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"She had to make a decision between the drugs and the babies," Roberts said Tuesday. He also said DNA testing on seven dead babies found stuffed into cardboard boxes at Huntsman's home in April confirmed that all of them — five girls and two boys — were fathered by her husband. The long-awaited results were difficult to obtain due to the condition of the remains. Forensic experts resorted to "nuclear DNA" testing to determine both gender and paternity. Nuclear DNA, found in the nucleus of most human cells, generally provides more genetic information — and from both parents — than the more commonly tested mitochondrial, or maternal DNA. Prosecutors contend that six of the infants were choked or smothered shortly after birth by Huntsman, 39, during the period from Jan. 1, 1996, to Dec. 31, 2006. Huntsman allegedly told investigators that she had killed six of the babies, but she claimed the seventh was stillborn. Huntsman, who was charged in Provo's 4th District Court with six counts of first-degree felony murder, remained in the Utah County Jail on Tuesday in lieu of $6 million cash-only bail. The long-kept, deadly secret began to unravel April 12, when Huntsman's now-estranged husband, 41-year-old Darren West — who had spent eight years in prison for drug crimes before being released into a Salt Lake City halfway house — was at their Pleasant Grove home retrieving some of his belongings. Inside the garage, West found the remains of a baby wrapped in plastic bags and a green towel and stuffed into a white box, sealed with electrical tape. Alerted to the grisly discovery, police later found six more infant corpses similarly stored inside other boxes. Huntsman will not face the death penalty under the near-decade-old murder statute in effect at the time of the crimes. Instead, she faces a maximum penalty for each count of five years to life. West and Huntsman have three living children together, all daughters, now ages 13 to 20. Huntsman is next set to appear in court July 21 to determine if she will waive a preliminary hearing. On May 16, Judge Darold McDade ordered that Huntsman be made available for a psychological evaluation, but no further details on whether that exam had yet been done, or if so what the results were, had been released as of Tuesday. remims@sltrib.com Twitter: @remims ||||| SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah mother told authorities that she killed six of her newborns and stored their bodies in a garage because she was addicted to drugs and didn't want to deal with the responsibility of raising them, police said Tuesday, revealing a suspected motive for the first time. FILE - This April 13, 2014 file photo shows police tape in front of the scene where seven infant bodies were discovered and packaged in separate containers at a home in Pleasant Grove, Utah. On Tuesday,... (Associated Press) FILE - In this April 21, 2014 file photo, Megan Huntsman, accused of killing six of her babies and storing their bodies in her garage, appears in court, in

– What could drive a mother to smother six babies as soon as she gave birth to them? Police in Utah say it was pure selfishness, driven by drug addiction. Megan Huntsman was a heavy methamphetamine user when she strangled or suffocated the newborns between 1996 and 2006, a police spokesman tells the AP. He says she wasn't concerned about potential health problems caused to the infants by her drug use—but did care about the cost of feeding her addiction. "It was completely selfish. She was high on drugs and didn't want the babies, or the responsibility," he says. "That was her priority at the time." "She had to make a decision between the drugs and the babies," says the police spokesman, who confirmed that the five girls and two boys found in boxes in her garage were all fathered by her husband, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Investigators believe one of the babies was stillborn, so Huntsman faces six counts of first-degree felony murder. She has been in jail since April with bail set at $6 million. Her long-estranged husband, who spent eight years in federal prison on meth charges, was the one who alerted police after finding one of the dead infants and is not considered a suspect.

DNA testing on seven dead babies found stuffed into cardboard boxes at Megan Huntsman's home in April confirmed that all of them were fathered by her husband. Prosecutors contend that six of the infants were choked or smothered shortly after birth by Huntsman, 39. Huntsman allegedly told investigators that she had killed 6 of the babies, but she claimed the seventh was stillborn. She was charged in Provo's 4th District Court with six counts of first-degree felony murder, and remains in the Utah County Jail on Tuesday.

Most people adjust their watches and clocks according to the time displayed on their cell phone. But now you have a new guideline: the NIST-F2 atomic clock. Built by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the next-gen device will serve as the U.S. civilian time and frequency standard. The most accurate clock in the world, the F2 could run continuously for 300 million years and never stray from the perfect time for even one second. By nearly eliminating small errors caused by background radiation, researchers have have made this clock three times more accurate than the current NIST-F1—the standard since 1999. For now, NIST will run the F1 and F2 clocks simultaneously for comparison's sake. Both machines use a "fountain" of cesium atoms to determine the exact length of a second; they are just the latest in a long line of cesium-based atomic clocks developed by NIST since the 1950s. As the institute pointed out, everyday technologies like cell phones, GPS satellite receivers, and the electric power grid rely on high-accuracy atomic clocks, which help move innovation into the future. "If we've learned anything in the last 60 years of building atomic clocks, we've learned that every time we build a better clock, somebody comes up with a use for it that you couldn't have foreseen," NIST physicist and F2 lead designer Steven Jefferts said in a statement. NIST carries a heavy weight, providing timing and synchronization measurement services for a number of users, including to time-stamp hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. financial transactions. NIST time is also circulated via the Internet Time Service, which receives 8 billion requests per day to sync clocks in computers and network devices. "When you can do something better than the earth gives you naturally with its rotation, then you go ahead and start down that road," Jefferts said of his work on the atomic clock. But the U.S. can't expect to keep the ridiculously accurate machine all for itself. A second version of NIST-F2, dubbed IT-CsF2, will be operated by the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRIM), NIST's counterpart in Turin, Italy. Check out the science behind the F2 in NIST's video below. ||||| Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a "think tank" that provides research reports to members of Congress on a variety of topics relevant to current political events. However, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) does not provide direct public access to its reports, nor are they released to the public via the Federal Library Depository Program (FDLP). There are several organizations that collect and give access to subsets of published CRS Reports. This collection attempts to bring all CRS Reports together in one place. For more information on CRS, see the Sunlight Foundations CRS Reports backgrounder (http://bit.ly/CRSReports). Please contact James Jacobs (jrjacobs AT stanford DOT edu) if you know of additional sites hosting CRS reports. ||||| Video courtesy of NIST. With a new and improved atomic clock, the standard of time in America is about to change -- a teeny, tiny bit. For the first time in 15 years,

– The official US timekeepers are upgrading their systems. Since 1999, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has determined the time based on an atomic clock known as NIST-F1. Now there's a new and improved version of the clock—and it's "the most accurate clock of its kind in the world," the institute says. NIST-F2 boasts three times the accuracy of F1. "If you could run either of these clocks for 100 million years, NIST-F1 would lose one second; NIST-F2 would lose 1/3 of a second," says F2's lead designer. One second is defined worldwide in terms of oscillations of a cesium atom (9,192,631,770 of those oscillations, to be precise). Both clocks determine the time by tossing 10 million such atoms into the air and using lasers to analyze them, the Los Angeles Times explains. What's better about the new clock is that it uses chilled conditions to fight background radiation, thus improving its assessment. Why be so careful? Everything from cell phones to GPS use atomic clock measurements, researchers say, per PC Magazine. "If we've learned anything in the last 60 years of building atomic clocks, we've learned that every time we build a better clock, somebody comes up with a use for it that you couldn't have foreseen," says the designer.

The NIST-F2 atomic clock will serve as the U.S. civilian time and frequency standard. The F2 could run continuously for 300 million years and never stray from the perfect time for even one second. By nearly eliminating small errors caused by background radiation, researchers have made this clock three times more accurate. A second version of the F2, dubbed IT-CsF2, will be operated by the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRIM)

You will use your email address to login. Passwords must be at least 6 characters in length. Timezone ||||| SANFORD, Fla. - Plans by George Zimmerman to sell the gun used to shoot and kill Trayvon Marin appeared to be in limbo early Friday, reports CBS Orlando, Florida affiliate WKMG-TV. Thursday night, a second auction website used to list the gun deleted a tweet saying it would remove the auction from the site. WKMG found bidding for the gun topping $200,000 early Friday. CBS News found it to be exponentially higher than that, but names given for bidders were all but certainly fake, and times listed for the bids were for hours later than when CBS News was on the site. CBS News could not verify the authenticity of anything on the page. The gun was set to be auctioned starting Thursday at 11 a.m. on GunBroker.com, but by 11:18 a.m., the website said the listing for Zimmerman's Kel-Tec PF-9 9mm weapon had been removed. GunBroker.com released a statement on its website Thursday afternoon that addressed the listing. info Close gunbroker.com "Listings on the GunBroker.com web site are user-generated, exactly like social media posts. Mr. Zimmerman never contacted anyone at GunBroker.com prior to or after the listing was created and no one at GunBroker.com has any relationship with Zimmerman," GunBroker.com wrote on its website. "Our site rules state that we reserve the right to reject listings at our sole discretion, and have done so with the Zimmerman listing. We want no part in the listing on our web site or in any of the publicity it is receiving." At around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, UnitedGunGroup.com listed the same gun for auction, with the same starting bid price at $5,000, posted by someone with the username George Zimmerman. The site, which calls itself a "social market place for the firearms community, then apparently went down a few minutes later. Thursday night, UnitedGunGroup.com posted this statement: "As an organization, we stand by the rule of law and, while no laws have been broken, we do not feel like it is in the best interest of the organization to continue to host this sale on our platform," company officials said in a press release. "Our mission is to esteem the Second Amendment and provide a safe and secure platform for firearms enthusiasts and law-abiding citizens; our association with Mr. Zimmerman does not help us achieve that objective." That online posting was later deleted. Todd Underwood, the founder of the group, later sent an email to CNN saying an official response would be released at 10 a.m. Friday. The initial auction description appeared to have the same text as the original auction posting, in which Zimmerman wrote: "I am honored and humbled to announce the sale of an American Firearm Icon. The firearm for sale is the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin on 2/26/2012." Zimmerman added that the gun had recently been returned to him by the Department of Justice. Zimmerman claimed that he was selling

– George Zimmerman's attempt to sell the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin appears to be back on again, though bidders are clearly making a joke of it. Early Friday morning, the leading bid in the online auction at UnitedGunGroup came from "Weedlord Bonerhitler" at a bit more than $65 million (the listing now reads "deleted member"). An earlier lead bidder called himself "Racist McShootface," reports USA Today. On Thursday, Zimmerman first planned to sell the gun at GunBroker.com, but the website backed out. He then turned to UnitedGunGroup, but the site posted an online statement Thursday night saying, it, too, would reject the listing. However, it later deleted the post, and Zimmerman's auction remains active. The site is expected to issue a clarification Friday morning about its status, reports CBS News. The two people perhaps most stunned by the attempted sale are Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, the parents of Trayvon. "It's just shocking, it's shocking to me and it's shocking to everybody—and Trayvon to them is their child," their attorney tells NBC News. "To everybody else, it may be a cause or a hashtag, but this is their son. So somebody's actually talking about profiting from the loss of their child and it's just very hurtful to them." The gun is a 9mm Kel-Tec PF-9 pistol, and Zimmerman set the opening bid for his "American Firearm Icon" at $5,000.

NEW: Second auction website deletes tweet saying it will remove the auction from the site. GunBroker.com: "We want no part in the listing on our web site or in any of the publicity it is receiving" UnitedGunGroup.com listed the same gun for auction, with the same starting bid price at $5,000. WKMG-TV found bidding for the gun topping $200,000 early Friday. "I am honored and humbled to announce the sale of an American Firearm Icon"

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common, complex, treatment resistant, and deadliest type of brain cancer, accounting for 45% of all brain cancers, with nearly 11,000 men, women, and children diagnosed each year. The time is now to make progress against this disease! The Defeat GBM Research Collaborative is a groundbreaking, research-based initiative that takes advantage of the convergence of exciting scientific advancements, an innovative business model, and support from biopharmaceutical companies to drive research forward with the aim of doubling the five-year survival rate of GBM patients. Building from the pioneering data discovered through The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the growing commitment to true collaboration across disciplines and institutions, we have entered a new era of possibilities. All members of the Defeat GBM Research Collaborative share real-time information of one another’s cutting-edge research to quicken the pace of translating discoveries into clinical stage research—cutting years out of the traditional clinical trial research and analysis procedure. Together with your support, we can bring change today! ||||| A woman in Spain who suddenly became very religious and believed she was speaking with the Virgin Mary turned out to have a brain tumor that appears to have caused her symptoms, according to a new report of the case. The 60-year-old women was said to be a happy, positive person who was not particularly religious. But over a two-month period, her friends and family noticed changes in her personality and behavior. She appeared sad and withdrawn, and also showed increasing interest in the Bible and other sacred writings, the report said. The woman started spending hours during the day reciting religious writings. She also had mystical experiences, in which she reported seeing, feeling and talking with the Virgin Mary, the report said. [8 Ways Religion Impacts Your Life] Those close to her thought the woman might be experiencing depression, because she was caring for a relative with cancer at the time. However, when her doctors performed an MRI, they saw several lesions in her brain. After taking a biopsy from one of the lesions, doctors diagnosed the woman with glioblastoma multiforme, a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer. The tumors were too large to treat with surgery, so the woman received chemotherapy and radiation for the cancer. Her doctors also prescribed antipsychotic drugs for her, because some studies have suggested this class of drugs may have an anti-cancer effect on glioblastoma. During the woman's five-week treatment, her religious visions gradually disappeared, the report said. In this patient's case, "it is clear that the religious experience represented a fracture" from her prior behavior that was "not preceded by a gradual change in her thinking and acting," the researchers, from the Hospital General Universitario Morales Meseguer in Murcia, Spain, wrote in their paper, published online Dec. 12, 2016, in the journal Neurocase. "Nor was there any kind of trigger or reason [for the behavior change] except for the disease, and hence, it can be considered a clearly pathological experience," they said. It's not clear how often people experience "hyper-religiosity" or other behavior changes as their first

– Her friends and family felt something was wrong: The Spanish woman went from simply believing in God to believing she was seeing and talking with the Virgin Mary. And that's not all. The 60-year-old abruptly shifted from being happy and positive to sad and withdrawn, reports Live Science. Suspecting depression, they had her see doctors, and an MRI revealed glioblastoma multiforme, the aggressive type of brain cancer that Brittany Maynard suffered from. The National Brain Tumor Society doesn't mince words, calling it "the most common, complex, treatment resistant, and deadliest type of brain cancer, accounting for 45% of all brain cancers." With tumors so big they couldn't be surgically removed, the woman was treated with anti-psychotic drugs sometimes given to glioblastoma patients and chemo and radiation over five weeks; her religious visions ultimately ceased. The doctors write in the journal Neurocase that because she previously believed in God, hers "was not a case of religious conversion." And as there was no "trigger or reason [for the hyper-religiosity] except for the disease ... it can be considered a clearly pathological experience." The researchers suggest that this is not the first such case, writing that "in some cases, religiosity can appear as a pathological correlate in patients with brain lesions"; but they present no data as to how often this might occur. The patient died eight months after being diagnosed with cancer. (This man credits Facebook for helping spot his brain tumor.)

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common, complex, treatment resistant, and deadliest type of brain cancer. Nearly 11,000 men, women, and children are diagnosed with GBM each year. The Defeat GBM Research Collaborative is a groundbreaking, research-based initiative that takes advantage of the convergence of exciting scientific advancements and biopharmaceutical companies. It aims to drive research forward with the aim of doubling the five-year survival rate of GBM patients.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting former girlfriend US singer Rihanna in 2009 Australia may block US singer Chris Brown from entering the country because of his domestic violence conviction. Brown's announcement last week he would tour in December sparked criticism on social media and an online petition. The Federal government said on Thursday it was reviewing Brown's visa application in light of his conviction. Australia's Minister for Women, Senator Michaelia Cash, said the government was not afraid to "say no". "People need to understand, if you are going to commit domestic violence and you want to travel around the world, there are going to be countries that say to you, 'You cannot come in because you are not of the character that we expect in Australia'", Senator Cash said. Image copyright Twitter Image caption A mystery activist in Melbourne has drawn attention to Brown's domestic violence conviction by placing an "I Beat Women" sticker on one of his promotional posters Her comments were made at a press conference in Melbourne where Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a national domestic violence prevention program. The review of Brown's visa follows the government's decision earlier this year to refuse a visa for world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather on similar grounds. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Boxer Floyd Mayweather's visa to visit Australia was cancelled earlier this year Mayweather had been booked for dinner and nightclub appearances in Sydney and Melbourne in January. The 37-year-old American has a criminal record, which includes serving two months in jail in 2012, after pleading guilty to an assault on his former partner in front of their children. ||||| The intention of the campaign against Chris Brown was to use a celebrity with a well-known history of violence against women to ignite a discussion about attitudes towards gendered violence. Aspects of this succeeded but we now understand the campaign also supported a racist narrative that sees men of colour unfairly targeted, and stereotyped as more violent than their white counterparts. We all should stand up to any man who commits violence against women, but Australia has a history of arbitrary executive decisions and disproportionate exclusion of non-white people at its borders and upon reflection our approach contributed to this.GetUp is a community of nearly one million people who take action to create a more progressive society. Sometimes we make mistakes in our approach, and this campaign reflects that. One of the things we love about being part of this community, however, is that when we make a mistake, our members and peers will call us out on it. We are open to criticism, and open to change. It's imperative that as an organisation we listen to critical voices who call out behaviour that's racist, sexist, or works against building a diverse and welcoming community. We appreciate everyone who took the time to raise this issue with us.We'll continue to work on our ongoing campaign for the full funding of frontline family violence services and use opportunities to highlight the many men of power

– Chris Brown has had his fair share of travel troubles. In July, he was stranded in the Philippines for three days over a contract dispute. Before that, he was barred from entering both Canada and the UK. Now, Australia may follow the lead of its Commonwealth partners and refuse to allow the singer entry because of his 2009 domestic violence conviction, reports the BBC. The federal government says it's reviewing Brown's visa application after the singer announced a December tour in the country and Australian Minister for Women Michaelia Cash says they aren't "afraid to say no." After all, Australia in February barred boxer Floyd Mayweather, who served time in jail for an assault on a former partner in 2012, reports the Guardian. "People need to understand, if you are going to commit domestic violence and you want to travel around the world, there are going to be countries that say to you, 'You cannot come in because you are not of the character that we expect in Australia,'" says Cash, who spoke just as new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a $100 million national domestic violence prevention program. She adds her "strong recommendation" is to block Brown, though immigration minister Peter Dutton will have the final decision. An online petition asking Dutton to "refuse Chris Brown a visa to visit Australia" because "he is in breach of the Australian visa character test" has over 12,500 signatures. Meanwhile, Brown concert posters have been defaced with "I beat women" stickers, reports 9 News.

Australia may block US singer Chris Brown from entering the country because of his domestic violence conviction. Brown's announcement last week he would tour in December sparked criticism on social media and an online petition. Australia's Minister for Women, Senator Michaelia Cash, said the government was not afraid to "say no" The review of Brown's visa follows the government's decision earlier this year to refuse a visa for world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather. The 37-year-old American has a criminal record, which includes serving two months in jail in 2012, after pleading guilty to an assault on his former partner.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his “separation” from the United States on Thursday, declaring he had realigned with China as the two agreed to resolve their South China Sea dispute through talks. Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he is visiting with at least 200 business people to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with longtime ally Washington deteriorate. “In this venue, your honors, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States,” Duterte told Chinese and Philippine business people, to applause, at a forum in the Great Hall of the People attended by Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. “Both in military, not maybe social, but economics also. America has lost.” Duterte’s efforts to engage China, months after a tribunal in the Hague ruled that Beijing did not have historic rights to the South China Sea in a case brought by the previous administration in Manila, marks a reversal in foreign policy since the 71-year-old former mayor took office on June 30. His trade secretary, Ramon Lopez, said $13.5 billion in deals would be signed during the China trip. “I’ve realigned myself in your ideological flow and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to (President Vladimir) Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world - China, Philippines and Russia. It’s the only way,” Duterte told his Beijing audience. Duterte’s remarks will prompt fresh concern in the United States, where the Obama administration has seen Manila as an important ally in its “rebalance” of resources to Asia in the face of a rising China. The administration agreed a deal with Duterte’s predecessor granting U.S. forces rotational access to bases in the Philippines and further doubts will be raised about the future of this arrangement. In Washington, the U.S. State Department said it was “baffled” by Duterte’s comments and would seek an explanation when Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, visits Manila this weekend. “We are going to be seeking an explanation of exactly what the president meant when he talked about separation from the U.S.,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby. “It’s not clear to us exactly what that means in all its ramifications.” Both the State Department and the White House portrayed Duterte’s comments as being at odds with the close, long-standing alliance between the two countries. They said Washington would welcome closer ties between Beijing and Manila, however. “The U.S.-Philippine alliance is built on a 70-year history, rich people to people ties and a long list of shared security concerns,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters, noting that the administration has not received any request from Filipino officials to alter bilateral cooperation. A few hours after Duterte’s speech, his top economic policymakers released a statement saying that, while Asian economic integration was “long overdue”, that did not mean the Philippines was turning its back on the West. “We will maintain relations with the West but we desire stronger integration with our neighbors,” said

– Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is done with us. "I announce my separation from the United States," he declared Thursday on a visit to Beijing, adding that he will instead seek a military and economic alliance with China, Reuters reports. "I've realigned myself in your ideological flow," he told his audience, adding that he hopes to add another major player to the mix. "I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world—China, Philippines and Russia," he said. "America has lost." The White House downplayed the move, with a spokesman saying the US remained a strong economic partner of the Philippines. Duterte has bristled at US condemnation of his bloody war on drugs, personally insulted President Obama, and threatened to leave the "stupid" UN. While he's been throwing barbs at the US, Duterte has apparently been sending flowers to Beijing. He was greeted by a full marching band upon his arrival in Beijing (Obama didn't even get a staircase), and his finance minister plans to ink $13.5 billion worth of economic deals while on the current visit to China. The deal is an especially important diplomatic victory for China, the Wall Street Journal reports, because it signals the Philippines is ready to come to the negotiating table and resolve what has been a major territory dispute over Chinese military bases in the South China Sea.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his “separation” from the United States. He declared he had realigned with China as the two agreed to resolve their South China Sea dispute through talks. The U.S. State Department said it was “baffled” by the comments and would seek an explanation when Daniel Russel visits Manila this weekend. Both the State Department and the White House portrayed the comments as being at odds with the close, long-standing alliance between the two countries.

A single bald eagle found dead in southern Delaware last Saturday didn't raise red flags for state wildlife officials. But then a few hours later and a mile away, a startling scene unfolded: Eight bald eagles — distressed and disoriented — were discovered on the ground, barely moving on a fallow farm field. "Seeing one in a field wouldn't be irregular, but then so many of them — and they weren't sitting up," said Sgt. John McDerby of Delaware's Fish and Wildlife Natural Resources Police. "It was a devastating sight." Three of the eagles died, two were rescued and the rest flew away, officials said. The following day, another dead bird was found during a sweep. One of five eagles found in the Dagsboro, Delaware, area on March 19, 2016. DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police The cluster of deaths comes just a month after 13 bald eagles died about 35 miles away on the Eastern Shore of Maryland — the largest single die-off of bald eagles in the state in three decades. This mystery surrounding the bird species that has soared back from the brink of extinction has investigators and wildlife advocates asking: Is someone poisoning or intentionally harming these national symbols? At this point, investigators can't say, but they aren't ruling out a criminal act. In Maryland, necropsies indicated the birds did not die from natural causes, meaning diseases such as avian influenza can be ruled out. But they did not pinpoint a cause of death. Related: Bald Eagles Mystery Death Leads to Reward Poison is a popular theory since landowners use it to kill rats, foxes and other nuisances that tear up crops. Eagles, in turn, can eat the poisoned carrion. But Bob Edgell, who owns the Maryland farm where the eagles were found, told NBC News on Friday that he doesn't use poison on his property and isn't sure if anyone else in the area does. "Our investigation is now focused on human causes," Catherine Hibbard, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Agency, said in an earlier statement. Investigators hope to learn what killed 13 bald eagles in Federalsburg. Call 410-260-8888 with tips. pic.twitter.com/8U0vN36tLt — MD NRP (@MDNRPolice) February 22, 2016 McDerby said test results of the eagle carcasses in Delaware could be made available early this week. In the meantime, he added, there is no evidence of a serial eagle killer on the prowl or any direct connection between the Delaware and Maryland cases. The two birds rescued by the nonprofit Tri-State Bird Rescue of Newark, Delaware, are still under the group's care. Staff declined to provide information about their recovery because the investigation is ongoing, but said that if the creatures fully recuperate, they'll be released into the wild. One of the three eagles in the Delaware Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police's care, receiving treatment on Mar. 21, 2016. the Delaware Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police Edgell said he's not sure what took down the eagles on his land in Maryland. He found no evidence of tracks, after first

– Is somebody deliberately poisoning bald eagles in the mid-Atlantic states? Experts are still trying to find out what happened last month in Maryland, where 13 of the birds were found dead last month, and in Delaware, where five more were found dead last weekend. Mike Parr, vice president of the American Bird Conservancy, tells NBC News that he's "completely baffled" by the deaths. "I can't see any possible explanation of any sort why anyone would deliberately do something like that. It's outrageous," he says. The group is offering a $30,000 reward for information leading to anybody who contributed to the eagle deaths. Federal authorities say "human causes" were behind the Maryland deaths, while test results are still pending in the Delaware deaths. Another three birds found alive but sickened in the latter state were taken to Tri-State Bird Rescue in Newark, which deals with dozens of sick bald eagles every year, the News Journal reports. Bill Stewart, the president of the Delmarva Ornithological Society, says deliberate or accidental poisoning could explain what happened to the eagles. The public has been urged to report any apparently sick eagles they might see. (In happier bald eagle news, a livecam in Washington, DC, captured a baby emerging from its shell.)

A single bald eagle was found dead in southern Delaware last Saturday. A few hours later and a mile away, eight bald eagles were discovered on the ground, barely moving on a fallow farm field. Three of the eagles died, two were rescued and the rest flew away. The cluster of deaths comes just a month after 13 bald e Eagles died about 35 miles away on the Eastern Shore of Maryland — the largest single die-off in the state in three decades. Investigators and wildlife advocates ask: Is someone poisoning or intentionally harming these national symbols? At this point, investigators can't say, but they aren't ruling out a criminal act.

Health Drug-Resistant Food Poisoning Lands In The U.S. i itoggle caption CDC/Science Source CDC/Science Source This time last year, a painful new virus was knocking on our doorstep. Travelers were bringing chikungunya to the U.S. And eventually, the mosquito-borne virus set up shop in Florida. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says another nasty pathogen is hitching a ride to the U.S. with travelers: multidrug-resistant Shigella. Shigella is just about as bad as the word sounds. The bacteria infect your intestines and trigger crampy rectal pain, bloody or mucus-laced diarrhea and vomiting. Multidrug-resistant Shigella has caused several outbreaks over the past year in the U.S., the CDC reports Thursday in the journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. At least 243 people have gotten sick and about 20 percent were hospitalized. Those numbers may not sound like much — especially when you consider a half-million Americans get regular shigellosis each year. So what's the big deal? Well, this strain of Shigella is resistant to the go-to drug for the bacteria: ciprofloxacin. "If rates of resistance become this high, in more places, we'll have very few options left for treating Shigella with antibiotics by mouth," says epidemiologist Anna Bowen, who led the study. Then doctors will have to resort to IV antibiotics. Shigella is incredibly contagious. It spreads through contaminated food and water. "As few as 10 germs can cause an infection," Bowen says. "That's much less than some other diarrhea-causing germs." From May to February, the Cipro-resistant strain popped up in 32 states, with large clusters in California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Bowen and her team linked several of these outbreaks to international travel, including trips to India, the Dominican Republic and Morocco. But in many instances, people who got sick hadn't traveled outside the U.S. So the strain has already started to circulate in some states, she says. "This outbreak really highlights that multidrug-resistance in other countries is also a problem for the U.S.," Bowen says. "Cases [in the U.S.] have continued to accrue over the month since we put together this report. So we're monitoring it carefully," she adds. Most of the time, shigellosis will go away on its own after about seven days. In rare cases, it causes severe blood infections and death. Around the world, about 100 million people get infected with Shigella each year, and about 600,000 die from it. Cipro-resistant shigellosis is a growing problem globally, especially in Asia. Bowen says the best way to prevent Shigella is vigilant hygiene — wash your hands regularly while traveling and choose foods wisely. "Taking over-the-counter drugs, like Kaopectate and Pepto-Bismol, can prevent traveler's diarrhea," she says. And if you do get sick, don't reach for the Cipro first. Instead, Bowen says, go for an over-the-counter anti-diarrheal drug before trying an antibiotic. ||||| This website is archived for historical purposes and is no longer being maintained or updated. Press Release For Immediate Release: Thursday, April 2, 2015 Contact: Media Relations (404) 639-3286 International travelers are bringing a multidrug-resistant intestinal illness to the United States and spreading it to others

– Travelers from overseas have brought back an unwelcome present for us all: a particularly rough stomach bug that is now spreading across the US. Bonus: This strain of Shigella is resistant to the go-to antibiotic in such cases, ciprofloxacin, or Cipro. A CDC report says the agency has tracked 243 cases in 32 states between May of last year and February of this year. Massachusetts, California, and Pennsylvania have seen the worst of it, and 20% of patients had to be hospitalized. The CDC thinks the illness was brought back to the US from travelers to India, the Dominican Republic, Morocco, and elsewhere, reports NPR. But the disease is so contagious that it's quickly spreading beyond those initial contacts. "If rates of resistance become this high, in more places, we'll have very few options left for treating shigella with antibiotics by mouth," says lead researcher Anna Bowen. IV antibiotics would follow. Shigella causes diarrhea, cramps, and vomiting and spreads easily through contaminated food and water, including pools and ponds, reports the AP. In most cases, it goes away on its own after about a week. In its report, the CDC advises those traveling abroad to be extra vigilant about washing their hands, watching what they eat, and using over-the-counter treatments such as Pepto-Bismol before grabbing Cipro.

Multidrug-resistant Shigella has caused several outbreaks over the past year in the U.S. The bacteria infect your intestines and trigger crampy rectal pain, bloody or mucus-laced diarrhea and vomiting. Cipro-resistant shigellosis is a growing problem globally, especially in Asia. Around the world, about 100 million people get infected with Shiglla each year, and about 600,000 die from it."We're monitoring it carefully," CDC epidemiologist Anna Bowen says.

An LED fixture, bottom, is displayed next to an older streetlight, top, in Las Vegas, Nev. on Aug. 3, 2011. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images) If people are sleepless in Seattle, it may not be only because they have broken hearts. The American Medical Association issued a warning in June that high-intensity LED streetlights — such as those in Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Houston and elsewhere — emit unseen blue light that can disturb sleep rhythms and possibly increase the risk of serious health conditions, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. The AMA also cautioned that those light-emitting-diode lights can impair nighttime driving vision. Similar concerns have been raised over the past few years, but the AMA report adds credence to the issue and is likely to prompt cities and states to reevaluate the intensity of LED lights they install. Nearly 13 percent of area and roadway lighting is now LED, according to a report prepared last year for the Department of Energy, and many communities that haven’t yet made the switch plan to do so. LEDs are up to 50 percent more energy-efficient than the yellow-orange high-pressure sodium lights they typically replace. They last for 15 to 20 years, instead of two to five. And unlike sodium lights, the LEDs spread illumination evenly. [Blue light from electronics disturbs sleep, especially for teenagers] The Energy Department released this video in 2012 explaining the difference between various types of lightbulbs and the energy costs associated with each option. (U.S. Department of Energy) Some cities say the health concerns are not convincing enough to override the benefits of the first-generation bright LED lights that they installed in the past three to eight years. New York is one of them, although it has responded to resident complaints by replacing the high-intensity, white LED bulbs with a lower- intensity bulb that the AMA considers safe. Scott Thomsen, a spokesman for Seattle City Lights, which is responsible for the city’s exterior illumination, dismissed the health concerns about bright-white LED lights, noting that they emit less of the problematic blue wavelengths than most computers and televisions. After a year and a half of discussion and sampling, Lake Worth, Fla., is replacing its sodium streetlights with about 4,150 LED lights with an amber glow. “We found a color that made sense for the health of our city, and we’re proud of the choice we’ve made,” Michael Bornstein, the city manager, said. Mark Hartman, Phoenix’s chief sustainability officer, said the city might go with a mix of the intense lights for major intersections and ballpark areas that need very bright light and a softer light for residential areas. He said the city would consider the health arguments, although he, too, mentioned the glow from computers and televisions. “Nobody says don’t watch television or use your computer after 9 p.m. because of blue lights,” he said. The first generation Almost as soon as outdoor LEDs were made available, the federal government encouraged states and municipalities to use them, calling LEDs highly efficient for such applications as traffic lights and exit signs. But critics

– Many US cities have been making the move from sodium street lights to LEDs—the bulbs are not only up to 50% more energy efficient than their predecessors, but they last for as many as 20 years and distribute light more evenly. Unfortunately, numerous studies suggest that the levels of blue light in the high-intensity LED bulbs could have health ramifications, including sleep problems and even increased risk for cancer and heart disease. The evidence is apparently strong enough to prompt the American Medical Association to issue a warning in June that LED street lights can impair and even damage nighttime vision, reports Tech Times. Problem is, almost 13% of roadway lighting now uses LEDs, with many places planning a switch, reports the Washington Post. Seattle has been downright dismissive of any health concerns, while New York has gone so far as to switch to lower-intensity LED bulbs the AMA considers safe when residents complain. Lake Worth, Fla., meanwhile, has plans to replace its sodium street lights with more than 4,000 LED lights that have less of the potentially harmful blue light and more of an amber hue, while Gloucester, Mass., has consulted its own residents and decided to play it safe and go with less blue in their LEDs, which they'll finish installing next month. But not everybody's convinced the danger is real: "Nobody says don’t watch television or use your computer after 9pm because of blue lights," grouses one Phoenix official to the Post. (This major company is making the switch to LEDs.)

The American Medical Association issued a warning in June that high-intensity LED streetlights emit unseen blue light that can disturb sleep rhythms. The AMA also cautioned that those light-emitting-diode lights can impair nighttime driving vision. Nearly 13 percent of area and roadway lighting is now LED, according to a report prepared last year for the Department of Energy. Some cities say the health concerns are not convincing enough to override the benefits of the first-generation bright LED lights that they installed in the past three to eight years.

The implications of President Trump’s Muslim ban regarding higher education have incited campus protests across the country, and even prompted officials at seventeen top schools to file a brief in federal court. A new study is shedding light on how strict immigration policies could continue to impact American education for generations to come — revealing that nearly all of America’s top high school science students are children of immigrants. The report, published by the National Foundation for American Policy , a non-profit, non-partisan public policy research organization, attests to the incredibly strong and increasing influence that children of immigrants have on science and math in America. The study examined the backgrounds of the 40 finalists in the 2016 Intel Talent Search, the country’s most prestigious math and science competition for high school seniors, also known as the “Junior Nobel Prize.” The annual event, which takes place in Washington D.C., is organized by the Society for Science & the Public and was renamed the Regeneron Science Talent Search in 2017. Researchers found that out of the 40 finalists in 2016, an astounding 33 (83%) were children of immigrants . More specifically, 30 out of the 40 (75%) finalists had parents who were employed in the U.S. on H-1B Visas, compared to 7 competitors whose parents were both born in America. To put that into perspective, consider that former H-1B Visa holders make up less than 1% of the U.S. population, Steve Anderson, the study’s author, explained in Forbes . Yet, according to these findings, former H-1B Visa holders were four times more likely to have a child as a 2016 finalist than parents who were both born in the U.S. “These outstanding children of immigrants would never have been in America if their parents had not been allowed into the U.S.,” the report states. “Policymakers seeking to restrict high-skilled immigration should note that an important, underappreciated benefit of high-skilled foreign nationals is the contributions made by their children.” The countries of origin of the 2016 finalists’ parents were also very diverse. Out of the group of 40, 14 students had parents both born in India and 11 had parents both born in China. The U.S. came in third, with 7 of the finalists having parents both born in America. To put these numbers into perspective, consider that people of Indian and Chinese birth make up only about 1% of the national population, according to the Pew Research Center, the report notes. “In addition to China, India and the United States, the countries of origin for the parents of 2016 Intel Science Talent Search finalists represent a diverse set of countries, including Canada, Cyprus, Iran, Japan, Nigeria, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan,” per the report. Of the 40 finalists in 2016, 27 (68%) had a parent who came to America as an international student. But given the Trump administration's policies, both introduced and proposed, universities are concerned they'll no longer be able to attract the same caliber of students from abroad as in the past. “Seeing what my parents did to make a better

– It's formally called the Regeneron Student Talent Search, but it's more casually known as the "Junior Nobel"—and the high schooler who wins the elite science prize walks with $250,000. A study on last year's finalists turned up something interesting, reports Teen Vogue: 83% of the 40 were children of immigrants. And as NPR reports, new research may suggest a possible contributing factor. Reporting in the journal Demography, the two researchers looked at US census data and found that immigrants tend to choose jobs requiring physical strength, suggesting obstacles to accessing to higher levels of education. But among immigrants with a college degree, the landscape is very different. Those who went to college, came to the States as older children, and hailed from a country more linguistically different than the US (think Vietnam vs. Germany) were much more likely to pursue a science, tech, engineering, or math (STEM) field. This is especially true for kids arriving after age 10. The researchers hypothesize in a press release that such immigrants may prefer working on a subject like math, a universal language. "The more difficult it is for the child to learn English [and it becomes trickier after 10], the more likely they will invest in math/logic and physical skills over communications skills," says co-author Marcos Rangel. It's not a full explanation, but they hope to highlight that there may be many nuances influencing why we pursue the fields we do. (Here's what migrant children are fleeing.)

The study examined the backgrounds of the 40 finalists in the 2016 Intel Talent Search, the country’s most prestigious math and science competition for high school seniors. Researchers found that an astounding 33 (83%) were children of immigrants. Former H-1B Visa holders were four times more likely to have a child as a 2016 finalist than parents who were both born in the U.S. People of Indian and Chinese birth make up only about 1% of the national population, according to the Pew Research Center.

MIAMI A Miami man remained hospitalized in serious condition after a crocodile for the first time in Florida history attacked a pair of late-night swimmers near an upscale suburb, a wildlife official said on Monday. Lisset Rendon, 23, was bitten in her left shoulder before she could struggle out of the crocodile's jaws, after she and Alejandro Jimenez, 26, jumped into a canal, Jorge Pino, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “They started swimming and apparently at some point they came face-to-face with a nine-foot crocodile,” Pino said. After Rendon was attacked, Jimenez was bitten in the hands and torso as he scrambled toward safety at a nearby dock early Sunday morning, Pino said. Though Florida is well known for incidents involving its large alligator population, American crocodiles number less than 2,000 and live mostly in the southeastern region near the Everglades. The large reptiles are shy and reclusive, Pino said, and feed mostly between the hours of dusk and dawn. Another couple in an unconfirmed 2011 attack claimed a crocodile flipped their kayak as they paddled through the Florida Keys. Crocodiles live mostly in saltwater, but can survive in the brackish waters found in Florida when the ocean meets groundwater in a web of canals and waterways. The canal where Rendon and Jimenez went swimming is a known crocodile habitat, and wildlife officials spent the day warning residents about the dangers of wading into unfamiliar waters. “We certainly do not recommend you go swimming during their peak feeding hours,” Pino said. (Editing by David Adams and Leslie Adler) ||||| CORAL GABLES, Fla. (WSVN) -- The hunt is on for a crocodile who bit two people in a canal behind a Coral Gables neighborhood. Trappers had one of the crocodiles hooked Monday night, but it managed to wrestle itself free and swim away, so Tuesday the game of hide-and-seek continues. "We had one hooked for quite some time, but unfortunately he broke the line," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesperson Jorge Pino. FWC officials said a crocodile bit two swimmers who jumped into a canal sometime between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., Sunday, at the end of a house party along the 1300 block of Lugo Avenue and Gables by the Sea. Pino said, "They were jumping in and out of the water. Perhaps that attracted the attention of the crocodile." Alejandro Jimenez and Lisset Rendon, who were guests at the party, decided to take a late-night swim in the canal, and that's when they were attacked by a crocodile lurking beneath the surface. "One crocodile came up and bit the female in the shoulder," said Pino. "She managed to get away and swim to the dock. The male that was also swimming also suffered some injuries or bites to his hands, but he also managed to make it to the dock safely." Both victims were transported and treated at South Miami Hospital. Jimenez's sister told 7News her brother is still recovering from the bite to his hand and other small cuts. Officials said residents in

– Alejandro Jimenez, 26, and Lisset Rendon, 23, went for a swim at 2:30am Sunday in a Florida canal during a house party ... and exited the water with the honor of being the first people in the US bitten by an American crocodile. Residents of the South Miami neighborhood where the incident took place say they've actually named the three large crocodiles that live behind their homes—Pancho, Snaggletooth, and Streetwalker—and wildlife officials assume one of those three is to blame, the Guardian reports. Jimenez is still in the hospital recovering from bites on his torso and hands; Rendon is home recovering from a shoulder bite. One wildlife official says the couple struggled with the 9-foot crocodile and eventually made their way to shore, where other partygoers who heard the noise pulled them out of the water. Officials aren't calling it an attack, though, because "crocodiles are most active at dawn and dusk, they’re looking for food, and this one would have interpreted what was in the water as food," he said. "It’s common sense never to swim where you know there are crocodiles and alligators." Crocodiles typically avoid contact with humans, Reuters notes. Trappers are looking for the crocs and will move them to a rehab facility, WSVN reports. (In Australia last week, a crocodile known as "Michael Jackson" killed a fisherman.)

A Miami man remains hospitalized in serious condition after a crocodile attacked a pair of late-night swimmers. Lisset Rendon, 23, was bitten in her left shoulder before she could struggle out of the crocodile's jaws. Alejandro Jimenez, 26, was bit in the hands and torso as he scrambled toward safety at a nearby dock. Trappers had one crocodile hooked Monday night, but it managed to wrestle itself free and swim away, so Tuesday the game of hide-and-seek continues.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, prepares to shake hands with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi prior to a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, June 1, 2018. The European... (Associated Press) European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, prepares to shake hands with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi prior to a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, June 1, 2018. The European Union and China say they will deepen ties on trade and investment and that they fully support global... (Associated Press) European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, prepares to shake hands with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi prior to a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, June 1, 2018. The European Union and China say they will deepen ties on trade and investment and that they fully support global... (Associated Press) European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, prepares to shake hands with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi prior to a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, June 1, 2018. The European... (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — Countries around the world fought back Friday against President Donald Trump's decision to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, announcing retaliatory countermeasures and warning that the U.S. plan will hurt U.S. consumers. French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement Friday that he told Trump in a phone call that the new U.S. tariffs on European, Mexican and Canadian goods are illegal and a "mistake." Macron pledged the riposte would be "firm" and "proportionate" and in line with World Trade Organization rules. Germany's Volkswagen, Europe's largest automaker, warned that the decision could start a trade war that no side would win. The European Union and China said they will deepen ties on trade and investment as a result. "This is stupid. It's counterproductive," former British trade minister Francis Maude told the BBC. "Any government that embarks on a protectionist path inflicts the most damage on itself," he added. Macron warned that "economic nationalism leads to war. This is exactly what happened in the 1930s." Trump's move makes good on a his campaign promise to crack down on trading partners that he claims exploit poorly negotiated trade agreements to run up big trade surpluses with the United States. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the tariffs — 25 percent on imported steel, 10 percent on aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union — take effect Friday. The import duties threaten to drive up prices for American consumers and companies and are likely to heighten uncertainty for businesses and investors around the globe. Stock prices slumped amid fears of a trade war, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling nearly 252 points, or 1 percent, to 24,415.84. Mexico complained that the tariffs will "distort international trade" and said it will penalize U.S. imports including pork, apples, grapes, cheeses and flat steel. In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that the tariffs were "totally unacceptable." Canada announced plans to slap tariffs on $12.8 billion worth of U.S. products, ranging from steel to yogurt and toilet paper. "Canada is a secure supplier of

– Justin Trudeau says he was ready to fly to Washington to make a deal on NAFTA—until Mike Pence made a demand that he had no choice but to reject. The Canadian prime minister says the vice president told him there would have to be a "sunset clause" guaranteeing that the deal would expire in five years, the Washington Post reports. Trudeau says this would create far too much uncertainty for businesses. He says the visit was called off after he made it clear to Pence that no Canadian leader would sign a deal containing a sunset clause. Trump said in a statement Thursday that the US "has been taken advantage of for many decades on trade" and the message was conveyed to Trudeau that Washington will "agree to a fair deal, or there will be no deal at all." "FAIR TRADE!" he tweeted. Trudeau denounced new US tariffs on Canadian, Mexican, and EU imports as "totally unacceptable" and said Ottawa will slap tariffs on $12.8 billion worth of US goods, the AP reports. Trump previously framed our dependence on imported metals as a national security threat, and Trudeau addressed that: "Canada is a secure supplier of aluminum and steel to the US defense industry, putting aluminum in American planes and steel in American tanks. That Canada could be considered a national security threat to the United States is inconceivable." Mexico also vowed to penalize US imports, and French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday he had spoken to Trump and told him the tariffs were an illegal "mistake" that would draw a "firm" response.

The European Union and China say they will deepen ties on trade and investment. French President Emmanuel Macron said he told Trump in a phone call that the new U.S. tariffs on European, Mexican and Canadian goods are illegal and a "mistake" Mexico complained that the tariffs will "distort international trade" and said it will penalize U.s. imports including pork, apples, grapes, cheeses and flat steel. Germany's Volkswagen, Europe's largest automaker, warned that the decision could start a trade war that no side would win.

