star Scientific makes nutritional supplements. The form did not specify the exact amount owed; the governor checked a box saying it was between $10,001 and $50,000. The people familiar with the payments, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of state and federal investigations of the governor, differed on whether any kind of payment plan had been established to reimburse Williams. They agreed that none of the money to the corporation or Maureen McDonnell has been repaid. Revelations of the additional payments came as a federal grand jury was scheduled to hear testimony in the case this week. Separately, state prosecutors in Richmond are looking into whether the governor has complied with all disclosure laws. McDonnell has said that Star Scientific received no special benefits from his administration and that any actions he or his wife took to boost the company were standard for any administration promoting state-based enterprises. The $145,000 in payments from Williams came in addition to other undisclosed gifts that Williams gave to the governor’s family, including $15,000 in luxury clothing he bought for Maureen McDonnell and a $6,500 Rolex watch she asked him to purchase so she could give it to her husband. McDonnell has disclosed receiving $9,650 in gifts from Williams, including private plane trips and the use of a summer lake-house vacation. Wedding catering Williams’s first payment to the McDonnell family came in a $50,000 check made out to Maureen McDonnell from his trust on May 23, 2011, the people familiar with the transactions said. That was the same day Williams wrote a separate check for the catering at Cailin McDonnell’s wedding. Then, in March 2012, Williams wrote a $50,000 check from his trust to MoBo, which was followed by an additional $20,000 payment to the corporation that spring, the people said. In annual financial-disclosure forms, McDonnell has indicated that he owns a stake in MoBo, which he reported was associated with two Virginia Beach rental properties he purchased in 2005 and 2006 with his wife and his sister, who is also named Maureen. The name of MoBo, formed in 2005, apparently comes from the combination of the names “Maureen” and “Bob” and is the entity that makes mortgage payments on the homes and pays for the properties’ renovations and upkeep. Virginia law allows elected officials to accept gifts of any size, including money, provided they annually disclose those worth at least $50. The law does not require the disclosure of gifts given to members of an elected official’s immediate family, nor gifts provided by relatives or “personal friends.” McDonnell has said he considers Williams, whom he met shortly before his 2009 campaign for governor, to be a “family friend.” He has said the catering at the 2011 wedding was a gift to his daughter and did not need to be disclosed. State law requires officials to disclose loans made to them and members of their immediate family. But it does not require elected officials to spell out their business liabilities. One person familiar with MoBo’s finances indicated that corporate records show the governor and his sister agreed to a low-interest loan with Williams. Terms of the loan dictated that they would make no payments for three years but return the $70,000 by 2015. That person indicated that MoBo had trouble keeping up with expenses after the collapse of the real estate market and had accepted three previous loans, two from McDonnell’s family in 2007 and 2008 and another from a family friend in 2010. He indicated that the loan to the family friend has been satisfied and the loans from the family member have been partially repaid. The payments came as Maureen McDonnell told friends that the first couple was facing financial stress, two people said, in part because of difficulty renting the beach houses. The governor, his wife and sister purchased one of the homes for $1.15 million in 2005 and the other for $850,000 in 2006. According to assessments, the beach properties have declined in value since the McDonnells purchased them during a red-hot real estate market. In his annual financial disclosures, the governor has also indicated an ownership stake in another rental property: at the Wintergreen mountain resort in central Virginia, purchased for $1 million in 2007. Also, the first couple bought a $835,000 house in the Richmond suburbs in 2006, where they were living until they moved to the state’s 200-year-old Executive Mansion when McDonnell became governor in 2010. Consulting payment alleged As governor, McDonnell is paid $175,000 a year. His wife is not paid by the state for her volunteer work as first lady. However, the chief executive of a coal company recently said he paid her $36,000 last year to attend two or three meetings and act as a consultant to his company and family’s charitable efforts. The governor has said Star Scientific received no government contracts, economic incentives or grants. However, the company was allowed to use the governor’s mansion to hold a luncheon to mark the launch of a new product in August 2011. A few weeks before, Maureen McDonnell arranged and attended a meeting between Williams and a top state official during which the executive presented new research about the potential health benefits of the supplement, Anatabloc, and proposed that Virginia consider examining whether its use could reduce health-care costs in the state. And Virginia Secretary of Health Bill Hazel said for the first time last week that he also met one-on-one with Williams in 2010 so the chief executive could pitch Star Scientific. Hazel said the meeting came at the urging of someone in the governor’s or first lady’s office, but he could not remember which. He said such meetings are not unusual. He concluded that Williams’s product was “not ready for prime time” and said he was confident that Williams received no benefit from the meeting. Alice Crites and Carol Leonnig in Washington and Laura Vozzella and Errin Whack contributed to this report.

– The investigation into the relationship between Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Jonnie R. Williams Sr., CEO of Star Scientific, continues, with a new $130,000 reveal. Williams gave $70,000 to a McDonnell-owned corporation last year, another $50,000 to McDonnell's wife, Maureen, in 2011, and $10,000 to McDonnell's daughter in December, sources tell the Washington Post. The governor didn't disclose any of those amounts. Previously revealed gifts included another "wedding gift" for McDonnell's daughter and a $6,500 Rolex, among other things. More unpleasantness for the McDonnell family: Sean McDonnell, the governor's 21-year-old son, was busted early Saturday on a public drunkenness charge, the Daily Progress reports. Police found him intoxicated in Charlottesville, where he attends the University of Virginia. And, facing pressure over the misuse of Executive Mansion resources for his family, McDonnell recently paid the state $2,400 to reimburse it for food and household supplies his kids used, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Specifically, McDonnell has been accused of sending things like paper towels and laundry detergent back to college with his children.

A new Iranian precision-guided ballistic missile is launched as it is tested at an undisclosed location October 11, 2015. UNITED NATIONS The United States has confirmed that Iran tested a medium-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, in "clear violation" of a United Nations Security Council ban on ballistic missile tests, a senior U.S. official said on Friday. "The United States is deeply concerned about Iran's recent ballistic missile launch," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said in a statement. "After reviewing the available information, we can confirm that Iran launched on Oct. 10 a medium-range ballistic missile inherently capable of delivering a nuclear weapon," she said. "This was a clear violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929." The United States is preparing a report on the incident for the Security Council's Iran Sanctions Committee and will raise the matter directly with Security Council members "in the coming days," Power said. Council diplomats have told Reuters it was possible to sanction additional Iranian individuals or entities by adding them to an existing U.N. blacklist. However, they noted that Russia and China, which have opposed the sanctions on Iran's missile program, might block any such moves. "The Security Council prohibition on Iran's ballistic missile activities, as well as the arms embargo, remain in place," Power said. "We will continue to press the Security Council for an appropriate response to Iran's disregard for its international obligations." Ballistic missile tests by Iran are banned under Security Council resolution 1929, which was adopted in 2010 and remains valid until a nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers goes into effect. Under that deal, reached on July 14, most sanctions on Iran will be lifted in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. The missile test is not a violation of the nuclear deal, which focuses on Iran's atomic program, U.S. officials have said. Speaking to reporters in Washington, President Barack Obama acknowledged that the nuclear deal does not fully resolve all areas of dispute with Tehran. "So we are going to have to continue to put pressure on them through the international community," he said. Once the deal takes effect, Iran will still be "called upon" to refrain from undertaking any work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for a period of up to eight years, according to a Security Council resolution adopted in July. Countries would be allowed to transfer missile technology and heavy weapons to Iran on a case-by-case basis with council approval. However, in July a U.S. official called this provision meaningless and said the United States would veto any suggested transfer of ballistic missile technology to Iran. On Sunday, the United States, the European Union and Iran are expected to announce a series of measures to comply with the nuclear deal that will take effect once the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency confirms Iranian compliance with terms of the agreement. (Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton in Washington; Editing by Richard Chang and Leslie Adler) ||||| Image copyright Reuters Image caption The US accused Iran of "almost serially violating the international community's concerns" about its ballistic missile programme The US has condemned a recent medium range ballistic missile test by Iran as a "clear violation" of UN sanctions and a sign of the country's disregard for its international obligations. The nuclear weapons-capable missile was launched on 10 October. US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said that her country was "deeply concerned" by the test firing. Correspondents say however that it is unlikely to derail the recent US-Iran nuclear agreement. But it does illustrate that despite the deal there is still little love lost between the two countries, BBC Defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus says. Iran's parliament on Tuesday approved the deal, negotiated with the US and five world powers. Image copyright EPA Image caption Iran displays missiles as part of a military parade in Tehran every September Image copyright AFP Image caption Experts say Iran's new Emad surface-to-surface missile is more reliable than its predecessors such as these Shahab-2 long-range ballistic missiles Last month, US Republicans failed in their attempt to block the accord in Congress. The US said on Friday that the test firing breached a 2010 UN Security Council Resolution that prohibits Iran from testing the category of missile fired last weekend. The launch may also be against the spirit of continuing restrictions contained in the deal reached between Iran and the major powers over its wider nuclear activities, our correspondent says. Iran's new Emad surface-to-surface missile is said to have a range of 1,700km (1,056 miles) and be more reliable than earlier versions. "The Security Council prohibition on Iran's ballistic missile activities, as well as the arms embargo, remain in place and we will continue to press the Security Council for an appropriate response," Ms Power said in a statement. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest also expressed concern, accusing Iran of "almost serially violating the international community's concerns about their ballistic missile programme". The nuclear agreement in July - reached after 20 months of negotiations - authorises the lifting of sanctions in return for Iran curbing sensitive nuclear activities. Iran insists that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. The bill now has to be ratified by Iran's constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council. The deal has come in for criticism from hardliners in both the US and Iran. Image copyright EPA Image caption The nuclear deal came after long negotiations Read more Will US and Iran shake hands in 2017? How to get the bomb - in 60 seconds Iran nuclear deal: Key details Iran nuclear crisis: Six key points

– A US official confirmed Friday that Iran tested a missile capable of delivering a nuclear weapon earlier this month, Reuters reports. In a statement, US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power says the US is "deeply concerned" about the launch, which is a violation of the UN Security Council's ban on ballistic missile tests. The BBC quotes White House press secretary Josh Earnest, who says the test fits with Iran's MO of "almost serially violating the international community's concerns about their ballistic missile program." The missile tested Oct. 10 is said to be more reliable than Iran's earlier missiles and can travel more than 1,000 miles. Reuters reports the launch violates a 2010 UN resolution that remains valid until the new nuclear deal reached in July goes into effect. "The Security Council prohibition on Iran's ballistic missile activities, as well as the arms embargo, remain in place," Power says in the statement. "We will continue to press the Security Council for an appropriate response to Iran's disregard for its international obligations." BBC reports the missile test is unlikely to impact the new nuclear agreement. Under that agreement, Iran will simply be "called upon" not to work on ballistic missiles for up to eight years, according to Reuters. President Obama admits the new deal doesn't address all possible issues and says additional pressure will need to be put on Iran by the international community.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the overnight attack on his country's embassy in the Egyptian capital. Some hundreds of Egyptian activists demolish a concrete wall built around a building housing the Israeli embassy in Cairo, Egypt, to protect it against demonstrators, as they raise their national Friday,... (Associated Press) Egyptian activists demolish a concrete wall built around a building housing the Israeli embassy in Cairo, Egypt, to protect it against demonstrators, Friday, Sept.9, 2011. Arabic reads " liberation of... (Associated Press) Egyptian activists demolish a concrete wall built around a building housing the Israeli embassy in Cairo, Egypt, to protect it against demonstrators, as they raise their national Friday, Sept.9, 2011.... (Associated Press) A protester holds the Egyptian national flag as a fire rages outside the building housing the Israeli embassy in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Sept. 9, 2011. Hundreds of Egyptian protesters, some swinging hammers... (Associated Press) Protesters are seen among flaming vehicles outside the building housing the Israeli embassy in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Sept. 9, 2011. Hundreds of Egyptian protesters, some swinging hammers and others using... (Associated Press) Egyptian activists burn a depiction of an Israeli flag as they demolish a concrete wall built around a building housing the Israeli embassy in Cairo, Egypt, to protect it against demonstrators, Friday,... (Associated Press) An Egyptian protester shouts slogans in front of a poster showing ousted President Hosni Mubarak on a noose during a protest at Tahrir Square, the focal point of the Egyptian uprising, in Cairo, Egypt... (Associated Press) An elderly man runs past flaming vehicles outside the building housing the Israeli embassy in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Sept. 9, 2011. A group of about 30 protesters broke into the embassy Friday and dumped... (Associated Press) Thousands of Egyptian protesters pray at Tahrir Square, the focal point of the Egyptian uprising, in Cairo, Egypt Friday, Sept.9, 2011, during a protest labeled Correcting the Path where thousands gathered... (Associated Press) An aide to the prime minister says Netanyahu on Saturday denounced the attack as a "serious incident" and a "blatant violation of international norms." He says Netanyahu thanked Egyptian authorities for helping rescue six Israeli employees trapped inside the embassy during the attack but said the incident itself was a "severe injury to the fabric of peace with Israel." The aide, who said he heard Netanyahu's remarks, spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the press. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. CAIRO (AP) _ A senior Egyptian official says at least three people died and more than 1,000 were hurt during street clashes with police and army troops after an angry mob attacked the Israeli embassy in Cairo. Deputy Health Minister Hamid Abaza say one of the three fatalities in the violence late Friday was a man who died of a heart attack. Abaza told The Associated Press on Saturday he doesn't know the cause of the other two deaths. He says at least 1,093 people were injured in the clashes. The protesters pelted the police and the military with rocks, prompting the troops to fire tear gas and shoot into the air. Only 38 of the injured remained in hospital. Earlier, the protesters tore down a security wall outside the Israeli mission and stormed the embassy's offices. ||||| CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army rulers vowed on Saturday to try those behind the violence that pushed Israel to evacuate its ambassador from Cairo, as they struggled to contain public fury against the Jewish state while fending off U.S. criticism. Washington, which has poured billions of dollars in military aid into Egypt since it made peace with Israel in 1979, urged Cairo to protect the mission after protesters hurled embassy documents from the windows of the building and removed and burned the Israeli flag. Three people died and 1,049 were wounded in the clashes that began Friday and raged on into the early hours of Saturday around the Cairo tower block housing the embassy, the Health Ministry said. Police and soldiers fired shots in the air and tear gas to disperse the crowd, which replied with stones. Egypt's army, under pressure to hand power back to civilians after taking over from toppled president Hosni Mubarak, must balance public calls for a more assertive policy toward Israel with maintaining ties that bring it cash and U.S. military hardware. "Egypt witnessed a harsh day that inflicted pain and worry on all Egyptians. It is clear that the behavior of some threatens the Egyptian revolution," Information Minister Osama Hassan Heikal said in a televised statement. Egypt would transfer those in custody or "involved in inciting or participating in (Friday's) events to the emergency state security court," the minister said. Justice Minister Mohamed Abdel Aziz el-Guindy told state television the government had decided to apply emergency laws still in place "forcefully" and that trials would be swift. Protesters burned tyres in the street and at least two police vehicles were set alight near the embassy. Many had come from a demonstration in central Cairo organised to push the army to end emergency law and speed up political reforms. "Our dignity has been restored," said Mohi Alaa, 24, a protester near the site of the overnight clashes. Bits of concrete and bullet casings were strewn over the street. "We don't want the Americans' money," he said, reflecting the greater readiness of many Egyptians to express resentment of Israel and the United States after decades of pragmatic official relations. Some 500 protesters stayed after dawn and a few threw stones at police, who gradually pushed them away and secured the area around the embassy, located on the upper floors of a residential block overlooking the Nile. AMBASSADOR EVACUATED It was the second big eruption of violence at the embassy since five Egyptian border guards were killed last month when Israel repelled cross-border raiders it said were Palestinians. Egypt then briefly threatened to withdraw its envoy to Israel. Israel has stopped short of apologising, saying it is still investigating the Egyptian deaths, which occurred during an operation against gunmen who had killed eight Israelis. Israeli ambassador Yitzhak Levanon, staff and family members arrived home Saturday, but one diplomat stayed in Egypt to maintain the embassy, an Israeli official said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would preserve its 1979 peace with Egypt despite the incident. "We are working together with the Egyptian government to return our ambassador to Cairo soon," he said in televised remarks. "I would like to ensure that the security arrangements necessary for him and for our staff will be steadfast." The Egyptian information minister's statement followed a crisis meeting of his key cabinet members and talks with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the military council that has ruled Egypt since Mubarak stepped down on February 11. State television said the military council rejected an offer by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf to resign. Israel is finding itself increasingly at odds with formerly sympathetic states in the region. It is embroiled in a feud with Turkey, once the closest of its few Muslim allies, over an Israeli raid last year that killed nine Turks on a flotilla bound for Gaza. Egypt's ties with Israel, though never warm, were a pillar of Mubarak's foreign policy and buttressed his claim to be a regional mediator. Under Mubarak, displays of hostility to Israel were crushed by force. U.S. DEMANDS President Barack Obama called on Egypt to "honor its international obligations" and protect the Israeli mission. He told Israel's Netanyahu that Washington was taking steps to resolve the situation. The State Department said Washington had been in contact with Egyptian and Israeli officials over the violence. "Israel and Egypt are key partners and allies of the United States, and both states have made clear their continuing commitment to maintain their bilateral relationship and the peace treaty between them, which remains a cornerstone of regional stability," Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said Cairo was committed to "fully respect all its international obligations regarding protecting and safeguarding international diplomatic missions on its soil," the state MENA news agency said. An Israeli official said the ambassador, staff and family members had left in one plane and a second one had brought home six Israeli security personnel who had been left guarding the embassy, protected from the crowd only by a reinforced door until Egyptian troops extracted them. British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the embassy attack and urged Egypt to protect diplomatic property. Some Egyptian politicians and activists criticised the violence, even if they backed the anti-Israel demonstration. Presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy called for the army to take a "serious stance matching the public anger" toward Israel but said violence sullied the image of Egypt's uprising. Last month, a man scaled the embassy building, took down Israel's flag and replaced it with Egypt's. Protests continued daily but did not turn violent until the latest flare-up. In response to the protests, the authorities had erected a wall around the building, which was quickly defaced with anti-Israel slogans and then painted in Egypt's national colours. Friday, the wall was torn down. (Reporting by Yasmine Saleh, Mohamed Abdellah, Seham Eloraby, Ahmed Tolba and Sami Aboudi in Cairo, Dan Williams in Jerusalem, and Christopher Wilson and Timothy Gardner in Washington; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Janet Lawrence) ||||| U.S. President Barak Obama spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday after hundreds of Egyptian demonstrators broke into the Israeli Embassy in Cairo earlier in the day. The U.S. president's office issued a statement in which Obama expressed great concern over the attack and for the Israelis stationed there. The statement said that Obama "reviewed the steps that the United States is taking at all levels to help resolve the situation without further violence, and calls on the Government of Egypt to honor its international obligations to safeguard the security of the Israeli Embassy." Obama and Netanyahu agreed to stay in close touch until the situation is resolved. Calls to end the historic 1979 peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, a pact that has never been widely supported by Egypt’s constituency, have been on the rise since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in February. Tensions rose last month after Israeli forces responding to a cross-border militant attack mistakenly killed five Egyptian police officers. ||||| That strategy proved disastrous Friday night when thousands of protesters attacked the Israeli Embassy. They first methodically demolished a week-old protective wall as Egyptian security forces stood by. A few scaled the building and tore down the Israeli flag, while about two dozen broke into the offices and began tossing binders of documents into the street. And when a battalion of riot police finally began filling the streets with tear gas, the protesters fought back with rocks and Molotov cocktails for most of the night. Egyptian officials said Saturday that at least two protesters had died from the clashes around the embassy — one from a bullet wound and the other from a heart attack — while as many as 1,200 had been injured and at least 19 arrested. Signaling its new crackdown, the military council said Saturday that all those arrested would be sent to military trials instead of civilian courts. But at least one protester who had broken into the embassy early Saturday morning said that Egyptian military police had forced him out but then let him go free, raising questions about the consistency of the military’s new crackdown. Israeli officials, for their part, said Saturday that six members of their staff had been trapped inside the embassy until an early morning rescue by Egyptian commandos. “This went on for 13 hours and there was real concern for the safety and lives of our people,” an Israeli official said. “The mob penetrated the embassy and at the end there was only one wall separating it from six of our people.” The Israeli ambassador and about 85 diplomats and their family members were evacuated at dawn. Only one diplomat, a deputy ambassador, remained, and he took refuge in the protection of the American Embassy, diplomats familiar with the arrangements said. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. Diplomats said allowing the invasion of a foreign embassy was an extraordinary breach of Egypt’s international commitments that immediately raised new security concerns at other embassies around the city. “It has led to a complete loss of credibility in the government internationally from all directions,” a Western diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the situation. In addition to attacking the Israeli Embassy, witnesses said, protesters also menaced the nearby embassy of Saudi Arabia, which many Egyptians believe has pushed their own government to avoid setting a precedent by taking retribution against Mr. Mubarak. “Saudi Arabia and Mubarak are one hand,” protesters chanted. (Mr. Mubarak is currently on trial for corruption and conspiring in the killing of protesters earlier this year.) Mr. Heikal, the Egyptian government spokesman, specifically addressed worries by diplomats, pledging that Egypt would fully uphold all its international commitments. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The violence of the attack on the Israeli Embassy, and another attack that defaced the walls of the Egyptian Interior Ministry, marked a departure from the previously peaceful character of the frequent demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square since the revolution. The difference reflected in part the changing composition of the crowd, which on Friday was dominated for the first time by hard-core soccer fans, known here as Ultras, who turned out looking for revenge against the police after a melee at a soccer match a few days before. Egyptian politicians at every level — from the young leaders of the revolution to older liberals and Islamists — spoke out Saturday against the use of violence. A coalition of young organizers of the revolution held a press conference to fault the military council for failing to provide any security throughout the day and evening, only to respond late at night with brutal force. But many political leaders were also careful to distance themselves from any support for Israel. Among the many objections to Mr. Mubarak was his steadfast devotion to Egypt’s alliance with Israel and the United States even at the price of suppressing popular resentment of Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians. And both aspiring political candidates as well as the ruling military council have been careful to stay on the popular side of those sentiments. Given the growing public pressure, said Gamal Abdel Gawad, director of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, repairing relations with Israel could be “an uphill battle.” Citing the crisis surrounding the embassy attack, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the leader of Egypt's ruling military council and former President Hosni Mubarak's former defense minister, postponed until September 24 his testimony scheduled Sunday before a closed-session of Mr. Mubarak's criminal trial trial.

– Relations between Egypt and Israel took another turn for the worse today, as Israel evacuated its ambassador and staff from Cairo amid protests, reports Reuters. The move came after demonstrators destroyed a protective wall outside the Israeli embassy, tore down the flag, then got inside and tossed documents out windows. Egyptian authorities say at least three people were killed and about 1,000 injured as police and security forces clashed with protesters overnight outside the embassy. Tensions between the nations have been going downhill in general since the fall of Hosni Mubarak, notes the New York Times, and especially since Israeli forces mistakenly killed five Egyptian police officers last month during a raid on Palestinian militants. Benjamin Netanyahu today called the attack on the embassy a "blatant violation of international norms," notes AP, and President Obama expressed "great concern," adds Haaretz.

The truck driver accused of plowing into Tracy Morgan’s limo — critically injuring the “30 Rock” star and killing another comedian — hadn’t slept for 24 hours before the deadly crash, authorities said Monday. Kevin Roper, a 35-year-old from Jonseboro, Ga., was charged with death by auto and assault in connection to Saturday’s horrific New Jersey Turnpike smashup that killed Morgan’s pal, comic James McNair. View video Roper caused the crash “specifically by operating the aforementioned vehicle on the New Jersey Turnpike without having slept for a period in excess of 24 hours,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Plainsboro by prosecutor Andrew Carey. Roper is free after posting $50,000 bail. He’s set to face Middlesex County Judge Bradley Ferencz on Wednesday. Morgan was still listed in critical condition at a New Jersey hospital Monday. Limo driver Tyrone Gale said he and other passengers never saw it coming — a Walmart big rig that slammed into them from behind early Saturday. “It felt like an explosion,” Gale told ABC News on Sunday. “I climbed around and heard Tracy screaming for help.” Gale was in no position to immediately get to Morgan. “I climbed up on the body of the limo bus,” he said, “but I couldn’t reach them and pull them.” Morgan and his crew had been all smiles earlier that night after doing a show in Dover, Del. Gale recalled how much pride Morgan had seeing his infant daughter. “[It was] a great show in Dover, a lot of excitement going home,” Gale said. “Tracy was holding the baby before we left and he said, `I’m holding my princess!’” Walmart CEO Bill Simon has said his company will “take full responsibility” if it’s shown that its driver caused this accident. “We’re praying for the family and friends of the passenger who lost his life in the terrible accident in New Jersey,” Simon said. “Our hearts go out to everyone involved and we hope those who were injured get the care that they need and make a full recovery.” He added: “The facts are continuing to unfold. If it’s determined that our truck caused the accident, Walmart will take full responsibility.” Additional reporting by Kathryn Cusma and David K. Li ||||| 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. ||||| Tracy Morgan underwent surgery Sunday as he recovers from injuries sustained during a fatal traffic accident. Morgan, 45, was hospitalized early Saturday after his limo bus, returning from a show in Delaware, was involved in a six-vehicle crash on the New Jersey Turnpike. “While Tracy remains in critical condition, he has been more responsive today, which is an incredibly encouraging sign,” his rep said in a statement. “He sustained a number of injuries including a broken leg, a broken femur, a broken nose and several broken ribs. He had surgery earlier today on his leg. We expect him to remain in the hospital for several weeks. His family is tremendously overwhelmed and appreciative of the outpouring of love and support from his fans.” RELATED: Eyewitness: Tracy Morgan’s Car Crash Was ‘Horrific’ The former 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live actor is being treated in the intensive care unit at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Comedian and friend James "Jimmy Mack" McNair died in the wreck, and two other passengers were injured. A Walmart truck driver has been charged with one count of death by auto and four counts of assault by auto after turning himself in to state police. RELATED: Tracy Morgan In Critical Condition Following Fatal Bus Crash An eyewitness told PEOPLE she saw the truck swerve and hit the other cars, causing Morgan’s vehicle to spin out of control and flip over. “It was a horrific sight and we just hope that everyone is okay,” she said. • With reporting by ELIZABETH LEONARD

– Tracy Morgan is still in critical condition after the six-vehicle crash that left one person dead Saturday, but the actor and comedian was "more responsive" yesterday, his rep said in a statement, calling it "an incredibly encouraging sign." Morgan, 45, suffered injuries including a broken leg, a broken femur, a broken nose, and broken ribs; he had surgery on his leg yesterday. He'll likely remain in a New Jersey hospital for "several weeks," the statement says. Meanwhile, authorities revealed today that Kevin Roper, the Walmart truck driver who hit Morgan's chauffeured SUV limousine, hadn't slept for more than 24 hours before the accident, the New York Post reports. The tractor-trailer "failed to observe slow-moving traffic ahead of him," overturning Morgan's limo and then causing a "chain reaction" with the other vehicles, according to a police officer. An onlooker tells People she saw the truck swerve, and Morgan's limo spin and ultimately flip after being hit. "It was a horrific sight," she says. The limo driver, who was not seriously hurt, says he heard Morgan calling for help after the wreck, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Roper, 35, has been charged with death by auto and assault by auto. The New York Daily News notes that Roper's Twitter bio used to say, "Driving trucks for a living it’s my road move or get hit! #Walmart." It has since been changed slightly. Walmart claims Roper doesn't have a Twitter account, but a friend of Roper's says the account is indeed Roper's.

- Former tennis player John McEnroe tried to explain his statement that fellow tennis player Serena Williams would be ranked "like 700 in the world" if she had to play on the men's circuit, on June 27. () ||||| Safe to say, this John McEnroe-Serena Williams debate has gone from an overblown sports controversy to an entirely pointless one. It started on NPR over the weekend when McEnroe, on a promotional tour for his new book, “But Seriously,” caught some heat for a comment he made about Serena Williams: Garcia-Navarro: We’re talking about male players but there is of course wonderful female players. Let’s talk about Serena Williams. You say she is the best female player in the world in the book. McEnroe: Best female player ever — no question. Garcia-Navarro: Some wouldn’t qualify it, some would say she’s the best player in the world. Why qualify it? McEnroe: Oh! Uh, she’s not, you mean, the best player in the world, period? Garcia-Navarro: Yeah, the best tennis player in the world. You know, why say female player? McEnroe: Well because if she was in, if she played the men’s circuit she’d be like 700 in the world. Garcia-Navarro: You think so? McEnroe: Yeah. That doesn’t mean I don’t think Serena is an incredible player. I do, but the reality of what would happen would be I think something that perhaps it’d be a little higher, perhaps it’d be a little lower. And on a given day, Serena could beat some players. I believe because she’s so incredibly strong mentally that she could overcome some situations where players would choke ’cause she’s been in it so many times, so many situations at Wimbledon, The U.S. Open, etc. But if she had to just play the circuit — the men’s circuit — that would be an entirely different story. As I wrote at the time, it was a pretty ‘gotcha’ line of questioning from the host. McEnroe repeatedly lavished praise on Serena’s ability but didn’t steer away from the line of questioning above, creating a backlash that Serena responded to on Monday: Dear John, I adore and respect you but please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based. — Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) June 26, 2017 I've never played anyone ranked "there" nor do I have time. Respect me and my privacy as I'm trying to have a baby. Good day sir — Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) June 26, 2017 McEnroe could’ve just left it there, but his tennis player instinct to volley back apparently cropping back up, he did the opposite. McEnroe doubled down on the comment by refusing to apologize. "Would you like to apologize?" — @NorahODonnell "No." — John McEnroe pic.twitter.com/BFN8w2EyfY — CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 27, 2017 Clarified that he didn’t know it would create controversy, and that he didn’t intend to bother Serena during her pregnancy. "It wasn't necessary…. I didn't know it would create controversy." — John McEnroe on his Serena Williams comments pic.twitter.com/6YAPtZ80mp — CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 27, 2017 Following with a claim that, at 58, he would right now rank 1,200 on if he played full time. Where would John McEnroe rank himself? "I would be, currently, about 1,200 in the world." pic.twitter.com/KJSMBiuBlY — CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 27, 2017 Before concluding by mockingly re-ranking the best tennis players in history, putting Serena at No. 5. ||||| On Tuesday, John McEnroe joined “CBS This Morning,” where he discussed the controversy surrounding recent comments he made about how Serena Williams would compare to the top men’s tennis players on the planet. McEnroe had said, during an interview on NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday” over the weekend, that “if [Williams] played the men’s circuit, she’d be, like, 700 in the world.” The retired player’s comment led to intense anger. Williams herself eventually criticized McEnroe over Twitter, asking him to “please keep [her] out of [his] statements.” When asked on “CBS This Morning” if he would like to apologize, however, McEnroe replied, “Uh, no.” He then said that “tennis [is] unlike other sports ― they’re always asking about how women” would fare against him. "Would you like to apologize?" -- @NorahODonnell "No." -- John McEnroe pic.twitter.com/BFN8w2EyfY — CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) June 27, 2017 McEnroe did admit that the comment “wasn’t necessary” and said that Williams is “the greatest female player that ever lived,” ranking her fifth of all-time among men and women. But McEnroe often seemed unsure of exactly what to say, leading to a number of rambling sentences and a suggestion that he didn’t want to “upset her” because he didn’t want “anything to go wrong with Serena[’s pregnancy].” WATCH: John McEnroe apparently thinks Serena Williams is a hysterical woman who may fall apart because of his comments and go into labor pic.twitter.com/qaDq2Wcejt — Yashar Ali (@yashar) June 27, 2017 ||||| John McEnroe said he will not apologize for claiming Serena Williams is only as good as the 700th-best male tennis player in the world. In an interview with CBS This Morning on Tuesday, McEnroe said he would not apologize for the comments, which he made in an interview with NPR on Sunday. Instead, McEnore lamented that tennis players are often asked to rank each other, regardless of their gender — which he says athletes in other sports rarely consider. When asked why he would make the comment, McEnroe said: “It wasn’t necessary. I didn’t know it would create controversy.” “She’s the greatest female player that ever lived,” McEnroe said. McEnroe, a retired tennis star who is now promoting his new book, was given the chance to re-do his rankings on CBS This Morning. He placed Williams in the fifth spot. “OK, you happy now?” he appeared to joke. As for himself, McEnroe said he “would be, currently, about 1,200 in the world.” (When he was active in the sport, McEnroe had attained the No. 1 ranking in singles and doubles.) Williams called out McEnroe on Twitter Monday evening, asking him to “please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based.” “Respect me and my privacy as I’m trying to have a baby,” Williams, who is pregnant, tweeted. “Good day sir.” Williams has won 23 singles Grand Slam titles, 14 more in doubles and is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes in the world. McEnroe’s initial comments came as he was responding to a question from NPR about why he doesn’t call Williams the greatest tennis player, period. “If she played the men’s circuit she’d be like 700 in the world,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t think Serena is an incredible player. I do, but the reality of what would happen would be I think something that perhaps it’d be a little higher, perhaps it’d be a little lower.” McEnroe’s assessment of Williams’s rank among her male counterparts differs from one he gave in the past. In 2015 after her Wimbledon win, McEnroe called Williams “arguably the greatest athlete of the last 100 years,” according to ESPN.

– John McEnroe refused to apologize Tuesday after claiming that Serena Williams would only be ranked 700th or so if she played against men rather than women, Time reports. McEnroe induced a wave of ire, including some from Williams herself, after making the comment Sunday on NPR. On Tuesday he told CBS This Morning he "didn't know it would create a controversy" but wouldn't be apologizing. According to HuffPost, McEnroe said he didn't want to "upset" Williams and cause "anything to go wrong" with her pregnancy. While McEnroe apparently isn't sorry for his comments about Williams, he said he is sorry tennis players are constantly asked to rank each other. He said people are "always asking about how women" would do playing against him. In a joking re-ranking of history's greatest tennis players, McEnroe put Williams fifth overall, asking, "You happy now?" He said he would rank about 1,200th out of women's tennis players at his current age of 58, USA Today reports. The Washington Post has the video of McEnroe's appearance on CBS This Morning.

Philadelphia police are investigating the "suspicious" death of the father of former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster's father. Officials say Herbert McMaster died last week at the Cathedral Village home in Roxborough. Sources say he fell but was not treated or monitored. Philadelphia police are investigating the “suspicious” death of the father of former Trump administration national security adviser H.R. McMaster. Herbert McMaster died Friday at the Cathedral Village home on the 600 block of Cathedral Road in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. He was 84. Law enforcement sources told NBC10 McMaster's death is being investigated as suspicious due to allegations of neglect and dereliction of duty. According to the sources, McMaster fell and hit his head and was placed in a recliner but was not treated or monitored. He later died from blunt impact to the head and his death was ruled accidental by the medical examiner. McMaster to Resign From Trump Administration President Donald Trump’s national security adviser H.R. McMaster will resign and be replaced by John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Trump made the staffing announcement in a tweet on March 22. (Published Thursday, March 22, 2018) Investigators are looking into whether workers at the home falsified paperwork and gave the McMaster family misleading information, according to sources. Philadelphia police, the attorney general's office, district attorney's office and the Health Department are all investigating. In a statement released Thursday, Cathedral Village said the safety and well-being of their residents are "top priority." "After immediately notifying the family and appropriate authorities of the resident’s death, we began our own internal investigation, which is ongoing," the statement read in part. ||||| PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Authorities in Philadelphia are investigating the death of the father of President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, sources tell CBS3. Police: Man Stabs Roommate Over Bologna, Cheese Fridge Placement According to the Philadelphia Department of Health, H.R. McMaster Sr., the father of Gen. H.R. McMaster, died on April 13 at the Cathedral Village Retirement Community located in the 600 block of East Cathedral Road. The health department confirms he died of blunt impact trauma to the head and the manner of death was determined to be an accident. Teacher Says He Was Suspended For Serving Pancakes During State Test But sources tell CBS3 that Philadelphia police and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office are investigating the possibility of institutional neglect after he fell. “We are working closely with the Philadelphia Police Department to thoroughly and carefully review this tragic incident. This investigation is in the very early stages,” says the attorney general’s office in a statement. Sources could not provide further details at this time. ‘I’m A Feminist Myself’: Nissan Retraining Employees After Woman Receives Offensive Emails CBS3 interviewed H.R. McMaster Sr. in 2017 when his son became the national security adviser. “I’m very proud of him and he has never disappointed anyone who knows him or who he’s ever served with,” McMaster Sr. said. Gen. McMaster served under Trump as the 26th National Security Advisor. In April, he resigned from his role and was replaced by former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton. Cathedral Village has not responded to requests for comment. ||||| EMBED More News Videos Police investigate father of former Trump advisor's death: Sarah Bloomquist reports on Action News at 6 p.m., April 18, 2018 According to sources, the Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Unit, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office and the Department of Health are all investigating the death of former National Security Advisor General H.R. McMaster's father, 84-year-old H.R. McMaster, Sr.It is being investigated as a suspicious death.On Thursday, the medical examiner determined the cause of death to be blunt impact head trauma.The manner of death is accidental. However, the medical examiner, says the manner does not mean an act of negligence could have led to it.H.R. McMaster served as President Trump's national security advisor from February 2017 until earlier this month.The elder McMaster died on April 13 at Cathedral Village in the 600 block of E. Cathedral Rd in Roxborough, a senior living Continuing Care Retirement Community.He was receiving care at Cathedral Village after suffering a stroke.The allegations are that McMaster Sr. fell, hit his head, was put in a chair and then died. He allegedly did not receive proper care.Investigators are probing information from some staff members who informed the McMaster family that records were falsified pertaining to this death.Philadelphia police executed a search warrant at the facility Tuesday.Cathedral Village spoke with 6abc Wednesday evening and stated that they are fully cooperating with the agencies investigating the death of H.R. McMaster, Sr.Village officials say they contacted the Department of Health the same day of his death and launched an internal investigation into the allegations being made.A spokesperson said, "We remain committed to the safety and welfare of all our residents and have made every effort to cooperate."A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office said, "We are working closely with the Philadelphia Police Department to thoroughly and carefully review this tragic incident. This investigation is in the very early stages."The McMaster family issued the following statement:------

– The father of former National Security Adviser HR McMaster died April 13, and sources tell 6ABC the death has been labeled as suspicious. HR McMaster Sr., 84, died at Cathedral Village, a senior living facility in Philadelphia's Roxborough neighborhood where he'd been receiving care after having a stroke. He reportedly fell and hit his head and was placed in a recliner, but he didn't receive treatment or monitoring, per NBC10's sources; he later died. His cause of death was found to be blunt impact trauma to the head, and the death was ruled an accident. Sources say some staff members told the family records about the death were falsified and that the family had been given misleading information. CBS3 reports that authorities are investigating the possibility of institutional neglect. The Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Unit, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, and the Department of Health are all said to be investigating. Cathedral Village says it's cooperating with the investigation and completing its own internal investigation.

That belief has spawned a nationwide movement to improve the quality of the teaching corps by firing the bad teachers and hiring better ones. “Creating a New Teaching Profession,” a new collection of academic papers, politely calls this idea “deselection”; Joel Klein , the New York City schools chancellor, put it more bluntly when he gave a talk in Manhattan recently. “If we don’t change the personnel,” he said, “all we’re doing is changing the chairs.” The reformers are also trying to create incentives to bring what Michelle Rhee, the schools chancellor in Washington, calls a “different caliber of person” into the profession. Rhee has proposed giving cash bonuses to those teachers whose students learn the most, as measured by factors that include standardized tests — and firing those who don’t measure up. Under her suggested compensation system, the city’s best teachers could earn as much as $130,000 a year. (The average pay for a teacher in Washington is now $65,000.) A new charter school in New York City called the Equity Project offers starting salaries of $125,000. “Merit pay,” a once-obscure free-market notion of handing cash bonuses to the best teachers, has lately become a litmus test for seriousness about improving schools. The Obama administration’s education department has embraced merit pay; the federal Teacher Incentive Fund, which finances experimental merit-pay programs across the country, rose from $97 million to $400 million this year. And states interested in competing for a piece of the $4.3 billion discretionary fund called the Race to the Top were required to change their laws to give principals and superintendents the right to judge teachers based on their students’ academic performance. Incentives are intuitively appealing: if a teacher could make real money, maybe more people would choose teaching over finance or engineering or law, expanding the labor pool. And no one wants incompetent teachers in the classroom. Yet so far, both merit-pay efforts and programs that recruit a more-elite teaching corps, like Teach for America, have thin records of reliably improving student learning. Even if competition could coax better performance, would it be enough? Consider a bar graph presented at a recent talk on teaching, displaying the number of Americans in different professions. The shortest bar, all the way on the right, represented architects: 180,000. Farther over, slightly higher, came psychologists (185,000) and then lawyers (952,000), followed by engineers (1.3 million) and waiters (1.8 million). On the left side of the graph, the top three: janitors, maids and household cleaners (3.3 million); secretaries (3.6 million); and, finally, teachers (3.7 million). Moreover, a coming swell of baby-boomer retirements is expected to force school systems to hire up to a million new teachers between now and 2014. Expanding the pool of potential teachers is clearly important, but in a profession as large as teaching, can financial incentives alone make an impact? Lemov spent his early career putting his faith in market forces, building accountability systems meant to reward high-performing charter schools and force the lower-performing ones to either improve or go out of business. The incentives did shock some schools into recognizing their shortcomings. But most of them were like the one in Syracuse: they knew they had to change, but they didn’t know how. “There was an implementation gap,” Lemov told me. “Incentives by themselves were not going to be enough.” Lemov calls this the Edison Parable, after the for-profit company Edison Schools, which in the 1990s tried to create a group of accountable schools but ultimately failed to outperform even the troubled Cleveland public schools. Lemov doesn’t reject incentives. In fact, at Uncommon Schools, the network of 16 charter schools in the Northeast that he helped found and continues to help run today, he takes performance into account when setting teacher pay. Yet he has come to the conclusion that simply dangling better pay will not improve student performance on its own. And the stakes are too high: while student scores on national assessments across demographic groups have risen, the percentage of students at proficiency — just 39 percent of fourth graders in math and 33 percent in reading — is still disturbingly low. And there is still a wide gap between black and white students in reading and math. The smarter path to boosting student performance, Lemov maintains, is to improve the quality of the teachers who are already teaching. But what makes a good teacher? There have been many quests for the one essential trait, and they have all come up empty-handed. Among the factors that do not predict whether a teacher will succeed: a graduate-school degree, a high score on the SAT, an extroverted personality, politeness, confidence, warmth, enthusiasm and having passed the teacher-certification exam on the first try. When Bill Gates announced recently that his foundation was investing millions in a project to improve teaching quality in the United States, he added a rueful caveat. “Unfortunately, it seems the field doesn’t have a clear view of what characterizes good teaching,” Gates said. “I’m personally very curious.” When Doug Lemov conducted his own search for those magical ingredients, he noticed something about most successful teachers that he hadn’t expected to find: what looked like natural-born genius was often deliberate technique in disguise. “Stand still when you’re giving directions,” a teacher at a Boston school told him. In other words, don’t do two things at once. Lemov tried it, and suddenly, he had to ask students to take out their homework only once. It was the tiniest decision, but what was teaching if not a series of bite-size moves just like that? Elizabeth Green is a Spencer fellow in education reporting at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the editor of GothamSchools.org. This is her first article for the magazine. ||||| The relative decline of American education at the elementary- and high-school levels has long been a national embarrassment as well as a threat to the nation's future. Once upon a time, American students tested better than any other students in the world. Now, ranked against European schoolchildren, America does about as well as Lithuania, behind at least 10 other nations. Within the United States, the achievement gap between white students and poor and minority students stubbornly persists—and as the population of disadvantaged students grows, overall scores continue to sag. SUBSCRIBE For much of this time—roughly the last half century—professional educators believed that if they could only find the right pedagogy, the right method of instruction, all would be well. They tried New Math, open classrooms, Whole Language—but nothing seemed to achieve significant or lasting improvements. Yet in recent years researchers have discovered something that may seem obvious, but for many reasons was overlooked or denied. What really makes a difference, what matters more than the class size or the textbook, the teaching method or the technology, or even the curriculum, is the quality of the teacher. Much of the ability to teach is innate—an ability to inspire young minds as well as control unruly classrooms that some people instinctively possess (and some people definitely do not). Teaching can be taught, to some degree, but not the way many graduate schools of education do it, with a lot of insipid or marginally relevant theorizing and pedagogy. In any case the research shows that within about five years, you can generally tell who is a good teacher and who is not. It is also true and unfortunate that often the weakest teachers are relegated to teaching the neediest students, poor minority kids in inner-city schools. For these children, teachers can be make or break. "The research shows that kids who have two, three, four strong teachers in a row will eventually excel, no matter what their background, while kids who have even two weak teachers in a row will never recover," says Kati Haycock of the Education Trust and coauthor of the 2006 study "Teaching Inequality: How Poor and Minority Students Are Shortchanged on Teacher Quality." Nothing, then, is more important than hiring good teachers and firing bad ones. But here is the rub. Although many teachers are caring and selfless, teaching in public schools has not always attracted the best and the brightest. There once was a time when teaching (along with nursing) was one of the few jobs not denied to women and minorities. But with social progress, many talented women and minorities chose other and more highly compensated fields. One recent review of the evidence by McKinsey & Co., the management consulting firm, showed that most schoolteachers are recruited from the bottom third of college-bound high-school students. (Finland takes the top 10 percent.) At the same time, the teachers' unions have become more and more powerful. In most states, after two or three years, teachers are given lifetime tenure. It is almost impossible to fire them. In New York City in 2008, three out of 30,000 tenured teachers were dismissed for cause. The statistics are just as eye-popping in other cities. The percentage of teachers dismissed for poor performance in Chicago between 2005 and 2008 (the most recent figures available) was 0.1 percent. In Akron, Ohio, zero percent. In Toledo, 0.01 percent. In Denver, zero percent. In no other socially significant profession are the workers so insulated from accountability. The responsibility does not just fall on the unions. Many principals don't even try to weed out the poor performers (or they transfer them to other schools in what's been dubbed the "dance of the lemons"). Year after year, about 99 percent of all teachers in the United States are rated "satisfactory" by their school systems; firing a teacher invites a costly court battle with the local union. Over time, inner-city schools, in particular, succumbed to a defeatist mindset. The problem is not the teachers, went the thinking—it's the parents (or absence of parents); it's society with all its distractions and pathologies; it's the kids themselves. Not much can be done, really, except to keep the assembly line moving through "social promotion," regardless of academic performance, and hope the students graduate (only about 60 percent of blacks and Hispanics finish high school). Or so went the conventional wisdom in school superintendents' offices from Newark to L.A. By 1992, "there was such a dramatic achievement gap in the United States, far larger than in other countries, between socioeconomic classes and races," says Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality. "It was a scandal of monumental proportions, that there were two distinct school systems in the U.S., one for the middle class and one for the poor." In the past two decades, some schools have sprung up that defy and refute what former president George W. Bush memorably called "the soft bigotry of low expectations." Generally operating outside of school bureaucracies as charter schools, programs like KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) have produced inner-city schools with high graduation rates (85 percent). KIPP schools don't cherry-pick—they take anyone who will sign a contract to play by the rules, which require some parental involvement. And they are not one-shot wonders. There are now 82 KIPP schools in 19 states and the District of Columbia, and, routinely, they far outperform the local public schools. KIPP schools are mercifully free of red tape and bureaucratic rules (their motto is "Work hard. Be nice," which about sums up the classroom requirements). KIPP schools require longer school days and a longer school year, but their greatest advantage is better teaching.

– The American education system has been falling behind for a while, and the reason is obvious: Teachers can't be fired. Recent studies have shown that teacher quality is one of the top predictors of a student’s success, write Evan Thomas and Pat Wingert in Newsweek. Yet education unions are so powerful that it’s nearly impossible to dismiss subpar teachers. Two or three years of service is enough to earn lifetime tenure in most states. The number of strong teachers is falling. Women once had few other vocational options; today, greater opportunities for the best and brightest mean most teachers come from the bottom third of college-bound high school students. But change may be coming. Efforts to recruit and train better teachers are on the rise, the New York Times reports. And despite Democrats’ traditional alliance with teachers unions, the Obama administration has been fighting them, arguing, for example, for more charter schools.

