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Sometimes even the most seemingly rock-solid celebrity couples just can't make it work (we're looking at you, Miranda and Orlando), and, sadly, there were many star-studded breakups that made big news this year. From Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder's split and the broken engagement of Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth to Kaley Cuoco and Henry Cavill's supershort-lived romance and the end of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson's love, we're taking a look back at the breakups that surprised and saddened us in 2013. Keep reading to see the celebrity couples that called it quits this year, and don't forget to vote for the breakup that shocked you most! ||||| Sometimes it just isn't meant to be, and that seems to be the case for a number of Tinseltown's biggest couples. Heartache abounds in 2013 -- many of our once-favorite couples were left with broken engagements, divorce announcements, or just plain nasty breakups. And while some of these un-pairings we expected, others caught us completely by surprise. Grab a tissue and relive the year in celebrity splits: ||||| Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom Khloe Kardashian filed for divorce from Lamar Odom on Dec. 13 after four years of marriage. The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star cited irreconcilable differences in her legal docs as the reason for her split from the NBA pro. Instagram

– This year wasn't great for these 16 celebrity couples, all of whom split up. Click through the gallery for a sampling, or see the full lists at ETOnline, PopSugar, and the Huffington Post.

Khloe Kardashian filed for divorce from Lamar Odom on Dec. 13. Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder's split and Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth's broken engagement made big news. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson's split was also a surprise.

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. ||||| WASHINGTON Satellite imagery suggests that North Korea has restarted a research reactor capable of producing plutonium for weapons at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, a U.S. research institute said on Wednesday. U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies said a satellite image from August 31 shows white steam rising from a building near the hall that houses the plutonium production reactor's steam turbines and electric generators. "The white coloration and volume are consistent with steam being vented because the electrical generating system is about to come online, indicating that the reactor is in or nearing operation," said the Washington-based institute. The reactor can produce 6 kgs (13.2 lbs) of plutonium a year, the report added. There was no immediate comment on Wednesday from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog. A spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs declined to respond the report, citing a policy of not commenting on intelligence matters, but said Pyongyang's "nuclear program remains a matter of serious concern." The spokesman repeated Washington's longstanding call for North Korea to comply with a 2005 aid-for-disarmament agreement signed by North Korea, its neighbors and the United States. Under that pact, Pyongyang would have dismantled its nuclear program in exchange for economic and energy aid. North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests since 2006. "Acknowledging that we are not completely certain yet, this is very disappointing but not at all unexpected," James Acton, an analyst for the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank. "It's not unexpected because we've been able to see for months through satellite imagery that North Korea has been working on repairing the five-megawatt electric reactor," he said in a telephone interview. Pyongyang announced in April that it would revive the aged Yongbyon research reactor that yields bomb-grade plutonium but stressed it was seeking a deterrent capacity. "ANOTHER SLAP IN THE FACE" Nuclear experts said at the time it would probably take about half a year to get the reactor up and running if it had not suffered significant damage from neglect. The Yongbyon reactor has been technically out of operation for years. In 2008 the North destroyed its cooling tower as a confidence-building step in the six-nation talks. "Restarting it is another slap in the face to the international community, indicating that North Korea has no

– A fresh satellite image shows white steam coming from a building in North Korea, and a US research group says that likely means the country is nearly ready to restart a reactor capable of producing plutonium—or may have already started it. "The white coloration and volume are consistent with steam being vented because the electrical generating system is about to come online, indicating that the reactor is in or nearing operation," says the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins. The image (see it here) was taken of the Yongbyon nuclear complex on Aug. 31, reports Reuters. North Korea in April vowed to restart the reactor as a nuclear deterrent; NPR notes that a State Department rep at the time said, "There's a long way to go between a stated intention and actually being able to pull it off." Reuters reports that some experts had anticipated it would take about six months to do just that, barring any unforeseen issues resulting from fact that Yongbyon was shut down in 2007; the US-Korea Institute had predicted the reactor would be restart-ready at the end of last month. The reactor can make one bomb's worth of plutonium a year.

U.S.-Korea Institute: Satellite image from August 31 shows steam rising from a building. The reactor can produce 6 kgs (13.2 lbs) of plutonium a year, the report says. Pyongyang announced in April that it would revive the aged Yongbyon research reactor. North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests since 2006."It is another slap in the face to the international community," analyst says of restarting the reactor."This is very disappointing but not at all unexpected," says James Acton, an analyst.

CLOSE Skip in Skip x Embed x Share Alexa and Siri have nothing on Morgan Freeman, who lent his distinct voice to Jarvis, Mark Zuckerberg's new artificial intelligence assistant. USA TODAY NETWORK Actor Morgan Freeman will be the voice of Mark Zuckerberg's digital assistant Jarvis. (Photo: Kimberly White, Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize) SAN FRANCISCO — Move over, Siri. It's not OK, Google. The voice behind Mark Zuckerberg's homemade artificial intelligence assistant Jarvis will be none other than Morgan Freeman. Freeman's iconic timbre was selected by popular demand. The system that runs Zuckerberg's household, named for Tony Stark's artificial intelligence from Iron Man, had a synthesized voice like many other such systems. Robert Downey Jr., who plays Stark, volunteered to be the new voice of Jarvis under certain conditions. Instead, Zuckerberg asked the public to weigh in. His Facebook post received more than 50,000 comments, with Freeman emerging victorious. (Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan also had some fun experimenting with an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice-powered Jarvis. Maybe he'll be back.) Zuckberg toldFast Company he called Freeman and said: "Hey, I posted this thing, and...thousands of people want you to be the voice. Will you do it?’" Freeman told Zuckerberg: "Yeah, sure." Of course, Freeman has other starring voice roles in the tech world. He's one of the celebrity voices on Google's navigation app Waze. Facebook has not disclosed whether Freeman is getting paid, according to Fast Company. With the Jarvis project, Zuckerberg wanted to use his voice to control everything in his house, from the music to the lights to the temperature. He also wanted Jarvis to swing open the front gate for friends by recognizing their faces. Essentially, the Jarvis project is like Zuckerberg's homemade version of Amazon's Alexa service or Google's Home. Nearly a year ago, the Facebook CEO said he planned to build an AI system as one of the personal growth challenges he gives himself each year. For Zuckerberg, this was a return to his programming roots. This isn't the first time he has returned to coding. His personal growth challenge in 2012 was to code every day. But this challenge connected him to a new wave of computer science that is vital to his company's growth. "My goal was to learn about the state of artificial intelligence — where we're further along than people realize and where we're still a long ways off. These challenges always lead me to learn more than I expected, and this one also gave me a better sense of all the internal technology Facebook engineers get to use, as well as a thorough overview of home automation," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on Monday. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2i6wMku ||||| As I wrote yesterday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has finished building Jarvis, his home AI assistant. Among other things, the system can turn lights on and off, play music based on the personal tastes of both him and wife Priscilla Chan, automatically open their front gate for friends, make toast, and even wake up their one-year-old daughter Max with Mandarin lessons.

– It's well documented that Morgan Freeman is incapable of turning down any role—(cough) The Contract (double cough) Last Vegas—including, apparently, the role of Mark Zuckerberg's personal butler. In a Facebook video posted Tuesday, Zuckerberg debuted his new artificially intelligent home assistant voiced by none other than Ellis Redding himself. Mashable reports the Facebook founder's new assistant was inspired by Tony Stark's Jarvis in the Iron Man movies. He even stole the name, according to USA Today. But while Robert Downey Jr. offered to voice the system, Zuckerberg—and his Facebook friends—had other ideas. Zuckerberg posted on Facebook in October asking who should voice his AI assistant, and Freeman was the "overwhelming choice," Fast Company reports. "I called him...and I said, ‘Hey, I posted this thing, and...thousands of people want you to be the voice. Will you do it?’" Freeman, as is his wont, said yes. TechCrunch notes it's "a pretty big get even for Zuckerberg." Zuckerberg's Jarvis can turn the lights on and off, play music, open the front gates using facial recognition software, make toast, give Mandarin lessons, and more—all in Freeman's dulcet tones. It's the result of a "personal growth challenge" Zuckerberg gave himself at the start of the year.

Morgan Freeman will be the voice of Mark Zuckerberg's new artificial intelligence assistant. Freeman's iconic timbre was selected by popular demand. Robert Downey Jr. volunteered to be the new voice of Jarvis under certain conditions. Jarvis is Zuckerberg's homemade version of Amazon's Alexa service or Google's Home. The system can turn lights on and off, play music based on the personal tastes of both him and wife Priscilla Chan, make toast, and even wake up their one-year-old daughter Max with Mandarin lessons.

Importance After major policy changes in the United States, policymakers, health care professionals, and the general public seek information about whether recreational cannabis use is associated with physical health problems later in life. Objective To test associations between cannabis use over 20 years and a variety of physical health indexes at early midlife. Design, Setting, and Participants Participants belonged to a representative birth cohort of 1037 individuals born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972 and 1973 and followed to age 38 years, with 95% retention (the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study). We tested whether cannabis use from ages 18 to 38 years was associated with physical health at age 38, even after controlling for tobacco use, childhood health, and childhood socioeconomic status. We also tested whether cannabis use from ages 26 to 38 years was associated with within-individual health decline using the same measures of health at both ages. Exposures We assessed frequency of cannabis use and cannabis dependence at ages 18, 21, 26, 32, and 38 years. Main Outcomes and Measures We obtained laboratory measures of physical health (periodontal health, lung function, systemic inflammation, and metabolic health), as well as self-reported physical health, at ages 26 and 38 years. Results The 1037 study participants were 51.6% male (n = 535). Of these, 484 had ever used tobacco daily and 675 had ever used cannabis. Cannabis use was associated with poorer periodontal health at age 38 years and within-individual decline in periodontal health from ages 26 to 38 years. For example, cannabis joint-years from ages 18 to 38 years was associated with poorer periodontal health at age 38 years, even after controlling for tobacco pack-years (β = 0.12; 95% CI, 0.05-0.18; P <.001). Additionally, cannabis joint-years from ages 26 to 38 years was associated with poorer periodontal health at age 38 years, even after accounting for periodontal health at age 26 years and tobacco pack-years (β = 0.10; 95% CI, 0.05-0.16; P <.001) However, cannabis use was unrelated to other physical health problems. Unlike cannabis use, tobacco use was associated with worse lung function, systemic inflammation, and metabolic health at age 38 years, as well as within-individual decline in health from ages 26 to 38 years. Conclusions and Relevance Cannabis use for up to 20 years is associated with periodontal disease but is not associated with other physical health problems in early midlife. ||||| While using marijuana for as long as 20 years was associated with periodontal disease, it was not associated with some other physical health problems in early midlife at age 38, according to an article published online by JAMA Psychiatry. Policymakers, health care professionals and the public want to know whether recreational cannabis use is associated with physical health problems later in life after major policy changes in the U.S. Madeline H. Meier, Ph.D., of Arizona State University, Tempe, and coauthors used data from 1,037 individuals who were born in New Zealand in 1972 and 1973 and were followed to age 38. The authors looked at whether cannabis use from age 18 to 38 was associated with physical

– A new study finds you can toke for up to 20 years without suffering any worse physical health effects than a couple of loose or lost teeth, Live Science reports. That's right: According to researchers studying long-term marijuana use, the only drawback, as far as physical health is concerned, is gum disease. Their findings were published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry. Researchers tested the periodontal health, systemic inflammation, metabolic health, and lung function of 1,037 New Zealanders—675 of whom reported smoking pot, according to a press release—through the age of 38. The Guardian reports they found 55.6% of people who had used marijuana for more than 15 years had periodontal disease. Only 13.5% of people who'd never used marijuana did. Researchers were unsure what was causing the poor gum health—the less-frequent brushing and flossing of marijuana-users wouldn't be enough—and believe it's possible cannabis itself is bad for gums. Researchers were surprised to find periodontal disease—and not the poor lung function associated with smoking cigarettes—was the only negative physical health effect of long-term pot use. But that doesn't mean you can cheef with impunity. “Our results should be interpreted in the context of prior research showing that cannabis use is associated with accidents and injuries, bronchitis, acute cardiovascular events, and, possibly, infectious diseases and cancer," the press release quotes the study as saying. (Being tired may make you snack like a pot-smoker.)

Policymakers, health care professionals, and the public want to know whether recreational cannabis use is associated with physical health problems later in life. Madeline H. Meier, Ph.D., of Arizona State University, Tempe, and coauthors used data from 1,037 individuals who were born in New Zealand in 1972 and 1973 and were followed to age 38. Cannabis use was associated with poorer periodontal health at age 38 years, as well as within-individual decline in health from ages 26 to 38 years.

And as the world becomes deleveraged, money has been pouring out. In October 2011 alone, hedge funds saw $9 billion go out the door. The London-based Man Group, the largest publicly traded hedge fund in the world, saw its stock dive 25 percent over the course of one day in September, when it shocked the market by announcing that $2.6 billion had been redeemed by clients over a three-month span. “We used to rely on the public making dumb investing decisions,” one well-known Manhattan hedge-fund manager told me. “but with the advent of the public leaving the market, it’s just hedge funds trading against hedge funds. At the end of the day, it’s a zero-sum game.” Based on these numbers—too many funds with fewer dollars chasing too few trades—many have predicted a hedge-fund shakeout, and it seems to have started. Over 1,000 funds have closed in the past year and a half. In October, a thousand protesters stood outside John Paulson’s Upper East Side townhouse and offered the hedge-fund billionaire a mock $5 billion check, the amount he earned from his 2010 investments. Later that day, Paulson released a statement attacking the protesters and their movement. “The top one percent of New Yorkers pay over 40 percent of all income taxes, providing huge benefits to everyone in our city and state,” he said. “Paulson & Co. and its employees have paid hundreds of millions of dollars in New York City and New York State taxes in recent years and have created over 100 high-paying jobs in New York City since its formation.” The truth was, Paulson was furious that the protesters had singled him out. Last year, he lost billions of dollars on bad bets on gold and the banking sector. One of his funds posted a 52 percent loss. “The ironic thing is John lost a lot of money this year,” a person close to Paulson told me. “The fact that John got roped into this debate highlights their misunderstanding.” It’s certainly true that Wall Street’s money played an important part in New York’s comeback, helping to transform the city from a symbol of urban decay into a gleaming leisure theme park. Consciously or not, as a city, New York made a bargain: It would tolerate the one percent’s excessive pay as long as the rising tax base funded the schools, subways, and parks for the 99 percent. “Without Wall Street, New York becomes Philadelphia” is how a friend of mine in finance explains it. In this view, deleveraging Wall Street means killing the goose. The next decade or so will answer the question of whether a Wall Street that’s built on a more stable foundation—and with smaller bonuses—can sustain the city the way the last one did. But as banks cast about for a new business model, the city’s economy will need to find new sources of growth (this is why the Bloomberg administration has aggressively courted the tech and science industries). Questions about how the banking industry—and the New York economy itself—will reconstitute are being widely debated amid a

– Matt Taibbi was incredulous when he read a recent New York piece in which Wall Street denizens whined that Dodd-Frank was limiting their bonuses. "I watch what I spend," one banker lamented, "but my girlfriend likes to eat good food," which adds up fast. "Quelle horreur!" Taibbi quips in Rolling Stone, before shredding the argument. Actually, bank compensation is falling because of the European debt crisis. Bankers he knows are saying things like, "If the ECB doesn't come up with a Greek bailout package, I'm going to have to sell my children for dog food." And at some banks (like Goldman Sachs), bonuses are actually up relative to earnings. But even if bonuses were down, "it would be good news," Taibbi argues. These companies are "functionally insolvent in reality and dependent upon a combination of corrupt accounting and cheap cash from the Fed to survive." Bankers got rich on fraud and gambling, wrecked the economy, and yet suffered the least in the crash. "They're lucky that God himself didn't come down to Earth at bonus time … and command those Zagat-reading girlfriends of theirs to get acquainted with the McDonald's value meal lineup." Read the full column here.

In October 2011 alone, hedge funds saw $9 billion go out the door. The London-based Man Group, the largest publicly traded hedge fund in the world, saw its stock dive 25 percent. Over 1,000 funds have closed in the past year and a half. “Without Wall Street, New York becomes Philadelphia,” a friend of mine in finance explains. The next decade or so will answer the question of whether a Wall Street that’s built on a more stable foundation can sustain the city.

Stephen Brashear/Getty Images. On Monday, the gods of campaign scheduling were in full-on prank mode. In Olympia, Wash., Gov. Christine Gregoire signed legislation making hers the seventh state where gays can marry. Less than an hour later, Rick Santorum arrived at the state capital to hobnob with defeated religious leaders. There he was: The sponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, the man who’d taken “arrows in the back” to battle gay marriage laws, the guy who was so hated by gay activists that his name had been turned into a frothy sexual slur. What would he say? David Weigel David Weigel is a reporter for the Washington Post. He would tell everyone to be respectful and get along. “There are legitimate reasons that people have to want … to change the law,” he said. “And there are legitimate reasons that people have to want to keep the law in place.” He did not talk about a war on Christianity, or the need to abolish state legislators. “There are ebbs and flows in every battle.” Advertisement Later, at a heckler-hassled speech in Tacoma, Santorum barely mentioned the new law. Protesters—the local Occupy hitching post was a short walk away—shouted him down whenever they could. Most stories about the rally led with the attempts to disrupt it, not the marriage material. The Rick Santorum who’s soaring in primary polls looks a lot like the Santorum who lost his 2006 re-election bid by 18 points. Here is a difference: His culture war talk is softer, more implied. He talks up his welfare reform role and his doom-saying about Iran far more than he talks up his stances on homosexuality or Prop 8. He doesn’t need to emphasize it, because the people who acid-test Republicans on social issues know they can trust him. He rallied for Terri Schiavo once; he doesn’t have much else to prove. That’s gotten clearer since the field was winnowed down to four people. A month ago, when 150 evangelical leaders met in Texas to get behind a candidate, Santorum won easily. “Many, not all, social conservatives, continue to have doubts about whether Romney is a true social conservative,” explained Richard Land, an attendee and president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “Between Santorum and Gingrich, Santorum was perceived to be the more consistently and reliably social conservative of the two.” He won that perception, and held onto it, even as his first political career imploded. He held onto it as the Great Recession came and the culture wars faded. How do we know they faded, even among Republican voters? Advertisement In a new New York Times poll, only 47 percent of Republican voters say they’re against any legal recognition of gay unions. In the 2008 entrance poll taken of Iowa caucus-goers, only 26 percent said that “the economy” was their top concern. In 2012, the number was 42 percent, with 36 percent saying “the budget deficit” was tops. In the most socially conservative electorate of the primary so far, social issues were looking less critical. Santorum convinced the people he

– Rick Santorum went to the Washington state capital Monday just hours after the governor signed gay marriage into law there. And what did the right's fiercest culture warrior say? He told everyone to be respectful, that each side had "legitimate reasons" for its views, that "there are ebbs and flows in every battle." That's pretty mild stuff from the guy who once produced the infamous "man on dog" quote, Dave Weigel of Slate observes. Santorum doesn't have to talk like that anymore because social conservatives already know they can trust him. "He doesn't need to rub it in," Weigel writes. "He rallied for Terri Schiavo once; he doesn't have much else to prove." The results: Polls show Americans now view Santorum as electable, which actually amuses strategists who worked against him in 2006. "He gave them length after length of rope, they hung him with it, and essentially, he hasn't changed." He's just hiding it better.

Santorum's culture war talk is softer, more implied. He doesn't need to emphasize it, because the people who acid-test Republicans on social issues know they can trust him. A month ago, when 150 evangelical leaders met in Texas to get behind a candidate, Santorum won easily. In a new New York Times poll, only 47 percent of Republican voters say they’re against any legal recognition of gay unions. In the 2008 entrance poll taken of Iowa caucus-goers, only 26 percent said that “the economy” was their top concern.

645X363 - No Companion - Full Sharing - Additional videos are suggested - Policy/Regulation/Blogs Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer Charles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerLou Dobbs slams Trump's move to end shutdown: 'Illegal immigrants are surely pleased’ A law enforcement solution to security on the Southern border Senators pitch three-week stopgap bill to resolve shutdown fight MORE (N.Y.) is cementing his position as the strong favorite to replace retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid Harry Mason ReidUFOs were not the only thing that the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification program was studying Warren to propose 'wealth tax' on those with more than M in assets Overnight Health Care: Trump calls for crackdown on surprise medical bills | Trump officials give religious exemption to foster care program | Uninsured rate at highest level since 2014 | Juul hires former Harry Reid chief of staff MORE (Nev.). Reid endorsed Schumer on Friday, a move that could help him quash a possible leadership challenge. ADVERTISEMENT “I think Schumer should be able to succeed me,” Reid told The Washington Post Friday. Schumer also won the support of Democratic Whip Dick Durbin Richard (Dick) Joseph DurbinNew Dem Rep. Omar: US shouldn't 'hand pick' leaders in Venezuela or support 'coup' attempt Senate ethics panel won’t penalize Booker over confidential Kavanaugh documents Grassley to hold drug pricing hearing MORE (Ill.), the second-ranking leader. Schumer, the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee chairman, is now the third-ranking member of Democratic leadership. Schumer’s aides and allies have long made clear that he would seek to replace Reid when he retired. They say he has broad support among his colleagues after helping to engineer the Democratic takeover of the Senate in 2006 and the filibuster-proof majority in 2008 during his stints as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). Reid praised Schumer as “extremely smart” but acknowledged the brash New Yorker would bring a “different style” to the job. He told the Post he did not expect Schumer to face a challenge from Durbin or Conference Secretary Patty Murray Patricia (Patty) Lynn MurraySen. Murray says Washington behavior reminds her of former preschool students Senate rejects government-wide ban on abortion funding Overnight Health Care: Dem chair plans hearing on Medicare for all | Senate GOP talks drug prices with Trump health chief | PhRMA CEO hopeful Trump reverses course on controversial pricing proposal MORE (Wash.), who ranks fourth. Durbin told the Post on Friday that he would not challenge Schumer for the top post, instead deciding to run for re-election as Democratic Whip at the end of 2016. "I think you've earned it," Durbin told Schumer, according to the Post. Schumer praised Reid as a "beloved leader" in a statement Friday morning and later acknowledged the growing support from colleagues for a leadership bid. “I thank Harry Reid for his friendship, counsel, and steadfast leadership of our caucus over the last 10 years, and I look forward to continuing to work right alongside him for the remainder of this Congress. I am honored and humbled to have the support of so many of my colleagues and look

– Unless Dick Durbin makes a stink about it, it appears that Chuck Schumer will replace Harry Reid as the Senate's Democratic leader come 2016. In an interview after announcing that he would not run for re-election, Reid tells the Washington Post that the New York senator is his pick. "I think Schumer should be able to succeed me," he says. Schumer is currently the No. 3 Democrat, with Illinois' Durbin ahead of him as minority whip. But Reid spoke to Durbin today by phone and tells the Post that Durbin will step aside for Schumer. Neither Schumer nor Durbin has made an official comment on succession plans, but Schumer's team has long made it known that he would try to replace Reid whenever he stepped down, reports the Hill. One other name being mentioned frequently as a contender is the fourth-ranking Democrat, Patty Murray of Washington state. Even before Reid's endorsement, however, Schumer was the heavy favorite, notes the Hill.

Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) is cementing his position as the strong favorite to replace retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) Reid endorsed Schumer on Friday, a move that could help him quash a possible leadership challenge. “I think Schumer should be able to succeed me,” Reid told The Washington Post Friday. Schumer, the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee chairman, is now the third-ranking member of Democratic leadership. Schumer’s aides and allies have long made clear that he would seek to replace Reid when he retired.

When Pattonville School District leaders planned the transformation of an old elementary school into a revamped preschool, they thought of eve… ||||| BALTIMORE (AP) — A Republican running for a Maryland legislative seat raffled off an AR-15 assault weapon at a Saturday night fundraiser, only days after the same type of weapon was used to kill 17 people at a Florida high school. The Baltimore Sun reported that about 15 people held a peaceful vigil outside, reading off the names of the 17 victims, as well as others killed in mass shootings, before the fundraiser for sheriff's deputy Aaron Penman. The Facebook posting for Penman's event said gun winners would have to complete background checks. Democrat Allison Berkowitz, also running to represent House District 7, took a turn sharing the stories of shooting victims over a megaphone. She said "we just want things to be safer for all of our children." ___ Information from: The Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com

– Candidates in Kansas and Maryland have drawn criticism for refusing to nix their AR-15 raffles after the Parkland school shooting last week. Now, another (but much younger) group is in the spotlight. The Kansas City Star reports members of a third-grade baseball team in Neosho, Mo., are trying to raise money by selling raffle tickets for the same weapon used in the Florida shooting, and even though coach Levi Patterson mulled replacing the AR-15 with another prize item after Parkland, he decided against it. He said after "getting the hate"—he originally said someone from a "hate group" put a post up on Facebook showing an AR-15 next to the logo of Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School—he hoped to make the raffle "a positive thing." Reaction to the raffle for the gun, which was donated by a player's dad, has been mixed. Patterson says he's been receiving offers to buy tickets from all around the country, but some online are calling the raffle "tone deaf" considering what just happened in Parkland. "AR15 kills seventeen so you raffle a gun for child sports? Lord, people wake the hell up," one commenter posted on Patterson's Facebook page. Patterson says the winner of the gun will have to pass a background check, none of the boys are being forced to sell tickets, and he wasn't trying to make a political statement with the gun—the player's dad had simply offered it, and he accepted. He has changed his tune on the "hate group" he mentioned earlier, now telling the Star, "I applaud them for standing up for what they believe in," but adding that those critics "have feelings to this specific type of gun [that are] different than people around here do."

A Republican running for a Maryland legislative seat raffled off an AR-15 assault weapon. The same type of weapon was used to kill 17 people at a Florida high school. About 15 people held a peaceful vigil outside, reading off the names of the victims.

Police in North Beaver Township, Pennsylvania are scratching their heads right now. Why? A 50-foot long, 20-foot wide steel bridge just disappeared. How? Apparently, some very bold criminals just up and stole it. Advertisement Stealing a bridge, as you'd imagine, is a pretty complicated crime. This isn't some 90s era magic trick people. The local police suspect that the bridge robbers worked at this for over a month. They presumably used a blow torch to cut the corrugated steel and then somehow moved the pieces—steel beams and such— to sell for scrap metal. That couldn't have been easy as each foot was estimated to weigh hundreds of pounds. But why oh why would you even bother stealing a bridge? Because the scrap metal is estimated to be $100,000. Oh. But even knowing how it happened, I'm still left wondering, how does this happen!? It's a crime that's so far out there that no one really knows what from how and who from why. In fact, police say the bridge went missing some time between September 27th and October 5th. That's a pretty long range for something that big to go missing, right? Advertisement And who in the right mind would look at a bridge and go hey, I think I can take that down. How do they transport it? Who are they selling it to? And how come no one noticed earlier? (this has a more reasonable answer, it's deep in the woods and the bridge is an old railroad bridge). Will they re-build the bridge? Were the robbers really there for a month? Are they going to steal another one? Is this going to set off a bridge stealing bonanza? Hey, I'd actually like that. Life would be more exciting if more bridges got stolen. Robbing bridges is the new black. [WTAE, Image Credit: FLariviere/Shutterstock] ||||| Police Believe Torch Was Used To Take Apart Bridge In North Beaver Township Embed this Video x Email Digg Reddit Delicious Link Pennsylvania State Police are looking for a steel bridge worth an estimated $100,000 that was dismantled and taken from a rural area in Lawrence County. Police said they believe a torch was used to cut apart the bridge, which measured 50 feet by 20 feet, near Covert's Crossing in North Beaver Township. Resident Robert Obed, who owns property nearby, gave Channel 4 Action News' Keith Jones a tour of the heavily wooded and remote area. "Its old beams are probably hundreds and hundreds of pounds per foot," said Obed. Investigators said the bridge was taken between Sept. 27 and Oct. 5. New Castle Development owns the property where the bridge was located. Copyright 2011 by WTAE. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

– If some guy in Pennsylvania says he's got a bridge to sell you, he may mean it literally. Thieves made off with an entire steel bridge in (very) rural Pennsylvania, reports WTAE as noted by Gizmodo. It measures, or measured, 50 feet by 20 feet, and would likely fetch about $100,000 in scrap metal. The bandits likely needed torches and a few days to pull off the caper in North Beaver Township.

Police in North Beaver Township, Pennsylvania are scratching their heads right now. A 50-foot long, 20-foot wide steel bridge just disappeared. The local police suspect that the bridge robbers worked at this for over a month. They presumably used a blow torch to cut the corrugated steel and then somehow moved the pieces. That couldn't have been easy as each foot was estimated to weigh hundreds of pounds. But why oh why would you even bother stealing a bridge? Because the scrap metal is estimated to be $100,000.

About -Who We Are -Our Mission -ERP Campaign -Our Services -Our Leadership -Our Accomplishments -Partners & Supporters Blog -Victims’ Stories For Legislators -Revenge Porn Laws -Guide for Legislators -CCRI Model State Law -CCRI Model Federal Law -CCRI Model Civil Law Media -CCRI in the Media -NCP News Victim Resources -Crisis Helpline -FAQs- US Victims -Online Removal Guide -Revenge Porn Laws -Related Laws -Attorneys -Int’l Victim Resources Research -Our Team -2017 Research -2017 Infographic Info -Definitions -FAQs Donate Helpline Contact Us -Contact Us -Victim Intake Form ||||| LANSING, Mich. (AP) – A new law makes it illegal to post sexually explicit videos or photos to coerce, threaten or intimidate the person who’s depicted. Gov. Rick Snyder is out of the country. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signed legislation Tuesday to stop people from posting what’s known as “cyber revenge” or “revenge porn.” Sponsors in the Legislature say the practice is often meant to shame or humiliate the person depicted. The law carries a possible prison sentence and a maximum $1,000 fine. Democratic Sen. Steve Bieda of Warren and Republican Sen. Rick Jones of Grand Ledge sponsored the bills. The state Senate passed a similar package in 2014 but it stalled in the House. © Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ||||| Judge's gavel. (Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto) In what might be Michigan's first revenge-pornography case resulting in a monetary judgment, an Oakland County woman was awarded $500,000 Wednesday after her ex-boyfriend posted nude photographs of her on multiple Internet sites. Revenge pornography has made headlines across the nation. The cases usually involve someone else obtaining photos of a former partner and posting them on the Internet in a retaliatory matter. Due to privacy concerns, the woman's identity was not disclosed to the Free Press by her lawyer, Kyle Bristow. Bristow said the defendant, the woman's ex-boyfriend, resides in Macomb County, but he declined to release his identity because it would identify his client. "My client was tormented for a year and a half over this occurrence," said, adding that the case is the first of its kind in Michigan. "Before I got involved, she tried to plead with these websites to remove the photos. It was like a horrific game of 'Whack a Ball.' ... She was scared that she had a stalker out to get her. It affected her employment and her attendance at college. ... She's very happy with the results we've procured." ► Related: George Zimmerman booted off Twitter for posting nude photos According to court records from the Oakland County Circuit Court, Judge Martha Anderson awarded the sum, which is set to accrue interest over time. Anderson also granted a permanent injunction against the ex-boyfriend, forcing him to immediately destroy and never republish the photos to third-party websites. If he does, Bristow said, he can be held in contempt and face prison or additional fines. Bristow said the case began to unfold about a year and a half ago when a fake Gmail account was set up to impersonate

– Those contemplating getting under an ex's skin by publicizing pictures showing too much skin may want to check this case out of Michigan first. In what's being billed as possibly the state's first "revenge porn" suit to end with a monetary payout, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Martha Anderson on Wednesday awarded $500,000 (with interest) to a woman whose ex-boyfriend had plastered the Internet with nude photos of her, the Detroit Free Press reports. Kyle Bristow, the attorney for the unidentified woman, says that as a result of this cyber blitz, his client was "tormented" for a year and a half before he stepped in as she tried to get the photos taken down in what he describes as a "horrific game of Whack a Ball." And Bristow is apparently a decent advocate to have in one's corner: Since at least 2012, he's been representing victims by the dozen (mostly women) and trying to shutter sites that host these types of images and videos. Per the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, 34 states and DC have revenge-porn laws on the books, and Michigan is one of them, having passed a law in April that makes it illegal to put sexually explicit pics or videos of someone online without that person's consent, per CBS Detroit. The ex in this particular case was also instructed by Anderson to immediately destroy the woman's photos and never post them to third-party sites again, or else risk prison time or more fines in contempt of court. "We are truly winning the battle," Bristow tells the Free Press. (This man's revenge site was so extreme his ex wanted to disappear.)

A new law makes it illegal to post sexually explicit videos or photos to coerce, threaten or intimidate the person who’s depicted. The law carries a possible prison sentence and a maximum $1,000 fine. An Oakland County woman was awarded $500,000 Wednesday after her ex-boyfriend posted nude photographs of her on multiple Internet sites. The cases usually involve someone else obtaining photos of a former partner and posting them on the Internet in a retaliatory matter. "My client was tormented for a year and a half over this occurrence," said the woman's lawyer.

NEIGHBORS ERUPTS INTO DEADLY GUNFIRE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. GOOD EVENING AND THANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR LOCAL 4 NEWS AT 5:00. WE'LL BEGIN WITH A ROAD TRIP THAT TOOK A BIZARRE TURN WHEN SOMEONE IN THE VEHICLE DIED. Devin: THE MACOMB COUNTY MAN WAS DRIVING FROM PHOENIX AFTER CHECKING OUT OF A MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY. Carmen: SHE BECAME UNRESPONSIVE AND DIED. HE CONTINUED DRIVING NEARLY 2,000 MORE MILES TO WARREN, MICHIGAN. IT'S A STORY ALREADY GETTING NATIONAL ATTENTION. I UNDERSTAND YOU SPOKE WITH THE DRIVER A SHORT TIME AGO. WHY DID HE DRIVE WITH HER IN THE CAR? Shawn: RAY TOMLINSON, THAT'S HIS NAME, THAT'S THE KEY QUESTION I ASKED HIM: WHY? WHY NOT STOP, PULL OVER, CALL 911 WHEN HIS GIRLFRIEND PASSED AWAY IN THE PASSENGER SEAT? THE REASON IS TWO-FOLD. ONE, HIS VERY ELDERLY MOTHER WAS IN THE VAN WITH HIM AT THE TIME. AND TWO, HE DIDN'T WANT TO LEARN HIS VAN TO POLICE IMPOUNDING IT WHILE THEY INVESTIGATED THE DEAD BODY IN THE VAN. SO HE CONTINUED DRIVING. I ASKED HIM, WHERE'S THE RESPECT FOR THE DEAD? I CAN'T BELIEVE IT HAPPENED. Shawn: ONE MINUTE HE IS EMOTIONAL. AND THE NEXT HE'S DEFIANT. IT'S NOT ILLEGAL TO CARRY A BODY ACROSS THE COUNTRY. Shawn: HE TRANSPORTED A BODY ON A 1900-MILE JOURNEY FROM ARIZONA TO WARREN THIS PAST MONDAY. TOMLINSON'S 93-YEAR-OLD MOTHER WAS IN THE BACK OF THE VAN IN A WHEELCHAIR. IN THE PASSENGER SEAT, HIS 31-YEAR-OLD GIRLFRIEND FROM ROSEVILLE. HE SAID HIS GIRLFRIEND WAS TROUBLED AND JUST CHECKED OUT OF A MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY, WAS ON THESE PAIN AND OTHER MEDS. SOMEWHERE IN NEW MEXICO, SHE WOULDN'T WAKE UP. I WENT LIKE THIS, BECAUSE SHE'S IN THE FRONT SEAT OF THE CAR NEXT TO ME. AND I SAID, YOU KNOW, YOU WANT SOMETHING? AT THAT POINT IN TIME, SHE WAS STIFF. Shawn: BUT HER NEVER STOPPED OR CALLED FOR HELP. INSTEAD, HE LOOKED UP ON HIS PHONE WHAT TO DO WITH A CORPSE, LEARNING HE HAD 48 HOURS TO GET TO A MORGUE. I COULD TAKE HER TO THE MACOMB COUNTY MORGUE BECAUSE THAT WAS MY PLAN. Shawn: A PERSON FROM HIS GIRLFRIEND'S CARE FACILITY CALLED TO CHECK ON HER. HE SAID SHE WAS DEAD. THE CARE FACILITY CALLED POLICE HERE AT HOME AND POLICE URGED HIM TO STOP AND TAKE THE BODY TO A HOSPITAL. BUT TOMLINSON REFUSED. I JUST DROVE AND DROVE BECAUSE I KNEW I WOULD BE IN SOME KIND OF TROUBLE. IT'S STRANGE TO THINK SOMEONE COULD DRIVE 26 HOURS WITH A DEAD PERSON SITTING NEXT TO THEM. Shawn: VERY STRANGE, INDEED. POLICE IN WARREN TRYING TO GET IN CONTACT WITH HER FAMILY IN NEW JERSEY. SHE HAS A MOTHER AND FATHER THERE. THEY DO NOT THINK FOUL PLAY IS INVOLVED. THE CORONER IS TRYING TO DETERMINE HOW SHE DIED. THE 92-YEAR-OLD MOTHER WAS TAKEN INTO PROTECTIVE CUSTODY BECAUSE OF THE STATE SHE WAS FOUND INSIDE THE VAN. Carmen: IS HE FACING ANY CHARGES? Shawn: NO CHARGES RIGHT NOW. WE FOUND HIM AT HOME WILLING TO TALK ABOUT IT TO TELL

– Ray Tomlinson set out from Michigan to Arizona to pick up his girlfriend from a mental health facility Sunday—then drove nearly all of the 1,900-mile return trek with her dead body propped up in the passenger seat. Somewhere in New Mexico, Tomlinson nudged her and "she was stiff," he tells WDIV. "There wasn't jerking or moans or groans, or cries for help, she just fell asleep." Rather than call police, Tomlinson propped the body up, slapped sunglasses on the woman's face, and put a stuffed animal in her lap, WJBK reports. He and his 93-year-old mom then continued to drive for 26 hours—without air conditioning. When health officials called the woman's cell to check on her, Tomlinson told them she was dead, but refused to contact police. His plan? After looking up what to do with a dead body on his phone, he learned he'd have 48 hours to get the woman to a morgue, and planned to take her to one in Michigan. Michigan authorities, however, met Tomlinson after the facility gave them a ring. Police are awaiting a toxicology report but say the woman may have taken several oxycodone pills while stopped at a Flagstaff gas station. No charges have been filed, but the local prosecutor's office is reviewing the case.

RAY TOMLINSON TRANSPORTed a body from Arizona to Michigan. His 93-year-old mother was in the back of the car at the time. He didn't want police to find the body while he was driving. The body was found in a car parked next to the driver's seat. The driver is now back at home and is in good spirits. He has been charged with vehicular homicide. He is being held in jail on a $100,000 bond, pending a court hearing.

It was an outlandish attack on Venezuela’s centers of power: A police helicopter swooped down from a clear sky while someone inside dropped grenades on the Supreme Court and opened fire on the Interior Ministry. The rogue police officers inside the craft waved a banner that referred to an article in the Constitution that allows for civil uprisings against tyrants. But if the assault on Tuesday was meant as a call to arms, it instead perplexed Venezuelans who have been protesting against the government and a devastating economic crisis. Demonstrators took to the streets on Wednesday, many voicing admiration for the stunt, but also wondering why anyone would engage in such a hapless attack. The police stayed in their precincts, showing little support for the dissident officers. Some people even wondered whether the government had somehow orchestrated the events as a distraction. ||||| Oscar Perez is the alleged perpetrator of an attack which saw a police helicopter target Venezuela’s Supreme Court building and Interior Ministry. In what Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro dubbed as an “act of terrorism”, the pilot of a police helicopter dropped four grenades on the court and fired 15 shots at the Interior Ministry which had scores of people inside. Venezuelan daily El Nacional claimed that Oscar Pérez piloted the helicopter. Venezuela’s government has also said in a communique that Perez declared himself in rebellion against Maduro and was behind the attack, but who is the ‘Rambo of Venezuela’? Career A former captain in the CICPC, Venezuela’s intelligence and investigative body, Perez states on his Instagram profile that he is “a crime units investigator, a pilot and a K9 instructor”. Political affiliation Perez claims to have no political affiliation and in one of his Instagram posts gestured to a purple ribbon tied around his arm saying his allegiance was to “the truth and to Christ”. Social media Perez is active on social media and has posted multiple videos to his Instagram account in which he appears flanked by four masked men wielding what appear to be assault rifles and addresses the camera directly. 5/5 Tenemos dos opciones ser juzgados el día de mañana por nuestras conciencias y el pueblo, o a partir de hoy librarnos de este Gobierno Corrupto. Somos Guerreros de Dios y nuestra misión es vivir al servicio del pueblo. ¡VIVA VENEZUELA! ¡QUE VIVA! A post shared by OSCARPEREZ (@oscarperezgv) on Jun 27, 2017 at 4:18pm PDT The five recent videos that Perez has posted in this style had collectively received 1.6 million views by late Tuesday, June 27, night. https://twitter.com/oscaromshanti/media?lang=fr Film career In 2015, Perez appeared in the Spanish language film “Death Suspended,” the plot of which centred around the CICPC. ||||| Oscar Pérez, the rogue police pilot Venezuelan officials say is behind a helicopter attack on the country’s capital has movie-star looks and movie credits. He has also suddenly become the face of the opposition to President Nicolas Maduro. But is this all just a diversion? WSJ’s Tanya Rivero reports. Photo: Instagram/oscarperezgv CARACAS, Venezuela—The government’s account of what caused it to put this capital city

– Authorities in Venezuela are hunting for the police commando who led Tuesday's daring helicopter attack on the capital that has left the country stumped. The Wall Street Journal reports that questions are flying after Oscar Perez, the wayward cop and part-time action movie star allegedly behind the plot, managed to vanish after hijacking the chopper and dropping grenades and pro-rebellion propaganda. The chopper was found on Wednesday in a jungle outside Caracas, but there was no trace of Perez or the others. Embattled President Nicolas Maduro ordered a security crackdown, as puzzled Venezuelans scoured social media for clues to what exactly happened. Some wondered if the scandal-tainted government staged the brazen scheme in an effort to curtail daily, paralyzing demonstrations that have destabilized the government, per the New York Times. Protesters who initially cheered a rogue band of cops presumably opposed to Maduro later weren't so sure. "I wanted it to be true," one witness tells the Times. "But I had to ask myself if this had all been staged or wasn’t coming from the government." Most Venezuelans "don't know what to make of it," one analyst says. Maduro blamed "terrorists," and officials insisted the plot was real, engineered by the CIA and retired Gen. Miguel Rodriguez Torres, a Maduro critic. Torres called the attack that left no injuries a "stupid montage," per the Journal. He questioned how the chopper could buzz the city for so long—CNN reports it lasted about two hours—without being shot down. Perez starred in the 2015 movie Suspended Death, in which he jumps out of a police chopper and shoots Colombian gangsters, per the Journal. He claims no political affiliation on Instagram, notes Euronews.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro dubbed the attack an ‘act of terrorism’ The pilot of a police helicopter dropped four grenades on the court and fired 15 shots at the Interior Ministry. Venezuelan daily El Nacional claimed that Oscar Pérez piloted the helicopter. Venezuela’s government has also said in a communique that Perez declared himself in rebellion against Maduro and was behind the attack. But who is the ‘Rambo of Venezuela” and is this all just a diversion?

Racing legend Larry Perkins swaps racetrack for outback and returns with buried treasure Updated He's raced against the world's best in Formula One, owned his own V8 Supercar team and won Bathurst six times. But legendary racing driver Larry Perkins says finding the missing cache of an early European explorer is "a whole different page of excitement". Since retiring from the racing scene in 2012, Perkins has clocked up more than 90,000 kilometres in his heavy-duty four-wheel-drive truck, following old explorer tracks through the Australian deserts. "They were determined people," Perkins told 7.30. "They were heading off on journeys with no sure outcome and in many cases it cost them their lives." It's one of the lesser-known explorers who survived his expedition, but left some unanswered questions, that has intrigued Perkins for the past 18 months. That explorer was a former Royal Navy captain called Henry Vere Barclay. The Simpson Desert in Central Australia was his destination. The year was 1904. Barclay left behind a mystery that has baffled historians for decades: What became of the enormous stash of equipment and personal belongings he and his team were forced to abandon in a desperate effort to survive? They needed to lighten their load by about 400 pounds to cross the sandhills to the next available water source. Two separate attempts to find the cache — one in 1915, the other five years ago — were unsuccessful. Perkins wanted to find out why. He travelled to Adelaide, where a journal of the expedition, written by the team's second in command, Ronald Macpherson, is held at the headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society. The hand-written diary lists the huge collection of gear the explorers left in the desert and the coordinates of the hiding spot. "[MacPherson] made a list at the back of the diary and he put the latitude and longitude in there and many people had thought, this will be easy to find," Perkins told 7.30. "But it didn't stack up. "I did a lot of homework and found that there's no point in going to the latitude and longitude because the goods can't possibly be there, based on reading all the pages of the journal. "So I called up my brother and said, 'Do you want to come out and waste a bit of time with me?'" 'We've found it' After travelling from his home in Melbourne to the middle of the Simpson Desert, Perkins and his brother Peter concentrated on an area about 100 kilometres from the original coordinates in the journal. After four-and-a-half long days on a quad bike they had towed out to the location, there was finally a breakthrough. "Peter said, 'What's over there?' Which he had said 100 times before," Perkins said. "It was only 40 metres away, an unfamiliar shape, so I jumped off the bike and then we could see that it was camel tanks, water tanks that could only have been Barclay's gear. "And I turned around to Peter and I said, 'We've found it'. "It was a fantastic feeling that I will

– Larry Perkins once preferred the racetrack. But for the last six years, the retired Formula One driver has been cruising around the Australian Outback, following the footsteps of explorers. What he found on his latest venture, 18 months in the making, might crown all his other achievements. Winning car races is one thing, but "not too many guys find gear like this," the 68-year-old Melbourne resident tells ABC Australia. He's speaking of a cache of goods hidden in the Simpson Desert more than a century ago by British explorer Henry Vere Barclay and his lieutenant, Ronald Macpherson. In 1904, their team had to drop 400 pounds of cargo to cross sandhills separating them from a water source in the Northern Territory. A precise location was recorded in Macpherson's preserved diary, yet searches in 1915 and 2013 failed to find the promised haul. Perkins decided that was because Macpherson got his coordinates wrong. In fact, based on Perkins' reading of the diary, he and his brother began searching 60 miles away. "The four-and-a-half days on the (ATV) paid off," Perkins now says, describing coming upon portable "water tanks that could only have been Barclay's gear." The area eventually revealed personal items, carpenter's tools, painting and scientific equipment, 600 rounds of ammunition, and a 1902 club membership tag, since handed to the Museum of Central Australia, reports the Telegraph. A heritage official calls it an "incredible discovery," reports the Katherine Times. Perkins is convinced more gear remains in the dirt, waiting to be found. (Discovered in Antarctica: a century-old fruitcake.)