This implementation project showed that routine reflex DNA screening for trisomies 21, 18, and 13 achieved a detection rate of 95% with a false-positive rate of 0.02% and an odds of being affected given a positive result of 25:1. Only 2 in 10,000 women with unaffected pregnancies had an invasive diagnostic test. No other method of prenatal screening for these disorders has such a high detection rate for such a low false-positive rate. While the detection rate is a few percentage points lower than with universal DNA screening,9,10,12 the greater proportional reduction in the false-positive rate results in a greater discrimination between affected and unaffected pregnancies. Chitty et al.3 described a similar two-step screening protocol but, instead of performing a reflex DNA test on a previously collected plasma sample, women with a combined test risk ≥1 in 1,000 were recalled for counseling with the offer of a DNA screening test or, if the risk was ≥1 in 150, the choice of a DNA screening test or an invasive diagnostic test. Twelve percent of women were recalled in this way and informed that they were in this higher risk group, and 18% chose to proceed directly to an invasive diagnostic test. This increases the false-positive rate and consequently also increases the number of invasive diagnostic tests in women with unaffected pregnancies; this is avoided with the reflex method. We can be confident that the reflex DNA screening strategy benefits women by reducing the chance that they will be made acutely anxious. Measuring anxiety levels directly in such circumstances is, in our view, neither appropriate nor necessary; imparting potentially distressing information when this can be completely avoided is self-evidently of benefit. The technical DNA test failure rate is a problem with DNA screening. The reflex DNA approach with 10% of women having a DNA test means that, among all women screened, about 2 per 1,000 (10% × 1.8%) needed to have an extra blood collection, a much lower recall rate than with contingent DNA screening without reflexing.3 The 68% reduction in the failure rate between tests using the first and second aliquot from the initial blood sample indicates that the failure is mainly technical, and not due to factors associated with the woman and her pregnancy. As the technical aspects of the test improve, the initial failure rate is likely to fall significantly. With the reflex DNA screening approach, all pregnancies have a screening result and in this implementation project only 3 pregnancies out of 2,480 reflexed to a DNA test (0.12%) had an integrated test after a DNA test failure using the second aliquot of the extra blood collection. Compared with established screening methods, reflex DNA screening reduces the clinical workload involved in counseling women with screen-positive results; in the implementation audit 105 (101 + 4 from Table 2) women required counseling following a screen-positive result whereas 635 (549 + 86) would have required counseling if the combined test alone or the two-step (recall) method 3 had been used. The two-step method 3 will further increase the clinical workload because in addition to

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

Routine reflex DNA screening for trisomies 21, 18, and 13 achieved a detection rate of 95% with a false-positive rate of 0.02%. Only 2 in 10,000 women with unaffected pregnancies had an invasive diagnostic test. No other method of prenatal screening for these disorders has such a high detection rate for such a low false- positive rate. We can be confident that the Reflex DNA screening strategy benefits women by reducing the chance that they will be made acutely anxious. Measuring anxiety levels directly in such circumstances is, in our view, neither appropriate nor necessary.

This collection is comprised of contributions from curators and subject matter experts; and includes news articles, blogs, social media sites, and organizational websites related to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing and its aftereffects ||||| Add a location to your Tweets When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more

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

This collection is comprised of contributions from curators and subject matter experts. It includes news articles, blogs, social media sites, and organizational websites related to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing.

The family of a Toronto man who was declared brain dead after suffering an asthma attack has obtained a temporary injunction to keep him on life support while it fights to have his death certificate revoked on religious grounds. Shalom Ouanounou’s father, who is also his substitute decision-maker, filed an application with the court arguing that the 25-year-old is not dead under the laws of Orthodox Judaism, the faith he practises. The injunction means Shalom Ouaounou will be kept on a ventilator and feeding tube as the family challenges the existing medical guidelines that lay out when a person is considered brain dead, the family’s lawyer said. The injunction granted Wednesday means Ouaounou will be kept on a ventilator and feeding tube as the family challenges the existing medical guidelines that lay out when a person is considered brain dead, the family’s lawyer said after a hearing in a Toronto court. Hugh Scher said the decision comes as a great relief to the family. “They were going to pull the plug tomorrow,” he said. The crux of the case is whether the Canadian guidelines on brain death should make accommodations for those whose religion “precludes and rejects the idea, the notion of brain death,” Scher said. Article Continued Below Similar accommodations are built into the legal definition of death in some parts of the U.S., including New York State and New Jersey, he said. The established Canadian guidelines define death as the irreversible cessation of brain function and of the capacity to breathe, while Orthodox Judaism considers death to be complete cardiac and respiratory failure, according to the family’s application. The application argues that disregarding those beliefs would represent a serious assault on Ouanounou’s human dignity and religious liberty. “Shalom would suffer the ultimate irreparable harm in the event that this application is not granted,” the document says. “He would be declared dead in a manner contrary to his religious values and would be deprived of accommodation of his most fundamental constitutional and human rights when he is most dependent on them.” Ouanounou, 25, had an asthma attack at home on Sept. 27 and was taken by ambulance to Humber River Hospital, where he was placed on a respirator, the document says. Three days later, doctors determined that he met the standards for death by neurological criteria, better known as brain death, it says. A death certificate was issued shortly afterward. Ouanounou’s family is not asking that he be kept on life support indefinitely and is aware that he could meet his religion’s definition of death before the case is resolved, Scher said. Article Continued Below Nonetheless, the lawyer said, “both the family and the community are committed to having this question addressed because it does have broader implications.” The hospital did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ||||| A Canadian man who was declared brain dead after suffering as asthma attack in September will be kept on life support as per a judge’s order sought by his Orthodox Jewish family. Toronto native Shalom Ouanounou, 25, was intubated on Sept.

– A man will remain on life support in Canada for the time being, despite the fact that his death certificate has already been issued. Toronto's Shalom Ouanounou, 25, was declared brain dead three days after suffering an asthma attack on Sept. 27, reports the Canadian Press. But while Canadian guidelines define death as the irreversible end of brain function and breathing ability, Ouanounou's Orthodox Jewish family is fighting to keep Ouanounou on life support based on their religion's assertion that death occurs only when the heart stops beating. Though the case has yet to be decided, a judge granted a temporary injunction Wednesday to keep Ouanounou on a ventilator and feeding tube at Humber River Hospital. The family's lawyer says the move came just in time. "They were going to pull the plug tomorrow," Hugh Scher told the Canadian Press on Wednesday. Had that happened, Ouanounou would've suffered "the ultimate irreparable harm," his father wrote in a court affidavit. The BBC quotes it as explaining that "Shalom's belief is that discontinuing life support in these circumstances is murder and therefore contrary to his fundamental belief in the sanctity of human life." "Both the family and the community are committed to having this question addressed," Scher says, while acknowledging Ouanounou could meet his religion's definition of death before that happens. He adds "the definition of death in Canada must reflect the accommodation of religious difference," per the New York Daily News. Hospital officials haven't commented. (Read the latest development in the somewhat similar case of Jahi McMath.)

Toronto native Shalom Ouanounou, 25, was intubated on Sept. 27 after an asthma attack. Three days later, doctors determined that he met the standards for death by neurological criteria, better known as brain death. His father filed an application with the court arguing that the 25-year-old is not dead under the laws of Orthodox Judaism, the faith he practises. The injunction granted Wednesday means Ouaounou will be kept on a ventilator and feeding tube as the family challenges the existing medical guidelines.

RPD would like to share the following information provided by Goddard High School administration: RPD and RFD Emergency Medical Response were called to Goddard High School today (Jan. 23) in reference to students feeling ill. It was discovered the ill students were engaging in prohibited behavior. Some of the students were transported to a local hospital as a precautionary measure. School administration and RPD are continuing to investigate the incident. ||||| ROSWELL, N.M., March 29 (UPI) -- Police in New Mexico were able to track down one of the suspects involved in the theft of a model flying saucer from a Roswell museum. Roswell police shared surveillance video of the UFO theft, as they announced that a 17-year-old boy was arrested at his home in South Roswell on Saturday in connection with the theft. "On Saturday morning, we arrested a 17-year-old boy who was one of the three suspects in the theft of the spaceship," Roswell Police spokesman Todd Wildermuth told KRQE. Three men were seen stealing the flying saucer, which was later found in pieces two miles outside of Roswell, from the International UFO Museum & Research Center as it was being stored for repair. Police said the teen would not reveal any details about the motive for the theft and are still seeking the other two suspects. "If people have information about that, we want them to call so we can go after these other two as well," Wildermuth said. ||||| See more of Roswell Police Department, RPD on Facebook

– An unidentified flying object of sorts was found in pieces two miles outside Roswell, New Mexico—after some teens swiped it from a local museum. According to the Roswell Police Department, three teens swiped the decoration from the UFO Museum & Research Center on March 19. It had just been repaired following damage caused by a snow storm. Police released surveillance video, and a 17-year-old was arrested in connection with the theft on Saturday, UPI reports. Police are looking for the other two teens seen in the video. Government agents still don't know why the teens stole the UFO or why they destroyed it—at least that's what they want us to think.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested at his home in South Roswell on Saturday. Police said the teen would not reveal any details about the motive for the theft. Three men were seen stealing the flying saucer from the International UFO Museum & Research Center.

Are you there? Send us your images, but please stay safe. Cairo (CNN) -- Egypt, including its capital Cairo, teetered on the edge early Thursday as clashes persisted following the bloodiest day since the revolution two years ago that was envisioned to bring peace and democracy to Egypt -- but has not. The violence Wednesday pitted Egypt's military and current government against backers of deposed President Mohamed Morsy, though others also were caught in the fray. At least 278 people were killed, including 235 civilians, state TV reported, citing an Egyptian emergency official. Interim Interior Minister Gen. Mohammed Ibrahim said that an additional 43 police officers died. "It's an open war," said a protester who escaped one of two Cairo camps that were raided. The intensity and violence lingered into Thursday morning, when state TV reported Morsy backers were attacking police stations, hospitals and government buildings despite a government-mandated curfew. More Egyptian troops were being deployed at entrances to Cairo and Giza, with the unrest prompting the closure Thursday of banks and the nation's stock market. The 2011 revolution that led to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, who'd kept a firm grip on power for 30 years, was followed by Egypt's first democratic elections. Morsy -- a leader of the Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood -- won the presidency in that 2012 vote, but was forced out by the military last month. Morsy hasn't been seen since he was taken into custody. Yet his supporters have very public in voicing their opinions, massing on the streets of Cairo and elsewhere to slam military leaders and demand Morsy's return to the presidency. Egypt's new government refused to back down, criticizing elements of the protest movement and specifically ordering them to leave two spots where they'd been gathering in Cairo for six weeks, or else they'd force them out. On Wednesday, they did. Bloody 'war zone' as security forces clear Cairo square The story of what exactly transpired -- who attacked whom, who opened fire, who was to blame -- varied 180 degrees depending on where one stood in the debate over Egypt's past, present and future. On the one side, there were Morsy supporters, one of whom accused government forces of waging a "full-on assault" on what they said had been, to-date, peaceful demonstrations. On the other, there were those like Ibrahim, who professed to being "surprised" by the "Muslim Brotherhood's (decision) to attack the security forces." What couldn't be mistaken was the chaos, the bloodshed and the sense -- even with Prime Minister Hazem Elbeblawi's pledge "we hopefully will rebuild our nation" -- that the already volatile situation in Egypt could be getting worse. "I think what we're seeing right now is just the beginning of what is promising to be a very, very long and bloody battle as the interim government and the security forces try to regain control of the streets," CNN's Arwa Damon reported from Cairo. Diplomats condemn violence, calling it 'deplorable' The government on Wednesday, according to state TV, issued a month-long state of emergency. This a loaded

– It's been a bloody, chaotic day in Egypt: Security forces raided two pro-Mohamed Morsi protest camps in Cairo, and reports of casualties are rising quickly. The country's health ministry now says 149 are dead and about 1,400 injured in Cairo and elsewhere, reports AP. The Muslim Brotherhood says the figures are even higher. Nobel prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei resigned from his post as vice president in protest of the violent crackdown, reports Reuters. The government put into place a one-month state of emergency and ordered the army to help police enforce it, reports the BBC. The White House condemned both the violence and the emergency declaration, adds the Hill. "We will continue to hold the interim government accountable for the promise they have made to speed the transition to a civilian democratic government," said a spokesman. Trains to Cairo have been halted, and the Muslim Brotherhood says the move is to prevent outside aid from arriving. Protesters had held the two camps for some six weeks now, and they were braced for an eventual raid following the end of Ramadan last week, reports CNN. Among those reported killed is the 17-year-old daughter of Mohamed al-Beltagy, a leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood. Sky News is confirming that cameraman Mick Deane was also among those killed, and a Reuters reporter saw at least 20 protesters shot in the legs.

NEW: "It's an open war," says a protester who escaped one of two Cairo camps that were raided. At least 278 people were killed Wednesday, including 235 civilians, state TV reports. The violence pitted Egypt's military and current government against backers of deposed President Morsy. The 2011 revolution that led to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak was followed by Egypt's first democratic elections."I think what we're seeing right now is just the beginning of what is promising to be a very, very long and bloody battle," says Arwa Damon.

When Lynne Schultz first heard that her oldest child, Scout, had been shot and killed by a Georgia Tech police officer late Saturday night, she assumed it occurred at a protest rally. Scout, she says, was politically active in progressive causes. Scout, a brilliant student despite numerous medical issues, suffered from depression and had attempted suicide two years ago, Lynne Schultz said. According to Georgia Tech police, Scout was seen walking toward police and ignored numerous orders to drop what appeared to be a pocket knife. Photos of the knife taken at the scene reveal the blade was not extended. Related: Georgia Tech student dies after shooting on campus Photos: Scene at fatal shooting of Georgia Tech student Video of the incident showed Scout, 21, shouting “Shoot me!” to the four officers on the scene. A minute later, one of them did. “Why didn’t they use some nonlethal force, like pepper spray or Tasers?” Lynne Schultz told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday. That’s among the questions the GBI will be asking as the state agency investigates the shooting. A Georgia Tech student was shot by police in an incident on the campus late Saturday night. (Photos by Dalton Touchberry / www.daltontouch.com) Police said the shooting was prompted when Scout Schultz failed to comply with their repeated commands to drop the knife. Chris Stewart, the attorney for the student’s parents, said it appears the officer who shot Scout overreacted. “I think (Scout) was having a mental breakdown and didn’t know what to do,” said Stewart, who wondered why nonlethal force wasn’t used. “The area was secured. There was no one around at risk.” Scout Schultz was shot in the heart and was pronounced dead 30 minutes later at Grady Memorial Hospital, Lynne Schultz said. Two years ago, Scout attempted suicide by hanging, the student’s mother said. Stewart said he doesn’t believe Scout was attempting “suicide by cop.” RELATED: How Atlanta police handle calls involving mentally ill Scout was majoring in computer engineering and was already taking courses for a master’s degree in biomedical engineering, with plans to design biomedical devices for a living. Scout identified as non-binary, meaning neither male nor female, Lynne Schultz said. The accepted pronoun for non-binary individuals is “they.” Most of Scout’s stress was related to school, the student’s mother said. “Scout was always a perfectionist,” Lynne Schultz said. “They always worried he was going to fail a test but got all A’s and only two B’s at Tech.” “(Scout) had a lot of empathy for people, active in a lot of causes. And very smart. Scary smart, really.” A more complete story will appear later today on myAJC.com. ||||| This collection contains content included in or referenced by the Georgia Institute of Technology's web presence. The materials in the collection document the teaching, research, cultures, and communities of Georgia Tech. ||||| by: Steve Gehlbach, Matt Johnson, Nefertiti Jaquez Updated: Sep 18, 2017 - 11:48 AM ATLANTA - Update: Parents of Scout held a news conference Monday where they asked the Georgia Tech police why they had to kill

– The president of Georgia Tech's Pride Alliance group was shot dead on campus Saturday night after suffering what a lawyer says appears to have been a mental breakdown. Police say Scout Schultz, who identified as non-binary instead of male or female, was shot after they responded to a 911 call about a person armed with a knife and gun outside a dormitory, WSB reports. Schultz doesn't appear to have had a gun, but police say the student was shot after refusing orders to drop a knife. Graphic video of the incident shows the 21-year-old walking toward officers and shouting "Shoot me!" around a minute before being shot by one of four nearby officers, reports the Washington Post. Video shows that Schultz's hands were down when the student approached officers, and photos from the scene show a utility tool that apparently included a blade, though it wasn't extended. A lawyer for Schultz's family accuses officers of overreacting. It appears Schultz "was having a mental breakdown and didn't know what to do," the lawyer says. "The area was secured. There was no one around at risk." Schultz's mother tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that her eldest child, who was born Scott, suffered from depression and attempted suicide two years ago. "Why didn't they use some nonlethal force, like pepper spray or Tasers?" she wonders.

Scout Schultz, 21, was shot and killed by a Georgia Tech police officer late Saturday night. Video of the incident showed Scout shouting “Shoot me!” to the four officers on the scene. Police said the shooting was prompted when Scout Schultz failed to comply with their repeated commands to drop the knife. Scout Schultz was majoring in computer engineering and was already taking courses for a master’s degree in biomedical engineering, with plans to design biomedical devices for a living. Two years ago, Scout attempted suicide by hanging.

The New York Observer -- a newspaper owned by Donald Trump's son-in-law that is perhaps best known for publishing a sex column in the mid-1990s -- took issue with a piece I wrote in The Huffington Post about ghost tours in New Orleans. This was the writer's opening sally: James Franco, the real voice of our generation, has taken time out from his busy schedule of Art and Teaching and also Learning to begin a Huffington Post diary. It's about time! So what important issue of our times is Mr. Franco tackling? President Obama's stance on gay rights? The construction of Marina Abramovic's performance space over on the Hudson? His new album, perhaps? Those are all great guesses, but James Franco is actually here to talk to us today about a matter close to his heart: Haunted tours in New Orleans that he took with his Nana. (Which is the name of his Japanese hairdresser, not his grandmother.) Yes, this is all true. I didn't write about the president's stance on gay rights -- I figured there was enough talk about that already. (Plus, who wants to hear an actor's take on it anyway?) I didn't write about Marina, but only because we are doing an episode of Iconoclasts for the Sundance Channel together and I figured everything one would want to know about her would come out then. And yes, I am working on an album with my art school band, but I wouldn't want to write an article for HuffPost that promotes my own work. Instead, I wrote about New Orleans and ghost tours because I think there is something interesting about the way we are repelled by violence, on one hand, and attracted to it for its entertainment value, on the other. Maybe the great journalists at the New York Observer should stop wondering why I am not covering Obama or Abramovic -- and start asking themselves why, instead of covering pressing world issues, they are covering my writing, which they claim to consider petty. Which leads me to my next topic: commencement speeches. I figure people don't really want to hear what I have to say about politics, or sports, or geography. But I do feel entitled to write about film and performance, the way that our lives are shaped by these things, and how I personally am engaged with them. Most people have never given a commencement speech -- there just aren't a ton of those offers going around. So because I just gave a commencement speech at UT Arlington -- which is in Texas, if you didn't know -- I want to write about it to shine a little light on what the experience was like. Commencement speeches suck. To set the scene: About four years ago, I was asked to give the commencement speech at U.C.L.A. in front of all the members of the graduating class and their families. In all, it's more than 10,000 people, enough to fill the stands and the floor of Pauley Pavilion. Because I had only just earned my B.A.

– Internet Fight Alert: James Franco is in a bit of a tiff with a New York Observer writer over his series of columns on the Huffington Post. Writer Drew Grant took issue with the fact that Franco addressed New Orleans ghost tours in his column, rather than something more substantive like politics. Franco responded in yesterday’s column, where he first slammed the Observer for being “a newspaper owned by Donald Trump's son-in-law that is perhaps best known for publishing a sex column in the mid-1990s.” He goes on to explain that he didn’t discuss politics—specifically President Obama’s stance on gay marriage—because there’s “enough talk about that already,” and “plus, who wants to hear an actor’s take on it anyway?” He chose his topic because it seemed interesting, he concludes, and the real question is why “the great journalists at the New York Observer” are, “instead of covering pressing world issues, … covering my writing, which they claim to consider petty.” Click for his full column, which somehow segues into the topic of commencement speeches.

The New York Observer took issue with a piece I wrote about ghost tours in New Orleans. I didn't write about the president's stance on gay rights -- I figured there was enough talk about that already. I figure people don't really want to hear what I have to say about politics, or sports, or geography. But I do feel entitled to write about film and performance, the way that our lives are shaped by these things, and how I personally am engaged with them. I just gave a commencement speech at UT Arlington -- which is in Texas, if you didn't know -- and I want to shine a little light on what the experience was like.

Animal rights activists have dismissed as "absurd" and "cruel" the American government's plans to bombard Guam from the air with toxic dead mice in a bid to curtail the spread of invasive snakes. The US air drop over the the Pacific island is due to commence in the spring, and is aimed at addressing the problems caused by non-native brown tree snakes. Having hitched a ride to the island some 60 years ago on military ships, the colony of reptiles have been deemed responsible for killing off native bird species, biting human inhabitants and knocking out electricity by slithering onto power lines. Meanwhile, in Hawaii – some 3,000 miles away – environmentalists fear a similar invasion from the snakes, possibly through unwitting transportation in aircraft that have spent time on Guam. But the US Department of Agriculture's plans to reduce the number of brown tree snakes in Guam – population estimates reach up to 2m – have been attacked by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta). Martin Mersereau, director of cruelty investigations at the animal rights organisation, described the plan as a "clumsy dangerous massacre". "Brown tree snakes did not ask to be stowaways on planes or ships and then forced to survive on a foreign island," he said. But irrespective of how they got to be on Guam, some residents say the snakes – which are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea – are a menace. They can grow to be more than 10ft (3m) in length and can climb poles and trees. Attacks on people have been reported, but their venom is not lethal to humans. Birds on the other hand are not so lucky. Experts believe that the reptiles have been responsible for the destruction of Guam's native birds, who are defenceless against the nocturnal, tree-based predators. As well as taking a toll on native wildlife, the snakes also threaten the tourist industry of Guam, some fear. The US territory – home to some 160,000 people – relies heavily on holiday-making to support its economy. The solution, government scientists believe, is to take advantage of the creature's two big weaknesses – its unfussiness when it comes to food and its susceptibility to a common painkiller, acetaminophen. The drug – sold under the brand name Tylenol in the US – is harmless to humans, but is lethal to the snakes. And unlike other snakes, the brown tree variety do not turn their noses up at prey that has already been killed. Scientists believe that stuffing dead mice with the drug and then conducting an air drop on areas known to be inhabited by the snakes would be an effective way to reduce their numbers. "We are taking this to a new phase," said Daniel Vice, assistant state director of US Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services in Hawaii, Guam and the Pacific Islands. "There really is no other place in the world with a snake problem like Guam," he added. The mice drop – due to take place in April or May – will focus on Guam's sprawling

– The US has a plan to deal with Guam's overwhelming snake population, and it's not sitting well with animal rights activists: In April or May, dead mice stuffed with acetaminophen will be parachuted into Guam. As the AP explains, the plan is built around the brown tree snakes' two main weaknesses: They'll chow down on prey they didn't kill themselves and are highly vulnerable to the painkiller (it's the active ingredient in Tylenol). And by attaching the mice to parachutes, which will be dropped by hand one at a time, researchers say they'll lodge in trees, away from other animals. The mice drop has been attempted before, but a Department of Agriculture official says that now, "We are taking this to a new phase. There really is no other place in the world with a snake problem like Guam." That's because the snakes, which invaded the island during World War II via military ships in the South Pacific, have killed off most of the island's native bird species, are dinging tourism, and could do serious financial harm should they make their way to Hawaii. But PETA is not happy, the Guardian reports. The plan is a cruel one, it says, because death by renal and liver failure "could take days or even weeks."

US government plans to bombard island with toxic dead mice. Aim is to curb spread of non-native brown tree snakes on the Pacific island. Snake population estimates reach up to 2m and have been blamed for killing off native bird species and biting human inhabitants. Environmentalists fear a similar invasion from the snakes in Hawaii, 3,000 miles away. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) described the plan as a "clumsy dangerous massacre" and said it was 'absurd'

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley high-fives a child at a shelter in New Delhi last month. (Manish Swarup/AP) It's difficult to imagine a message more contrary to President Trump's entire ethos than the one offered Monday by his U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley. Haley asked high-schoolers attending a Turning Point USA summit at George Washington University whether they had “posted anything online to quote-unquote 'own the libs,' " according to the Hill. ("Own the libs" or "trigger the libs" means doing something provocative to upset supposedly over-sensitive liberals.) The students reportedly raised their hands en masse and roared. But then Haley went a different direction. “I know that it’s fun and that it can feel good, but step back and think about what you’re accomplishing when you do this — are you persuading anyone? Who are you persuading?” Haley asked. “We’ve all been guilty of it at some point or another, but this kind of speech isn’t leadership; it’s the exact opposite.” She added: “Real leadership is about persuasion, it’s about movement, it’s bringing people around to your point of view — not by shouting them down, but by showing them how it is in their best interest to see things the way you do.” Again, Haley is a political appointee of President Trump. Trump's entire political strategy is basically about “owning the libs” — and, in the process, making his base rally around him. Haley's comments may not have been intended for Trump, but much like first lady Melania Trump's anti-bullying campaign, there would seem to be some cognitive dissonance here. This is hardly the first time Haley has offered a somewhat discordant view from inside the Trump administration, but often that's been about establishing her personal independence. This is perhaps the most pronounced example of her separating herself from Trump's version of the Republican Party. Haley's choice of venue to deliver those lines is particularly noteworthy: TPUSA is a fast-growing group of young conservatives, led by provocateur and Trump ally Charlie Kirk, that is "known for its anti-political-correctness, aggressive legal tactics and alleged associations with racism," as the Post's Eliza Gray wrote earlier this month. In other words, Haley decided to deliver this message to an audience that would likely not love it, but she decided to deliver it there anyway. And while it might be a nice sentiment that is cheered across the aisle, it's not exactly the kind of attitude that is ascendant on the red team. Trump is more popular with the GOP base than basically any recent Republican president, and his bull-in-a-china-shop style has spurred culture wars in which most Republicans are happy warriors. Haley's approach, then, is counterintuitive for someone who is considered to be a rising star within the GOP — and even a possible future presidential candidate. Haley, if she is interested in climbing the ranks, seems to be betting on a more genteel and pragmatic version of conservatism while the party in recent years has demonstrated it desires anything but. Trump's entire election was basically a middle finger to political moderation — both in

– Nikki Haley is making headlines for her advice to young conservatives. While addressing the High School Leadership Summit at George Washington University, the US ambassador to the UN asked the audience members to raise their hands "if you've ever posted anything online to quote-unquote 'own the libs,'" reports the Hill. Most raised their hands, and a round of applause broke out. But then Haley went in an unexpected direction. "I know that it's fun and that it can feel good, but step back and think about what you're accomplishing when you do this—are you persuading anyone? Who are you persuading?" she asked. "We've all been guilty of it at some point or another, but this kind of speech isn't leadership—it's the exact opposite." Instead of shouting people down, a real leader persuades people civilly, "by showing them how it is in their best interest to see things the way you do," she said. At New York magazine, Adam K. Raymond hopes that the host of the forum at which Haley was speaking, Turning Point USA, was listening. This is the same group that hosted an event at Kent State that featured a diaper-clad student in a playpen, sucking a pacifier, to mock the idea of "safe spaces" being sought by liberal students. Meanwhile, Aaron Blake at the Washington Post argues that "owning the libs" is the "entire political strategy" of the man who appointed her, President Trump.

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is a political appointee of President Trump. Haley asked high-schoolers attending a Turning Point USA summit at George Washington University whether they had “posted anything online to quote-unquote 'own the libs' " Haley's choice of venue is particularly noteworthy: TPUSA is a fast-growing group of young conservatives, led by provocateur and Trump ally Charlie Kirk, that is "known for its anti-political-correctness, aggressive legal tactics and alleged associations with racism"

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - An Icelandic court sentenced four former Kaupthing bankers to jail on Thursday for market abuses related to a large stake taken in the bank by a Qatari sheikh just before it went under in late 2008. Weeks before the country's top three banks collapsed under huge debts as the global credit crunch struck, Kaupthing announced that Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Bin Hamad al Thani had bought 5 percent of its shares in a confidence-boosting move. A parliamentary commission later said the shares had been bought with a loan from Kaupthing itself. On Thursday, a Reykjavik district court sentenced Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson, Kaupthing's former CEO, to five and a half years in prison while former chairman Sigurdur Einarsson received a five-year sentence. Magnus Gudmundsson, former CEO of Kaupthing Luxembourg, was given a three-year sentence AND Olafur Olafsson - the bank's second largest shareholder at the time - got three and a half years. In what is by far the largest case brought by Iceland's special prosecutor against former employees of Iceland's failed banks, it was argued that the market had been deceived by information indicating that financing was coming directly from al Thani's own funds. Special Prosecutur Olafur Thor Hauksson, who called some 50 witnesses in the case, said the loans granted by the bank had the sole purpose of boosting Kaupthing shares. None of the bankers, now based in London and Luxembourg, were present on Thursday. The estate of Kaupthing said earlier this year it had settled a dispute with al Thani but provided no details, saying only that it had discontinued legal proceedings. (Reporting by Robert Robertsson; writing by Mia Shanley; editing by Andrew Roche) ||||| Image caption Kaupthing was the largest of the Icelandic banks to go into administration in 2008 Four former bosses from the Icelandic bank Kaupthing have been sentenced to between three and five years in prison. They are the former chief executive, the chairman of the board, one of the majority owners and the chief executive of the Luxembourg branch. They were accused of hiding the fact that a Qatari investor bought a stake in the firm with money lent - illegally - by the bank itself. Kaupthing collapsed in 2008 under the weight of huge debts. For years, Kaupthing and other Icelandic banks had aggressively pursued overseas expansion plans, but when they went into administration, they brought the country's economy to its knees. Just a few weeks before the collapse, Kaupthing announced that Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Bin Hamad al-Thani had bought a 5.1% stake during the financial crisis in 2008. The move was seen as a confidence boost for the bank. Legal costs Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson, the former chief executive, received five and a half years, while Sigurdur Einarsson, former chairman of the board, was sentenced to five years in jail. These are the heaviest sentences for financial fraud in Iceland's history. The court gave Olafur Olafsson, one of the majority owners three years and Magnus Gudmundsson the former chief executive of the Luxembourg branch, three and a half years. None

– Iceland has done something highly unusual with some of the bank chiefs blamed for the country's 2008 financial collapse: put them on trial and sent them to prison. Four former Kaupthing Bank bosses have been sentenced to between three and five years for market abuses relating to a deal where a Qatari sheikh bought a confidence-boosting stake in the bank with money that had been provided by the bank itself, the BBC reports. Prosecutors said the loans, made soon before Kaupthing collapsed under massive debts, were made solely to boost the bank's share price, reports Reuters. The bank's former chief executive and chairman of the board received prison terms, along with one of its majority owners and the chief of its Luxembourg branch. The sentences are the heaviest Iceland has ever handed down for financial fraud, but prosecutors say a bigger case against Kaupthing is in the works. (In other Iceland news, police recently shot somebody dead—for the first time in the country's history.)

Icelandic court sentences four former Kaupthing bankers to jail for market abuses. Case related to a large stake taken in the bank by a Qatari sheikh just before it went under in late 2008. Weeks before the country's top three banks collapsed under huge debts as the global credit crunch struck. KauPthing announced that Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Bin Hamad al Thani had bought 5 percent of its shares in a confidence-boosting move. A parliamentary commission later said the shares had been bought with a loan from the bank itself.

Dragnets Tracking Censorship and Surveillance Update Dec. 28, 2013: In a new decision in support of the NSA's phone metadata surveillance program, U.S. district court Judge William Pauley cites an intelligence failure involving the agency in the lead-up to the 9/11 attacks. But the judge's cited source, the 9/11 Commission Report, doesn't actually include the account he gives in the ruling. What’s more, experts say the NSA could have avoided the pre-9/11 failure even without the metadata surveillance program. We previously explored the key incident in question, involving calls made by hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar from California to Yemen, in a story we did over the summer, which you can read below. In his decision, Pauley writes: "The NSA intercepted those calls using overseas signals intelligence capabilities that could not capture al-Mihdhar's telephone number identifier. Without that identifier, NSA analysts concluded mistakenly that al-Mihdhar was overseas and not in the United States." As his source, the judge writes in a footnote, "See generally, The 9/11 Commission Report." In fact, the 9/11 Commission report does not detail the NSA's intercepts of calls between al-Mihdhar and Yemen. As the executive director of the commission told us over the summer, "We could not, because the information was so highly classified publicly detail the nature of or limits on NSA monitoring of telephone or email communications.” To this day, some details related to the incident and the NSA's eavesdropping have never been aired publicly. And some experts told us that even before 9/11 -- and before the creation of the metadata surveillance program -- the NSA did have the ability to track the origins of the phone calls, but simply failed to do so. * * * This story was originally published on June 20, 2013 and updated on June 21, 2013. In defending the NSA’s sweeping collection of Americans’ phone call records, Obama administration officials have repeatedly pointed out how it could have helped thwart the 9/11 attacks: If only the surveillance program been in place before Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. authorities would have been able to identify one of the future hijackers who was living in San Diego. Last weekend, former Vice President Dick Cheney invoked the same argument. It is impossible to know for certain whether screening phone records would have stopped the attacks -- the program didn’t exist at the time. It’s also not clear whether the program would have given the NSA abilities it didn’t already possess with respect to the case. Details of the current program and as well as NSA’s role in intelligence gathering around the 9/11 plots remain secret. But one thing we do know: Those making the argument have ignored a key aspect of historical record. U.S. intelligence agencies knew the identity of the hijacker in question, Saudi national Khalid al Mihdhar, long before 9/11 and had the ability find him, but they failed to do so. “There were plenty of opportunities without having to rely on this metadata system for the FBI and intelligence agencies to have located Mihdhar,” says former Senator Bob Graham, the Florida Democrat

– ProPublica thinks the judge who sided with the NSA yesterday about its surveillance program has his facts wrong about a key point he makes. In making the case that the NSA's phone-tracking program is an essential tool against terrorism, Judge William Pauley cited the example of 9/11 hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar. If the current system had been in place back then, the NSA would have realized that al-Mihdhar had been making calls from the US before the attack, the judge suggested. Instead, the agency assumed he was overseas. Bottom line: The NSA's surveillance program might have helped prevent 9/11, according to the argument. Pauley's footnote on the incident says, "See generally, The 9/11 Commission Report." The problem with that, writes Justin Elliott, is that the 9/11 report "doesn't actually include the account he gives in the ruling." What's more, a previous article by Elliott on al-Mihdhar concluded that US intelligence agencies knew of him long before 9/11 "and had the ability to find him, but they failed to do so." Click for the full piece, which includes the original al-Mihdhar article.

U.S. district court judge cites intelligence failure involving NSA in lead-up to 9/11 attacks. But judge's cited source, the9/11 Commission Report, doesn't actually include account he gives in ruling. Experts say NSA could have avoided the pre-9-11 failure even without metadata surveillance program. We previously explored the key incident in question, involving calls made by hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar from California to Yemen, in a story we did over the summer.

In his first significant public comments on the tabloid newspaper scandal that has engulfed his media empire, News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch vigorously defended the company's handling of the crisis but said it would establish an independent committee to "investigate every charge of improper conduct." In an interview, Mr. Murdoch said News Corp. has handled the crisis "extremely well in every way possible," making just "minor mistakes." News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal. Enlarge Image Close Reuters News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch The six-year saga centers on dubious reporting tactics at the company's News of the World tabloid in the U.K., a controversy that in recent days has prompted the company to both shutter the paper and abandon one of its biggest deals ever – its attempt to take full control of pay-TV company British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC. Despite a public outcry, Mr. Murdoch said the damage to the company is "nothing that will not be recovered. We have a reputation of great good works in this country." Asked if he was aggravated by the negative headlines in recent days, he said he was "just getting annoyed. I'll get over it. I'm tired." The 80-year-old Mr. Murdoch called The Wall Street Journal in response to inquiries about the status of his son, News Corp. Deputy Chief Operating Officer James Murdoch, who is also non-executive chairman of BSkyB. Some people familiar with the company have raised the idea that James was considering stepping down as chairman of BSkyB, in an attempt to distance the satellite provider further from the scandal. The tabloid scandal and the failed BSkyB bid have represented a setback for the younger Mr. Murdoch, who played a central role in the proposed purchase and who has acknowledged shortcomings in his and other executives' prior responses to the scandal that undermined the BSkyB deal. Key Players Executives and editors View Graphics Reuters Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, and James Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp., Europe and Asia. Rupert Murdoch said his son's position in News Corp. is unchanged. He rejected criticism that James Murdoch had acted too slowly in dealing with the tabloid scandal. "I think he acted as fast as he could, the moment he could," Mr. Murdoch said. The elder Mr. Murdoch said that he, too, had acted appropriately and quickly, saying, "when I hear something going wrong, I insist on it being put right." He said, however, that he attends to a lot of details in a multi-billion company with thousands of employees. The BSkyB deal had been designed to boost News Corp.'s exposure to the lucrative and steady pay-TV business, as the company's newspaper holdings come under pressure from declines in readership and ad revenue. Now that the deal has been abandoned, Mr. Murdoch said the company is "buying back shares and looking for better places to put our money." People close to the company have said the company has considered a separation or sale of its newspaper assets. Mr. Murdoch, who is famously devoted to the

– Even with the FBI and British parliament snooping around now, Rupert Murdoch thinks News Corp will come out of this phone hacking mess just fine, thank you very much. In an interview with the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal, he says the damage is "nothing that will not be recovered," adding that the company has "a reputation of great good works." Murdoch defended the handling of the scandal by himself ("When I hear something going wrong, I insist on it being put right") and son James ("I think he acted as fast as he could, the moment he could"). He also promised an independent investigation into the hacking. Click for the full interview. Or click here to read why Tunku Varadarajan of the Daily Beast thinks Murdoch's pledge to conduct his own inquiry is a joke.

Rupert Murdoch says News Corp. has handled the crisis "extremely well in every way possible" He said the damage to the company is "nothing that will not be recovered" The 80-year-old Mr. Murdoch called The Wall Street Journal in response to inquiries about the status of his son, James. He rejected criticism that James Murdoch had acted too slowly in dealing with the tabloid scandal, saying he acted as fast as he could, the moment he could. He said he was "just getting annoyed. I'll get over it. I'm tired"

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis Star Tribune's film critic has resigned in the face of plagiarism accusations, the newspaper reported in an apology to its readers. The newspaper on Tuesday said it was tipped by a reader and confirmed instances in which Colin Covert's reviews included unique phrases previously used by writers for several publications, including The New York Times, Paste Magazine, vulture.com, The Wall Street Journal, IndieWire and Hollywood Reporter. "Using distinct phrasing from other authors without attribution is a form of plagiarism and is a violation of our journalistic standards and ethics and those of our industry," the newspaper said in its statement. Covert had been a staff writer at the Star Tribune for more than 30 years. His questioned reviews span many years and include one as recent as last month. The newspaper published a statement from Covert in which he apologized for compromising what he called the Star Tribune's "meticulous reputation for integrity." He thanked the paper for his career and said: "When blunders occur it is proper to admit them, correct them and move on." The Star Tribune apologized to the writers and publications from which Covert took material. The newspaper said it also is removing all of Covert's work from its website and alerting wire services and syndicates that use his reviews. The Associated Press has distributed to its members some of Covert's stories for use in their own publications. The AP is trying to determine whether there are any problems with those stories. ___ Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com ||||| We recently discovered that over the past decade, Star Tribune movie critic Colin Covert has written some film reviews using the same unique language of writers for other publications, without attribution. Covert, a staff writer at the Star Tribune for more than 30 years, has resigned. This matter came to editors’ attention in a recent email from a reader that said Covert in his 2009 review of the movie “Nine” had used a unique phrase from the late New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael. Editors confirmed the phrase -- “self-glorifying masochistic mush” -- was used by Kael in 1974. After additional research, editors identified other phrases in Covert’s “Nine” review that are identical to phrases in other reviews written by Kael, including “archaic big-musical circus,” “comic-strip craziness” and “stardust is slightly irritating.” Further examination of some of Covert’s work identified eight other reviews that contained unique phrases used previously by writers for the New York Times, Paste Magazine, vulture.com, the Wall Street Journal, IndieWire and Hollywood Reporter. The reviews by Covert in question span many years, but one was published as recently as November 1. In that review, of the film “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, Covert wrote: “There’s breathtaking craft and control in her performance, but not once do you sense the tools at work.” A year earlier, in a Nov. 27, 2017, review of “Call Me by Your Name,” Jon Frosch wrote in the Hollywood Reporter: “There’s breathtaking craft and control in the performance, but not once do you sense the tools at

– The Minneapolis Star Tribune's film critic has resigned in the face of plagiarism accusations, the newspaper reported in an apology to its readers. The newspaper on Tuesday said it was tipped by a reader and confirmed instances in which Colin Covert's reviews included unique phrases previously used by writers for several publications, including the New York Times, Paste magazine, vulture.com, the Wall Street Journal, IndieWire and the Hollywood Reporter. "Using distinct phrasing from other authors without attribution is a form of plagiarism and is a violation of our journalistic standards and ethics and those of our industry," the newspaper said in its statement. Covert had been a staff writer at the Star Tribune for more than 30 years, the AP reports. His questioned reviews span many years, dating back to at least 2009, and include one as recent as last month. The newspaper published a statement from Covert in which he apologized for compromising what he called the Star Tribune's "meticulous reputation for integrity." He thanked the paper for his career and said: "When blunders occur it is proper to admit them, correct them and move on." The Star Tribune apologized to the writers and publications from which Covert took material. The newspaper said it also is removing all of Covert's work from its website and alerting wire services and syndicates that use his reviews. (A photojournalist was exposed as a fraud with a stolen face.)

The Minneapolis Star Tribune's film critic has resigned in the face of plagiarism accusations. Colin Covert's reviews included unique phrases previously used by writers for several publications. Covert had been a staff writer at the Star Tribune for more than 30 years. The newspaper said it also is removing all of Covert’s work from its website and alerting wire services and syndicates that use his reviews. The Associated Press is trying to determine whether there are any problems with those stories, as well.

A woman who underwent fertility treatment at a clinic in Rome became pregnant with the twins of another couple after their embryos were mixed up, press reports said Sunday. Italy’s health ministry said it was launching an investigation into the mix-… ||||| Carolyn Savage gave birth to a healthy boy Thursday at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio, after carrying Shannon Morell's son for nine months. Last February, the two mothers, both hoping for another child, were cruelly surprised when the fertilized embryo from one woman was implanted in the womb of the other. The bittersweet story comes on the heels of the shutdown Friday of an in vitro fertilization center at Ochsner Hospital in Elmwood, La ., due to a possible mix-up in the labeling of frozen embryos In the loosely regulated world of assisted reproduction, the mix-up between Savage and Morell is less surprising than the civility and kindness demonstrated by two families who faced a heartbreaking decision: Who were the rightful parents? null Because of her Catholic religious beliefs, Savage, a 40-year-old mother of two from Sylvania, Ohio, agreed not to abort and to give the baby back to its biological mother. After the birth, Savage and her husband Sean congratulated the biological parents, Paul and Shannon Morell of Sterling Heights, Mich. But the unintended surrogates then asked for privacy, saying in a prepared statement, "Our family is going through a difficult time." "We're trying to look at it as a gift for another family that eight months ago we didn't know," she said only a week earlier. "We will wonder about this child every day for the rest of our life." The Morells told The Associated Press that Savage was a "guardian angel" and they would be "eternally grateful." null The heartrending and seemingly generous tale unfolded on network and cable television last week, but some wonder if it will have a storybook ending. Psychologists say the loss can be devastating, not just for Savage, but for Morell, who said she was grateful, but had felt "powerless and out of control." "All the emotions a woman has during pregnancy to bond with her child I haven't had," Shannon Morell said. "It's been a very empty feeling. All the emotions from nine months are packed into that one day when I actually get to hold my baby. I never felt the baby kick -- none of that." The Savages have retained two lawyers -- one in Detroit and one in Michigan -- and the top New York City public relations firm Rubenstein to help spin the media attention and deal with a host of offers for books and movie deals. And though they appear to be working closely with the as yet unnamed fertility clinic to try for another pregnancy with their own embryos, the Savages have not ruled out legal action. Nor have the Morells, according to press reports. "They have left this in God's hands, but not everyone can do that," said Melissa Brisman, a reproductive lawyer from Montvale, N.J., who works on custody issues

– "Mix-up" is a word best left out of sentences involving another word: pregnancy. But the two are making headlines together following yesterday's report that a woman in Rome became pregnant with twins after undergoing fertility treatment—except the embryos she was implanted with weren't those of her and her partner. The woman wasn't alerted to the issue until she was three months along. The AFP reports the switch somehow happened on Dec. 4 at the Sandro Pertini Hospital in Rome. Four couples received treatment that day, and it's unclear whether any other improper pregnancies resulted. There's also no word on how the mix-up came to light, though Rome's health authority said it learned there was "genetic incompatibility" between the parents and embryos on March 27. The country's health ministry is now investigating, and no further implantations are being done at the clinic. It's far from the first time this has happened: In 2009 an Ohio woman implanted with the wrong embryos gave birth to a baby boy then handed him over to his biological parents; a 2000 in-vitro mix-up saw a San Francisco woman implanted with another couple's embryos as well. The Chronicle reports that the doctor immediately realized his mistake but didn't reveal it; Susan Buchweitz learned of this mistake 10 months after birth after a whistleblower tipped off the Medical Board of California. The biological father of her son sued for custody, and was granted shared custody in 2005. (It's not the only alarming pregnancy story in the news this week.)