The depletion of the ozone layer shielding Earth from damaging ultraviolet rays has reached an unprecedented low over the Arctic this spring because of harmful chemicals and a cold winter, the U.N. weather agency said Tuesday. Britain's Prince Harry tries out an immersion suit, during training for the Walking with the Wounded expedition, on the island of Spitsbergen, situated between the Norwegian mainland and the North Pole,... (Associated Press) Britain's Prince Harry, second left, joins the Walking with the Wounded team, on the island of Spitsbergen, situated between the Norwegian mainland and the North Pole, Tuesday, March 29, 2011. Palace... (Associated Press) The Earth's fragile ozone layer in the Arctic region has suffered a loss of about 40 percent from the start of winter until late March, exceeding the previous seasonal loss of about 30 percent, the World Meteorological Organization said. The Geneva-based agency blamed the loss on a buildup of ozone-eating chemicals once widely used as coolants and fire retardants in a variety of appliances and on very cold temperatures in the stratosphere, the second major layer of the Earth's atmosphere, just above the troposphere. Arctic ozone conditions vary more than the seasonal ozone "hole" that forms high in the stratosphere near the South Pole each winter and spring, and the temperatures are always warmer than over Antarctica. Because of changing weather and temperatures some Arctic winters experience almost no ozone loss while others with exceptionally cold stratospheric conditions can occasionally lead to substantial ozone depletion, U.N. scientists say. This year the Arctic winter was warmer than average at ground level, but colder in the stratosphere than normal Arctic winters. U.N. officials say the latest losses _ unprecedented, but not entirely unexpected _ were detected in observations from the ground and from balloons and satellites over the Arctic. Atmospheric scientists who are concerned about global warming focus on the Arctic because that is a region where the effects are expected to be felt first. Ozone scientists have said that significant Arctic ozone depletion is possible in the case of a cold and stable Arctic stratospheric winter. Ozone losses occur over the polar regions when temperatures drop below -78 degrees Celsius (-108 Fahrenheit), when clouds form in the stratosphere. Average temperatures in January range from about -40 to 0 C (-40 to 32 F), while average temperatures in July range from about -10 to 10 C (14 to 50 F). "The Arctic stratosphere continues to be vulnerable to ozone destruction caused by ozone-depleting substances linked to human activities," said WMO secretary-general Michel Jarraud. "The degree of ozone loss experienced in any particular winter depends on the meteorological conditions." The loss comes despite the U.N. ozone treaty, known as the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which has resulted in cutbacks in ozone-damaging chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons, halons and other, that were used in the making of refrigerators, air conditioners, fire extinguishers and even hairspray. The 196-nation ozone treaty encourages industries to use replacement chemicals less damaging to ozone, the atmospheric layer that helps protect against the sun's most harmful rays. But because these compounds have long atmospheric lifetimes, it takes decades for their concentrations to subside to pre-1980 levels as was agreed in the Montreal Protocol. U.N. officials project the ozone layer outside the polar regions will recover to pre-1980 levels sometime between 2030 and 2040. ||||| Image caption Long a consideration in the Antarctic, ozone levels in the Arctic are now a cause for concern The ozone layer has seen unprecedented damage in the Arctic this winter due to cold weather in the upper atmosphere. By the end of March, 40% of the ozone in the stratosphere had been destroyed, against a previous record of 30%. The ozone layer protects against skin cancer, but the gas is destroyed by reactions with industrial chemicals. These chemicals are restricted by the UN's Montreal Protocol, but they last so long in the atmosphere that damage is expected to continue for decades. "The Montreal Protocol actually works, and the amount of ozone-depleting gases is on the way down, but quite slowly," said Geir Braathen, a senior scientist with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which co-ordinates ozone data globally. "In the meantime, we have some winters that get much colder than before and also the cold periods last longer, into the spring," he told BBC News. "So it's really a combination of the gases still there and low temperatures and then sunshine, and then you get ozone loss." Dr Braathen was one of a number of scientists presenting the findings at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) annual meeting in Vienna. 'Sun screen' The destructive reactions are promoted by cold conditions (below -78C) in the stratosphere. While this is an annual occurrence in the Antarctic, where the annual depletion has garnered the term "ozone hole", the Arctic picture is less clear, as here the stratospheric weather is less predictable. With no ozone layer, you would have 70 times more UV than we do now - so you can say the ozone layer is a sunscreen of factor 70 Geir Braathen, World Meteorological Organization This winter, while the Arctic was unusually warm at ground level, temperatures 15-20km above the Earth's surface plummeted and stayed low. "The low temperatures were not that different from some other years, but extended much further into March and April - in fact it's still going on now," said Farahnaz Khosrawi, an ozone specialist at the Meteorological Institute at Stockholm University, Sweden. Another, Dr Florence Goutail from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), put the 2010/11 winter in context. "Usually in cold winters we observe that about 25% of the ozone disappears, but this winter was really a record - 40% of the column has disappeared," she said. The longer and colder Antarctic winters often see 55% of the ozone depleted. However, this has hardly any impact on human health, as the region is largely uninhabited - only the southern tip of South America sometimes comes under the ozone hole. But in the Arctic, the situation is different. Over the last month, severe ozone depletion has been seen over Scandinavia, Greenland, and parts of Canada and Russia. The WMO is advising people in Scandinavian countries and Greenland to look out for information on daily conditions in order to prevent any damage to their health. Loss of ozone allows more of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet-B rays to penetrate through the atmosphere. This has been linked to increased rates of skin cancer, cataracts and immune system damage. "With no ozone layer, you would have 70 times more UV than we do now - so you can say the ozone layer is a sunscreen of factor 70," said Dr Braathen. Snow fall Ozone depletion is often viewed as an environmental problem that has been solved. The Montreal Protocol, established in 1987, and its successor agreements have phased out many ozone-depleting chemicals such as the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that used to be in widespread use as refrigerants. Image caption Ozone data were captured using satellites and weather balloons Use of some continues at a much lower level, with poorer developing countries allowed more time in which to switch away from substances essential to some of their industries. But even though concentrations of these chemicals in the atmosphere are falling, they can endure for decades. In polar regions, the concentration of ozone-depleting substances has only fallen by about 10% from the peak years before the Montreal Protocol took effect. In addition, research by Markus Rex from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany suggests that winters that stand out as being cold in the Arctic stratosphere are getting colder. "For the next few decades, the [Arctic ozone] story is driven by temperatures, and we don't understand what's driving this [downward] trend," he said. "It's a big challenge to understand it and how it will drive ozone loss over coming decades." Projections suggest that the Antarctic ozone hole will not fully recover fully until 2045-60.

– The ozone layer above the Arctic withered by 40% this winter, according to the UN's weather agency, a stark increase from the previous seasonal record of 30%. The loss was driven largely by frigid conditions in the stratosphere—though surface temperatures were actually warmer than normal—and lingering chemicals banned in 1987's Montreal Protocol. "The 2011 ozone loss shows that we have to remain vigilant and keep a close eye on the situation in the Arctic in the coming years," the secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization says. Late last month, wind blew the hole over Greenland and Scandinavia, where the WMO asked that people heed national ozone-level alerts. The BBC notes that though the amount of chemical pollution driving ozone loss is falling, the Antarctic ozone hole is expected to persist until 2045 to 2060. Ozone outside the poles is expected to hit pre-1980 levels between 2030 and 2040, reports the AP.

(CNN) The shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise and four others at a baseball practice for Republican members of Congress on Wednesday morning in Alexandria, Virginia, was always going to quickly turn to politics. Rep. Chris Collins, one of President Donald Trump's most prominent congressional supporters, insisted that the shooting was directly tied to anti-Trump rhetoric from the left. "I can only hope that the Democrats do tone down the rhetoric," Collins said on a local radio station in upstate New York. "The rhetoric has been outrageous -- the finger-pointing, just the tone and the angst and the anger directed at Donald Trump, his supporters. Really, then, you know, some people react to things like that. They get angry as well. And then you fuel the fires." Collins also said in the same interview he would have his gun "in my pocket from this day forward." That pivot from police incident to politics happened rapidly around 11:15 a.m., when CNN confirmed that the alleged shooter was James T. Hodgkinson of Illinois. A quick scan of his social media presence -- Facebook and Twitter -- suggested that he was strongly opposed to Trump and was a supporter of the 2016 presidential candidacy of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who ran as a Democrat. Hodgkinson also apparently volunteered for Sanders campaign in Iowa during the 2016 campaign. Sanders condemned the shooting in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon. "I have just been informed that the alleged shooter at the Republican baseball practice is someone who apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign," Sanders said in a statement. "I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms." JUST WATCHED Bernie Sanders on shooting: I am sickened Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Bernie Sanders on shooting: I am sickened 01:12 The Belleville News-Democrat, the local paper in the community where Hodgkinson reportedly lived, showed a photo of him holding a "Tax the Rich" sign in a protest outside a local post office. The newspaper described Hodgkinson this way "The shooter was James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, who belonged to a number of anti-Republican groups, including one called 'Terminate the Republican Party.'" Police officials would not comment on any motive for the shooting or whether Hodgkinson was targeting Republicans. But CNN's Dana Bash reported that the shooting was deliberate and not a random act. Trump made no mention of politics in a brief statement just before noon eastern time. "We are strongest when we are unified and we work together for the common good," Trump said. JUST WATCHED President Trump reacts to attack (full remarks) Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH President Trump reacts to attack (full remarks) 04:15 House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi both gave speeches of unity to applause on the floor of the House of Representatives. "An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us," Ryan said. None of that stopped some conservatives from concluding that Hodgkinson was aiming to injure Republicans specifically, and that he was driven by a liberal culture that glorifies violence against GOPers. Hill's reference is to a controversial production of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" by the Delacorte Theater in New York's Central Park. In it, the Caesar character bears a striking resemblance to Trump. Obviously, if you know history, Caesar is assassinated by his peers, including his best friend Brutus. Hill was far from the only conservative to cast the shooting in a very political light. "NBC mentions shooter's social media page, BUT WON'T TELL US WHAT IT SAYS. (Bernie Sanders & Democratic Socialism)," tweeted Ann Coulter "A @BernieSanders supporter did shooting spree: James T. Hodgkinson who pushed a http://Change.org petition to appt indep counsel." tweeted Laura Ingraham. "This could be the first political rhetorical terrorist attack," Illinois Republican Rep. Rodney Davis, who was at the practice, told CNN's Brianna Keilar Wednesday morning before Hodgkinson had been publicly identified as the alleged shooter. JUST WATCHED Lawmaker on shooting: Political hate to blame Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Lawmaker on shooting: Political hate to blame 01:07 Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, appearing on Fox News , called the shootings "part of a pattern" and blamed "an increasing intensity of hostility on the left." He said conservative college students are afraid they'll be beaten on campus. "The intensity is very real, whether it's a so-called comedian holding up the President's head covered in blood, or right here in New York City, a play that shows the President being assassinated, or it's Democratic leading national politicians using vulgarity because they can't find any common language to talk," he said. And Michael Caputo, a former Trump adviser, was even more blunt in an interview with a Buffalo radio station. "For nine months, Democratic Party leaders have lied, regularly calling me and my friends traitors, so forgive me if I'm not more tender with their karma in Alexandria," Caputo said Others were less direct in tying Hodgkinson's apparent politics to this incident but did suggest that that the partisan political atmosphere clearly had something to do with the shooting. JUST WATCHED Virginia governor: Too many guns on the street Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Virginia governor: Too many guns on the street 00:47 Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, echoed Davis' sentiment. "I do think that things have become very partisan and very hardened in the country today," he said. "We have to work together to get things done and we're the greatest nation in the world and there has been too much raw discourse today that is pulling people apart." But McAuliffe also mentioned that "there are too many guns on the streets," a common theme for gun control advocates in the wake of attacks like these involving guns. Rep. Mo Brooks, the Alabama Republican and another one of the people at the baseball field when the shooting happened, dismissed the idea that he might rethink his staunch support of the 2nd Amendment in the wake of this shooting. "The Second Amendment right to bear arms is to ensure that we always have a Republic," Brooks said . "What we just saw here is one of the bad side effects of someone not exercising those rights properly." Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican from Georgia who was on the field when the shooting happened, suggested that members of Congress should be allowed to carry guns. "I think we need to look at some reciprocity for members here but we also need to look at security details," Loudermilk told CNN's Ashley Killough. Until we know more about Hodgkinson's motive -- assuming we can find it out since he has now died from wounds he suffered -- it's difficult to reach hard and fast conclusions about why, allegedly, he did what he did. But a man with a gun shooting at members of Congress will always be political. That Hodgkinson was an outspoken critic of Trump makes it even harder to keep away from politics. The question now is where the political debate goes from here. Does the focus land on better protecting members of Congress in public? Tamping down the viciousness of political rhetoric? Gun control? Something else? ||||| Congress Baseball Shooter Is a Trump Hater ... Called to 'Destroy' Him Congress Baseball Shooter Is a Trump Hater, Called to 'Destroy' Trump EXCLUSIVE The man suspected of opening fire at a congressional baseball practice is 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson ... and judging by his social media, he REALLY hates Donald Trump. Hodgkinson's Facebook page is loaded with anti-Trump posts. He's also a staunch Bernie Sanders supporter. Also notable, Hodgkinson is also anti-Hillary Clinton, with several posts about her as well. Among the posts on his page, there's one that stands out from March which says, "Trump is Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It's Time to Destroy Trump & Co." 9:30 AM PT -- Sanders just released a statement on Hodgkinson, saying, "I have just been informed that the alleged shooter at the Republican baseball practice is someone who apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign. I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms." ||||| When a gunman ambushed a practice for a charity congressional baseball game in Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday, at least five people were injured. And, witnesses have suggested, that number might have been higher had members of the U.S. Capitol Police not been there — as part of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s security detail — to fire back. “Without the Capitol Hill police, it would have been a massacre,” Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul told the press. As some speculate about whether partisan politics motivated the gunman — who reportedly asked one of the congressmen if Democrats or Republicans were playing — it can be noted that the U.S. Capitol Police force, which is charged with protecting Congress, was established after one particular assault that took place in the polarized political climate that was 1828. At the time, “Jacksonian” politicians (supporters of Andrew Jackson, who had nearly become president in 1824) had secured a majority in Congress after the midterm elections. Sitting President John Quincy Adams could have expected he was going to have to fight Jackson for the White House in the upcoming 1828 presidential election — but he probably didn’t expect his son to get into an actual physical fight with a Jacksonian before Election Day. Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter Russell Jarvis, a journalist for a pro-Jackson newspaper The Washington Telegraph, attended a New Year’s Eve celebration at the White House with his wife and Boston relatives, when John Adams Jr., the president’s son and personal secretary, made what Jarvis later described as a “grievous insult to the ladies of my family.” Here’s how a book that chronicled the political and social scene in mid-19th century Washington, D.C., Perley’s Reminiscences of 60 Years in the National Metropolis, described the contretemps: Mr. Jarvis introduced them courteously, and they then passed on into the East Room. Soon afterward they found themselves standing opposite to Mr. John Adams, who was conversing with the Rev. Mr. Stetson. “Who is that lady?” asked Mr. Stetson. “That,” replied Mr. John Adams, in a tone so loud that the party heard it, “is the wife of one Russell Jarvis, and if he knew how contemptibly he is viewed in this house they would not be here.” The Bostonians at once paid their respects to Mrs. Adams and withdrew, Mr. Jarvis having first ascertained from Mr. Stetson that it was Mr. John Adams who had insulted them. A few days afterward Mr. Jarvis sent a note to Mr. John Adams, demanding an explanation, by a friend of his, Mr. McLean. Mr. Adams told Mr. McLean that he had no apology to make to Mr. Jarvis, and that he wished no correspondence with him. Jarvis is said to have been waiting for the right moment to seek revenge when he saw Adams in the Capitol Rotunda in April 1828. He said he asked the junior Adams if he would apologize, and when he didn’t, “I was excited by his continued refusal, and by a recollection of the offense, to commit an assault upon his person, which consisted merely in pulling his nose and slapping one side of his face, with my open hand,” Jarvis recalled, according to a personal account of the incident published in the newspaper Niles’ Register. Jarvis’s actions have been described as “all standard and approved provocations for a duel,” according to the biography of presidential families America’s Royalty: All the Presidents’ Children, “however, John Quincy Adams’s disapproval for dueling was made evident when he responded for his son by sending a message to Congress…requesting that Congress provide funds to secure the way between the president’s office and Congress so that future incidents could be prevented.” Congress passed the act creating the U.S. Capitol Police on May 2, 1828. ||||| Scalise is popular among his constituents. In November, he was reelected with 75 percent of the vote. His seat has long been occupied by Republicans: It’s one of the reddest districts in the country, and it spans much of boot-shaped Louisiana’s “toe,” which includes parts of the New Orleans suburbs. According to The Times-Picayune, Trump’s controversial first few months in office, as well as the drama over the Obamacare repeal bill, don’t “appear to be dampening support” for the congressman, who raised a record $1.6 million in early 2017. Scalise’s colleague, Alabama Representative Mo Brooks, told CNN and other reporters that Scalise was one of five people shot at the early-morning practice, where lawmakers were preparing to compete in the annual baseball game Thursday. The competition between Democratic and Republican lawmakers, which raises money for D.C.-area charities, is typically held at Nationals Park in Washington’s southeast. Republican lawmakers were fine-tuning their fielding miles away Wednesday morning at Alexandria, Virginia’s Eugene Simpson Stadium Park, where local Little League teams play. Scalise has been on the team for years. In 2015, The New York Times reported that “at shortstop, [he] is easily the G.O.P.’s best offensive player.” Scalise was on the field, playing second base, when the gunman opened fire. “I hear another bam and I realize there is an active shooter,” Brooks said. “At the same time, I hear Steve Scalise, over near second base, scream. He was shot.” Colleagues credited his attendance at the practice for saving more people from harm because, as a member of House leadership, he has a security detail. CBS News’s Nancy Cordes reported that those officers ran toward Scalise while the gunman was firing and managed to “bring that shooter down with their pistols.” Two were hit themselves, and the shooter was also taken to the hospital. He later died. “If they had not been here it probably would have been far worse,” Ohio Representative Brad Wenstrup told CBS News. ||||| (CNN) Louisiana's Steve Scalise is the 9th member of Congress to be shot while in office and one of two dozen to be targeted by attackers since 1789, according to a 2011 Congressional Research Service report . Scalise, the third-ranking Republican in the House, was shot in the hip by a man wielding a rifle at an early-morning practice for the GOP baseball team in advance of the scheduled Congressional Baseball Game tomorrow. He was one of five people injured -- including two members of the US Capitol Police force -- in the shooting. The Louisiana congressman was, according to a statement released by his office , undergoing surgery Wednesday morning but in stable condition. He is the first member of Congress to be shot since January 2011 when then Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat, was shot in the head at a congressional event in Tucson. "My heart is with my former colleagues, their families & staff, and the US Capitol Police - public servants and heroes today and every day," Giffords tweeted in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. My heart is with my former colleagues, their families & staff, and the US Capitol Police- public servants and heroes today and every day. Six people were killed in the Arizona shooting that targeted Giffords. She returned to Congress in August 2011, but resigned from the chamber in January 2012. Other attacks were not included in the report, such as the 1998 shooting inside the Capitol when a gunman stormed into the building and shot and killed two Capitol Hill police officers. That gunman had a history of mental illness. Tourists leave the Capitol on a stretcher after the violence and chaos caused by the shootings that claimed the lives of US Capitol Police officers John Gibson and Jacob J. Chestnut in 1998. Prior to the attack on Giffords, it had been three decades since a member of Congress had been attacked. In November 1979, a woman with a knife got into Ted Kennedy's Senate office. She was stopped by the US Secret Service prior to reaching Kennedy; a Secret Service officer was "slightly wounded" according to CRS. Almost a year to the day prior, California Rep. Leo Ryan was shot and killed at an airstrip in Guyana after he and two dozen others traveled to investigate the Jonestown cult headed by Jim Jones, which was based there. Ryan, along with four others -- including three journalists -- were murdered. Jackie Speier, who now holds Ryan's seat, was on that trip as a staffer to the Congressman. She was shot five times but lived . (Jones as well as 908 of his followers committed mass suicide by poisoning on the same day Ryan was killed.) Jackie Speier, an aide to Congressman Leo Ryan, being taken from a plane at Georgetown on November 19, 1978, after its arrival from Jonestown where Speier was shot five times and Ryan and four others were ambushed and killed by members of the People's Temple. JUST WATCHED Jonestown survivor: 'I was shot five times' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Jonestown survivor: 'I was shot five times' 02:31 A decade earlier, New York Sen. Robert Kennedy, then a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, was assassinated in Los Angeles following his victory in the June California primary. Photos: Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, 1968 Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, 1968 – A wounded Paul Schrade, a regional director of the United Auto Workers Union, labor chair of Robert Kennedy's campaign and one of five other people shot by Sirhan Sirhan, on the floor of the kitchen at the Ambassador Hotel, June 5, 1968. Hide Caption 1 of 6 Photos: Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, 1968 Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, 1968 – Senator Robert Kennedy gives a speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles before his assassination, June 1968. Hide Caption 2 of 6 Photos: Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, 1968 Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, 1968 – Sen. Kennedy gives a speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles before his assassination, June 1968. Hide Caption 3 of 6 Photos: Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, 1968 Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, 1968 – "Heading for his victory speech in the Ambassador Hotel ballroom, Robert Kennedy stops in the kitchen to shake hands. A few minutes later the gunman was waiting for him in the corridor just outside the kitchen." Hide Caption 4 of 6 Photos: Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, 1968 Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, 1968 – A less-famous image of Sen. Robert Kennedy and Ambassador Hotel employee Juan Romero moments after RFK was shot by Sirhan Sirhan, June 1968. Hide Caption 5 of 6 Photos: Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, 1968 Behind the Picture: RFK's Assassination, 1968 – A young Robert Kennedy supporter registers disbelief after his shooting by Sirhan Sirhan, June 1968. Hide Caption 6 of 6 Rep. Kenneth Roberts shown here being carried down the Capitol steps after Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire in the Capitol Building, shouting "Free Puerto Rico." The incident involving the most members of Congress happened on March 1, 1954 when a group of Puerto Rican nationalists entered the House press gallery and opened fired. Reps. Clifford Davis (Tennessee), Alvin Bentley (Michigan), Ben Jensen (Iowa), George Hyde Fallon (Maryland) and Kenneth Roberts (Alabama) were injured -- although all five recovered. At issue was the ongoing US control of Puerto Rico ||||| Charles Orear, 50, a restaurant manager from St. Louis, said in an interview Wednesday that he became friendly with James T. Hodgkinson, whom law enforcement officials identified as the shooter, during their work in Iowa on Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign. Orear said Hodgkinson was a passionate progressive and showed no signs of violence or malice toward others. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Orear said when told by phone. “I met him on the Bernie trail in Iowa, worked with him in the Quad Cities area.” Orear described Hodgkinson as a “quiet guy” who was “very mellow, very reserved” when they stayed overnight at a Sanders’s supporter home in Rock Island, Ill., after canvassing for the senator. “He was this union tradesman, pretty stocky, and we stayed up talking politics,” he said. “He was more on the really progressive side of things.” The Post reached out to Orear after seeing that he liked one of Hodgkinson’s Facebook posts. ||||| Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) on Wednesday linked a growing trend of "hostility" on the left to violent incidents like the shooting that morning at congressional Republicans' baseball practice. "It's part of a pattern," Gingrich said on Fox News. "An increasing intensity of hostility on the left." Gingrich pointed to the violence and intimidation toward conservatives on college campuses as another sign of the left's hostility toward Republicans and President Trump. ADVERTISEMENT "Look, I talk to college students regularly," Gingrich continued, "who say that if they are openly for Trump, they get threatened." "I've had college students tell me they get threatened with being beaten up, some of them get death threats," he said. Gingrich then targeted comedian Kathy Griffin as an example of a member of the left advocating violence against Trump and other Republicans. Griffin was fired from CNN's New Year's Eve program after she posted a photo of her holding up a dummy head of Trump covered in ketchup. "The intensity is very real, whether it's a so-called comedian holding up the president's head covered in blood, or right here in New York City, a play that shows the president being assassinated, or it's Democratic leading national politicians using vulgarity because they can't find any common language to talk," Gingrich argued. He likely was referring to Central Park’s summer Shakespeare production of “Julius Caesar” that appears to portray the slain Roman dictator as Trump and to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth GillibrandChris Murphy’s profile rises with gun tragedies Overnight Energy: Dems take on Trump's chemical safety pick Dems lambaste Trump’s ‘outrageous’ EPA chemical safety pick MORE (D-N.Y.), who recently slammed the president for not keeping his promises using the expression "f--- no." ||||| Close Get email notifications on Kevin McDermott daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. Whenever Kevin McDermott 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. ||||| Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe raised the issue of gun control during a news conference Wednesday, after five people were injured in an early-morning shooting at a baseball field in Alexandria where Republican lawmakers had been practicing for an annual charity game. “Let me say this: I think we need to do more to protect all of our citizens. I have long advocated — this is not what today is about, but there are too many guns on the street,” the Democratic governor said, when asked if anything more needs to be done to protect politicians. “Background checks, shutting down gun show loopholes — that’s not for today’s discussion, but it’s not just about politicians. We worry about this every day for all of our citizens.” The incident — which sent five people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, to the hospital — began to spur questions about gun rights and gun control policies, while members of both parties condemned the violence and called for unity. A House subcommittee had been scheduled to discuss a controversial proposal to ease regulations of gun silencers on Wednesday, but the hearing was cancelled in the wake of the shooting. Asked if the incident had changed his stance on gun control, Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks, who was at the baseball practice but was uninjured, told reporters he continues to support Second Amendment rights. “As with any constitutional provision in the Bill of Rights, there are adverse aspects to each of those rights that we enjoy as people. And what we just saw here is one of the bad side effects of someone not exercising those rights properly,” Brooks said. “I’m not changing my position on any of the rights we enjoy as Americans,” he added. “With respect to this particular shooter, I’d really like to know more about him — whether he was an ex-felon, by way of example, who should have had possession of a firearm — I’d like to know other things about his background before I pass judgment.”

– James Hodgkinson, the 66-year-old Illinois man police say shot and wounded multiple people during a GOP congressional baseball practice Wednesday, was a former volunteer for the Bernie Sanders campaign, Politico reports. Sanders condemned the shooting "in the strongest possible terms," calling it a "despicable act." "Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society," he said. "Real change can only come through nonviolent action, and anything else runs against our most deeply held American values." Here's what else you need to know about Wednesday's shooting in Virginia: In addition to frequently posting pro-Sanders messages to Facebook, Hodgkinson also posted anti-President Trump and anti-Hillary Clinton statements, TMZ reports. In one post, he called Trump a "traitor" who "has destroyed our democracy." Charles Orear got to know Hodgkinson while working on the Sanders campaign in Iowa, telling the Washington Post he was "very mellow, very reserved" and "really progressive." Newt Gingrich tied the shooting to "an increasing intensity of hostility on the left," using Kathy Griffin as an example, the Hill reports. It was a sentiment echoed by others, including Ann Coulter and Republican Rep. Chris Collins, who blamed the "outrageous" rhetoric of Democrats, according to CNN. The Atlantic has a quick biography on Rep. Steve Scalise, the majority whip from Louisiana who was injured in the shooting. He was instrumental to getting the House health care bill passed and is said to be "the GOP's best offensive player" on the baseball field. CNN reports Scalise is only the ninth member of Congress since 1789 to be shot while in office. Sen. Rand Paul says if it weren't for US Capitol Police officers, who were at the practice as security for Scalise, the shooting would've been a "massacre." Time has a history of the Capitol Police, which was formed following a fight between the son of President John Quincy Adams and a supporter of Andrew Jackson. In March, neighbors complained to police that Hodgkinson was shooting his gun too close to their homes, but officers found he wasn't doing anything illegal, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Hodgkinson has past arrests for battery, fleeing from police, and resisting arrest. Finally, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says "there are too many guns on the street" and work needs to be done to increase background checks and close the gun show loophole, though that's a conversation for another day, according to Time.

BERCLAIR — Bloodstained pavement, gashed tree trunks and a twisted barbed-wire fence marked the end of a desperate journey. On Sunday night, 22 Central Americans and their Mexican-born driver piled into a white Ford F-250 for what would be the last stage on their trip north. They crammed themselves into the truck's cab and lay down in its bed — one atop another — as the vehicle cruised along U.S. 59 between Beeville and Goliad. By Monday, more than half were dead. Most died at the scene, and the others died at hospitals to which they'd been rushed after the overloaded truck careened off the road and slammed into a large, twin-trunked oak tree. “It's certainly disturbing when you walk up and see the yellow and blue blankets that you know are covering victims, and realize that there are still five or six bodies in the vehicle because it's so badly damaged that they can't get them out,” Goliad County Judge David Bowman said. It was the county's deadliest incident in recent memory, said Bowman, who performed the gruesome task of pronouncing 11 people dead at the scene. Three more died at hospitals Sunday and Monday. Among the dead was the driver. Ten men and three women, two of them juveniles, all believed to be in the country illegally, traveled thousands of miles from Central America to have their lives end on this rural stretch of highway. Nine more were in hospitals across the state Monday evening, including five in San Antonio. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, they came from Guatemala and Honduras. Officials said they were still working to identify the victims. “Some of them are crossing on their own and are crossing the border on their own in very dangerous situations,” said Father Stan DeBoe, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Victoria. “Some die of exposure, and others are left to the elements. And then I would assume much like the group that was in the wreck, they were probably paying people very large amounts to bring them across. They come across in very large groups in dangerous vehicles.” Berclair is about 40 miles from Victoria, the site of one of the country's deadliest smuggling incidents. In 2003, 19 immigrants died in a trailer after the driver abandoned them at a truck stop. Trapped inside, they died of asphyxia, dehydration and hyperthermia. The driver, Tyrone Mapletoft Williams, 41, a Jamaican immigrant, was sentenced to life in prison. In April, nine immigrants were killed near Palmview in the Rio Grande Valley when the van in which they were being smuggled rolled over while fleeing the Border Patrol. State officials charged a 15-year-old with murder, saying he was the vehicle's driver. In both cases, ICE agents went on to round up and charge others they alleged were part of the smuggling organizations. Like many highways in South Texas, U.S. 59 is used by human and drug smugglers, Goliad County sheriff's Capt. Tom Copeland said. “It is a corridor from Laredo to parts north,” he said. “As far as it being a big smuggling corridor, it's easy access for them.” The crash shut down U.S. 59 for hours north of Berclair, a ranching and oil town about 100 miles southeast of San Antonio. DPS Trooper Gerald Bryant said tire failure might have caused the wreck. The truck, registered to an owner in Houston who said he sold it a couple of months ago, wasn't being pursued, Bryant said. Two adults and a young boy remained at University Hospital, a spokeswoman said Monday, but their conditions weren't available. Two other men were in critical condition at San Antonio Military Medical Center, a hospital spokesman said. Most of the passengers were in the truck's bed, which didn't have a shell or any other covering, said Mary Jane Martin, public information officer for emergency management for the city and county of Goliad. Bryant told the Associated Press that “this is the most people I've seen in any passenger vehicle, and I've been an officer for 38 years.” The passengers in the truck's bed were “very cramped, lying on top of each other, in any which way they could fit,” Bryant said. “With human smuggling, that is very common — just to load in as many people as they can,” he said. Bowman, the county judge, included the victims in a prayer that opened Monday's Commissioners Court meeting. He said a crisis intervention session was planned Monday night in Goliad to help emergency responders cope with what they saw. “Any time you go out and you have to handle broken bodies, that can be traumatic for even the most seasoned responder,” he said. The crash also shook nearby residents. “It was just shocking for the whole town,” said Norma Jean Garcia, a clerk at the Berclair Country Store, which stayed open late Sunday to serve the law enforcement officers who worked the wreck. “They had never seen something so ugly,” said Garcia, 51, who gave bottled water to the officers who reopened the highway after midnight. The tragedy made national news of the town formerly best known as a favorite hunting site of then-President George H.W. Bush and for a supposedly haunted local mansion, said Country Store customer Dela Galindo, 62. Now it will be known for one of the worst crashes in Texas history, residents said. “It was horrible, especially since little children were involved,” Galindo said. emoravec@express-news.net Twitter: @EvaRuth ||||| Good Samaritan Talks About Goliad Crash Scene 08/17/2012 06:22 PM by Andy Liscano GOLIAD, Texas - "I've seen a lot of accidents, about 5 or 6 were I've been like one of the first ones there. Kind of takes a toll after awhile." Like he does every time he comes and goes to work, Darryl Nedeau was driving along Highway 59 near Goliad. But around 6:30 on the evening of Sunday, July 22nd, he came upon an accident scene. He pulled over and went to see if anybody needed help. He had no idea how much his help would be needed. Bodies were scattered across the road, some as far away as 100 yards according to Nedeau. "We were trying to get them as fast as we could. And being that there were so many, time was not on our side," he told us today as he revisited the crash site. A truck carrying 23 illegal immigrants had a tire blow out, sending it crashing into a tree, and throwing its passengers anywhere and everywhere. Nedeau says other good samaritans had stopped to help as well. He recalls what he did, "I would go up to them and hold their hands just for a minute. Try to talk to them." One image, of a woman he helped pull from the wreckage, remains clear to this day. "She was unconscious. Had no expression on her face. But I held her hand talking to her as long as I could." "Telling her we were going to get her out. And she was going to make it. And just to stay with us," Nedeau told us. That woman was one of the 15 who didn't survive. There is an ever-growing memorial at the crash site, momentos from sympathizers. A card read, "May the depth of your faith and the love of those who share your loss, comfort you at this time of sadness. With sympathy and prayers. You will be dearly missed." Words that can easily apply to Nedeau as well since his late wife was killed in another accident on this same road 6 years ago. "If anybody's lost a family member in an accident they have the same feelings I'm sure. It's hard to come out here," Nedeau shared. Nedeau's a former United States Marine and works at the nearby prison. He was recently recognized by the Goliad County Sheriff's Department for rendering aide to his fellow man. ||||| Texas Department of Public Safety / AP A pickup truck crashed into trees in Goliad County, Texas, on Sunday, killing at least 13 people and injuring 10 others, authorities said. Updated at 7:40 a.m. ET: At least 13 people died Sunday and another 10 were injured after a pickup truck loaded with passengers veered off the highway and crashed into trees in rural South Texas, authorities said. State troopers and Goliad County sheriff's investigators were investigating the crash. A trooper told KRIS-TV, the NBC affiliate in Corpus Christi, Tex., that it appeared a tire on the truck blew out before the vehicle went off the road and struck two trees. Authorities said they did not immediately know the names and ages of the victims. A spokeswoman with the Texas Department of Public Safety told NBC News early Monday that the number of those killed in the crash had risen to 13 after two more victims succumbed to their injuries in local hospitals. Vehicle laden with passengers Gerald Bryant, also of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told The Associated Press the dead and wounded were various ages and that he personally saw two young children among the dead at the scene. "This is the most people I've seen in any passenger vehicle, and I've been an officer for 38 years," Bryant said, referring to the chaotic scene. The white 2000 Ford F-250 pickup was heading north on U.S. 59 around 7 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) Sunday when it traveled off the right side of the highway near the community of Berclair in Goliad County, Bryant said. The 23 people were loaded inside both the truck's cab and bed. Six of those who died were still inside the truck when emergency crews arrived to find the mangled vehicle, Bryant said. A man who claimed to have been the driver of the vehicle was ejected but survived, Bryant told the San Antonio Express-News. He said several of the surviving victims had life-threatening injuries. He did not have their official conditions but described them as "very serious." The injured were taken to various hospitals in San Antonio, Victoria and Corpus Christi. Berclair is about 100 miles southeast of San Antonio. 'Very traumatic' Border Patrol will assist with the investigation, authorities said. Read more from NBC News station KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi "It's unknown whether or not (the victims) were illegal, but it's possible," Bryant told the AP. The truck was registered to an owner in Houston, he told the Express-News. Crash investigators stayed at the scene into the late hours Sunday to assess the crash, which halted traffic on U.S. 59. "It's been very chaotic here, and it's very traumatic," Bryant told the Express-News earlier from the scene. "It's only first responders out here, and it's very solemn." The Associated Press contributed to this report. More content from NBCNews.com: Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook ||||| At least 11 people died and another 12 were injured after their pickup truck left the highway and crashed into trees in rural South Texas on Sunday, authorities said. In a photo provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety the wreckage of a pickup truck is seen after it crahed into trees In Goliad County Texas Sunday July 22, 2012. The single vehicle crash in... (Associated Press) "This is the most people I've seen in any passenger vehicle, and I've been an officer for 38 years," said Gerald Bryant, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. At least two young children were among the dead, Bryant said. The 23 people were loaded inside both the truck's cab and bed. The pickup was heading north on U.S. 59 on Sunday evening when it traveled off the right side of the highway near the unincorporated community of Berclair and struck two large trees, Bryant said. He said several surviving victims had life-threatening injuries that he described as "very serious." The U.S. Border Patrol will assist with the investigation. "It's unknown whether or not (the victims) were illegal, but it's possible," Bryant said.

– Tragedy in Texas, where at least 13 people are dead and 10 injured after a pickup truck carrying 23 passengers—crammed into both the cab and the bed—ran into two large trees. "This is the most people I've seen in any passenger vehicle, and I've been an officer for 38 years," a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety tells the AP. No names or ages have been reported, but the spokesman says at least two young children were killed. The Ford F-250 veered off the highway around 7pm last night; a trooper tells KRIS-TV it looks like a tire blew before the truck left the road. Six of the dead were found still inside the truck and five were outside; another Department of Public Safety rep confirms to NBC News that an additional two victims died in local hospitals. A man who said he was driving was ejected but survived, the San Antonio Express-News reports, and several of the other survivors have "very serious" life-threatening injuries. Some witnesses say the accident may have involved illegal immigrants, and Border Patrol is investigating.

(CNN) David Ogden Stiers, known for his role as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III in the TV comedy series "M*A*S*H," died Saturday, the agency representing him said. The actor was 75. He died "peacefully at his home in Newport, Oregon after a courageous battle with bladder cancer," the MKS Talent Agency tweeted. "His talent was only surpassed by his heart," the agency added. I am very sad to report that David died this morning March 3, 2018 peacefully at his home in Newport, Oregon after a courageous battle with bladder cancer. His talent was only surpassed by his heart. pic.twitter.com/fjuGmbVYgd — MKS Talent Agency (@MKSTalentAgency) March 3, 2018 Stiers was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1942. He was nominated for two Emmy awards for his performance as Winchester in "M*A*S*H," the popular series that ran for 11 seasons from 1972 until its high-rated finale in February 1983. Read More ||||| TV legend and voiceover actor David Ogden Stiers died on Saturday at the age of 75 after losing his battle with bladder cancer, E! News can confirm. The late actor is best known for his role as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III in the iconic television show, M*A*S*H, as John Cusack's father in Better Off Dead and as the voice of the uptight clock Cogsworth in the animated classic, Beauty and the Beast. A rep for the actor confirmed to E! News that Stiers passed away this morning. Stiers was nominated for two Emmy awards for his portrayal of Winchester in 1981 and 1982.

– David Ogden Stiers, better known in M*A*S*H circles as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, has died "peacefully at his home in Newport, Oregon after a courageous battle with bladder cancer," per a tweet from the MKS Talent Agency, which adds, "His talent was only surpassed by his heart." Stiers was 75. He joined M*A*S*H in 1977, halfway through its 11-year run, but was an inseparable part of the show by the time it wrapped in 1983. He was nominated for Emmys in 1981 and 1982, notes E! Online. As CNN reports, Stiers had a busy career post-M*A*S*H, particularly known for his voicework in Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Also mourning his loss is the Newport Symphony, where he was a resident conductor. Stiers "was a generous, loving, and inspirational friend and pillar to our orchestra, and, indeed, to all of us individually. Our orchestra would not be here if it weren't for his great support and inspiration over three decades," says the symphony's music director. (Stiers made headlines in 2009 when he came out as gay at the age of 66.)

Jacob Levitt, who suffers from periodic paralysis, practices karate in 2016. (Yana Paskova for The Washington Post) For decades, Don Anderson of Seattle has been taking the same drug to help control the temporary bouts of immobility and muscle weakness caused by a rare and frightening genetic illness called periodic paralysis. “It's like putting a 50-pound pack on your back and standing up at the dinner table,” Anderson, 73, said. “It's like wearing lead shoes around all the time.” The drug Anderson has been taking all these years was originally approved in 1958 and used primarily to treat the eye disease glaucoma under the brand name Daranide, its price so unremarkable that he can't quite remember how much it cost at the pharmacy counter. But the price has been on a roller coaster in recent years — zooming from a list price of $50 for a bottle of 100 pills in the early 2000s up to $13,650 in 2015, then plummeting back down to free, before skyrocketing back up to $15,001 after a new company, Strongbridge Biopharma, acquired the drug and relaunched it this spring. “I'm constantly hearing that public pressure, public shaming will be sufficient to curb these bad actors in these industries. It often feels if you take your attention off of them, even for a second, they'll revert to these old ways,” said Rachel Sachs, an associate law professor at Washington University in Saint Louis. “It’s just another example of how the system has some problems that need to be fixed.” The zigzagging trajectory of the price of Daranide, now known as Keveyis, shows just how much freedom drug companies have in pricing therapies — and what a big business opportunity selling extremely-rare-disease drugs has become. It also illustrates how well-intentioned policy to help spur the development of “orphan” drugs for very rare diseases can have unintended consequences. [High prices make once-neglected ‘orphan’ drugs a booming business] Daranide was approved half a century ago, often used to treat glaucoma. Some people with the rare neuromuscular condition, periodic paralysis, began taking it off-label to help control their disease. With a list price of $50 for 100 pills in 2001, it wasn't a drug people remember as hard to obtain. (Pricing data was obtained from Truven Health Analytics, part of the IBM Watson Health business.) In the early 2000s, Daranide was discontinued by Merck. Other glaucoma treatments were available, but a small group of periodic paralysis patients who had found that it controlled their symptoms better than other drugs were left with few options. They found ways to get the drug, importing it from Europe or South Korea. Anderson recalls the expense as about $250 or $300 a month. In 2008, a family affected by the disease that also owned Taro Pharmaceutical Industries, a generic pharmaceutical company, decided to acquire Daranide from Merck. The goal was to make the drug reliably available to patients at a reasonable cost, Barrie Levitt, the former chairman of the company, and his son Jacob told The Post in 2016. Jacob suffers from periodic paralysis, and although he took a different drug to control his disease, he became aware from his work in the patient advocacy community that Daranide had been discontinued, forcing patients to look for alternatives or find sources to import. He said Taro spent less than half a million dollars to acquire the old drug. But another generic company, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, took a controlling interest in Taro in 2010. When the drug was approved in 2015 as a rare-disease treatment for periodic paralysis, it got a new name, Keveyis, and a new price: $13,650 for 100 pills. Although Keveyis is actually a decades-old drug, its federal approval for periodic paralysis came with a seven-year period of exclusive marketing rights. In 2016, after The Washington Post asked questions about the high price of the drug, Sun Pharmaceutical said it would give the drug away free. Sun said that the timing was coincidental and reflected the fact that the company had made less than $1 million on the drug; not enough to recoup the investment the company had made in marketing and patient support services. But the story doesn't end there. Late last year, Sun agreed to sell Keveyis to a biotech company, Strongbridge Biopharma, for $8.5 million. In April, Strongbridge relaunched the drug — and in August, it jacked the list price from $13,650 to $15,001 for a bottle of 100 pills. In a PowerPoint presentation for investors, Strongbridge Biopharma estimated that the annual price of treatment for the drug, Keveyis, would range from $109,500 to $219,000, depending on the dosage the patient took. One slide shows that the drug is covered broadly by insurers. In November, the company announced $2.5 million in sales over the last quarter — a 67 percent increase over the previous quarter's $1.5 million in sales. It said it would expand its sales force, and executives said in a conference call that the company's medical affairs team had met with 75 medical leaders and was training speakers to lead “peer-to-peer educational programs.” Lindsay Rocco, a spokeswoman for Strongbridge Biopharma, declined to answer questions about why the company increased the price of the drug earlier this year. Instead, she issued a company statement saying that periodic paralysis affected only 5,000 people in the United States and the drug could provide benefits for those people. “Strongbridge is committed to serving the unmet needs of the primary periodic paralysis and other rare-disease communities,” the statement said. Sun Pharmaceutical did not answer questions about why the company sold the drug after dropping the price to zero. For patients, this is a double-edged sword. The company is selling the drug in the United States — a big improvement over the years when it wasn't available at all or had to be imported. And like nearly every drug company with a high-priced treatment, it offers patients support in navigating their insurance or help in paying for the drug. Anderson, for example, pays nothing. Anderson said Keveyis is not on his insurer's list of covered drugs, but he gets it free without a co-pay. Providing help to patients in affording drugs by paying co-pays, helping overcome insurance barriers and even giving it away free helps individual patients, but also insulates the drug company from criticism of its price. “If your insurance doesn't cover it or if you don't have insurance, they will provide it free,” said Anderson, who added he is grateful to the company. “I don't understand how much it's costing some insurance companies.” Strongbridge has launched free genetic testing for the disease and is expanding its sales force, moves that will help it identify more people who could become customers. “It's either: People get ripped off, but they live, or they don't get ripped off, and they die. It's a little bit of a blackmail situation,” said Jacob Levitt, who has watched the price hikes with dismay. “The business model is a little bit taking advantage of making a cheap drug very expensive.” Levitt said that Strongbridge has given $250,000 to the patient organization that he heads, which helps support a conference. That's a valuable resource for patients; he notes it's an even more lucrative investment for the company, which can use the event to get in front of people with the disease and identify new patients. “What they have done is found the mechanism for making a lot of money off of a drug they didn't have to make a lot of money off of,” Levitt said. Read more: What happened to the $750 pill that catapulted Martin Shkreli to infamy An old drug gets a new price to fight a rare disease: $89,000 a year This drug is defying a rare form of leukemia — and it keeps getting pricier The Trump administration is taking on drug prices — but not drug companies ||||| A Democratic senator is demanding answers from a pharmaceutical company about why it started charging tens of thousands of dollars for a decades-old drug that was once free. Sen. Claire McCaskill Claire Conner McCaskillOvernight Tech: Latest in Trump's fight with Amazon | Trump defends Sinclair | Missouri AG subpoenas Facebook | Feds ask Supreme Court to dismiss case against Microsoft Overnight Cybersecurity: Missouri AG subpoenas Facebook over data practices | Breach hits retailers Saks, Lord & Taylor | Tech scrambles to prepare for EU privacy law Senators launch probe into why price of cancer drug increased 1400 percent MORE (D-Mo.) on Tuesday sent a letter to the president and CEO of Strongbridge Biopharma asking for detailed information related to the pricing and total gross revenue from the company’s sales of Keveyis, a drug that treats a rare genetic disease called periodic paralysis. “Patients suffering from periodic paralysis and all other Americans concerned about price spikes for rare-disease treatments do, in fact, deserve an explanation of recent company decisions,” McCaskill wrote. ADVERTISEMENT McCaskill also demanded to know the names of company officials responsible for setting the price of Keveyis, as well as cost estimates and profit projections relating to the current and future price of the drug. According to a report in The Washington Post, patients suffering from periodic paralysis had been using the drug off-label for years. The drug was originally intended to treat glaucoma, and cost as little as $50 for 100 pills. It was officially approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat periodic paralysis in 2015, and was sold by a generic drug company called Sun Pharmaceutical for almost $14,000 for 100 pills. In 2016, after press inquiries about the price, Sun began giving the drug away for free. But Sun sold the rights to Keveyis to Strongbridge, which relaunched the drug in April at a cost of $15,001 for a bottle of 100 pills.

– It's a rare genetic illness and, in the Washington Post's telling, a "frightening" one. And it's one whose symptoms many sufferers were able to control for free, or a pittance. That's changed in an extreme and dramatic fashion in recent years, making the drug Keveyis yet another example of out-of-control drug prices. But this case has a twist: It's one of good intentions that took a turn. The drug was developed in the late '50s to treat glaucoma, and was sold under the name Daranide. But those suffering from periodic paralysis, which can cause spells of immobility, discovered it helped ease their symptoms. For the remainder of the 20th century, it came cheap; the Post puts its list price at $50 for 100 pills in 2001. But then Merck discontinued it, and those desperate to obtain it had to import it from abroad; the monthly cost increased to roughly $300. But in 2008, Taro Pharmaceutical Industries acquired Daranide with good intentions: The former chair's son suffered from periodic paralysis, and while he didn't use Daranide, he was aware of the need for it. Two years later, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries purchased a controlling stake in Taro, and in 2015, the drug was officially approved to treat periodic paralysis and relabeled as Keveyis. The new price: $13,650 for 100 pills. The Post asked questions in 2016, and Sun decided to drop the price to zero—which was the price for a short time, until Strongbridge Biopharma late that year bought the drug and jacked the list price to $15,001 per 100 pills; it told investors that annual treatment would cost $109,500 to $219,000. Many insurers pick up the entire tab. The Hill reports Sen. Claire McCaskill is "demanding answers" on the price hike and on Tuesday reached out to the company.