Larry Perkins has clocked up more than 90,000 kilometres in his heavy-duty four-wheel-drive truck, following old explorer tracks through the Australian deserts. The explorer was a former Royal Navy captain called Henry Vere Barclay. Barclay left behind a mystery that has baffled historians for decades: What became of the enormous stash of equipment and personal belongings he and his team were forced to abandon. Two separate attempts to find the cache — one in 1915, the other five years ago — were unsuccessful. Perkins and his brother Peter concentrated on an area about 100 kilometres from the original coordinates in the journal.

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross met with President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Nov. 20 in Bedminster, N.J. where Trump and Pence have been holding transition meetings at his private golf course. (The Washington Post) Wilbur Ross, the billionaire investor considered the “king of bankruptcy” for buying beaten-down companies with the potential to deliver profits, is expected to be President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for commerce secretary, two officials with knowledge of the decision said. Ross helped shape the Trump campaign’s economic agenda, particularly its hard-line stance on the need to renegotiate — or even withdraw from — free trade agreements. That position resonated with the working class voters who were instrumental in delivering Trump’s upset victory. Elevating Ross to a position in his Cabinet could suggest that Trump intends to nurture the nationalist streak that was one of the hallmarks of his campaign. In a video released this week, Trump said he is focused on creating jobs and reiterated his pledge to withdraw from the sprawling Asian trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership that became a flash point during the election. 1 of 35 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Here’s a look at Trump’s administration so far View Photos The men and women the president-elect has selected for his Cabinet and White House team. Caption The men and women the president-elect has selected for his Cabinet and White House team. Scott Gottlieb, nominee for commissioner of FDA President Trump is set to nominate Scott Gottlieb, a conservative physician and businessman with deep ties to the pharmaceutical industry, to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, a White House official said. Courtesy of American Enterprise Institute/via Reuters Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. “Whether it’s producing steel or building cars or curing disease, I want the next generation of production and innovation to happen right here on our great homeland, America,” Trump said. In Ross, Trump would have a like-minded businessman who understands the prospects for both profit and peril in restoring American manufacturing. Ross built his fortune buying the distressed companies that were once at the heart of American industry — steel mills, coal mines and textile factories, to name a few — and then selling them in short order, making billions of dollars along the way. [Ross: How Trump would stimulate the U.S. economy] Perhaps his signature investment was the purchase of some of the nation’s largest steel mills in the early 2000s, including Cleveland-based LTV Corp. and Pennsylvania’s Bethlehem Steel. The move was credited with saving manufacturing jobs, with the United Steelworkers calling Ross “a new ally” in news reports at the time. Since then, however, many steel mills have shut down amid a glut of foreign production, much of it in China. Ross sold his steel conglomerate to what is now ArcelorMittal in 2004 for about $4.5 billion. 1 of 74 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Here’s what President-elect Donald Trump has been doing since the election View Photos He has been holding interviews and meetings as he prepares to

– Donald Trump wants the "king of bankruptcy" to be his chief of commerce, insiders say. Wilbur Ross—who got his nickname for his success buying, rebuilding, and selling off steelmakers and other distressed companies—was an economic adviser and a generous donor to the Trump campaign, the New York Times reports. The Washington Post describes the 78-year-old billionaire as a "like-minded businessman who understands the prospects for both profit and peril in restoring American manufacturing." Ross, like Trump, has said America needs to get out of bad trade agreements and has suggested slapping heavy tariffs on goods from China. "Part of the reason why I'm supporting Trump is that I think we need a more radical, new approach to government—at least in the US— from what we've had before," he said earlier this year, per the AP, which notes that Ross would be in charge of promoting American business interests around the world—as well as implementing the Trump administration's plan to roll back decades of globalization. The Times reports that Trump is expected to choose Chicago Cubs owner Todd Ricketts, son of TD Ameritrade founder J. Joseph Rickets, as deputy commerce secretary. (Earlier this week, Trump named his secretary of education.)

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross is expected to be President-elect Donald Trump's choice for commerce secretary. Ross helped shape the Trump campaign’s economic agenda, particularly its hard-line stance on the need to renegotiate — or even withdraw from — free trade agreements. Elevating Ross to a position in his Cabinet could suggest that Trump intends to nurture the nationalist streak that was one of the hallmarks of his campaign. Ross built his fortune buying the distressed companies that were once at the heart of American industry.

A Kennewick man said his stepfather stabbed his mother to death and could benefit financially from it. Nick Kilgore and his family are planning to sue his Robert Selland to prevent him from getting his late wife's $17,000 retirement pension. "It's not about the money, it's the fact that he shouldn't be paid for what he did," said Kilgore. 50-year-old Carol Gacek-Selland was married to Selland for nearly eight rocky years. "Most of it was just the regular fights, towards the end she wanted a divorce," said Kilgore. He never imagined that four years ago, Selland would stab his mother 17 times, leaving their Tacoma home a bloody crime scene. "It was probably the worst day of my life, my mom was my absolute life, I love my mom," said Kilgore. Kilgore said Selland admitted to killing his wife. They spent years in Pierce County Court, going back and forth. Then, it all came down to a 20-minute court session. Selland was found not-guilty due to insanity because of a brain lesion. Kilgore said Selland remains in a psychiatric hospital. "Everything is there, he admitted to it and yet he gets not-guilty based on temporary insanity or insanity," said Kilgore. "There's just no closure." Now, because Sellend was not found guilty, he is entitled to Gecek-Selland's retirement money. Kilgore said a stop has been placed on any payments until things get settled. Moving forward, he hopes to one day sit down and have a face-to-face conversation with his mother's killer. "It may not help at all, I may not find out anything," said Kilgore. "But, I might find out enough to sleep better at night." The family has set up a GoFundMe account to get an attorney and take this to court. ||||| Authorities say the death toll from a dam collapse in Southeastern Brazil has risen to 40 and searchers expect to find even more bodies. ||||| The seed for Wide00014 was: - Slash pages from every domain on the web: -- a ranking of all URLs that have more than one incoming inter-domain link (rank was determined by number of incoming links using Wide00012 inter domain links) -- up to a maximum of 100 most highly ranked URLs per domain - Top ranked pages (up to a max of 100) from every linked-to domain using the Wide00012 inter-domain navigational link graph

– Robert Selland stabbed his wife to death in 2011, admitted doing so, and currently resides in a mental hospital after having been found not guilty by reason of insanity. Now, thanks to a Washington state judge who ruled on Jan. 22 that Selland falls under the state's "slayer statute," he's out about $21,000. Selland was set to inherit that money from Carol Selland's pension fund; the statute, which prevents murderers from profiting from the death of their own victims, didn't apply to him because he wasn't found guilty. "I said, ‘Time out. Stop. That isn’t right. He killed her. He shouldn’t get a penny of it,'" Carol Selland's twin sister, Cheryl Gacek, tells the Olympian. The money now goes to Gacek, who says she'll split it among Carol Selland's three adult children. One of those children, Nick Kilgore, told KVEW in April that his mom had wanted out of her 8-year marriage when she was killed. The station reports she was stabbed 17 times, and notes a brain lesion factored into Selland's insanity plea. Gacek's victory looks to be twofold: The state Senate last week unanimously approved a law that clarifies the slayer statute to include those found not guilty due to insanity; the measure is set to go before the House, reports the AP. "Sometimes it takes an appalling case for us to see the gaps in state law," said Republican state Sen. Bruce Dammeier, who introduced the bill, after the 49-0 vote.

Nick Kilgore and his family are planning to sue his Robert Selland to prevent him from getting his late wife's $17,000 retirement pension. Selland was found not-guilty due to insanity because of a brain lesion. "It's not about the money, it's the fact that he shouldn't be paid for what he did," said Kilgores.

During routine restoration, researchers discovered a surprise hidden in an ancient gold-painted Chinese Buddha statue: a mummy hidden inside. The mummy was once the Buddhist monk Liuquan, according to text found with the statue. Editor's Note: This story was updated on March 3 at 10:10 a.m. E.T. A Chinese statue of a sitting Buddha has revealed a hidden surprise: Inside, scientists found the mummified remains of a monk who lived nearly 1,000 years ago. The mummy may have once been a respected Buddhist monk who, after death, was worshipped as an enlightened being, one who helped the living end their cycle of suffering and death, said Vincent van Vilsteren, an archaeology curator at the Drents Museum in the Netherlands, where the mummy (from inside the Buddha statue) was on exhibit last year. The secret hidden in the gold-painted statue was first discovered when preservationists began restoring the statue many years ago. But the human remains weren't studied in detail until researchers took scans and samples of tissue from the mummy late last year. The mysterious statue is now on display at the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest. [Image Gallery: Inca Child Mummies] Mysterious history The papier-mâché statue, which has the dimensions, roughly, of a seated person and is covered in lacquer and gold paint, has a murky history. It was likely housed in a monastery in Southeastern China for centuries. It may have been taken from the country during the Cultural Revolution, a tumultuous period of social upheaval in Communist China starting in 1966 when Chairman Mao Zedong urged citizens to seize property, dismantle educational systems and attack "bourgeois" cultural institutions. (The current owner bought the statue legally.) A gold-painted papier-mâché statue of the Buddha contained the mummified remains of an ancient Buddhist monk who lived during the 11th or 12th century. Here, a researcher inspects the statue. Credit: © Drents Museum The statue was bought and sold again in the Netherlands, and in 1996, a private owner decided to have someone fix the chips and cracks that marred the gold-painted exterior. However, when the restorer removed the statue from its wooden platform, he noticed two pillows emblazoned with Chinese text placed beneath the statues' knees. When he removed the pillows, he discovered the human remains. "He looked right into the bottom of this monk," van Vilsteren told Live Science. "You can see part of the bones and tissue of his skin." The mummy was sitting on a rolled textile carpet covered in Chinese text. Researchers then used radioactive isotopes of carbon to determine that the mummy likely lived during the 11th or 12th century, while the carpet was about 200 years older, van Vilsteren said. (Isotopes are variations of elements with different numbers of neutrons.) In 2013, researchers conducted a CT scan of the mummy at Mannheim University Hospital in Germany, revealing the remains in unprecedented detail. In a follow-up scan at the Meander Medical Center in Amersfoort, Netherlands, the researchers discovered that what they thought was lung tissue actually consisted of tiny scraps of paper with Chinese text on

– Look inside a 1,000-year-old Chinese Buddha statue, and what do you find? Why, a mummified body, of course. At least that's what Dutch researchers saw when performing a CT scan on a statue shown last year in the Netherlands at Drents Museum, Discover reports. The body is believed to be that of Buddhist master Liuquan, who perhaps died while undergoing "self-mummification." In this tradition, old Buddhist monks ingested mostly resin and pine needles until they were nearly dead, reports LiveScience. Then they were buried alive while breathing through a tube so they could meditate until the end. "There are historical records of some aging monks who have done this practice," says an archaeology curator. "But if this is also the case with this monk is not known." However he got in there, the monk's presence wasn't a total surprise. The statue—which was likely kept in a Chinese monastery for centuries—somehow ended up in the Netherlands, where a private owner discovered a body inside in 1996 while repairing a few cracks and chips. Then a CT scan in Germany in 2013 showed the remains in great detail. The latest scan reveals what appears to be lung tissue along with little bits of paper in place of bodily organs. On the scraps is Chinese text suggesting that the monk was Liuquan, who may have been revered after his death as a "living Buddha," CNET reports. He's not alone, however: Mummies from this period, around the 11th or 12th century, are fairly common in Asia. (A 200-year-old mummified monk in Mongolia may still be alive, Buddhism experts say.)

The mummy was once the Buddhist monk Liuquan, according to text found with the statue. The mummy was sitting on a rolled textile carpet covered in Chinese text. Researchers used radioactive isotopes of carbon to determine that the mummy likely lived during the 11th or 12th century. The statue is now on display at the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest. It was likely housed in a monastery in Southeastern China for centuries.. It may have been taken from the country during the Cultural Revolution, a tumultuous period of social upheaval in Communist China.

After weeks of rumors, it looks like it's finally a done deal: Twitter is buying TweetDeck, the popular third-party client for the microblogging service. Now, the sale isn't official yet, mind you -- thus far, neither company has publicly commented on a transaction -- but all signs suggest the writing's on the wall. Monday night, CNNMoney reported that the acquisition was complete, with Twitter paying more than $40 million to bring TweetDeck under its wing. Tech blog The Next Web separately reached the same conclusion, citing its own unnamed sources. Provided that everything pans out and Twitter does, in fact, become the proud new owner of TweetDeck, I'd like to submit a simple but passionate plea to the company's top brass: Please don't screw with TweetDeck. We like it. Now, I know: The notion of a company buying a successful piece of software and then screwing it up seems absurd. But when you think about it, it also seems all too plausible. Twitter has, after all, been on a collision course with third-party developers for quite some time. The company appears to be working to take back control over its ecosystem, enabling it to provide a more uniform user experience (and maybe make a few shekels along the way, too). Ever since Twitter started building out its own mobile apps and Web-based interface, it's been pushing hard for users to use those tools. So after an acquisition, would Twitter kill TweetDeck altogether? That doesn't seem likely. It might, however, merge some of TweetDeck's features with existing Twitter services -- or discontinue some of the components altogether. Think about it: Twitter already has official smartphone apps for Android and iOS. Why would it make sense to continue funding, developing, and offering another series of slightly different apps for those platforms? On the Web front, Twitter has made major changes to its own site in order to convince users to spend more time there. So why would it want to continue working on a separate Web app that conflicts with that mission? Then there's the desktop app -- the piece of the puzzle that worries me the most. I have TweetDeck's desktop app open on my second monitor all day, every day. It's a huge part of my workflow (or, on many occasions, the lack thereof). Maybe Twitter would want to keep TweetDeck around as an officially sanctioned desktop solution. But would it want to maintain the integration with competing services like Facebook and Foursquare under its company banner? Would it be in Twitter's best interest to leave TweetDeck's robust customizability in place? Even if "customizability" were a real word, I'm not so sure it would. So Twitter, I realize this plea may be in vain, but I'm asking nevertheless: Please leave TweetDeck alone. The last thing I want is to be stuck using a Twitter client designed by a clueless celeb like Ashton Kutcher or -- gasp! -- Lady Gaga. Just imagine what that experience would be like... JR Raphael is a PCWorld contributing editor and the co-founder of geek-humor site eSarcasm. You

– Twitter has snapped up popular third-party application TweetDeck, ending months of speculation about a possible deal. The acquisition—for some $40 million in cash and stock, according to CNN—is in line with Twitter's recent moves to regain control of its ecosystem and provide a more uniform experience for users, PCWorld notes. TweetDeck, based in the UK, offers users ways to customize their Twitter feeds through a desktop app. The company has never turned a profit, despite its popularity with high-profile Twitter users. UberMedia, the leading developer of apps for Twitter users, was in talks to buy TweetDeck earlier this year but the deal never materialized.

Twitter is buying TweetDeck, the popular third-party client for the microblogging service. CNNMoney reported that the acquisition was complete, with Twitter paying more than $40 million. Tech blog The Next Web separately reached the same conclusion, citing its own unnamed sources. Twitter has, after all, been on a collision course with third- party developers for quite some time.. The last thing I want is to be stuck using a Twitter client designed by a clueless celeb like Ashton Kutcher or Lady Gaga.

VALLEY, Ala. – You’ve likely heard of students bringing canned food to school for food drives, but have you ever heard of bringing a canned food item to school for safety? A letter sent to parents of students at one school in Chambers County requested just that — students were asked to arm themselves with an eight ounce canned food item. Though it sounds odd, administrators believe the practice could catch potential intruders off guard, possibly even knocking him or her out until police arrive. In the letter to parents, W.F. Burns Middle School Principal Priscilla Holley said, “As a result of school shootings throughout the United States and discussing with law enforcement on the best procedure to follow to keep our students safe, we are enhancing our procedure for intruders.” The idea to arm students with something like a can or a book comes from ALICE training. The ALICE acronym stands for: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. “I can honestly say that the major point of the the training… is to be able to get kids evacuated and not be sitting ducks hiding under desks,” Superintendent of Chambers County Schools Dr. Kelli Hodge said. Hodge said school systems in 30 states teach the principles of ALICE to students. Auburn University also uses ALICE on its campus. The ALICE program falls in line with new guidelines for school safety issued by the Department of Education in 2013. “Understandably, this is a sensitive topic. There is no single answer for what to do, but a survival mindset can increase the odds of surviving,” the Department of Education said. “There are three basic options: run, hide, or fight. You can run away from the shooter, seek a secure place where you can hide and/or deny the shooter access, or incapacitate the shooter to survive and protect others from harm.” Feedback on the Chambers County Schools program has been somewhat mixed since the letter went home to parents. Hodge said the majority of negative responses have come via Facebook, and often times by people who don’t have children in Chambers County Schools. When WHNT News 19 contacted Hodge, she said her office had received two phone calls and one email about the ALICE program. In the letter, Principal Holley said students who are armed with a canned food item will have a sense of empowerment to protect themselves in the event an intruder enters their classroom. For more information about the ALICE program, click here. Read the letter sent home to W.F. Burns Middle School parents here: ||||| Story highlights Alabama students were asked to bring canned goods for school security Cans or other heavy items could be used to fight school shooters It's part of a larger school district plan to empower students (CNN) When is a can of beans more than just a can of beans? When it's a weapon of self-defense for students to throw at an armed intruder who has just entered their school. That's one scenario Valley, Alabama, officials are considering as part of their training to respond to school

– With school threats, shootings, and lockdowns in the news at a dizzying pace, educators are naturally looking at ways to keep kids safe. But while those measures typically include security guards or metal detectors, one Alabama middle school is raising more than a few eyebrows by asking parents to arm their children—with canned goods. As WHNT tells it, WF Burns Middle School Principal Priscella Holley recently sent home a letter that began, "We realize at first this may seem odd," and went on to contend that a well-chucked can "could stun the intruder or even knock him out until the police arrive. The canned food item will give the students a sense of empowerment to protect themselves and will make them feel secure." Parents are asked to give their child an 8-ounce can ("corn, beans, peas, etc.") to bring to school. An administrator tells CNN that the canned-peas defense is part of ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate) training it implements "to get kids evacuated and not be sitting ducks hiding under desks." She tells WJBF that the school has seen some "negativity" in response "out there on Facebook," and that it's "the very, very last resort and the very, very smallest part of this entire training." Wonkette runs through a list of ideas it deems much worse, before concluding, "In other words, chucking cans of creamed corn at an intruder is starting to sound pretty damned reasonable." (Schools in South Carolina might take a different approach.)

Chambers County, Alabama, students were asked to bring canned goods for school security. The idea to arm students with something like a can or a book comes from ALICE training. The ALICE acronym stands for: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. Feedback on the program has been somewhat mixed since the letter went home to parents. to bring you more information about the ALICE program or to talk to your local school district about it, call the school on 08457 90 90 90 or go to www.chamberscountyschools.org.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a promising treatment for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. We report a case of a woman successfully treated with FMT who developed new-onset obesity after receiving stool from a healthy but overweight donor. This case may stimulate further studies on the mechanisms of the nutritional-neural-microbiota axis and reports of outcomes in patients who have used nonideal donors for FMT. CASE REPORT A 32-year-old female with recurrent CDI underwent FMT at our center. She had initially presented several months previously with a 2- to 3-week history of diarrhea and abdominal pain after antibiotic treatment for bacterial vaginosis and exposure to a family member who had CDI. She was treated empirically for CDI by her primary care physician with a 10-day course of oral metronidazole with only partial improvement. Her diarrhea and abdominal pain escalated after completing the metronidazole treatment, and her stool tested positive for Clostridium difficile toxin polymerase chain reaction (PCR). She was treated with a 14-day course of oral vancomycin. Testing done around the same time showed Helicobacter pylori infection (positive fecal antigen). Nausea and abdominal pain persisted after treatment of the CDI, so the H. pylori was treated with a course of triple therapy (amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and proton pump inhibitor). Her abdominal pain and diarrhea escalated again a few weeks later, and her stool tested positive for C. difficile toxin PCR. She was treated with a 12-week tapering course of oral vancomycin with improvement, but diarrheal symptoms recurred again within 2 weeks of completing the course, and she was prescribed a course of rifaximin with Saccharomyces boulardii. Around this time, she underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy, which showed persistence of H. pylori infection. She had no significant past medical history and had always been of normal weight. Review of systems was positive for diarrhea, and there was frustration over her ongoing diarrheal symptoms. Her weight before FMT was stable at 136 pounds (body mass index of [BMI] 26). Physical examination was unremarkable. After extensive discussion, the patient elected to undergo fecal transplant. As per the patient's request, her 16-year-old daughter was chosen as the stool donor. At the time of FMT, her daughter's weight was ∼140 pounds (BMI of 26.4), but it increased later to 170 pounds. Her daughter had no other health problems, and screening for human immunodeficiency virus 1 and 2, syphilis, and viral hepatitis A, B, and C, C. difficile, Giardia lamblia, and routine stool culture for enteric pathogens were negative. The patient was retreated for H. pylori with quadruple therapy (metronidazole, tetracycline, bismuth, and proton pump inhibitor), and the FMT was performed 2 weeks later via colonoscopy. A total of 600 cc of the suspension of donor stool in sterile water was infused through the colonoscope starting in the

– Atkins, paleo, juice cleanses … people will try most anything to shed some pounds. How about freeze-dried poop? A clinical trial set to start this year will involve 20 obese patients taking capsules filled with freeze-dried stool from healthy donors to test researchers' hunch that intestinal microbes can influence people's weight, Ars Technica reports. "We have no idea what the result will be," the lead researcher admits. However, researchers do have some anecdotal support for the idea that introducing healthy new gut microbes into a person can affect weight. In one study cited by Ars, researchers took gut microbes from a set of twins and put them into some mice. One of the twins was lean, the other was obese. Mice that received microbes from the obese twin got chubby. Restoring the balance of gut microbes via fecal transplant has been used to treat intestinal Clostridium difficile infections, the New York Times reports. In one case, per Ars, a woman received a fecal matter transplant from her healthy-yet-overweight daughter. The woman's infection was cured, but she began to gain weight. One challenge for the whole enterprise has been creating a suitable capsule to get the job done, the Times notes. Capsules typically dissolve in feces, so when they contain feces, they dissolve from the inside out. A nonprofit called OpenBiome, however, created a capsule that makes use of "aqueous fat" and doesn't break down until it enters the small intestine. The Times notes that researchers are studying the use of poop to treat other maladies as well, such as Crohn's disease. "Without capsules," one doctor says, "we wouldn't be able to do this kind of work." (Speaking of fecal matter, it's in your ground beef.)

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a promising treatment for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. We report a case of a woman successfully treated with FMT who developed new-onset obesity after receiving stool from a healthy but overweight donor. This case may stimulate further studies on the mechanisms of the nutritional-neural-microbiota axis and reports of outcomes in patients who have used nonideal donors for FMT. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.

To combat the growing obesity epidemic in the U.S., cities across the country have been promoting more physical activity among city residents with bike paths, sidewalks and green spaces. Cites in various parts of the country may pride themselves on having the "best" bikes lanes, public transportation systems or park spaces, but a new report ranked which cities have been most successful in helping residents live active lives. Researchers from Gallup in partnership with Healthways, a company that says it uses science to encourage healthier behavior, examined infrastructure data from 48 U.S. cities and their surrounding areas. They assessed which cities had the highest "active living environments," by measuring bike lanes, parks, public transit and the degree to which each city was walkable. In reviewing the 149,938 telephone interviews that Gallup conducted with U.S. adults, they also looked at corresponding health effects of those environments. It turns out that wintery Boston and its surrounding suburbs have earned the title of being the top "active living community" in the U.S., as a result of investments in public areas like bike lanes and parks, according to the report published today by Gallup. The top five cities included three East Coast metro areas, one Midwest and one West Coast city. 1. Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH 2. San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward, CA 3. Chicago–Naperville–Elgin, IL–IN–WI 4. New York–Newark–Jersey City, NY–NJ–PA 5. Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV The lowest scorers included metro areas in the South and Midwest, including Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Cities with the lowest scores were found to have higher rates of negative health conditions including depression, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and smoking. Specifically, the report found that "bike and park scores have stronger correlations with lower obesity, diabetes, and blood pressure." A better public transport system was associated with "lower daily physical pain," according to the report. Report authors used four community examples to highlight how changes infrastructure is associated with better health for residents. In one city, Albert Lea, Minnesota, the community undertook multiple measures to improve health including adding 10 miles of bike lanes and sidewalks, policies to reduce tobacco use and enlisting grocery stores and restaurants to help customers make healthier choices. From 2014 to 2016 smoking dropped in the Alberta Lea from more than 18.5 percent to under 15 percent, and the number of residents who ate the recommended amounts of fresh produce at least most days of each week rose to 62 percent from 57.5 percent, which is the national average. Some improvements didn't involve direct health measurements; the improvements contributed to community pride, which surged seven points from 61 percent to 68.7 percent. The report shows how even small changes can have a big impact on health, according to experts. "Once again it confirms that lifestyle as medicine is truly the best and most reliable strategy approach to health and well-being," Dr. Roy Buchinsky, director of Wellness at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, who was not involved in the report, told ABC News. "Clearly it has an affect on many issues we are faced with today including obesity, diabetes, high

– Whether it's their public parks, bike paths, or just because they're easy to amble around, more and more America cities are staking claims to promoting physically fit lifestyles. But some communities are more on the go than others, and as ABC News reports, a Gallup and Healthways list of the "most active living" cities has placed Boston and its suburbs at No. 1. The report analyzed 48 high-population metropolitan areas across the US and assigned an "Active Living Score" to each based on metrics within a city's infrastructure, including public transportation options, its parks situation, and walkability. Joining Boston in the winners' circle, with their corresponding scores: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-NH, 74.9 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif., 72.0 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis., 70.4 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-Pa., 69.6 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-WV, 69.4 Check out Gallup for comparisons on key lifestyle factors—or check out the US cities where you can live the best hermit life.

A new report ranked which cities have been most successful in helping residents live active lives. Boston and its surrounding suburbs have earned the title of being the top "active living community" in the U.S. The lowest scorers included metro areas in the South and Midwest, including Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. A better public transport system was associated with "lower daily physical pain," according to the report. The report shows how even small changes can have a big impact on health, according to experts.

A nearly 20-hour hostage/barricade situation in a Chicago suburb that began with a home burglary and two officers being shot ended Wednesday morning when about two dozen heavily-armed cops stormed the home to free four remaining hostages and arrest their captors. Two individuals were taken into police custody when authorities took down a door and entered the home near West 147th Street and Robey Avenue in the south suburb of Harvey. The suspects -- two men -- were found on the first floor. The hostages -- 6-year-old and 11-year-old girls, as well as two adult females aged 37 and 43 -- were recovered on the second floor, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said. How Police Ended Harvey Standoff Without Firing a Shot 8/20/2014: Nearly 20-hour Harvey standoff comes to a peaceful conclusion. NBC 5's Charlie Wojciechowski reports. (Published Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014) "There had been a lot of tension," Dart said. "Things were changing at different times it just it was the proper time to act. ... We tried everyting conceivable to get them to understand that we weren't going away and that this was going to be resolved." "We went through the door. Our team went on the first floor, then rapidly went on the second floor where the hostages were being held. We were able to take everyone down without injury. Without shots being fired." Dart said it was unclear if there was any relationship between the hostages and the suspects. Harvey Hostages' Relatives Recount Ordeal 8/20/2014: All eight hostages were released unharmed during a nearly 20-hour Harvey standoff, and more information is beginning to come out about their ordeal. NBC 5's Natalie Martinez reports. (Published Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014) The release of the final hostages came hours after four other children -- all boys -- were released throughout Tuesday evening. One sick child was released at around 6:30 p.m. and another was released about 30 minutes. A 1-year-old child was released at around 7:45 p.m. A fourth child, the 1-year-old's twin, was released at around 10:30 p.m. "They haven’t been harmed," Dart said of the hostages, "but they’re very, very traumatized." Police initially believed that five children were being held hostage, but after speaking with an 11-year-old child that was released, they learned a sixth child was also taken. One of the adult females was a nurse, according to police. "I was scared. I thought she was going to get killed. Once I saw she was OK, I was relived," said Zion Spears, a friend of the 11-year-old hostage. Thomas West's aunt was the adult hostage in the home. He spoke to NBC 5 after visiting her at Ingalls Hospital. "She said it was an ugly sight inside. She said all she did was fall in line and did what was told. That's the way she was able to come out alive," West said. "She said at one point, she didn't even care about living no more. Just wanted to get thekids out. It was all about the kids and making sure they safe." West said his aunt helped

– All of the hostages who were being held at a home near Chicago in a standoff that started early yesterday afternoon have been rescued, NBC Chicago reports. Four children had been released last night, and the two remaining children and an adult woman were found safe this morning after police broke down a door and arrested two suspects. Police initially arrived yesterday after a reported break-in, and "an exchange of gunfire" occurred shortly afterward, says a city spokesman. Two police officers were injured by gunshots, the Chicago Tribune reports. One was treated after being grazed on the arm; the other was hit in the elbow, hospitalized, and released with surgery planned for today, the Tribune and NBC Chicago report. Normally, "this really is a peaceful block. It's pretty much seniors," says a neighbor.

A nearly 20-hour hostage/barricade situation in a Chicago suburb ended Wednesday morning. About two dozen heavily-armed cops stormed the home to free four remaining hostages and arrest their captors. Two individuals were taken into police custody when authorities took down a door and entered the home. The hostages -- 6-year-old and 11- year-old girls, as well as two adult females aged 37 and 43 -- were recovered on the second floor. "They haven’t been harmed," Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said of the hostages.

• Judge says Abu Wa'el Dhiab's lawyers can view secret footage • 'Pretend it's 1955 – that's where the technology is' – lawyer A federal court has forced the US government to reveal that it has secretly recorded dozens of force-feedings of just one Guantánamo Bay detainee, raising the prospect that the military possesses a vast video library of a practice criticised as abusive. On Wednesday, a federal judge decreed that lawyers for that detainee can view hours of his videotaped force feedings, the first time a non-government official will be permitted to view the secret recordings. Before last week, the Defense Department did not even acknowledge that videotapes of its enteral feedings of hunger striking detainees – conducted by inserting a tube into the stomach through the nose – even existed. But now the US government has conceded that there are 34 videos showing the forcible feeding of one detainee, a Syrian cleared for release named Abu Wa’el Dhiab. The analogue video cassettes are part of a broader set of 136 videos showing Dhiab being forcibly removed from his cell by Guantánamo Bay guards bringing the hunger striker to be fed enterally. District court judge Gladys Kessler, of the Washington DC circuit, rejected an argument from the government that the tapes were irrelevant to Dhiab’s unusual lawsuit, which seeks to get a federal judge to set the conditions of his military confinement, which Dhiab considers amount to torture. One of Dhiab’s attorneys, Jon Eisenberg, said the government possess thousands of tapes detailing feeding and cell extraction conditions of the other detainees. Over 100 Guantánamo detainees participated in the 2013 hunger strike, which garnered international attention and an information blackout from the military command overseeing the detention center. Other detainees, like Yemeni Emad Hassan, have conducted hunger strikes since 2005. “There are hundreds of force feedings on tape, maybe even thousands,” Eisenberg said. Kessler, who ordered Dhiab’s force feeding temporarily halted on Friday, did not order the tapes to be released to the public. The government will have to transfer the classified tapes from Guantánamo to a secured facility in the Washington DC area for his lawyers to view, after faces and other identifying information of Guantánamo personnel and facilities are censored. The tapes of Dhiab’s feedings are said to range between 15 minutes to half an hour each, suggesting the government possesses at least eight hours of footage of just one detainee enteral feeding. The tapes are said to be in a microcassette format and Eisenberg said they would have to be digitised for viewing, owing to formatting difficulties impacting declassified playback. “Pretend it’s 1955, that’s where the technology is,” he said. “For all I know, there’s 8-tracks.” In court papers filed on Tuesday, Dhiab said the forced feeding is “like torture,” but Guantánamo guards have declined to film some of the sessions. “Sometimes the way the MP [military policeman] holds the head chokes me, and with all the nerves in the nose the tube passing the nose is like torture,” Dhiab said in a legal filing. “Then, especially when the

– In an unprecedented ruling, non-government officials have been given the go-ahead to view secret recordings that depict force-feedings at Guantanamo Bay—a ruling that by its nature establishes the fact that these tapes actually do exist, reports the Guardian. A federal judge yesterday ruled that lawyers for Abu Wa’el Dhiab can view part of the US' video library on the Syrian detainee and hunger striker: some 34 videos of Dhiab being force-fed via a tube inserted through the nose. A larger set of 136 videos exists, but as MSNBC reports, District Court Judge Gladys Kessler ruled that only ones that captured the entire process—from the detainee being removed from his cell to the feeding—be released, along with his medical records. That full process is what's at play in Dhiab’s lawsuit, which accuses the feds of using the forced-feedings as a way to break the prisoners. He contends that non-resistant hunger strikers are violently wrenched from their cells, subjected to oversized tubes, and fed large volumes of food too quickly. Last year, up to 46 of 166 Guantanamo inmates were force-fed during a hunger strike; a handful of lawsuits resulted, Reuters reported. "There are hundreds of force feedings on tape, maybe even thousands,” claims Dhiab’s attorney. Kessler on Friday ordered a temporary restraining order preventing Dhiab from being force-fed.

Judge says Abu Wa'el Dhiab's lawyers can view secret footage. 'Pretend it's 1955 – that's where the technology is' – lawyer. Government will have to transfer the classified tapes from Guantánamo to a secured facility in the Washington DC area for his lawyers to view. Over 100 detainees participated in the 2013 hunger strike, which garnered international attention and an information blackout from the military command overseeing the detention center. Other detainees, like Yemeni Emad Hassan, have conducted hunger strikes since 2005.

Photo Advertisement Continue reading the main story WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner’s effort to pass fallback legislation to avert a fiscal crisis in less than two weeks collapsed Thursday night in an embarrassing defeat after conservative Republicans refused to support legislation that would allow taxes to rise on the most affluent households in the country. House Republican leaders abruptly canceled a vote on the bill after they failed to rally enough votes for passage in an emergency meeting about 8 p.m. Within minutes, dejected Republicans filed out of the basement meeting room and declared there would be no votes to avert the “fiscal cliff” until after Christmas. With his “Plan B” all but dead, the speaker was left with the choice to find a new Republican way forward or to try to get a broad deficit reduction deal with President Obama that could win passage with Republican and Democratic votes. What he could not do was blame Democrats for failing to take up legislation he could not even get through his own membership in the House. Photo “The House did not take up the tax measure today because it did not have sufficient support from our members to pass,” Mr. Boehner said in a statement that said responsibility for a solution now fell to the White House and Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, the majority leader. “Now it is up to the president to work with Senator Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff.” The stunning turn of events in the House left the status of negotiations to head off a combination of automatic tax increases and significant federal spending cuts in disarray with little time before the start of the new year. At the White House, the press secretary, Jay Carney, said the defeat should press Mr. Boehner back into talks with Mr. Obama. “The president will work with Congress to get this done, and we are hopeful that we will be able to find a bipartisan solution quickly that protects the middle class and our economy,” he said. The refusal of a band of House Republicans to allow income tax rates to rise on incomes over $1 million came after Mr. Obama scored a decisive re-election victory campaigning for higher taxes on incomes over $250,000. Since the November election, the president’s approval ratings have risen, and opinion polls have shown a strong majority not only favoring his tax position, but saying they will blame Republicans for a failure to reach a deficit deal. Advertisement Continue reading the main story With a series of votes on Thursday, the speaker, who faces election for his post in the new Congress next month, had hoped to assemble a Republican path away from the cliff. With a show of Republican unity, he also sought to strengthen his own hand in negotiations with Mr. Obama. The House did narrowly pass legislation to cancel automatic, across-the-board military cuts set to begin next month, and shift them to domestic programs. But the main component of “Plan B,” a bill to extend expiring Bush-era tax

– Just what the fiscal cliff needed: more chaos and drama. House Republicans called off tonight's vote on John Boehner's Plan B legislation because he didn't have the support to pass it from within his own party, reports the Hill. The bill, which would have extended the Bush-era tax cuts for everyone except millionaires, was going nowhere in the Senate anyway, but Boehner's inability to get it through is a "major setback" for the speaker, reports the New York Times. “The House did not take up the tax measure today because it did not have sufficient support from our members to pass,” Boehner said in a statement. “Now it is up to the president to work with Senator Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff.”

Speaker John A. Boehner's effort to pass fallback legislation to avert a fiscal crisis collapsed Thursday night in an embarrassing defeat. House Republican leaders abruptly canceled a vote on the bill after they failed to rally enough votes for passage in an emergency meeting about 8 p.m. Within minutes, dejected Republicans filed out of the basement meeting room and declared there would be no votes to avert the “fiscal cliff” until after Christmas. With his “Plan B” all but dead, the speaker was left with the choice to find a new Republican way forward or to try to get a broad deficit reduction deal with President Obama.

Lindsay Lohan Turned Away at Morgue after Showing Up Late was turned away from the L.A. County Morgue, after showing up late ... Incredible.We broke the story ... Lindsay was supposed to show up by 8 AM, but at 7:40 her assistant called to say she'd be there in 10 minutes. Tick, tick, tick.We're told Lindsay didn't show up until 8:40. Her publicist claims she was late "due to a combination of not knowing the entrance to go through and confusion caused by the media waiting for her arrival."Lindsay was met at the door by Coroner's officials who turned her away.We're told the Coroner's office then contacted the Probation Dept.'s Volunteer Center -- which supervises Lindsay's probation -- and notified them that she was late ... AGAIN. That info will be forwarded on to Judge Stephanie Sautner.Lindsay just tweeted, "With all of the stress and pressure from yesterday and today, I've never been so happy to go to therapy!!! Also, I'm sorry for the confusion that I may of (sic) caused to those at the Coroner's office. Won't happen again, now I know where to go!"It's not a violation for her not to show today ... the judge only required that Lindsay put in 16 hours at the morgue a week by Nov 2. But it's awful for Lindsay and her lawyer, who will try to convince the judge that she's not thumbing her nose at authority. ||||| UPDATE: Lindsay Lohan's most recent mugshot is the sixth she's taken since 2007, but only five have been released to the public. -- PREVIOUSLY: Some people have yearbooks to look back through, others have Facebook albums. But Lindsay Lohan? She's racking up quite a collection of mugshots. Lohan smiled pretty for Los Angeles police officers Wednesday when she took her fifth -- yes, fifth -- mugshot after her probation was revoked by Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner Why? Because, according to Sautner, she didn't follow the court's orders to serve her community service at a women's shelter. Her bail was set at a whopping $100,000, which she paid, but not before being led from the courtroom in handcuffs. A new hearing to determine whether or not she should be sent back to jail is set for November 2. Here's Lohan's latest mugshot, and take a trip down memory lane below to see the rest. PHOTO: ||||| In reality Lohan rolled up in her Porsche at 8:40 a.m., the spokesman said, almost an hour after the agreed-upon time and nearly two hours after the other service workers got their bodies through the door. TIME FOR HER CLOSE UP! LINDSAY LOHAN ADDS TO HER SERIES OF MUG SHOTS ||||| By Jen Heger Radar Legal Editor Well, this didn’t get off to a good start… Lindsay Lohan was 20 minutes late for her first day of court ordered community service at the Los Angeles County Morgue, because she couldn’t find the entrance to the building, RadarOnline.com is reporting. PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan Through The Years “Lindsay arrived at the morgue approximately 20 minutes late and will be returning

– Apparently being led out of court in handcuffs and thrown back, albeit briefly, in jail was still not enough to teach Lindsay Lohan how to actually show up for her court-ordered community service. Lohan, who was ordered by the judge yesterday to perform community service at the county morgue until her next hearing, was a no-show at the morgue this morning. Her lawyer had said Lohan would start today. The actress, who was already in trouble for violating her probation, was required to arrive at the coroner’s office by 7am for each eight-hour shift and, according to the LA Times, was ordered to work 16 hours per week until the hearing. As of 9am today she was still not there. However… TMZ reports Lohan’s actual start time was 8am and that she arrived by 8:40 because she didn’t know the correct entrance, but notes that she was in fact turned away at that time. The gossip site also reports that she must complete 16 hours total, not 16 hours per week as the Times says. Radar reports that she was only 20 minutes late, and cites a statement from her rep claiming that “everything is all cleared up” now. An official tells the New York Daily News she was actually “over 45 minutes late,” and that paper concurs with TMZ that Lohan must only complete 16 hours anytime before the Nov. 2 hearing. That clears that up. Click for a tour of Lohan’s mugshots throughout the years.

Lindsay was supposed to show up by 8 AM, but at 7:40 her assistant called to say she'd be there in 10 minutes. Her publicist claims she was late "due to a combination of not knowing the entrance to go through and confusion caused by the media waiting for her arrival" The judge only required that Lindsay put in 16 hours at the morgue a week by Nov 2. A new hearing to determine whether or not she should be sent back to jail is set for November 2. Lohan smiled pretty for Los Angeles police officers Wednesday when she took her fifth -- yes, fifth -- mugshot.

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 ||||| As was reported in the NY Times back in 2007, the NASCAR Harlequins have some specific rules by which they must abide: no sex, no crashes, no drugs, no alcohol use in the content of the story. Back in 2007, Mark Dyer, VP of licensing for NASCAR, said in the article, “Look at our stats. Forty percent of our fans are women, and among younger fans it’s trending toward 50-50.” He added that according to Nascar surveys 72 percent of female fans enjoy reading and are more likely than nonfans to purchase books. This is particularly interesting (and somewhat laughable) in light of Kasey Kahne's Tweetstream yesterday, in which he called a woman breast feeding “nasty”: And in case you missed that last part, he then told @knittingrad, who told him he was being a douchebag, “Your a dumb bitch.” All of these screen caps are courtesy of @scatx, who later called out Farmers Insurance, one of Kahne's sponsors, asking if they condoned his behavior. Ok, first, I cannot let this opportunity pass: Your: something that belongs to you. You're: You are. Let's try that in context! You're being horribly sexist, Kasey Kahne, and your misogyny is really unattractive considering the number of female NASCAR fans. If NASCAR is a family sport, one must assume some of those family members were breastfed. And while I'm hanging out here, let me just take a paragraph and screech: Why is breastfeeding in public still a problem for so many people? What the hell? Do people stare at other diners in a restaurant, unable to look away as they eat? It's a breast. Get over it. You need to see some? Go look at a romance novel cover from the 80s. And some of the ones online. And as someone who was unable to breastfeed, I hate the shaming and pressure I received to breastfeed (even though I couldn't), and I hate the pressure that those who choose to do so receive from people who can't mind their own damn business. The issue of breastfeeding is such a contentious battlefield. You'd think Mr. Kahne would have the smarts to not voice his rather dimwitted opinion on Twitter – which then fed directly to his Facebook page, where more people supported his comments than argued with him. But back to Mr. Kahne. Kahne's response was to delete the tweets and go back to talking about Christmas (I wonder if Santa was breastfed?) but screen caps and angry fans lit a stream of crank ass on KnittingRad and Scatx. KnittingRad is taking it all in stride: Kahne tweeted later that he was “Glad everyone had a good Christmas! Thanks for all the feedback. I gained some new perspectives today.” Wow, that's miles short of an apology, isn't it? I was waiting for the completely flaccid, “I'm sorry

– NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne was so disgusted when he spotted a mom nursing her baby at a local grocery store that he immediately tweeted his utter revulsion. “One boob put away, one boob hanging!!! Nasty,” tweeted the overwhelmed car jockey. "I don't feel like shopping anymore or eating." When a female follower complained about his reaction, he called her a "dumb B," reports Mediaite. "It’s rather stunning to see misogyny and sexist comments about breastfeeding from a NASCAR driver, especially considering the percentage of female fans of the sport, and NASCAR’s effort to reach them,” noted blogger Sarah Wendell. Kahne's NASCAR sponsor was mortified and apologized to the Twitter follower Kahne insulted. “Our apologies for this. Please know that response was uncalled for and does not reflect our organization,” Great Clips tweeted. Kahne removed the tweets and finally apologized on Facebook for his slam and breastfeeding comments. “I was surprised by what I saw," he explained. "I understand that my comments were offensive to some. For that, I apologize. I respect the mother's right to feed her child whenever and wherever she pleases."

NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne called a woman breast feeding 'nasty' on Twitter. Kahne later deleted the tweets and went back to talking about Christmas. The NASCAR Harlequins have some specific rules by which they must abide: no sex, no crashes, no drugs, no alcohol use in the content of the story. Back in 2007, Mark Dyer, VP of licensing for NASCAR, said in the article, “Look at our stats. Forty percent of our fans are women, and among younger fans it’s trending toward 50-50”

Facebook A California college student who was injured in the Las Vegas mass shooting filed the first lawsuit against MGM Resorts, which owns the hotel and casino from where the gunman fatally shot 58 people and injured more than 500 others at a music festival on Oct. 1. Paige Gasper, a 21-year-old student at Sonoma State University, was struck by a bullet during country singer Jason Aldean's performance at the Route 91 festival. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a Nevada district court, accuses MGM Resorts and Mandalay Corp. of negligence by failing to maintain the hotel's premises in a "reasonably safe condition." Other defendants named in the lawsuit include Live Nation Entertainment, the company that hosted the Route 91 festival, the estate of the shooter, Stephen Paddock, and Slide Fire, which manufactured the bump stock device that allows semiautomatic weapons to fire at a rate close to that of an automatic weapon. "This is the America we live in where people can do horrible things," a lawyer for Gasper said at a news conference Wednesday. "By failing to plan for it, we put a lot of people in danger." Paddock, 64, managed to smuggle in 23 guns, including AR-15 and AR-47-style assault rifles, into his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, turning it into a "fortress," law enforcement officials said. Gasper's lawsuit accuses the hotel of failing to respond in a timely manner to Paddock's shooting of a hotel security guard, who — according to a revised timeline from authorities — was shot six minutes before Paddock targeted 22,000 concertgoers on the street below. MGM Resorts disputed this new timeline, saying, "We cannot be certain about the most recent timeline that has been communicated publicly, and we believe what is currently being expressed may not be accurate." Lawyers for Gasper said a big focus of their investigation would be the six minutes between Paddock's attack on the hotel's security guard and his shooting upon the concert. Her attorneys said that the "chain of command" at the hotel seemed to have broken down because for six minutes "nothing happened." John Locher / AP The lawsuit states that MGM Resorts should have known their failure to keep their premises reasonably safe would result in "catastrophic injury perpetrated by a gun-toting guest with an extreme intention to harm others." "This lawsuit is not about gun control," her attorneys said Wednesday, adding that their focus was on how Paddock managed to smuggle multiple weapons into the room, and install surveillance outside, without raising red flags with hotel staff. "He spent at least four days stockpiling weapons and ammunition. One would wonder how the room service or cleaning staff did not notice what was going on," one of her attorneys said. Authorities had earlier determined that hotel employees going to and from Paddock's room did not notice anything nefarious. The bullet that struck Gasper entered her right underarm and traveled through her breast tissue, shattering her ribs and lacerating her liver before exiting her body, the lawsuit states. While being helped by her

– "Someone call police. Someone is firing a rifle on the 32nd floor in the hallway," a Mandalay Bay maintenance employee says in a newly released recording, per Fox 5. But though hotel staffers responded to the outbreak of the Las Vegas mass shooting, asking for the shooter's room number and urging the worker to shield himself, ABC News reports that police weren't immediately called. A source who reviewed Mandalay Bay's phone records says it was only after Stephen Paddock began firing on the Route 91 festival that a call was placed to police. That was a full six minutes after security guard Jesus Campos was shot on the 32nd floor and it would be another 12 minutes before police arrived, unaware Campos was wounded. The delay in calling cops is just one criticism of Mandalay Bay, which is accused of failing to maintain a "reasonably safe condition" in the first lawsuit filed by a victim, per BuzzFeed. The lawsuit, filed by 21-year-old California college student Paige Gasper, also names festival host Live Nation, Paddock's estate, and Slide Fire, the bump stock manufacturer. Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts says that Paddock "didn't let anyone in [his] room for two or three days," which should have been a warning sign for Mandalay Bay staff or at least prompted a wellness check. Wynn tells Fox News this wouldn't have happened in one of his hotels, where staff members check on guests in rooms with "do not disturb" signs after 12 hours. However, a Wynn Resorts rep tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the 12-hour check was only implemented "shortly after the recent tragedy." Wynn also says guns are prohibited in his hotels unless "carried by our employees." Even so, he notes "we find them continually."

Paige Gasper, a 21-year-old student at Sonoma State University, was struck by a bullet. Lawsuit accuses MGM Resorts and Mandalay Corp. of negligence by failing to maintain the hotel's premises in a "reasonably safe condition" Other defendants named in the lawsuit include Live Nation Entertainment, the company that hosted the Route 91 festival, the estate of the shooter, Stephen Paddock, and Slide Fire, which manufactured the bump stock device that allows semiautomatic weapons to fire close to an automatic rate.

Treating some of the underlying diseases of aging, such as heart disease, cancer or Alzheimer's disease could slow down or delay aging by 20 or 30 years, say medical researchers. Some of these drugs have already pushed the lifespans and "healthspans" of laboratory animals. Now the trick is getting them to work in people. RELATED: Seeking Immortality? So Have Others "We have a dozen ways to make mice live 20 percent longer than they do now," said Stephen Austad, professor of biology at University of Alabama at Birmingham. "That's a huge shocker. But given the number of ways that work in animals, I'm quite confident that some will extend to people. We are likely to see a quantum leap." Austad and colleagues are preparing to launch a clinical trial of a diabetes drug called metformin that has the side effects of keeping patients free from the diseases of aging. "Nobody will have a trail where you give something to a bunch of 20 years olds and wait until they die," said Austad. "What will happen is we will start using older people. The only way to demonstrate that something works like this is take a group of people at sufficient risk of death that you will be able to see a difference." RELATED: 'Immortal' Animals Reveal Anti-Aging Secrets Austad and others are currently looking for 70 candidates for the first five-year trial. Metformin effects three metabolic pathways in the body responsible for aging. Diabetic patients who took the drug lived longer than healthy patients who did not, according to Austad. Because its already been approved for use by federal officials, Austad and his team won't have to go through lengthy pre-clinical tests for safety. At the same time, other researchers are working on several other strategies to combat aging. Another drug is rapamycin, which inhibits cellular processes during cell metabolism. "When you give it to a variety of animals, they all live longer and healthier," said Nir Barzilai, professor of medicine and genetics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. WATCH VIDEO: Can Technology Stop Aging? "If we give mice a combination of rapamycin and metformin, their lifespan is increased 25 percent," Barzilai said. "For humans it's a lifespan of 100 years instead of 75 years. This is the most promising approach." But there's a catch. Rapamycin has nasty side effects, such as cataracts, testicular atrophy and maybe diabetes. "This drug needs better development," Barzilai said. There's also acarbose, another diabetes drug that stops the breakdown of sugars in the intestine, and has shown to have age-delaying effects. He's leading a small trial in Singapore, where the drug is more commonly used. RELATED: For Many, Old Age Brings Happiness Both researchers say that medical breakthroughs in the next decade will allow doctors to better prescribe these drugs. One possible first use is to help elderly patients have a better immune system when they have to go in for surgery. Will living longer change us? Austad says the implications of living another 25 years could be immense. "That will influence when we have

– As we get better at treating age-related diseases such as cancer and dementia, humans might add 20 to 30 years to both the average person's lifespan and the longevity of the world's oldest people. So say researchers who are investigating new and existing drugs that may help slow the aging process, reports Seeker. The projections are based on drug trials that see mice boasting a 20% to 25% increase in lifespan, which some are confident will extend to humans. Two researchers, in fact, made a wager in 2000 on whether the first human to live to 150 has already been born, reports Mainebiz. Biology professor Stephen Austad of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and S. Jay Olshansky of the University of Chicago have each put $150 into an investment account that could reach $500 million when the wager is settled in 2150. Austad is confident someone will have reached 150 by then, Olshansky bets otherwise. The age 150 is 21% older than the oldest person ever documented, Jeanne Calment of France, who died in 1997 at age 122. If humans do end up living at least another 25 years on average—to about age 100—Austad says it will "influence when we have kids, what kind of careers we have, and our second, third, or fourth careers. ... It has the potential to change more than we realize." One of the drugs Austad is researching, metformin, is a commonly prescribed drug for Type II diabetes and has been around for 60 years. Other promising drugs are still being investigated for safety in clinical trials. (The last American born in the 1800s ate a hearty breakfast every day.)

Treating some of the underlying diseases of aging could slow down or delay aging by 20 or 30 years, say medical researchers. Some of these drugs have already pushed the lifespans and "healthspans" of laboratory animals. Now the trick is getting them to work in people. "We are likely to see a quantum leap," said Stephen Austad, professor of biology at University of Alabama at Birmingham. "Given the number of ways that work in animals, I'm quite confident that some will extend to people"

Wells Fargo has uncovered up to 1.4 million more fake accounts after digging deeper into the bank's broken sales culture. The findings show that Wells Fargo's problems are worse than the bank previously admitted to when the scandal began almost a year ago. Wells Fargo (WFC) now says it has found a total of up to 3.5 million potentially fake bank and credit card accounts, up from its earlier tally of approximately 2.1 million. In other words, there are two-thirds more fake accounts than previously realized. The additional fake accounts were discovered by a previously announced analysis that went back to January 2009 and that further reviewed the original May 2011 to mid-2015 period. About 190,000 accounts were slapped with unnecessary fees for these accounts, Wells Fargo said. That's up from 130,000 previously. Wells Fargo also discovered a new problem: thousands of customers were also enrolled in online bill pay without their authorization. The review found 528,000 potentially unauthorized online bill pay enrollments. Related: Wells Fargo accused of ripping off mom-and-pop shops Wells Fargo blamed unrealistic sales goals placed on employees for encouraging the unauthorized bill pay and bank account openings. "We apologize to everyone who was harmed by unacceptable sales practices that occurred in our retail bank," Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan said in a statement. Wells Fargo is trying to make things right by scrapping its sales goals, installing new management and paying out millions in refunds. Wells Fargo said it will now pay a total of $6.1 million to refund customers for unauthorized bank and credit card accounts, up from $3.3 million previously. The bank also promised to pay $910,000 to refund customers for the 528,000 potentially improper online bill pay enrollments. The review of online bill pay was required by the September 2016 settlement. Additionally, Wells Fargo has agreed to a $142 million national class action settlement to cover fake accounts that were opened back to 2002. That settlement received preliminary approval from a federal judge in July. Related: Wells Fargo customer: It felt like my car was held as extortion Senator Elizabeth Warren, a fierce critic of Wells Fargo, called the discovery of more fake accounts "unbelievable" on Twitter. The Democrat renewed her calls for Congress to hold more Wells Fargo hearings and for the Federal Reserve to remove board members who served during the scandal. "I don't know what they're waiting for," Warren said. Wells Fargo declined to comment on Warren's tweets, but said its management and board have "taken many steps" to "make things right," including installing new leadership and holding executives accountable by clawing back compensation. The Federal Reserve didn't respond to requests for comment on Warren's tweet. Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen said in July that the Fed does have the power to oust directors "if it proves appropriate." The @federalreserve should remove every @wellsfargo Board member who served during this scandal. I don't know what they're waiting for. — Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) August 31, 2017 Jaret Seiberg, an analyst at Cowen Washington Research Group, predicted the latest news means the political and

– Roughly a year ago, the news broke that Wells Fargo employees—5,300 of whom were fired—opened 2.1 million phony deposit or credit card accounts in a bid to reach sales targets and get bonuses. On Thursday, the bank announced a third-party firm has finished reviewing 165 million accounts opened between January 2009 and September 2016 and has jacked the total of potential fake accounts up 67%, to 3.5 million, reports Bloomberg. CNBC reports the initial count was based on a narrower review of a four-year period; the new review found about 450,000 additional accounts from that period and nearly 1 million more from the expanded years. Wells Fargo CEO Timothy Sloan called the completion of the review an "important milestone" as the company works to "make things right for our customers." CNNMoney reports the estimate of accounts that were hit with inappropriate fees was raised from 130,000 to 190,000. The analysis also surfaced a new issue: roughly half a million potentially unauthorized online bill-pay enrollments. Wells Fargo will refund customers $910,000 in relation to those enrollments; another $6.1 million will be refunded in connection with the unauthorized bank and credit card accounts, a figure that was previously $3.3 million. Said Sloan in a media conference call, per Bloomberg: "Today's announcement is a reminder of the disappointment that we caused to our customers and stakeholders. We apologize to everyone who was harmed." (August has been a rough month for Wells Fargo.)

Wells Fargo now says it has up to 3.5 million potentially fake bank and credit card accounts. That's up from its earlier tally of approximately 2.1 million. About 190,000 accounts were slapped with unnecessary fees for these accounts. Wells Fargo also discovered a new problem: thousands of customers were also enrolled in online bill pay without their authorization. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a fierce critic of Wells Fargo, called the discovery of more fake accounts "unbelievable" The bank is trying to make things right by scrapping its sales goals, installing new management and paying out millions in refunds.

A handful of moderate Senate Democrats are looking for ways to roll back the highly contentious individual mandate — the pillar of President Barack Obama’s health care law — a sign that red-state senators are prepared to assert their independence ahead of the 2012 elections. They haven’t decided whether to propose legislation, but any effort by moderate Democrats that takes aim at the individual mandate could embarrass Obama and embolden Republicans who are still maneuvering to take down the health care law. Text Size - + reset VIDEO: VandeHei on centrists and health care POLITICO 44 And it’s not just health care. The senators are prepared to break with the White House on a wide range of issues: embracing deeper spending cuts, scaling back business regulations and overhauling environmental rules. The moderates most likely to buck their party include Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Jon Tester of Montana — all of whom are up for reelection in 2012 and represent states Obama lost in 2008. The goal is to lay down a record of bipartisan compromises with Republicans, but it could also put Obama at odds with key centrists, right at the moment the president himself is looking to forge a more centrist path. And their efforts could put Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) at a potential disadvantage on key votes. The Senate leader has to protect 23 Democratic seats next year, giving moderates and swing-state Democrats plenty of leeway to prove their independence, but he also has to worry about keeping a unified front for the party ahead of the presidential election. With only 53 Democrats leading the thin Senate majority, if three or four break away on any key issue, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) could in some cases claim a simple majority. The Democratic moderates said they’re not concerned about how their positioning will affect their party’s overarching political strategy. “I’m not worried about the politics of this; I’m worried about the substance of it,” McCaskill said. “My goal has always been pretty simple: affordable, accessible, private-market insurance for people in America who want insurance. The politics of this are hard; it’s just easier to stay focused on the substance because that’s what matters.” Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Democrats face a “dilemma.” But there’s a political complication for Republican leaders as well. Some in GOP circles fear that by teaming up with Democratic moderates, they could give these Democrats bipartisan cover that would help them in 2012. Some Republicans are quietly warning colleagues not to work with vulnerable Democrats in the first place. This comes after Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) teamed up with McCaskill to back a proposal that would dramatically cut spending over the next decade and Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) worked with Manchin to repeal a small-business reporting provision in the health care law. ||||| George Stephanopoulos is anchor of ABC's "Good Morning America." He is also the network's chief political correspondent, reporting on political and policy stories for

– A group of centrist Senate Democrats is looking into ways to repeal the new health care law's individual mandate—the heart of health care reform, and a key target for Republicans. West Virginia's Joe Manchin and at least three other senators—all from states President Obama lost in 2008 and all up for re-election in 2012—are preparing to buck their party on reform and other issues, including business and environmental regulation, Politico reports. "I’ve always had a concern and a problem with the mandate, that we were forcing it, basically saying by the law of the land you have to buy the product," Manchin tells ABC News. The senators seem certain to become a major headache for Harry Reid, and for Republicans as well. GOP strategists fear that bipartisan co-operation on the issue could boost the Democrats' chances in 2012.

Red-state senators are prepared to assert their independence ahead of the 2012 elections. The moderates most likely to buck their party include Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Jon Tester of Montana. The goal is to lay down a record of bipartisan compromises with Republicans, but it could also put Obama at odds with key centrists. Some in GOP circles fear that by teaming up with Democratic moderates, they could give these Democrats bipartisan cover that would help them.

645X363 - No Companion - Full Sharing - Additional videos are suggested - Policy/Regulation/Blogs Speaker John Boehner John Andrew BoehnerMomentum for earmarks grows with Dem majority Cannabis company says CBS refused to run its Super Bowl ad advocating for medical marijuana Breaking the impasse on shutdown, border security MORE (R-Ohio) on Wednesday said he doesn't support calls from members of his party to impeach President Obama. Asked about former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's comments that Obama should be impeached over the influx of child migrants illegally crossing the border, Boehner said, “I disagree.” ADVERTISEMENT Then asked about members of the House GOP who have also urged for impeachment, Boehner repeated, “I disagree.” Palin called for Obama’s impeachment on Tuesday in an op-ed for Breitbart News. “The many impeachable offenses of Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaWarriors visit Obama during trip to DC Overnight Energy: Hunters who killed bear cubs get jail time | EPA polluter penalties at lowest level since 1994 | 2018 was Earth's fourth hottest year on record | 'Doomsday clock' closest ever to global annihilation since Cold War ‘Just Add Women and Stir’—A perfect recipe for dashed hopes and disappointment MORE can no longer be ignored,” she wrote. “If after all this he's not impeachable, then no one is.” A number of House Republicans have also called for Obama's impeachment, including Reps. Lou Barletta (Pa.), Kerry Bentivolio (Mich.), Paul Broun (Ga.), Michael Burgess (Texas), Blake Farenthold (Texas), Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and Louie Gohmert (Texas). But many Republicans are wary of the calls, worried they could hand Democrats a compelling issue that might help the party retain its majority in the Senate during a tough election year. The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton backfired badly on the GOP in 1998, when Democrats against odds picked up seats in the House. The House is expected to vote later this month on a lawsuit against Obama for his use of executive actions. Boehner said at the weekly House GOP press conference that he was considering including Obama's action on immigration in the House GOP lawsuit. Palin mocked the lawsuit in an interview Monday on Fox News. “You don't bring a lawsuit to a gunfight. There is no place for lawyers on the frontline. Where are the front lines in America? They are our borders,” she said. ||||| One unfortunate reality of modern politics is the right-left mutually reinforcing media echo chamber. The most extreme voices on either side broadcast the most outrageous statements of the other side as a way to define their opposition and attract attention to themselves. This is the way to understand the flurry of fever-swamp chatter about impeaching President Obama. Sarah Palin joined the impeachment calls on Tuesday, which could mean that the former Alaska Governor has been feeling neglected. She is following the talk radio... ||||| More than half of the country has a message for former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin: enough. That's the result from a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Annenberg poll in which 54 percent of voters say they've heard enough from

– More than half of Americans say it's about time for Sarah Palin to shut her pie-hole. On the heels of the former VP candidate calling for President Obama's impeachment, 54% of voters say they've heard too much from Palin already and would prefer that she be less outspoken in political debates, according to an NBC News poll. While that balanced out to two-thirds of Democrats, it also included a majority of independents and 40% of Republicans. But Palin shouldn't feel terribly singled out; the poll found that voters would like these guys to shut up, too: Jesse Jackson, 51% Dick Cheney, 45% Newt Gingrich, 43% Al Gore, 40% Bill Clinton, 32% Palin's impeachment zinger has thus far found little support among the GOP, which may also fear it could drive Democrats to the polls in November. John Boehner said yesterday "I disagree" with those calling for Obama's impeachment, the Hill reports. And "while Mr. Obama's abuses of executive power are serious," they don't reach the level of impeachment, a Wall Street Journal op-ed notes. In fact, impeachment "at the current moment would backfire on Republicans" as it plays into the claim from Democrats "that GOP opposition to Mr. Obama is personal."

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he doesn't support calls from his party to impeach President Obama. Palin called for Obama’s impeachment on Tuesday in an op-ed for Breitbart News. Boehner said at the weekly House GOP press conference that he was considering including Obama's action on immigration in the House GOP lawsuit. The House is expected to vote later this month on a lawsuit against Obama for his use of executive actions. The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton backfired badly on the GOP in 1998, when Democrats against odds picked up seats in the Senate.

Every stereotype of single people bothers me, but this one is especially galling: if you are single, it is because you have “issues.” As if married people don’t have issues. As if single people cannot be mentally healthy and happy. But they can be, and usually they are. What’s more, if single people get married, chances are, they will become no happier and no healthier than they were when they were single. read more… ||||| If Wendy Braitman were writing a screenplay about her life, this scene would play at the top, to set the tone. It is 1993, and she is the 39-year-old only daughter of her parents’ long and loving marriage. Her mother has suffered a stroke, so Braitman has flown from California to New York to be with her. She finds her mom awake, but groggy, and hopped up on meds. After an embrace, her mother asks, “So, how’s your boyfriend?” “Mom, what boyfriend?” Braitman replies. “We broke up six months ago.” Braitman patiently retells the story of their split: He wasn’t the right guy, it just didn’t work out. Her mom reacts with disappointment. Then a moment later, she looks up and says, “So, how’s your boyfriend?” Dumbfounded, Braitman repeats the explanation. After another beat, her mom asks the question again. And then again. And again. “We went around and around in this circle of hell,” Braitman recalls from her condo at the foot of the Hollywood Hills. “In the little capacity she had left of her brain, all she wanted to know was: Who am I with?” Braitman’s mom died six weeks later. She had always loved her daughter fiercely and supported her fully, except in this one aspect, her singleness. Q&A transcript: What Ellen McCarthy and Wendy Braitman had to say Even today, Braitman sometimes mentally revises past conversations to find the right words to make her mom understand: She didn’t stay single on purpose. Braitman is 58 now, though she has the carriage of a much younger woman. Her body is taut and pliable from rigorous daily ballet classes. She wears boyfriend jeans, rolled to the ankle, and chunky sweaters layered over tight cotton shirts. It’s the look of someone with great style, opting for comfort. Her brown, curly hair tapers to the neck, highlighted with flashes of caramel. And her conversations, like her movements, are imbued with the elegance and self-awareness of a woman who has looked deeply inward and come up feeling more or less okay. But she wanted a partner. She still does. Braitman grew up in Queens, watching her father dote on her mother. She saw her brother become a wonderful husband. She does not think marriage is broken and does not think life — at least her life — is better lived alone. It just worked out that way. She went to college, moved across country, built a career in media. She dated, took up hobbies and developed a loving circle of friends. For most of her life, she assumed the right one would eventually show up. Now, she thinks

– Americans can sympathize with people who are alone because of divorce or the death of a partner—but what about the eternally single? In a society obsessed with romance, lifelong singles are often ostracized and considered flawed, the Washington Post reports. “Do they just not like me?” asked Bella DePaulo, author of Singled Out: How Singles are Stereotyped, Stigmatized and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After. “Or is it because I’m single and they’re coupled, and couples date other couples essentially.” In a nation with 96 million unmarried adults, many have given up on finding "the one." And DePaulo's book reveals it's not all bad: Lifelong singles are as healthy as married people, and the so-called "happiness bump" for married folk dies down after tying the knot. Yes, the unmarried can get lonely, but it's time we salute their life choices too: “Settling just never seemed like the right move,” says Wendy Braitman, author of the blog All Things Single. “Because that, I think, tears at your soul.”

Wendy Braitman, 58, is the only daughter of a long and loving marriage. She says she didn't stay single on purpose. She does not think marriage is broken and doesn't think life — at least her life — is better lived alone. For most of her life, she assumed the right one would eventually show up. Now, she thinks she thinks it's time to get a life and find a partner who can help her get along with the people in her life and make her happy.

See more of ANCA on Facebook ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities say nine people were hurt and two arrests were made during an altercation at the Turkish ambassador's residence in the U.S. capital. Doug Buchanan, a DC Fire and EMS spokesman, says two of those hurt were seriously injured and were taken to hospitals by ambulance. He said by phone that emergency personnel were called to the residence about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck says the altercation broke out between two groups but he didn't elaborate on the circumstances. He says two people were arrested, including one who was charged with assaulting a police officer. The altercation came the same day that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with President Donald Trump at the White House. The State Department declined to comment. ||||| Washington (CNN) Nine people were injured during a protest outside of the residence of the Turkish ambassador in Washington, DC on Tuesday, according to the official Twitter account of Washington, DC fire and EMS department. About two dozen demonstrators showed up outside of the embassy just hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with President Donald Trump at the White House. "We are protesting (Erdogan's) policies in Turkey, in Syria and in Iraq," said Flint Arthur of Baltimore, Maryland. Arthur accused Erdogan supporters of breaching police lines and attacking protesters on at least three separate occasions. "They think they can engage in the same sort of suppression of protest and free speech that they engage in in Turkey," Arthur said. "They stopped us for a few minutes ... but we still stayed and continued to protest Erdogan's tyrannical regime." The victims were transported to George Washington University Hospital. The incident came as Trump extended a warm welcome to Erdogan , an authoritarian-style leader who had a strained relationship with the previous US administration. "We've had a great relationship and we will make it even better," Trump said in the Oval Office as he sat beside Erdogan. "We look forward to having very strong and solid discussions." JUST WATCHED Trump meets with Turkey's Erdogan (full event) Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump meets with Turkey's Erdogan (full event) 13:13 Despite Trump's greeting to the Turkish leader, the relationship has been strained by the United States' refusal to extradite a Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania, whom Erdogan blames for orchestrating a July coup attempt against him. And the two countries are at odds over Trump's decision to arm Kurdish militias that are helping in the fight to rout ISIS from its Syrian stronghold in Raqqa. Turkey sees these militias as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which is considered a terrorist group in the United States, Turkey and Europe. Turkey, a NATO member, is a vital ally in the fight against ISIS, allowing the United States to use its Incirlik air base in the fight against the terror group. A bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote Trump on Tuesday, asking him to raise the issue of human rights with Erdogan given the

– Authorities say nine people were hurt and two arrested during an altercation Tuesday outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington, DC. Two of those hurt were seriously injured and taken to hospitals, reports the AP. Police say the altercation broke out about 4:30pm between two groups, but didn't elaborate on the circumstances. "We are protesting (President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's) policies in Turkey, in Syria, and in Iraq," Flint Arthur of Baltimore told CNN. He said Erdogan supporters breached police lines to attack them. One of those arrested was charged with assaulting a police officer. (The CNN story includes this Facebook video of the violence.) The altercation came the same day that Erdogan met with President Trump at the White House. The State Department declined to comment. Before the violence broke out, Trump and Erdogan appeared together and promised stronger relations between the two nations, though the Guardian notes that their meeting came amid strained ties on two main fronts. Turkey is angry that the US is supporting Kurdish fighters fighting the Islamic State in Syria, and it accuses the US of harboring the mastermind of a failed coup in July. (Erdogan recently won sweeping new powers in Turkey.)

Two of those hurt were seriously injured and were taken to hospitals by ambulance. The altercation came the same day that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with President Donald Trump at the White House. "We are protesting (Erdogan's) policies in Turkey, in Syria and in Iraq," said Flint Arthur of Baltimore, Maryland. The incident came as Trump extended a warm welcome to Erdogan , an authoritarian-style leader who had a strained relationship with the previous US administration. The U.S. and Turkey are at odds over Trump's decision to arm Kurdish militias.

Mulholland profited in the past four years by sticking to stocks that crashed during the 2008 crisis. Mulholland profited in the past four years by sticking to stocks that crashed during the 2008 crisis. Mulholland profited in the past four years by sticking to stocks that crashed during the 2008 crisis. Close When the Matthew 25 Fund fell 40 percent in 2008, it kept Mark Mulholland awake at night. Mulholland, the founder and sole manager of the mutual fund -- named after a Bible passage -- says he would lie in bed thinking about the damage he had done to his investors, particularly the elderly whose nest eggs might not recover before they died. The assets he managed dwindled to $22 million from $115 million, Bloomberg Markets will report in its May issue. More from the May issue of Bloomberg Markets: What Mulholland didn’t worry about were the stocks in his portfolio. “The companies we owned were so cheap that barring a total collapse of the economic system, I knew at some point we were going to make a lot of money,” he says. That time has come. Mulholland, 53, bought smartphone maker Apple Inc. (AAPL) in 2008 for $80 to $128 a share. He also hung onto his investment in companies such as Sidney, Nebraska-based Cabela’s Inc., (CAB) a retailer of hunting and fishing products, and Medina, Minnesota-based Polaris Industries Inc. (PII), which makes all-terrain vehicles. The rebound in those stocks helped propel the now-$452 million fund to gains that beat the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index by a wide margin. The fund returned 13.1 percent annualized during the five years ended on Feb. 15 compared with 4.7 percent for the S&P 500 (SPX). Matthew 25 (MXXVX) gained 26.8 percent over three years and 25.4 percent in one year. Photographer: Mackenzie Stroh/Bloomberg Markets Myers outperformed by investing in homebuilding companies, which in 2008 were trading for less than the value of the land they owned. Close Myers outperformed by investing in homebuilding companies, which in 2008 were trading... Read More Close Open Photographer: Mackenzie Stroh/Bloomberg Markets Myers outperformed by investing in homebuilding companies, which in 2008 were trading for less than the value of the land they owned. Being No. 1 Those results make Mulholland’s fund No. 1 in the U.S. diversified stock category in Bloomberg Markets magazine’s annual ranking of mutual funds. “Mark is the best investor around that no one has ever heard of,” says Steven Roge, a Beverly, Massachusetts-based financial adviser who owns shares of the fund. The ranking of stock and bond funds includes U.S.-domiciled funds with more than $250 million under management as of Feb. 15. Funds are ranked by total returns for one, three and five years and by their Sharpe ratios for three and five years. The Sharpe ratio measures the performance of a fund adjusted for risk. Each of the five measures is given equal weight. Like Mulholland, the managers of other winning funds in the ranking capitalized on the steep decline in 2008 and 2009 by loading up on a range of

– One of the top mutual funds in the country is built on faith. That's faith in a higher power—it's not called the Matthew 25 Fund for nothing—and also faith that its assets would recover from a 2008 low of $22 million, down from $115 million. Well, either God or the market has come through for fund manager and founder Mark Mulholland: It's now worth $452 million and is ranked the No. 1 mutual fund in the diversified stock category by Bloomberg. "Mark is the best investor around that no one has ever heard of," says one of the fund's investors. Matthew 25:14-30 instructs people to invest what they've been given, and that's exactly what Mulholland has done, says Barron's. He bought shares in Apple, its largest holding, at $80 to $128 each in 2008. Today, they're trading at around $445. The fund has returned almost 27% over three years. Mulholland never lost the faith: "The companies we owned were so cheap that barring a total collapse of the economic system, I knew at some point we were going to make a lot of money," he says.

Mulholland profited in the past four years by sticking to stocks that crashed during the 2008 crisis. Matthew 25 (MXXVX) gained 26.8 percent over three years and 25.4 percent in one year. The fund returned 13.1 percent annualized during the five years ended on Feb. 15 compared with 4.7 percent for the S&P 500 (SPX) “Mark is the best investor around that no one has ever heard of,” says Steven Roge, a Beverly, Massachusetts-based financial adviser.

BATH, Ohio (AP) — Visitors heading to Ohio for the Republican National Convention have the rare opportunity to rent the childhood home of one of the country's most notorious killers. The former Bath Township home of Jeffrey Dahmer is one of several private properties that real estate company Howard Hanna has made available for rent while the convention is underway in Cleveland in July. The three-bedroom home about 25 miles south of Cleveland costs $8,000 to rent for the week. The listing describes the 1952 home as having a mid-century modern style with "a true park-like setting" and easy access to Interstate 77. It's also the site of Dahmer's first murder in 1978. Then just 18, Dahmer killed hitchhiker Steven Hicks and disposed of his remains in the woods behind the property. He murdered 16 more victims and was killed in prison in 1994. "If you get past that little problem, you'll have a wonderful place to live," said homeowner Chris Butler, a founding member of the 1980s new wave band The Waitresses. Butler told the Akron Beacon Journal he put up the listing on a whim to "suck some Republican gelt from those people," using the Yiddish word for money. He said he's been working to restore the home to a more authentic representation of its modern style in an attempt to improve its public image and move past the fact that Dahmer once lived there. ||||| 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. ||||| Be the first to know when properties in this area and price range hit the market. 4480 West Bath Road, Akron, OH 44333 is a 3 bedroom, 3 bath rental offered for rent at $10,000 per month by Julia Domenick in the Akron real estate office.

– People visiting Ohio for what is shaping up to be a fiercely contested Republican National Convention can spend their nights relaxing at the home where one of America's most notorious serial killers committed his first murder. The owner of Jeffrey Dahmer's childhood home is offering to rent the residence in Bath Township, 25 miles south of Cleveland, for $8,000 during the week of the convention, reports the AP. When he was 18, Dahmer murdered a hitchhiker at the property and buried him in the woods. He went on to commit another 16 gruesome murders after moving to Wisconsin. The home's owner, Chris Butler, says he didn't hide the home's past when he made it available through convention housing provider Howard Hanna, which listed it here. Butler, the founder of '80s New Wave band The Waitresses, tells the Akron Beacon Journal that he made the home available to convention attendees "for the heck of it"—and to see if he could "suck some Republican gelt from those people." Butler bought the house in 2005. He says he has been restoring the 1952 home, which he considers a great example of midcentury modern architecture. "The vibe was always good, but now it’s kind of really good," he says.

Three-bedroom home about 25 miles south of Cleveland costs $8,000 to rent for the week. It's also the site of Dahmer's first murder in 1978, when he was just 18. Dahmer murdered 16 more victims and was killed in prison in 1994. "If you get past that little problem, you'll have a wonderful place to live"

Is that butter on a toasted bagel from Dunkin’ Donuts? He couldn’t believe it was butter. So he sued. And, yes, he got a settlement out of it. In a pair of lawsuits filed in Suffolk Superior Court in March, a Worcester-area man named Jan Polanik accused more than 20 Dunkin’ Donuts franchises in Eastern and Central Massachusetts of a grand deception: using a butter substitute on his bagels, even though he had ordered the bagels with butter. The suits, each targeting a different group of related franchises, are seeking class-action status and claim to represent any customer who “ordered a baked product, such as a bagel, with butter, but instead received margarine or butter substitute between June 24, 2012, and June 24, 2016.” Advertisement Polanik was unavailable for comment. His attorney, Thomas Shapiro, acknowledged that Dunkin’s buttering habits are not the most pressing issue in the world. Get Talking Points in your inbox: An afternoon recap of the day’s most important business news, delivered weekdays. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here “Candidly, it seems like a really minor thing, and we thought twice or three times about whether to bring a lawsuit or not,” Shapiro said. However, Shapiro said, there were good reasons to press the case. “A lot of people prefer butter,” he said. “The main point of the lawsuit is to stop the practice of representing one thing and selling a different thing. It’s a minor thing, but at the same time, if somebody goes in and makes a point to order butter for the bagel . . . they don’t want margarine or some other kind of chemical substitute.” Advertisement In 2013, when the issue surfaced in a Globe consumer advice column, Dunkin’ Donuts explained that franchisees usually offer butter packets when customers ask for it on the side, but a butter substitute is “generally used if the employee applies the topping.” “For food safety reasons, we do not allow butter to be stored at room temperature, which is the temperature necessary for butter to be easily spread onto a bagel or pastry,” the company said at the time. The company said it wasn’t aware of the lawsuit. But Dunkin’ Brands spokeswoman Michelle King said most stores in Massachusetts “carry both individual whipped butter packets, and a butter-substitute vegetable spread.” The legal action may resuscitate memories of past fast-food lawsuits, such as when McDonald’s was sued by a customer who said that its coffee was so hot it burned her. More recently, Subway faced a widely mocked class-action suit by customers who said the chain’s heavily advertised foot-long sandwiches were not, in fact, a full 12 inches. Advertisement Ten plaintiffs won $500 each, while attorneys were awarded more than half a million dollars. A settlement has already been reached in the Dunkin’ case, said Michael Marino, an attorney representing one of the two franchise groups. He declined to say if his company paid Polanik and his attorneys. Moreover, the 17 stores in the franchises represented by Marino have changed the way

– A Massachusetts man who sued a pair of Dunkin' Donuts owners because he said he was given a butter substitute when he asked for real butter on his bagel has won a settlement, the AP reports. The Boston Globe reports that Jan Polanik's suits name two companies that together own more than 20 stores. Polanik's lawyer, Thomas Shapiro, acknowledged that his client's complaint is "a minor thing," but they decided to sue "to stop the practice of representing one thing and selling a different thing." Shapiro did not disclose the settlement's terms, because it hasn't yet been filed with the court. An attorney for one franchisee confirms that the case has been settled and the stores have changed their butter-serving protocol. A spokesperson for the other franchisee could not be reached.

Jan Polanik accused more than 20 Dunkin’ Donuts franchises in Eastern and Central Massachusetts of using a butter substitute on his bagels. The suits are seeking class-action status and claim to represent any customer who “ordered a baked product, such as a bagel, with butter, but instead received margarine or butter substitute” A settlement has already been reached in the Dunkin' case, an attorney representing one of the two franchise groups said. The legal action may resuscitate memories of past fast-food lawsuits.

An Eastern European gambler has already won big on the World Series, and he has no signs of stopping. Now he has over $14 million on the line for Game 7 and has left the gambling world wondering “how?” What we know about $8 Million bettor * Younger than 30 * Eastern European * Spreading bets across town (tried to bet 2.8M at one Strip book) — RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) November 1, 2017 This isn’t a case of a single gambler throwing down huge money on a single game. The bettor has won on all six World Series games so far — spread across multiple bookies — and let it ride after every single win. When the Dodgers won Game 6, he could have taken home over $14 million, but he let it ride — again. Let It Ride bettor wins again. 6 for 6 in WS! Expected to have $14 Million in action tomorrow!! I'll let you know who he's betting ASAP ... — RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) November 1, 2017 Little is known about the gambling mystery man, prompting people to raise questions. He’s not a regular in the Las Vegas sports betting scene, and his only other previous bets were on UFC fights, all of which he won. The odds he’s taking are consistently bad, prompting people to wonder whether he’s just lucky or if this is part of a scheme by a larger syndicate. One source swears this bettor is just a beard for a mysterious group. Others say pros would NOT bet the bad odds this guy is accepting. — RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) November 1, 2017 Others are questioning whether the mysterious bettor exists at all. It’s a fascinating story that has become part urban legend, as much as anything else. RJ Bell, who has been following and tweeting about the bettor, claims his bets are so big and against the odds so severely that he’s single-handedly changing the lines in Vegas. How much of a BALLER is this $8 Million World Series bettor? He changes the odds simply by walking into a casino! The story ... pic.twitter.com/onEHInXU7t — RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) November 1, 2017 People are desperately trying to learn the identity of the bettor, how he’s predicting these games so perfectly in a series that has been totally up in the air, and waiting to hear where he’ll put all his money on Game 7. Update: RJ Bell is now reporting that this mysterious gambler isn’t actually betting on Game 7 after all. Instead, he is (or they are?) walking away with the winnings and watching the final game of the baseball season without the stress of $14 million on the line. CONFIRMED by my most trusted source - Perfect World Series “Let It Ride” bettor NOT expected to bet Game 7 ... Walking away w/his winnings! — RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) November 1, 2017 That’s a fine choice, if not the heartstoppingly exciting choice, and we still mostly want to know who this person or persons are and what they plan to do with their $14

– Much like with the World Series itself, the end of a ludicrously gutsy run of World Series betting was a bit of a let down. Sport Illustrated reports an unknown gambler had successfully picked the winner of the first six games of the World Series, re-betting his winnings every time. RJ Bell, a Las Vegas sports gambling insider, dubbed the man the "Let It Ride" bettor and was chronicling his exploits on Twitter, according to For the Win. Bell claimed the gambler's bets were big enough to completely change the odds for the games, SB Nation reports. Before the start of Game 7, the Let It Ride bettor boasted approximately $14 million in winnings. He decided to sit the final game out. For the Win states the Let It Ride bettor made "the right decision ... as lame as it is to admit." And Sports Illustrated believes he's earned his place in the Sports Betting Hall of Fame, should such a thing actually exist, Game 7 bet or no. Now the only thing left is to discover the identity of the gambler, whose final bet was $8 million on Game 6. He's reportedly an Eastern European man under the age of 30 who isn't a regular sports bettor in Vegas. His only previous bets were placed on UFC fights, all of which he won. He routinely took terrible odds for his bets, and people can't agree if that's a sign the Let It Ride bettor is actually a syndicate of gamblers or just a single, super unprofessional gambler—who walked away with $14 million.

An Eastern European gambler has already won big on the World Series, and he has no signs of stopping. The bettor has won on all six World Series games so far — spread across multiple bookies — and let it ride after every single win. He’s not a regular in the Las Vegas sports betting scene, and his only other previous bets were on UFC fights, all of which he won. One source swears this bettor is just a beard for a mysterious group. Others are questioning whether the mysterious bettor exists at all.

Experts differ on Trayvon's, Zimmerman's voice in 911 screams Zimmerman attorney says he may seek trial delay in light of new expert reports. It remains to be seen whether jurors will hear about the new evidence at George Zimmerman's trial, set to begin June 10 in Sanford. Zimmerman's lawyer said he may ask to delay the trial in light of the new analysis. Two new reports from state audio experts give different conclusions about the voice screaming for help just before 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot: One said it was Trayvon. The other said some cries more likely came from his shooter. A neighbor's 911 call before the shooting captured the sound of someone crying for help. After a gunshot, the cries stop. In a new evaluation, forensic analyst Alan Reich wrote that he believed the cries came from Trayvon, "the younger of the two male speakers." Reich's report indicates he heard things others haven't in the call, including Trayvon screaming, "I'm begging you." He also claimed Zimmerman can simultaneously be heard making "a seemingly religious proclamation, 'These shall be.' " That comes about a second into the 911 audio, Reich reported. Another report, by Harry Hollien and James Harnsberger of Forensic Communication Associates, said the audio quality was insufficient for a definitive voice match. But they found some of the cries came close to matching Trayvon's voice, while others came close to matching Zimmerman's. Zimmerman attorney Mark O'Mara criticized Reich's analysis, and he said he may ask for a trial delay to find an additional expert to rebut him. The defense lawyer said his expert has concluded Zimmerman was the one yelling. Natalie Jackson, an attorney for Trayvon's family, said she believes the state reports are consistent with each other, and that both voices can be heard in the background of the call. Reich earlier concluded the voice was Trayvon's in May 2012 analysis for the Washington Post. The Post said Reich has a doctorate in speech science and "has worked ... in hundreds of criminal and civil cases over a period of more than 35 years." Two other analysts who studied the recordings for the Sentinel in March 2012 said the screams were not Zimmerman's. At the time of their analysis, and Reich's for the Post, there were no available voice samples of Trayvon. The reports by Reich and Forensic Communication Associates show the state provided samples of Trayvon for the newly revealed analysis. Previous records showed FBI analysts were unable to identify the source of the cries. Last week, Zimmerman's attorneys asked for a hearing to determine the validity of the state's voice evidence. Orlando defense attorney Richard Hornsby, who is not associated with the case, said the state must show the experts' conclusions are based on methods "commonly accepted within their particular scientific or expert community" as reliable. WFTV-Channel 9 analyst Bill Sheaffer predicted the state would pass that test. Zimmerman is charged with second degree murder. He says he acted in self-defense. The next hearing is May 28. rstutzman@tribune.com or 407-650-6394. jeweiner@tribune.com or 407-650-6394. ||||| Starting in

– Don't expect the George Zimmerman trial to hinge on a 911 recording that includes screams for help along with the gunshot that killed Trayvon Martin. Two separate analyses of the call's audio have been completed, and they disagree with each other, reports the Orlando Sentinel. One analyst thinks it's Trayvon shouting for help, but the other team says it's impossible to say definitively. Some of the screams are a near match for Trayvon, they write, while at least two sound like Zimmerman. A judge has yet to determine whether any of the experts' testimony will be admissible in court. You can hear for yourself at the Sentinel, which has a clip.

Two new reports from state audio experts give different conclusions about the voice. One said it was Trayvon, the other said some cries more likely came from his shooter. Zimmerman's lawyer said he may ask to delay the trial in light of the new analysis. A neighbor's 911 call before the shooting captured the sound of someone crying for help. After a gunshot, the cries stop and the call goes to voicemails. voices can be heard in the background of the call, an attorney for Trayvon's family says.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says it has succeeded where the greatest minds in science have failed. The authoritarian, impoverished nation better known for pursuing a nuclear program despite global criticism announced Friday it has a drug can prevent and cure MERS, Ebola, SARS and AIDS. The secretive state did not provide proof, and the claim is likely to provoke widespread skepticism. The official Korean Central News Agency said scientists developed Kumdang-2 from ginseng grown from fertilizer mixed with rare-earth elements. According to the pro-North Korea website Minjok Tongshin, the drug was originally produced in 1996. "Malicious virus infections like SARS, Ebola and MERS are diseases that are related to immune systems, so they can be easily treated by Kumdang-2 injection drug, which is a strong immune reviver," KCNA said. North Korea shut out foreign tourists for half a year with some of the world's strictest Ebola controls, even though no cases of the disease were reported anywhere near the country, before lifting the restrictions earlier this year. It is believed to be struggling to combat diseases such as tuberculosis, and respiratory infections are among its most common causes of death, according to the World Health Organization. North Korea trumpeted the same drug during deadly bird flu outbreaks in 2006 and 2013. The North's claim comes as rival South Korea fights an outbreak of MERS that has killed two dozen people and sickened more than 160 since last month. There is no vaccine for the disease. ||||| An announcement says that the miracle cure consists of ginseng grown from fertiliser and a mix of other ingredients- but did not reveal the special combination. The dictatorship, which is known for making far-fetched claims about its achievements, says that the medicine will apparently be injectable and will be known by the name of Kumdang-2. In a statement published by Korean Central News Agency of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to herald the news, Dr Jon Sung Hun said: “The researchers insert rare earth elements (REE) into insam (gingseng) by applying the mico-elementary fertilizers of REE to the fields of insam.” “The injection is made of extracts from those complex compounds. As a strong-immuno-activator, the injection has been recognized to prevent different malignant epidemics.” The drug’s website cites a medical study in Africa where the drug was tested on HIV positive patients. It records that every single participant in the trial noted an improvement, with 56 per cent being completely cured and 44 per cent noting a considering improvement in their condition. The North Korean scientists also revealed that the drug is capable of curing ‘a number of cancers’. But did not divulge which ones or provide details of the medical trials which support this claim. The dictatorship is known for making outlandish claims about its own prowess. The state claims that Kim Jong Il invented the hamburger and had magical powers which meant he did not need to use the toilet. They also claim that he was born atop a North Korean mountain prompting a double rainbow and new star to

– Normally if a country announces a wonder drug that can cure some of mankind's worst maladies, it would be cause for celebration. Unless that country happens to be North Korea. Its official news agency claims that scientists have developed a top-secret drug called Kumdang-2 that can cure AIDS, Ebola, MERS, and cancer, reports the Independent. In fact, the full list of the things it can cure is comically long and includes diabetes, heart disease, drug addiction, and insomnia, notes Popular Science. "If a drug ever claims to cure a bunch of illnesses that are completely unrelated, your bulls--- detector should be blaring," it adds. And sure enough, Pyongyang has offered no proof, reports AP. The drug is supposedly a mixture of ginseng and rare-earth elements. "Malicious virus infections like SARS, Ebola and MERS are diseases that are related to immune systems, so they can be easily treated by Kumdang-2 injection drug, which is a strong immune reviver," says the North's news agency. The announcement is likely an attempt to tweak South Korea, which is battling a MERS outbreak that has killed 25 people. The good news there is that the South has seen no new cases in 16 days, suggesting that the outbreak is under control, even without Kumdang-2, reports NPR. (The North also has made some outlandish claims about the childhood of Kim Jong Un.)