Carolyn Savage gave birth to a healthy boy Thursday at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio. Last February, the two mothers were cruelly surprised when the fertilized embryo from one woman was implanted in the womb of the other. Because of her Catholic religious beliefs, Savage agreed not to abort and to give the baby back to its biological mother. Psychologists say the loss can be devastating, not just for Savage, but for Morell, who said she had felt "powerless and out of control"

Tesla Turns Power Back On At Children's Hospital In Puerto Rico Enlarge this image toggle caption Tesla Tesla Tesla has used its solar panels and batteries to restore reliable electricity at San Juan's Hospital del Niño (Children's Hospital), in what company founder Elon Musk calls "the first of many solar+battery Tesla projects going live in Puerto Rico." The project came about after Puerto Rico was hit by two devastating and powerful hurricanes in September, and Musk reached out about Tesla helping. Musk's company announced its success in getting the hospital's power working again less than three weeks after Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello tweeted on Oct. 6, "Great initial conversation with @elonmusk tonight. Teams are now talking; exploring opportunities." Tesla's image of the project's solar array, in a parking lot next to the hospital, has been liked more than 84,000 times since it was posted to Instagram Tuesday. Earlier this month, Musk tweeted that some of his company's work is being rerouted so it could "increase battery production for Puerto Rico & other affected areas." The hospital's new system allows it to generate all the energy it needs, according to El Nuevo Dia. The facility has 35 permanent residents with chronic conditions; it also offers services to some 3,000 young patients, the newspaper says. As for who is paying for the power system, the head of the hospital tells Nuevo Dia that for now, it's a donation — and that after the energy crisis is over, a deal could make it permanent. Both Rossello and the tech company tweeted about the project this week, with Tesla saying in a post, "Grateful to support the recovery of Puerto Rico with @ricardorossello" — and Rossello stating, "A major contribution of @Tesla to the Hospital del Niño." The news of restoring permanent power at the hospital comes as millions of people in Puerto Rico continue to rely on generators for electricity. As of Wednesday morning, the Electric Power Authority reported that its power service was at 25 percent. The task of rebuilding Puerto Rico's power grid is expected to take months and to cost as much as $5 billion. Last week, the territory's electric and power authority signed a $300 million contract with Whitefish, a small and relatively young Montana company, to restore the power grid. The deal has sparked scrutiny and skepticism, as NPR's Laurel Wamsley and Nicky Ouellet of Montana Public Radio reported. Tesla isn't the only tech company trying to help Puerto Rico; Google's parent company, Alphabet, has deployed balloons from its Project Loon to the territory, to help parts of the island reconnect after much of its phone system went down. The portable network can help phone users with both messaging and some web browsing. ||||| In this Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 photo, the streets of Old San Juan are dark after sunset one month after Hurricane Maria in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Tourism, a rare thriving sector on the island in a deep... (Associated Press) In this Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 photo, the streets of Old San Juan are dark

– Puerto Rico is still struggling weeks after two powerful hurricanes last month—the territory's Electric Power Authority said Wednesday morning that power service was at 25%—but, thanks to Tesla, electricity has been restored at a San Juan children's hospital. The company used its solar panels and batteries to create a solar array in a parking lot next to Hospital del Niño that generates all the energy the hospital needs, reports NPR, citing local media. Tesla tweeted pictures of the array this week, calling the project the "first of many solar+storage projects going live" in Puerto Rico. For now, the head of the hospital says, the setup is a donation, but a deal could eventually make it permanent after the crisis has passed. Rebuilding Puerto Rico's power grid could take months and cost as much as $5 billion, but other companies are similarly stepping in to help; Google's parent company, for example, has helped to restore internet service. Last week, the Electric Power Authority signed a contract with a small and somewhat new company to restore the power grid, causing some concern; on Wednesday, it was announced that retired Air Force Col. Noel Zamot has been appointed to oversee the grid's restoration, the AP reports. "We are deeply concerned both about why and how a small, inexperienced firm was tasked with the massive job of rebuilding Puerto Rico's devastated electrical grid," Nancy Pelosi said in a statement, praising Zamot's appointment and ability to provide additional scrutiny of the process.

Tesla has used its solar panels and batteries to restore reliable electricity at a Puerto Rico hospital. Tesla founder Elon Musk calls it "the first of many solar+battery Tesla projects going live in Puerto Rico" The project came about after Puerto Rico was hit by two devastating and powerful hurricanes in September. The hospital's new system allows it to generate all the energy it needs, according to El Nuevo Dia, a local newspaper. The head of the hospital says for now, it's a donation — and that after the energy crisis is over, a deal could make it permanent.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ben Smith took on the challenge to raise awareness of bullying A runner who battled a back injury has completed 401 marathons in 401 days. Ben Smith, 34, began his charity attempt on 1 September 2015 and ran 284 consecutive marathons in 284 days. He then developed an umbilical hernia in June which forced him to stop for 10 days to recover before resuming and making up the lost mileage. Mr Smith, from Portishead, was joined by about 350 people who set off with him at 10:00 BST on his 401st marathon. An emotional Mr Smith was cheered through the finish line by hundreds of supporters and thanked his parents, partner and team for their support. "I think I'm in a bit of shock," he said. "I can't believe we have done this. "Without every single person who has taken part, we wouldn't be where we are now and I can't thank you enough. I am sure the charities will thank you." Image caption Ben Smith has raised £250,000 for charity through his exploits He reached his fundraising target of £250,000 as he arrived at the halfway point in Portishead earlier. "We've just had some great news, I'm going to cry now... you can still keep donating," he said. The return loop from Millennium Square in Bristol to Portishead took the runners about seven hours to complete and saw Mr Smith enjoying a burger and chips along the way. Before setting off, he said he was feeling "nervous but excited" and expected the run to be emotional. Image copyright Sally Evens Image caption By time Ben Smith finishes his challenge he will have covered 10,506.2 miles "I'm actually aching today, my legs have been alright for the last 101 days and typical, last day, legs ache, back aches, but I've got one day left," he said. "I'm doing this to raise £250,000 for two anti-bullying charities. "I was bullied for eight years of my life at school. It affected my confidence and self-esteem and that led to me trying to take my own life when I was 18." After coming out as gay, the runner wanted to raise awareness of the damage caused by bullying and to support his chosen charities, Kidscape and Stonewall. He said: "A key objective of The 401 Challenge has been to involve as many people as possible and create opportunities for children, young people and adults to discuss the difficult topics of bullying and sexuality." After the final marathon, his team have put together a three-month "cool down" involving a month of back-to-back half marathons, followed by a month of 10km runs and a month of daily 5km runs. ||||| Sometimes a speaker leaves you speechless due to their story. In nine years of organising events, Ig have never been left so speechless by the tenacity and self-determination to overcome the adversity Ben had to deal with through his childhood and early adulthood. I quite literally had tears in my eyes at points during his talk. I rarely

– Ben Smith overcame years of bullying, depression, and two suicide attempts, so running 401 marathons in 401 days was no sweat. “I’ve sat on my bed and tried to take my life," Smith tells BuzzFeed. "I got through that, so I feel like nothing can stop me." Smith started The 401 Challenge on Sept. 1, 2015; he finished his 401st marathon, completing a feat no one had ever done, on Wednesday. Along the way he spoke to more than 100 schools about bullying, sexuality, and mental health while raising more than $315,000 for charities who help kids bullied because of their sexuality. The 33-year-old Smith tells the Guardian he wants to "make sure that what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else.” Smith took up running at 29 after suffering a ministroke—he was 230 pounds overweight, had unhealthy habits, and "couldn't even run for a bus"—and found it helped his mental health, as well. Smith came out as gay at 30 after 20 years in the closet. “I knew I was gay,” Smith tells BuzzFeed. "But because I’d gone through school being bullied about it, I felt it was wrong." Running 401 marathons—more than 10,500 miles—in 401 days is no easy thing. Smith lost more than 80 pounds, got tendonitis, and lost feeling in his foot. He broke his back on day 284, requiring him to take 10 days off to rehab his fractured vertebrae. He made it up by running super-marathons when he came back. More than 300 people joined Smith for his final marathon Wednesday, and hundreds more greeted him at the finish line, the BBC reports.

Ben Smith, 34, ran 284 consecutive marathons in 284 days. He developed an umbilical hernia in June which forced him to stop for 10 days. Mr Smith, from Portishead, has raised £250,000 for two anti-bullying charities. He was bullied for eight years of his life at school and tried to take his own life when he was 18. He has now covered 10,506.2 miles in 401 days to raise awareness of the damage caused by bullying and to support his chosen charities Kidscape and Stonewall.

An unusual molecule is found in rocks ∼650–540 million y old, and its likely precursor, 24-isopropylcholesterol (24-ipc), is produced by some modern sea sponges. The sterane hydrocarbon analog of 24-ipc offers a potential “molecular fossil” for early animals, but certain algae also produce traces of this molecule, so it is unclear when and how frequently the ability to synthesize 24-ipc evolved. In this study, we connect 24-ipc production to a gene and conclude that algae and sponges independently evolved 24-ipc synthesis through unique gene duplication events. Although the timing of the sponge gene duplication overlaps with the geological record of the molecular fossil, the algal gene duplication occurs significantly later, supporting the connection of 24-ipc to sponges and providing the oldest evidence for animal life. Abstract ||||| The first animal to appear on Earth was very likely the simple sea sponge. New genetic analyses led by MIT researchers confirm that sea sponges are the source of a curious molecule found in rocks that are 640 million years old. These rocks significantly predate the Cambrian explosion — the period in which most animal groups took over the planet, 540 million years ago — suggesting that sea sponges may have been the first animals to inhabit the Earth. “We brought together paleontological and genetic evidence to make a pretty strong case that this really is a molecular fossil of sponges,” says David Gold, a postdoc in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). “This is some of the oldest evidence for animal life.” The results are published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Gold is the lead author on the paper, along with senior author and EAPS Professor Roger Summons. Ancient molecular clues Paleontologists have unearthed an extraordinary number of fossils from the period starting around 540 million years ago. Based on the fossil record, some scientists have argued that contemporary animal groups essentially “exploded” onto Earth, very quickly morphing from single-celled organisms to complex multicellular animals in a relatively short geological time span. However, the fossils that are known from before the Cambrian explosion are peculiar in many respects, making it extremely difficult to determine which type of animal was the first to the evolutionary line. Summons’ lab has been looking for the answer in molecular fossils — trace amounts of molecules that have survived in ancient rocks long after the rest of an animal has decayed away. “There’s a feeling that animals should be much older than the Cambrian, because a lot of animals are showing up at the same time, but fossil evidence for animals before that has been contentious,” Gold says. “So people are interested in the idea that some of these biomarkers and chemicals, molecules left behind, might help resolve these debates.” In particular, he and his colleagues have focused on 24-isopropylcholestane, or 24-ipc for short — a lipid molecule, or sterol, that is a modified version of cholesterol. In 1994, Summons was part of a team, led by Mark McCaffrey PhD ’90, that first found 24-ipc, in unusually high amounts, in Cambrian

– Way before humans, sharks, or dinosaurs, the sea sponge was very likely the first animal on Earth. That's according to a PNAS study out of MIT concluding that a molecule in 640 million-year-old rocks came from the simple creature. Assuming the researchers are right, that means the multi-celled organisms were around at least 100 million years before most animal groups blossomed during what's known as the Cambrian explosion, reports MIT News. The few fossils from the pre-Cambrian era are difficult for paleontologists to evaluate, so researchers looked to molecule traces left behind in rocks by decaying creatures. One molecule in particular, a modified version of cholesterol called 24-isopropylcholestane, kept cropping up, the same one produced by some sea sponges and algae today. Using what Discovery calls "evolutionary-tree detective work," the researchers were able to rule out algae as the source. “We brought together paleontological and genetic evidence to make a pretty strong case that this really is a molecular fossil of sponges,” says one of the scientists. “This is some of the oldest evidence for animal life.” The find isn't so much a bombshell as further confirmation of a widely held theory that life originated with sea sponges. And it opens the door to yet more questions about this earliest stage of animal life, including precisely what the organisms looked like and what kind of environment allowed them to thrive. Another biggie as stated by the MIT researcher: "Why is there this big gap in the fossil record?" (Sea sponges may have helped create other animals.)

MIT researchers confirm that sea sponges are the source of a curious molecule found in rocks that are 640 million years old. These rocks significantly predate the Cambrian explosion — the period in which most animal groups took over the planet, 540 million years ago. “This is some of the oldest evidence for animal life,” says David Gold, a postdoc in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) The results are published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

OLYMPIA, Washington Tea Party politician John Koster, the Republican nominee for a hotly contested congressional seat in Washington state, says he opposes abortions, even in cases of "the rape thing," because it is tantamount to inflicting "more violence onto a woman's body." The Snohomish County councilman made the comments during a weekend fundraising appearance in the Puget Sound city of Everett, north of Seattle, that was captured in a recording released on Wednesday by the liberal activist group Fuse Washington. Long known as an opponent of abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, Koster was asked if there were any circumstances under which he would approve of terminating a pregnancy. "When a mother's life is in danger ... I'm not going to make that decision," he replied, before going on to talk about incest and rape. "Incest is so rare, I mean, it's so rare. But the rape thing, you know, I know a woman who was raped and kept her child, gave it up for adoption. She doesn't regret it. In fact, she is a big pro-life proponent," he said in the recording. He continued by asking a rhetorical question: "But on the rape thing, it's like, how does putting more violence onto a woman's body and taking the life of an innocent child that's a consequence of this crime, how does that make it better?" The remarks drew sharp criticism from the campaign of his Democratic foe, former Microsoft executive and state revenue director Suzan DelBene - a spokesman said it showed Koster to be "out of touch" - and from abortion-rights supporters. "There are far too many extreme politicians out there that are trying to be involved in a woman's personal medical decisions about her pregnancy," Sara Kiesler of Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The flap marked the latest instance of a Republican congressional candidate stirring controversy with comments about abortion and rape. Richard Mourdock, the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Indiana, said during a debate last Tuesday that pregnancy from rape was "something that God intended to happen." And Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin in August caused an uproar by saying women have natural defenses against pregnancy from "legitimate rape." In a statement posted on its website on Wednesday, Koster's campaign accused DelBene supporters of engaging in "dirty tricks" by circulating the recording of his remarks, and suggested his words were taken out of context. "The recording was done secretly, then edited to suit DelBene's agenda," campaign manager Larry Stickney said. "The insinuation that John Koster is in some way 'callous or 'cavalier' when it comes to the subject of rape is another example of the vicious and desperate tactics ... employed to slander the good name of John Koster." During his term as a state lawmaker, Koster sponsored tough "two strikes, you're out" legislation to lock up violent sex offenders permanently, his website said. The race between Koster and DelBene for Washington state's newly drawn first congressional district seat, vacated by Democrat Jay Inslee when he resigned to run

– The latest fallout over a Republican candidate's views on rape and/or abortion: A Seattle-area congressional nominee has dubbed abortions after rape "more violence onto a woman's body." Tea Party candidate John Koster was caught on tape noting that as to cases when the life of the mother is at stake, "I'm not going to make that decision," Reuters reports. "But on the rape thing, it's like, how does putting more violence onto a woman's body and taking the life of an innocent child that's a consequence of this crime, how does that make it better?" He added: "I know crime has consequences, but how does it make it better by killing a child?" the Seattle Times reports. Koster's Democratic opponent, Suzan DelBene, calls the comments "out of touch." Koster's website now says DelBene supporters were up to "dirty tricks" with the tape, released by a liberal activist group. "The recording was done secretly, then edited to suit DelBene's agenda," Koster's campaign manager says. "The insinuation that John Koster is in some way 'callous' or 'cavalier' when it comes to the subject of rape is another example of the vicious and desperate tactics ... employed to slander the good name of John Koster."

Tea Party politician John Koster says he opposes abortions, even in cases of "the rape thing" Koster is the Republican nominee for a hotly contested congressional seat in Washington state. He made the comments during a weekend fundraising appearance in the Puget Sound city of Everett. The remarks drew sharp criticism from his Democratic foe, Suzan DelBene, a spokesman said it showed Koster to be "out of touch" and from abortion-rights supporters."There are far too many extreme politicians out there that are trying to be involved in a woman's personal medical decisions"

A member of the spurge family, the world´s most dangerous tree is the manchineel (Hippomane mancinella) of the Florida Everglades and the Caribbean coast. The sap that its trunk exudes is so poisonous and acidic that the merest contact with human skin causes a breakout of blisters, and blindness can occur if it touches a person´s eyes. Even standing under it in the rain is enough to cause blistering if the skin is wetted by raindrops containing any sap. In addition, a single bite of its small green apple-like fruit causes blistering and severe pain, and can prove fatal. And if one of these deadly trees is burned, the resulting smoke can cause blindness if it reaches a person´s eyes. All records listed on our website are current and up-to-date. For a full list of record titles, please use our Record Application Search. (You will be need to register / login for access) Comments below may relate to previous holders of this record. ||||| The fruit of the Manchineel tree. (Photo: Hans Hillewaert/CC BY-SA 3.0) Throughout the coasts of the Caribbean, Central America, the northern edges of South America, and even in south Florida, there can be found a pleasant-looking beachy sort of tree, often laden with small greenish-yellow fruits that look not unlike apples. You might be tempted to eat the fruit. Do not eat the fruit. You might want to rest your hand on the trunk, or touch a branch. Do not touch the tree trunk or any branches. Do not stand under or even near the tree for any length of time whatsoever. Do not touch your eyes while near the tree. Do not pick up any of the ominously shiny, tropic-green leaves. If you want to slowly but firmly back away from this tree, you would not find any argument from any botanist who has studied it. After all, it is rumored to have killed the famed explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon. This is the manchineel, known sometimes as the beach apple, or more accurately in Spanish-speaking countries as la manzanilla de la muerte, which translates to “the little apple of death,” or as arbol de la muerte, “tree of death.” A warning sign for the Manchineel tree. (Photo: Scott Hughes/CC BY-SA 2.0) “Warning: all parts of manchineel are extremely poisonous. The content in this document is strictly informational. Interaction with and ingestion of any part of this tree may be lethal,” write Michael G. Andreu and Melissa H. Friedman of the University of Florida in a brief guide to the tree. This is not an exaggeration. The fruits, though described as sweet and tasty, are extraordinarily toxic. Fatalities are not known in modern literature, though it’s certainly possible that people have died from eating the fruit of the manchineel. “Shipwrecked sailors have been reported to have eaten manchineel fruits and, rather than dying a violent death, they had inflammations and blistering around the mouth. Other people have been diagnosed with severe stomach and intestinal issues,” says Roger Hammer, a naturalist and botanist who has written many books

– Just like a pack of cigarettes, the manchineel tree comes with a health warning: "This tree is very TOXIC," reads a sign that adorns one specimen of the tropical plant, which grows in south Florida, South and Central America, and a few other locales. Just looking at the tree, though, you'd never suspect it's the most deadly in the US. Atlas Obscura describes it as a "pleasant-looking beachy sort of tree, often laden with small greenish-yellow fruits that look not unlike apples." It is ill advised, however, to sample the fruit. “Shipwrecked sailors have been reported to have eaten manchineel fruits and … they had inflammations and blistering around the mouth," says botanist Roger Hammer. "Other people have been diagnosed with severe stomach and intestinal issues." That's why, per Mother Nature News, the tree has been dubbed by some as manzanita de la muerte—the "little apple of death." In an account about eating a so-called "beach apple," radiologist Nicola Strickland says the fruit was "pleasantly sweet," but then a "burning, tearing sensation, and tightness of the throat" set in. The "excruciating pain" lasted for hours, she writes. And it's not just the fruit. According to Guinness World Records, which lists the manchineel as the "most dangerous tree," its sap can cause burning and blindness, even when diluted by rainwater. Smoke from the burning wood also can cause blindness. But the manchineel, which also grows in the Caribbean, Central America, and northern South America, does have some redeeming attributes, per Atlas Obscura. The wood, when harvested and dried properly, is great for cabinetry and other uses. And, notes MNN, the bark can be used to treat edema and may hold the key to scientific breakthroughs. (Trees need their sleep, too.)

The world's most dangerous tree is the manchineel (Hippomane mancinella) of the Florida Everglades and the Caribbean coast. The sap that its trunk exudes is so poisonous and acidic that the merest contact with human skin causes a breakout of blisters. A single bite of its small green apple-like fruit causes blistering and severe pain, and can prove fatal. If one of these deadly trees is burned, the resulting smoke can cause blindness if it reaches a person´s eyes.

CLOSE A man is suspected of hiding in a teen's closet for five days. Her mother found him when she went to put some of her daughter's clothes away. Investigators say the suspect met the 14-year-old girl online. VPC Jarred Ashley Workman, 27, could spend life in prison without parole if he is convicted of 16 statutory rape charges. (Photo: Iredell County Sheriff's Office) STATESVILLE, N.C. — A man is suspected of hiding in a teen's closet for five days, running away when the girl's mother went to put some of her daughter's clothes away, authorities said. Jarred Ashley Workman, 27, of Albemarle, N.C., turned himself in to Iredell County sheriff's deputies here Monday afternoon and was charged with 11 counts of statutory rape and five counts of statutory sex offense, all felonies. He is in jail on more than a $1 million bond. His first court appearance was Tuesday. If convicted, Workman could face life in prison without parole, according to WCNC-TV, Charlotte. The suspect met the 14-year-old girl online, investigators said. They chatted using social media for about a month and then agreed to meet in the woods near the teen's home in the Love Valley, N.C., area, about 60 miles north of Charlotte and 100 miles east of Asheville. He then sneaked into the girl's bedroom without her family's knowledge. "During the day, he was either in her closet or in her bedroom, and when she would come home from school or on the weekend or whatever, he would come out in evenings," said Lt. Bill Hamby, a detective with the Iredell County Sheriff's Office here. The family is not being identified because of the nature of the charges. 2014: Police find mom hiding in bedroom at teen party 2013: Ohio State students find secret roommate in 'closet' In the five-day span from April 27 to May 2, Hamby said, the suspect had sex with the teen several times. In North Carolina, the age of consent for sexual activity is 16, as it is in 33 other states and the District of Columbia. After the suspect fled, investigators tracked him through the woods behind the teen's house. His trail ran cold along North Carolina 115, where he might have gotten a ride. <!--iframe--> But the suspect dropped his wallet and cellphone along the way. It's how deputies identified Workman. Plus, investigators say, the teen told them his name. Workman is a 2007 graduate of Parkwood High School in Monroe, N.C., about 30 miles southeast of Charlotte near the South Carolina border, and has had several prior arrests. He is due June 2 in District Court in Albemarle in Stanly County, just east of Charlotte, on three felony charges: identity theft, unlawfully obtaining a credit card and obtaining property under false pretenses. And he is scheduled to appear June 30 in Superior Court in Stanly County on felony charges of fleeing and eluding arrest, as well as a probation violation. Part of the Iredell County investigation includes Workman's social-media history. "For these predators to prey on these children, it's real

– A 27-year-old man who met a 14-year-old girl online and ended up moving into her closet for five days could face up to life in prison on charges including statutory rape. Police say that after communicating with the girl on social media for a few weeks, North Carolina man Jarred Ashley Workman arranged to meet her and then sneaked into her home without her parents' knowledge. He was discovered by her horrified mother when she was putting clothes away, USA Today reports. He took off in such a hurry that he dropped his wallet and cell phone, which helped lead investigators to him. "During the day, he was either in her closet or in her bedroom, and when she would come home from school or on the weekend or whatever, he would come out in evenings," a police spokesman explains. Workman has been charged with 11 counts of statutory rape and five counts of statutory sex offense, WROC-TV reports. "I'm uncomfortable in my own home. I'm scared. I can't sleep at night," the girl's mother says. The police spokesman says the crime highlights the importance of parents monitoring their children's online activities.

Jarred Ashley Workman, 27, of Albemarle, N.C., turned himself in to Iredell County sheriff's deputies. He is in jail on more than a $1 million bond. The suspect met the 14-year-old girl online, investigators say. In North Carolina, the age of consent for sexual activity is 16, as it is in 33 other states and the District of Columbia, police say. The girl's mother found him when she went to put some of her daughter's clothes away.

From Paris With Love (2010) A conservative estimate of the escalating body count in Pierre Morel’s gleefully chaotic action-adventure comedy “From Paris With Love” is two dozen a day, boasts John Travolta ’s trigger-happy character, Special Agent Charlie Wax. But as you watch Mr. Travolta, twirling a weapon in each hand, dispatch the members of a Chinese drug gang in a Paris restaurant and later in a nearby apartment, it could be a hundred or a thousand. In a rare moment of contemplation, Wax remarks that there are a billion more to be disposed of. This gonzo wild man storms into the movie at a Paris airport, where security refuses to let him enter the country with his precious energy drinks whose containers hide firearms. But with the last-minute intervention of his new partner, James Reese (a mustachioed Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a personal aide to the American ambassador in France, Wax is allowed in. Winking broadly, “From Paris With Love” leads us back into vintage James Bond territory where fiendish Asian baddies were casually exterminated like so many cockroaches. What’s another billion anyway? In this movie, whose title echoes that of the second Bond film in that endless franchise, the drug dealers are somehow related to the Pakistani terrorists on whom “From Paris With Love,” all but forgetting about drugs, directs its searchlights in its second half. The turning point comes with the smashing of a cocaine-filled vase that Reese has been dutifully toting from place to place. “From Paris With Love,” Mr. Morel’s follow-up to his B-movie blockbuster, “Taken,” is a really a one-sided buddy movie in which a leather-clad Mr. Travolta, with a shaved head and an earring, camps it up in the Vin Diesel supermacho style. Details in the screenplay by Adi Hasak, based on a Luc Besson story, signal that beneath his facade Wax is really a softie. He goes moony when a recording of “(They Long to Be) Close to You” comes on a car radio, then demands his companions not tell anyone of his weakness. Late in the movie he is also revealed as a killer at the chessboard, as is Reese. Mr. Travolta so completely dominates the movie that Mr. Rhys Meyers can barely crawl out from under his shadow once Wax appears. Mr. Rhys Meyers’s better moments all occur in early scenes before Mr. Travolta blasts onto the screen. Reese has a seemingly perfect girlfriend, Caroline (Kasia Smutniak), and is the apple-polishing golden boy of his boss, Ambassador Bennington (Richard Durden). A low-level operative for the C.I.A., Reese has cloak-and-dagger dreams that are finally rewarded when he is teamed with the appalling Wax. I am ashamed to admit that this empty-headed, preposterous, possibly evil mélange of gunplay and high-speed car chases on Parisian boulevards is a feel-good movie that produces a buzz. Even more than “Taken,” a kidnapping drama with the semblance of a heart, “From Paris With Love” wallows in action for action’s sake. The set pieces are precisely calibrated movements in a symphony of violence with no adagio. There is the scene

– A trigger-happy John Travolta is not only the main event but the only event in the gleefully over-the-top spy movie From Paris With Love, say critics. Travolta, plainly having a blast as a "bald-headed, goateed, gonzo CIA agent with a short fuse" is the standout in this "otherwise unsightly heap of nonsense that keeps tripping over its own swagger," writes Michael Rechtshaffen at the Hollywood Reporter. Travolta is "chaos and carnage incarnate," with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as his hapless handler, in this "bloody buddy picture that tries too hard," writes Roger Moore at the Orlando Sentinel. Stephen Holden at the New York Times is "ashamed to admit that this empty-headed, preposterous, possibly evil mélange of gunplay and high-speed car chases on Parisian boulevards is a feel-good movie that produces a buzz." If you're looking for plot or character development, look elsewhere, advises James Berardinelli at ReelViews. This is pure "comic book/popcorn action. If that's your kind of movie, it's hard to go wrong with this one.

“From Paris With Love” is a really a one-sided buddy movie in which a leather-clad Mr. Travolta, with a shaved head and an earring, camps it up in the Vin Diesel supermacho style. The turning point comes with the smashing of a cocaine-filled vase that James Reese has been dutifully toting from place to place. The set pieces are precisely calibrated movements in a symphony of violence with no adagio. There is the scene where Mr. Rhys Meyers can barely crawl out from under his shadow once Wax appears.

On the contrary, I feel intensely alive, and I want and hope in the time that remains to deepen my friendships, to say farewell to those I love, to write more, to travel if I have the strength, to achieve new levels of understanding and insight. This will involve audacity, clarity and plain speaking; trying to straighten my accounts with the world. But there will be time, too, for some fun (and even some silliness, as well). I feel a sudden clear focus and perspective. There is no time for anything inessential. I must focus on myself, my work and my friends. I shall no longer look at “NewsHour” every night. I shall no longer pay any attention to politics or arguments about global warming. This is not indifference but detachment — I still care deeply about the Middle East, about global warming, about growing inequality, but these are no longer my business; they belong to the future. I rejoice when I meet gifted young people — even the one who biopsied and diagnosed my metastases. I feel the future is in good hands. I have been increasingly conscious, for the last 10 years or so, of deaths among my contemporaries. My generation is on the way out, and each death I have felt as an abruption, a tearing away of part of myself. There will be no one like us when we are gone, but then there is no one like anyone else, ever. When people die, they cannot be replaced. They leave holes that cannot be filled, for it is the fate — the genetic and neural fate — of every human being to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, to die his own death. I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure. ||||| Oliver Sacks, Renowned Neurologist And Author, Dies At 82 Enlarge this image toggle caption Chris McGrath/Getty Images Chris McGrath/Getty Images Oliver Sacks, the famed neurologist and best-selling author of books such as The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, died of cancer today in New York City at the age of 82, a longtime friend and colleague has confirmed. The London-born academic's 1973 memoir Awakenings, about his efforts to use the drug L-Dopa to bring patients who survived the 1917-1928 encephalitis epidemic out of their persistent catatonic state, was turned into a 1990 Hollywood film starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. He was the author of a dozen other books. A friend and colleague, Orrin Devinsky, who is a professor of neurology at New York University, where Sacks worked for

– Oliver Sacks, the acclaimed neurologist who scientifically parsed the mysteries of the human brain while simultaneously embracing the intricacies of the human spirit, has died today at the age of 82, reports the New York Times. Sacks had suffered terminal cancer, and unflinchingly and poignantly confronted his own death in a February op-ed in the New York Times. "I cannot pretend I am without fear," he wrote of his diagnosis. "But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written." A prolific author, Sacks first gained prominence in 1973 for Awakenings, his book about patients at a Bronx hospital who had essentially been locked inside themselves for years; the book was later made into an eponymous movie starring Robin Williams. The Times notes Sacks' many contradictions: "candid and guarded, gregarious and solitary, clinical and compassionate, scientific and poetic, British and almost American." He studies hallucinations later in life, notes NPR, inspired by his youthful dalliance with LSD. "I'm strongly atheist by disposition, but nonetheless when this happened, I couldn't help thinking, 'That must be what the hand of God is like,'" he told Terri Gross in 2012. Even as cancer consumed him, Sacks remained active, with his longtime assistant noting earlier this month that "he is still writing with great clarity. We are pretty sure he will go with fountain pen in hand." Meditating again on the end of his life, he wrote two weeks ago in the Times: "I find my thoughts drifting to the Sabbath, the day of rest, the seventh day of the week, and perhaps the seventh day of one’s life as well, when one can feel that one’s work is done, and one may, in good conscience, rest." Rest, Dr. Sacks; his full obituary is here.

Oliver Sacks died of cancer today in New York City at the age of 82. Sacks was a famed neurologist and author of books such as The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. His 1973 memoir Awakenings was turned into a 1990 Hollywood film starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. He was the author of a dozen other books and worked as a professor at New York's New York University, where he worked for decades. He died at his home in London, surrounded by his family.

Speaker DeLeo vows to fix law after ruling says ‘upskirting’ — shooting a picture under a woman’s dress — is legal The state’s highest court says “upskirting,” the practice of secretly photographing under a woman’s skirt, is not prohibited by state law. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said today that a state law intended to prohibit “Peeping Tom” voyeurism of completely or partially undressed people did not apply to people who take pictures of people who are fully clothed. House Speaker Robert DeLeo said this afternoon that the Legislature would immediately begin looking at ways of closing the loophole in the law. “The ruling of the Supreme Judicial Court is contrary to the spirit of the current law. The House will begin work on updating our statutes to conform with today’s technology immediately,” DeLeo said in a statement. The high court’s ruling today came in the case of a man who allegedly took photos under the dresses of women on Green Line trolleys. The court focused on the language of the law, which prohibits secret photography of “a person ... who is partially nude.” “A female passenger on a MBTA trolley who is wearing a skirt, dress, or the like covering [private] parts of her body is not a person who is ‘partially nude,’ no matter what is or is not underneath the skirt by way of underwear or other clothing,” the court said in a unanimous ruling written by Justice Margot Botsford. The court said Suffolk County prosecutors, who argued that the Peeping Tom law should apply, had a “flawed” interpretation of the statute. The high court ruling reversed a Boston Municipal Court judge’s denial of a motion to dismiss by Michael Robertson. Trolley riders alerted MBTA Transit Police in August 2010 that a man appeared to be taking photographs of women, including one instance in which he appeared to be attempting to photograph a woman’s crotch area, the court said. Transit Police set up a decoy operation the next day involving a female undercover officer wearing a skirt. Robertson allegedly took pictures of her, focusing on her crotch area, and he was arrested, the court said. Robertson was charged in December 2011. In 2012, he filed a motion to dismiss the complaints. It was denied. But he took his appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court, which agreed with him. The court said the core of prosecutors’ argument was “the proposition that a woman, and in particular a woman riding on a public trolley, has a reasonable expectation of privacy in not having a stranger secretly take photographs up her skirt. The proposition is eminently reasonable, but [the law] in its current form does not address it.” Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office called the decision a “blow to privacy.” “Prosecutors argued that a person has a right to privacy beneath his or her own clothes, and we will urge the Legislature to re-write the current statute to grant that right,” Conley’s office said in a statement. ||||| BOSTON (AP) — A man who took cellphone photos up the skirts

– Women who ride the Boston subway will not be pleased to hear that the state's highest court says it's legal for someone to take "upskirt" photos of their privates. The state Supreme Judicial Court thinks it should be illegal, but the justices say current laws don't cover it, reports the Springfield Republican. The problem is that the Peeping Tom law in question was written to protect people who are nude or partially nude—someone in a changing room, for instance—not riders on the subway who are fully clothed, reports AP. “A female passenger on a MBTA trolley who is wearing a skirt, dress, or the like covering [private] parts of her body is not a person who is ‘partially nude,’ no matter what is or is not underneath the skirt by way of underwear or other clothing,” says the court ruling. It's good news for Michael Robertson, who was arrested in a police sting in 2010. He didn't dispute that he took upskirt photos but argued that it's not a crime. The justices agreed today, but state lawmakers vowed afterward to quickly close the loophole, reports the Boston Globe.

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court says ‘upskirting’ is legal. Ruling came in the case of a man who allegedly took photos under the dresses of women on Green Line trolleys. House Speaker Robert DeLeo said the Legislature would immediately begin looking at ways of closing the loophole in the law. Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office called the decision a “blow to privacy.’’ “A female passenger on a MBTA trolley who is wearing a skirt, dress, or the like covering [private] parts of her body is not a person who is ‘partially nude,’ no matter what is or is not underneath the skirt by way of

So here we still go. Keep Andrea in your prayers, and Scott's family too. To be so close after fighting so long and hard, and standing so strong, they both deserve their lives back. SHAME on the ... ||||| PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The last four occupiers of an Oregon wildlife refuge have posted a series of defiant videos in which one of them calls FBI agents losers, shows defensive barricades they have erected and takes a joyride in a government vehicle. The videos were posted Sunday on a YouTube channel called Defend Your Base, which the armed group has been using to give live updates. The holdouts are among 16 people charged with conspiracy to interfere with federal workers. David Fry says the FBI told him in negotiations that he was facing charges for setting up the barricades at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. In a video, he defends building them, then drives around in a government vehicle. He mockingly says the ride would give the FBI fodder for more charges.

– The last four occupiers of an Oregon wildlife refuge have posted a series of defiant videos in which one of them calls FBI agents losers, shows defensive barricades they have erected, and takes a joyride in a government vehicle, the AP reports. The videos were posted Sunday on a YouTube channel called Defend Your Base, which the armed group has been using to give live updates. The holdouts are among 16 people charged with conspiracy to interfere with federal workers. David Fry says the FBI told him in negotiations that he was facing charges for setting up the barricades at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. In a video, he defends building them, then drives around in a government vehicle. He mockingly says the ride would give the FBI fodder for more charges.

The videos were posted Sunday on a YouTube channel called Defend Your Base. The holdouts are among 16 people charged with conspiracy to interfere with federal workers. David Fry says the FBI told him in negotiations that he was facing charges.

My dream wedding: standing at the altar and seeing in the crowd Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn crashing it 2005 style ||||| Email or Phone Password Forgot account? Log In Do you want to join Facebook? ||||| First, people gathered in public places to scream like Goku. Now, they're turning it down a notch, instead meeting up to quietly say "wow" like Owen Wilson. Thousands of people have clicked "attending" for an event planned for Monday, Feb. 26 in Melbourne's Federation Square — 3,800, in fact. The event will apparently see a group of people show up, quietly say "wow" and leave. "Let's put some positivity out there into the world! Let's marvel at the beauty and Wonder of this incredible planet we live on, and let's WOW like Owen Wilson!" reads the event description. I mean, the dude says "wow" a lot, we guess. ||||| Published on Feb 9, 2018 Every single ALRIGHT from Matthew McConaughey so far except for the animated films. Please Like and Share this video. Let's make this bird fly, Alright?. Subscribe For More Matthew McConaughey ||||| MORE than 3500 people will descend on Federation Square next week to say “Wow” like Owen Wilson, in an event organised by an Eltham local. The Facebook event created by ‘meme page’ Owen Wilson Wowposting, has swelled to epic proportions on social media, leaving organiser Nicolas Zoumboulis shocked at the outcome. “I didn’t realise the numbers would grow so much, it was originally a joke event, so I didn’t even bother getting a permit — I didn’t even know you needed one — but, it’s all real now,” Zoumboulis said. Owen Wilson says "wow" “Fed Square caught onto it and are making arrangements for extra security to be on site as we’re expecting big numbers.” Although Nic’s core fan base is from Eltham and surrounds, the thousands who’ve clicked attending will have Federation Square bustling on a Monday night. Zoumboulis’s quirky sense of humour fostered his obsession with Owen Wilson and his signature “Wow”, he’s glad not to be the only one “fascinated with repeating the same annoying phrase over and over again”. media_camera Nicolas Zoumboulis says “Wow” like Owen Wilson. It’s expected to be a peaceful “wowing,” with some participants requesting the event becomes an annual event or “even a public holiday.” “It just shows how wholesome and joyous this Owen community really is, it’s been touching,” he said. “I’m hoping to take this craze to the next level … there are big things coming.” To take part in the spectacle, visit Federation Square on Monday at 6pm.

– You might have seen the memes, or videos like this one, poking a little fun at how often Owen Wilson says "wow." They're like those focusing on Matthew McConaughey's recitation of "all right," but apparently have a more enthusiastic following. Case in point: About 4,000 people and counting say they'll attend a Monday event in Australia for the express purpose of gathering to say "wow" like Wilson, per Mashable. The organizer of the Melbourne meet-up tells the Herald Sun that the event started as a joke but is "all real now." He adds he's been touched by the outpouring of support from fans "fascinated with repeating the same annoying phrase over and over again." Can't make it to Melbourne? Zoumboulis also operates a Facebook page for the "Owen community," though it stresses it "does not represent Owen Wilson nor his views in any way, shape or wow."

Thousands of people have clicked "attending" for an event planned for Monday, Feb. 26 in Melbourne's Federation Square. The event will apparently see a group of people show up, quietly say "wow" and leave. The Facebook event created by ‘meme page’ Owen Wilson Wowposting, has swelled to epic proportions on social media, leaving organiser Nicolas Zoumboulis shocked at the outcome.

If you're not into getting pregnant any time soon, you've probably done your fair share of birth control research. In evaluating your options, you've likely heard someone—maybe even us—preaching the IUD gospel: With over 99 percent efficacy, intrauterine devices are one of the most solid options for keeping your uterus fetus-free. But Nexplanon, an implant that goes in your arm, is right up there with them—and according to the data, sometimes it even has a slight edge over IUDs. Here, everything you need to know to decide whether Nexplanon is right for you. Nexplanon is a little matchstick-sized rod that gets implanted in the upper arm—which might sound weird, but it works. Commonly called “the implant,” Nexplanon is small yet mighty. All its baby-fighting power comes in the form of a flexible plastic stick that is around an inch and a half long, board-certified ob/gyn Antonio Pizarro , M.D., tells SELF. It prevents pregnancy for up to three years by steadily releasing the hormone etonogestrel. A synthetic version of the hormone progesterone, etonogestrel prevents ovulation by basically tricking your body into constantly thinking it's already released an egg, Jamil Abdur-Rahman , M.D., board-certified ob/gyn and chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Vista East Medical Center in Waukegan, Illinois, tells SELF. It also thickens the cervical mucus, which makes it harder for sperm move around. You may hear people call Nexplanon by the name Implanon, but there's only one contraceptive implant currently on the market. Implanon is Nexplanon's predecessor. Nexplanon is the new and improved form, revamped so it's easier to insert, Pizarro explains. Just like the IUD, the implant is a great option for someone who wants something long-lasting but more low-maintenance in the day-to-day than the Pill or NuvaRing. Better yet, Nexplanon's protection is basically unmatched . While the hormonal IUD's failure rate is 0.2 percent and the copper IUD's stands at 0.8 percent, Nexplanon squeaks past both with an even lower failure rate of 0.05 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . "It does make things easier for women, and it's also nice, discreet option if someone is looking for that," says Abdur-Rahman. It's often possible to feel the implant through the skin of your arm, but usually you can only see it if your arm is really thin. Insertion and removal may sound scary, but they're actually very simple procedures. Yes, if you want the implant, it has to get inserted under the skin of your arm. "It doesn't require a large incision—it's a very small cut, almost more of a puncture," says Pizarro. Your doctor will numb the area first, so besides the anesthesia injection, you shouldn't feel much of anything. It definitely shouldn't be as uncomfortable as IUD insertion is often reported to be. "The implant [insertion] is a little bit of a nuisance, but not a big deal," Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale Medical School, tells SELF. "Numbing the cervix is a little bit trickier!" If you get the insertion during your period, Nexplanon

– The ACLU calls it "unconstitutional." The judge calls it a way to give inmates a "chance." It's a novel program made available since May 15 to those incarcerated in White County, Tenn., that shaves 30 days off inmates' jail time if they submit to a birth control procedure. For men, it's a vasectomy; for women, the Nexplanon implant, which a 2016 Self article dubbed "even more effective than an IUD." General Sessions Judge Sam Benningfield, the man behind the order, tells NewsChannel 5 his intention was pure: to break a cycle he sees continually replayed in his courtroom involving drug offenses and child support. "I hope to encourage them to take personal responsibility and give them a chance, when they do get out, to not be burdened with children," he says. "This gives them a chance to get on their feet and make something of themselves." Dozens are taking that chance: Thirty-two women have had the implant, and the Tennessee Department of Health will be performing vasectomies on 38 men. The ACLU isn't the only ruffled party. District Attorney Bryant Dunaway, who prosecutes White County cases, makes clear his office "doesn't support this order." A post at Above the Law points out Dunaway "got elected to get tough on crime ... and even he's willing to draw the line. He literally has nothing to lose by tacitly backing this insanity, so he deserves a lot of credit here."

Nexplanon is a little matchstick-sized rod that gets implanted in the upper arm. It prevents pregnancy for up to three years by steadily releasing the hormone etonogestrel. It's often possible to feel the implant through the skin of your arm, but usually you can only see it if your arm is really thin. The implant is a great option for someone who wants something long-lasting but more low-maintenance in the day-to-day than the Pill or NuvaRing.

American Airlines joined United, Delta and Air Canada in banning the transport of game trophies after the outrage over the killing of Zimbabwe's beloved Cecil the lion. (Reuters) Hunters and others looking to ship lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo heads and other big-game trophies across the world still have options available, even as Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Air Canada announced this week that they will no longer allow such cargo on their planes. Shipments of hunting trophies are still allowed by United Parcel Service, a UPS spokeswoman told The Washington Post on Tuesday, noting that the global shipping giant follows U.S. and international laws, not public opinion, in determining what it will and won’t ship. “There are many items shipped in international commerce that may spark controversy,” UPS public relations director Susan Rosenberg wrote in an e-mail. “The views on what is appropriate for shipment are as varied as the audiences that hold these views. “UPS takes many factors under consideration in establishing its shipping policies, including the legality of the contents and additional procedures required to ensure compliance. We avoid making judgments on the appropriateness of the contents. All shipments must comply with all laws, including any relevant documentation from the shipper required in the origin and destination location of the shipments.” [While other trophy hunters hide, Idaho’s ‘Italian Huntress’ is flaunting her kills] Although FedEx doesn’t ship animal carcasses, the company “may accept legitimate shipments of parts for taxidermy purposes if they meet our shipping guidelines,” a spokesman said in an e-mail to The Post. “These are legitimate shipments, not shipments that are illegally obtained,” spokesman Jim McCluskey wrote Tuesday. “Our priority is to ensure we abide by laws and regulations for all shipments.” The policies of airlines and shipping companies are drawing extra attention and scrutiny following the death of one of Africa’s most iconic lions, which was killed in a hunt this summer. That lion, known as Cecil, was killed in Zimbabwe by an American big-game hunter, an act that has sparked international outrage. Walter Palmer, a Minnesota dentist, has said he had “no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite.” [Zimbabwean hunter says he did nothing wrong in luring Cecil the lion to his death] “I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt,” he said last week in a statement obtained by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Delta announced its ban in an afternoon statement Monday, saying it was “effective immediately.” “Prior to this ban, Delta’s strict acceptance policy called for absolute compliance with all government regulations regarding protected species,” the carrier said. “Delta will also review acceptance policies of other hunting trophies with appropriate government agencies and other organizations supporting legal shipments.” Late Monday night, American Airlines announced its own ban on shipments of trophies from the animals that comprise what hunters frequently call “the big five.” Effective immediately, we will no longer transport buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion or rhino trophies. — American Airlines (@AmericanAir) August 4, 2015 Air Canada said Tuesday that

– While airlines at home and abroad move to ban the shipment of big-game trophies in the wake of recent public outcry, at least one company will continue to transport the heads of lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceros, and buffaloes: UPS. The shipping giant tells the Washington Post that it follows US and international laws—and not public opinion—when deciding what to transport. “There are many items shipped in international commerce that may spark controversy,” says UPS' public relations director. “The views on what is appropriate for shipment are as varied as the audiences that hold these views." The stance, however, isn't sitting well with Humane Society International. "We urge UPS to join the growing list of airlines that prohibit the transport of trophies," an official with the group tells the Dodo. In the meantime, UPS competitor FedEx says that while it doesn't ship animal carcasses, it will ship legally obtained animal parts "for taxidermy purposes." (The Jimmy John's sandwich chain is feeling the heat over big-game hunting.)

