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National Archives Yes, it’s that time again, folks. It’s the first Friday of the month, when for one ever-so-brief moment the interests of Wall Street, Washington and Main Street are all aligned on one thing: Jobs. A fresh update on the U.S. employment situation for January hits the wires at 8:30 a.m. New York time offering one of the most important snapshots on how the economy fared during the previous month. Expectations are for 203,000 new jobs to be created, according to economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires, compared to 227,000 jobs added in February. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 8.3%. Here at MarketBeat HQ, we’ll be offering color commentary before and after the data crosses the wires. Feel free to weigh-in yourself, via the comments section. And while you’re here, why don’t you sign up to follow us on Twitter. Enjoy the show.

– The unemployment rate dropped to 8.2% last month, but the economy only added 120,000 jobs, when 203,000 new jobs had been predicted, according to today's jobs report. Reaction on the Wall Street Journal's MarketBeat Blog was swift: "Woah!!! Bad number." The unemployment rate, however, is better news; it had been expected to hold steady at 8.3%. But the AP notes that the dip is mostly due to more Americans giving up on seeking employment.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In her first interview since the NBA banned her estranged husband, Shelly Sterling says she will fight to keep her share of the Los Angeles Clippers and plans one day to divorce Donald Sterling. (Click Prev or Next to continue viewing images.) ADVERTISEMENT (Click Prev or Next to continue viewing images.) Los Angeles Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling, below, watches the Clippers play the Oklahoma City Thunder along with her attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, in the first half of Game 3 of the Western Conference... (Associated Press) Shelly Sterling spoke to Barbara Walters, and ABC News posted a short story with excerpts from the conversation Sunday. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has banned Donald Sterling for making racist comments and urged owners to force Sterling to sell the team. Silver added that no decisions had been made about the rest of Sterling's family. According to ABC's story, Shelly Sterling told Walters: "I will fight that decision." Sterling also said that she "eventually" will divorce her husband, and that she hadn't yet done so due to financial considerations.

– Shelly Sterling plans "eventually" to divorce her estranged husband Donald, she tells Barbara Walters at ABC News. As for her stake in the Los Angeles Clippers, she plans to keep it, the AP notes. Sterling says she would "absolutely" fight any NBA decision to force her to sell the team. The team is her "legacy" to her family, she says. "To be honest with you, I'm wondering if a wife of one of the owners … said those racial slurs, would they oust the husband? Or would they leave the husband in?"

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) — A small, private jet has crashed into a house in Maryland's Montgomery County on Monday, killing at least three people on board, authorities said. Preliminary information indicates at least three people were on board and didn't survive the Monday crash into home in Gaithersburg, a Washington, D.C. suburb, said Pete Piringer, a Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesman. He said a fourth person may have been aboard. Piringer said the jet crashed into one home around 11 a.m., setting it and two others on fire. Crews had the fire under control within an hour and were searching for anyone who may have been in the homes. Television news footage of the scene showed one home nearly destroyed, with a car in the driveway. Witnesses told television news crews that they saw the airplane appear to struggle to maintain altitude before going into a nosedive and crashing. An FAA spokesman said preliminary information shows the Embraer EMB-500/Phenom 100 twin-engine jet was on approach at the nearby Montgomery County Airpark. The National Transportation Safety Board is sending an investigator to the scene.

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

By the next morning, the tweet was deleted and he had apologized, writing, “Apparently Charlie Sheen got control of my Twitter account last night while I was at dinner. Apologies for his behavior.” But that wasn’t enough to spare him the ire of conservative women on the blogosphere and Twitter. On Tuesday, before Carlson’s first apology, Stacy Drake, writing on Conservatives4Palin, praised Carlson’s works at The Daily Caller, particularly the leaks of the Journolist emails, saying that’s why his tweet stung so badly. If you haven’t heard by now, Monday evening, Tucker Carlson posted a disturbing tweet about Governor Palin which said: Palin’s popularity falling in Iowa, but maintains lead to become supreme commander of Milfistan Aside from Tucker’s sheep-like response to warped poll numbers, he also failed to take ownership of his sexist comment. He deleted the original (which is why I had to link to a retweet) obviously aware that what he had posted was wrong. Unfortunately for him, many people had already seen it and responded. You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, Tucker. Is this the sort of treatment that Conservative women, who want to get involved in the process, are expected to put up with? Is it okay for male columnists (Conservative or otherwise) to continue objectifying women in the world of politics? I will always be grateful to Tucker’s team for bringing that story to light. Update II: Almost a day later, he finally apologizes: I’m sorry for last night’s tweet. I meant absolutely no offense. Not the first dumb thing I’ve said. Hopefully the last.” Some bros have come to Carlson's aid.

– Tucker Carlson is in deep doodoo with conservative women after an ill-advised tweet referencing Sarah Palin that he posted, then removed, Monday night. "Palin's popularity falling in Iowa, but maintains lead to become supreme commander of Milfistan," he tweeted—and we probably don't need to tell you where that is. His first attempt at an apology, which he tweeted the next morning: "Apparently Charlie Sheen got control of my Twitter account last night while I was at dinner. Apologies for his behavior.” That wasn't good enough for many conservative women, Politico notes, rounding up reactions from bloggers to Michelle Malkin calling his behavior sexist and misogynistic. By late Tuesday, Carlson had offered up a more sincere-sounding apology: “I’m sorry for last night’s tweet. I meant absolutely no offense. Not the first dumb thing I’ve said. Hopefully the last.” But at least one man—Erick Erickson, editor of RedState.com—was on Carlson's side, tweeting his reaction to the post in question: "I laughed then got out my passport."

Image caption A man has admitted removing another man's testicle during an "unauthorised" surgery An amateur surgeon in Australia has pleaded guilty to removing the left testicle of a man who could not afford professional medical treatment. Matthews faced Port Macquarie Local Court on Wednesday and entered a guilty plea to a charge of removing tissue from the body of another person without proper consent or authority. The two men then met at a motel in Port Macquarie, on the state’s mid-north coast, where the younger man’s left testicle was allegedly surgically removed by Matthews, who police say was not a qualified doctor. It is the crown's case that Matthews is not qualified or authorised to perform such a procedure, and is not a qualified or registered medical practitioner. The 52-year-old alleged victim attended the motel room after posting an advertisement online requesting assistance with a medical issue, police claim. Police became aware of the case in June when the man attended hospital after the wound he suffered during the operation became infected. Officers raided Matthews' home and seized medical equipment, firearms and four bottles of what they suspected to be amyl nitrate. He has also admitted charges of possessing a prescribed restricted substance, unauthorised possession of a firearm and failure to keep a firearm safely, but will fight a charge of reckless grievous bodily harm, according to court records. According to court documents, the 57-year-old did not enter a plea to the charge of causing grievous bodily harm. Matthews will remain on bail until his case returns to court on August 18.

– What are the three most horrifying words in the English language? Wrong. The correct answer is "amateur testicle surgery." The BBC reports 56-year-old Allan Matthews pleaded guilty Wednesday to removing another man's left testicle at an Australian motel despite not being qualified to practice medicine. The unsanctioned surgery took place in May after a 52-year-old man posted an ad online seeking help for a medical issue, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The man was apparently still suffering after being kicked in the groin by a horse years earlier but couldn't afford an actual doctor. A week after Matthews allegedly removed the man's testicle, infection set in. The man went to the hospital, and the police launched an investigation. Authorities say a raid of Matthews' home last month turned up medical equipment, seven guns, and four bottles of what may be amyl nitrate. In addition to performing surgery without being a doctor, Matthews also pleaded guilty to gun and drug charges. He did not plead guilty to inflicting "reckless grievous bodily harm." AAP reports Matthews is out on bail until another hearing next month. (An Oregon man claimed surgery left him with an 80-pound scrotum.)

“When someone we admire dies of suicide, it makes us reflect on our own lives and stresses,” Kennedy said, “and that helps people reach out, which is important.” If you or someone you care for needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 24 hours a day, at 1-800-273-8255. As long as you have a phone, you can call the number and talk to someone. Foster said news of Bourdain’s death Friday led to fears of a “suicide contagion,” a phenomenon defined by the Department of Health and Human Services as an increase in suicides due to “the exposure to suicide or suicidal behaviors within one’s family, one’s peer group, or through media reports of suicide.” “When people who have suicidal thoughts see seemingly happy, famous and wealthy people dying of suicide, it makes them feel more hopeless,” Foster said. After dialing 1-800-273-8255, you will hear the following automated message: "You have reached the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, also servicing the Veterans service line. Some callers may be higher risk if they are having suicidal thoughts or actively considering suicide. Lifeline is actually made up of a network of 161 crisis centers across the country, Sinwelski said.

– Calls to suicide hotlines have spiked dramatically since the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain—not an unusual phenomenon in the wake of celebrity suicides. The Wall Street Journal reports on a 25% uptick at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) since Spade's death, while USA Today attributed a similar rise to both celebs, and a New Jersey hotline experienced a 70% increase in calls Friday morning. "We're so extremely busy," says Rachel Larkin, who heads a crisis-prevention center in Maryland. "I think we’re all worried. ... Both Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain are people a lot of people related to." Celebrity suicides have been linked to suicide increases before. Marilyn Monroe's 1962 death, for example, preceded a 12% spike in suicides nationwide, the Wrap reports. "When people who have suicidal thoughts see seemingly happy, famous and wealthy people dying of suicide, it makes them feel more hopeless," says Lauren Foster, who heads a hotline in Raleigh, North Carolina. "They think if they died, what’s to stop me?" But suicide-prevention advocates are emphasizing that hotlines do help and people's calls will go through, despite the surge this week. Check out Buzzfeed to learn what happens on hotline calls and see what resources are available.

Follow @marymitchellcst Sen. Mark Kirk, 55, is a good example of why it never pays to try to keep up with the younger generation. Instead of looking cool, you wind up saying stupid stuff that makes you look lame. Kirk was caught on a live microphone Thursday referring to his Republican colleague and presidential hopeful Lindsey Graham as a “bro with no ho.” I didn’t even know what that meant. My adult son had to fill me in. “It just means he’s a single man,” my son explained. OPINION Follow @marymitchellcst In my day, a “bro” was a black man with a ‘fro. As for “ho,” well, the definition of that slur hasn’t changed. Coming from the senator, the “bro with no ho” comment is an embarrassment. But what was especially offensive was Kirk also saying, “That’s what we’d say on the South Side.” Wait a minute. Since when did Kirk become a South Sider? You can’t just proclaim yourself a South Sider. You’ve got to pay your dues by riding those overcrowded buses and trains, living in food deserts, traveling impossible distances to shop and navigating dangerous neighborhoods. Kirk is from Highland Park — the land of plenty. I know some people falsely claim to be from this side or that side of Chicago, when you’re really from the suburbs. That’s OK. But Kirk has repeatedly pretended to have a grasp on what’s going on in these communities. In 2013, he clashed with U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush, D-Illinois, when he called for the mass arrests of the Gangster Disciples, a gang he said numbered 18,000. Rush called Kirk’s proposal “a middle-class, elitist white-boy solution to a problem he knows nothing about.” The senator put his foot in his mouth again in an interview about economic development when he declared that black neighborhoods are the ones that people driver through faster. I have no doubt that some white people are afraid to drive through black neighborhoods. But there are a lot of white people who work, live and play in black neighborhoods, and I would argue that they are safer in those neighborhoods than the young black males who live there. A spokesman for Kirk dismissed his boss’ comments Thursday as a joke. Maybe he should have added that was a joke that was in poor taste and which could prove costly. The senator was engaging in the kind of bawdy banter some “bros” engage in when women aren’t a part of the conversation. That shows he really doesn’t get it. Kirk is up for re-election. And two fierce women — U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, and Andrea Zopp, the former head of the Chicago Urban League — are seeking the Democratic nomination to face him. Either one of these accomplished women could benefit from Kirk’s gaffe. I can’t wait to see how the “bro with no ho” soundbite ends up being used in campaign commercials. Meantime, Kirk owes the South Side an apology. While some African-American aldermen are still making an ugly fuss over New York filmmaker Spike Lee calling a movie he’s making in the city “Chiraq,” what Kirk’s doing is worse. He’s stereotyping the black community, casting it in a negative light and then crowing about it. Follow Mary Mitchell on Twitter: @MaryMitchellCST

– Public apologies making headlines this week include a scientist and a senator trying to show how funny they are: Prize winner: "I'm really, really sorry I caused any offense, that's awful. I certainly didn't mean that. I just meant to be honest, actually."—Tim Hunt, Nobel-winning scientist, after he made light of "girls" working in labs. He added that it was a "stupid" thing to say in front of journalists, which is partly why a writer at the Washington Post calls this the "non-apology of the year." New name, please: "We are sorry that wording which could be considered offensive has been used, as this has not been our intention at all."—Lego, after it described a strange-looking new Lego model as a "window-licker," a derogatory term for people with learning disabilities. If it's on Facebook, it must be true: "I want to apologize as well to all our listeners for having made an erroneous statement. I am sorry for the mistake. However, I am glad to play a role in putting this rumor to rest."—Diane Rehm of NPR, after she informed Bernie Sanders that he had Israeli citizenship during an interview. He doesn't. She had seen it on Facebook. Unsportsmanslike: "We apologize to all fans watching the game on television, to both teams and to our guests from Italy for the Nazi symbol."—Tomislav Pacak, a Croatian Football Federation spokesman, referring to the faint but unmistakable imprint of a large swastika on a soccer field. He's a what? "(He) was joking with his colleague and immediately apologized to anyone offended by his remark."—Spokesperson for Sen. Mark Kirk, after he described his bachelor colleague Lindsey Graham as a "bro with no ho." (A Sun-Times columnist thinks he owes a specific apology to residents of Chicago's South Side.) All business: "Please accept the apologies from my previous letter, which should not have been sent."—Homeowners association in Brentwood, Tenn., after threatening to sue a family for putting up a wheelchair ramp. The homeowner, a pastor, just had brain surgery. The HOA had second thoughts when the story went public.

More than 110,000 students, including disproportionate numbers of black and disabled students, were subjected to paddling or a similar punishment in the 2013-14 school year, said King, citing the Education Department’s Civil Rights Data Collection. Recent research suggests that more than 160,000 children in 19 states are potential victims of corporal punishment in schools each year, with African-American children in a few southern school districts about 50% more likely than white students to be smacked or paddled by a school worker. He also notes that boys overall, as well as students with disabilities, were more likely to be punished physically: boys represented about 80% of corporal punishment victims, and in nearly all of the states where the practice is permitted, students with disabilities were subjected to corporal punishment at higher rates than students without them. “Corporal punishment of adults has been banned in prisons and in military training facilities, and it’s time we do the same for our nation’s schoolchildren,” said Fatima Goss Graves of the Women’s Law Center. In addition, policymakers should also give schools and educators new tools to foster a positive school climate by encouraging the use of school-wide positive behavior supports, an evidence-based approach to school discipline proven to reduce school discipline referrals and support improved academic outcomes. Sincerely, National Women’s Law Center, joined by the following organizations: Academy on Violence and Abuse ACLU American Academy of Pediatrics American Association of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry American Association of University Women American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO American Humanist Association American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children American Psychological Association American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Americans Against Corporal Punishment in Public School Association of University Centers on Disabilities Attachment Parenting International, Atlanta Chapter Barton Child Law and Policy Center, Emory Law School Center for Civil Rights Remedies, Civil Rights Project at UCLA Center for Effective Discipline Champion Women Child Safe of Central Missouri, Inc. Children’s Advocacy Institute Children’s Defense Fund Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues Coleman Advocates for Children & Youth Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Dane County District Attorney’s Deferred Prosecution Program Dignity in Schools Campaign Division 7: Developmental Psychology, American Psychological Association Education Law Center-PA Family Services Network Futures Without Violence Girls Inc. GLSEN Gundersen Health System Gundersen National Child Protection Training Center Gwinnett Parent Coalition to Dismantle the School to Prison Pipeline (Gwinnett SToPP) Integrated Clinical & Correctional Services Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law Lives in the Balance Massachusetts Citizens for Children Minnesota Communities Caring for Children, Home of Prevent Child Abuse MN NAACP National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) National Association of School Psychologists National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) National Autism Association National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools National Disability Rights Network National Down Syndrome Congress National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) National Education Association National Organization for Women National PTA NC Child NCLR (National Council of La Raza) Nollie Jenkins Family Center, Inc. Otto Bremer Trust Center for Safe and Healthy Children Parent Trust for Washington Children Partnership for Violence Free Families Prevent Child Abuse Illinois Project KnuckleHead PsycHealth, Ltd. Rights4Girls Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law SelfWorks SisterReach SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) Southern Poverty Law Center StopSpanking.ORG TASH Tennesseans for Non Violent School Discipline The National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan The Parenting Network TNTP (formerly The New Teacher Project) U.S. Alliance to End the Hitting of Children University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law Juvenile and Special Education Law Clinic Upbring Women’s Law Project Youth Service, Inc.

– Education Secretary John King has a message for states where physical discipline is permitted in schools, per USA Today: Quit it. In a letter to governors and state school chiefs, King says 22 states—mostly in the South and West—still allow corporal punishment or don't forbid it. He implores them to stop the "harmful" and "ineffective" practice, saying it teaches kids that getting physical is OK to solve problems. He also points out that some corporal punishment taking place in schools would be considered criminal assault or battery in real-world settings. About 80 groups—including the NAACP—lent their support to a similar letter penned Monday by the National Women's Law Center, reports CBS News. "Corporal punishment of adults has been banned in prisons and in military training facilities, and it's time we do the same for our nation's schoolchildren," an NWLC rep says. King also notes that physical punishment isn't applied equitably to all students. For example, even though black students make up about 16% of attendees in public elementary and secondary schools, they're on the receiving end of one-third of the corporal punishment. Boys are subjected to 80% of such acts, while students with disabilities also tend to be victims more so than other students. "These data and disparities shock the conscience," King writes. (Alabama paddled 19K students in one school year.)