The secretive state did not provide proof, and the claim is likely to provoke widespread skepticism. The official Korean Central News Agency said scientists developed Kumdang-2 from ginseng grown from fertilizer mixed with rare-earth elements. North Korea trumpeted the same drug during deadly bird flu outbreaks in 2006 and 2013. The claim comes as rival South Korea fights an outbreak of MERS that has killed two dozen people and sickened more than 160 since last month. There is no vaccine for the disease.

Matt Damon and Michael Douglas can finally heat up those BeDazzlers: "Behind the Candelabra," their Liberace biopic, has found a home on HBO. The film, which to this point has been traveling under the working title "Liberace," is a look at the famed pianist's relationship with his younger live-in lover at a time when coming out could kill a career. It is scheduled to start shooting next summer under the direction of Steven Soderbergh. "I wanted people to see the other side of Liberace," Jerry Weintraub told Show Tracker. "I knew Liberace when I was kid. He entertained me a lot, we had a lot of good times together. He was a fun guy and a brilliant artist. "He was Elton John and Lady Gaga before they even dreamed of it" Old Hollywood figure Weintraub will produce for HBO, which in March aired "His Way," a documentary about Weintraub. Douglas will don the jeweled capes of Liberace while Damon plays his partner, Scott Thorson. "I’ve wanted to make a film about Liberace for a very long time, and after the amazing experience I had with HBO on 'His Way,' I knew that they were absolutely the right place for this movie," Weintraub said. The project has been gestating since 2009, and its male leads are more than happy to get lip-locking in the portrayal of the flamboyant performer, known for his over-the-top costumes and accessories and, later in life, several business ventures including cookbooks and antique shops. "Candelabra" will get into the darker, off-stage side of Liberace's life. And few introductions will be needed: Damon most recently appeared in the Soderbergh disease thriller "Contagion," while Douglas was cast in his 2000 film "Traffic," which earned four Oscars, including one for best director. RELATED: Kevin Spacey addresses rumors: 'I don't live a lie' Matt Damon ramps up for Michael Douglas kiss in 'Liberace' Thomas Jane of 'Hung' on experimenting with men (and sandwiches) — Matt Donnelly twitter.com/MattDonnelly Photo: Matt Damon and Michael Douglas at the New York premiere of "Contagion" on Sept. 7. Credit: Dave Allocca / Starpix ||||| We've known for a while that Michael Douglas and Matt Damon were to star together in a Liberace biopic, but now we know where it will appear. HBO Films announced today that it will produce Behind the Candelabra, a TV movie about the flamboyant singer, played by Douglas, and his lover, Scott Thorson, played by Damon. Oscar-winning director (and frequent Damon collaborator) Steven Soderbergh is onboard to direct. "From the inception of this project, we've had two priorities: getting it right creatively, and getting as many people as possible to see it," Soderbergh says in a statement. "HBO's fearless approach to original programming and their unparalleled ability to pull in viewers make them the perfect fit for us. Apart from my hair growing back, I couldn't be happier." Jerry Weintraub, who worked on the Ocean's Eleven franchise with Soderbergh and Damon, will also produce Candelabra. "I am thrilled that we have the incomparable Michael Douglas to inhabit the role of Liberace, as well as

– Michael Douglas will play Liberace in an upcoming biopic for HBO, reports USA Today. Matt Damon will play his young lover, Scott Thorson, and the film will track their relationship during an era when it would have been career suicide for the entertainer to come out as gay, notes the Los Angeles Times. Steven Soderbergh will begin directing Behind the Candelabra next summer.

"Behind the Candelabra" will star Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. The Liberace biopic is scheduled to start shooting next summer. Steven Soderbergh will direct. Jerry Weintraub, who worked on the Ocean's Eleven franchise with Damon, will produce for HBO. The film is a look at the famed pianist's relationship with his younger live-in lover at a time when coming out could kill a career. "I wanted people to see the other side of Liberace," Weintrraub said.

All 48 fruits and vegetables with pesticide residue data EWG analyzed pesticide residue testing data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration to come up with rankings for the following popular fresh produce items. All 48 foods are listed below from worst to best - lower numbers indicate more pesticides. Note: EWG analyzed pesticide tests of 48 popular produce items. Domestic and imported versions of two items – blueberries, green beans and snap peas - showed sharply different results, so we have ranked those domestic and imported items separately. As a result, the Shopper's Guide displays 51 entries. 1 Strawberries 2 Spinach 3 Nectarines 4 Apples 5 Peaches 6 Pears 7 Cherries 8 Grapes 9 Celery 10 Tomatoes 11 Sweet bell peppers 12 Potatoes 13 Cucumbers 14 Cherry Tomatoes 15 Lettuce 16 Snap peas - imported 17 Blueberries - domestic 18 Hot peppers + 19 Kale / collard greens 20 Blueberries - imported 21 Green beans - Domestic 22 Plums 23 Tangerines 24 Raspberries 25 Carrots 26 Winter squash 27 Oranges 28 Summer squash* 29 Green beans - Imported 30 Snap peas - domestic 31 Bananas 32 Green onions 33 Watermelon 34 Mushrooms 35 Sweet potatoes 36 Broccoli 37 Grapefruit 38 Cauliflower 39 Cantaloupe 40 Kiwi 41 Honeydew melon 42 Eggplant 43 Mangos 44 Asparagus 45 Papayas* 46 Sweet peas frozen 47 Onions 48 Cabbage 49 Pineapples 50 Avocados 51 Sweet Corn* + Dirty Dozen PLUS * A small amount of sweet corn, papaya and summer squash sold in the United States is produced from genetically modified seeds. Buy organic varieties of these crops if you want to avoid genetically modified produce. ||||| EWG’s Dirty Dozen produce list released, and once again, it’s under attack Once again, the “Dirty Dozen,” the Environmental Working Group’s list of the types of produce with the highest loads of pesticide residues has been released, and once again, it’s under attack by a produce industry group. The 2017 Dirty Dozen list, released Wednesday evening, includes in order: strawberries, spinach, nectarines, apples, peaches, celery, grapes, pears, cherries, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers and potatoes. Each of these foods tested positive for a number of different pesticide residues and contained higher concentrations of pesticides than other produce. Pears and potatoes were new additions to the Dirty Dozen, displacing cherry tomatoes and cucumbers from last year’s list. The Alliance for Food and Farming, a non-profit organization formed in 1989 which represents organic and conventional farmers of fruits and vegetables and farms of all sizes, has repeatedly called for EWG to stop publishing the list. The group asserts that the information is negative and misleading and might be scaring people away from consuming a healthful diet with lots of fruits and vegetables. The list is based on EWG’s analysis of tests by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and found that nearly 70 percent of samples of 48 types of conventionally grown produce were contaminated with pesticide residues. To read the USDA’s most recent Pesticide Data Program report, click here. The USDA report states that when pesticide residues are

– The Environmental Working Group is out with its annual "dirty dozen" list of fruits and veggies it says have the highest amounts of pesticide residues. But take note: Protecting Your Pocket reports that the list, based on US Department of Agriculture data, has been called misleading since 99% of products sampled for pesticides "had residues below the EPA tolerances," per the USDA. The dirtiest produce, according to EWG: Strawberries Spinach Nectarines Apples Peaches Celery Grapes Pears Cherries Tomatoes The "clean fifteen," or produce with the lowest residues, per EWG: sweet corn, avocados, pineapples, cabbage, onions, frozen sweet peas, papaya, asparagus, mangoes, eggplant, honeydew melon, kiwis, cantaloupe, cauliflower, and grapefruit, in that order.

The Environmental Working Group’s list of the types of produce with the highest loads of pesticide residues has been released. The Alliance for Food and Farming, a non-profit organization formed in 1989, has repeatedly called for EWG to stop publishing the list. The 2017 Dirty Dozen list, released Wednesday evening, includes in order: strawberries, spinach, nectarines, apples, peaches, celery, grapes, pears, cherries, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers and potatoes. The list is based on EWG's analysis of tests by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and found that nearly 70 percent of samples were contaminated with pesticide residues.

Donald Trump claims he has some dirt on Ted Cruz's wife. Last night the Republican frontrunner fired back at an attack ad in support of Cruz that used a nude photo of Trump's wife, Melania Trump, with a threat to "spill the beans" on Ted Cruz's wife, Heidi. The attack ad, targeted at Utah's conservative Mormon base before Tuesday's primary, was sponsored by Make America Awesome, a Super PAC supporting Ted Cruz. It featured an image from a GQ photo shoot with the caption, "Meet Melania Trump. Your Next First Lady. Or you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday." While Cruz's campaign wasn't behind the ad, Trump made it personal anyway, tweeting at Cruz that if he kept going after Melania, Heidi should watch out. Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016 Cruz responded to what he called a "classless" threat against his wife: Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless https://t.co/0QpKSnjgnE — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016 Trump also attacked Jeb Bush's wife This isn't the first time wives have come up in the Republican presidential campaign. Early on in the election cycle Trump went after then-rival Jeb Bush's wife, Columba, retweeting a follower that said Bush must "like the Mexican Illegals" (Columba Bush is a Mexican immigrant). The retweet, which Trump said he did not authorize, was subsequently deleted after it was online for a day: Busted. Donald Trump deleted this tweet attacking Jeb Bush over his Mexican wife: pic.twitter.com/nD95099uGQ — Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) July 6, 2015 But Trump went on to tell CNN's Anderson Cooper that he did not regret the tweet. "No, I don't regret it," Trump told Anderson Cooper. "If my wife were from Mexico, I think I would have a soft spot for people from Mexico. ... I’ve heard she’s a lovely woman, by the way." Bush demanded Trump apologize to his wife for bringing her "into the middle of a raucous political conversation" at one of the early Republican debates in September. Trump, in classic Trump fashion, refused to apologize. When does Trump make it personal? Trump thrives on attention. When he doesn't get attention, he makes it personal. His rise is largely attributed to his ability to dominate the news cycle. According to an analysis from the New York Times, he has been able to stay in the center of the election while spending less in TV advertising than any other major candidate: Like all candidates, he benefits from what is known as earned media: news and commentary about his campaign on television, in newspapers and magazines, and on social media. Earned media typically dwarfs paid media in a campaign. The big difference between Mr. Trump and other candidates is that he is far better than any other candidate — maybe than any candidate ever — at

– Megyn Kelly didn't have to say much to get her point across: In what the Hollywood Reporter calls a "rare move," the Fox News host has responded directly to a Donald Trump tweet. The tweet in question: Trump's retweet of an insulting image of Heidi Cruz. Kelly's response: "Seriously?" As the Reporter notes, Trump's tweet has been criticized as sexist, and it was Kelly questioning Trump about whether he's sexist that first started the feud between the two. More reactions: Wednesday night, Trump campaign spokesperson Stephen Miller defended the retweet on CNN, the Daily Beast reports. He told anchor Kate Bolduan that Trump simply "responded as any normal person would" to a "vicious, mean-spirited, uncalled-for attack" on his wife Melania. That attack refers to an ad by an anti-Trump super PAC that mocks Melania's nude GQ photo shoot, but Ted Cruz's campaign itself is not responsible for the ad. A clearly incredulous Bolduan questioned why Trump was keeping the issue alive via his retweet, and added, "As a woman, it's demeaning to not only Ted Cruz's wife, it's demeaning to Melania Trump, because she's got a lot more going for her than just her looks, and you don't see that in this retweet." She and Miller continued to argue about the issue throughout the 5-and-a-half-minute segment. Salon calls the retweet "a new low in this grotesque sausage-waving campaign," but Vox notes that it fits perfectly into Trump's campaign strategy: He's stayed on top by dominating the news cycle, even when he has to use personal attacks to do so, but "this tactic works for Trump, and Trump only." When other presidential contenders have attempted to use the same tactic in response to Trump, it has backfired big-time.

Donald Trump tweeted a threat to "spill the beans" on Ted Cruz's wife. The tweet was in response to an attack ad in support of Cruz that used a nude photo of Trump's wife, Melania Trump. Cruz responded to what he called a "classless" threat against his wife: Pic of your wife not from us. Trump also attacked Jeb Bush's wife early on in the election cycle, retweeting a follower that said Bush must "like the Mexican Illegals" The retweet was subsequently deleted after it was online for a day.

Crawl of outlinks from wikipedia.org started March, 2016. These files are currently not publicly accessible. Properties of this collection. It has been several years since the last time we did this. For this collection, several things were done: 1. Turned off duplicate detection. This collection will be complete, as there is a good chance we will share the data, and sharing data with pointers to random other collections, is a complex problem. 2. For the first time, did all the different wikis. The original runs were just against the enwiki. This one, the seed list was built from all 865 collections. ||||| Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Some wild and paranoid theories about the murder of publicist Ronni Chasen are sweeping through Hollywood. While Beverly Hills police are saying little, the movie capital’s most creative minds are coming up with their own theories on why the veteran publicist, who appeared to have no enemies, was shot to death as she drove home from the premiere of the movie “Burlesque” in the early hours of Nov. 16. A source told us, “One theory is that somebody close to Ronni had substantial gambling debts of up to half a million dollars, and she was being chased for the money. She was tough and refused to pay up, and so paid the ultimate price. “Another theory is that it was a Russian mob killing, linked to investors on one of her many movies who were not satisfied with its performance,” the source said. “There are many other rumors, from an art deal gone wrong to jealousy over her successful Oscar campaigns.” A different source even suggested it could have been a gang initiation, citing recent, unreported violent episodes in Beverly Hills. Page Six reported on Saturday that Chasen confided to a friend last winter that she feared she was being followed. Police spokesman Lt. Tony Lee didn’t return calls yesterday. But he earlier told us, “People are coming out with all types of theories. But we will not rule out anything until the perpetrator is found.” Chasen’s close friends also remained silent. Publicist Michael Levine said, “Sorry, I don’t know anything and don’t want to play a guessing game.” Officers have interviewed staff from Chasen’s office as well as her songwriter client Diane Warren, who spent the final hours with her at the “Burlesque” premiere. Warren wrote “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” for Cher. The LA county coroner’s office told NBC in LA yesterday that it would wait to complete results of toxicology tests to announce the official cause of Chasen’s death.

– Ronni Chasen's Beverly Hills murder continues to stump detectives, but Hollywood is offering up some pretty crazy ideas about what happened to the famed publicist. "One theory is that somebody close to Ronni had substantial gambling debts of up to half a million dollars, and she was being chased for the money. She was tough and refused to pay up, and so paid the ultimate price," a decidedly Hollywood-sounding source tells the New York Post. "Another theory is that it was a Russian mob killing, linked to investors on one of her many movies who were not satisfied with its performance," the source continues, and that's not all: It could also have been "an art deal gone wrong" or "jealousy over her successful Oscar campaigns." Another source mentions gang initiation as a possibility. Police believe the murder was planned, and Chasen had recently disclosed fears that she was being followed. Click here for more on that.

Some wild and paranoid theories about the murder of publicist Ronni Chasen are sweeping through Hollywood. A source told us, “One theory is that somebody close to Ronni had substantial gambling debts of up to half a million dollars, and she was being chased for the money.” A different source even suggested it could have been a gang initiation, citing recent, unreported violent episodes in Beverly Hills. The LA county coroner’s office told NBC in LA yesterday that it would wait to complete results of toxicology tests to announce the official cause of the publicist's death.

Here's the gist. Sony Pictures pretty much had the cast and production set up to make a movie about the real life drama around concussions/CTE in the NFL. There was one big problem that almost stopped production of this big Will Smith featured movie they planned to release in theaters on Christmas Day this year... they didn't have the rights to use NFL game footage or any of their related copyrighted properties (i.e. team logos, press room footage). So what did Sony do? They brought the NFL in to basically water down the depictions of the effects of the head injuries on the football players and how the NFL reacted to the controversy around the injuries. I found a bunch of emails relating to this so please don't mind this long post listing much of what was said in this regard... "But in addition to all that I learned just today that our lawyers have told us that we can't recreate the games and have to use actual footage which should be possible under the fair acts law( which need to to understand better) butof course the problem there is that the footage can only be obtained through the nfl So before we go off to the races we need to know exactly what we can and can't do and if this is a "true" story or not I know you all have given this a lot of thought I just need to know how you think we can handle this After zero dark thirty and moneyball and captian Phillips and the social network I know these can be dicey waters but none more than this one" https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/39970 "Peter - I'd like to introduce you to Allan Mayer who is our consultant for the film in regards to NFL strategy. I have also cc'd Charlie Sipkins who is our head of corporate communication. It's very important that all communication with the NFL be coordinated with Allan and Charlie. I will let them respond regarding next steps. In the interim please don't respond to Paul or send the script. Much appreciated. Hope all is well in Pittsburgh. H " "Per my conversation with Amy yesterday, I reached out to Paul Hicks, effectively the NFL's #2 to Goodell. See the exchange below. Now that we are where we are - and the NFL is in the position it is in - this may now be a good time to have a careful conversation with them. I don't believe there is any way for them to sanction the movie, but there's a possibility perhaps of getting compelling, cinematic - and legally defensible - drama. Those scenes inside the NFL offices we had to reconfigure - we may now be able to get that, more and better. If you conclude a meeting is a good idea: -- we cannot give them the script beforehand, as Hicks request; but I can discuss in a vague way what the movie is about, and the terrain it covers. (By now it's hardly a secret.)" "Paul You think there's a

– Sony execs must be wondering if the fallout from last year's hack will ever end. The trailer for Concussion was released Monday, followed swiftly by reports that Sony Pictures had watered down the Will Smith drama to avoid the NFL's wrath. The movie focuses on the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, who first found the brain disease CTE in NFL players, and leaked emails show that execs discussed how to make it a whistleblower story instead of one that could appear anti-football, reports the New York Times, which notes that changes were made even though Sony doesn't have the same strong financial links to the NFL as other studios. "We'll develop messaging with the help of NFL consultant to ensure that we are telling a dramatic story and not kicking the hornet's nest," read one email, which first surfaced on Reddit. Another email says "unflattering moments for the NFL" have been axed, and another says lawyers have taken "most of the bite" out of the movie. Director Peter Landesman tells the Times that the story wasn't compromised to please the NFL and any changes made were done to make the story richer and more accurate. Concussion comes out in December, and Josh Fox, director of anti-fracking film Gasland, tells the Daily Beast that the movie is powerful enough to end the NFL's concussion crisis, if Smith is willing to take the time to campaign for change after it's released. (Click to watch the trailer.)

Sony Pictures had planned to make a movie about concussions/CTE in the NFL. They didn't have the rights to use NFL game footage or any of their related copyrighted properties. So what did Sony do? They brought the NFL in to basically water down the depictions of the effects of the head injuries on the football players and how the NFL reacted to the controversy around the injuries. "I don't believe there is any way for them to sanction the movie, but there's a possibility perhaps of getting compelling, cinematic - and legally defensible"

Commerce Secretary John Bryson said Monday night that he is taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with health problems, after officials said the Cabinet member had a seizure while driving Saturday and was involved in three traffic collisions. Bryson’s leave was announced after 10 p.m. Monday. It followed a day of confusion about his medical condition and about the crashes that led to Bryson being cited for felony hit-and-run in California. In a memo released to reporters, Bryson said his leave would last “during the period of my illness.” “I notified President Obama this evening that effective immediately I am taking a medical leave of absence so I can focus all of my attention on resolving the health issues that arose over the weekend,” Bryson wrote. He said his second in command, Rebecca Blank, would be the acting secretary in his absence. Blank has already served in that capacity, filling in after former secretary Gary Locke left to be ambassador to China. Bryson did not say more about the nature of his health issues. Neither did the White House, which said that “President Obama’s thoughts are with Secretary Bryson and his family during this time.” The length of Bryson’s leave is undetermined, and a Commerce official said late Monday that he is undergoing tests and will consult with doctors before making a final decision about whether to return to work. Bryson, 68, is the newest permanent member of Obama’s 21-person Cabinet, taking his post in October. His leave ended a tumultuous day in which White House officials conceded that they had not learned of Bryson’s accidents until a full day after they occurred. They acknowledged that, even two days afterward, they did not fully understand what had happened. Bryson was driving alone when his Lexus ran into two other cars shortly after 5 p.m. Pacific time Saturday — hitting one of the vehicles twice. Nobody in the other cars was seriously hurt. After the third crash, Bryson was found unconscious behind the wheel. He was treated overnight at a Los Angeles area hospital. On Monday, Commerce Department spokeswoman Jennifer Fried­man said the secretary had suffered a seizure — his first — at some point during the incident. She said toxicology tests confirmed that neither alcohol nor drugs played a role in the crashes. A spokesman from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment on the tests. On Monday, however, it was unclear what caused Bryson’s seizure and what part it played in the collisions. The secretary has “limited recall” of the events, Friedman said. The Los Angeles County district attorney will decide whether to prosecute him, based on the felony citation he was issued for leaving the scene of an accident. Aides said Monday that Bryson flew back to Washington on Sunday night, but he made no public appearances. At the White House, officials seemed to be struggling to understand what had happened to Bryson. Obama talked to local TV anchors Monday, and KTIV, the NBC affiliate in Sioux City, Iowa, asked him about Bryson. “I haven’t spoken

– Commerce Secretary John Bryson is taking a medical leave after police said he was involved in three car accidents and cited him for felony hit-and-run. Commerce officials said he suffered a seizure. He's now taking an indefinite leave from his Cabinet post "during the period of my illness," he said. “I notified President Obama that effective immediately I am taking a medical leave of absence so I can focus all of my attention on resolving the health issues that arose over the weekend." His second-in-command, Rebecca Blank, will be acting secretary in his absence, reports the Washington Post. “President Obama’s thoughts are with Secretary Bryson and his family during this time," said a statement from the White House. According to police, Bryson rear-ended one car twice, and then a second car. He stopped briefly to exchange information after the first incident, then struck the car again and drove off, police said. He was found unconscious behind the wheel after the third crash. No one was seriously injured. Bryson passed a breathalyzer at the scene, and submitted to a blood test, according to the LA Sheriff's Department. If the toxicology tests come back negative, Bryson will not be charged in the hit-and-run, a spokesman told the New York Times. White House and Commerce Officials gave no details about Bryson's condition, and "took pains" to emphasize they were not saying the seizure caused the episode, noted the Times. Bryson has "limited recall" of what happened.

Commerce Secretary John Bryson says he is taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with health problems. Bryson’s leave was announced after 10 p.m. Monday. It followed a day of confusion about his medical condition and about the crashes that led to Bryson being cited for felony hit-and-run. The length of Bryson's leave is undetermined, and a Commerce official said late Monday that he is undergoing tests and will consult with doctors before making a final decision about whether to return to work.

A man rides his rickshaw past the Tihar Jail in New Delhi March 11, 2013. The driver of the bus in which a young Indian woman was gang-raped and fatally injured in December hanged himself in his jail cell on Monday, prison authorities said, but his family and lawyer said... A policeman keeps guard inside the Tihar Jail in New Delhi March 11, 2013. The driver of the bus in which a young Indian woman was gang-raped and fatally injured in December hanged himself in his jail cell on Monday, prison authorities said, but his family and lawyer said... Police sit inside the Ravi Das camp, the slum where four of the six accused in a rape case including Ram Singh reside at, in New Delhi March 11, 2013. Ram Bai, mother of Ram Singh, the driver of the bus in which a young woman was gang-raped and fatally injured three months ago, wails inside her house at Ravi Das camp in New Delhi March 11, 2013. Ram Singh hanged himself in his jail cell on Monday, prison authorities said,... The brother, mother and father (L-R) of Ram Singh, the driver of the bus in which a young woman was gang-raped and fatally injured three months ago, leave their house at Ravi Das camp in New Delhi March 11, 2013. Mange Lal Singh (L) and Ram Bai (R), father and mother of Ram Singh, the driver of the bus in which a young woman was gang-raped and fatally injured three months ago, sit inside their house at Ravi Das camp in New Delhi March 11, 2013. Ram Singh hanged himself in his jail... NEW DELHI The driver of the bus in which a young Indian woman was gang-raped and fatally injured in December hanged himself in his jail cell on Monday, prison authorities said, but his family and lawyer said they suspected "foul play". Ram Singh, the main accused in India's most high-profile criminal case, killed himself just before dawm in a cell he shared with three inmates in New Delhi's Tihar jail, prison spokesman Sunil Gupta said. Singh fashioned a noose from threads torn from the mat he slept on and hanged himself from a grille in the ceiling before dawn. While there were closed circuit cameras throughout Tihar, India's highest-security prison, there were none in individual cells, Gupta said. Gupta could not say how long it would have taken Singh to make the noose or how he had managed to loop it through the grille, which was eight feet above the floor. He may have stood on a plastic bucket, Indian media reported. Singh's lawyer, V.K. Anand, said his client had been composed and calm when he spoke to him in court on Friday and "didn't have any complaints". Singh, who faced the death penalty if convicted of murder, had not been on suicide watch, Anand and Gupta said. "I know he had a few complaints of jail authorities torturing him, but nothing that would make him take his own life. We can't rule out foul play. Nothing is adding

– The alleged ringleader in the gang-rape case that sparked protests across India has been found hanged in his cell. Police say Ram Singh, who allegedly drove the bus on which 23-year-old physiotherapist Jyoti Singh Pandey was raped and fatally injured, hanged himself with his own clothes in New Delhi's Tihar Jail, where he was under suicide watch, the AP reports. Singh and four co-accused were facing the death penalty if convicted, while another suspect will be tried in juvenile court. Singh "knew he was going to die anyway because we had and still have such a strong case against him," the victim's brother tells Reuters. "I'm not very thrilled with the news that he killed himself because I wanted him to be hanged ... publicly. Him dying on his own terms seems unfair. But, oh well, one is down. Hopefully the rest will wait for their death sentence." Singh's lawyer and family accuse authorities of killing him and are calling for a top-level probe.

Ram Singh, the main accused in India's most high-profile criminal case, killed himself just before dawm in a cell he shared with three inmates in New Delhi's Tihar jail. Singh fashioned a noose from threads torn from the mat he slept on and hanged himself from a grille in the ceiling before dawn. Singh's lawyer, V.K. Anand, said his client had been composed and calm when he spoke to him in court on Friday and "didn't have any complaints"

Yahoo Chief Financial Officer Ken Goldman said original video series “Community,” “Sin City Saints” and “Other Space” were the cause of a write-down of $42 million in the company’s third quarter. “We thought long and hard about it,” Goldman said during a call with investors following the release of Yahoo’s Q3 earnings. “What we concluded is certain of our original video content, we couldn’t see a way to make money over time. I’m thinking of ‘Community,’ I’m thinking of ‘Sin City Saints’ and so forth. So there, where we had spent money and had some assets on our balance sheet, we elected to write those off. That actually helps us going forward and we won’t have the expense to impact us going forward. Also Read: TheWrap's TV Stars and Showrunners Exclusive Portraits (Updating Photos) “In thinking through that, we thought of not only what is the cost, but what is the cost to market and create the streams you need to make them successful. So we’re not saying we’re not going to do these at all in the future, but what we’re saying is in three cases, at least, it didn’t work we had hoped it would work, and we decided to move on.” Yahoo reported its earnings for the third quarter of 2015 on Tuesday, falling short of Wall Street expectations. Also Read: Yahoo Q3 2015 Earnings Fall Short of Expectations The digital media company reported earnings per share of $0.15, which is lower than Wall Street’s expectations of $0.17 EPS. The number is also lower than the $0.52 earnings for the same quarter a year ago. Yahoo also reported revenue of $1.23 billion, which fell short of the projected $1.26 billion. ||||| Yahoo's recent foray into original video content has failed. The company announced at an earnings call that it will be taking a $42 million write-down in the third quarter for its video division. "We thought long and hard about it," said Yahoo chief financial officer Ken Goldman, according to a report from The Wrap. "What we concluded is [that] certain of our original video content, we couldn’t see a way to make money over time. I’m thinking of Community, I’m thinking of Sin City Saints and so forth. So there, where we had spent money and had some assets on our balance sheet, we elected to write those off." community dedicated a whole episode to a honda SUV These original series were unveiled back in April, with Community the most high-profile acquisition. The cult comedy had been a critical success in its early seasons, and Yahoo's decision to renew it for a sixth was reminiscent of Netflix rescuing Arrested Development. However, while Netflix makes it money from subscriptions, Yahoo has to do the same from advertising. For Community, this included a deal making Honda a "presenting sponsor" for the show, with the company given pre-roll video ads and even an entire episode — "Advanced Safety Features" — structured around its new CR-V SUV. Although Yahoo said the campaign was a success for Honda (a biometric study reportedly showed

– Yahoo's foray into original content has been a costly one. In a Q3 earnings call on Tuesday, CFO Ken Goldman said the company had taken $42 million in write-downs in its video division in creating three shows: sports comedy Sin City Saints, Other Space, and Community, which it picked up after NBC canceled the show last year, per the Hollywood Reporter. All three aired this spring, but Yahoo "couldn't see a way to make money over time," Goldman said, per the Wrap. "Where we had spent money and had some assets on our balance sheet, we elected to write those off." Goldman added more original shows are possible in Yahoo's future, but "in three cases at least, it didn't work the way we had hoped it would work." Yahoo—whose earnings fell below expectations—seemed to follow Netflix's lead in reviving Community, just as Netflix produced a final season of Arrested Development. But unlike Netflix, which is a subscription-based service, Yahoo needed to rely on advertisers, reports the Verge. Back in August, Yahoo said it was "continuing to discuss future opportunities for Community," though star Joel McHale was simultaneously essentially ruling out a seventh season. "All the actors on the show, almost without exception—their stock has risen significantly, and it's out of the pay rate that is affordable to make the show," he said in an interview. "There is just not enough money to be able to pay for the show."

Yahoo announced at an earnings call that it will be taking a $42 million write-down in the third quarter for its video division. Yahoo Chief Financial Officer Ken Goldman said original video series “Community,” “Sin City Saints” and “Other Space’ were the cause of a write- down. “We thought long and hard about it,’ said Goldman during a call with investors following the release of Yahoo’s Q3 earnings. Yahoo also reported revenue of $1.23 billion, which fell short of the projected $1 million.

(CNN) New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday vowed to close the Rikers Island jail complex. "It will take many years," the mayor said at a news conference. "It will take many tough decisions along the way. But it will happen." De Blasio set a timeline of 10 years to reduce the overall jail population in the city, which he said would allow for a "complete departure of all inmates from Rikers Island." ||||| Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed on Friday to close the troubled jail complex on Rikers Island, which has spawned federal investigations, brought waves of protests and became a byword for brutality, in a move he said was intended to end an era of mass incarceration in New York City. The pledge to eventually close Rikers, a proposition once thought to be politically and practically unfeasible, came as an independent commission was about to release a 97-page report that recommended replacing the jails on Rikers with a system of smaller, borough-based jails, at a cost of $10.6 billion. “This is a very serious, sober, forever decision,” Mr. de Blasio said, standing in the marbled rotunda of City Hall beside the speaker of the City Council, Melissa Mark-Viverito, who has championed the closing of the complex while pushing the mayor to embrace the idea. “Once you’re off, you’re off,” he said of the island. Mr. de Blasio said the jails could be closed in 10 years, providing the city could reduce the number of people who cycle through the city’s system to 5,000; low enough, that is, for every inmate to be taken off the 400-acre island and housed instead in jails elsewhere in the city. ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video THE BRONX, N.Y. — Rikers Island, the largest jail in the country notorious for violence within its walls and described by some as "the worst place on Earth," will be closed, city leaders announced Friday. "It will take many years. It will take many tough decisions along the way, but it will happen," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. The mayor said he and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, an outspoken proponent of closing the jail, have agreed on a 10-year timeline to shut down the facility. PIX11 News has reached out to the correction officers' union for a statement on the announcement. The speaker called the jail a "stain" on the city's reputation, saying its "legacy of violence and systemic abuse" are a blemish. As of 2016, Rikers' population was its lowest to date, with just over 10,000 inmates being held at the 85-year-old jail complex where individuals are held on charges as they wait for a trial. Still, despite record-low population, violence continued to climb. In 2015, there were 9,424 assaults at the jail, the highest in five years. In 2016, there were nearly 12,000 instances of violence. Mark-Viverito called on the memory of Kalief Browder, who at 16 was arrested and held for three years on Rikers Island without being convicted of a crime. Browder spent more than 800 days in solitary confinment, often

– The days appear to be numbered for America's largest jail, once described as "the worst place on Earth," WPIX reports. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday that Rikers Island jail will be closed. "It will take many years," CNN quotes de Blasio as saying. "But it will happen." Last year, the jail at Rikers Island was home to more than 10,000 inmates—most of them awaiting trial and not convicted of a crime. That same year, there were nearly 12,000 instances of violence there. According to the New York Times, Rikers has a "history of brutal violence" by both inmates and corrections officers. In one of the most notorious cases, a 16-year-old was held at Rikers for three years—800 of those days in solitary confinement—while subjected to horrific abuse. He eventually killed himself. Advocates give a number of reasons to close the 85-year-old Rikers Island jail: newer and safer jails for both inmates and guards, reduced travel time for inmates, and easier visitation for family, to name a few. While details of the plan to close Rikers haven't been laid out, de Blasio gives a timeline of 10 years to reduce the prison population to 5,000 prior to closure. He says closing Rikers will "end the era of mass incarceration" in New York City. Last year, an independent commission recommended moving Rikers inmates to smaller jails to be built in each of New York's five boroughs at a cost of $10.6 billion. It's unclear if that's the current plan.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio set a timeline of 10 years to reduce the overall jail population in the city. De Blasio said the jails could be closed in 10 years, providing the city could reduce the number of people who cycle through the city’s system to 5,000. As of 2016, Rikers' population was its lowest to date, with just over 10,000 inmates being held at the 85-year-old jail complex. Despite record-low population, violence continued to climb. In 2015, there were 9,424 assaults at the jail, the highest in five years.

Doors creak, birds shriek and children are lured to terrible fates in "The Woman in Black," a good, old-fashioned ghost yarn of the Victorian Gothic persuasion.The handsome chiller, set in an atmospherically isolated Yorkshire village, is a production of England's revived Hammer label and features Daniel Radcliffe in his first post-" Harry Potter " screen role. He plays a character who, not unlike Harry, takes a train to an otherworldly place where he faces down immense forces of evil — albeit without the wizardly magic, and with an occasional fortifying shot of whiskey.Radcliffe's limitations as an actor are suited to the role of mild-mannered attorney Arthur Kipps, a widower with a young boy. When we first see him, he's a man between life and death, a fact that doesn't change until the film's poetic resolution. Even as Kipps becomes actively engaged in solving the story's mystery, he's a strangely somnambulant figure, less determined than fevered.On a last-chance assignment to save his career, he's dispatched from smoky 19th century London to the remote northern hamlet of Crythin Gifford (set in the no less lyrically named Halton Gill) to settle the estate of a deceased recluse.In a place with nary a telephone and a surfeit of guarded villagers, Kipps pieces together a local history of devastating losses. The latest in a long line of children to die does so in his arms, and his own grief makes him particularly sensitive to a vengeful spirit in mourning black (Liz White) who appears to him at his client's house.Like an island unto itself, that house lies at the end of a causeway through marshes and is often separated from the village by high tides. A great symmetrical pile with its own graveyard, it's the film's most expressive character — as it should be — thanks to the outstanding production design by Kave Quinn and Tim Maurice-Jones' fluent widescreen camera work.It's also the setting for a few too many manufactured shocks punctuating the early stretches. But though the film can work simply as a haunted-house thrill ride, director James Watkins ("Eden Lake") is building a deeper unease and ultimately doesn't cheat the morbid heart of the narrative for the sake of excitement.If the story is laid out none too subtly, its straightforward purity is, finally, its greatest strength. Screenwriter Jane Goldman has adapted Susan Hill's 1983 novel (which spawned a radio series, TV movie and long-running West End stage play) with economy, placing a premium on eeriness, not gore.Setting the tone is the concise and doomy beauty of the opening scene, involving three young sisters. The unsettling images of childhood vulnerability have added resonance in the Victorian setting, given the period's growing interest in the consciousness and welfare of children. Watkins' visual vocabulary grows smaller as the film progresses, but even as the repetition feels self-conscious (especially in a nursery full of watchful toys), the foreboding mounts.Late in the proceedings, a handprint on a window and the rapid rocking of an unoccupied chair deliver true jolts and chills, visions of the in-between world that the story, and

– The boy wizard is back—but this time, he's a 19th-century gentleman. Daniel Radcliffe is generally successful playing a spooked lawyer in The Woman in Black, a throwback haunted house thriller. What the critics are saying: The film "makes the most of its old-fashioned virtues," writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times. It "isn’t especially scary, but it keeps you on edge, and without the usual vivisectionist imagery." For his part, Radcliffe "has the haunted eyes of the eternal mourner." In the Los Angeles Times, Sheri Linden agrees, calling the film "a good, old-fashioned ghost yarn of the Victorian Gothic persuasion" that places "a premium on eeriness, not gore." Roger Ebert doesn't think Radcliffe has "much gravitas," but he's impressed overall. "Not since young Hutter arrived at Orlok's castle in Nosferatu has a journey to a dreaded house been more fearsome." But Michael O'Sullivan isn't so sure, calling the movie "kind of, well, silly." While middle-school girls were screaming in "genuine terror" at a screening, "the rows of professional critics kept erupting in guffaws," he notes in the Washington Post.

"The Woman in Black" is a good, old-fashioned ghost yarn of the Victorian Gothic persuasion. The handsome chiller, set in an atmospherically isolated Yorkshire village, is a production of England's revived Hammer label. Daniel Radcliffe plays a character who, not unlike Harry, takes a train to an otherworldly place where he faces down immense forces of evil. The latest in a long line of children to die does so in his arms, and his own grief makes him sensitive to a vengeful spirit in mourning black.

"Equal pay is essential to the goal of gender equality," said Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.Org. "This issue speaks to how we value women's labor, knowledge, time, training, and so much more. In short, it's about women's worth. There's nothing more fundamental than that." Women on average are paid 20 percent less than men. If you break the pay gap down by race and ethnicity, it is even worse: Black women are paid 37 percent less and Hispanic women are paid 46 percent less. Equal Pay Day marks how far all women need to work into 2017 to earn what men were paid in 2016. Because Black and Hispanic women face an even larger wage gap, they have to work until July 31 and November 2 respectively to catch up. The gender pay gap disadvantages women and impacts families' ability to buy groceries, pay for child care, invest in their children's education, and more. If we closed the gender pay gap, the average woman would make $530,000 more over the course of her career, and millions of women and families would be lifted out of poverty. If we closed the pay gap, women on average could afford 78 more weeks of groceries each year—for Black and Hispanic women it would mean 155 and 193 additional weeks of food respectively. In support of #20PercentCounts, businesses in twenty-five U.S. cities from Boston to St. Louis to Atlanta are offering 20 percent discounts on everyday purchases from coffee to pizza to pet supplies. Salesforce, the #1 CRM company and an equal pay pioneer, provided a donation for in-store signage, online advertising, and local events to support the national rollout of #20PercentCounts. Leaders from the Lean In Circles program, a global network of small peer support groups, are spearheading this grassroots effort. With support from LeanIn.Org, leaders recruited participating businesses and are serving as spokespeople for the campaign in their communities. "Women accomplish amazing things when we work together," said Rachel Thomas, president and co-founder of LeanIn.Org. "Hand in hand with the women in our Circles community, we're shining a light on an issue that matters to all of us—and to all women around the world." The idea to rally small businesses in support of equal pay was inspired by Lean In DC, a Chapter of Lean In Circles led by a group of millennial women in Washington, D.C. Since 2014, Lean In DC has partnered with local businesses to offer discounts commensurate with the gender pay gap, and this year they are playing a lead role in #20PercentCounts. The #20PercentCounts campaign is further amplified through large-scale partnerships with LUNA, Lyft, and P&G: LUNA is offering 20% off all LUNA Bars sold on lunabar.com (while supplies last) from April 3–11 and matching the discount amount with a donation of up to $100,000 to fund salary negotiation workshops in partnership with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) to fund salary negotiation workshops in partnership with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Lyft, which completes 20 million rides per month, is donating

– It takes a woman until the following Tuesday to earn what a man does in a single week, and more than 15 months to earn what a man does in a year, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity. That's why Tuesday is Equal Pay Day, representing how far into 2017 women have had to work to draw even with men in 2016, explains NBC News. The news, however, isn't all bleak in the eyes of Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg. A look at coverage: Rallies are being held around the country to raise awareness. But the #20PercentCounts retail campaign, in which companies are offering 20% discounts to women (and men as well) in 25 cities, is another way organizers hope to make a splash, per a news release. Karin Agness at Forbes takes issue with what she calls a "flawed holiday." The stat that women earn 20% less "does not factor in many of the choices that women and men make—including education, years of experience and hours worked—that influence earnings." Emily Martin of the National Women's Law Center disagrees, laying out four reasons in US News and World Report for the pay inequity. No. 1: Studies showing that women get paid less than men for the same work. Unless the gap is closed, a typical 20-year-old woman starting full-time work today will make $418,800 less than her male counterpart over a 40-year career. A post at LinkedIn finds that fewer than 30% of those employed in the top 100 highest paying jobs in America are women. Many of those jobs are found in male-dominated industries, like tech. Four years after publishing Lean In, her book on women in the workforce, Sandberg tells USA Today that "we are not better off" in terms of female leadership. But in the Q&A, she also says she's optimistic because of all the growing "energy" around the subject. Money describes four victories in the fight for equal pay over the last year, including the USA women's hockey team's successful fight for raises. Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer hopes to score another win. At CNN, she lays out the goals of two bills she's sponsored, one of which would prevent retaliatory action against employees who ask for salary information. She appears to have an ally in the White House. "Women deserve equal pay for equal work. We must work to close the gender pay gap!" Ivanka Trump tweeted Tuesday.

Equal Pay Day marks how far all women need to work into 2017 to earn what men were paid in 2016. Black and Hispanic women face an even larger wage gap, they have to work until July 31 and November 2 respectively to catch up. In support of #20PercentCounts, businesses in 25 U.S. cities are offering 20 percent discounts on everyday purchases. If we closed the pay gap, the average woman would make $530,000 more over the course of her career, and millions of women and families would be lifted out of poverty.

How much currency / money / monetary instruments can I bring into the U.S.? There is no limit on the amount of money that can be taken out of or brought into the United States. However, if a person or persons traveling together and filing a joint declaration (CBP Form 6059-B) have more than $10,000 in currency or negotiable monetary instruments, they must fill out a "Report of International Transportation of Currency and Monetary Instruments" FinCEN 105 (former CF 4790). Please be aware, if persons/family members traveling together have more than $10,000, they cannot divide the currency between each other to avoid declaring the currency. For example, if one person is carrying $5,000 and the other has $6,000, they have a total of $11, 000 in their possession and must report it on a FinCEN 105. If a person or family fails to declare their monetary instruments in amounts more than $10,000 their monetary instrument(s) may be subject to forfeiture and could result in civil and or criminal penalties. The FinCEN 105 can be obtained prior to traveling or when going through CBP. If assistance is required, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer can help with filling out the form. If you wish to receive automatic updates to this Q&A, select "Subscribe to Updates" on the left side of this screen. ||||| A Florida woman was allegedly caught carrying almost $41,000 through customs, with much of the cash reportedly hidden in her undergarments. Victoria Faren, 78, and her daughter were stopped April 2 while trying to board a flight to the Philippines out of the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, federal court records indicate. The court records, filed Friday, recount the strange incident, during which customs agents discovered the elderly woman allegedly attempting to smuggle the cash through airport security. When Faren and her daughter were first asked by officers how much money they were carrying, Faren reportedly said she was carrying $200. Her daughter reported carrying $1,200. Records indicate Faren later reported carrying $1,200 on a written declaration, a figure change that made officials suspicious. Read More: Woman Who Sneaked on Plane Arrested at LAX Read More: Officials: Woman Sneaked Onto Flight After 3 Tries Federal law requires travelers to declare to customs authorities if they are carrying more than $10,000 in cash. Faren allegedly first denied carrying anything other than the $1,200 she had written down, but an initial inspection of her bag reportedly yielded $8,000 stashed in various wallets. Officers again asked the woman if she was carrying any more cash. “No, this is all the money,” said Faren, according to court records. After a closer examination, officers allegedly found an additional $4,000 sewed into a cloth pouch and $977 hidden in sealed envelopes. A total of $12,977 had reportedly been found in her carry-on bag alone, according to the court documents. Records indicate Faren then admitted to officers that she was carrying $3,000 in her blouse and $2,000 sewn into her bra strap. When Faren reportedly told officers she had no more cash on her, they conducted a pat-down

– A 78-year-old woman may lose nearly $41,000 earned from selling her home because she tried to smuggle it through Detroit Metro Airport—in her carry-on luggage, bra, and girdle, reports the Detroit Free Press. Customs officials became suspicious when Victoria Faren, traveling with her daughter in April, kept changing her story when asked how much money she had on her. The $200 she initially revealed quickly multiplied as officials discovered $8,000 crammed in wallets, $4,000 in a cloth sack, nearly $1,000 in sealed envelopes, $3,000 in Faren's shirt, $2,000 sewn into her bra strap, and—when authorities noticed a bulge in her backside—a whopping $21,000 in her girdle, according to ABC News. Why did she do it? Court documents say Faren had already wired some money (from her $120,000 home sale) to the Philippines, but was afraid to mail the rest and figured she wasn't allowed to fly with it—though US Customs makes clear that she only had to fill out a form. Authorities say they don't have to give her the money back because it was a "currency reporting violation" that involved "bulk cash smuggling," notes the Free Press. Her daughter says she had no clue about Faren's covert cash, and adds that "her mother [is] old." (At least authorities didn't find any live animals stuffed in her suitcase.)

Federal law requires travelers to declare to customs authorities if they are carrying more than $10,000 in cash. Victoria Faren, 78, and her daughter were stopped April 2 while trying to board a flight to the Philippines out of the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Faren allegedly first denied carrying anything other than the $1,200 she had written down, but an initial inspection of her bag reportedly yielded $8,000 stashed in various wallets. Officers allegedly found an additional $4,000 sewed into a cloth pouch and $977 hidden in sealed envelopes.