UPS says it follows U.S. and international laws, not public opinion, in determining what it will and won’t ship. Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Air Canada announced this week that they will no longer allow such cargo on their planes. The policies of airlines and shipping companies are drawing extra attention and scrutiny following the death of one of Africa’s most iconic lions, which was killed in a hunt this summer. That lion, known as Cecil, was killed by an American big-game hunter, an act that has sparked international outrage.

Rick Santorum has made waves in his run for the GOP presidential nomination in part because of his religion. His Catholicism has proved so controversial that he's been forced to deny accusations he's running for "Pastor-in-Chief." "I have no intention and no desire to be the pastor of this country," he told a group of Texas pastors. Last Friday, Santorum talked with me after a fundraiser in Park Ridge, Illinois, about religion, the real possibility of war with Iran, and what he would say if he ever met face-to-face with his most famous tormentor. RealClearReligion: As a Catholic, you've continued to lose the Catholic vote and have lost it badly. Perhaps voters believed the New York Times's Bill Keller when he referred to you as an Evangelical? Rick Santorum: I've heard different excuses and different explanations from different people. I think one of the reasons is that Catholics are certainly not a monolith. They don't vote like a minority anymore; in other words, they don't vote in a bloc. And I think that's a good thing, actually. Catholics feel comfortable in their skin and don't necessarily have to vote for a Catholic or against a Catholic or for a Protestant or against a Protestant. I think that shows that Catholics have, by and large, assimilated into the religious milieu of this country. I think that's probably the biggest part of it. In fact, I don't know how many Catholics actually know I am a Catholic. RCR: Well, there was a piece in the Christian Post last month which listed five Catholic politicians often confused for Evangelicals. You were one of them. RS: Yeah, I think that's what most people think because of my positions on the issues. They identify me as more of an Evangelical than a Catholic. RCR: Another hypothesis could be that Catholics are identifying with Mitt Romney in the same way they did John F. Kennedy: that political religious litmus test narrative appeals to them. RS: You know what? I haven't even thought about that. It's possible, I guess. I just don't think my Catholicism or lack thereof is that big of an issue for Catholics right now. RCR: How does that Catholic faith inform your public policy positions? RS: In most cases it certainly informs my conscience. My faith is the moral code by which I live my life: instructed in the 10 Commandments, the teachings of the Bible, what's right and wrong, and what's good an evil. RCR: Would your faith tell you that military action in Iran would satisfy the criteria of a just war? RS: I think when someone is preparing a nuclear weapon and is speaking about wiping out another country, an ally of the United States, and planning terrorist attacks around the world, I think you have an obligation to stop a grave harm from being done. I've been all about trying to prevent a war in Iran, because I think if Iran gets a nuclear weapon there will be a very, very sad chapter in human history that will be written as

– Dan Savage famously turned "Santorum" into an R-rated joke as revenge for the candidate's views on homosexuality, and RealClearReligion asked Santorum what he'd say to Savage if the two ever met: Santorum: "I would tell him that I'm praying for him. He obviously has some serious issues. You look at someone like that who can say and do the things that he's doing and you just pray for him and hopefully he can find peace." Which prompted Andy Kroll of Mother Jones to email Savage for his response: Savage: Santorum "wants to be president so that he can micromanage the sex lives of all Americans...and I'm the one with issues? Because I made a dirty joke at his expense eight or nine years ago and it stuck? I'm the one with issues?" Well fine, then: "Rick can pray for me. I'll gay for him. And we can call it even."

Santorum: "I have no intention and no desire to be the pastor of this country" Santorum: "My faith is the moral code by which I live my life" "I've been all about trying to prevent a war in Iran," he says. "I just don't think my Catholicism or lack thereof is that big of an issue for Catholics right now" "If Iran gets a nuclear weapon there will be a very, very sad chapter in human history," Santorum says."I think when someone is speaking about wiping out another country, an ally of the United States, I think you have an obligation to stop a grave harm from being done," he adds.

It was a dramatic farewell for Sydney human rights lawyer Seth Richardson that his family says would have appealed to his wicked sense of humour. As his family prepared for the funeral of the 52-year-old, also a regular contributor to letters to the editor in the Herald, in the Blue Mountains on Thursday a man jumped in the hearse and stole it – with Mr Richardson still in a coffin in the back. "One of the funeral guys who works for the funeral home went out to the hearse to grab the trolley to put it under the coffin and in a split second this guy jumped out of the bushes, jumped straight into the hearse and started it up," Mr Richardson's sister-in-law Hayley West said. "The funeral guy was banging on the window going 'what the hell are you doing? You can't drive away in the hearse'. "Then he ran into the hall and yelled 'someone has taken the hearse, with Seth!'" Mr Richardson's brother, Tobias Richardson, was in the foyer of the Wentworth Falls School of Arts preparing for the service as the drama unfolded. He called police telling them "someone had stolen a car with my dead brother in the back". Advertisement "And the police thought it was a murder," Ms West said. "And there was this weird confusion, and he was like 'no, he's already dead, it's a hearse'." Tobias Richardson took matters into his own hands, jumping into his car and giving chase. Fortunately the hearse had turned into a cul-de-sac and Tobias Richardson blocked the only way out with his own car. The police arrived moments later and detained the driver. "We were just thinking imagine if he'd turned left down the Great Western Highway," Ms West said. "He could have crashed it, he could still be driving. At one stage we were imaging an OJ Simpson-style chase with helicopters. "The funeral director didn't know what to say to us, he was saying 'this had never happened before, and all I can say is that the coffin is glued down, so if anything happens Seth will be okay." The whole incident unfolded over 20 minutes and Mr Richardson's funeral still proceeded on time at noon. "Seth would have thought this was so funny, he had a wicked sense of humour," Ms West said. Police said the man who had taken the hearse was a 49-year-old man with dementia who had gone missing from a nursing home at Leura at 7am on Thursday. Staff had searched the nearby shops and the train station before contacting police who attended the home before being called out to investigate the stolen hearse. The 49-year-old was taken to hospital and no further police action is expected to be taken. ||||| In a move his family claims he would have appreciated, a man's body was stolen, along with the hearse carrying him, moments before his funeral in Australia. As mourners gathered for the funeral of 52-year-old human rights lawyer Seth Richardson, a man jumped out of the bushes and into the hearse

– It's tough to hold a funeral when someone's driven off with the body. That's apparently what happened at a recent memorial in Australia, Gawker reports. Shortly before the event, a funeral home worker was getting the hearse ready when "this guy jumped out of the bushes, jumped straight into the hearse and started it up," the sister-in-law of deceased human rights lawyer Seth Richardson tells the Sydney Morning Herald. "The funeral guy was banging on the window going, 'What the hell are you doing? You can't drive away in the hearse.'" Richardson's brother called police, and from there, things got even weirder. The brother reportedly said a car had been stolen "with my dead brother in the back," and the police took that to mean there had been a murder. The brother drove after the hearse and managed to catch the driver in a cul-de-sac. Police soon arrived and arrested the guy, who they say is a dementia patient who'd been missing from his nursing home; authorities say he was hospitalized for assessment after the incident, the Telegraph reports. After all that, the funeral still started on time, the Morning Herald reports. The good news: "Seth would have thought this was so funny," his sister-in-law says. "He had a wicked sense of humor."

Sydney human rights lawyer Seth Richardson, 52, had his body stolen moments before his funeral in the Blue Mountains on Thursday. A man jumped out of the bushes and into the hearse, with Mr Richardson still in a coffin in the back. Mr Richardson's brother, Tobias Richardson, was in the foyer of the Wentworth Falls School of Arts preparing for the service as the drama unfolded. He called police telling them "someone had stolen a car with my dead brother in the front" The police arrived moments later and detained the driver, a 49-year-old man with dementia.

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson said Monday he still plans to be on his company's first flight that takes tourists to space, despite the fatal crash of his SpaceShipTwo during a test flight on Friday. "There is no way I would ask others to go on a Virgin Galactic flight if I didn't feel it was safe enough for myself," he told CNN on Monday. Branson said the 800 passengers who have signed up to spend $250,000 each on the flights remain supportive of his company's plans. Two more signed up and paid for their flights on Friday as a show of support for the program, he said. "They want to see this happen, and they want to show their commitment," Branson said. He said that despite the crash and the death of co-pilot Michael Alsbury, "The risk is worth it. Mike would have been the first to say that." Related: Initial findings into cause of SpaceShipTwo crash This was not the first death involving SpaceShipTwo. In 2007, three people were killed and several other severely injured when there was an explosion of a rocket motor for the spacecraft when it was being tested on the ground. Some critics have charged that Branson and Virgin Galactic have underplayed the risk of space tourism and overpromised when the flights would be able to start. "I feel this is the real problem with Virgin Galactic," said Miles O'Brien, an aviation analyst for CNN, on the network Monday. "He's been promising things they frankly can't deliver." Asked about this criticism on Monday, Branson said he believed that early space flights would be as safe for passengers as were commercial air travel in the 1920s and 1930s. "We want to make it as good as that and hopefully even better in the years to come," he said. He dismissed criticism of the company's commitment to safety as "a lot of baloney." Branson, 64, is married with two children. He has said some of his family will join him on the first tourism flight. He has tried daredevil moves of his own in the past. Branson and a pilot were the first to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon in 1987, three years after he founded Virgin Atlantic airlines. He also set a record for the fastest crossing of the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle in 2004. That same year was when he unveiled plans for Virgin Galactic, which sponsored SpaceShipOne's debut flights to space. Forbes estimates his net worth at $4.9 billion. Branson said he's been given clearance by the National Transportation Safety Board to go ahead with space flights with the next rocket now nearing completion, even as the agency investigates the crash and destruction of SpaceShipTwo. But Branson said it is too soon to say how long the first tourist flight might be delayed by the accident. He had been hoping to start flying passengers as soon as next year. While NTSB will not speculate on the cause of the accident, its initial findings point to the early deployment of devices

– The crash of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo on Friday has unsurprisingly failed to deter Richard Branson: He'll still be on his company's first flight to space, he tells CNN. "There is no way I would ask others to go on a Virgin Galactic flight if I didn't feel it was safe enough for myself," he said yesterday. Nor, he says, are those who've already bought $250,000 tickets to space giving up, CNNMoney reports. In fact, two additional passengers bought tickets on Friday, the day of the crash. "They want to see this happen, and they want to show their commitment," Branson said. As for the flight's safety, he said it was comparable to commercial flights—on Earth—in the 1920s and 1930s. Any danger, he says, "is worth it," Time reports. Michael Alsbury, the pilot who died in the crash, "would have been the first to say that," Branson noted. "Test pilots would say that because they know the risk they're taking, they know the importance of what they're doing, we know the importance of what we're doing." He also discussed the cause of the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board says it didn't involve an explosion, Branson noted in a British TV interview. "The NTSB has given me a strong indication as to what they think caused the crash," findings which he expects to be "ascertained" soon, the Independent reports. Early indications are pilot error.

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson says he still plans to be on his company's first flight that takes tourists to space. "There is no way I would ask others to go on a Virgin Galactic flight if I didn't feel it was safe enough for myself," he said. Branson said the 800 passengers who have signed up to spend $250,000 each on the flights remain supportive of the plans. He dismissed criticism of the company's commitment to safety as "a lot of baloney" The NTSB will not speculate on the cause of the accident, its initial findings point to the early deployment of devices.

William Vollmann’s essay, “Life As a Terrorist,” appears in the Sept. issue of Harper’s magazine. The celebrated writer William Vollmann has revealed that the FBI once thought he might be the Unabomber, the anthrax mailer and a terrorist training with the Afghan mujahideen. In the September issue of Harper’s magazine, Vollmann describes the alarming and ludicrous contents of his 785-page secret government file, 294 pages of which he obtained after suing the FBI and CIA under the Freedom of Information Act. (Update: You can see some pages of his file here.) Spiked with sarcasm directed at what he sees as the agencies’ arrogance, presumptuousness and ineptitude, his Harper’s essay, “Life As a Terrorist,” is inflamed with moral outrage at the systemic violation of his privacy. “I begin to see how government haters are made,” he writes. A winner of the National Book Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, Vollmann is considered one of the most insightful writers in the world on the subject of violence and war. His acerbic exposé in Harper’s about the government’s decades-long investigation into his personal life follows a series of recent revelations about National Security Agency surveillance. A Washington Post report Wednesday said that a secret court opinion in 2011 found the NSA had “unlawfully gathered tens of thousands of e-mails and other electronic communications between Americans as part of a now-revised collection method.” “Reading one’s FBI file is rarely pleasant,” Vollmann writes. He discovered that someone — Vollmann gives him the codename “Ratfink” — turned him in to the authorities as a possible Unabomber suspect because of the content of his fiction. His file claims that “anti-growth and anti-progress themes persist throughout each VOLLMANN work.” In this case, his accuser was referring to “Fathers and Crows,” a novel “set mostly in Canada in the seventeenth century.” Even more conclusive, the FBI observed ominously that “UNABOMBER, not unlike VOLLMANN has pride of authorship and insists his book be published without editing.” What more evidence do we need!? It’s hard to decide if we should be more concerned about what he describes as the agency’s nefariousness or its stupidity. Vollmann notes that the FBI couldn’t determine his Social Security number because it spelled his name wrong. His file incorrectly claims that he owns a flamethrower. (“I would love to own a flamethrower,” he writes.) It erroneously records him traveling to Beirut. In 1995, he was labeled “ARMED AND DANGEROUS.” He makes hand-made art books. Perhaps most alarming, he discovered in his heavily redacted file that he was considered a terrorist suspect even after the Unabomber had been apprehended in 1996. After the 9/11 attacks, he realizes, “I had graduated from being a Unabomber suspect to being an anthrax suspect.” Even today, his international mail often arrives opened. A private investigator explains to him: “Once you’re a suspect and you’re in the system, that ain’t goin’ away. . . . Anytime there’s a terrorist investigation, your name’s gonna come up.” It’s a terrifying essay, only sporadically leavened by gallows humor. Vollmann admits that he’s

– Acclaimed author William Vollmann has an essay in Harper's that won't exactly inspire confidence in the FBI's sleuthing abilities. Vollmann got a look at his own government file and learned that he was once "Unabomber Suspect Number S-2047," he tells NPR. All because an anonymous tipster thought his books had Unabomber-like themes. The FBI file also states that the “UNABOMBER, not unlike VOLLMANN has pride of authorship and insists his book be published without editing," which apparently cinched his status as a suspect. So what happened when Ted Kaczynski got arrested as the real Unabomber? Almost unbelievably, the FBI then considered Vollmann an "armed and dangerous" suspect in anthrax attacks because, hey, why not. (Vollmann even dispels the file's assertion that he owns a flame-thrower.) "I was accused, secretly. I was spied on," he writes in the subscription-only essay. "I have no redress. To be sure, I am not a victim; my worries are not for me, but for the American Way of Life." Observes Ron Charles at the Washington Post: "It’s a terrifying essay, only sporadically leavened by gallows humor." (Click for an equally intriguing story about newly revealed CIA files.)

William Vollmann has revealed that the FBI once thought he might be the Unabomber. In the September issue of Harper’s magazine, he describes the alarming and ludicrous contents of his 785-page secret government file. “I begin to see how government haters are made,” he writes. Vollman is considered one of the most insightful writers in the world on the subject of violence and war. The FBI couldn’t determine his Social Security number because it spelled his name wrong.

KABUL—U.S. and Afghan officials on Tuesday said they were getting closer to a deal for U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan, but they differed over whether the U.S. had committed to a letter from President Barack Obama acknowledging mistakes made by the U.S. in the war. President Hamid Karzai requested that Mr. Obama write the letter in exchange for softening his opposition to letting American forces raid Afghan homes after the coalition's mandate expires in December 2014, said his spokesman, Aimal Faizi. If made, this American gesture would be reciprocated by Kabul's agreement to permit these raids in circumstances when American lives are at risk, he said. Enlarge Image Afghan policemen check a vehicle in Kabul on Tuesday, two days before a meeting to weigh a security deal. European Pressphoto Agency More Lull in Taliban Action Not Expected In Washington, White House and State Department officials wouldn't confirm whether Mr. Obama would send such a letter. White House press secretary Jay Carney said he wouldn't comment on a "letter that hasn't been written." Mr. Faizi said the compromise decision was made in a phone call between Messrs. Karzai and Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday. Mr. Kerry initially offered to write the letter himself, but Mr. Karzai insisted it must come from Mr. Obama, Mr. Faizi said. The developments came just ahead of Thursday's inauguration of the Loya Jirga, a traditional assembly that would consider the so-called bilateral security agreement between the two countries. A senior State Department official said Mr. Karzai requested the "reassurances, including the option of a letter from the administration." The official said there was no agreement on a letter yet but that one that states the government's position was under discussion. U.S. officials said they believe that conflicting accounts of the call reflect last-minute political posturing by Mr. Karzai ahead of the Loya Jirga. In the call with Mr. Karzai, Mr. Kerry didn't specify any intention to issue a letter in which the U.S. would apologize for American conduct in the war, U.S. officials said. But the officials said they could envisage issuing a letter in which the U.S. expresses "regret" for civilian casualties in past military operations, in line with previous U.S. statements. In the U.S., Republican lawmakers have criticized Mr. Obama for what they see as a willingness to apologize for American military action abroad, and any letter to Mr. Karzai could carry political overtones. The security agreement, which would provide for a limited American training and counterterrorism force in Afghanistan after 2014, is crucial for continuing international aid, the main source of funding for the Afghan army and police that are facing a resilient Taliban insurgency. Mr. Obama's letter to Mr. Karzai and the Afghan people is supposed to "mention that there were mistakes made in the conduct of military operations by U.S. forces in the past decade, and that the Afghan people have suffered, and we understand their pain, and therefore can give assurances that these mistakes will not be repeated," said Mr. Faizi. He added that Mr. Obama's letter would be

– The US has just about cinched a deal with Afghanistan regarding the US military presence in the country after next year's big withdrawal—and it hinges on President Obama writing a letter acknowledging US "mistakes" in the war, reports the Wall Street Journal. (The New York Times has the story, too, and it says that Hamid Karzai demands what the newspaper terms a "contrite" letter from his American counterpart.) The letter likely won't be characterized as an official apology by either side, but it will "mention that there were mistakes made in the conduct of military operations in the past, in the conduct of military operations by United States forces in the last decade, and that Afghans have suffered, and that we understand the pain and therefore we give assurances and make sure those mistakes are not repeated,” says a Karzai spokesman. In exchange, Karzai would allow US troops who remain in the country to conduct raids on Afghan houses in the hunt for terror suspects. Whatever deal is reached will need eventual approval by an approximately 2,500-member council of village elders, and the stories suggest that the Obama letter would go a long way toward winning that approval. The war might soon be over in the eyes of the public, but the deal "has the potential to commit thousands of American troops to Afghanistan" for years to come at a cost of billions to US taxpayers, writes Richard Engel at NBC News.

U.S., Afghan officials say they are getting closer to a deal for U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan. But they differ over whether the U.s. has committed to a letter from President Obama. President Hamid Karzai requested that Mr. Obama write the letter in exchange for softening his opposition to letting American forces raid Afghan homes. If made, this American gesture would be reciprocated by Kabul's agreement to permit these raids in circumstances when American lives are at risk, spokesman says.

A day after she was visited by President CFK Thursday, November 18, 2010 Harnessed-out girl discharged from hospital The three-year-old girl who fell in a 21-metre well in Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires province, was discharged from hospital at noon, after having spent there a day in order to "fully recover." Vanesa's parents addressed the press and assured are "extremely thankful for the miracle," referring to the fact that the girl was pulled out to the surface. On Tuesday, police officers and fire-fighters managed to rescue her after being trapped for almost 6 hours. According to the latest medical report, the girl "is in good state of health" and shows "no injuries." Florencio Varela Hospital medical doctor Arnaldo Medina addressed the press and released Vanesa's medical report, assuring she "just suffered some grazes" and was not injured. Rescue workers heard the victim calling for help from the well located in Los Pilares neighbourhood, La Capilla locality. Finally, they were able to harness the toddler out. Buenos Aires province Governor Daniel Scioli arrived at the area to supervise the rescue. A communiqué released by the government stated that Scioli was in a Cabinet meeting when he was told about the accident and decided to suspend the encounter and go to Florencio Varela. ||||| AFP Argentines across the nation cheered as rescuers pulled a three-year-old girl from a deep water well late after a lengthy ordeal mostly broadcast live on television. "It was a miracle," President Cristina Kirchner said of the rescue on Wednesday after visiting young Vanessa Mamani, who was recovering in hospital at Florencio Varela, 25km south of Buenos Aires. "She got out and screamed as if she had just been born," Kirchner told reporters. Advertisement: Story continues below The girl was under medical observation but suffers only "from a state of shock and at present is doing fine," hospital director Arnaldo Medina told reporters. She fell down a 30-metre-deep well used by farmers that was hidden by bushes in a field in Pilares, near Florencio Varela. The well had a 35cm diameter, too narrow for an adult to be lowered in to pull her out. Her plight soon drew more than 200 rescue workers, including police and fire fighters. Television networks followed in rescue in real time via a small camera linked to a fibre optic cable that attached to a special harness rescuers lowered into the well. The head of the area's fire fighters, Marcelo Tucci, said it was unclear until the last moment if the young girl was mature enough to follow instructions to put on the harness. The 7.5-hour ordeal reached its climax late on Tuesday when viewers saw Vanessa grab the harness and place it around her chest. "Come on, come on ... We made it! We made it!" shouted the chief rescue operator when Mamani's face finally peered out of the wellhead. ||||| (Nov. 18) -- A 3-year-old girl has been rescued in Argentina after falling down an abandoned well nearly 70 feet deep.It took firefighters more than six hours to hoist Vanessa Mamani from a well

– A 3-year-old girl was rescued after falling down a 69-foot well in Argentina, and amazingly suffered only minor scrapes. After being trapped for six hours, Vanesa Mamani spent a day in the hospital to recover, but is in good health, the Buenos Aires Herald reports. Rescuers pulled her from the well using a harness, which she had to put on herself because the well was too narrow to allow an adult down, AFP adds. Click here for more on the dramatic rescue, including a video.

Vanessa Mamani, 3, fell down a 30-metre-deep well used by farmers in Pilares, near Florencio Varela. Rescue workers heard the victim calling for help from the well located in Los Pilares neighbourhood, La Capilla locality. The 7.5-hour ordeal reached its climax late on Tuesday when viewers saw Vanessa grab the harness and place it around her chest. "Come on, come on ... We made it!" shouted the chief rescue operator when Vanessa's face finally peered out of the wellhead. "She got out and screamed as if she had just been born," President Cristina Kirchner said of the rescue.

A British tourist who had sex in a remote US desert was left with a £165,000 medical bill after the excitement gave him a heart attack. Peter Cousins, 55, was travelling the world with his partner Dawn Reed when they stopped to work on a cowboy ranch in the middle of the Nevada desert. The pair discovered a natural hot spring while out for a walk, so stripped off and jumped inside. Moments after their tryst, Mr Cousins collapsed and suffered a heart attack - 60 miles from phone signal - forcing Ms Reed to run three miles to flag down a trucker. Mr Cousins was airlifted to hospital and had a life-saving stent placed in his heart, but after a five-day stay was presented with a £165,000 medical bill. To add to his woes, he had to return home and broke up with Ms Reed, who had to stay and work in the US. However, Mr Cousins, from Sturminster Newton, Dorset, insisted his outdoor sex was worth it, and said: "It was the most expensive sex ever. "I haven't been able to pay it off and although it's always at the back of my mind, I have no regrets. Yes, I will never be able to forget that I owe so much money, but it was worth it for the sex. It's always worth it." Mr Cousins, an artist, and his partner of two years were living in Portugal when they embarked on a round-the-world trip in April 2013. After months on the road, the pair flew to America and started working as chefs on a cowboy ranch in the middle of a Nevada desert. Recalling their doomed moment of passion, Mr Cousins said: "After we started working there, Dawn and I took a walk around and discovered these beautiful natural hot springs all over the place. "We always used to sit in them and then one day we thought it would be romantic to make love in the pool. When I got up there were pains in my left arm and I just collapsed. "We were miles from the ranch and even then, there was no phone signal to call anyone. I didn't know if I was going to make it, we were in the middle of nowhere. "It was astounding how remote it was. There was no internet or cellular signal for miles and the nearest town was more than three hours drive away." Ms Reed had no choice but to leave Mr Cousins alone while she ran three miles to flag down a trucker, who called the air ambulance on a satellite phone. Two hours later, Mr Cousins - who did not have travel insurance - was airlifted to hospital and had a life-saving stent placed in his heart. But after a five-day stay in Reno hospital, he was hit with a bill for a quarter of a million dollars - or £165,000. He said: "As I was leaving the doctors asked me how I planned on paying the bill. I was thinking it would be around $5,000

– A British couple's decision to make love at a Nevada hot spring has resulted in a $250,000 medical bill. Peter Cousins and Dawn Reed, who were traveling around the world, decided to have sex at the spot, which was 60 miles from the nearest phone signal—and it turned out to be a dangerous decision. Cousins, 55, soon had a heart attack, AOL reports. Reed ran three miles for help before she found a truck driver with a satellite phone. Cousins was hospitalized via airlift, and received a stent in his heart during treatment in Reno, the Telegraph reports. After five days in the hospital, he was saddled with a $250,000 bill. "It was the most expensive sex ever," he says, per the Daily Mail. "Yes, I will never be able to forget that I owe so much money"—he "stupidly" didn't have travel insurance, he notes—"but it was worth it for the sex. It's always worth it." The bill wasn't the only downside: Cousins had to go back to the UK for additional treatment, while Reed remained in the US to work. The couple, who were working as chefs on a ranch when the incident occurred, eventually broke up. "I'm just really hoping I will be able to get the debt wiped, because it will affect my future," Cousins says. If "I do have to pay back the full amount, I'll never be able to go to America again. That will hurt." (His plight follows on the heels of another British couple that faced a $200,000 medical bill after a surprise birth in the US.)

Peter Cousins, 55, was travelling the world with his partner Dawn Reed. They stopped to work on a cowboy ranch in the middle of the Nevada desert. The pair discovered a natural hot spring while out for a walk, so stripped off and jumped inside. Moments after their tryst, Mr Cousins collapsed and suffered a heart attack. Forced Ms Reed to run three miles to flag down a trucker. He was airlifted to hospital and had a life-saving stent placed in his heart. But after a five-day stay in Reno hospital, he was hit with a bill for a quarter of a million dollars - or £165,000.

Russia granted asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden on Thursday, defying and embarrassing an Obama administration that threatened to scale back diplomatic relations between the two countries. National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has received asylum for a year in Russia and has left Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, his lawyer said. WSJ's Siobhan Gorman and Ariel Cohen of the Heritage Foundation discuss the implications for U.S.-Russian relations. Photo: AP. NSA leaker, Edward Snowden, says the U.S. has left him "stateless". Is that the case? What happens when the U.S. revokes an American's passport? How often does that happen? How do you renounce your citizenship? WSJ's Jason Bellini has #TheShortAnswer. Enlarge Image Close Rossiva 24/Reuters Mr. Snowden slipped quietly out of the Moscow airport on Thursday after being granted new refugee documents and securing temporary asylum, ending a month in limbo. In the U.S., lawmakers across the spectrum heaped scorn on Moscow, branding the move as a slap in the face and calling for retaliatory measures from the White House. "We are extremely disappointed that the Russian government would take this step despite our very clear and lawful request" to have him expelled, said White House spokesman Jay Carney. "Mr. Snowden is not a whistleblower—he is accused of leaking classified information." Enlarge Image Close Reuters Mr. Snowden's new refugee documents Moscow's decision raised the prospect that the U.S. fugitive will remain in Russia for the foreseeable future, providing a persistent strain on an already turbulent relationship. In one sign of U.S. anger, Mr. Carney directly acknowledged for the first time that the administration was considering pulling out of a planned September summit meeting in Moscow between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is scheduled to come ahead of a Group of 20 meeting in St. Petersburg. U.S. officials had viewed the bilateral meeting as an important moment in a monthslong drive to find common ground with Russia on foreign-policy aims, such as ending the war in Syria. "We are evaluating the utility of a summit," Mr. Carney said. The Obama administration stopped short of announcing immediate punitive measures, reflecting the U.S.'s reluctance to jeopardize cooperation with Russia in other areas, and underscoring the limits to its international leverage. Thursday's diplomatic maelstrom started when Russia granted Mr. Snowden so-called temporary asylum, which lasts for one year but is renewable. It allows him to live, work and travel in Russia and seek citizenship if he stays in the country for half a decade. Armed on Thursday with his new Russian document, Mr. Snowden departed from Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport—where he had been stuck since arriving there on June 23 from Hong Kong—according to his Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena. "He has left for a safe place," Mr. Kucherena said, declining to say where in Russia his client would go. "He will choose," Mr. Kucherena said later on state television. "He can live in a hotel or rent an apartment. Seeing as he is the most wanted person on earth, he today will also be focusing on questions of his own security." For

– What will Edward Snowden's life (or, at least, one year of it) in Russia be like? The NSA leaker will be living with American expatriates in their home until he can rent his own place, his Russian lawyer says, and he'll be looking for a job. "Snowden is an expert, a very high-level expert and I am receiving letters from companies and citizens who would eagerly give him a job. He will not have any problems," the attorney says. "He needs to work. He is not a rich man, and the money that he had, he has of course, spent on food." A major social networking site in Russia already offered him a job yesterday, Reuters reports. Also on Snowden's to-do list, according to the Christian Science Monitor: talk to his dad on the phone. What he won't be doing: leaking more info. That's because he agreed to Russia's condition that he not harm the US if he wanted to be granted asylum. However, Snowden already gave much of his material to WikiLeaks. "When he was in Hong Kong he gave a part of that material to journalists, so that material, of course, he can't take back," his lawyer explains. And despite Snowden's pledge not to continue leaking, the White House isn't happy Russia granted him asylum, the Wall Street Journal reports. Spokesperson Jay Carney yesterday offered the first direct acknowledgement that President Obama is considering canceling a summit with Vladimir Putin planned for September in Moscow.

NSA leaker, Edward Snowden, says the U.S. has left him "stateless". Is that the case? How often does that happen? How do you renounce your citizenship? WSJ's Jason Bellini has #TheShortAnswer. Mr. Snowden slipped quietly out of the Moscow airport on Thursday after being granted new refugee documents and securing temporary asylum, ending a month in limbo. Moscow's decision raised the prospect that the US fugitive will remain in Russia for the foreseeable future, providing a persistent strain on an already turbulent relationship.

A major U.S. government study on rats has found a link between cellphones and cancer, an explosive finding in the long-running debate about whether mobile phones cause health effects. The multiyear, peer-reviewed study, by the National Toxicology Program, found “low incidences” of two types of tumors in male rats that were exposed to the type of radio frequencies that are commonly emitted by cellphones. The tumors were gliomas, which are in the glial cells of the brain, and schwannomas of the heart. ... ||||| A study by the Department of Health and Human Services's National Toxicology Program discovered a link between cellphone radiation and two types of cancer. Reporting on its partial results so far, researchers found low incidences of heart and brain tumors in male rats. (Reuters) First things first: No one has proven that cellphones cause cancer. No one has proven that cellphones cause cancer. In fact, most research suggests otherwise! But you might not realize that, based on some news circulating Friday morning. Many publications, including the Wall Street Journal and Mother Jones, are trumpeting the results of a U.S. government study that links cellphones to tumor growth. But while the WSJ ran with the scary "Cellphone-Cancer Link Found in Government Study," something like "Research That Hasn't Been Vetted Yet Shows Possible Link Between Cellphones and Cancer in Male Rats" might have been more appropriate. Less sexy! But also a lot less misleading. The study, released on Thursday after the results leaked online, is the result of a $25 million, multi-year effort from the National Toxicology Program (NTP). But it hasn't been peer reviewed — despite implications to the contrary by the WSJ — because it hasn't been formally submitted to a scientific journal and accepted for publication, during which time outside experts would have had the opportunity to pinpoint possible errors or exaggerations in the data and analysis. Several experts reportedly reviewed the work before it was announced, but the researchers have not yet made all of their data public. [Why it’s too early to get excited about this ‘unprecedented’ new cancer treatment] Ron Melnick, who was the lead investigator on the study until he retired in 2009, told STAT News that he was asked to review the data and found that they “indicated that there were increased tumor responses in the brain and the heart." “Where people were saying there’s no risk, I think this ends that kind of statement,” he told the WSJ. The researchers exposed mice and rats to radio-frequencies commonly used by wireless electronics, at doses comparable to a human's typical exposure. Of the male rats dosed with radiation, the study authors report, 2 to 3 percent contracted gliomas, or tumors of the glial cells of the brain, and 6 to 7 percent percent developed schwannoma tumors in their hearts. None of the non-dosed rats developed any tumors. But STAT points out that it's unusual that none of these non-dosed rats randomly developed tumors on their own, and that the cancer rates in the dosed rats might actually be pretty similar to what you'd

– The concern that cellphones may lead to cancer has been bounced around for years—and partial results from a $25 million government study purport to have found such a link, though with major caveats, the Wall Street Journal reports. Per the so-far results of the multiyear National Toxicology Program study (which the Journal says has been peer reviewed, but the Washington Post says has not), "low incidences" of two types of tumors—brain "gliomas" and heart "schwannomas"—developed in rats exposed to high doses of radiofrequency radiation, or RFR, like that emitted from mobile phones. "Even a very small increase in the incidence of disease resulting from exposure to [RFR] could have broad implications for public health," the report released Thursday said. But, adds associate NTP chief John Bucher, “the results from our studies are far from definitive at this point,” per USA Today. For humans, “this may have relevance. This may have no relevance.” To conduct the study, scientists directed RFR signals into the cages of pregnant rats, then into the cages of the babies for a total of nine hours every day for two years. In the end, 2% to 3% of dosed males contracted gliomas, and 6% to 7% contracted schwannomas. But "there was no significant cancer uptick in the female rats dosed with radiation," per the Post—and the radiation rodents actually lived longer than the control rats. That, in addition to other factors, has left some experts skeptical, noting that the study has only been partially completed and that rats are prone to what NBC News calls their "own unpredictable vulnerabilities to cancer," meaning humans may not face the same risks. All of this has led the Post to suggest a better headline for this report may be "Research That Hasn't Been Vetted Yet Shows Possible Link Between Cellphones and Cancer in Male Rats." Still, a former head of the NTP tells Scientific American, "It actually has me concerned, and I'm an expert." The full report is set to be released next year.

A U.S. government study on rats has found a link between cellphones and cancer. The multiyear, peer-reviewed study, by the National Toxicology Program, found “low incidences’ of two types of tumors in male rats that were exposed to the type of radio frequencies that are commonly emitted by cellphones. The tumors were gliomas, which are in the glial cells of the brain, and schwannomas of the heart. No one has proven that cellphones cause cancer. In fact, most research suggests otherwise!

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. ||||| The Delaware Department of Corrections veteran who died during a day-long hostage situation inside a prison "saved lives in an emergency situation" by warning other officers to get out, according to a union official. Sgt. Steven Floyd, 47, who was found dead early this morning, was forced into a closet by inmates during the siege at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, which lasted nearly 24 hours, and later found unresponsive, said Delaware Correctional Officers Association President Geoff Klopp. "Sgt. Floyd was a great man," Klopp said. "Even in his last moments as the inmates attempted to take over the building, Sgt. Floyd told a couple of lieutenants to get out of the building, that it was a trap." Klopp appeared emotional at a news conference this afternoon as he described Floyd, a 16-year veteran, as a loving husband, father and grandfather who "worked overtime three or four times a week to put his kids through college." "This has absolutely been probably the hardest day of my life," Klopp said. Officials said this morning that authorities are investigating how the hostage situation occurred, adding that the motive is not clear. Officials said some inmates had sharp instruments but did not offer more details on the weapons. About 120 inmates are considered suspects in the investigation at this time, officials said. The incident came to an end just after 5 a.m. today, when Delaware State Police breached the C Building, where the situation with two remaining hostages was unfolding, according to the DOC. One of the two hostages, Floyd, was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at 5:29 a.m., the DOC said. It was unclear how he died or if the death was a homicide. Suchat Pederson/AP Photo The second hostage, also a DOC employee, "was safely rescued" the DOC said. She was not injured, said Department of Safety and Homeland Security Secretary Robert Coop, who added that some inmates allegedly "shielded" her and "ensured her safety." After the final two hostages were found, C Building was secured. Klopp said the Floyd family is "absolutely crushed." Klopp said he wants Floyd to be remembered as the "happy smiling man that he was. ... The guy that worked with all the new guys and trained them, and went the extra mile for any human being." The incident began Wednesday around 10:30 a.m. when inmates in C building took four hostages.

– A correctional officer is dead following a hostage situation inside a Delaware prison. After Building C at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center was taken by inmates on Wednesday, Delaware State Police entered and secured the building around 5am Thursday, reports the Delaware News Journal. Two employees were found inside, one of whom was pronounced dead a short time later. The other employee, a female who was "alert and talking," was "safely rescued and is being examined at a local hospital," the Department of Correction tells ABC News. The two were among four employees taken hostage at the Smyrna-area prison. The other two officers and at least 41 inmates were released in stages throughout Wednesday. Authorities have shared few other details about the hostage situation or rescue. "This was a long and agonizing situation," Gov. John Carney tells Delaware State News. "Our priority now will be to determine what happened and how this happened. We will hold accountable anyone who was responsible. And we will make whatever changes are necessary to ensure nothing like it ever happens again."

Sgt. Steven Floyd, 47, was found dead early this morning. He was forced into a closet by inmates during the siege at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, which lasted nearly 24 hours. "This has absolutely been probably the hardest day of my life," says Delaware Correctional Officers Association President Geoff Klopp. The incident began Wednesday around 10:30 a.m. when inmates in the C building took four hostages, officials said.. About 120 inmates are considered suspects in the investigation at this time.

Disapproval of Donald Trump is at a new high, support for the Mueller investigation is broad and half of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll favor Congress initiating impeachment proceedings against the president. Interested in Donald Trump? Add Donald Trump as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Donald Trump news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest Sixty percent in the national survey disapprove of Trump’s performance in office, numerically the highest of his presidency, albeit by a single point; that includes 53 percent who disapprove strongly, more than half for the first time. Thirty-six percent approve, matching his low. See PDF for full results, charts and tables. Mary Altaffer/AP, FILE The results come a week after Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was convicted of fraud, and his former longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to eight felonies, including illegal campaign finance actions that he said Trump directed. Trump’s average approval rating since taking office is the lowest for any president in modern polling since the 1940s. One factor: Contrary to his “drain the swamp” rhetoric, 45 percent say corruption in Washington has increased under Trump, while just 13 percent say it’s declined. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Suspicions of the president relating to the Mueller investigation are substantial. Sixty-one percent say that if assertions by Cohen are true, Trump broke the law. Fifty-three percent also think Trump obstructed special counsel Robert Mueller’s work. The national survey, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, finds that half the public supports Congress initiating impeachment proceedings against Trump, 49-46 percent; support rises to 57 percent among women. And support for the investigation running its course is broader: Americans overall back Mueller’s probe by 63-29 percent. Fifty-two percent support it strongly, a high level of strong sentiment. Andrew Harnik/AP, FILE Mueller prosecuted Manafort and referred the Cohen case to federal prosecutors in New York. Support for Mueller’s investigation peaks at 85 percent among Democrats, but also takes in 67 percent of independents and even a third of Republicans (32 percent). Forty-one percent of conservatives back Mueller, rising to more than seven in 10 moderates and liberals. In Trump’s dispute with Attorney General Jeff Sessions for allowing the investigation to proceed, the public sides with Sessions, 62-23 percent. Sixty-four percent also oppose the idea of Trump firing Sessions; just 19 percent support it. Further, while Trump has railed against the Manafort prosecution, Americans call it justified by an overwhelming 67-17 percent, including nearly half of Republicans. The public opposes Trump pardoning Manafort by essentially the same margin, 66-18 percent, with 53 percent strongly opposed. Even among Republicans, 45 percent oppose a Manafort pardon; 36 percent support it. The damage to Trump on these ethics concerns overwhelms his better rating for handling the economy, an essentially even split, 45-47 percent. That demonstrates that a good economy only makes it possible for a president to be popular – it’s no guarantee. Approval, Groups The president’s approval rating is highly partisan, but with relative challenges for Trump across the board. His job rating

– A new poll from the Washington Post and ABC News finds that President Trump's disapproval rating has hit 60% for the first time. That's the percentage of overall voters who don't approve of Trump's performance, though the partisan split remains enormous. Among Republicans, 78% approve of Trump's performance, while only 6% of Democrats feel the same way. Independents are roughly in the middle of those extremes at 35%. Overall, Trump's approval rating is at 36%. Some of the other numbers: 63% support Robert Mueller's investigation; 61% of Republicans oppose the probe, while 85% of Democrats and 67% of independents support it 64% say Trump should not fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a sentiment backed by 47% of Republicans 23% of college-educated white women approve of Trump, which is down 17 points from April 2017 49% say Congress should begin impeachment proceedings 45% of whites support him versus 19% of non-whites

Sixty percent in the national survey disapprove of Trump’s performance in office, numerically the highest of his presidency. That includes 53 percent who disapprove strongly, more than half for the first time. Thirty-six percent approve, matching his low. Sixty-one percent say that if assertions by Cohen are true, Trump broke the law. Fifty-three percent also think Trump obstructed special counsel Robert Mueller's work. Half of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll favor Congress initiating impeachment proceedings against the president.

Are you looking for a church home? While the message of Christian Science is spreading quickly around the world, some areas don’t yet have access to a local church and congregation that meets their needs. If you are looking for a way to connect with a branch church, but don’t have one nearby, we invite you to be a part of our church online. Our Sunday and Wednesday services can be accessed via conference phone or online, and remote listeners are able to share testimonies on Wednesday nights. Sunday School students can attend class with our teachers through Facebook or Google Hangouts. There are many ways that you can participate in the activity of our branch church from wherever you are! Using your land line or cell phone, call in to our Wednesday and Sunday services at the number below: Dial-in Number: 1-310-372-7549 Access Code: 607611 If you would like to give a testimony during a Wednesday evening meeting, press 5*. You will then be asked to confirm that you would like to speak by pressing 1. Press 1 and wait until the conference call service announces that your line is “un-muted,” then proceed with giving your testimony. When you are finished with your testimony, the moderator will re-mute your line. Our dial-in-number can be reached via Skype, Google Voice, or any other SIP service using your computer, smartphone, or tablet. Please email us via our Contact Page if you are having any issues with accessing the services remotely, and we will do our best to assist you. ||||| Brigham Young UniversityArchive-It Partner Since: Feb, 2013Organization Type: Colleges & UniversitiesOrganization URL: http://lib.byu.edu The L. Tom Perry Special Collections Web Archive at Brigham Young University seeks to enhance scholarship and learning by documenting, providing access to, and persevering the state of Mormonism in all of its variations, as they exist online. The Mormon experience made manifest through culture, expression, history, philosophy, ideology, society, and theology is the main emphasis of this collection. Secondary focus is given to areas of interest such areas as business, education, politics, activism, and philanthropy.

– Rural Alaskans who'd like to attend church without navigating miles of frozen road have found a workaround: the telephone. An Alaskan branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is devoted entirely to members who call in, the Alaska Dispatch News reports. "It's what you make of it," says Chip Sharpe, a lifelong member in the town of Mountain Village, population 1,250. "My wife and I dress up in our Sunday clothes and we have a picture of Christ in the room we call from. We try to make it more than just our house. ... We sing songs and hymns." One time, he says, a fellow member called in from as far as 1,100 miles away. So who are they calling? The Alaska Bush Branch, which has about 36 families and 200 members, is located in a room at the Anchorage LDS church. "Typically we interact with President Andersen, his wife, and a missionary couple and anyone who is visiting through," says member Katrina Campbell. On Sundays, the church offers callers an all-male priesthood class, an open service, and two Sunday Schools, one for women only. "My favorite part of church is roll-call," says Campbell, because members announce where they're calling from. "When I answer roll-call, I say, 'One in Manokotak!'" But the Bush Branch isn't alone: The Third Church of Christ Scientist in New York City invites call-ins via Skype, Google, "or any other SIP" on a computer device. Callers can even give testimonies on Wednesdays by pressing 5* and 1; then "the moderator will re-mute your line," according to the church website.

Sunday and Wednesday services can be accessed via conference phone or online. Remote listeners are able to share testimonies on Wednesday nights. Sunday School students can attend class with our teachers through Facebook or Google Hangouts. Our dial-in-number can be reached via Skype, Google Voice, or any other SIP service using your computer, smartphone, or tablet.