In the incident, 42,800 gallons of fracking fluid — boiling up from thousands of feet underground — spewed into the streets and into Arlington storm sewers and streams. A pipe sprung a softball-size hole at the Vantage Energy well site at 3016 Little Road, allowing nearly 43,000 gallons of fracking water and chemicals to gush into the city storm-water system and sparking fears that natural gas would follow, Assistant Fire Chief Jim Self said. The company said a well head component malfunctioned, causing a back flow of fracking fluid to spill out. "Clearly there was a release of unpermitted materials into the stormwater system," said Arlington Fire Chief Don Crowson as he addressed Arlington City Council members on Tuesday. Through the course of their investigation, fire officials determined more than 42,000 gallons of fracking fluid escaped into the city's storm water system. That doesn't include additional fines Vantage had to pay for three citations the city issued following the incident. Crowson did not mince words, though, when he discussed Vantage's decision to wait nearly two hours before reporting the leak to 911. In the meantime, drilling operations remain shut down and will not resume until the city does a final inspection and the folks across the street and those affected are given official notification.

– A massive leak of fracking fluid poured into the streets of Arlington, Texas, two months ago and forced the evacuation of a hundred homes. Now city officials have taken Vantage Energy to task for its "unacceptable" handling of the 43,000-gallon spill, WFAA reports. During a city council meeting yesterday, it emerged that Vantage had taken nearly two hours to call 911 despite the risk of a gas leak. "This is unacceptable behavior," says an Arlington city council member. According to Fire Chief Don Crowson, the two-hour delay was no joke: "We’re not kidding around about the 911 issue," he tells the Star-Telegram during a break in city council. "It could have ended in a bad outcome. Two hours’ advance notice could have helped a lot." Still, officials say the environmental damage was not extensive and Vantage has been cooperative. So what happened, exactly? According to the city's report, a Vantage well site sprung a leak on April 11, which allowed fracking water and chemicals to boil up into Arlington's streets, storm sewers, and streams. Because the fracking fluid had been fracturing shale and freeing gas under high pressure, natural gas could have leaked at any time. Now WFAA says a 1,500-gallon spill occurred at the same location a month before, and NBC-Dallas/Fort Worth reports that the site is close to reopening. "I just assumed this was a residential area and it would be free from industrial hazardous operations," says a resident after hearing about the earlier spill. "Now we see it's not."

As she scrolled through her text messages with Paul Gonzales, the woman, who asked to be identified as Beth, said she thought she was just going on a typical blind date. Beth, who wanted to protect her identity, said she met Gonzales on the dating app Bumble. The plan was a romantic first date at a restaurant in Long Beach. “[He was] very complimentary, very chatty, seemed to have similar interests,” she said. One of them says he showed up “very complimentary” at a “romantic” restaurant in Long Beach, but things got weird really fast: He ordered more than $100 worth of food, including an extra entrée he claimed was necessary because he’s “a bodybuilder.” On that occasion, he disappeared during an alleged bathroom trip. And I even texted him, ‘Is everything OK?’ And obviously he never responded,” she said. The woman acknowledges she is very embarrassed but said she came forward after seeing another women tell her similar story on Wednesday evening on the KCAL9 News at 10 p.m. “He had an appetizer, he ordered a steak. Not surprisingly at all, Gonzales has a police record with multiple misdemeanors, two warrants out for his arrest, and once even committed something called a “snip and ditch,” which involved him fleeing a hair salon still wearing a smock.

– Paul Gonzales' approach to dating is similar to that of many men. He meets women online and invites them out to dinner. But here's where he allegedly diverges: According to CBS Los Angeles, 44-year-old Gonzales has been dining and dashing at area restaurants, leaving behind unsuspecting women he's asked out on blind dates. CBS reported in August that Gonzales had left two women to pay the bill after walking out on restaurant dates last summer. One of the women described how he'd eaten $100 worth of food at a restaurant in Long Beach—explaining he had to order two entrees because he's a bodybuilder—before saying he was going to the bathroom. She never saw him again. Now, the man Grub Street identifies as perhaps "the world's worst dinner date" appears to have struck again. A woman, identified by WTOL as Beth, says she met "Dave Gonzales" on Bumble before agreeing to dinner at a restaurant in Pasadena. Gonzales ordered "a glass of pinot, a Caesar salad with a side of shrimp, a steak, and a baked potato" and ate most of the meal before excusing himself to take a phone call, Beth says. He never returned, a text went unanswered, and his Bumble profile was later removed, adds Beth, who soon after learned of Gonzales' alleged notoriety. She says she wants his "disgusting" ruse to stop. According to police, Gonzales has also walked out of a salon, still clad in a smock, without paying for a haircut and color. He's wanted on two bench warrants as a result of misdemeanor charges, including petty theft. (This blind date was more shocking.)

WTF?! Howard Stern recently completed the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and shared a video of the do-gooder act on YouTube. While Stern doing the bone-chilling charitable act is nothing out of the ordinary, you may be scratching your head when you hear who he nominates to undertake the challenge next. "Hey everybody, it's Howard Stern ready to take the Ice Bucket Challenge," a shirtless Stern says in the video. "I'm accepting the challenge of...who challenged me? Matt Lauer and Jennifer Aniston."

– Howard Stern has nominated an interesting trio to complete the ice bucket challenge after him. Trouble is, one of them is dead, reports E! Online. In a bizarre video posted to YouTube yesterday, a bare-chested Stern plops an ice cube into a shot glass of water, then pours it over his head, immediately succumbing to mock shivers before hopping off camera. But first he challenges the very much alive Barbara Walters and Mark Consuelos, plus the quite dead Casey Kasem, to douse themselves with ice water next. Stern is aware of Kasem's death at age 82, E! notes, as he's discussed it on his radio show.

Mr Justice Peter Smith was furious at BA after his luggage went missing on a flight from Florence Tim Boyle/Getty Images The judge who stepped down from a £3 billion dispute involving British Airways after complaining about his lost luggage is being investigated by judicial conduct authorities. The case stems from a European Commission ruling that BA and a number of other airlines colluded to fix air cargo charges, with the firms now being sued by hundreds of companies for losses and damages. But Mr Justice Smith went on to raise the matter in court, threatening to order BA’s chief executive to appear in front of him to explain how a whole aeroplane’s luggage could go missing He told BA’s legal team, led by Jon Turner QC: “Right, Mr Turner, here is a question for you: what happened to [the] luggage?” But when the barrister replied that they were not dealing with that issue Mr Justice Smith persisted with his line of questioning, saying: “I am asking you – what has happened to the luggage?” Mr Turner again declined to address his request, at which point Mr Justice Smith warned: “In that case, do you want me to order your chief executive to appear before me today?” Despite being told it would not be appropriate to discuss a personal dispute, the judge persisted: “What is inappropriate is the continued failure of your clients to explain a simple question, namely, what happened to the luggage? He continued: “I do not believe for one minute that the reasonably minded observer…would think that merely because I have raised issues over the non delivery of my luggage of itself should lead to the possibility of bias.” He also warned BA that he would continue his investigation into what happened to the bags “in a private capacity” and “with the vigour for which I am known”.

– Anyone whose luggage has been lost by an airline now has a patron saint in the form of Justice Peter Smith in Britain. When lawyers for British Airways showed up in his court to argue a $4.6 billion price-fixing case, Smith had smaller fish to fry: He wanted to know why the airline lost his luggage on a recent trip to Italy, reports the Legal Cheek blog. The questioning of BA counsel Jon Turner is priceless, as relayed by the Independent: "Mr Turner, here is a question for you. What happened to [the] luggage?” When Turner replies that they're actually in court for a different matter, Smith won't be put off: “In that case, do you want me to order your chief executive to appear before me today?” Turner again tries to deflect the questioning, but Smith responds, “What is inappropriate is the continued failure of your clients to explain a simple question: namely, what happened to the luggage? It has been two weeks since that happened now." This goes on for a while, and the BA lawyers ask Smith to recuse himself from the case they're supposed to be arguing because he's biased. Smith reluctantly agrees to do so. Entertaining yes, but whether it was good judgeship remains to be seen—the Times of London reports that judicial conduct authorities are investigating. The same judge once inserted a secret message ("Smithy Code") into his ruling in a copyright case involving the Da Vinci Code, notes the Telegraph. (If you'd like to be berated by an American judge, try this.)

Slideshow: Tornadoes ravage Plains Sue Ogrocki / AP A monster tornado hit Moore, Okla., Monday afternoon, leaving scores dead as the threat for more storms continues. Launch slideshow About 9.5 million people remained under the threat of more "large and devastating" tornadoes Tuesday as the storm system that devastated the suburbs of Oklahoma City moved east, forecasters warned. Weather Channel meteorologist Kevin Roth said early Tuesday that the threat area appeared to be east and south of Oklahoma City. "Tornadoes, damaging wind gusts and large hail are possible throughout the threat area," Roth said. More from weather.com The greatest tornado threat will exist in northeast Texas, far southeast Oklahoma, southwest Arkansas and northwest Louisiana. A few strong tornadoes are possible in those states. On Tuesday afternoon The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Bowie County, Texas, which borders Arkansas in the northeast part of the state. Michael Welch captures dramatic video of twister from a KFC parking lot in Newcastle, Oklahoma. Roth said that cities including Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Shreveport, Texarkana and Little Rock were among the cities "close to the the larger tornado threat." A tornado watch was issued for Dallas-Fort Worth as well as all of north and central Texas until 8 p.m. ET). The Dallas zoo closed Tuesday afternoon due to the forecast. Strong wind gusts have been reported in the area but so far no tornadoes. Areas of Arkansas were under a tornado watch until 11 p.m. "Another day of large and devastating tornadoes is possible this time from central/east Texas into central Arkansas," Roth said. "Severe threat continues farther to the east Wednesday, although the overall severity appears to be lower." Weather Channel forecaster Bill Karins told MSNBC that 9.5 million people lived in the area at most risk of more tornadoes. He said the likely pattern for twisters was the same as in recent days, with the biggest risk being in the late afternoon. The National Weather Service said storms were expected Tuesday "from the Great Lakes across the Mississippi River Valley and into central Texas." The agency issued a tornado watch late Monday for portions of east central Illinois, western and central Indiana, western Kentucky and southeast Missouri. The watch was in effect until 5 a.m. local time (6 a.m. According to Roth, severe storms appeared possible from southeast New York to east Maryland on Thursday. He added: "An early look at Memorial Day Weekend shows that most of the country should be quiet. The stormiest weather appears to be across the Plains and Midwest with scattered showers and thunderstorms." Related: NBC's Andrew Rafferty contributed to this report This story was originally published on

– The tornado threat isn't over: "Large and devastating" storms could continue today, forecasters say. "We could have a Round 3," says a CNN meteorologist. "Hopefully, it won't be as bad." But "tornadoes, damaging wind gusts, and large hail" could hit areas east and south of Oklahoma City, with cities from Dallas to Little Rock also at risk, says a Weather Channel forecaster. Some 9.5 million people could face further major tornadoes, a forecaster tells MSNBC, while CNN says 53 million could see severe weather today. Areas from Dallas to Shreveport face the biggest danger "from mid-afternoon to late evening hours," says another CNN expert. Storms could also strike "from the Great Lakes across the Mississippi River Valley and into central Texas," according to the National Weather Service. The threat moves further eastward tomorrow, "although the overall severity appears to be lower," adds a Weather Channel expert. Click for more.

The tread on four of the eight tires on a tour bus that slammed into a truck and killed 13 people on Interstate... (Associated Press) People gather at makeshift memorial at a tour bus stop in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Oct 25, 2016. Those identified by the Coroner's Office are: • Tony Mai, 50, of Los Angeles • Zoila Aguilera, 72, of Los Angeles • Conception Corvera, 57, of Palmdale • Dora Galvez de Rodriguez, 69, of Los Angeles • Ana Gomes de Magallon, 71, of Los Angeles • Milagros Gonzales, 72, of Los Angeles • Gustavo Green, 62, of Los Angeles • Isabel Jimenez Hernandez, 66, of Los Angeles • Yolanda Mendoza, 69, of Los Angeles • Rosa Ruiz, 53, of Los Angeles • Elvia Sanchez, 52, of Los Angeles • Aracely Tije, 63, of Los Angeles • Teodulo Vides, 59, of Los Angeles (who owned the bus company) All of the victims died at the scene, on the freeway about two miles east of the Highway 62 exit, according to the coroner.

– If tour bus company owner-driver Teodulo Elias Vides hadn't been one of 13 people killed in a horrific crash on Interstate 10 near Palm Springs, Calif., on Sunday, authorities would probably have some tough questions for him. Authorities say half the tires on the bus he was driving, including both steer axle tires, were worn down to an unsafe level, which would have been enough for inspectors to take the bus out of service, the AP reports. The bus, which was on its way to Los Angeles from the Red Earth Casino in Salton Sea Beach, plowed into the back of a big rig and it's not clear whether Vides attempted to brake first. The full National Transportation Safety Board investigation could take up to a year. Vides, 59, had been sued twice for negligence over incidents involving his USA Holiday company, which is listed as having just one bus, the Los Angeles Times reports. In a 2007 incident, three people died when a USA Holiday bus hit a Honda Civic on a freeway in Riverside, Calif. The company also received at least six "unsatisfactory" ratings from the California Highway Patrol for issues including maintenance, and Vides had several traffic citations on his record. The victims, whose ages range from 50 to 72, were mostly seated near the front of the bus, reports the Press Enterprise. Another 31 people were injured.

[SPOILER ALERT: Do not read until you have watched Sunday night’s episode of The Simpsons, titled “Clown in the Dumps.”] Say a prayer — Jewish, preferably—for Rabbi Hyman Krustofski, who passed away Sunday night on the season premiere of The Simpsons. So now, we gather here to mourn the loss of Krusty’s father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky (voiced by the great Jackie Mason), who’s been a part of the Simpsons universe since reuniting with his estranged, red-nosed son in 1991. RELATED Family Guy Meets The Simpsons: 14 Photos From the Crossover Episode Let’s begin with what I’m sure is the first question on all of your minds: Why Krusty’s dad? AL JEAN: I was just trying to think of a story and I thought, “It would be a good father-son story if the rabbi passed away and the last thing he said to his son was, “I think you’re eh.” That the last word that Krusty heard from his dad was “eh,” and that he had to try to reconcile himself with that, and try to find an answer for this lifetime relationship. But people misinterpreted “Clown in the Dumps,” and then once I was tied into this craziness, I said, “Okay, I guess we should go with it.” But the third thing is I think it just works as a sweet show, which is most important. Julie Kavner [who voices Marge] came up to me because she didn’t know, and she said “Who’s going to die?” And I said, “It’s Krusty’s dad and the last thing he says is, ‘Krusty, you’re eh,’ and she says “That’s a good story!” She might have been afraid that we were killing Selma or something—she didn’t know.” EW: Will we see a kinder, different Krusty in subsequent episodes? “One of the reasons Krusty’s been such a loose cannon is because his father disapproved of him, and he never felt like he got that sort of love that he wanted,” Jean says. … A little more.” RELATED The Simpsons EP on Season Premiere Death: ‘It’s An Emotional Story’ But fear not; despite this highly publicized death, Jean says the show is not going to go on a stunt-killing spree. What’s funny is at the [Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in July], we said, “Okay, we’ll make the title kind of easy and it should be really obvious,” so I said, “Clown in the Dumps.” And then there were people going, “(gasps) You’re killing Krusty?? “This show is always running in syndication, and we don’t want you to feel bad every time you see an old character that you loved.

– Fans of The Simpsons who thought they'd be yelling "Doh!" last night were ranting "Dud!" this morning. Viewers had been warned for months that what was rumored to be a major character would be killed off during the premiere of the show's 26th season last night, the Los Angeles Times reports. There was a character who kicked the cartoon bucket, but it wasn't exactly a major one: It was Rabbi Hyman Krustofski, Krusty the Clown's dad, voiced by comedian Jackie Mason, a character that only appeared in "a handful" of episodes, the Times notes. Reaction to the "Clown in the Dumps" episode ranged from mild, NPR-style disappointment to outright irritation: Tim Donnelly writes in the New York Post that the death (and preceding teasers) were "a lame play for attention by a show desperate to stay relevant." One Twitter user quoted in the Times complained, "Krusty's dad died... Um, Krusty had a Dad? Never heard of him. Wasted anticipation." Producer Al Jean insists he has always said the untimely death was "overhyped" and that he never promised it would be one of the more-popular characters. "I never said it’s an iconic character—I never used those words," he tells Entertainment Weekly. In fact, he assures fans that favorites will never be purposely annihilated before series' end. "We're never going to kill off Homer, or even Krusty," he tells TVLine. "This show is always running in syndication, and we don't want you to feel bad every time you see an old character that you loved."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration formally notified Congress on Wednesday of a $1.83-billion arms sale package for Taiwan, including two frigates, anti-tank missiles, amphibious assault vehicles and other equipment, drawing an angry response from China. The U.S. on Wednesday approved its first major sale of weapons to Taiwan in four years and shrugged off criticism that it had held up the proposed $1.83 billion deal to limit expected criticism from China. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. was in contact with both Taiwan and China about the sale, which he said was consistent with U.S. support for Taiwan's ability to defend itself under the Taiwan Relations Act. View all New York Times newsletters. ... There’s no need for it to have any derogatory effect on our relationship with China.” Kirby said Washington wanted to work to establish a “better, more transparent more effective relationship” with China in the region and had been in contact with both Taiwan and China on this on Wednesday. David McKeeby, another State Department spokesman, said the arms package included two Perry-class guided-missile frigates; $57 million of Javelin anti-tank missiles made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin; $268 million of TOW 2B anti-tank missiles and $217 million of Stinger surface-to-air missiles made by Raytheon, and $375 million of AAV-7 Amphibious Assault Vehicles.

– The US stands by the "one-China" policy, but that doesn't mean it can't sell weapons directly to Taiwan, citing ithe Taiwan Relations Act to ensure Taiwan can adequately defend itself—and China isn't happy about it. The Obama administration announced a $1.8 billion arms package sale to Congress on Wednesday, Reuters reports, including guided-missile frigates, anti-tank missiles, Amphibious Assault Vehicles, and $416 million worth of guns, ammo, and other supplies. The announcement came amid reports that the US had stalled the sale to avoid hearing about it from China, which still claims Taiwan as a territory, per the Wall Street Journal. Reuters notes the sale comes as US-China relations simmer over the latter's man-made islands in the South China Sea and US patrols in those waters. China notes it's going to sanction the companies involved in the sale (including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon), with a foreign ministry official telling Xinhua that the sale flouts international rules and "severely" damages China's sovereignty. "China's government and companies will not carry out cooperation and commercial dealings with these types of companies," a ministry spokesman says. A Pentagon spokesman gave the equivalent of an eyeroll Wednesday, per the New York Times, noting, "The Chinese can react to this as they see fit. … It's a [clear-eyed], sober view of an assessment of Taiwan's defense needs. … There's no need for it to have any derogatory effect on our relationship with China." Meanwhile, the AP notes that China has issued similar threats before, with "no evidence they've had any meaningful effect." (All this despite a lengthy handshake last month.)