SkyWest spokeswoman Marissa Snow confirmed Hedglin, of Colorado Springs, Colo., had been a pilot for the airline since 2005. "He gained unauthorized access to the aircraft," Snow said, but added they don't know how. Mortensen said a St. George police officer was near the airport just before 1 a.m. doing a regular perimeter fence check when he discovered a motorcycle parked on the southeast side of the airport, the engine still warm. Mortensen said it appears Hedglin parked the motorcycle, then threw a rug over a razor-wire fence and used leather gloves to scale it. Once inside the fence, Hedglin got inside a regional jet, and started the engine. Hedglin backed the aircraft away from the jet bridge, Mortensen said, then began to pull forward. The jet's left wing hit the jet bridge, and when Hedglin turned to head east, he scraped the same wing along the terminal building. Mortensen said the man then drove the jet through a security fence and over some landscaping before finally stopping after hitting multiple cars in the public parking lot. "At that point in time, the officer was coming up over the hill, and noticed the aircraft in the parking lot," Mortensen said. "He called SkyWest and notified them." The jet engines were still running when the officer approached the plane, St. George police officials said. SkyWest officials opened the plane, Mortensen said, and police officers discovered Hedglin had killed himself in the aisle of the passenger area of the plane. Mortensen said that the whole episode took no more than 10 minutes, according to video footage from airport surveillance cameras. He said an onboard voice recording device may reveal details of what happened while Hedglin was inside the plane. Colorado Springs police had been searching for Hedglin since 7 a.m. Friday, when they found the body of 39-year-old Christina Cornejo, who had been stabbed to death at Hedglin's home, according to a police news release. Police said they immediately identified Hedglin — the woman's former boyfriend — as their suspect. A no-bail warrant for Hedglin's arrest — on suspicion of Class 1 felony murder — was issued Friday. On March 10, Hedglin was charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief, harassment and theft, according to El Paso County court records. He pleaded guilty to the harassment charge, but was released on $10,000 bond the next day. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, Cornejo told police in March that Hedglin invaded her apartment, took some things he had given to her and smashed a computer. Hedglin and Cornejo had been dating each other for four years when Hedglin was arrested. Hedglin was scheduled for trial in August. Meanwhile, a judge issued a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting Cornejo, according to the Gazette. Officers went to Hedglin's home on Friday, following a call from a concerned family member. A coroner ruled the woman's death from "multiple stab wounds" was a homicide, police said. Colorado Springs detectives contacted SkyWest on Friday and had them deactivate Hedglin's access cards in the event he showed up at a

– A murder/suicide in Utah is making headlines, and the Salt Lake Tribune and CNN piece together the tale: Police think 40-year-old Brian Hedglin fatally stabbed his girlfriend Friday night, then went on the lam. The SkyWest pilot didn't surface until Monday night, when he drove his motorcycle to St. George Airport, scaled a barbed-wire fence, and tried to steal a regional jet. He never got airborne, however, and ended up crashing through a security fence and into a parking lot. When police got there, they found him in the cockpit, where he had fatally shot himself.

SkyWest confirms pilot gained unauthorized access to the aircraft. St. George police officer found motorcycle parked on southeast side of airport, engine still warm. Officer says it appears man parked motorcycle, then threw rug over razor-wire fence. Police: Man then got inside regional jet, started engine, scraped wing along terminal building, drove through fence, over landscaping, stopped after hitting cars in parking lot, police say. Police say the whole episode took no more than 10 minutes, according to video footage from airport surveillance.

Researchers at the University of Bonn discover a 1,400-year old mass grave at Uxul, Mexico Researchers of the Department of Anthropology of the Americas at the University of Bonn have discovered a mass grave in an artificial cave in the historical Maya city of Uxul (Mexico). Marks on the bones indicate that the individuals buried in the cave were decapitated and dismembered around 1,400 years ago. The scientists assume that the victims were either prisoners of war or nobles from Uxul itself. For the last five years, archaeologists of the department of Anthropology of the Americas of the University of Bonn have been excavating in the historical Maya city of Uxul in Campeche (Mexico) with the aim of researching the origins and the collapse of regional states in the Maya lowlands. The project headed by Prof. Dr. Nikolai Grube and Dr. Kai Delvendahl from the University of Bonn, as well as Dr. Antonio Benavides from the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History, which is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) has now made a sensational find: they have uncovered the skeletons of 24 people in an approximately 32 square meter artificial cave that had formerly been used as a water reservoir. "Aside from the large number of interred individuals, it already became apparent during the excavation that the skeletons were no longer in their original anatomical articulation", says the archaeologist Nicolaus Seefeld, who studied the sophisticated water supply system of Uxul for his doctoral thesis and discovered the mass grave. All of the skulls were lying scattered around the interior of the cave, in no relation to the rest of the bodies. Even the majority of the lower jaws were separated from the heads. In contrast, detailed examination determined that the limbs of the legs and hands were in some cases completely preserved. "This observation excluded the possibility that this mass grave was a so-called secondary burial, in which the bones of the deceased are placed at a new location", says Nicolaus Seefeld. Indications of violent death and dismemberment According to the conclusions reached by the scientists, the spatial pattern of the bones indicates that the corpses of the 24 people had been decapitated and dismembered. Signs of violent death could be proven for the majority. "The observed hatchet marks on the cervical vertebra are a clear indication of decapitation", Seefeld reports. The forehead of another skull shows an unhealed skull fracture, probably caused by a blow from a cudgel. In addition, numerous skulls show signs of cutting with sharp objects, which might originate from stone hatchets. Due to their being covered by clay, the bones are so well-preserved that it was possible to distinguish the age and sex of 15 of the 24 individuals. These include 13 men and two women who were aged from 18 to 42 at the time of their death. Analyses of teeth and bones showed that several of the deceased suffered from malnutrition and had lost several teeth to tooth decay. Some of the dead had tooth inserts of jade. The scientists interpret this as

– The discovery of a mass grave is by its nature a gruesome find, but what researchers uncovered in the ancient Maya city of Uxul in present-day Mexico is that to the extreme. University of Bonn archaeologists on Tuesday announced that they have found a 1,400-year-old grave containing the dismembered bones of two dozen people, reports Nature World News. What those bones reveal is twofold: First, the dead were no lowly individuals, as evidenced by the presence of bits of jade that had been inserted into holes drilled in some of the teeth. Second, they prove a bit of history: "that the dismemberment of prisoners of war and opponents often represented in Maya art was in fact practiced," says the dig's lead. Archaeologist Nicolaus Seefield found the gravesite in an "artificial cave," which he explains to LiveScience had likely functioned as a water reservoir before the burial "since the cave's floor was perfectly clean." The skeletons found there were not "in their original anatomical articulation," he says. "The observed hatchet marks on the cervical vertebra are a clear indication of decapitation"; most had their lower jaw detached, and the "spatial pattern" of the bones is consistent with dismemberment. The archaeologists believe the dead were either prisoners of war or Uxul nobles; they hope upcoming isotope analysis will reveal whether they were from Uxul—which is near what is now the Guatemala border—or elsewhere. Neat fact from LiveScience: "Uxul" means "at the end." (It wasn't the only Mayan discovery of the summer: A "lost" Maya city was discovered in June.)

Researchers at the University of Bonn discover a 1,400-year old mass grave at Uxul, Mexico. Marks on the bones indicate that the individuals buried in the cave were decapitated and dismembered around 1, 400 years ago. The scientists assume that the victims were either prisoners of war or nobles from UXul itself. Some of the dead had tooth inserts of jade, which the scientists interpret as a sign of malnutrition and tooth decay. The bones are so well-preserved that it was possible to distinguish the age and sex of 15 of the 24 individuals.

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. ||||| Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, and Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department held a press conference to announce the launch of a reward and national campaign to help identify the East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer, a violent serial burglar, rapist, and murderer who terrorized multiple communities in California throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The digital media campaign includes the launch of a webpage, www.fbi.gov/EastAreaRapist; digital billboards throughout the country; social media outreach on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube; and audio broadcasts via podcasts and radio PSAs. The public can play an active role in helping law enforcement find the subject by sharing links to the website and official social media content.Law enforcement asks the public to consider the following information when reviewing information about the case: Did they live in one of the areas of criminal activity and remember someone in the area who matches the physical description of the subject or may have been known to spend a considerable amount of time in the areas? Have they discovered a hidden collection of items among the belongings of a friend or family member—notably coins and jewelry—as described on the FBI webpage about the crimes? The subject, who may be 60-75 years old now, was described as a white male standing approximately 5’10” tall and having blond or light brown hair and an athletic build. He may have had an interest or training in military or law enforcement techniques, as he was familiar and proficient with firearms. People who know the subject may not believe him capable of such crimes. He may not have exhibited violent tendencies or have a criminal history. Detectives have DNA evidence from some of the crime scenes that can either positively link or exclude a suspect. This enables investigators to quickly exclude innocent parties, and the public should not hesitate to provide information—even if it is the name or address of an individual who resided in the areas of the crimes—as many parties will be quickly excluded by a simple, non-invasive test. Between 1976 and 1986, this single subject committed 12 homicides, approximately 45 rapes, and multiple residential burglaries in the state of California. All the crimes have been linked by DNA and/or details of the crimes. His victims ranged in age from 13 to 41 and included women home alone, woman at home with their children, and

– It's been 40 years since a violent serial burglar, rapist, and killer started to terrorize Northern California, but the FBI this week announced there is a new, concerted push to find the so-called "East Area Rapist." Described as a white male about 5-foot-10 with blond or light brown hair, an athletic build, and possible training in military or law enforcement, the suspect is likely between 60 and 75 years old and has been linked to at least 52 sexual assaults in the Bay Area and Sacramento County in the 1970s and '80s. The bureau is offering a $50,000 reward for information that helps identify him and is launching a national campaign that includes billboards. No crimes have been connected to the man since 18-year-old Janelle Cruz was raped and bludgeoned to death in her family's home in Irvine, Calif., in 1986, reports the Los Angeles Times. And yet, "We believe he's alive," says Sgt. Paul Belli of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau. "There's no reason to believe he's not alive." After serial killer Richard Ramirez became known as the "Night Stalker" in the mid-'80s when he terrorized the Los Angeles area, the East Area Rapist took on the moniker "Original Night Stalker" and has stumped investigators ever since. But DA Anne Marie Schubert, who was 12 and in East Sacramento during the first attacks, says memories haven't faded, reports the Sacramento Bee. "In essence, a community was taken hostage," she says. The suspect is linked to more than 175 crimes since he attacked a woman in 1976, including 45 rapes and 12 homicides. He's known for targeting couples, tying them up, and taking jewelry or coins. (Some think America's first serial killer went on to become Jack the Ripper.)

The East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer terrorized multiple communities in California throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Between 1976 and 1986, this single subject committed 12 homicides, approximately 45 rapes, and multiple residential burglaries in the state of California. The subject, who may be 60-75 years old now, was described as a white male standing approximately 5’10” tall and having blond or light brown hair and an athletic build. The public can play an active role in helping law enforcement find the subject by sharing links to the website and official social media content.

BANGKOK — In its most significant prisoner release to date, Myanmar on Friday freed a number of prominent political activists in a step toward meeting the demands of Western nations as they move toward more cooperative relations with the country’s new military-backed civilian government, according to news reports. The releases were part of a presidential pardon for 651 detainees and included Min Ko Naing, a student leader from the 1988 pro-democracy uprising who served two long terms in prison. Television images showed large groups of family members and supporters greeting prisoners as they emerged from detention. The Irrawaddy magazine, a Thailand-based Burmese exile magazine known to have good sources, reported that other notable prisoners released included Htay Kywe, Mya Aye, Nilar Thein and Ko Ko Gyi, all of whom were also leaders of the 1988 protests. It was in 1988 that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, first rose to prominence. The government has engaged her in a dialogue since her release from house arrest in November 2010 and she has announced that she will run for a vacant parliamentary seat in April. The Democratic Voice of Burma, a dissident news organization based in Norway, also reported that former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt was released, along with members of the Karen National Union, a leader of the Shan ethnic group, monks arrested in the August 2007 anti-government protests, former military intelligence officials and various journalists, including five from its own organization. Friday’s release appeared to advance recent steps by the government to move toward national reconciliation and improve relations with the outside world. Since it took office last March, ending nearly 50 years of military rule, the government has held talks with Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, approved the registration of her political party and her candidacy in April’s by-election, and suspended plans for a huge Chinese-backed dam that drew strong opposition both from within and outside Myanmar, which was once known as Burma. In another gesture that sought to address the demands of Western nations, the government on Thursday announced a cease-fire with ethnic Karen rebels who have been fighting for autonomy since shortly after the country achieved independence in 1948 from Britain. Should Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi win a seat in the election in April, her party, the National League for Democracy, would enter the new political structure for the first time. A party spokesman said Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi would seek one of 48 seats that became vacant after a parliamentary election in November 2010, mostly when members were appointed to cabinet positions. ||||| Myanmar freed some of its most famous political inmates Friday, sparking jubilation outside prison gates while signaling its readiness to comply with demands of the U.S. and its allies for a lifting of economic sanctions. Family members of prisoners wait outside the Insein prison in Yangon, Myanmar, Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. Myanmar freed many of its prominent political prisoners Friday in a long-awaited step toward national... (Associated Press) Family members of prisoners wait outside the Insein prison in Yangon, Myanmar, Friday,

– Burma is continuing to move toward meeting the West's demands with surprising speed. Dozens of its best known political prisoners were freed today in the country's most sweeping prisoner release yet, reports the New York Times. Those freed include leaders of 1988's failed pro-democracy uprising, ethnic minority leaders, monks arrested in the 2007 protests, journalists, and former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who was jailed in 2005 after falling out of favor with the ruling junta. Just yesterday, Burma signed a cease-fire with ethnic Karen rebels, who had been fighting for greater autonomy for more than 60 years. As many as a thousand political prisoners are still behind bars, however, and economic sanctions are likely to remain in place at least until elections are held in April. "I think we are close to the removal of Western sanctions," an analyst tells the AP, but "there's a sense that there's still more to go before the sanctions will be removed."

The releases were part of a presidential pardon for 651 detainees. Min Ko Naing, a student leader from the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, served two long terms in prison. Other notable prisoners released included Htay Kywe, Mya Aye, Nilar Thein and Ko Ko Gyi. It was in 1988 that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, first rose to prominence. The government has engaged her in a dialogue since her release from house arrest in November 2010.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, right, arrives at the Fort Bragg courtroom facility for a sentencing hearing at Fort Bragg, N.C., Friday, Nov. 3, 2017. Bergdahl, who walked off his base in Afghanistan in 2009... (Associated Press) Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, right, arrives at the Fort Bragg courtroom facility for a sentencing hearing at Fort Bragg, N.C., Friday, Nov. 3, 2017. Bergdahl, who walked off his base in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held by the Taliban for five years, pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the... (Associated Press) FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — Bowe Bergdahl, the Army sergeant who walked off his post in Afghanistan and triggered a search that wounded some of his comrades, will serve no prison time, a military judge ruled Friday at the end of the politically divisive case that stirred debate during the president campaign. The charges centered on a decision by one soldier that affected many other lives. Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban and held for five years, until President Barack Obama traded Taliban prisoners to bring him back. As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump called for Bergdahl to face stiff punishment. He could have received up to life in prison. The judge also gave Bergdahl a dishonorable discharge, reduced his rank to private and ordered him to forfeit pay equal to $1,000 per month for 10 months. The judge made no other comments. In court, Bergdahl appeared tense, grimaced and clenched his jaw. His attorneys put their arms around him and one patted him on the back. He pleaded guilty last month to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The judge had wide leeway in deciding the sentence because Bergdahl made no deal with prosecutors to limit his punishment. Prosecutors had sought a stiff penalty because of wounds suffered by service members who searched for Bergdahl after he disappeared in 2009. The defense sought to counter that evidence with testimony about Bergdahl's suffering as a captive, his contributions to military intelligence and survival training and his mental health problems. The argument for leniency also cited harsh campaign-trail criticism by Trump. The White House said it had no comment on the sentence and referred back to a statement from several weeks ago that said Trump expects everyone in the military justice system "to exercise their independent professional judgment, consistent with applicable laws and regulations." A punitive discharge deprives Bergdahl of most or all his veterans' benefits. Capt. Nina Banks, a defense attorney, said it would not be justice to rescue Bergdahl from the Taliban "only to place him in a cell" now. During the multiday sentencing hearing, Bergdahl testified that he was sorry for the wounds suffered by searchers. He also described brutal beatings by his captors, illness brought on by squalid conditions and maddening periods of isolation. A psychiatrist testified that his decision to leave his post was influenced by a schizophrenia-like condition called schizotypal personality disorder that made it hard to understand the consequences of his actions, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder brought on partly by a difficult childhood. Prosecutors had

– He faced life in prison, but Bowe Bergdahl will serve no jail time at all for abandoning his military post in Afghanistan and endangering the troops sent to search for him. Instead, he will receive a dishonorable discharge, the New York Times reports. The military judge in the case also reduced his rank from sergeant to private and ordered him to forfeit $1,000 a month in pay for 10 months. Judge Col. Jeffery Nance, who CNN notes Bergdahl picked over a jury, didn't provide reasoning for the sentencing. "Sgt. Bergdahl has looked forward to today for a long time," his civilian attorney says. "He has lost nearly a decade of his life." Bergdahl, who pleaded guilty last month, has a job offer from an animal sanctuary and may get a gig helping a military official design survival training, the AP reports. While a life sentence was on the table and prosecutors were asking for 14 years in military prison, Bergdahl's defense argued he had been punished enough during five years of tortuous captivity at the hands of the Taliban and "probably should not have been in the Army" due to an undiagnosed severe personality disorder. President Trump had called for the "dirty rotten traitor" to be executed in comments Nance called "disturbing." (The judge rejected a request to dismiss the trial over Trump's comments, but said he would factor them into sentencing.) Following Friday's sentencing, the president tweeted: "The decision on Sergeant Bergdahl is a complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military." Bergdahl is appealing his dishonorable discharge, which must be upheld by a general and the US Army Court of Criminal Appeals. If it stands, Bergdahl will lose most or all of his veterans' benefits.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl walked off his base in Afghanistan in 2009. He was captured by the Taliban and held for five years, until President Obama traded Taliban prisoners to bring him back. As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump called for Berghdahl to face stiff punishment. He could have received up to life in prison. The judge also gave Bergdah a dishonorable discharge, reduced his rank to private and ordered him to forfeit pay equal to $1,000 per month for 10 months.

With record turnout, Siesta Key attorney wins bellwether race amid national spotlight. Democrats seized the national spotlight with another victory in a legislative district that President Donald Trump carried and added more momentum to their midterm election ambitions by propelling Siesta Key attorney Margaret Good to an upset win Tuesday in Florida’s state House District 72 race. Good beat Republican James Buchanan and Libertarian Alison Foxall in a race that morphed from a sleepy special election for a relatively low-profile legislative seat into a national bellwether, one that attracted attention from high-profile political figures and likely broke the voter turnout record for similar Florida elections. The final results weren’t close, adding to the narrative that Democrats are on a roll nationwide. Good won by seven percentage points, claiming 52.2 percent of the vote compared with 44.8 percent for Buchanan and 3 percent for Foxall. That’s a huge swing from 2016 when Trump won the District by 4.4 percentage points. "I just think people deserve better and want to have better and still have hope that there's going to be something better than our current administration on both the federal and state level," Good said as she celebrated her win with a large crowd of supporters at Mattison's Forty-One Restaurant in Sarasota. "Wins like this represent that." Millions of dollars flooded into the race as both major parties sought to make a statement. The contest largely became a referendum on Trump. Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager, flew in on the eve of the election to rally Republicans for Buchanan. But despite Trump having carried District 72 and Republicans having 12,060 more registered voters in the district than Democrats, Good pulled out a convincing victory with a message that the GOP leadership in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., is going down the wrong path. Democrats rallied behind Good, giving her campaign ample resources. The Florida Democratic Party ignored the District 72 seat in recent years after failing to recruit strong candidates. But the party jumped in on Good’s behalf early, paying for staff and other campaign expenses. Good also received considerable support from national progressive groups, which channeled large numbers of small-dollar contributions to her campaign from progressive activists around the country. Prominent Democrats such as former Vice Preisdent Joe Biden and 2016 presidential candidate Martin O'Malley endorsed Good and helped with her campaign. Good’s strong fundraising — she raised more money for her main campaign account than Buchanan even though the GOP candidate is the son of a wealthy congressman — allowed her to mount a big advertising blitz and aggressive get-out-the-vote operation. That effort brought out voters who typically might have been inclined to skip such an election. Sarasota resident Angela Alderton, 39, cast her ballot for Good Tuesday morning at Southside Baptist Church with her 2-year-old daughter in tow. A registered Democrat who works part time in retail and has three children, Alderton is not somebody who votes in every election. “I almost blew it off,” she said of the District 72 race. But Good’s campaign was persistent. An army of

– A Democrat has won a closely watched Florida House special election in a legislative district that President Trump carried in 2016. Uncertified results from the Sarasota County elections office show that Margaret Good took more than 52% of the vote in Tuesday's race, while Republican James Buchanan had nearly 45%, the AP reports. Libertarian Alison Foxall received just over 3%. The Herald-Tribune reports that the final turnout figure was 36%, believed to be a new record in state House special elections, with more than 44,000 people casting ballots. Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in Florida House District 72 by more than 12,000. The seat opened up last summer when Republican Rep. Alex Miller resigned, citing family and business reasons. She'd been in office less than a year. The seat was the 36th state legislative seat to switch from Republican to Democrat since the 2016 election. Before the Florida election, Republicans warned that "unified" national Democrats were pouring resources into the race. "This is going to set the tone for 2018, and I'm telling you, it's going to come down to a few hundred votes, if that," Buchanan, the Republican candidate, said at a rally Sunday, per the Washington Post. "You can't become complacent. It's important that we get a win here."

Margaret Good beat Republican James Buchanan and Libertarian Alison Foxall. Good won by seven percentage points, claiming 52.2 percent of the vote. That’s a huge swing from 2016 when Trump won the District by 4.4 percentage points. Good's strong fundraising allowed her to mount a big advertising blitz and aggressive get-out-the-vote operation. She also received considerable support from national progressive groups, which channeled large numbers of small-dollar contributions to her campaign from progressive activists around the country.

Surrounded by friends and family, Susan Zemser, center, and Howard Zemser, the parents of U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman Justin Zemser, prepare to speak to the media outside their home in New York, Wednesday,... (Associated Press) PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Seven people were killed in an Amtrak train derailment Tuesday night in Philadelphia. One victim was an Associated Press employee. Another was a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy. The others have not been publicly identified. ___ JIM GAINES Jim Gaines, an Associated Press video software architect, was a geek's geek — and his colleagues loved him for it. The 48-year-old father of two was named the news agency's Geek of the Month in May 2012 for his "tireless dedication and contagious passion" to technological innovation. "At AP, not a frame goes by in the world of video that escapes the passionate scrutiny of video architect Jim Gaines," the award said. Gaines was in the train's quiet car, headed home to Plainsboro, New Jersey, after meetings Tuesday at the news agency's Washington, D.C., office. His wife, Jacqueline, confirmed his death. "Jim was more precious to us than we can adequately express," his family said in a statement. Gaines joined the AP in 1998 and was a key factor in nearly all of the news agency's video initiatives, including the successful rollout of high-definition video and the AP's Video Hub — a service that provides live video to hundreds of clients around the world. In 2006, Gaines' team won the Chairman's Prize in 2006 for development of the agency's Online Video Network. Gaines "leaves behind a legacy of professionalism and critical accomplishment, kindness and humor," AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt told employees in an email. "He will be missed." He is also survived by a 16-year-old son, Oliver, and an 11-year-old daughter, Anushka. ___ JUSTIN ZEMSER Justin Zemser, a popular student leader and athlete, was on a break from the U.S. Naval Academy and heading home to Rockaway Beach, New York, where playing high school football helped him and his teammates through the devastation of Superstorm Sandy. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus called Zemser a "crucial member" of the institution. The 20-year-old's family released a statement mourning "a loving son, nephew and cousin who was very community-minded." They said the tragedy "has shocked us all in the worst way." Zemser was in his second year. He served as vice president of the Jewish Midshipmen Club and played wide receiver on the academy's sprint football team. At Channel View School for Research, Zemser was valedictorian, student government president and captain of the football team. Sandy shuttered the school building for two months, but he and his teammates salvaged their season, returning to the field for a final game in Staten Island two weeks after the storm. Zemser mentored younger students, and he and a classmate even took it upon themselves to analyze Channel View's SAT data and give presentations on how to prepare students better, then-Principal Pat Tubridy recalled. "He was so committed, and yet so easygoing," she said. Outside school, Zemser interned for New York

– Many of those aboard Amtrak's Northeast Regional Train No. 188 were headed to reunite with loved ones upon arrival in New York. Instead, Rachel Jacobs, the 39-year-old CEO of education start-up ApprenNet who dreamed of changing the world, never greeted her husband and 2-year-old after boarding the train following a meeting. A Naval Academy midshipman, 20-year-old Justin Zemser of Queens was on leave and also heading home when the train derailed. "When I went online to see if everything was on time, it said there was a derailment," his mother tells the New York Times. Zemser, a community volunteer and high school valedictorian, dreamed of becoming a Navy SEAL. A friend says he would have met his goal. "He had the determination and work ethic." The AP lost 49-year-old employee Jim Gaines—known as a tireless advocate for the company's video initiatives—who had a wife, 11-year-old daughter, and 16-year-old son waiting for him in Plainsboro, NJ, where he was returning from meetings in Washington, DC. "Jim was more precious to us than we can adequately express," his family says in a statement. Canadian Abid Gilani, 55, senior vice president of Wells Fargo Bank's hospitality finance group, also died in the accident, the Toronto Star reports, along with Derrick Griffith, dean of student affairs at Brooklyn's Medgar Evers College. The college president describes him as "a scholar, a gentleman," per USA Today. Baltimore's Bob Gildersleeve, 45, remains missing. "My mom and his brother have gone to many hospitals looking for him," says his 13-year-old son. "We've got no information so far."

Jim Gaines, an Associated Press video software architect, was a geek's geek. Justin Zemser, a popular student leader and athlete, was on a break from the U.S. Naval Academy. The 20-year-old's family released a statement mourning "a loving son, nephew and cousin" The tragedy "has shocked us all in the worst way," his family said in a statement. "He will be missed," AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt told employees in an email.

Image copyright Facebook Image caption Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr was arrested in 2012, when he was 17 The mother of a Saudi man sentenced to death over his involvement in an anti-government protest has appealed to US President Barack Obama for help. Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr was arrested in 2012, when he was 17, and convicted of sedition, rioting and robbery. His mother Nusra al-Ahmed called his sentence of crucifixion - beheading followed by the public display of his body - "backwards in the extreme". An Obama administration official said it was "deeply concerned" by the case. Mrs Ahmed told the Guardian on Wednesday: "[Mr Obama] is the head of this world and he can, he can interfere and rescue my son... He would be rescuing us from a great tragedy." Ali al-Nimr was sentenced to death by the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC), a special security and counter-terrorism court, in May 2014. The sentence was upheld both by the appeal division of the SCC and by the Supreme Court earlier this year, without his or his lawyer's knowledge, according to Amnesty International. He could be executed as soon as King Salman ratifies the sentence. Human rights groups have called for clemency for Ali al-Nimr, but the country's embassy in the UK has said it "rejects any form of interference in its internal affairs". Image copyright Twitter Image caption Activists have been highlighting the young Saudi's case online Saudi state media reported that Ali al-Nimr was found guilty of sedition, breaking allegiance to the king, rioting, bearing arms, using petrol bombs against security patrols, robbing a pharmacy and stealing surveillance cameras. He was also convicted of chanting anti-government slogans at illegal protests and inciting others to demonstrate, they added. His family strongly denies the charges and say the conviction was based on "confessions" Ali al-Nimr says were extracted under torture. "We call on the government of Saudi Arabia to respect universal human rights and its international obligations as well as to ensure fair and transparent judicial proceedings that afford requisite fair trial procedures and safeguards in this and all cases," a senior Obama administration official said on Wednesday. "We have raised this case with the Saudi government including very recently, and addressed it in our 2014 Human Rights Report." Human rights activists say that in sentencing a juvenile offender to death, Saudi Arabia has violated its obligations under international customary law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which it is a state party. ||||| The mother of a Saudi protester sentenced to death by beheading and crucifixion has begged Barack Obama to intervene to save her son’s life. In her first interview with foreign media, Nusra al-Ahmed, the mother of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, whose case has made headlines around the world, described the intended punishment as savage and “backwards in the extreme”. Human rights groups including Amnesty International and Reprieve, the US talkshow host Bill Maher and the British prime minister, David Cameron, have all weighed in with calls for clemency to stop Nimr, who was 17

– A Saudi Arabian mother is begging President Obama to intervene before authorities behead her son and crucify his corpse. Nusra al-Ahmed, whose son, Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, was 17 when he was arrested for taking part in anti-government protests, tells the Guardian that the gruesome punishment is "backwards in the extreme" and "no sane person" would order it, especially for a teenager who hadn't stolen any property or shed any blood. Al-Nimr's final appeal has been rejected and he could be executed any day. "For other people every hour is composed of 60 minutes, but for me every hour is 60 beats of pain," his mother says. She says her son, now 21, was protesting peacefully and was tortured so badly in custody that she didn't recognize him at first. Obama, she says, "is the head of this world and he can ... interfere and rescue my son," she tells the Guardian. "My son and I are simple people and we don't carry any significance in this world," but if Obama "carried out this act, I feel it would raise his esteem in the eyes of the world. He would be rescuing us from a great tragedy." An Obama administration official says the US is "deeply concerned" and has urged the Saudi government to "respect universal human rights and its international obligations," the BBC reports. Activists say the unusual sentence is the Saudi government's way of deterring other protesters. (A 74-year-old British expat in the kingdom has been sentenced to 360 lashes for possessing wine.)

Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr was arrested in 2012, when he was 17. He was convicted of sedition, rioting and robbery and sentenced to death. His mother Nusra al-Ahmed called his sentence of crucifixion "backwards in the extreme" An Obama administration official said it was "deeply concerned" by the case. But the country's embassy in the UK said it "rejects any form of interference in its internal affairs" and called for clemency.

Ohio’s ban on same-sex marriage was under siege yesterday by a federal judge who said the state must recognize same-gender couples legally married elsewhere, and by a gay-rights group planning to challenge it at the ballot box. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black sent out shock waves with a verbal announcement in his Cincinnati courtroom that, within 10 days, he will issue a written ruling requiring Ohio to recognize same-sex marriages performed legally in other states. Black gave no indication that he would strike down the state’s gay-marriage ban overall, but the big-picture effect on marriage in Ohio remains unclear. “I intend to issue a written decision and order by April 14 striking down as unconstitutional under all circumstances Ohio’s bans on recognizing legal same-sex marriages from other states,” Black said in a statement released by his court. >> Follow @OhioPoliticsNow for more political news from The Dispatch Despite the uncertain impact, gay-marriage advocates began celebrating. “Ohio’s marriage ban is about to suffer a huge blow,” said Michael Premo, executive director of Equality Ohio. “In just ten days or less, we will take a landmark step towards winning marriage equality in Ohio once and for all.” A couple of hours earlier, FreedomOhio, another advocacy group which has been collecting signatures for a constitutional challenge, announced it would not try to put the issue on the November ballot. Instead, it will “hold its original petition for marriage equality in a state of readiness for filing” while gathering signatures for another petition with “revised language” likely for the 2016 ballot. That revised language, requested by national gay-rights groups, eliminates a provision saying that “no religious institution shall be required to perform or recognize a marriage.” The new ballot language, submitted to the state yesterday says, “No religious house of worship or the religious house of worship’s clergy shall be required to perform a marriage. All legally valid marriages shall be treated equally under the law. For the purposes of this section, a religious house of worship is one where the primary activity is religious worship.” FreedomOhio also simultaneously began circulating an initiated statute petition for an Equal Housing and Employment Opportunity Act to prohibit discrimination against gay and transgender individuals in housing and employment. The group must collect 116,000 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters to submit the measure to the General Assembly in January 2015. The legislature would have four months to act; if it didn’t, the group could gather another 116,000 signatures to win a spot on the ballot, likely in 2016. Neither development was welcome news to Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, the conservative Cincinnati-based group that spearheaded the same-sex marriage amendment. “The people of Ohio voted 62-38 percent in 2004 defining marriage as one man and one woman,” Burress said in a statement. “The only way homosexual activists have any chance of forcing upon all Americans same-sex marriage is through the courts.” The case Black will decide involves Ohio rules on whose name can go on Ohio birth certificates when legally married gays adopt a child. Cincinnati

– Gay rights advocates are poised to win at least a partial victory in Ohio. A federal judge in Cincinnati says he will issue an order by April 14 that the state must recognize gay marriages performed in other states, reports the AP. But Judge Timothy Black is not expected to go further and strike down Ohio's own 2004 ban on same-sex marriage, reports the Columbus Dispatch. The exact implications won't be clear until the ruling actually comes out. Black will declare that it's “unconstitutional for Ohio to not recognize out-of-state marriage," says an attorney who represented gay couples before the judge. "The case does not deal with the right to marry in Ohio. We didn’t ask for that.” The state's attorney general says he will appeal once the ruling comes out, but agrees on the narrowness of its scope. “There is no order to that tells Ohio, 'You have to start marrying people,'" says Mike DeWine.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black sent out shock waves with a verbal announcement in his Cincinnati courtroom. Black gave no indication that he would strike down the state’s gay-marriage ban overall, but the big-picture effect on marriage in Ohio remains unclear. A couple of hours earlier, FreedomOhio, another advocacy group which has been collecting signatures for a constitutional challenge, announced it would not try to put the issue on the November ballot. The group must collect 116,000 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters to submit the measure to the General Assembly in January 2015.

Print Share + Smoke Fills Air Over Eastern Mass. (WBZ) Fire departments across Eastern Massachusetts fielded calls Monday morning for the smell of smoke in the air, and an air quality alert was issued. The source: wildfires smoldering in Canada.People from Cape Ann, Cape Cod, the South Shore, and even parts of Metrowest called and emailed WBZ wondering about the smoke, which appeared as a haze in the air.Pat emailed from Dennisport to say it was "very hard to breath" because of a "smoke smell taking over."KelleyJane emailed from Ipswich to say, "the entire town of Ipswich is filled with smoke."Fire departments in Plymouth and Quincy were among those fielding phone calls about the smoke.According to the National Weather Service the smoke is coming from southern Quebec, where a number of large wildfires are burning.The smoke covered Vermont and parts of New Hampshire on Sunday. By Monday morning it spread south to the Cape. The NWS said based on wind patterns, Plymouth County, the Cape and Islands will experience the densest smoke."It is VERY smoky down here," said WBZ Weather Watcher Megan O'Leary early Monday afternoon. "I just walked to the beach in Sandwich where you can usually see White cliffs in Plymouth, the Sagamore Bridge and sometimes the Provincetown Monument. Can't see any of them today."According to WBZ Meteorologist Melissa Mack, wind patterns are expected to change Monday afternoon and push the smoke out to sea.If you have photos of the smoky sky, send them to WBZ Newstips (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.) ||||| "Basically, anybody that has any breathing problems or allergies to smoke should probably stay inside until the winds shift and blow the smoke out," said Alan Dunham, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Taunton. The alert, which is in effect until 8 tonight, affects northern Worcester, Middlesex, Essex, Suffolk, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes, and eastern Norfolk counties. An air quality alert has been issued by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection after smoke from more than 50 forest fires in Quebec has blown into the region. The smoke, which has been generated by more than 50 forest fires in northern Quebec, traveled across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Eight of the forest fires remain out of control. Winds shifted overnight to a north to northeastern direction, Dunham said. "That's been blowing the smoke all the way across eastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod and the islands," Dunham said. The smoke first moved onto Cape Cod at about 8 this morning, Dunham said. Eloise Levy, 58, of Orleans, said she woke up to the smell of smoke, which she thought was coming from an electrical fire. "I was just sure that there was a fire in the neighborhood, and nobody knew it," Levy said. "It was a very strong smell. It was throughout the house, not just outside." Levy said she contacted and was reassured by her local fire department. "It was a very scary smell to wake up to," Levy said. "But it's dissipating, and once I was reassured by the fire department, I

– Massive clouds of smoke from forest fires raging in Quebec have moved south and east across New England, screening the holiday-weekend sun throughout the region. "I just walked to the beach in Sandwich where you can usually see white cliffs in Plymouth, the Sagamore Bridge and sometimes the Provincetown Monument," a Cape Cod resident told WBZ, the CBS affiliate in Boston. "Can't see any of them today." The smell of smoke pervades the region, and it's so strong that public-safety authorities have been busy assuring residents the fires aren't local. Visibility is low in New Hampshire, the Union Leader reports, and Massachusetts has issued an air quality alert, according to the Boston Globe. Rain in eastern Canada and a shift in the wind direction later today are expected to bring relief.

Smoke from forest fires in Quebec has blown into the region. The smoke first moved onto Cape Cod at about 8 this morning. Wind patterns are expected to change Monday afternoon and push the smoke out to sea. If you have photos of the smoky sky, send them to WBZ Newstips. "It is VERY smoky down here," said WBZ Weather Watcher Megan O'Leary early Monday afternoon. "I just walked to the beach in Sandwich where you can usually see White cliffs in Plymouth, the Sagamore Bridge and sometimes the Provincetown Monument," she said.

A former Portland man died in a shootout Tuesday with police on the central California coast after two officers were fatally shot. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office identified Jeremy Peter Goulet, 35, as the suspect killed after the officers were slain during an investigation at his home in Santa Cruz. Officials said it was the first time city police were killed in the line of duty in Santa Cruz, a city of around 60,000 located about 70 miles south of San Francisco. Goulet was living in Portland when he was sentenced in May 2008 to three years probation for invasion of privacy and unlawful possession of a firearm. He was found guilty of peering into a Northwest Portland condo in 2007 to watch a then-22-year-old woman shower and carrying a gun without a concealed weapons permit. Multnomah County prosecutors said Goulet lived about 200 yards from the woman and got into several scuffles with her boyfriend, who spotted him outside her condo. He admitted in Multnomah County court that he liked to videotape unsuspecting women on his cell phone in his spare time. Months after the conviction, Goulet told a Multnomah County judge that he would accept jail time instead of continuing mandated sex-offender treatment after disagreements with his probation officer. Goulet, a military police officer and Marine veteran, had another peeping conviction from 2000 in California, according to prosecutors. The Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office said two plainclothes officers were following up a sexual assault case about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at Goulet's home when they were fatally shot. Detective Sgt. Loran "Butch" Baker, a 28-year veteran of the city police, and Detective Elizabeth Butler, a 10-year veteran, were confirmed as the officers killed. Police soon found Goulet after a search of the area, chased him, then the shootout ensued. No other officers were injured and the incident remains under investigation. Danny Thomas, whose girlfriend was spied on by Goulet, said he was contacted by Portland Police Tuesday about Goulet's involvement in the shootings after they were notified by Santa Cruz officials about the case. Thomas said he felt a mix of sadness for the families of the slain police officers and relief because he and his girlfriend feared Goulet may have one day sought them out for revenge. "It was always something in the back of my mind," said Thomas, 31, of Vancouver. "We were just searching his name on the Internet two weeks ago to see if he was anywhere near us." Thomas said he spotted Goulet outside the Portland apartment he shared with his girlfriend three times in 2007. He said he got into a scuffle with Goulet on the second occasion and told him not to come back. But Goulet appeared weeks later, armed with a handgun. Thomas said he confronted Goulet, the two fought and he restrained Goulet until police arrived. He said Goulet fired the gun during the scuffle, but no one was hit. "My condolences to his family for their loss, but I thought he was 100 percent crazy," Thomas said. "I can't say I'm

– Two police officers investigating a sexual assault complaint in Santa Cruz were shot dead yesterday in what the California city's police chief says is the darkest day in his department's history. The two veteran officers, one male and one female, were gunned down when they arrived at the home of a suspect who was killed in a shootout with police officers half an hour later, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel, which notes that the police deaths are the first in the line of duty in the history of the city of 60,000. The dead suspect has been identified as Jeremy Goulet, a 35-year-old barista who was arrested and fired last week after a co-worker in a Santa Cruz coffee shop told police that he went to her house and made inappropriate sexual advances, the AP reports. Goulet was sentenced to three years of probation in Portland, Oregon, in 2008 after being convicted of peeping at a woman showering and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, the Oregonian adds.

Jeremy Peter Goulet, 35, was sentenced in 2008 to three years probation for invasion of privacy. He was found guilty of peering into a Northwest Portland condo in 2007 to watch a then-22-year-old woman shower. He admitted in court that he liked to videotape unsuspecting women on his cell phone. Police: Two plainclothes officers were following up a sexual assault case at Goulet's home when they were fatally shot. No other officers were injured and the incident remains under investigation.

Close Get email notifications on Abby Tonsing daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. Whenever Abby Tonsing 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. ||||| For three days, the IU freshman was trapped in the cave, wondering why the other students had left him behind in the darkness. He licked the moisture off the walls that surrounded him. He licked the wrappers of Clif bars and debated eating crickets. In the dim light of his iPhone, he tapped out goodbye letters to his family. After the battery died, he carried on imaginary conversations with the friends he thought he’d never see again. “I was very confused and pretty scared,” Lukas Cavar told the Indiana Daily Student. “It took me a little while to wrangle my emotions and sort of approach things analytically, sensibly, to come up with a game plan to survive.” Cavar, a 19-year-old physics major, was rescued late Tuesday night after the president of the Caving Club realized that the group had forgotten the freshman at the end of Sunday’s trip to Sullivan Cave in Southern Indiana. The club’s leaders raced to the cave and unlocked the entrance gate — the same gate one of them had locked on their way out, trapping Cavar. “You could tell they were pretty shaken up,” he said. “They did near kill me. I can’t imagine what kind of guilt they felt.” As soon as the club leaders freed the freshman, he devoured a bowl of pasta and a leftover Big Mac one of the rescuers brought to the scene. “Probably the best food I’ve had in my life,” he said. As of Friday, unanswered questions lingered. The club leaders, who asked not to be named, refused to explain exactly how Cavar was left behind. “It’s a sensitive legal matter," one said. Caving Club leaders told the IDS they conducted a head count before and after the group of 12 entered and exited the cave. Each caver, they said, was paired with a buddy. “We have a series of rigorous protocols in place that are supposed to prevent situations like this, but they are only effective if followed,” the club's president wrote in a statement posted on IU beINvolved. “We had a failure in our leadership to closely follow all these safety procedures. The risk that our member was exposed to as a result of these failures is a vivid reminder of why we have protocols.” Cavar’s disappearance was reported as being Sunday to Tuesday, according to the IU Police Department. The details of his rescue weren’t confirmed until Wednesday, when he posted on Facebook. The story spread around campus the next morning. “We are extremely relieved that, despite being tired and hungry, the student was found to be safe, calm and in good condition and that he is currently doing well,” IU spokesman Ryan Piurek said. Cavar learned about Caving Club at IU at

– An Indiana University freshman is counting his lucky stars that what the Herald-Times reports was his third-ever cave descent wasn't his last. Indiana University freshman Lukas Cavar, 19, was on a beginner's spelunking trip to Sullivan Cave on Sunday when he ended up getting left behind by the 12 other members of IU's Caving Club. He got separated from the group and reached the cave entrance, only to find that it had been padlocked shut by the departed spelunkers—and he ended up stuck in that cave for 60 hours. Exactly how that happened is somewhat of a mystery, reports the Indiana Daily Student: The Caving Club says it did a headcount at the beginning and end of the outing, and the cavers were buddied up. It wouldn't further elaborate on the "sensitive legal matter." What Cavar had on him: a plastic grocery store bag, his relatively useless iPhone (no signal), two empty water bottles, two Clif Bar wrappers, his wallet, and helmet. He estimates he spent six to eight hours yelling for help, and licked moisture from the cave's walls to try to satisfy his thirst. Two club members rescued him late Tuesday after a friend told the club's president Cavar was missing. Cavar says he's "really glad to be alive;" the AP reports he has no upcoming spelunking plans. (This lost trekker survived on a ledge for 47 days.)

Lukas Cavar, a 19-year-old physics major, was trapped in a cave for three days. He was rescued late Tuesday night after the president of the Caving Club realized that the group had forgotten the freshman at the end of Sunday’s trip to Sullivan Cave in Southern Indiana. The club leaders, who asked not to be named, refused to explain exactly how Cavar was left behind. “We had a failure in our leadership to closely follow all these safety procedures,” the club's president said.

Anthony Bourdain Richer Than Will Suggests Anthony Bourdain Richer Than Will Suggests EXCLUSIVE Anthony Bourdain's will surprised lots of people when it was revealed he died with around $1.2 mil in assets, because everyone thought he was way richer ... turns out, he was. We obtained a copy of Bourdain's will, and it appears he created a trust outside the will which contained an undisclosed amount of assets. It's very common for rich folk to create trusts outside of their will ... partly for tax purposes and partly for privacy. As we reported, the will discloses Bourdain left behind $425k in cash, $250k in personal property, $35k in brokerage accounts and around $500k in royalties and residuals. The will lists Ottavia Busia-Bourdain, his estranged wife, as trustee. The will was signed in 2016, after they had separated. Bourdain committed suicide last month in France. ||||| Anthony Bourdain‘s will has revealed new details about his finances before he was found dead of suicide on June 8 at age 61. In court papers filed in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court and obtained by PEOPLE on Thursday, Bourdain was worth $1.21 million despite reports of a $16 million fortune. Get push notifications with news, features, and more. According to the legal documents, which were first reported on by Page Six, Bourdain’s assets included $425,000 in “cash and savings,” $35,000 in a brokerage account, $250,000 in “personal property,” and $500,000 in “intangible property including royalties and residuals.” The will, which was written in 2016, states that the majority of Bourdain’s finances will be left to his only child, 11-year-old daughter Ariane. RELATED: Remembering Anthony Bourdain’s Illustrious Life and Career in Photos Anthony Bourdain Slaven Vlasic/Getty Due to Ariane being a minor, the court will appoint a guardian to protect her interests in his estate. If Ariane had died before her father did, the will states that his finances would have gone to her nanny, Myra Quizon. Meanwhile, the executor of his estate will be her mother, Ottavia Busia, whom he married in 2007. RELATED: Anthony Bourdain Cremated in France: Source Although Bourdain and Busia separated in 2016, their divorce was not finalized before his death. Since their divorce was not finalized, Busia is still legally his next of kin. (Bourdain and girlfriend Asia Argento began dating after meeting during the filming of his CNN show Parts Unknown in 2016.) Bourdain gave his “accumulated frequent flyer miles” to Busia, and asked her to “dispose of [them] in accordance with what [she] believes to have been my wishes,” according to the outlets. The same instructions were stated for his cars, furniture, books, clothing and household items. RELATED: Remembering Anthony Bourdain: Inside the Adventurous, Insatiable Life of a Culinary Rock Star Anthony Bourdain and Ottavia Busia Isaac Brekken/WireImage The New York City condo, which Bourdain and Busia bought in 2014, is not listed in the will, but the filings indicate a $1 million mortgage liability for an unspecified property. “I own an apartment with a mortgage that my ex-wife and my daughter live in, and I’m a renter. I should always

– He was a TV host recognized around the world, not to mention a best-selling author and chef. So why did Anthony Bourdain's will show that he left behind $1.2 million, a figure in the mere-mortal range? TMZ might have the answer: The website reports that the will suggests Bourdain had set up a trust that contained unspecified assets, a common tactic of the rich for tax and privacy purposes. Previous reports suggested that Bourdain's worth was closer to $16 million, notes People, and that may be true after all. Bourdain, who took his own life last month at 61, left the bulk of his estate to his 11-year-old daughter, Ariane.