This image made from video Sunday, March 18, 2018, of a mounted camera provided by the Tempe Police Department shows an interior view moments before an Uber SUV hit a woman in Tempe, Ariz. The video shows... (Associated Press) This image made from video Sunday, March 18, 2018, of a mounted camera provided by the Tempe Police Department shows an interior view moments before an Uber SUV hit a woman in Tempe, Ariz. The video shows a human backup driver in the SUV looking down until seconds before the crash. The driver looked... (Associated Press) TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Video of a deadly self-driving vehicle crash in suburban Phoenix shows a pedestrian walking from a darkened area onto a street just moments before an Uber SUV strikes her. The lights on the SUV didn't illuminate 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg on Sunday night until a second or two before impact, raising questions about whether the vehicle could have stopped in time. The crash Sunday night in Tempe was the first death involving a full autonomous test vehicle. The Volvo was in self-driving mode with a human backup driver at the wheel when it struck Herzberg, police said. The video shows the human backup driver in the SUV looking down until seconds before the crash. The driver looks up and appears startled during the last moment of the clip. Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir has told the San Francisco Chronicle that the SUV likely wouldn't be found at fault. But two experts who viewed the video told The Associated Press that the SUV's laser and radar sensors should have spotted Herzberg and her bicycle in time to brake. "The victim did not come out of nowhere. She's moving on a dark road, but it's an open road, so Lidar (laser) and radar should have detected and classified her" as a human, said Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies autonomous vehicles. Smith said the video may not show the complete picture, but "this is strongly suggestive of multiple failures of Uber and its system, its automated system, and its safety driver." Sam Abuelsmaid, an analyst for Navigant Research who also follows autonomous vehicles, said laser and radar systems can see in the dark much better than humans or cameras and that Herzberg was well within the range. "It absolutely should have been able to pick her up," he said. "From what I see in the video it sure looks like the car is at fault, not the pedestrian." Smith said that from what he observed on the video, the Uber driver appears to be relying too much on the self-driving system by not looking up at the road. "The safety driver is clearly relying on the fact that the car is driving itself. It's the old adage that if everyone is responsible no one is responsible," Smith said. "This is everything gone wrong that these systems, if responsibly implemented, are supposed to prevent." The experts were unsure if the test vehicle was equipped with a video monitor that the backup

– The pedestrian, the human backup operator, and the vehicle were all taken by surprise in what is believed to be the first pedestrian death in an accident involving a self-driving car, video released by police in Arizona shows. The video shared by police in Tempe on Tuesday shows 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg walking her bike from a darkened area across a street outside a crosswalk, and cuts off right before impact, the Arizona Republic reports. The video also includes footage from inside the self-driving Volvo, where the backup operator can be seen looking down until the final moments before looking up, apparently shocked. The vehicle was going 40mph, and there's no sign that it slowed down. The video "is disturbing and heartbreaking to watch, and our thoughts continue to be with Elaine's loved ones," says Uber spokesman Andrew Hasbun. "Our cars remain grounded, and we're assisting local, state, and federal authorities in any way we can." Uber suspended road testing of its self-driving car program in several cities after the accident, though Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir tells the San Francisco Chronicle that looking at how Herzberg "came from the shadows right into the roadway," it appears that the collision would have been hard to avoid in any mode, human-driven or autonomous. Local media identified the driver as 44-year-old Rafaela Vasquez, though police say the driver was named Rafael. Court records show a man with the same name and birthdate spent four years in prison on felony convictions before joining Uber, the AP reports.

The crash Sunday night in Tempe was the first death involving a full autonomous test vehicle. The Volvo was in self-driving mode with a human backup driver at the wheel when it struck Elaine Herzberg. The video shows the human Backup Driver looking down until seconds before the crash. "This is everything gone wrong that these systems, if responsibly implemented, are supposed to prevent," a law professor says of the crash in suburban Phoenix. "From what I see in the video it sure looks like the car is at fault, not the pedestrian," he says.

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. ||||| A cabin where authorities say Tad Cummins held Elizabeth Thomas for about a week in rural Northern California. (Photo: Greg Barnette / USA TODAY Network California) Update 3 p.m. Friday: Through their attorney, the family of Elizabeth Thomas confirmed she is "in a safe location with family and friends" after arriving back in Tennessee on Friday afternoon. "She is being evaluated and treated by mental health experts specializing in trauma," the statement reads. "There is no doubt that she suffered severe emotional trauma and that her process of recovery is only just beginning." Original story: Even in a remote California forest cabin with no cell phone service, nearly 2,500 miles from Columbia, Tenn., former Middle Tennessee teacher Tad Cummins couldn’t hide. It took one phone call to Tennessee law enforcement late Wednesday night to end a six-week manhunt for the man police accused of kidnapping 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas. On Friday, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey said Elizabeth is under protective care. She arrived in Tennessee Friday, an attorney for her family said. Cummins, meanwhile was taken into federal custody in Siskiyou County and is being transported to Sacramento. On Thursday morning in frigid weather, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office arrested Cummins at the Cecilville cabin in northern California and rescued Elizabeth, according to the sheriff's office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. "We mobilized a nation in the last six weeks," TBI Director Mark Gwyn said Thursday during a news conference in Nashville. "When you do that, something good is going to happen because you can’t hide from millions of people. It took only one tip." It was an 11 p.m. call Wednesday from a California man. The caller said he spotted a Nissan Rogue at a cabin, and thought it matched the description of the vehicle used by Cummins. The license plate had been removed from the vehicle, said TBI spokesman Josh DeVine. Related: ► How two Californians helped capture Tennessee's most wanted man ► Sister of Elizabeth Thomas "ecstatic" police found her safe ► Unconfirmed sighting of Elizabeth Thomas at Nashville hotel ► Timeline shows troubling events before Elizabeth Thomas' disappearanc Lopey said his office's special response team went to the cabin, which was two hours away from their headquarters. By 4 a.m., the team surrounded the cabin and waited. When Cummins walked out about 9:30 a.m., he was arrested without a scuffle, Lopey said. Elizabeth came

– The manhunt for fugitive Tennessee teacher Tad Cummins is over thanks to somebody who spotted his vehicle in a remote area on the other side of the country, authorities say. The 50-year-old was captured and 15-year-old student Elizabeth Thomas was taken into custody unharmed after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the sheriff's office in Northern California's Siskiyou County received a tip late Wednesday that a vehicle with no license plate that matched the description of Cummins' 2015 Nissan Rogue was at a cabin in a rural area of Cecilville, near the Oregon border, ABC News reports. The caller said an adult male and a young female had been staying in the cabin for about a week. Police set up a perimeter around the cabin after the call and arrested Cummins after he emerged around 9:30am Thursday, the Tennessean reports. Siskiyou Sheriff Jon Lopey says two loaded handguns were found inside. Cummins is being held without bond on a federal charge of knowingly transporting a minor with the intent to engage in sexual activity and will be arraigned on Friday. Police say Thomas, who came out of the cabin as Cummins was being arrested, has been transferred to FBI custody and is being treated as a crime victim, the Siskiyou Daily News reports. TBI chief Mark Gwyn says Cummins was caught because they "mobilized a nation" to be on the lookout, and "you can't hide from millions of people."

The family of Elizabeth Thomas confirms she is "in a safe location with family and friends" "She is being evaluated and treated by mental health experts specializing in trauma," the statement reads. "There is no doubt that she suffered severe emotional trauma and that her process of recovery is only just beginning," it adds. The Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken. The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.

WANTED DEADBEATS OIG MOST WANTED DEADBEAT: David Lawrence Adams DOB: 07-22-1951 Height: 5'7" Weight: 135 lbs. Amount of arrears: $4,219,040 (incl. interest) Indictment date: 8/14/08 District: Southern District of New York Possible Whereabouts: Israel David Lawrence Adams owes over $4.2 million in child support, which began in 1994. His monthly obligation was $2,500 for his two children, whose custodial parent resided in New York. At the time of the indictment, Adams lived in Florida and worked as a cardiologist. Investigators believe he fled to Israel to avoid his child support obligation. Investigators also believe that he may visit Florida periodically to continue his medical practice. A warrant for his arrest was issued in August, 2008. He remains a fugitive at-large. WANTED: Oscar Larach-Zablah DOB: 03-24-81 Height: 5'9" Weight: 160 Amount of Arrears: $728,672 Indictment Date: March 29, 2018 Indictment Location: Southern District of New York Possible Whereabouts: Honduras Since approximately October 2009, Oscar Larach-Zablah has knowingly and willfully failed to pay child support for his child, who resided in New York County. Larach-Zablah was indicted in March 2018 on one count of failure to pay child support, and he is currently a fugitive at-large. As of November 2018, Larach-Zablah owes more than $728,000 in child support. Authorities believe that Larach-Zablah has fled the country and may be residing in Honduras. WANTED: Christopher Carroll DOB: 11-24-1967 Height: 5'11" Weight: 170 lbs. Amount of Arrears: approximately $250,000 Indictment: 11-20-2015; Providence, Rhode Island News Release: Former Business Executive Indicted for Failing to Pay More than $250,000 in Child Support Obligations WANTED: Gunther Bogensperger DOB: 09-16-1952 Height: Unknown Weight: Unknown Amount of Arrears: $118,000 Warrant or Indictment Date: 01-11-2005 District: Connecticut Possible Whereabouts: Austria WANTED: Theresa Fenerty DOB: 02-16-1976 Height: 5'4" Weight: 180 lbs. Amount of Arrears: $17,443 Indictment: 04-17-14, Middle District of Pennsylvania Possible Whereabouts: Italy WANTED: Charles Hefner DOB: 02-03-1962 Height: 5'10" Weight: 150 lbs. Amount of Arrears: $213,699 Indictment Date: 08-11-2000 Indictment Location: Southern District of Georgia Possible Whereabouts: Sorocaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil WANTED: Glenn Meinecke DOB: 09-30-1968 Height: 5'8" Weight: 155 lbs. Amount of Arrears: $50,000 Warrant or Indictment: July 2004, Colorado Possible Whereabouts: Ontario, Canada WANTED: John Spaid ||||| KALAMAZOO, MI -- He has been running for decades from a hefty child support bill, living under an assumed name. But now Joseph W. Stroup -- or Joop Cousteau, as some may know him -- will return to Michigan to face a federal charge for failing to pay child support from 1998. Stroup, a fugitive for nearly 20 years, was named the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General's "Most Wanted Deadbeat." The second person on the "Deadbeat" list owes $250,000 -- less than half of what Stroup owes. 'Most Wanted Deadbeat' from Michigan captured in Canada The Office of Inspector General may get involved in cases where the non-custodial parent doesn't pay child support for more than one year and doesn't live in the state where the child lives; where the non-custodial parent owes more than $5,000 and lives in a different state from the child; or

– A tiny cherry pit has led to the capture of America's "most wanted deadbeat" dad after nearly 20 years on the lam. Owing what the US government claims is some $560,000 in child support, Joseph Stroup fled arrest in 1998, at some point arriving in Alberta, Canada. Known there as Joop Cousteau, he got to know staff at a now-closed bar called the Bears Den, outside of Calgary, which is where the cherry pit enters the story, reports the CBC. One day in November, Stroup, 64, ordered an odd drink—a Cherry Coke topped with eight maraschino cherries—then complained a cherry pit, which he held in his hand, had caused damage to his teeth, says bar co-owner Scott Winograd. Maraschino cherries, Winograd knew, have their pits removed. When Stroup later brought in handwritten forms he claimed were from a dental office, Winograd did "maybe an hour's worth of Googling" and arrived at the Justice Department's website, which listed Stroup as America's most wanted deadbeat parent, per the Calgary Herald. The picture was "a spitting image. It was absolutely him," Winograd tells the CBC. He alerted US authorities and "within an hour I had the FBI, US Marshals and the Office of the Inspector General calling," he says. "They really wanted this guy." Arrested by the Canada Border Services Agency on Feb. 1, Stroup was arraigned in federal court in Chicago on Feb. 16, reports MLive. He now faces trial in Michigan over his alleged failure to financially support four children since June 1996.

David Lawrence Adams owes over $4.2 million in child support, which began in 1994. Adams lived in Florida and worked as a cardiologist. Investigators believe he fled to Israel to avoid his child support obligation. Oscar Larach-Zablah was indicted in March 2018 on one count of failure to pay child support. He is currently a fugitive at-large. Joseph W. Stroup, a fugitive for nearly 20 years, was named the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General's "Most Wanted Deadbeat"

Relaxnews How would you feel about replacing your house with a personalized cube? "Cubitat", a 10-metre-cubed prefabricated structure, offers just that. The concept, the result of a collaboration between Toronto-based Urban Capital and Nichetto Studios, is being billed as "the future of progressive housing" after going on show at the Interior Design Show 2015. The cube contains the core elements of a standard home, including a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and lounge, all in one transportable cube. Customers can add furniture items and fittings to tailor each model to their own tastes. Inspired by both the prefab world and modern production methods, the custom-assembled architectural solution has been designed to be a "transferable home". It comprises a central frame which forms four walls containing pull-down furniture for each of the spaces. "Cubitat is architecture on a whole new level, as product," says Urban Capital co-founder Mark Reeve. "We're rethinking the built world with the most adaptable home imagined." So will the concept become a commercial reality? Watch this (cubed) space. ||||| Courtesy of Cubitat Those on a quest to rethink small-space living build tiny houses, install pop-up rentals on vacant lots, and design portable 10-square-foot microkitchens tucked inside armoires. Presented over the weekend at Toronto’s Interior Design Show, Cubitat is a 10-by-10-by-10-foot cube that houses a kitchen, bathroom, bed, laundry, and storage. Courtesy of Cubitat Once plumbing and electric are hooked up, the structure can theoretically turn any dwelling into what the developers are calling a “plug and play” living space that looks something like a giant’s Rubik’s cube and seems to beg to be painted in Mondrian colors. Courtesy of Cubitat A collaboration between Toronto-based Urban Capital developers David Wex and Mark Reeve (the team behind Smart House microcondos) and designer Luca Nichetto, the prefab cube—which is still in the prototype phase—can be customized online and shipped to its destination. Courtesy of Cubitat Advertisement “Cubitat is about a more intelligent, holistic way to design and construct our living environments, taking cues from the prefab world and modern production methods,” says Wex. “As a builder we look at the automotive, consumer product and tech industries and ask why we can’t operate with that much rapidity and flexibility.” Courtesy of Cubitat Courtesy of Cubitat The concept is appealing but problematic: For the moment, Cubitat comes assembled in one giant piece. So although it looked great in the large, light-filled exhibition space at the Toronto show, figuring out how to get this giant module through the doors of most existing structures is an obvious obstacle (unless you’re lowering it into a roofless barn or sliding it into a converted double garage). Courtesy of Cubitat Courtesy of Cubitat Despite the Cubitat’s size problem, the designers envisioned the cube as a theoretically mobile object, based on the concept of a transformable home. “The idea is to hoist and slide Cubitat onto a condo floor mid-construction. Build a platform for Cubitat in the cottage country of your dreams. Ship Cubitat from the city to the country so you retire in your own home,” a project description states. Courtesy

– A team of builders and designers have created what is essentially a house that can fit in a room. Cubitat is a 10-by-10-by-10-foot cube, and it's got practically everything you need built in, Treehugger reports. One side has a whole kitchen, with a sink, dishwasher, fridge, and more, all in a single wall. Another side features a pullout bed from which you can watch a TV mounted in a nook. Need a bathroom? The cube's got a built-in toilet. It even features a laundry machine and storage space. You'll have to hook it up to plumbing and electricity, but the makers—a Toronto firm called Urban Capital and a designer named Luca Nichetto—say the idea of Cubitat is a "plug and play" space, Slate reports. They call it, per CTV, "the most adaptable home imagined." "Cubitat is about a more intelligent, holistic way to design and construct our living environments, taking cues from the prefab world and modern production methods," says an Urban Capital developer. "As a builder we look at the automotive, consumer product, and tech industries and ask why we can’t operate with that much rapidity and flexibility." Among the minor kinks to be worked out: How do you fit a 10-foot cube through your door? Well, maybe you won't have to: "The idea is to hoist and slide Cubitat onto a condo floor mid-construction," says a project description, per Slate. And when you're feeling less urban, you can "ship Cubitat from the city to the country so you retire in your own home." (Perhaps the designers could give some tips to the EU parliament, whose building is so confusing it's nearly left some in tears.)

Cubitat is a 10-metre-cubed prefabricated structure. The cube contains the core elements of a standard home, including a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and lounge. Customers can add furniture items and fittings to tailor each model to their own tastes. The concept is appealing but problematic: For the moment, Cubitat comes assembled in one giant piece."We're rethinking the built world with the most adaptable home imagined," says Urban Capital co-founder Mark Reeve.

Questions are often raised about the accuracy of sexual assault survivors’ memories when alcohol is involved—but a new study suggests that mistrust might be unfounded. Women who drank before being presented with a hypothetical sexual assault scenario remembered less afterward about the storyline than those who were sober for the experiment. However, their recounting of what they did remember was just as accurate as the non-buzzed participants’. The researchers recruited 88 women between the ages of 18 and 31 at the University of Leicester in the U.K., all but one of them undergraduate students. In a laboratory, the placebo group received plain tonic water, while the remaining participants were given enough vodka tonics to achieve either a medium or high buzz. (The latter was measured as a breath alcohol content of 0.08 percent, which meets the federal standard for intoxicated driving in the United States.) Then, they were asked to complete what is called an “interactive hypothetical sexual assault scenario”—basically a “choose your own adventure” exercise in which you only have the illusion of choice. The women were told an imaginary story in which an attractive man began complimenting them. At each step of the way as the scenario progressed, they were asked whether they wanted to continue with the encounter or not. If they did, they gradually went from imagined kissing to imagined sex. If at any point they opted out, they were confronted with a hypothetical sexual assault, the details of which were based on actual rape cases. The participants were then asked to recount the story twice: first 24 hours after the fact and then again four months later. Researchers asked them a series of questions about the hypothetical scenario and found that participants who had been under the influence of alcohol responded more often with “don’t know.” But when they did answer, their memories were just as accurate as those of the sober participants. This led the researchers to conclude “that intoxicated victims can provide accurate information to the police.” They explained, “Although compared to sober women, intoxicated women may remember less information, our results imply that when intoxicated women provide testimony, the information they provide is just as accurate as sober women, all other things being equal.” The implications about trusting women’s accounts of rape, even if they involve intoxication, are powerful, especially at a time of heated debate about alcohol and consent on college campuses. Clearly, though, the study has its limitations: There is a big difference between enduring an actual sexual assault and running through a hypothetical in a lab setting. As the researchers put it, “The psychological impact of the scenario, for obvious ethical reasons, of course, is not akin to experiencing an actual rape, and hence, we have to be cautious in generalising the results from this research to actual rape cases.” ||||| Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Limits: Adult Operators of Noncommercial Motor Vehicles Laws addressing blood alcohol concentration limits applicable to drivers of noncommercial automobiles, trucks, and motorcycles who have reached the legal drinking age of 21 years. Select another policy topic:

– Undergoing questioning as a rape victim is difficult, but even more so if the victim is made to feel her recollections are untrustworthy—a reaction that's more probable if she was intoxicated during the assault. "Out of these concerns, the police might forgo interviewing victims," University of Leicester researcher Heather Flowe says, per a press release from the university. "On the other hand, almost always in sexual offenses, the victim is the only one who can provide information about the crime to investigators." But Flowe and her team have study results that could help put those concerns to rest, finding that women who had a BAC at the legal driving limit of 0.08 may not have been able to recollect as much information as their sober counterparts about a hypothetical rape, but they were able to remember it just as accurately. For a study published in the journal Memory, researchers divided 88 female college students ages 18 to 31 into two groups: One group drank plain tonic water, the other group tonic and vodka—enough to get, as Vocativ puts it, "either a medium or high buzz." They then had to go through what Vocativ describes as a hypothetical "choose your own adventure" scenario with an attractive man, where they could opt out of the situation at any time as the sexual activity escalated; if they opted out, they'd be presented with a hypothetical sexual assault scenario based on real rape cases. When all participants were quizzed about the scenario 24 hours later, then again four months later, those who had been drinking said "I don't know" more often—but when they did answer, their descriptions were just as accurate as those of the tonic-tippling group. One limitation of the study, researchers acknowledge: Reaction to hypotheticals in a lab may obviously not match that of those going through a real assault. (One group of sex-crime survivors have their own village.)

Women who drank before being presented with a hypothetical sexual assault scenario remembered less afterward than those who were sober. But their recounting of what they did remember was just as accurate as the non-buzzed participants’. The implications about trusting women’s accounts of rape, even if they involve intoxication, are powerful, especially at a time of heated debate about alcohol and consent on college campuses. But there is a big difference between enduring an actual sexual assault and running through a hypothetical in a lab setting.

Opponents and supporters of an abortion bill gather in a courtyard outside a hearing for the bill at the state capitol, Tuesday, July 2, 2013, in Austin, Texas. Gov. Rick Perry has called lawmakers back... (Associated Press) Texas Republicans voted early Wednesday to move forward with new abortion restrictions, after limiting testimony at a public hearing, refusing to consider Democratic amendments and imposing strict security precautions to prevent disruptions from protesting abortion-rights supporters. On a party-line vote, the Republican majority sent the bill to the full Texas House for a vote next week. Gov. Rick Perry is pushing his allies in the Legislature to move quickly after he called lawmakers back for a second special session to pass the bill, which would limit when, where and how women may obtain an abortion in the state. More than 3,500 people came to the Capitol and registered a position on the bill, and more than 1,100 signed up to testify. But fewer than 100 people had a chance to express their views because the top Republican on the committee limited testimony to eight hours and refused entreaties to extend it. "We took testimony in the regular session, in the first special. We've taken a lot of testimony," said House State Affairs Chairman Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, in explaining his decision. But Rep. Sylvester Turner, a Houston Democrat and among the state's more senior lawmakers, asked for more time for testimony. "The people have the right to come here, and they have the right to be heard," Turner said. Just before the committee's vote, Turner tried to offer amendments to the bill, but Cook refused to recognize him or any other Democrat. "You can bring it up on the (House) floor," Cook said. Turner replied angrily to Cook cutting him off, "You know that's just wrong!" When the hearing began, the corridors were filled with equal numbers of bill supporters, wearing blue, and opponents, wearing orange, but as the night wore on the orange T-shirts became the majority. In some cases, bill opponents marched in circles around anti-abortion activists. There were no arrests or violent incidents reported. Local pizza shops delivered hundreds of pizzas and drinks to the crowd, and organizers registered people to vote and collected email lists. The debate over the abortion restrictions has brought the public to the Capitol like no other issue in at least a decade. About 700 of the bill's opponents showed up for a hearing during the first special session, and thousands filled the Capitol on that session's final day to support Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis' filibuster. After that session ended and the bill failed, Perry called the Legislature back, forcing lawmakers to start again from scratch with committee hearings. House Bill 2 would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, require that the procedure be performed at ambulatory surgical centers, mandate that doctors who perform abortions obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles and that even nonsurgical abortions take place in a surgical center. Only five out of 42 clinics in Texas qualify as ambulatory surgical

– Democrats in Texas may have used creative parliamentary tactics to stall new abortion restrictions, but Republicans in North Carolina used a few of their own last night for the opposite cause. They amended an unrelated bill in the state Senate to include several new restrictions, including one that requires clinics to have the same licensing standards as surgical centers, reports CNN. The latter is a now-common tactic that effectively shuts down many existing clinics. The measure—called a "sneak attack" by Planned Parenthood—cleared the full Senate this morning and now heads toward expected passage in the House, reports the Charlotte Observer. The Democrats' stance: “It’s about dictating to women about very personal medical decisions that should be left to a woman and her doctor," says one lawmaker. "This is going to cause more back-alley abortions whether you want to admit it or not.” And the Republicans: “We’re not here today taking away the rights of women," counters a proponent. "We’re taking away the rights of an industry to have substandard conditions.” The bill's passage comes as Texas Republicans made progress on the second go-round of their legislation, reports the AP. Ohio also put new restrictions into effect last weekend.

More than 3,500 people came to the Capitol and registered a position on the bill. On a party-line vote, the Republican majority sent the bill to the full Texas House for a vote next week. Gov. Rick Perry is pushing his allies in the Legislature to move quickly after he called lawmakers back for a second special session. House Bill 2 would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, require that the procedure be performed at ambulatory surgical centers, mandate that doctors who perform abortions obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles.

1 of 3. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at a news conference at the end of the Iranian nuclear talks in Geneva November 10, 2013. ABU DHABI/LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he hoped an agreement on Iran's disputed nuclear program would be signed within months and London and Tehran revived diplomatic ties, signs of a warmer atmosphere between the Islamic Republic and the West. In a further indication of cooperation, the United Nations nuclear watchdog reached an agreement under which Iran will grant U.N. inspectors access to more nuclear facilities. Iran and six world powers - the United States, Britain, Russia, France, China and Germany - came close to a preliminary nuclear agreement at the weekend during talks in Geneva and decided to resume negotiations on November 20 in their attempt to defuse a decade-old standoff. "This is not a race to complete just any agreement," Kerry told a news conference during a visit to the United Arab Emirates. However, he added: "Through diplomacy we have an absolute responsibility to pursue an agreement." While saying that a deal with Iran was expected within months, Kerry tried to reassure Washington's Arab allies and Israel that his country would not abandon them. Thumping the podium to make his point, Kerry said President Barack Obama had said "that he will continue to defend his friends and allies in this region, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, others, he will defend them against any external attack. "That is the promise of the United States and as I stand here as secretary of state, as long as I'm secretary of state, that is also our policy, my policy, representing the president of the United States in executing it." The fact that a deal might be within reach after a decade of confrontation between Iran and Western powers shows the shift in the tone of Tehran's foreign policy since President Hassan Rouhani was elected in June. Rouhani began diplomatic moves towards a nuclear deal in order to ease sanctions that have throttled Iran's vital oil industry and cut it off from the international banking system. On the table initially is phased, limited and reversible relief from sanctions. Iran, however, wants an early lifting of the oil and banking sanctions. Britain and Iran said they were reviving diplomatic ties two years after a mob of students attacked the British embassy in Tehran. Both sides said they were appointing a new charge d'affaires. Britain closed the embassy in 2011 after a rally against British sanctions escalated into violence and protesters scaled the walls, ransacked offices and burned buildings. MAJOR POWERS But with a breakthrough in Geneva tantalizingly close, divisions within the powers emerged when France declined to endorse the proposal, believing it did not do enough to neutralize the risk of an Iranian atom bomb. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius nonetheless expressed hope on Monday that a deal could be reached, although he said Tehran still had to make an effort on a few points. "We are not far from an agreement with

– Talks in Tehran between Iran and the UN's nuclear chief have produced a "roadmap" for boosting inspections—but some of the sites that most interest UN investigators aren't included in the deal as it stands, the AP notes. Still, they'll get access to a planned heavy water reactor that has worried France, as well as a major uranium mine. The plan involves Iran opening its doors over three months, a period that may frustrate the West, but it could also lead to a more expansive deal. Indeed, the UN's Yukiya Amano and Iran nuclear boss Ali Akbar Salehi say they aim to "cooperate further ... to resolve all present and past issues." Separate talks in Geneva, which ended yesterday, were less productive, though John Kerry says the US and other negotiating countries reached "unity" on a nuclear deal only to be rejected by Iran. Earlier reports had suggested France opposed a deal that appeared to be forming, but "the French signed off on" a proposal this weekend, Kerry said. Iran, however, "couldn't take it." While it's not "a race to complete just any agreement," Kerry signaled optimism that a deal could be reached in a matter of months, Reuters notes. Talks are set to resume Nov. 20.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he hoped an agreement on Iran's disputed nuclear program would be signed within months. London and Tehran revived diplomatic ties, signs of a warmer atmosphere between the Islamic Republic and the West. Iran and six world powers came close to a preliminary nuclear agreement at the weekend during talks in Geneva. But divisions within the powers emerged when France declined to endorse the proposal, believing it did not do enough to neutralize the risk of an Iranian atom bomb. The United Nations nuclear watchdog reached an agreement under which Iran will grant U.N. inspectors access to more nuclear facilities.

UPDATE: Mystery shrouds teen's alleged killing of parents, sister, family friend A 16-year-old armed with a semi-automatic rifle shot and killed his parents, his sister and a family friend just before midnight on New Year's Eve in Long Branch, authorities said Monday. The teen, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder and a weapons charge. "It's a terribly tragic incident," Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said during a press conference in Long Branch. The teen was taken into custody without incident, Gramiccioni said. Law enforcement officials would not comment on the teen's possible motive for allegedly shooting his family. Neighbors and friends said the 16-year-old had special needs, did not attend regular public schools and was cared for by his mother. Police said there was no history of domestic violence at the house. The 16-year-old killed his father Steven Kologi, 44, mother Linda Kologi, 42, sister Brittany Kologi, 18, and family friend, Mary Schulz, 70, of Ocean Township, Gramiccioni said. Two other family members were also at the house, but were not hurt, prosecutors said. "The grandfather of the suspect as well as the brother of the suspect thankfully left the home," Gramiccioni said. A 911 call reporting the shooting was made at 11:43 p.m. from inside the duplex on the 600 block of Wall Street, Gramiccioni said. A Century Arms semi-automatic rifle was seized at the scene, Gramiccioni said. The rifle was legally owned and registered to a resident of the house, though authorities did not say who owned the weapon. The 16-year-old is being held at the Middlesex Youth Detention Facility and will have his first court appearance at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, according to a spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. The shooting is being investigated as an isolated domestic violence incident, and there is no danger to the public, Gramiccioni said. Neighbors said they were shocked by the deaths in the suburban Jersey Shore neighborhood on the border of Long Branch and West Long Branch. Jalen Walls, a neighbor who went to school with Brittany Kologi, said his mother woke him up Monday morning to let him know about the shooting at his friend's house two blocks away. Walls, who frequently went to the Kologi's house, said their 16-year-old son required special assistance and was cared for by his mother. The teen did not attend Long Branch High School, where his brother and sister graduated. "But he was fully functional and comprehended what we were saying," said Walls, 18. Brittany Kologi had recently finished her first semester as a freshman at Stockton University in Galloway, where she was a heath sciences student and lived on campus, according to the school. "We are shocked and saddened by the reports of the death of freshman Brittany Kologi under such tragic circumstances," the school said in a statement, adding that counseling staff are available for her friends and classmates at Stockton. Gary Patel, owner of the Welsh Farms convenience store across the street from the

– A 16-year-old is in custody after a horrific shooting just before midnight New Year's Eve in a Jersey Shore town. Police say the teen, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, killed his parents, Steven and Linda Kologi; 18-year-old sister Britanny Kologi; and Mary Schultz, a 70-year-old family friend who lived with them in Long Branch, NJ.com reports. Authorities say the teen's brother and grandfather survived unharmed after leaving the home. The shooting is being treated as an isolated domestic violence incident, police say. There was no history of domestic violence calls to the home, according to prosecutors. Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni says the teen was arrested after a 911 call was received from inside the home at 11:43pm. He said the arrest was "uneventful" and didn't require the use of force. He said the teen will be charged as an adult with four counts of murder and one count of possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, the New York Daily News reports. "It's a terribly tragic incident," Gramiccioni told reporters early Monday. Neighbors say that the 16-year-old didn't go to the same public schools as his siblings and was cared for by his mother because he needed special assistance, but he was "fully functional." Gramiccioni says officials don't know of a motive for the killings.

16-year-old charged as an adult with four counts of murder and a weapons charge. Police say there was no history of domestic violence at the house. Neighbors and friends said the 16- year-old had special needs. Brittany Kologi, 18, had recently finished her first semester as a freshman at Stockton University in Galloway, where she was a heath sciences student. The shooting is being investigated as an isolated domestic violence incident, and there is no danger to the public, authorities say.

Confucius is back – and raised on a pedestal. The Chinese Communist leadership, which once criticised the ancient philosopher as part of official policy, has sanctioned a huge sculpture of the sage on Tiananmen Square. In a sign of the increasing importance of the 2,500-year-old teachings in thrusting, modern China, the scholar follows Chairman Mao Zedong and several other leading figures of the Communist movement to be displayed prominently on the square considered hallowed political ground by the Party. The sculpture marks a remarkable revival for the scholar, statesman and educator, whose philosophy dominated Chinese society for centuries before spreading to Europe in the late 16th century. Chairman Mao once condemned Confucius as a feudal thinker and Red Guards smashed evidence that he ever lived during the ideological frenzy of the Cultural Revolution. But now, the 31-foot statue shares the square with the mausoleum of Chairman Mao and where his giant picture hangs. "Now the party leaders have resurrected Confucius and have practically put Mao and Confucius side by side. Mao must be turning in his grave," Minxin Pei, a China expert at Claremont McKenna College, told the Associated Press. The rehabilitation of Confucius, who lived from 551-479 BC, comes amid new leadership concerns about China's increasingly materialist society. Burgeoning wealth and the rise of consumerism has seen many traditional Confucian values of honour and decency slip away in favour of self-serving, money-grabbing behaviour, the leadership believes. President Hu Jintao relies heavily on the teachings of Confucius when he urges the masses to learn a "socialist sense of honour and shame". Confucian thinking stresses harmony and obedience, but all this without any reference to God, which sits easily with Marxist-Leninism. But it is not just the leadership that is turning to Confucius for inspiration. He is enjoying a revival, in books and films, on television and in the classrooms. A movie about the figure last year featured Chow Yun-fat, a veteran actor known for starring in stylish gangster thrillers. "The rise of a big country requires a cultural foundation and Chinese culture upholds the spirit of harmony," said the sculptor Wu Weishan. "Confucianism has been governing the lives and ethics of Chinese for thousands of years," said 25-year-old engineer Cui Xiaozhan , who was on a business trip from Qingdao. "We should study it. But everyone is too busy and tired." ||||| In this Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011 photo, Chinese paramilitary policemen stands guard in front of a sculpture of the ancient philosopher Confucius on displayed in near the Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China's... (Associated Press) In this Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011 photo, a Chinese man takes picture of a sculpture of the ancient philosopher Confucius displayed near the Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China's capital. The mammoth sculpture... (Associated Press) A mammoth sculpture of the ancient philosopher Confucius was unveiled this week off one side of the vast plaza. It's a jarring juxtaposition for a square the ruling Communist Party treats as politically hallowed ground: a mausoleum holding revolutionary leader Mao Zedong's body sits in the middle and his giant portrait hangs

– Chinese leaders are re-embracing a once-scorned familiar figure: Confucius. A giant bronze statue of the ancient philosopher now stands on the hallowed ground of Tiananmen Sqaure, reports the Guardian. That means he's sharing space with none other than Mao, who officially condemned the teachings of Confucius amid his purge of traditional culture. The move stems in part from the concern of Chinese leaders that the citizenry is getting too materialistic—Mao preached a values-based philosophy that emphasized personal ethics and honor, explains AP. It's quite the turn-around. "Party leaders have resurrected Confucius and practically put Mao and Confucius side by side," says one China scholar. "Mao must be turning in his grave."

The sculpture marks a remarkable revival for the scholar, statesman and educator. The rehabilitation of Confucius comes amid new leadership concerns about China's increasingly materialist society. Burgeoning wealth and the rise of consumerism has seen many traditional Confucian values of honour and decency slip away in favour of self-serving, money-grabbing behaviour, the leadership believes. President Hu Jintao relies heavily on the teachings of the sage when he urges the masses to learn a "socialist sense of Honour and shame"

A Russian defense official is reported as saying that three Syrian attack helicopters that have been refurbished in Russia will be sent to Syria. Last week, a cargo ship carrying the helicopters to Syria was forced to turn back after its British insurer removed the coverage for the vessel. Alexander Fomin, the Russian defense official, was quoted by the Ria Novosti news agency as saying Thursday that Russia plans to deliver the helicopters, without specifying how or when. Russia has said that the helicopters had been supplied to Syria during Soviet times and refurbished under a 2008 contract. Moscow has continued to provide Damascus with arms, despite Western calls for a halt in supplies. ||||| Turkey appeared to deploy armored military units on its border with Syria, raising tensions in the region after Ankara promised "decisive steps" in response to Syria's shooting down of a Turkish military jet last week. The move comes two days before world powers are due to discuss the prospect of a political transition in the conflict-torn country. International... ||||| BEIRUT/ISKENDERUN, Turkey Rebel forces attacked Syria's main court in central Damascus on Thursday, state television said, while Turkey deployed troops and anti-aircraft rocket launchers to the Syrian border, building pressure on President Bashar al-Assad. A loud explosion echoed through the streets and a column of black smoke rose over Damascus, an Assad stronghold that until the last few days had seemed largely beyond the reach of rebels. State television described it as a "terrorist" blast. Dozens of wrecked and burning cars were strewn over a car park used by lawyers and judges. The state news agency SANA said three people had been wounded by a bomb hidden in one of the cars. The fighting coincided with a Turkish military buildup on its border with Syria and a growing sense of urgency in Western- and Arab-backed diplomatic efforts to promote the idea of a unity government to end 16 months of bloodshed. But Assad himself dismissed the idea of any outside solution to Syria's crisis. "We will not accept any non-Syrian, non-national model, whether it comes from big countries or friendly countries. No one knows how to solve Syria's problems as well as we do," Assad told the state television channel of Syria's ally Iran. He said Turkey's official stance belied the Turkish people's "positive view" of Syria. A first substantial convoy of about 30 Turkish military vehicles, including trucks loaded with anti-aircraft missile batteries dispatched from the coastal town of Iskenderun, headed towards the Syrian border 50 km (30 miles) away. A Turkish official who declined to be named said he did not know how many troops or vehicles were being moved but they were being stationed in the Yayladagi, Altinozu and Reyhanli border areas. A general in the rebel Free Syria Army said on Friday that Syrian government forces had amassed around 170 tanks north of the city Aleppo, near the Turkish border, but there was no independent confirmation of the report. General Mustafa al-Sheikh, head of the Higher Military Council, an association of senior officers who

– Turkey is apparently not turning the other cheek, with the country's media today reporting that a military deployment is en route to its border with Syria. A dozen trucks and short-range antiaircraft missiles are making their way toward the south-central Kilis Province, which contains both a military base and a Syrian refugee camp. Earlier reports identified an additional 30 trucks that had been sent to various bases studding the border. The Wall Street Journal notes that Turkey hasn't maintained a heavy military presence along its 565-mile border with Syria since 1999. The move follows PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Tuesday announcement that the country would react to "any Syrian military elements" that threaten its border. In other major Syria developments: Turkey isn't the only country getting press vis-à-vis Syria this morning: Russia is denying earlier reports that it supported Kofi Annan's plan for a new national unity government that could include the opposition—and would almost certainly exclude Bashar al-Assad, saying it would not endorse any calls for him to step down, reports the AP. Though Assad's forces have long-controlled Damascus, the rebels seemed to make inroads this morning via an attack on the car park at the country's main court. State TV described a blast and wafts of black smoke rising over the city and cited a "terrorist explosion." No word on casualties, reports Reuters. Syria will get its refurbished helicopters, a Russian defense official announced today. But he gave no indication of how or when the three copters would be delivered, reports the AP.

Rebels attack Syria's main court in central Damascus on Thursday. Turkey deploys troops and anti-aircraft rocket launchers to the Syrian border. A Russian defense official is reported as saying that three Syrian attack helicopters will be sent to Syria. A cargo ship carrying the helicopters to Syria was forced to turn back after its British insurer removed the coverage for the vessel. The move comes two days before world powers are due to discuss the prospect of a political transition in the conflict-torn country. The fighting coincided with a Turkish military buildup on its border with Syria.

New Europe terror alert: Would you cancel a trip? My reaction to this weekend's news that the U.S. State Department has issued a rare, four-month alert for European travel because of continued but unspecific threats from al-Qaeda and affiliated organizations? Meh. As a charter member of the "you're far more likely to be killed on your way to the airport than at the hands of a terrorist" club, I certainly wouldn't scrub a trip or put off planning one. The latest State Department alert doesn't spotlight individual countries in Europe, and doesn't advise Americans to stay away - or even stay off the subway. But it does remind them of "the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure," and recommends they take "every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling." And what might those "tourist infrastructures" and "appropriate safety measures" encompass? The advisory doesn't say - making interpretation a matter of how much risk you're willing to assume in a world where liquid bans and slip-on shoes have become part of what travel analyst Henry Harteveldt calls the "new, new, new normal." "If you think you won't be able to enjoy your trip because of the alert, then postpone it until the chatter dies down," suggests Christine Cantera of WhyGoFrance.com. "If you can't postpone it but would rather not be in Paris, then you can alter your itinerary to include the many other things to see and do throughout France. If it's Paris or bust for you, then stay in a hotel that's not an iconic name or location or an international chain, take more taxis, see the Eiffel Tower (the target of two false bomb threats in recent weeks) from afar and spend more time getting to know the less-visited areas of the city." "Many people simply do not have the confidence to travel, whether from inexperience, age or just plain fear," she adds. "And I think that sometimes, they need to hear that it's OK to postpone the trip or try somewhere else when something like (the latest travel alert) comes up." Fair enough. But for those on the fence, consider this: A year ago this week, the U.S. had just issued a travel alert for Germany, noting recent threatened attacks by al-Qaeda and the Taliban against major German cities. I was in Berlin to research a story on the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Wall, and my visit coincided with a weekend celebration to mark reunification between East and West Germany. Police presence and anxiety levels were high - but not as high as Berliners' enthusiasm as tens of thousands thronged the streets to celebrate the rebirth of their unified city and nation. Germany is once again in the spotlight, with the U.K. foreign office upgrading its own travel alert this weekend to note, vaguely, that "like other large European countries, Germany has a high threat of terrorism. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers." (France

– European officials are not happy about the travel alert issued for the continent by the US yesterday. The new warning was not a result of any new intelligence, officials say, and they are "irritated" the US leaked warnings of possible shooting attacks before more intelligence could be gathered, the Guardian reports. Other responses to the terror alert: "The US alert is an unhelpful overreaction and a kick in the teeth for the European tourist industry," declares the Independent. "America is hardly without its own domestic terror threat ... yet if European governments were to issue a travel alert on America, the US would, understandably, be irritated." Europe is less safe, and it's because of anti-Muslim laws, write Christopher Dickey and Sami Yousafzai at Newsweek. And they're looking at you, Nicolas Sarkozy: Because your anti-burka law "is aimed against a specifically Islamic custom, jihadists denounce it as an insult to Muslims everywhere, making France an even more tempting target for terrorists." "As a charter member of the 'you're far more likely to be killed on your way to the airport than at the hands of a terrorist' club, I certainly wouldn't scrub a trip or put off planning one" as a result of the extremely vague alert, writes Laura Bly in USA Today.

The U.S. State Department has issued a rare, four-month alert for European travel. The alert doesn't spotlight individual countries in Europe, and doesn't advise Americans to stay away. But it does remind them of "the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure" A year ago this week, the U.K. had just issued a travel alert for Germany, noting recent threatened attacks by al-Qaeda and the Taliban against major German cities."Many people simply do not have the confidence to travel, whether from inexperience, age or just plain fear," says WhyGoFrance.

FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2014, file photo a man leaves the headquarters of Uber in San Francisco. Uber says Jason Dalton, the man suspected of going on a western Michigan shooting rampage that left six... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2014, file photo a man leaves the headquarters of Uber in San Francisco. Uber says Jason Dalton, the man suspected of going on a western Michigan shooting rampage that left six... (Associated Press) SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As authorities look for the reasons why a Michigan man allegedly embarked on a mass shooting spree over the weekend, the ride-hailing service Uber is addressing his record as a driver with the company. Critics say the episode could bring more attention to concerns about the fast-growing service, which has been dogged by controversy on the road to becoming one of the most valuable privately funded companies in the world. Jason Dalton, the man arrested in connection with the Kalamazoo rampage that left six people dead, is a former insurance adjuster who had been working as a driver for Uber's ride-hailing service. Authorities were investigating unconfirmed reports he may have picked up passengers in the hours before and after the rampage on Saturday. San Francisco-based Uber has been one of the most successful tech industry startups in recent years, as millions of customers have flocked to use its smartphone app for hailing rides in 380 cities around the globe. The company says its drivers are independent contractors who use the app to help find customers and schedule trips. Private backers have poured more than $10 billion into the company, under terms that value the business at more than $50 billion — making it the biggest in a recent wave of tech firms that have grown to enormous size without taking the traditional step of selling stock to the public. But since its launch in 2009, Uber has faced criticism for a pricing formula that can send rates skyrocketing at times of high demand, and for side-stepping regulators and licensing requirements in some cities where it's opened for business. And after several reported assaults by drivers, critics have also complained the company should do more to screen drivers and guard passengers' safety. Some of that criticism has been raised by competitors and regulators who argue that Uber's success has come as the company has expanded while seeking to avoid the strict licensing and permit requirements that traditional tax companies face. "I do think this is an outrageous incident that's going to draw more attention to this issue," said Dave Sutton, spokesman for "Who's Driving You," an organization backed by Uber's competitors in the taxi and limousine industry, which has fought the company's expansion. Authorities identified Dalton as a 45-year-old from Kalamazoo Township who police said had no criminal record. They said victims of the shootings in and around the city of Kalamazoo had no apparent connection to him or to each other. Uber spokeswoman Nairi Hourdajian confirmed Dalton had driven for Uber. Hourdajian wouldn't say whether he was picking up fares

– More details have emerged about Kalamazoo mass shooting suspect Jason Dalton—but none explain what could have driven him to kill six people in a Saturday night rampage, apparently picking up fares as an Uber driver between murders. Neighbors in rural Michigan tell the Detroit Free Press that the 45-year-old is an insurance adjuster and "nice guy" who lives with his wife and two children, ages 15 and 10. Neighbors say he loved cars and worked part-time as a mechanic. They say he bought a gun after his tools were stolen. "We knew he had a gun. I think he had it just for protection. He wasn't a hunter or anything like that, but I know he liked guns," a neighbor says. Other developments: Police say the death toll was thought to be seven until a 14-year-old girl who had been pronounced dead squeezed her mother's hand, MLive.com reports. The girl, who had been placed on life support for organ donation, is still in extremely critical condition, but authorities are hopeful. "The only word to describe it is wow," a Michigan State Police spokesman says. "It's absolutely a miracle that she's alive and we're definitely hopeful for her continued improvement." There's nothing to connect the three groups of victims to each other or to Dalton, NBC News reports. Police say the first was a woman shot and injured outside an apartment building at 5:42pm. Four hours later, Richard Smith, 53, and his 17-year-old son, Tyler, were shot dead at a car dealership 15 miles away. Soon after, Mary Jo Nye, 60, Dorothy Brown, 74, Barbara Hawthorne, 68, and Mary Lou Nye, 62, were shot dead in a Cracker Barrel parking lot and a 14-year-old girl was injured. They were on their way home from a play. Dalton was arrested without incident early Sunday; he's expected to appear in court Monday, the AP reports. Authorities say a semi-automatic handgun was in his car and the killings had "no rhyme, no reason." He was in contact with at least one person during the rampage, but authorities do not expect to charge anybody else. "We just can't figure out the motive," Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley says, per CNN. "There's nothing that gives us any indication as to ... what would have triggered this." Uber has confirmed that Dalton drove for the company, though they haven't said whether he was driving for them Saturday night, the AP reports. In a statement, Uber's chief security officer said the company is "horrified and heartbroken at the senseless violence." Chillingly, Dalton apparently picked up passengers hours after the murders. A visitor tells WOOD-TV that he ordered an Uber because he felt unsafe walking with a killer on the loose. "I kind of jokingly said to the driver, 'You're not the shooter, are you?' He gave me some sort of a 'no' response ... shook his head," the man says. "I said, 'Are you sure?' And he said, 'No, I'm not, I'm just tired,'" he says. "And we proceeded to have a pretty normal conversation after that." Dalton was arrested 20 minutes after the group was dropped off.