Add a location to your Tweets When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| Add a location to your Tweets When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| FiveThirtyEight’s mission is to help New York Times readers cut through the clutter of this data-rich world. The blog is devoted to rigorous analysis of politics, polling, public affairs, sports, science and culture, largely through statistical means. In addition, FiveThirtyEight provides forecasts of upcoming presidential, Congressional, and gubernatorial elections through the use of its proprietary prediction models. Read more » Nate Silver is the author of The Signal and the Noise, which is due to be published on Sept. 27 ||||| Add a location to your Tweets When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| “Anybody that thinks that this race is anything but a tossup right now is such an ideologue, they should be kept away from typewriters, computers, laptops and microphones for the next 10 days, because they’re jokes.” The above words are those of Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program. He’s talking about Nate Silver, the statistics wizard whose FiveThirtyEight blog is licensed by The New York Times, and who writes for The Times frequently online as well as in print. Mr. Silver also has a desk in The Times’s newsroom. As the presidential campaign veers around the clubhouse turn and zooms into the homestretch, Mr. Silver is very much in the public eye. For months now, he has been predicting that President Obama has about a 75 percent probability, give or take a few points, of winning re-election on Tuesday. He uses an algorithm – some call it a secret sauce — that combines the numbers in public opinion polls and produces a result that he then turns into a prediction. That has endeared him to liberals and Democrats, just as it has infuriated conservatives and Republicans. Mr. Silver himself has said that he supported Mr. Obama in 2008 but his work tends to focus on numbers, not policy and politics. He has been out there promoting his book, “The Signal and the Noise,” which has increased his visibility further. In short, he’s everywhere and his name is on everyone’s lips. As Brendan Nyhan noted in Columbia Journalism Review, some pundits resent him because his methods represent a mortal threat to traditional “horse race” political commentary. His skirmish with Mr. Scarborough is especially high profile. Mr. Scarborough, as noted above, disagrees with Mr. Silver’s prediction, calling the race a dead heat and saying that Mr. Silver is a fool to say otherwise. Mr. Silver is quite accurate in his argument against Mr. Scarborough. He clearly says that the closeness of the popular vote does not affect the probability that Mr. Obama will win. They are, simply, two very different things. So on Thursday, frustrated and irritated, Mr. Silver challenged Mr. Scarborough to a wager in a Twitter message — $1,000 to the Red Cross. (The offer later climbed to $2,000.) If Mr. Obama wins, Mr. Scarborough pays up; if Mitt Romney wins, Mr. Silver does the same. So far, Mr. Scarborough isn’t biting on the offer and I could not reach him for comment Thursday. In a phone conversation, Mr. Silver described the wager offer as “half playful and half serious.” “He’s been on a rant, calling me an idiot and a partisan, so I’m asking him to put some integrity behind it,” he said. “I don’t stand to gain anything from it; it’s for charity.” He added that he is feeling the strain of being under attack and vulnerable to criticism as Election Day approaches. “It’s a high-stress time,” he said. I can understand and sympathize with that. But whatever the motivation behind it, the wager offer is a bad idea – giving ammunition to the critics who want to paint Mr. Silver as a partisan who is trying to sway the outcome. It’s also inappropriate for a Times journalist, which is how Mr. Silver is seen by the public even though he’s not a regular staff member. “I wouldn’t want to see it become newsroom practice,” said the associate managing editor for standards, Philip B. Corbett. He described Mr. Silver’s status as a blogger — something like a columnist — as a mitigating factor. Granted, Mr. Silver isn’t covering the presidential race as a political reporter would. But he is closely associated with The Times and its journalism – in fact, he’s probably (and please know that I use the p-word loosely) its most high-profile writer at this particular moment. When he came to work at The Times, Mr. Silver gained a lot more visibility and the credibility associated with a prominent institution. But he lost something, too: the right to act like a free agent with responsibilities to nobody’s standards but his own.

– Barack Obama's odds of victory ticked up to 80.9% today in Nate Silver's projection model, a fact unlikely to sit well with Silver's growing legion of Republican detractors. While no one is arguing that Mitt Romney is the favorite, some—like Joe Scarborough—are arguing the race is a toss-up. "What I find confounding about this is that the argument we're making is exceedingly simple," Silver writes at the New York Times today. "Here it is: Obama's ahead in Ohio." If you take the polls at face value, Silver says, Obama's ahead in enough states to get him to 270 electoral votes. "I am aware—and you should be too—of the possibility that adding complexity to a model can make it worse," he admits, but even "the simplest analysis of the polls would argue that Mr. Obama is winning." It's that conviction that led Silver to challenge Scarborough to bet him a $1,000, no make that $2,000, Red Cross donation that Obama would win. "He’s been on a rant, calling me an idiot and a partisan," Silver tells Times public editor Margaret Sullivan. But Sullivan still called it a "bad idea" and "inappropriate for a Times journalist." Silver later tweeted that Sullivan was an excellent public editor, and that he'd donated $2,538 to the Red Cross.

This article is over 2 years old Singer relaunches Air Djibouti, 14 years after it shut down operations, flying Boeing 737 from Wales to nation on Horn of Africa Air Djibouti’s first passenger flight in 14 years landed in the small nation on Thursday with Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson at the controls. The airline, one of Africa’s oldest, shut down all operations in 2002 but partially relaunched in August 2015 with a cargo service as the continent’s aviation industry became increasingly competitive. Dickinson, frontman of the heavy metal band – whose hits include The Number of the Beast, Run for the Hills and Aces High – is also a pilot and owns the company which will manage the airline. He flew the plane into Djibouti from Cardiff, Wales. Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson to help set up African airline Read more Aboubaker Omar Hadi, the president of Djibouti’s port authority and free zones, said: “Djibouti confirms its position as a business and transport hub located on the [world’s] second most important maritime route.” “Air Djibouti will allow the world to discover that Djibouti has incredible potential,” Omar Hadi added at a ceremony held once the plane had landed. Air Djibouti will initially serve regional destinations including Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and Nairobi in Kenya, as well as nearby Middle Eastern destinations such as Dubai and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Route expansion to Asia and Europe will begin in 2017 with a target of 200,000 passengers a year. The president, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, also attended the ceremony on the runway at Djibouti airport, while journalists and dignitaries disembarked the Boeing 737 piloted by Dickinson. The airline is expected to take receipt of three new aircraft by the end of the year. Air Djibouti was founded in 1963. The new company remains a state-owned entity but management was taken on by Cardiff Aviation, Dickinson’s company. The east African state of 870,000 people is heavily involved in large-scale infrastructure projects with Chinese financing, including two new airports, six new ports and a train line connecting Djibouti with Addis Ababa. ||||| 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. ||||| By: AJOT | Aug 11 2016 at 09:15 AM | Air Cargo Delivery flight signals Djibouti’s growing status as global trade and investment hub. Djibouti - Air Djibouti took delivery of the first Boeing 737-400 aircraft in Djibouti in preparation for the launch of Air Djibouti’s new commercial operations. His Excellency Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, President of the Republic of Djibouti, Mr. Aboubaker Omar Hadi, Chairman of Air Djibouti, along with other dignitaries, met the plane and crew at Djibouti’s International Airport in a ceremony welcoming this important step in Djibouti’s development as a global transport hub. Bruce Dickinson, Chairman of Cardiff Aviation, which provides Air Djibouti with operational management, delivered the Boeing 737-400 personally. The plane travelled from Cardiff, stopping in Malta for re-fuelling. The plane will officially go into service on August 16, flying to regional destinations initially. Air Djibouti plans to introduce two BA146-300 aircraft by mid-September and mid-October, and a Boeing 767-200 in December this year, initially operating between Djibouti and London. Other international destinations are expected to follow soon after, as well as regional freight services. UK-based aircraft services and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company, Cardiff Aviation, is providing technical assistance and management, and secured the European-level Air Operator’s Certificate for Air Djibouti. The launch of Air Djibouti’s commercial operations is a crucial element of the Djibouti Ports & Free Zones Authority (DPFZA)’s strategy for establishing Djibouti as a major logistics centre for the region. With two new airports under construction that are expected to be operational by 2019, the country is building its air transport links to complement its already well established road, rail and maritime transport network. Bruce Dickinson said: “The arrival of the first aircraft comes at a particularly exciting time for the region as Djibouti leads in spearheading the growth of aviation in East Africa.” Djibouti is strategically located on the second busiest shipping lane in the world. It is a natural meeting point for the East and West’s global business development. The DPFZA is working to replicate its success in port logistics in the aviation sector. Air Djibouti’s commercial operations will further develop the country’s international connections and accessibility. Djibouti’s current transport and logistics infrastructure programme exceeds $15 billion.

– Djibouti hasn't seen passenger flights in more than a decade—until Thursday, when the lead singer of Iron Maiden flew the first Air Djibouti passenger flight into the small African nation since 2002. In addition to being a heavy metal rocker, Bruce Dickinson is also a pilot and the owner of the company that will manage Air Djibouti, the Guardian reports. The airline shut down 14 years ago and partially relaunched last year, but only with cargo service. Air Transport World reports that Djibouti "has major ambitions to become the region’s logistics hub and is pouring $15 billion into two new airports, a seaport, and railways." Notes Dickinson, per the American Journal of Transportation, "The arrival of the first aircraft comes at a particularly exciting time for the region as Djibouti leads in spearheading the growth of aviation in East Africa."

Add a location to your Tweets When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more ||||| We’ve all had THOSE neighbors. You’ve taken your night time sleepytime medicine, you’re flipping the clicker back and forth between Lawrence Welk reruns and the Home Shopping Network, and you’re ready to dream about doing the Charleston with visiting Navy men (you’re 82 in this scenario), but ISIS just moved in next door, and they have A LOT OF SEX. And it’s not just the headboard knocking against the wall, but they are saying ISISes too, while they are doing it! What, you have not had this kind of neighbor? An 82-year-old woman called Brown Deer Police Sunday night requesting police because she heard someone chanting, “ISIS is good, ISIS is great” while having sex. WTF kind of sex chant is that? Some kind of take-off on the traditional kiddies’ “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food” prayer, but, instead they’re thankful for hot hard Radical Islamic Fucking? Or maybe the people were not actually sex-shouting ANYTHING like what the old lady heard. Because the traditional Muslin version of “OH GOD I’M CUMMING!” is probably closer to “ALLAHU AKBAR!” than anything else. The local police chief thought it was pretty hilarious: Nosy neighbors are the worst. Now every time the poor people who live next door to this lady want to Bristol each other in the what-whats, they’re going to be worried Gladys Kravitz is over there holding a cup up to the wall eavesdropping, making sure they’re not plotting the destruction of America with their terror-boning. Of course, they could have some fun with her. If she’s a traditional old lady, they could say things traditional old ladies like to hear like, “Big sale at Hobby Lobby!” and “Back in my day!” If we may stop and be serious for a moment, THIS POOR LADY! She is an Old, and she probably doesn’t do internets very good, and her grandchildren never call, never write, and all she has to do all day is be a committed member of Fox News’s eleventy-billion-year-old audience. She probably listens to them day in, day out, telling her that the ISIS terrorists and the Syrian refugees are hiding in the bushes outside her house, or on the other side of the wall, just waiting to get her when she lets her guard down on the way to the Walgreens for the big sale on butterscotches. Or even worse, she might be a Donald Trump supporter. Or maybe this lady is right and ISIS lives next door to everybody in America and is about to establish a caliphate, IN YOUR PANTS. [WDJT Milwaukee via RawStory] ||||| We've detected that JavaScript is disabled in your browser. Would you like to proceed to legacy Twitter? Yes ||||| 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 ||||| An 82-year-old woman called Brown Deer Police Sunday night requesting police because she heard someone chanting, "ISIS is good, ISIS is great" while having sex. NEW: 911 Audio of Police Call Released The incident took place in the 4400 block of Dean Road. Police advised the woman to call back if she heard the chanting again. When asked about the incident, Brown Deer Police Chief Kass replied, "maybe taking see something, say something a little too far?" RELATED: Meet the 77-year-old Grandma Scaring Away Trouble in Milwaukee @Eric_Steckling @BrownDeerWIPD @CBS58 maybe taking see something say something a little to far? — Chief Kass (@browndeerchief) December 22, 2015 RELATED: Wisconsin Man charged with having Sexual Contact with Donkey Monday evening word started to spread about the story and the world reacted. Here are some of the best responses: @CBS58 They might have been role-playing as Egyptian gods. Isis is probably *very* good! — Prettiness Tinseled™ (@DannyDangerOz) December 22, 2015 These neighbors should scheme the things they'll shout from now on. "We're smoking weed! Living together unmarried!" https://t.co/yOkDnW8DWl — Steve Fowliz Navidad (@SFowlerMobile) December 22, 2015

– It seems an elderly Wisconsin woman thinks a terrorist sleeper cell living next door accidentally let the cat out of the bag during a moment of passion. WDJT reports the 82-year-old Brown Deer resident called 911 when she said she heard a couple shouting "ISIS is good, ISIS is great" while having sex Sunday. Police decided the unconventional dirty talk wasn't any of their business and told the woman to call back if she heard anything else. Afterward, police chief Michael Kass took to social media to have a little fun, tweeting: "Maybe taking see something, say something a little to (sic) far?" But he wasn't the only one having fun with the story. "They might have been role-playing as Egyptian gods. Isis is probably *very* good!" someone tweeted. "They could have some fun with her," Wonkette writes. "If she’s a traditional old lady, they could say things traditional old ladies like to hear like, 'Big sale at Hobby Lobby!' and 'Back in my day!' "How dare someone steal my safeword," tweets the New Yorker's TV critic.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Cardinal Pell: "I am innocent of these charges, they are false" The Vatican treasurer, Cardinal George Pell, has vehemently denied any wrongdoing after being charged with sex offences in his native Australia. He complained that he had been subjected to "relentless character assassination" during a two-year investigation into the "false" claims. He said the Pope had granted him a leave of absence to fight the charges. The charges relate to alleged "historical" incidents, police in the state of Victoria said. The allegations were made by a number of people, said Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton. Cardinal Pell, 76, who is based in the Vatican, is considered the third-ranking official in the Holy See. He told a news conference at the Holy See that he would travel to Australia if his doctors permitted it. "I'm looking forward finally to having my day in court," he said. "I am innocent of these charges, they are false. The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me." The Catholic Church worldwide has in recent years faced a damaging series of allegations relating to sex abuse by priests, and claims that these cases were covered up. The BBC's James Reynolds says the charges leave the Church - and the Pope - in an uncomfortable position. After his election in 2013, Pope Francis created a commission to deal with allegations of sexual abuse by clerics. Now he finds that one of his closest advisers faces charges of his own. In a statement following the announcement of the charges, the Vatican said: "The Holy See expresses its respect for the Australian justice system that will have to decide the merits of the questions raised. "At the same time, it is important to recall that Cardinal Pell has openly and repeatedly condemned as immoral and intolerable the acts of abuse committed against minors; has co-operated in the past with Australian authorities... has supported the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors; and finally, as a diocesan bishop in Australia, has introduced systems and procedures both for the protection of minors and to provide assistance to victims of abuse." What are the charges? Victoria Police said they had made the decision to charge Cardinal Pell after receiving advice from prosecutors last month. "Cardinal Pell is facing multiple charges and there are multiple complainants," Deputy Commissioner Patton said. The cardinal would be required to face the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on 18 July, Deputy Commissioner Patton said. A magistrate will decide next week whether to release the details and the nature of the charges ahead of the cardinal's court appearance. Cardinal Pell was questioned by Australian detectives in the Vatican last year after saying he was too unwell to take a long flight to Australia. Who is Cardinal Pell? Image copyright Reuters Image caption Cardinal Pell has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing Cardinal Pell has been a strong supporter of traditional Catholic values, taking a conservative stance on same-sex marriage and contraception, and advocating priestly celibacy. But his career has been dogged first by claims that he covered up child sexual abuse by priests, and then later that he was himself an abuser. He has always strongly denied any wrongdoing. In 2014, Cardinal Pell was summoned to Rome to become chief of the Vatican's finances, a new position created by Pope Francis in the wake of scandals at the Vatican Bank. But he left behind growing anger over revelations of child sex abuse by members of the Catholic clergy in Australia. Cardinal Pell repeatedly faced allegations from abuse victims of a cover-up and his critics accused him of appearing aloof and arrogant. In 2016 the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) aired allegations by two men who claimed Cardinal Pell had touched them inappropriately in the 1970s. He strongly denied the allegations, describing them as a "scandalous smear campaign". More on Cardinal Pell Shockwaves - Hywel Griffith, BBC News Australia correspondent Cardinal Pell is not just Australia's most senior cleric, he is one of the highest-ranking officials in the Catholic world. For two decades, he has been a frontline figure in the Church's debate over controversial issues such as homosexuality, Aids and stem cell research. He has also handled the Church's official response to allegations of sexual abuse within its Australian ranks during a series of inquiries. When he gave evidence via video link to a Royal Commission into abuse last year, some abuse survivors flew all the way to Rome to watch. It is hard to overstate, therefore, the significance of the decision to press charges against him. When he returns to face those charges in an Australian court, every second will be scrutinised not just by the Australian press, but by members of Catholic congregations across the globe. What is the wider picture? The sexual abuse of children was rarely discussed in public before the 1970s, and it was not until the 1980s that the first cases of molestation by priests came to light, in the US and Canada. In the 1990s, revelations began of widespread abuse in Ireland and in the new century, more cases of abuse were revealed in more than a dozen countries. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "There will be a lot of sadness" in the town of Ballarat over Cardinal sex offence charges, says resident The UN has accused the Vatican of "systematically" adopting policies allowing priests to sexually abuse thousands of children. Since his election, Pope Francis has appeared to offer new hope to victims, with a call for action on sex abuse in the Church. Under his papacy, a Vatican committee has been set up to fight sexual abuse and help victims. In a report by Vatican Radio, the Pope asked for forgiveness for the "evil" damage to children caused by sexual abusers in the clergy and said "sanctions" would be imposed. Vatican officials submitted publicly to questioning for the first time in January 2013, before a UN panel in Geneva, but refused to supply data on abuse cases. Victims' groups have responded to almost every move by the Vatican with scepticism. ||||| VATICAN CITY/SYDNEY (Reuters) - A top adviser to Pope Francis was charged with multiple historical sex crimes in his native Australia on Thursday, bringing a worldwide abuse scandal to the heart of the Vatican. Appointed Vatican economy minister by Francis, Cardinal George Pell is the highest-ranking Church official to face such accusations. He asserted his innocence and said the pontiff had given him leave of absence to return to Australia to defend himself. “I am looking forward finally to having my day in court. I repeat that I am innocent of these charges. They are false,” the 76-year-old told a news conference at the Vatican. “The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me.” Pell’s high-profile departure, even if temporary, puts pressure on a pontiff who has made compassion for the vulnerable his watchword, and has declared zero tolerance for a child abuse scandal that has beset the Church for decades, but has struggled to overcome resistance in the Church hierarchy and clergy. Pell was hand-picked by Francis to sit on a panel of nine cardinal-advisers to give a greater voice to the Church’s global flock, and the new broom he chose to reform the Vatican’s opaque finances. But Pell, a former archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney, had come under pressure from an Australian government commission on institutional child abuse, and had himself been under investigation for at least a year. On Thursday, police in the Australian state of Victoria, where Pell was a country priest in the 1970s, said he faced “multiple charges in respect of historical sexual offences” from multiple complainants. They did not detail the charges or specify the ages of the alleged victims or the period when the crimes were alleged to have occurred. He was originally ordered to appear before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on July 18, but that date was later pushed back to July 26. Australian police declined to say why the court date had been changed. Pell, who declined to take questions, decried a “relentless character assassination” by the media and said he wanted to “clear my name and then return to my work in Rome”. VICTIMS ANGRY Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said Pell would not appear in public Church services for the time being. Pell told the Australian inquiry last year that the Church had made “catastrophic” choices by refusing to believe abused children, shuffling abusive priests from parish to parish, and relying too heavily on the counsel of priests to solve the problem. But he angered victims by saying he was too ill to fly home, testifying instead from Rome. He indicated on Thursday that he would now go to Australia. “I have spoken to my lawyers about when I need to return home and to my doctors about how best to do this,” Pell said. Francis said last year Pell should not undergo trial by media. “It’s in the hands of the justice system and one cannot judge before the justice system ... After the justice system speaks, I will speak,” the pontiff said. The indictment of such a close adviser raised questions about Francis’s choice of personnel and his ability finally to root out the sexual abuse that had been tolerated or ignored in the Church for decades, and act against those who covered it up. Marie Collins, the top non-clerical member of the commission on abuse that Francis established in 2014, and its last remaining victim of priestly abuse, quit in frustration in March, citing a “shameful” lack of cooperation within the Vatican. She said the Vatican administration had even ignored a specific request from the pope that all correspondence from abuse victims should receive a response. “The long, aching scandal that stained the previous two popes - Vatican passivity to clergy abuse cases - is the swamp Pope Francis faces,” said Jason Berry, author of “Lead Us Not Into Temptation”, a book about sexual abuse in the Church. Cardinal George Pell leaves his house in Rome, Italy, June 29, 2017. REUTERS/Remo Casilli “Unless the pope engineers systemic change, the crisis will get worse,” Berry told Reuters. Francis was impressed by Pell when they met in 2013. In meetings among cardinals before the conclave that elected Francis pope that year, the former Australian Rules football player stood out not only for his height and broad shoulders but also for his command of financial matters. After becoming pope, Francis, hoping to put an end to Vatican financial scandals, moved Pell to Rome to head a new ministry, the Secretariat for the Economy. After initially giving Pell sweeping powers, the pontiff later clipped his wings when other departments accused him of an overbearing manner and of being condescending to the Italian-dominated Curia, the Church’s central administration. THOUSANDS OF VICTIMS Church sexual abuse broke into the open in 2002, when it was discovered that U.S. bishops in the Boston area had simply moved abusers to new posts instead of defrocking them. Thousands of cases have come to light around the world as investigations have encouraged long-silent victims to go public, shattering the Church’s reputation in places such as Ireland, and more than $2 billion has been paid in compensation. Under previous popes, the Vatican, a sovereign state in the middle of Rome, sheltered officials wanted by other countries. In the early 1980s, the Vatican refused an Italian request to hand over Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, an American who was then head of the Vatican bank and was wanted for questioning about the fraudulent bankruptcy of a private Italian bank. Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston moved to Rome after a sexual abuse scandal erupted in his diocese, and has been living in the Italian capital for more than 15 years. Victims’ groups were outraged when Law, now 85 and retired, was given a plum job as chief priest at a Rome basilica by the late Pope John Paul II. Slideshow (7 Images) However, Francis was tough in the case of Jozef Wesolowski, a former archbishop who was accused of paying for sex with minors while serving as papal ambassador in the Dominican Republic. Wesolowski was recalled in 2013, defrocked and arrested in the Vatican in 2014, but died shortly before his trial was due to start in 2015. ||||| One of Australia's leading Catholic Church commentators has described the charges against Cardinal George Pell as a "watershed moment", while sex abuse survivor advocates have urged the cardinal to follow through on his undertaking to return to Australia to face court in person. Brian Coyne, editor and publisher of Catholic forum Catholica, said the charges had extraordinary implications for the church. SHARE Share on Facebook SHARE Share on Twitter TWEET Link Cardinal George Pell will defend the charges against him. Photo: Getty Images "Sadly, Cardinal Pell has been a divisive figure in the Catholic Church in Australia for a long time," he said. "He was reportedly moved to Sydney and elevated to the rank of cardinal to 'clean up the church in Australia'. The implications of this for the church in Australia and, indeed, for the church internationally and Pope Francis, scarcely bear thinking about. "This is a watershed moment for Catholicism." Leonie Sheedy, co-founder of survivor advocacy group Care Leavers Australasia Network, thanked the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse for its forensic examination of allegations against clergy. Advertisement CLAN, which has lobbied against institutional abuse cover-ups for years, has urged the 75-year-old cardinal to keep his word about returning to Australia from his base in Rome. "If he can fly from Rome to London, he can fly to Australia with stopovers," she said. SHARE Share on Facebook SHARE Share on Twitter TWEET Link Leonie Sheedy, co-founder of survivor advocacy group Care Leavers Australasia Network, outside the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Photo: Justin McManus "It is vital that he appear in person to face these charges and we would hope the Pope will strongly encourage him to return to Australia." To all Clannies who have held signs with #Pell on them Thankyou U have played a part in this #historic day @Pontifex pic.twitter.com/Zu3wjE30gV — CLAN (@CLAN_AU) June 29, 2017 In a statement released by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney earlier on Thursday morning, the cardinal said he would return to Australia subject to medical approval. "He has again strenuously denied all allegations," the statement read. "Cardinal Pell will return to Australia, as soon as possible, to clear his name following advice and approval by his doctors who will also advise on his travel arrangements. "He said he is looking forward to his day in court and will defend the charges vigorously." Cardinal Pell gave evidence to the royal commission via video from Rome last year after his doctor advised he was too ill to travel to Australia. A medical report tendered to the commission stated a long-haul flight would present a "serious risk to his health".

– Cardinal George Pell, the third highest-ranking Vatican official, has long been accused of mishandling the church's response to clergy abuse scandals in his native Australia. Police in Victoria state now say he might have been one of the abusers. Australian police say the 76-year-old Vatican treasurer faces "multiple charges in respect of historic sexual offences" involving more than one accuser, Reuters reports. Pell was ordered to appear in court in Melbourne on July 18 and the church says he plans to return to Australia to "clear his name"—if doctors allow him to travel. He "is looking forward to his day in court and will defend the charges vigorously," the Australian Catholic Church said in a statement. Police have not disclosed details of the allegations involving Pell, who was a parish priest in Victoria in the 1970s before becoming Archbishop of Melbourne, the BBC reports. Pope Francis said last year that he would not comment on allegations involving his adviser until after "the justice system speaks." Brian Coyne, editor of Catholic forum Catholica, tells the Sydney Morning Herald that Pell has long been a divisive figure in the church and this is a "watershed moment for Catholicism." Pell was "moved to Sydney and elevated to the rank of cardinal to 'clean up the church in Australia,'" Coyne says. "The implications of this ... for the church internationally and Pope Francis scarcely bear thinking about."

Samsung Electronics won a significant legal victory against Apple: a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling that threatens to halt U.S. sales of some older iPhones and iPads. The WSJ's Min-Jeong Lee has the story. Samsung Electronics Co. won a significant legal victory against Apple Inc. that threatens to halt the sale of some iPhones and iPads in the U.S. George Stahl explains the ramifications of a significant victory Samsung won over Apple in its patent case and how it is likely to result in a series of cross-licensing agreements between the companies. Photo: Getty Images. The U.S. International Trade Commission on Tuesday ruled that Apple violated a Samsung patent covering technology used to send information over wireless networks. Unless vetoed by President Barack Obama or blocked by an appeals court, the ruling would bar the importation of certain iPhones and iPads made to work on AT&T Inc.'s network. Among them are the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, the iPad 3G, the iPad 2 3G and the iPad 3. The latest Apple products, including the iPhone 5 and the fourth-generation of the iPad, were unaffected. Once close business partners, Samsung and Apple have become increasingly intense rivals, sparring over the market for smartphones around the globe, with much of the momentum accruing to Samsung in recent months. The rivalry has spilled into the courts, where barrages of competing patent claims have been lobbed in both directions. Last year, Apple won a jury trial and $1 billion in damages against Samsung over iPhone patents. Tuesday's ruling, which Apple has vowed to take to a federal appeals court, raises the incentives for the two sides to reach a more comprehensive settlement. But so far, both sides offered no hint at a settlement. The ruling also came on the day Mr. Obama took steps to rein in companies that buy and enforce patents rather than make their own products and services—firms known as patent trolls by their detractors. He is also trying to reduce the growing use of the ITC to settle patent disputes. The ITC, which has jurisdiction over certain trade practices, is an appealing legal option for patent holders, particularly tech companies, because the trade body can issue orders banning the importation of products that infringe upon another company's patents. Legal observers say it is easier to win an import ban at the ITC than it is to win a federal court ruling that would block product sales. The ITC's decision against Apple was largely unexpected, particularly because the initial review by a judge at the agency had found Apple's products weren't infringing Samsung's patents. The patent itself is a highly technical one, described in patent documents as "an apparatus and method for encoding/decoding a transport format combination indicator (TFCI) in a CDMA mobile communication system." "We are disappointed that the Commission has overturned an earlier ruling and we plan to appeal," said Kristin Huguet, an Apple spokeswoman. She said the decision "has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the United States." Apple doesn't detail sales for each individual product in its quarterly reports, but it has said that the iPhone makes up more than half of its global revenue. Sales in America, where the ban would take place, represented less than a third of overall sales. And aside from the iPhone 4S, which Apple said is popular with customers, the company hasn't detailed sales of its older models. Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, estimates that world-wide sales of the iPhone 4—which stands to be affected by the ITC order—brought Apple $3.4 billion in revenue in the quarter ended in March. That compares with his estimate of $14.9 billion for the newer iPhone 5, which isn't affected. The iPhone 4 has been marketed as a low-cost option alongside newer models. AT&T offers it for as little as 99 cents with a new contract. An AT&T spokesman didn't return a request for comment. Apple's Ms. Huguet added that "Samsung is using a strategy which has been rejected by courts and regulators around the world." Adam Yates, a spokesman for Samsung, said the decision affirmed the company's patents. "We believe the ITC's Final Determination has confirmed Apple's history of free-riding on Samsung's technological innovations," he said. AP The Apple store in Santa Monica, Calif. The ITC ruled against a key Apple theory across its recent litigation, which seeks to limit plaintiffs from using a broad class of patents to win injunctions against sales of infringing products. Such patents are submitted to industry groups that are setting key technology standards, and are deemed as essential to create products in certain categories—such as creating handsets that can communicate using a particular generation of cellular networks. Apple has argued that in return for becoming part of an industry standard, companies usually promise those groups to license use of their patented technology under fair and reasonable terms. Apple says Samsung isn't doing that. But the ITC said Apple's argument wasn't valid, potentially hurting Apple's continuing efforts to change the way standards-based patents are used in legal cases. Brian Love, an assistant professor of law at Santa Clara University School of Law, said it was unclear whether Apple could find a technical workaround for the ruling. He said that companies are sometimes "overzealous" about labeling patents as essential parts of technology standards. Kevin Taylor, an intellectual property lawyer at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, said this is "a solid win for Samsung." But he said whether it would set any precedent would depend on the outcome of any appeal in federal court. He said it wouldn't be unusual for a court to temporarily delay the ruling from going into effect, allowing Apple to continue selling its devices during the appeal, which could take months or longer. But, Mr. Taylor said, if "upheld on appeal, Apple has a big problem." Lyle Vander Schaaf, an intellectual property lawyer at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, noted that it is rare for federal appeals courts to delay exclusion orders during appeals. And presidential vetoes are even more rare. There hasn't been a veto "since the Carter administration," he said. "On first blush, this seems like a really impactful decision." —Don Clark and Brent Kendall contributed to this article. Write to Ian Sherr at ian.sherr@dowjones.com and Jessica E. Lessin at jessica.lessin@wsj.com ||||| Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s first loss against Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) in a U.S. patent case could mean a ban on imports of some older devices including the iPhone 4 while lessening prospects of the largest smartphone makers ending their legal battles. The U.S. International Trade Commission’s decision, posted in a notice on its website yesterday, covers the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 3G sold for use on networks operated by AT&T Inc. (T), T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS) and two regional carriers, General Communication Inc. (GNCMA) in Alaska and CT Cube LP in Texas. With dozens of lawsuits spread across four continents in their battle for a greater share of the $293.9 billion market for smartphones, each side can now claim a victory in the U.S. With plenty of litigation remaining, Samsung’s victory probably won’t bring the two sides closer to settling, said Will Stofega, a program director at Framingham, Massachusetts-based researcher IDC. “There’s too much skin in the game now,” he said. “It’s almost so ugly I don’t think they’ll come to any agreement. Both companies have a lot of cash and are generating a lot of money. It’s not like they have to worry about paying the legal bills.” Obama Review The ITC’s import-ban order is subject to review by President Barack Obama. The president can overturn it on public-policy grounds, though that rarely happens. Apple can keep selling the devices during the 60-day review period. Photographer: Ian Waldie/Bloomberg A man uses a Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy S III smartphone to record a video outside the Apple Inc. store in Sydney, Australia. Close A man uses a Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy S III smartphone to record a video outside... Read More Close Open Photographer: Ian Waldie/Bloomberg A man uses a Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy S III smartphone to record a video outside the Apple Inc. store in Sydney, Australia. “Historically, the president does not interfere in these sorts of things,” said Lyle Vander Schaaf, a patent lawyer with Brinks Hofer in Washington. “It shows the commission is a very bold agency that they are willing to take these steps despite the popularity of the Apple products.” Apple won a $1 billion verdict last year in California that has since been cut to about $600 million. It was based on a jury finding that Samsung devices copied the look and unique features of the iPhone and iPad. The commission is scheduled to release a final decision in Apple’s trade case against Samsung in August. Apple shares slipped 1.1 percent to 342.35 euros in German trading. The stock is down 16 percent in New York trading this year. Samsung shares declined 1.2 percent to 1,521,000 won in Seoul today as South Korea’s currency rose the most in more than six weeks. Samsung shares are little changed this year, compared with a 1.9 percent decline in the benchmark Kospi index. Hot Seller A new trial on some of the damages in the California case must be held and a second lawsuit, involving newer models by both companies, is scheduled for next year. An appeals court could hear arguments later this year on Apple’s request to halt sales of Samsung products found by the jury to infringe its patents. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg Apple faces U.S. import ban on some devices after Samsung win; Apple violates one Samsung patent, U.S. trade agency says. Close Apple faces U.S. import ban on some devices after Samsung win; Apple violates one... Read More Close Open Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg Apple faces U.S. import ban on some devices after Samsung win; Apple violates one Samsung patent, U.S. trade agency says. “We believe the ITC’s final determination has confirmed Apple’s history of free-riding on Samsung’s technological innovations,” Adam Yates, a Samsung spokesman, said yesterday. “Our decades of research and development in mobile technologies will continue, and we will continue to offer innovative products to consumers in the United States.” Apple pledged to appeal the ITC decision. The underlying findings will be reviewed by a U.S. appeals court specializing in patent cases. “We are disappointed that the commission has overturned an earlier ruling and we plan to appeal,” said Kristin Huguet, an Apple spokeswoman. “Today’s decision has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the United States.” ‘Copycat’ Reputation Park Hyun, a Seoul-based analyst with TongYang Securities Inc., said the ITC ruling may help remove the “copycat label” from Samsung. “It seems inevitable that the latest ruling will have a negative impact on Apple,” Park said. “Combined with rising branding power in the U.S., the ITC ruling may give Samsung a chance to narrow its market-share gap with Apple in the U.S.” The decision could mean fewer choices for AT&T and T-Mobile customers who want to get an iPhone without paying for the more expensive iPhone 5. Samsung told the commission that Cupertino, California-based Apple could drop the price of the iPhone 5 if it was worried about losing potential customers. All iPhones are made in Asia. The three-year-old iPhone 4 is still a hot-selling product, said Marcelo Claure, chief executive officer of Brightstar Corp., a mobile-phone distributor with operations in 50 countries. “Anytime you can’t sell your entire portfolio, it’s a big deal,” he said. Unlike Samsung, which sells dozens of models, Apple sells only the iPhone 4, 4S and 5. Mutual Destruction Together, Apple and Samsung make about half the smartphones sold in the world. Samsung is the biggest, while Apple dominates in the U.S. “It’s like Ford and GM -- they should approach some rapprochement or they’ll end up weakening each other’s market share,” said Scott Daniels, a patent lawyer with Westerman Hattori in Washington. “At some point they just need to resolve it because they just hurt themselves commercially if they don’t.” Samsung had been Apple’s biggest components supplier, though Apple has been trying to diversify its supply chain. It may take new innovations in devices to bring them back together, Stofega said. “There’s a big push into display technology, like flexible screens,” he said. “Samsung has proven it can do things no one else can, and that might bring them together. Apple would be a good partner, given their emphasis on display. It can be: ‘We hate each other, but we need each other.’” Patent Trolls In the ITC case, Apple was found to infringe a patent for a widely used way that phones transmit data. Apple argued that Samsung was obligated to license the patent on fair terms because it was part of an industry standard and, instead, the company demanded an unreasonable royalty. Obama’s administration and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in January urged the ITC to closely look at patents that relate to industry standards before issuing any import bans. “Samsung is using a strategy which has been rejected by courts and regulators around the world,” Huguet said. “They’ve admitted that it’s against the interests of consumers in Europe and elsewhere, yet here in the United States Samsung continues to try to block the sale of Apple products by using patents they agreed to license to anyone for a reasonable fee.” Samsung, based in Suwon, South Korea, contended Apple infringes four patents, including two covering data transmission. U.S. trade Judge James Gildea sided with Apple in September, saying Apple didn’t infringe any of the patents and that one, for a way to detect movement on a touch screen, was invalid. Fair Licensing The fourth patent in the case is for a way to detect phone numbers in e-mails so they can be dialed or stored in the phone’s contact list. The commission agreed with the judge on the other three patents. Apple contends Samsung never made a fair offer and demanded that Apple pay 2.4 percent of the average sales price of every iPhone and cellular-enabled iPad, according to filings with the agency. The iPhone generated $78.7 billion in sales for the fiscal year ended Sept. 29, or about 50 percent of Apple’s revenue, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Its iPad brought in $30.9 billion, and the iPod generated $5.6 billion. In its filings, Samsung said it’s been offering Apple a license since November 2010 and “Apple has never been willing to take a license on any terms.” Samsung’s case against Apple is In the Matter of Electronic Devices, Including Wireless Communication Devices, 337-794, and Apple’s case against Samsung is In the Matter of Electronic Digital Media Devices, 337-796, both U.S. International Trade Commission (Washington). To contact the reporter on this story: Susan Decker in Washington at sdecker1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bernard Kohn at bkohn2@bloomberg.net

– A big win for Samsung in its long-running patent feud with Apple: The US International Trade Commission has banned imports of the AT&T models of older Apple products including the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 3G after deciding Apple violated a Samsung patent, the Wall Street Journal reports. Newer Apple products like the iPhone 5 are not affected by the ruling, which Apple says it is "disappointed" by and will appeal. The ruling will take effect in 60 days unless it is vetoed by President Obama, a move analysts say is nearly as unlikely as the two companies deciding to settle their difference amicably. "There’s too much skin in the game now," a spokesman for technology research firm IDC tells Bloomberg. "It’s almost so ugly I don’t think they’ll come to any agreement. Both companies have a lot of cash and are generating a lot of money. It’s not like they have to worry about paying the legal bills."

Lindsay Lohan Paramedics Rush to Her Not Hospitalized Paramedics Rush to Lindsay Lohan -- NOT Hospitalized Exclusive Details We have more specifics. We're told Lindsay wasn't feeling well after complaining of exhaustion, she called someone from the "Liz and Dick" production team early this morning, and the team sent a private doctor to check on her. Before arriving, the doctor called the hotel and asked someone to check on Lindsay. Someone from the hotel went to her door, "checked on her" and determined she was "unresponsive." The hotel then called 911.Lindsay's rep says it was someone from the production team who called 911.Paramedics rushed toearly today after she was found non-responsive at a hotel by the ocean in L.A.Sources tell TMZ ... Lindsay had been shooting almost non-stop without sleep for 2 days and was staying at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey to get some shut eye. She has been shooting parts of her movie near the hotel.We're told someone became alarmed because they could not wake her up and the person called 911.Paramedics responded, and determined nothing was wrong with Lindsay. They left without transporting her to the hospital.Lindsay is back on set shooting her Lifetime movie, "Liz and Dick."As far as we know, Lindsay did not go to the hospital herself. ||||| Is there more trouble for Lindsay Lohan or just a false alarm? Paramedics rushed to her luxury waterfront hotel Friday morning after a 911 caller reported she was unconscious but she was not hospitalized as previously reported, according to authorities. Lohan’s rep Steve Honig blamed the latest drama – the actress was hospitalized just a week ago after a car accident – on her “grueling schedule” filming the Elizabeth Taylor biopic Liz & Dick. “She was on set last night at 7 p.m. and worked through the night until 8 a.m. this morning,” says the rep. “She took a nap before shooting her final scene. Producers were concerned when she did not come out of her room and called paramedics as a precaution.” RELATED: Lindsay Lohan’s Rep: Truck Driver Is ‘Telling Tales’ About Crash Honig adds: “Lindsay was examined and is fine, but did suffer some exhaustion and dehydration.” Paramedics responded to Lohan’s hotel, the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey, Calif., at 10:15 a.m., according to an L.A. County Fire Department spokesman. Lohan, 25, was evaluated at the scene. An earlier report by a local Los Angeles television station that the actress was hospitalized was incorrect. “She is resting now and is hoping to be back on set later this afternoon,” says Honig. • Additional reporting by ELAINE ARADILLAS RELATED: Lindsay Lohan Channels Elizabeth Taylor – in a Bathing Suit

– Just another morning in the life of Lindsay Lohan, this one involving an apparent false alarm involving paramedics. As TMZ explains, it seems an exhausted Lohan called the production team from her Liz & Dick movie to say she wasn't feeling well. They dispatched a doctor, who asked the hotel to check on her before he arrived. When the hotel knocked and couldn't rouse her, someone called 911. Paramedics arrived, determined she was fine, and went on their way. "Lindsay was examined and is fine, but did suffer some exhaustion and dehydration," says her rep, who blamed a grueling shooting schedule, according to People. "She was on set last night at 7pm and worked through the night until 8am this morning." See TMZ for more.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump used a South Florida rally before thousands of cheering supporters on Thursday to forcefully deny multiple allegations of sexual impropriety. He said the allegations of groping and other unwanted advances that surfaced in the last day in multiple news accounts "are totally and absolutely false. These stories are all fabricated. They're pure fiction and they're outright lies. These events never, ever happened," Trump said. Without offering evidence, Trump claimed the accusations were conjured up by Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and spread by a corrupt news media doing Clinton's bidding. Most of his 46-minute speech was devoted to his denials and to criticize the reporting of them. He said he was willing to be a victim because of what he's fighting for. "I take all of these slings and arrows gladly for you. I take them for our movement so that we can have our country back." Trump said that "to be lied about, to be slandered, to be smeared so publicly and before your family that you love is extremely painful." But he added that "it's not about me, it's about all of you, and it's about our country. I know that. I fully understand that." He didn't offer proof at the rally at the South Florida Fairgrounds west of West Palm Beach, but said "we already have substantial evidence to dispute these lies and it will be made available" at what he termed an appropriate time. Trump claimed news media organizations are "no longer involved in journalism" and collude with the Clinton campaign. "Their agenda is to elect Crooked Hillary Clinton at any cost, at any price. No matter how many lives they destroy. For them it's a war. And for them nothing at all is out of bounds," he said. "They will seek to destroy your career and your family. They will seek to destroy everything about you including your reputation. They will lie, lie, lie. And they will do worse than that. They will do whatever is necessary," he said. The denunciations of the media drew sustained cheers and boos directed at reporters and videographers working in a fenced in area at the rally. He was especially critical of what he called "the slander and libels that were just last night thrown at me by the Clinton machine and the New York Times," which he claimed represented "a concerted, coordinated and vicious attack." He said one of the accounts reported by the Times, from a woman who said Trump groped her on an airplane, was "another ridiculous tale. No witnesses. No nothing." He also went into great detail to refute an account in People magazine from a reporter who said Trump kissed her without her consent in 2005 when she went to his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach for an interview. He said the story wasn't plausible, because the supposed misconduct took place in a glass room where it would have been visible. And he said it's not believable that the victim would have stayed silent and not reported the accusation at the time. He said the negative disclosures about him are designed to distract attention from negative information about Clinton. Trump said his campaign represents a "true existential threat" to the political, corporate and media establishment in the country. "This is not simply another four-year election. This is a crossroads in the history of our civilization." The news accounts rocked the presidential campaign as Trump was finishing a three-day campaign tour of Florida. First lady Michelle Obama devoted a campaign speech in New Hampshire to sexual assault that was carried by cable news channels, and even though all the introductory speeches were finished at the South Florida rally, Trump didn't appear until several minutes after Obama was done. The crowd of 6,000 liked what it heard. Anthony Giuliante and Donna Madson were among them, having driven from Fort Myers to see Trump. Both worked in Trump casinos in Atlantic City 30 years ago, Madson as a cocktail waitress and Giuliante as a marketing executive. In the time she was a cocktail waitress, Madson said, Trump "treated girls right." Ellen Wisnoski and Karen Jurgens, of West Boca, said they were attending the rally to show that women support Trump. "We want him to know the women are for him, regardless of the allegations," Jurgens said. She and Wisnoski said they don't put much stock in the latest allegations from women who said Trump groped them. "I trust Trump will be a good leader for our country and I do not trust Hillary," Wisnoski said. "I figured it was coming because I don't trust Hillary and her campaign. The Clintons have a checkered past, and it's being overridden by this noise." She said the recording of Trump last week in which he bragged about being able to force himself on women because he's a celebrity didn't change her support. "It hurt," Wisnoski said, but "I didn't waver. If you think it through there are more important things." Wisnoski said she doesn't want Clinton to have the power to nominate Supreme Court justices, adding that "He's a way better candidate. I think his heart is for America. I think her heart is for herself and her power." Criticism of the news media was a constant refrain on Thursday. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani delivered a nearly 20-minute speech to introduce Trump, most of which was devoted to criticizing media coverage of Trump, especially The New York Times and CNN. Giuliani also used the occasion to complain about the news coverage of his own failed 2008 candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. Because of the focus on the sexual allegations and media criticism, Trump delivered a truncated version of his typical campaign speech. "It's a movement about the veterans who need medical care, the mothers who've lost their beloved children to terrorism and crime. It's about the inner cities that desperately need our help," he said. "It's about the millions of jobless people in America. It's about the American worker who can't get jobs because they've left for Mexico and so many other countries." Trump had a long list of other things he wanted to do as president, but none got so loud a cheer from the crowd as appointing "a Supreme Court justice who will protect and defend our Constitution." ||||| Play Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed Trump Slams Assault Claims As 'Totally and Absolutely False' 1:07 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog Donald Trump on Thursday said new sexual assault allegations against him are part of a "coordinated and vicious attack" while lashing out at his accusers and promising that his campaign will soon produce evidence showing the claims are untrue. "These vicious claims about me of inappropriate conduct with women are totally and absolutely false," Trump said during a rally in Florida. "These claims are all fabricated. They're all fiction and they're outright lies. These events never ever, ever happened," he added. The Republican presidential candidate said he is "preparing" a lawsuit against the New York Times after the paper on Wednesday reported the stories of two women who say Trump grabbed or kissed them inappropriately. The Palm Beach Post and People magazine also reported on women who said they were assaulted by Trump. He called his accusers "horrible, horrible liars." The Times declined the Trump campaign's request to remove the article and issue an apology. NBC News has not independently confirmed the allegations. The real estate mogul suggested the reports are an attempt by the media and Hillary Clinton's campaign to overshadow the Wikilieaks release of hacked emails from some of Clinton's top aides. He also questioned why the women were coming out now, just weeks before Election Day. Two women told the Times they were motivated to come forward after Trump denied having ever groped women following the release of a 2005 video in which he talks about inappropriately touching females. Trump claims the women have no witnesses and that he will soon provide evidence the claims against him are false. "They knew they would stop at nothing to try to stop me," Trump said of his political opponents. "But I never knew, as bad as it would be, I never knew that it would be this vile." ||||| Trump hits back at 'vicious claims' by female accusers Donald Trump on Thursday aggressively pushed back on accusations from women who have alleged the now-Republican presidential nominee engaged in sexual misconduct with them. The real estate mogul repeatedly dismissed the women during a rant at a rally in West Palm Beach, Florida, and claimed to have evidence that he would disclose at the appropriate time. Story Continued Below “These vicious claims about me of inappropriate conduct with women are totally and absolutely false,” Trump said. “And the Clintons know it, and they know it very well. These claims are all fabricated. They’re pure fiction, and they’re outright lies. These events never, ever happened and the people that said them meekly fully understand.” Trump continued, calling the allegations “preposterous” and “ludicrous.” “We already have substantial evidence to dispute these lies, and it will be made public in an appropriate way and at an appropriate time, very soon,” he added. And he suggested some of the women were too unattractive to be the target of his attention. "Take a look. You take a look. Look at her. Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don't think so," he said. Already reeling from a 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump is heard making comments about sexually assaulting women with impunity because he’s “a star,” more women have come out to contest Trump’s claim in Sunday’s presidential debate that his widely condemned comments were just words that resulted in no such actions. Trump suggested the damaging stories that have emerged in recent days are a result of collusion between Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the corporate media to elect her so a President Trump doesn’t disrupt the status quo that benefits them. “Now we address the slander and libels that was just last night thrown at me by the Clinton machine and The New York Times and other media outlets as part of a concerted, coordinated and vicious attack,” Trump said, addressing the latest allegations about him head-on. “It’s not [a] coincidence that these attacks come at the exact same moment and all together at the same time as WikiLeaks releases documents exposing the massive international corruption of the Clinton machine, including 2,000 more emails just this morning.”

– Donald Trump addressed mounting allegations of sexual assault and impropriety during a rally Wednesday in Florida, calling them "totally and absolutely false" and his accusers "horrible, horrible liars." "We already have substantial evidence to dispute these lies, and it will be made public in an appropriate way and at an appropriate time, very soon,” Politico quotes Trump as saying. He accused the Clinton campaign of being in cahoots with the media to launch the "concerted, coordinated, and vicious attack." Trump said the attack was meant to draw attention away from the Clinton emails released by Wikileaks, NBC News reports. The Sun-Sentinel notes that Trump offered no evidence to back up his claim despite spending the first 24 minutes of his speech addressing the allegations. Trump also addressed some of the individuals behind the accusations. He implied People writer Natasha Stoynoff, who says Trump forced himself on her, is too unattractive to sexually assault. "Take a look. You take a look. Look at her. Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don't think so," Trump said. He also accused the New York Times, which published claims from two women, of "slander and libels" and said he's "preparing" a lawsuit against the paper. In a letter from its lawyer, the Times declined to retract or apologize for the story, stating, "We welcome the opportunity to have a court set him straight." Trump told the crowd he "never knew" the attacks on him "would be this vile."