Anthony Bourdain's will has revealed new details about his finances before he was found dead of suicide on June 8 at age 61. In court papers filed in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court and obtained by PEOPLE on Thursday, Bourdain was worth $1.21 million despite reports of a $16 million fortune. The will, which was written in 2016, states that the majority of his finances will be left to his only child, 11-year-old daughter Ariane. The executor of his estate will be her mother, Ottavia Busia, whom he married in 2007.

A crusading Russian reporter was in a coma Saturday after two masked men savagely beat him with metal rods, an attack that drew the immediate condemnation not only of his fellow journalists but of President Dmitry Medvedev Oleg Kashin, a reporter with the daily Kommersant newspaper, was ambushed overnight near his home in central Moscow by two men who witnesses said beat the 30-year-old journalist on the head, legs and hands and then ran away.The Russia 24 television station reported that doctors who initially treated Kashin said his jaw, both legs and several fingers were broken and at least one part of a finger had been torn off. Kashin was not robbed of his cellphone or wallet, television reports said.Mikhail Fedotov, the secretary of the Russian Union of Journalists, pointed to the bludgeoning of Kashin's hands as particularly sinister."What's so utterly disgusting about the case is that the attackers did their utmost if not to kill Kashin but to maim him gravely enough to prevent him from ever being physically able to write again," Fedotov said.Fedotov said Kashin's beating was the fifth attack on Russian journalists in just the last 30 days, adding to a climate of intimidation in a country that has seen growing protests over limits on personal liberties.Medvedev wrote on his Twitter blog that he had ordered the prosecutor general's office and the Interior Ministry to oversee the investigation. "The criminals must be apprehended and punished," Medvedev wrote Saturday.Fedotov said he was impressed with how quickly the president reacted to the attack."It is an unprecedentedly prompt reaction, something which never happened before, and it is very indicative," he said.Investigators said they were classifying the attack as a murder attempt."One of [the possible motives] is of course linked to his professional activities," Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the prosecutor general's office, said in televised remarks.Kashin's colleagues and human rights activists believe that is very likely."Oleg writes a lot about the public's growing discontent, about protest actions and opposition demonstrations," Kommersant reporter Musa Muradov said in an interview with The Times. "He is very young and very brave, and I think he enjoys working on the edge, interviewing people whose voices are not welcome by many in our country."Fedotov, who is also the chairman of the Presidential Council for Civil Society Institutions, agreed."I have no doubt that it was a political attack directly connected with Kashin's professional activities," he said. "This brazen attack demonstrates that there are powerful forces in our country which want to hamper the … democratization of the country."In August, the pro-Kremlin youth group Young Guard called Kashin a "reporter-traitor" who should be punished. In a biting piece on the group's website, a writer accused Kommersant and Kashin personally of "semi-clandestine subversive activities aimed at depraving the readership and discrediting the organs of power."The Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, a Moscow-based human rights group, registered 20 attacks on journalists in 2009. Fedotov pointed to "several dozen" attacks across Russia so far this year. ||||| Image caption Oleg Kashin had recently reported on protests against a new highway A

– A brutal attack on a Russian reporter in Moscow has left him in a coma, the BBC reports. Two men ambushed Oleg Kashin, who writes for Kommersant, outside his apartment and beat him with metal rods. Fellow journalists and even President Dmitry Medvedev condemned the assault on the 30-year-old victim, who is described by the LA Times as a "crusading" reporter. The follow-up will be a test of the Kremlin's pledge to crack down on the intimidation of journalists. "What's so utterly disgusting about the case is that the attackers did their utmost if not to kill Kashin but to maim him gravely enough to prevent him from ever being physically able to write again," said the head of the Russian Journalists Union, calling it the fifth attack on a journalist in 30 days. Among Kashin's injuries are a broken jaw, two broken legs, and several broken fingers, with part of one torn off. He has covered anti-Kremlin rallies, and one pro-government youth group had singled him out as a "reporter-traitor" in need of punishment, notes the Times.

Kommersant reporter Oleg Kashin was beaten with metal rods, witnesses say. Medvedev: "The criminals must be apprehended and punished" Journalist union official: Attack was fifth on journalists in last 30 days. Kashin had recently reported on protests against a new highway in Moscow, his colleagues say."I have no doubt that it was a political attack directly connected with Kashin's professional activities," union official says."There are powerful forces in our country which want to hamper the democratization of the country," he says.

Supporters deny disappearance in Papua New Guinea was a PR stunt and suggest Allen is annoyed by worldwide interest in his jungle scrape Friends of the explorer Benedict Allen, who has been rescued in Papua New Guinea, have defended him against criticism that taking a solo trip without tracking devices was self-indulgent. Allen, who has built a broadcast and writing career on nine previous near-death experiences, was picked up by helicopter from a remote airstrip on Friday after missing a planned flight home last weekend. Some on social media have questioned whether his disappearance was a publicity stunt. But allies of Allen, who is believed to have contracted malaria, suggest he is annoyed by the worldwide interest in his latest jungle scrape. Before he went missing, one of his last communications with the outside world was a knowing reference to the famous last words of the doomed Edwardian explorer Lawrence Oates. “I may be some time (don’t try to rescue me, please – where I’m going in PNG, you won’t ever find me),” Allen tweeted. Benedict ALLEN (@benedictallen) Marching off to Heathrow. I may be some time (don't try to rescue me, please - where I'm going in PNG you won't ever find me you know...) pic.twitter.com/BmH1DKdheS His agent Jo Sarsby insisted it was “utterly not true” to suggest news of Allen’s plight had been spread for PR purposes. She told the Guardian she had raised the alarm with the media this week after being told by Allen’s wife, Lenka, that he was missing. She said: “It was us I suppose that caused all this problem, but how could we have found him without the publicity? I’ve seen accusations on Facebook that this was a hoax and I thought ‘poor Benedict’, because it was not. “I had a quick chat with him and he really isn’t feeling very well. He’s not thrilled by it because he’s an explorer like Pen Hadow and Ranulph Fiennes and that’s what they do. He’s not feeling great about the press all being involved.” Allen’s rescue was coordinated by a Hong Kong-based fixer, Steven Ballantyne, who has worked with him on previous assignments to the area. “It was through the press and it going kind of viral that people got on to to Steven,” Sarsby claimed. Ballantyne said media coverage had not hindered the rescue but had given the false impression that Allen was in physical danger from the very people who help him to safety. Allen had been seeking to reconnect with the Yaifo tribe, one of the few left in the world that has virtually no contact with the outside world, whom he visited 30 years ago. The Daily Mail described it as a “quest to reach a lost tribe of headhunters”. Ballantyne said: “Benedict has had quite an adventure and we should be proud that he, with the help of many amazing people in PNG, came so far. “Personally I would not have alerted the press, but this was not my call. The media attention has sadly given a very poor and misleading view

– Explorer Benedict Allen is no longer missing in Papua New Guinea, having been flown to the country's capital via helicopter Friday. As for what mucked with Allen's itinerary, the BBC reports he missed his flight after becoming "disorientated with fever." His agent describes it as suspected malaria. The Daily Mail quotes him as saying "things were not looking good. I had this terrible dilemma: do I stay out here in a remote village and believe that, somehow, a miracle would happen and a plane would come—or do I try to control my destiny somehow and head out to find help when I'm weak?" He was ultimately spotted at a remote airstrip. But the ordeal is not entirely over: The Guardian reports Allen is now receiving no shortage of criticism over his decision to make the trek to hopefully reconnect with the Yaifo tribe without any type of tracking device, leading others to suspect it was all a stunt ("utterly not true," says his agent). Still others are bothered at the press coverage, with the paper quoting one such criticism, from an ethnomusicologist who spent a decade in Papua New Guinea: "Why should we care about a lost, unprepared, silly, white privileged male middle-aged fool? All of the stories have been solely focused on his 'safety,' when PNG faces some real challenges that are genuinely worthy of reporting." (Allen once ate his dog to survive.)

Benedict Allen has been rescued in Papua New Guinea. Supporters deny disappearance was a PR stunt and suggest Allen is annoyed by worldwide interest in his latest jungle scrape. Allen had been seeking to reconnect with the Yaifo tribe, one of the few left in the world that has virtually no contact with the outside world. His agent Jo Sarsby insisted it was “utterly not true” to suggest news of Allen’s plight had been spread for PR purposes. She said: “I’ve seen accusations on Facebook that this was a hoax and I thought ‘poor Benedict’, because it was not.”

Hillary Clinton poses with Neera Tanden, center, president of the Center for American Progress, and the center’s founder, John Podesta, in October 2013. Emails between Tanden and Podesta show frustration over Clinton’s email controversy. (Yuri Gripas /Reuters) On the day the news broke that Hillary Clinton had used a private email account as secretary of state, the man who would soon be named to chair her presidential campaign fired off a note of distress, venting frustration about some of Clinton’s closest aides. “Speaking of transparency, our friends Kendall, Cheryl and Phillipe sure weren’t forthcoming on the facts here,” John Podesta complained in the March 2015 note, referring to Clinton’s personal lawyer, David Kendall, as well as former State Department staffers Cheryl Mills and Philippe Reines. “Why didn’t they get this stuff out like 18 months ago? So crazy,” replied Neera Tanden, a longtime Podesta friend who also has worked for Clinton. Then, answering her own question, Tanden wrote again: “I guess I know the answer. They wanted to get away with it.” The exchange, found in hacked emails from Podesta’s account and released Tuesday by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, provides a striking window into how the revelation of Clinton’s email setup roiled her nascent campaign team in the weeks before its official April 2015 kickoff. The Washington Post’s John Wagner breaks down some of the consequences of the release by WikiLeaks of hacked emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) The emails show that while aides struggled to get past the public controversy, they also expressed exasperation at each other and, at times, at Clinton — both for her decision to use the server and for the way she handled questions about it. Several exchanges illustrate fears among some top advisers that Clinton and other aides were demonstrating the very traits that polls suggested made her vulnerable: a penchant for secrecy and a hesitancy to admit fault or error. “We’ve taken on a lot of water that won’t be easy to pump out of the boat,” Podesta wrote to Tanden in September 2015, at a time when Clinton’s campaign feared that Vice President Biden was about to enter the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. “Most of that has to do with terrible decisions made pre-campaign, but a lot has to do with her instincts.” Tanden responded, “Almost no one knows better [than] me that her instincts can be terrible.” Tanden and Kendall declined to comment. Neither Reines nor a lawyer for Mills responded to requests for comment. Clinton’s campaign has largely declined to comment on the WikiLeaks emails, which U.S. officials say were stolen through hacks of Democratic groups and leaders orchestrated by the Russian government. Clinton aides have declined to authenticate the emails, noting that the Russians have been known to doctor documents, but they have not disputed any specific revelation from Podesta’s email trove. Instead, Clinton spokesman Glen Caplin on Tuesday responded to questions about the internal campaign struggles revealed in the emails by attacking GOP nominee Donald Trump for his recent comments disputing U.S. government findings

– The Clinton WikiLeaks keep on coming: In the latest release of emails from hacked campaign chief John Podesta, Podesta and other Clinton aides complain about her reaction to the emerging furor over her private email server. In one message from April last year, Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden complains about how Clinton lawyer Cheryl Mills' fondness for secrecy led to the email mess, reports Politico. "This is a cheryl special," she writes. "This stuff is like her Achilles heal. [sic] Or kryptonite. she just can't say no to this s--t. Why didn't they get this stuff out like 18 months ago?" She goes on to say: "I guess I know the answer. They wanted to get away with it." "We've taken on a lot of water that won't be easy to pump out of the boat," Podesta writes to Tanden in a September 2015 exchange, per the Washington Post. "Most of that has to do with terrible decisions made pre-campaign, but a lot has to do with her instincts." Tanden, who now runs Clinton's transition team, replies: "Almost no one knows better [than] me that her instincts can be terrible." In other emails, aides complained about her reluctance to apologize even after the FBI opened its investigation, though they also praised her strengths and hailed her successes, reports the Post, which notes that the leaked emails offer "an almost unprecedented historical archive" of a campaign's inner workings.

Neera Tanden and John Podesta exchanged emails about Hillary Clinton's email controversy. Podesta was soon to be named to chair Clinton's presidential campaign. The emails show frustration over Clinton's use of a private email account as secretary of state. But they also show exasperation at each other and, at times, at Clinton for her decision to use the server and for the way she handled questions about it.. “We’ve taken on a lot of water that won’t be easy to pump out of the boat,” Podesta wrote in September 2015, at a time when Clinton’s campaign feared that Vice President Biden was about to enter the race.

(CNN) Europe's budget airline EasyJet flew into a storm Sunday after it emerged a member of the ground staff at Nice airport in France had punched one of its passengers in the face while he was holding a baby. The victim was due to travel on EasyJet flight 2122 from Nice to Luton airport outside London on Saturday. The flight was delayed for a grueling 11 hours. EasyJet says the airport employee does not work for the airline. "It was awful the whole thing. I just can't believe people can behave like that," said fellow passenger Arabella Arkwright, 49, who photographed the altercation. She told CNN it was her husband who restrained the attacker while they waited for police to arrive. The man was taken away, infant in arms, but was later let back on the flight in time for its eventual takeoff. Arkwright said he had a mark from the punch on his face. "We had a serious problem with someone of staff from our subcontractor Samsic," Jean-François Guitard, a director at Nice airport told CNN. Read More ||||| The moment the easyJet passenger was punched (Picture: Twitter/Arabella Ark) A new video has emerged of the airport worker who punched a dad in the face while he was holding his baby. In the latest development, the video shows the easyJet passenger appearing to shove the airport worker in the face. Family's home explodes after out of control SUV slams into it and ruptures gas pipe The customer had been delayed 13 hours and was holding his 9-month-old baby. Police are investigating the incident and Nice Airport has now suspended the worker. In a statement they said: ‘Nice Airport confirms the altercation last night between a passenger and an agent of a subcontracting company. The police was called immediately and took in charge both of them. ‘Whatever the circumstances, the airport management firmly condemns this incident and has immediately asked that this staff member to be suspended. Advertisement Advertisement ‘The images of the CCTV cameras were transmitted to the DDPAF [police] which will determine after investigation the exact circumstances and the follow-up to this incident.’ Topless protester charges at Bill Cosby as he arrives for sex abuse trial The video, visible on the Sun Online, was filmed ahead of the EZY2122 flight to London Luton and adds another dimension to the incident. ‘The passengers appears to be responsible for the first physical contact, but the matter is still under investigation,’ a well-placed source told MailOnline. He is believed to be back in the UK and could face prosecution. Nice Airport in France have suspended the man pending an investigation (Picture: Shutterstock) Passengers, who had been stranded in Nice for hours, were complaining about their treatment audibly on video. Fellow passenger Alex Athienitis, 27, previously told Metro.co.uk: ‘He (the airport worker) was laughing and goading passengers and seemed amused people were upset. Vicious brawl breaks out on on the street outside a McDonald's ‘He then hit the man after being asked why he was acting like that.’ The plane had been delayed because

– An EasyJet flight from Nice, France, to Luton, England, was delayed 11 hours or more Saturday—and yet that was probably not the worst part of one passenger's day. The passenger approached an employee of the Nice airport's subcontractor, Samsic, to ask about the delay. The employee couldn't answer the passenger's questions—so he allegedly punched the passenger, who was holding a baby at the time, in the face, CNN reports. Bystanders restrained the employee and the alleged victim was initially taken away by police, but was later allowed on the flight. An airport rep apologized for the incident; EasyJet apologized for the delay, and said the employee involved in the incident has been suspended by Samsic. But Metro reports that video appears to show the passenger shoving the worker first; police are reportedly investigating.

EasyJet passenger was due to fly from Nice to Luton on Saturday. Passenger was holding his 9-month-old baby when he was punched in the face. Nice Airport in France have suspended the man pending an investigation. The man is believed to be back in the UK and could face prosecution. EasyJet says the airport employee does not work for the airline. The flight was delayed for a grueling 11 hours. The incident was captured on CCTV and has been posted on the Sun Online website.

Rachel Orr/ The Washington Post Most of us have had some momentary feelings of inferiority when looking over the résumé of a friend or job applicant. When you look at someone else’s shining educational and professional accomplishments, it’s easy to feel that the person in question is far more impressive than yourself. But any accomplished résumé – or CV, as non-Americans and some in the professional class like to call them – hides secrets. If you could read between the lines of the many successes that are recorded in a résumé, you would probably see far more failures: schools people didn’t get into; scholarship essays that were toiled over and rejected; job applications that now seem harebrained. In just showing the successes, a résumé or CV actually reflects only a tiny slice of one’s experience – and perhaps not even the most important part. That’s the idea behind a recent “CV of failures,” published by Johannes Haushofer, a professor who teaches psychology and public affairs at Princeton. Haushofer’s CV of failures, which he published online for all to see, includes degree programs he didn’t get into, research funding he didn’t receive and paper rejections from academic journals. “Most of what I try fails, but these failures are often invisible, while the successes are visible,” Haushofer writes. “I have noticed that this sometimes gives others the impression that most things work out for me. As a result, they are more likely to attribute their own failures to themselves, rather than the fact that the world is stochastic, applications are crapshoots, and selection committees and referees have bad days.” Johannes Haushofer Note his last meta-failure: "This darn CV of Failures has received way more attention than my entire body of academic work." In an email, Haushofer said he first wrote out a CV of his failures in 2011, after a friend had a professional setback and he wanted to show support. The response was positive, so he thought it would be useful to make it public. "I'm hoping that it will be a source of perspective at times when things aren't going well, especially for students and my fellow young researchers," he wrote in an email. Haushofer adds that if his CV of failures seems short, it’s probably because he’s forgetting some things. And a longer CV of failures could very well be a good thing – it might mean the person is good at trying new things. The original idea for a CV of failures comes from an article published in the journal Nature in 2010 by Melanie Stefan of the University of Edinburgh, who argued that creating a visible record of failures is a powerful way to help other people deal with their own shortcomings. Whereas we’re intimately familiar with both our professional successes and our failures, other people just see a string of accomplishments -- and that can be discouraging. “As scientists, we construct a narrative of success that renders our setbacks invisible both to ourselves and to others,” Stefan writes. “Often, other scientists’ careers seem to be a constant, streamlined

– The point of a CV—or resume, in more American parlance—is to highlight all of your finest awards and accomplishments, right? Johannes Haushofer takes a different approach: Although the Princeton psychology professor has a standard resume he sends out, he's also compiled something a bit more unusual, per Quartz: a "CV of Failures." "Most of what I try fails, but these failures are often invisible, while the successes are visible," he writes at the top of his documentation of defeats, which he tells the Washington Post he started compiling in 2011 as a show of support for a friend having some bad luck professionally. The intro to the CV notes that when people see others' string of successes, "they are more likely to attribute their own failures to themselves," while in truth, "the world is stochastic, applications are crapshoots, and selection committees and referees have bad days." Categories on his resume include "Degree programs I did not get into" and "Paper rejections from academic journals," and there's scientific precedent for such documents: Melanie Stefan published a 2010 article in the journal Nature in which she says people who always see the "constant, streamlined series of triumphs" of others can end up feeling "alone and dejected." She advises everyone to keep an alternative CV of failures to "remind you of the missing truths," and Haushofter says the idea for his CV came from her "wonderful article." Haushofer says his own list of failures may be shorter than it should be because some crash-and-burns may have slipped his mind. But thanks to the media spotlight, it's now one item longer: Listed for 2016 under "Meta-Failures," the prof writes, "This darn CV of Failures has received way more attention than my entire body of academic work." (Avoid some common resume mistakes.)

Johannes Haushofer, a professor at Princeton, has published a CV of his failures. He hopes it will be a source of perspective at times when things aren't going well. The idea comes from an article published in the journal Nature in 2010. It argued that creating a visible record of failures is a powerful way to help other people deal with their own shortcomings, and that can be discouraging to others. The original idea came from Melanie Stefan of the University of Edinburgh, who wrote in Nature that scientists construct a narrative of success.

U.S. CA U.K. AU Asia DE FR E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our US edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Canadian edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our UK edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Australian edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Asia edition? E! ist überall Dieser Inhalt ist für internationale Besucher verfügbar. Möchtest du ihn in der deutschen Version anschauen? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our German edition? E! est partout Une version adaptée de ce contenu est disponible pour notre public international. Souhaitez-vous voir ça dans notre édition française ? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our French edition? E! está em toda parte Este conteúdo está customizado e disponível para nossa audiência internacional. Você gostaria de vê-lo em nossa edição do Brasil? E! está en todos lados Nuestro contenido está disponible y personalizado para nuestra audiencia internacional. ¿Te gustaría verlo en la edición en español? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Spanish edition? E! está en todos lados Nuestro contenido está disponible y personalizado para nuestra audiencia internacional. ¿Te gustaría verlo en la edición en español? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Spanish edition? E! está en todos lados Nuestro contenido está disponible y personalizado para nuestra audiencia internacional. ¿Te gustaría verlo en la edición en español? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Spanish edition? E! está en todos lados Nuestro contenido está disponible y personalizado para nuestra audiencia internacional. ¿Te gustaría verlo en la edición en español? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Spanish edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Brazilian edition? Bienvenido a E! Online - Tu destino #1 para todo lo relacionado a la cultura pop. Hemos especializado nuestro sitio para tu región. ¿Quieres ir a E! Online Latino? ||||| Do you know what happens tomorrow? My cover issue of O Magazine hits the newsstands! Don't miss it. Last week I drove all the way to Chicago to appear on Oprah's show, and today I'll show you everything that happened on my way there. Then, JOHN TRAVOLTA isn't doing any talk shows -- except

– John Travolta filmed his first interview since son Jett’s death, talking to Ellen DeGeneres yesterday in a segment that airs today, E! reports. “I just want to take one moment to thank each and every one of you throughout this country, throughout the world, for all your support and all your love for our family,” he says. Daughter Ella Bleu came along to promote her first film, Old Dogs, which also stars a bursting-with-pride Travolta. "I'm holding back the tears," he said. "No, really you're not," Ellen deadpanned while handing him tissues.

E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Australian edition? E! ist überall Dieser Inhalt ist für internationale Besucher verfügbar. E! está em toda parte Este conteúdo está customizado e disponível para nossa audiência internacional. Do you know what happens tomorrow? My cover issue of O Magazine hits the newsstands! Don't miss it.

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. ||||| Steve Jobs Stuffed Toy Fans of Steve Jobs can now own a stuffed toy of the late tech visionary. Called the iCEO, the plush doll launched on Wednesday by pillow company Throwboy and looks remarkably like the Apple founder. Standing 15 inches tall, the toy Job comes with removable rimless glasses, his signature black turtle neck and 100% denim jeans. Throwboy is touting the Steve Jobs stuffed toy as a limited-edition collector's item, as only 1,200 have been made. The iCEO can be pre-ordered now for $60, with a limit of two for each person. The item will ship in August 2012 and you can order it from other countries. "I've wanted to design something like this for about 2 years," Roberto Hoyos told Mashable. "It really comes from a place of love and it's took a lot of hard work to get to a design that I was proud of. It was also my way to give back to someone that had a great impact on my life. 10% of the proceeds from each doll goes to the American Cancer Society." This isn't the first time a company has launched a toy that pays tribute to Jobs. Earlier this year, In Icons set up a promotional page to tout the launch of its 12-inch Steve Jobs action figure that looked eerily realistic. However, the company now has a message on its site that it has stopped selling the item due to pressure received from Apple lawyers and the Jobs family. "I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that the original intention for creating the figurine was driven by a fan's admiration of Steve," the site said, noting that the company respects copyright/trademark rights and wasn't using Apple product models with the figure. "Unfortunately, we have received immense pressure from the lawyers of Apple and Steve Jobs family… and have decided to completely stop the offer, production and sale of the Steve Jobs figurine out of our heartfelt sensitivity to the feelings of the Jobs family." In Icons noted the company would issue refunds to anyone that pre-ordered the action figure for $99. Throwboy said it doesn't think the stuffed toy will run into problems with Apple. "I don't believe it will be an issue," Hoyos said. "I mean no disrespect, and I hope that they see it will bring a lot of joy to people." It's unclear at this point if Throwboy has informed Apple about its Steve Jobs stuffed toy model. The company has not yet responded to Mashable's inquiry about the matter. Will you pre-order the Steve Jobs stuffed toy? Is it too soon for companies to sell products related to Jobs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Images via Throwboy BONUS: Steve Jobs Action Figure

– Cuddle up with your favorite CEO: A 15-inch plush stuffed doll of the late Steve Jobs is now for sale. The "iCEO," released by pillow company Throwboy, will set you back $60. It features removable glasses, a black turtle neck, and real denim jeans, reports Mashable. The toy is limited-edition, with only 1,200 being made. No word yet on whether Apple will try to stop the doll, as it did with an action figure earlier this year.

The iCEO is a 15-inch stuffed toy of Steve Jobs. Only 1,200 of the toys have been made. The toy can be pre-ordered now for $60, with a limit of two for each person. Earlier this year, In Icons launched a 12-inch Steve Jobs action figure that looked eerily realistic. However, the company now has a message on its site that it has stopped selling the item due to pressure received from Apple lawyers and the Jobs family.

DALLAS (AP) — A Texas health care worker who was in full protective gear while providing hospital care for an Ebola patient who later died has tested positive for the virus and is in stable condition, health officials said Sunday. If the preliminary diagnosis is confirmed, it would be the first known case of the disease being contracted or transmitted in the U.S. FILE - A sign points to the entrance to the emergency room at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, where U.S. Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan was being treated, in this Oct. 8, 2014 file photo,... (Associated Press) Meanwhile, a top federal health official said the health care worker's Ebola diagnosis shows there was a clear breach of safety protocol and all those who treated Thomas Eric Duncan are now considered to be potentially exposed. Dr. Daniel Varga, of the Texas Health Resources, said during a news conference Sunday that the worker wore a gown, gloves, mask and shield while they provided care to Duncan during his second visit to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Varga did not identify the worker and says the family of the worker has "requested total privacy." Varga says the health care worker reported a fever Friday night as part of a self-monitoring regimen required by the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said another person also remains in isolation, and the hospital has stopped accepting new emergency room patients. Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S., died Wednesday in Dallas. "We knew a second case could be a reality, and we've been preparing for this possibility," Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said in a statement Sunday. "We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread." But Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Sunday raised concerns about a possible breach of safety protocol and told CBS' "Face the Nation" that among the things CDC will investigate is how the workers took off that gear — because removing it incorrectly can lead to a contamination. "I think the fact that we don't know of a breach in protocol is concerning, because clearly there was a breach in protocol." Frieden said. "We have the ability to prevent the spread of Ebola by caring safely for patients ... We'll conduct a full investigation of what happens before health workers go in, what happens when they're there, and what happens in the taking out, taking off their protective equipment because infections only occur when there's a breach in protocol." Health officials have interviewed the patient and are identifying any contacts or potential exposures. They said people who had contact with the health care worker after symptoms emerged will be monitored based on the nature of their interactions and the potential they were exposed to the virus. Officials said they also received information that there may be a pet in the health care worker's apartment, and they have a plan in place to care for

– The Texas health care worker who has become what is believed to be the first case of Ebola contracted on American soil wore full protective garb when treating Thomas Duncan, officials tell the AP. She is a female nurse, adds CNN, citing inside sources, though her identity is being withheld as her family has "requested total privacy." While it's not entirely clear how she contracted the virus, CDC chief Dr. Tom Frieden today blamed a breakdown in protocol: "I think the fact that we don't know of a breach in protocol is concerning, because clearly there was a breach in protocol." Frieden said. "We have the ability to prevent the spread of Ebola by caring safely for patients ... We'll conduct a full investigation ... because infections only occur when there's a breach in protocol." Frieden says officials will particularly scrutinize how protective garb is taken off. Meanwhile, one person considered a "close contact" of the nurse has been quarantined, a move officials are calling proactive. There is also believed to be a pet living in her apartment; officials have a plan to care for the pet, notes the AP. Dallas Fire Department's hazmat unit has decontaminated any public areas of her apartment complex, adds CNN, and neighbors are being alerted. "We have knocked on every door on that block," says the mayor. A top Dallas County official praised her a "heroic" person who "was proud to provide care to Mr. Duncan." The AP offers this primer on Ebola and how it spreads.

A Texas health care worker who was in full protective gear while providing hospital care for an Ebola patient who later died has tested positive for the virus. If the preliminary diagnosis is confirmed, it would be the first known case of the disease being contracted or transmitted in the U.S. The worker wore a gown, gloves, mask and shield while they provided care to Thomas Eric Duncan during his second visit to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, died Wednesday in Dallas.

WHITEHALL (Lisa Rantala) -- An autopsy could reveal more about how a teenager died at a party Monday night. Police showed up to the duplex on Beechford Road after a series of 911 calls came in about a single shot heard inside one apartment, and about 15 kids and young adults running out of the home. Police found Rashawn McCrae, 18, shot in the kitchen. He died at the hospital. Police won't say how the party goers are describing what happened. However, neighbor who called 911 told ABC 6/FOX 28 the crowd didn't seem to be angry about any deliberate gunman, or gunman on the run. Neighbors fear it was an accident that may have stemmed from horseplay and recklessness. "If that happened during the summertime at that time of night, there's a lot of small children," next door neighbor Jeremy Erwin said. "My kids would have been out in the yard." Police say they did arrest two kids at the party for outstanding drug warrants. ||||| The 18-year-old victim of a fatal shooting in Whitehall this week killed himself while playing Russian roulette, police said. Whitehall officers were told of that scenario soon after they arrived at 141 Beechford Rd. on Monday night. They found Rashaun D. McCrae of Striebel Road on the East Side critically wounded in a kitchen that reeked of “burnt and raw marijuana,” a police report states. He died that evening at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center. Detectives spent several days confirming that the evidence matched the stories being told by friends of McCrae’s who witnessed the shooting, Sgt. Dan Kelso said. Investigators believe that the single-gunshot head wound that McCrae suffered occurred when he unintentionally shot himself, Kelso said. An 18-year-old friend of McCrae’s told police that he had been sitting in the kitchen when McCrae came in, spinning the cylinder of a revolver and asking if he wanted to play Russian roulette. The friend said he declined, left the kitchen, and heard the gun go off as he walked away. According to the police report, a 23-year-old woman and her friend watched McCrae take the gun from his back pocket. “He showed them it was loaded with one round and spun the cylinder three times,” the report states. “He said something to the effect of, ‘Have you ever played Russian roulette?’, held the revolver to his head and fired.” Residents of the neighborhood told police that they could hear yelling and arguing in the moments after the shot rang out at 8:54 p.m. One woman said in her call to 911 that she heard shouts of, “Why would you do this?” A second caller to 911 described a chaotic scene and said he saw a young man carry a revolver upstairs. tdecker@dispatch.com @Theodore_Decker ||||| 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

– An 18-year-old died Monday night in Ohio after suffering a gunshot wound to the head. Now, Whitehall police have determined that Rashaun D. McCrae was killed after suggesting a game of Russian roulette—and pulling the trigger. Police spent the week making sure witness stories synced up, the Columbus Dispatch reports. One friend says McCrae entered the kitchen he was in and asked if he wanted to play; the friend declined and says he exited the room and then heard the shot. Per the police report, two friends actually witnessed it: McCrae "showed them [the gun] was loaded with one round and spun the cylinder three times. He said something to the effect of, ‘Have you ever played Russian roulette?’, held the revolver to his head and fired.” FOX28 previously reported that a party was under way in the home, and that roughly 15 people were running out of the home as police arrived. The Dispatch describes a frenetic scene via a 911 call: "There’s a lot of people, and they all know each other," said the caller. "There was marijuana smoke in the house. I did see one revolver in the house." The police report similarly noted that the kitchen smelled of "burnt and raw marijuana."

Police found Rashawn McCrae, 18, shot in the kitchen. He died at the hospital. Police won't say how the party goers are describing what happened. Neighbors fear it was an accident that may have stemmed from horseplay and recklessness. Police say they did arrest two kids at the party for outstanding drug warrants."If that happened during the summertime at that time of night, there's a lot of small children," next door neighbor Jeremy Erwin said. "My kids would have been out in the yard"

Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's comments comparing Muslims to Nazis at the GOP debate Monday night have sparked a firestorm in the blogosphere, where liberals, and even some conservatives, have pounced on the former House speaker for what they view as excessive fear mongering. "Of course Newt is taking it too far. He is appealing to the basest instincts of a very small minority of folks," said Matthew Dowd, ABC News consultant who served as chief strategist on George W. Bush's 2004 re-election team. "Either he is doing this for political purposes to distract people from a campaign in disarray, which is bad, or he actually believes it, which is scary." At the New Hampshire debate Monday night, Gingrich responded to questions about loyalty tests for administration officials, saying, "The Pakistani who emigrated to the U.S., became a citizen, built a car bomb which luckily failed to go off in Times Square, was asked by the federal judge, how could he have done that when he signed and when he swore an oath to the United States. And he looked at the judge and said, 'You're my enemy. I lied.'" "Now, I just want to go out on a limb here. I'm in favor of saying to people, if you're not prepared to be loyal to the United States, you will not serve in my administration, period," Gingrich added to applause. But Gingrich didn't stop there, despite an attempt by moderators to interject. He compared hiring Muslims to how Americans dealt with Nazis in the 1940s. "We did this in dealing with the Nazis. We did this in dealing with the Communists. And it was controversial both times and both times we discovered after a while, you know, there are some genuinely bad people who would like to infiltrate our country. And we have got to have the guts to stand up and say, 'No,'" he concluded. Many people have chastised Gingrich, whose senior aides resigned en masse last week, for invoking 1950s-era McCarthyism, a time during which free speech came under assault amid a heightened threat of Communism. Muslim groups expressed outrage, saying Gingrich was merely exploiting Muslims for personal and political gain. "It's really reprehensible when you have a mainstream presidential candidate equate Muslims with Nazis and communists," said Ibrahim Hooper, communications director at Council on American-Islamic Relations. "It is what we've come to expect from the right wing of the political faction." CAIR also assailed GOP candidates Herman Cain and Rick Santorum for their comments on the question of sharia law taking over the U.S. court system. Cain, the former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza, raised eyebrows earlier this year when he said he wouldn't allow Muslims in his cabinet. Cain clarified the remark Monday, saying he might want to ask a Muslim person certain questions during a job interview about their loyalty to the country, a comment that Gingrich defended. Although he might have created a firestorm, this isn't the first time Gingrich has made such a comparison and, to many, his most recent comments are anything but surprising.

– Newt Gingrich's Islamaphobic soundbite in Monday’s GOP debate has given pundits and bloggers something to buzz about. When Herman Cain was asked about his earlier comments that he wouldn’t allow a Muslim in his administration, or that they should take an extra loyalty oath, Gingrich jumped in with an anecdote about the Times Square bomber, Think Progress notes. Asked why he’d violated his oath to the US, the bomber, in Newt’s telling, replied, “You’re my enemy. I lied.” “If you’re not prepared to be loyal to the United States, you will not serve in my administration, period,” Newt continued. “We did this in dealing with the Nazis and we did this in dealing with the communists.” Muslim groups were outraged, and political analysts were perplexed. “Either he is doing this for political purposes to distract people from a campaign in disarray, which is bad, or he actually believes it, which is scary,” ex-Bush strategist Matthew Dowd tells ABC.

Gingrich's comments have sparked a firestorm in the blogosphere. Liberals, and even some conservatives, have pounced on the former House speaker. "Of course Newt is taking it too far," says ABC News consultant Matthew Dowd. Gingrich compared hiring Muslims to how Americans dealt with Nazis in the 1940s. "We did this in dealing with the Nazis. We did this with the Communists. And it was controversial both times," he said."It's really reprehensible when you have a mainstream presidential candidate equate Muslims with Nazis and communists," a Muslim group says.

But Rodriguez ruled that foul in her decision, which included a transcript of Shulman and Kruk's commentary during the game. The broadcasters wondered aloud how Rector could have fallen asleep so early in the contest, how much his neck might hurt the next day, and why a man sitting nearby didn't wake him up. ||||| SEPTEMBER 29--A New York City judge has dismissed the $10 million defamation lawsuit filed by a New York Yankees fan shown on ESPN sleeping in the stands during a game last season against the rival Boston Red Sox, court records show. In a July 2014 complaint, Andrew Rector alleged that he was disparaged during the broadcast of an April 13 game from Yankee Stadium. Rector, 27, sued Major League Baseball, the Yankees, ESPN, and announcers Dan Shulman and John Kruk for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. During the fourth inning of the ballgame, an ESPN camera showed Rector sleeping in his second-row seat in the ballpark’s lower level. Shulman referred to the snoozing fan as “oblivious,” while Kruk commented that the stadium was “not the place you come to sleep.” While Rector’s lawsuit alleged that he was subjected to an “unending verbal crusade” by the ESPN duo, the assorted putdowns referred to in the complaint actually appeared in the comment sections of online articles about Rector nodding off during the game. Two comments cited in the lawsuit referred to Rector as a “fatty cow that needs two seats” and a “confused disgusted and socially bankrupt individual.” In a decision issued last month, Judge Julia Rodriguez ruled that Shulman and Kruk made none of the nasty comments attributed to them in Rector’s complaint, adding that “none of the comments actually made by the announcers” was defamatory or false. Rodriguez added that, “At worst, the announcers’ comments might be considered to be loose, figurative or hyperbolic statements which are not actionable.” In seeking the dismissal of Rector’s lawsuit, an attorney representing ESPN and the other defendants quoted a Yankee legend in one court filing. Arguing that Shulman and Kruk never defamed Rector, lawyer Thomas Sullivan noted that Yogi Berra once actually said, “I really didn’t say everything I said.” Addressing Rector’s contention that the defendants “set the stage” for others to defame him, Judge Rodriguez (seen at right) dismissed that claim, ruling that Rector’s lawyer Valentine Okwara cited no “legal authority upon which any of the defendants may be held liable for Plaintiff’s alleged injuries.” Rector, a used car salesman, claimed in a court affidavit filed earlier this year that the ESPN broadcast--which he termed “bullying”--caused “enormous grief and embarrassment and affected my ability to work and go about my daily activity.” He added that, “people have avoided dealing with me. Insurance companies now consider me a high risk.” (9 pages) ||||| One baseball fan's desire to make money for sleeping has been put to bed by a judge who says he had no legal basis to sue the ESPN announcers who made fun of him for dozing off during a game. Andrew Rector, a used car

– A 27-year-old New York Yankees fan who sued after ESPN cameras caught him napping during a game in April 2014 had his $10 million defamation lawsuit thrown out by a judge last month, the Smoking Gun reports. Not even a second-row seat and a matchup with the hated Boston Red Sox could keep Andrew Rector awake during that April game. His fourth-inning doze was broadcast on ESPN and commented on by its announcers. Three months later, Rector sued ESPN, MLB, the Yankees, and the two announcers "for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress," claiming he was subjected to an "unending verbal crusade" by the announcers. He's now lost the case, however: "You snooze, you lose," is how the Daily News sums things up. The Smoking Gun reports there was one major problem with Rector's lawsuit: The insults he attributed to the announcers actually came from online comment sections, where he was called things like "fatty cow" and "socially bankrupt," according to his lawsuit. In fact, his suit failed to cite any of the things the announcers actually did say, none of which the judge found to be defamatory anyway. “At worst, the announcers’ comments might be considered to be loose, figurative or hyperbolic," wrote Judge Julia Rodriguez. Furthermore the judge stated Rector's lawyer failed to supply a legal reason why any of the parties Rector sued would legally be responsible for what the Internet says about him. Rector's lawyer tells Daily Mail Online that his client hasn't decided whether to appeal. (Another unusual NYC suit: A man sued for every penny on Earth, and then some.)

Andrew Rector alleged that he was disparaged during the broadcast of an April 13 game. Rector, 27, sued Major League Baseball, the Yankees, ESPN, and announcers. Judge Julia Rodriguez ruled that Shulman and Kruk made none of the nasty comments attributed to them in Rector’s complaint. Judge Rodriguez added that, “At worst, the announcers’ comments might be considered to be loose, figurative or hyperbolic statements which are not actionable”

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– Sure, people become sexually active under countless circumstances for countless reasons and at many different ages, but at least part of the timing appears to come down to our genes, Cambridge University researchers report in the journal Nature. Studying the genes and life histories of nearly 400,000 people, they conclude "there is a heritable component to age at first sex," reproductive aging expert John Perry tells the Guardian, "and the heritability is about 25%, so one-quarter nature, three-quarters nurture." Genes also appear to influence the age of the onset of puberty, first birth of a child, and even total number of offspring, reports the Telegraph. Perry's example: The genetic variant in CADM2 is associated with higher odds of risk-taking, earlier sex, and a greater number of children. So what accounts for the other 75%? New Scientist reports that previous research has found teens are more likely to become sexually active younger if they are not religious, come from poorer families, and if their parents didn't get involved in their lives. But this study found that the earlier onset of puberty is associated with earlier sexual activity, notes Popular Science. In the mid-1800s, for instance, girls were getting their period at an average age of 18—a number that plummeted to age 12 by 1980. Earlier loss of virginity ricochets, adds a clinical epidemiologist, into "other consequences such as, all things being equal, earlier first birth, having more children, less likely to remain childless, and poorer educational outcomes." Future studies may look at non-Western countries (this one focused on the UK, Iceland, and US) to account for different cultures and attitudes about sex, one expert tells the Verge. (Earlier this year, South Africa was offering scholarships to virgins.)

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Democrats and Republicans alike are criticizing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to call an Oct. 16 special general election to fill the seat of late Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg. The Republican said his decision was dictated by state election law and sources say his office believes it would lose a court fight if he had scheduled the election a month later in November instead. But the move all but ensures criticism that he is unnecessarily spending millions of taxpayer dollars to serve his own political needs. Text Size - + reset Christie remembers Lautenberg The timing means that popular New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker will not be on the ballot — potentially stoking Democratic turnout — when voters decide whether to give Christie another term in November. (PHOTOS: Frank Lautenberg's career) The primary election for the Senate seat will be held on Aug. 13, Christie said. “I firmly believe that the decisions that needs to be made are too great to be determined by an appointee for a period of 18 months,” he said. “We must allow our citizens to have their say.” Democrats teed off on Christie after his announcement at a news conference. The governor’s 2014 Democratic opponent, state Sen. Barbara Buono, called the governor’s move “cynical and arrogant” and said Christie “made it clear that he does not care about wasting taxpayer money.” Christie acknowledged at the press conference that the state will bear the costs of the extra elections. The tab is expected to be about $11.9 million each for the primary and the general election, or almost $24 million total. (PHOTOS: Jersey boys: Christie and Booker) “The costs associated with having the special election and primary, in my mind, cannot be measured against the value of having an elected member of the U.S. Senate,” he said. “I don’t know what the costs are and quite frankly I don’t care.” The primary concern for Christie about a November special election is the prospect of sharing the ballot with Booker, who’s expected to run for the Senate seat. Booker’s popularity would help drive up Democratic turnout across the state, which could have an effect on Christie’s vote totals as well. At this point, Christie holds large double-digit leads over Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono in the race. Christie said his decision to hold the special election was not motivated by political considerations. He said it’s incumbent to have a replacement for Lautenberg, who died Monday at age 89, as soon as possible — especially as the Senate takes up high-stakes legislation like immigration reform. (Also on POLITICO: Christie's special election announcement sparks tweets) But his decision to not go over well with either party, though Republicans shied away from publicly criticizing the popular governor. Democrats had no such compunction. The decision was “clearly a blatantly political decision on his part to try to separate the Senate general election from his own reelection,” state Democratic Party chairman John Wisniewski told POLITICO. He added that the state party is “looking at what our options are” in terms of a potential

– Chris Christie was bound to take criticism no matter what he decided on how to fill the seat of late New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg. And, sure enough, now that he's filled in most of the details, both Republicans and Democrats are angry, reports Politico. Christie today declared that the parties will pick their respective candidates in a primary on Aug. 13, reports the Star-Ledger. The winners will compete in a special election on Oct. 16 to serve out the remainder of Lautenberg's term. The seat will go back up for re-election as scheduled in November 2014. Democrats are seething because they say Christie is looking out for his own political interests. He's up for re-election on Nov. 5, and Democrats say he feared that a heavy Democratic turnout for the Senate race—because of likely candidate Cory Booker—would jeopardize his own chances. Hence, the special election in October instead of letting voters decide the following month. Meanwhile, national Republicans are ticked because they wanted the governor to appoint someone to the seat who would remain there until the November 2014 election, and thus give the GOP a better shot at permanently taking the seat. Still up in the air: Christie hasn't announced who he will pick to fill the seat until the October election, notes AP.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called an Oct. 16 special general election to fill the seat of late Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg. The timing means that popular New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker will not be on the ballot when voters decide whether to give Christie another term in November. Christie said his decision was dictated by state election law and sources say his office believes it would lose a court fight if he had scheduled the election a month later in November instead. Christie acknowledged at the press conference that the state will bear the costs of the extra elections.