Jason Dalton, the man arrested in connection with the Kalamazoo rampage that left six people dead, is a former insurance adjuster who had been working as a driver for Uber's ride-hailing service. Authorities were investigating unconfirmed reports he may have picked up passengers in the hours before and after the rampage on Saturday. Critics say the episode could bring more attention to concerns about the fast-growing service. The company says its drivers are independent contractors who use the app to help find customers and schedule trips.

University days generally start at fixed times in the morning, often early morning, without regard to optimal functioning times for students with different chronotypes. Research has shown that later starting times are crucial to high school students' sleep, health, and performance. Shifting the focus to university, this study used two new approaches to determine ranges of start times that optimize cognitive functioning for undergraduates. The first is a survey-based, empirical model (SM), and the second a neuroscience-based, theoretical model (NM). The SM focused on students' self-reported chronotype and times they feel at their best. Using this approach, data from 190 mostly first and second year university students were collected and analyzed to determine optimal times when cognitive performance can be expected to be at its peak. The NM synthesized research in sleep, circadian neuroscience, sleep deprivation's impact on cognition, and practical considerations to create a generalized solution to determine the best learning hours. Strikingly the SM and NM results align with each other and confirm other recent research in indicating later start times. They add several important points: (1) They extend our understanding by showing that much later starting times (after 11 a.m. or 12 noon) are optimal; (2) Every single start time disadvantages one or more chronotypes; and (3) The best practical model may involve three alternative starting times with one afternoon shared session. The implications are briefly considered. Introduction Education and work generally start at fixed times, mostly early and with no adjustment for different chronotypes among those who study and work. However, in adolescence and early adulthood optimal wake and sleep times are shifted 2–3 h later in the day, and yet this group are still required to conform to education start times more appropriate to young children and older adults. Traditionally, institutions have tried to tailor the humans to the organization, but research suggests that, at least as far as time is concerned, it is more efficient, productive, and humane to align the organization's schedules to the natural time patterns of the humans who study and work in them. Despite an impressive, cumulating body of medical and educational research evidence consistently indicating that later start times improved educational performance (Borlase et al., 2013; Edwards, 2012; Meltzer et al., 2014; Wahlstrom et al., 2014), there has been little change in educational starting times. Even Korea's Gyeonggi Province and some school districts in the United States such as Seattle that have made big changes generally have starting times no later than 09:00. Perhaps more worrying, there is little research to illuminate what starting times would be optimal in education, particularly for universities. The crux of the matter in the temporal misalignment problem is that biological changes beginning in puberty shift wake and sleep times 2–3 h later in the day. This shift is at its greatest at age 19 (Roenneberg et al., 2004) before reverting to an earlier pattern in the mid-20s. Oblivious to these changes, secondary schools and universities continue to start classes early in the morning. Genetic factors lead to variations in circadian timing of ±4 h from

– The world is making its college students wake up too darn early, according to a study recently published in Frontiers in Neuroscience. NPR reports researchers sampled dozens of college freshmen and sophomores to figure out what time of day was best for their brain performance. While most colleges have classes that start at 8am, the study found classes shouldn't start until after 11am to foster the best learning in students, according to a press release. While it's not the same for everyone, people in their teens and early 20s typically have a different biological clock than their elders. "It's like making an adult wake up at 5am every single day," researcher Jonathan Kelley tells NPR. "It is just not a good idea." The study shows colleges need to offer more afternoon and evening classes, but it's not so simple as pushing everything later due to students' different "chronotypes," Quartz reports. The study found a two-to-one ratio of "night owls" to "early birds." But that's still a lot of morning people. One solution is offering more online classes that allow students to start whenever they're best ready to learn. Researcher Mariah Evans says changing schedules is free for colleges and could be more effective than other performance-improving methods schools are spending a lot of money on. (A camping trip can get the body's sleep cycle back on track.)

Research has shown that later starting times are crucial to high school students' sleep, health, and performance. University days generally start at fixed times in the morning, often early morning, without regard to optimal functioning times for students with different chronotypes. Biological changes beginning in puberty shift wake and sleep times 2–3 h later in the day. This shift is at its greatest at age 19 (Roenneberg et al., 2004) before reverting to an earlier pattern in the mid-20s. Even Korea's Gyeonggi Province and some school districts in the United States such as Seattle have starting times no later than 09:00.

The ruling is the most bruising the White House has suffered in its attempts to defend the ban, as it was rendered by 13 judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit — which deemed the case important enough to skip the usual three-judge process that the vast majority of cases go through. U.S. Chief Circuit Judge Roger Gregory wrote that the text of Trump’s executive order, which was challenged in courts across the country for targeting members of a particular faith, “speaks with vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination.” “Congress granted the President broad power to deny entry to aliens, but that power is not absolute,” Gregory wrote in a ruling that largely upheld the original block on the travel ban. “It cannot go unchecked when, as here, the President wields it through an executive edict that stands to cause irreparable harm to individuals across this nation.” Ten of the judges who heard the case, all of them appointed by Democratic presidents, voted to keep Trump’s travel restrictions on hold. Of the 10, Gregory had the court’s majority decision and four of his colleagues issued individual opinions that offered different grounds, some narrower than others, for concluding that the travel ban is likely invalid under immigration law and the Constitution. “Laid bare, this Executive Order is no more than what the President promised before and after his election: naked invidious discrimination against Muslims,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge James Wynn in a concurrence. “Such discrimination contravenes the authority Congress delegated to the President in the Immigration and Nationality Act ... and it is unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause.” The three dissenting judges, all Republican appointees, wrote separate opinions condemning the ruling, each offering different reasons why Trump’s executive order is lawful. One of them, U.S. Circuit Judge Dennis Shedd, lamented “the larger ramifications of this decision” for the nation’s safety. “Regrettably, at the end of the day, the real losers in this case are the millions of individual Americans whose security is threatened on a daily basis by those who seek to do us harm,” Shedd wrote. The decision clears the way for Trump to appeal to the Supreme Court, a move he promised when the first version of the travel ban was shot down. The appeal never materialized then — the administration chose instead to start from scratch and reissue a tamer version of the executive order. The watered-down version — which removed Iraq from the list of barred countries and eliminated the ban on Syrian refugees — no longer applied to permanent residents and had a delayed rollout, all in hopes of avoiding the detentions, chaos and protests unleashed by the first order. These tweaks were intended to make the travel ban more palatable to the courts. But Trump’s campaign promises and anti-Muslim sentiment kept dogging the administration, and federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland couldn’t help but take that history into account in assessing the travel ban’s legality. Both courts concluded that Trump’s own words, and those

– President's Trump's proposed travel ban suffered yet another defeat Thursday when the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a block on the part of the ban that suspends visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries, CNBC reports. According to the Huffington Post, the ruling was made by 13 judges in Virginia. It upheld a March ruling from a Maryland district court, which found the president's travel ban violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution, the Guardian reports. The next stop for the travel ban, which is also being contested in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, is likely the Supreme Court. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals states it was "unconvinced" Trump's travel ban "has more to do with national security than it does with effectuating the president's proposed Muslim ban." CNN has the full text of the ruling. While the White House has said the ban is needed to keep the country safe, Trump's own statements have given reason to believe the ban is meant to target Muslims. For example, the president's campaign website once advocated a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the US. The judges ruled Trump's past statements should be considered in regard to the proposed ban. They also stated the president's power to control who enters the country is "broad" but not "absolute."

The ruling was rendered by 13 judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Ten of the judges who heard the case, all of them appointed by Democratic presidents, voted to keep Trump’s travel restrictions on hold. The three dissenting judges, all Republican appointees, wrote separate opinions condemning the ruling. The decision clears the way for Trump to appeal to the Supreme Court, a move he promised when the first version of the travel ban was shot down. The administration chose instead to start from scratch and reissue a tamer version.

Zynga likes casual games: the social games publisher's mobile growth has been fuelled by the popularity of Words With Friends and related titles. It's much less keen to be associated with casual sex, however. The company is suing fellow US firm Bang With Friends, which makes an app for Facebook and smartphones claiming to be "the anonymous, simple, fun way to find friends who are down for the night". According to Bloomberg, Zynga's lawsuit claims that the startup "selected the name 'Bang With Friends' for its casual sex matchmaking app with Zynga's game trademarks fully in mind" when it launched in January 2013 as a Facebook-connected website. It has since rolled out iPhone and Android apps, with chief executive Colin Hodge claiming in June that Bang With Friends had signed up 1.1m users in its first five months, with "over 200,000 successful matches". Zynga isn't the first dispute for the startup over the nature of its business. Within days of the release of its iPhone app, Apple had removed it from its App Store, and it has yet to return. Zynga is seeking a court order to ban Bang With Friends from using its name for any social networking apps in the US, and is also demanding unspecified damages according to Bloomberg. The app works by getting people to sign in using their Facebook IDs, then pick the friends who they'd like to become friends-with-benefits. If any of those friends have registered and reciprocated, both parties are alerted to the fact and left to make their own arrangements. Its promises of privacy were undermined in May when The Daily Dot discovered a link to show any Facebook user which of their friends were registered with Bang With Friends, although not who they had picked. The link still works two months later. Zynga is understandably sensitive about one of its flagship mobile brands, With Friends, being associated with a casual-sex dating app. The publisher is refocusing its business around mobile gaming, which accounted for 27% of its bookings in the second quarter of 2013 as the company's games attracted 57m monthly active mobile users. The With Friends games – including Words, Scramble, Matching, Gems, Chess, Hanging and newest addition Running With Friends – remain an important part of that strategy. Bang With Friends has yet to comment on the lawsuit, but as a startup thought to have raised $1m of seed funding so far, the company will be wary of a lengthy legal battle with a richer firm like Zynga. ||||| Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) sued the maker of the “Bang With Friends” casual sex Internet application, claiming it infringes Zynga’s trademark for its “with friends” family of games. Bang With Friends Inc., which makes an application matching Facebook friends anonymously for casual sex, registered its Internet domain name last year, according to the complaint filed yesterday federal court in San Francisco. The company “selected the name ‘Bang With Friends’ for its casual sex matchmaking app with Zynga’s game trademarks fully in mind,” according to the complaint. The name infringes a trademark covering games

– Zynga makes the popular apps "Words With Friends" and "Chess With Friends." But it does not make the popular app "Bang With Friends." The former are board games. The latter helps Facebook friends hook up for casual sex. Now the company is suing Bang With Friends Inc, claiming it tried to cash-in on Zynga's "With Friends" trademark, reports Bloomberg. The lawsuit seeks to bar the company from using the name "Bang With Friends" on any app in the US, and an unspecified amount of damages. Bang With Friends claims to have 1.1 million users and 200,000 "matches" under its belt, reports the Guardian. It works by allowing people to identify which Facebook friends they want to hook up with. If two friends mark each other as potential hookups, both are notified of the other's interest. "We heard through media reports that Zynga has filed a trademark infringement claim with respect to the 'with friends' part of our name," Bang With Friends Inc tells Wired. "As a technology company, we take intellectual property seriously, and will evaluate the case in detail once we receive a copy. Regardless, we continue to be focused on making our users happy, so that they can help each other be happy."

Zynga sues US startup Bang With Friends over casual-sex dating app. App matches Facebook friends anonymously for casual sex. Zynga is seeking a court order to ban the app from using its name in the U.S. It is also demanding unspecified damages in the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in San Francisco. The publisher is refocusing its business around mobile gaming, which accounted for 27% of its bookings in the second quarter of 2013 as the company's games attracted 57m monthly active mobile users.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — City commissioners in Florida have agreed to begin the process of changing the names of streets named after Confederate generals in the heart of an African-American neighborhood. During a contentious three-hour meeting Monday night, the Hollywood City Commission voted 5-2 to begin renaming Lee Street, named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee; Hood Street, named after Gen. John Bell Hood, and Forrest Street, named after Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan member Nathan Bedford Forrest. "It is time to change the names and the time is now," Commissioner Debra Case said during the meeting. "We must do the right thing and we must do it now." The SunSentinel reports a final vote is expected when the board returns from its summer break on Aug. 30. The current plan calls for Forrest Street to become Savannah Street, Hood Street to become Macon and Lee will be renamed Louisville. The controversy has been brewing for a while. Two years ago vandals painted over streets signs and a similar call to change the names went ignored 15 years ago. A clash broke out last month at city hall between those pushing for the name change and those against it. Five people were arrested. On Monday night, Hollywood resident Cynthia Baker asked commissioners when it would end. "We have streets named for slave-owning presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Madison. Activists have said those streets are next." Several Broward County officials were at the meeting and urged commissioners to make the change. "It is not right that an African-American mother has to tell her child she lives on a street named after someone that wanted them in chains or dead," said Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein said. The commission voted 5-2 to waive the city's policy requiring that property owners on all three streets receive mailed ballots and vote on the matter. Commissioners Traci Callari and Peter Hernandez offered the votes against renaming streets. The majority included Mayor Josh Levy and Commissioners Dick Blattner, Kevin Biederman, Debra Case and Linda Sherwood. The debate isn't over. Callari wants to impose a 10-year moratorium to prevent any other street names from being changed. And Hernandez wants to change the name of every street to a number throughout the entire city. "If you inconvenience one, you should inconvenience them all," Hernandez said. ||||| Another city is joining the nationwide movement to purge streets, statues and monuments honoring Confederate generals: Hollywood. “It is time to change the names and the time is now,” Commissioner Debra Case said Monday during a City Hall meeting that drew prominent elected officials from around the county. “We must do the right thing and we must do it now.” It wasn’t quick and it wasn’t easy. But on Monday, more than a week after a raucous protest at City Hall that resulted in five arrests, Hollywood commissioners agreed to rename streets honoring three Civil War-era generals: Robert E. Lee, John Bell Hood and Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was also first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The 5-2 vote was not final.

– City commissioners in Florida have agreed to begin the process of changing the names of streets named for Confederate generals in the heart of an African-American neighborhood. During a contentious three-hour meeting Monday, the Hollywood City Commission voted 5-2 to begin renaming Lee Street, named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, as Louisville Street; Hood Street, named after Gen. John Bell Hood, as Macon Street; and Forrest Street, named after Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan member Nathan Bedford Forrest, as Savannah Street, the AP reports. "We must do the right thing and we must do it now," Commissioner Debra Case said. The controversy has long brewed: Two years ago, vandals painted over street signs, and a similar call for a name change was ignored 15 years ago. A City Hall clash last month about the name change resulted in the arrest of five people. Several Broward County officials were at the meeting and urged commissioners to make the change. "It is not right that an African-American mother has to tell her child she lives on a street named after someone that wanted them in chains or dead," said Howard Finkelstein, Broward County's public defender. The commission voted 5-2 to waive the city's policy requiring property owners on all three streets receive mailed ballots and vote on the matter. The debate isn't over, however: Commissioner Traci Callari, who voted against renaming the streets, wants to impose a 10-year moratorium to prevent any other street names from being changed, while the other nay vote, Commissioner Peter Hernandez, wants to change the name of every street to a number throughout the entire city. The Sun Sentinel reports a final vote is expected when the board returns from its summer break on Aug. 30.

Hollywood commissioners agree to rename streets honoring three Civil War-era generals. Lee Street, named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, will be renamed Louisville. Hood Street is named after Gen. John Bell Hood, and Forrest Street is after Nathan Bedford Forrest. Five people were arrested last month during a raucous protest at City Hall that resulted in five arrests. "It is not right that an African-American mother has to tell her child she lives on a street named after someone that wanted them in chains or dead," Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein said.

Religious belief widely viewed as safeguard against ‘grossly immoral conduct’, according to new research Atheists tend to be seen as immoral – even by other atheists: study Atheists are more easily suspected of evil deeds than Christians, Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists – even by fellow atheists, according to the authors of a new study. The finding suggests that in an increasingly secular world, many – including some atheists – still hold the view that people will do bad things unless they fear punishment from all-seeing gods. The results of the study “show that across the world, religious belief is intuitively viewed as a necessary safeguard against the temptations of grossly immoral conduct,” an international team wrote in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. It revealed that “atheists are broadly perceived as potentially morally depraved and dangerous”. Atheist pastor sparks debate by 'irritating the church into the 21st century' Read more The study measured the attitudes of more than 3,000 people in 13 countries on five continents. They ranged from “very secular” countries such as China and the Netherlands, to those with high numbers of religious believers, such as the United Arab Emirates, the US and India. The countries had populations that were either predominantly Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim or non-religious. Participants were given a description of a fictional evildoer who tortured animals as a child, then grows up to become a teacher who murders and mutilates five homeless people. Half of the group were asked how likely it was that the perpetrator was a religious believer, and the other half how likely he was an atheist. The team found that people were about twice as likely to assume that the serial killer was an atheist. “It is striking that even atheists appear to hold the same intuitive anti-atheist bias,” the study’s co-author, Will Gervais, a psychology professor at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, said. “I suspect that this stems from the prevalence of deeply entrenched pro-religious norms. Even in places that are currently quite overtly secular, people still seem to intuitively hold on to the believe that religion is a moral safeguard.” Only in Finland and New Zealand, two secular countries, did the experiment not yield conclusive evidence of anti-atheist prejudice, said the team. Distrust of atheists was “very strong in the most highly religious states like the United States, United Arab Emirates and India”, said Gervais, and lower in more secular countries. Such research was about more than stigma alone, he said. “In many places, atheism can be dangerous, if not fatal.” In a comment carried by the journal, Adam Cohen and Jordan Moon of the Arizona State University’s psychology department said the study marked “an important advance in explaining the prevalence of anti-atheist attitudes”. ||||| Most people around the world, whether religious or not, presume that serial killers are more likely to be atheists than believers in any god, suggests a new study, which counters the common assumption that increasingly secular societies are equally tolerant of nonbelievers. Avowed atheists exhibited the same bias in judging sadistic criminals, the study found.

– When given a hypothetical scenario describing a fictional character who progresses from torturing animals as a child to murdering homeless people as an adult, most people assume that this person is an atheist—and that includes atheists themselves. That's what researchers at the University of Kentucky in Lexington are now reporting in the journal Human Behavior. "It is striking that even atheists appear to hold the same intuitive anti-atheist bias," lead researcher and psychology professor Will Gervais says, per the Guardian. "I suspect that this stems from the prevalence of deeply entrenched pro-religious norms." Outside researchers comment alongside the study that it helps qualify the "prevalence of anti-atheist attitudes." The team presented the serial killer scenario to about 3,000 people in 13 countries spanning five continents, ranging from more secular places like Finland and the Netherlands to places with more believers, such as the US and United Arab Emirates, the Guardian notes. Most people are twice as likely to assume "extreme immorality" such as that exhibited by the hypothetical serial killer to be more suggestive of an atheist than a religious person, and the numbers are nearly as high among atheists themselves—except for in Finland and New Zealand, where the evidence wasn't as clear. The authors call it "extreme" prejudice against atheists, while the New York Times reports that mass killers are a "rogue's gallery of mostly male, aggrieved actors who are sometimes believers, sometimes not, and who half the time do not qualify for any specific psychiatric diagnosis." (Check out this list of celebrity atheists.)

Study measured attitudes of more than 3,000 people in 13 countries on five continents. Atheists more easily suspected of evil deeds than Christians, Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists. Findings suggest many still hold the view that people will do bad things unless they fear punishment from all-seeing gods. Distrust of atheists was “very strong in the most highly religious states like the United States, United Arab Emirates and India”, said the study’s co-author, Will Gervais.

Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. / Updated By Hillel Aron They appeared seemingly overnight: hundreds of two-wheeled electric scooters all over the city of Santa Monica, California. The company behind the scooters, Bird, launched in the affluent beachside city last September with little advance notice, but its product was suddenly everywhere, littering sidewalks and clogging bike paths. Public officials were flummoxed that a company could do such a thing. “We were not expecting this company to launch in the way they did and appear on our streets and sidewalks,” said Anuj Gupta, deputy city manager of Santa Monica, who called Bird’s outreach “halfhearted” and “underwhelming.” But Bird did, and in the process has become one of the most out-of-nowhere success stories in startup history. Founded in 2017, the company has already raised more than $400 million, according to the startup database Crunchbase. It has reportedly sought valuations approaching $2 billion in its most recent talks. And it’s not alone. Lime, whose white-and-green e-scooters first appeared in the Los Angeles area about a month ago, is a direct competitor. There’s also Spin in San Francisco, which has also been dealing with a sudden invasion of scooter companies — and banned them from operating. The scooters work in much the same way as public bike-sharing companies. Most scooters, including Bird’s, are “dockless,” in that customers can grab one, use it for a quick ride, and then park it just about anywhere, all by using a smartphone app. At a public meeting in Santa Monica in June, residents described chaotic scenes of scooters being ridden by teenagers, sometimes two at a time, smashing into pedestrians and being left strewn about. And like bicycle riders, few scooter-users wear helmets, as California law mandates, and few obey state law that forbids riding on the sidewalk. “Pedestrians have become the bowling pins of Santa Monica,” said one resident, Bill Davids, at the meeting. “We cannot walk safely down the street. There is just flagrant and outrageous violations of basic traffic formalities.” Startup culture It's only been a few years since cities were dealing with the last startups that arrived without warning: ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft. Cities then tried to manage their expansion, though most eventually relented or figured out deals to let them operate. Scooter startups are using similar blitzkrieg tactics, and cities are taking action. In December, Santa Monica filed criminal charges against Bird for operating without a business license and for violating other regulations. In February, the company agreed to a list of demands, including paying $300,000 in fines. People ride electric scooters run by Lime and Bird on the Embarcadero in San Francisco in April. David Paul Morris / Bloomberg via Getty Images file But public outrage over the scooters was just heating up, as more and more Bird scooters appeared on the road in Los Angeles and 17 other U.S. cities. Bradley Tusk, founder of Tusk Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in startups and works

– Ride-sharing, bike-sharing, and now scooter-sharing: Rentable electric scooters are popping up all over the place, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and at least 20 other cities across the US. Millions of dollars in funding have been poured in to a number of scooter startups including Bird, Lime, and Spin, and the dockless two-wheeled vehicles are proving popular with users. Public officials, not so much; NBC News reports that Santa Monica officials were "flummoxed" when hundreds of e-scooters appeared in the city with little advance notice. And some residents are concerned, too: At a public meeting this month in Santa Monica, one concerned citizen said pedestrians have become like "bowling pins" as users, often teens, ride scooters erratically on sidewalks and then leave them strewn about wherever. In a battle similar to the one that has been raging between scooter companies and city officials in San Francisco, Santa Monica filed criminal charges against Bird for regulation violations including operating without a business license; the company has agreed to a list of demands and will pay $300,000 in fines. But that's not much for a company that has raised more than $400 million since its founding last year, and scooter startups don't seem likely to go anywhere as investors and tech columnists alike jump on board. Sources tell CNN Bird is now valued at $2 billion, and Uber has teamed with Lime, the second scooter startup to be valued at more than a billion dollars. In LA, particularly, many believe scooters will be a big hit as an easy (users can rent one with a smartphone app) and cheap (15 cents per minute) way to get around the city without a car.

Bird scooters appeared seemingly overnight in Santa Monica, California. The company has become one of the most out-of-nowhere success stories in startup history. Bird has reportedly sought valuations approaching $2 billion in its most recent talks. Scooter startups are using similar blitzkrieg tactics, and cities are taking action. The scooters work in much the same way as public bike-sharing companies, except they don't wear helmets, as California law mandates, and few obey state law that forbids riding on the sidewalk.

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. ||||| A Russian Antonov transport plane AN124 carries parts of Lufthansa plane 'Landshut' as it stands at the airport in Friedrichshafen, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017. The Lufthansa passenger jet hijacked... (Associated Press) BERLIN (AP) — A Lufthansa passenger jet that was hijacked to Somalia 40 years ago at the height of a far-left militant group's campaign against West German authorities has returned home. The dpa news agency reported Saturday that most parts of the Boeing 737 arrived Saturday in the city of Friedrichshafen, where they will be reassembled and displayed at the Dornier Museum. The remainder is due to arrive Wednesday from Brazil. The aircraft ended up in a Brazilian carrier's fleet and had been sitting decommissioned at the country's Fortaleza Airport for years. A Palestinian group demanding the release of members of West Germany's Red Army Faction hijacked a Mallorca to Frankfurt flight in October 1977. The hijacking marked the peak of the "German Autumn" of leftist violence. German commandos stormed the plane in Mogadishu, Somalia.

– A Lufthansa passenger jet that was hijacked to Somalia 40 years ago at the height of a far-left militant group's campaign against West German authorities has returned home. The DPA news agency reported Saturday that most parts of the Boeing 737 arrived Saturday in the city of Friedrichshafen, where they will be reassembled and displayed at the Dornier Museum. The remainder is due to arrive Wednesday from Brazil. The aircraft ended up in a Brazilian carrier's fleet and had been sitting decommissioned at the country's Fortaleza Airport for years. A Palestinian group demanding the release of members of West Germany's Red Army Faction hijacked a Mallorca to Frankfurt flight in October 1977, the AP reports. The hijacking marked the peak of the "German Autumn" of leftist violence. German commandos stormed the plane in Mogadishu, Somalia, killing three hijackers and rescuing all 86 passengers. Surviving members of the flight crew were also rescued, though pilot Juergen Schumann had been shot dead earlier by one of the hijackers.

The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. Most parts of the Boeing 737 arrived Saturday in the city of Friedrichshafen. They will be reassembled and displayed at the Dornier Museum.

• 1.8m users targeted by UK agency in six-month period alone • Optic Nerve program collected Yahoo webcam images in bulk • Yahoo: 'A whole new level of violation of our users' privacy' • Material included large quantity of sexually explicit images Britain's surveillance agency GCHQ, with aid from the US National Security Agency, intercepted and stored the webcam images of millions of internet users not suspected of wrongdoing, secret documents reveal. GCHQ files dating between 2008 and 2010 explicitly state that a surveillance program codenamed Optic Nerve collected still images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk and saved them to agency databases, regardless of whether individual users were an intelligence target or not. In one six-month period in 2008 alone, the agency collected webcam imagery – including substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications – from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts globally. Yahoo reacted furiously to the webcam interception when approached by the Guardian. The company denied any prior knowledge of the program, accusing the agencies of "a whole new level of violation of our users' privacy". GCHQ does not have the technical means to make sure no images of UK or US citizens are collected and stored by the system, and there are no restrictions under UK law to prevent Americans' images being accessed by British analysts without an individual warrant. The documents also chronicle GCHQ's sustained struggle to keep the large store of sexually explicit imagery collected by Optic Nerve away from the eyes of its staff, though there is little discussion about the privacy implications of storing this material in the first place. NSA ragout 4 Photograph: Guardian Optic Nerve, the documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden show, began as a prototype in 2008 and was still active in 2012, according to an internal GCHQ wiki page accessed that year. The system, eerily reminiscent of the telescreens evoked in George Orwell's 1984, was used for experiments in automated facial recognition, to monitor GCHQ's existing targets, and to discover new targets of interest. Such searches could be used to try to find terror suspects or criminals making use of multiple, anonymous user IDs. Rather than collecting webcam chats in their entirety, the program saved one image every five minutes from the users' feeds, partly to comply with human rights legislation, and also to avoid overloading GCHQ's servers. The documents describe these users as "unselected" – intelligence agency parlance for bulk rather than targeted collection. One document even likened the program's "bulk access to Yahoo webcam images/events" to a massive digital police mugbook of previously arrested individuals. "Face detection has the potential to aid selection of useful images for 'mugshots' or even for face recognition by assessing the angle of the face," it reads. "The best images are ones where the person is facing the camera with their face upright." The agency did make efforts to limit analysts' ability to see webcam images, restricting bulk searches to metadata only. However, analysts were shown the faces of people with similar usernames to surveillance targets, potentially dragging in large numbers

– The latest Edward Snowden scoop takes the invasion of privacy to what Yahoo calls a "whole new level." The Guardian explains why: British surveillance agency GCHQ harvested images from Yahoo video chats for years, including many that were sexually explicit. In fact, one agency document puts it thusly: "Unfortunately … it would appear that a surprising number of people use webcam conversations to show intimate parts of their body to the other person. Also, the fact that the Yahoo software allows more than one person to view a webcam stream without necessarily sending a reciprocal stream means that it appears sometimes to be used for broadcasting pornography." This particular program, called Optic Nerve, was in place from at least 2008 to 2010 and collected 1.8 million images in just one six-month span. The NSA provided assistance for Optic Nerve, which was launched in part to test facial-recognition software. The intercepted images and text came from people who were not suspected of any wrongdoing, and they included Americans. "This report, if true, represents a whole new level of violation of our users' privacy that is completely unacceptable," says a Yahoo spokesperson. A TechCrunch blogger agrees: "It’s hard to say anymore if this is the most egregious violation of privacy revealed under leaked documents detailing government espionage of digital sources, but capturing nude and sexual images from unsuspecting users not aware they’re being targeted, and not being targeted for any reason in particular, is definitely right up there." Click for the full Guardian story.

1.8m users targeted by UK agency in six-month period alone. Optic Nerve program collected still images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk. Material included large quantity of sexually explicit images. Yahoo: 'A whole new level of violation of our users' privacy' GCHQ does not have the technical means to make sure no images of UK or US citizens are collected and stored by the system. There are no restrictions under UK law to prevent Americans' images being accessed by British analysts without an individual warrant.

“Grindr is a relatively unique place for openness about HIV status,” James Krellenstein, a member of AIDS advocacy group ACT UP New York, told BuzzFeed News. But the new analysis, confirmed by cybersecurity experts who analyzed SINTEF’s data and independently verified by BuzzFeed News, calls into question how seriously the company takes its users’ privacy. Grindr was founded in 2009 and has been increasingly branding itself as the go-to app for healthy hookups and gay cultural content. In December, the company launched an online magazine dedicated to cultural issues in the queer community. The app offers free ads for HIV-testing sites, and last week, it debuted an optional feature that would remind users to get tested for HIV every three to six months. “The HIV status is linked to all the other information. That’s the main issue,” Pultier told BuzzFeed News. “I think this is the incompetence of some developers that just send everything, including HIV status.” Because the HIV information is sent together with users’ GPS data, phone ID, and email, it could identify specific users and their HIV status, according to Antoine Pultier, a researcher at the Norwegian nonprofit SINTEF . (SINTEF was commissioned to produce the report by Swedish public broadcaster SVT , which first publicized the findings.) The two companies — Apptimize and Localytics, which help optimize apps — receive some of the information that Grindr users choose to include in their profiles, including their HIV status and “last tested date.” The gay hookup app Grindr, which has more than 3.6 million daily active users across the world, has been providing its users’ HIV status to two other companies, BuzzFeed News has learned. “To then have that data shared with third parties that you weren’t explicitly notified about, and having that possibly threaten your health or safety — that is an extremely, extremely egregious breach of basic standards that we wouldn’t expect from a company that likes to brand itself as a supporter of the queer community.” SINTEF’s analysis also showed that Grindr was sharing its users’ precise GPS position, “tribe” (meaning what gay subculture they identify with), sexuality, relationship status, ethnicity, and phone ID to other third-party advertising companies. And this information, unlike the HIV data, was sometimes shared via “plain text,” which can be easily hacked. “It allows anybody who is running the network or who can monitor the network — such as a hacker or a criminal with a little bit of tech knowledge, or your ISP or your government — to see what your location is,” Cooper Quintin, senior staff technologist and security researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told BuzzFeed News. “When you combine this with an app like Grindr that is primarily aimed at people who may be at risk — especially depending on the country they live in or depending on how homophobic the local populace is — this is an especially bad practice that can put their user safety at risk,” Quintin added. Grindr said that the services they get from Apptimize and Localytics help make the app better. “Thousands

– If Grindr users share their HIV status on the gay dating app, they may assume that revelation will stay among themselves, potential partners, and Grindr. But BuzzFeed reported Monday that Grindr shared that data (including HIV status and "last tested date," as well as email addresses) with two analytics firms it uses, with the only notification to customers in the fine print of its privacy policy—an "egregious breach of basic standards," per an AIDS advocate. The Norwegian nonprofit SINTEF first uncovered the issue, with a researcher there blaming the sharing of info with app-optimization firms Apptimize and Localytics on developer "incompetence." An Electronic Frontier Foundation researcher notes even if Grindr has a contract with these firms to keep that data private, that sensitive health information now sits in yet another place, vulnerable to those with "malicious intent." "I actually find this very disturbing and possibly sinister," San Francisco Supervisor Jeff Sheehy tells KGO. Axios reports on Grindr's reaction, which appeared on Tumblr to "clear any misinformation." CTO Scott Chen notes Grindr doesn't sell user info to third parties or advertisers, and that it only shares with vendors when "necessary or appropriate." He also reminds users that Grindr's privacy policy clearly spells out that information posted to Grindr could end up in the public eye, and that "you should carefully consider what information to include." Still, the company said Monday it would stop sharing customers' HIV status with third-party analytics vendors, per BuzzFeed. NPR notes a lawsuit against CVS Health for an HIV-related breach last summer in which thousands of letters were sent out with a reference code for an HIV assistance program visible in the envelope window.

Gay hookup app Grindr has been providing its users' HIV status to two other companies, BuzzFeed News has learned. The two companies — Apptimize and Localytics — receive some of the information that Grindr users choose to include in their profiles. Because the HIV information is sent together with users’ GPS data, phone ID, and email, it could identify specific users and their HIV status. Grindr was founded in 2009 and has been increasingly branding itself as the go-to app for healthy hookups and gay cultural content.

South Korean army K-55 self-propelled howitzers move during an exercise against possible attacks by North Korea in Pocheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Wednesday, March 27, 2013. North... (Associated Press) In a show of force following weeks of North Korean bluster, the U.S. on Thursday took the unprecedented step of announcing that two of its nuclear-capable B-2 bombers dropped munitions on a South Korean island as part of joint military drills. The announcement is likely to further enrage Pyongyang, which has already issued a flood of ominous statements to highlight displeasure over the drills and U.N. sanctions over its nuclear test last month. But there were signs Thursday that it is willing to go only so far. A North Korean industrial plant operated with South Korean know-how was running normally, despite the North's shutdown a day earlier of communication lines ordinarily used to move workers and goods across the border. At least for the moment, Pyongyang was choosing the factory's infusion of hard currency over yet another provocation. U.S. Forces Korea said in a statement that the B-2 stealth bombers flew from a U.S. air base in Missouri and dropped munitions on a South Korean island range before returning home. It was unclear whether America's stealth bombers were used in past annual drills with South Korea, but this is the first time the military has announced their use. The statement follows an earlier U.S. announcement that nuclear-capable B-52 bombers participated in the joint military drills. The announcement will likely draw a strong response from Pyongyang. North Korea sees the military drills as part of a U.S. plot to invade and becomes particularly upset about U.S. nuclear activities in the region. Washington and Seoul say the drills are routine and defensive. North Korea has already threatened nuclear strikes on Washington and Seoul in recent weeks. It said Wednesday there was no need for communication in a situation "where a war may break out at any moment." Earlier this month, it announced that it considers void the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953. But Pyongyang would have gone beyond words, possibly damaging its own weak finances, if it had blocked South Koreans from getting in and out of the Kaesong industrial plant, which produced $470 million worth of goods last year. South Korean managers at the plant reported no signs of trouble Thursday. Analysts see a full-blown North Korean attack as extremely unlikely, though there are fears of a more localized conflict, such as a naval skirmish in disputed Yellow Sea waters. Such naval clashes have happened three times since 1999. The Kaesong plant, just across the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that separates the Koreas, normally relies on a military hotline for the governments to coordinate the movement of goods and South Korean workers. Without the hotline, the governments, which lack diplomatic relations, used middlemen. North Korea verbally approved the crossing Thursday of hundreds of South Koreans by telling South Koreans at a management office at the Kaesong factory. Those South Koreans then called officials in South Korea. Both

– The US sent B-2 stealth bombers—which can carry nuclear weapons—from Missouri to South Korea for military drills, Washington said today. Following the drills, which involved them dropping inert munitions, they returned home, CNN reports. The move "demonstrates the United States' ability to conduct long range, precision strikes quickly and at will," the military says. The AP calls the announcement an "unprecedented step," and notes that while it will likely anger the North, it sees signs that Pyongyang is willing to go only so far. Among them: An industrial park used by North and South Korea on the north side of the border is still open, even after the North cut its hotline there yesterday to the South. Some 200 South Koreans entered the Kaesong Industrial Complex today along with 166 vehicles carrying oil and other supplies, Reuters reports, and US dollars are still being accepted. The complex offers the North a rare link to foreign cash, generating some $2 billion in yearly trade.

The announcement is likely to further enrage Pyongyang. North Korea has already issued a flood of ominous statements to highlight displeasure over the drills and U.N. sanctions over its nuclear test last month. A North Korean industrial plant operated with South Korean know-how was running normally, despite the North's shutdown a day earlier of communication lines ordinarily used to move workers and goods across the border. Analysts see a full-blown North Korean attack as extremely unlikely, though there are fears of a more localized conflict, such as a naval skirmish.

When Joseph C. Massino took the witness stand in 2011, becoming the first official boss of one of New York’s five crime families to break the code of silence and testify against a former confederate, he offered a succinct explanation for his departure from mob tradition . “I’m hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. On Wednesday, the tunnel got a whole lot shorter: a federal judge commuted Mr. Massino’s sentence of two consecutive life terms in prison. Mr. Massino, the former boss of the Bonanno crime family, will be released from federal custody in 60 days, a period the government requested to put in place security arrangements to keep Mr. Massino safe from what are presumed to be a considerable number of enemies. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn had sought a reduction of Mr. Massino’s sentence, citing his extensive cooperation: while incarcerated, Mr. Massino had recorded conversations with a Mafia captain, and he has provided investigators with information about hundreds of people associated with not only the Bonanno family, which Mr. Massino took control of in 1991, but also the other crime families across New York. At a brief hearing in Federal District Court in Brooklyn on Wednesday, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis credited the government’s arguments and decided to undo the sentence of two life terms that he had originally meted out to Mr. Massino. When that sentence was handed down, in 2005, clapping could be heard in his courtroom. But on Wednesday, the judge said that in deciding to free Mr. Massino after more than 10 years of incarceration, he had considered the aging mobster’s “extraordinary cooperation with the government and his willingness to place himself at grave personal risk.” Once released, Mr. Massino will probably receive a new identity and live elsewhere in the United States, his lawyer, Edward A. McDonald, said after the hearing. Mr. McDonald said that Mr. Massino could support himself on rental income from his property and that he was also eligible for Social Security income. Judge Garaufis said that Mr. Massino, a rotund man of 70 whose health is failing, “may be the most important cooperator in the modern history of law enforcement efforts to prosecute the American Mafia.” He said that Mr. Massino’s assistance was essential in the investigations of the four leaders of the Bonanno family who followed him. The judge also noted that Mr. Massino’s willingness to turn informer “has almost certainly caused numerous other members of organized crime to cooperate with the government.” Mr. Massino’s own crimes received only passing mention on Wednesday. He has been convicted of eight murders, including those of several rivals in the Bonanno family. Mr. Massino, who wore a two-toned sweatsuit, said little during the hearing, leaving most of the speaking to his lawyer. But Mr. Massino did offer a brief statement of remorse, which he delivered standing in a single breath, and then quickly sat down. “I pray every night for forgiveness of everyone I hurt, especially the victims’ families,” he said. A prosecutor, Taryn A. Merkl, said that

– Ratting out the mafia has paid off for notorious former mob boss Joseph Massino. Facing life in prison for his role in eight murders, he'll soon be walking away a free man as a reward for helping convict dozens of mobsters, including Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, a Brooklyn judge ruled yesterday. Massino, head of the Bonanno crime family from 1991 to 2003, will be relocated, this time armed with a new identity as part of the witness protection program, the New York Post reports. "Quite simply, Mr. Massino may be the most important cooperator in the modern history of law enforcement to prosecute the American Mafia," the judge said. Massino's lawyer argued his client, 70, is now a "very sick and tired old man" who regrets his mafia role. Massino, dressed in a track suit and velcro sneakers, had spent 12 years behind bars and forked over millions in loot to authorities. "I pray every night for all the people I hurt," he told the court. "Especially the victims' families." He'll be released after 60 days, reports the New York Times.

Joseph C. Massino, the former boss of the Bonanno crime family, will be released in 60 days. A federal judge commuted his sentence of two consecutive life terms in prison. The judge said that in deciding to free him, he had considered the aging mobster’s “extraordinary cooperation with the government and his willingness to place himself at grave personal risk.’’ He has been convicted of eight murders, including those of several rivals in theBonanno family.

We’d been hearing good things over the weekend about Wellesley High School English teacher David McCullough, Jr.’s faculty speech to the Class of 2012 last Friday. Here it is, in its entirety, courtesy of Mr. McCullough: Dr. Wong, Dr. Keough, Mrs. Novogroski, Ms. Curran, members of the board of education, family and friends of the graduates, ladies and gentlemen of the Wellesley High School class of 2012, for the privilege of speaking to you this afternoon, I am honored and grateful. Thank you. So here we are… commencement… life’s great forward-looking ceremony. (And don’t say, “What about weddings?” Weddings are one-sided and insufficiently effective. Weddings are bride-centric pageantry. Other than conceding to a list of unreasonable demands, the groom just stands there. No stately, hey-everybody-look-at-me procession. No being given away. No identity-changing pronouncement. And can you imagine a television show dedicated to watching guys try on tuxedos? Their fathers sitting there misty-eyed with joy and disbelief, their brothers lurking in the corner muttering with envy. Left to men, weddings would be, after limits-testing procrastination, spontaneous, almost inadvertent… during halftime… on the way to the refrigerator. And then there’s the frequency of failure: statistics tell us half of you will get divorced. A winning percentage like that’ll get you last place in the American League East. The Baltimore Orioles do better than weddings.) But this ceremony… commencement… a commencement works every time. From this day forward… truly… in sickness and in health, through financial fiascos, through midlife crises and passably attractive sales reps at trade shows in Cincinnati, through diminishing tolerance for annoyingness, through every difference, irreconcilable and otherwise, you will stay forever graduated from high school, you and your diploma as one, ‘til death do you part. No, commencement is life’s great ceremonial beginning, with its own attendant and highly appropriate symbolism. Fitting, for example, for this auspicious rite of passage, is where we find ourselves this afternoon, the venue. Normally, I avoid clichés like the plague, wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole, but here we are on a literal level playing field. That matters. That says something. And your ceremonial costume… shapeless, uniform, one-size-fits-all. Whether male or female, tall or short, scholar or slacker, spray-tanned prom queen or intergalactic X-Box assassin, each of you is dressed, you’ll notice, exactly the same. And your diploma… but for your name, exactly the same. All of this is as it should be, because none of you is special. You are not special. You are not exceptional. Contrary to what your u9 soccer trophy suggests, your glowing seventh grade report card, despite every assurance of a certain corpulent purple dinosaur, that nice Mister Rogers and your batty Aunt Sylvia, no matter how often your maternal caped crusader has swooped in to save you… you’re nothing special. Yes, you’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped. Yes, capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you, wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged you, consoled you and

– An English teacher in Massachusetts gave the commencement speech to a local high school and delivered a rarely heard message in such settings: "You are not special," David McCullough Jr. told students in Wellesely. "You are not exceptional." The students applauded, as do the editors at the Los Angeles Times today, in honor of McCullough's "bald honesty and overdue dose of reality." The self-esteem movement that swept schools nationwide about 20 years ago—think inflated grades and seventh-place ribbons—has done an awful job preparing kids for the real world, say the editors. Luckily for the students in Wellesley, they had McCullough to tell them that "what will make them exceptional—or not—are their actions, not their beliefs about themselves." So when they run into that first hurdle in college, maybe they'll find a way around it themselves instead of whining to mom. "If so, they'll have learned something worthwhile on commencement day." Read a transcript of the speech here.

Wellesley High School English teacher David McCullough, Jr. delivered a faculty speech to the Class of 2012 last Friday. McCullough: "From this day forward… truly… in sickness and in health, through financial fiascos, through midlife crises and passably attractive sales reps at trade shows in Cincinnati, through every difference, irreconcilable and otherwise, you will stay forever graduated from high school" "You are not special. You are not exceptional," McCullough said. "You’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped," he said.