Dozens of demonstrators dashed into the Loop building housing President Barack Obama 's campaign headquarters this morning, slipping past security guards and running up escalators as they kicked off what they called a "Week Without Capitalism."Eight protesters were led out in handcuffs about half an hour later after they refused to clear the lobby. They were cheered by other demonstrators who began dancing and singing folk and gospel songs.The demonstration, organized by the Catholic Worker movement. began with about 100 demonstrators picketing at Prudential Plaza and passing out rolls to commuters in what they called a symbolic invitation to break bread with world leaders expected here this weekend for the NATO summit.After about 30 minutes marching and singing outside the building, the group tried to enter the building and reach Obama’s campaign offices around 8:30 a.m.Guards locked the revolving doors, but protesters slipped through unlocked doors off to the sides. Some pushed past a security guard who tried to block their entry but quickly gave up as protesters poured through the doorway.About a dozen uniformed Chicago police officers entered the lobby and stood quietly at the back of the protest group as a demonstrator on the second floor read a statement, echoed by the few dozen demonstrators in the lobby below.Workers on their way to the escalators filed quietly through the lobby, most hardly taking notice of the demonstration.“I was definitely expecting something like this this week, but I didn’t expect it to start now, on Monday,” said Matt Archambault, who came down from his office to watch the demonstrators. “It’s a good test to see how things are going to go the rest of the week.”After the statement was read, most of the protesters filed out past the police, with one shaking hands with the building manager and a police lieutenant."Welcome to NATO," the lieutenant said to the manager. "Let's go see about (the people) on your balcony."A handful of protesters remained inside near the elevator banks to the upper floors and refused to leave when asked by the building manager and police. They were handcuffed and escorted out a side door, singing “This Little Light of Mine.”As they were led to a police van, a throng of protestors standing behind a wall of officers with bicycles sang "Ain't Going to Study War No More" and cheered and thanked those who were arrested.The protesters regrouped for a moment of silence outside 130 East Randolph in support of those arrested. Then one demonstrator began strumming an acoustic guitar and the group started singing "Let There Be Peace On Earth" as they marched down Randolph toward the CTA Blue Line.The protest lasted about an hour.Police said the eight arrested would likely be charged with criminal trespassing. Protest organizers identified them as Frank Cordaro, 61, Julie Brown, 34, and Jessica Reznicek, 30, all of Des Moines, Iowa; Sam Yergler, 27, of Champaign; Theodore Keyser, 22, of Los Angeles; Ross Eiler, 32, of Bloomington, Ind.; Chris Spicer, 29, and Andrew Shantz, both of Chicago.The group said members of Catholic Worker communities from at least 10 states gathered over the weekend for a retreat, and that Monday's demonstration was meant to kick off "Week Without Capitalism" involving “nonviolent resistance to the corporate G8/NATO agenda.”Jerica Arents, from the Rogers Park -based White Rose Catholic Workers, said some of the demonstrators had come from across the Midwest and would be joining NATO protests throughout the week. Arents said demonstrators are committed to remaining non-violent."We see NATO as using up a lot of resources in the city and the world," she said. ||||| Marquette UniversityArchive-It Partner Since: Dec, 2010Organization Type: Colleges & UniversitiesOrganization URL: http://www.marquette.edu The mission of Marquette University Libraries' archives program is to collect and service records of enduring historical value for research, instructional, and administrative use. Recognizing that information is increasingly maintained, distributed, and sought in electronic format, in late 2009 archivists conducted a pilot project to capture websites published by Marquette University. In addition, archivists preserved the websites of several organizations whose historical records are preserved by the archives, including the Catholic Worker website.

– Eight anti-war protesters were arrested outside President Obama's campaign headquarters in Chicago today after dozens of them burst in to kick off a "Week Without Capitalism," the Chicago Tribune reports. Assembled by the Catholic Worker movement, they listened to a protester read a statement in the lobby of a Loop building and soon filed out under the eyes of police officers. But those who refused to leave were handcuffed and escorted out, singing "This Little Light of Mine." "We are here today to boldly proclaim our desire to live in a world where we say no to NATO and yes to community," said one activist in an online posting. "As Catholic Workers, we serve the poor by practicing the works of mercy." The protest was the first of several planned by various groups before the NATO summit in Chicago this weekend, MSNBC reports. "I didn’t expect it to start now, on Monday,” said an office worker watching the demonstration. “It’s a good test to see how things are going to go the rest of the week.”

MONROVIA/DAKAR Relatives of Ebola victims in Liberia defied government orders and dumped infected bodies in the streets as West African governments struggled to enforce tough measures to curb an outbreak of the virus that has killed 887 people. In Nigeria, which recorded its first death from Ebola in late July, authorities in Lagos said eight people who came in contact with the deceased U.S. citizen Patrick Sawyer were showing signs of the deadly disease. The outbreak was detected in March in the remote forest regions of Guinea, where the death toll is rising. In neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia, where the outbreak is now spreading fastest, authorities deployed troops to quarantine the border areas where 70 percent of cases have been detected. Those three countries announced a raft of tough measures last week to contain the disease, shutting schools and imposing quarantines on victim's homes, amid fears the incurable virus would overrun healthcare systems in one of the world's poorest regions. In Liberia's ramshackle ocean-front capital Monrovia, still scarred by a 1989-2003 civil war, relatives of Ebola victims were dragging bodies onto the dirt streets rather than face quarantine, officials said. Information Minister Lewis Brown said some people may be alarmed by regulations imposing the decontamination of victims' homes and the tracking of their friends and relatives. With less than half of those infected surviving the disease, many Africans regard Ebola isolation wards as death traps. "They are therefore removing the bodies from their homes and are putting them out in the street. They're exposing themselves to the risk of being contaminated," Brown told Reuters. "We're asking people to please leave the bodies in their homes and we'll pick them up." Brown said authorities had begun cremating bodies on Sunday, after local communities opposed burials in their neighborhoods, and had carried out 12 cremations on Monday. Meanwhile, in the border region of Lofa County, troops were deployed on Monday night to start isolating effected communities there. "We hope it will not require excessive force, but we have to do whatever we can to restrict the movement of people out of affected areas," Brown said. Finance minister Amara Konneh said the country's growth forecast for the year was no longer looking realistic as a result of the outbreak. Sierra Leone's foreign minister Samura Kamara also said that the virus had cost the government $10 million so far and was hampering efforts to stimulate growth. British Airways said it was suspending flights to and from Liberia and Sierra Leone until the end of the month due to public health concerns. Germany joined France and the United States in advising against travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, saying there was still no end in sight to the spread of the disease. MISSIONARY DUE BACK IN UNITED STATES A second American aid worker stricken with Ebola in West Africa was wheeled on a stretcher in a white suit into an Atlanta hospital where doctors will try and save her and a fellow aid worker from the deadly virus. The two saw their conditions improve by varying degrees in Liberia after they received an experimental drug developed by San Diego-based private biotech firm Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc, said a representative for Samaritan's Purse, the charity they worked for. A New York hospital is also testing a man with symptoms of the deadly disease, though a senior medical officer there said it was probably not the virus. Saudi Arabia was also testing a man for suspected Ebola infection after he returned recently from a business trip to Sierra Leone. Concern grew over an outbreak in Lagos, Africa's largest city, after medical authorities there said they had quarantined 14 people who came into contact with Sawyer after he arrived on a regional flight from Liberia. The airline Asky has since been barred from Nigeria. "Of the 14 who have had serious contact with the victim, eight have serious symptoms," Lagos Health Commissioner Jide Idris told a news conference. "Only one of those quarantined has tested positive ... The doctor who tested positive is now on the mainland under intensive care." With healthcare systems in the West African nations overrun by the epidemic, the African Development Bank and World Bank said they would immediately disburse $260 million to the three countries worst affected - Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. In Monrovia, however, some health clinics were deserted as workers and patients stayed home, afraid of catching the disease. "The health workers think that they are not protected, they don't have the requisite material to use to protect themselves against the Ebola disease," said Amos Richards, a physician's assistant. The current outbreak of the highly contagious virus has so far killed around 55 percent of those known to have caught it, and experts expect the percentage to rise once more victims succumb and the data is tallied up. (Additional reporting by Daniel Flynn and Emma Farge in Dakar and Phillip Stewart in Washington; Editing by Will Waterman) ||||| Troops set up roadblocks to ensure that only health personnel can move in and out of the hardest-hit communities Hundreds of soldiers have been deployed in Sierra Leone and Liberia in an attempt to quarantine the remote villages at the centre of the Ebola outbreak, as three new cases were discovered in Nigeria and authorities in Saudi Arabia said a man was being tested for suspected infection. The Saudi health ministry said a man in his 40s who had recently returned from Sierra Leone had shown symptoms of viral haemorrhagic fever and was being treated at a specialist hospital in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. The patient is in isolation and blood samples are being tested. As the epidemic entered its seventh month, 700 troops in Sierra Leone began setting up roadblocks to ensure that only health personnel could move in and out of the hardest-hit communities. They include two eastern districts where health workers have sometimes been attacked by residents who fear that treatment centres are causing Ebola to spread. Military spokesperson Yayah Brima said food and medical supplies would be ferried in by convoys, and 50 military nurses would provide medical assistance to the soldiers. Nancy Writebol, an aid worker from North Carolina, who was infected with Ebola in west Africa, arrives at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, US. Photograph: Sipa USA/Rex Poor enforcement and medical practices in remote areas, combined with high volumes of cross-border travel, have fuelled the outbreak, which has so far claimed 887 lives. Ebola is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of infected patients, bush meat and surfaces. "Border controls alone give a false sense of security," said David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who oversaw the global response to the Sars outbreak in 2003. "You cannot keep Ebola out using only that because people can still get to places where there aren't controls." Alongside contact-tracing, he said, "the best defence is properly understanding how it is spread, stopping it spreading further, and making sure health workers are able to self protect with up-to-par hospital controls." Efforts to contain the outbreak have been hampered as those on the frontline have been among the hardest hit. Both Liberia and Sierra Leone's top Ebola doctors died last month. Clinics in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, were closing their doors because doctors were too afraid to treat patients, Reuters reported. British Airways has suspended flights to and from Liberia and Sierra Leone until the end of August to help try to contain the virus. The airline had been flying four times a week to the two countries. BA said customers with tickets on those routes were being offered refunds or the option to rebook flights for a later date. "The safety of our customers, crew and ground teams is always our top priority and we will keep the route under constant review in the coming weeks," BA said. In Nigeria, a doctor who treated a Liberian-American man who had travelled from Monrovia has contracted the virus, and another health worker and a third citizen who had travelled the Guinea are displaying probable signs of haemorrhagic fever, the World Health Organisation said. A morgue in Nigeria's southern state of Anambra has been sealed while tests are carried out on a deceased person, said the health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu. Enuka Egbon, a fruit trader in the Lagos district where eight people are being held in an isolation ward after coming into contact with the Liberian-American victim, said: "It's really scary because we have no choice but to keep going out and keep using crowded buses and shopping in markets. And Lagos is a city where there is very little breathing space." Meanwhile, two US volunteer doctors who contracted the disease arrived in the US, where they are being treated with an experimental serum. Nancy Writebol and Kent Brantly of the charity Samaritan's Purse were said to be critical but improving after using the serum, which has been tested only on monkeys. "Within an hour of receiving the medication, Brantly's condition was nearly reversed. His breathing improved; the rash over his trunk faded away," CNN reported, citing sources involved in the pair's treatment. Last week the WHO said the outbreak had reached a critical point, and announced a $200m (£120m) emergency fund. On the last day of July, the latest day for which statistics are available, 163 new cases were reported, the WHO said. ||||| ATLANTA (AP) — The husband of the second American aid worker recently diagnosed with Ebola says the patient is weak but showing signs of improvement. People watch from a bridge as an ambulance transporting Nancy Writebol, an American missionary stricken with Ebola, arrives at Emory University Hospital, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, in Atlanta. Writebol is... (Associated Press) An ambulance leaves Dobbins Air Reserve Base transporting a second American missionary stricken with Ebola, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, in Marietta, Ga. Nancy Writebol is expected to be admitted to Atlanta's... (Associated Press) An ambulance leaves Dobbins Air Reserve Base transporting a second American missionary stricken with Ebola, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, in Marietta, Ga. Nancy Writebol is expected to be admitted to Atlanta's... (Associated Press) An ambulance transporting Nancy Writebol, an American missionary stricken with Ebola, arrives at Emory University Hospital, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, in Atlanta. Writebol is expected to be admitted to Emory... (Associated Press) A private plane arrives at Dobbins Air Reserve Base transporting a second American missionary stricken with Ebola, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, in Marietta, Ga. Nancy Writebol is expected to be admitted to... (Associated Press) People watch from a bridge as an ambulance transporting Nancy Writebol, an American missionary stricken with Ebola, arrives at Emory University Hospital, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, in Atlanta. Writebol is... (Associated Press) A private plane arrives at Dobbins Air Reserve Base transporting a second American missionary stricken with Ebola, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, in Marietta, Ga. Nancy Writebol is expected to be admitted to... (Associated Press) The president of the aid group SIM USA said Tuesday that Nancy Writebol's husband described the woman as progressing. Bruce Johnson says he spoke with David Writebol, who said 59-year-old Nancy stood and got on a plane in Liberia with assistance to head to Atlanta for treatment. When she arrived Tuesday, she was wheeled in a stretcher. David Writebol, still in Liberia, says the family was considering funeral arrangements, but now feels relieved and cautiously optimistic. He praised her treatment in Liberia. SIM says it's working to bring David Writebol home. Johnson says SIM has spent nearly $1 million since the diagnoses of Nancy Writebol and the first American brought back, 33-year-old Dr. Kent Brantly. He works for Samaritan's Purse. Johnson says that group has spent more than $1 million. ||||| FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Faced with a widening crisis over the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, Sierra Leone’s government said Tuesday that it would deploy hundreds of troops and police officers to ensure that patients and family members who may be infected remain isolated. A battalion — 750 soldiers — will be sent to clinics housing Ebola patients in areas where the disease is most virulent, and the police presence will be reinforced at homes where family members are at risk of having contracted it, said Abdulai Baratay, a government spokesman. Sierra Leone has become the center of the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola, which has instilled fear across West Africa and has spread to four countries. Sierra Leone, a country of 5.7 million people and the size of South Carolina, has recorded the highest number of cases, 646, and the second-highest deaths, 273.

– At the center of the worst-ever Ebola outbreak, hundreds of troops have been deployed to isolate hard-hit communities and clinics housing infected patients. A military spokesman in Sierra Leone says convoys will bring food and medicine to the affected areas, reports the Guardian, which notes that poor enforcement of quarantine has helped spread the outbreak, which has now claimed 887 lives. Hundreds of troops have also been deployed in Liberia, where officials in the capital, Monrovia, say relatives of victims have been dumping infected bodies in the streets in an effort to avoid quarantine, Reuters reports. Officials in Sierra Leone say people have been defying quarantine rules, in some cases snatching infected family members from clinics. "Where there is a serious situation, the president can invoke military assistance to civil power," the president’s director of communications tells the New York Times. "You have to understand that there has been a lot of lawlessness connected to this Ebola business." The US is sending 50 public health experts to the region to help fight the outbreak. In Atlanta, meanwhile, the second Ebola patient to arrive in the US is being cared for at Emory University Hospital. Nancy Writebol's husband says the 59-year-old is weak but improving, the AP reports.

Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com ||||| Doddering Reaganite Peggy Noonan has become the conservative version of Richard Cohen: a doddering old columnist employed by a respected journalistic institution who uses their column space to demand less journalism and more government secrecy. Have you heard of these so-called "leaks," from our leaders? The United States government is not a house of plumbing, sir. Sir? Sir. What is happening with all these breaches of our national security? Why are intelligence professionals talking so much-divulging secret and sensitive information for all the world to see, and for our adversaries to contemplate? Why isn't anyone doing anything about all the problems? wonders professional newspaperperson Peggy Noonan. {She goes on to summarize a bunch of New York Times articles and information from David Sanger's book that tells about classified things the U.S. government is doing. Classified. Peggy Noonan, why are you reprinting these things in the pages of the Wall Street Journal, where any terrorist can "download" them, and use them to kill our freedoms? Why does Peggy Noonan deplore our brave troops, and their safety? We are REDACTING these once-classified disclosures, which make up the bulk of Peggy Noonan's leak-deploring column today.) It's a good thing our enemies can't read. Wait, they can! They can download all this onto their iPads at a café in Islamabad. Oh Christ, it's worse than I thought. They're at a cafe. What are they thinking? That in the age of Wikileaks the White House itself should be one big Wikileak? "Somebody should get on the stick and start using all those high-powered electronic microscopes to cure cancer, that's what I think," declares professional newspaperperson Peggy Noonan. Why is this happening? In part because at our highest level in politics, government and journalism, Americans continue to act as if we are talking only to ourselves. There is something narcissistic in this: Only our dialogue counts, no one else is listening, and what can they do about it if they are? There is something childish in it: Knowing secrets is cool, and telling them is cooler. Amazing insight into the human psyche and the secret machinations of the corridors of power from former White House insider and current famous columnist Peggy Noonan. "They put a baboon heart in a human, you know. They can make body parts out of plastic and put little camera probes in your body. Then why are there so many people dying?" wonders professional newspaperperson Peggy Noonan. Then she dodders off. To where? That's a secret. [WSJ. Photo: Getty]

– Peggy Noonan weighs in on all the leaks coming out of the White House these days and bestows a new name on national security adviser Tom Donilon: "When I was a child, there was a doll called Chatty Cathy," she writes in the Wall Street Journal. "You pulled a string in her back, and she babbled inanely. Tom Donilon appears to be the Chatty Cathy of the American intelligence community." Noonan is in the camp that thinks the leaks—like the ones about the "kill list" and Stuxnet—are an orchestrated attempt by the White House to make President Obama look tough, which she finds disgraceful. "National security doesn't exist to help presidents win elections," she writes. "It's not a plaything or a tool to advance one's prospects." Read her full column here. Need a rebuttal? At Gawker, Hamilton Nolan thinks it's a little weird that a newspaper columnist is, in effect, demanding "less journalism and more government secrecy."

A missing Los Angeles teenager was sexually assaulted, kept in a metal box and forced to process marijuana for her two captors, according to a federal criminal complaint filed this week. Prosecutors said the girl was held by Ryan Balletto, 30, and Patrick Pearmain, 24, who are charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, using a minor in a drug operation and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. According to prosecutors, the case was blown open when a Los Angeles police detective called Lake County sheriff’s officials asking about a connection between Balletto and the girl. UPDATES: Pot farm raid reveals horrifying tale of teen's captivity An initial visit to the Balletto’s 680-acre property in Lake County by deputies on April 29 turned up nothing. But the next day, the girl called sheriff’s deputies back on a cellphone, court documents show. The girl told authorities she was doing “OK” and was with Balletto in Sacramento. Authorities traced the cellphone to West Sacramento, where police found the girl in a hotel with Pearmain. Police arrested the two. Police also allegedly found a bag full of marijuana, prescription drugs, condoms and a pregnancy test. Pearmain also had a notebook on him that had an apparent script for the girl to read to police over the phone, authorities claim. Sketches of a marijuana greenhouse and a list of supplies were also found. DOCUMENT: Read the criminal complaint The girl told authorities she was having consensual sex with both men, which officials noted is not legally possible given her age. She said the men told her they were on a “mission” with the marijuana and that they were holding her because she was so good at “trimming” or processing it for drying. On May 1, authorities raided Balletto’s rural home and his second home in Lakeport. On the rural property, which the girl knew as “the farm,” investigators found a metal box with holes in it. Spray painted on the outside was the first initial of the teenage girl’s name and inside was a decal that “depicted an animal skull surrounding the shadow image of a human skull with the logo ‘Bone Collector,’” according to the court documents. Human hair was found inside, prosecutors said. The girl said she was kept in the box for a total of three days and was given water through a hose. The box was hoisted into the air and tilted at an angle so when water was poured inside it would wash the girl and clean human waste out of the box, court documents say. Authorities said they also found a poem signed by the girl inside describing life in the box. Elsewhere on the property, investigators found sex toys and a wooden-framed “rack” to hoist and immobilize people. It was used for sexual bondage and sadomasochism, authorities said. A white towel below the rack had blood on it, according to prosecutors. Outside of Pearmain’s trailer on the property, authorities also found a pile of “well-worn” disassembled wood, metal and leather. UPDATES: Pot farm raid reveals horrifying tale of teen's captivity More than 1,200 marijuana plants were found on the property and destroyed, according to court documents. There are indications the girl may not have been the only victim. During a search of the Lakeport property, authorities found a ponytail of human hair inside Balletto’s gun safe, along with 17 guns and $4,000 in cash. Balletto’s girlfriend was staying at the home with their five children, officials said. The two face 10 years to life in prison but have yet to be charged in the alleged abuse of the teen. ALSO: Amanda Bynes' mental-health hold extended San Diego Mayor Bob Filner to enter therapy after harassment claims Abcarian: If Zimmerman 'got away with murder,' how 'stand your ground' law helped Joseph.serna@latimes.com @josephserna ||||| July 25, 2013 9:20 PM Get Breaking News First Receive News, Politics, and Entertainment Headlines Each Morning. Sign Up SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — Authorities said a 15-year-old girl was forced to work on a marijuana grow and sexually abused by two men in Northern California who allegedly locked her in a metal toolbox for days. The allegations against 30-year-old Ryan Balletto and 24-year-old Patrick Pearmain are outlined in a criminal complaint that was unsealed in federal court in San Francisco. Authorities alleged Balletto and Pearmain used the girl to cut marijuana buds at a Lake County property and had sex with her. The box where the girl was held captive was right next to a trailer on the grow operation property. The girl told police she spent at least 3 days locked inside the 4 by 2-foot case. Near the box, officers said they also found a noose and a rack to hold someone against their will, as well as other sex devices related to bondage. The girl told police that the men called her a “trooper” because she didn’t scream while being locked inside the box. The feds were already investigating the grow operation when the LAPD called Lake County authorities alerting them that a girl who had been reported missing in Los Angeles might have been kidnapped and held in Clearlake against her will. Along with more than a thousand marijuana plants, the cops also confiscated a stash of weapons, which they described as “the largest and most sophisticated bulk of weapons seized in recent Lake county Sheriff’s Office history.” As for the girl, authorities said she’s in a safe place now. One law enforcement source told KPIX 5 that there is some indication there may be more victims. The feds are asking if anyone else has been victimized by the suspects to alert the department of homeland security. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Balletto and Pearmain had retained attorneys. (Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

– Police shut down a big pot farm in California's Lake County, but the two men arrested are expected to face far more horrific charges. Authorities say the men kept a 15-year-old girl in a metal box on the farm, reports the Los Angeles Times. They had sex with her, and held her so she could help process the marijuana, say police. The 4- by- 2-foot box had air holes so she could breathe, and one paragraph in the LAT story is especially tough to take: "The girl said she was kept in the box for a total of three days and was given water through a hose. The box was hoisted into the air and tilted at an angle so when water was poured inside it would wash the girl and clean human waste out of the box, court documents say. " In addition to destroying more than 1,000 pot plants, police confiscated a massive cache of weapons and all kinds of sex and bondage equipment, reports CBS San Francisco. Ryan Balletto, 30, and Patrick Pearmain, 24, are charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana, using a minor in a drug operation, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. So far, no charges have been filed regarding the teen's abuse. Lake County authorities unraveled the case when the LAPD called and asked about a possible connection between the missing girl and Balletto.

Chuck Todd is set to replace David Gregory as the host of "Meet The Press," Politico's Mike Allen reported on Monday. Todd, NBC's political director and chief White House correspondent, has been viewed as the favorite to succeed Gregory, whose tenure has seen the venerable Sunday show sink to third place in the ratings. Allen said Gregory, who has hosted "MTP" since 2008, is likely to leave NBC. Gregory's term at the helm of the program has not been a happy one. He followed the legendary Tim Russert, whose shoes he was deemed never to have filled. Worse still, he has presided over the most dire ratings for "Meet The Press" in decades, as rivals "Face The Nation" and "This Week" surged ahead of him. The past few months have seen an avalanche of rumors about Gregory, all with the same conclusion: his time as host is quickly coming to an end. NBC has repeatedly claimed that Gregory is safe, even telling HuffPost's Michael Calderone it was "doubling down" on the host. It would appear that things have changed. The move would be a big boost for Todd, who is seen as a more devoted political junkie and who has embraced the social media age with more fervor than Gregory. ||||| Chuck Todd, the NBC News chief White House correspondent and political director, will replace David Gregory as moderator of "Meet the Press," network sources confirmed early Thursday afternoon in the wake of a CNN report. Todd's promotion, which the network could announce as early as Thursday, is an effort by NBC News to reassert itself as the dominant Sunday show after falling to third place in the ratings under Gregory. The news confirms a previous report from POLITICO's Mike Allen that Todd was the likely successor to the throne. In Todd, NBC News is hoping it can restore the show with the passion and insider credibility it had under Tim Russert, Gregory's predecessor and Todd's mentor. Todd, who rose to fame as editor in chief of The Hotline, is a political obsessive and extremely knowledgeable about all manner of politics and policy matters. (VIDEO: Top Chuck Todd moments) Gregory, by contrast, did not seem very engaged with politics and policy, the bread and butter of Sunday public affairs programming. He was also widely disliked within the organization, and his ambition and vanity rubbed important colleagues at NBC the wrong way. Under his watch, NBC’s once-dominant Sunday show fell to the bottom of the ratings race. "Meet the Press" first aired in 1947 and is the longest-running show on television. Todd will be its 12th moderator. He also hosts MSNBC's "The Daily Rundown" on weekday mornings at 9 a.m. ET. UPDATE (4:22 p.m.): Gregory announced Thursday afternoon that he would be leaving NBC. Follow @politico ||||| SIREN: Chuck Todd, a political obsessive and rabid sports fan, is the likely successor to David Gregory as moderator of “Meet the Press,” with the change expected to be announced in coming weeks, according to top political sources. The move is an effort by NBC News President Deborah Turness to restore passion and insider cred to a network treasure that has been adrift since the death in 2008 of the irreplaceable Tim Russert. Although Todd is not a classic television performer guaranteed to wow focus groups, his NBC bosses have been impressed by his love of the game, which brings with it authenticity, sources, and a loyal following among newsmakers and political junkies. Gregory’s next move is unknown, but he’s unlikely to remain at the network – a stunning turn for a quick-rising star with a broadcasting polish and on-air versatility that once made him a natural candidate to be a future “Today” show host. It’s unclear whether Gregory or Todd knows about the big move, likely to be in place before year’s end. The sources caution that nothing is definite or decided. “Meet” once dominated Sunday mornings, but ABC’s “This Week” – with 31-year-old Jonathan Greenberger as executive producer -- has scored ratings wins with an increasingly eclectic lineup that emphasizes zippy packages over long interviews. CBS’s “Face the Nation,” with down-homey Bob Schieffer anchoring, has also scored ratings wins as “Meet” struggled. Chuck, 42, now wears three hats for NBC: chief White House correspondent; host of “The Daily Rundown,” at 9 a.m. weekdays on MSNBC; and political director. The Miami native, an alumnus of George Washington University, was editor in chief of The Hotline when it was the mustest read for political insiders, and is as passionate about Miami Hurricanes college football as he is about campaign dynamics. @ChuckTodd Twitter bio: “Political junkie; @NBCNews reporter & analyst; @msnbc @dailyrundown host; Covering politics since '92; And, yes, I tweet about sports too.” BACKSTORY on Jeffrey Goldberg interview of HRC, per Maggie Haberman: According to “a source familiar with the Clinton interview,” the interview was not aimed at moving in a calculated fashion away from Obama: “Goldberg was on the list of interviews the same as Charlie Rose, Fareed, Colbert, Diane Sawyer. … It was scheduled two weeks ago to happen early last week before anything was happening in Iraq in terms of possible US involvement. One week ago today, nobody would have thought we'd be returning to military action in Iraq. … Beyond some good old fashioned book promotion, there's no master plan, no strategy, we're not making any point.” --MAGGIE’S TAKE: “Team Clinton certainly knew the power this interview would have -- witness the heads-up given to the White House. That having been said, … she has always been more hawkish than Obama, more of a believer in a muscular foreign policy than the president, and she's stating views she's long been known to have. At other points in the interview, she offered strong praise of Obama.” --CLINTONS IN THE HAMPTONS – N.Y. Post’s Page Six: “Bill Clinton emphasized his family’s ability to get things done at a fund-raiser to kick off his and Hillary’s Hamptons vacation. … Saturday’s fund-raiser, at the Water Mill home of jewelry designer Joan Hornig and her investment banker husband, George, was for the Clinton Foundation and no mention of Hillary’s political aspirations was made … Bill described the foundation as ‘the “How Organization” — we get things done.’” http://pge.sx/1mBXloS ENGAGED -- Ready for Hillary Co-Founder and Executive Director Adam Parkhomenko and Ready for Hillary Deputy Operations Director Kirby Hoag were engaged over the weekend in Jamaica. Pic of the couple and ring: http://bit.ly/1rgfRX2 SCOOP DU JOUR – The ‘Super PAC to End Super PACs’ Backs 3 New Candidates," by TIME's Denver Nicks: “Mayday PAC, the political action committee determined to spearhead a revolution in the way elections are funded in America, announces Monday three [more] candidates it’s supporting … incumbents Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) and Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.), and Ruben Gallego, a Democrat running for his party’s nomination in Arizona’s 7th congressional district. … ‘The picture of diversity we saw when we put these three together was cutting across the spectrum,’ Mayday PAC co-founder Lawrence Lessig [said] … “Mayday PAC earlier announced support for Republican Jim Rubens in his New Hampshire GOP primary contest against former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, and Staci Appel, a pro-campaign finance reform Democrat in a tight race with Republican David Young, a former aide to the outgoing seat holder Sen. Chuck Grassley. Mayday PAC will start running its first radio ads in New Hampshire in the coming days. … In addition to the five candidates the group has announced to date, Mayday PAC told TIME the group plans to support three additional candidates.” http://ti.me/Vc76TP NYC PITCHES DNC ON 2016 CONVENTION TODAY – EXCLUSIVE: City to announce $100 million in host-committee commitments -- “NYC’s all-star convention roster,” by Maggie Haberman: The city “has put together a sweeping list of more than [70] people — ranging from Napster founder Sean Parker to Goldman Sachs Chairman Lloyd Blankfein to designer Diane von Furstenberg to union leaders — committed to raising the money to host the Democratic National Convention in Brooklyn in 2016. … [O]ne of the most surprising names is Parker — who has made moves to become a political force this cycle and who has ties to Deputy Mayor Peter Ragone. “There are entertainment industry figures, like actress Cynthia Nixon, hiphop producer Russell Simmons and HBO chief Richard Plepler. There are donors with long ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton, like Alan Patricof and Ron Perelman, but also those now known primarily from the Barack Obama orbit, like financiers Robert Wolf, Mark Gallogly, Blair Effron and public-relations executive Michael Kempner. There are other Wall Street titans, like JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon and American Express’s Kenneth Chenault.” http://politi.co/XW4tHf --AZI PAYBARAH of Capital New York emails his take on Bill de Blasio’s big day: “The Mayor’s effort to lure the 2016 Democratic convention helps him fulfill one of his top long-term objectives: showing the USA what progressive government looks like. From business (a jolt to the economy) to transportation (shuttling conventioneers) to security (managing protests), the convention could instantly validate de Blasio’s administration as a progressive operation that can get things done. The Republicans’ selection of Cleveland is a helpful foil. De Blasio aide Rebecca Katz tweeted: ‘I cannot believe the Cleveland Indians still have their logo. In 2014.’” WEEKEND WEDDING: George Holman, senior policy adviser to Majority Harry Reid, married Liz Kennedy, director of the RIAA's Gold & Platinum (she gets to give plaques to artists), on a beautiful Saturday evening in Newport, R.I., with sailboats and the Claiborne Pell bridge in the background. SPOTTED: Kendra Barkoff, Vice President Biden's Press Secretary, Jonathan Lamy, RIAA’s EVP, communications; Todd Flournoy with SAG-AFTRA; Courtney Lee-Ashley OF DCCC. ** A message from Chevron: More than 500 influential voices in energy. One platform. Chevron is proud to be the originating sponsor of the #EnergyInsider TweetHub. Visit the Tweet Hub now to get the latest insights on energy http://bit.ly/1AYtQr3 ** BIG FOOT – ADAM NAGOURNEY in Vegas, on N.Y. Times A1, “Midterms Give Parties Chance for Sweeping Control of States” (part of “One-Party Rule” series): “Republicans are looking to take over senates in Colorado, Iowa, Oregon, Maine and Nevada, and houses in Kentucky, New Hampshire and West Virginia. Republicans could emerge with complete control of the legislatures in New Hampshire and Kentucky, though both of those states have Democratic governors.” http://nyti.ms/Vc8Hch CAPTAIN OBVIOUS AWARD: USA Today 1A, “WHY DEMOCRATS WON’T TAKE BACK THE HOUSE: GOP has built-in advantages in November elections.” PRINT-EDITION LEADS: NYT (1 col.), “KURDS CAPITALIZE ON U.S. BOMBING, RETAKING TOWNS: GAINING IN IRAQ’S NORTH -- Doubts Rise in Baghdad as Maliki Demands New Term” … WSJ (2 cols.), “Kurds Repel Insurgents in Nothern Iraq” … WashPost (1 col.), “Defiant Maliki clings to power: TROOPS SURROUND GREEN ZONE” … USA Today, “ISRAEL, HAMAS TO TRY AGAIN: New 72-hour pause begins in attempt to restart talks.” DRIVING THE CONVERSATION -- WSJ A1, “U.S. Underestimated Urgency of Threat,” by Siobhan Gorman and Julian E. Barnes: “The inability of U.S. spy agencies to provide details about the timing of Islamic State offensives or their likelihood of success has touched off debate among U.S. national-security officials about whether intelligence on the group has been adequate. … A decline in U.S. spy resources after the U.S. military pulled out of Iraq in 2011 has limited American intelligence capability in the region. In some cases, intelligence officials have been frustrated by the Obama administration's reluctance to get more involved in Iraq and Syria … “There have been indications along the way that Islamic State militants would move to control swaths of Iraq. But intelligence officers and policy makers have been slow to conclude the group would realize those ambitions—and quickly.” http://on.wsj.com/1stBqaJ IF YOU WATCH ONLY ONE THING: “The Islamic State (Part 1)”: “VICE News reporter Medyan Dairieh spent three weeks embedded with the Islamic State, gaining unprecedented access to the group in Iraq and Syria as the first and only journalist to document its inner workings. In part one, Dairieh heads to the frontline in Raqqa, where Islamic State fighters are laying siege to the Syrian Army’s division 17 base.” Unbelievable video: http://bit.ly/1r41DZ3 (h/t Daniel Lippman) HAPPENING TONIGHT: At Politics and Prose at 7 p.m., Marc Dunkelman, research fellow at both Brown’s Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions and at the Clinton Foundation, speaks about his new book "The Vanishing Neighbor: The Transformation of American Community.” Amazon, $17.68 http://amzn.to/1xAqAO6 --From the book: "The American system of government doesn’t contain some secret sauce cooked up to guarantee growth and social harmony. The architecture of our constitutional system didn’t, by itself, propel the United States from a ragtag set of colonies into the most powerful nation on earth. Rather, the structure of our national charter fundamentally complemented the architecture of colonial American community. It marked a rare case in human history when a country’s governing apparatus was almost perfectly calibrated to the society beneath. “But now that balance has come undone. Institutions so pervasive that they’ve faded into the background of our collective consciousness—the nature of our social safety net, the structure of our educational system, the core contract between employer and employee, and so on—were all erected atop a community architecture that, while not obsolete, no longer coincides with reality. The calibration that kept America humming for more than two centuries is suddenly out of whack. Our society is coming face to face with an epic mismatch: the institutions that frame American society no longer line up with the routines of our daily lives." MORE WEEKEND WEDDINGS -- “Emma Fulkerson and Alejandro Rodriguez,” N.Y. Times: “Emma Liberty Fulkerson and Alejandro Ricardo Rodriguez were married Saturday by the Rev. Victoria Warren, an Episcopal priest, at St. John’s in the Wilderness Church in Glenbrook, Nev. The bride graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., and is pursuing a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown. … Mrs. Rodriguez, 28, is a leadership adviser to Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington. … Mr. Rodriguez, 32, is the chief of staff to Bruce H. Andrews, the deputy secretary of commerce in Washington. The groom graduated from Harvard”. With picture: http://nyti.ms/1oB5auP --“Julie Siegel, Jordan Grossman,” N.Y. Times: “Julie Brinn Siegel and Jordan Mitchell Grossman … [were] married Sunday by Rabbi Jonathan Z. Maltzman at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington. The bride, 26, is to start her third year next month at Harvard Law School. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. From 2011 to 2012 she was a special assistant to William M. Daley, who was the White House chief of staff at that time. … The groom, 28, is a law clerk to Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia. Mr. Grossman graduated summa cum laude from Penn and received a law degree cum laude from Harvard. From 2009 to 2011 he was a special adviser to Janet Napolitano, who was the secretary of Homeland Security at the time.” http://nyti.ms/1B5U4Il BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): BPC's Olivia Weiss is 3-0 (h/t Greg Pugh) ... Andrew Zucker, deputy campaign manager for Jeff Merkley (h/t Justin Barasky) BIRTHDAYS: Alli Adams! … Chadwick VonLuehrte, Romney alumnus and now partner at Harbinger (h/t Deck) ... Rob O'Donnell, celebrating on Nantucket h/t Caitria Mahoney) ... Sam Myers Jr. is 41. He and Jen are heading to Korean BBQ tonight (sans kids) to celebrate ... Ilana Drimmer (h/t Betsy) ... Chris Lisi of Lisi Communications, celebrating with Vince, Willa and Auggie ... Lauren Maddox, principal at the Podesta Group ... Jackie Norris, getting reading for her next big adventure (h/ts Jon Haber) ... Rachel Smolkin … CNN’s Waffa Munayyer … Greg Michaelidis, cybersecurity communicator and former Janet Napolitano speechwriter … Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is 64. Wrestler-actor Hulk Hogan is 61 (h/ts AP) ** A message from Chevron: More than 500 influential voices in energy. One platform. Chevron is proud to be the originating sponsor of the #EnergyInsider TweetHub. Visit the Tweet Hub now to get the latest insights on energy http://bit.ly/1zYjMwJ ** ||||| NBC named Chuck Todd the new host of "Meet the Press" on Thursday afternoon, beginning a revamp by network news managers who say they want the iconic program to be the "beating heart of politics." The announcement confirmed widespread speculation that David Gregory, the moderator of the Sunday morning public affairs program for the past six years, would be replaced by Todd, the NBC News political director. Not only is Gregory leaving "Meet the Press," he is also leaving the network. His next career move is not yet known. "The next-generation 'Meet the Press,' led by Chuck Todd, is certain to be the must-watch political destination on Sundays and beyond," NBC News president Deborah Turness said in an internal memorandum that doubled as the network's announcement. Todd's first day on "Meet the Press" will be September 7. Veteran NBC correspondent and MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell will fill in this weekend. In other words, last week was Gregory's last edition of "Meet the Press" -- though the viewers didn't know that at the time. Gregory confirmed his departure in a series of Twitter messages on Thursday afternoon, hours after CNNMoney reported that the "Meet the Press" moderator change was imminent. "I leave NBC as I came -- humbled and grateful," he wrote. "I love journalism and serving as moderator of MTP was the highest honor there is." He added, "I have great respect for my colleagues at NBC News and wish them all well. To the viewers, I say thank you." Todd, for whom the term "political junkie" seems invented, will remain the political director for the network news division, but will give up his mid-morning MSNBC newscast "The Daily Rundown." Todd will be the twelfth moderator in "Meet the Press" history. Born on radio in 1945 and reborn for television in 1947, "Meet the Press" is the longest-running show on TV. Within NBC, it is a cherished brand, but it's also one that has fallen on hard times. With Todd in the anchor chair, NBC hopes to reinvigorate the program and its weekly ratings. Related: Future of media Turness said, "we have some exciting plans to evolve and update the broadcast under Chuck's leadership that we will be sharing with you shortly." The announcement about Todd's promotion ends an ugly period of public conjecture about Gregory's fate, made worse by the network's tepid statement of support for him earlier this summer. When the New York Post's Page Six column said in July that Gregory could be replaced "soon after the November midterm elections," a network representative was quoted as saying, "We heard the same false rumors and suggest you take them with a grain of salt, as we did." Tepid support, indeed. Mike Allen of Politico reported earlier this week that Todd was the "likely successor" to Gregory and that the change was "expected to be announced in coming weeks." That report seemed to accelerate the network's timetable. On Thursday, when NBC's announcement was made, Gregory was in New Hampshire, far from his Washington, D.C., office. Turness, meanwhile, was in New York, having canceled a long-planned trip to London to oversee the "Meet the Press" transition. Questions about Gregory's future on "Meet the Press" surfaced shortly after Turness took over the news division in the summer of 2013. She has discussed any number of changes to the program, including, at one point, the possibility of a studio audience. Her memo on Thursday reflected enthusiasm for change. The best-known "Meet the Press" moderator is Tim Russert, who was appointed to the job in 1991 and died suddenly in June 2008 while preparing for an edition of the program. Under Russert, "Meet the Press" was solidly No. 1 in the ratings race among the broadcast networks. After Russert's death, Tom Brokaw filled in until December 2008, when Gregory took over. The program now routinely ranks No. 3 behind "Face the Nation" on CBS and "This Week" on ABC. "This Week" moderator George Stephanopoulos wrote on Twitter after the announcement, "Congrats Chuck Todd. Welcome to Sunday AM fray. Best wishes David Gregory." And at the end of the day, Todd made his first comments. He wrote on Twitter that he was "honored and humbled to be in the company of great MTP moderators, including David, Tom and of course Tim. All three taught me so much."

– Rumors have been swirling about David Gregory's future at NBC for a while now, and today the man himself confirmed: He's leaving the network, including his hosting gig at Meet the Press. "I leave NBC as I came—humbled and grateful," he tweeted. "I love journalism and serving as moderator of MTP was the highest honor there is." NBC hasn't announced his replacement, which seems to be the worst-kept secret in TV: It will be Chuck Todd, report multiple sources, including Mike Allen of Politico and CNN Money. Media writer Dylan Byers of Politico explains the pick thusly: "In Todd, NBC News is hoping it can restore the show with the passion and insider credibility it had under Tim Russert, Gregory's predecessor and Todd's mentor. Todd, who rose to fame as editor in chief of The Hotline, is a political obsessive and extremely knowledgable about all manner of politics and policy matters." Gregory has hosted Meet the Press since 2008, but ratings have been shaky of late, reports the Huffington Post. Todd is NBC's political director and currently hosts the Daily Rundown at MSNBC. The shift could happen as soon as this weekend, writes Brian Stelter at CNN. (One of Gregory's most memorable moments involved a gun magazine.)

Tim Peake apologised to the lady via Twitter British astronaut Tim Peake gave an unsuspecting woman a shock after dialling the wrong number and saying: "Hello, is this planet Earth?" Major Peake, who is spending six months on the International Space Station, has apologised and insisted it was not a prank call. Tim Peake took this picture of Earth on Christmas Eve After the gaffe he tweeted: "I'd like to apologise to the lady I just called by mistake saying 'Hello, is this planet Earth?' - not a prank call ... just a wrong number!" Britons were offered a glimpse of the ISS as it soared 250 miles above the Earth. Play video "Tim Peake's Space Somersault" Video: Tim Peake's Space Somersault From southern England, it appeared in the West at about 4.24pm on Christmas Day. Robin Scagell, vice-president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, said: "The space station's maximum elevation will be about 23 degrees viewed from London, which is just above the rooftops. "It will be the brightest star in the sky, moving rapidly from west to east. Play video "Peake Holds First News Conference" Video: Peake Holds First News Conference "You might think it's a plane to start with, but you'd hear the engine noise of an aircraft that close and of course the space station is silent. "So we'll be able to see a different object flying over the rooftops on Christmas Day." A full moon is also making an appearance - the first time it has happened on Christmas Day in 38 years. ||||| I'd like to apologise to the lady I just called by mistake saying 'Hello, is this planet Earth?' - not a prank call...just a wrong number! ||||| Story highlights "Hello, is this planet Earth?" Peake asks miscellaneous woman Astronaut tweets apology, saying it was no prank (CNN) Earth to astronaut Tim Peake: Check the phone number before you dial. Otherwise the person you reach is likely to think you're some kind of nut case. UK astronaut Tim Peake boards the Soyuz spacecraft. Peake is a British astronaut who arrived at the International Space Station on December 15. He is spending six months there, conducting scientific experiments. Recently, he phoned home -- as in Earth -- but got the number wrong. "Hello, is this planet Earth?" Peake asked. When he realized he'd misdialed, Peake tweeted his regret. Read More

– Everyone has picked up the phone to find a flustered mis-dialer on the line, but it's not every day that that wrong number was punched in from space. British astronaut Tim Peake took to Twitter on Thursday to apologize for what could pass for the most prominent telephone misfire of all time, reports CNN. "I'd like to apologise to the lady I just called by mistake saying 'Hello, is this planet Earth?' - not a prank call...just a wrong number!" he tweeted. Peake arrived on the International Space Station on Dec. 15, and he's got some time to hone his dialing skills—he'll be there for six months, notes Sky News. (Meanwhile, planet Earth gets to observe a full moon on Christmas for the first time since 1977.)

Published on Jun 6, 2018 Multiple police officers in Mesa, Arizona have been placed on administrative leave after a video surfaced of the officers beating an unarmed man. An investigation has been launched into the officers’ actions. » Subscribe to NBC News: http://nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC » Watch more NBC video: http://bit.ly/MoreNBCNews NBC News is a leading source of global news and information. Here you will find clips from NBC Nightly News, Meet The Press, and original digital videos. Subscribe to our channel for news stories, technology, politics, health, entertainment, science, business, and exclusive NBC investigations. Connect with NBC News Online! Visit NBCNews.Com: http://nbcnews.to/ReadNBC Find NBC News on Facebook: http://nbcnews.to/LikeNBC Follow NBC News on Twitter: http://nbcnews.to/FollowNBC Follow NBC News on Google+: http://nbcnews.to/PlusNBC Follow NBC News on Instagram: http://nbcnews.to/InstaNBC Follow NBC News on Pinterest: http://nbcnews.to/PinNBC Police Beating Unarmed Man In Mesa, Arizona | NBC News ||||| (CNN) The police chief in Mesa, Arizona, says he was "disappointed" by a video that shows officers punching and kneeing an unarmed man. A police sergeant and three officers have been placed on administrative leave after the May 23 incident at an apartment complex. While an attorney for Robert Johnson, 33, said he provided no reason for officers to strike him, the Mesa Police Association said Johnson "was not compliant and physically resisted what we feel was a lawful detention." Police Chief Ramon Batista acted after a community member showed him a surveillance video of the beating a week after the incident, said Detective Nik Rasheta. The officers are the subject of an internal investigation. 'He was unarmed and then they just attacked' Johnson was with a friend who police say was trying to enter an ex-girlfriend's apartment, prompting a 911 call, Batista told CNN affiliate KNXV . The responding officer was told of a possible weapon at the apartment. Johnson lives in the building and was not trespassing, according to his attorney, Benjamin Taylor. Officers approached Johnson and his friend, searched Johnson, found he had no weapons and asked him to sit by the wall, police said. In the video, Johnson is seen leaning against the wall and looking at his cell phone before being surrounded by officers and punched multiple times in the head and struck with a knee. He slumps to the ground. Three officers landed blows, police said. "He wasn't resisting," Taylor told CNN. "He was unarmed and then they just attacked." Batista said the department will put out a special directive that says officers will not strike anyone in the head who isn't trying to harm them. CNN was unable Wednesday to speak with the police chief. Authorities were expected to release an incident report and bodycam footage. Union: Released video doesn't tell the whole story The chief told CNN affiliates KPHO and KTVK that Johnson's leaning against the wall and what he said to them made the officers feel as though they needed to have him sit down. He did not elaborate on what might have been said. Taylor said Johnson was being cooperative. "I am disappointed in what I saw," he said of the video, which police released to media on Tuesday. It did not appear to have audio. The Mesa Police Association, which represents several of the officers involved in the incident, said in a statement that officers were sent to a dangerous domestic situation, and that officers acted to end the confrontation quickly and prevent anyone from falling over a short guardrail. "We feel it was grossly inappropriate to release a portion of video with no audio that does not include the full context of the encounter. Furthermore, we do not understand why video is being released when an internal investigation has not been completed." Taylor said Wednesday that his client, who was charged with disorderly conduct, was knocked out and is still in pain two weeks later. "This is going to affect him for the rest of his life." Taylor said he will ask for charges to be dismissed, given the video. "For them to exert that force on him is unconscionable," said Taylor. "No matter what age, race and gender you are, police should not be attacking and hurting people when they're there to serve and protect."