If any Republican candidate is going to light the fuse for the Christian conservatives in Iowa who are famous for igniting the Huckaboom four years ago, an evangelical forum tonight just might be the turning point. About 1,000 conservatives hungry for a candidate they can love will pack the nationally televised Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition fall banquet in Des Moines. It will be shown live on C-SPAN from 6 to 9 p.m. It could be a pivotal night for any of the six candidates: Anticipation is mounting for the first Iowa visit in two months from poll front-runner Herman Cain, even as some Iowa conservatives say they’re unsettled by his recent comment that abortion choices should be left to families. All eyes also will be on Rick Santorum, socially conservative GOP’ers said. He has yet to become the big hit of the Christian conservative movement, but his moment may be coming, they said. Michele Bachmann, the fallen star of the Iowa straw poll, needs to make a good impression tonight or it may be too late for her, Republicans here said on Friday, the same day at least one member of her New Hampshire campaign team quit. Ron Paul’s campaign is trying to correct the perception that his libertarian leanings are out of sync with anti-abortion/anti-gay-marriage social conservatism. Iowans also are watching for signs of a Rick Perry comeback. He has lost two-thirds of his support in the early states since Sept. 7, when he debuted in the presidential debates. And Newt Gingrich is getting second looks, evangelical Republicans say. No appearance by Romney One candidate who won’t be at the event tonight: Mitt Romney, who is pointedly focused on the economy and won’t repeat big speeches on religion. Four years ago, former Baptist minister Mike Huckabee, the ex-governor of Arkansas, caught fire with religious conservatives in late fall. He went on to beat 2007 straw poll winner Romney by 11,000 votes in the caucuses. This election cycle, “people are still disenfranchised with the candidates,” said Des Moines conservative Dave Davidson, 43, whose weekly “Stuck on Huck” online live radio show re-emerged last month. “I talk to Huck people every week on the radio, and they’re still holding out.” Many of the evangelicals that former candidate Tim Pawlenty marshaled, including Des Moines-area Pastor Terry Amann of Walnut Creek Community Church, have yet to land on another square. Has Santorum hit his stride? However, several Iowa Republicans said they believe Santorum has hit his stride on messaging and issues in recent weeks. Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, stresses that poverty hits single-parent households harder than two-parent households, and that the country can’t diminish welfare spending without strengthening families. And that’s music to Huckabee backers’ ears, said conservative radio talk show host Steve Deace. “The momentum’s not there,” Davidson agreed, “but the recipe is.” As for Bachmann, Davidson said, “if she doesn’t get a first down this weekend, she’s going to be punting the rest of the campaign. This is her opportunity.” Pastor Cary Gordon, 38, of Sioux City’s Cornerstone church

– This could be a big night for the Republican candidates, notes the Des Moines Register: A major evangelical forum takes place in Des Moines, which might prove pivotal in getting Christian conservatives to rally behind a single candidate. As the Los Angeles Times explains, the political calculus in Iowa is fairly straightforward: It's just about impossible to win here without evangelical support. Just ask Mitt Romney about Mike Huckabee's victory in 2008. Toward that end, the campaigning here tends to focus on things like abortion and gay rights, with the candidates trying to outflank each other on the right. Bachmann and Santorum have been the most aggressive, says the LAT, but Perry, Cain, Gingrich, and Paul also generate interest. Romney is generally seen as too moderate in Iowa, but he could benefit in the long run if support for the others remains fractured. (He will be a no-show at tonight's forum.) One factor that could be pivotal in the state: the endorsement of conservative Rep. Steve King.

About 1,000 conservatives hungry for a candidate they can love will pack the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition fall banquet in Des Moines. It could be a pivotal night for any of the six candidates. Anticipation is mounting for the first Iowa visit in two months from poll front-runner Herman Cain. All eyes also will be on Rick Santorum, socially conservative GOP’ers said. He has yet to become the big hit of the Christian conservative movement, but his moment may be coming, they said.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton speak with journalists prior to a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are expected... (Associated Press) European Union nations have formally adopted an oil embargo against Iran as part of sanctions over its nuclear program. British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday called the measure part of "an unprecedented set of sanctions." He says, "I think this shows the resolve of the European Union on this issue." Diplomats say the measures, adopted by the EU's 27 foreign ministers, include an immediate embargo on new contracts for crude oil and petroleum products while existing ones are allowed to run until July. Iran says its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes. But many international officials fear the country is trying to develop nuclear weapons. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. BRUSSELS (AP) _ European Union nations agreed Monday on an oil embargo against Iran as part of sanctions meant to pressure the country to resume talks on its nuclear program. Diplomats said the EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels would officially adopt the measures later Monday, now that the details had been hashed out by the 27 ambassadors to the EU. The measures include an immediate ban on new contracts for Iranian crude oil and petroleum products, while existing contracts will be allowed to run until July. "I am confident that the EU will give a resolute answer today to Iran's refusal to fulfill its international obligations on the nuclear program," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said, in anticipation of the official adoption by the foreign ministers. Iran says its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes, but many international officials fear the country is trying to develop nuclear weapons. The EU will also likely freeze the assets of the Iranian central bank. "The pressure of sanctions is designed to try and make sure that Iran takes seriously our request to come to the table," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said. In October, Ashton sent a letter to Saeed Jalili, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, saying her goal was a negotiated solution that "restores international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program." She says she has not yet received a reply. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the goal of the sanctions would be to "increase the peaceful, legitimate pressure" on Iran to return to negotiations. Negotiators have worked hard to try to ensure that the embargo punishes only Iran _ and not EU member Greece, which is in dire financial trouble and relies heavily on low-priced Iranian oil. EU negotiators have agreed to a review of the effects of the sanctions, to be completed by May 1, a diplomat said. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the subject of ongoing talks. "It is important to know what will happen to individual countries as a consequence of the sanctions," Ashton said. Westerwelle said it was critical that

– The European Union today rolled out its embargo of Iranian oil, adopting the measure as what Britain's foreign secretary called "an unprecedented set of sanctions" designed to crack down on the country's nascent nuclear program. Existing contracts for crude oil and petroleum will be honored until July, but all new contracts are embargoed effective immediately, the AP reports. The EU is also poised to freeze Iran's central bank's assets. The sanctions should cut deep, notes Reuters: The EU is Iran's biggest oil customer after China. "The pressure of sanctions is designed to try and make sure that Iran takes seriously our request to come to the table," says EU foreign policy head Catherine Ashton, who has written to Iran's leading nuclear negotiator to call for talks to restore "international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program." Officials want the sanctions to affect Iran exclusively and not countries like Greece that depend on its cheap oil; to that end, they're examining the sanctions in a review due May 1. "This is not a question of security in the region," says Germany's foreign minister. "It is a question of security in the world."

EU nations have formally adopted an oil embargo against Iran as part of sanctions over its nuclear program. Measures include an immediate ban on new contracts for Iranian crude oil and petroleum products, while existing contracts will be allowed to run until July. EU will also likely freeze the assets of the Iranian central bank. Iran says itsnuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes. But many international officials fear the country is trying to develop nuclear weapons. The goal of the sanctions would be to "increase the peaceful, legitimate pressure" on Iran to return to negotiations.

CLOSE A preliminary investigation has begun for a fatal car crash involving a Tesla Model S.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the electric model sedan had Autopilot mode engaged when a driver was killed. USA TODAY Buy Photo Albert Scaglione, founder and CEO of Park West Gallery in Southfield was injured when his Tesla Model X crashed into a guard rail and a concrete median last Friday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near the town of Bedford. (Photo: Eric Seals/ Free Press photographer)Buy Photo UPDATE: Tesla says no evidence Autopilot involved in Pa. crash A Southfield art gallery owner told police his 2016 Tesla Model X was in Autopilot mode when it crashed and rolled over on the Pennsylvania Turnpike last week. The crash came just one day after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a report on a fatal crash in May involving a Tesla that was in self-driving mode. Albert Scaglione and his artist son-in-law, Tim Yanke, both survived Friday's crash near the Bedford exit, about 107 miles east of Pittsburgh. The Free Press was not able to reach Scaglione, owner of Park West Gallery, or Yanke, but Dale Vukovich of the Pennsylvania State Police, who responded to the crash, said Scaglione told him that he had activated the Autopilot feature. In his crash report, Vukovich stated that Scaglione's car was traveling east near mile marker 160, about 5 p.m. when it hit a guard rail "off the right side of the roadway. It then crossed over the eastbound lanes and hit the concrete median." After that, the Tesla Model X rolled onto its roof and came to rest in the middle eastbound lane. A 2013 Infiniti G37 driven in the westbound lane by Thomas Hess of West Chester, Pa., was struck by debris from the Scaglione car, but neither he nor his passenger was hurt. Vukovich said he likely will cite Scaglione after he completes his investigation, but he declined to specify the charge. Anyone who has driven on the Pennsylvania Turnpike knows that its narrow shoulders and concrete medians leave little margin for driver error. There's not enough evidence to indicate that Tesla's Autopilot malfunctioned. Last Wednesday, NHTSA announced it is investigating the design and performance of the Autopilot system after a 40-year-old Canton, Ohio, man died May 7 in Florida when his 2015 Tesla Model S hit a tractor-trailer while in self-driving mode, The federal agency said both the driver and the Autopilot system failed to detect the large tractor-trailer making a left turn in front of him. But the driver of the truck said there was a Harry Potter video still running when the Tesla came to a stop about a quarter-mile from the impact. Tesla says that before Autopilot can be used, drivers have to acknowledge that the system is an "assist feature" that requires a driver to keep both hands on the wheel at all times. Drivers are told they need to "maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle" while using the system, and they have to be prepared to take over

– Tesla's autopilot feature may have been involved in a second crash the day after the federal government launched an investigation into the feature following the first such crash, the Detroit Free Press reports. Art gallery owner Albert Scaglione was driving his 2016 Tesla Model X on the Pennsylvania Turnpike with his son-in-law on July 1 when he hit a guardrail, crossed multiple lanes of traffic, hit a concrete median, and rolled over. Both Scaglione and his son-in-law survived. A police officer who responded to the scene says Scaglione told him he was using the vehicle's autopilot feature at the time of the crash. It's the same feature a man in Florida—who may or may not have been distracted by a Harry Potter DVD—was using during a fatal crash in May. There's no evidence the autopilot feature malfunctioned on the notoriously unforgiving Pennsylvania Turnpike, and Tesla disputes whether Scaglione was even using the feature during the crash, the Star reports. According to WXYZ, the company says it has no evidence the car was in autopilot and the 77-year-old Scaglione appears to be ignoring their calls. Authorities are continuing to investigate the crash. Tesla states its autopilot feature is only meant to assist drivers, who still need to keep their hands on or near the steering wheel. But videos posted to YouTube feature Tesla drivers showing off the feature by driving hands-free, even climbing into their car's backseat.

Albert Scaglione and his artist son-in-law, Tim Yanke, both survived Friday's crash. The crash came just one day after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a report on a fatal crash in May involving a Tesla that was in self-driving mode. Tesla says that before Autopilot can be used, drivers have to acknowledge that the system is an "assist feature" That requires a driver to keep both hands on the wheel at all times, Tesla says.

Thank you for Reading. Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. A subscription is required to continue reading. Thank you for reading 10 free articles on Roanoke.com. You can come back at the end of your 30-day period for another 10 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 to the Roanoke Times newspaper 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 10 free articles on Roanoke.com. You can come back at the end of your 30-day period for another 10 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 to the Roanoke Times newspaper you are granted an all-access pass to the website and digital newspaper replica. Please click below to Get Started. ||||| In this image made from video and provided by WMAR-TV, in Baltimore, David Eisenhauer runs in the Baltimore area. Now the subject of shocking murder charges. Eisenhauer, an 18-year-old freshman engineering... (Associated Press) BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Two Virginia Tech students carefully planned the kidnapping and killing of a 13-year-old girl, buying cleaning supplies and a shovel at separate Wal-Mart stores, and then hiding her body in the trunk of a Lexus, a prosecutor alleged on Thursday. Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Mary Pettitt described how authorities believe David Eisenhauer and Natalie Keepers plotted the stabbing death of Nicole Lovell, a seventh-grader who used social media as an escape from bullying at school after surviving a liver transplant and other health scares that left her with a disfiguring scar. Pettit did not suggest a possible motive in court, or describe the killing itself, but said messages on the girl's phone led police to the college freshmen. She said they decided together that Eisenhauer would cut the girl's throat. Keepers spoke in court as well, telling the judge that she began cutting her own body after being bullied in school, and has been on Prozac and in therapy since then. Her lawyers argued that her mental health will unravel behind bars. But the prosecutor urged the judge to keep her jailed. While Keepers is adamant that she was not present at the killing, she "is in the same position as the person who carried out the murder," Pettitt said. Judge Robert Viar Jr. denied bail. Eisenhauer initially denied his involvement when police found his messages on Nicole's phone, but eventually admitted driving to the girl's home and watching her climb out of her window, Pettitt said. Eisenhauer told authorities he greeted the girl with a side hug, and then brought her to Keepers, Pettitt said. The 18-year-old distance runner at Virginia Tech is jailed without bond on charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder. The police report on his arrest Saturday says he told officers: "I believe the truth will set me free." Keepers, 19, is

– Virginia authorities have released disturbing details of the kidnapping and killing of 13-year-old Nicole Lovell, the AP reports. Suspects David Eisenhauer and Natalie Keepers planned the crime, they said Thursday, deciding together that Eisenhauer would cut Lovell's throat at a remote location they pre-selected, and going to separate Walmart stores to buy a shovel and cleaning supplies. According to the commonwealth prosecutor, Keepers, 19, told FBI investigators that she "was excited to be part of something secretive and special," and admitted to going with Eisenhauer, 18, to buy the shovel before the alleged murder and the cleaning supplies after, while Lovell's body was in the trunk of Eisenhauer's Lexus. The prosecutor says Keepers told police where Lovell's body was and where to find the cleaning supplies and a Minions blanket of Lovell's in Keepers' dorm room, ABC News reports. Authorities say the duo planned for Eisenhauer to "lure" Lovell away from home "on the guise of a date," according to the Roanoke Times. But Keepers insists she wasn't present at the actual murder, and says she's long struggled with her mental health and self-mutilation. The relationship between her and Eisenhauer isn't entirely clear; they went to high schools five miles apart in Columbia, Maryland, and then both attended Virginia Tech. Keepers' dad says they just learned about Eisenhauer in October, and that he "dropped everything" last year to rush Keepers to the hospital when she needed an emergency appendectomy. As for Lovell, she's said to have used social media to escape the bullying she experienced in seventh grade, including Kik Messenger, an app on which she apparently met Eisenhauer. She told 8-year-old friends she was going to sneak out to meet "David," her 18-year-old "boyfriend." Eisenhauer initially denied all involvement, but ultimately admitted he watched Lovell climb out her window, gave her a side hug, and brought her to Keepers.

David Eisenhauer and Natalie Keepers plotted the stabbing death of Nicole Lovell, a prosecutor says. Keepers tells judge she began cutting her own body after being bullied in school. Her lawyers argue that her mental health will unravel behind bars. The 18-year-old distance runner at Virginia Tech is jailed without bond on charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder. The police report on his arrest Saturday says he told officers: "I believe the truth will set me free" and "I'm not a bad person"

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms, Data Policy and Cookies Policy. You may receive SMS Notifications from us and can opt out any time. ||||| JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater emerges from jail, basks in new status as celebrity Heckman for News JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater after being released from jail in the Bronx on Tuesday night. If you were on JetBlue Flight 1052, or if you know the passenger who fought with the feisty flight attendant, we'd love to hear from you. Email rschapiro@nydailynews.com. Fired-up flight attendant Steven Slater was walking on air as he emerged from jail Tuesday night as a folk hero. "I knew there was a brouhaha about this, but while I was on the inside I didn't realize how much attention it got," said Slater, wearing the same T-shirt and plaid shorts he had on when arrested a day earlier. "I think something about this resonated with people. The outpouring of support is very appreciated. I'm overwhelmed, very thankful," Slater said after being released from the Vernon C. Bain Center in Hunts Point, the Bronx, after posting $2,500 bail. Slater, 38, was transformed into a folk hero after he cursed out a nasty passenger over a plane intercom, grabbed some beer and fled down an emergency slide at Kennedy Airport Sunday. "It's been a good time," a beaming Slater said, as employees leaving the lockup shouted, "You're a hero" and "You're a celebrity." Relishing in his cult status, Slater even joked about his short stay in the slammer. "I feel tired, I feel about how I did when that suitcase fell on me."Then he pointed to cuts and bruises on his forehead that he called "aviation-related." But Slater's flight to freedom hit a little turbulence. Freaked out by the media horde following his livery car, Slater's driver returned him to the jail after a 10-minute ride. "The food was just too good," Slater deadpanned about why he returned. A lot of people agree that Slater didn't commit a crime, and that includes his mother, his lawyer - and about half the world. "I can understand why he snapped. I would have snapped, too," Diane Slater said Tuesday after her son pleaded not guilty to criminal charges. "I think he just had a very small meltdown, and I think he deserved to be able to have that meltdown." And she isn't the only one. "I lost patience after a female passenger had an argument with another passenger and then opened the bin door, hitting me on the head without apologizing," Slater told cops. In his announcement to passengers on the flight out of Pittsburgh, Slater referred to the woman as "the f-----g a--hole that told me to f--k off." He then declared, "I've had it. That's it," witnesses said. Slater's Legal Aid lawyer, Howard Turman, said his client was trying to defuse a testy situation when the passenger, who has not been identified, started giving him hell after the plane landed. "He was trying to do his best in providing safety and you have

– New folk hero flight attendant Steven Slater emerged from a New York City jail yesterday grateful for the outpouring of public support, while his proud cancer-battling mom said her boy "deserved" a meltdown. "Something about this resonated with people," Slater said as he left jail a day after his freakout on a JetBlue airline when a rude passenger cursed at him. "The outpouring of support is very appreciated. I'm overwhelmed, very thankful." As he left Hunts Point jail after posting a $2500 bail, employees shouted: "You're a hero" and "You're a celebrity." His mom, Diane Slater, meanwhile, defended her off-the-rail boy. "I can understand why he snapped. I would have snapped, too," she told the New York Daily News. "I think he just had a very small meltdown, and I think he deserved to be able to have that meltdown." Slater has pleaded not guilty to criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing charges filed after he reportedly swore at the nasty flyer over the plane's PA system, then deployed the plane emergency chute to make a speedy getaway. "Free Steven Slater" Facebook fans are raising money for his defense.

Steven Slater, 38, was transformed into a folk hero after he cursed out a nasty passenger over a plane intercom, grabbed some beer and fled down an emergency slide. "I think something about this resonated with people. The outpouring of support is very appreciated. I'm overwhelmed, very thankful," Slater said after being released from the Vernon C. Bain Center in Hunts Point, the Bronx, after posting $2,500 bail. If you were on JetBlue Flight 1052, or if you know the passenger who fought with the feisty flight attendant, we'd love to hear from you.

Excavation of two quarries in Wales by a UCL-led team of archaeologists and geologists has confirmed they are sources of Stonehenge’s ‘bluestones’– and shed light on how they were quarried and transported. New research by the team published today in Antiquity presents detailed evidence of prehistoric quarrying in the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, helping to answer long-standing questions about why, when and how Stonehenge was built. The team of scientists includes researchers from UCL, University of Manchester, Bournemouth University, University of Southampton, University of Leicester, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, and Dyfed Archaeological Trust. The very large standing stones at Stonehenge are of ‘sarsen’, a local sandstone, but the smaller ones, known as ‘bluestones’, come from the Preseli hills in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Geologists have known since the 1920s that the bluestones were brought to Stonehenge from somewhere in the Preseli Hills, but only now has there been collaboration with archaeologists to locate and excavate the actual quarries from which they came. Director of the project, Professor Mike Parker Pearson (UCL Institute of Archaeology), said: “This has been a wonderful opportunity for geologists and archaeologists to work together. The geologists have been able to lead us to the actual outcrops where Stonehenge’s stones were extracted.” The Stonehenge bluestones are of volcanic and igneous rocks, the most common of which are called dolerite and rhyolite. Dr Richard Bevins (Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales) and Dr Rob Ixer (UCL and University of Leicester) have identified the outcrop of Carn Goedog as the main source of Stonehenge’s ‘spotted dolerite’ bluestones and the outcrop of Craig Rhos-y-felin as a source for one of the ‘rhyolite’ bluestones. The research published today details excavations at Craig Rhos-y-felin specifically. The special formation of the rock, which forms natural pillars at these outcrops, allowed the prehistoric quarry-workers to detach each megalith (standing stone) with a minimum of effort. “They only had to insert wooden wedges into the cracks between the pillars and then let the Welsh rain do the rest by swelling the wood to ease each pillar off the rock face” said Dr Josh Pollard (University of Southampton). “The quarry-workers then lowered the thin pillars onto platforms of earth and stone, a sort of ‘loading bay’ from where the huge stones could be dragged away along trackways leading out of each quarry.” Professor Colin Richards (University of Manchester), an expert in Neolithic quarries, said: “The two outcrops are really impressive – they may well have had special significance for prehistoric people. When we saw them for the first time, we knew immediately that we had found the source.” Radiocarbon-dating of burnt hazelnuts and charcoal from the quarry-workers’ camp fires reveals that there were several occurrences of megalith-quarrying at these outcrops. Stonehenge was built during the Neolithic period, between 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. Both of the quarries in Preseli were exploited in the Neolithic, and Craig Rhos-y-felin was also quarried in the Bronze Age, around 4,000 years ago. “We have dates of around 3400 BC for Craig Rhos-y-felin and 3200 BC for Carn Goedog, which

– Researchers in London think they have solved one of the most enduring mysteries of Stonehenge: How did a bunch of prehistoric Britons haul massive stones from a quarry in Wales to the site of the monument more than 100 miles? "The answer," per the Telegraph, "is surprisingly simple." By mounting a giant stone on a wooden sleigh and dragging it along a track of timbers, a team from University College London found that just 10 people were able to move a more than 2,000-pound stone at a rate of about 1mph. “We were expecting to need at least 15 people to move the stone so to find we could do it with 10 was quite interesting,” doctoral student Barney Harris tells the Telegraph. The rocks in question, the ones at the center of the monument known as bluestones, were quarried in Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, Wales, according to a separate study last year. They were laid at Stonehenge, some 140 miles away in Wiltshire, around 2400 BC, according to Seeker.com. The larger stones around the perimeter, called sarsens, are local sandstone and were laid during a second phase of construction about 500 years later. The sleigh-and-track method, if that's what Stonehenge's architects used, is not unique, Harris tells the Telegraph. “We know that pre-industrialized societies like the Maram Naga in India still use this kind of sledge to construct huge stone monuments, he says, adding that the Japanese are known to have used similar sleighs thousands of years ago. Could oxen have been used to pull the stones along the track? "Oxen are quite belligerent and difficult to control," Harris says. "This experiment shows that humans could have carried out the task fairly easily." (A century ago, Cecil Chubb bought Stonehenge on a whim.)

Geologists have known since the 1920s that the bluestones were brought to Stonehenge from somewhere in the Preseli Hills. But only now has there been collaboration with archaeologists to locate and excavate the actual quarries from which they came. Radiocarbon-dating of burnt hazelnuts and charcoal from the quarry-workers’ camp fires reveals that there were several occurrences of megalith-quarrying at these outcrops. The special formation of the rock, which forms natural pillars, allowed the prehistoric quarry- workers to detach each standing stone with a minimum of effort.

Cinnamon is a delicious addition to toast, coffee and breakfast rolls. Eating the tasty household spice also might improve learning ability, according to new study results published online in the July issue of the Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology. The study by neurological scientists at Rush University Medical Center found that feeding cinnamon to laboratory mice determined to have poor learning ability made the mice better learners. "This would be one of the safest and the easiest approaches to convert poor learners to good learners," said Kalipada Pahan, PhD, the lead researcher of the study and the Floyd A. Davis Professor of Neurology at Rush. Some people are born naturally good learners, some become good learners by effort, and some find it hard to learn new tasks even with effort. Little is known about the neurological processes that cause someone to be a poor learner and how to improve performance in poor learners. "Understanding brain mechanisms that lead to poor learning is important to developing effective strategies to improve memory and learning ability," Pahan said. Cinnamon role reversal The key to gaining that understanding lies in the hippocampus, a small part in the brain that generates, organizes and stores memory. Researchers have found that the hippocampus of poor learners has less CREB (a protein involved in memory and learning) and more alpha5 subunit of GABAA receptor or GABRA5 (a protein that generates tonic inhibitory conductance in the brain) than good learners. The mice in the study received oral feedings of ground cinnamon, which their bodies metabolized into sodium benzoate, a chemical used as a drug treatment for brain damage. When the sodium benzoate entered the mice's brains, it increased CREB, decreased GABRA5, and stimulated the plasticity (ability to change) of hippocampal neurons. These changes in turn led to improved memory and learning among the mice. "We have successfully used cinnamon to reverse biochemical, cellular and anatomical changes that occur in the brains of mice with poor learning," Pahan said. The researchers used a Barnes maze, a standard elevated circular maze consisting of 20 holes, to identify mice with good and bad learning abilities. After two days of training, the mice were examined for their ability to find the target hole. They tested the mice again after one month of cinnamon feeding. The researchers found that after eating their cinnamon, the poor learning mice had improved memory and learning at a level found in good learning mice. However, they did not find any significant improvement among good learners by cinnamon. "Individual difference in learning and educational performance is a global issue," Pahan said. "We need to further test this approach in poor learners. If these results are replicated in poor learning students, it would be a remarkable advance." Cinnamon also may aid against Parkinson's disease Cinnamon has been a sweet spot for Pahan's research. He and his colleagues previously that cinnamon can reverse changes in the brains of mice with Parkinson's disease. These studies have made the researchers spice connoisseurs: They used mass spectrometric analysis to identify the purer of the two major types

– Scientists say they've discovered "one of the safest and the easiest approaches to convert poor learners to good learners." And all you have to do is eat cinnamon. Researchers at Rush University Medical Center say that feeding cinnamon to mice with a poor learning ability turned them into a bunch of brainiacs by transforming the part of the brain that controls memory. Previous research has found poor learners have less of a protein vital to memory and learning, known as CREB, and more of a protein known as GABRA5 in the hippocampus. However, poor-learning mice showed increased CREB and decreased GABRA5 after a month of daily cinnamon doses, study author Kalipada Pahan explains in a release. Essentially, the body converts cinnamon into sodium benzoate, which promotes healthy neurons, reports the Epoch Times. The mice were then able to navigate a maze in half the time it took them before, even though the exit moved with each test. The ability was similar to that of so-called good-learning mice. Mice who were given cinnamon but were already good learners, however, didn't exhibit any change. "We have successfully used cinnamon to reverse biochemical, cellular, and anatomical changes that occur in the brains of mice with poor learning," says Pahan, adding "if these results are replicated in poor learning students, it would be a remarkable advance." Interestingly, Pahan notes cinnamon is superior to straight doses of sodium benzoate because the chemical is slowly released from cinnamon but is "quickly excreted out through the urine" when taken on its own. (This doesn't mean you should take the cinnamon challenge.)

Study: Cinnamon can reverse changes in the brains of mice with Parkinson's disease. The mice in the study received oral feedings of ground cinnamon, which their bodies metabolized into sodium benzoate, a drug treatment for brain damage. Researchers found that after eating their cinnamon, the poor learning mice had improved memory and learning at a level found in good learning mice. However, they did not find any significant improvement among good learners by cinnamon. "Individual difference in learning and educational performance is a global issue," researcher Kalipada Pahan says.

The White House called a report that President Obama called off the raid on Osama bin Laden three times a "fabrication." In a new book previewed by the Daily Caller, author Richard Miniter alleges that Obama called off the raid three times at the urging of senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, before finally authorizing the mission. "That is an utter fabrication. It's seems pretty clear that Mr. Miniter doesn't know what he's talking about," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Monday. "Ms. Jarrett, like the vast majority of the president's senior staff was not read in on the operation on the mission against Osama bin Laden," Earnest said. And as the liberal group Media Matters notes, Miniter's report does not square with other reporting on the timeline of the mission. Miniter alleges that Obama called off the operation first in January, but the New Yorker's Nicholas Schmidle reported that the plan to kill bin Laden was not even presented to the president until March. UPDATE on 8/1: Miniter responds, saying he stands by his sources: "The White House is objecting to a claim that no one is making. "Read in" is intel-speak for being briefed on sensitive technical details, such as flight paths and radio frequencies. My sources do not speak to the issue of whether Jarrett had access to that kind of sensitive intelligence regarding the bin Laden operation. But Jarrett met with the president repeatedly throughout the planning process (and indeed, more often than CIA director Leon Panetta) and participants told me that the three halts to the mission were called at her behest. Those are the facts. If they are in doubt, Ms. Jarrett should appear under oath before Congress.” Further, in a statement argues that the New Yorker's account does not contradict his reporting: "Some media accounts have claimed that Miniter's book is contradicted by a New Yorker article on the bin Laden, published last summer. That article refers to the timing of the training of the Seal team for the operation, not the timing of CIA, Defense Department and White House planning for the operation, which began months earlier. There is no contradiction. Miniter's book and the magazine article are talking about different elements of the bin Laden operation." ||||| The Daily Caller reported late last night that they obtained an exclusive first look at Richard Miniter's forthcoming book Leading From Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him, which contains the "bombshell" allegation (sourced to a single anonymous official) that in the first three months of 2011, President Obama thrice canceled the mission to kill Osama bin Laden. Miniter's and the Caller's reporting is contradicted by previous in-depth reports indicating that the plan for the raid wasn't delivered to the president until the end of March, and training for the operation didn't begin until mid-April, meaning that there wasn't yet a "mission" for the president to cancel. The Daily Caller's David Martosko wrote last night: In "Leading From Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him," Richard Miniter writes that

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

A new book alleges that Obama called off the raid three times at the urging of senior advisor Valerie Jarrett. "That is an utter fabrication," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. Media Matters notes that Miniter's report does not square with other reporting on the timeline of the mission. Miniter: "The White House is objecting to a claim that no one is making. If they are in doubt, Ms. Jarrett should appear under oath before Congress’” He says he stands by his sources and that the New Yorker's account does not contradict his.

Gwyneth Paltrow, the actress and founder of online lifestyle brand Goop, thinks that nasty, anonymous online commenters should take a look at themselves first before they post. “The Internet is an amazing opportunity, socially. We have this opportunity to mature and learn, which is the essence of being on earth — to being the closest person we can be to our actual, real, truest self,” she said ahead of her surprise appearance at the Code Conference today. “But the Internet also allows us the opportunity to project outward our hatred, our jealousy. It’s culturally acceptable to be an anonymous commenter. It’s culturally acceptable to say, ‘I’m just going to take all of my internal pain and externalize it anonymously.'” Of all the celebrities out there, Paltrow receives a particularly curious reception online, and she’s well aware of it. She is beloved and obsessed-over (the success of her Goop project comes largely from people wanting to live like her, have lunch in Paris or moisturize their bodies like she would). At the same time, there seems to be some frustration and even aggression aroused by her lanky-blonde-perfect-frittata persona. Consider a recent headline: “Gwyneth Paltrow Joins Instagram, Will Probably Do This Better Than the Rest of Us, Too.” In February, the newly hired editor of anonymous image-sharing site Whisper promoted one of his company’s user-submitted posts that included a picture of Paltrow’s face overlaid with text alleging that she was having an affair, an image that then went viral. “It’s taken me a long time to get to the point where I can see these things and not take it as a personal affront and a hurt. I see myself as a chalkboard or a whiteboard or a screen, and someone is just putting up their own projection on it,” she said. “It has nothing to do with me. They have an internal object, and they’re putting it on me. I kind of look at it as, ‘Wow this is an interesting social experiment.’ You’re talking about a blind stranger having feelings about you. It can only be projection.” The conversation about celebrity and the Internet, she said, is part of a larger one about “containment and self-regulation” online. “Our culture is trying to wrestle with the idea that everybody has a voice, and how it’s unimportant and really important at the same time,” said Paltrow. “We’re in this very adolescent phase. It’s dangerous, [because] we lack the capacity to say, ‘Why does this matter to me, and who am I in this?’ ‘Why am I having opinions about Angelina Jolie’s operation?’ ‘What is unhealed in me?’ ‘Why am I using the Internet to do this?'” She compared the experience of living through vitriolic Internet commenters to surviving a war. “You come across [online comments] about yourself and about your friends, and it’s a very dehumanizing thing. It’s almost like how, in war, you go through this bloody, dehumanizing thing, and then something is defined out of it,” she said. “My hope is, as we get out of it, we’ll reach the next level

– Gwyneth Paltrow ... tech expert? The actress spoke at the Code Conference yesterday, rubbing elbows with tech CEOs, thanks to her Web business, Goop. Before her surprise appearance, she talked to re/code (the tech news site hosting the conference, Vanity Fair notes) about Goop (it's profitable, though she won't give exact numbers, and the "open rate" for her newsletter emails is more than double the industry average), but she also spoke quite a bit about mean online commenters on the Internet. One quote that's getting her some negative attention: "You come across [online comments] about yourself and about your friends, and it’s a very dehumanizing thing. It’s almost like how, in war, you go through this bloody, dehumanizing thing, and then something is defined out of it. My hope is, as we get out of it, we’ll reach the next level of conscience." The quote, of course, led to headlines like "Gwyneth Paltrow: Celebrities Who Have Dealt with Mean Internet Comments Are Almost Like War Veterans." (Even re/code acknowledged that Paltrow "compared the experience of living through vitriolic Internet commenters to surviving a war.") NBC News notes that her actual speech focused on the same themes, but her comparison there wasn't as dramatic: She said reading mean comments was like having "the scabs from your high-school wounds being ripped off on a daily basis." (Paltrow's last ill-advised comment had to do with working moms.)

Gwyneth Paltrow is the actress and founder of online lifestyle brand Goop. She said that anonymous commenters should take a look at themselves before they post. She compared the experience of living through vitriolic Internet commenters to surviving a war. “It’s taken me a long time to get to the point where I can see these things and not take it as a personal affront and a hurt,” she said. The conversation about celebrity and the Internet is part of a larger one about “containment and self-regulation” online.

CANNES, France — Harry Shearer is suing Vivendi’s Universal Music Group and Studiocanal for $125 million for allegedly fraudulent accounting of the music revenues from Rob Reiner’s 1984 film “This is Spinal Tap.” Shearer, who co-created and starred in the classic mockumentary, is seeking $125 million in compensatory and punitive damages. “This is Spinal Tap” follows the legendary British heavy metal band Spinal Tap as they organize a comeback tour. The spoof was created by Shearer, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Rob Reiner. Shearer, who co-wrote the soundtrack to the film, filed suit in the Central District Court of California on Tuesday over the alleged underpayment of music royalties. The lawsuit says that Vivendi reported only $98 in total income from soundtrack music sales between 1989 and 2006. As far as worldwide merchandising income, Vivendi reported only $81 between 1984 and 2006, the lawsuit says. Vivendi has “failed and refused, and continues to fail and refuse, to provide Plaintiff with proper and accurate accountings reflecting the amount of revenues derived from the distribution and exploitation of the Film and associated music and merchandise rights,” the complaint alleges. ||||| The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| Harry Shearer alleges parent company of Universal Music and StudioCanal withheld millions of dollars in profits owed to creators of rock mockumentary This is Spinal Tap star sues Vivendi for $125m in profits row This is Spinal Tap star Harry Shearer is suing Vivendi, the parent company of Universal Music and StudioCanal, alleging it has withheld millions of dollars in profits owed to the creators of the cult 80s rock mockumentary. Shearer, who co-wrote the film and soundtrack and starred as bassist Derek Smalls, has lodged the legal action at the Central District Court of California. Shearer, who has voiced 23 characters on The Simpsons including Ned Flanders and Mr Burns, is claiming $125m (£102m) in compensatory and punitive damages from the French conglomerate. Vivendi acquired the rights to This is Spinal Tap, through its subsidiary StudioCanal, in 1989. Shearer claims that since then, profits from This is Spinal Tap have not been fairly shared between its four creators, cast or crew. “This is a simple issue of artists’ rights,” said Shearer. “It is stunning that after all this time, two cinema releases, all the various home-video format releases, all the records and CDs, and all the band-themed merchandise still widely available worldwide, the only people who haven’t shared Spinal Tap’s success are those who formed the band and created the film in the first place.” Harry Shearer (@theharryshearer) I’m going up against @vivendi and @studiocanal to ensure #fairplayfairpay for the movie #SpinalTap - #fairnessrocks pic.twitter.com/fTG23OMbsW This is Spinal Tap was created by Shearer, Christopher Guest, who went on to co-write and direct dog competition mockumentary Best in Show, Rob Reiner and Michael McKean. The legal complaint alleges that between 1989 and 2006, Vivendi reported that the total income from soundtrack music sales was just $98.

– One of the makers of This Is Spinal Tap is suing entertainment group Vivendi, claiming the company is hiding millions from those who made the film possible. Harry Shearer—perhaps better known as the guy who voices dozens of Simpsons characters—co-created the 1984 film along with Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, and Christopher Guest and also co-wrote its soundtrack and starred as bassist Derek Smalls, reports Variety. He claims the four creators were promised 40% of net receipts from all sources of revenue, but he accuses Vivendi—which acquired the rights to the film in 1989—of a "concerted and fraudulent campaign to hide, or grossly underreport, the film's revenues in order to avoid its profit participation obligations," per the Guardian. In particular, Shearer, who is seeking $125 million, says Vivendi claimed just $98 from soundtrack sales between 1989 and 2006, and $81 from global merchandising income from 1984 to 2006. Vivendi has "failed and refused, and continues to fail and refuse, to provide [Shearer] with proper and accurate accountings reflecting the amount of revenues," reads the complaint filed at the Central District Court of California on Monday. "The only people who haven't shared Spinal Tap's success are those who formed the band and created the film in the first place," adds Shearer, noting his suit is "on behalf of all creators of popular films whose talent has not been fairly remunerated." Vivendi declined to comment, per the BBC.

Harry Shearer is suing Vivendi’s Universal Music Group and Studiocanal for $125m. Shearer, who co-created and starred in the classic mockumentary, is seeking $125 million. “This is Spinal Tap” follows the legendary British heavy metal band Spinal tap as they organize a comeback tour. The spoof was created by Shearer,. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Rob. Reiner. The lawsuit says that Vivendi reported only $98 in total income from soundtrack music sales between 1989 and 2006.

A plume of smoke emits from a fire that broke out at a Chevron oil refinery in Richmond, California August 6, 2012. A plume of smoke emits from a fire that broke out at a Chevron oil refinery in Richmond, California August 6, 2012. RICHMOND/HOUSTON (Reuters) - A massive fire struck at the core of Chevron Corp's large Richmond, California, refinery on Monday, spewing flames and a column of smoke into the air, threatening a prolonged outage that may increase prices of the costliest U.S. gasoline. The fire was contained, but not extinguished, according to the company. The fire has blazed for hours after it erupted at the refinery in a densely populated industrial suburb of San Francisco. Smoke could be seen billowing over the Bay Area and four train stations were shut. Nearby residents were ordered indoors after the fire hit the sole crude unit at the 245,000 barrel per day (bpd) plant, which accounts for one-eighth of California state's refining capacity. About 200 people have sought medical help, complaining of respiratory problems, the San Pablo, California-based Doctors Medical Center said in a statement. The fire had started in the No. 4 crude unit, the only one at the plant, at 6:15 p.m. shortly after a leak was discovered, Chevron said. As the leak grew, workers were evacuated, plant manager Nigel Hearn told journalists at the site. He said some units were still operating, but gave no details. It was not immediately clear when the fire would be put out and the extent of damage to the plant was not known. "I walked outside and saw what looked like a lot of steam coming out of Chevron, way more than usual. I thought they must have blown a boiler," said Ryan Lackay, a 45-year-old employee at a chemical plant next door to the refinery. "And then all of a sudden it just went whoosh, it ignited." Crude distillation units (CDUs) break down oil into feedstock for other units in a refinery. It can take months to repair a CDU at a large plant, during which operations are typically severely limited. Any lengthy disruption in production could affect the supply of fuel in the West Coast, particularly gasoline, due to the difficulty in meeting California's super-clean specifications. The region also has few immediate alternative supply sources. "Chevron will have a hard time finding replacement barrels in an already short market," said Bob van der Valk, a petroleum industry analyst in Terry, Montana. "Refineries are already drawing down summer blend inventory in anticipation of the switch back to winter blend gasoline." TOWERING FLAMES, BLACK SMOKE Residents of Richmond were advised to "shelter in place", an order often given during refinery accidents to shield against possible exposure to toxic chemicals or smoke. Sulfuric acid and nitrogen dioxide were released during the incident, according to a filing with the California Emergency Management Agency. The refinery, the third largest in California and among the oldest in the country, is key to the economy of Richmond, a declining industrial city. But it has stirred controversy among local

– Explosions tore through a Chevron oil refinery as it erupted in flames yesterday, driving toll takers from the Richmond Bridge and San Francisco Bay Area residents indoors. At least two fires were triggered when a diesel leak exploded at the Richmond refinery, one of the largest in the nation, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. There were no fatalities and no one was seriously injured. The plant was evacuated after workers spotted the leak. Minutes after the explosions, plant alarms alerted nearby residents to stay indoors with doors and windows shut to avoid breathing toxins in the air. Residents in all of Contra Costa County in the East Bay were being told to stay inside as hazmat trucks drove through streets taking air samples. Health officials, concerned about fumes from crude oil and diesel fuel, said that so far the winds seem to be carrying most of the smoke skyward. Dozens of people complaining about breathing problems headed to local emergency rooms. One patient with a burning throat and sore, itchy eyes, told the Chronicle: "They told me I'm not going to die, but it sure feels pretty serious." The fire was contained late last night as a crew of 60 firefighters battled the blaze with nitrogen and steam to keep it cool, but Chevron officials offered no estimate as to when the fire would be extinguished, NBC reports. The 1,200-worker refinery is Northern California's largest, the third biggest in the state, and is capable of processing more than 242,000 barrels of oil a day.

The fire was contained, but not extinguished, according to the company. The fire started in the No. 4 crude unit, the only one at the plant, Chevron said. The 245,000 barrel per day plant accounts for one-eighth of California state's refining capacity. About 200 people have sought medical help, complaining of respiratory problems, a hospital said. It is not immediately clear when the fire would be put out and the extent of damage to the plant was not known. The refinery, the third largest in California, is key to the economy of Richmond, a declining industrial city.

Los Angeles police are seeking two men in connection with the slaying of a 19-year-old Canadian woman who was stabbed to death in 1969, just a few miles from the most infamous of the Manson family killings. Sketches of the men were released Friday by the Los Angeles Police Department and are based on new information collected from a witness in Montreal. The drawings show how the men might have looked in 1969, when the body of the then-unidentified woman — stabbed 150 times in the upper torso and neck — was discovered by a child on Mulholland Drive, not far from the Benedict Canyon home where actress Sharon Tate and four others had been stabbed to death a few months earlier, in August 1969. The Canadian woman’s slaying has long been suspected of being tied to the Manson family murders, but as of April of this year, police still had no concrete evidence linking the killings. We believed that Reet was probably in search of more autonomy, and therefore we waited for her to get in touch with us. — Anne Jurvetson, sister of Reet, who was slain in 1969 Detectives began reinvestigating the killing in 2003, after a retired LAPD cold-case investigator turned up a DNA sample, said LAPD Det. Luis Rivera. That sample, along with photographs of the victim, led investigators to her sister, and eventually, a positive ID was made. Little was known about the young woman, Reet Jurvetson, after she traveled to Los Angeles in 1969. She came to meet a friend named “John or Jean,” Rivera said. She initially kept in sporadic touch with her family. As time passed without contact, her relatives became concerned, but they never filed a missing person’s report, he said. Her sister, Anne, the only remaining relative in Jurvetson’s immediate family, recently created a website to help solve her sister’s killing. She posted photos of Reet as a teenager: celebrating her church confirmation, lounging on a sofa, smiling in a family portrait. Handout An undated photo of Reet Jurvetson An undated photo of Reet Jurvetson (Handout) She describes the young woman as adventurous but naive, part of an Estonian refugee family who fled to Canada during World War II. “Attempts were made to reach her, but they proved fruitless,” she wrote. “Initially, we believed that Reet was probably in search of more autonomy, and therefore we waited for her to get in touch with us.” As years passed, Anne said, the family imagined her sister had made a new life for herself. No one suspected the young woman had been killed, she said. When Anne found out about her sister’s slaying, it was “devastating,” she wrote. The witness in Montreal provided new details in July about the friend named John or Jean. The witness remembers meeting Reet Jurvetson and the man at a cafe in Montreal, police said. The witness also provided information on an associate, a shorter man with a Beatles-type haircut who might also have been named Jean. Authorities said Friday that Anne Jurvetson had recently found a postcard

– The Los Angeles Police Department has released sketches of two men considered persons of interest in a 47-year-old murder possibly connected to the Manson family, the Los Angeles Times reports. According to People, Reet Jurvetson, 19, flew from Canada to LA in 1969 to see a man named Jean she met in a Montreal coffee shop. Weeks later, she was dead—stabbed 150 times. Jurvetson's body was found on Mulholland Drive, near where Sharon Tate and four others had been stabbed to death by the Manson family a few months earlier. One Manson prosecutor believes Jurvetson was killed because she witnessed another killing, but no solid evidence has ever tied her death to the Manson family. Jurvetson's family never filed a missing persons report, figuring she had started a new life in the US, and Jurvetson wasn't even identified until last April. Earlier this summer, a friend from Montreal called the LAPD. She remembered seeing Jurvetson with a man named Jean—and a second man named Jean—at a coffee shop. She helped police develop a sketch of the Jeans, who may have been roommates, and now detectives are looking for the pair. One LAPD investigator calls Jean "the best lead we have." Police also got another lead recently when they discovered where Jurvetson had been living in Hollywood before her death, CBC reports. While the apartment building has since been demolished, investigators are looking for anyone who used to live there. (The youngest member of the Manson family lost her bid for parole this summer.)

Sketches of the men were released Friday by the Los Angeles Police Department. They are based on new information collected from a witness in Montreal. The body of the then-unidentified woman was discovered by a child on Mulholland Drive. The 19-year-old was stabbed 150 times in the upper torso and neck. She was found a few miles from the Benedict Canyon home where actress Sharon Tate and four others had been stabbed to death a few months earlier, in August 1969, police say.