Sugar-sweetened soda consumption might promote disease independently from its role in obesity, according to UC San Francisco researchers who found in a new study that drinking sugary drinks was associated with cell aging. The study revealed that telomeres – the protective units of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes in cells – were shorter in the white blood cells of survey participants who reported drinking more soda. The findings were reported online Oct. 16 in the American Journal of Public Health. The length of telomeres within white blood cells – where it can most easily be measured – has previously been associated with human lifespan. Short telomeres also have been associated with the development of chronic diseases of aging, including heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer. “Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas might influence disease development, not only by straining the body’s metabolic control of sugars, but also through accelerated cellular aging of tissues,” said Elissa Epel, PhD, professor of psychiatry at UCSF and senior author of the study. “This is the first demonstration that soda is associated with telomere shortness,” Epel said. “This finding held regardless of age, race, income and education level. Telomere shortening starts long before disease onset. Further, although we only studied adults here, it is possible that soda consumption is associated with telomere shortening in children, as well.” The authors cautioned that they only compared telomere length and sugar-sweetened soda consumption for each participant at a single time point, and that an association does not demonstrate causation. Epel is co-leading a new study in which participants will be tracked for weeks in real time to look for effects of sugar-sweetened soda consumption on aspects of cellular aging. Telomere shortening has previously been associated with oxidative damage to tissue, to inflammation, and to insulin resistance. Based on the way telomere length shortens on average with chronological age, the UCSF researchers calculated that daily consumption of a 20-ounce soda was equivalent to an average of 4.6 years of telomere shortening. This effect on telomere length is comparable to the effect of smoking, or to the effect of regular exercise in the opposite, anti-aging direction, according to UCSF postdoctoral fellow Cindy Leung, ScD, from the UCSF Center for Health and Community and the lead author of the newly published study. Elissa Epel, PhD Cindy Leung, ScD The average sugar-sweetened soda consumption for all survey participants was 12 ounces. About 21 percent in this nationally representative sample reported drinking at least 20 ounces of sugar-sweetened soda a day. “It is critical to understand both dietary factors that may shorten telomeres, as well as dietary factors that may lengthen telomeres,” Leung said. “Here it appeared that the only beverage consumption that had a measurable negative association with telomere length was consumption of sugared soda.” The finding adds a new consideration to the list of links that has tied sugary beverages to obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, and that has driven legislators and activists in several U.S. jurisdictions to champion ballot initiatives that would tax sugar-sweetened beverage

– Drink a 20-ounce soda daily, and you may be causing your cells to age as much as they would if you smoked, a study suggests. Researchers investigated DNA from 5,309 adults, focusing on telomeres, the caps on the ends of our cells' chromosomes, Time reports. They found that drinking sugary soda was associated with shorter telomeres—and it's known that telomere length may be linked to life span, according to a University of California-San Francisco report. Shorter telomeres also appear to be linked to heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. In the study, a daily 20-ounce soda was associated with an extra 4.6 years of aging—the same figure seen in smokers. About 21% of subjects said they drank that much soda daily, while the average intake was 12 ounces. Researchers also looked at the effects of diet soda and fruit juice on telomeres; while "100% fruit juice was marginally associated with longer telomeres," they write in the American Journal of Public Health, diet sodas and non-carbonated "sugar-sweetened beverages" weren't associated with telomere length. Still, the study points to the dangers of soda beyond its role in obesity. "The extremely high dose of sugar that we can put into our body within seconds by drinking sugared beverages is uniquely toxic to metabolism," says a study author. (If you can't give up soda, here's why you should consider taking 12,000 steps a day.)

Sugar-sweetened soda consumption might promote disease independently from its role in obesity. UC San Francisco researchers found in a new study that drinking sugary drinks was associated with cell aging. Telomeres – the protective units of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes in cells – were shorter in the white blood cells of survey participants who reported drinking more soda. Short telomeres also have been associated with the development of chronic diseases of aging, including heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer. The findings were reported online Oct. 16 in the American Journal of Public Health.

Story highlights Video shows an armored personnel carrier hit by Molotov cocktails, bursting into flames An opposition leader says there was "no discussion" in his meeting with the president A crisis that has been brewing for three months erupts in worst violence to date The 21 killed in Kiev include 9 police officers, 11 protesters and 1 political party official Downtown Kiev was aglow in fire early Wednesday, as demonstrators undeterred by a bloody day on the streets staked their claim to the heart of the Ukrainian capital and, they hope, the heart of the country itself. Such flames have been a constant for three months, acting as fiery barricades all around Kiev's Maidan, or Independence Square, for protesters. Yet the flames grew more ominous on Tuesday as at least 21 people died in fresh clashes between government forces and activists. What began with protests over President Viktor Yanukovych's backpedaling from a trade pact with the European Union -- a move that the opposition maligned, accusing Yanukovych of trying to cozy up to Russia rather than the West -- has spawned into something much larger. In addition to new elections, the opposition is calling for constitutional reforms to transfer more power from the presidency to the parliament. Yanukovych and his allies have responded with some concessions, even offering places in government to opposition leaders. But on-again, off-again talks have gone nowhere, with the opposition refusing to budge politically and from its positions in the center of Kiev. JUST WATCHED Fires continue amid Ukrainian protests Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Fires continue amid Ukrainian protests 01:57 JUST WATCHED CNN reporter caught in police offensive Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH CNN reporter caught in police offensive 03:01 None of that changed after a face-to-face meeting overnight between Yanukovych and opposition leader Vitali Klitschko. JUST WATCHED Report: 9 killed in Ukraine protests Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Report: 9 killed in Ukraine protests 06:23 JUST WATCHED What Putin thinks of Ukraine protests Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH What Putin thinks of Ukraine protests 01:04 JUST WATCHED Protest leader says he was 'crucified' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Protest leader says he was 'crucified' 03:10 Speaking to reporters afterward, Klitschko said there effectively was "no discussion." According to his Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms party, the president demanded protesters "stop the standoff" and put down their weapons -- an accusation that Klitschko claimed is unfounded. "I think the authorities should immediately pull back the police and stop the blood, because people are dying," Klitschko said. "I told Yanukovich this. How can we negotiate when there is blood being spilled? Unfortunately, he does not understand it." Deadliest day of political unrest Tuesday's violence followed what seemed like a rare breakthrough. Protesters pulled back Sunday from Kiev's City Hall and unlocked streets in the city center after the government said it'd drop charges against those arrested in the political unrest. Then everything fell apart Tuesday. The speaker of parliament's refusal to allow amendments that would limit the president's powers and restore the constitution

– "Mayhem" in Ukraine, declares the New York Times, amid reports that anti-government protests have boiled over in Kiev's bloodiest day since President Viktor Yanukovich turned down an EU deal in November. Nineteen were killed in street clashes, including six policemen, reports the BBC, and details are a bit chaotic. Reuters reports the two felled officers were killed by gunfire. However, it's unclear whether police are using live ammunition or rubber bullets; protesters were spotted with guns, but not witnessed using them. Riot police then attempted to blaze a path through the stone barriers cordoning off Independence Square using two armored personnel carriers, as protesters lobbed rocks, fireworks, and petrol bombs; those vehicles got stuck and erupted in flames with police still inside. Unrest is also spreading to Western Ukraine, where protesters have attacked police and government offices in several regions, CNN reports. Yanukovich is meeting with the opposition in Kiev as Ukraine's former foreign minister urges the US and EU to support the opposition, and leaders in the Ukrainian republic of Crimea are telling the president to crack down with "emergency measures," the BBC reports. The Times reports that, against that chaotic backdrop, protesters were heard singing the national anthem in the square. The AP reports that a significant portion of their protest camp is now on fire, and says police are moving in using water cannons and stun grenades. The government has brought the subway to a halt to prevent reinforcements from bolstering the number of protesters, who, apparently disheartened by their lack of progress, earlier today left the barricaded area surrounding Independence Square and marched toward the Parliament building to demand that Yanukovich give up his "dictatorial" powers. But Reuters reports they were cut off from the building by a line of trucks, and clashes began. See more photos at the BBC.

At least 21 people are killed in clashes in Kiev, including 9 police officers, 11 protesters and 1 political party official. Kiev is aglow in fire early Wednesday, as demonstrators staked their claim to the heart of the Ukrainian capital. What began with protests over President Viktor Yanukovych's backpedaling from a trade pact with the European Union has spawned into something much larger. Yanukovych and his allies have responded with some concessions, even offering places in government to opposition leaders. But on-again, off-again talks have gone nowhere, with the opposition refusing to budge politically.

Turns out, the government doesn’t take too kindly to the theft of one of its scientific buoys. According to a lawsuit filed last week by federal prosecutors in California, two commercial fishermen are essentially hostage-takers, as they recovered a loose United States Geological Survey buoy in January 2016 and are now demanding money for its return. By contrast, the fishermen’s lawyer said on Monday that his clients (one of which is his son) recovered the offshore buoy, which had come loose from its moorings due to a storm. Therefore, because they took possession of the buoy, they became in fact, its rightful owners. The fishermen are not asking for a ransom—now $13,000—but merely a sticker price. "If you lose something in the ocean, it doesn't stay yours forever, it becomes salvaged," David Sherer, the attorney, told Ars. "It’s not government property anymore, it’s the finder's property." But by his own admission, Sherer also said that he had "very little" experience in maritime law. On March 25, the government filed its lawsuit (US v. Sherer et al) against the two men and their firm, A&S Fisheries, demanding that the court mandate the return of the buoy along with at least $115,000 in damages. On Monday, Sherer told Ars that the government had been made aware that the price has now fallen to $13,000. Weird science By the government’s telling, Scientific Mooring MS1 was placed at a depth of 300 meters below the surface of the ocean in Monterey Bay outside of Moss Landing, California (about 100 miles south of San Francisco). When it was deployed in October 2015, the buoy’s objective was to gather data about conditions in an ocean canyon during the current El Niño event. Data would be obtained through April 2016. Once complete, the buoy was designed to release itself from the seafloor anchor and send a signal to its scientific handlers so that they could manually download its data. The buoy was part of the Coordinated Canyon Experiment and was designed to send data to numerous scientific teams from universities worldwide. However, on January 15, 2016, MS1 apparently detached itself from its anchor and floated to the surface. By January 17, its homing beacon indicated to the United States Coast Guard that it had been taken to shore at Moss Landing Harbor. Two days after that, Daniel Sherer, one of the fishermen, informed the USGS that he had taken possession of the buoy and that he would not return it unless the government paid him. That same day, January 19, a government representative met Sherer in person, and again he refused to give up custody without payment. Soon after, Sherer and his colleague Patrick Anderson lawyered up—and told the government that they were represented by Sherer’s father, David. By February 19, Karen Glasgow, a lawyer with the Department of the Interior, sent the men a letter. As she wrote: You have conflated two separate issues. The first is the right to possession of property that belongs to the United States government. Your client has no claim or right to

– Two California eel fishermen who stumbled across a US Geological Survey buoy in January are holding the piece of scientific equipment for ransom, citing the tried-and-true rule of finders-keepers, the Daily Beast reports. According to Ars Technica, the buoy was moored nearly 1,000 feet underwater off the coast of Northern California before a storm knocked it loose, which is when Daniel Sherer and Patrick Anderson of A&S Fisheries found it. "If you lose something in the ocean, it doesn't stay yours forever, it becomes salvaged," argues attorney David Sherer, who may be—in his own words—an "old trial dog" with "very little" experience in maritime law, but who is Daniel Sherer's father. “It’s his rollerskate, and he can sell it to whoever or keep it all he wants,” the 79-year-old attorney tells the Daily Beast. The fishermen were originally seeking $45,000 for the buoy, which they value at $400,000, but have lowered their asking price to $13,000. Regardless, the government isn't playing ball. In fact, federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit last Friday not only demanding the return of the buoy but also $115,000 in damages. The government is accusing the fishermen of holding the buoy "hostage" and ruining a federal research project meant to collect data on ocean conditions during El Niño, reports Courthouse News Service. It claims the fishermen's handling of the buoy may have wrecked the buoy's data. Meanwhile, an actual maritime lawyer tells Ars Technica that maritime law doesn't operate on the principle of finders-keepers. The lawsuit is scheduled to be heard in June. (Canada is trying to use maritime law to claim the Titanic.)

Two commercial fishermen are accused of stealing a US Geological Survey buoy. The government says the fishermen are essentially hostage-takers. But the fishermen's lawyer says his clients recovered the buoy and are its rightful owners. The fishermen are not asking for a ransom—now $13,000—but merely a sticker price for the buoy's return, he says. The buoy was deployed in October 2015 to gather data about conditions in an ocean canyon during the current El Niño event, and was designed to send data to universities worldwide.

Even as the Extension School Cultural Studies Club dropped its sponsorship of the event, members of the Satanic Temple held what appeared to be a black mass ceremony at the Hong Kong restaurant and lounge Monday night. UPDATED: May 14, 2014, at 2:37 a.m. Although the Harvard Extension School Cultural Studies Club dropped its sponsorship of a reenactment of a satanic “black mass” ritual earlier in the night, members of the New York-based Satanic Temple gathered for what appeared to be a black mass on the second floor of the Hong Kong restaurant and lounge shortly after 10 p.m. Monday. About 50 people, mostly dressed in black and some wearing face makeup, were present for the ceremony. A consecrated host, believed by Catholics to be the body of Christ, was not used in the ritual. Four individuals in hoods and one man in a white suit, a cape, and a horned mask were active in the proceedings, as well as a woman revealed to be wearing only lingerie. The ceremony began with a narration on the history underlying Satanism and the black mass ritual. The restaurant’s owner, Paul Lee, said in a phone interview around 11 p.m. that he was unaware of the incident. The Hong Kong is located on Massachusetts Avenue, directly across the street from Harvard Yard. The ritual came after the cancellation of a black mass reenactment organized by the Harvard Extension School Cultural Studies Club, which had the event scheduled for Monday evening in Cambridge Queen’s Head Pub in Memorial Hall. Shortly before the planned starting time, the club said that it was moving to an off-campus site, citing in an email that “misinterpretations about the nature of the event were harming perceptions about Harvard and adversely impacting the student community.” The club wrote in its email around 5 p.m. that they planned for the event to be held at The Middle East nightclub in Central Square at 9 p.m. But Clay S. Fernald, the general manager of The Middle East, said Monday evening that the nightclub would not host the event, and that negotiations with the Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club had fallen through. Fernald declined to comment on why negotiations had ended. Around 7 p.m., the Cultural Studies Club sent an email saying that they had been unable to find another location and would no longer sponsor the black mass, and individuals who intended to attend decided to migrate to the Hong Kong, at which the ceremony was revived. Satanic Temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves said in an interview with The Crimson earlier in the afternoon that although the Cultural Studies Club cancelled the event, he still hoped to host a black mass in the future. After learning of the event that occurred at Hong Kong, Terrence Donilon, secretary of communications for the Archdiocese of Boston, said in an interview around 11:00 p.m. that the Diocese's position is the same. He said the event is disgraceful and despicable. The Archdiocese followed through with its plans to host a Eucharistic procession to St. Paul Church, where a “holy

– A student group at Harvard had a devil of a time holding a planned Satanic "black mass" yesterday. The Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club, in tandem with the NY-based Satanic Temple, had originally scheduled the event—a parody of the Catholic Mass—to take place at 8pm on campus. (The Harvard Crimson noted they were going to omit the use of a consecrated host.) But uproar ensued, and while the group made clear that Harvard didn't give it the boot, it noted that "misinterpretations about the nature of the event" led it to shift the event off-campus, the Crimson later reported. Except the group then withdrew its sponsorship after it failed to secure an agreement with a Harvard Square bar to host the event. But about 50 would-be celebrants, including what the Crimson describes as “four individuals in hoods and one man in a white suit, a cape, and a horned mask" assembled at nearby Chinese restaurant the Hong Kong around 10pm for what seemed to be a black mass. Harvard President Drew Faust earlier issued a statement saying that the university would not prohibit the black mass but "will vigorously protect the right of others to ... address offensive expression with expression of their own." She wrote that she would attend a holy hour at St. Paul's Church to reaffirm her "respect for the Catholic faith," and was joined there by 1,500 others, who marched to the church in a Eucharistic procession that began at MIT, the Boston Globe reports. Almost 60,000 students, faculty, and alumni signed a petition opposing the black mass.

Members of the New York-based Satanic Temple gathered for what appeared to be a black mass on the second floor of the Hong Kong restaurant and lounge shortly after 10 p.m. Monday. About 50 people, mostly dressed in black and some wearing face makeup, were present for the ceremony. A consecrated host, believed by Catholics to be the body of Christ, was not used in the ritual. The ceremony began with a narration on the history underlying Satanism and the black mass ritual. After learning of the event that occurred at Hong Kong, Terrence Donilon, secretary of communications for the Archdiocese of Boston, said in an interview that the Diocese's position is the same. He said the event is disgraceful and

Obama: Pay gap ‘morally wrong’ By Peter Schroeder - President Obama is changing gears on the economy, highlighting income inequality as a growing problem in advance of pitched fall battles with congressional Republicans over funding the government and raising the debt ceiling. [WATCH VIDEO] The focus is intended to make it easier for Obama to argue that new taxes on the rich — and not cuts to social spending — should be imposed to lower the deficit. It also dovetails with Obama’s call for Congress to raise the federal $7.25 minimum wage and to end the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration. “This growing inequality is not just morally wrong, it’s bad economics,” Obama said in remarks last week in Galesburg, Ill., where he began a new push on the economy. “The income of the top 1 percent nearly quadrupled from 1979-2007, but the typical family’s incomes barely budged,” he said. The president reiterated that message in an interview with The New York Times last week. “If we stand pat, if we don’t do anything … income inequality will continue to rise,” he told the newspaper. “Wages, incomes, savings rates for middle-class families will continue to be relatively flat. And that’s not a future that we should accept.” Obama is also discussing the matter in private. During a meeting earlier this month with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said he pressed Obama to issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to provide higher wages. “He said it’s something that he would take a close look at,” said Ellison, the co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “He should seriously look at doing that because he might be able to help a whole bunch of workers.” Opponents of raising the minimum wage, including many Republicans and business groups, argue an increase would hurt small businesses already injured by the recession and slow recovery. And if those small businesses cannot afford to pay the mandated boost, they will end up laying off workers, opponents contend. There is evidence that income inequality has grown since the economic recession of 2008-2009. Economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty found that between 2009 and 2011, 121 percent of income gains went to the richest 1 percent of the population, according to a report in CBS News. The other 99 percent, the two said, saw their incomes fall by about half a percent over the same period. When adjusted for inflation, low-wage workers are actually making less now than they did 50 years ago. According to a June study from the Congressional Research Service, inflation-adjusted wages have declined from a peak in 1968 and now stand roughly 26 percent below that level when adjusted for price growth. Workers would have to make $10.70 now to make an amount equal to the purchasing power of 1968’s $5.65 minimum wage. Labor statistics indicate that a relatively small portion of the working population brings home the minimum wage. According to the Labor Department, just 4.7 percent of the 75.3 million workers in the U.S. in 2012 received the

– President Obama has a new "grand bargain" for Republicans, though it's a little less grand this time around. In a speech today, Obama will offer to overhaul the corporate tax code, reducing the rate and reaping a onetime windfall in the process, the Wall Street Journal reports. In exchange, the the White House wants the GOP to agree to use that windfall to pay for new jobs programs. Until now, Obama has insisted that corporate rate cuts come packaged with reform on individual taxes. It's unclear where this windfall would come from, but many Republicans believe it should be spent covering the costs of cutting rates—an idea the administration is rejecting. Obama has previously suggested slashing corporate rates from 35% to 28%, while ending certain tax advantages and imposing a minimum tax on foreign earnings to keep things deficit-neutral. Obama will make his pitch at an Amazon warehouse in Chattanooga, Tenn., according to CNN, as part of his recent effort to refocus on the economy. That push has also included calls to reduce income inequality, which he has called "morally wrong," the Hill reports.

The focus is intended to make it easier for Obama to argue that new taxes on the rich — and not cuts to social spending — should be imposed to lower the deficit. It also dovetails with Obama’s call for Congress to raise the federal $7.25 minimum wage and to end the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration. Opponents of raising the minimum wage, including many Republicans and business groups, argue an increase would hurt small businesses already injured by the recession. When adjusted for inflation, low-wage workers are actually making less now than they did 50 years ago.

Jenny McCarthy Dating Donnie Wahlberg In a coupling you only thought possible in a nostalgic 1990s-era dream, Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg are dating, PEOPLE has learned – even if they are taking things Step by Step.Steamy sparks flew between them in late March when New Kids on the Block and Blue Bloods star Wahlberg, 43, made an innuendo-filled appearance on her self-titled VH1 talk show.The duo provocatively sucked on red lollipops while McCarthy, 40, asked "Do you talk dirty while you're having sex?""I do," he replied."You do – but some guys do it wrong," she replied."Yeah, I don't do it wrong," he said seductively, as McCarthy looked as though she needed some air.McCarthy referenced the red-hot appearance in a blog she posted in advance of the episode on Chicago Splash."Let’s just say we visually give 50 Shades of Grey a run for its money," she writes. "It gets steamy. I mean like really steamy. Being turned on by a guy is always fun but to have it legitimately happen to you on TV is to be turned back into a 12-year-old. By the time we get into the groundbreaking interview, my face turns fifty shades of RED."In April – several weeks after Wahlberg's appearance, McCarthy told PEOPLE , "I'm hoping to meet some [eligible bachelors] on my talk show, after fellow talk show host Chelsea Handler suggested she book guests she would like to date.At the time, McCarthy said she was still single, but looking."I miss the romance," she said. "I miss the cuddling.How long the relationship will last is anyone's guess, especially because Wahlberg's schedule is about to get extra jam-packed.On Friday night, he Tweeted "Heard #BlueBloods is on right now! Reminds me, I start shooting again in a week! While still touring! Thats when 3 hours of sleep becomes 1."Wahlberg has two sons from his nine-year marriage to Kim Fey, which ended in divorce in 2008.McCarthy has one son, Evan, from a previous relationship. She also famously dated Jim Carrey for five years, but that ended in 2010 ||||| 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. ||||| The new couple on the block is none other than comedienne Jenny McCarthy and New Kids on the Block singer Donnie Wahlberg, a source tells Us Weekly. The pair, who have frequently tweeted at one another via social media, are officially an item, the source confirms. "Yes, they recently started dating and are having a lot of fun," another pal tells Us. "They had a blast 4th of July hanging out with a bunch of their friends." A rep for Wahlberg had no comment. PHOTOS: Stars' big breaks The couple spent the Fourth of July together and were spotted with pal (and fellow NKOTB member) Jonathan Knight and his boyfriend Harley. Wahlberg, 43, appeared as a guest on McCarthy's talk show, The Jenny McCarthy Show, earlier this year in March, and the pair got cheeky discussing a wide

– We are not making this up and you are not stuck in a '90s time warp, but according to the crack gossips at People and US Weekly, Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy are, like, totally an item. Apparently, sparks flew when the Blue Bloods star and New Kid on the Block appeared on McCarthy's VH1 show in March; that racy clip, which involved lollypops and dirty talk, is here. Now a source tells US that "they recently started dating and are having a lot of fun. They had a blast 4th of July hanging out with a bunch of their friends." Those friends included, in another flashback to that special decade gone by, Jonathan McKnight.

McCarthy referenced the red-hot appearance in a blog she posted in advance of the episode on Chicago Splash."Let’s just say we visually give 50 Shades of Grey a run for its money," she writes. The couple spent the Fourth of July together and were spotted with pal (and fellow NKOTB member) Jonathan Knight and his boyfriend Harley. Wahlberg has two sons from his nine-year marriage to Kim Fey, which ended in divorce in 2008. McCarthy has one son, Evan, from a previous relationship.

The presumptive GOP nominee, Donald Trump, joined Kilmeade & Friends for a wide-ranging interview. Kilmeade and Trump discussed Trump's belief the democrat primary is rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton, his thoughts on Joe Biden saying he would have been the best president and Ben Rhodes admitting the Iran deal was a fraud. Trump also took a shot London's newly elected Muslim mayor and weighed in about his sit down with Megyn Kelly for her upcoming Fox network special. Plus, Trump revealed a big secret about our very own Brian Kilmeade, who he called "Mr. Switzerland"! Listen here: Donald Trump 's thoughts on the Democrat delegate process (Kilmeade) Hillary has lost 10 of the last 15 Democrat primaries and caucuses. Do you have to personally game plan for a Bernie Sanders matchup? (TRUMP) It's a rigged system so it's not going to happen. The system is totally rigged. My system was rigged also but I won by so much and I won a lot more than Bernie. I gave the analogy Brian of a prizefighter, you go into the unfriendly territory and knock the other guy out, there is noting the judges can do. The system is rigged. In the case of the Democrats they have the super delegates and I guess they were just handed them by the bosses it's crazy. She has so many super-delegates it's almost impossible for her to lose. So despite all the winning you see she is going to win. Trump on Joe Biden saying he would have been the best president (Kilmeade) Would he have been tougher than Hilary Clinton? (TRUMP) I don't know. I consider everybody tough. I really don't know. I can say this, I met his son twice and he was a really nice guy and I know that Joe Biden took that really tough, I don't know. I do think this, it will be really hard to take it away from Sanders, I think politically it would be very hard to say that he ran, he did very well, he came in probably first to Hillary and she doesn't make it for other reasons, outside reasons and now you are going to give it to somebody else. I just don't know what the apparatus would be to do that. I think they would like to do that, they don't like having Bernie Sanders in there. I am not sure they could do much about that in the case of Sanders. Trump on Ben Rhodes admitting the Iran deal was built on lies. (TRUMP) It's a fraud, the whole deal was a fraud. Just like Obamacare is a fraud. He made the statement 100 times. 28 times to be exact, that you can have your own plan, you can have your own doctor, the whole thing, he just kept going over and over, that was a total fraud too. Its almost impossible to believe you cant bring lawsuits over this kind of stuff. (Kilmeade) There doesn't seem to be hell to pay anymore. (TRUMP) No there is not hell to pay. They

– US Rep. Don Beyer was joined by Christians, Jews, Muslims, and atheists on Wednesday when he announced a new bill to block one of Donald Trump's more extreme policies. The Virginia Democrat's "Freedom of Religion Act" outlaws banning immigrants based on their religion, which would thwart Trump's proposed "complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the US, the Washington Post reports. The bill consists of a single sentence: "An alien may not be denied admission to the United States because of the alien's religion or lack of religious beliefs." The bill is not expected to get far in the GOP-controlled House, though Beyer's office says one Republican, New York's Richard Hanna, has agreed to co-sponsor the bill along with 54 Democrats. Trump himself appears to be cooling on the ban, the Guardian reports. On Fox's Kilmeade & Friends Wednesday, Trump said the proposal was only a suggestion. "It's a temporary ban, it hasn't been called for yet, nobody's done it, this is just a suggestion until we find out what’s going on," he said while discussing newly elected London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who rejected Trump's offer to make him an exception to the Muslim ban. In India, meanwhile, the AP reports that hard-line Hindu protesters in New Delhi fully in favor of the ban lit a ritual fire on Wednesday, added Trump photos to their collection of statues of Hindu gods, and prayed that he would become president. "Only Donald Trump can save humanity," said Vishnu Gupta, founder of the nationalist Hindu Sena group. (Trump still won't release his taxes.)

The presumptive GOP nominee, Donald Trump, joined Kilmeade & Friends for a wide-ranging interview. Trump's belief the democrat primary is rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton. Trump also took a shot London's newly elected Muslim mayor and weighed in about his sit down with Megyn Kelly for her upcoming Fox network special. Plus, Trump revealed a big secret about our very own Brian KilMEade, who he called "Mr. Switzerland"! Listen here: Donald Trump 's thoughts on the Democrat delegate process (Kilmeade)

On January 11, 2013 I set a yearly reminder in my iCalendar to mark when Aaron Schwartz took his own life in his Brooklyn apartment. Now, each year, I pause when my reminder flashes on my phone to think about this guy, who I never knew, but understood what he was going through. At the time of his death, Schwartz was facing a federal indictment in the District of Massachusetts for hacking into a database of free academic papers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). While nothing was "stolen," his computer antics may have caused delays for others seeking to access the research. The act itself caught the attention of US District Attorney Carmen Ortiz (then US Attorney) who after pressing the case approved a deal to offer Schwartz a 6-month prison term. Schwartz turned it down, choosing instead his own remedy for the pain that he felt. Ortiz would say of the incident, "I just wish we had the opportunity to save him." "Wishing" is not going to bring back Aaron Schwartz or others who make such tragic decisions. However, research into these cases is bringing awareness to the problem and led to a new phrase, "Red Collar Crime." One of my good friends, Professor Rich Brody, the Douglas Minge Brown Professor of Accounting at the University of New Mexico's Anderson School of Management, introduced me to his research and his interest in the subject. "I came across a paper by attorney Frank Perri and thought, 'Wow, this is different.'" Brody, a Certified Fraud Examiner who teaches fraud examination and forensic accounting, speaks on the topic of Red Collar Crime around the country. Brody pointed to a case in Tampa, FL where an executive from Anchor-Glass who under suspicion for involvement in securities fraud, killed his wife and two teenage children before setting his home ablaze then shooting himself. It was a tragedy that nobody saw coming. In cases like this, Brody said, "In murder-suicides like this one, there are risk factors that include personality traits such as the need to control situations and/or persons. Murder is the ultimate form of control over others, and being able to control one’s destiny, albeit resulting in death, appears preferable." Research like this is used to train law enforcement and is slowly making its way to lawyer Continuing Legal Education. In cases of attorneys, they are usually working with complete strangers as a white collar case begins. What is routine for the lawyer, another interesting criminal case, is a tragedy for the person sitting in front of them. Family pressures, alcohol and drug abuse, sense of failure and lack of understanding the process in front of them can be overwhelming. "Lawyers are not counselors, but there are things that they should be aware of when that client walks in the door. The propensity for violence or suicide is one of them. Just because someone is accused of a white collar crime does not mean that he or she is not capable of committing a violent act against someone else or themselves," Brody said. In

– The Atlantic plucks an unexpected data point out of the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics study on fatal workplace injuries: One of the top causes on the list (after things like falling and traffic accidents) is homicide, with some 500 reported in 2016. The Atlantic uses that as a jumping-off point to look at what may fuel a portion of those deaths. "Red-collar crime" is a term coined by Frank Perri in 2005, and it refers to white-collar criminals who resort to murder to try to keep their schemes—think fraud or forgery—going. The Atlantic gives some hypotheticals: "a boss who kills his assistant to keep a Ponzi scheme afloat, or a crooked accountant who poisons an especially thorough auditor." But there are also real-life examples, with Forbes in January pointing to a "red-collar crime" involving a Tampa, Fla., exec with Anchor-Glas. He was suspected of committing securities fraud; he murdered his wife and two teenagers before committing suicide. Those victims weren't co-workers, and the Atlantic notes the number of red-collar crimes isn't quantified, as OSHA and the FBI don't keep a count (though BLS stats show only about 14% of men and women murdered at work in 2016 were killed by coworkers or work associates, with other perpetrators including patients, students, robbers, and relatives). And even if those groups did keep track, certified fraud examiner Richard Brody—who said in 2014 that he and Perry "are probably the only two people in the world currently writing about red-collar crime"—thinks their count would be too low. "Whenever I read about high-profile executives who are found dead, I immediately think red-collar crime. Lots of people are getting away with murder."

Aaron Schwartz took his own life in his Brooklyn apartment on January 11, 2013. Schwartz was facing a federal indictment in the District of Massachusetts for hacking into a database of free academic papers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Schwartz turned down a 6-month prison term, choosing instead his own remedy for the pain that he felt. Research into these cases is bringing awareness to the problem and led to a new phrase, "Red Collar Crime" Research like this is used to train law enforcement and is slowly making its way to lawyer Continuing Legal Education.

NEWARK — Hours after Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer accused the Christie administration of withholding Hurricane Sandy relief funds until she approved a development project in the Hudson county city, officials from the agency that distributed the money flatly denied the allegations. "Mayor Zimmer's allegation that on May 16, 2013 - in front of a live auditorium audience - (Department of Community Affairs) Commissioner (Richard) Constable conditioned Hoboken's receipt of Sandy aid on her moving forward with a development project is categorically false," DCA spokeswoman Lisa Ryan in an interview. On MSNBC this morning, Zimmer told anchor Steve Kornacki the Christie administration pressured her to approve a development deal with the Rockefeller Group, saying the city would receive Sandy aid if she went ahead with the deal. Zimmer requested more than $100 million from Christie in Sandy relief aid, but received just $342,000. Zimmer recorded her interactions with Christie officials in a diary and recounted an event in which she appeared with Constable. “We are mic'd up with other panelists all around us, and probably the sound team is listening, and he says ‘I hear you’re against the Rockefeller project… If you move that forward, the money would start flowing to you.” Reached by phone late this morning, Constable declined to comment and referred questions to Ryan. Ryan said Zimmer's statements about Constable defy credibility. She pointed out that Constable is a former federal prosecutor who worked for five years in the anti-corruption unit. "This is a man who has spent a large portion of his professional life serving the public first in his capacity as a federal prosecutor and now is the head of a major state department," Ryan said. "What Mayor Zimmer is alleging is that the commission was talking with her about this at an event where there were literally hundreds of people," Ryan said. "There were dozens of people on the stage as guests were getting mic'd up. There were hundreds of people in the audience." Ryan also questioned why Zimmer would bring up the allegations now, after remaining silent for eight months. "She was saying she was very distraught about these conversations, yet she hasn't talked about them until eight months later to a media outlet," Ryan said. "She hasn't gone to law enforcement or (other) authorities. " Zimmer's allegations are a potential bombshell for Christie, whose administration is already hobbled by the George Washington Bridge scandal and the ongoing investigations into the lane closures there that stopped traffic for miles. Some have alleged the closings were political payback to the mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie's re-election bid. In an interview with The Star-Ledger Zimmer stood by her allegations. RELATED COVERAGE • Hoboken mayor claims Christie administration held city's Sandy recovery funds 'hostage' to help developer • N.J. lawmakers heading bridge scandal investigation plan to look into Hoboken recovery funds ||||| Two senior members of Gov. Chris Christie’s administration warned a New Jersey mayor earlier this year that her town would be starved of hurricane relief money unless she approved a lucrative redevelopment plan favored

– Another New Jersey mayor has launched allegations of corruption at Chris Christie's team. Hoboken mayor Dawn Zimmer told MSNBC today that two top Christie staffers said she couldn't have Sandy relief funds—unless she agreed to a particular redevelopment project. With Hoboken 80% underwater following the hurricane, Zimmer sought $127 million in relief cash. So far, the mayor—who hasn't OKed the redevelopment plan—has received a $142,000 contribution to the cost of one backup generator as well as $200,000 in other grants, MSNBC reports. The site notes that emails, diary entries, and public records back Zimmer's case. Zimmer says Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and community affairs commissioner Richard Constable were behind the threat. "It’s not fair for the governor to hold Sandy funds hostage for the City of Hoboken because he wants me to give back to one private developer," Zimmer said on UP w/ Steve Kornacki. Constable's department calls the allegation "categorically false," the Star-Ledger reports, while a Christie rep notes Zimmer's previous praise of the governor: "What or who is driving her only now to say such outlandishly false things is anyone’s guess.” Zimmer's reply: "I’d be more than willing to testify under oath and answer any questions and provide any documents, take a lie detector test."

Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer accused the Christie administration of withholding Hurricane Sandy relief funds until she approved a development project. Zimmer requested more than $100 million from Christie in Sandy relief aid, but received just $342,000. "Mayor Zimmer's allegation that on May 16, 2013 - in front of a live auditorium audience - (Department of Community Affairs) Commissioner (Richard) Constable conditioned Hoboken's receipt of Sandy aid is categorically false," spokeswoman Lisa Ryan said. Zimmer recorded her interactions with Christie officials in a diary.

DENVER (AP) — The Latest on sentencing of man who pleaded guilty to killing his pregnant wife and two young daughters (all times local): 10:50 a.m. A Colorado man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his pregnant wife and their two young daughters. Christopher Watts was sentenced Monday, nearly two weeks after pleading guilty to avoid the death penalty. Prosecutors have said Shanann Watts' family consented to the plea deal. He also pleaded guilty to unlawful termination of a pregnancy and tampering with a deceased human body. The 33-year-old is not eligible for parole. Police have said Watts killed his wife and daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste, inside their suburban Denver home. The children were found inside an oil tank. Watts was buried nearby. A friend reported them missing in mid-August. In local news interviews before his arrest, Watts pleaded for his family's safe return. ____ 11:45 p.m. A Colorado man who has pleaded guilty to murdering his pregnant wife and their two young daughters is set to be sentenced. Christopher Watts entered his plea early this month in Weld County. Watts faces life in prison without a chance at parole for the murder charges. The 33-year-old also pleaded guilty to unlawful termination of a pregnancy. Prosecutors say Shanann Watts' family consented to the plea deal allowing Christopher Watts to avoid the death penalty. Police say Watts killed his wife and their daughters, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste, inside their suburban Denver home. The children were found inside an oil tank and Watts was buried nearby. A friend reported the family missing in mid-August. In local news interviews before his arrest, Watts pleaded for his family's safe return. ||||| Below are the events as the unfolded Monday in and around Weld District Court in Greeley: 5:00 p.m. — All parties involved pushed Watts to give a full confession, but when the judge asked him whether he'd like to give a statement, he responded: "No, sir." Weld District Court Judge Marcelo Kopcow called it the “most inhumane” crime he has seen in his 17 years on the bench, saying Watts deserves “nothing less than the maximum sentence," but acknowledging the Rzucek family's wish to show mercy. To read The Tribune’s full coverage of the sentencing, click here. 4:30 p.m. — Notes from the news conference/sentencing: A neighbor's doorbell camera showed Watts backing his truck into his driveway overnight and going to and from the house three times, once for each body, before heading his then-employer's worksites, a place he thought no one would ever find, to dispose the bodies. The affair was the most reasonable motive for the murders investigators found, but Rourke said it still wasn't reason to "annihilate your family;" saying Watts "could've gotten a divorce." 3:45 p.m. — Rourke requested 91 days to file a request for restitution, later saying he wasn’t sure how much would be requested, but it would at least cover the burial costs for Shanann, Bella and Celeste. Rourke said he realizes Watts will have little earning power when he is in

– Christopher Watts was sentenced to life in prison Monday for the murders of his pregnant wife and their two daughters, the AP reports. Watts, who initially said it was a "nightmare" when his family was reported missing in mid-August and pleaded for their safe return, was quickly arrested. He initially said that after telling his wife, Shanann, that he wanted to separate, she killed their daughters Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, and he killed her in a rage. But investigators never believed him, and he ultimately pleaded guilty to all three murders. "You monster. You thought you would get away with this," Watts' father-in-law said at the sentencing hearing, per the Denver Post. "You carried them out of the house like trash. You buried my daughter Shannan and Nico [the couple's unborn baby boy] in a shallow grave and then you put Bella and CeCe in containers of crude oil." "This is perhaps the most inhumane and vicious crime I have handled out the thousands of cases I have seen," said the judge before delivering the sentence. Watts, 33, pleaded guilty to avoid a death sentence; he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for each of the murders plus 48 years for unlawful termination of a pregnancy and 12 years for tampering with the bodies, the Greeley Tribune reports. His parents also spoke at the hearing, telling him they forgave him but struggled to understand what he had done. "We still don’t have the answers," said a statement from Watts' father, read by his attorney. "I hope one day, Christopher, you can help us." Watts' own attorney described him as "devastated" and "sincerely sorry." (The woman Watts was dating when he murdered his family says he lied about everything.)

Christopher Watts was sentenced Monday, nearly two weeks after pleading guilty to avoid the death penalty. Prosecutors have said Shanann Watts' family consented to the plea deal. The 33-year-old is not eligible for parole. Police say Watts killed his wife and daughters, 4- year-old Bella and 3-year,old Celeste. The children were found inside an oil tank and Watts was buried nearby.. A neighbor's doorbell camera showed Watts backing his truck into his driveway overnight and going to and from the house three times, once for each body.

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 ||||| See more of Sydney Lockhart on Facebook ||||| See more of Sydney Lockhart on Facebook ||||| The son of former Atlanta Braves second baseman Keith Lockhart has been placed on life support after he was hit in the face by a baseball, according to media reports. Jason Lockhart, 15, was hit Saturday, June 17, during a baseball tournament in South Carolina as he touched home plate. The catcher was throwing the ball back to the pitcher when it hit Jason in the face, breaking his nose. Jason was originally given stitches. While at a doctor’s office for a followup two days later to remove the tubes and packing in his nose, his nose began to bleed uncontrollably. A CT scan showed the fracture was worse than realized with a tear inside his nose, the Associated Press reported. Doctors had been working on controlling the bleeding since. Keith Lockhart, who played with the Braves from 1997 to 2002 and is now a scout with the Chicago Cubs, has provided updates on social media and asked for prayers for his son. Thanks so much for all the outpouring prayers & support for Jay. It's been rough, a few surgeries but we're confident he's going to be ok. — Keith Lockhart (@klocky7) June 24, 2017 Jason had undergone surgery to repair the fracture in his nose, but the bleeding persisted. According to a Facebook post by Lockhart’s daughter, Sydney, who also has been updating her brother’s condition, Jason was placed on life support Friday. In part she wrote on Facebook: “Last night they were able to put Jason into a paralytic state through meds and machines. This has helped stop any movement that could encourage or cause a bleed to begin.” The bleeding, however, continued. On Sunday night, Keith Lockhart wrote on Twitter that doctors at Scottish Rite in Atlanta were closing in on a possible cause for the bleeding: Jason just came out of surgery Dr.'s located 3 areas of bleeding &stopped the flow of blood. We are all encouraged about today!#staystrongJ — Keith Lockhart (@klocky7) June 25, 2017 Late Sunday, Sydney Lockhart wrote on her Facebook page: The doctors decided to take Jason into surgery to do an endovascular embolization today. They went in to his arteries and blood vessels and found the two most practical areas that could be feeding the areas where Jason has been bleeding. They went into both arteries on each side of his nose and cut off the blood supply. They are hopeful that this is the source of the bleeding. The surgery was a couple of hours long and Jason is now resting still on the ventilator to keep his vitals monitored and keep him comfortable. They will watch him for 24 hours and then he will go into surgery tomorrow to have his nose repacked and

– It was a freak accident on the baseball field, and one that seemed relatively harmless at first. But 15-year-old Jason Lockhart—son of former Atlanta Braves player Keith Lockhart—ended up on life support and faces more surgery this week, reports Fox Atlanta. His family says that during a game on June 17, Jason was crossing home plate to score a run when the catcher accidentally hit him in the face while throwing the ball back to the pitcher. Jason suffered a broken nose and needed stitches, but the situation worsened unexpectedly the following Monday. During a follow-up visit to the doctor, Jason's nose began bleeding profusely, and doctors couldn't stop it. He was taken to the hospital (see an image here), where a CT scan revealed a fracture more severe than originally thought, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He had surgery to repair the fracture last Monday, but the following day doctors realized that the fracture had severed an artery. Unable to control the bleeding, they eventually put Jason in a "paralytic state." The teen had more surgery Sunday night and was to have another operation this week. His dad says doctors have found three sources of the bleeding and appear to have stopped the flow. More will be known Monday night or Tuesday; Jason's sister says the next surgery, originally scheduled for Monday, was being postponed to Tuesday. "Tired here but hopeful" is how his sister described the family's state Sunday night in a Facebook post.

Jason Lockhart, 15, was hit Saturday, June 17, during a baseball tournament in South Carolina as he touched home plate. The catcher was throwing the ball back to the pitcher when it hit Jason in the face, breaking his nose. Jason was originally given stitches. While at a doctor’s office for a followup two days later to remove the tubes and packing in his nose, his nose began to bleed uncontrollably. A CT scan showed the fracture was worse than realized with a tear inside his nose and doctors had been working on controlling the bleeding since.

By Radar Staff Robert Pattinson‘s friends tried to get his mind off girlfriend Kristen Stewart cheating on him by taking him to a cowboy dance and music club Friday night, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting. He was spotted at The Deer Lodge in Ojai, CA, 90 minutes from the home he used to share with Kristen. “I’ve been told by several people that Robert Pattinson was here enjoying the music with his friends. He seemed in good sprits,” a Deer Lodge employee, who asked that his name not be used, tells RadarOnline.com. “I wasn’t on that night so I didn’t personally see him, but several others did.” PHOTOS: Take A Look Inside Robert Pattinson And Kristen Stewart’s LA Love Nest As RadarOnline.com reported, Pattinson has been staying at his Water for Elephants costar Reese Witherspoon’s Ojai ranch. The Deer Lodge has been a popular local hangout for decades, offering live music, dancing and lots of beer and good times. “Awesome night in Ojai. Got to hang with a rowdy bunch of Brits & one of them happened to be Edward,” a fellow patron tweeted after bumping into the star – who plays Edward Cullen in the popular Twilight movies – at the lodge. PHOTOS: Child Star To Bigscreen Bombshell Style! Kristen Stewart’s Transformation “He wasn’t moping and the girls were definitely just his friend,” she continued. “The girls were drunk and literally danced on the floor. “The girls were nice. I stood next to them at the bar. He wasn’t drunk. Just taking in the scene. Smoked next to him outside.” The lively establishment was playing host to indie band The Lonely Wild who are a small group from L.A. In addition to being an A-list actor Pattinson is also a musician who plays the guitar, piano and composes his own music. He even sang on the Twilight soundtrack. PHOTOS: Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart At London Premiere Of Breaking Dawn Meanwhile Stewart is struggling to come to terms with her infidelity with director Rupert Sanders. RadarOnline.com reported the actress is ‘crying non-stop’ at the home of producer Giovanni Agnelli who she has been staying with since the split. Pattinson is extremely upset about the arrangement and has even accused Agnelli of having an affair with Kristen. RELATED STORIES: Kristen Stewart Was Cozying Up To Married Director’s Kids Before Affair Was Exposed Charlize Theron Furious With Co-Star Kristen Stewart Over Affair With Married Director New Photos Of Kristen Stewart & Married Director Debunk Claims Of ‘Momentary Indiscretion’ Kristen Stewart Writing Letter To Director’s Wife Apologizing For Affair! ||||| HollywoodLife.com has exclusively confirmed that Rob will be a guest on ‘The Daily Show’ on Aug. 13, the same day as his ‘Cosmopolis’ premiere — Read on for the details! Robert Pattinson is not going to shy away from TV interviews! HollywoodLife.com has just learned that Rob will appear on The Daily Show on Aug. 13, it will be his first of two scheduled TV interviews for the week. We told you he’s expected to appear on Good Morning America on Aug. 15. Do you

– Get your DVRs ready, because scorned Twilight lover Robert Pattinson is coming out of hiding in a big way next week. Pattinson, who has laid low since reports emerged that Kristen Stewart cheated on him with director Rupert Sanders, will promote his new movie, Cosmopolis, on the Daily Show on Monday, a rep for the show tells Hollywood Life. He'll also be at the film's Manhattan premiere that day, Us Weekly notes. Then he'll go live on Good Morning America on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times adds. The only possibly-true sighting of Pattinson thus far has been over the weekend, when he was reportedly seen at a California cowboy bar conveniently located near Reese Witherspoon's ranch. As for Sanders, he's telling friends he made "the worst mistake of my life," sources tell Radar, and he's doing everything he can to save his marriage to Liberty Ross—who is "refusing to see him right now" and was recently spotted sans wedding ring.