– Robert Johnson was leaning against the wall, looking at his cell phone, when it happened: Police officers surrounded the unarmed man and, in a scene caught on surveillance video May 23 in Mesa, Ariz., started punching and kneeing him until he fell to the ground. Now the Mesa Police Department has placed a police sergeant and three officers on administrative leave while the incident is investigated, CNN reports. Even so, the Mesa Police Association says Johnson "was not compliant and physically resisted what we feel was a lawful detention." Johnson, 33, was at the apartment building where he lives, but he was accompanying a friend who, police say, was attempting to get into an ex-girlfriend's apartment just before midnight. Police responded to the scene after someone called 911 and said there was possibly a weapon at the apartment. The officers approached Johnson and the friend, searched Johnson and found him unarmed, then asked him to sit down by the wall. Instead, he leaned against the wall. In bodycam video released by the police department, police can be heard telling Johnson to sit down before starting to hit him, AZFamily.com reports. Police Chief Ramon Batista says the fact that Johnson was leaning against the wall and what he said to the officers made them feel he needed to sit down, though Batista didn't reveal what Johnson allegedly said. And the police union says the surveillance video that was released "does not include the full context of the encounter." But Johnson's lawyer insists his client "wasn't resisting. He was unarmed and then they just attacked." Batista says he's "disappointed" by what the video shows and that the department will instruct officers not to hit anyone in the head if the person isn't attempting to harm them. Johnson's lawyer wants the disorderly conduct charges that were filed against his client dropped.

A teenage North Korean soldier surrendered himself to South Korean border guards about 8am after walking across the border into Hwacheon, north-east of Seoul. “We’ve confirmed his will to defect after he reached our guard post,” said a South Korean ministry spokesman. He was under investigation by the authorities, and the ministry promised to disclose more details later. The defection sparked a tense stand-off between North and South Korean border guards across the four-kilometre-wide and 248-kilometre-long demilitarised zone, but there was no conflict, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. Hundreds of North Koreans flee their isolated homeland each year but it is rare for defectors to cross the land border, marked by barbed wire and guarded by tens of thousands of troops on both sides. Most North Koreans who flee repression and poverty at home cross the porous frontier with China first before travelling through a south-east Asian nation and eventually arriving in South Korea. In 2012, a North Korean soldier walked unchecked through rows of electrified fencing and surveillance cameras, prompting Seoul to sack three field commanders for a security lapse. In August 2014, two North Koreans swam across the Yellow sea border to a South Korean frontline island. ||||| Seoul, South Korea (CNN) A North Korean soldier defected to South Korea on Monday across the heavily fortified border that separates the two countries, South Korean authorities said. The soldier crossed the Military Demarcation Line on foot from the eastern North Korean province of Gangwon, said a South Korean Defense Ministry official, who declined to be identified. A North Korean controller is seen along the railway line between the Pyongyang and North Pyongan provinces in April 2012. A North Korean controller is seen along the railway line between the Pyongyang and North Pyongan provinces in April 2012. Members of a North Korean military band gather following an official ceremony at the Kim Il Sung stadium in Pyongyang in April 2012. Members of a North Korean military band gather following an official ceremony at the Kim Il Sung stadium in Pyongyang in April 2012. North Korean soldiers listen to a speech during an official ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un at a stadium in Pyongyang in April 2012. North Korean soldiers listen to a speech during an official ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un at a stadium in Pyongyang in April 2012. North Korean soldiers relax at the end of an official ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un at a stadium in Pyongyang in April 2012. North Korean soldiers relax at the end of an official ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un at a stadium in Pyongyang in April 2012. A closer look at the UNHA III rocket on its launch pad in Tang Chung Ri, North Korea. – A closer look at the UNHA III rocket on its launch pad in Tang Chung Ri, North Korea. In April 2012, Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket that broke apart and fell into the sea. Here, the UNHA III rocket is pictured on its launch pad in Tang Chung Ri, North Korea. In April 2012, Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket that broke apart and fell into the sea. Here, the UNHA III rocket is pictured on its launch pad in Tang Chung Ri, North Korea. A North Korean soldier stands guard in front of an UNHA III rocket at the Tangachai-ri Space Center in April 2012. A North Korean soldier stands guard in front of an UNHA III rocket at the Tangachai-ri Space Center in April 2012. A crowd watches as statues of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il are unveiled during a ceremony in Pyongyang in April 2012. A crowd watches as statues of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il are unveiled during a ceremony in Pyongyang in April 2012. Kim visits the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground, under construction in Pyongyang, in a photo released in July 2012 by the KCNA. Kim visits the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground, under construction in Pyongyang, in a photo released in July 2012 by the KCNA. Kim, center, poses in this undated picture released by North Korea's official news agency in November 2012. Kim, center, poses in this undated picture released by North Korea's official news agency in November 2012. In a photo released by the official North Korean news agency in December 2012, Kim celebrates a rocket's launch with staff from the satellite control center in Pyongyang. In a photo released by the official North Korean news agency in December 2012, Kim celebrates a rocket's launch with staff from the satellite control center in Pyongyang. Soldiers in the North Korean army train at an undisclosed location in March 2013. Soldiers in the North Korean army train at an undisclosed location in March 2013. Kim arrives at Jangjae Islet by boat to meet with soldiers of the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment in March 2013. Kim arrives at Jangjae Islet by boat to meet with soldiers of the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment in March 2013. Kim is surrounded by soldiers during a visit to the Mu Islet Hero Defense Detachment, also near Taeyonphyong Island, in March 2013. Kim is surrounded by soldiers during a visit to the Mu Islet Hero Defense Detachment, also near Taeyonphyong Island, in March 2013. Kim is greeted by a soldier's family as he inspects the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment in March 2013. Kim is greeted by a soldier's family as he inspects the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment in March 2013. Kim uses a pair of binoculars to look south from the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment, near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island, in March 2013. Kim uses a pair of binoculars to look south from the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment, near South Korea's Taeyonphyong Island, in March 2013. Kim, with North Korean soldiers, makes his way to an observation post in March 2013. Kim, with North Korean soldiers, makes his way to an observation post in March 2013. In this KCNA photo, Kim inspects naval drills at an undisclosed location on North Korea's east coast in March 2013. In this KCNA photo, Kim inspects naval drills at an undisclosed location on North Korea's east coast in March 2013. Kim is briefed by his generals in this undated photo. On the wall is a map titled "Plan for the strategic forces to target mainland U.S." Kim is briefed by his generals in this undated photo. On the wall is a map titled "Plan for the strategic forces to target mainland U.S." Kim visits the Ministry of People's Security in 2013 as part of the country's May Day celebrations. Kim visits the Ministry of People's Security in 2013 as part of the country's May Day celebrations. Kim inspects a military factory in this undated picture released by the KCNA in May 2013. Kim inspects a military factory in this undated picture released by the KCNA in May 2013. Kim inspects the command of an army unit in this undated photo released Sunday, January 12, by the KCNA. Kim inspects the command of an army unit in this undated photo released Sunday, January 12, by the KCNA. A photo released by the KCNA on Thursday, January 23, shows the North Korean leader inspecting an army unit during a winter drill. A photo released by the KCNA on Thursday, January 23, shows the North Korean leader inspecting an army unit during a winter drill. A North Korean soldier kicks a pole along the banks of the Yalu River on Tuesday, February 4. A North Korean soldier kicks a pole along the banks of the Yalu River on Tuesday, February 4. A North Korean soldier uses binoculars on Thursday, February 6, to look at South Korea from the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War. A North Korean soldier uses binoculars on Thursday, February 6, to look at South Korea from the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War. In this photo released Thursday, April 24, by the Korean Central News Agency, Kim smiles with female soldiers after inspecting a rocket-launching drill at an undisclosed location. In this photo released Thursday, April 24, by the Korean Central News Agency, Kim smiles with female soldiers after inspecting a rocket-launching drill at an undisclosed location. A North Korean soldier patrols the bank of the Yalu River, which separates the North Korean town of Sinuiju from the Chinese border town of Dandong, on Saturday, April 26. A North Korean soldier patrols the bank of the Yalu River, which separates the North Korean town of Sinuiju from the Chinese border town of Dandong, on Saturday, April 26. A picture released by the KCNA shows Kim and his wife watching a performance by the Moranbong Band on Wednesday, September 3, in Pyongyang. A picture released by the KCNA shows Kim and his wife watching a performance by the Moranbong Band on Wednesday, September 3, in Pyongyang. This undated photo, released Tuesday, October 14, by the KCNA, shows Kim inspecting a housing complex in Pyongyang, North Korea. International speculation about Kim went into overdrive after he failed to attend events on Friday, October 10, the 65th anniversary of the Workers' Party. He hadn't been seen in public since he reportedly attended a concert with his wife on September 3. This undated photo, released Tuesday, October 14, by the KCNA, shows Kim inspecting a housing complex in Pyongyang, North Korea. International speculation about Kim went into overdrive after he failed to attend events on Friday, October 10, the 65th anniversary of the Workers' Party. He hadn't been seen in public since he reportedly attended a concert with his wife on September 3. Kim sits in the pilot's seat of a fighter jet during the inspection. Kim sits in the pilot's seat of a fighter jet during the inspection. Kim is seen walking with a cane in this image released Thursday, October 30, by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Kim is seen walking with a cane in this image released Thursday, October 30, by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. A picture released by the North Korean Central News Agency shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appearing without his cane at an event with military commanders in Pyongyang on Tuesday, November 4. Kim, who recently disappeared from public view for about six weeks, had a cyst removed from his right ankle, a lawmaker told CNN. Kim speaks during a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released February 19 by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Kim speaks during a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released February 19 by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Kim inspects a drill for seizing an island at an undisclosed location in North Korea in an undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on February 21. Kim inspects a drill for seizing an island at an undisclosed location in North Korea in an undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on February 21. Kim visits the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 15 to celebrate the 103rd birth anniversary of his grandfather, North Korean founder Kim Il Sung. Kim visits the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 15 to celebrate the 103rd birth anniversary of his grandfather, North Korean founder Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Un, center, poses with soldiers on the snow-covered top of Mount Paektu in an April 18 photo released by South Korean news agency Yonhap. Kim Jong Un, center, poses with soldiers on the snow-covered top of Mount Paektu in an April 18 photo released by South Korean news agency Yonhap. Kim stands on the snow-covered top of Mount Paektu in North Korea in a photo taken by North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun on April 18 and released the next day by South Korean news agency Yonhap. Kim scaled the country's highest mountain, North Korean state-run media reported, arriving at the summit to tell soldiers that the hike provides mental energy more powerful than nuclear weapons. Kim stands on the snow-covered top of Mount Paektu in North Korea in a photo taken by North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun on April 18 and released the next day by South Korean news agency Yonhap. Kim scaled the country's highest mountain, North Korean state-run media reported, arriving at the summit to tell soldiers that the hike provides mental energy more powerful than nuclear weapons. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with North Korea's first female fighter jet pilots in this undated photo released by the country's state media on Monday, June 22. He called the women "heroes of Korea" and "flowers of the sky." North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with North Korea's first female fighter jet pilots in this undated photo released by the country's state media on Monday, June 22. He called the women "heroes of Korea" and "flowers of the sky." Further details on the circumstances of the defection weren't immediately available. There was no reaction to the news on North Korean state media. The border between North and South Korea is considered to be the most heavily militarized in the world. The two countries technically remain at war, because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce and not a peace treaty. North Korean soldiers have occasionally made it across the highly sensitive zone in the past. In 2012, one managed to cross the border unnoticed and knock on the door of a South Korean barracks, embarrassing the South Korean military and prompting a public apology from the defense minister at the time for the security lapse. But defections directly across the border from North to South Korea are rare. Defection harder under Kim Jong Un Most people attempt to flee the impoverished, oppressively ruled North by crossing the more open border into China and then trying to make their way to South Korea through other countries. More than 26,000 refugees from the North have reached the South since the end of the Korean War, according to the Unification Ministry in Seoul. The vast majority of them arrived during the past 15 years. But defection has become harder in recent years, the Unification Ministry says, and the number of people doing it has fallen significantly since Kim Jong Un succeeded his father as the North Korean leader. North Korea says it's willing to talk Separately, North Korea on Monday said it was willing to hold talks with the South -- but with conditions attached. "If an atmosphere of trust and reconciliation is created between North and South Korea, there is no reason not to hold dialogue and negotiation between the two sides," a North Korean government statement carried by state media said. The conditions it set out included its often repeated call for South Korea to stop holding joint military exercises with the United States, a request that Seoul and Washington have consistently dismissed. 2 South Koreans to be released Pyongyang also told Seoul on Monday that it plans to release two South Korean citizens this week, according to the South Korean Unification Ministry. North Korea said the two South Koreans -- a man in his late 50s with the surname Lee, and a woman in her early 50s with the surname Jin -- illegally entered North Korea on May 11. North Korea detained them the same month. The South Korean government said it believes the two went missing while traveling in China near the North Korean border. It expects to collect them Wednesday morning at Panmunjom, the "truce village" that straddles the border between the two Koreas. ||||| SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean soldier defected to South Korea on Monday, walking across the countries’ shared border, which is so heavily guarded that only a few refugees from the North have managed to cross it in recent years, South Korean officials said. The soldier, in his late teens, presented himself at a South Korean guard post inside the southern half of the 2.5-mile-wide Demilitarized Zone that separates the rival countries, said a Defense Ministry spokesman, who spoke on the customary condition of anonymity. North Korean soldiers usually serve for 10 years, starting from age 17. The soldier told South Korean officials that he decided to defect because of widespread beatings and other abuse within the North Korean military, the spokesman said. The soldier defected through the central border near Hwacheon, a South Korean town northeast of Seoul, the capital, the spokesman said. “It did not trigger an exchange of fire between the two sides,” the spokesman said. Other details of the defection were not immediately available. More than 28,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea since a widespread famine hit their isolated and impoverished country in the late 1990s. Nearly all of them traveled through China. But a handful of North Koreans have also defected through the Demilitarized Zone, which is guarded by minefields and guard posts, as well as tall fences topped with barbed wire, some of them electrified. The soldier was the first North Korean serviceman to defect to the South in three years. In 2012, a North Korean soldier scaled three barbed-wire fences and knocked on doors of the barracks of South Korean border guards. The same year, another North Korean soldier fled across the border after killing his platoon and squadron leaders. Last year, two North Korean men, both civilians, swam to a South Korean island near the countries’ disputed sea border off the west coast. Since he took power in late 2011, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has tightened patrols on his country’s border with China in an attempt to turn off the steady stream of refugees. The number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea plummeted to 1,397 last year from 2,706 in 2011. In the first five months of this year, 535 North Korean defectors arrived in South Korea, according to the Unification Ministry of South Korea. Also on Monday, in a rare conciliatory gesture, North Korea said that it would repatriate two South Koreans held in the North. The two, a 59-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman, will be handed over on Wednesday through the border village of Panmunjom, officials in Seoul said. They said they would interrogate the two, once they were returned, to find out how they ended up in the North. They were recently reported missing in China, according to the Unification Ministry of the South. North Korea is still holding at least four other South Koreans, some of them on espionage charges. In 2013, it returned six South Koreans it had held on charges of illegal entry. ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption Most North Korean defectors cross over into China then make their way to South Korea A North Korean soldier has walked across one of the world's most heavily militarised borders to defect to the South, officials say. The teenager approached a South Korean guard post in north-eastern Hwacheon in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) on Monday, South Korea's defence ministry said. There was no exchange of fire and the soldier is now being held in custody. It is extremely rare for defectors to walk across the DMZ. The last time it happened was in 2012. Most defectors cross over into China, then make their way through South East Asia and then into South Korea. 'Through a wire fence': Kevin Kim, BBC News, Seoul Image copyright AFP Of the nearly 28,000 North Koreans who have resettled in the South, most of them left the country through the border with China, and not through the DMZ. This is because the 250km-(155 mile)-long demilitarized zone is heavily guarded, littered with anti-personnel landmines. The last time a North Korean soldier defected through the wire fence was in October 2012, when a soldier managed to cross undetected. This was a huge embarrassment for the South Korean military and steps were taken to strengthen border security. Recently, there has been increased activity by North Korean soldiers in the DMZ and some believe the North has been trying to make defections more difficult. The DMZ is fortified with landmines and barbed wire and guarded by tens of thousands of troops on both side. Hundreds of North Koreans flee poverty and a repressive regime at home each year. In August last year, two North Koreans swam across the Yellow Sea border to a South Korean island.

– For the first time in three years, a North Korean soldier has defected to the South after walking through the 2.5-mile-wide Demilitarized Zone that separates the two countries. South Korea's defense ministry says a teenager reached a South Korean guard post today in Hwacheon and was taken into custody, per CNN. The DMZ is among the world's most heavily militarized borders, guarded by tens of thousands of soldiers on either side, and strewn with land mines, electric fences, and barbed wire, reports the BBC. Most defectors leave North Korea via China before making their way to South Korea to avoid crossing the zone. AFP reports the defection "sparked a tense stand-off between North and South Korean border guards," but there was no exchange of fire. "We've confirmed his will to defect after he reached our guard post," a ministry rep says. The Unification Ministry of South Korea says 535 North Koreans have defected to the South this year, but their number has fallen dramatically since Kim Jong Un came to power; the New York Times reports 1,397 defected last year, down from 2,706 in 2011. Though North Korea hasn't addressed the defection, it did announce today that it would release two South Korean citizens it said illegally entered North Korea on May 11, reports CNN. South Korea believes the pair, a male and a female, went missing while traveling near the North Korean border in China. (The last defector to cross the DMZ said he killed two superiors.)

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. July 5, 2015, 5:01 PM GMT / Updated July 5, 2015, 6:58 PM GMT By Kathryn Robinson A Texas woman who was trying to save her suicidal boyfriend was killed while attempting to pull him out of the road during the holiday weekend, officials said. "At approximately 12:35 a.m., on Saturday, July 4, Michael Thomas was in a moving lane of traffic attempting suicide, by trying to get hit by a motor vehicle," the Harris Country Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Thomas had been drinking at a nearby bar before sitting and lying down in oncoming traffic, officials told NBC station KPRC in Houston. Deputies say Thomas' girlfriend was trying to drag him to safety when she was struck by two cars. Police say the woman, whose name was not released, was first hit by a tan Buick Lacrosse that was trying to avoid hitting her boyfriend and then run over by a black Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The road was dark due to the time and there were no street lights in the immediate area to improve the lighting, officials said. Police said Thomas was taken into custody to undergo psychiatric evaluation. Neither of the driver's were intoxicated and will not face charges, authorities said. ||||| DO THINGS ON THIS FOURTH OF JULY HOLIDAY. BACK TO YOU. THANKS, CAM PRESENTLY. A WOMAN IS DEAD AFTER SHE WAS TRYING TO GET HER BOYFRIEND OUT OF THE STREET. ACCORDING TO OFFICERS HE WAS LAYING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROADWAY. CHANNEL 2'S GIANNA CASERTA IS LIVE WITH THE DETAILS. GIANNA, GOOD MORNING. Reporter: GOOD MORNING. I WANT TO POINT OUT TO YOU SOMETHING. YOU CAN SEE HOW DARK THIS STRETCH OF ALAMEDA IS. YOU CAN SEE THERE AREN'T MANY STREETLIGHTS. IT'S EXTREMELY DARK HERE, WHICH COULD HAVE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS ACCIDENT. THE HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE IS INVESTIGATING THAT FATAL PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT HERE ON ALAMEDA. LET'S GET THIS ON VIDEO FROM THE SCENE. DEPUTIES SAY IT WAS AROUND 12:30 THIS MORNING. A MAN WHO HAD BEEN DRINKING AT A BAR WAS SUICIDAL AND SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET ON ALAMEDA. THEY SAY HIS GIRLFRIEND WAS ATTEMPTING TO PHYSICALLY MOVE HIM FROM THE TRAFFIC LANES. AND AT THAT MOMENT DEPUTIES SAY A CAR TRAVELING NORTH ON ALAMEDA STRUCK THE WOMAN. SHE WAS KILLED FROM THE IMPACT. THE SUICIDAL MAN WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY TO UNDERGO PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION. THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE STOPPED. SHE'S NOT FACING ANY CHARGES AT THIS TIME. FOR NOW, REPORTING LIVE IN SOUTHWEST HARRIS COUNTY, I'M HOUSTON - Deputies are investigating after a woman who was trying to pull her boyfriend out of the road was hit and killed Saturday morning. The accident happened about 12:30 a.m. on Almeda near Foxshine. According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, a man who had been drinking at a nearby bar and who may have been suicidal was sitting or lying down in the traffic lanes of Alemda. Deputies said his girlfriend was trying to drag him to safety when she was hit by a car that was traveling north on Almeda. The woman died at the scene. HCSO said her boyfriend was taken into custody to undergo psychiatric evaluation. Deputies said the driver stopped at the scene, was not intoxicated and will not face any charges.

– The holiday weekend went terribly wrong for one Texas couple after police say a man tried to kill himself by lying down in traffic—and his girlfriend instead died trying to save him, reports NBC News. The Harris County Sheriff's Office tells KPRC that Michael Thomas had been drinking at a local bar early Saturday when he decided around 12:30am to walk out into "a moving lane of traffic attempting suicide, by trying to get hit by a motor vehicle," per a statement on NBC. That's when his girlfriend apparently went into rescue mode, desperately trying to pull him to the side of the road before she was hit first by a Buick LaCrosse that attempted to avoid hitting Thomas, then by a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, cops say. NBC notes the road was dark, with no streetlights. Neither driver was charged, and Thomas was taken for a psychiatric evaluation, per authorities. (A simple way to help prevent suicide? Talk therapy.)

Could the TouchPad make a permanent comeback? Probably not, but it's fun to think about. (Credit: Hewlett-Packard) commentary If Hewlett-Packard is flip-flopping on the PC business, it should go all the way and bring WebOS and the mobile business back as well. After an evaluation of the business, HP said today that it would keep its personal systems group, aka its consumer PC business, calling it the best move for shareholders, consumers, and the company. The decision caps off a dizzying few months for HP, which today is putting the kibosh on the complete transformation of the company from a consumer electronics product manufacturer to a business-class software and consulting services provider. In its bid to get out of anything dealing with consumers, HP essentially put WebOS on ice. While WebOS and HP's mobile devices business have their fair share of problems, it may be prudent for the company to thaw out WebOS and attempt a comeback. If the company wants to remain a major player in the consumer technology business, it will need to have a mobile strategy. WebOS remains a viable one, if the company can actually get its act together. That, however, remains far from a certainty. HP has become like the crazy uncle in the technology family; you just can't predict what it's going to do. As a result, the fate of WebOS is still up in the air. New CEO Meg Whitman said WebOS isn't directly tied to the PC business, so keeping one doesn't necessarily mean keeping the other. The leadership team is still working on a decision about WebOS, and Whitman said she hopes to have a decision in the next couple of months. "Coming to a town near you soon, I hope," she said during a conference call today to discuss the PC business decision. Admittedly, HP bungled its handling of WebOS in the first go-around. The company took too long to roll out its products, didn't set realistic prices, and failed to properly promote its mobile lineup. Killing off its WebOS initiative right when it was getting off the ground probably didn't win the company a lot of fans. But the platform could still be useful if the company wants control over the fate of its mobile devices ambitions. While never commercially successful, WebOS won a lot of praise for its ease of use and intuitive interface. It was an elegant platform, often burdened with disappointing hardware. It would be a waste to let the platform fall by the wayside. There were other positives with WebOS, too. HP's TouchPad tablets flew off the shelves after the company and retail partners offered them for $100 apiece. Granted, the company was operating at a loss with each sale, but there is now a base of WebOS users in the market, which could be used as a foundation to reintroduce a WebOS-powered smartphone. This time, HP really needs to focus on the quality of the product. The original Pre, launched by Palm, suffered because it was positioned as a flagship product built with cheap materials. HP didn't improve too much upon that with its initial product offerings. The company also needed to be more aggressive in courting developers for the platform. Like Palm, it never really understood the importance of getting the developer community behind WebOS. So far, HP has been mum on the notion of a smartphone. When asked about them, Todd Bradley, who runs the personal systems group, only focused on the ultrabook segment of thin laptops. Whitman, meanwhile, acknowledged that HP needs to be in the tablet business. "We're going to make another run at this," she said. But Whitman and Bradley only talked about Windows 8, which isn't expected to hit the market any time soon. The iPad, meanwhile, has established itself as the tablet to buy for consumers, with Android tablets making only minor headway with consumers. Bradley scoffed at the idea that HP was behind on its tablet business. "We're at the beginning stages of a new segment in personal computing," Bradley said. "I hardly believe that a few months in we can be classified as too late." But with more Android tablet markets flooding the market and the iPad likely to cement its position further with another iteration early next year, Bradley may want to reassess that comment. If HP wants to get into the tablet game faster, it may want to take a closer look at WebOS. ||||| This post has been updated. Hewlett-Packard will continue making PCs after all. In August, the hardware giant dropped a bombshell announcement that it would kill off its tablet and smartphone products and would consider spinning off its PC business as it moved to complete a massive deal to acquire software company Autonomy. After weeks of deliberation, the world's biggest PC-maker has finally decided the fate of its PC arm. In a statement release on October 27, HP said it would not spin off or sell its personal computer business (called Personal Systems Group, or PSG). “HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG. It’s clear after our analysis that keeping PSG within HP is right for customers and partners, right for shareholders, and right for employees,” said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer, according to HP's press release. “HP is committed to PSG, and together we are stronger.” A former eBay chief, Whitman replaced Leo Apotheker as HP's CEO in September. "We are at a critical moment and we need renewed leadership to successfully implement our strategy and take advantage of the market opportunities ahead,'' the HP board's newly-appointed Executive Chairman Ray Lane said of Whitman's appointment at the time, according to Reuters. HP's decision to keep its PSG branch flies in the face of departed CEO Apotheker's vision to “transform” HP from a hardware leader to a company focused primarily on “enterprise information management." Citing what he called a "tablet effect," Apotheker suggested a shift in consumers' preferences away from PCs and toward tablet devices such as Apple's iPad and the numerous Android offerings in that space. Analysts also cited intense competition from heavy hitters Apple and Google as a major influence on HP's decision to kill off its tablet and smartphone devices, a move that HP did not say it will reverse. “HP was competing for developer attention against companies that, as in the case of Apple, have a large head start and a strong base of developers,” NPD analyst Ross Rubin told the Huffington Post in August. The October 27 press release states that the PC unit's revenue for the 2010 fiscal year was $40.7 billion. Figures released this month by research firm Garner revealed that HP's PC market share actually grew by 3.2 percent in the third quarter of 2011. In early October, HP finalized its $12-billion purchase of Autonomy, whose software "searches unstructured data like emails, phone calls and tweets that do not fit into traditional databases," reports Reuters. Netflix recently issued a huge backtrack of its own, announcing that it would kill the yet-to-launch Qwikster service, which would have been a standalone DVD rental site. The launch would have split Netflix into two separate businesses, with the original "Netflix" site becoming a streaming-only service. Developing... ||||| Well, that's the end of that. HP CEO Meg Whitman says "HP is committed to [Personal Systems Group, HP's computer arm], and together we are stronger." There you have it. HP will keep making computers as usual. We'll have more on this a bit later today after HP fields a conference call on the decision at 5 PM EST. Update: During today's call to discuss the decision to keep PSG as part of HP proper, new CEO Meg Whitman and her cohorts made the same basic point several different ways: spinning off PCs from HP didn't make any freaking sense. Or as Whitman put it: "HP and PSG are better together. A separation would not create incremental shareholder return or customer value... At the end of the day the costs and risks of a separation are simply greater than any value we could create." What this signals on a larger scale is a possible retreat on HP's part from recently ousted CEO Leo Apotheker's doomed mission to turn HP into the next IBM. So you've backtracked on the PSG sale, HP. Nicely done! Now on to getting us our our next batch of bargin bin TouchPads. They're still keeping mum on what the ultimate fate of webOS is, but surely there's a warehouse stocked with unshipped models, right? Maybe? In other HP tablet news, the company did confirm that they need to be in the tablet business, and that they're "going to be there with Windows 8." [HP]

– The world's biggest PC maker has decided to keep making PCs. New Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman announced today that the company is backtracking from her ousted predecessor's strategy to spin off the $41 billion computer division and, in the words of Gizmodo, "turn HP into the next IBM." Whitman said an analysis showed the move wouldn't make sense. Still unclear is what will happen with the mobile operating system known as WebOS and the popular TouchPad tablet that HP announced it was discontinuing earlier this year. "While WebOS and HP's mobile devices business have their fair share of problems, it may be prudent for the company to thaw out WebOS and attempt a comeback," writes Roger Cheng at CNET. "If the company wants to remain a major player in the consumer technology business, it will need to have a mobile strategy. WebOS remains a viable one, if the company can actually get its act together." Click for more on HP.

Darren Harrity, Helicopter Rescue Swimmer, US Coast Guard *Special thanks to Darren for telling his story. Being from South Florida I grew up as an avid surfer, swimmer and spear fishermen. I fell in love with the water. At age 19 during my second year of college at FAU I began thinking about joining the Coast Guard to be a helicopter rescue swimmer. Regularly I would go to the FAU college pool and train towards that dream. The rescue swimmer program requires immense underwater confidence so at the pool I would practice underwater work, this is how my shallow water black out occurred. My incident occurred on April 29, 2007 at the college olympic sized pool. Since I have no memory of that day, according to a text I sent a friend prior to going to the pool , I detailed my workout. Along with a normal swim workout, I had planned eight 50 meter under water laps with no breath, then 60 seconds treading water between laps for rest. I woke up in the hospital 5 days later. I had experienced a shallow water blackout on one of my 50 meters underwater no breath. According to the police report I was laying at the bottom of the pool when a master swimmer who was in the lane next to me realized something was wrong and pulled me out. The lifeguard came over and felt no pulse, and gave me two cycles of CPR. They were then able to feel a weak pulse. I was rushed to the hospital where they kept me in an induced coma for 5 days. My lungs where full of water and according to my parents, my neck had swollen up like an inner tube. I was put on a medical ventilator while in the coma. They performed brain scans to find any damage that may have occurred. The police report stated I was underwater anywhere from 2-4 minutes. When the scans showed no sign of brain damage they woke me from the coma. I then spent another 5 days in the hospital. After being released from the hospital my recovery still had a long way to go. I had developed a blood clot in my arm and I now weighed only a mere 125 pounds. A lot had to be taken care of before I could go back to my normal and active way of life. I was thankful to be alive, but my dream of joining the coast guard looked grim. When I was finally able to work out and go for a run I got full body cramps but I stayed positive and worked hard. I knew I couldn’t let this trauma keep me from my dream. A year later I joined the coast guard. 4 years after that I accomplished my dream and graduated with honors as a Helicopter rescue swimmer for the U S Coast Guard. ||||| Petty Officer 2nd Class Darren Harrity, an aviation survival technician assigned to Coast Guard Air Station North Bend, Ore., is lowered from an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter to assist four fishermen who abandoned ship after their 52-foot fishing vessel Jamie K ran aground near Cape Blanco, Ore., July 21, 2015. Harrity individually swam each fisherman more than 250 yards to shore through 5-foot seas and 30-mph winds. U.S. Coast Guard video by Air Station North Bend. The 52-foot commercial fishing vessel Jamie K sits aground near Cape Blanco, Ore., July 21, 2015. Petty Officer 2nd Class Darren Harrity, a rescue swimmer and member of the responding MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station North Bend, Ore., pulled all four fishermen to safety through 5-foot seas and 30-mph winds. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Air Station North Bend. The 52-foot commercial fishing vessel Jamie K sits aground near Cape Blanco, Ore., July 21, 2015. Coast Guard officials are working with local, state and federal partners to mitigate any potential pollution threat. U.S. Coast Guard by Air Station North Bend. CAPE BLANCO, Ore. — A Coast Guard rescue swimmer swam 1,750 yards in 5-foot seas and 30-mph winds to rescue four people after their fishing vessel grounded near Cape Blanco, Tuesday morning. Petty Officer 2nd Class Darren Harrity, a 27-year-old native of Jupiter, Florida, individually pulled each fisherman more than 250 yards in 57 degree water from their life raft to shore, where they were met by EMS. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Bend received a report from the crew of Jamie K, a 52-foot commercial fishing vessel, via VHF-FM marine radio channel 16 at 1:40 a.m. stating that they were taking on water and had lost power. The vessel subsequently ran aground, at which time the crew donned survival suits and abandoned ship into their life raft. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station North Bend and two 47-foot Motor Life Boat crews from Coast Guard Search and Rescue Detachments Rogue River and Coquille River launched to assist. The aircrew arrived on scene at 2:49 a.m. and lowered Harrity into the water next to the life raft. Shortly after, the aircrew reported experiencing mechanical issues with the helicopter and was unable to safely complete additional hoists. The aircrew remained on scene until all of the fishermen and rescue swimmer had safely made it to shore and then landed on the nearby beach. “This was a tremendous team effort that demonstrates the strength and importance of the Coast Guard’s rescue swimmer program,” said Cmdr. Robert Workman, chief of response and aviation operations officer at Sector North Bend. “Petty Officer Darren Harrity did a fantastic job pulling four fishermen, each in full survival suits, to shore through waves, surf and darkness.” The fishing vessel was reportedly carrying 3,000 gallons of diesel and 10,000 pounds of shrimp. A sheen was reported in the area, however, it is unknown how much fuel has been released. Pollution responders from Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Portland are assessing the pollution threat. Officials are working with local, state and federal partners to mitigate any potential risks to the environment. The incident is under investigation. To learn about Harrity’s own personal experience with being rescued and how it influenced his decision to become a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, please visit the following link: http://www.shallowwaterblackoutprevention.org/a-us-coast-guard-rescue-swimmer-tells-his-story-of-swb-survival/ ||||| The 52-foot commercial fishing vessel Jamie K sits aground near Cape Blanco, Ore., July 21, 2015. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Air Station North Bend) CAPE BLANCO, Ore. (KOIN) — A 27-year-old Coast Guard rescue swimmer swam 1,750 yards in 5-foot seas and 30 mph winds to rescue 4 people aboard a commercial fishing vessel Tuesday morning. Petty Officer 2nd Class Darren Harrity from Jupiter, Florida pulled each of the fishermen more than 250 yards in 57 degree water, the Coast Guard said in a release. Once they reached shore, the 4 people were met by EMS. Around 1:40 a.m., watchstanders received a report indicating the 52-foot commercial fishing vessel was taking on water and had lost power. The boat ran aground, at which time the crew put on survival suits and abandoned ship into a life raft. Shortly before 3 a.m., Harrity was lowered into the water from a rescue helicopter. The MH-65 Dolphin helicopter reportedly experienced mechanical issues and was unable to complete additional hoists, Coast Guard officials said. The aircrew remained on scene until Harrity swam each of the 4 fisherman to shore individually. “This was a tremendous team effort that demonstrates the strength and importance of the Coast Guard’s rescue swimmer program,” Cmdr. Robert Workman said in a release. “Petty Officer Darren Harrity did a fantastic job pulling four fishermen, each in full survival suits, to shore through waves, surf and darkness.” The fishing vessel reportedly carried 3,000 gallons of diesel and 10,000 pounds of shrimp. The incident is currently under investigation. ||||| Petty Officer 2nd Class Darren Harrity carefully lowered into the water. (Air Station North Bend/U.S. Coast Guard) A Coast Guard spokesman called it “an amazing story,” a “monumental effort,” of the sort he’d never heard or seen before. It started with an emergency call to the Coast Guard on marine radio at 1:40 a.m. Tuesday morning. The crew of the Jamie K, a 52-ft. fishing vessel, had run aground about 250 yards off Cape Blanco, Ore., lost power and was taking on water. The four fishermen on board were abandoning ship and and headed for their life boats. That’s a routine call for the Coast Guard. They chopper over to the scene, lower a hoist and a swimmer and one by one, bring up those stranded in the water. But there was nothing routine about what happened next. The Coast Goard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter took off from Coast Guard Station North Bend, about 60 miles north of Cape Blanco on the Pacific. It arrived at the scene fine, and began what seemed at first like a standard rescue, lowering Petty Officer 2nd Class Darren Harrity carefully into the water. Coast Guard officer Darren Harrity is lowered from a helicopter into the ocean Cape Blanco, Ore. for a daring rescue mission in which he saved four fishermen. (Facebook/ U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Northwest) But then something went wrong and they couldn’t get the hoist back up. “A mechanical failure,” Chief Petty Officer David Mosley, a Coast Guard spokesman in Seattle told The Post. “I think the pilot said, ‘Harrity, you’re going to be doing a lot of swimming tonight,” Harrity told KPTV. And he did. He swam 250 yards over to the lifeboat, said Mosley, in five-foot waves, water already slick with fuel, the air thick with fuel. He got the first man to leave the life raft, grabbed him with one arm, and with the other and the aid of his fins, swam 250 yards back to shore. Then he swam back to the lifeboat, another 250 yards, grabbed the second fisherman and hauled him back to shore. Then it was back to the lifeboat, another 250 yards, and back to shore with the third man. Then he returned to the lifeboat, yet another 250 yards to get the fourth fisherman, and safely returned him to shore. Only then did he stop swimming. “It was just me and my muscles and that’s it,” Harrity told the TV station. It was “just a heroic effort,” said spokesman Mosley. The 52-foot commercial fishing vessel Jamie K sits aground near Cape Blanco, Ore., on July 21, 2015. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Air Station North Bend) It was also what Harrity had been training for since the age of 19, and not without some trauma. Harrity grew up in South Florida and “fell in love with the water,” as he tells it in an essay he wrote for the Web site, Shallow Water Blackout Prevention, becoming an avid surfer, swimmer and spear fisherman. He dreamed of joining the Coast Guard while in college and trained rigorously in a rescue swimmer program, which requires “immense underwater confidence.” His normal swim workout, he said, was a lot of laps, followed by eight “50-meter underwater laps with no breath,” and then “then 60 seconds treading water between laps for rest.” During one of his underwater training exercises in 2007, he blacked out. A swimmer in the adjacent lane noticed something was wrong and pulled him out, as Harrity tells it. But he almost died. He had no pulse. And all he remembered was waking up in a hospital five days later. “I was thankful to be alive, he wrote,”but my dream of joining the Coast Guard looked grim. When I was finally able to work out and go for a run I got full-body cramps.” But he said, he “stayed positive and worked hard,” and a year later joined the Coast Guard, graduating with honors as a helicopter rescue swimmer. The winner of our recent Red’s giveaway, Darren Harrity, has shared with us his powerful story of a near death… Posted by Shallow Water Blackout Prevention on Tuesday, October 7, 2014 And that was great news Tuesday morning for Jake Leach, and the other fishermen on the Jamie K. “Thank you everyone for your support and concern about the boat the the crew,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “Glad everything went the way it should and that everyone made it out in one piece. As for the boat, it’s gone. “Sure will miss the old girl,” he wrote. Mosley couldn’t find enough words to describe his awe at Harrity’s extraordinary rescue. “It’s an amazing story,” said Mosley, a “monumental effort,” “an amazing kind of feat. But that’s what our rescue swimmers train for.” ||||| A dramatic rescue played out early Tuesday morning, in darkness along the Southern Oregon Coast. Petty Officer 2nd Class Darren Harrity, an aviation survival technician assigned to Coast Guard Air Station North Bend, answered the rescue call. "I was just falling asleep and the alarm went off," said Harrity. FOX 12 spoke with Petty Officer Darren Harrity, 27, by Skype and got his take on one incredible early morning rescue. The rescue began with a call to save the four man crew of a 52-foot fishing boat that hit the rocks near Cape Blanco. The men had jumped into a life raft, but had no way to get to shore. Because of heavy winds and some nearby cliffs, the Coast Guard Air Crew couldn't hoist the men up, instead, they had to hoist Harrity down. "I think the pilot said, 'Harrity, you're going to be doing a lot of swimming tonight'...I think is what he said." Meaning Harrity would have to personally swim each of the four men from the life boat to the beach about 250 yards away. He'd have to do that four separate times. "So yeah the first guy hopped in the water and he helped me kick a little bit and yeah we made it, all four of them," said Harrity. Harrity rescued all four men without using a flotation device. "It was just me and my muscles and that's it," laughed Harrity. He did have some help, something most people avoid, rip currents. "It was actually a nice rip there near the cliff and it was basically just a circle and yeah it helped out quite a bit." In the end, it was mission accomplished with Harrity swimming the equivalent of a mile in cold, dangerous conditions. "It felt pretty good until the helicopter left and I had to hitch a ride back," Harrity said. It was too dangerous to give Harrity a ride back with the other four men in the helicopter. The Coast Guard said the fishing boat, the Jamie K., did leak some fuel into the water, but crews are working to contain the spill. The fishing boat was also reportedly carrying 10,000 pounds of shrimp. As for Harrity, it was just another day on the job in his 8 year Coast Guard Career. Copyright 2015 KPTV-KPDX Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.

– When the Coast Guard in North Bend, Ore., got a report early yesterday that the crew of a commercial fishing vessel was stranded in a life raft after their boat started taking on water, it sent a chopper, a USCG release notes. But after 27-year-old rescue swimmer Darren Harrity was lowered into the water, the copter's hoisting mechanism malfunctioned—and Harrity realized he would have to rescue the four men, each wearing a survival suit, on his own, KOIN reports. "I think the pilot said, 'Harrity, you're going to be doing a lot of swimming tonight,'" he tells KPTV. And that's exactly what he did, pulling each man 250 yards to shore in the dark, through 57-degree water, 5-foot waves, and 30mph winds, per KOIN. He didn't have a flotation device, either. "It was just me and my muscles and that's it," he tells KPTV. He reveals to the station what did assist him: rip currents. In a guest post on the Shallow Water Blackout Prevention site, Harrity notes he "grew up as an avid surfer, swimmer, and spear [fisherman]" in Florida and that the Coast Guard swimming rescue program he underwent required "immense underwater confidence." He proved that confidence yesterday with his 1,750-yard accomplishment, but then the helicopter, which met the men on shore and loaded them up, was apparently too heavy to carry Harrity as well—so he hitched a ride home, per KPTV. A Coast Guard spokesman, meanwhile, tells the Washington Post that Harrity's "monumental effort" was "an amazing kind of feat. But that's what our rescue swimmers train for." (The Coast Guard recently saved a man and his dog stranded at sea.)

Kathleen Bartlett, 31, of Denver, was killed when she was struck by lightning Friday; three others, including her husband, were hurt They were newlyweds united in part by a love for the outdoors, and just days after their July 11 wedding at the Denver Botanic Gardens, the couple went for a hike on Mount Yale. Kathleen Bartlett and Ryan Pocius were just above tree line Friday afternoon when, in a flash, everything changed. Bartlett, 31, was killed and Pocius, 32, injured when they were struck by lightning. Less than a week after his wedding, Pocius is suddenly a widower. They were at 12,400 feet when the strike happened at about 1:15 p.m., but because their location was outside cell service, witnesses had to hike to get a signal and couldn't place a 911 call until 2:05 p.m., according to Chaffee County authorities. Emergency crews were dispatched but did not reach the couple until between 4:30 and 5 p.m. Then, Flight for Life Helicopters were delayed by weather. Pocius was finally evacuated on a helicopter around 5:45 p.m. His wife was pronounced dead on the mountain. It appears that Bartlett died instantly, Randy Amettis of the Chaffee County Coroner's Office said. Two other hikers, who were not with Bartlett and Pocius, were also hit by the lightning strike but had only minor injuries. They were able to "self-evacuate," according to Undersheriff Derek Bos. Bartlett and Pocius met at a bar where she worked part time, and the chemistry was instant, she wrote in a post on their wedding website. Advertisement "We ended up having more things in common than we first thought, including a shared appreciation for kids' movies, yoga, sarcasm and love for the outdoors," Bartlett wrote on the couple's page on theknot.com. "It became apparent very quickly that we had both found 'our person.' Six months after we started dating seriously, we found ourselves engaged and the rest is history!" Bartlett's profile picture on Facebook, last updated Wednesday, shows her wearing her wedding dress holding a bouquet of flowers as Pocius, eyes closed, kisses her on the cheek. Bartlett is smiling broadly, her eyes looking to the sky. Matthew Nussbaum: 303-954-1666, mnussbaum@denverpost.com or twitter.com/MatthewNussbaum Lightning deaths Kathleen Bartlett, killed Friday in Chaffee County, is the first lightning fatality in Colorado in 2015 and the 21st since 2005, based on figures kept by the National Weather Service: 2014: A man and a woman on consecutive July days at Rocky Mountain National Park in Larimer County 2013: Two farmworkers in August in Larimer County 2012: None 2011: A man in August in Custer County 2010: A man in June in Chaffee County 2009: A man in June in Weld County 2008: Four were killed in July: two graduate students in Larimer County, a sheepherder in Mineral County and a teenager in Custer County 2007: A man was killed while jogging in July in Jefferson County; another person was killed in September in El Paso County 2006: Six total were killed: a man in May in Park County; three people in separate incidents in June, two men in Adams County and one man in Jackson County; a teenager in July in Teller County; and a man in September in Montrose County 2005: A man was killed in September in Otero County ||||| Ice on the side Neither of us were looking. If anything, we were AVOIDING the pursuit of a relationship. But (how life usually happens) the unexpected occurred. One rainy afternoon, Ryan walked into the bar where I was working part-time as a cocktail waitress. He ordered a scotch, with ice on the side. I immediately started to give him a hard time, because I knew he planned to dump the ice in the scotch, and therefore was only "dirtying more dishes for me". Regardless, I brought him the drink with ice on the side. (And needless to say, he smiled and dumped it right in). Turns out his Grandpa used to drink scotch that way. We proceeded to talk and laugh the entire time he and his friends were there. In fact, they were the only people in the entire bar. He asked for my number before he left, so we might "watch a movie or grab some coffee sometime." Turns out, we ended up having more things in common than we first thought, including a shared appreciation for kids' movies, yoga, sarcasm and love for the outdoors. It became apparent very quickly that we had both found "our person". Six months after we started dating seriously, we found ourselves engaged and the rest is history! ||||| 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 ||||| BUENA VISTA, Colo. (CBS4) – The woman killed by lightning in Chaffee County on Friday has been identified by authorities. Kathleen Bartlett, 31, of Denver, died on Friday while hiking Mount Yale near Buena Vista. Bartlett was hiking with her newlywed husband Ryan Pocius, 32, who is also from Denver. He was also struck by lightning and was described as being in critical condition at the hospital. The lightning strike happened on the Denny Creek Trail at 2 p.m. at an elevation of approximately 12,500 feet, which is about 2,000 feet below the summit. A father and son from Colorado Springs were also struck in the area at approximately the same time, and they both suffered minor injuries but were able to walk to safety. Their names have not been released. It took search crews more than two hours to reach the Denver man and woman. A Flight for Life helicopter was also delayed in getting to the scene to transport the man to the hospital due to stormy conditions. Officials with the National Weather Service said there were only two lightning strikes that hit the ground on Mount Yale on Friday. There were only 2 CG lightning flashes in the Mt Yale region yesterday. One of these flashes caused a fatality. #lightningsafety #cowx — NWS Pueblo (@NWSPueblo) July 18, 2015 Mount Yale is one of Colorado’s 14ers in the Collegiate Peaks in the Sawatch Range.