James Holmes, the accused gunman in last Friday's midnight movie massacre in Colorado, mailed a notebook "full of details about how he was going to kill people" to a University of Colorado psychiatrist before the attack, and the parcel may have sat unopened in a mailroom for up to a week before its discovery Monday, a law enforcement source told FoxNews.com. "Inside the package was a notebook full of details about how he was going to kill people," the source told FoxNews.com. "There were drawings of what he was going to do in it -- drawings and illustrations of the massacre." Among the images shown in the spiral-bound notebook’s pages were gun-wielding stick figures blowing away other stick figures. The source said police and FBI agents were called to the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus in Aurora on Monday morning after the psychiatrist, who is also a professor at the school, reported receiving a package believed to be from the suspect. Although that package turned out to be from someone else and harmless, a search of the Campus Services' mailroom turned up another package sent to the psychiatrist with Holmes’ name in the return address, the source told FoxNews.com. A second law enforcement source said authorities got a warrant from a county judge and took the package away Monday night. When it was opened, its chilling contents were revealed. The first source on Tuesday told FoxNews.com the package had been in the mailroom since July 12, though another source who confirmed the discovery to FoxNews.com could not say if the package arrived prior to Friday's massacre. It was not clear why it had not been delivered to the psychiatrist. The notebook is now in possession of the FBI, sources told FoxNews.com. The University of Colorado Denver issued a statement Wednesday evening confirming that a suspicious package was found, but called the July 12 timeline "inaccurate." The university said it was delivered Monday and found on the same day. When told of the university's statement, a source said the package may have been postmarked on July 12, but arrived before the massacre. On Tuesday afternoon, in response to FoxNews.com’s request for comment prior to publication of this article, the same university spokeswoman, Jacque Montgomery, had said only that she was not aware of the contents of the package or who had sent it. The university also denied Wednesday that the package "sat on a loading dock," though there was no mention of a loading dock in the original FoxNews.com story. The story reported the package was instead found in a mailroom. Both of FoxNews.com's sources said the intended recipient of Holmes’ notebook was a professor who also treated patients at the psychiatry outpatient facility, located in Building 500, where the first suspicious package was delivered. It could not be verified that the psychiatrist had had previous contact with Holmes, who was a dropout from the school’s neuroscience doctoral program and had studied various mental health issues and ailments as part of his curriculum. Holmes is accused of killing 12 and injuring 58 at a midnight showing of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" at the Century 16 Theater in Aurora. Agent Dave Joly, of the FBI’s Denver Division, declined to comment on the matter, citing a gag order issued Monday by Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester. Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers' office and Aurora police also could not comment due to the gag order. Police believe the July 20 attack was meticulously planned. Holmes allegedly tossed tear gas canisters into the crowded theater, and then fired his 12-gauge shotgun at the ceiling before turning it on the crowd. As panicked movie watchers raced for the exits, he switched to a .40 Glock pistol and a .223 Smith & Wesson M&P semi-automatic with a high-capacity drum clip, sources told Fox News. The gun jammed, likely preventing far more deaths. After the gun jammed, Holmes allegedly walked out of the theater through the door he'd entered and was removing his body armor beside his car when he was confronted by the officers who took him down, the source said, adding that the gunman seemed surprised authorities arrived so quickly. Before mounting the horrific attack, Holmes allegedly booby-trapped his apartment and left music blasting, possibly to create a diversion that would occupy police and rescue personnel several miles away from the theater, the source said. Fox News has learned that the door was wired with a booby-trap and a backup system that would have triggered an explosive designed to "cut in half" the first person through the door. After that, explosions and flames would have likely consumed the entire building, presumably with the intention of trapping other residents as they slept and forcing a massive response of police and rescue personnel. Holmes, who made his first court appearance Monday and looked disoriented and disheveled, could face the death penalty. Editor's Note: This story was updated Wednesday evening to include a statement from the University of Colorado Denver, and a response to that statement from a FoxNews.com source. SEND TIPS TO NEWSMANAGER@FOXNEWS.COM

– Prosecutors have all but nixed James Holmes' reported offer of a guilty plea to dodge the death penalty. They're "extremely unlikely" to accept the proposal without "specific access to information" on Holmes that, so far, his team has refused to provide, they say, per the Denver Post. What's more, "there is not—and has never been—an actual or unqualified 'offer' to plead guilty," prosecutors wrote in an angry filing yesterday accusing Holmes' team of a misleading publicity stunt. The prosecutors' filing, signed by district attorney George Brauchler himself rather than a deputy, also took issue with defense suggestions about a lengthy series of pretrial hearings, among other concerns. Brauchler accused the defense of "an attempt to deliberately prejudice the public, witnesses, and victims against the People." Meanwhile, he called on the judge to reject a defense motion calling for action against the prosecution for allegedly leaking information to the press. Brauchler is poised to announce whether he'll seek the death penalty on Monday.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, starting Holy Week services leading to Easter, urged young people on Sunday to keep shouting and not allow the older generations to silence their voices or anesthetize their idealism. Pope Francis blesses faithful gathered to attend the Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 25, 2018 REUTERS/Tony Gentile Francis spoke a day after hundreds of thousands of young Americans and their supporters answered a call to action from survivors of last month’s Florida high school massacre and rallied across the United States to demand tighter gun laws. He did not mention the demonstrations. Catholic News Service (CNS) said Gabriella Zuniga, 16, and her sister Valentina, 15, both students from Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, where 17 people were killed in February, attended the service with their parents. CNS posted a photo of the two holding up signs in St. Peter’s Square, with one reading, “Protect Our Children, Not Our Guns.” The 81-year-old Francis led a long and solemn Palm Sunday service before tens of thousands in the square, many of them young people there for the Catholic Church’s World Day of Youth. Pope Francis holds palm as he leads the Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 25, 2018 REUTERS/Tony Gentile Carrying a woven palm branch known as a “palmurello,” Francis led a procession in front of the largest church in Christendom to commemorate the day the Bible says Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was hailed as a savior, only to be crucified five days later. “YOU HAVE IT IN YOU TO SHOUT” Drawing on biblical parallels, Francis urged the young people in the crowd not to let themselves be manipulated. “The temptation to silence young people has always existed,” Francis said in the homily of a Mass. “There are many ways to silence young people and make them invisible. Many ways to anesthetize them, to make them keep quiet, ask nothing, question nothing. There are many ways to sedate them, to keep them from getting involved, to make their dreams flat and dreary, petty and plaintive,” he said. “Dear young people, you have it in you to shout,” he told young people, urging them to be like the people who welcomed Jesus with palms rather than those who shouted for his crucifixion only days later. Slideshow (10 Images) “It is up to you not to keep quiet. Even if others keep quiet, if we older people and leaders, some corrupt, keep quiet, if the whole world keeps quiet and loses its joy, I ask you: Will you cry out?” The young people in the crowd shouted, “Yes!” While Francis did not mention Saturday’s marches in the United States, he has often condemned weapons manufacturing and mass shootings. Palm Sunday marked the start of a hectic week of activities for the pope. On Holy Thursday he is due to preside at two services, including one in which he will wash the feet of 12 inmates in a Rome jail to commemorate Jesus’ gesture of humility toward his apostles the night before he died. On Good Friday, he is due to lead a Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession at Rome’s Colosseum. On Saturday night he leads a Easter vigil service and on Easter Sunday he delivers his twice-yearly “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message.

– A day after hundreds of thousands of young people took to the streets to call for gun control, an old man used his bully pulpit to urge them to keep shouting, reports Reuters. Speaking at his Palm Sunday Mass, 81-year-old Pope Francis warned that "the temptation to silence young people has always existed," along with ways "to sedate them, to keep them from getting involved, to make their dreams flat and dreary, petty and plaintive." But, reports the AP, he told young people that "It is up to you not to keep quiet. Even if others keep quiet, if we older people and leaders, some corrupt, keep quiet, if the whole world keeps quiet and loses its joy, I ask you: Will you cry out?" The response from the crowd: "Yes!"

DENVER, March 24, 2015 -- Chocolate has many health benefits -- it can potentially lower blood pressure and cholesterol and reduce stroke risk. But just as connoisseurs thought it couldn't get any better, there's this tasty new tidbit: Researchers have found a way to make the treat even more nutritious -- and sweeter. They will describe their research here today at the 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. The meeting features nearly 11,000 reports on new advances in science and other topics. It is being held here through Thursday. Cocoa undergoes several steps before it takes shape as a candy bar. Workers cut down pods from cocoa trees, then split open the pods to remove the white or purple cocoa beans. They are fermented in banana-lined baskets for a few days and then set out to dry in the sun. Roasting, the next step, brings out the flavor. But some of the healthful polyphenols (antioxidants) are lost during the roasting process, so the researchers wanted to figure out a way to retain as much of the polyphenols and good flavors as possible. "We decided to add a pod-storage step before the beans were even fermented to see whether that would have an effect on the polyphenol content," says Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa, Ph.D., who is at the University of Ghana. "This is not traditionally done, and this is what makes our research fundamentally different. It's also not known how roasting affects polyphenol content." Afoakwa's team divided 300 pods into four groups that were either not stored at all or stored for three, seven or 10 days before processing. This technique is called "pulp preconditioning." After each storage period passed, fermentation and drying were done as usual. He reports that the seven-day storage resulted in the highest antioxidant activity after roasting. To assess the effects of roasting, the researchers took samples from each of the storage groups and roasted them at the same temperature for different times. The current process is to roast the beans for 10-20 minutes at 248-266 degrees Fahrenheit, he explains. Afoakwa's team adjusted this to 45 minutes at 242 degrees Fahrenheit and discovered that this slower roasting at a lower temperature increased the antioxidant activity compared to beans roasted with the conventional method. In addition, the beans that were stored and then roasted for 45 minutes had more polyphenols and higher antioxidant activity than beans whose pods were not stored prior to fermentation, says Afoakwa. He explains that pulp preconditioning likely allowed the sweet pulp surrounding the beans inside the pod to alter the biochemical and physical constituents of the beans before the fermentation. "This aided the fermentation processes and enhanced antioxidant capacity of the beans, as well as the flavor," he says. He adds that the new technique would be particularly useful for countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America where cocoa beans produce a chocolate with a less intense chocolate flavor and have reduced antioxidant activity. Looking to the future, he says the team will be studying in more detail the effects of roasting on the flavor of freshly picked compared to stored cocoa beans. They will be testing different temperatures and roasting and storing times to determine if even higher amounts of antioxidants can be retained through the process. The researchers acknowledge funding from the Belgium Government under the VLIR TEAM Cocoa Project between Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, and the University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana. A press conference on this topic will be held Tuesday, March 24, at 11 a.m. Mountain time in the Colorado Convention Center. Reporters may check-in at Room 104 in person, or watch live on YouTube http://bit. ly/ ACSLiveDenver . To ask questions, sign in with a Google account. ### The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 158,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio. To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org. Note to journalists: Please report that this research is being presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. Follow us: Twitter | Facebook Title Roasting effects on phenolic content and free-radical scavenging activities of pulp pre-conditioned and fermented cocoa (Theobroma cacao) beans Abstract Polyphenols are phytochemicals responsible for the astringency, bitterness, green flavours and antioxidant activities in cocoa (Theobroma cacao) beans. These are degraded during fermentation, drying and roasting affecting the antioxidant activity of the beans. However, the extent of degradation of phenolics during roasting remains unknown. This work was aimed at investigating the changes in total polyphenols, anthocyanins, o-diphenols and antioxidant activity (free-radical scavenging activities) during roasting of pulp pre-conditioned and fermented cocoa. A 4×4 full factorial design with the principal experimental factors as pod storage and roasting time were used. Samples were analyzed for total polyphenols, o-diphenols, anthocyanins and antioxidant activity using standard analytical methods. Variable decrease in total polyphenols, o-diphenols and anthocyanins were observed with increase in pod storage and roasting durations. However, variable trends were observed for the % free-radical scavenging activities. The total polyphenols, anthocyanins and o-diphenols in the cocoa beans after 45 minutes roasting decreased from 132.24 to 57.17 mg/g, 6.71 to 1.07 mg/kg and 15.94 to 8.25 mg/g respectively for 0, 3, 7 and 10 days pod storage treatments. The total polyphenols for the fermented, dried and unstored cocoa beans was 132.25 mg/g which reduced to 122.14 mg/g (7.642% degradation), 116.721 mg/g (11.7% degradation) and 92.22 mg/g (30.3% degradation) for pod stored for 3, 7 and 10 days respectively. Increasing roasting time caused continuous decreases in the % free-radical scavenging activity from 89.10% to 74.31% after 45 minutes for the unstored pods. Pulp pre-conditioning by pod storage and roasting duration could be used to reduce the astringency and bitterness caused by polyphenols, o-diphenols and anthocyanins in cocoa beans whilst increasing the antioxidant activity imparted by cocoa.

– One of your vices could one day be a little more virtuous: Scientists are today announcing that they've figured out how to make chocolate healthier. The findings will be detailed by researchers from Belgium's Ghent University and the University of Ghana at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver, and center around how antioxidant-rich the sweet is. As a press release explains, it all comes down to tweaking the process. Cocoa beans are removed from pods, fermented in baskets, sun-dried, and then roasted. It's during that last step, the roasting, that polyphenols, which act as antioxidants, are partially lost. In a bid to up the polyphenol content, researchers added a nontraditional step that "makes our research fundamentally different," explains Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa: pulp preconditioning. That simply means they stored the pods—in the case of their experiments, for zero, three, seven, or 10 days—before removing the beans and beginning the fermentation process. A sweet pulp rests between the pod and the beans, and Afoakwa believes the preconditioning gives the pulp time to affect those beans. Indeed, the researchers found that those stored for a week showed the highest antioxidant activity after roasting—which they also adjusted. Rather than heat the beans for the typical 10 to 20 minutes at 248-266 degrees, they lowered the temp to 242 and upped the roasting time to 45 minutes, and discovered that slower and lower was also best in terms of antioxidant activity. The researchers' abstract notes another benefit: "Pulp preconditioning and roasting duration could be used to reduce the astringency and bitterness," improving chocolate's flavor. (Also presented at the ACS meeting: what's really in your pot.)

“Do I like Donald Trump? More: White House departures: Who's been fired and who resigned The White House said he would not resign from the Office of Management and Budget. | Alex Wong/Getty Images White House Mulvaney called Trump a 'terrible human being' ahead of 2016 election Mick Mulvaney called then-candidate Donald Trump “a terrible human being” in a video from November 2016 that re-surfaced Friday, hours after the president named him as acting White House chief of staff. The remarks came one week before the presidential election during a debate between Mulvaney, then a Republican congressman from South Carolina, and his Democratic challenger at a middle school in York, South Carolina, according to The Daily Beast, which first published the footage. That’s it.” Revising America’s health care system, balancing the federal budget and other policy goals popular among his constituents could only be accomplished if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was defeated on Election Day, Mulvaney argued. But Mulvaney also said that Clinton was not a role model for his daughter, adding: “I don’t like her very much, either.” “We have perhaps two of the most flawed human beings running for president in the history of the country,” Mulvaney said. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Trump opponent Rick Perry called the future president’s campaign a “cancer on conservatism.” Perry now serves as President Trump’s Secretary of Energy. “Yes, I am supporting Donald Trump, but I’m doing so despite the fact that I think he’s a terrible human being,” he said, according to a report in The State newspaper. But the choice on the other side is just as bad.” Trump, in a tweet Friday, announced that Mulvaney would take over as his top aide following White House chief of staff John Kelly’s departure in January. https://t.co/C5q5csnhrlpic.twitter.com/IU5isoZRib — The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 15, 2018 Mulvaney ended up winning the election to retain his seat in the state's 5th Congressional District but was pulled into the Trump administration as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mick Mulvaney, the Office of Management and Budget director who President Donald Trump tweeted Friday would serve as acting chief of staff after John Kelly departs in January, has been a loyal Trump supporter—but he didn’t always like him so much. Mulvaney is far from the first person in the administration to openly criticize Trump before signing on for a job in his administration, but he is certainly one of the most high-ranking. In another post, the president continued: “....I look forward to working with him in this new capacity as we continue to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Mulvaney, 51, will take over the role from John Kelly, who is expected to leave by the end of the year.

– If you've ever called your boss a "terrible human being," it turns out you sort of have something in common with the president's next acting chief of staff. Mick Mulvaney, who was named as John Kelly's replacement on Friday, used those choice words in reference to Donald Trump one week before the 2016 election. Politico reports Mulvaney was up for re-election in the House (he won), and referred to Trump and Hillary Clinton during a South Carolina debate as "perhaps two of the most flawed human beings running for president in the history of the country" when asked whether he was throwing his support behind the GOP candidate. He zeroed in on Trump specifically, saying "Do I like Donald Trump? No" and noting he didn't see Trump as a role model for his sons. And there's this: "Yes, I am supporting Donald Trump, but I’m doing so as enthusiastically as I can, given the fact that I think he’s a terrible human being. But the choice on the other side is just as bad." USA Today reports it was only hours after the Mulvaney news broke on Friday that the Daily Beast posted video of those comments. Mulvaney himself had more positive words on Friday, tweeting, "This is a tremendous honor. I look forward to working with the President and the entire team. It’s going to be a great 2019!" (Mulvaney will hold onto his other jobs in the administration.)

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– The US and China have settled on a new round of sanctions against North Korea, and Pyongyang is responding by ratcheting up its usual bluster, threatening to cancel the 1953 ceasefire that ended the Korean War if sanctions go forward and US-South Korean military drills that began March 1 continue. Specifically, the North is warning of "surgical strikes at any time" and a "precision nuclear striking tool" that will seek to "advance our long-cherished wish for national reunification," reports the AP. The US-China deal is aimed at punishing Pyongyang over February's nuclear test, in a joint deal that heads to the UN Security Council today. In addition to new sanctions—whose specifics aren't yet known—the planned resolution enforces current ones, the Wall Street Journal reports. Right now, sanctions include a ban on ballistic missile and nuclear tests and a ban on the import of arms and luxury goods; some in the country face financial and travel restrictions, and the new measures could expand them. China was expected, however, to refuse an oil embargo, believing that such a blow to the North Korean economy could bring refugees to China. The sanctions deal is expected to be adopted this week, says a diplomat.