Robert Pattinson’s friends tried to get his mind off girlfriend Kristen Stewart cheating on him by taking him to a cowboy dance and music club Friday night. He was spotted at The Deer Lodge in Ojai, CA, 90 minutes from the home he used to share with Kristen. Pattinson is not going to shy away from TV interviews! HollywoodLife.com has exclusively confirmed that Rob will be a guest on ‘The Daily Show’ on Aug. 13, the same day as his ‘Cosmopolis’ premiere.

Turkey’s international airports have also been busy. Many, if not most, of the estimated 15,000-20,000 foreign fighters to have joined the Islamic State (Isis) have first flown into Istanbul or Adana, or arrived by ferry along its Mediterranean coast. The influx has offered fertile ground to allies of Assad who, well before a Turkish jet shot down a Russian fighter on Tuesday, had enabled, or even supported Isis. Vladimir Putin’s reference to Turkey as “accomplices of terrorists” is likely to resonate even among some of Ankara’s backers. From midway through 2012, when jihadis started to travel to Syria, their presence was apparent at all points of the journey to the border. At Istanbul airport, in the southern cities of Hatay and Gaziantep – both of which were staging points – and in the border villages. Foreigners on their way to fight remained fixtures on these routes until late in 2014 when, after continued pressure from the EU states and the US, coordinated efforts were made to turn them back. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: ''The actions were fully in line with Turkey's rules of engagement'' Russian President Vladimir Putin has bitterly condemned the downing of a Russian jet on the Turkey-Syria border. He described it as a "stab in the back" committed by "accomplices of terrorists". Turkey says its jets shot at the plane after warning that it was violating Turkish airspace. But Moscow says it never strayed from Syrian airspace. Nato held an extraordinary meeting at member Turkey's request to discuss the incident. Its Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, has said allied assessment of the incident shows that the Russia warplane did fly into Turkish airspace. One of the two crew members who ejected from the downed plane was killed by fire from the ground, the Russian military said. The fate of the other is unclear. A Russian soldier was killed when the helicopter he was on came under fire during a search and rescue mission, a spokesman added. Mr Putin warned there would be "serious consequences" for Moscow's relations with Turkey. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said he was cancelling his visit to Turkey, where he was due on Wednesday, over the incident. He also advised Russians not to visit Turkey and said the threat of terrorism there was no less than in Egypt, where a bomb attack brought down a Russian passenger plane last month. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption This video shows a plane falling to the ground on the Syrian border with Turkey Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption President Obama: ''It's very important right now for us to make sure that both the Russians and the Turks are talking to each other'' In the latest response: US President Barack Obama has said Turkey has a right to defend its territory and airspace, and that the incident pointed to ongoing problems with Russia's military operations in Syria. He said it was important to find out exactly what had happened and to take

– Vladimir Putin wasted no time in labeling Turkish military officials "accomplices of terrorists" in a statement condemning the downing of a Russian plane Tuesday. Russia's president says the country suffered a "stab in the back" when Turkish F-16s fired air-to-air missiles at the Su-24, which Putin says was 2.5 miles deep into Syrian territory, per the BBC and Daily Express. He adds there will be "serious consequences." Turkey, however, says the plane was in Turkish airspace and was given 10 warnings in five minutes. Two pilots parachuted from the aircraft, but there are unconfirmed reports that rebels killed both, per the Guardian. Rebels may have also brought down a rescue helicopter.

Many of the estimated 15,000-20,000 foreign fighters to have joined the Islamic State have first flown into Istanbul or Adana, or arrived by ferry along its Mediterranean coast. The influx has offered fertile ground to allies of Assad who, well before a Turkish jet shot down a Russian fighter on Tuesday, had enabled, or even supported Isis. From midway through 2012, when jihadis started to travel to Syria, their presence was apparent at all points of the journey to the border. At Istanbul airport, in the southern cities of Hatay and Gaziantep, and in the border villages.

The brother of imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for crimes committed in the shadow of his notorious sibling by a judge who said she disbelieved his claims that he did not know about the epic fraud. FILE - In this June 29, 2012 file photo, Peter Madoff, leaves Federal Court in New York after pleading guilty to criminal charges. Much of the suspense for the sentencing in New York of the brother of... (Associated Press) FILE - In this June 29, 2012 file photo, Peter Madoff leaves Federal Court in New York after pleading guilty to criminal charges. The suspense surrounding the sentencing of the brother of Ponzi king Bernard... (Associated Press) Peter Madoff, 67, agreed to serve the maximum sentence allowable to the charges of conspiracy and falsifying the books and records of an investment adviser that he pleaded guilty to in June. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain urged him to tell the truth even after he reports to prison on Feb. 6 about what he knows about the multi-decade fraud that cost thousands of investors their original $20 billion investment. The judge said Peter Madoff was "frankly not believable" when he claimed at his plea that he only learned about the fraud when his brother revealed it to him just before he surrendered to authorities. Peter Madoff spoke only briefly before he was sentenced, saying: "I am deeply ashamed of my conduct and have tried to atone by pleading guilty and have agreed to forfeit all of my present and future assets." He added: "I am profoundly sorry that my failures let many people down, including my loved ones." Two investors spoke during the proceeding, which ended in less than an hour. Investor Michael T. De Vita, 62, also demanded that the truth be forced out. "I believe it to be physically impossible for a single person to carry out such a gargantuan task all by himself," he said. De Vita said investors "have waited four years for others to accept responsibility for this massive crime. We are still waiting for that today." "All of this was preventable if only one person was willing to do the right thing and stop this in its tracks years ago. Peter Madoff could have been that person," he said. The sentencing comes four years and a week after Bernard Madoff first revealed the fraud, which occurred over several decades as the former NASDAQ chairman built a reputation for delivering unparalleled investment results, even in bad times. The revelation came only days after the business sent out statements that made investors think their investments had grown to a total of more than $65 billion. Peter Madoff said at his plea that he had no idea his brother was running a massive Ponzi scheme, paying off longtime investors at times with money from newer investors. "My family was torn apart as a result of my brother's atrocious conduct," he said. "I was reviled by strangers as well as friends who assumed that I knew about the Ponzi

– Bernie Madoff's younger brother got sentenced to 10 years in prison today after admitting to crimes such as falsifying documents and lying to regulators. But Peter Madoff, 67, continued to insist he didn't know about Bernie's massive Ponzi scheme, a claim the judge called "frankly not believable," reports AP. Peter Madoff's plea deal also calls for him to forfeit $143 billion. He doesn't have it, but the New York Times says it's a "clear signal that the government will seize all of his assets and distribute them to victims." Five others face trial next year for their alleged roles in the scheme.

Peter Madoff, 67, agreed to serve the maximum sentence allowable to the charges of conspiracy and falsifying the books and records of an investment adviser. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain urged him to tell the truth even after he reports to prison on Feb. 6 about what he knows about the multi-decade fraud that cost thousands of investors their original $20 billion investment. Peter Madoff said at his plea that he had no idea his brother was running a massive Ponzi scheme, paying off longtime investors at times with money from newer investors.

Customers enter a Bank of Cyprus branch as a Piraeus Bank branch is seen in the background in Athens, Wednesday, March 27, 2013. Greece's Piraeus Bank reached an agreement Tuesday to buy the Greek operations... (Associated Press) Customers enter a Bank of Cyprus branch as a Piraeus Bank branch is seen in the background in Athens, Wednesday, March 27, 2013. Greece's Piraeus Bank reached an agreement Tuesday to buy the Greek operations... (Associated Press) Cypriot authorities are preparing limits on how much money depositors can take out of their accounts a day before banks are set to reopen. A banking official said Wednesday _ on condition of anonymity because the measures have yet to be officially announced _ that they include restrictions on large-scale money transfers from the country's two largest lenders to avoid a run. But authorities are looking to raise the daily withdrawal limit from 100 euros to 300 euros (from $130 to $386), while payroll payments will be allowed in order to help businesses. The restrictions will be kept for at least a week. Banks have been shut for nearly two weeks as politicians sought a plan to raise the funds that would qualify the country for international bailout loans. ||||| Image caption Bank of Cyprus is the country's largest bank Cyprus may be set to impose a limit on the amount of money that can be taken out of the country, one of its main newspapers has reported. The Kathimerini newspaper also said that authorities would impose a ban on cashing cheques, as the government prepares to announce capital controls on the banking sector. The central bank said the report was only based on draft proposals. Earlier on Wednesday, the boss of the Bank of Cyprus was sacked. Cyprus is introducing capital controls as it seeks to raise 5.8bn euros ($7.4bn; £4.9bn) to qualify for a 10bn-euro bailout from the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the so-called troika. Depositors in Cypriot banks with more than 100,000 euros could see 40% of their funds converted into bank shares, while those with less than 100,000 euros will not lose any funds - but face limits on what funds they can access. The exact details of the capital controls are expected to be finalised later on Wednesday. Speaking to the Financial Times, Cypriot Finance Minster Mr Sarris said that the controls would be reviewed after seven days, and that some banks could be exempted altogether. According to the newspaper report Cypriots will be prohibited from taking more than 3,000 euros in cash abroad on each trip, and limited to spending 5,000 euros on their credit or debit card. Concern about the ongoing situation in Cypriot has continued to weigh on the Athens stock market, with Greek shares ending down 4% on Wednesday. Bank merger Bank of Cyprus chief executive Yiannis Kypri confirmed he had been removed as head of the bank, which is the country's largest commercial lender. Reuters reported that Mr Kypri had issued a statement about his removal, which said: "The reason I was

– Banks are set to open tomorrow in Cyprus, and that's not a task as easy as just unlocking the doors. As the AFP reports, a "superhuman" effort is under way to ready the banks in time, per the central bank governor. He made the comment yesterday, and not exactly to cheers: Some 200 employees of Bank of Cyprus, the country's largest lender, protested outside his office, clamoring for his resignation. One head that did roll, according to the BBC: The bank's chief executive, Yiannis Kypri, who was reportedly fired this morning. Meanwhile, authorities are scrambling to put in place capital controls designed to prevent a bank run. The AP spoke with an anonymous banking official who shared some of the as-yet unannounced details: The controls will likely be in place for a week, he says, though the finance minister yesterday described the time frame as "a matter of weeks," and Bloomberg predicts they could persist for years, as they have in Iceland. While huge money transfers will not be permitted, some easing is expected; daily withdrawal limits may rise from $130 to $386, and payroll payments will get the green light. As for the still undefined levies, the Wall Street Journal shares the latest: Large Bank of Cyprus depositors are still rumored to be looking at a 40% cut; the largest deposit holders at No. 2 bank Cyprus Popular (also called Laiki), which is to be shut down, may only be able to recoup 20% of their funds—and it could take several years to do so.

Cypriot authorities are preparing limits on how much money depositors can take out of their accounts. Banks have been shut for nearly two weeks as politicians sought a plan to raise the funds that would qualify the country for international bailout loans. Cyprus is introducing capital controls as it seeks to raise 5.8bn euros ($7.4bn; £4.9bn) to qualify for a 10bn-euro bailout from the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Earlier on Wednesday, the boss of the Bank of Cyprus was sacked.

A triumphant celebration of a speedskating bronze turned a bit risque on Sunday. From the Associated Press: The race went perfectly for Olga Graf. The celebration nearly turned embarrassing. Graf gave the host nation a reason to cheer Sunday, winning Russia’s first medal when she took a surprising bronze in the women’s 3,000 meters. … When Graf’s time flashed on the scoreboard — 4 minutes, 3.47 seconds was a personal best — the crowd at Adler Arena erupted in cheers. She whooped it up on her warm-down lap, then unzipped her skin-tight suit right down to the belly button. She was wearing nothing underneath. “I totally forgot,” Graf said sheepishly through a translator. “We have very good suits and they are very tight. … You just want to breathe and you want to take off your suit.” When she realized her faux pas, Graf quickly zipped the suit back up with a mortified smile. “Only afterward,” she said, “did I realize that maybe this video will appear on YouTube. But I don’t think it will be so bad.” ||||| 0 of 10 By now you have probably already seen the original picture—16-year-old McKayla Maroney stands with her arms crossed with a look on her face that says it all—she is not impressed. The American gymnast was favored to win the gold medal in the women's vault competition, but unfortunately fell. Despite her fall judges still granted Maroney the silver medal based on the execution of an earlier jumps. The Romanian, Sandra Izbasa, would rise the to the opportunity and ended up seizing the gold, but Maroney wasn't happy. Soon after the Internet took the image of Maroney's disappointed face and did what the Internet does best—turned it into a meme. The meme shows Maroney's image usually imposed with text or photoshopped into a funny scenario. What follows are the top 10 "Not Impressed" meme from across the web. ||||| It's safe to say American figure skater Ashley Wagner was expecting a better score than that. Her face—along with all pretense—dropped after seeing the judges' thoughts on her short program in ladies team competition. For the record, Wagner received a score of 63.10, putting her in fourth place at the time behind Mao Asada, a Japanese skater who fell during her routine. Wagner assumed she'd get a much better result. And now, she's internet-famous for her disappointment. S Photo: Darren Cummings/Pool/Getty

– American figure skater Ashley Wagner, whose very selection to the US team proved controversial, is stirring the pot again. In perhaps the first meme to emerge from the Sochi Games, Wagner was photographed smiling radiantly after yesterday's performance—until her score was announced and put her in fourth place, and she scowls epically and appears to say "bullsh--." (Deadspin has the GIF; suffice it to say she was expecting a higher score.) US gymnast McKayla Maroney spawned a similar meme with her look of disgust over her silver medal in 2012. In another Olympic faux pas, the Washington Post notes that speedskater Olga Graf won Russia's first medal today—and accidentally almost flashed everyone when she "totally forgot" she was naked beneath her suit.

Olga Graf won Russia's first medal in speedskating. She unzipped her skin-tight suit right down to the belly button. Graf quickly zipped the suit back up with a mortified smile. The Internet took the image of McKayla Maroney's disappointed face and did what the Internet does best—turned it into a meme. It's safe to say American figure skater Ashley Wagner was expecting a better score.

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. ||||| Eddie Vedder. No word on Obama's favorite Pearl Jam album. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) President Obama spent part of Saturday hanging out with Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. Obama and his daughters visited Vedder and his family, according to the White House. Vedder lives in Hawaii part-time and is an Obama supporter. He played a four-song set at a Florida fundraiser in 2012, trading in a mandolin for a Hawaiian ukulele. "It has a little birth certificate in there," Vedder joked. He recorded an album titled 'Ukulele Songs' in 2011. Vedder and Obama had another thing to talk about - they're both Chicago sports fans. But their politics have diverged at times. Vedder supported Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader in the 2000 presidential election. No word on what the two discussed or Obama's favorite Pearl Jam album. Our vote is for 'Ten.' Obama made a number of other stops during the final hours of his Hawaii vacation Saturday. Obama, Malia and Sasha spent about 20 minutes at the Honolulu home of his half sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. . The president and his daughters also spent time at the Punchbowl Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, where his maternal grandfather is buried. Obama and his family will return to Washington Sunday.

– President Obama is back in DC after a two-week Hawaii vacation, and one detail of how he spent his 15th day in paradise is grabbing a few headlines: In addition to beach time and a visit to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (his mother's father is buried there), Obama and his girls visited with Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder on Saturday afternoon. The Washington Post reports that Vedder lives part-time in the state, also likes Chicago sports, and has rubbed shoulders with Obama before: The musician performed at a fundraiser for Obama in Florida in 2012 and managed to get in a birther joke, quipping that the ukulele he was playing had its own "little birth certificate."

President Obama and his daughters visited Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. Vedder lives in Hawaii part-time and is an Obama supporter. No word on what the two discussed or Obama's favorite Pearl Jam album. Obama made a number of other stops during the final hours of his Hawaii vacation Saturday. The president and his family will return to Washington Sunday.

Instead of finishing her memoir, Courtney Love has discovered a new pastime: Opera singing. The Hole singer has been cast as one of the lead roles in the upcoming pop opera Kansas City Choir Boy, which will run 10 performances during New York's Prototype: Opera/Theater/Now Festival from January 8th to 17th. Related Courtney Love: 'There Will Be No Nirvana Musical' 'Sometimes it's best just to leave things alone,' rocker says Love seems to have fully embraced the role of opera diva. "I love the concept, and I'm loving the music," Love said of the show. "I'm playing it constantly. I'm looking to do things that are different. I just finished a rock tour of Australia, and it was great, but I’ve been doing that for a long time. I wanted to do something challenging." Composer Todd Almond created the music for the opera and talked to the New York Times about his surprise casting of Love in the lead role. "I've always been fascinated with her," Almond told the Times' ArtsBeat. "I love her voice, and I think she's a great actress. And I thought she would find the character interesting." Almond will also play the male lead in Kansas City Choir Boy, which is described as "a theatricalized concept album about explosive young love tested by cruel fate, told in a series of mysterious flashbacks" on the show's Prototype listing. (At press time, Love isn't mentioned anywhere on the Kansas City Choir Boy listing, where it says the opera is performed simply by "Todd Almond and Ensemble.") Anyone hoping to witness Love hit some glass-shattering notes should be warned, however, that Almond says his hour-long show more closely mirrors a concept album than an actual opera. "When I say 'opera,' I don’t mean it's in an operatic style," Almond said. "I mean it in the sense that it's a group of songs that tell a story. I write musicals, I write plays and I write what I call opera." So future performances of The Marriage of Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera aren't likely in Love's future (but a Hole reunion might be). ||||| FEATURED ARTICLE PANCHO VILLA IN LOS ANGELES Pancho Villa From A Safe Distance and Graham Reynolds Music has gotten tons of love from their July 20/21 performance in LA. Be sure to catch this amazing bilingual production at PROTOTYPE 2019 in NYC this January! Read it here: Esta creativa ópera rock sobre Pancho Villa conecta el pasado con el presente BONUS DOWNLOAD THE PROTOTYPE APP Download the PROTOTYPE app to get an insider look at PROTO events, trailers, music, and more. ||||| Photo Most productions at the Prototype: Opera/Theater/Now festival seek ways to erode the boundaries between opera and pop. But the composer Todd Almond and the director Kevin Newbury plan to kick those boundaries over entirely. They have cast Courtney Love, the rock singer and widow of Kurt Cobain, as the star of Mr. Almond’s “Kansas City Choir Boy,” which will have its world premiere at the Manhattan arts center Here during the next Prototype festival, Jan.

– You probably did not see this one coming: Courtney Love has been cast ... in an opera. Specifically, Kansas City Choir Boy, which Rolling Stone calls a "pop opera." It will run from Jan. 8 to 17 in New York City, as part of the Prototype: Opera/Theater/Now Festival. "I've always been fascinated with her," composer Todd Almond explains to the New York Times. And that's probably good, since Almond plays the male lead—and he and Love are the only two cast members. As for the storyline, it's "about a man and a woman in love in the Midwest," Almond says. "But then the woman sees something on the horizon that makes her realize that she has a greater destiny, and she follows that." And it's probably not what you think of when you think "opera." As Almond explains, "When I say 'opera,' I don't mean it's in an operatic style. I mean it in the sense that it's a group of songs that tell a story." As for Love, who recently finished a rock tour in Australia, she says she loves the project. "I've been [touring] for a long time. I wanted to do something challenging."

Courtney Love has been cast as one of the lead roles in the upcoming pop opera Kansas City Choir Boy. The show will run 10 performances during New York's Prototype: Opera/Theater/Now Festival from January 8th to 17th. Composer Todd Almond created the music for the opera and talked to the New York Times about his surprise casting of Love in the lead role. "I love her voice, and I think she's a great actress. And I thought she would find the character interesting"

Washington (CNN) The US will aim to "crush" Iran with economic and military pressure unless it changes its behavior in the Middle East, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday in a speech that many analysts saw as a policy of regime change in everything but name. Pompeo, unveiling the administration's new policy just weeks after President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, said the US will work to counter Tehran's regional activities, curb its influence in the Middle East and make sure that it never gains a nuclear weapon. The speech earned praise in some quarters for the "toughness" of Pompeo's ultimatum to Iran's leaders, and his message of support for the Iranian people. Other analysts said the remarks amounted to a push for new leadership in Tehran and a return to traditional US policy that could carry risks for the Trump administration. "It's implicitly a regime change policy," said Suzanne Maloney, deputy director of the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. "There's no other possible way to interpret that speech." Pentagon preparations As Pompeo spoke at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday the US will take "all necessary steps to confront and address Iran's malign influence in the region." Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning said the Defense Department is assessing whether to "double down on current actions or implement new actions. Obviously we are part of a broader approach to address Iran," he said, adding the US is "not going to rule out anything necessary in order to address Iran." Within hours, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani fired back at Pompeo asking, "who are you to make decisions about Iran?" according to the semi-official Iran Labor News Agency. "Today's world will not accept the United States to decide on behalf of the whole world. Countries have their own sovereignty," ILNA quoted Rouhani as saying. "Of course, they (US) will do what they want by the use of force; but the world does not accept this logic." Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at a Foreign Ministry reception, offered praise. "The US policy is correct," he said. Pompeo laid out a vision of a policy that will end Iranian missile launches, shrink its sphere of influence, and cripple its economy so that "Iran will be forced to make a choice: either fight to keep its economy off life support at home, or keep squandering precious wealth on fights abroad." The US will do this by using "unprecedented" financial pressure, working with partners, advocating for the Iranian people, and using the military, Pompeo said. "We will ensure freedom of navigation on the waters in the region. We will work to prevent and counteract any Iranian malign cyber activity. We will track down Iranian operatives and their Hezbollah proxies operating around the world and crush them," Pompeo said. "Iran will never again have carte blanche to dominate the Middle East." "This is just the beginning" "The Iranian regime should know this is just the beginning," Pompeo added. Analysts who opposed the Iran nuclear deal applauded.

– Now that the US has withdrawn from the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, what would it take to strike a new deal? A lot, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed Monday in a speech outlining US demands, reports the Wall Street Journal, the AP, CNN, and Al Jazeera. Pompeo listed 12 things Iran must do, including: Stop the enrichment of all uranium Allow "unqualified access" to all nuclear sites Withdraw all forces from Syria Release all US citizens in custody Stop its threats to destroy Israel Halt its support for militant groups in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon Declare all previous efforts to build a nuclear weapon "Relief from sanctions will come only when we see tangible, demonstrated, and sustained shifts in Tehran's policies," said Pompeo in a speech at the Heritage Foundation. “We acknowledge Iran's right to defend its people. But not its actions which jeopardize the world's citizens.” The gist of coverage from the above sources suggests that the odds of Iran agreeing to the demands are virtually nonexistent. "There is such an enormous trust deficit between the US and Iran that Iranian leaders are likely to really shrug this off as yet more angry rhetoric coming from the Trump White House," per Al Jazeera.

Pompeo says the US will "crush" Iran with economic and military pressure unless it changes its behavior. The speech earned praise in some quarters for the "toughness" of Pompeo's ultimatum to Iran's leaders. Other analysts said the remarks amounted to a push for new leadership in Tehran and a return to traditional US policy. "It's implicitly a regime change policy," said Suzanne Maloney, deputy director of the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. "The Iranian regime should know this is just the beginning," Pompeo added.

Vanita Gupta, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said it’s “for the city and the community in Ferguson to decide what they want” to happen with the police force there. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post) A team of Justice Department civil rights lawyers is planning to travel to Ferguson, Mo., in the coming weeks to meet with residents and help decide whether to reform the police department or disband it and replace it with a regional force, according to the head of the department’s civil rights division. In her first wide-ranging interview since taking over the civil rights division last fall, acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta said that her lawyers want to ensure that the systemic racial bias and constitutional violations identified in the scathing Justice report on the Ferguson Police Department “don’t continue for a day longer than they should.” “What kind of police department do Ferguson residents want?” said Gupta, a longtime civil rights lawyer and former deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “All of the options are on the table. And now, we’re going to roll up our sleeves and figure out, ‘what does this look like?’ Some of what has happened in the last week really demonstrates the urgency of putting together an agreement.” Last week, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said he will resign Thursday. The announcement came a day after Ferguson’s city manager resigned and two days after the city’s top municipal court judge also stepped aside. Shortly after Ferguson’s mayor announced Jackson’s resignation, two police officers were shot outside the police department. Jeffrey Williams, 20, was arrested late Saturday and charged in the shooting. During a brief public appearance Monday at the St. Louis county courthouse, Williams told the judge he would seek private counsel and not use a public defender, according to Stephen Reynolds, who is the chief public defender in St. Louis County. Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said last week that he would step down March 19 shortly after the city’s manager resigned and two days after the city’s top municipal court judge also stepped aside. (Scott Olson/Getty) Williams had previously been on probation in relation to a felony charge of receiving stolen property. On Monday morning, a woman who identified herself as Williams’s grandmother answered the door at the address listed as his home in court documents. She said Williams, who has two small children and a third on the way, did not graduate high school and did not have a steady job. She said she last saw him on Friday and was concerned when she saw red marks across his face in his mug shot. “The police beat him up,” she said, repeating an assertion made by a pastor and protest organizer who said he spoke with Williams. St. Louis County police have denied that Williams was beaten. Williams’s grandmother said she was struggling to figure out how her grandson could have been accused of the shooting. “We raised him right.” Gupta said the Justice Department “will flood the community in an intense

– Jeffrey Williams didn't intend to shoot two Ferguson police officers last Thursday, and he didn't intend to shoot protesters either, his lawyer says. In fact, "I don't think he shot anybody," defense attorney Jerryl Christmas tells the New York Times. "I clearly think that we don't have the right person in custody." Without explaining exactly what he thinks happened, Christmas tells the AP, "Those officers were shot accidentally." He adds, "This wasn't any type of ambush shooting." Christmas also claims his client, who has a baby on the way with his girlfriend, was a victim of excessive force during his arrest, noting Williams had bruises on his face, back, and shoulders. A police rep says that's "completely false" as every incoming inmate is seen by a nurse and "the nurse released Williams as fit for confinement." Authorities initially said Williams told them he was aiming at someone with whom he'd argued in the crowd of protesters when the officers were shot. But Christmas says he isn't aware of any dispute. "It appears that whatever statements he made, he was without the advice of counsel, and when I look at the bruising, it's hard for me [to] assess if these were voluntary statements that he made," he tells CNN. He specifically points to what he says is bruising on Williams' right cheek, visible in a booking photo. However, a police rep notes Williams' entire interview with police "was video and audio recorded." Williams, who was charged with receiving stolen property and fraud with a debit or credit card in 2013, is being held on a $300,000 bond. Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that civil rights lawyers from the Justice Department will visit Ferguson to debate whether the police department should be swapped for a regional force.

Vanita Gupta is the acting head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. She said it's “for the city and the community in Ferguson to decide what they want” to happen with the police force there. Gupta said her lawyers want to ensure that the systemic racial bias and constitutional violations identified in the scathing Justice report on the Ferguson Police Department “don’t continue for a day longer than they should.” Last week, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said he will resign Thursday.

Actress Melissa McCarthy wore Marina Rinaldi to the 2012 Academy Awards. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) There are all sorts of micro economies that are fed or supported by Hollywood. Picture-making doesn’t just provide a living for actors and the small armies of lawyers, crew members, production and insurance companies enlisted by movie studios; it contributes to the livelihoods of hairdressers, stylists, designers, makeup artists and handlers. When you’re a star, you’re not just famous. You’re a giant, monetizable billboard. The more recognizable you are, the more stuff you get for free. Unless you’re Melissa McCarthy. Awards season is the prime opportunity for designers to showcase their most decadent wares; this year’s Oscar telecast had 43.7 million viewers. But two years ago, McCarthy couldn’t find anyone to design an Oscar dress for her. “When I go shopping, most of the time I’m disappointed,” McCarthy said in the July issue of Redbook. “Two Oscars ago, I couldn’t find anybody to do a dress for me. I asked five or six designers — very high-level ones who make lots of dresses for people — and they all said no.” That year McCarthy wore a dress made by Marina Rinaldi, a ready-to-wear plus line you can find in stores such as Bloomingdale’s or Saks. Bear in mind, with the Oscars in particular, most actresses are wearing borrowed dresses, shoes, and jewelry valued at more than most Americans’ mortgages. McCarthy, the much-loved breakout star of “Bridesmaids,” won an Emmy in 2011 for her role on CBS’s “Mike & Molly.” Her work with director Paul Feig, including “The Heat,” “Bridesmaids” and the upcoming “Spy” have made her a favorite funny lady, particularly in feminist circles. In interviews, she seems down-to-earth, approachable, and well, normal. Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in “The Heat.” (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation) And that’s because she is. Despite her success and the wealth that comes with it, McCarthy faces the same problem of millions of plus-size American women: wanting a wardrobe that’s stylish and fashion forward, and finding slim pickings, which is why she decided to develop her own plus-size clothing line. She collaborated with couture dress maker Daniella Pearl for the gown she wore to the 2011 Emmy Awards, and the two are releasing a line called Pearl. Before becoming an actress, McCarthy studied fashion design at Southern Illinois University. “Trying to find stuff that’s still fashion-forward in my size is damn near impossible.” McCarthy told the Hollywood Reporter in 2011. “It’s either for like a 98-year-old woman or a 14-year-old hooker, and there is nothing in the middle.” Melissa McCarthy arrives at the 2011 Primetime Emmy Awards in a dress she designed with Daniella Pearl. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) Sure, every once in a while you’ll see a star walk a red carpet in Topshop, Asos, H&M or some other off-the-rack brand, but it’s the exception, not the rule, and it’s almost always as an official brand ambassador. In April, McCarthy sported a dress from Eloquii as she walked the red carpet at CinemaCon (Eloquii sells the sleeveless version for $118).

– Melissa McCarthy may be wildly popular—but, as she explains to Redbook, that doesn't mean she has a lot of success in the shopping arena. "When I go shopping, most of the time I’m disappointed," she says. "Two Oscars ago, I couldn’t find anybody to do a dress for me. I asked five or six designers—very high-level ones who make lots of dresses for people—and they all said no." It's not the first time she's talked about similar woes; in 2011, she noted that outfits in her size are typically "either for like a 98-year-old woman or a 14-year-old hooker, and there is nothing in the middle," which is why she started her own fashion line; she and couture dress maker Daniella Pearl are releasing a line called Pearl. As the Washington Post notes, other actresses who don't fit the "size 0" mold (and thus may have trouble fitting in sample sizes) have faced similar problems. Christina Hendricks noted in 2010, "It is difficult come awards season, and I need to find a gown to walk down the red carpet in, and there are only size zeros and size twos available. Then it becomes downright annoying because all these designers are saying, 'We love Mad Men, we love Christina, but we won’t make her a dress.'" Typically, writes Soraya Nadia McDonald for the Post, "Even D-list straight-size celebrities can find houses to loan them clothes ... but for women like Hendricks and McCarthy, Emmy and Oscar nods aren’t enough. It takes years and years of success."

Melissa McCarthy wore a dress made by Marina Rinaldi to the 2012 Academy Awards. “Trying to find stuff that’s still fashion-forward in my size is damn near impossible,” McCarthy told the Hollywood Reporter in 2011. McCarthy collaborated with couture dress maker Daniella Pearl for the gown she wore to the 2011 Emmy Awards. The two are releasing a line called Pearl, which will be available in sizes 14-24 and 24-32. In April, McCarthy sported a dress from Eloquii as she walked the red carpet.

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — Doughnut Eating Champion: It’s a title that led to 24-year-old Bradley Hardison’s arrest. For nearly nine months, Hardison was a man on the run; he was wanted for felony break-ins in Camden County. What finally did him in? A doughnut eating contest at an anti-crime event packed with police. “I did congratulate him,” says Lt. Max Robeson, a deputy with the Camden County Sheriff’s Office. “Good for him. He can eat a lot of doughnuts. Good for him.” The competition was for the Elizabeth City Police Department’s National Night Out Against Crime event. In just two minutes time Hardison devoured eight glazed doughnuts. Hardison’s win caught the attention of a local newspaper, along with the attention of Lt. Robeson. “When I came in that morning and read that article I was pissed because it’s like throwing it in our face,” he says. “We’ve been looking for you for months. I didn’t ask him if he won a trophy – he probably did.” In November, investigators say Hardison broke into Family Paradise Grocery in South Mills. Then in May, they say he broke into a storage building at the Shiloh Shopping Center on N.C. Highway 343. Robeson says nothing was stolen in either break-in. Hardison is also facing charges in Pasquotank County. He’s accused of stealing $5,000 in cash from Forbes Homes on North Road Street in December. “It’s like he had the audacity to do something like that knowing that he had broken into these places,” Robeson says. Source: WTKR/CNN ||||| ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man celebrated out-eating some police officers, only to find out that he couldn't outrun them. The Camden County Sheriff's Office had been looking for 24-year-old Bradley Herbert Hardison of Elizabeth City in connection with two break-ins. Authorities arrested Hardison on Wednesday, one day after he won the adult division of a doughnut-eating contest at the Elizabeth City Police Department's National Night Out Against Crime. Hardison ate eight doughnuts in two minutes, beating a group that included local police officers and firefighters. In addition to the Camden County charges, Hardison is charged in Pasquotank County with felony larceny and breaking and entering. It's not known whether he has an attorney. ||||| Doughnut eating contest winner arrested in Elizabeth City CAMDEN COUNTY N.C. -- An Elizabeth City man's sweet victory in a police-sponsored doughnut eating contest has inadvertenly landed him behind bars. On Tuesday Bradley Hardison, came out to Elizabeth City's "National Night Out," a police-sponsored event aimed at building a relationship with the community and preventing crime. The problem? Hardison was wanted on two counts of felony breaking and entering in nearby Camden County. But that did not stop him from participating in a doughnut eating competition, where he devoured his way to victory and into the headlines of the local newspaper The Daily Advance. "It kind of ticks you off," said Lt. Max Robeson of the Camden County Sheriff's Office when he read of Hardison's success in the paper. Lt. Robeson says he's been searching for Hardison for months

– When you're on the lam from police, it might be best to avoid entering doughnut-eating contests sponsored by the aforementioned police. Because you just might win, get written up in the local paper, and then not be on the lam anymore. Such is the strange fate of Bradley Hardison of Elizabeth City, NC, reports the AP. The 24-year-old had been sought by police for months in two felony burglaries but had managed to elude arrest. Then he entered the doughnut contest during a "night out" anti-crime event this week, downed eight doughnuts in two minutes, and was crowned champ. Police officers and firefighters were among those he beat. “I did congratulate him,” a deputy with the Camden County Sheriff's Office tells MyFox8 after the arrest. “Good for him. He can eat a lot of doughnuts. Good for him.” After seeing the writeup of Hardison's triumph in the local paper the following day, deputies knew he was in town and quickly picked him up at his mother's house, reports WVEC. He is being held on $2,000 bail.

Bradley Hardison, 24, was wanted for felony break-ins in Camden County, N.C. Hardison won the adult division of a doughnut-eating contest at the Elizabeth City Police Department's National Night Out Against Crime event. In just two minutes time Hardison devoured eight glazed doughnuts. Authorities arrested Hardison on Wednesday, one day after he won the contest. He is also facing charges in Pasquotank County for stealing $5,000 in cash from Forbes Homes in December.

Washington (AFP) - The US Navy believes it has finally worked out the solution to a problem that has intrigued scientists for decades: how to take seawater and use it as fuel. The development of a liquid hydrocarbon fuel is being hailed as "a game-changer" because it would signficantly shorten the supply chain, a weak link that makes any force easier to attack. The US has a fleet of 15 military oil tankers, and only aircraft carriers and some submarines are equipped with nuclear propulsion. All other vessels must frequently abandon their mission for a few hours to navigate in parallel with the tanker, a delicate operation, especially in bad weather. The ultimate goal is to eventually get away from the dependence on oil altogether, which would also mean the navy is no longer hostage to potential shortages of oil or fluctuations in its cost. Vice Admiral Philip Cullom declared: "It's a huge milestone for us." View gallery Dr. Heather Willauer explains how scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC can … "We are in very challenging times where we really do have to think in pretty innovative ways to look at how we create energy, how we value energy and how we consume it. "We need to challenge the results of the assumptions that are the result of the last six decades of constant access to cheap, unlimited amounts of fuel," added Cullom. "Basically, we've treated energy like air, something that's always there and that we don't worry about too much. But the reality is that we do have to worry about it." US experts have found out how to extract carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas from seawater. Then, using a catalytic converter, they transformed them into a fuel by a gas-to-liquids process. They hope the fuel will not only be able to power ships, but also planes. View gallery This April 2, 2014 US Navy handout image shows a beaker of fuel(right) made from seawater by scienti … That means instead of relying on tankers, ships will be able to produce fuel at sea. - 'Game-changing' technology - The predicted cost of jet fuel using the technology is in the range of three to six dollars per gallon, say experts at the US Naval Research Laboratory, who have already flown a model airplane with fuel produced from seawater. Dr Heather Willauer, an research chemist who has spent nearly a decade on the project, can hardly hide her enthusiasm. "For the first time we've been able to develop a technology to get CO2 and hydrogen from seawater simultaneously, that's a big breakthrough," she said, adding that the fuel "doesn't look or smell very different." View gallery A general view of a US Navy ship at the Washington Naval Yard on September 17, 2013 in Washington, D … Now that they have demonstrated it can work, the next step is to produce it in industrial quantities. But before that, in partnership with several universities, the experts want to improve the amount of CO2 and hydrogen they can capture. "We've demonstrated

– In the not-too-distant future, the US Navy could be getting some fuel from the very seas it sails on. That's thanks to Navy researchers who say they've figured out a way to convert seawater into jet fuel, the Huffington Post reports. Experts have been working on the idea for almost a decade, Discover notes; it could be commercially viable within 10 years, the Navy says. Right now, however, researchers are showing off the technique using a model plane. It works by pulling carbon dioxide and hydrogen from water using a catalytic converter, Discover explains. Those gases are turned into a liquid hydrocarbon fuel that could, experts hope, power both planes and ships, AFP reports. "We don't necessarily go to a gas station to get our fuel," Vice Admiral Philip Cullom tells AFP. "Our gas station comes to us in terms of an oiler, a replenishment ship. Developing a game-changing technology like this, seawater to fuel, really is something that reinvents a lot of the way we can do business." (In other fuel news, scientists have figured out how to make ethanol without corn.)

US Navy has found out how to extract carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas from seawater. Using a catalytic converter, they transformed them into a fuel by a gas-to-liquids process. They hope the fuel will not only be able to power ships, but also planes. The predicted cost of jet fuel using the technology is in the range of three to six dollars per gallon, say experts at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. The ultimate goal is to eventually get away from the dependence on oil altogether.

More than 400 animals have died in one colony alone as temperatures soar above 47C, causing exhaustion and dehydration A colony of flying foxes has been nearly wiped out by extreme heat in Campbelltown in south-west Sydney, according to environmentalists. The Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown campaign posted a series of images to Facebook showing the corpses of the animals lying in the ground, apparently after they had died from dehydration in the soaring temperatures. The group say more than 400 of the animals were lost, many of them juveniles. Facebook Twitter Pinterest A mound of dead flying foxes in Campbelltown, Australia. Photograph: Facebook/Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown Volunteers have been working to save the animals, rehydrating them and taking them to places where they can be kept cool. Temperatures in Sydney reached a 80-year record high of 47.3C on Sunday. Cate Ryan, one of the first volunteers on the scene, told media “it was unbelievable. I saw a lot of dead bats on the ground and others were close to the ground and dying. I have never seen anything like it before.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest A rescued flying fox in Campbelltown, New South Wales. Photograph: Facebook/Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown The campaign group also regularly post information about why protecting the species is so important for the local habitat. “Flying foxes are intelligent and remarkable,” the group says. “These unique animals help regenerate our forests and keep ecosystems healthy through pollination and seed dispersal. They don’t use sonar like smaller, insect-eating bats; only their eyes and ears, like us. They see as well as a cat at night and are just about as smart. Flying foxes are foresters keeping the eco-system together. If we are to keep the remnants of our forests healthy, we need the flying foxes. The two are inseparable.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest A volunteer helps rescue flying foxes in Campbelltown. Photograph: Facebook/Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown The environmental campaign group have also been hosing down koalas to keep them cool. ||||| Notice You must log in to continue. ||||| While the Northern Hemisphere has been visited by a low-hanging polar vortex, blizzards, and wintry cyclones, the Southern Hemisphere is feeling some very different extremes. Australia is experiencing nearly record high temperatures reaching just over 116 degrees Fahrenheit. It's been so hot that asphalt melted on a stretch of highway, and local news outlets reported a surge in attendance at Australian beaches as residents struggle to escape dangers like heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Australian wildlife has also been impacted by the intense heat. According to conservation group Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown, which operates just south of Sydney, more than 400 flying foxes from a local bat colony were found dead, possibly due to the heat. Pictures show rows of flying fox bodies collected from trees or where they were found after dropping to the ground. Flying foxes are a type of large bat, and six species can be found in Australia. The

– This is the other-side-of-the-world counterpoint to the bizarre sight of frozen iguanas in last week's deep freeze in the US: Hundreds of bats in Australia are essentially boiling to death in the nation's extreme heat. A conservation group near Sydney, where temperatures recently reached 117 degrees, says that more than 400 large bats known as flying foxes were found dead, reports National Geographic. The problem is dehydration, explains one expert on the species. "They can't cool their body down at that point," he says. "In a way, they're kind of boiling in their bodies." The group Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown has been posting images of the creatures, along with images of volunteers scrambling to rescue those still alive and rehydrate them, notes the Guardian. "It was unbelievable," says one volunteer. "I saw a lot of dead bats on the ground and others were close to the ground and dying. I have never seen anything like it before.”

More than 400 animals have died in one colony alone as temperatures soar above 47C, causing exhaustion and dehydration. Volunteers have been working to save the animals, rehydrating them and taking them to places where they can be kept cool. Temperatures in Sydney reached a 80-year record high of 47.3C on Sunday. Australia is experiencing nearly record high temperatures reaching just over 116 degrees Fahrenheit. It's been so hot that asphalt melted on a stretch of highway, and local news outlets reported a surge in attendance at Australian beaches.

The last time you visited a strange new place, you might have noticed that the return trip home felt quicker than the journey there, even though they were the exact same distance. It turns out that lots of people experience this illusion — and it can even be replicated in a lab. The latest evidence for what psychologists call the "return trip effect" is a new study published today in the journal PLOS ONE. In it, Ryosuke Ozawa and other scientists from Kyoto University had participants take simulated "trips" by watching 20-minute videos recorded by a person who'd walked city streets to reach a destination. Compared with those who "took" two one-way trips, round-trippers consistently recalled the second leg taking less time. We still don't have a clear idea of what causes this illusion. But researchers do have some hypotheses — as well as thoughts on why the conventional wisdom might be wrong. 1) The way back feels more familiar, so it goes by faster Familiarity is the oldest explanation offered up for the return trip effect — and was first suggested by researchers in the 1950s. There's some logic to it: other research has suggested that experiencing unfamiliar stimuli can make us perceive time as moving more slowly. But recent experiments indicate this isn't the real reason for the return trip effect. In one 2011 study, researchers had some bike riders take a standard round trip, with the same route there and back. Other riders were instructed to take a different, unfamiliar route back. Surprisingly, both groups judged the return trip as taking less time. 2) We overestimate how long the return trip will take — making it seem quicker Based on his analysis of the 2011 study, Dutch psychologist Niels van de Ven arrived at a different hypothesis. He argued that we often overestimate how long the return trip will take, so that it seems quicker when it actually happens. "Often we see that people are too optimistic when they start to travel," de Ven told NPR. That means the first leg of the trip takes longer than expected. "So you start the return journey, and you think, 'Wow, this is going to take a long time,'" he said. As a result, the return leg takes less time than expected — and in this context, it feels shorter afterward. Indeed, in the 2011 study, de Ven found that those who most badly misjudged how long the first leg of the trip would take were most susceptible to the return trip effect. De Ven's hypothesis might also explain why people don't experience the return trip effect on routes they travel frequently — such as their daily commutes — because their expectations are generally in line with reality. 3) It's because we worry about getting places on time Other researchers have suggested that the return trip effect might occur because we often have a set time that we need to be at a destination, but are less likely to have an exact time we need to be home. Having an appointment leads

– Ever wonder why getting to your destination seems to take forever, but the return trip passes in a flash? Japanese researchers this week shed light on the phenomenon. Writing in PLOS One, the team notes that "studies on the return trip effect have failed to confirm its existence in a situation that is ecologically valid in terms of environment and duration." So they dug into the "return trip effect" by asking 20 men, ages 20 to 30, to watch two point-of-view movies, about 26 minutes long, featuring either an outbound and return walking trip, or two one-way walking trips on city streets. The men had to verbally state each time they thought a three-minute interval had passed; afterward, they were asked to rate the films' length on an 11-point scale, with -5 indicating the first was a lot longer, and +5 indicating the second was far lengthier. Participants didn't experience the trips any differently during the films. Afterward, however, those who'd witnessed the round-trips "consistently" found the return leg to be shorter, Vox reports. "The return trip effect is not a matter of measuring time itself. Rather, it depends on time judgment based on memory," Ryosuke Ozawa tells the Los Angeles Times. Vox points to research that shows our brains track the passage of time using two systems, one mathematical and one language-based, with the latter creating "stories" about the timing of events we've experienced. As Vox puts it, "It appears this second system was the one fooled by the return trip effect." The researchers echo this, writing the results indicate "that the return trip effect does not affect the timing mechanism itself, but rather our feeling of time postdictively." (When it comes to walking, how you do it can change your mood.)

The "return trip effect" makes the journey home feel quicker than the journey there. It can even be replicated in a lab, according to a new study. We still don't have a clear idea of what causes this illusion. But researchers do have some hypotheses, as well as thoughts on why the conventional wisdom might be wrong. The way back feels more familiar, so it goes by faster. We overestimate how long the return trip will take, making it seem quicker. We worry about getting places on time.