Scientists have long thought that the first flowering plant in history would be a land plant. Though a few angiosperms (the scientific name for flowering plants) around today occur in the water, most live on land, and it has been generally assumed that these types of plants evolved on terra firma before radiating back out into the water, says Indiana University paleobotanist David Dilcher. But that may not be the case. A paper published August 17 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has identified the oldest flowering plant found to date, an aquatic species fossilized in deposits in modern-day Spain. Dilcher and colleagues from France, Germany and Spain have shown that fossils of a plant known as Montsechia vidalii came on the scene between 130 million and 124 million years ago. It’s hypothesized that terrestrial angiosperm had already appeared at the time, although the current find predates any known terrestrial specimens. Montsechia also predates the oldest known angiosperm, Archaefructus, which came in 124.5 million years ago. O. Sanisidro, B.G., and V.D.G. / PNAS “Flowers are all about sex,” Dilcher says. The great advance of angiosperms was to co-opt the behavior of animals, getting them to carry their pollen to other individuals of their species (wind, of course, can also do the job). This creates more diverse offspring than does self-fertilization, regeneration or the production of asexual spores, which is, for example, how ferns reproduce. But another way to spread your seed, so to speak, is by using water currents, as Montsechia did. And “right at the start [of angiosperm evolution], this was another method that flowering plants were using for their genetic exchange,” Dilcher says. Modern-day descendants of Montsechia, known as Ceratophyllum, appear quite similar to their ancient descendants and are found in lakes on every continent. The six existing species release a pollen-containing sac called an anther, which floats to the surface and then ruptures to release pollen grains. These are then carried by currents and, if all goes well, fertilize primitive flowers in other Ceratophyllum plants. These plants lack roots and petals, and have simple, tiny flowers that contain a single seed, according to the study. “We don’t know, and it’s difficult to say, that this is the first flower in the world,” Dilcher says. (Though it is the oldest found to date.) These underwater plants almost certainly had a large, and underappreciated, role in the early and subsequent evolution of angiosperms, he adds. See all of the best photos of the week in these slideshows This study helps “to unravel the evolutionary and ecological events that accompanied the rise of flowering plants to global prominence,” writes Donald Les, a University of Connecticut expert in plant evolution who was not involved in the study, in a commentary in the same journal. ||||| The importance of very early aquatic flowering plants is not well understood currently and is poorly documented. Here we present details of the morphology and reproductive biology of Montsechia, an extremely early fossil angiosperm that, because it is so ancient and is totally aquatic,

– The world's oldest known flower dating back 130 million years is an aquatic species called Montsechia found fossilized in limestone deposits in Spain. But it wouldn't necessarily be recognized as a flower today, given it didn't boast petals or nectar-producing structures. "The fruit contains a single seed"—thus making it an angiosperm, or flowering plant—"which is borne upside down," says Indiana University paleobotanist David Dilcher, who with colleagues reports these findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The plant thrived in freshwater lakes in what are now Spain's mountainous regions, and while Phys.org reports that the fossils were first discovered more than 100 years ago, the ones used in this study were "poorly understood and even misinterpreted" when analyzed at earlier points, Dilcher says. One way to spread seed—which in angiosperms is typically done by getting other animals (think bees) or elements (think wind) to carry pollen to other members of the same species—is through water currents. In fact today's descendants of Montsechia, called Ceratophyllum, are found in lakes on every continent, and they behave similarly. "Flowers are all about sex,” Dilcher tells Newsweek. "Right at the start [of angiosperm evolution], this was another method that flowering plants were using for their genetic exchange." Whether Montsechia is the world's oldest flower has yet to be determined, but it is the oldest flower we have found to date, suggesting that angiosperms have their earliest roots in water instead of on land. (Michigan officials are warning about a plant that can blind you.)

Fossils of a plant known as Montsechia vidalii came on the scene between 130 million and 124 million years ago. The plant predates the oldest known angiosperm, Archaefructus, by 124.5 million years. Modern-day descendants of MontseChia, known as Ceratophyllum, appear quite similar to their ancient descendants. These plants lack roots and petals, and have simple, tiny flowers that contain a single seed. and are found in lakes on every continent.

HONOLULU (AP) — A 16-year-old boy stowed away in the wheel well of a flight from California to Hawaii on Sunday, surviving the trip halfway across the Pacific Ocean unharmed despite frigid temperatures at 38,000 feet and a lack of oxygen, FBI and airline officials said. File- This July 2, 2004, file photo shows a traveler walking from one terminal to another at San Jose Airport in San Jose, Calif. FBI officials say a 16-year-old boy stowed away in the wheel well of a... (Associated Press) FBI spokesman Tom Simon in Honolulu told The Associated Press on Sunday night that the boy was questioned by the FBI after being discovered on the tarmac at the Maui airport with no identification. "Kid's lucky to be alive," Simon said. Simon said security footage from the San Jose airport verified that the boy from Santa Clara, Calif., hopped a fence to get to Hawaiian Airlines Flight 45 on Sunday morning. The child had run away from his family after an argument, Simon said. Simon said when the flight landed in Maui, the boy hopped down from the wheel well and started wandering around the airport grounds. "He was unconscious for the lion's share of the flight," Simon said. The flight lasted about 5½ hours. Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman Alison Croyle said airline personnel noticed the boy on the ramp after the flight arrived and immediately notified airport security. "Our primary concern now is for the well-being of the boy, who is exceptionally lucky to have survived," Croyle said. Simon said the boy was medically screened and found to be unharmed. "Doesn't even remember the flight," Simon said. "It's amazing he survived that." His misadventure immediately raised security questions. A Congressman who serves on the Homeland Security committee wondered how the teen could have snuck onto the airfield at San Jose unnoticed. "I have long been concerned about security at our airport perimeters. #Stowaway teen demonstrates vulnerabilities that need to be addressed," tweeted Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat who represents the San Francisco Bay Area's eastern cities and suburbs. A Mineta San Jose International Airport spokeswoman said airport police were working with the FBI and the Transportation Security Agency to review security at the facility as part of an investigation. "Our concern is with this young boy and his family. Thank God he survived and we hope his health is OK," spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said. Officials at Kahului Airport referred questions to the State Department of Transportation, which did not return a phone call seeking comment. A Transportation Security Agency spokesman who declined to be named referred questions to the FBI and airport authorities. The boy was released to child protective services and not charged with a crime, Simon said. In August, a 13- or 14-year-old boy in Nigeria survived a 35-minute trip in the wheel well of a domestic flight after stowing away. Authorities credited the flight's short duration and altitude of about 25,000. Others stowing away in wheel wells have died, including a 16-year-old killed after stowing away aboard a flight from Charlotte, N.C., to

– A 16-year-old boy who stowed away in the wheel well of a plane after a fight with his family is incredibly lucky to be alive after the California-to-Hawaii flight, authorities say. The boy made it through the five-hour flight unharmed yesterday despite freezing temperatures at 38,000 feet and a lack of oxygen, the AP reports. An FBI spokesman says the boy was apparently unconscious for most of the flight and he was taken into custody after being found wandering around the grounds of the airport in a disoriented state. Security footage from the San Jose airport shows the boy hopping a fence before he climbed into the wheel well of the Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 767, the FBI says. "Our primary concern now is for the well-being of the boy, who is exceptionally lucky to have survived," an airline spokeswoman says. The boy, who has not been charged with any crime, is now in the hands of Hawaii Child Protective Services officials, reports Hawaii News Now. The BBC in 2012 noted that Dr. Stephen Veronneau, with the FAA, had documented 96 cases since 1947 of someone stowing away in a plane's wheel well; more than 75% of the cases ended in a fatality.

16-year-old boy stowed away in the wheel well of a flight from California to Hawaii. Boy survived the trip halfway across the Pacific Ocean unharmed. FBI: Boy was questioned by the FBI after being discovered on the tarmac at the Maui airport. "Kid's lucky to be alive," FBI spokesman Tom Simon in Honolulu said. The boy was released to child protective services and not charged with a crime, Simon said.. A Congressman who serves on the Homeland Security committee wondered how the teen could have snuck onto the airfield at San Jose.

Kim Jong-un saw the opportunity for maximum mischief offered by the most auspicious date in US history to launch a missile, literally and verbally It is fair to say that the reporter tasked with working Kim Jong-un’s comments into North Korea’s latest statement on Tuesday’s intercontinental ballistic missile test did their job with even more relish than usual. As taunts go, Kim’s comments, carried by the state KCNA news agency, raised the insult index several notches from Donald Trump’s suggestion a day earlier that his North Korean counterpart find a more productive use of his time than developing a nuclear deterrent. North Korea missile test a 'new threat to world', says US amid show of military force Read more The international response to the launch will only have inspired Kim to wring every last drop of propaganda value from the wave of opprobrium emanating from the White House and the Pentagon. His response was straight from the North Korean propaganda playbook – designed to both grab the world’s attention and remind his domestic audience that, five-and-a-half years after his coronation following the sudden death of his father, Kim Jong-il, he has dramatically strengthened his country’s hand. While Trump’s secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, attempted to galvanise world opinion, the KCNA’s description of Kim “feasting his eyes” on the ICBM and breaking into a “broad smile” – complete with photos of him punching the air in the company of delirious generals – would not have been out of place had he been attending an inter-Korean football match, with the North 3-0 up with only minutes on the clock. Facebook Twitter Pinterest North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reacts during the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic missile. Photograph: KCNA/Reuters Just as significant anniversaries in the North Korean calendar provide opportunities for the Kim dynasty to burnish its reputation at home, Kim was canny enough to spy the opportunity for maximum mischief offered by the most auspicious date in US history. According to KCNA, he described the ICBM as a gift for the “American bastards” as they celebrated the anniversary of their country’s independence. Kim did not stop there, blithely urging his nuclear scientists to “frequently send big and small ‘gift packages’ to the Yankees” in the form of yet more missile and nuclear tests. After inspecting the Hwasong-14 missile, he “expressed satisfaction, saying it looked as handsome as a good-looking boy and was well made”. This, of course, was the potentially game-changing development in North Korea’s brinkmanship with the US that Trump vowed would never happen. But with a succession of high-level – and occasionally brutal – purges of would-be challengers at home, experts say Kim is now more closely associated with North Korean military might than his father or grandfather, the country’s founder Kim Il-sung. “Kim Jong-il’s legacy was mixed – he let the army run the country for 10 years because he was afraid of a coup,” said Robert Kelly, a North Korea expert at Pusan National University. “Kim Jong-un has tied himself to the success of the nuclear programme, which is why denuclearisation

– North Korea's first successful launch of an ICBM has shocked the world—and caused some gloating in Pyongyang. North Korea's KCNA news agency quoted Kim Jong Un as saying "American bastards would be not very happy with this gift sent on the July 4 anniversary," the Guardian reports. The agency said Kim, who has vowed not to give up the country's nuclear program, urged his nuclear scientists to "frequently send big and small 'gift packages' to the Yankees." According to KCNA, the missile North Korea launched Tuesday is capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead. The latest: The US and South Korea responded to the launch with a joint ballistic missile exercise in the Sea of Japan on Tuesday, reports the BBC. The two countries warned that "self-restraint" was "all that separated armistice and war." The US vowed to take tougher measures on North Korea, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling for global action, reports Reuters. "All nations should publicly demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences to their pursuit of nuclear weapons," he said. The United Nations Security Council will hold a meeting on the issue Wednesday. The New York Times looks at the different options President Trump can proceed with, and finds that they are "few and risky." One option that China and Russia agree on involves Pyongyang suspending its nuclear weapons program in return for the US suspending joint military exercises with South Korea. The launch of an ICBM has long been seen as a "red line," though analysts believe Pyongyang may still be years away from having long-range nuclear capability, the AP reports. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former commanding officer of the British Armed Forces Joint Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Regiment, says "in capability of missile terms and delivery, it is a major step up and they seem to be making progress week-on-week," but "actually marrying the warhead to the missile is probably the biggest challenge, which they appear not to have progressed on." The Los Angeles Times reports that the ICBM launch wasn't a huge surprise for some analysts, who observed that North Korea had two mysterious launch failures at the same facility last fall. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation looks at just how far the North Korean ICBM could go. Experts believe Alaska and possibly some America's Pacific bases are now in range, as is northern Australia.

Kim Jong-un saw the opportunity for maximum mischief offered by the most auspicious date in US history to launch a missile, literally and verbally. The international response to the launch will only have inspired Kim to wring every last drop of propaganda value from the wave of opprobrium emanating from the White House and the Pentagon. His response was designed to both grab the world’s attention and remind his domestic audience that, five-and-a-half years after his coronation following the sudden death of his father, Kim Jong-il, he has dramatically strengthened his country's hand.

The Seychelles, where the U.S. had temporarily stationed MQ-9s under the operational authority of U.S. Africa Command, now houses a base where a small fleet of “hunter-killer” drones resumed operations this month. (U.S. Africa Command/Major Eric Hilliard) The Obama administration is assembling a constellation of secret drone bases for counterterrorism operations in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as part of a newly aggressive campaign to attack al-Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, U.S. officials said. One of the installations is being established in Ethi­o­pia, a U.S. ally in the fight against al-Shabab, the Somali militant group that controls much of that country. Another base is in the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, where a small fleet of “hunter-killer” drones resumed operations this month after an experimental mission demonstrated that the unmanned aircraft could effectively patrol Somalia from there. The U.S. military also has flown drones over Somalia and Yemen from bases in Djibouti, a tiny African nation at the junction of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In addition, the CIA is building a secret airstrip in the Arabian Peninsula so it can deploy armed drones over Yemen. The rapid expansion of the undeclared drone wars is a reflection of the growing alarm with which U.S. officials view the activities of al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, even as al-Qaeda’s core leadership in Pakistan has been weakened by U.S. counterterrorism operations. The U.S. government is known to have used drones to carry out lethal attacks in at least six countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. The negotiations that preceded the establishment of the base in the Republic of Seychelles illustrate the efforts the United States is making to broaden the range of its drone weapons. The island nation of 85,000 people has hosted a small fleet of MQ-9 Reaper drones operated by the U.S. Navy and Air Force since September 2009. U.S. and Seychellois officials have previously acknowledged the drones’ presence but have said that their primary mission was to track pirates in regional waters. But classified U.S. diplomatic cables show that the unmanned aircraft have also conducted counterterrorism missions over Somalia, about 800 miles to the northwest. The cables, obtained by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, reveal that U.S. officials asked leaders in the Seychelles to keep the counterterrorism missions secret. The Reapers are described by the military as “hunter-killer” drones because they can be equipped with Hellfire missiles and satellite-guided bombs. To allay concerns among islanders, U.S. officials said they had no plans to arm the Reapers when the mission was announced two years ago. The cables show, however, that U.S. officials were thinking about weaponizing the drones. During a meeting with Seychelles President James Michel on Sept. 18, 2009, American diplomats said the U.S. government “would seek discrete [sic], specific discussions . . . to gain approval” to arm the Reapers “should the desire to do so ever arise,” according to a cable summarizing the meeting. Michel concurred, but asked U.S. officials to approach him exclusively for permission “and not anyone

– The Obama administration is creating an expanded network of drone bases in Africa, which officials say will help the US target Islamic militants in Somalia and Yemen. A new drone base is being built in Ethiopia, and the US is already deploying drones over Somalia and Yemen from its base in Djibouti, reports the Washington Post. A drone base in the Seychelles will be used to target Islamic militant groups, as well as pirates that plague the Indian Ocean island nation. Reaper drones deployed from the Seychelles—but controlled from bases in the US—can be configured for both surveillance and strike missions, say officials, who warn that militant groups in Africa are showing a new level of co-operation among themselves. "We do not know enough about the leaders of the al-Qaeda affiliates in Africa," a senior US official tells the Wall Street Journal. "Is there a guy out there saying, 'I am the future of al Qaeda?' Who is the next Osama bin Laden?"

The Obama administration is assembling a constellation of secret drone bases for counterterrorism operations. One of the installations is being established in Ethi­o­pia, a U.S. ally in the fight against al-Shabab. Another base is in the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The rapid expansion of the undeclared drone wars is a reflection of the growing alarm over the activities of al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia. The U.K. government is known to have used drones to carry out lethal attacks in at least six countries.

Culture And Criticism In Slight Defense Of Miss Utah USA, A Little Bit, With Reservations i i itoggle caption Ethan Miller/Getty Images Ethan Miller/Getty Images Look, Miss Utah USA, Marissa Powell, gave a pretty unimpressive answer to a question about income inequality at the Miss USA pageant. Let's all agree on that. But what, exactly, did the circumstances call for? She was asked — by NeNe Leakes, who first became famous on The Real Housewives Of Atlanta before warring with Star Jones on The Celebrity Apprentice and is therefore exactly the person to whom we would entrust interrogations on major policy issues — the following question: "A recent report shows that in 40 percent of American families with children, women are the primary earners, yet they continue to earn less than men. What does this say about society?" Not to put too fine a point on it, what kind of a simultaneously (1) dumb and (2) impossible to answer question is that? First of all, it's three questions rolled into one — what does it say that in 40 percent of homes, women are the primary earners, or what does it say that women earn less than men, or what does it say that we allow these two facts to coexist? Second of all, "What does this say about society?" Really? Not "What kinds of help do families need to make ends meet?" or something with at least some policy meat on the bones, but "What does this say about society?" Asked by NeNe Leakes? While you're standing next to Giuliana Rancic, whose other job involves making people walk their fingernails down a tiny, hand-sized red carpet? What would have been a good answer to this question that could have been delivered in the time frame she had? I think about this kind of stuff a lot. I've studied it. I've had about 20 years longer than Miss Utah USA to think about it. I have no idea what I would have said if someone had asked me such a moronic question on live television. This isn't the kind of question that actually tests what you know; it's basically a test of your ability to generate cow patties on command. Have you ever seen the part of Miss Congeniality where they all say "world peace" and receive polite applause? The entire reason it's funny when Sandra Bullock says, "That would be harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan," is that she's not supposed to say anything substantive based on her experience. She's supposed to say "world peace." These dumb questions aren't intended to actually see whether you're smart or not. Miss Utah USA might be smart and she might not be, but the last thing I'd use to guess at whether she's smart is whether she can answer this kind of question "correctly." Because "correctly" here just means smoothly, expertly, without hesitation or stammering. Had she said, "What it says is that we live in the greatest country in the world, and every day I get up and thank my lucky stars that

– Miss Utah got to go on the Today show this morning for a second crack at the question that she flubbed at the recent Miss USA pageant. This time around, Marissa Powell gave a far more polished response, which KSL.com has in more detail. Good for her, but the next time this happens to a pageant contestant, and it surely will, just remember that these questions test not intelligence but the "ability to generate cow patties on demand," writes Linda Holmes at NPR. Holmes breaks down the original question—"A recent report shows that in 40% of American families with children, women are the primary earners, yet they continue to earn less than men. What does this say about society?"—and finds it to be simultaneously "dumb" and "impossible to answer." She's studied family and gender issues for years and has no idea how she would have responded. Powell could have blathered some vapid answer, but as long as she did so smoothly, it would have drawn no attention. "She's not in the news for being dumb; she's in the news for being bad at spontaneous but convincing balderdash manufacturing." Click for the full column.

Miss Utah USA gave an unimpressive answer to a question about income inequality. John Sutter: What kind of a simultaneously dumb and impossible to answer question is that? He says this isn't a question that actually tests what you know; it's a test of your ability to generate cow patties on command.Sutter: Miss Utah USA might be smart and she might not be, but the last thing I'd use at whether she's smart is whether she can answer this kind of question "correctly"

The Grateful Dead with Trey Anastasio, Jeff Chimenti and Bruce Hornsby 3 Day Pass Tickets (July 3-5) Sell for this event Set Price Alert Go with friends Add to wishlist Important event information Compare tickets from these sellers The Grateful Dead with Trey Anastasio, Jeff Chimenti and Bruce Hornsby 3 Day Pass Tickets (July 3-5) Your listings will no longer be selected You cannot select listings on multiple pages. If you continue, your selections will be cleared. We don't have seating information for this venue just yet. The easiest way to get the gang together! Send invites, get responses, and know everyone's RSVP status with Go Together - the best way to organize a group event on StubHub! Send invites, get responses, and know everyone's RSVP status with Go Together - the best way to organize a group event on StubHub! Looking to get the gang together? Send invites, get responses, and know everyone's RSVP status with Go Together - the best way to organize an event on StubHub! Click 'Go with friends' to get started! OK Add this event to your public wishlist and share it with your friends. ||||| The Grateful Dead's Fare Thee Well show has sold out in minutes, but Deadheads with deep pockets are still in with a chance. Stubhub is offering tickets for the three-day show with a top-price at $116,000 (and change), down to the "cheap-seats" at a touch under $1,350. According to various news outlets, a million dollar ticket was posted on Stubhub, the largest secondary ticket marketplace, but that the offer is no longer online. The farewell event, set for Chicago's Soldier Field July 3-5, has officially sold-out at about 210,000. Requests for tickets are believed to be in the millions, Billboard reported, and nearly 500,000 were online waiting to purchase tickets when the "box office" opened at 10 a.m. The Grateful Dead with Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio will perform in a 360-degree configuration, allowing the venue to be filled to maximum capacity. When the onsale started, tickets were priced from $59.50 to $199.50 per day, with capacity at 70,000 per day. The shows are produced by Peter Shapiro, 42, in association with AEG-owned Madison House Presents. First broken on Billboard.com Jan. 16, Fare thee Well will feature Anastasio joining original members of the Grateful Dead -- the "core four" of Bob Weir; Phil Lesh; Mickey Hart; and Bill Kreutzmann -- for these three 50th-anniversary shows.

– The "core four" original members of the Grateful Dead are reuniting for a three-day 50th anniversary show in Chicago, and let's just say people really, really want to see it. The farewell show, appropriately titled Fare Thee Well, sold out, but tickets are being sold on the secondary market for as much as $116,000 each. Even the least-expensive tickets are around $1,350, Billboard reports, and CNN notes that some of those have an obstructed view. Soldier Field, where the July 3-5 event is being held, seats about 70,000; the original ticket prices ranged from $59.50 to $199.50 per day. Phish frontman Trey Anastasio will be taking over for the late Jerry Garcia.

Stubhub is offering tickets for the three-day show with a top-price at $116,000 (and change), down to the "cheap-seats" at a touch under $1,350. The farewell event, set for Chicago's Soldier Field July 3-5, has officially sold-out at about 210,000. The Grateful Dead with Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio will perform in a 360-degree configuration.

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. ||||| Snoozing Fan Claims ESPN Defamed Him BRONX, N.Y. (CN) - A baseball fan who dozed off during a Yankee-Red Sox game sued the Yankees, ESPN and its announcers for defamation, claiming they broadcast photos of him asleep in his chair, calling him "fatty, unintelligent, [and] stupid." Andrew Robert Rector sued Major League Baseball Advanced Media, ESPN New York, the New York Yankees, and ESPN announcers Dan Shulman and John Kruk, in Bronx County Supreme Court. He demands $10 million in damages for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Rector claims he was filmed, and defamed, at the April 13 game between the Yankees and Red Sox, at Yankee Stadium. "In the course of watching the game plaintiff napped and this opened unending verbal crusade against the napping plaintiff," the complaint states. ESPN focused its cameras on him, Rector says, and then "Announcers like Dan Shulman and John Kruck unleashed avalanche of disparaging words against the person of and concerning the plaintiff. These words, include but not limited to 'stupor, fatty, unintelligent, stupid' knowing and intending the same to be heard and listened to by millions of people all over the world ..." The writing style of the lawsuit is idiosyncratic. Quotations in this article are as in the complaint. It states: "The defendant Major league Baseball continually repeated these vituperative utterances against the plaintiff on the major league baseball web site the next day. These words and its insinuations presented the plaintiff as symbol of anything but failure. "The defendant MLB.Com continued the onslaught to a point of comparing the plaintiff to someone of a confused state of mind, disgusted disgruntled and unintelligent and probably intellectually bankrupt individual. "Nothing triggered all these assertions only that the plaintiff briefly slept off while watching the great game something or circumstance any one can easily found them self. "John Krock in his verbal attack insinuated that the plaintiff is individual that know neither history nor understood the beauty or rivalry between Boston Red Sox and New York Yankee. "These unmitigated verbal onslaughts crossed the line between reporting on sport and abuse against the plaintiff without reasonable cause or restraint ..." Rector claims the commentary and photos showed him in a false light, damaged his reputation, and the fact that he was napping was not an issue of legitimate public concern. He claims that the defendants "negligently or maliciously published false, defamatory statement of fact about the plaintiff, a private individual. The false statements include but are not limited to: "Plaintiff is unintelligent and stupid individual. "Plaintiff is not worthy to be fan of the New York Yankee. "Plaintiff is a fatty cow that need two seats at all time and represent symbol of failure. "Plaintiff is a confused disgusted and socially bankrupt individual. "Plaintiff is confused individual that neither understands nor knows anything about history and the meaning of rivalry between Red

– There's no napping in baseball. When 26-year-old Yankees fan Andrew Rector fell asleep during a game against the Red Sox on April 13, an ESPN cameraman lingered on his snoozing face and two announcers launched into a diatribe that included the words "stupor, stupid, fatty, and unintelligent"—that according to a $10 million lawsuit Rector filed last Thursday against the Yankees, Major League Baseball, ESPN, and the two announcers, John Kruk and Dan Shulman, claiming defamation and "intentional infliction of emotional distress," reports Courthouse News Service. The New York Times points out that Shulman and Kruk said no such words in the clip (Shulman did, however, call him "oblivious"), though it's unclear whether they commented on the 4th-inning nap later. Rector's complaint is filled with misspellings and odd turns of phrases (Courthouse News calls the writing style "idiosyncratic"). An example, from paragraph 14, published on The Smoking Gun: "John Kruck [sic] in his verbal attack insinuated that the plaintiff is an individual that know neither history nor understood the beauty or rivalry between Boston Red Sox and New York Yankee." In his suit, Rector argues that the defendants presented false facts about him, including, "Plaintiff is not worthy to be fan of the New York Yankee," and, more colorfully, "Plaintiff is a fatty cow that need two seats at all time and represent symbol of failure." Rector's mother tells the Times the aftermath has been so bad he's had to miss work. (Another colorful NYC suit: A man in May sued for every penny on Earth, and then some.)

Andrew Robert Rector claims he was filmed, and defamed, at the April 13 game. He demands $10 million in damages for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Rector says ESPN focused its cameras on him, then announcers unleashed avalanche of disparaging words. "These unmitigated verbal onslaughts crossed the line between reporting on sport and abuse against the plaintiff," he says in the complaint. "Nothing triggered all these assertions only that the plaintiff briefly slept off while watching the great game," the complaint says.

Democrats pounced Thursday on politically inartful comments by Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.), who told constituents that his $174,000 salary is nothing to write home about. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee hammered Southerland for statements he made during a visit to a retirement community in his Tallahassee-area district, in which he suggested his congressional salary was not worth the safety risks in the wake of the shooting that gravely injured Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in January. Text Size - + reset POLITICO 44 The DCCC response noted that Southerland’s salary is four times a local police officer’s take. “It’s unbelievable how far out of touch Rep. Steve Southerland is with Florida families if he thinks his $174,000 salary is not so much,” DCCC spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement. “While he’s complaining about only making $174,000, his constituents are struggling to put food on the table, keep a roof over their head or find a job.” “And by the way, did I mention? They’re shooting at us. There is law-enforcement security in this room right now, and why is that?” Southerland said Wednesday, according to The Tallahassee Democrat. Southerland reportedly painted his salary as small compensation considering he had to cut ties with his family business and that, he said, there’s no free health insurance. “If you think this job pays too much, with those kinds of risks and cutting me off from my family business, I’ll just tell you: This job don’t mean that much to me. I had a good life in Panama City,” Southerland said, according to the newspaper. In a statement to POLITICO, Southerland said his remarks had been misinterpreted and that “other than the successes of my marriage and my family, serving the people of North and Northwest Florida has been one of the greatest honors of my life.” “The folks who were in the room with me in Tallahassee on Wednesday understand the full context of the statements I made,” he said. “In the course of yesterday’s conversation, I explained in a transparent fashion how members of Congress are compensated, along with some of the unexpected events that can occur in the course of our work.” Southerland won the Tallahasse-centered district by unseating Democrat Allen Boyd last year. It’s currently a GOP-leaning district, but may get slightly more competitive under Florida’s yet-to-be-drawn redistricting plan. Florida’s redistricting won’t be completed until next year. Former Republican state Sen. Nancy Argenziano had announced that she would run for the seat as a Democrat, but a state elections board said she cannot because she was registered with a different party for a year before the period when candidates qualify for the ballot. Florida state Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith told POLITICO there’s an easy fix if Southerland misses his life before he was elected to Congress. “There’s one thing we agree on: He should return to his good life in Panama City,” Smith said. ||||| U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland told retirees Wednesday that serving in Congress is a great honor and privilege, but not cushy job with lavish insurance and

– A freshman GOP rep from Florida is taking some heat after suggesting his salary isn't worth the dangers of his job in the wake of Gabrielle Giffords' shooting, the loss of income from his family business, and the lack of free health care. “They’re shooting at us. There is law-enforcement security in this room right now, and why is that?” Rep. Steve Southerland asked a town hall meeting Wednesday, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. “If you think this job pays too much, with those kinds of risks, I’ll just tell you: This job don’t mean that much to me. I had a good life in Panama City.” Democrats are inviting him to go back there, with the DCCC pointing out that Southerland makes four times what a police officer in his district makes. “It’s unbelievable how far out of touch Rep. Steve Southerland is with Florida families if he thinks his $174,000 salary is not so much,” said a Democratic spokesman. Southerland tells Politico that his words were taken out of context and clarified that his job in Congress is “one of the greatest honors of my life.”

Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) told constituents that his $174,000 salary is nothing to write home about. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee hammered him for statements he made during a visit to a retirement community in his Tallahassee-area district. “It’s unbelievable how far out of touch Rep. SteveSoutherland is with Florida families,” DCCC spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement. ‘This job don’t mean that much to me. I had a good life in Panama City,’ he reportedly said.

HARTFORD — The first round of state testing into failing home foundations in northern and eastern Connecticut has concluded that the presence of a certain mineral in the concrete aggregate is at least partly to blame. "Although [the] investigation will continue into the fall, we believe there is now sufficient evidence to conclude that significant levels of the mineral pyrrhotite in stone aggregate used in the production of concrete is a substantial contributing factor to the crumbling foundations," state Attorney General George Jepsen said in a written statement. The early finding was announced Monday afternoon in a news release from Jepsen and the state Department of Consumer Protection. In addition, the agencies said they reached an agreement with J.J. Mottes Co. of Stafford Springs to discontinue using or selling aggregate from Becker's Quarry in Willington for residential foundations until June 30, 2017. The agreement also applies to Becker's Construction, another business in the family. Mottes' concrete has been cited in lawsuits filed by homeowners with faulty foundations. The agreement does not apply to commercial foundations. "Because the aggregate produced by Becker's Quarry and the concrete made from it may contain pyrrhotite in significant levels, caution dictates that concrete products and ingredients from these companies be removed from the residential construction market until our investigation is complete," Jepsen said. DCP Commissioner Jonathan A. Harris said pyrrhotite is a "common denominator" in their investigation. Pyrrhotite is a naturally occurring iron sulfide mineral that reacts with oxygen and deteriorates over time. The mineral was also cited in a widespread problem in Quebec as the mineral that produces cracks in concrete. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told The Canadian Press that "the mineral destroys foundations and causes serious problems in the structures of houses." The state said that it would continue searching for other factors that might have contributed to the foundation problems and that no finding of legal violations had been made to this point. "We have the responsibility to determine whether there is a responsibility by any party under the Unfair Trade Practices Act … we'll be looking at potential solutions that can be used by the policymakers to determine what options homeowners might have," Harris said. Stone aggregate is crushed stone, sand and/or gravel that when mixed with cement, water and occasionally other additives, makes concrete. John Patton, Mottes company spokesman, said Monday that the agreement to temporarily stop using Becker's Quarry was "a good-faith measure and with the goal of finding answers homeowners deserve." "We continue to believe this is an issue of improper installation and not materials — findings which were proven in our only Connecticut court case involving a failed foundation … and we have always cooperated with the state and will continue to do so in the hope of finding sustainable and meaningful solutions for the homeowners and future homeowners," Patton said in a written statement. Harris said the suspension of activity at the Mottes and Becker businesses will give the state time to find solutions for homeowners and conclude the investigation. "It covers this construction season and a good

– Around 1995, Linda and Robert Tofolowsky noticed the walls of the basement in their Connecticut home cracking. Their foundation had developed severe fissures, and they soon discovered other homes in the area with the same issue. Their insurance claim was denied, they got no help from the town or the state, and they lost their lawsuit against JJ Mottes, the company that installed the concrete for the foundation. In a 2001 complaint the couple filed with the Consumer Protection Department, Linda wrote that the issue needed to be made public "so that maybe someone else will not lose their biggest investment, their home." The couple ended up being just the first of hundreds of homeowners in the state whose foundations are crumbling, causing their houses to slowly collapse. "When you’re told your home is now worthless and your biggest investment is now worthless, it’s devastating," one such homeowner tells the New York Times. As the Times points out, state officials were warned about the problem by more than just the Tofolowskys in the early 2000s, and in 2003, lawmakers met with the CPD, representatives from the attorney general's office, and homeowners about the issue—but did nothing. In July 2015, WVIT did an investigative report on the foundations, prompting state officials to open an inquiry. They recently announced that the problem is at least partially caused by high levels of pyrrhotite (a mineral that can cause swelling and cracking when mixed with water) from aggregate in a local quarry used in JJ Mottes' concrete, the Hartford Courant reported last month; a spokesperson for JJ Mottes blames contractors who improperly added water to wet concrete so it would pour faster. Officials are taking steps to help homeowners, but none of those steps do much to subsidize their costs, and WVIT notes that insurance companies are only settling with some homeowners and only after "long legal battles."

Pyrrhotite is a naturally occurring iron sulfide mineral that reacts with oxygen. The mineral was also cited in a widespread problem in Quebec as the mineral that produces cracks in concrete. J.J. Mottes Co. of Stafford Springs to discontinue using or selling aggregate from Becker's Quarry in Willington. The agreement also applies to Becker's Construction, another business in the family. The state said that it would continue searching for other factors that might have contributed to the foundation problems.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Kurt Busch will miss the Daytona 500, and finds himself once again fighting for his career. Kurt Busch, right, talks with his crew chief Tony Gibson, left, in his garage during a practice session for the Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday,... (Associated Press) A window outside driver Kurt Busch's garage stall shows a reference to NFL player Ray Rice written by a spectator at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Friday, Feb. 20, 2015. In a... (Associated Press) FILE - In this May 17, 2014 file photo, Kurt Busch, left, walks with his girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, after arriving for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord,... (Associated Press) Driver Kurt Busch, left, gives his girlfriend Ashley Van Metre a kiss before getting in his car during qualifying for the Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway,... (Associated Press) Busch was suspended by NASCAR indefinitely Friday after a judge said the 2004 former champion almost surely choked and beat a former girlfriend last fall and there was a "substantial likelihood" of more domestic violence from him in the future. The suspension came two days before the season-opening Daytona 500, and Busch immediately said he'd appeal. Although an appeal can be heard as early as Saturday, Stewart-Haas Racing has already decided to use Regan Smith in the Daytona 500. The move to Smith by SHR, perhaps spurred by Chevrolet's decision to suspend its affiliation with Busch on Friday, is a blow to the Busch camp. "We ask everyone's patience as this case continues in the court of law and are confident that when the truth is known Mr. Busch will be fully vindicated and back in the driver's seat," Busch attorney Rusty Hardin said in a statement, adding the assault allegation has led to "a travesty of justice" that will become clear as Busch continues to defend himself. Busch is the first driver suspended by NASCAR for domestic violence. Chairman Brian France had maintained the series would let the process play out before ruling on Busch's eligibility — and the series came down hard in finding that he committed actions detrimental to stock car racing and broke the series' behavioral rules. Travis Kvapil, who qualified second for Friday night's Truck Series race, was arrested and charged with assault of his wife in 2013. NASCAR took no action against Kvapil. But it's a different time in sports since former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice's own case of domestic violence forced leagues to take a harsh stance against participants accused of assault. After the suspension was announced, on the glass outside of Busch's garage stall at Daytona, someone had scrawled in black marker "#41 Ray Rice." Busch drives the No. 41 Chevrolet. In a 25-page opinion explaining why he issued the no-contact order this week, Family Court Commissioner David Jones of Delaware concluded that it was more likely than not that Busch abused Patricia Driscoll by "manually strangling" her and smashing

– One of NASCAR's biggest races runs tomorrow, but one of NASCAR's biggest names will not be there when the Daytona 500 begins. The sport suspended Kurt Busch indefinitely yesterday over allegations that he beat and choked his then-girlfriend last fall, reports ESPN. The move came after a Family Court judge in Delaware concluded that Busch likely abused Patricia Driscoll, "manually strangling" her and causing her head to slam against a wall. What's more, he wrote that there was a "substantial likelihood" of more domestic violence from Busch. The judge cited Busch's "propensity to lose control of his behavior and act out violently in response to stressful, disappointing and/or frustrating situations involving his racing," reports the News Journal. The ruling didn't come in a criminal trial but in a civil proceeding in which the judge awarded Driscoll an order of protection from Busch. He has denied the allegations and is appealing the NASCAR suspension. The alleged assault remains the subject of a separate criminal investigation, reports AP. (At a court hearing last month, Busch said Driscoll is a trained assassin.)

Kurt Busch was suspended by NASCAR indefinitely Friday after a judge said the 2004 former champion almost surely choked and beat a former girlfriend last fall. The suspension came two days before the season-opening Daytona 500, and Busch immediately said he'd appeal. Stewart-Haas Racing has already decided to use Regan Smith in the Daytona 500. The move to Smith by SHR by Chevrolet, perhaps spurred by Chevrolet's decision to suspend its affiliation with Busch on Friday, is a blow to the Busch camp.

THIS IS THE ORIGINAL POST MARCH 14 THAT IS LINKED IN MANY PLACES... FOR MORE RECENT POSTINGS GO TO THE TOP OF MY GOOGLE + PAGE. MH370 A different point of view. Pulau Langkawi 13,000 runway. A lot of speculation about MH370. Terrorism, hijack, meteors. I cannot believe the analysis on CNN - almost disturbing. I tend to look for a more simple explanation of this event. Loaded 777 departs midnight from Kuala to Beijing. Hot night. Heavy aircraft. About an hour out across the gulf towards Vietnam the plane goes dark meaning the transponder goes off and secondary radar tracking goes off. Two days later we hear of reports that Malaysian military radar (which is a primary radar meaning the plane is being tracked by reflection rather than by transponder interrogation response) has tracked the plane on a southwesterly course back across the Malay Peninsula into the straits of Malacca. When I heard this I immediately brought up Google Earth and I searched for airports in proximity to the track towards southwest. The left turn is the key here. This was a very experienced senior Captain with 18,000 hours. Maybe some of the younger pilots interviewed on CNN didn't pick up on this left turn. We old pilots were always drilled to always know the closest airport of safe harbor while in cruise. Airports behind us, airports abeam us and airports ahead of us. Always in our head. Always. Because if something happens you don't want to be thinking what are you going to do - you already know what you are going to do. Instinctively when I saw that left turn with a direct heading I knew he was heading for an airport. Actually he was taking a direct route to Palau Langkawi a 13,000 foot strip with an approach over water at night with no obstacles. He did not turn back to Kuala Lampur because he knew he had 8,000 foot ridges to cross. He knew the terrain was friendlier towards Langkawi and also a shorter distance. Take a look on Google Earth at this airport. This pilot did all the right things. He was confronted by some major event onboard that made him make that immediate turn back to the closest safe airport. For me the loss of transponders and communications makes perfect sense if a fire. There was most likely a fire or electrical fire. In the case of fire the first response if to pull all the main busses and restore circuits one by one until you have isolated the bad one. If they pulled the busses the plane indeed would go silent. It was probably a serious event and they simply were occupied with controlling the plane and trying to fight the fire. Aviate, Navigate and lastly communicate. There are two types of fires. Electrical might not be as fast and furious and there might or might not be incapacitating smoke. However there is the possibility given the timeline that perhaps there was an overheat on one of the front landing gear tires and it

– A veteran pilot's theory about what happened to Flight 370 dazzled the Internet yesterday, but aviation writer Jeff Wise is poking holes in it today at Slate. If you missed it, pilot Chris Goodfellow speculated at Google Plus that a fire aboard the missing Malaysian jet caused its disappearance. The pilots went off course deliberately to reach the nearest airport—on the island of Langkawi—but the smoke got to them before they could land, and the plane kept flying on its own over the ocean until it crashed. A world desperate for answers soaked it up, but Wise says the theory doesn't hold up when other facts about Flight 370 are considered. Specifically: "While it’s true that MH370 did turn toward Langkawi and wound up overflying it, whoever was at the controls continued to maneuver after that point as well," writes Wise. One subsequent waypoint picked up a sharp right turn and another a left turn. "Such vigorous navigating would have been impossible for unconscious men." A final electronic ping picked up from the plane put it on one of two paths, one over central Asia as far as Kazakhstan and the other out over the Indian Ocean. "As MH370 flew from its original course toward Langkawi, it was headed toward neither," writes Wise. "Without human intervention—which would go against Goodfellow’s theory—it simply could not have reached the position we know it attained" at 8:11am on March 8, the time of that last ping. The bottom line is that "Goodfellow's theory falls apart," writes Wise. Click for his full column. Or to read about how files are missing from the senior pilot's flight-simulator system.

CNN analysis of MH370 is almost disturbing. I tend to look for a more simple explanation of this event. The left turn is the key here. This was a very experienced senior Captain with 18,000 hours. He was confronted by some major event onboard that made him make that immediate turn back to the closest safe airport. For me the loss of transponders and communications makes perfect sense if a fire. There was most likely a fire or electrical fire. In the case of fire the first response if to pull all the main busses and restore circuits one by one until you have isolated the bad one. It was probably a serious event and they simply were occupied with controlling the plane.

The White House has issued a clarification. When the president said if you like your insurance plan you can keep it, what he meant was you can keep it if he likes it. Hundreds of thousands of Americans who are getting policy cancellation notices this month can't be as surprised as they pretend to be. President Obama made it clear at his 2010... ||||| Senator Ted Cruz (Reuters/Jim Bourg) Foes of Obamacare are excitedly citing a rash of new stories claiming untold Americans are “losing” their insurance, as CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell puts it. One of them is this NBC News story, which reports that “millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years.” Critics of the law are right to ask whether it is having an adverse impact on these millions of Americans. And the White House could have been clearer in laying the groundwork for this political argument: It wasn’t sufficient to say people who like their plans will be able to keep it, which is narrowly untrue. But the GOP outrage about Americans supposedly “losing” coverage is largely just more of the same old misdirection. It’s a subset of a larger Republican refusal to have an actual debate about the law’s tradeoffs — one in which the law’s benefits for millions of Americans are also reckoned with in a serious way. On the substance of this argument, Igor Volsky has a good response, noting that these Americans aren’t “losing” coverage at all: Individuals receiving cancellation notices will have a choice of enrolling in subsidized insurance in the exchanges and will probably end up paying less for more coverage. Those who don’t qualify for the tax credits will be paying more for comprehensive insurance that will be there for them when they become sick (and could actually end up spending less for health care since more services will now be covered). They will also no longer be part of a system in which the young and healthy are offered cheap insurance premiums because their sick neighbors are priced out or denied coverage. That, after all, is the whole point of reform. But many foes of Obamacare refuse to grapple seriously with the basic tradeoff at the core of the law. For a fair look at whether this tradeoff is “worth it,” see Jonathan Cohn. While it is too soon to assess the true dimensions of this tradeoff, the debate over it is entirely legitimate. It is the policy debate we should be having. But some Obamacare foes don’t even acknowledge that the law involves a tradeoff at all. Only the law’s downsides, and not the millions who stand to gain — many old, poor or sick — must be acknowledged. As the Post’s Glenn Kessler argued in debunking some of Ted Cruz’s rhetoric about “millions” losing from Obamacare: “The full impact of the health-care law will not be known for years, and there are bound to be

– The Washington Post's Fact Checker blog does its thing with President Obama's much-criticized claim that "if you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan, period." The verdict? Four Pinocchios, which happens to be the max. Though he might have been forgiven for such a grand proclamation while the bill was still being drafted, the president continued to make the claim even once the law had been signed and its potential impact on insurance plans was clear, writes Glenn Kessler. Further, the law's design purposefully quashes "substandard" plans that the Americans on them certainly might like, in no small part because they can be cheap. So Kessler amends the president's infamous line: "If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan—if we deem it to be adequate." Other pundits are also weighing in: What Obama "meant was you can keep it if he likes it," echoes Holman Jenkins in the Wall Street Journal. The bottom line, for Jenkins: "He wants you to pay for coverage you'll never use (mental-health services, cancer wigs, fertility treatments, Viagra) so the money can be spent on somebody else." "The GOP outrage about Americans supposedly 'losing' coverage is largely just more of the same old misdirection," writes Greg Sargent in the Washington Post. "It’s a subset of a larger Republican refusal to have an actual debate about the law’s tradeoffs—one in which the law’s benefits for millions of Americans are also reckoned with in a serious way." Jonah Goldberg says Obama's statement "looks like the biggest lie about domestic policy ever uttered by a US president." The question, writes Goldberg at National Review Online, is whether "he was simply 'playing to win' and therefore lying on purpose" or whether he actually believed his own spin. "The president's message about his signature law has always been: It gets better, I promise," writes John Dickerson at Slate. "That was always an uphill battle. The benefits of the law were strung out over time, making it harder for people to recognize a payoff. 'Trust me' claims clash with people's mistrust of politicians and government programs."

Foes of Obamacare are excitedly citing a rash of new stories claiming untold Americans are “losing” their insurance. The White House has issued a clarification: When the president said if you like your insurance plan you can keep it, what he meant was you could keep it if he likes it. Some Obamacare foes don’t even acknowledge that the law involves a tradeoff at all. Only the law’s downsides, and not the millions who stand to gain — many old, poor or sick — must be acknowledged.