– On July 11, Kathleen Bartlett and Ryan Pocius were married. Six days later, Pocius became a widower. Tragedy struck during a Friday afternoon hike on Mount Yale in Colorado. The Denver Post reports the couple were at 12,400 feet, just above the tree line and about 2,000 feet below the summit, per CBS Denver, when they were hit by lightning. The Chaffee County Coroner's Office says Bartlett, 31, likely died instantly. Pocius, 32, was taken from the mountain via helicopter about 4.5 hours later—a rescue slowed by the fact that witnesses had to hike at least 2 miles down the mountain, then drive to a place where they had cellphone reception, reports 9News. The Post describes Bartlett and Pocius as outdoors-lovers who had married at the Denver Botanic Gardens. The couple's wedding website recounts how they met at a bar where Bartlett, a teacher, worked as a part-time cocktail waitress; she gave Pocius a hard time for ordering scotch with ice on the side. He asked for her number, and they quickly realized "we had both found 'our person.' Six months after we started dating seriously, we found ourselves engaged." The Denver Channel has this quote: "She was a soft, gentle breeze in any space she graced. Our family is saddened by her passing, yet certain that Katie-Bug is in a loving, blissful, and perfect space." According to National Weather Service data, Bartlett is the first person to be killed by lightning this year in Denver; the Mount Yale region was hit by just two cloud-to-ground lightning flashes on Friday.

macOS Sierra 10.12.1, released yesterday , includes hidden Apple Pay images that depict the brand new MacBook Pro with an OLED touch panel that's set to be announced by Apple on Thursday, October 27.In addition to confirming that such a product is in the works, the images give us our first full look at the redesigned MacBook Pro ahead of its launch. An OLED touch panel is located on top of the keyboard, where the function keys would normally be placed, and it very clearly supports Touch ID, as it is seen used with Apple Pay.As has been rumored, the touch panel, which may be called the " Magic Toolbar ," appears to be contextual, changing based on what's on the screen. In the images, Apple Pay dialog is depicted, asking a customer to confirm a purchase with a finger on the panel. It appears Touch ID is built into a nearly-invisible power button located next to the display.Aside from the OLED touch panel, the new MacBook Pro looks similar in design to the existing models. It looks like the 13-inch MacBook Pro is used in the images, suggesting the machine will gain speakers located at the side of the keyboard.Thickness can't be determined from the orientation of the MacBook Pro in the images, but rumors suggest the new machine is thinner and lighter weight than existing models. A redesigned hinge can be seen in the images, suggesting it is indeed quite a bit thinner. Also visible are much flatter keys, similar in design to the keys of the Retina MacBook, which use a new butterfly mechanism.Ports are not visible, but based on past part leaks, we're expecting four USB-C ports and a headphone jack, with the HDMI port, MagSafe port, and SD card slot being eliminated.Apple will announce the new MacBook Pro on Thursday, October 27 at 10:00 a.m. A new MacBook Air model is also expected, and new iMacs are a possibility. MacRumors will provide live coverage of the event both on MacRumors.com and on the MacRumorsLive Twitter account.(Thanks, Richard!) ||||| 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. ||||| 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

– Apple's new MacBook Pros are due to be revealed on Thursday. If images leaked by MacRumors are to be believed, the refresh will continue a long-running Apple tradition of removing beloved legacy features: the MacBook Air shed the optical drive, the iPhone 5 introduced the Lightning Port (making years of legacy chargers and docks useless), and most recently the iPhone 7 removed the headphone jack. Now, the new MacBook Pros appear to be removing the physical Escape key in favor of a touch-sensitive OLED strip and Touch ID. While the change isn't likely to be a problem for most regular users, it will be a major pain for one group of power users: programmers. As Popular Mechanics explains, the Escape key is integral to quick operation of a popular text editor called Vim. As this video shows, the Escape key is used to toggle between editing and navigation modes. While the key could probably be remapped, many programmers have built up years of muscle memory, and the initial reaction to the news on Twitter was total dismay. History has proven that people will probably get over it, though; and if they don't, external keyboards featuring escape keys will still work with the new Macbook Pros.

YUCAIPA (CBSLA.com) — An Inland Empire man Sunday chased down a purse thief who stabbed a mother in a parking lot, only to be stabbed himself. Troy Cansler, of Yucaipa, died from his injuries. The Good Samaritan’s wife is still trying to make sense of it. “He didn’t think about what might happen. He always thought he was invincible,” Cansler’s wife, Autum, said. “I always thought he was pretty invincible, too…but he wasn’t. But that was pretty heroic what he did.” The attack happened Sunday night in a parking lot on the 33000 block of Yucaipa Boulevard. Police say the female victim was with her 2-year-old child. She put her purse on the roof of her car when the thief snatched it. She confronted him and he stabbed her with a knife. Cansler saw what was happening and chased down the suspect, who fatally stabbed Cansler. “He died a hero, knowing that he did something good, and that he saved two people, not only one, by taking his own life. And that’s the ultimate thing you can do,” Cansler’s daughter Jordyn Glazier said. The mother Cansler helped save is home from the hospital and recovering. Police were able to track down the suspect, who was hiding at a nearby bar after the attacks. “I just want to know why. Why would they want to rob a woman with a baby? What did they think they were going to get from her?” Autum Cansler said. Glazier says she’s trying to stay strong: “I just ask for everyone that knows me and that sees me on here that they just give me hope when I go back to school.” ||||| A 26-year-old Yucaipa man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and attempted murder charges in connection with an alleged purse-snatching that turned deadly, prosecutors said. Deputies were called to the Stater Bros parking lot on Yucaipa Boulevard around 9:37 p.m. on Sunday after a report of an armed robbery and assault, according to a news release from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. When they arrived, deputies found Krystina Hanrahan suffering from apparent stab wounds, the release stated. The 26-year-old woman told deputies that a man, later identified as Vincent DeLeon, stabbed her and stole her purse. Hanrahan who was with her toddler when she was assaulted said that a stranger came to her aid and ran after her attacker. That stranger was Troy Cansler. Investigators said Cansler caught up with DeLeon in the area of 4th Street near Yucaipa Boulevard. The two struggled and 47-year-old Cansler was fatally stabbed, the release stated. DeLeon was arrested a short time later. Hanrahan was stabbed five times; twice in the arm and three times in the chest. On Tuesday, she described Cansler as an angel. “I spoke to his mother today and I said thank you for raising someone who would put their life on the line,” Hanrahan said. Cansler’s daughter said her dad was just being himself; helping out someone in need. “I’m very proud,” said 12-year-old Jordyn Glazier. “He was everything I could ask for in a dad… everything and more,” she said. A Facebook memorial page was set up Monday for Cansler.

– A 47-year-old dad is dead after police say he chased down an assailant who robbed and stabbed a woman near Los Angeles. Authorities say the assailant stole a 26-year-old woman's purse in a grocery store parking lot and stabbed her five times in front of her toddler Sunday night. At that point, a stranger named Troy Cansler came to her aid, chased the attacker, and then got fatally stabbed in the ensuing struggle, reports CBS LA. The woman did not suffer life-threatening injuries, and for that she thanks her savior. "I spoke to his mother today, and I said thank you for raising someone who would put their life on the line,” Krystina Hanrahan tells KTLA-TV. Police arrested Vincent DeLeon, 26, and charged him with murder and attempted murder. Says Cansler's 12-year-old daughter: "I'm very proud. He was everything I could ask for in a dad."

Methodology Hollywood pays its biggest stars millions of dollar per film. Some are worth the money. Based on their last three projects, these 10 stars are not. We used data gathered from our Celebrity 100 research and Box Office Mojo to calculate how much, on average, each star's last three films earned at the box office per dollar of pay. Think of it like a star return on investment number. ||||| Poor Eddie Murphy desperately needs a comeback. Remember back in the day when he was so funny on Saturday Night Live and in movies like Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop? His voice work has helped make movies like Shrek and Mulan tolerable for adults, and even his family-friendly movies, like Norbit and Dr. Dolittle, were good for some chuckles. But lately, Murphy's career has just collapsed. Imagine That, A Thousand Words and Meet Dave were colossal flops. Last year's Tower Heist, which was supposed to be something of a return to form for the comedian, failed to wow at the box office, earning $153 million on an estimated budget of $75 million. (In order to even come close to turning a profit, a movie has to earn twice its production budget in ticket sales, plus the millions spent on marketing.) Murphy then backed out of hosting the Oscars, which didn't help his reputation. His string of flops lands Murphy at the top of our Most Overpaid Actors list for 2012. We estimate that for every $1 Murphy was paid for his last three films, they returned an average of $2.30 at the box office. To compile our list, we used data on actors' earnings gathered for our Celebrity 100 list. Box office grosses and budget estimates are from Box Office Mojo. We looked at the last three films each actor starred in over the last three years that opened in more than 2,000 theaters, calculating the return on investment for the studios who pay his (or her) salary. Ranking second behind Murphy is a newcomer to our list: Katherine Heigl. For every dollar she was paid on her last three movies, they earned an average of $3.40. After hits like Knocked-Up, 27 Dresses and The Ugly Truth, Heigl's quote shot up to the $12 million range. Unfortunately, the films she's made at that price point have failed to deliver. Her most recent film, One For The Money, earned only $37 million on an estimated $40 million budget. Heigl needs to step away from the expensive star vehicles and rebuild her career. Her next release is the ensemble pic The Big Wedding, which hits theaters in April. Featuring Robert DeNiro, Susan Sarandon and Amanda Seyfried, the movie could give Heigl a chance to show how funny she can be when the pressure is off. In past versions of our overpaid actors roundup, we looked at each actor's films over the last five years. This year, we cut back to the last three years to give the list a more contemporary focus. That dropped Drew Barrymore from the top 10, but not because she has anchored any smashes lately. Barrymore was our worst-performing actor last year -- her films earned only 40 cents for each $1 she was paid. However she hasn't starred in three big releases over the last three years. We don't count ensemble films where there is no clear star like Barrymore's 2009 film He's Just Not That Into You, which was actually a hit. Reese Witherspoon ranks third on our list with an average $3.90 return for every $1 she was paid. Witherspoon is one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood, but her choices lately have been questionable, like 2010's How Do You Know. With a ridiculously high budget of $120 million -- a big chunk of which went to salaries for Witherspoon and big-name co-stars Paul Rudd, Jack Nicholson and Owen Wilson -- the romantic comedy never had a chance of turning a profit. It grossed just $49 million at the box office, making it one of the worst-performing films of 2010. Her most recent film, This Means War, didn't help much. The $65 million action comedy did OK, earning $157 million worldwide, but it wasn't enough to get Witherspoon off of our most overpaid list. Sandra Bullock makes a surprise entry in fourth place with a $5 return for every $1 she was paid. In 2009 Bullock starred in one of the biggest films of the year, The Blind Side. Not only did it earn $310 million at the box office globally, it was made for just $30 million, making it one of the most profitable films of the year. It was also a big earner for Bullock, who had a profit-sharing deal on the project. But her two other films of the last three years were stinkers: All About Steve and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. [Bullock's representatives insist that Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close should not have been included in our calculations for the actress because she was not the star of the film. If you took that film out and added in The Proposal, her return on investment number would be much higher.] Rounding out the top five is Jack Black, whose films returned only $5.20 for every $1 he was paid. Last year's comedy The Big Year barely registered at the box office. Big-name stars like Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson couldn't overcome poor reviews and a less than sexy topic -- birdwatching. It earned only $7 million. Follow me on Twitter at DorothyatForbes. [newsincvid id="23907120"]

– Classics like Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop made Eddie Murphy a star. But he's been starring in flops lately, and now he lands atop Forbes' list of the most overpaid actors. The mag ranks them based on their last three movies, looking at the return studios received for every dollar earned by the star: Eddie Murphy: Imagine That, A Thousand Words, and Meet Dave all died. His bailing on the Oscars' hosting gig added a little extra tarnish. Box office: $2.30 per Murphy dollar. Katherine Heigl: One For the Money is the latest of her box office flops. Maybe the upcoming ensemble pic The Big Wedding with Robert DeNiro and Susan Sarandon will help rebuild her career. Box office: $3.40 per Heigl dollar. Reese Witherspoon: 2010's How Do You Know was a low point, with its crazy-high $120 million budget and $49 million return. This Means War fared better, but not enough for her to duck Forbes' list. Box office: $3.90 per Witherspoon dollar. Sandra Bullock: The Blind Side rocked in 2009, earning $310 million globally with just a $30 million budget. But All About Steve and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close did poorly. Box office: $5 per Bullock dollar. Jack Black: Last year's The Big Year earned just $7 mllion. Box office: $5 per Black dollar. Click for Forbes' full list.

A lesson in responsibility turned into a frightening ordeal for a suburban mother and her daughter recently after police were called on the little girl while she walked her dog. NBC 5's LeeAnn Trotter has the story. A lesson in responsibility turned into a frightening ordeal for a suburban mother and her daughter recently after police were called on the little girl while she walked her dog. According to Wilmette resident Corey Widen, she allowed her eight-year-old daughter Dorothy to walk the family’s dog Marshmallow near their home. Widen says that a neighbor then called police, saying that the girl was walking around the neighborhood unaccompanied by an adult. “She was gone for five minutes,” Widen said. “I was in the backyard and I could see her through the yard.” After police investigated and found nothing wrong, according to Widen, DCFS contacted her two days later as part of an investigation into the matter. “Apparently this (neighbor) was not happy with (police) and they called DCFS and told them my daughter was under five and had been unsupervised for over an hour and a half,” she said. Widen then posted about her ordeal on Facebook, and says she received lots of calls from others that have gone through similar situations with DCFS. “These are upper-middle class, stay-at-home moms who have been investigated because someone didn’t have anything better to do with their time and called police on them,” she said. In a response to NBC 5, the agency says that the investigation concluded that the allegations of mistreatment were “unfounded.” “The hotline narrative said the caller reported that the child was five years old or less,” the agency said in a statement. “We went out and investigated, and the investigation has already been unfounded. We don’t control the calls that come into our hotline. Something made someone think that there was a concern, and we don’t know without checking it out.” The agency says that the caller told them that the little girl was playing in a parking lot and was unaccompanied, and now Widen says she is working with a non-profit to propose reforms to the child welfare system, and to help others better navigate the system. ||||| A mother in Illinois said she felt “shock, anger and fear” after being investigated by state child services when a neighbor called authorities to report her 8-year-old daughter walking the family dog around the block alone. “When I found out what the call was about, I just couldn't believe it,” Corey Widen told “Good Morning America.” The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services recently investigated the mother -- identified by local reports as Wilmette resident Corey Widen -- after a concerned caller reported to the DCFS hotline that the child walking was "5 years old or less," Alissandra Calderon, communications director for DCFS, told ABC News in a statement. WBBM The caller also stated that he or she had called the police in the past to report the girl playing in a parking lot, Calderon said. “The call should have never gotten as far as it was. The initial call was for an unattended 5-year-old, and once they knew I didn't even have a 5-year-old, it should have stopped there,” Widen said. “I don't think it should have made it past the hotline that a little girl walking her dog needs to be investigated.” Widen said her daughter was expecting a friend to come over for a playdate after taking the family's Maltese pup, Marshmallow, for a walk around the block in their Wilmette neighborhood, the Chicago Tribune reported. Instead, it was police who came knocking at the door. Widen, who homeschools her kids, said she tasked Dorothy with walking the dog to give her some responsibility and independence. “This was something we did to start giving her more independence because I didn't feel she had enough, so I wanted to make that happen,” her mother said. She added, “Every 8-year-old is different. Every neighborhood is different. Every parent is different. So you can't make an overall judgment like that.” Police did not press charges, but that wasn't enough to satisfy the anonymous caller, who decided to call DCFS after the officers left, Widen told CBS Chicago affiliate WBBM. “Don't judge a book by its cover. You don't know every situation. You don't know every child and when you do things like this, you overwhelm an already overwhelmed system with nuisance calls like this. And kids and families who need help don't get it then.” WBBM The investigation found the call to be "unfounded," Calderon said, adding that DCFS does not "control the calls that come into our hotline" and that's why the department investigated the case. "Something made someone think there was a concern, and we don't know without checking it out," Calderon said. Widen told the Chicago Tribune that the only time her home-schooled daughter is unsupervised is during the daily walks with Marshmallow. In addition, Widen can see her daughter through the window during the majority of the walk, she told the Tribune. WBBM Widen allowed her daughter and 17-year-old son to get the dog last year after they agreed to take turns walking her, she said. It is unclear what day the walk took place. Calderon said, "No further information is available," and a public information officer for the Wilmette Police Department did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment. Widen's story has re-ignited arguments over "free-range parenting," a concept that involves limited parental supervision and encourages children to function independently. In May, a law signed by Utah Gov. Gary Herber went into effect to legalize free-range parenting and allow children to do things like traveling alone to school. ||||| It was a walk to remember — or forget. Earlier this month, 8-year-old Dorothy Widen took her family dog Marshmallow for a walk around the block near her family’s suburban Chicago home. When she returned, there was a knock on the door — but instead of her expected playmate, it was the local cops, according to the Chicago Tribune. As it turns out, a neighbor had called authorities after seeing Dorothy alone with the dog, stating the child was less than 5 years old and had been outside and unattended for 90 minutes, NBC 5 reports. “For something like this to happen to me, there’s something really wrong,” Widen, 48, who home-schools her daughter, told the Tribune. “She was gone for five minutes. I was in the backyard and I could see her through the yard.” After a chat, cops cleared Widen of any wrongdoing — but two days later she received a call from the Department of Children and Family Services after the same neighbor seemingly called the agency to complain about the instance again. “The funny thing is … I’m a joke with my friends because my kids are around me all the time,” Widen added to the Tribune. After posting about the saga on Facebook, Widen heard from other mothers who’d experienced similar investigations. RELATED: An Expert Weighs in on the Best Age for Kids to Get a Smartphone, Travel Overseas, Read Harry Potter and More “These are upper-middle class, stay-at-home moms who have been investigated because someone didn’t have anything better to do with their time and called the police on them,” she said. In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, the DCFS said the case was closed. “The hotline narrative said the caller reported that the child was 5 years old or less. The caller reported calling police before about the girl playing in a parking lot,” the statement read. “We went out and investigated, and the investigation has already been unfounded. We don’t control the calls that come into our hotline. Something made someone think there was a concern, and we don’t know without checking it out.” Widen is the latest in what appears to be an increasing number of moms who have had the police called on them for allowing their children to play outside unsupervised or leaving them in a car to run into a grocery store; author Kim Brooks wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about having a warrant for her arrest issued after leaving her 4-year-old in a car on a cool day with the windows cracked to run a five-minute-errand. She mentioned other similar cases, including a mother who let her child go to the park unsupervised and another who had to leave her children in the car when she couldn’t find childcare during a job interview; both were arrested and their children removed from their custody. A Texas mom was arrested for letting her children play in her cul-de-sac while she watched from her lawn. Every state has different laws about the age in which children can be left unsupervised; a handout from the Child Welfare Information Gateway (last updated in 2013) states that children in Illinois need to be 14, though in Oregon they can be 10, and in Maryland, 8. Instead of firm ages, many states simply offer guidelines about milestones and safety measures related to leaving children alone, and in March, Utah became the first state to pass a law about “free-range parenting,” stating that child neglect does not include “permitting a child, whose basic needs are met and who is of sufficient age and maturity to avoid harm or unreasonable risk of harm, to engage in independent activities.” According to the New York Times, such activities include walking or biking to and from school, playgrounds and nearby stores. For her part, Widen hopes this is a lesson in the dangers of mommy-shaming and stranger intervention with parenting decisions. “Everyone needs to allow the parent to do what is best for their family,” she told the Tribune. “No one will dictate my parenting choices.” ||||| CHICAGO (CBS) — Walking a dog alone is a right of passage for many kids, but the simple task got one north suburban family in a lot of trouble, even leading to an investigation by the Department of Children and Family Services. CBS 2’s Mai Martinez reports from Wilmette with the story. The little girl at the center of the controversy just recently started walking her dog around the block in the upscale North Shore suburb. But one of those walks caught the eye of a neighbor, who called police and set off a legal nightmare for the family. “I think it’s a crazy waste of resources,” the girl’s mother, Corey Widen, said. While police never pursued charges, DCFS launched an investigation after someone saw Widen’s daughter, Wendy, on her solo walk. Shortly after the eight-year-old got home, a Wilmette police officer rang the doorbell. “I was like really scared,” Dorothy said. “I saw the police just there, like the police’s car and I heard the like sirens going off.” When asked to describe her reaction when she first saw the police, Widen said, “for a split second I thought maybe it was fundraising.” She quickly learned that wasn’t the case. Widen says the officer called to her home by a neighbor who saw her daughter walking alone had left without incident. “Apparently whoever call the police didn’t think the police were a good enough judge of what was OK and not OK. Then they called DCFS. The police did not call DCFS,” Widen said. An investigation was launched and Widen hired an attorney to clear her name. The matter was resolved in less than two weeks, but Widen said she was left with many questions and felt “mom-shamed.” “You never know who did this to you and it turns your life upside down.” she said. “I’m a homeschooled mom and I’m always with my kids. You can accuse me of a lot of things, not supervising them, is not one of them. My entire life revolves around them.” As for who will walk Marshmallow the dog in the future, the girl said she wants to keep doing it. She said she’s sharing her story because she’s learned other mothers have found themselves in similar situations. Widen hopes DCFS will evaluate how and why investigations are launched. CBS 2 reached out to DCFS multiple times for comment on this story, but never received an explanation or statement. ||||| Just after returning home from a walk around the block with her dog, Marshmallow, an 8-year-old Wilmette girl expected a visit from a playmate. Instead, police officers arrived at the family’s door. An anonymous caller had contacted police after seeing the girl walking the dog alone, said her mother, Corey Widen. While police never pursued charges, the seemingly common activity launched an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigation to see if Widen was neglecting her children, she said. “For something like this to happen to me, there’s something really wrong,” said Widen, 48, who agreed to let her 8-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son get the Maltese puppy last year as long as everyone took turns walking her. Widen, who asked that her daughter’s name not be used, said the girl’s walk around the block — most of which Widen says she can see out her windows — is the only time her home-schooled daughter is unsupervised. “The funny thing is … I’m a joke with my friends because my kids are around me all the time.” READ MORE: Chicago's kids often commute alone. Here's what parents need to know » Widen’s story is not unique. Mothers in the Chicago area and across the country have found themselves at the center of investigations by police or child welfare officials after their children were spotted alone but unharmed — playing in parks or left for minutes in a car parked outside a store — activities that could pass for typical or harmless but now are perceived by some as unacceptable. When Chicago author Kim Brooks decided to leave her then-4-year-old son in the car for a few minutes on a cool day to run an errand, she was shocked when a stranger called police to report it. “I didn’t really understand why it was happening,” she said. “I certainly felt ashamed. Not because I thought … I did something horrible, but because whenever you are called out for behavior, especially when it has to do with mothering, (it’s shameful).” Brooks, who was visiting her parents in her Virginia hometown when the incident occurred about six years ago, eventually completed community service and parenting classes in exchange for prosecutors there agreeing not to pursue misdemeanor charges, she said. The 40-year-old Edgewater mother wrote about her experience in a new book, “Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear,” out Tuesday. She said she has heard from other mothers who have had similar experiences — all reported by someone who thought their children were in danger when they weren’t actually at risk. Even if mothers are eventually cleared by police or child welfare officials — which Widen says happened in her case — the families are unnecessarily put through invasive and stressful investigations that are a waste of time and resources, experts say, adding that the problem stems from vague laws that often ensnare well-meaning parents who are trying to give their children freedom or responsibility. Sarah Shatz Kim Brooks, of Chicago, is author of “Small Animals: Parenting in the Age of Fear.” Kim Brooks, of Chicago, is author of “Small Animals: Parenting in the Age of Fear.” (Sarah Shatz) And the expectation that mothers should keep a constant eye on their children, even when there’s little to no real risk, is one that does not often extend to fathers, said Barbara Risman, sociology professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “This shaming mechanism underlies the cultural logic that women should spend all their time making sure their children are never alone,” Risman said. “The opposite is true of dads. No one presumes fathers have a moral responsibility to take care of (their children). When they do, they get praise and positive reinforcement.” The judgment placed on moms who give their children more freedom is not logical, Risman added. “We create street myths about dangers, and then everyone fears that it will happen to their child. And then we overcompensate. Children are not allowed the freedom really to become themselves.” Brooks said this leads to subjective reporting to police based on what someone perceives as wrong, often based on a fear of what could happen, not what actually is happening. And “in the last generation or two, we’ve had a radical revision of what is (accepted as) safe for children.” But those charged with investigating child abuse and neglect cases say it’s important to thoroughly check out all allegations, and it’s hard to create a system that doesn’t have at least some level of subjectivity. “We want to investigate … because you just don’t know,” said DCFS spokesman Neil Skene. “You also don’t want to say (to the public), ‘Don’t call us unless it’s serious.’ There are all these other cases where we say, ‘if only someone had called us.’” Like in many states, the law in Illinois is vague. It defines a neglected minor as a child younger than 14 left “without supervision for an unreasonable period of time without regard for the mental or physical health, safety or welfare of that minor.” But DCFS investigations are separate from criminal ones; even if police decide a parent has not broken the law, there could still be child welfare repercussions. DCFS last year revised some of its rules pertaining to inadequate supervision cases, now offering clearer definitions. As part of a settlement this year in a class action lawsuit brought by parents who say they were wrongfully cited for neglect under the previous rules, some parents may now request a review and possibly get their citations withdrawn, Skene said. That’s important because if DCFS has made a finding of neglect, there are consequences included being barred from certain job or volunteer opportunities. The Chicago-based Family Defense Center, which defends parents and advocates for reforms in DCFS policies, has defended mothers who have been reported for leaving their children alone for even a quick walk to take out the trash, said Executive Director Rachel O’Konis Ruttenberg. “They might not all eventually have a finding made against them … but it’s traumatic.” The revised rules have made things “a little more fair now,” said Sara Gilloon, the center’s director of legal services, but “nobody can stop someone from calling police” or DCFS. That’s what happened to Natasha Felix, a Chicago single mother. A passer-by’s call to a DCFS hotline sparked a two-year battle that eventually ended with the Illinois Appellate Court throwing out a child neglect citation. The caller in 2013 saw Felix’s three children, ages 5 to 11, and their 9-year-old cousin playing in a park, unaware that Felix had been checking on them from the window of her Ukrainian Village apartment every 10 minutes.

– The mom of an 8-year-old in suburban Chicago is railing against a "crazy waste of resources" that ended in what CBS Chicago describes as a "legal nightmare." The Chicago Tribune details how on Aug. 2, Corey Widen's daughter took the family dog, Marshmallow, for a walk around their Wilmette neighborhood. Shortly after the girl returned, Widen found local police at her front door, asking how long her daughter had been out and how old she was. The cops, who'd been called by a neighbor concerned at spotting the child by herself, were satisfied with Widen's answers. But a call was then also placed (not by the cops) to Illinois' Department of Child and Family Services, with the caller claiming the child was younger than 5 years old, had been left unattended for 90 minutes, and was playing in a parking lot, Widen and DCFS tell NBC Chicago. "She was gone for five minutes … and I could see her through the yard," Widen says. A two-week-long DCFS probe ensued, and Widen was forced to hire an attorney. The investigation found there was no child neglect, with DCFS noting in a statement to People that "we don't control the calls that come into our hotline. Something made someone think there was a concern, and we don't know without checking it out." ABC News notes Widen's story, which she posted on social media, has thrown new fuel onto the "free-range parenting" fire, and Widen says after she revealed what had happened, she heard from other "mom-shamed" mothers who've gone through similar things. "For something like this to happen to me, there's something really wrong," Widen tells the Tribune, adding she home-schools her daughter. "I'm a joke with my friends because my kids are around me all the time."

Bill de Blasio, who transformed himself from a little-known occupant of an obscure office into the fiery voice of New York’s disillusionment with a new gilded age, was elected the city’s 109th mayor on Tuesday. His landslide victory, stretching from the working-class precincts of central Brooklyn to the suburban streets of southeast Queens, amounted to a forceful rejection of the hard-nosed, business-minded style of governance that reigned at City Hall for the past two decades and a sharp leftward turn for the nation’s largest metropolis. Mr. de Blasio, the city’s public advocate, defeated Joseph J. Lhota, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, by a margin of about 49 percentage points, with 99 percent of the vote counted. It was the most sweeping victory in a mayor’s race since 1985, when Edward I. Koch won by 68 points, and it gave Mr. de Blasio what he said was an unmistakable mandate to pursue his liberal agenda. ||||| Bill de Blasio overwhelmingly was elected mayor Tuesday, becoming the first Democrat to lead New York in 20 years and ushering in an era of activist liberal governance in the nation’s largest city. With 84 percent of precincts reporting results, de Blasio was trouncing Republican Joe Lhota, a protégé of former mayor Rudy Giuliani, by 73 percent to 24 percent early Wednesday. De Blasio campaigned on a mantle of progressive change following Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s 12 years in office, highlighting what he saw as “a tale of two cities.” The moneyed Manhattan elite have had their mayor, he argued, and now the 46 percent of New Yorkers living at or near the poverty level need one of their own. De Blasio’s administration will be a laboratory of sorts for modern progressivism — testing whether an anti-establishment activist can effectively manage a sprawling municipal government and lessen growing inequality between the rich and poor. “Tackling inequality isn’t easy. It never has been, and it never will be,” de Blasio said in a victory speech at the YMCA gymnasium in his Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope. “The challenges we face have been decades in the making, and the problems we set out to address will not be solved overnight. But make no mistake: The people of this city have chosen a progressive path. And tonight we set forth on it — together, as one city.” 1 of 31 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Elections around the country View Photos From Detroit to Virginia, a look at some of the races drawing voters to the polls Tuesday. Caption From Detroit to Virginia, a look at some of the races drawing voters to the polls Tuesday. Nov. 5, 2013 New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) exits a voting booth after casting his ballot at a polling center in Mendham, N.J. Eduardo Munoz/Reuters Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. But de Blasio also faces a series of immediate challenges as he takes charge of a city government with some 300,000 employees, a $70 billion budget and a dizzying web of intersecting interests. He will have to negotiate several city labor contracts that are due for renewal and overhaul the leadership of agencies, including the New York Police Department, which he has sharply criticized for the anti-crime policy known as “stop and frisk.” De Blasio also confronts serious obstacles to his tax policy agenda beyond the borders of this overwhelmingly Democratic city, including potential opposition from Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and lawmakers in Albany. “He walks into a new experiment,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a New York Democratic strategist. “How does a mayor bridge the income gap? It’s a very difficult set of circumstances. The president hasn’t been able to do it. The governors haven’t been able to do it.” Despite New York’s overwhelmingly liberal tilt, de Blasio will become New York’s first Democratic mayor in 20 years. He will follow the reigns of Bloomberg, a billionaire Republican-turned- independent, and Rudy Giuliani, a law-and-order Republican who led the city as it recovered from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Lhota ran as a continuation of the Bloomberg years, while attacking de Blasio as a leftist, anti-police extremist. The New York Post featured de Blasio on its front page Monday above the headline, “Back to the USSR!” — a reference to a student trip by de Blasio to the Soviet Union 30 years ago. But the attacks gained little traction. De Blasio’s friends say he is at once principled and practical, and that the business community will warm to him as he shifts from campaigning to governing. “He’s very reasonable,” said public relations strategist Matthew Hiltzik, a longtime friend. “He has a core set of beliefs, but he doesn’t go into things assuming he has all the answers.” A key pillar of de Blasio’s campaign was to expand pre- kindergarten classes — something President Obama has championed. De Blasio has said he would pay for it by raising taxes on residents making more than $500,000, subject to approval from the state legislature. Many de Blasio supporters believe his victory shows that talking plainly about higher taxes carries less political risk than assumed. “Most people regard raising taxes as a political killer, but Bill’s not afraid because he knows we need it,” Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.) said in an interview before a Monday campaign appearance with de Blasio in the Bronx. But legislative leaders in Albany are skittish about the issue, especially with lawmakers standing for reelection in 2014. Democrats control the Assembly in the state capital, but Republicans have a slim majority in the Senate. Cuomo, who would have to sign any tax law, has said he supports expanding pre-K programs, but opposes raising taxes. The tax debate will be an early test of the new mayor’s relationship with the governor, who was President Bill Clinton's Housing and Urban Development secretary when de Blasio worked as a HUD appointee in New York and New Jersey. Such ties are typical for de Blasio, 52, who has built a network over decades in New York politics. He was Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign manager during her 2000 Senate race, then served eight years on the New York City Council before being elected as the city’s public advocate in 2009. De Blasio’s blunt discussion of wealth has resonated with many voters, especially African Americans and disenchanted liberal whites. The issue helped fuel his surge from fourth place in a crowded Democratic field in early summer to head of the pack by the September primary, when he defeated City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. The Brooklyn resident has said he would become the first mayor in the city’s history with children enrolled in public schools. “He knows our issues because he has children in the trenches with us,” said Freddie Sneed Jr., 55, a truck driver. Jef Pollock, a New York-based pollster who worked on de Blasio’s 2009 campaign for public advocate, said de Blasio has built a diverse coalition of supporters by tapping into emotions surrounding income disparity and resentment over Bloomberg’s Manhattan-focused mayoralty. “That reliance on old-school, coalition politics, where we just assume that people are going to vote for the candidate who looks and sounds like them — that mold has been broken,” Pollock said. On the campaign trail, de Blasio played up his solidarity with the often-neglected outer boroughs. At Monday’s rally in the Rochdale Village housing complex in Queens, city parks employee William Hightower said, “It’s about time we had change. “Classism here is a huge problem,” Hightower, 48, said. “It’s haves and have-nots. But he understands about the have-nots.” On Tuesday night, de Blasio’s victory speech was perfectly pitched to the have-nots. “The growing inequality we see, the crisis in affordability we face, it has been decades in the making,” de Blasio said. “But its slow creep upon this city cannot weaken our resolve, and it won’t.”

– The New York City mayor's race wrapped up with little suspense tonight: As expected, Bill de Blasio will replace Michael Bloomberg and become the city's first Democratic mayor in two decades, reports the New York Times. It called the race based on exit interviews as the polls closed at 9pm. De Blasio, the city's public advocate (an elected position) easily defeated Republican Joe Lhota, a former Giuliani deputy. De Blasio presented himself as an unapologetic liberal and as a clear break from Bloomberg. "I'm calling for fundamental progressive change," he said after voting today. One item on his agenda is universal early education, to be paid for by a tax hike on the rich. In a pre-results analysis, Philip Rucker of the Washington Post saw it this way: "The de Blasio administration would become a laboratory for modern progressivism—a test of whether an anti-establishment activist can effectively manage a sprawling municipal government and whether his policy prescriptions can actually lessen growing inequality between the rich and the poor."

Jay Z is squeezing out his own lemonade. An insider reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly that the rap icon, 46, is recording songs that will reveal his version of events surrounding the rough patch in his eight-year marriage to Beyoncé. “Jay is working on an album telling his side of things," explains a source close to the couple. On April 23, Queen Bey, 34, shocked fans with the HBO video special and album Lemonade, addressing long-­standing rumors about her husband’s fidelity with lyrics like “This is your final warning / You know I give you life / If you try this s‑‑t again / You gon’ lose your wife.” During the 60-­minute art film, the Houston native lays bare a deeply personal journey of betrayal and reconciliation, culminating with a final image of her and her husband. Some insist the film is not autobiographical. “People want to make it about her,” her dad and former manager, Mathew Knowles, tells Us. “Maybe she dug deep and made it about something we all could relate to." But insiders say the "Sorry" singer's words speak her truth. “The album says it all,” notes a source close to the couple. “It explains how she and Jay got through their problems. The good outweighed the bad, so she gave him a second chance.” Insiders say the parents of 4-year-old Blue nearly split in 2014 after the infamous Elevatorgate incident. In May 2014, TMZ leaked footage of Beyoncé’s sister, Solange Knowles, attacking Jay Z in an NYC elevator at a Met Gala afterparty. At the time, sources told Us, Solange flipped because the rapper had been flirting with one of his alleged conquests, designer Rachel Roy. (Roy has denied any wrongdoing.) Ivy Park clothing company cofounder Beyoncé contemplated divorce at the time, according to an insider. But now the pair are "better than ever," says the source close to the couple. For more on Beyoncé and Jay Z's marriage — including new details on Elevatorgate, the threat that "freaked" out Jay Z and who served as Beyoncé's de facto therapist — check out the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands now. Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox! Want stories like these delivered straight to your phone? Download the Us Weekly iPhone app now! ||||| If you interpreted Beyoncé’s Lemonade to be the conclusive mic drop on speculation about her marriage to Jay Z, you may have been wrong. A new report states that Bey’s husband of eight years is planning on responding to his wife’s many lyrical accusations—that he cheated on her, took her for granted, and did not treat her like the queen she is—with his own album telling “his side of things.” Although reports immediately following Lemonade’s release stated that Jay Z was essentially fine with the album—a publicity and sales coup for the couple and their streaming service, Tidal—Us Weekly reports that the rapper “is recording songs that will reveal his version of events surrounding the rough patch in his eight-year marriage to Beyoncé.” The item continues, “‘Jay is working on an album telling his side of things,’ explains a source close to the couple.” (A moment to pause and fantasize about the inevitable track “Becky with the Good Hair.”) Musically, such an emotionally insightful project from Jay Z would prove a welcome respite from his typical rap tracks replete with luxury-lifestyle references. A personal-response album from Jay Z would clearly be a genius business move, as well; not only will the lyrics incite even more publicity for the world’s reigning pop-culture couple, but they nullify the need for the couple to do any additional interviews related to their projects. (Not that they have been doing many face-to-face interviews in the past few years.) By seemingly laying their relationship qualms bare in their music, what more is there for them to say to reporters? Reports last week substantiated the couple’s business savvy with the extraordinary—if not extraordinarily calculated—album. “Jay was involved in the creation of Lemonade and knew every song Bey was going to release,” a source close to the couple told E! News. “He knew the lyrics; he knew the implications. He had to approve the songs before release. . . . Jay is all about self-expression, so he gets it. . . . When it comes to music, they are very in it together and supportive of each other’s craft.” The source added, “Jay is a very smart businessman. . . . Bottom line is that they are both really smart and they both saw dollar signs.” After the release of the album, which cannily coincided with the start of Beyoncé’s Formation world tour last week, the couple were photographed side by side in Miami. Another photo showed Jay Z smoking a cigar with a friend, seemingly relaxed in the immediate hours after he was put on blast for extramarital relations. For the week, tabloids painted the duo as a happy couple fiercely determined to save their marriage. “He understands the reasoning [behind her decision to release such personal tracks],” a “source” leaked last week. “This is part of the process of being transparent. And they have healed. He has been very humble about the experience. Beyoncé is the love of his life and he will do what it takes.” And while the couple played along with that narrative—with Beyoncé dedicating “Halo” to “my beautiful husband” on the first stop of her tour, adding, “I love you so much”—Beyoncé set her P.R. pendulum in full swing again on Monday. Set to arrive at the Met Gala—the splashy fashion evening that jump-started speculation about her marriage two years ago, thanks to that elevator incident—the performer notably elected to attend the event solo. A picture is worth a thousand words. Or in Bey and Jay’s world, a picture is worth a thousand headlines.

– It looks like Jay Z and Beyoncé are about to reinvent the rap beef by combining it with marriage counseling. Less than two weeks after Beyoncé dropped Lemonade—with its "many lyrical accusations" against her husband—comes word Jay Z is preparing his musical response, Vanity Fair reports. "Jay is working on an album telling his side of things," a source tells Us Weekly. In the immensely popular Lemonade, Beyoncé makes multiple references to Jay Z's infidelities and other transgressions during their eight-year marriage. And while Hova has been said to be OK with the lyrical content of Lemonade, it seems he has a few things to get off his chest, as well. If nothing else, a Jay Z album about Queen Bey "would clearly be a genius business move," according to Vanity Fair.

Five days on, the commentariat continues to drop anvils on Tom Perkins, who may have written the most-read letter to the editor in the history of The Wall Street Journal. The irony is that the vituperation is making our friend's point about liberal intolerance—maybe better than he did. "I perceive a rising tide of hatred of the successful one percent," wrote the legendary venture capitalist and a founder of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Mr. Perkins called it "a very dangerous drift in our American... ||||| Tom Perkins’s letter to The Wall Street Journal last week, in which he compared liberal attacks on the one percent to the Holocaust, was an anthropologically useful document that displayed the deranged persecution complex that afflicts large segments of America’s superrich in the Obama era. Lest you think Perkins is merely one slightly addled old man, who has slipped into a Howard Hughes–esque cosseted stupor, today the Journal devotes an editorial to defending him. The Journal concedes that Perkins’s chosen metaphor may have gone a tad too far (“The comparison was unfortunate, yet provocative”). But, the Journal's editors argue, the fact that so many people disagreed with it proves the basic thrust of his argument: “The vituperation is making our friend's point about liberal intolerance — maybe better than he did.” Liberals are mocking wildly rich people who compare their plight to the victims of the Holocaust, and even if this mockery does not currently rise to the level of persecution of the Holocaust itself, really the spirit of the thing is about the same. The editorial proceeds to defend its thesis by rattling off a list of terrible things that have happened to one percenters in the Obama era. The actual policy agenda that harms the rich — the restoration of Clinton-era tax rates for incomes over $400,000 a year, higher investment taxes to help fund Obamacare, regulation of Wall Street — is curiously absent from the list. Instead the Journal wanders through a farrago of partisan fever dreams. For instance: Maybe the critics are afraid that Mr. Perkins is onto something about the left's political method. Consider the recent record of liberals in power. They're the ones obsessed with the Koch brothers and other billionaires contributing to conservative causes, siccing journalists to trash them and federal agencies to shut them down. “Siccing journalists to trash” the Koch brothers can be translated as “a number of news reports and opinion commentary has criticized the Koch brothers.” Just like what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany! I follow the right-wing media pretty closely, and I have no idea what federal agencies shut down the Koch brothers, though I would simply point out that, ipso facto, they have not been shut down. Obama declared war on the Kochs, and now ED KOCH IS DEAD. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images Or: President Obama's IRS targeted conservative political groups for scrutiny in an election year and has now formalized that scrutiny in new regulatory "guidance" for this election year. Actually, after it initially looked like the IRS was targeting conservatives, it emerged that the agency was simply looking for political groups of all persuasions abusing their nonprofit status, and employed search terms for liberal groups like “progressive” or “occupy.” IRS targeting of the right has become the dead body of Vince Foster, about which the Journal also harbors suspicions. The most hilarious item in the Journal’s Nuremberg indictment is Obama’s alleged excoriation of the rich: Obama doesn't merely want to raise taxes on the rich to finance the government. He says "millionaires and billionaires" simply make too much money and deserve to be punished. One good clue that somebody is mischaracterizing a source’s words is if they omit important context from the quote. Here the Journal hasn’t merely omitted context, they’ve omitted the entire quote. Or, rather, they quote three words — “millionaires and billionaires” — and then simply assert the parts about Obama thinking the rich make too much money and need punishment. They truncated the entire quote. The Journal’s editorial underscores that the widespread mockery of Perkins, far from piling on a bewildered plutocrat, actually understates the broader problem. Perkins’s letter provided a peek into the fantasy world of the right-wing one percent, in which fantasies of an incipient Hitler-esque terror are just slightly beyond the norm. The Journal editorial defines persecution of the one percent as the existence of public disagreement. Liberals are mocking Perkins, therefore Perkins is basically right. For Perkins to be wrong — for the rich to enjoy the level of deference the Journal deems appropriate — a billionaire could compare his plight to the victims of the Holocaust and nobody would make fun of him at all.

– When billionaire Tom Perkins compared the plight of the 1% today to the plight of the Jews during the Holocaust, pretty much everyone seemed to disagree with him. But now the Wall Street Journal (home to Perkins' letter to the editor) jumps to Perkins' defense with an editorial claiming that all this backlash just proves Perkins' point, perhaps even more successfully than he did. "While claiming to be outraged at the Nazi reference, the critics seem more incensed that Mr. Perkins dared to question the politics of economic class warfare," and took issue with things like how many Rolexes Perkins owns, the editorial reads. "The liberals aren't encouraging violence, but they are promoting personal vilification and the abuse of government power to punish political opponents." As for the Holocaust comparison itself? "Unfortunate, albeit provocative." But at New York, Jonathan Chait guffaws at the editorial. Chait translates the Journal's message: "Liberals are mocking wildly rich people who compare their plight to the victims of the Holocaust, and even if this mockery does not currently rise to the level of persecution of the Holocaust itself, really the spirit of the thing is about the same." He goes on to dismantle the Journal's points, all of which only serve to display the "deranged persecution complex" many of the wealthiest Americans possess. "The Journal editorial defines persecution of the 1% as the existence of public disagreement. Liberals are mocking Perkins, therefore Perkins is basically right. For Perkins to be wrong—for the rich to enjoy the level of deference the Journal deems appropriate—a billionaire could compare his plight to the victims of the Holocaust and nobody would make fun of him at all." Click for his full column, or the Journal editorial.