Samsung Electronics won a significant legal victory against Apple: a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling that threatens to halt U.S. sales of some older iPhones and iPads. The WSJ's Min-Jeong Lee has the story. Samsung Electronics Co. won a significant legal victory against Apple Inc. that threatens to halt the sale of some iPhones and iPads in the U.S. George Stahl explains the ramifications of a significant victory Samsung won over Apple in its patent case and how it is likely to result in a series of cross-licensing agreements between the companies. Photo: Getty Images. The U.S. International Trade Commission on Tuesday ruled that Apple violated a Samsung patent covering technology used to send information over wireless networks. Unless vetoed by President Barack Obama or blocked by an appeals court, the ruling would bar the importation of certain iPhones and iPads made to work on AT&T Inc.'s network. Among them are the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, the iPad 3G, the iPad 2 3G and the iPad 3. The latest Apple products, including the iPhone 5 and the fourth-generation of the iPad, were unaffected. Once close business partners, Samsung and Apple have become increasingly intense rivals, sparring over the market for smartphones around the globe, with much of the momentum accruing to Samsung in recent months. The rivalry has spilled into the courts, where barrages of competing patent claims have been lobbed in both directions. Last year, Apple won a jury trial and $1 billion in damages against Samsung over iPhone patents. Tuesday's ruling, which Apple has vowed to take to a federal appeals court, raises the incentives for the two sides to reach a more comprehensive settlement. But so far, both sides offered no hint at a settlement. The ruling also came on the day Mr. Obama took steps to rein in companies that buy and enforce patents rather than make their own products and services—firms known as patent trolls by their detractors. He is also trying to reduce the growing use of the ITC to settle patent disputes. The ITC, which has jurisdiction over certain trade practices, is an appealing legal option for patent holders, particularly tech companies, because the trade body can issue orders banning the importation of products that infringe upon another company's patents. Legal observers say it is easier to win an import ban at the ITC than it is to win a federal court ruling that would block product sales. The ITC's decision against Apple was largely unexpected, particularly because the initial review by a judge at the agency had found Apple's products weren't infringing Samsung's patents. The patent itself is a highly technical one, described in patent documents as "an apparatus and method for encoding/decoding a transport format combination indicator (TFCI) in a CDMA mobile communication system." "We are disappointed that the Commission has overturned an earlier ruling and we plan to appeal," said Kristin Huguet, an Apple spokeswoman. She said the decision "has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the United States." Apple doesn't detail sales for each individual product in its quarterly reports, but it has said that the iPhone makes up more than half of its global revenue. Sales in America, where the ban would take place, represented less than a third of overall sales. And aside from the iPhone 4S, which Apple said is popular with customers, the company hasn't detailed sales of its older models. Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, estimates that world-wide sales of the iPhone 4—which stands to be affected by the ITC order—brought Apple $3.4 billion in revenue in the quarter ended in March. That compares with his estimate of $14.9 billion for the newer iPhone 5, which isn't affected. The iPhone 4 has been marketed as a low-cost option alongside newer models. AT&T offers it for as little as 99 cents with a new contract. An AT&T spokesman didn't return a request for comment. Apple's Ms. Huguet added that "Samsung is using a strategy which has been rejected by courts and regulators around the world." Adam Yates, a spokesman for Samsung, said the decision affirmed the company's patents. "We believe the ITC's Final Determination has confirmed Apple's history of free-riding on Samsung's technological innovations," he said. AP The Apple store in Santa Monica, Calif. The ITC ruled against a key Apple theory across its recent litigation, which seeks to limit plaintiffs from using a broad class of patents to win injunctions against sales of infringing products. Such patents are submitted to industry groups that are setting key technology standards, and are deemed as essential to create products in certain categories—such as creating handsets that can communicate using a particular generation of cellular networks. Apple has argued that in return for becoming part of an industry standard, companies usually promise those groups to license use of their patented technology under fair and reasonable terms. Apple says Samsung isn't doing that. But the ITC said Apple's argument wasn't valid, potentially hurting Apple's continuing efforts to change the way standards-based patents are used in legal cases. Brian Love, an assistant professor of law at Santa Clara University School of Law, said it was unclear whether Apple could find a technical workaround for the ruling. He said that companies are sometimes "overzealous" about labeling patents as essential parts of technology standards. Kevin Taylor, an intellectual property lawyer at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, said this is "a solid win for Samsung." But he said whether it would set any precedent would depend on the outcome of any appeal in federal court. He said it wouldn't be unusual for a court to temporarily delay the ruling from going into effect, allowing Apple to continue selling its devices during the appeal, which could take months or longer. But, Mr. Taylor said, if "upheld on appeal, Apple has a big problem." Lyle Vander Schaaf, an intellectual property lawyer at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, noted that it is rare for federal appeals courts to delay exclusion orders during appeals. And presidential vetoes are even more rare. There hasn't been a veto "since the Carter administration," he said. "On first blush, this seems like a really impactful decision." —Don Clark and Brent Kendall contributed to this article. Write to Ian Sherr at ian.sherr@dowjones.com and Jessica E. Lessin at jessica.lessin@wsj.com

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

Hans Riegel, who made the rainbow-colored, fruit-flavored, teddy bear-shaped gelatin sweets known as gummi bears a global favorite, died on Tuesday in Bonn. In his 67 years at the helm, he transformed his father's small candy company into a global sweets giant with an estimated €2 billion ($2.7 billion) in annual sales of gummy bears and other candies in 110 countries around the world. He was divorced and had no children. Riegel’s father -- Hans Riegel Sr. -- founded the confectionery company in Bonn, Germany, in 1920, and soon after created the chewy, fruit-flavored bear candies that eventually became a household name worldwide. The cause was heart failure, Haribo, the company he led for nearly seven decades, said in a statement, adding that he had surgery to remove a benign tumor in his brain several months ago. The heart failure was sudden and unexpected, according to the company. Hans and Paul Riegel each owned 50% of Haribo, though Paul died in 2009 and left his share of the company to his heirs.

– He was the world's first and surely last "gummi bear magnate," as the headline in Der Spiegel puts it. Hans Riegel, who ran Germany's Haribo candy company and made the chewy little bears a worldwide phenomenon, has died at age 90. The bears were a concoction of his father, the founder of Haribo, but it was the younger Riegel whose deft marketing turned them into a global hit. (Gummi trivia: The jellied bears were originally made of licorice, notes the New York Times.) Riegel and his brother first sold them as "gold bears" in 1960s before changing the name. They introduced them throughout Europe in the 1970s and then set up Haribo of America in Baltimore in the early 1980s. It all paid off: Forbes says the company's revenues are north of $3 billion today. "I just wanted to make something of my father's life work," Riegel once said.

The first review, performed by retired AP executive editor Kathleen Carroll and Boston University dean of the College of Communication Thomas Fiedler, is of Mr. Cullen’s column work and broadcast appearances in the aftermath of the April 15, 2013, Boston Marathon bombings. The reviewers found Mr. Cullen’s writing to be “among the most appealing that appears in the Globe -- precise, well observed and often standing up for the forgotten man and woman with profound effect.” But they also found that his columns at times employed “journalistic tactics that unnecessarily raise questions about his accuracy” that “may open the door to providing seriously misleading information to the public.” Our review leads us to a conclusion that Mr. Cullen damaged his credibility. “These were serious violations for any journalist and for The Globe, which relies on its journalists to adhere to the same high standards of ethics and accuracy when appearing on other platforms.” Mr. Cullen, part of the Globe team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for reporting about sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, will work as general assignment reporter for two months before returning to his role as a columnist. He will also be barred from giving outside broadcast interviews for six months, after which time his appearances will face “heightened editorial scrutiny,” the statement said.

– The Boston Globe has suspended columnist Kevin Cullen without pay for three months after inconsistencies were found in his remarks following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Per the AP, newspaper publisher John Henry and editor Brian McGrory announced Friday an independent review found Cullen likely fabricated some anecdotes he shared in interviews after the bombing, which killed three people and injured hundreds more. The review also noted an uncorrected error in one of Cullen's marathon bombing columns but didn't find signs of fabrication in other works. Cullen, who was part of the Globe team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2014, didn't immediately comment, but Henry and McGrory say he has apologized. Cullen has been on paid leave since April, when Boston sports radio station WEEI noted inconsistencies in Cullen's work and the paper launched its investigation. Per the New York Times, Cullen described in an interview the tale of a firefighter he claimed to have spoken with. He said the firefighter described rescuing a 7-year-old girl whose lower leg had been blown off. However, the firefighter denied having ever spoken to Cullen. The Times also says Cullen, while speaking on a panel in 2013, claimed he witnessed a firefighter outside a bar on the phone with a fellow firefighter, who was apparently traumatized by the bombing, to come out for the night. The Globe has called the account "problematic" and calls into question whether it occurred at all. "Our review also leads us to believe that Mr. Cullen did not commit irrevocable damage," the Globe said in a statement Saturday. "He has also acknowledged his failures and the issues they have created."

Five guilty of killing Russian journalist Politkovskaya Anna Politkovskaya was best known for her reports in the Novaya Gazeta newspaper Continue reading the main story Related Stories A court in Moscow has found five men guilty of the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006. Politkovskaya's killing drew attention to the risks faced by Russians who challenge the authorities and deepened Western concerns for the rule of law under President Vladimir Putin, who was then serving his second term. Another jury's 2009 acquittal of three of the men who were found guilty of murder on Tuesday embarrassed Russian prosecutors and was later thrown out by the Supreme Court, which ordered a new trial. She welcomed the jury's verdict but said the men found guilty "are only a few of the people who should be brought to justice", RIA reported. A spokesman for the federal Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin, said the authorities were doing all they can to identify and track down the person behind the killing, Russian news agencies reported. Politkovskaya, a crusading reporter for the liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta who worked almost full-time on documenting allegations of human rights violations in the breakaway province of Chechnya, was 48 when she was gunned down in the elevator of her apartment building in October 2006. Lawyers for the defendants - Rustam Makhmudov, his brothers Ibragim and Dzhabrail, their uncle Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, and former Moscow police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov - said they would appeal. The five men will be sentenced by a judge at a later date and could face life in prison.

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

Portugal has joined Greece and Ireland on the casualty list of Europe's sovereign debtors after its prime minister, José Sócrates, requested a European Union bailout. The dramatic decision came in the middle of a political crisis that has left the country in limbo and with spiralling interest rates on its debt. "I want to inform the Portuguese that the government decided today to ask ... for financial help, to ensure financing for our country, for our financial system and for our economy," Sócrates said in a televised address. "This is an especially grave moment for our country," he added. "Things will only get worse if nothing's done." Sócrates said that the bailout, which analysts said could be between €70bn (£61bn) and €80bn was "the last resort". The move was immediately welcomed in Brussels. "This is a responsible move by the Portuguese government for the sake of economic stability in the country and in Europe," the European commission's economic and monetary affairs commissioner, Olli Rehn, told Reuters. Sócrates did not say how much aid Portugal had asked for, but promised to negotiate the best possible conditions. Analysts said Portugal was expected to need up to €80bn, an amount the EU's bailout fund, the European financial stability facility, can easily cover. The European commission's president, José Manuel Barroso, promised a swift response. Portugal's troubles differ from Ireland, which pledged to cover huge losses at its banks, and Greece, which lied about its debt. Instead, it had allowed debt to mushroom during a decade in which its economy grew at just 0.7% a year. The yield or interest on Portugal's 10-year bonds, which stood at 5.8% a year ago, was at 8.54% on Wednesday. Economists had said that anything over 7% was too high for Portugal, which has growing unemployment and is predicted to enter a double-dip recession this year. Ratings agencies had downgraded Portugal's bonds to a notch above junk level and even its own bankers warned they could not keep buying national debt as they tussled with liquidity problems of their own. The caretaker government immediately blamed opposition parties for rejecting an austerity package on 23 March, bringing Sócrates's socialist government down and forcing 5 June elections. It came on top of three earlier packages of cuts and tax hikes. "The country was irresponsibly pushed into a difficult situation in the financial markets," Portugal's finance minister, Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, told the Jornal de Negócios shortly before the announcement. The call for help comes from a weak caretaker government which may hand over the reins of the country to a minority centre-right government led by the Social Democrats after the elections. Teixeira dos Santos said that other political parties would have to fall into line with the bailout request. "Faced with a difficult situation that could have been avoided, I believe it is necessary to use the financial mechanisms that are available in Europe within the terms of the current political situation," he said. "That will need, as well, the involvement and compromise of the main political forces and institutions in the country." Social democrat leader Pedro Passos Coelho said his party supported the aid request. "This needs to be seen as the first step in not hiding the truth," he said. The government had admitted earlier on Wednesday that the political crisis was causing "irreparable damage" as borrowing costs rocketed. Portugal sold a billion euros in short-term debt yesterday but saw the yield on 6-month and 12-month bills hit spikes of over 5%. Portugal admitted last week that the 2010 budget deficit had been 8.6 percent of gross domestic product, far above its 7.3 percent target. The caretaker government still claimed this year's goal of 4.6% would be met. As Portugal became the third eurozone domino to fall, attention was expected to switch to Spain, though it has seen its debt yields improve recently as austerity measures bring down its deficit and growth returns. International Monetary Fund boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn told El País newspaper yesterday that Spain - a far larger and more important economy - was safe from a bail-out.

– Portugal is biting the bullet and admitting that it desperately needs a massive bailout from its European Union partners to stay afloat. Caretaker prime minister Jose Socrates told the nation that the decision to seek a bailout was "a last resort" as interest rates on its short-term debt skyrocket, reports the Guardian. Analysts believe the bailout will cost the EU some $114 billion. Portugal, which will have to commit to an economic adjustment program in exchange for the funds, joins Ireland and Greece on the eurozone's casualty list. The bailout request was widely expected, and analysts see it as a positive move because it will prevent a Portuguese collapse that could have made Spain the next target for markets searching for signs of weakness. "This is good news. We've been saying for a while that Portugal's finances were not sustainable at these rates," a Goldman Sachs economist tells Reuters. "We think the contagion stops here."

In the past year, as the trickle of new refugees entering the country slowed to a crawl, thousands of Syrian refugees have become trapped in an isolated no man's land between Syria and Jordan known as "the berm." The comments by government spokesman Mohammed Momani... (Associated Press) AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan is willing to allow regular aid drops by crane from its territory to tens of thousands of Syrians stranded on its sealed desert border, the government spokesman said on Monday. "The new mechanism will be delivering aid on the berm through cranes, and the aid will be given to community leaders of groups of Syrians so they can distribute it accordingly," he said, adding it would be up to the aid agencies to decide on the pace of shipments. In early August, United Nations aid agencies were forced to use a crane to lower 650 metric tons of food and hygiene kits to the stranded refugees. In the early years of the Syrian war, refugees could easily flee to neighbouring countries, with about 2.5 million escaping to Turkey, 1.2 million to Lebanon and more than 650,000 to Jordan.

– Since mid-2014, about 75,000 Syrian refugees have been in limbo in the "berm"—what the Guardian describes as the "no-man's land" at the border between Jordan and Syria. And since June of this year, those refugees have been living in what Doctors Without Borders has called "some of the most extreme conditions on Earth," enduring temperatures over the summer that surpassed 120 degrees Fahrenheit and watching humanitarian supplies and food come to a halt in June after Jordan cut off deliveries following a car bomb. But government spokesman Mohammad Momani told the Jordan Times on Sunday that while the borders remain sealed, a new method of delivery will be used: cranes that will lower the goods from the northeastern side of the border to the other side (there was a one-off delivery like this in August). And it sounds like the aid is coming just in time. Per the AP, the refugees are living in tents and suffering not only from hunger and exposure to the elements, but also from serious illness, including whooping cough and hepatitis. Last month, Amnesty International released chilling video footage and satellite images that showed graves and burial mounds in the berm, per the Washington Post. "Many people have died," a refugee living in one of the camps told the group, saying conditions were "awful." "The mood among the people … is below zero." Two anonymous aid officials tell the news agency there's been no final confirmation, but Momani says the plans are being put in place to expedite the deliveries. "The aid will be given to community leaders of groups of Syrians so they can distribute it accordingly," he says, noting the aid groups will make the call on the pace of the deliveries. (One star offered comfort to refugees: Lindsay Lohan.)

The report, published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), shows that a command and control unit tasked with coordinating "the operational functions of the nation's nuclear forces" still uses 8-inch floppy disks and runs on an IBM / Series 1 computer — a model that was first produced in 1976. According to the GAO, taxpayers spent $61.2 billion last year to maintain outdated systems, while just $19.2 billion went toward updating federal technology. "This system remains in use because, in short, it still works," Pentagon spokeswoman Lt Col Valerie Henderson told the AFP news agency. The Pentagon says the nuclear command and control unit will phase out floppy disks by the end of 2017, and that it will fully modernize the system by 2020.

– To anyone born after 1995, the floppy disk is better known as that thing that resembles the "save" icon. To the Pentagon, it's the gizmo that controls America's nukes. A report from the Government Accountability Office finds US government agencies spend $60 billion a year operating and maintaining outdated systems—three times more than is spent on upgrades, per CNN. One such system: the Pentagon's IBM Series-1 computer which uses 8-inch floppy disks "in a legacy system that coordinates the operational functions of the nation's nuclear forces," including intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear bombers. For youngsters, the big floppy disks were the precursor to the 3.5-inch ones, before the CD came around. "This system remains in use because, in short, it still works," a Pentagon rep tells the AFP, per the BBC, which notes you'd need 130,000 8-inch floppy disks to get the storage capacity of a 32GB memory stick. "However, to address obsolescence concerns, the floppy drives are scheduled to be replaced with secure digital devices by the end of 2017," the rep says. Other system upgrades are expected by 2020. "Maybe we'll have Nintendo Gameboys controlling our nukes by the next presidential election," quips CNN's Jake Tapper. The Treasury, Commerce, and Veteran Affairs departments should also look into upgrading. The report finds all three use computer code introduced in the 1950s, per the Verge. (Floppy disks are partly to blame for lost scientific data.)

Article Excerpt Europeans traded blame Monday over the source of a mysterious bacterial outbreak that has killed 14 people and sickened hundreds across the continent. The outbreak forced Russia to ban imports of some fresh vegetables from Spain and Germany out of fear they could be contaminated, while Austrian authorities sent inspectors to supermarkets to make sure Spanish vegetables suspected of contamination ...

– A deadly E. coli outbreak in Europe linked to tainted cucumbers and other vegetables is getting worse, report the Wall Street Journal and AP: The toll: Sixteen people are dead (15 in Germany and one woman in Sweden who had just traveled to Germany); more than 1,000 people are sick in Germany alone, with 373 having the most serious form of E. coli. Hundreds more cases are reported throughout Europe. The source: Germany blames cucumbers from Spain, specifically the Almeria and Malaga regions. A third batch from the Netherlands or Denmark is under investigation. Spain angrily denies being the source, and EU officials say the vegetables could have become tainted anywhere along the supply chain. The fallout: Russia has banned some imports from Spain and Germany (and may expand it to all EU nations); Italy, Austria, and other nations have stopped short of that but are ramping up inspections at supermarkets.

These are the findings of a preliminary study presented at the British Psychological Society’s Annual Conference in Brighton on Wednesday 3 May 2017, by Dr Martin Graff from University of South Wales. Read: Why Your Mid-20s Is the Best Age For Making Random Choices Researchers enlisted 340 participants who completed personality questionnaires, in addition to answering how much they agreed or disagreed with 25 statements about self worth and finding value from social media. The study also found that people who went to extremes to receive more love, going as far as paying or asking others to like their posts, were more likely to suffer from low self-esteem and to be less trusting. The same was true of those who admitted deleting posts or making a picture their profile picture on account of the number of likes it received. The results also showed that receiving likes didn't actually make people feel any better about themselves or make them feel better when they were down. Examples included assertions like, “The attention I get from social media makes me feel good” and “I consider someone popular based on the amount of likes they get.” Pixabay "The proliferation of social media use has led to general concerns about the effects on our mental health,” said lead study author Dr. Martin Graff, Ph.D and psychology researcher at the University of South Wales, in a statement.

– Teens aren't necessarily as in love with social media as they're portrayed to be. The results of an AP poll released last week show that nearly 60% of teens in the US have taken social media breaks—most of the time voluntary ones that last at least a week. Now researchers at the University of South Wales have presented findings to the British Psychological Society that suggest even what are perceived to be straightforward perks of social media—such as getting attention via likes—may not exactly elevate the end user's mood. "Although this is just a relatively small-scale study, the results indicate that the ways we interact with social media can affect how we feel, and not always positively," one researcher says. To test this, the team reports in a Science Daily news release that it recruited 340 participants on Twitter and Facebook to complete personality questionnaires and then agree or disagree with 25 statements. Key findings include that people who go out of their way to rack up more likes tend to have low self-esteem and be less trusting of others, and that those likes don't actually lift their mood or how they see themselves. Previous research has looked not at more likes, but at more time, reports Medical Daily. It cites a study published in 2016 that surveyed 19- to 32-year-olds and found "individuals in the highest quartile of [social media] site visits per week ... had significantly increased odds of depression." (Young people average at least an hour a day on social media.)

A new North Korean propaganda video shows the U.S. Capitol being hit by a missile. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports. An image of the U.S. Capitol being hit by an explosion has been posted on a North Korean propaganda website. The video, published by the semi-official Uriminzokkiri agency and posted on its YouTube account, at first shows still images of North Korean artillery, missiles and soldiers. It then moves on to film of numerous missiles being fired, before showing what appears to be a gun sight zeroing in on the White House and then the U.S. Capitol. "The White House is caught in the panoramic sight of a (North Korean) long-range missile. This hotbed of war is in the scope of a nuclear bomb blow," a caption on the video says, according to a translation by the South Korean news agency Yonhap. An explosion hits the dome of the Capitol building, leaving a gaping hole. The four-minute film then continues with yet more images of rockets being fired. A video showing an American city that looked like New York engulfed in flames after a missile attack was posted on the same website last month. Yonhap via EPA An image taken from a North Korean propaganda website Monday appears to show the U.S. Capitol -- wrongly identified as the White House -- being hit by a missile. It was part of a dream sequence in which a photographer circles the earth in a fictional North Korea space shuttle. It was accompanied by an instrumental version of the song “We are the World.” "Black smoke is seen somewhere in America," text that accompanied the video said. "It seems that the nest of wickedness is ablaze with the fire it started." 'Petulant child' Tension has been high on the Korean Peninsula since the North carried out a rocket test in December and then a nuclear bomb test in February. It also took the opportunity to threaten South Korea with “final destruction” during a United Nations Conference on Disarmament last month. A propaganda video posted on YouTube by the North Korea government shows a missile launch and a city that appears to be New York, in flames. NBC's Brian Williams reports. And then on March 9, the North threatened to exercise its “right to a pre-emptive nuclear attack" as new sanctions were unanimously agreed by the United Nations Security Council. Heather Williams, a research fellow at the U.K.’s Chatham House website, said North Korea was “almost like a petulant child,” constantly wanting to remind people of its existence by acting out. She said images like the Capitol and New York explosions fitted the theme of previous propaganda from Pyongyang, but added “at the same time, it’s a more serious situation than we have seen in quite a while.” “It is a reminder of the situation and that things could escalate,” she said. Williams said Kim Jong Un was a “young, new leader” who still needed to “prove himself” to the country’s powerful military. “My take is that it is overwhelmingly bluster for domestic reasons, not international ones,” she said. Last week, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told Congress he was "very concerned" about North Korea's recent rhetoric as well as the rocket and nuclear bomb tests, The Associated Press reported. "These programs demonstrate North Korea's commitment to develop long-range missile technology that could pose a direct threat to the United States, and its efforts to produce and market ballistic missiles raise broader regional and global security concerns," Clapper told the Senate Intelligence committee. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Related: Kim Jong Un supervises North Korea artillery drills near disputed border with South Video: Kim Jong Un directs army to 'annihilate the enemy' North Korea's poets of propaganda stay true to their muse despite world's laughter

– Apparently New York in flames was not enough. Now a quasi-official North Korean news agency has posted a new video—this one of the US Capitol exploding, NBC News reports. Intercut with images of North Korean artillery and missiles, the video also shows a target homing in on the White House. "The White House is caught in the panoramic sight of a long-range missile," reads a caption. "This hotbed of war is in the scope of a nuclear bomb blow." The video comes after months of alarming moves by Pyongyang. The North has tested a rocket and a nuclear weapon, threatened to nuke the US, and announced the end of the armistice that has kept peace on the Korean peninsula. One analyst blames the escalation on new leader Kim Jong Un's need to "prove himself" to North Korea's military: "My take is that it is overwhelmingly bluster for domestic reasons, not international ones," she says. (Click to see the video of New York being firebombed, accompanied by an instrumental version of "We Are the World.")

He was born Shepsel Ber Nudelman on Dec. 8, 1930, in the Bronx, the son of Orthodox Jews who had emigrated from Russia. (He adopted the first and middle names Sherwin Bernard when he went to kindergarten.) His childhood was spent in a tiny South Bronx apartment with his parents, his older brother, his maternal grandmother and a maiden aunt, in an atmosphere permeated with sickness and death. A brother died before Dr. Nuland was born, and at age 3 he was hospitalized for diphtheria. His mother, the emotional center of his family, died of colon cancer when he was 11. In his memoir, “Lost in America” (2003), he recalled with striking vividness the bad smells and bloody pads that came from his mother’s room. Dr. Nuland’s adolescent years were dominated by his father, Meyer Nudelman, a garment worker who was incapacitated by chronic illness and physical infirmities; he could not walk more than a short distance without his son’s help. Resisting a new way of life, the father never learned to read or write English — Yiddish was the predominant language at home — and he terrified his family with explosive rages. Dr. Nuland regarded him with fear and shame, emotions that would take a deep psychological toll. While still in high school, Dr. Nuland and his older brother changed their names from Nudelman, separating themselves from a weak, angry man who, Dr. Nuland wrote, represented “everything I so desperately wanted to be rid of.” They chose a name first adopted by a cousin, Willie Nuland, a physician who looked after the boys’ parents when they were ill, and whose compassion and competence pointed Dr. Nuland toward his career. Dr. Nuland received his bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1951 and went on to study medicine at Yale, attracted by its distance — geographically and culturally — from the old-world Jewishness in which he grew up. Reading about spinal cord diseases as a medical student, Dr. Nuland discovered that his father’s crippling illness was tertiary, or chronic, syphilis. Dr. Nuland felt anger, and then pity. “I now had some perception of the tragedy of his life,” he wrote in his memoir. Dr. Nuland received his medical degree from Yale in 1955. Electing to specialize in surgery, he set his sights on becoming chief surgical resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital, entering a Darwinian competition for a position seldom occupied by Jews. In 1958, Dr. Nuland won the coveted appointment. Four days later, his father died of complications of syphilis, a condition Mr. Nudelman did not know he had. “I think that one time, before he was married, Meyer Nudelman was very unlucky,” Dr. Nuland said in a 2003 interview with The New York Times.

– Dr. Sherwin Nuland, whose book How We Die sparked national debate over end-of-life decisions, has died from prostate cancer at his Connecticut home. The 83-year-old surgeon's award-winning 1994 book on death argued that death with dignity was rare and doctors too often tried to prolong life when further treatment was futile, the New York Times reports. "I have not seen much dignity in the process by which we die," he wrote. "The quest to achieve true dignity fails when our bodies fail." In a 1996 interview, he said he hoped he would go "without suffering and surrounded by loved ones" when it was his time. His daughter says he often spoke to his family about his illness and impending death and while he was very much at peace most of the time, there were times of sadness and fear toward the end. "He wasn’t scared of death itself, but he loved everything about his world and the people in his world and life,” she tells the AP. "And he didn’t want to leave."

Its debut campaign was the liquor brand’s biggest ever, and it followed with a sequel to the “Gentleman’s Wager” ad starring Jude Law. This isn't the first time Jane's name has been tossed around either -- around the time of the 2016 election, Walker reportedly had an ad campaign titled "Jane Walker" in the works ... but scrapped it after Hillary Clinton lost. This message would have been particularly timely if Hillary Clinton had won the election, but that didn’t happen.

– Tarzan had his Jane, and so, too, will Johnnie. Thanks to the "Me Too" and "Time's Up" movements, gender equality is gaining new awareness in the workplace, and now perhaps in your whisky: TMZ reports that Diageo, parent company of the Johnnie Walker brand, put in the paperwork earlier this month for a Jane Walker trademark that would cover a bevy of unspecified beverages. A post at Drampedia notes that labels bearing the name "Jane Walker Edition" have turned up, but no details are available on any new products. "Whether it’s Johnnie’s sister or not will be revealed in due time," per the post. It appears this isn't the first time the female-monikered concept, which TMZ assumes will focus on "gender equality and female empowerment," has been broached by Diageo. Adweek noted right after the 2016 presidential election that a Jane Walker ad campaign was in the works, but it was apparently nixed after Hillary Clinton lost, sources said at the time.

A pregnant woman was shot and killed in her sleep when someone opened fire on her southern Arizona home early Saturday, but doctors were able to deliver her baby, according to police. The Tucson Police Department said in a news release several people in the home were awoken at 4:30 a.m. to the sounds of 19-year-old Jasmine Vega screaming before becoming "unresponsive." Arriving officers found Vega unconscious and transported her to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Vega was six months pregnant at the time, according to police. "Hospital staff were able to successfully deliver her unborn child, who is currently being treated at the hospital," Tucson police said. The baby's father, Anthony Rivera, told Tucson News Now the baby boy is in critical condition and on life support. TEXAS WOMAN WHO HAD MISCARRIAGE STABBED FRIEND TO DEATH, TOOK INFANT, POLICE SAY Evidence at the scene, including "several projectile holes in the walls of the residence," indicates multiple gunshots were fired into the home, police said. It's not yet known if anyone was specifically targeted in the shooting. No one else was injured in the shooting, police added. Authorities have not identified any suspects, and are asking anyone with information about the shooting to contact police.

– Police say a pregnant teenager was shot dead while asleep in a southern Arizona home early Saturday, but that doctors were able to deliver her unborn child. 19-year-old Jasmine Vega was found unconscious by officers responding to a 911 call from inside the residence, Fox News reports. Vega was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, but doctors managed to save her son. "Hospital staff [was] able to successfully deliver her unborn child, who is currently being treated at the hospital," Tucson Police Department wrote on Facebook. Per Tucson News Now, the child’s father, Anthony Rivera, says the baby boy is in critical condition and on life support. Vega was six months pregnant, and loved ones described her to Tucson News Now as “kind, compassionate, and so excited to be a mom.” No other other occupants were injured during the shooting. Authorities say multiple gunshots were fired toward the home from outside, and that there were several bullet holes found in the walls, but it is still unknown whether the gunfire was targeted specifically at anyone in the household. Tucson police are asking for anyone with information to come forward. “You can remain anonymous,” they said on Facebook. (Three St. Louis women were killed as they tried to escape a home invasion.)

Documenting Hate Tracking Hate Crimes and Bias Incidents The California man accused of killing a 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student earlier this month is an avowed neo-Nazi and a member of one of the most notorious extremist groups in the country, according to three people with knowledge of the man’s recent activities. The man, Samuel Woodward, has been charged in Orange County, California, with murdering Blaze Bernstein, who went missing in early January while visiting his family over winter break. The report, it turns out, was also taken up in the secretive online chats conducted by members of Atomwaffen Division, a white supremacist group that celebrates both Hitler and Charles Manson. Two of the three people who described Woodward’s affiliations are friends of his; the other is a former member of Atomwaffen Division. In December much of the same content was uploaded to a Bitchute account — a peer-to-peer video service favored by individuals and organizations banned from conventional video hosting services. In a matter of months, people associated with the group, including Woodward, have been charged in five murders; another group member pleaded guilty to possession of explosives after authorities uncovered a possible plot to blow up a nuclear facility near Miami. Lucas Waldron/ProPublica The group’s propaganda makes clear that Atomwaffen — the word means “nuclear weapons” in German — embraces Third Reich ideology and preaches hatred of minorities, gays and Jews. They’ve also filmed themselves burning the U.S. Constitution and setting fire to the American flag at an Atomwaffen “Doomsday Hatecamp.” Atomwaffen’s biggest inspiration seems to be James Mason, a long-time fascist who belonged to the American Nazi Party and later, during the 1970s, joined a more militant offshoot. Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof and Anders Breivik, the Norwegian extremist who massacred 77 people, also come in for praise. In one thread, he told his fellow Atomwaffen members that he was thinking about the “passing of life” and was “truly grateful for our time together.” An Atomwaffen propaganda flier Woodward, 20, has pleaded not guilty in the Bernstein case. Woodward and Bernstein had known each other in high school in California, and appear to have reconnected somehow shortly before the killing. “Their rhetoric is some of the most extreme we have seen,” said Joanna Mendelson, a senior researcher at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. In an interview, he suggested that Atomwaffen is dangerous, but that talk in their propaganda and private conversations of aims such as toppling the U.S. government amounted to what he called a kind of “magical thinking.” Kaplan said such groups often contain a handful of diehards who are willing to commit crimes and many more wannabes who are unwilling to do much more than read fascist literature. ProPublica has obtained photographs of Woodward at an outdoor Atomwaffen meeting in the scrubby Texas countryside. Other topics that still relate to both psychology and politics will also be welcome. With Russell in prison, AWD’s most influential member goes by the handle “Rape” in online forums, and calls himself “Vincent Snyder on the S-C site, Rape publishes under the pen name “Vincent Snyder.” On its “Staff” page, five of the eight individuals pictured evidence allegiance to, or membership in, AWD. I couldn’t protect him from everything.” Atomwaffen started in 2015 and is estimated to have about 80 members scattered around the country in small cells; the former member said the group’s ranks have grown since the lethal and chaotic “Unite the Right” rally last summer in Charlottesville, Virginia. The forum’s legacy demonstrates that for those who have moved on from the forum and are putting boots on the ground, memes are no longer their preferred ammunition — now, it’s bullets. After Mason started the SIEGE newsletter in 1980, he was increasingly adopting Manson’s ideas and perfecting the ideas Tommasi first catalyzed. As an adolescent he idolized George Lincoln Rockwell, the leader of the American Nazi Party (ANP), which he first tried to join at just 14. And with the inception of SIEGE-Culture and his collaboration with the young cell members that comprise Atomwaffen Division, his hands are on the torch along with theirs. The former Atomwaffen member in contact with ProPublica said that the teen was more than a fan: He was in direct communication with the group. Following after those “Crazy Men of Destiny,” Mason regarded Manson as “the more current and up-to-date” version of Tommasi’s terrorist doctrine. After languishing in obscurity for decades, Mason has been rediscovered. Social media posts and chat logs shared by Woodward’s friends show that he openly described himself as a “National Socialist” or Nazi. In the Pacific Northwest, cell members had converged on an abandoned cement factory, known as “Devil's Tower” near the small town of Concrete, Washington, where they had screamed “gas the kikes, race war now!” while firing off round after round from any array of weapons, including an AR-15 assault rifle with a high capacity drum magazine. In the case of AWD, much has been made of the group’s fetishizing of Charles Manson and their cherishing of an obscure neo-Nazi polemic called SIEGE, a work that stridently promotes terrorism. Woodward joined the organization in early 2016 and later traveled to Texas to attend Atomwaffen meetings and a three-day training camp, which involved instruction in firearms, hand-to-hand combat, camping and survival skills, the former member said. In 2015, while Cole was living in Bellingham, police responded to a report that he had “Nazi memorabilia” in his residence, according to Lt. Danette Beckley of the Bellingham Police Department; he was also reported to police in the island town of Anacortes for allegedly harassing a Jewish grocery store owner by a waving a Nazi flag in front of the business, according to two law enforcement sources. The former Atomwaffen member told ProPublica that Cole wields a significant degree of influence over the organization’s propaganda, recruitment and organization. The young man is proficient with both handguns and assault rifles, according to one person who participated in the Texas training and watched him shoot. “Force them to carry around the spawn of their master and enemy,” he wrote. ProPublica sought comment on the chats from Woodward’s lawyer, Edward Munoz, but did not get a response. If there was worry, it was about Woodward possibly having to do time behind bars for the murder. “Not that the faggot kike didn’t deserve to die. “Manson represents the great divide between those persons who imagine there are still are choices to be made casually on the basis of Establishment mores and those who have a profound, individual sense of ‘no going back.’ I believe it is this - and not the abstract idea of ‘realism’ - that is the great sustainer and inner-flame of all true revolutionaries.” Like Mason’s other idols, Manson represents equal parts philosopher and revolutionary, with an irrepressible desire for violent action. Members began speculating about who was talking to outsiders. Orange County prosecutors say they are examining the possibility that the killing was a hate crime — Bernstein was Jewish and openly gay — and some recent news reports have suggested that the alleged killer might hold far-right or even white supremacist political beliefs. “But at some point you have to let go and they leave the nest and fly.