Here’s the two-step proposal Boehner is circulating. Note that the title isn’t “An approach to raising the debt ceiling,” or “An approach to reducing the deficit and cutting spending.” It’s the: Two-Step Approach to Hold President Obama Accountable Republicans insisted that if the president wants his debt ceiling increase, the American people will require serious spending cuts and reforms. This two-step approach meets House Republicans’ criteria by (1) making spending cuts that are larger than any debt ceiling increase; (2) implementing spending caps to restrain future spending; and (3) advancing the cause of the Balanced Budget Amendment – without tax hikes on families and job creators. Although this is not the House-passed “Cut, Cap, and Balance,” it is a package that reflects the principles of Cut, Cap, and Balance. Here is more information on the plan: • Cuts that exceed the debt hike. The framework would cut and cap discretionary spending immediately, saving $1.2 trillion over 10 years (subject to CBO confirmation), and raise the debt ceiling by less – up to $1 trillion. • Caps to control future spending. The framework imposes spending caps that would establish clear limits on future spending and serve as a barrier against government expansion while the economy grows. Failure to remain below these caps will trigger automatic across-the-board cuts (otherwise known as sequestration). • Balanced Budget Amendment. The framework advances the cause of the Balanced Budget Amendment by requiring the House and Senate to vote on the measure after Oct. 1, but before the end of the year, allowing the American people time to build sufficient support for this popular reform. • Entitlement Reforms & Savings. The framework creates a Joint Committee of Congress that is required to report legislation that would produce a proposal to reduce the deficit by at least $1.8 trillion over 10 years. Each chamber would consider the proposal of the joint committee on an up-or-down basis without any amendments. If the proposal is enacted, then the president would be authorized to request a debt limit increase of $1.6 trillion. • No Tax Hikes. The framework included no tax hikes, a key principle that Republicans have been fighting for since Day 1. ||||| President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner escalated their battle over the national debt on Monday, pressing their arguments in a pair of prime-time television addresses as Congress remained at a loss over how to keep the United States from defaulting next week for the first time. The challenge facing any plan for reducing the debt was underscored when a new Republican proposal to raise the ceiling on federal borrowing was met Monday with misgivings by some conservatives and skepticism by many GOP freshmen. That called into question whether Boehner (R-Ohio) could even get his own caucus to back his approach. As Boehner tried to rally support for his two-step plan to cut $3 trillion in spending, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) offered a strikingly similar proposal for increasing the debt limit before the Aug. 2 deadline. The two leaders, however, remained bitterly divided over Boehner’s demand to hold another vote next year to further expand the government’s borrowing authority. With financial markets warily watching the Capitol Hill drama, Obama used his 15-minute address from the White House to urge “shared sacrifice” in tackling the debt, calling for deep cuts in federal spending to be coupled with higher taxes on the wealthy and on large corporations. He slammed Boehner for calling for another vote on the issue next year, saying: “We know what we have to do to reduce our deficits; there’s no point in putting the economy at risk by kicking the can further down the road.” Boehner countered with a shorter speech from the Capitol, in which he blamed the fiscal crisis on Washington’s spending and urged deep cuts to cure it. He said Reid’s plan lacks the kind of real spending cuts needed for the government to operate within its means. “While the Senate is struggling to pass a bill filled with phony accounting and Washington gimmicks, we will pass another bill,” Boehner said, predicting his approach would prevail. The government has exceeded its $14.3 trillion debt limit, and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has said that without action by Aug. 2, the government will not be able to pay its bills. Credit-rating firms warned that they could downgrade the U.S. debt, which could spur higher interest rates and cause aftershocks in global markets. Absent an agreement between Boehner and Reid, the House and the Senate are headed for a high-wire act this week. Neither leader was certain that he could rally the votes to win — with Boehner making the first move for a possible Wednesday vote. With few House Democrats expected to support his approach, Boehner would need the support of an overwhelming majority of his 240-member conference. But those hopes were dampened Monday by conservative opposition to the plan, highlighted by Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), who leads a conservative caucus of more than 170 GOP members. Jordan is one of 39 House Republicans who previously took a pledge vowing to increase the debt ceiling only in return for Congress sending to the states a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget. Reid’s measure faces its own hurdles because Republicans criticize some of his savings as accounting tricks. So Reid continued private talks with Senate Republicans in an effort to modify Boehner’s package to make it more palatable to Obama, who has previously said he would veto any proposal that provided only a short-term increase in the debt ceiling. Both plans call for deep reductions to federal agencies over the next decade, and neither would immediately require increased tax revenue or deep cuts to entitlement programs, such as Medicare. Boehner’s plan includes an immediate increase in the debt ceiling of up to $1 trillion, paired with $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade. A new bipartisan committee of 12 lawmakers would be directed to come up with an additional $1.8 trillion in deficit savings and send its recommendations to Congress for fast-track approval without any amendments allowed. If such a plan were approved, Obama could request up to $1.5 trillion in new borrowing authority early next year, and Congress could block it only with a two-thirds majority in each chamber. The Reid bill includes upfront spending cuts that would exceed the size of the proposed increase in the debt ceiling. This approach, too, would create a 12-member committee to produce a broad strategy for reducing the deficit by the end of the year. Although both bills propose to decrease agency spending, including $1.2 trillion at the Pentagon over the next decade, congressional budget analysts would credit the Reid bill with an additional $1.5 trillion in debt reduction. If the Boehner bill passed the House, Senate Democrats might use the legislation as the basis for raising the debt ceiling. They were continuing Monday to work with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on ways to modify the proposal, Democratic aides said. If the Boehner measure failed, Senate Democrats would push for their own measure. Highlighting the stakes were the dueling prime-time addresses, which were scheduled only hours beforehand. Speaking from the East Room, Obama warned that, without compromise, the government “would not have enough money to pay all of our bills — bills that include monthly Social Security checks, [and] veterans’ benefits.” In the professorial tone that has won admirers and critics, Obama explained what a default and the resulting downgrade of U.S. credit would mean. “Interest rates would skyrocket on credit cards, on mortgages and on car loans, which amounts to a huge tax hike on the American people. We would risk sparking a deep economic crisis — this one caused almost entirely by Washington,” he said. He rejected Boehner’s proposal for a short-term increase in the debt ceiling because it would leave the economy “held captive” to the threat of a default. “This is no way to run the greatest country on Earth. It’s a dangerous game that we’ve never played before, and we can’t afford to play it now,” the president said. In remarks that immediately followed Obama’s, Boehner said he “gave it my all” in negotiating with the White House over a “grand bargain” that could have yielded trillions of dollars in savings and raised the debt ceiling through 2013. That effort failed, Boehner said, because Obama had increased his demand for more tax revenue, which Republicans adamantly oppose. “The president has often said we need a ‘balanced’ approach — which in Washington means: We spend more, you pay more,” Boehner said from his office suites at the Capitol. The speaker also challenged Obama to help him break the “grip” of the national debt on the stagnant economy. “We are up to the task, and I hope President Obama will join us in this work,” Boehner said. The speeches ended an intense day in Washington. Anxiety hung over several closed-door party caucuses across the Capitol. After a 75-minute briefing Monday afternoon, rank-and-file Republicans exited a basement room at the Capitol with mixed reviews of Boehner’s approach. He can count on a core group of at least 100 longtime GOP members, lawmakers said. Many Republicans, particularly among the 87 freshmen, said they need more time to process the complex details of a proposal that would set up a handful of votes over the next six months. “I think there are some very interesting parts, and the bill has not been put in print yet, and until it’s put in print, I don’t know that I can say one way or the other,” said Rep. Diane Black (Tenn.), whom GOP leaders often point to as a favorite among the newcomers. Asked Monday if his plan could win enough Republican votes, Boehner deferred to House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (Calif.). “We ask all Democrats that want to join with us to put this House on the right path, that they could join with us on this bill,” said McCarthy, the party’s top vote counter. Democrats, in turn, are urging Republicans to back Reid’s approach, saying GOP members have previously supported every item in the package. Among these are $100 billion in savings identified during bipartisan talks led by Vice President Biden, including up to $15 billion in cuts to farm subsidies and $40 billion from reducing fraud and abuse in government programs. There also is $400 billion in savings from reduced interest payments on a lower national debt and $1 trillion from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. House Republicans have been reluctant to count war savings in debt-limit talks, but Democrats note that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) included those savings in the budget blueprint that passed the House this year. Still, a Ryan spokesman dismissed the Reid proposal. “An honest budget cannot claim to save taxpayers’ dollars by cutting spending that was not requested and will not be spent,” Conor Sweeney said in an e-mail. “Senate Democrats are employing a budget gimmick that will not fool the credit markets.” But Reid said his proposal represents the only option for pushing a debt-limit increase through Congress — and getting it signed by the president. “This isn’t a game of chicken. This is a game of reality,” Reid told reporters. “We’re about to go over a cliff.” ||||| In response to Mr. Obama, Mr. Boehner said: “The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. That is just not going to happen.” Mr. Boehner urged the president to sign a Republican plan to raise the debt limit. “If the president signs it,” he said, “the ‘crisis’ atmosphere he has created will simply disappear. The debt limit will be raised.” Earlier in the day, in dueling news conferences on Capitol Hill, neither side showed any willingness to budge even though time was running very short, creating a distinct air of uncertainty around the Capitol about how the debt limit conflict would end. “We’re about to go over the cliff,” Senator Harry Reid , the Nevada Democrat who serves as majority leader, said Monday afternoon as he outlined his plan. The back and forth began when House Republicans rolled out a two-stage deficit reduction plan that would allow the $14.3 trillion federal debt limit to rise immediately by about $1 trillion in exchange for $1.2 trillion in spending cuts, and tie a second increase early next year to the ability of a new bipartisan Congressional committee to produce more deficit reduction measures. Mr. Reid dismissed the House Republican plan as a “nonstarter” and said Republicans were essentially trying to embarrass Mr. Obama in the middle of the 2012 election year by forcing another debt limit showdown. He said Democrats would not go along with any plan that did not guarantee a debt limit increase through next year. Democrats countered with a $2.7 trillion menu of spending cuts and an increase in the debt limit through 2012. Neither plan would require any new revenue. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. The approach assembled by Mr. Reid quickly received the president’s endorsement. Over the next 10 years, it would cut $1.2 trillion from federal agency budgets and wring savings from recurring programs like agriculture subsidies. Like some earlier Republican plans, the plan also counts about $1 trillion in savings from winding down combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan , a point objected to by House Republicans who consider such savings as budget trickery since they would occur regardless. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “The plan is full of gimmicks,” Mr. Boehner told reporters about the Reid proposal, saying it makes no “real changes in the spending structure of our government, and it doesn’t deal with the biggest drivers of our deficit and our debt, and that would be entitlement programs.” Rushing to beat the Senate to the punch, House Republican leaders were hoping to win approval of their measure on Wednesday and then send it to the Senate. The plan would cut current spending and put legal limits on future spending, saving what Republicans estimate to be about $1.2 trillion over 10 years. That approach would allow a debt limit increase that would extend into early next year. At the same time, a new 12-member committee evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans would be assigned the job of finding an additional $1.8 trillion in savings. The panel would have special privileges to bring legislation before the House and Senate, and its proposal would not be subjected to amendment or Senate filibuster . If the plan passed, the president could seek a further $1.6 trillion increase in the debt limit based on the new committee’s proposal. In addition, members of the Senate and House would also be required to vote on a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution after Oct. 1 but before the end of the year — a key demand from many House conservatives. With House Democrats likely to line up solidly against Mr. Boehner’s plan, the Republican leadership was pleading for support among the conservative rank and file, portraying it as the best alternative to end the impasse, even though it might fall short of the deep cuts many of the Republican newcomers want. Some of the most conservative Republican House members, including Representative Allen West of Florida , endorsed it after the leadership made its case in an afternoon meeting. But others were balking, putting the plan’s success at risk should the Republican leadership be forced to rely solely on Republican votes. By day’s end, several Republicans — including Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio , the head of the conservative Republican Study Committee — said Mr. Boehner did not have their vote. “I can’t support it in its current form,” said Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina , citing insufficient cuts and “the dearth of confidence I have in a 12-member commission being able to do what Congress hasn’t been able to do.” At least two Senate conservatives also came out against the House plan, showing that it would face some resistance there from both parties. Mr. Reid and his fellow Democratic leaders have their own vote problems since they will almost certainly need 60 votes to break a filibuster and advance their proposal. That would require Mr. Reid to hold all the members of his party and win over at least seven Republicans. Advertisement Continue reading the main story In a tactical move, Mr. Reid on Monday night declined to begin the procedural steps needed to force a Senate vote Wednesday, preferring instead to see how Mr. Boehner fared in the House.

– John Boehner and Harry Reid put forth starkly divergent plans for dealing with the debt ceiling, reports the Washington Post, with the White House jumping up to support the Senate Democrats' version and denounce the GOP's "my way or the highway approach." Boehner's vision is a short-term fix that's similar to the House's Cut, Cap, and Balance Act—but the House speaker says it's capable of passing both chambers, though the White House and Reid have branded it a "non-starter." Reid's plan reaches longer-term, but abandons earlier demands for significant revenue increases, notes Politico. A breakdown, via the Post's Ezra Klein: Boehner's plan, aka "The Two-Step Approach to Hold President Obama Accountable:" Cuts discretionary spending, to the tune of $1.2 trillion over a decade. Tasks a congressional panel with cutting another $1.8 trillion, likely via entitlement reform and savings, over a decade. Raises the debt ceiling by up to $1 trillion, about another six months. It could then be renewed a second time. No new taxes. Reid's plan: Would cut a smaller $2.7 trillion over 10 years, including an estimate $1 trillion from winding down wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The GOP is likely to brand this a sleight of hand, notes the New York Times. Extends the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion, which would run through 2013. Abandons Democrats' insistence on new taxes or revenues.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The J.M. Smucker Co. is withdrawing some shipments of dog food amid reports that it could be tainted with traces of a drug used to euthanize animals. The company said Thursday it is pulling back shipments of several varieties of wet canned Gravy Train , Kibble 'N Bits , Skippy and Ol' Roy brands. It said it is investigating how the euthanasia drug pentobarbital got into its supply chain and is focusing on a single supplier of a minor ingredient used at one manufacturing facility. The recalls come after WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., said it tested 15 cans of Gravy Train. It found nine cans, or 60 percent of the sample, tested positive for pentobarbital. Smucker cited experts noting that the low levels of the drug cited in the report do not pose a threat to pets. "However, the presence of this substance at any level is not acceptable to us and not up to our quality standards," said the company, which is based in Orrville, Ohio. It said it does not use meat from euthanized animals in its pet food. ||||| New Year’s Eve 2016 was no celebration for Nikki Mael and her family. “Nobody should have to go through what we went through,” said Mael. “Nobody. Not fair. I mean, I would give anything to see Talula again.” Within minutes of sharing a can of Evanger’s pet food among her five dogs, she was racing the lifeless animals to the emergency vet. UPDATE: Dog foods pulled from shelves nationwide after ABC7 investigation finds euthanasia drug “They were falling over. They were running into the walls. They were convulsing,” said Mael. The vets told her they weren’t sure what was going on, but that things didn’t look good. Hours later, devastating news. “They said Talula wasn’t going to make it,” said Mael, choking back tears. Desperate for answers, the family sent the remainder of the food to a specialized lab and drove Talulah’s lifeless body to a veterinary pathologist for a postmortem examination. “Poisoning from the dog food. That’s what killed her,” said Mael. But it wasn’t just any poison. It was pentobarbital: A lethal drug, most commonly used to euthanize dogs, cats and some horses. The deadly toxin is never permitted to kill animals that are part of the food supply and would violate federal law if it was. “Pet food violates federal law, is openly allowed by the FDA to violate federal law, billion dollar a year companies are making profit selling illegal adulterated products to unknowing consumers in the US every day,” said Susan Thixton, a pet food consumer advocate who’s been studying and writing about the pet food industry for decades. “Consumers have no information, “ said Thixton. “A consumer has to become a private detective to learn what’s really in their food.” So we decided to find out. We partnered with Ellipse Analytics, a lab that specializes in testing food for contaminants. “I think you have a duty to understand what you’re selling to human beings and pets, and I think that the obligation is on you to understand what is, and is not, in your product,” said lab founder, Kevin Hicks. We tested 62 samples of wet dog food, across more than two-dozen brands for the euthanasia drug pentobarbital. After months of tests and re-tests, one brand repeatedly came back positive for pentobarbital. In total, we tested 15 cans of Gravy Train. Nine cans — 60-percent of the sample — were positive for pentobarbital. And while the levels detected were not lethal, under federal law they are also not permitted at any concentration. Gravy Train is made by Big Heart Pet Foods and owned by Smucker’s. According to Neilsen data, it accounts for more than $40 million of the company’s annual revenue. Big Heart Brands is also the maker of Meow Mix, Milk Bone, Kibbles’n Bits, 9 Lives, Natural Balance, Pup-Peroni, Gravy Train, Nature’s Recipe, Canine Carry Outs, Milo’s Kitchen, Alley Cat, Jerky Treats, Meaty Bone, Pounce and Snausages. The Big Heart website touts “high-quality food” that meets “rigorous evaluation and testing requirements.” So how is pentobarbital, a drug not allowed to be used on animals intended for food, getting into the food? “It comes from euthanasia of animals using that euthanasia drug,” said Dr. Nicholas Dodman, chief scientific officer for The Center for Canine Behavior Studies and former director of the Animal Behavior Program at Tufts University. “So, these animals could be dogs, they could be cats, they could be horses - but how is it getting into the pet food? If they say it doesn’t come from dogs, cats and horses where does it come from? It doesn’t come from outer space.” Dodman says the level of pentobarbital in the food is really beside the point. “Whether it’s doing something or nothing, what’s it doing there? Where did it come from? If they don’t like the explanation that it's coming from animals that have been euthanized, what is their explanation as to how it gets in?” asked Dodman. We asked that question of both the FDA and Smucker’s as part of a request for an on-camera interview. Neither answered. Smucker’s declined our request for an on-camera interview and declined to answer any of our questions we provided to them, but gave us a statement which in part, says “We launched and are conducting a thorough investigation, including working closely with our suppliers, to determine the accuracy of these results and the methodology used.” The FDA, just a short distance from the WJLA studios, also declined repeated requests for an on-camera interview. Instead of speaking to us, and answering our questions, they suggested we contact the Pet Food Institute, which is the trade organization that represents 98 percent of the pet food industry. We asked them to reconsider that response to which they replied that it “will investigate the matter and take appropriate enforcement action.” One possibility as to how pentobarbital is getting into food? Experts tell us animals that have been euthanized are picked up by renderers who process the carcasses - which may be blended into pet food. In a 2004 report to Congress, sources for rendered materials were identified as, among other things, "dead animals from farms, animal shelters and other facilities." Under federal law, these are adulterated ingredients. Adulterated ingredients, which are defined partly as: “an animal which has died otherwise than by slaughter,” are illegal in all food for humans and animals. Yet in its own compliance policy, the FDA acknowledges it is violating the law and states: “pet food consisting of material from diseased animals or animals which have died otherwise than by slaughter, which is in violation of 402(a)(5) will be considered fit for animal consumption.” “The FDA tells industry ‘Yeah, it’s a violation of law, but go ahead, we’re not going to do anything,’” said Thixton. In a written request, we asked the FDA to explain its policy that is allowing adulterated ingredients into pet food. They did not provide an answer. As for Nikki Mael and her family, she says their confidence as consumers has been irreparably damaged. “I don't trust any dog food companies anymore. And reading that the law’s not enforced and it’s just kind of, ‘they do their own thing,’ I need to make sure that they’re eating human grade food.” Since Talula’s death, Nikki’s been making pet food at home, so she knows exactly what’s in it. She’s also the lead on a class action lawsuit against Evanger’s, the company that made the food the FDA attributes to Talula’s death. We tested several cans of Evanger’s for our report and those cans came back negative. “I miss Talula a lot. Not fair. But I hope that other animals can be saved by this,” said Mael. If you want to contact the FDA, Smucker’s or Big Heart Brands regarding this issue: FDA: 888-463-6332 Smucker’s: 888-550-9555 Big Heart Brands: 415-247-3000 Behind the scenes: How an analytical lab tests for contaminants in pet food: ||||| Feb. 16, 2018 -- The FDA on Friday warned pet owners that several popular brands of dog food has been found to include small amounts of a drug used to euthanize animals. The agency says it is investigating how pentobarbital wound up in certain shipments of Gravy Train, Kibbles 'N Bits, Ol’ Roy, and Skippy canned wet dog food. "The FDA’s preliminary evaluation of the testing results of Gravy Train samples indicates that the low level of pentobarbital present in the withdrawn products is unlikely to pose a health risk to pets," the agency says in its advisory. "However, pentobarbital should never be present in pet food and products containing any amount of pentobarbital are considered to be adulterated." J.M. Smucker Co., owner of the brands in question, said it has pulled specific shipments of Gravy Train, Kibbles 'N Bits, Ol’ Roy, and Skippy canned wet dog food. The move, which is not considered an official recall, came after a Washington, D.C., television station said it had several varieties of dog food tested in an independent lab. Those results, WJLA said, found several products that tested positive for pentobarbital. Pentobarbital is a barbiturate drug that is most commonly used in animals as a sedative, anesthetic, or for euthanasia, the FDA says. An agency spokeswoman told WebMD on Wednesday that the FDA is "thoroughly reviewing" the state's results and that the "agency will determine appropriate action." “Veterinarians and animal nutrition specialists, as well as the FDA, have confirmed that extremely low levels of pentobarbital, like the levels reported to be in select shipments, do not pose a threat to pet safety,” J.M. Smucker Co. spokesman Ray Hancart told WebMD in a statement. “However, the presence of this substance at any level is not acceptable to us and not up to our quality standards. We sincerely apologize for the concern this has caused.” Hancart says customers with questions or concerns can call 800-828-9980 or email the company through its website. Hancart says the company continues to investigate and is “extremely disappointed that pentobarbital was introduced to our supply chain.” ||||| An independent investigation, conducted by ABC7, looking into what’s in your dog’s food was followed by recalls from a major pet food company. According to ABC7, the ABC-affiliate launched the deep dive into dog food after the death of a Washougal, Washington, dog named Talula. Nikki Mael’s four dogs all became ill after eating a can of Evanger’s pet food on New Year’s Eve 2016. Distraught, the owner rushed all of her canines to the vet for treatment; all but Talula pulled through. Get push notifications with news, features and more. Mael sent the remainder of her dogs’ food to a lab for testing. The lab uncovered that the dog food contained pentobarbital, “a lethal drug, most commonly used to euthanize dogs, cats and some horses.” The use of pentobarbital is not permitted in animal meat used for food supply, so it should not show up in any pet or human food. The FDA later cautioned pet owners against feeding their pets Evanger’s shortly after Talula’s death, but Susan Thixton, a pet food consumer advocate, told ABC7 that unusual substances can end up in your pets’ food regularly. “Consumers have no information,” said Thixton. “A consumer has to become a private detective to learn what’s really in their food.” To save pet owners the aforementioned detective work, ABC7 partnered with Ellipse Analytics, a lab specializing in food testing, to test pet food. The station tested 62 samples of wet dog food from over 24 brands for pentobarbital multiple times over several months. Only one brand of food, Gravy Train, repeatedly tested positive for trace amounts of the euthanasia drug. Sixty percent of the Gravy Train samples came back positive. And while the amount of pentobarbital found was not a lethal level, any trace of the drug is not permitted in pet food. Gravy Train is made by the company Big Heart Pet Foods, which is owned by Smucker’s. Big Heart Brands is also responsible for the production of Meow Mix, Milk Bone, Kibbles’n Bits, 9 Lives, Natural Balance, Pup-Peroni, Nature’s Recipe, Canine Carry Outs, Milo’s Kitchen, Alley Cat, Jerky Treats, Meaty Bone, Pounce and Snausages. The question still remains how the drug made its way into the food, since it is often only found in the systems of cats, horses and dogs put down by the drug. Some worry this means these animals are being put into pet food, reports ABC 7, while others are more concerned that the drug is there at all and what its presence means about the quality of the food we are feeding our pets. Shortly after ABC7 shared its findings, Smucker’s announced Wednesday that it is voluntarily recalling shipments of Gravy Train, Kibbles ‘N Bits, Ol’ Roy, and Skippy dog food over concerns about the presence of pentobarbital, according to WebMD. “Veterinarians and animal nutrition specialists, as well as the FDA, have confirmed that extremely low levels of pentobarbital, like the levels reported to be in select shipments, do not pose a threat to pet safety,” J.M. Smucker Co. spokesman Ray Hancart told WebMD in a statement. “However, the presence of this substance at any level is not acceptable to us and not up to our quality standards. We sincerely apologize for the concern this has caused.” The products affected by this recall are listed below. Customers with questions or concerns about their pet’s food can call 800-828-9980 or email the company through its website. Gravy Train canned/wet dog food• Gravy Train 13.2 oz. with T-Bone Flavor Chunks (UPC: 7910052541)• Gravy Train 13.2 oz. with Beef Strips (UPC: 7910052542) Kibbles ‘N Bits canned/wet dog food• Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Burger Bacon Cheese and Turkey Bacon Vegetable Variety 12-Pack (UPC: 7910010377; 7910010378) • Gravy Train 13.2 oz. with Lamb and Rice Chunks (UPC: 7910052543)• Gravy Train 13.2 oz. with Beef Chunks (UPC: 7910034417)• Gravy Train 13.2 oz. with Chicken Chunks (UPC: 7910034418)• Gravy Train 13.2 oz. Chunks in Gravy Stew (UPC: 7910051933)• Gravy Train 13.2 oz. Chicken, Beef & Liver Medley (UPC: 7910051934)• Gravy Train 13.2 oz. Chunks in Gravy with Beef Chunks (UPC: 7910034417)• Gravy Train 22 oz. with Chicken Chunks (UPC: 7910051645)• Gravy Train 22 oz. with Beef Chunks (UPC: 7910051647)• KibblesN Bits 13.2 oz. Burger Bacon Cheese and Turkey Bacon Vegetable Variety 12-Pack (UPC: 7910010377; 7910010378) • Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Beef, Chicken, Vegetable, Meatball Pasta and Turkey Bacon Vegetable Variety Pack (UPC: 7910010382; 7910048367; 7910010378) • Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Beef, Chicken, Vegetable, Burger Bacon Cheese and Beef Vegetable Variety Pack (UPC: 7910010380; 7910010377; 7910010375) • Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Wet Variety Pack (UPC: 791001037; 7910048367) • Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Chef’s Choice Bistro Tender Cuts with Real Beef & Vegetable in Gravy (UPC: 7910010375) • Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Chef’s Choice Bistro Tender Cuts with Real Turkey, Bacon & Vegetable in Gravy (UPC: 7910010378) • Kibbles ‘N Bits 13.2 oz. Chef’s Choice Homestyle Tender Slices with Real Beef, Chicken & Vegetables in Gravy (UPC: 7910010380) Skippy canned/wet dog food • Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Select Cuts in Gravy with Beef & Bone Marrow (UPC: 7910071860) • Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Select Cuts with Burgers & Cheese Bits (UPC: 7910050243) • Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Chunks in Gravy with Smoky Turkey & Bacon (UPC: 7910050246) • Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Chunks in Gravy with Beef & Chicken (UPC: 7910050247) • Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Chunks in Gravy 3 in 1 Chicken, Beef & Liver (UPC: 7910050248) • Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Chunks in Gravy Chunky Stew (UPC: 7910050249) • Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Strips in Gravy with Chicken (UPC: 7910050244) • Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Chunks in Gravy with Beef (UPC: 7910050250) • Skippy 13.2 oz. Premium Strips in Gravy with Beef (UPC: 7910050245) Ol’ Roy canned/wet dog food• Ol’ Roy 13.2 oz. Turkey Bacon Strips (UPC: 8113117570)

– Four brands of dog food under the JM Smucker Co. umbrella have been recalled after a DC TV station tested one of the brands and found traces of a euthanizing drug used on dogs, cats, and horses in 60% of the samples. The AP reports that shipments of cans of Gravy Train, Kibble 'N Bits, Skippy, and Ol' Roy wet food have been pulled back after pentobarbital was found in nine of the 15 cans of Gravy Train that WJLA tested. The station, which commissioned a lab specializing in food testing for contaminants, also tested around two dozen other brands over several months, but there were no significant findings. People notes that Gravy Train is produced by the Smucker Co.'s Big Heart Pet Brands, which also makes Meow Mix, 9Lives, and Pounce pet edibles. The investigation was spurred after the death of a Washington state woman's dog a year ago. All four of Nikki Mael's dogs got sick on New Year's Eve 2016 after eating canned Evanger's dog food, and one, Talula, didn't make it. Mael sent the food out for testing, and the lab found it contained pentobarbital, which is banned from use in pet or human food. Efforts are now focused on how the pentobarbital got into the Gravy Train samples, with the FDA jumping into the investigation; the AP notes a supplier that provides one of the brand's lesser ingredients is being looked at. One somewhat stomach-churning possibility being bandied about: animals that were put down somehow ended up in the pet food. A rep from JM Smucker tells WebMD "extremely low levels" of pentobarbital aren't risky for animals, but that "the presence of this substance at any level is not acceptable to us and not up to our quality standards." (The FDA also warned about bones for dogs.)

Where does Hillary Clinton Stand? On April 12, 2015 former senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced her run for President of the United States. Find out where the democratic candidate stands on immigration, ISIS, the minimum wage and gay marriage. Video by Natalie ||||| will turn over her private email server and a backup thumb drive to the Justice Department, her spokesman confirmed Tuesday. The news comes just hours after the Office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General told Congress that her email server contained emails that have now been classified “top secret.” Spokesman Nick Merrill said Clinton “pledged to cooperate with the government’s security inquiry.” ADVERTISEMENT “She directed her team to give her email server that was used during her tenure as Secretary to the Department of Justice, as well as a thumb drive containing copies of her emails already provided to the State Department,” Merrill said in a statement provided to The Hill. “If there are more questions, we will continue to address them.” The statement added that Clinton has worked with State to "ensure that her emails are stored in a safe and secure manner." While Clinton turned over the emails she deemed work-related, she deleted a similar amount that her team said were strictly personal. Clinton’s use of her personal email server has dogged her since before she entered the presidential race, and some Democrats have worried that it has contributed to her fledgling poll numbers on trustworthiness. July polling from the swing states of Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia found that the majority of voters in all three states didn’t find her honest or trustworthy. And national polls from June found the same trend. That led to significant criticism from Republicans — specifically House Benghazi Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) — who have called on Clinton to turn over her server to ensure that she didn’t delete any emails that should have been turned over. Clinton and her team have bucked those repeated calls to relinquish control of her email server, asserting that she had already turned over any email that could be related to her role as secretary of State. “We don’t think we have to do that,” Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director, said in July on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” when asked whether Clinton needs to turn the server over to show that she’s trustworthy. It is unclear whether those deleted emails can be retrieved from the server. Merrill emphasized that Clinton has already provided the State Department with 55,000 pages of work emails in an initial inquiry.

– Hillary Clinton has agreed to turn over her private email server to the Justice Department, though it may not be worth much to investigators. As the Hill reports, it's not clear whether any of the emails that Clinton deleted after deeming them private can be recovered. She says she already has turned over the rest of the emails, related to her work as secretary of state. A spokesperson says Clinton also will turn over a thumb drive that has copies of the latter emails. Meanwhile, McClatchy reports on another complication: The intelligence community's inspector general told members of Congress "that two of four classified emails discovered on the server Clinton maintained at her New York home contained material deemed to be in one of the highest security classifications—more sensitive than previously known." The story says that some of Clinton's top aides are being drawn into the investigation.

Despite the increasing number of those who hold other faiths or no faith, Christians still wield substantial influence on our nation's cultural and ethical norms. After all, 73% of Americans still identify as Christian, according to a 2012 Pew Forum Study. So the fact that many churchgoers have changed their views about gay civil rights in recent years is one of the major under-reported reasons why same-sex marriage is now legal in nine states. It is also one of the reasons that the constitutional challenge to Proposition 8, which took away gay Californians' right to marry, may get a hearing in the Supreme Court this term (an announcement is expected on Monday). According to the Pew Forum, a majority of mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics now favor legalizing same-sex marriage. So when our more conservative Christian kin claim that gay marriage is against God and against the Bible, we beg to differ. And since Christians are a "people of the Word," we look to the Bible to justify our thinking. That's essential to Christianity, although all too often we get it wrong, at least at first. In various eras, those who claimed to follow Christ used specific Bible passages to argue that the Inquisition was God's will, the Crusades were a good idea, slavery was legitimate, women should not be allowed to own property or have the right to vote, disabled people must have sinned to deserve their disabilities and God hated Jews. TIMELINE: Gay marriage chronology Although each of these beliefs was based on the literal words of a particular Bible passage, all of them were in opposition to the message and life of Jesus and the prophets. So when Christians eventually rejected these positions, they returned to the Scriptures, in their original form, to reconsider the text. This time around, it's the same process. Most New Testament Greek scholars now point out that there are only three passages that deal with homosexuality in the New Testament — Romans 1:23-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-10 — and those passages don't deal with homosexuality as we define it today but rather with temple prostitution and other abuses. Because of dated (and often loved) translations, many versions of the Bible imply otherwise. As for the Old Testament, some Christians cite Leviticus 20:13, which commands death for men who lie with men. But most of us acknowledge that if we took all of the Old Testament's orders literally, at least half of us wouldn't make it to age 40, because of commands to kill those who commit adultery (Leviticus 20:10), kill rebellious sons who disobey their parents (Deuteronomy 21:18-21), kill anyone who works on the Sabbath (Exodus 31:15) and the like. Jesus never addressed the subject of homosexuality, other than what can be inferred from his example of loving and accepting everyone, especially the oppressed and those whom the religious establishment considered unclean. Some Christians will disagree, pointing out that Jesus said marriage was between a man and a woman. What they are referring to is Mark 10:2-12, where Jesus protested the practice of men getting rid of inconvenient wives by simply handing them a certificate of divorce. In this passage Jesus is objecting to a system that excessively penalized women, often causing financial devastation, loss of children and other unjust consequences. He was not saying anything about same-sex marriage, which didn't exist at the time. Jesus never spoke against homosexuality, but he did speak very clearly against divorce. Yet the majority of churches today — including those who view same-sex marriage as a sin — not only accept divorced members but also allow them to be church leaders. Why? Because marriage and divorce were different institutions in the time of Christ, and there are valid reasons for contemporary cultures to allow divorce in certain cases. If you surmise that in 30 AD two men or two women marrying would have been anathema had it even been under consideration, you're probably right. But why not make the same cultural allowances for gay couples 2,000 years later that Christian churches have long made for the divorced (as well as women, the disabled, and others who faced discrimination back then)? Literalism, says LGBT activist and Episcopal priest Susan Russell, leads to using Bible passages as weapons. "Instead of taking the Bible literally," she says, "we should take it seriously, with deep faithfulness to the Old and New Testaments' core values of compassion, justice and peace." An ever-growing number of Christian clergy and lay people now believe that rejecting gay civil rights because of a literal adherence to certain verses directly contradicts these themes. They point out how these views are hurting all of the church, especially its most vulnerable members: young gay people who are convinced that their very essence is sinful. Furthermore, they can no longer support unjust laws that penalize committed same-sex couples and their families. As more and more church members thoughtfully and prayerfully confront the evidence, it will only be a matter of time before the majority of Christians of all stripes become allies rather than antagonists for justice and equal rights for gay people. Then we will come out on the right side of history once again. C.S. Pearce is the author of "This We Believe: The Christian Case for Gay Civil Rights," and the director of media relations for Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Lincoln University. ||||| The Supreme Court, after taking most of the day to prepare new orders, took no action Friday on the ten same-sex marriage pleas now on the docket. It did agree to rule on whether taking a human gene out of the body for research is a process that can be patented. That case is Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, with the grant limited to that issue. The Justices also agreed to rule on legal protection for makers of generic drugs (Mutual Pharmaceutical v. Bartlett). The next opportunity for the Court to issue orders will be at 9:30 a.m. Monday. Nothing has ruled out the possibility that some actions on same-sex marriage could be announced at that time, although there is no indication that that will occur. It may be that the Court needs more time to decide what it wants to do next on any of the cases. If the Court has chosen to deny review of all of the cases, even that might not come out on Monday, since the chances are that there would be dissents from some of the denials, and it would take some time to prepare dissenting opinions. But denial of all of the cases is an extremely remote possibility anyway. If no orders on any of these cases emerge on Monday, the next indication of what the Court may be doing with the issue could come with re-setting them for the private Conference that will be held next Friday. It is not uncommon, in cases that have some complexity, for the Court to require more than one Conference sitting to decide how to proceed. Ordinarily, the Court re-schedules cases after releasing orders and opinions from a Conference. Thus, that could happen on Monday or Tuesday of next week — orders are due Monday, one or more opinions Tuesday, but only in cases already heard. At this point, any prediction about where the same-sex marriage cases stand at the Court is subject to serious error. The Court does not explain inactions, so silence can mean many alternative possibilities. The Court, though, does tend to follow fairly fixed patterns of activity. The announcement of grants on Friday is usually linked to a desire to get enough cases put on the decision docket to fill the next openings in the argument calendar. As of this morning, the Court still had eight slots open for argument during the March session. By announcing grants this afternoon, the Court gave counsel a few more days to prepare briefing in the two newly granted cases. Lawyers and other public Court watchers knew that the same-sex marriage cases were being considered at this morning’s Conference, because that fact was listed on the public docket page for each case. The Court had been due to consider the cases as early as September, but that was first put off until November 20, when all documents in all ten files would be available, and then to today’s Conference. When the Court re-sets a case or cases, it does not explain why. The same-sex marriage cases are complex because they involved a variety of constitutional issues, a series of procedural complexities, and then some scheduling considerations — such as who is to line up on which side of any granted case. If the Court is prepared to hear one or more of the cases, they still may want to re-write the questions in a form that they prefer to address, and that usually takes a bit of time. Although some of the Justices presumably have spent some time thinking about these cases, and perhaps having their clerks read some of the papers (and maybe doing so themselves), Friday’s Conference was very likely the first time that all nine Justices had a group conversation about them. If granting any cases was going to be easy, the chances are that an order saying so would have come out by early in the afternoon. The fact that no order emerged until after 3 p.m. was the strongest indication that the Court had been spending extra time on these ten cases, without reaching a conclusion. It would not have taken much time to write the order on the two cases that did get granted. On the two cases that the Justices did grant, the human gene patent case shapes up as a major case with potentially wide impact on scientific research, medical practice, and women’s health, in particular. The case involves the extraction of DNA from human body cells, in the form of “isolated” biological material, for purposes of study. An examination of mutant forms of two genes that are now held under patent monopolies can give a strong indication of whether a woman is at risk for hereditary breast or ovarian cancer. This case was before the Justices last Term, but the Court, rather than grant review of the human gene patentability, sent the case back to the specialized patent court — the Federal Circuit Court — for a new look in the wake of a decision last Term limiting the opportunity to patent claimed inventions on the application of the laws of nature. An invention that is nothing more than a recitation of a law of nature is not eligible for a patent; the Court said there must be a clear application of such a law, perhaps in a research or diagnostic setting, before it could be eligible for a patent. When the case returned to the Federal Circuit, it once again ruled that “isolated DNA” was patentable. In taking the case back to the Supreme Court this Term, a group of doctors, researchers, clinicians, and geneticists and their organizations asked the Court not only to rule on whether a human gene can be patented, but also whether the Federal Circuit was wrong in upholding a method patent held by Myriad Genetics, and whether it also was wrong in setting a narrow definition of who may sue to challenge the legality of a patent. The Justices, in granting review, limited their review to the single issue of gene patentability. The second case granted Friday is also a reprise of prior activity on a similar issue two Terms ago, along with some earlier Court precedents in the field of claims of harm done from drugs, medical devices or other consumer products. The issue in the case is whether federal law bars lawsuits claiming that a drug made by a generic manufacturer was defective in its design. A generic firm, Mutual Pharmaceutical Co., Inc., told the Court in its petition for review that the First Circuit Court was wrong in concluding that a generic company whose design had been challenged in court could avoid conflicting with federal law by simply ceasing to make its products. It appears that both of the cases will be scheduled for oral argument in March. Recommended Citation: Lyle Denniston, No action on same-sex marriage, SCOTUSblog (Nov. 30, 2012, 3:16 PM), http://www.scotusblog.com/2012/11/no-action-on-same-sex-marriage/

– Conservative Christians make the case that the Bible forbids gay marriage, so why have so many middle-of-the-road churchgoers changed their minds to support the idea? Because a familiar pattern on church matters is repeating itself, writes CS Pearce in the Los Angeles Times. It starts when more conservative members cite Bible passages to justify their cause—as they did for the Inquisition, the Crusades, slavery, women's suffrage, and now gay marriage. Over time, however, most Christians reject the literal interpretation for one more in keeping with the Bible's "core values of compassion, justice and peace." Pearce says most scholars agree that only three New Testament passages address homosexuality, though not "as we define it today but rather with temple prostitution and other abuses." And yes, the Old Testament says it merits execution, but the same applies to unruly sons and those who work on Sundays. "It will only be a matter of time before the majority of Christians of all stripes become allies rather than antagonists for justice and equal rights for gay people," writes Pearce. "Then we will come out on the right side of history once again." Read the full column here. (The Supreme Court may decide to take up the issue as early as Monday, reports SCOTUSblog.)

The skeleton of a man discovered in a school playground could be that of a 500 year old criminal or pirate. The remains were found by the City of Edinburgh Council at the Capital’s oldest working Primary School last year while survey work was being undertaken to build an extension. Victoria Primary School is situated close to the harbour in Newhaven, one of Scotland’s historic fishing villages. Workers expected to find remains of the original harbour and shipbuilding but instead uncovered human bones. Archaeologists were at first misled to believe the remains were Bronze Age because they were in such a poor condition and found alongside 4,000 year old shards of pottery. After being carbon dated to the 16th-17th Centuries, AOC Archaeology with forensic artist Hayley Fisher created a facial reconstruction of the skull. They believe the bones belonged to a man in his fifties. Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Edinburgh has an undeniably intriguing past and some of our archaeological discoveries have been in the strangest of places. “Thanks to carbon dating techniques, archaeologists now know that the skeleton was likely to have been a murder victim - and quite possibly a pirate. It’s fantastic that through the Council’s archaeology and museums service, we are able to investigate such discoveries and add to our understanding of Newhaven’s heritage.” A gibbet - commonly used to execute witches and pirates - stood on the edge of Newhaven dockyards 600 years ago and it is believed the man could have been murdered in the device for criminal behaviour or piracy and discarded in nearby wasteland. Due to the condition of the bones and location of his burial close to the sea and gibbet rather than any of three nearby graveyards, it is believed the man was likely killed before being displayed in plain sight of ships to deter fellow pirates. An unceremonious burial in a shallow, unmarked grave suggests he had no relatives or friends in the area. Laura Thompson, Head Teacher at Victoria Primary School, added: “As the oldest working primary school in Edinburgh, we are proud of our history and heritage and the school even has a dedicated museum to the local area. “The pupils think it’s fantastic that a skeleton was found deep underneath their playground. The archaeologists will hold a special lesson with some of the children about how they have used science to analyse the remains and it will be a good learning opportunity for them.” ||||| A skeleton discovered buried under a primary school playground could be that of a 16th century pirate, archaeologists have said. The remains of a man were uncovered by council workers during survey work for an extension at Victoria Primary School in Newhaven, Edinburgh. Experts at AOC Archaeology carbon dated the bones to the 16th or 17th centuries and, working with forensic artist Hayley Fisher, created a facial reconstruction of the man who is thought to have been in his fifties. The school, the city's oldest working primary school, is located near Newhaven harbour where a gibbet once stood on the dockyards 600 years ago. It is believed that the man could have been executed for piracy or other crimes before being buried in a shallow, unmarked grave. Archaeologists said the condition of the bones and location of the burial close to the sea and gibbet, rather than at one of three nearby graveyards suggests the man was killed before being displayed to deter other pirates. Councillor Richard Lewis, culture convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: "Edinburgh has an undeniably intriguing past and some of our archaeological discoveries have been in the strangest of places. "Thanks to carbon dating techniques, archaeologists now know that the skeleton was likely to have been a murder victim - and quite possibly a pirate. "It's fantastic that through the council's archaeology and museums service, we are able to investigate such discoveries and add to our understanding of Newhaven's heritage." Head teacher Laura Thompson said: "The pupils think it's fantastic that a skeleton was found deep underneath their playground. "The archaeologists will hold a special lesson with some of the children about how they have used science to analyse the remains and it will be a good learning opportunity for them." • Lost medieval cemetery found under Cambridge University

– Students at a primary school in Scotland are set to get a real-life forensics lesson thanks to a centuries-old skeleton—believed to be that of a pirate—found last year beneath their playground, the Telegraph reports. Workers unearthed the remains while doing survey work for a planned extension at Victoria Primary School in Edinburgh. Initially believed to be from the Bronze Age due to their poor condition, the remains have since been carbon dated to the 16th or 17th century, according to a press release. Based on a facial reconstruction of the skull, it is believed that the skeleton belonged to a man in his 50s. Archaeologists have determined, the press release says, "that the skeleton was likely to have been a murder victim—and quite possibly a pirate." That conclusion is supported by a gibbet—a type of gallows the release notes was "commonly used to execute witches and pirates"—that stood 600 years ago near where the school is now located. And, the man was unceremoniously buried close to sea, rather than in nearby graveyards. His body was likely "displayed in plain sight of ships to deter fellow pirates" before being "discarded in nearby wasteland," per the release. Given the school's proximity to the harbor in the historic fishing village of Newhaven, workers had anticipated finding remains of the original harbor and shipbuilding. The pupils think it’s fantastic that a skeleton was found deep underneath their playground," the head teacher says, adding that the archaeologists plan to hold a special lesson for them about the find. (Some ancient bones in Ireland are revealing the origins of early settlers there.)