– The body of a 19-year-old U of Penn student was found last month in a California park, and as details of Blaze Bernstein's murder continue to emerge, so, too, does a disturbing picture of suspected killer Sam Woodward, 20, and the white supremacist group he's said to belong to. ProPublica dives deep into Atomwaffen Division ("Atomwaffen" means "nuclear weapons" in German), whose internal message boards lit up after Bernstein's killing. Members both celebrated Woodward as a "one man gay Jew wrecking crew" and raged that one of their own may have leaked Woodward's AWD affiliation. Although the group is open about their hatred of minorities, Jews, and gays—and their love of Hitler and Charles Manson—it's a notoriously secretive bunch that doesn't take kindly to "rats and traitors." ProPublica got its hands on about 250,000 AWD messages from encrypted logs on Discord, a chat platform meant for gamers but popular with white supremacist groups, with startling revelations. The messages offer a frightening glimpse into the group's leaders, where members are located (as many as 20 cells may exist in several US states), and what "potential targets" may be, including water and electric utilities. "We haven't seen anything like Atomwaffen in quite a while," a Southern Poverty Law Center researcher says. "They should be taken seriously because they're so extreme." Others, though, think while some members may be dangerous, most just indulge in "magical thinking" about government overthrows and spend their time reading fascist lit. "It's very hard to go from talking about violence to looking a guy in the eyes and killing him," one expert says. ProPublica's in-depth take also includes details on AWD's supposed leader, who goes by the nickname "Rape," and the ire ProPublica itself received after it tied Woodward to AWD in a Jan. 26 article. "We really owe those jews at ProPublica," one member wrote in a chat message. More on AWD here.

Its offices have been firebombed, its website hacked, its Facebook page suspended for 24 hours and its staff targeted with death threats, so you might have thought the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo would have tried – just for a while – to avoid upsetting anyone. Mais non! After provoking all the above with last week's special edition "guest edited" by the prophet Muhammad, entitled Charia Hebdo, which took pot-shots at radical Islam, the publication is set to raise a few more hackles with this week's edition, published on Wednesday. On the front page of the latest edition is a drawing of a male Charlie Hebdo cartoonist passionately kissing a bearded Muslim man, under the headline: L'Amour plus fort que la haine (love is stronger than hate). In the background of the cartoon, signed Luz, are the ashes of the magazine's offices, completely destroyed in the Molotov cocktail attack last week. Unlike the previous edition, which featured a front page carton of the prophet and a speech bubble reading "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter", there is no suggestion that the character on the magazine cover is Muhammad. After the firebombing, French Muslim groups who had been highly critical of Charlie Hebdo, condemned the destruction of its offices. Dalil Boubakeur head of the Paris Mosque, told journalists: "I am extremely attached to the freedom of the press, even if the press is not always tender with Muslims, Islam or the Paris Mosque". The editor of Charlie Hebdo, Stéphane Charbonnier, said at the time: "We thought the lines had moved and maybe there would be more respect for our satirical work, our right to mock. Freedom to have a good laugh is as important as freedom of speech." Since then, the magazine's staff have been given a temporary home in the offices of France's leading leftwing daily newspaper Libération, which has also been subject to threats from the Turkish hackers who are said to have pirated Charlie Hebdo's site. Luz, the cartoonist, refused to condemn extremists for the attack. "Let's be cautious. There's every reason to believe it's the work of fundamentalists, but it could just as well be the work of two drunks," he wrote afterwards.

– Remember the boundary-busting French satirical newspaper that was firebombed for making the Prophet Mohammed a "guest editor"? Journalists toned down the controversy this time around—not. In fact, right on the cover, a Muslim is planting a big, slobbery kiss on a figure representing the publication, Charlie Hebdo. Above the embrace are the words: "Love is stronger than hate." The Guardian says the paper "isn't holding back," while Gawker—convinced the Muslim is a "gay Mohammad" (though he's not in the garb of the prophet)—calls it the "ballsiest paper in the world." Charlie Hebdo's editor said after the firebombing that "freedom to have a good laugh is as important as freedom of speech." The French, including some Muslim leaders, have strongly supported the publication, which is now operating out of the offices of the left-wing Paris newspaper Liberation. "I am extremely attached to the freedom of the press, even if the press is not always tender with Muslims, Islam, or the Paris Mosque," said the head of the Paris Mosque.

Gaza residents buried their dead Tuesday as the death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces at the Gaza boundary fence climbed to at least 60 after several succumbed to injuries overnight, according to local health officials. Monday’s demonstrations, which coincided with the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, were marked by a level of bloodshed not seen in Gaza since the 2014 war with Israel. Israel’s use of live ammunition has drawn widespread condemnation, notably from Turkey, which expelled the Israeli ambassador Tuesday after recalling its envoys to Israel and the United States. Gunfire rang out over Gaza City on Tuesday as rounds were fired during funeral processions. Further protests were planned as residents attended funerals and prepared to mark the anniversary of Israel’s founding, known to Palestinians as the “Nakba,” or “Catastrophe.” More than two-thirds of Gaza’s population is descended from refugees who fled or were expelled at the time of Israel’s creation 70 years ago. However, crowds at the border were thin after the organizing committee for the demonstrations called for a day of mourning to bury the dead. Demonstrators were asked to go home early as the death toll climbed. Monday’s killings more than doubled the number of Palestinians slain in Gaza during six weeks of demonstrations, dubbed the “March of Return.” More than 2,700 people were injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said, about half of them from live ammunition. At least six of the dead were under age 18, the ministry said, including a girl whose family said she was 14. [Israeli gunfire taking severe toll on the limbs of Palestinian protesters] The Health Ministry also reported that a baby died after inhaling tear gas at the main protest area in Gaza. An unidentified doctor told the Associated Press on Tuesday that the baby, Layla Ghaben, had a preexisting medical condition and that he did not think her death was caused by tear gas. One more person was killed in demonstrations Tuesday, the Health Ministry said. Speculation was rife that crowds were thinner because Egypt had pressured Hamas to order people home. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was summoned to Cairo on a last-minute trip Sunday night, and senior leaders were noticeably absent from Monday’s demonstrations. Egypt controls Gaza’s southern border, which opens only sporadically, while Israel has blockaded its boundary with the territory for the past 10 years. Ahmed Yousef, a former senior adviser to Haniyeh, said it was likely that Egypt had warned Hamas to prevent an escalation. He said Hamas may have secured some short-term concessions from Egypt in return, such as a sustained opening of the Rafah crossing point with Egypt, which has been open in recent days. “This is the minimum they can ask,” Yousef said of Hamas. Israeli officials justified the military’s tactics as necessary to stop Palestinians from breaking through the border into Israel, which blockaded Gaza after Hamas took control of the enclave in 2007. Rupert Colville, spokesman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Tuesday that while Israel has a right to defend itself, lethal force should be a last resort and was not justified against people who were simply approaching the fence. He condemned Monday’s “appalling deadly violence.” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned a continuing “massacre” of the Palestinian people. South Africa joined Turkey in announcing that it was recalling its ambassador from Israel. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called on Muslim countries to review their ties with Israel in the wake of the violence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later attacked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Twitter, saying that he “is one of the great supporters of Hamas, and there is no doubt that he understands terror and the massacres well, and I suggest that he not preach morality to us.” [Israel welcomes new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on ‘glorious’ day] Israeli newspapers Tuesday contrasted the upbeat inauguration ceremony for the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem with pictures of the violence on the border but characterized the Israeli response to the demonstrations in terms of self-defense. “Every country must protect its borders,” Netanyahu wrote in a tweet. “Hamas is a terrorist organization that states its intention to destroy Israel and it sends thousands of people to breach the border fence to realize this goal. We will continue to act firmly to protect our sovereignty and our citizens.” He was backed by the Trump administration, which blamed Hamas for the loss of life. Yaakov Amidror, Israel’s former national security adviser and a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies, said people around the world condemning the violence need to understand that the Gaza demonstrations are not like protests in Europe. “They do not take into consideration that this is a cover for a terrorist organization that is attempting to stop Israel from building a system that would stop their underground terror tunnels,” he said. Asked if Israel could have used less-lethal methods to contain the protesters, most of whom were unarmed, Amidror said that such a question was a good example of those who “can sit in an air-conditioned office, drinking coffee, and give advice to the Israeli army that is facing off against many thousands of Palestinians.” Tens of thousands of Palestinians had gathered on the edges of the enclave from mid-morning Monday. Many came to demonstrate peacefully, but some protesters appeared to be more aggressive than in previous weeks. 1 of 30 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Gaza protests turn deadly as U.S. Embassy opens in Jerusalem View Photos Israeli soldiers killed dozens of Palestinians demonstrating along the border fence and wounded more than 1,600 in the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 war with Israel. Caption Israeli soldiers killed dozens of Palestinians demonstrating along the border fence and wounded more than 1,600 in the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 war with Israel. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. Israeli snipers opened fire, ostensibly to prevent any breach of the border fence, and protesters began to fall. No Israeli soldiers were injured. In Gaza, Hamas backed the demonstrations, called to protest the loss of Palestinian homes and villages when Israel was formed in 1948. Commenting in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, however, journalist Ben-Dror Yemini said the situation was “self-inflicted” and called on Palestinians to get over the events of 70 years ago. “There was a Nakba. The Arabs of Palestine underwent expulsion. Tens of millions of people throughout the entire world, including Jews, underwent similar expulsion. But only the Palestinians adopted an ethos of rejectionism, victimhood, suffering and death,” he wrote. “They aren’t looking to improve things for themselves.” Eglash reported from Jerusalem. Read more Trump’s embassy move has triggered deadly protests. These maps explain why. New U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem: A stone plaque and $400,000 in renovations Analysis: Trump’s ‘buy now, pay later’ foreign policy Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

– The death toll from what Israel's critics are calling a massacre of unarmed protesters in Gaza hit 59 overnight with the death of a baby from tear gas inhalation, according to Palestinian authorities. The Palestinian Health Authority in Gaza says seven children under 18 were among the dozens of people killed when Israeli troops opened fire on protesters at the border fence Monday, the Washington Post reports. More than 2,700 others were wounded, the authority says, including 1,359 injured by live ammunition. Israel also dropped tear gas from drones in what was Gaza's deadliest day of violence since the 2014 war. The latest developments: South Africa, Turkey withdraw ambassadors. Israeli authorities say South Africa has recalled its ambassador to protest the shootings, the AP reports. Turkey is withdrawing its ambassadors from both the US and Israel. Kuwait drafted a United Nations Security Council resolution expressing outrage and calling for an independent investigation, but it was blocked by the US.

The decision had to be made, over and over, with little time to deliberate. “As an orthopedic surgeon, we see patients like this, with mangled extremities, but we don’t see 16 of them at the same time, and we don’t see patients from blast injuries,” Dr. Peter Burke, the trauma surgery chief at Boston Medical Center, said. “What we like to do is before we take off someone’s leg — it’s extremely hard to make that decision — is we often get two surgeons to agree,” Dr. Tracey Dechert, a trauma surgeon at Boston Medical, said. Contrary to past fears, the tourniquets themselves didn’t cause any limb loss, even in the rare cases when patients had to keep them on for two to three hours. And at least nine patients — five at Boston Medical Center, three at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital and one at Brigham and Women’s Hospital — had legs or feet so mangled they would need to be amputated.

– As of this morning, 100 of the 183 people hospitalized in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing have been released, CNN reports, in a testament to how well area doctors have handled the crisis. Boston boasts nearly 80 hospitals, and they're regarded as some of the world's best, the Week points out, while MSNBC observes that trauma treatment has improved drastically since 9/11—in part because of America's war experience. The Marathon bombs were IEDs, "and that's exactly what a number of our troops in Iraq in Afghanistan have had to deal with," one emergency room specialist tells NPR. Techniques learned in those conflicts have now proliferated into civilian medicine. Tourniquets, for instance, have gone from being considered a dangerous last resort to a routine life-saver. Shrapnel extraction techniques have improved as well. It also helped that there was a medical tent at the finish line already, which quickly became a well-oiled triage center. "I've seen a lot worse," one emergency room physician tells the New York Times. "They were without question ready—not for those types of injuries, but they were prepared."

In fact, Johnson says, he never would have known what happened to his daughter if he hadn’t felt the electric current himself while trying to jump in to save her. The parents of 15-year-old Carmen Johnson, who tragically died from electric shock drowning while swimming near her family’s Alabama lake house last April, are speaking out about the rarely reported phenomenon after it took the lives of two more local women this past weekend. When he put the metal ladder into the water, the electrical current from the light switch traveled through the dock to the ladder and into the surrounding water, where the girls were swimming. The current that shocked Carmen Johnson was caused by water seeping into a light switch box at the family's dock, according to her mother. "I think when Reagan touched the ladder and Carmen grabbed Reagan's legs trying to pull herself up, she got the full force of the current," Casey Johnson said. Since then, Carmen's parents, Casey and Jimmy Johnson, have made it their mission to educate the public about electric shock drowning. “As they were swimming toward the dock, within somewhere between the 5-to-10-foot range, is when they started feeling like they couldn’t swim,” Johnson recalled. “She started going underwater.” That’s when Johnson and his son, Zach, jumped in the water after the girls and immediately felt piercing electric shocks. Because electric shock drowning typically doesn't leave visible proof on victims' bodies, it's unlikely anyone would have known about the electrocution if others hadn't been in the water and felt the shock. Electric Shock Drowning can happen when an electrical current, even a low-level current, passes through the body, according to the Electric Shock Drowning Prevention Association.

– Life vest, check. Adult supervision, check. She should have been safe, but a freak accident in a New Jersey lagoon took the life of an 11-year-old girl over the weekend. Police say the girl was electrocuted while swimming and playing on an inflatable raft behind a friend’s home in Toms River, reports the Asbury Park Press. The girl was with two friends when the incident occurred, and they were all wearing life vests as they swam and rafted in the lagoon under adult supervision, reports PIX11. A police statement says that after the girls touched the rail to a metal boat lift, an "electric current appears to have energized the equipment causing the injury." The girl was administered CPR on the scene, but died later at the hospital. It's not the first time such an accident has been in the news this year. Following the April death of Alabama teen Carmen Johnson, who was shocked while swimming near her family's boathouse, CBS News explained that small levels of electric current in water can serve as a “silent killer,” especially in fresh water, where voltage can “take a shortcut” through bodies. And two more Alabama women are also believed to have been shocked to death in lake water, reports AL.com. The Electric Shock Drowning Prevention Association advises against swimming in or near docks, marinas, and boatyards, while the parents of Johnson offered more tips on TODAY, like using plastic over metal ladders and making sure there is a ground fault breaker at docks.

Story highlights "We will defend our sovereignty and independence," Foreign Minister Moallem says Four people are killed Tuesday, an opposition network says Aid workers not able to evacuate wounded and killed journalists in Baba Amr U.S. State Department spokeswoman constitutional referendum as "cynical" As the death toll from Syria's almost year-long uprising continues to climb, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem vowed to defend his country's "independence." "We are not happy to see brothers killing each other. But this is our country. But we will defend our sovereignty and independence," he told reporters. The minister said no one is dying in Syria because of hunger or sickness and that despite the "economic international boycott," his government is providing all necessary services. "Do you think there is a government in this world ... (that cares) about Syrian people welfare more than the Syrian government? I don't see this logic," Moallem said. As day broke on Tuesday, four people were killed across Syria, opposition activists said. At least 144 people were reported killed Monday, including 64 who died in a "horrifying massacre" at a checkpoint in Homs province. Those killed at a checkpoint in the Abel area were attempting to flee shelling in the Baba Amr neighborhood in the city of Homs, said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activists. "Reports said security members and thugs kidnapped the women among them," the network said in a statement. Residents found 47 corpses in one area and 17 in a second one, it said. A total of 68 corpses were found in the area, in farmland in western Homs province, said the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, apparently referencing the same incident. The bodies were found after an injured survivor reported the attack, the group said. All the bodies had been either shot or stabbed. JUST WATCHED Marie Colvin's family on her legacy Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Marie Colvin's family on her legacy 02:51 In all, 104 people were killed Monday in Homs, an opposition stronghold, according to the LCC. They included four defected soldiers, three woman and three children. JUST WATCHED Discussing Syria, Iran and Michigan Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Discussing Syria, Iran and Michigan 04:49 The deaths came on a day when Syrian officials announced that the nation's new draft constitution received approval and the European Union imposed new sanctions on the country amid ongoing clashes. JUST WATCHED Red Cross hopes to continue in Syria Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Red Cross hopes to continue in Syria 03:56 JUST WATCHED Families killed attempting to flee Homs Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Families killed attempting to flee Homs 02:08 The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier explosions rocked Homs and shelling was occurring in Baba Amr. Twenty people were wounded when a large shell struck an anti-government gathering in Homs, the group said. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar announced that 89.4% of voters approved the draft constitution, and 57.4% of eligible voters cast ballots. President Bashar al-Assad's regime has touted the constitutional referendum as a move toward reform. Syria announced the referendum amid intense international cries to stop the bloodshed and open its regime to change. But analysts and protesters widely describe the effort as a farce, a superficial attempt to pacify al-Assad's critics. "We dismiss it as absolutely cynical. Essentially, what he's done here is put a piece of paper that he controls to a vote that he controls so that he can try and maintain control," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said of the referendum and al-Assad. Syria map She cited the ongoing violence in such cities as Homs and Hama and asked: "How could you possibly have any kind of a democratic process in conditions like that?" JUST WATCHED The role of Syrian National Council Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH The role of Syrian National Council 05:12 Aid efforts were under way in the midst of the violence. JUST WATCHED Syria votes on new constitution Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Syria votes on new constitution 02:54 The Syrian Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross entered the province of Hama on Monday to provide aid to civilians, said Simon Schorno, spokesman for the Red Cross. A one-month supply of food, along with blankets and hygiene kits, were distributed to 12,000 people, he said. JUST WATCHED Wounded evacuated from Homs, Syria Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Wounded evacuated from Homs, Syria 02:07 Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, the Red Cross' head of operations for the Middle East, said a handful of aid workers were also able to go into Baba Amr. "There were four ambulances that entered Baba Amr, belonging to the Syrian Red Crescent. They were loaded with medical goods. They indeed were not able to evacuate the two foreign journalists. I don't have the reasons why. They could evacuate an elderly woman, a pregnant woman with her husband," she said. The two journalists Megevand-Roggo was referencing were British photographer Paul Conroy and French reporter Edith Bouvier. Both were wounded in shelling. Red Cross spokesman Hicham Hassan said aid workers were also not able Monday to recover and evacuate the bodies of two journalists killed in Baba Amr last week. Marie Colvin, an American journalist who worked for London's Sunday Times, was killed in a shelling attack, along with French journalist Remi Ochlik. Colvin's mother, Rosemarie, said Sunday that aid workers have been trying for days to remove her daughter's body. JUST WATCHED Syrian refugees flee to Jordan Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Syrian refugees flee to Jordan 03:42 CNN and other media outlets cannot independently verify opposition or government reports because Syria has severely limited access to the country by foreign journalists. But the vast majority of reports from the ground indicate that government forces are massacring citizens in an attempt to wipe out civilians seeking al-Assad's ouster. No attempts at getting al-Assad to stop his regime's crackdown on dissidents have stopped the onslaught. The Council of the European Union agreed Monday on new sanctions regarding Syria after foreign ministers met in Brussels, Belgium, said spokeswoman Susanne Kiefer. Seven ministers of the al-Assad regime will have their EU assets frozen and will be denied entry into the EU, Kiefer said. In addition, assets of the Syrian Central Bank in the EU will be frozen. Legitimate trade will be allowed to continue, she said, but must be authorized first. "Today's decisions will put further pressure on those who are responsible for the ruthless campaign of repression in Syria," Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, said in a statement. "The measures target the regime and its ability to conduct the appalling violence against civilians. As long as the repression continues, the EU will keep imposing sanctions." Elsewhere in Syria on Monday, two people were killed and eight wounded by government shelling on the village of Sarmeen in Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The shelling began Sunday night, and Syrian troops have entered Sarmeen, said Abu Mustafa al-Sayed, a Syrian opposition and community leader in the town of Binnish, also in Idlib province. The Syrian army has Sarmeen surrounded, and communications with the residents have been cut off, he said. And in Damascus, security forces fired on mourners at a funeral, according to the Local Coordination Committees. Clashes were also occurring in Deir Ezzor, the group said, and 14 students were arrested during a protest at Aleppo University. The opposition network estimates that 9,000 people have been killed since the government launched its crackdown in March. The Syrian government says that more than 2,000 members of its security forces have been killed by "terrorists" during that same period. Asked Monday whether Syria would be referred to the International Criminal Court, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said, "I hope the international community reflects on the conditions of referral. It's a difficult issue. Syria is not a participating state, so it's up to the Security Council to address this question. They must therefore continue to gather the elements that would permit an eventual referral."

– Syria's new constitution was backed by more than 89% of voters, the nation's Interior Ministry announced today, even as violence continues to rage across the country and the West decries the referendum as a sham. The Interior Ministry claims that more than 57% of Syria's 14 million eligible voters turned out, with about 9% voting no and 1.6% of the ballots being rejected as spoiled. The New York Times notes that the Syrian government controlled the voting, but may not have needed to manipulate the results, considering that much of the opposition boycotted the referendum. Across the nation, 33 people were killed today, many of them in continued government shelling in Homs, and 55 people died yesterday. The European Union has imposed new sanctions in the face of the continuing violence, CNN reports. Seven ministers of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, as well as the Syrian Central Bank, will have their EU assets frozen. The ministers will also be denied entry into the EU and Syrian cargo flights will not be allowed to use EU airports. Says the EU foreign policy chief in a statement, "As long as the repression continues, the EU will keep imposing sanctions."

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.

– In March, Ki’ari Pope drank boiling water through a straw after she and her cousin watched a video of someone appearing to do it on YouTube and her cousin dared her to try. Early Monday, the Florida 8-year-old was pronounced dead after months of medical issues related to the tragic stunt. Ki'ari underwent emergency surgery to clear scar tissue on her windpipe so she could breathe; after the tracheotomy, she continued to have difficulty breathing (requiring two trips to the ER) and also talking. She had a doctor's appointment set for Friday to be checked. But on Sunday night, she told her mother's boyfriend she was struggling to breathe; she lost consciousness within minutes and was pronounced dead about an hour later, at 12:15am Monday, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. The Medical Examiner's Office is still determining Ki'ari's cause of death, and Florida's Department of Children and Families is investigating the incident. There have been at least 10 other DCF cases related to the family since 2008, the Palm Beach Post reports, five of them involving alleged domestic violence between Ki'ari's mother and her boyfriend; it's not clear whether the boyfriend who called 911 after Ki'ari lost consciousness is the same one from those reports. At least one of the DCF cases resulted in verified proof of abuse or neglect, but details aren't available. DCF isn't saying whether the girl's mother or other family members are under investigation, but a woman identifying herself as the mother's cousin says DCF officials took Ki'ari's three siblings away Thursday. Ki'ari's family is raising money to go toward funeral costs on GoFundMe.

Print Share + Aunt Zeituni: 'The System Took Advantage Of Me' President Obama's Aunt Speaks Exclusively With WBZ-TV BOSTON (WBZ) ― "If I come as an immigrant, you have the obligation to make me a citizen." Those are the words from 58-year-old Zeituni Onyango of Kenya in a recent exclusive interview with WBZ-TV.Onyango is the aunt of President Barack Obama. She lived in the United States illegally for years, receiving public assistance in Boston.Aunt Zeituni, as she has come to be known, first surfaced in the public light in 2008, in the final days of the Presidential election. Then-candidate Obama said that he was not against the possible deportation of his aunt. "If she has violated laws, then those laws have to be obeyed," he told CBS's Katie Couric. "We are a nation of laws. "Onyango had violated the law, and she knew it. "I knew I had overstayed" she told WBZ-TV's Jonathan Elias when the two sat down one-on-one.Zeituni Onyango said she came to the United States in 2000 and had every intention of leaving. Then, however, she says she got deathly ill and was hospitalized. When she recovered, she said she was broke and couldn't afford to leave.For two years Onyango said she lived in a homeless shelter, before she was assigned public housing despite thousands of legal residents also awaiting assistance. "I didn't take any advantage of the system. The system took advantage of me. ""I didn't ask for it; they gave it to me. Ask your system. I didn't create it or vote for it. Go and ask your system," she said unapologetically.And she's right. The system provided her assistance despite her status as an illegal immigrant.In 2004 a judge ordered Zeituni Onyango out of the country, but she never left. She stayed, hiding in plain sight. In 2005 she attended her nephew's swearing in as the junior Senator of Illinois. In 2008 she was invited to, and traveled to D.C. for President Obama's inauguration.However her nephew, she says, never pulled any strings for her."Listen. Obama did not know my whereabouts. "Onyango hired a top immigration lawyer from Cleveland to help fight her case. We asked how she afforded that lawyer, when she claimed poverty. "When you believe in Jesus Christ and almighty God, my help comes from heaven," she responded.When asked about cutting in line ahead of those who have paid into the system she answered plainly, "I don't mind. You can take that house. I will be on the street with the homeless. ""To me America's dream became America's worst nightmare," she said adamantly. "I have been treated like public enemy number one. "She is still living in South Boston public housing, unemployed, and collecting about $700 a month in disability, she says. And now, Zeituni Onlyango is in this country legally.In May 2010, Onyango's case went back before the same judge who ordered her out of the country in 2004. This time she was granted asylum in the United States. The ruling said a return to Kenya might put Onyango in danger.Did her nephew, the President of the United States influence that immigration judge? "No influence at all, from nobody, from nowhere," Onyango said. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

– President Obama's aunt Zeituni Onyango, an illegal immigrant living in public housing, is unapologetic about her situation and says her nephew hasn't been helping her fight to stay in the US. An immigration judge granted her asylum this year. "Obama did not know my whereabouts," the Kenyan native tells WBZ, the CBS affiliate in Boston, where she lives. "If I come as an immigrant, you have the obligation to make me a citizen." In a rambling, sometimes combative interview, Onyango says, "I didn't take any advantage of the system. The system took advantage of me." She says she arrived in the US in 2000, fell ill, and couldn't afford to return home when she left the hospital. "I knew I had overstayed. " Asked whether she wants to become a citizen, she responds, " If I didn't why the hell would I have been here all this time? "

Image copyright WA Police Image caption Reg Foggerdy was reportedly severely dehydrated when he was found but is recovering A 62-year-old Australian man lost for six days in the Outback has been found alive after surviving without water and by eating ants, say police. Reginald Foggerdy, 62, was found on Tuesday morning by Tactical Response Group (TRG) trackers who had been looking for him for the past six days. Mr Foggerdy was camping at “Shooter’s Shack”, 170km east of Laverton on Lake Ransom Road, on a hunting trip with a family member, when he went to hunt alone on Wednesday night, but failed to return. Picture: WA Police Searchers and Mr Foggerdy’s family were given fresh hope when a search team found new tracks late on Monday afternoon, after nearly a week of land and air search for the 62-year-old. Image copyright WA POLICE Image caption Police used a remote shack as a command base during their search He was discovered "extremely dehydrated, a bit delusional, but he's received treatment, first aid on the ground, and it's fair to say he's now sitting up and talking," Police Supt Andy Greatwood told ABC radio. “The amazing news is his last couple of days of survival were achieved by lying down under a tree and eating black ants, so that’s the level of survival that Mr Foggerdy has gone to,” Greatwood said. Wearing only a T-shirt, shorts, a cap and flip-flops when he went missing, Mr Foggerdy - a retired miner - apparently became disorientated in the fierce heat of the desert. I didn't know which way it was going to go, but I just had this feeling." People don’t know where they are going but they are running to it.” Cooper said reliance on technology should take second place to basic survival skills, like knowing how to use a compass. The Royal Flying Doctor Service took Mr Foggerdy to a Kalgoorlie hospital this morning where he is being treated for dehydration and is in a stable condition. His wife Erlyn Foggerdy, 41, told PerthNow her husband’s survival was a “big miracle” due in part to a jungle survivor show he watched every day on Foxtel. "How you can survive without water and food is a miracle,'' she said. This shooters shack was used as a command post for the search for Mr Foggerdy #polair #swaggingit pic.twitter.com/NwlFi24WIO — WA Police (@WA_Police) October 13, 2015 In an interview with 6PR News, Mr Foggerdy’s sister Christine Ogden said the family “never lost faith” he would be found despite what had been a “horrible” week. They are just amazing people out there and the friends that I’ve got I love dearly. “They’re very talented people and they’ve managed to continue that search and found him this morning.” There were grave concerns for Mr Foggerdy’s welfare, as police believed he was lost without access to food or water. Media caption Christine Ogden said she was "relieved" her brother had been found after six days missing in the Outback His family described him as an experienced bushman but have now told him to buy a satellite phone.

– Police searching for a 62-year-old man who disappeared in Australia's Outback on Wednesday say the grandfather has miraculously been found alive. Reg Foggerdy had been last seen near a campsite on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert in Western Australia while on a hunting trip with his brother, reports the Guardian. He had left to shoot a feral camel but never returned, adds the BBC. Though an experienced bushman, he was wearing only a T-shirt, shorts, hat, and flip-flops and had no food or water, police say. Police began a land and air search after discovering a camel carcass and finally discovered fresh tracks on Monday, reports the West Australian. Foggerdy was found "extremely dehydrated, a bit delusional," under a tree Tuesday morning about 9 miles from his last known location. "He's received treatment, first aid on the ground, and it's fair to say he's now sitting up and talking," officer Andy Greatwood tells ABC Radio, adding Foggerdy's "fantastic survival skills" kept him alive when "most people would not have survived." After walking for miles, Foggerdy had spent his last two days in the Outback "lying down under a tree and eating black ants," Greatwood says. Foggerdy's wife, Erlyn, says he may have picked up that tip from a jungle survival show he liked to watch every day, reports PerthNow. Foggerdy's 11-year-old son says he initially wasn't too concerned when his father didn't return to camp, but "when he was lost for a few more days I started getting worried. I'm so happy they found him." Family members add they'll now force Foggerdy, who's recovering in a hospital, to carry a satellite phone. (A dad's survival tip kept this lost boy alive.)

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

WASHINGTON—Strong hiring and low unemployment are delivering U.S. workers their best pay raises in nearly a decade. Employers shook off a September slowdown to add 250,000 jobs to their payrolls in October, above monthly averages in recent years, the Labor Department said Friday. With unemployment holding at 3.7%, a 49-year low, and employers competing for scarce workers, wages increased 3.1% from a year earlier, the biggest year-over-year gain for average hourly earnings since 2009.

– The last unemployment report before the midterms is a strong one. Employers added 250,000 jobs in October, above the forecast of 188,000, reports the Wall Street Journal. The unemployment rate itself remained at a five-decade low of 3.7%, per the AP. The influx of new job-seekers in October increased the proportion of Americans with jobs to its highest level since January 2009. What's more, wages rose 3.1% when compared to last October, the best such gain since 2009. It's the first time since the recession ended that wages rose more than 3% over a year. Average hourly earnings in the private sector increased 5 cents to $27.30.

Speculations about the First Lady’s whereabouts have taken over social media as she has not been seen in public since before undergoing a procedure for what the White House has described as a “benign kidney condition.” (Susan Walsh/AP)

– Melania watchers can relax. After endless speculation and wacky rumors about the first lady's whereabouts, she addressed the situation herself, posting to Twitter, "I see the media is working overtime speculating where I am & what I'm doing. Rest assured, I'm here at the @WhiteHouse w my family, feeling great, & working hard on behalf of children & the American people!" The first lady’s spokesperson, Stephanie Grisham, also sought to swat down rumors. "She is doing great," Grisham told the New York Daily News. "She has meetings throughout the day so will not be attending fitness day." Melania Trump had not appeared in public for 20 days.

Authorities shifted a focus of their... (Associated Press) Authorities search an area in Constable, N.Y. for convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat, Friday, June 26, 2015. Multiple law enforcement sources tell NBC news that DNA belonging to at least one of the escaped prisoners was found at a cabin in Malone, a town located about 35 miles northwest of Clinton Correctional and around 10 miles south of the Canadian border. Maj. Charles Guess of the New York State Police said he could not go into specifics, but "based on what we know at this point, we have a high degree of confidence in our conclusion." The break-in at the cabin in Malone was reported to police sometime between Wednesday and 3 p.m. Thursday, sources said. "They probably have every reason to keep going," Guess said. "I think these guys are going to find them," said Sonny Morales, as he sat on an easy chair in front of a house near the border in the town of Constable. For days after Richard Matt and David Sweat’s June 6 escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, there seemed to be little concrete evidence of where they were. Two prison workers — Gene Palmer, a guard, and Joyce Mitchell, a seamstress — have been arrested in connection with the breakout.

– If New York investigators are right, Richard Matt and David Sweat are probably sleeping right now—but they'll wake soon and continue picking their way through the woods and back roads toward Canada when darkness falls. At an update today on the hunt for the prison escapees, authorities say they're now pretty sure the men are trying to make the border, reports NBC News. "Based on what we know at this point, we have a high degree of confidence in our conclusion," says Maj. Charles Guess of the state police. Guess didn't provide specifics, but he said investigators found "significant" items from the men in a cabin and in a field in the town of Malone yesterday and this morning, reports AP. They've shifted their search accordingly in a bid to head the men off. Matt and Sweat have eluded capture for three weeks now, which is impressive, but it doesn't protect them from this damning stat cited by the Atlantic: More than 92% of escapees from medium- and high-security prisons are caught within a year. Their odds improve somewhat if they make it past a month, however. The search update comes after a second prison worker was charged in the escape. (He once likened the inmates at his prison in Dannemora to caged "puppies.")

Issa released a draft of his Internet American Moratorium Act on Monday night and said that he would answer questions about the legislation on Reddit, a social news and discussion site, on Wednesday morning. Issa looks to ban Internet regulations By Brendan Sasso - Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is seeking input on a bill that would impose a two-year ban on new laws or regulations that affect the Internet. Sohn said Issa's bill could also block future regulations on Internet privacy. Supporters say the rules are critical for ensuring an open and free Internet. But Gigi Sohn, president of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, explained that Issa's bill would not actually prevent Congress from passing laws like SOPA. A spokesman for Issa said the draft bill is not about trying to block any particular regulation, like net neutrality.

– Rep. Darrell Issa is proposing a bill that would "create a two-year moratorium on any new laws, rules, or regulations governing the Internet," reports CNN. It's been met with some controversy from fellow politicians and the public alike. The bill could block regulations that protect consumer privacy, says one lawmaker, and may stymie President Obama's efforts to bolster cybersecurity, reports The Hill. Issa is hosting a Q&A on Reddit today to discuss his bill, and plans to adjust it after receiving feedback. A separate battle is happening in Washington over the 'Do Not Track' initiative, which aims to give Internet users the ability to stop the collection of personal information for advertising purposes. It's a tough topic, since online ads are what pay for many free services, reports the Washington Post. The initiatives looked set to move forward after a successful White House event in February, but since then talks have grown bitter, in part due to opposition from advertising groups. The co-chair of the committee working on the initiative announced she'd be stepping down today, which could help revive talks.