Dan Wheldon loved to drive fast, from the time he first took the wheel of a go-kart when he was 4 years old, but the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner had begun to have concerns about the speeds cars were reaching on the IndyCar circuit. He and other drivers had also expressed concern about the conditions for today's IndyCar series final at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was crowded -- 34 cars -- and drivers were speeding, even by Indy standards, getting up to 225 mph. As ABC News' Josh Elliott noted, "Even the tiniest mistake can touch off wrecks like we see today." Only minutes into the race, two cars touched tires, setting off the 15-car crash that would claim Wheldon's life and send three fellow racers, including championship contender, Will Power, to the hospital. Wheldon was 33 years old and is survived by his wife, Susie, and two children, Sebastian, 2, and Oliver, 8 months. IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard made the official announcement of Wheldon's death without further comment. Officials decided to call the race. "IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries," Bernard said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. IndyCar, its drivers and owners, have decided to end the race. In honor of Dan Wheldon, the drivers have decided to do a five-lap salute to in his honor." The horrific crash occurred on lap 11, and for several long shocking moments, several cars were engulfed in flame as debris smacked the track so hard that workers would have to repair the asphalt. "I saw two cars touch each other up in front of me and then I tried to slow down, couldn't slow down," driver Paul Tracy told ESPN. "Then Dan's car, from what I saw in the videos, came over my back wheel and over top of me. Just a horrendous accident." Wheldon's car was thrown into the air and sailed into the "catch fence," designed to give cars a bit of cushion if they make impact. Workers almost immediately rushed to Wheldon's car, frantically waving for more help, but in the end, as Bernard described it, Wheldon's injuries were "unsurvivable." "I'll tell you, I've never seen anything like it," driver Ryan Briscoe told The Associated Press. "The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something. I mean, there were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere. So it was scary, and your first thoughts are hoping that no one is hurt because there's just stuff everywhere. Crazy." Wheldon was airlifted from the Las Vegas track at 1:19 p.m. local time Sunday and taken to University Medical Hospital, becoming the first IndyCar driver to die on the track since rookie Paul Dana was killed in 2006. He died, surrounded by his wife and sons, as well as two brothers and sister. The melancholy sounds of "Amazing Grace" played on bagpipes could be heard as the drivers ran the memorial laps. Wheldon's crew solemnly walked out to the track for the parade laps and Ashley Judd, wife of IndyCar racer Dario Franchetti, cried before official word came out. Wheldon was there competing to earn a $5 million bonus that was part of a league promotion for drivers who didn't compete full-time in the series this year. The only driver to accept the challenge, Wheldon would have split the money with Ann Bavenco, a randomly chosen fan. ||||| Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon died after his car became ensnared in a fiery 15-car pileup, flew over another vehicle and hit the catch fence just outside turn 2 in a season-ending race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Fans stand as drivers take five tribute laps in honor of Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner died following a crash in the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race earlier Sunday, Oct.... (Associated Press) Fans, drivers and teams stand in honor of Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner died following a crash in the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race earlier Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, in Las... (Associated Press) A person reacts along pit row to news of the death of Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner died following a crash in the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race earlier Sunday, Oct. 16,... (Associated Press) IndyCar fans and team members watch as drivers take five tribute laps in honor of Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner died following a crash in the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto... (Associated Press) Danica Patrick walks away from pit road following tribute laps in honor of Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner died following a crash in the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race earlier... (Associated Press) Teams line up on pit row as drivers take five tribute laps in honor of Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner who was died following a crash during the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto... (Associated Press) Mark Tripoli, left, and Dave Soresi pay tribute to IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon, who died following a crash in the the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, in Las Vegas. (AP... (Associated Press) Drivers, including Dan Wheldon (77, in air at left), crash during a wreck that involved 15 cars during the IndyCar Series' auto race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011.... (Associated Press) FILE - In this May 29, 2011 file photo, IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon, of England, celebrates with the traditional bottle of milk after winning the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway... (Associated Press) FILE - This May 21, 2011 file photo shows IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon, of England, after qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 auto racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis. Wheldon died... (Associated Press) Dan Wheldon, of England, is airlifted to University Medical Center following a crash early in the IndyCar Series' auto race Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken) (Associated Press) ADDS NAME OF DRIVER - Dan Wheldon is transported to a medical helicopter following a crash during the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac... (Associated Press) Tony George, right, former president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Laura George mourn the death of Dan Wheldon, who died following a crash at the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race... (Associated Press) Drivers take five tribute laps in honor of Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner who died following a crash in the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race earlier Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011,... (Associated Press) Drivers take five tribute laps in honor of Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner who was killed in the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race earlier Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, in Las Vegas.... (Associated Press) Vitor Meira, of Brazil, attends a drivers meeting after a crash that killed Dan Wheldon, of England, during the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300auto race Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac... (Associated Press) Driver Dario Franchitti, of Scotland, reacts during a news conference while talking about IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon who died after a crash during the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race, Sunday,... (Associated Press) IndyCar officials and pit crew members pay tribute to Dan Wheldon who died after a crash during the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, in Las Vegas. Wheldon was a two-time... (Associated Press) Drivers, including Dan Wheldon (77, in air at left), crash during a wreck that involved 15 cars during the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas on Sunday,... (Associated Press) Dan Wheldon, of England, is airlifted to University Medical Center following a crash early in the IndyCar Series' auto race Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken) (Associated Press) Dan Wheldon, of England, smiles during driver introductions for the IndyCar Serie's Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, in Las Vegas. Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, died... (Associated Press) Danica Patrick walks out of a drivers meeting following the shortened IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011 in Las Vegas. Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner,... (Associated Press) Drivers take five tribute laps in honor of Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner who was killed in a crash in the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race earlier Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011,... (Associated Press) Drivers take five tribute laps in honor of Dan Wheldon, who died following a crash in the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race earlier Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, in Las Vegas. The race did not resume.... (Associated Press) Dan Wheldon (77) goes airborne during a wreck that involved 15 cars in the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. Wheldon died... (Associated Press) Drivers crash during a wreck that involved 15 cars during the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. Will Power (12), of Australia,... (Associated Press) "Things happen in this kind of racing," said Wade Cunningham, also caught up in the wreck. "It's so close. Not much room for error. I was near the front of what caused all this, so I'm not thrilled about it. At this point, whose fault it was is kind of immaterial." The green flag had barely stopped waving to signal the end of a caution period when disaster struck. Wheldon, driving from the back of the field, was in the middle of the pack when he drove into a tangle of cars careening off each other in every direction. Unable to avoid the massive wreck unfolding before him, Wheldon clipped another car and went hurtling through the air, his car bursting into flames as it flew into a fence. After just 11 laps, the race was over. Two hours later, track officials announced that Wheldon was dead. The Englishman was 33. "One minute you're joking around at driver intros and the next, Dan's gone," said fellow Briton Dario Franchitti, whose wife, actress Ashley Judd, had to bring him a box of tissues. "I lost, we lost, a good friend. Everybody in the IndyCar series considered him a friend. He was such a good guy. He was a charmer." With the speed _ close to 225 mph (360 kph) during practice _ and a crowded 34-car field, a big worry was aggressive driving early in the 200-lap race. Chaos started when two cars touched tires and almost no one had time to react. Within seconds, several cars burst into flames and debris covered the track nearly halfway up the straight. Some points of impact were so devastating workers had to patch holes in the asphalt. Video replays showed Wheldon's car turning over as it went airborne and sailed into what's called the catch fence, which sits over a barrier designed to give a little when cars make contact. Rescue workers were at Wheldon's car quickly, some furiously waving for more help to get to the scene. "It's unfortunate that early on in the race they've got to be racing so close. ...," Team Penske owner Roger Penske said. "You always worry about those at these mile-and-a-halves at the speed and with this many cars." Three other drivers, including championship contender Will Power, were hurt in the pileup. Wheldon was airlifted from the track to University Medical Center and news of his death came from IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard. "IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries," he said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. IndyCar, its drivers and owners, have decided to end the race." In his honor, drivers, many sobbing openly, took part in a five-lap salute around the 1.5-mile oval as thousands of fans stood and cheered from the grandstand. Also injured in the crash were JR Hildebrand and Pippa Mann. Both will remain in the hospital overnight. IndyCar said Mann was being treated for a burn to her right pinkie finger and will be released Monday morning; Hildebrand was awake and alert but will be held overnight for further evaluation. Power was evaluated and released. An autopsy was planned Monday for Wheldon. "I'll tell you, I've never seen anything like it," driver Ryan Briscoe said. "The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something. I mean, there were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere. So it was scary, and your first thoughts are hoping that no one is hurt because there's just stuff everywhere. Crazy." IndyCar has not had a fatality since Paul Dana was killed at Homestead in 2006, during a crash in a morning warmup. Wheldon won the race later that day. The accident appeared to start when Cunningham's car swerved on the track and Hildebrand drove over the left rear of Cunningham's car. Hildebrand appeared to go airborne, and Cunningham's car shot up into the wall, setting off a chain reaction among the cars behind him. Some of those cars slowed, others didn't, and others spun in front of Wheldon and Power. There was so much confusion on the track it was hard to tell who was driving what car. Power appeared to fly over Alex Lloyd's car, rolling into the catch fence and landing on its right side. His in-car camera showed one of the front tires coming toward him in the cockpit. Wheldon then appeared to drive over a car driven by Paul Tracy, who seemed to be slowing down. Wheldon, however, went airborne and spun into the fence. Wheldon, who came to the United States from England in 1999, won 16 times in his IndyCar career and was the series champion in 2005. Despite winning this year's Indy 500, Wheldon couldn't put together a full-time team this season but had a deal in the works for 2012. Andretti Autosport, the team with which Wheldon won the 2005 Indy 500, had agreed to a contract early Sunday for Wheldon to replace Danica Patrick next season. The deal was supposed to be signed after the race. Wheldon landed in the Las Vegas race thanks to Bernard's promise of $5 million to any moonlighting driver who could win the IndyCar season finale at Vegas. Although there were no takers, Bernard refused to scrap the idea and Wheldon was declared eligible for the prize, which would have been split with a fan. Asked about speed after the crash, Wheldon's former team boss Chip Ganassi said, "There'll be plenty of time in the offseason to talk about that. Now is not the time to talk about that." And Franchitti said: "I agree. We'll discuss that and sort it out." But driver Oriol Servia didn't mince words: "We all had a bad feeling about this place in particular just because of the high banking and how easy it was to go flat. And if you give us the opportunity, we are drivers and we try to go to the front. We race each other hard because that's what we do," he said. "We knew if could happen, but it's just really sad." Wheldon had been providing blog posts for USA Today in the days leading up to the Las Vegas race, and in one posted Saturday to the newspaper's website he spoke of how he expected Sunday to be "pure entertainment." "This is going to be an amazing show," Wheldon wrote. "The two championship contenders, Dario Franchitti and Will Power, are starting right next to each other in the middle of the grid. Honestly, if I can be fast enough early in the race to be able to get up there and latch onto those two, it will be pure entertainment. It's going to be a pack race, and you never know how that's going to turn out." When drivers returned to the track for the tribute laps, Wheldon's No. 77 was the only one on the towering scoreboard. Franchitti sobbed uncontrollably as he got back into his car for the memorial ride. The sound of "Danny Boy" echoed around the track, followed by "Amazing Grace." Hundreds of crew workers and representatives from each team stood at attention in honor of Wheldon. "What can you say? We're going to miss him," Ganassi said. "Everybody in IndyCar died a little today." ___ AP Writer Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer in Charlotte, and AP Sports Writers Tim Reynolds in Miami and Mike Marot in Indianapolis contributed to this report. ||||| LAS VEGAS -- Dan Wheldon, the 2011 Indianapolis 500 winner and one of the most popular drivers in open-wheel racing, died Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a horrific multicar crash on Lap 11 of the IndyCar Series season finale. Officials decided to call the race, but the drivers, many sobbing openly, did a five-lap tribute to Wheldon. IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard made the official announcement of Wheldon's death without further comment. "IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries," Bernard said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. IndyCar, its drivers and owners, have decided to end the race. In honor of Dan Wheldon, the drivers have decided to do a five-lap salute to in his honor." Wheldon was airlifted from the Las Vegas track at 1:19 p.m. local time Sunday and taken to University Medical Center, becoming the first IndyCar driver to die on the track since rookie Paul Dana was killed in practice on the morning of race day at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2006. "One minute you're joking around at driver intros. The next, Dan's gone," said Dario Franchitti, whose wife, actress Ashley Judd, had to bring him a box of tissues. "I lost, we lost, a good friend. Everybody in the IndyCar series considered him a friend. He was such a good guy. He was a charmer." Wheldon, 33 and the 2005 series champion from Emberton, England, was competing in only his third IndyCar race of the season, trying to win the race and earn a $5 million bonus that was part of a league promotion for driver who didn't compete full-time in the series this year. Wheldon was the only driver to accept the challenge. This year's Indy 500 was the second time Wheldon had won the prestigious event. He also won it in 2005. Wheldon was expected to replace Danica Patrick next season in the Go-Daddy-sponsored car for Andretti Autosport. Patrick is moving to NASCAR full-time in 2012. Wheldon's family thanks everyone for their condolences, messages of sympathy and support at this very sad time, according to a statement released by his agency, GP Sports Management Ltd. "They will make a further statement in due course, but in the meantime have asked that they be allowed to grieve in private," the statement said. Andretti Autosport, the team with which Wheldon won the 2005 Indy 500, had agreed to a contract early Sunday for Wheldon to replace Patrick next season. The deal was supposed to be signed after the race. IndyCar will not return to Las Vegas in 2012 following Dan Wheldon's death in the Oct. 16 season finale this season. Jennifer Stewart/US Presswire Three other drivers, including championship contender Will Power were injured in the wreck. The race was only minutes old when Wheldon, who started at the back of the 34-car field and was in position for a $5 million payday if he had won, couldn't steer clear of a wreck that started when two cars touched tires. Within seconds, several cars burst into flames and debris covered the track nearly halfway up the straightaway. Some points of impact were so devastating workers had to patch holes in the asphalt. Video replays showed Wheldon's car turning over as it went airborne and sailed into what's called the catch fence, which sits over a barrier that's designed to give a bit when cars make contact. Rescue workers were at Wheldon's car quickly, some furiously waving for more help to get to the scene. "I'll tell you, I've never seen anything like it," Ryan Briscoe said. "The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something. I mean, there were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere. So it was scary, and your first thoughts are hoping that no one is hurt because there's just stuff everywhere. Crazy." Also injured in the crash were JR Hildebrand and Pippa Mann. Both will remain in the hospital overnight. IndyCar said Mann was being treated for a burn to her right pinkie finger and will be released Monday morning; Hildebrand was awake and alert but will be held overnight for further evaluation. Power was evaluated and released. An autopsy was planned Monday for Wheldon. "What a tremendously sad day, my thoughts are with the entire Wheldon family... Dan's passion for IndyCar racing will be sorely missed...." Hildebrand said on Twitter Sunday. The accident appeared to start when Wade Cunningham's car swerved on the track and Hildebrand drove over the left rear of Cunningham's car. Hildebrand appeared to go airborne, and Cunningham's car shot up into the wall, setting off a chain reaction among the cars behind him. Some of those cars slowed, others didn't, and others spun in front of Wheldon and Power. There was so much chaos on the track it was hard to tell who was driving what car. Power appeared to fly over Alex Lloyd's car, rolling into the catch fence and landing on its right side. His in-car camera showed one of the front tires coming toward him in the cockpit. Wheldon then appeared to drive over a car driven by Paul Tracy, who seemed to be slowing down. Wheldon, however, went airborne and spun into the fence. The track was red-flagged following the accidents while crews worked on fences and removed smashed cars. "There are no words for today," Patrick tweeted. "Myself and so many others are devastated. I pray for suzi (Wheldon's wife) and the kids that god will give them strength." "We are incredibly saddened at the passing of Dan Wheldon," Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation president and CEO Jeff Belskus said. "He was a great champion of the Indianapolis 500 and a wonderful ambassador for the race, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and all of motorsports. Most importantly, he was a fantastic husband, father and man -- a good friend to so many in this sport. His memory will live forever at the Speedway, both through the magnitude of his accomplishments on the track and his magnetism off the track." Wheldon, who came to the United States from England in 1999, won 16 times in his IndyCar career and was the series champion in 2005. Despite winning this year's Indy 500, Wheldon couldn't put together a full-time ride this season. He landed in this race thanks to Bernard's promise of $5 million to any moonlighting driver who could win the IndyCar season finale at Vegas. Although there were no takers, Bernard refused to scrap the idea and Wheldon was declared eligible for the prize. Drivers had been concerned about the high speeds at the track, where they were hitting nearly 225 mph during practice. "We all had a bad feeling about this place in particular just because of the high banking and how easy it was to go flat. And if you give us the opportunity, we are drivers and we try to go to the front. We race each other hard because that's what we do," driver Oriol Servia said. "We knew if could happen, but it's just really sad." Asked about speed after the crash, Wheldon's former boss Chip Ganassi said, "There'll be plenty of time in the offseason to talk about that. Now is not the time to talk about that." And Franchitti, who clinched the 2011 IndyCar title Sunday, said: "I agree. We'll discuss that and sort it out." The race was ruled incomplete, and IndyCar officials ruled that the championship points would include races up through the Kentucky Indy 300 on Oct. 2. Franchitti held an 18-point lead over Power entering Sunday's race. Wheldon had been providing blog posts for USA Today in the days leading up to the Las Vegas race, and in one posted Saturday to the newspaper's website he spoke of how he expected Sunday to be "pure entertainment." "This is going to be an amazing show," Wheldon wrote. "The two championship contenders, Dario Franchitti and Will Power, are starting right next to each other in the middle of the grid. Honestly, if I can be fast enough early in the race to be able to get up there and latch onto those two, it will be pure entertainment. It's going to be a pack race, and you never know how that's going to turn out." The accident spoiled what Bernard had hoped would be a showcase event for the struggling IndyCar Series. The second-year CEO worked the entire season on turning the finale into a spectacle, and said he'd offer his resignation to the IndyCar board of directors if ABC's broadcast didn't pull a .8 rating. His goal was to improve upon last year's season finale's horrible television rating and give the series some momentum for what's hoped to be a strong season in 2013 with the introduction of a new car and new manufacturers. So Bernard poured everything into Las Vegas, renting the speedway from owner Bruton Smith and agreeing to promote the event himself. He landed enough sponsorship to at least break even on race, and the $5 million challenge bought him an enormous amount of publicity the entire year. Bernard got the Las Vegas Strip to close to stage a parade of cars, hosted industry parties and a blackjack tournament all to boost interest in the race. He even got MGM Grand Resorts to offer a pair of tickets to anyone staying this weekend in one of the chain's 14 properties. But what was hoped to be a day of celebration quickly turned somber. When drivers returned to the track for the tribute laps, Wheldon's No. 77 was the only one on the towering scoreboard. Franchitti sobbed uncontrollably as he got back into his car for the memorial ride. The sound of "Danny Boy" echoed around the track, followed by "Amazing Grace." Hundreds of crew workers from each team stood at attention in honor of Wheldon. "What can you say? We're going to miss him," Ganassi said. "Everybody in IndyCar died a little today." Formula One champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton hailed Wheldon as a "true fighter" and an "inspirational" figure. Button recalled Wheldon as being a star of the British karting circuit in the 1990s. "I have so many good memories of racing with Dan in the early 90s, a true fighter," Button said on Twitter. "We've lost a legend in our sport but also a great guy ... I can't begin to imagine what his family are going through and my thoughts are with them at this very difficult time." Wheldon, who was born in Buckinghamshire, a county just north of London, also was an inspiration to Hamilton after deciding to try his luck in the U.S. following a successful junior career during which he won eight British karting titles. "Dan was a racer I'd followed throughout my career, as I often followed in his footsteps as we climbed the motor sport ladder in the UK," said Hamilton, Button's teammate at McLaren. "He was an extremely talented driver. As a British guy who not only went over to the States but who twice won the Indy 500, he was an inspirational guy, and someone that every racing driver looked up to with respect and admiration. This is a tragic loss at such a young age." Hamilton finished second in Sunday's Korean Grand Prix, with Button fourth. Wheldon had been scheduled to compete next weekend at Surfers Paradise, Australia, in the Gold Coast 600 race, teaming with V8 Supercar champion James Courtney as a co-driver for two 186-mile touring car races on Saturday and Sunday. Five other IndyCar drivers were scheduled to compete on the Gold Coast, including Power. V8 series chairman Tony Cochrane said he expects some of the American-based drivers to pull out. "If any driver wishes to pull out in respect, we would fully appreciate and understand that and be as supportive as we can," Cochrane said Monday. "And we will find replacement drivers for anyone who wishes to drop out this weekend. We will cross that bridge and worry about that when we get over the initial shock and deal with it in due course." Cochrane said a memorial service would be held on Saturday morning at the Gold Coast track. "He was very much looking forward to having his first ... go in a V8 Supercar this coming weekend," Cochrane said. "We have just been reminded in the most tragic of circumstances what can happen in motorsport. This is a terrible day." Information from ESPN.com senior writer Terry Blount and The Associated Press was used in this report.

– Two-time Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon died yesterday in a horrific 15-car crash in Las Vegas. The fiery accident, which sent three other drivers to the hospital, occurred just days after the 33-year-old British father of two and others expressed fears about crowded conditions and super-fast speeds of up to 225mph on the Vegas track, reports ABC News. Two cars touched tires only minutes into yesterday's race, sparking the deadly smash-up on the 11th lap. "I saw two cars touch each other up in front and I couldn't slow down," driver Paul Tracy told ESPN. "Then Dan's car came over my back wheel and over top of me. Just a horrendous accident." Wheldon's car sailed into the crash fence surrounding the track and burst into flames. "I've never seen anything like it," driver Ryan Briscoe told AP. "The debris we all had to drive through, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something. There were pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere. It was scary." Wheldon was airlifted from the track to University Medical Hospital. He died surrounded by his wife, his baby and toddler sons, a brother and sister. Wheldon was the first driver to die from race injuries since 2006. He was competing to win a $5 million bonus. "Big day today," he tweeted before the race. "Heading to the track." (Wheldon had signed a major racing team deal just hours before his death. Click to read about that tragic twist.)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has led prayers in St. Peter's Square for the dead and displaced from the massive earthquake in Nepal and surrounding areas. Francis called for assistance for the survivors during his weekly Sunday blessing. He said he was praying for the victims, the injured and "all those who are suffering from this calamity," and asked that they have the "support and fraternal solidarity" they need. On Saturday, the Vatican secretary of state sent a formal telegram of condolences seeking to encourage rescue crews and comfort the survivors. Saturday's magnitude 7.8 earthquake left at least 1,900 people dead, spreading horror from Kathmandu to small villages and to the slopes of Mount Everest, triggering an avalanche that buried part of the base camp packed with foreign climbers. ||||| Pope Francis, center, is flanked by two of the nineteen new priests that he ordained during a ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica, as he leads the Regina Coeli prayer from his studio overlooking St. Peter's... (Associated Press) Pope Francis, center, is flanked by two of the nineteen new priests that he ordained during a ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica, as he leads the Regina Coeli prayer from his studio overlooking St. Peter's... (Associated Press) BERLIN (AP) — A German rescue organization and the French government said on Sunday they are sending rescue and relief teams to Nepal, where a massive earthquake left more than 2,000 dead. International Search and Rescue Germany said a team of 52 relief workers including doctors, experts trained in searching for people buried under rubble and several dog squads are flying Sunday. The team will bring with them a mobile medical treatment center. Spokesman Stefan Heine said the priority was to get to the scene of the quake as quickly as possible to find those still alive. In France, the government said in a statement Sunday it is sending 11 rescuers and emergency equipment to Kathmandu Sunday. The French Foreign Ministry has located 500 French citizens in the area who are alive and well. In the Vatican, Pope Francis led prayers in St. Peter's Square for the dead and displaced in Nepal and surrounding areas. Francis called for assistance for the survivors during his weekly Sunday blessing. He said he was praying for the victims, the injured and "all those who are suffering from this calamity," and asked that they have the "support and fraternal solidarity" they need. The Vatican secretary of state sent a formal telegram of condolences seeking to encourage rescue crews and comfort the survivors Saturday. Saturday's magnitude 7.8 earthquake spread horror from Kathmandu to small villages and to the slopes of Mount Everest, triggering an avalanche that buried part of the base camp packed with foreign climbers. ||||| This photo provided by Azim Afif shows nightfall after an avalanche triggered by a massive earthquake swept across Everest Base Camp, Nepal on Saturday, April 25, 2015. Afif and his team of four others... (Associated Press) KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The first group of survivors from an earthquake-triggered avalanche that swept through the Mount Everest base camp were flown to Nepal's capital on Sunday and taken to hospitals. None appeared to have life-threatening injuries. At least 17 people were killed when Saturday's avalanche, set off by a massive earthquake, obliterated part of the rocky village of nylon tents, where dozens of teams were training and acclimatizing themselves to higher altitudes as they prepared to make summit attempts in the next few weeks. Twenty-two of the most seriously injured had already been taken by helicopter for treatment in the village of Pheriche, the location of the nearest medical facility. But bad weather and communications were hampering more helicopter flights, said Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. Later Sunday, a plane carrying 15 injured people arrived in the capital, Kathmandu, from Lukla, home of the closest airport to Mount Everest. Officials refused to provide details on their conditions, but most appeared to have broken bones or other treatable injuries. Of those evacuated, 12 were Nepalese Sherpas. There was also one person each from China, South Korea and Japan. The Sherpa survivors said they feared that many more people could be dead on Everest. Pemba Sherpa, a 43-year-old guide with the right side of his face bandaged, was surprised he had survived. He rushed from his tent when the earthquake hit Saturday and was standing in the open when "I heard a big noise, and the next thing I know I was swept away by the snow," he said. "I must have been swept almost 200 meters (yards)." Later, he regained consciousness. "I was in a tent surrounded by some foreigners. I did not know what happened or where I was," he said after being taken to Kathmandu Medical College Hospital. For generations, thousands of ethnic Sherpas, many of whom also use "Sherpa" as a surname, have made their livings working on mountaineering expeditions as guides, porters or cooks. Saturday's magnitude-7.8 quake struck at around noon, just over a year after the deadliest avalanche on record hit Everest, killing 16 Sherpa guides on April 18, 2014. Witnesses said the avalanche began on Mount Kumori, a 7,000-meter (22,966-foot) -high mountain just a few kilometers (miles) from Everest, gathering strength as it headed toward base camp and the lower reaches of Everest. Numerous climbers may now be cut off on routes leading to the top of the world's highest peak. Kuduni Sherpa, another survivor flown into Kathmandu, said he was cooking in a meal tent when the quake struck. "We all rushed out to the open and the next moment a huge wall of snow just piled on me," he said in a brief airport interview before being driven to a nearby hospital. "I managed to dig out of what could easily have been my grave. I wiggled and used my claws to dig as much as I could. I was suffocating, I could not breathe. But I knew I had to survive." When he finally dug his way out, gulping in fresh air, he was surrounded by devastation. Part of the base camp village was gone. "I looked around and saw the tents all torn and crushed. Many people were injured," he said. "I had lived but lost many of my friends." More than 4,000 climbers have scaled the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) summit since 1953, when Everest was first conquered by New Zealand climber Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. The numbers have skyrocketed in recent years, with more than 800 climbers during the 2013 spring season. ___ Associated Press writer Tim Sullivan in New Delhi contributed to this report.

– A powerful aftershock shook Nepal today, making buildings sway and sending panicked Kathmandu residents running into the streets a day after a massive earthquake left more than 2,200 people dead. The cawing of crows mixed with terrified screams as the magnitude 6.7 aftershock pummeled the capital city this afternoon, even as planes from neighboring countries began arriving. "The aftershocks keep coming ... so people don't know what to expect," said Nepal's country head for global aid agency Mercy Corps. "All the open spaces in Kathmandu are packed with people who are camping outdoors. When the aftershocks come you cannot imagine the fear. You can hear women and children crying." In other developments: The first group of survivors from an earthquake-triggered avalanche that swept through the Mount Everest base camp were flown to Nepal's capital today and taken to hospitals. None appeared to have life-threatening injuries. Pope Francis called for assistance for the survivors during his weekly Sunday blessing. He said he was praying for the victims, the injured and "all those who are suffering from this calamity," and asked that they have the "support and fraternal solidarity" they need. The Vatican secretary of state yesterday sent a formal telegram of condolences seeking to encourage rescue crews and comfort the survivors. International Search and Rescue Germany said a team of 52 relief workers including doctors, experts trained in searching for people buried under rubble, and several dog squads are flying in today. The team will bring with them a mobile medical treatment center. France is sending 11 rescuers and emergency equipment to Kathmandu.

If you are involuntarily committed to a mental health institute in Georgia, your name will be added to a list of people who are not allowed to buy firearms. For five years. Five years from when a record of your commitment has been added to the database, your information will be removed and you should have no problem clearing background checks needed to buy a gun anywhere in the United States. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution explains: This year, the state uploaded more than 2,000 new records of mentally ill Georgians to the database —people committed for inpatient treatment; found incompetent to handle their own affairs; or found guilty of a crime but mentally ill. But the state also took down almost 500 other records in 2015, making it possible for scores of mentally ill people to acquire guns legally anywhere in the country. According to the AJC, Georgia law requires that the records of those who have been involuntarily committed be cleared from the National Instant Background Check System after five years. Dr. Steven Hoge, who heads the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Psychiatry and the Law, told the AJC that he thinks the five-year limitation makes sense. He explained that treatment generally takes just a few weeks or months, and that “the public has massively overestimated the dangerousness of the mentally disordered.” Chairwoman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee Renee Unterman, a Republican senator, agrees that it’s more harmful for the individuals in question to be branded as mentally ill for life. “It’s a tenuous position for someone to have had a mental illness,” she said, adding, “your mental health when you’re 25 years old is different from when you’re 55 years old. Why should you carry the baggage and stigma of mental illness?” AJC’s report comes at the close of a year where Americans saw, by some estimates, hundreds of mass shootings. By now, we know that there will be two responses to these tragic events: Liberals will call for better gun control, and conservatives for better mental health services. The conflict in Georgia—between keeping guns away from people with a history of mental illness, and the dangerous implications of keeping records of those who’ve been involuntarily committed—illustrates how the second option is so complicated. Strict gun laws, on the other hand, work. ||||| The records of thousands of people who were involuntarily committed for mental health treatment in Georgia have been removed from the national database that gun dealers use to run background checks of buyers. Such people are not permitted under federal and state law to buy firearms. And this year, the state uploaded more than 2,000 new records of mentally ill Georgians to the database —people committed for inpatient treatment; found incompetent to handle their own affairs; or found guilty of a crime but mentally ill. But the state also took down almost 500 other records in 2015, making it possible for scores of mentally ill people to acquire guns legally anywhere in the country. Why? Because in Georgia, it’s the law: once a record of a commitment in Georgia has been on the National Instant Background Check System for five years, state law requires that it be removed. So even as the state is adding hundreds of commitment records each year, it is also deleting hundreds more as they hit the five-year limit. + LAFAYETTE, LA - JULY 25: Mourners leave flowers at a makeshift memorial outside of a store owned by one of the ... read more × It is as if they were never prohibited from having guns. “We’re pulling them back after five years,” said GBI Director Vernon Keenan, whose agency provides the commitment records to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. “That’s a legal dilemma (because) that person is still prohibited from possession or buying firearms.” The names come off the national list without any review by a doctor or a court. Although these are federal records, participation in the program by each state is voluntary and subject to conditions the state may impose. + Asif Lakhani More than a decade ago, the Legislature authorized the GBI to provide the FBI the names of mentally ill people involuntarily ... read more Asif Lakhani × More than a decade ago, the Legislature authorized the GBI to provide the FBI the names of mentally ill people involuntarily committed to a public or private hospital, but with the condition that records be removed after five years. In light of recent mass shootings, the public has joined in the concern increasingly expressed by politicians, law enforcement and judges. Athens-Clarke County Probate Court Judge Susan Tate was moved to write an opinion piece for her local newspaper in October after Christopher Harper-Mercer, 26, fatally shot eight students and an assistant professor at Umpqua Community College before killing himself. There are gaps in the law, deadly gaps, said Tate, chair of the Weapons Carry License Committee for the Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia. Only mentally ill people who are involuntarily committed for inpatient treatment are reported to the FBI for the purpose of gun background checks. People who are ordered to have an evaluation but then agree to admit themselves for treatment are not reported. Neither are mentally ill people treated as outpatients, whether the treatment is voluntary or involuntary. “I’m always scared when I’ve ordered somebody to be evaluated,” said Tate, the Georgia contact for the National Criminal Background Check System. “Even if they haven’t been hospitalized, I wouldn’t want any of those people to have a gun.” John Houser killed himself after fatally shooting two people and wounding nine in a Louisiana movie theater in July. He legally bought his gun even though in 2008 a Carroll County, Ga., probate judge ordered him to be evaluated. Judge Betty Cason told Channel 2 Action News she never received a petition to commit him from the doctors who evaluated him; consequently, his name never appeared on the FBI database. His mental illness was documented in other public records in Carroll County dating to the 1990s. Georgia has about 9,000 records at this time on the national database, while many other states have tens of thousands. Georgia is the only state that automatically removes records of involuntary commitments to inpatient treatment. For most mental disorders and for most people, treatment is effective in a period of “weeks to months,” said Dr. Steven Hoge, chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Psychiatry and the Law, though there are people who are not completely responsive to treatment or who relapse. In his opinion, the 5-year waiting period is “reasonable.” But given the range of reasons for civil commitments, a case-by-case analysis would be a better way to determine if someone who has been committed should be allowed to buy a gun, Hoge said. Still, limitations on gun purchases for people who have been involuntarily committed is unlikely to dramatically reduce gun violence, he said. “The public has massively overestimated the dangerousness of the mentally disordered,” Hoge said. State Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, chairwoman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, said the provision to remove names after five years was put into Georgia law to spare those with mental illness the stigma even after their illnesses are controlled. “It’s a tenuous position for someone to have had a mental illness,” said Unterman. “Your mental health when you’re 25 years old is different from when you’re 55 years old. Why should you carry the baggage and stigma of mental illness? … If you stigmatize people, it makes people afraid to come out.” It’s voluntary for states to send to the FBI names of those ordered hospitalized for treatment of their mental illnesses, though a grant program was created in 2007 to give them the incentive to participate. The FBI said in an email it was not authorized to identify the states that contribute to the background check system. But Lindsay Nichols, senior attorney with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said every state takes part to some degree. North Carolina, for example, had posted 120,000 records as of June 1, according to the Law Center. Pennsylvania has reported more than 737,000 records. Yet six states have sent fewer than 55 records.

– The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an eyebrow-raising report on a little-known Georgia law that allows guns to be placed in the hands of people involuntarily committed for mental health treatment. Federal law prohibits those people from buying guns, and Georgia added more than 2,000 such names to the National Instant Background Check System this year. But a peculiar state law requires those names be removed after five years—with no further review or evaluation of the people whose names are being removed. That frees people with a mental illness, who were involuntarily committed only five years prior, to legally purchase a gun anywhere in the US. Georgia removed approximately 500 names from the list this year. It's the only state that automatically removes names from the national database. “The public has massively overestimated the dangerousness of the mentally disordered,” Dr. Steven Hoge, an American Psychiatric Association chair, tells the Journal-Constitution. Hoge says Georgia's law seems "reasonable," as most people with mental illness recover within "weeks to months" of treatment. A state senator who supports the law says it helps remove the stigma from mental illness. "By now, we know that there will be two responses to [mass shootings]: Liberals will call for better gun control, and conservatives for better mental health services," Fusion reports. "The conflict in Georgia—between keeping guns away from people with a history of mental illness, and the dangerous implications of keeping records of those who’ve been involuntarily committed—illustrates how the second option is so complicated."

This spring, an 80-year-old Japanese chalk company went out of business. Nobody, perhaps, was as sad to see the company go as mathematicians who had become obsessed with Hagoromo Fulltouch Chalk, the so-called “Rolls Royce of chalk.” With whiteboards and now computers taking over classrooms, the company’s demise seemed to mark the end of an era. Advertisement Being neither a mathematician nor a chalk artist, I heard about Hagoromo through my friend Dan, a mathematician finishing up his Ph.D. at Stanford. He recently appeared on a Japanese TV special about the demise of Hagoromo Bungu Co., where a TV crew came out to Stanford to interview mathematicians about the legendary chalk. One professor described hoarding enough of the stuff to keep him in chalk for the next 15 years. Dan is in the special too, calling the end of Hagoromo “a tragedy for mathematics.” Okay, he was obviously joking. But it is true that mathematicians are fanatics for this obscure Japanese chalk. Here you can see a long discussion online where mathematicians are hunting for Hagoromo chalk suppliers in the U.S. Satyan Devadoss, a Williams College math professor, even wrote a blog post calling it “dream chalk.” He explained: There have been rumors about a dream chalk, a chalk so powerful that mathematics practically writes itself; a chalk so amazing that no incorrect proof can be written using this chalk. I can finally say, after months of pursuit, that such a chalk indeed exists. Advertisement How could mere chalk inspire such hyperbole? I called up Brian Conrad, the Stanford math professor who socked away 15 years worth of Hagoromo chalk. It turns out he’s the biggest customer of Ten By Ten, a small Oakland-based importer of Hagoromo chalk. Advertisement I visited Ten By Ten to get some of the chalk for myself, and discovered that the company is just one woman, a filmmaker who sells chalk out of her Oakland loft as a side business. She got into it when she met a Berkeley math professor while editing a film. He asked her about getting ahold of his beloved Japanese chalk, on one of her trips back home to Japan. Today, most of her clients are mathematicians. So what’s so great about Hagoromo chalk? I tried doing a little math with it on some chalkboards at UC Berkeley. The first thing you notice is a shiny, clear coating on the outside — it feels like a thin layer of enamel. That sounds like a minor design element, but it cuts down on the biggest annoyance with chalk: dusty fingers. The chalk is also a tad thicker and sturdier than your typical American sticks. But I’m no chalk connoisseur, and I’ll admit any subtler differences eluded me. “It’s hard to articulate but when I’m using it, I can feel it’s nicer,” said Conrad. “It both flows nicely and it lasts much longer, too.” Advertisement The bigger question, though, is why mathematicians are still clinging to chalk, period. In the 21st century, chalk is still one of the primary tools of mathematicians. “Because we’re crotchety old people,” joked Conrad. Powerpoint slides, he noted, don’t work for writing out a problem step by step. Plus, technology has that annoying tendency of becoming glitchy at the most inconvenient times. What really surprised me, though, were all the reasons he had for finding chalkboards superior to whiteboards. “Maintaining a clean whiteboard is much more of a pain,” he said. There’s the cleaning fluid, which costs money, and the chemicals can cause health problems. Also, there’s no way to tell when a marker is running low, which is logistically, he explained, even more annoying than you think. “Because you can never tell when any of these markers are running out, people use them at random, and they all start running out at the same time during a talk. It’s a real nuisance,” he said. “I just find the logistics of carrying around a couple pieces of chalk easier than dealing with markers.” Conrad is pretty self-aware that his preference for chalkboards over whiteboards might just be a habit—and mathematicians as a whole have just been holding out longer than those other fields. A younger generation of mathematicians, raised on markers and whiteboards, might never yearn for the chalk. Advertisement When the elderly owner of Hagoromo Bungu gave up his company in March, the technology for making Hagoromo chalk was transferred to Uma-jirushi, a big office supply corporation. Uma-jirushi now makes DC Chalk Deluxe, which it bills as a collaboration with Hagoromo. A company rep said the manufacturing process is slightly different, but assured me that customers should expect the same high quality. Still, the rep added, Uma-jirushi’s chalk production will amount to just half of Hagoromo’s. These days, they’re primarily a whiteboard company. This isn’t just a story about a dead chalk company—it’s the story of a dead medium, the chalkboard, now being superseded by whiteboards and tablets. But it’s not hard to see chalk having old-fashioned appeal, much like vinyl records and mason jars. For now, the chalk is still available on Amazon. Get it while it lasts. ||||| Students take a class in Tokyo in 1984. Associated Press Hagoromo Bungu Co. will soon chalk up its final sales, a victim of whiteboard and computer screen use in schools and a falling population of children. The Aichi prefecture-based firm has been selling chalk for blackboard use for more than 80 years, overcoming setbacks such as the burning down of its main factory during the war, and keeping up with the times by introducing new products, such as neon-colored and water-resistant chalk. But times really have changed. Blackboard use in the classroom is no longer the only accepted norm and the number of students is also on the wane.

– When the 80-year-old Japanese company that produces Hagoromo Fulltouch chalk went out of business this past spring, mathematicians took to social media to pay their respects and their wallets to buy as much of the chalk as they could—15 years' worth in the case of one professor. Sarah Zhang set out to learn why, and writes in Gizmodo that the tongue-in-cheek "tragedy of mathematics" that is the demise of Hagoromo is such a big deal to mathematicians because whiteboards and tablets simply don't offer the same appeal to "crotchety" academics, as one put it. "Plus, technology has that annoying tendency of becoming glitchy at the most inconvenient times," Zhang writes. Chalkboards, apparently, tend to be easier to clean and maintain than whiteboards, which involve cleaning fluids, chemicals, and the tendency of markers to run out in the middle of something. And the Japanese chalk has a shiny, clear coating that doesn't get too dusty, and appears "thicker and sturdier" than its American-made cousins, writes Zhang. "It’s hard to articulate but when I’m using it, I can feel it’s nicer—it both flows nicely and it lasts much longer, too," one mathematician says. But it's not just the end of a company's era, Zhang notes; it's the end of a medium, the chalkboard. In fact, the technology for making Hagoromo chalk lives on, transferred to a big office supply corporation in Japan that now makes something called DC Chalk Deluxe. (Check out how old this recently-found chalkboard, with writing still on it, is.)

.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright © 2018 Albuquerque Journal A YouTube celebrity couple hid in the closet late last month, calling 911 while police say a man searched through their home in Austin, armed with a gun and firing at least one round inside the house. Less than 10 minutes later, that man was dead in the driveway. The couple had not been harmed. Christopher Giles, who police described as “single, lonely and disturbed,” had made the 11-hour drive from Albuquerque, according to documents filed in the 2nd Judicial District Court. And his phone was full of notes suggesting he had “developed a fondness” for the woman, Megan Turney, and a dislike of her boyfriend, Gavin Free. ADVERTISEMENTSkip Turney, 30, was made famous through her video blogs on anime, relationship advice and her life. Free, 29, is the co-host of a YouTube video series of slow-motion videos. “A search of Giles’ cellular phone identified various notations identifying Megan Turney and Gavin Free by name,” a detective wrote in the documents. “Furthermore, threatening thoughts were recorded by Giles and directed toward Gavin Free, i.e., ‘I want Gavin Free to die alone, with no children.’ ” A spokeswoman for the Austin Police Department said the case is under investigation and she could not answer any additional questions about it. But part of that investigation includes assistance from homicide detectives with the Albuquerque Police Department who served a search warrant on Giles’ Northwest Albuquerque apartment a couple of days after the shooting. According to that search warrant affidavit, around 3:40 a.m. on Jan. 26, Turney and Free awoke to the sound of breaking glass and a gunshot. They hid in their bedroom closet and called 911 while Giles searched their home for them. ADVERTISEMENTSkip When he couldn’t find the couple, Giles left, encountering Austin Police Department officers on his way out. The officers found Giles backing out of the driveway in his Lincoln sedan with a New Mexico license plate and ordered him to stop. Instead, they heard a single gunshot coming from the car. An officer returned fire. Giles was pronounced dead on the scene, a .45 caliber handgun near his hand, according to the affidavit. Turney and Free were not harmed. In a press briefing the day of the shooting, Austin Police Department Assistant Chief Troy Gay said that two officers were there but that only one fired. A preliminary postmortem examination by the Travis County Medical Examiner found that Giles may have shot himself, according to the affidavit, but an official ruling on his manner of death is underway. ADVERTISEMENTSkip Giles’ family members could not be reached by the Journal last week. Neither Turney nor Free responded to phone calls. Chilling evidence Throughout the investigation, Austin Police Department detectives found chilling evidence about what Giles might have been up to. They said security footage shows him searching the home for the residents, a gun in his hand. “Based on the footage seen it was apparent that Giles’ sole intent was to cause harm to someone who resides there,” the detective wrote in the complaint. On Giles’ cellphone, they found even more clues – various comments about Free and Turney, according to the affidavit, and more than a thousand other notes, including about his dislike of Free. The detective said it was apparent that Giles had “developed a fondness of Turney yet resented Free for his lifestyle and success.” ADVERTISEMENTSkip Albuquerque Police Department detectives who executed a search warrant on his home in Albuquerque said Giles lived alone and was “an avid player of video games and was known for watching YouTube videos that were centered on his hobby.” Detectives took two cellphones, a laptop, two tablets and an XBox gaming system from his home. “Based upon the known circumstances and investigative findings, your affiant is led to believe that evidence related to the planned burglary and homicides of Megan Turney and Gavin Free will be found,” the detective wrote in the affidavit. ||||| Hey everyone. I just wanted to say thanks for all the support and concern regarding the recent incident. It’s been a rough time for Meg and myself the last few weeks but we are doing ok. I want to give a huge thanks to @ Austin_Police for the amazing response time. you all. ||||| A man accused of breaking into an Austin home, who was later shot dead, might have targeted its residents. An Albuquerque man who died in an officer-involved shooting after breaking into a Hyde Park home last month might have died from a self-inflicted gunshot and appears to have been trying to harm a couple who are internet celebrities, according to an Albuquerque police search warrant. Christopher Giles, 23, was familiar with the Austin couple — Gavin Free and Megan Turney — because of their YouTube fame, according to the warrant, which was obtained by the Albuquerque Journal and based on information from the Albuquerque and Austin police departments. Authorities wanted to search Giles’ Albuquerque apartment because they thought “evidence related to the planned burglary and homicides of Megan Turney and Gavin Free will be found,” the search warrant says. MORE FROM NEW MEXICO: Albuquerque man targeted YouTube celebrities Giles is accused of breaking into Turney’s and Free’s house in the 4500 block of Avenue G on Jan. 26. He fired a gun both inside and outside the home while the couple hid in a closet, but Free and Turney were not injured, Austin police have said. Austin police reported that officers responding to a 911 call coming from the house saw Giles leaving the home and told him to stop. Giles fired at police, and an officer fired back, interim Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said. The warrant says his fatal gunshot wound might have been self-inflicted, based on preliminary findings from the Travis County medical examiner’s office. Turney and Free both gained fame making videos for YouTube — many of them video game-related — and both have worked at the Austin-based media company Rooster Teeth Productions. Free created and co-hosts the YouTube-based series “The Slow Mo Guys.” Police searched Giles’ phone, where they found multiple notes in which he talks about Turney and Free by name. Giles recorded threatening thoughts about Free, including “I want Gavin Free to die alone, with no children,” the warrant says. “Based upon these notations, it was apparent that Giles developed a fondness of Turney yet resented Free for his lifestyle and success,” the warrant says. People whom police interviewed — who were not named in the warrant — described Giles as single, lonely and disturbed, the document says. Turney called 911 about 3:40 a.m. Jan. 26. She told the dispatcher that she and Free were awakened by the sound of a gunshot followed by breaking glass, and they heard an intruder walking around their home, the warrant says. Austin officers encountered Giles as he was backing out of the couple’s driveway in a Lincoln sedan, the warrant says. The officers announced their presence, heard a single gunshot come from the car and returned fire. After his death, officers found a .45-caliber handgun near Giles’ right hand, the warrant says. Nothing was stolen from the couple’s house, the warrant says. Armed with the warrant, police searched Giles’ house on Jan. 29 and seized two cellphones, a laptop, two tablets and an Xbox gaming system, Albuquerque court documents show. No available records say what they found on those electronics, and Albuquerque and Austin police declined to comment on the case. Free and Turney did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but both tweeted about the incident this week. “Thanks for all the support and concern regarding the recent incident,” Free wrote Monday on Twitter. “It’s been a rough time for Meg and myself the last few weeks but we are doing OK. I want to give a huge thanks to Austin police for the amazing response time.” Turney wrote: “Thank y’all so, so much for each and every kind message today and a special thank you to the Austin police for their quick response that night and their ongoing support during this difficult time.” ||||| Actually, having been a cosplayer for over 10 years, the first thing to consider when choosing a cosplay (in my opinion), is your love for the character. I could already tell Elizabeth was going to be a fun, fierce, badass character and being a huge fan of the series, I wanted to give her a go. I've been making costumes just to run around in at conventions since I was 15 - it has nothing to do with being in the entertainment industry. In fact, this costume was created for a competition I judged. ||||| Follow the Slow Mo Guys Gav and Dan in this new YouTube Originals Series as they travel the globe in search of the most awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, time-stopping slow motion moments of wonder. From lightning strikes to the speed of light, awesome flying martial artists to gravity-defying flying fish, this is the ordinary made extraordinary like you’ve never seen it before, all shot in super slow mo. Show less

– It's their job to attract viewers. YouTube personalities Megan Turney and boyfriend Gavin Free just never expected one would turn up at their house with a gun. That's precisely what police say happened late last month in Austin, Texas. According to police documents, Turney and Free awoke to the sound of a gunshot and breaking glass around 3:40am on Jan. 26. As they hid in a bedroom closet and called 911, an armed man described by police as "single, lonely, and disturbed" searched the house for them, reports the Albuquerque Journal. Coming up empty-handed, he left and got into his car, only to be confronted by police. After hearing a gunshot come from inside the car, an officer returned fire. Christopher Giles, a 23-year-old who'd made the 11-hour journey from New Mexico, was pronounced dead at the scene. Noting Giles may have died from a self-inflicted gunshot, authorities say they later found notes on Giles' phone suggesting he'd "developed a fondness" for 30-year-old Turney, who shares video blogs with 341,000 subscribers on YouTube, and a dislike for her 29-year-old boyfriend, co-host of "The Slow Mo Guys" channel, which has more than 10 million subscribers. "I want Gavin Free to die alone, with no children," he said in one of the notations mentioning the couple, police say. Giles "resented Free for his lifestyle and success" and his "sole intent was to cause harm to someone who resides" at the home, a detective wrote in a complaint. "It's been a rough time for Meg and myself the last few weeks but we are doing OK," Free said in a Monday tweet, per the Austin American-Statesman. Both he and Turney praised the police response. (A YouTube record was just almost broken.)

The mother of a 3-year-old boy left behind in a corn maze apparently has some explaining to do to state child protective services officials. West Jordan police Sgt. Joe Monson said that the child was noticed by a woman visiting the Crazy Corn Maze, at 8800 S. 4000 West, about 7:30 p.m. Monday. Police were called to the scene, and after failing to find the boy’s mother or learn his identity, he was put in the safe-keeping of the Utah Division of Child and Family Services overnight. “At 7:42 a.m. today, the mother woke up and noticed he was missing. She realized she may have left him at the corn maze and called us,” Monson said. DCFS told police to refer the mother to them, and that she would have to come in and answer some questions before the boy could be returned. Monson did not know if the child had since been reunited with his family, referring such questions to DCFS. However, Ashley Sumner, a spokeswoman for DCFS, said she could not confirm anything involving the child’s status due to privacy policies. Monson said that the boy was upset but uninjured when found, and police believe he had not been lost for long before the “good Samaritan” found him. Asked how the boy’s absence went unnoticed by his mother for so long, Monson noted that, “This was a case of multiple families with multiple children living in the same home,” but stressed no conclusions had been made. ||||| WEST JORDAN, Utah (AP) — Police say a 3-year-old boy spent the night in child welfare custody after he got lost at a Utah corn maze. Police Sgt. Joe Monson said Tuesday the child was apparently left behind while visiting the Crazy Corn Maze in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan with a large family group. He says the boy was cold and frightened but unhurt when someone else found him at the maze Monday evening. Staffers called on a bullhorn and searched for his family but couldn't find anyone until his mother called police Tuesday morning. Monson says she later arrived at the police station with about 10 children. The boy is expected to be reunited with his family. Monson says it wasn't immediately clear how the child's disappearance went undetected, but police are investigating whether any criminal charges are warranted. ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video WEST JORDAN, Utah - “It was a roller coaster, but you try not to panic. You try not to think of the worst,” Kendall Schmidt said, Owner of Crazy Corn Maze in West Jordan. For many people, this time of year a corn maze is a great place to get lost, but not left behind. “He was upset and crying and really scared,” Schmidt said. Through the twists, turns and dead-ends of the maze, a woman found a three-year-old boy crying, cold and alone. “She came over and she was helping out and we got him a sucker. We got a blanket for him, trying to keep him warm,” Schmidt said. Among the stalks of corn, the boy’s parents were nowhere to be found. “I took the blow horn out into the maze and was making announcements that if you had lost a child, please come to the front of the maze,” Schmidt said. Hours passed. “A police officer took him to her car and got a movie going for him, showed him the movie 'Finding Dory,'” Schmidt said. He says the boy watched most of the movie and still they could not find his parents. “As it got later and later, we got a little more worried,” Schmidt said. When the maze closed, police took the boy to the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS). “As the night wore on, even at midnight I texted the police officer to see if she heard anything and she hadn't heard anything back yet,” Schmidt said. Finally just before 8 a.m. Tuesday, 12 hours after the boy went missing, his parents called the police. As a result of the delay, DCFS is investigating what happened. “It's a process. We don't want to jump to any conclusions but we are also concerned mainly about the safety of the child,” Ashley Sumner said, Public Information Officer for the Division of Child and Family Services. DCFS says cases like this are rare. Police won't confirm if the boy is home but said that his mother knows where he is. The owner at Crazy Corn Maze said he is grateful for a happy ending and has this message for the Good Samaritan who took time to help the boy: “I'd say thank you. As a parent myself, I'd say thank you. I think every parent would just be grateful for another adult to step in and mitigate that situation,” Schmidt said. The police are also investigating the situation but at this time not citations have been issued. ||||| Parents leave 3-year-old at corn maze, realize he is missing the following morning (Photo: KUTV) (KUTV) A Utah couple left their child behind. A 3-year-old boy was left at a West Jordan, Utah, corn maze Monday night -- and the parents didn't realize he was gone until Tuesday morning. It happened at the Crazy Corn Maze at 8800 South and 4000 West. The boy was found at about 7:30 p.m. in the front entrance area by a woman, called a "Good Samaritan" by police, who brought the boy to the corn maze staff. Police said it wasn't until Tuesday morning when they got a call from the family. They reported the child was missing and they believe they left him at the corn maze. "Sounds like this is a dwelling with multiple families and a lot of children living in the same home," said Sgt. Joe Monson with the West Jordan Police Department. He said there is still an investigation that needs to take place. "The fact that it took so long for them to realize the child was missing -- was it purely an accident? What where the circumstances? These are all questions [investigators] want to ask." According to staff at the Crazy Corn Maze, the boy was emotional, but finally calmed down when a West Jordan officer put a movie on her laptop for the child. "They got him to say his brothers name and that was about it," said Josy Schmidt, part owner of the maze along with her husband. Schmidt said they did everything they could to try and locate the parents, including getting on a bull horn and walking through the maze. But the parents could not be found anywhere. So after closing, the officer turned the child over to the Department of Child and Family Services. DCFS is not saying if it still has the child or have returned him to his family. "What's odd to me is they didn't notice when they got home, or noticed by bedtime, or noticed in the night," Schmidt said. ||||| WEST JORDAN — A family did not notice they had left their 3-year-old boy at a corn maze in West Jordan until the next morning, police say. West Jordan Police Sgt. Joe Monson said someone noticed a little boy alone in the maze Monday night and brought the boy to the attention of the Crazy Corn Maze staff. “They had staff out with bullhorns announcing they had a found child, they waited at the gate, but no one showed up for the child,” Monson said. One of the corn maze owners, Kendall Schmidt, said they did everything they could, including going car to car. He said the boy was scared and crying, and couldn’t tell them much except his age and the name of his brother and his cat. “It was a stressful night for us, worrying about him and worrying about his family,” Schmidt said. An officer who was there took the boy into her car to watch "Finding Dory," a movie about a fish trying to find her parents, and the movie cheered him up, Schmidt said. After closing time, the owners took the boy to the police station, and officers then contacted the state's Child and Family Services. It wasn't until the next morning when a woman called the police at about 7:45 a.m. and said she couldn't find her little boy and feared he was still at the corn maze, Monson said. Investigators went to the house and said several families live there together with several children between them, Monson said. Investigators and DCFS will work together with the family to see if it was an oversight or an accident or if charges are warranted. “This could have been a whole lot worse,” Monson said. “We’ve been out on cases where we are looking for a missing child in cold weather.” Schmidt said they have had people get lost or separated from each other in the maze in the past, but nothing like this. “Kids have little legs of their own and little minds of their own, and it’s not hard to get separated," he said. "You have to constantly be watching and re-counting and making sure you have everyone." × Photos

– Family members tell police they didn't notice that a 3-year-old boy was missing when they left a corn maze in Utah on Monday night. Nor did they notice his absence at bedtime, or overnight. Indeed, it was shortly before 8am Tuesday that the mother of the boy finally called police, reports KUTV. It had then been some 12 hours since a woman had discovered the crying boy alone at the Crazy Corn Maze in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan and brought him to the maze owners. Because the boy only revealed his age and the names of his brother and cat, the owners went car to car and throughout the maze, announcing that a lost child had been found, per KSL. The boy was finally turned over to the Department of Child and Family Services when no one claimed him. On Tuesday morning, the boy's mother "woke up and noticed he was missing," West Jordan police officer Joe Monson tells the Salt Lake Tribune. "She realized she may have left him at the corn maze and called us." Police issued no citations, but DCFS is investigating why "it took so long for them to realize the child was missing," Monson tells KUTV. It "sounds like this is a dwelling with multiple families and a lot of children living in the same home," he says, telling the AP the mother eventually turned up at the police station with 10 kids in tow. A DCFS rep tells Fox 13 "we don't want to jump to any conclusions" but are "concerned mainly about the safety of the child." It wasn't clear whether the boy is back with his family. (A town rallied to find this 3-year-old lost in a cornfield.)