Looking for news you can trust? Subscribe to our free newsletters. Nine people were killed in the shooting at the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday night. On Thursday afternoon, Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten officially identified all of the victims, some of whose names had leaked out over the course of the day. Here are brief sketches of their lives. State Sen. Clementa Pinckney Pinckney, 41, was a pastor at Emanuel AME and a widely respected state senator. “Sen. Pinckney was a legend,” said fellow state Sen. Marlon Kimpton on CNN. “He was the moral compass of the state Senate.” Pinckney’s desk in the statehouse was covered with a black cloth after news broke of his death: In SC, if a State Sen dies a black cloth is draped over their desk…this was Pinckney’s desk. http://t.co/fupAm838fJ pic.twitter.com/2ntw42e5TD — Ellison Barber (@ellisonbarber) June 18, 2015 During his remarks on Thursday afternoon, President Obama said he knew Pinckney personally, along with other members of the church. “To say our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families and their community doesn’t say enough to convey the heartache and the sadness and the anger that we feel,” he said. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton Coleman-Singleton, also a pastor at the church, was a coach at Goose Creek High School near Charleston. South Carolina’s high school sports governing body mourned her death on Twitter after it was announced on Thursday morning: She was a celebrated track and field coach for Goose Creek High School and revered as a “positive light” to all who knew her. — SCHSL (@SCHSL) June 18, 2015 “I saw her at work everyday and she always had a smile on her face,” Chris Pond, the baseball coach at Goose Creek, said to the Berkeley Independent. Cynthia Hurd Hurd, the manager of the St. Andrews branch of the Charleston County Public Library, was identified by her employer as one of the victims. County library system identifies St. Andrews branch manager Cynthia Hurd as slaying victim in #CharlestonShooting pic.twitter.com/XQnV8KSUzo — Andrew Knapp (@offlede) June 18, 2015 “Cynthia was a tireless servant of the community who spent her life helping residents, making sure they had every opportunity for an education and personal growth,” the library said in a statement on Facebook. The library announced it would shut all of its branches on Thursday to honor Hurd. TYWANZA SANDERS Lady June Cole, the interim president of Allen University, said on Thursday that Tywanza Sanders, a 2014 graduate of the small historically black university in Columbia, S.C., was killed in the shooting. Cole called Sanders a “quiet, well-known student who was committed to his education” and who “presented a warm and helpful spirit.” MYRA THOMPSON Archbishop Foley Beach of the Anglican Church of North America wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday that Myra Thompson, the wife of the Rev. Anthony Thompson of Charleston’s Holy Trinity REC Church, was killed in the attack. Ethel Lee Lance The 70-year-old grandmother had worked at Emanuel AME for more than three decades. Her grandson Jon Quil Lance told the Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston that Lance was a hardworking Christian and “the heart of the family.” SHE HAS A NAME: Ethel Lee Lance, worked at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston for 30 years. She was killed last night. pic.twitter.com/7OHjsnhD8f — Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) June 18, 2015 Susie Jackson The 87-year-old was a longtime church patron and Ethel Lance’s cousin, according to the Post and Courier. Daniel L. Simmons Sr. The 74-year-old was a ministry staff member at Emanuel AME and the former pastor of Greater Zion AME Church in the nearby town of Awendaw. His daughter-in-law, Arcelia Simmons, told ABC News that Simmons attended services at Emanuel on Sundays as well as weekly Bible study. Simmons died in the hospital after the attack. * I can’t believe that Rev. Dan Simmons is gone. This man baptized me, married my parents, and eulogized my granny — Sh’Kur Francis (@_shkurfrancis) June 18, 2015 Depayne Middleton The 49-year-old mother of four sang in the church choir. Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Allen University is located in Charleston. It is actually located in Columbia, S.C. Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled the town of Awendaw.

– The nine people shot to death in a South Carolina church last night ranged in age from 26 to 87, reports NBC News. Some details about them: The Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41. The married father of two was a pastor at Emanuel AME and a state senator. "He was the moral compass of the state Senate," a colleague said on CNN, per Mother Jones Tywanza Sanders, 26. He had graduated from Allen University with a degree in business administration just last year. The school called him a "quiet, well-known student who was committed to his education." Cynthia Hurd, 54. She was a longtime employee of the Charleston County Public Library. All branches were closed today in her honor. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 49, worked at Goose Creek High School as a speech therapist and girls' track coach. She was also a pastor at the church. The Rev. Depayne Middelton Doctor, 49, a church singer who had worked for Charleston County providing services for the poor. She was a mother of four. Susie Jackson, 87, a longtime member of the historic church. Ethel Lance, 70, a church sexton who had worked at Emanuel AME for three decades. The Rev. Daniel Simmons, 74, was on the church's ministerial staff, attending Sunday services and a weekly Bible study. Myra Thompson, 59, was the wife of the vicar of Holy Trinity Reformed Episcopal Church in Charleston. Suspect Dylann Roof was arrested after a woman spotted him driving.)

FILE- In this Tuesday, April 5, 2016 file photo, an employee sorts Legos in the the new LEGO flagship store unveiled as part of the new Les Halles shopping mall during the press visit in Paris. Danish... (Associated Press) FILE- In this Tuesday, April 5, 2016 file photo, an employee sorts Legos in the the new LEGO flagship store unveiled as part of the new Les Halles shopping mall during the press visit in Paris. Danish toy maker Lego said Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, it will cut 1,400 jobs, or about eight percent of its global... (Associated Press) FILE- In this Tuesday, April 5, 2016 file photo, an employee sorts Legos in the the new LEGO flagship store unveiled as part of the new Les Halles shopping mall during the press visit in Paris. Danish... (Associated Press) COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish toy maker Lego will cut 1,400 jobs, or about eight percent of its global workforce, after reporting a decline in sales and profits in the first half of 2017. The privately held company said Tuesday that its revenue dropped 5 percent to 14.9 billion kroner ($2.4 billion) in the first six months of the year, mainly as a result of weakness in established markets like the U.S. and Europe. Profits slipped 3 percent to 3.4 billion kroner ($544,000). It said it "now prepares to reset the company." "We are disappointed by the decline in revenue in our established markets, and we have taken steps to address this," said Chairman Joergen Vig Knudstorp. He said the long-term aim is to reach "more children in our well-established markets in Europe and the United States," and added there were "strong growth opportunities in growing markets such as China." The company, he said, needs to simplify its business model to reduce its costs. Since 2012, the group has built an increasingly complex organization to support global double-digit growth. However, "in the process, we have added complexity into the organization which now in turn makes it harder for us to grow further," Vig Knudstorp said. He told Denmark's TV2 that staff cuts would mainly affect administration and sales, not production. Last month, the maker of the famous colored building blocks appointed Niels B. Christiansen, who headed thermostat-maker Danfoss for nine years, as its chief executive to replace interim British CEO Bali Padda. Christiansen will start Oct. 1. Based in western Denmark, Lego does not release quarterly figures. The group currently has more than 19,000 employees around the world.

– Danish toy maker Lego will cut 1,400 jobs, or about 8% of its global workforce, after reporting a decline in sales and profits in the first half of 2017. The privately held company said Tuesday that its revenue dropped 5% to $2.4 billion in the first six months of the year, mainly as a result of weakness in established markets like the US and Europe. Profits slipped 3% to $544 million. "We are disappointed by the decline in revenue in our established markets, and we have taken steps to address this," said Chairman Joergen Vig Knudstorp, per the AP. He said the long-term aim is to reach "more children in our well-established markets in Europe and the United States," and added there were "strong growth opportunities in growing markets such as China." The company, he said, needs to simplify its business model to reduce costs, though details weren't immediately available on what that might mean. Since 2012, the group has built an increasingly complex organization to support global double-digit growth. However, "in the process, we have added complexity into the organization which now in turn makes it harder for us to grow further," Vig Knudstorp said. The company has been lauded for embracing the digital era through smartphone apps and tie-ins with movies and video games, notes Reuters. The maker of the famous colored building blocks has more than 19,000 employees around the world.

Trump's new travel ban: One thing to know Trump's new travel ban: One thing to know 01:25 Trump's new travel ban: One thing to know The US travel ban has not taken effect after rulings by two federal judges that temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's executive order. Rachael D'Amore, CTV Toronto The Toronto District School Board will join other schools in southwestern Ontario who have decided to cancel trips to the U.S., citing concerns over muddled U.S. border restrictions. “We do not make this decision lightly,” he said, “but given the uncertainty of these new travel restrictions and when they may come into effect, if at all, we strongly believe that our students should not be placed into these situations of potentially being turned away at the border.” Though an executive order was handed down by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month, banning travel from citizens of six Muslim-majority countries, it is currently not in effect. The board’s plan — approved unanimously by trustees at a board meeting late Wednesday night — was to strike a balance between ensuring safety and inclusion for students, without causing financial loss and disappointment by cancelling the spring trips kids had planned and fundraised for over many months. Jama’s parents are from Somalia — one of the six Muslim-majority countries whose citizens could be refused entry to the U.S. if Trump’s proposed travel restrictions are put in place. But still on track are 24 separate trips involving about 800 students, and plans for about 100 youth from different schools to attend an international business competition in California. Earlier this month, Girl Guides of Canada cancelled trips to the U.S., citing safety concerns and uncertainty at the border, and to ensure all guides can participate in group travel. We don’t want them in those situations so that’s why we’re taking these additional steps.” The Greater Essex County District School Board made a similar decision in February, though it was only in effect for that month. "While the United States is a frequent destination for Guiding trips, the ability of all our members to equally enter this country is currently uncertain," its statement read.

– There will be no new trips to the Washington Monument for students within Canada's largest school system. The Toronto District School Board, which includes 245,000 students in 584 schools, will no longer green-light trips south of the border, citing uncertainty over border restrictions. "We strongly believe that our students should not be placed into these situations of potentially being turned away at the border" in light of President Trump's proposed travel restrictions, TDSB Director of Education John Malloy says, per the Toronto Star. Some 25 trips involving 900 students already scheduled for the spring will go on as planned to prevent financial loss, but the board says all students will turn back if any one student is refused entry into the US. Should Trump's executive order banning travelers from six countries "be fully implemented, resulting in any of our students being excluded from trips across the US border," those trips will be cancelled outright, Malloy says, per CTV News. "It's not about politics, it's about our principles as a school board to be inclusive and equitable," adds a TDSB rep. The Greater Essex County School Board in southwestern Ontario cited similar reasons when banning trips to the US for the month of February. Toronto’s Ryerson University has halted trips until further notice, as have the Girl Guides of Canada, the Canadian version of the Girl Scouts, per CNN. Other school boards say they could follow in the TDSB's footsteps "if travel advisories change."

SANAA/ADEN U.S. special forces stormed a walled compound in a remote Yemeni village early on Saturday in an attempt to free Western hostages held by an al Qaeda unit, but an American journalist and a South African teacher were killed by their captors, officials said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and a Yemeni intelligence official said Luke Somers, 33, and South African Pierre Korkie, 56, were shot by their kidnappers shortly after the raid began in the arid Wadi Abadan district of Shabwa, a province long seen as one of al Qaeda's most formidable strongholds. It was the second U.S. attempt to free Somers in 10 days and Kerry said it had been approved because of information that Somers' life was in imminent danger. "It was our assessment that that clock would run out on Saturday," one U.S. official said. However, the Gift of the Givers relief group, which was trying to secure Korkie's release, said it had negotiated for the teacher to be freed and had expected that to happen on Sunday and for him to be returned to his family. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is seen by Washington as one of al Qaeda's most dangerous branches. The United States has worked with Yemen's government and via drone strikes to attack its leaders in southern and eastern Yemen. "The callous disregard for Luke's life is more proof of the depths of AQAP's depravity, and further reason why the world must never cease in seeking to defeat their evil ideology," President Barack Obama said in a statement. Obama said he had authorized the operation and said the United States would "spare no effort to use all of its military, intelligence and diplomatic capabilities to bring Americans home safely, wherever they are located." SHOOT-OUT A U.S. defense official said about 40 U.S. special forces troops, flown in by tilt-rotor CV-22 Osprey aircraft, had advanced to within 100 meters (yards) of the walled compound where the hostages were held before the defenders were alerted and a firefight started. About 10 people, including al Qaeda guards and some civilians were killed in the fighting, said Ali al-Ahmadi, chief of Yemen's national security bureau. The Pentagon said it was unaware of any civilian casualties. U.S. officials said they knew Somers was at the location, partly because of information gleaned during the earlier rescue attempt, and they were aware that a second hostage was there but did not know in advance who it was. As the fight began, an al Qaeda guard darted inside the compound and then exited through the back. Gunfire was heard. That’s when American officials believe Somers and Korkie were shot. They were each shot several times, said the U.S. officials, who declined to be identified. The men were treated by medics but one died during the flight out and another aboard a U.S. ship. No U.S. troops were hurt, they said. The raid lasted about 30 minutes. Gift of the Givers said on its website: "We received with sadness the news that Pierre was killed in an attempt by American Special Forces, in the early hours of this morning, to free hostages in Yemen." It added: "The psychological and emotional devastation to (Korkie's wife) Yolande and her family will be compounded by the knowledge that Pierre was to be released by al Qaeda tomorrow ... Three days ago we told her 'Pierre will be home for Christmas'." Yolande, who was kidnapped with her husband in mid-2013, was released in January after intervention by Gift of the Givers. A South African government spokesman declined to comment. Militants in the region often demand millions of dollars for the release of hostages, including in the Korkies' case, and Saturday’s incident was likely to again raise discussion about the wisdom of paying ransoms. The United States, which refuses to make payments as they could encourage more kidnappings, is reviewing its approach to such cases but has said the payment ban will remain in place. There was no new information about three other hostages, a Briton, a Turk and a Yemeni, who had previously been held alongside Somers and Korkie, a Yemeni security official said. Lucy Somers, the photojournalist’s sister, told the Associated Press that she and her father learned of her brother's death from FBI agents at 0500 GMT (12 a.m. EST) Saturday. "We ask that all of Luke's family members be allowed to mourn in peace," she said from London. Somers had been in captivity for 15 months. IMMEDIATE DANGER Kerry said the decision to mount the raid was based on fears that AQAP planned to kill Somers. "Earlier this week, AQAP released a video announcing that Luke would be murdered within 72 hours. Along with other information, there was a compelling indication that Luke's life was in immediate danger," Kerry said. U.S. officials on Thursday said American forces had already attempted to rescue Somers, without giving details. Yemeni officials had previously disclosed the release of six Yemenis, a Saudi and an Ethiopian hostage in a raid on Nov. 25. A senior U.S. official said Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi had given his support for Saturday's operation, which a U.S. official said took place at 1 a.m. local time. Yemen's government issued a different account of the incident. It said in a statement carried on state media that its security forces had led the raid. It said the security forces had surrounded the house and called on the kidnappers to surrender, but they instead shot the hostages. That led to an assault on the building in which four Yemeni security officers were also wounded, it said. The statement said the house belonged to suspected militant Saeed al-Daghaari, which another Yemeni security source told Reuters was in the village of Dafaar in the Wadi Abadan district of Shabwa. "It's a very small village with only 20-40 houses. There were very quick clashes with the gunmen and then it was all finished," a tribal source from the area said. AQAP on Thursday released a video showing a man it said was Somers saying: "I'm looking for any help that can get me out of this situation. I'm certain that my life is in danger." Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of that video, which was reported by SITE Monitoring. (Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington, Peter Salisbury in Sanaa, Yara Bayoumy in Manama, Phil Stewart in Kabul; Stella Mapenzauswa in Johannesburg; Writing by Angus McDowall and David Storey; Editing by Janet Lawrence, Mark Trevelyan, Grant McCool and Paul Simao)

– The US commandos who tried to rescue American Luke Somers in Yemen came agonizingly close to doing so, according to an account in the Wall Street Journal. It says that about 40 special-ops troops got to within 100 yards of the walled compound in silence about 1am local time. Then, "a noise, maybe a dog bark, alerted the militants to the raiders," writes Adam Entous, who spoke to US officials familiar with the rescue attempt. A 30-minute firefight ensued, during which officials think a militant from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula slipped into the building where Somers was being held and shot him and South African hostage Pierre Korkie. The US troops killed about 10 militants and managed to escape with the two wounded hostages, but one died in the military aircraft carrying him away and the other died on an operating table. "The callous disregard for Luke's life is more proof of the depths of AQAP's depravity, and further reason why the world must never cease in seeking to defeat their evil ideology," said President Obama, as per Reuters. Obama approved the raid, the second in two weeks to try to free Somers, after AQAP promised to kill the photojournalist later today.

EXCLUSIVE is standing by her man ... TMZ has learned the "" actress has decided to keep dating new BFbecause she's convinced he's no gigolo -- he just coaches 'em.Sources close to the couple tell us ... Lea was PISSED after we broke the story about-- a website that offers male "companionship" -- and confronted him about it.We're told Matthew copped to going on a few dates with female clients ... but told Lea he only did it as research -- so he could understand what the gigolos go through and coach them through it.This guy is good ... 'cause we're told Lea actually bought it, and Matt promised he'd never do it again.Our sources tell us Lea's not getting the full story ... because Paetz has had more than just "a few" dates while working as a gigolo for almost a year. For $17,500 you can get a whole week.Matthew's profile is now hidden on the site.We're told Lea and Matthew met on the set of her music video, "On My Way.

– It appears Lea Michele is beginning to move on, almost a year after the death of her boyfriend Cory Monteith. The Glee actress met Matthew Paetz on the set of one of her music videos in April, and she's reportedly been seeing him, quietly, for a couple months. "For a long time, Lea wasn't close to even thinking about getting into a relationship," a source tells People. "Cory's death was and will continue to be a struggle for her." Paetz is an aspiring actor and model, People notes, and on his Twitter account he describes himself as a dating and lifestyle coach—but TMZ says he is, or was, also a gigolo who went by the name "Christian" on Cowboys4Angels, a site offering male "companionship" that's featured on Showtime's Gigolos. TMZ has a screenshot of "Christian's" profile, which described him as a life coach, dating expert, and massage therapist who charged $350 per hour or $6,000 per weekend, but the gossip site says the profile is now hidden or removed. Sources say Paetz last took a client in April, but has taken a break since he and Michele got together. She was apparently unhappy after TMZ's gigolo story, the site notes in a follow-up, but sources say Paetz told her he really just coaches gigolos, and had only gone out with a few clients, for research purposes. But a TMZ source says Paetz had been working as an escort for nearly a year, and had gone on more than a few outings. But Michele "feels he's a great guy," another source tells E!. "He treats her really well, he's smart and fun. She's really happy."